2016: A Football Review

2016 has been a hectic year in almost every way with football being no exception. Let’s look back on what was one of the most surprising years in footballing history.

You can’t talk about 2016 without talking about the biggest sporting upset in history. I know every football fan is sick of seeing it but Leicester City winning the Premier League at odds of 5,000-1 is a feat that has never been seen before and likely will never be seen again. Finishing 14th the previous season after avoiding relegation in the last few weeks everyone expected more of the same from Leicester but they ran away with the title in a season that will be talked about 100 years from now. The story of Jamie Vardy coming from non-league to recently being voted 8th in the Balon d’Or vote is one of the best footballing cinderella stories of all time and the emergence of N’Golo Kante in particular, was astonishing.

Who should Fulham sign in the January transfer window?

 

With the new year just around the corner, that means that the transfer window will be open once again. Fulham is a team that are on the verge of the playoffs this season and would like to strengthen to push on and claim a top 6 place. Here are the players I believe we should look into signing.

Rating Fulham’s Signings this season so far

This summer was one of the most active transfer windows of all time for FFC bringing pretty much a whole new squad and with that an exciting new play style. Slavisa Jokanovic is quickly becoming a hero at Craven Cottage as he has us playing our best football since the days of Mark Hughes and for the first time since 2012 I am looking forward to seeing us play at the weekend. With 14 arrivals this summer FFC were one of the most active sides in England here are my thoughts and ratings of each new man.

Floyd Ayite: The arrival of Ayite brought something that Fulham haven’t seen in years, pace on the wings. Since Kerim Frei’s sporadic appearances Fulham have struggled with their lack of pace however Ayite has changed all of that. Scoring 3 times this week he has been a vital part of this team and it is no coincidence that we went through our worst run of form when he was sidelined with injury.

My Rating 9/10

Scott Malone: A man who has partnered Ayite on the left flank Scott Malone has been my surprise of the season. Many of the Fulham faithful rejoiced the day that we got rid of Jazz Richards however Cardiff fans on twitter were quick to tell me that Malone was a terrible player. What has followed has been some of the best left back performances I have seen from a man at Craven Cottage since Paul Konchesky. I would like to point out in particular the Brentford game and the Barnsley game where Malone ran that wing all game. To make it all better Jazz Richards went the other way
My Rating 9/10

Sone Aluko: If stats ever didn’t tell the full story about a player Sone Aluko is that man. 4 goals in 20 games is not a great return but he offers so much more than that. Getting the ball forward quickly, winning set pieces, setting up goals and the ability to beat a man Sone Aluko has been one of the best signings we have made in years.

My Rating 10/10

Jozabed: “@FulhamFC Announce Jozabed.” For about a month that would be the only tweet I would see on my timeline from Fulham fans. Probably our most eagerly anticipated signing of the summer people were really looking forward to seeing the Spanish man in action however he seems to have a case of Mitroglouitis in the fact that we have made a big signing and he hasn’t played. 184 minutes in 4 months Jozabed has not been able to even get in the match day squad recently and with no known injuries it is obvious that Jozabed was a Craig Kline signing and not a Jokanovic signing.

My Rating N/A Not played enough games

Dennis Odoi: Other than the greatest piece of skill I have ever seen at Craven Cottage Dennis Odoi hasn’t blown me away but he hasn’t been awful. Two man of the match awards early in the season however he hasn’t maintained that form and has subsequently lost his place in the starting 11 to Ryan Fredericks.

My Rating: 6/10

Ragnar Sigurdsson: Came in after a great Euros with Iceland which unfortunately included a goal and a man of the match performance against England I thought Sigurdsson could be a very good signing. He has been disappointing considering the high expectations I had when he came in. Not as dominant in the air as I thought he would be and a shocking performance against Bristol the jury is still out on Sigurdsson but I think he has been an improvement on all our centre half options from last season barring Madl.

My Rating 6/10

Tomas Kalas: By a mile the best defender we have had since Brede Hangeland Kalas was briliant last year at Boro and has carried it on this year. The only complaint I have about this signing is that it is only a loan deal. When Kalas doesn’t play we are not the same team and our results without him go to show that with him missing 6 games and us picking up only 5 points in that time conceding a dreadful 12 goals during that period as well.

My Rating 9/10

Lucas Piazon: Another Chelsea loanee Piazon’s life in SW6 has started quite well notching up 3 goals in 12 games and adding some flair to the squad. A surprise transfer that wasn’t even speculated on deadline day, I wouldn’t mind seeing Piazon’s loan being extended past January and into the end of the season however with his position having a lot of competition I could see why Jokanovic would send him back down the road to Chelsea.

My Rating 7/10

Kevin Macdonald: This man runs the midfield every game I see him play. The 1.5 million pound pricetag is the bargain of the century as I Kev Mac has been one of the best 5 players on the pitch in the majority of his games this season. A blip would obviously be his red card against Bristol however you can’t hold that against him as he has been one of our best players this season.

My Rating 9/10

Chris Martin: Striker is still our weakest position and I hope that that doesn’t show this weekend when we can’t play Martin against his parent club Derby County. Martin struggled to find his feet at first failing to score in his first 6 games in a white shirt. However with 6 in his last 10 and some outstanding hold up play Martin has been a good acquisition for Fulham so far and is another player who’s loan I would like seen turned permanent.

My Rating 7/10

Stefan Johansen: Watching Johansen and Cairney link up these past few weeks has been nothing short of majestic. Johansen’s first few games had me very worried that Celtic fans comments about his laziness were true as he didn’t look like anything spectacular. However with 3 goals in his past 3 games and impressive performances coming weekly I have to call him our signing of the season if he can keep this up. Johansen has got an unbelievable amount of talent and can find a pass perfectly. His performances in the past few weeks have completely changed my opinion of him and I hope more of the same is to come.

My Rating 9/10

David Button: David Button has all the makings of  fantastic keeper and on his day can win you 3 points on his own. However all to often he is making stupid mistakes and his distribution just isn’t good enough. The Aston Villa game soured a lot of fans on Button and poor performances against Brighton and Wolves didn’t help matters either. For me it is time to give Bettinelli another chance between the sticks however all in all Button has not been a woeful signing.

My Rating 5/10

Michael Madl: Signed permanently after a successful loan spell last season Madl hasn’t been in the side as much as I anticipated making only 9 appearances this season. Started brilliantly forming a great pairing with Kalas however he has fallen out of favour in recent weeks and I would like to see him in the starting 11 more consistently as I think he is a fantastic player.

My Rating 6/10

Neeskens Kebano: I’ll be honest with you the only reason Kebano is the last player I am writing about is because I almost forgot about him. Playing a couple of minutes at the end of games here and there I am really not sure how good of a player he is. He hasn’t played much for us at all and his debut against Blackburn is still the best match he has played for us in my opinion. Still looking for his first goal Kebano is getting nowhere near his strike rate at Genk and Charleloi.

My Rating 4/10

2017 World Darts Championships top 10 contenders

The World Darts Championships started last night and it is a darts fans favourite time of year with games to watch every day and the biggest tournament of the year. What’s not to love? Here are my top 10 contenders for this years Sid Waddell Trophy.

1: Michael Van Gerwen. Unstoppable in 2016 playing some of the greatest darts the world has ever seen winning almost every title and putting up the greatest average of all time along the way in the Premier League against Michael Smith. For me it won’t even be close and MVG will win this title without a doubt.

2: Gary Anderson. Aiming to make it a threepeat in the World Championships always puts in his best performances at Alexandra Palace including a demolition of Jelle Klassen in the Semi Finals last year which to this day is one of the best World Championship performances I have ever seen.

3: Phil Taylor. “Never write off Phil Taylor.” It has been said by every darts fan hundreds of times and as much as I want to say he has no chance at winning this year I can’t because he is still the best player of all time and can easily beat Van Gerwen if he puts in his best performances

4: Dave Chisnall. Much improved since finishing last in the Premier League this year runner up in the players championship and semi finalist in the World Grand Prix I expect Chizzy to make at least the quarter finals this year. He has been accused of being a 180 merchant in the past by me but he has improved his finishing a lot and that could take him very far in this tournament.

5: Peter Wright. Always the bridesmaid never the bride. Snakebite has been one of the best players in the world since 2012 but he is yet to win a major event as Taylor, MVG and Anderson have shared almost every trophy since 2012. Overdue would be an understatement but he needs to learn how to hold his nerve in the big matches. My favourite player at the moment so I will be cheering him on over the next 3 weeks.

6: James Wade. Similar story to Peter Wright, arguably the best player to never win a world championship James Wade has been on a downward spiral for a while now being eliminated in round 1 of the Grand Prix and only reaching the last 32 of the Players Championship will he be able to bounce back?

7: Raymond Van Barneveld. Ask any Darts fan who they wanted to win this competition last year and I guarantee at least 80% will say RVB. Playing in the greatest game of darts I ever saw in the last 32 against Michael Van Gerwen last year, and putting on similar heroics in the last 16 against Michael Smith. RVB had a fantastic campaign here last year and hopefully can put on some performances of a similar quality this time round.

8&9: Adrian Lewis and Jelle Klassen. You know how earlier I said James Wade had been on a downward spiral? These two have been out of form for months. Lewis falling to minnows such as Steve West and Ricky Williams. Didn’t make it past the last 32 of the past 2 majors and failed to qualify for the European Championships. The worst year of his career so far however if you were to tell him that on twitter he would somehow twist it and make himself out to be Phil Taylor in his prime. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to see many Jelle Klassen games this year as he has been getting eliminated from TV events too early for me to see anything substantial. After being somewhat embarrassingly defeated by Steve Beaton in the World Matchplay he is not playing to the standard he played at in this tournament last year.

10: Michael Smith. A player who has massively gone down in my estimations since I first saw him play beating MVG in a tour event. This time last year I was telling anyone who would listen to back Michael Smith in this tournament as I was so impressed by him. Smith has been disappointing this year though not reaching any major semi finals. However I will always back him up and say on his day he can beat anyone in the PDC which is why he is my number 10 pick.

Honourable Mention: Ian White. A man who can hit 180s as good as him should not be taken lightly so don’t be surprised if he beats one of the big players in this competition.