[NoSkillz]

Tue. January 2, 2024

Barclays Premier League
Dover (14-4-1, 46 points, 1st) vs. Fulham (1-5-13, 8 points, 20th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Fulham: 10-1
Past Meetings: 8W 2D 2L

For the first time in my managerial career, we’re forced to play games in consecutive days but we face last placed Fulham and we’re overwhelming favourites against the newly promoted club. We beat them 5-0 early in the year at Craven Cottage and we should beat them by a similar margin again today despite starting many reserves. Fulham only have one win this season after winning the Championship playoff to get the last promotion spot in 2022/23. They struggle mightily to score goals, with only 18 from 19 Premier League matches. In fact, including cup ties, there is no one on the team with more than THREE GOALS. Wow.

All eleven starters from yesterday’s Everton win will be OUT of the lineup today, as we get to showcase our exceptional depth in this contest. Getting rare starts are Shanon Andrea, Gian Marco Fanfoni, Carlos Guzman and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. Control mentality, as usual.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - C. Guzman, M. Yilmaz, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, Jose, G. Fanfoni, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho
Bench - Rafinha, S. Reed, R. Ramirez, E. Harvey, H. Cruz, L. Kunchev, A. Broomes

Fulham are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) with Milan Djuric up front and former Dover forward Robbie Benson at AMC. Joe Lewis is in goal. We should win comfortably and I’m happy to see that we’re not showing any overconfidence prior to the game. Therefore, I just tell the players to go out and express themselves for the home supporters today. Lets score some goals boys!

9’ - A slow start for us. Fulham get the first chance, as Tomasz Zielinski is sent in and his low shot is saved well by Ingo Wilke.

20’ - Not good. Our first shot on goal is from distance and Lewis easily stops Chiquinho’s long range blast.

33’ - We’re not generating any real chances in a pretty chippy contest but we win a corner. It’s Arsene Bamba taking it and his cross to the far corner is headed by young centre half back Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz and it’s IN! He’s already got FOUR GOALS this year in very limited action and we finally break through! DOVER GOAL 1-0

41’ - Wilke holds onto a free kick and throws it back in to Carlos Guzman. The ball is eventually worked to midfield and to Chiquinho and he sends a little through ball to Shanon Andrea. Our out-of-form striker dribbles in and shoots past Lewis into the left hand corner for the goal! Beauty! DOVER GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME - We started to finally take control in the last fifteen minutes of the half but that first half hour was almost all Fulham and they have a 53% possession advantage. That said, we outshoot them 13-4 (7-2 on target). I encourage the players to keep pressing and make a minor tactical change, switching roles for Gian Marco Fanfoni and Jose, moving Jose into the more attacking position. Fanfoni simply isn’t the same player he was last year before his injury and he’s been invisible all season so far.

48’ - We’re pouring on pressure now, as Chiquinho is sent in alone but his rocket blast is saved by Lewis. The rebound is right to the foot of Andrea and with a gaping net to shoot at, he shoots WIDE! He leaves the area with his head in his hands!

51’ - Gianluca Bolis with a yellow card.

76’ - Nothing happening at all. Kind of disappointing. I pull out an ineffective Jose and bring in Emmerson Harvey. I also take out a tired Gianluca Bolis and bring in youngster Lyubomir Kunchev.

84’ - We have another corner and again it’s Bamba putting in a perfect cross, this time to the head of Rayane Hamon and it’s in! Two corner kick goals today! DOVER GOAL 3-0

Not a bad result.

Dover 3 - 0 Fulham
Goals - Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (8.1), Shanon Andrea (7.7), Rayane Hamon (8.3)
Assists - Arsene Bamba 2 (9.0), Chiquinho (7.1)
Man of the Match - Arsene Bamba
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.4), Carlos Guzman (7.5), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.0)
Attendance - 21,768

We dominated possession in the second half and ended up with 54% of the ball for the game and a 28-6 (10-4 on target) shot advantage. Jose (6.4) was disappointing today but he had some great chances that just went wide and likely got penalized for the misses.

-- In other Premier League action, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Man United win while Tottenham and Middlesbrough battle to a draw.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 21 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 49 points (after 20 games)
2. Manchester United - 47 points (after 20 games)
3. Liverpool - 46 points
4. Tottenham - 45 points
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5. Manchester City - 41 points (after 20 games)
6. Middlesbrough - 40 points
7. Chelsea - 37 points (after 19 games)
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Dover Reserves Team Update

-- We end up with back to back TO BACK games if you include the reserves game! We start a whole bunch of U18 players and still beat Bolton’s reserves 4-1. Andy Broomes bags a brace while Rafael Ramirez and U18 defender Damian Thorne notch singles.



Transfer Window Fun

-- Rafael Ramirez is a major loan target for European clubs and I accept a bunch of offers for his services for the rest of the year. In all deals, I’ll be given £250,000 up front and the teams will pay for 100% of his wages. I only accepted deals from teams that assured me of a first-team role.

-- Teams continue to come hard after Rafinha, our young wonderkid. Valencia offers almost £10 million for him and again it’s rejected.



Next Up

-- We’re back on the road and face top opposition in Tottenham at White Hart Lane.