UK Journeyman

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FEBRUARY, MARCH, AND ANOTHER BOTTLE JOB?


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After a slow start to the post-window fixtures, the team started to put it together. We ran into a blip with our big summer signing, Ryan Bennett. He was unhappy with McEvoy leaving and wanted me to strengthen to squad. He apparently felt that the new signings did not do that and he's been discontent since. Disappointing, but he may have to be moved in the window.

We hit a little injury bug towards the end of March, losing my key AMC Callum Gribbin (33 apps, 8 gls, 12 asts, 7.38). We dropped two matches that we should have definitely gotten points from.

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Before our two losses, we were ahead by 11. It's down to 7 with 5 to play, and even automatic promotion is not guaranteed. After last season's League Two heartbreak, I would be absolutely devastated if I cannot lift the crown here. Outside of a titantic clash with Barnsley in match day 44, the fixtures are not particularly difficult, including home draws with Shrewsbury and Exeter, and away to Gillingham and Fleetwood.

Time to wake up and put this baby away!
 
- We secure the title with a couple games to spare and it's an awesome feeling to win my first FM17 trophy!

- After winning the crown, I requested a new contract from the board. They came back to me with $2.6k p/w! WHAT?! I just delivered a double promotion to this club and recently rejected a Preston NE offer me $6.0k p/w and these clowns are offering my $2.6k p/w!?! Needless to say, I rejected the offer and am keeping my options open as the preseason begins.

- Reminder, I added two divisions each of the Spain, German, Italian, and French leagues that will be active in June. I will be taking the Ireland, Wales, and Northern Ireland league off.
 
Summer Moves

OUT

AMR Jay Beckford - $1.4m to Hibernian. 30 apps, 3 gls, 8 asts, 7.09 for me last season. 26-year old winger was coming off the bench more often in the second half of last season and seemed dispensable. I wasn't intending to get rid of him but the offer felt like excellent value.


IN

DC Lucas Votava -$1.1m from Brentford. My scouts like the potential of this 19yo Czech Republic youth international and I splashed on him. Should see plenty of action on my squad this year.

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MC Alan Williams - $800k from Exeter. 38 apps, 2 gls, 3 asts, 6.99 in League One last year, Exeter did well to get him on free transfer. I'll pay for his prime years. Perfect ball winning midfielder for my system.

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MC Sergey Fomin - $475k from Bayern Munich. Here we go, my first European signing that my scouts delivered to me since we expanded our range. He's not an ideal fit for my system but looks like such a fabulous player that I couldn't pass up the bargain. Although he did suffer a serious injury in a preseason friendly that will cost by 6-8 weeks so hopefully this guy isn't injury prone. This guy could end up being total class for us if he can keep healthy.

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DC Ollie Cook - $275k from QPR. Stout defender who has spent most of his career in the Championship. He's a couple years removed from a 38 app, 2 pom, 6.93 season with Sheffield United. I wasn't planning on adding another central defender, and this guy might block the development of Votava, but if he can refind that form, he's an absolute bargain for $275k, and I'll need every legit defender I can find to avoid relegation.

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AMC Steve Arrowsmith, Loan from Tottenham. An excellent grab from my parent club, Arrowsmith just turned in 6 apps, 4 gls, 1 asts, 7.08 rating at the European U19 Championships for England. He was on loan at QPR last year in the Championship, 42 apps, 6 gls, 7 asts, 6.60. Tottenham want $19.5 million for him permanently.. Nice player!

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- Media has pegged us to get relegated with 1000-1 odds of winning of the title.
 
NO RESPECT!
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I am sitting in 6th place with a team that was predicted to go down in flames. It's December 11th, I ask Wycombe's board for a contract raise from my puny $2.3k p/w. They offer me $3k p/w with a 3-year contract? I ask for a simple $3.5k for 2 more years of my service. "No." Are they mad? I'm one of the hottest coaching prospects in the world right now and these crazies are pinching pennies around me?


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Oh my, what do we have here? Shahid Khan looks at his pitiful Fulham side and sees them sitting 20th in the Championship, a full 14 points behind my wonderful Wycombe Wanderers. Will Khan open up the checkbook and show me the respect I deserve?

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I'm not even going to haggle. I am going from $120,000 salary to $650,000 and a transfer budget that makes dreams! No sane person would reject this offer. Wycombe supporters, It's been amazing. But your manager is GONE.


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Welcome to Craven Cottage.




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This is going to be tougher than I thought. I took over Fulham and their squad morale was in shambles. Lots and lots of work to do to repair morale and bring in players who fit my tactical approach. The team has some talent, but void of the hard-nosed ball winning midfielders that I've built my career on. The difficulty of this challenge is real. At Wycombe I built a collection of core players that had amazing chemistry with one another, and would usually only add 2, no more than 3 first team players to the squad each season, so I would never upset that chemistry. I do not have that here yet. Not even close.

First thing I do is use my transfer budget to raid Wycombe of some of my former players.

DC Leon Palmer - Three seasons ago I paid $120k for this young center back from Brighton. Under my guidance he has blossomed into an outstanding Championship level defender. He was averaging 7.10 rating in 26 matches for Wycombe this year, he'll cost me $2.5m to bring to Craven Cottage.

MC Ben Dunford - The type of player that this Fulham squad is missing. A hard working, aggressive, middle of the pitch tackler who can also hold his own technically. Cost me $350k two years ago at Wycombe, now he's worth $2.6 million.

ST Phil Anderson - As you may remember, I found this kid at trial day a few years ago and he's just nice developed into an excellent goal scorer. He had 7 in 16 matches for me, 7.23 rating. He's coming with me.

I also found a couple players outside of my Wycombe circle to help me as well. All in all, I spent $13 million in the January window to try to save this club. It wasn't all deficit to our coffers as I sold three players that were here, including the best one, the excellent ST John Muirhead to Derby for $10.75m. Muirhead is an amazing player, but was disgruntled and did not want to play for me. Sucks for the both of us I think.

As you can see from the fixture list, we have been picking things up towards the end of the month. We had temporarily sunk into relegation zone which really hurt team morale. A fantastic 3-1 victory over my former club was very sweet indeed. BTW, they are paying their new managers $14k p/w!!! After offering me 3k p/w just a week earlier! **** on them!
 
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Now that's right! The team turns the corner in March and begins to gel together around my tactical approach. We finish the season as one of the hottest teams in the Championship, easily repelling the relegation threat to finish near the middle of the table.

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15th, not bad at all. 2027/28 could be my ticket to the Premiership, although the players were not amused when I suggested that the playoffs should be in the cards next season.

- ST Phil Anderson, my poach from Wycombe, tallied 13 goals in 19 apps, 7 assists, 4 pom, 7.44. Phenomenal stuff.
- My other two grabs from my former club, DC Leon Palmer (18 apps, 7.22) and MC Ben Dufford (15 apps, 6.99), helped shore up the problems that this team was having when I took over.
- Another January window signing I made, AMC Ken Bettinelli, $900K from Sheffield Wednesday, took control of our midfield attack and in 12 appearances tallied 7 gls, 4 asts, 2 pom, 7.75 rating. Superb stuff.
- When I took over, there was a left fullback from the French side Nice here, 22yo Killian Granger. Granger averaged a 7.2 over the last two months of the season, and because solid dependable left fullbacks seem to be a high commodity, I reached out to Nice and made Granger a permanent member of Fulham at the cost of $5.75 million!
- There's a superb 18yo prospect here that I really started chomping at the bit to get playing time behind Bettinelli towards the end of the season, AMC Elliott Carr, who looks destined for some very big things.
- I managed to get the board to upgrade the Youth Facilities. They are already quite good here, but this is an aspect I completely ignored at Wycombe because they had nothing to start with and it would have taken a long time to see any benefit. The Youth Intake in March seemed quite fruitful as it produced a 16-year old Barbadian midfielder Ben Hudson, who looks made for my tactical system. My coaches think he'll be a good one.

Bettinelli
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Granger
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Carr
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Hudson
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Bringing Granger back permanently ate into about half of my transfer budget. I don't think I will be super active in the summer, I may bring in 2 or 3 fresh faces, but likely no more than that. I quite like the team how I have it currently built and a ton of tweaking is not necessary. I'll probably definitely add a starting right fullback and a backup striker. If there is a superb, standout ball winning central midfielder available that would massively upgrade what we have, I would likely be open to adding that is well
 
SUMMER 2026

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Welp, I lied a little but when my top defender Alfie Jonesforced a summer move to Nottingham Forest, I had to adapt and do the best I could to fill the spot.

DL Killian Granger, as discussed above, I made last year's Nice loanee a permanent fixture on our squad.

DC Yan Flores, Our best attempt to replace Jones. My best scout loved his potential and he has all the physicals you want to see. Professional personality, so he should develop well.

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ST Atsushi Sakamoto, $725K from FC Hiroshima. Okay, here's an interesting one. His agent offered him up and I had no attributes and no ability to scout. I asked Shahid Khan to expand our scouting range and after initially resisting, he agreed to. We scouted Sakamoto, he looked good and we signed him and got a conditional work permit granted. Nice looking youngster isn't he?

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DC Ollie Cook, A part-role defender from my Wycombe days, I thought he'd be good cover with Jones leaving. Not a first team choice here at Fulham, but 6.91 in 37 matches for Wycombe last year.. I'll be happy if he can give me that in 15-20 appearances this year.

ST Lewis May, A Wycombe loanee legend! He leaves Wolves on free after he was worth $5m-$6m for multiple seasons. This guy bagged piles of goals for me in my climb up the pyramid. He finished with 21 in 41 matches for Wycombe last year. A free transfer steal! Anderson and May are together again!

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MC Alban Mema. Don't overlook this free transfer! Mema is a newgen from 2017's PSV Eindhoven squad. 6 seasons ago in 2020/21, he played 19 matches for Blackburn averaging 6.84. The last few years he got some starts with PSV, but got his release this summer. My scouts turn him up and I'm bringing him back to England. He might just be my best midfielder! He's not the perfect BWM, but he's good enough to play for me! Yowsers, what a bargain! By the end of this season, I might be getting $5m+ offers for this guy.

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Alright, time to go. I've been itching to kick this season off. The media has us 14th, we'll show them. The bad news is that my top AMC Ken Bettinelli suffered a broken leg at the end of the preseason and may miss 6 months. Sigh. Guy was killing it for me the last two months of last season too. Let's get it on.
 
STRUGGLING

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I may have underestimated the impact of losing our best DC and best AMC. We've been quite bad to start the year, nowhere near in promotion form. We sit in 14th place just after the summer transfer deadline.

I made some signings on deadline day, I hope they weren't in haste, but it felt like I needed a ton of improvement. I'm worried about how quick these new players can gel, and I'm getting that sinking feeling that promotion may be very far away from our reach right now. I brought in a trio of Spanish players, let's get to them!


AMC Jony Montiel, $1 million from Rayo Vallecano, Spanish First Division

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Gorgeous signing here I think. He's got everything I'm looking for in my AMC, but can he blend in with the club quick enough to save our season? Not sure.


AML Fede Vico, $625K from Sheffield United

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My attacking options in the midfield seem much thinner this year after my first team. I had a few loanees in here last year that did well in pinches, but I did not retain them. Maybe a mistake. Hopefully it's not to late to correct.


DC Rafa Benitez, $1.9 million from Almeria, Spanish Second Division

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My defense has been total **** this year. A defender I was relying on, Eric Teles, has been horribly inconsistent, making errors at the worst time. Benitez felt like a panic move in the final seconds of the Transfers window as I desperately wanted to add a DC and options kept falling apart. Hopefully this is not a mistake.


Time to turn this around. If I can just hang around in mid-table until the January deadline and when my key injured player, Ken Bettinelli returns, I like my chances of at least getting into the playoffs.
 
SIGNS OF LIFE

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Mixed form for a little bit, but we have reeled off three consecutive wins including a 1-0 away win against my former Wycombe Wanderers where it got quite ugly in the pre and post match press conferences. We are now in 10th position in the Championship with 26 points through 17 matches. We are only 4 points behind 6th, 6 points behind Swansea in 2nd, 11 points behind the leaders Crystal Palace.

The defense is beginning to play better and my moves in that area before the deadline appear to be paying off. We conceded 11 in the 7 matches before the deadline and have only conceded 7 times in the 12 matches since.

But the offense is still sputtering and we are getting nowhere near the production that I got at the end of last season. Top AMC Ken Bettinelli is still out with his broke leg and it appears to be another 3-7 weeks before he returns. ST/AMR Lucas May suffered a back injury, but he was struggling to blend in with the squad early in the year, averaging just 6.68, 0 gls, 1 ast in 8 appearances. My Japanese youngster Atsushi Sakamoto has done well in getting himself in position but has struggled to score, just 1 goal in 10 apps, 6.78 rating. Phil Anderson only has 2 goals in 12 apps after having 13 goals, 7 assists in 19 apps last season. Somebody on this squad needs to wake up and start putting the ball in the net!

I'm studying my statistics to see where the missing link is. My passing numbers (79%, 2nd in Championship) and possession (56.2%, 1st in Championship) are all right where I want them to be. We seem to be doing very well in numerous other categories as well such as Crosses completed, shots on goal, etc. yet here we are with 17 goals, 19th in the league.

Going to try some tweaking in the next few matches to try to get more quality chances.
 
STILL SCUFFLING
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After a 4-match winning streak, we hit a little rut, but with a caveat. Look at the fixture list and the table.

From Nov 28 to Dec 22 this was our fixture list:

Away Middlesbrough (5th)
Home Cardiff (9th)
Away Burnley (2nd)
Home Crystal Palace (1st)
Away Swansea (4th)
Home Wolves (3rd)

Good gravy, what a gauntlet. I wish I could have won more than 3 points from those 6 matches but that's just a brutal stretch of matches, and now we are fresh off a win over Reading who are also in the top-half. That means there's a good string of softer matches coming up that we need to pounce on! We have some work to do to get back into this promotion hunt.

Here's our January transfer situation.

OUT

MC Iker Pozo, $3.2 million to Brentford. I signed him for $1.5 million near the end of the last January transfer window, and he played decently for us, but he just didn't feel like a great fit as a Ball Winning midfielder. Gifted physically with some good technical skills such as first touch and passing, his mentals turned out to be just not good for my type of team. Aggression, Bravery, Concentration, Decisions, Determination, Positioning, Teamwork were all between 7-9 and it turned out that was just too weak for me. He did play well for us, but there was something missing. I was pleased to be able to turn a very nice profit on him.

DR Rob Holding, $2.5 million to FK Austrian Wien. Nice right back that was signed to Fulham before I got here a couple seasons back on a free. He started out as a youngster with Arsenal. Good player for me, 7.09 in 23 matches this year, but he wanted to go and instead of upsetting the apple cart, I decided to sell and try to replace him.

DL/DC Stuart McDonnell, $750K to Wolves. Just signed this guy on a Free Transfer in July, played 10 matches for me for a 6.85. He wanted more playing time. Again, a good quick profit here on a surplus player.

IN

DR Alfonso Dominici, $1.7 million from Sheffield United. Professional and consistent. I see no reason why he can't be a good replacement for Holding. Holding was better in the air, but Dominici is a touch faster and a little better going forward.

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MC Isaac Hayden, $350K from Wolves. Hayden has much more of a bulldog mentality than Pozo. Aggressive, Brave, Determined, and also a consistent performer that loves the big matches. The 31 year old experienced warrior is the type of player that will fit into this team. He forced me to give him a 3-year deal, which I wasn't happy with, but I really needed a player like this.

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I may make another addition before the deadline. Freaking Ken Bettinelli nearly recovered from his broken leg when he got affected by a sports hernia issue that will cost him atleast another move, and my other AMC Jony Montiel tore his hamstring and he'll be out the next 2 months. The injuries forced me to dig into my u23 program for youngster Elliott Carr.


 
CHARGE TO THE TOP

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We reel off six League match wins in a row in a soft spot in our schedule. We made a solid FA Cup run into the Fifth round but ran into a Chelsea buzzsaw, they are 2nd in the Premier League.

Our transfer window was relatively quiet. I added a rotation piece and couple cover guys, but no major additions.

There are 12 matches remaining in the season and the next six are CRITICAL.

Next six matches? Average opponent is in 15th place.
Final six matches? We face 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 10th.

Our last three matches on the schedule are Home vs Burnley (2nd), Away to Crystal Palace (1st), and Home to Swansea (3rd).

The good news is Ken Bettenelli is starting to work himself back into the lineup.
 
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FIRST SIX MATCHES - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

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We secure 14 points out of a potential 18 to vault us into the thick of the playoff race. Automatic promotion is not impossible as Burnley have slipped a tad, opening the door. But after taking a look at our ensuing fixture, it is a monumental task! The other problem is Burnley have a relatively easy stretch of games coming up, outside of us of course.


Remaining Fixtures
Away-Norwich (9th)
Home-Middlesbrough (6th)
Away-Cardiff (10th)
Home-Burnley (2nd)
Away-Crystal Palace (1st)
Home-Swansea (5th)

- Lots of six-pointers here, ideally I'd like to secure at least 8 points from these 6 matches. Hard to see me missing the playoffs with 79 points in this spot. If I can get super hot, maybe I steal the bid from Burnley.

- My contract here at Fulham was due up at the end of the current season. Clermont Foot in France Ligue 1 offered me an interview, I went to it. Fulham subsequently came back with a contract offer and I negotiated it to $18.25 p/w for the next 2 seasons.
 
MAY DELIVERS - BURNLEY SLIPS!

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Lewis May with a clinical hat-trick to bury Norwich in a riveting see-saw affair at Carrow Road! Burnley struggle to a home draw against 14th placed Bristol City! Automatic promotion is in our crosshairs with a six-pointer due vs Middlesbrough! Let's Go!
 
POOR EFFORT PUTS PLAYOFFS IN DOUBT

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We tumble to Cardiff, missing an opportunity to close within 2 points of Burnley with a clash up ahead!! This was a critical loss. We must regroup. We face Burnley at home, Crystal Palace away, and Swansea home to finish the season! Can we hold off a late Wolves challenge?
 
BURNLEY SMASHED - PALACE LOOMS!

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- We destroy Burnley at Craven Cottage, reeling them in within striking distance once again!
- Wolves keep the playoff race on a knife's edge!

Hang on to your hats boys, we could be in for a thrilling finish. Can Fulham break Palace away? They certainly may have their guard down having clinched the title. Let's hope!
 
MATCH DAY 46! HANG ON!

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A stunning own goal sends us temporarily on top of the table, but Burnley win over lowly Bournemouth later in the afternoon to regain the advantage.

Good news - We've secured a playoff spot.
Bad news - We MUST beat Swansea at Home and Burnley MUST lose to away to 20th placed Bolton. Tough ask.
Other news - Wycombe were relegated. They deserve it after how I was treated by their board. Stuff it!

But check out that scramble for the playoffs! 5 clubs within 1 point of one another for the last two spots. Thrilling stuff!
 
MATCH DAY 46 - LIVE

1st Minute - Liam Coyle and Phil Anderson work a darling one-two and Coyle finds himself in on goal and slots it past the Swansea keeper Kieran Neill. The Whites are off to a roaring start, 1-0 Fulham!

12th Minute - A long clearance by the Fulham defense sees Phil Anderson take it into the Swans third, defender Enzo Roco misplays the ball and Anderson touches it into the penalty area where he POWERS it past Neill for his 18th goal of the season! Fulham 2. Swansea 0. It's on here at Craven Cottage, but Bolton and Burnley remain scoreless!

21st Minute - Ken Bettenelli plays a gorgeous long ball into the path of left-winger Tom Walker. Walker takes a rip at it just outside the penalty arrow but it narrowly travels right of the Swansea goal. Still 2-0. Still scoreless at Macron Stadium in Bolton.

23rd Minute - Walker takes another good pass from Bettenelli down the left flank, he swings it into the middle of the penalty area and BOOM, a massive volley from Marko Jankovic to put the Whites up 3! It's all Fulham today! This third goal actually may write a new story. If we can somehow miraculously defeat Swansea by 6 goals, an impossibly thought before the game, and Burnley draw, we will advance on Goal Differential.

36th Minute - Swansea start to find their bearings as Josh Murphy receives a corner kick and bangs a hard shot off the post. Bolton and Burnley remain scoreless.

38th Minute - Bettenelli holds at the top of the box, he finds Jankovic in space on his right, BANG! 4-0 Fulham! Can you even believe this? Swansea are laying down!

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45th Minute - Joseba Zaldua takes a Swansea free kick on the very edge of the penalty area and TRIKES the crossbar. Fulham defense clears.

HALFTIME - Fulham 4:0 Swansea. Bolton 0:0 Burnley. If the results hold, Burnley advances on goal differential. If Fulham can win by 6, Burnley will need a win!

49th Minute - BOLTON SCORE!!!! Captain Adam Walton bangs his 23rd of the campaign for The Trotters and Burnley are suddenly behind the 8 ball! Fulham are 40 minutes away from promotion if the current results hold!

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63rd Minute - Phil Anderson drops deep to take a pass from Bettinelli, Anderson works his way down the left flank. At the endline he hits a low cross into the box, it's LIAM COYLE CHARGING IN AND BURYING IT FOR HIS 2ND! 5-0 FULHAM! IT'S PANDEMONIUM AT CRAVEN COTTAGE! Bolton are still holding onto their 1-0 lead!

80th Minute - Fulham make a triple substitution! Coyle, Hayden, Benitez off. Mema, Odjer, Carp are on. Fresh legs for a final push for a potential 6th goal. Bolton remain in the lead!!


86th Minute - Josh Murphy strikes another long shot off the woodwork, but it's Glenn Massey there to get the Swans on the board. Fulham 5. Swansea 1. The goal differential dream is out the window. It's up to Bolton to HANG ON!


IT'S OVER AT MACRON STADIUM!!! FULHAM ARE GOING UP IN A SHOCKING FASHION! BURNLEY WITH A HISTORIC COLLAPSE! SCENES AT CRAVEN COTTAGE!!





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