In which our travels take us along the Thames to Fulham.
Fulham away. The most eagerly-anticipated fixture on the calendar, at least without having to get your passport out. Nobody knows why; it isn’t the competitively-priced local amenities or the easy journey. It certainly isn’t our record there. But at some stage Fulham away became the day out of choice, even if it does have an unfeasibly early start this time. Still, the earlier we start the earlier we get the points.
Their manager’s been there since 2021, which in Premier League manager years is an eternity, and means he’s probably missed out on three payoffs for getting sacked if most managers are anything to go by. If he does go Stuart Gray will be caretaker again. Because we’re turning into a big club we’re being linked with a few of their players in the run-up to the match, including Ryan Sessegnon, who seems to have been around forever but can still get under-26 fares. They’ve finally got that stand built and you can also stay there for the night.
This will be a strange one – five to go and if we win we’re almost certainly in the Champions League, but at the same time we’ve got possibly an even bigger match four days later. That means there should be a bit of squad rotation, so provided Emiliano Martinez can get through the warm-up unscathed there are ten places where you can’t say for certain who’s going to be playing, although Morgan Rogers not being one of them would be a bit of a surprise.
Fulham are in the bottom half of the table, five points off the top six and fifteen away from the relegation zone. That’s how strange the season’s gone but this match at least will be straightforward. The best team will win, and that’s us. Three points then celebrate with a passionfruit, marshmallow and almond IPA at fifteen quid for a third of a pint. Fulham away, where else?
