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How bad was our result at Fulham?

Dave Wharton 19/03/2008 8comments  |  Jump to last
Bloody dissapointing to be honest. I could end the article here but there's more I want to say.

First of all, the Fulham fans were rocking the stadium, fair play to them supporting a team that is most likely going down (btw, loved our chant "Fulham's going down and they're never coming back").

We had a fairly small contingent there. It was damp, cold, and a lot of us were standing in the rain because they'd built the roof 4 metres too short and our seats were wet but it did feel like a 'real' football match for a while!

As is widely known, we played bad and looked tired. Enough said already on that. Fulham were up for it and their 8' 32" defender was winning all the hoof balls we could muster. I was left thinking that they weren't actually a bad side, and with the crowd behind them it must be a difficult place to come to (and ironically difficult to actually get out of, and was it necessary to deprive us of hot food at half time? Our spirits were dampened enough already, and queuing 25 mins for a £1 pack of crisps - choice of 2 whole flavours - didn't add to my enthusiasm for what was not a great game, a Fulham ploy to dampen the spirits of the away fans perhaps?!)

Anyway... My initial thought prompted me to check over some of the results of other teams that Fulham have played and noted with interest the selection below: Fulham home to:

  • Villa - Fulham beat them 2-1 - even Villa's goal was a Fulham o.g.
  • Blackburn - draw - Blackburn equalised 10 mins from time
  • Man City - 3-3 Draw
  • Spurs - 3-3 Draw
  • Chelsea - lost 2-1 - Chelsea coming from behind and needing a penalty to win it.
  • Portsmouth - lost 2-0 - Good result for Pompey.
Of the teams currently 4th to 9th in the Prem, only Portsmouth left with more than a point.

Fulham away to:

  • Villa - lost 2-1 - Villa score in injury time
  • Chelsea - 0-0
  • Arsenal - lost 2-1 - Arse come from behind with 2 goals in the last 6 mins
  • Liverpool - lost 2-0 - both goals in last 9mins
  • Blackburn - 1-1
I freely admit that I haven't included the tonkings they've had (including the one the Yak gave them at Goodison) but a lot of teams around us in the table have struggled against them, and if Fulham could play for 90 mins instead of 80, they'd be clear of the drop zone.

It's probably not much of a point (and I'd have settled for one on Sunday), but it made me feel better about losing and although this article is 20mins of my life I'm never getting back, it's 20mins of my paid working life so I'm quite happy to spend it.

We're still a good young exciting side, and as I can't see us splashing £60mill on Ronaldo in the summer (though I'm sure all players of his ability would be keen on a move to Everton and would play their heart out for the club and not be there just for a pay-cheque) we will probably have to make the best of what we have which is actually ok with me. It's done alright for us so far this season, and I'd have ripped your arm off if I'd been offered our current position back in August. Optimism dented but not destroyed.

And look on the bright side, we could be barcode fans. I'd take the Myesiah over the Mssiah any day of the week/month/year. Still sucks losing though....COYB.

Reader Comments

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John Andrews
1   Posted 19/03/2008 at 07:57:10

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It was a particularly poor performance but wasn’t helped by AJ leaving the field after 15 minutes or so.
It is a shame that a few weeks ago we were spoilt for choice in the striker dept. but are now struggling to get one on the pitch !
But as we have not won at Craven Cottage for as long as I can remember I cannot say I was too surprised.
Kevin Gillen
2   Posted 19/03/2008 at 11:26:40

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To be fair it was a bad result, if we have pretensions of being part of the top 5 consistently we will have to break our hoodoo here. I was impressed with the way Jimmy Bullard and Danny Murphy passed the ball in the first half an hour though, they made our central midfielders look like statues so fair play to them, they played like a side fighting for their survival. McBride’s goal though was a fluke. Much as I respect him for the great job he did at Goodison if Yobo’s deflection had gone anywhere else they would never have scored. Our luck ran out last week and another clear penalty was missed by the officials for the push on Lescott.
Michael Brien
3   Posted 19/03/2008 at 13:09:13

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Yes the result was a great disappointment but to be fair we haven’t had too many of those this season. We always have any bad luck that’s going when we are at Craven Cottage.I think the last time we won there was in August 1966 ( Alan Ball’s debut) - but they don’t do well at Goodison.
Losing Andrew Johnson was a blow as he has been in such great form. One of my mates summed it up nicely when we were talking about his part in setting up Yakubu for the 3rd goal v Pompey. He said that as it was Johnson it was described as a 50 yard punt upfield but if it had been Hoddle or Beckham then the commentators would have been in raptures.
I think he has been in great form, showing that there’s more to his game than goalscoring.I hope that he is back soon - our injury list is a cause for concern.
Tony Williams
4   Posted 19/03/2008 at 14:42:04

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It was very bad, they are shite but like the old Joe Royle days they had that fighting spirit and we couldn?t match it.

Once Nevile went into midfield, as a contest if was pretty much over.

We were unlucky as well with fatigue and injuries but as people say we should be beating these teams but Moyes?s shitty record against them continues, 1 goal in six years and nil points.
Spencer Ramsay
5   Posted 19/03/2008 at 14:34:16

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Another depressing afternoon at Craven Cottage in the rain made much worse by the freezing wind and a poor performance. I agree Dave that that roof was annoyingly short! Still it was almost like being in the good old terraces again. I can?t remember the last time I stood for a whole game. AJ going off was a blow and with four defenders and a keeper on the bench it was left to those who started to impress. A hangover from Wednesday night, miserable conditions, tiredness and the fact we never get any bloody breaks at Fulham away led us to the inevitable. I'm not sure if I want Fulham to go down or not. They are a guaranteed 3 points at home but a guaranteed nothing away! They did play some nice football at times without ever really looking like scoring. Agreed Kevin, the goal was somewhat fortunate. I'm sure that we will pick up against West Ham at home on Saturday and hopefully get a decent performance especially if AJ is back. All we have to do is ensure that we equal or excel what Pompey, Villa and City do with a bit of room for error and we should make 5th spot ours and Uefa Cup footy next season. COYB!!!
Terry Smith
6   Posted 19/03/2008 at 16:13:31

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It was a bad performance. Hopefully it is just one of them things about going to Craven Cottage! We will know just how bad that result was by the end of next week. If we beat West Ham and the shite loose to Utd, it's back on for the Derby.
Karl Masters
7   Posted 19/03/2008 at 19:11:15

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How bad was the result? Bloody terrible - it?s only Fulham?s 4th win of the season and we had won 6 and drawn 3 of our previous 10 away league games.

However, we were unlucky with AJ and Pienaar both having to come off and be replaced with defenders. THey were clearly tired physically and mentally and although I froze in the cold wind and rain there I will let them off this time!

After Wednesday, we were always on a hiding to nothing there. Time to move on, beat West Ham, hope Manure do us a favour on Sunday and then push on for the rest of the season. There?s still plenty to be optimistic about and us fans must play our part too. Get behind the team and see what happens!
Derek Thomas
8   Posted 20/03/2008 at 05:33:38

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We would have settled for etc etc

Thats the whole trouble, some people, so happy that we’ve moved on from the Walteresque mediocrity, seem to have hit a mental expectational glass ceiling, That they think, due to whatever, lack of finance etc that this is as good as we can ever expect.

And, bearing in mind;

1) the Leeds scenario

2) the as yet fully disclosure of the total cost to the club for the next God knows how many years for the new ground (may the sub prime crisis shit on that idea from a great height)

that the Board may even think this and thus be loath to lash out the obviously needed 2 or 3 or 4 lots of Yakubu priced player investment required to up grade the Nevilles etc of this world


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