Fulham Preview

[den]

posting before reading any other posts.

well on saturday you would not know who was 2nd from bottom or 7th from top,thought we were woeful in attack till roberts and derbs came on.next home game i would drop santa cruz and play either macarthy/roberts with derbyshire douwn the middle.i thought macarthy was poor on sat but he did score a bundle last season as the main striker,derbyshire is by far the best finisher in the club and needs a run off games at centre forward not the right wing.santa cruz for all his skill has the finishing powers off ashley ward.

pedersens goal should have been disallowed,pulled the fulham defender over,which i happen to notice at the time!!!!!!!!!then again bullards free kick was indirect and the other guy stood on the ball,DOES THE BALL NOT HAVE TO MOVE

Theno posted a quote that says that the ball only has to move, - not a full circumference as it used to be, but simply MOVE - as it did.

Ped did push the man over, - but it could be argued that he was simply pushing him off, as he was hold of Pedersen. Nothing wrong with that.

[Boz]

Irrespective of the meagre offerings on show yet again by Rovers at home this season, with 15 minutes to go and after snatching a goal, we were susceptible to a poor side that seemed to find acres of space in which to attack us. Get the Axe on and saw it up in the middle of the hole, take the 3 points, move on and then ponder the reasons why some of our more creative players had such an off day. It was crying out for this and I wonder why MH didn't see it?

[CAPT KAYOS]

I expected more than a midfield player passing the ball back to Brad from the halfway line when there wasn't a Fulham player within five yards of him.

That one moment summed our performance up.

Agree Aggy and thi his is what I was trying to answer to Den .. lack of desire and nous to try and create something.

You don't even have to be the most skilled to do that.

[AggyBlue]

Ped did push the man over,

You do him a great injustice. That was a judo throw.

Jason Wilcox would have been proud of that.

[roversmum]

Well I'm jolly proud of Peds. He's begun to show he isn't going to be pushed about. He's muscled past one or two players recently, most impressive. Must be getting fed up with being booked for something he hasn't done so decided to do something about it!

[waggy]

now i have read the post's i remenber how poor this game was.we are in a great position in the league,we may finish 6-10th that will bring in extra millions but if the board/club/manager had been a bit more adventurous in the january window we could be doing a lot better,after 40 yrs of following the blues i cannot get excited about games anymore.my 13 yr old ###### off after the foolham goal to retrieve a ball from behind the riverside,he was well chuffed.at least one off us got value for money

[Flopsy]

guardian match report

This bloke appears to have been to a few Rovers game

[deryck guyler's spoon]

guardian match report

This bloke appears to have been to a few Rovers game

Poor sod!

[blue phil]

I think this is the point though Den - nowadays it is too predictable, especially Rovers rather than unpredictable.

What is becoming more predictable is the inability of the manager to motivate his players for games such as this - some of them seem to think they can stroll about the park and still pick up the points at the end of it .

Can anyone imagine Shearer having to be motivated for a game against a poor Fulham type team - he would simply have used it as an chance to bang in a hat trick and a Hendry type leader would have made sure the others put in a full shift .

What should have happened at this match was an all out assault for the opening 20 minutes or so - something that would have got the crowd going instead of having some of them pining for the drummer ....

Scotty summed the game well enough in his summary and stated he left the game feeling angry . I left it feeling more apathetic than angry because it was all too predictable .

....and Pederson man of the match !? Good God , his distribution and final ball in the first half was appalling . There was no MOM for me .

[den]

What is becoming more predictable is the inability of the manager to motivate his players for games such as this - some of them seem to think they can stroll about the park and still pick up the points at the end of it .

and that's probably partly down to the lack of incomings. You need new faces in a side, or things go stale. That's one of my fears at the moment - the intention to tie the better players to long term contracts mustn't come at the expense of bringing in new players. Now that's easy for me to say, but the consequences of standing still are just as fraught as letting your best players leave. I haven't got the answer though - without money being available.

[blue phil]

You're right , Den . Too many of our players are in the comfort zone . We need a real shake up at the end of this season or we could suffer next term . I'd certainly support the sale of Pederson and BMc

[Roaming Rover]

Given the all-pervading financial basis of the sport, coupled with the tiresome rants and whinges of managers and players, small moments of goodwill can often be obscured, so it was good to see so many Blackburn players crowd around Jimmy Bullard after the whistle. Fulham's scorer was a popular figure at Wigan and many were delighted to see him back after the knee injury that threatened his career.

The midfielder's late free-kick, after the excellent Christopher Samba had been dubiously penalised, was brilliantly struck and Rovers players were generous in appreciation, even if it cost them two points. Football is not all about greed

From the Guardian article. Wonder if the FA will charge us for crowding round Bullard

[CAPT KAYOS]

I left it feeling more apathetic than angry because it was all too predictable .

....

So did I but it hardly surprised me.

Actually looking back and thinking about it I was before we kicked off ... which is a bit ironic as Bob Fleming and Co questioned me as to what 'state of mind ' I was in when I got to my seat to which I couldn't give a straightforward answer (just that at least my S/T application had arrived) ... now I know

[RibbleValleyRover]

Another question is why have we become a second half team?

In loads of games this season we have played poorly in the first half and on a lot of occasions we have ended up being at least a goal down before half-time. Second half usually we come out a lot stronger and the statistics show we are one of the best teams for picking up points from a losing position.

But when you think about it, its not good for us to be always chasing a game. For one thing it means we have to expend more energy to fight back to get a point or more, this can lead to player fatigue and injuries. Players will work harder and are sometimes over enthusiastic and that can lead to an increased chance in bookings and ultimately suspensions.

Am I the only one who finds this a really serious and worrying problem?

Edit just seen this on SSN:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3279256,00.html Samba slams Rovers' attitude

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Good point but one thing that always mystefies me is how attempted overhead kicks from an attacking team in the box are never penalised!? It's the same with all that wrestling whilst defenders allow a through ball to run out of play over the goal line...... anywhere else on the pitch thats a foul.

There was a perfect example of that in one of the games shown on the championship programme on Sunday morning. One player attempted an overhead kickat the same time as a defender tries to head the ball clear, he must have missed the defender by a whisker. The ball flies into the net - of course the referee gives a goal !

[Ozz]

As soon as the free kick was given I announced Bullard would pop it in the top corner. I was not pleased to be proved right though.

I agree with Chris Samba (who wouldn't ?), who said "I think we maybe went into it with the wrong attitude.... I think we thought it would be easy," Samba told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

That is exactly what I thought we were thinking in the first half, and even after the opening goal, it looked like the players thought that 1-0 would do. No urgency, no drive and certainly no quality. Fulham looked quite handy for a team with such dreadful form, and the No.14 with the bright orange boots (couldn't see his name on his shirt and as usual the big Jumbroton did not have the teams on for more than 10 seconds, which I'm convinced is an attempt to sell more match day programmes, well done Cletus they are listening to your drive for improving match day revenues) frightened the life out of me and apparently Zurab too every time he got the ball. Bit of pace, and we're knackered as per usual!

For me, and I don't really know much about football, we just never turned up. Exceptions were Ooijer (my MOTM), and Roberts who impresses me as an impact player more and more. Pity he couldn't do it for 90 minutes, as Benni went on holiday again on Saturday.

Can't see us getting owt at West Ham, so a top 10 is looking the best we can do, bearing in mind Aprils run of fixtures.

[Ozz]

Highlight of the day really, the two Mascots in a penalty comp. Two fictitious creations battle it out in front of an empty stand-the future of the Premiership!

Caption anyone?

[Fife Rover]

probably for me, one of thee most dissapointing performances of the season. i thought zurab was on another planet for 90 minutes. i have nothing but sympathy for samba, cause with the free kick, how else does he try and win a ball? plus he never made contact with the guys head.

Just trying to be fair and objective here: I don't think any player should ever be waving his feet around in an effort to kick the ball when it is approx 6 ft off the ground. That is heading territory, and if one player is going to head the ball and another chucks his boot at it: that is dangerous conduct and the ref is right to book him.

[AggyBlue]

Highlight of the day really, the two Mascots in a penalty comp. Two fictitious creations battle it out in front of an empty stand-the future of the Premiership!

Caption anyone?

A Question.

Why are there at least six stewards in an empty stand?

[thenodrog]

Fulham looked quite handy for a team with such dreadful form, and the No.14 with the bright orange boots (couldn't see his name on his shirt and as usual the big Jumbroton did not have the teams on for more than 10 seconds, which I'm convinced is an attempt to sell more match day programmes,

A point that I made to my mate during the second half.

[McClarky]

Highlight of the day really, the two Mascots in a penalty comp. Two fictitious creations battle it out in front of an empty stand-the future of the Premiership!

Caption anyone?

Another new marketing idea from Richard Scudamore.

or

Doubts cast over "Drug use not a problem in EPL" claim.

[RevidgeBlue]

Erm. That's a reply?

Errrm......... obviously it was, but if you want a more specific response to the post you made, no I don't accept for one minute that currently having something like the 40th largest turnover in world football consitutes anything remotely approaching "tough circumstances". Especially when you take into account the conditions under which we've had to operate over the rest of our history.

The turnover point probably being the reason why we were supposedly out scouring the continent for talent the other week. We are currently a big fish in comparison to mid range European sides.

[colin]

Just to raise this again

Given the all-pervading financial basis of the sport, coupled with the tiresome rants and whinges of managers and players, small moments of goodwill can often be obscured, so it was good to see so many Blackburn players crowd around Jimmy Bullard after the whistle. Fulham's scorer was a popular figure at Wigan and many were delighted to see him back after the knee injury that threatened his career.

The midfielder's late free-kick, after the excellent Christopher Samba had been dubiously penalised, was brilliantly struck and Rovers players were generous in appreciation, even if it cost them two points. Football is not all about greed.

Well done chaps.

[tony gale's mic]

Errrm......... obviously it was, but if you want a more specific response to the post you made, no I don't accept for one minute that currently having something like the 40th largest turnover in world football consitutes anything remotely approaching "tough circumstances". Especially when you take into account the conditions under which we've had to operate over the rest of our history.

The turnover point probably being the reason why we were supposedly out scouring the continent for talent the other week. We are currently a big fish in comparison to mid range European sides.

But we're not competing against these mid range European sides are we?!! You stick us in the Championship, our circumstances are significantly easier for the position that we're in. You say we're not as big as the big four, but look at Newcastle, Villa, Everton, Man City, Portsmouth, Spurs, West Ham, Middlesbrough and Sunderland all of whom carry more financial clout than us. Considering the only sides comparable to us financially are sides we're not in direct competition with, I'd say our circumstances are pretty tough.

[Paul Mellelieu]

Errrm......... obviously it was, but if you want a more specific response to the post you made, no I don't accept for one minute that currently having something like the 40th largest turnover in world football consitutes anything remotely approaching "tough circumstances". Especially when you take into account the conditions under which we've had to operate over the rest of our history.

The turnover point probably being the reason why we were supposedly out scouring the continent for talent the other week. We are currently a big fish in comparison to mid range European sides.

If that's the best you can do, to be honest there's no point bothering.