Fulham v Blackburn--Kit's first match in charge

Considering there was a match Wed. evening, it isn't like Kit has had much time with the squad at Motspur. However, I would expect the energy level of both the team and the supporters to be really high. Going with a long overdue win...as long as there isn't brain-cramp defending in the final 15 minutes of the match.

 

Whatever happens, I'm just excited to feel optimistic again and will be in the chat room listening to GJ. Doesn't appear there's a BeIN Sport option either on tv or Connect.

 

Agree with Matt, at the least, there is a breath of optimism with the club now. COYW, let's start the climb Saturday.

 

No idea what to expect. Therefore no let down.

I'm giving it a wait and see. Not sure how long I'll wait as there is sure to be some variability with mid-week matches the next two weeks.

I'm hoping for a win tomorrow but think a draw is more likely.

 

Set no, but more consistent, yes. I would like to see us settle on one gk for a spell & preferably not Kiraly.

 

The lineup summarized in one word - Ruiz!

The rest:
Bettinelli
Hoogland, Hutchinson, Burn, Amorebieta
Christensen, Parker, Stafylidis
Ruiz, Rodallega, McCormack

Bench: Kiraly, Bodurov, Kavanagh, Roberts, Williams, Hyndman, Dembele

That seems to be a more offensively oriented lineup than we've seen before.

 

And the undefeated keeper!

 

And, bloody hell, it IS a Bryan Ruiz sighting!
COME IN KIT!
and...........
COME! ON! YOU! WHITES!!!!!!

 

Yes, it could have, but it didn't.
Hindsight being 20/20, might have been better to start the guys that started at Brentford and then maybe bring Ruiz on. We're certainly getting no favors from the obviously less talented Championship level refs, so I think there's a mental adjustment that must be made. That is, we're going to have to play as if they're going to screw us. Every game. On every play. Play through fouls, while not committing as many ourselves. Easier said than done, I know, but we can't give 'em a 50-50 chance to pull the red card instead of the yellow one out of their pockets. Because it appears we're not gonna get the benefit of the doubt as a newly relegated side.
There's really no way of knowing for sure if the sending off was the difference. Was it? Probably. But we didn't concede until afterwards, and we had halftime and 49 minutes to figure it out. We didn't, which shouldn't surprise anyone. A reeling team with a new man in charge for, what 48 hours leading up to kickoff?
The good news? Our fortunes have to turn around at some point. The fuehrer is gone and I know from experience with such scenarios that everybody associated directly with the first team is breathing a collective sigh of relief. But we don't have time to be relieved. We've got to start getting results, especially at home, and this was another three points lost. Doubtful we'll recoup them on the return visit to Lancashire.
Other teams find ways to score when shorthanded. Why not us? That was as disappointing as anything about today, especially after managing three at the league leaders last time. I thought we were decent defensively today, but the offense didn't blow up my skirt at all. The fact that Kit was a defender in his playing days gives me hope that we'll improve there, but you can't win if you don't score. And we don't look like a side capable of scoring much. Yet.

 

My bad. We had 34 minutes to equalize. But you get my point. I hope.

 

I was sick as a dog yesterday so I didn't get to watch or listen to this one. But Don, it's a bit too early to be drawing that conclusion. I've been critical about Fulham's ability to build a squad suited to today's game (way too little emphasis on midfield, not enough emphasis on pace at fb), so I won't be surprised if you wind up being correct, but one match 48 hours after the new man was appointed is too soon to say.

As for the Forest match, I'd say the determination and control had a lot more to do with a team letting off the gas after jumping out to a very fast, very easy 2-0 lead and our feeling of being aggrieved by that dubious penalty call. Of course, if you're going to play the other 30 minutes the way we did, it really matters little how we played that hour at Forest.

I would point out that at least this time after going down to 10 men, we fought back and had a chance to nick a draw, as opposed to rolling over like we did last time. Of course, from what I've read Blackburn is the worst team we've faced so far too, so that's probably a factor as well. The next 4 matches should give us a good idea about where this season can/will go.