Rene's Renegades v Spurs

Will let's hope the squad plays with the energy and commitment required to compete in the Premier League. Huge key will be Fulham scoring first and giving the squad and almost as importantly the home supporters belief. It is time for everyone involved at the club and in the stands to pull the rope in the same direction. COYW!!!

 

The Offal likes to run happier moments from the past against upcoming opponents and this one goes back to 2006 when Boca provided the winner against Spuds 1-0. Nostalgic to read names like Simon Elliot, Michael Brown (dirtiest player I've seen in a Fulham kit), and Boa.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/decem ... ind-report


Couldn't find Boca's goal, but did find old footage of an EPL preview show w/Boca and Cookie (who is an expert) doing Fulham trivia
:bow-yellow: to Johnny Haynes.

 

The only thing renegade since Rene arrived, so far, is our unwillingness to compete. Of course that was there before he arrived too.

Spurs have struggled scoring but have been very good defensively (outside of that hiding by City). We'll probably lose 2-0. I'm still just looking for any positive signs, not as concerned with results just yet.

 

Renegades works better than Rene's Money Grabbing Quitters

Did find a goal against Spurs in a match that we all remember. Dio pulling a point out of the fire with the bike. Pretty sure a certain Duth manager was still in charge for Spuds that day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk-cckYG0XA

 

Just checked the tv schedule since there are more matches than channels for tomorrow.

Everton @ Manchester United NBC Sports Network, ch. 68 / 168 (hd)
* Everton @ Manchester United (anunciado en español)mun2, ch. 247
Hull City @ Arsenal ch. 1001 / 1006 (hd)
Manchester City @ West Bromwich Albion ch. 1002 / 1007 (hd)
Chelsea @ Sunderland ch. 1003 / 1008 (hd)
Norwich @ Liverpool ch. 1004 / 1009 (hd)
Tottenham Hotspur @ Fulham ch. 1005 / 1110 (hd)
Aston Villa @ Southampton
Newcastle United @ Swansea City
Cardiff City @ Stoke City

That's San Antonio, but if you have the Extra Time overflow channels, we're on tv. I'm surprised we were picked over Newcastle/Swans, but who's complaining.

 

Great memory (and look at all of Fulham players on the pitch when that goal was scored...whoa).

A point. One, friggin' point. Some fight, spirit, effort...COYW

 

Watched Spurs last weekend. I don't now how our defense is going to be able to deal with the speed they have. I cant see even a point, all we can hope for is some fight. Maybe they will be over confident and we can steal a goal, but have to think they will still find a way to win.

Siggurdson doesnt get enough playing time for Spurs imo. A pipe dream of mine is that we can buy him in January.

 

Since there's absolutely no reason to expect a result, let's at least hope we play hard and maybe, just maybe, we can witness the return of the previously somewhat regular occurrence of the FULHAMISH RESULT! 2-1 sound good? Which begs the question...what would you consider the most recent FULHAMISH Result? Opening day win at Sunderland? There may have been one since then, but this one popped into my mind first off. Kasami scored the only goal, if memory serves.

 

I've been looking forward to the Spurs match all season, I guess after us taking all 3 points at WHL last year. But I'm feeling a good showing today for us.

 

:crying-yellow: :crying-yellow: :crying-yellow: :crying-yellow:

It was poised to be so much more...more than zero points. GJ sounded enthused about the play, so maybe things are on the upswing.

 

I thought they played really well. Worked hard, made runs, and had a lot more width. I don't know what Jol was trying to do but the boys actually played soccer today

 

Who were those guys? That was a different team than we've seen in a long time.

I only hope that Rene helps push the boys through the disappointment of not getting a result. Because, if we continue to play like that, I think we'll be just fine.

 

Sounds like there were a ton of positives to take out of a disappointing result. Only saw the goals, but if Berba brings that level of commitment consistently he still has the talent to carry the club. Heartbreaking to lose on two wonder strikes from a defender through a sea of legs, and by a halftime sub in Holtby.

 

The effort and workrate were much improved. How much of that is a result of the infamous "new manager bounce" and how much is sustainable remains to be seen. But seeing it at all is a welcome relief. We were watchable again, and it was great.

I thought the team showed more positive progress than I was expecting. First off, we looked like we had a plan and players knew where to go and what to do with the ball. RM was on the touchline giving instruction just about every time the camera showed him. Off ball movement on offense, especially among the 3 attack mids (Kaca, Kasami & Dejagah) was much better. We got the fullbacks forward more for width which put more bodies in the box. And we started to see a rekindling of the Dejagah/Riether partnership that was so effective last year. Moving the ball up the wings took a lot of pressure off the cm's of having to create too much offense and allowed them to do so without getting too far forward. Karagounis in particular did a good job in that role. Of the cm options, he has the best range of passing, is better at set pc delivery and has a good shot from distance. He was especially good at changing the point of attack with well placed, long range passes to the wings out wide. We outcrossed Tottenham 32-17. And most telling, we put more shots on target last night then we had in the 3 previous matches combined (6-4).

Defensively, we were more disciplined and didn't leave ourselves exposed like we had under Jol. I'd had doubts about Parker's defensive abilities, but he looked a lot better in the holding role. Maybe he was having to cover too much ground, as Sean Davis had suggested. We protected the back four and Kasami did a good job dropping back on the defensive end to help cover Kara/Parker. I liked the pressure our midfield put on the ball after it crossed into our end with the 4-1-4-1 shape we were using on defense. It's easy to point at the fact that we shipped 2 after Karagounis came off and to blame the Sidwell/Parker combo. There is probably some truth in that. But we also benefitted by Spurs starting the game with 3 defensive minded mids in the cm spots. Paulinho is the most attacking of that 3 and started as the #10, but they struggled to string any passes together in the first half and made our job defending a lot easier. Once Holtby came on for Capuoue (after HT) and Paulinho moved back to cdm, we were under more pressure. After they lifted Sandro for another AM in Chadli, they scored 2 goals in just 13 minutes. We afforded them more possession and chances in the 2nd half when we dropped off. I wonder how much of that was us defending a lead and how much was a result of Spurs taking a more attack oriented approach? Either way, I can see why RM said we need some additions. There are some concerns to take away from the match on the defensive end. While we matched the opposition on shots and chances, we still lost the possession battle 60/40. That has to change.

And then there's Berbatov. Had we been playing like this all season and he'd been engaged like he was yesterday all season, his finishing touch would have been much better and we may well have taken all 3 points. If we can get that Berbatov every match, I'd love for him to stay. I don't even remember him chastising any teammates and he even registered 2 tackles and 2 interceptions on the defensive end. However, I didn't like the crap his agent pulled on Sky the day of the match. I don't trust him not to check out when times get tough and I don't trust that he's up for a relegation fight. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens there. RM said he didn't think Berbatov was going anywhere in January. If he's off, we'll need to bring someone in b/c I don't see Bent fitting into the style of play we saw yesterday. I can see Hugo getting more time and being effective once healthy, but we'll need more goals from the attack mids for that to work.

MOTM - I AM Iranman. Ashkan Dejagah got his first Fulham goal last night and was a much need spark on the right. But he only narrowly edges out every other starter. There were good performances all the way around last night. The subs were the only area I found disappointing.

Felt good to chant KILL, KILL, KILL again in the chat room and to believe again. That's the first Fulham match I've enjoyed in a long time. I'm also looking forward to our next match for the first time in a long time as well. If we play like that the rest of the way, I don't see us going down. COYW's!!!