Fulham away to Watford..Tuesday

Short trip and quick turnaround to Vicarage Road and Watford. Will be interesting to see what Kit will do if Hugo is available. Add in the return of Matt Smith and there will be decisions that have to be made. LVC looks to be out unfortunately. As Micah pointed out on another thread the Hornets are in form and it will probably take 2 or 3 goals to get a result.

 

I enjoy the weekday games that I can flick on GJ at work.

 

I saw some comments from Watford fans who expressed concerns about Matt Smith showing up in the line-up since they felt like they were susceptible to crosses into the box that could bounce off that head of his. I thought that was an unlikely prospect given that Smith just got back, Kit doesn't make big changes often, and ditching Smith was one of the first moves he made. However with Bournemouth (a team that has fallen on hard times after dominating the first half) at home on Friday, I wonder if Kit will mix things up at Watford and save his powder for Bournemouth. Probably not. I imagine we'll see the same lineup we had after Kavanagh came in for Christensen and somehow get totally dominated with the same crew playing.

 

If Matt Smith is available I think he has to be on the bench. If we need a goal in the second half you can bring him in to change things up. It will be interesting to see how he's integrated into our style of play. He's best when players are playing crosses in from wide, but we hardly ever do that.

 

regardless of the players selected what I woukd like to begin seeing is consistent defensive performances.

 

I agree Barry.

It may be an antiquated and simplistic statement, but if your opponent doesn't score more than you, then you can't lose.

COYW

 

Looks like Parker's leg is not 100%. No Burn either.

I would've like to see Hoogland in there. Hopefully he'll get more than 10 minutes today.

So is Fofana playing CDM or is it Tunnicliffe?

 

I thought Matt Smith would return a hero... almost.

When GJ kept talking about him continually heading the ball I was thinking of this (I really wanted GJ to say Smith's head "was like an orange on a toothpick"):

 

Wasn't able to listen but from the commentary & stats, it looked like we gave as good as we got, if not better. We just couldn't finish...again.

 

Brighton moved above us in the table because they beat Derby 2-0. I don't think Derby lost two Championship games in a row before now. Apparently we've shown everyone how to take Derby down. Nuts!

Matt, except for one F&*$'ing corner kick we did seem pretty good. Stupid set pieces!

 

I've been working all afternoon and couldn't monitor the action at all. I sort of figured Parker was a no go along with LVC. Looks like they scored on (let's all say it together) their first corner of the match. Looks like we just couldn't finish, at least on paper. Was really hoping we could get a modest winning streak going after the strong effort against Derby. At least it wasn't 5-nil this time. Anxiously awaiting highlights and the replay for this one. I hope it's watchable.

 

Oh, and BURN THOSE BLOODY ORANGE SHORTS!

 

Nothing new there unfortunately. I'd be curious to see the stats on it b/c I'd bet we've been among the worst at taking & defending corners in our respective league over the last 3 years or so.

Agree Jump, it's still a mystery to me why they went with orange over red.

 

Damn Syracuse alumni.

 

The highlights:


Although GJ pleaded for a handball in the box, I think it was probably a good non-call. Wish Rodellega had chested that ball down for McCormack rather than going for the low-percentage bicycle kick.

And while we did give up the first corner, to me it seemed like more of an unfortunate bounce. Hutchinson was marking Deeney and both he and and someone else threw themselves at the ball, it just sneaked through. Betinelli probably should have gotten the ball further away, but in the end it wasn't like the defense had totally fallen asleep like they have in the past.

 

Gentleman Jim may be a great fan but he is not all that reliable for relaying what is actually happening on the pitch. I sort of like to think of him as the English version of Harry Caray.

I wish Fulham had gotten points from the match but if the defensive performances keep coming the points will too.