Fulham v Wigan on Friday

I knew it was too early when we scored the second. No way were we going to hold them off for another 45 minutes.

Good news is we got a point and kept Wigan from gaining on us in the table. Better news is Rotherham and Milwall lost today. We're 9 points clear with 12 points left on the board.

 

His explaination, which kind of makes sense.

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-explains-subbed-both-9023311

 

Of course it makes sense. The only criticism we had in the chat room was the timing of the Smith sub. Listening to GJ, it sounded like he & Ross were putting them under a lot of pressure so we were thinking he should wait for them to cool off first. Heather was following some people tweeting from the game who said he looked exhausted though. We still led when Smith came off.

Then Wigan level & 4 minutes later he brings Ruiz on for Kavanagh. We had been able to create a couple of chances for Sean that he was unable to finish, so he puts Ruiz central & moves our best goal threat into that spot. While Ross out wide hasn't had the best results at times, in this instance it made sense and was a positive move that shows we're playing for the win.

Once 90 minutes passed and we didn't get it, we settled for the draw. We didn't need a win. We needed a point. Wigan needed a win. So subbing Ross to protect the point with 90 seconds left was the right play.

From reading the comments of the ignorant bar stewards who sang when Ross was subbed & booed at the end (or support those that did), the most common sentiment was "we shouldn't settle for the draw at home against the team 2nd bottom in the table." There are plenty of axioms in football that are repeated so often that fans take them as gospel without looking at the many possible logic flaws in the statement. This is one of them.

The other reason given was that Wigan had barely put us under pressure from open play and we were more likely to score. Given our finishing of late, I question the latter part of that. As for the first part, that doesn't make them incapable of hitting us on the counter and doing it once. It also ignores the fact that they could hit us on the counter and win a set piece, in which case our odds of losing go up exponentially.

Don had it right in the Mick McCarthy thread.

 

I've only supported this club for just short of a decade. Thus, don't shoot me for calling out the supporters at Craven Cottage, but I'll gladly fight all of them that sang such shit-ass chants.
However, the term "spoiled brat" comes to mind when any fan chants such bull$hit at the manager and players. Frustration is inevitable, especially since Fulham seems to be a ship cast about at sea for approx 18 months, but I don't think the players are "tanking." Or that Kit, a longstanding servant of the club, is purposely putting the club in danger of another relegation. To put it bluntly, pull your collectively heads out of your asses, home support, and realize this is a club that is struggling to find it's feet, has not jelled together, and has experienced nearly two years of upheaval. Damn. COYW.