Fulham V. West Ham [R]

Nope, cause Andreasen is out for a game now... if not more. And unless Smertin is better than Murphy, Murphy will play.

 

It's really hard to believe the way this game and the entire season has played out. We can't seem to convert on our very few chances and our opponents seem to find a way to win or steal the points.

The refs blew two calls and of course, they both go against us. I hope they get a suspension or a fine - probably nothing. How can three officials miss both of them? I can see one slipping by with the speed of play, but both.

Lax - I don't think Stalteri played a horrible game. He had several nice runs up the right side and had a few good crosses.

 

No, I meant I was happy with his play that I hope we never see Baird on the field as RB.

 

Wait.. I dont agree Niemi did wrong, if so it was by half a step.
Replay would definitely have resulted in a no-goal. Ball to hand has never applied to goals IIRC.

His previous positioning on that point-blank, and his attack-killer by grabbing that cross across the goalmouth should account for something.

 

Agreed. As a keeper myself, I know it's tough to hold the ball when a player kicks it out of your hands.

 

Played well enough to win - Ref missed calls in both penalty areas, and all for the Hammers benefit. Other than that, I thought the Ref did well and I must admit that, at game speeds, they were tough calls to make. Still, for ALL of them to go against Fulham is harsh.

 

today

I cannot remember a year in which so many calls have gone against Fulham, I will be the first to admit they did not play well enough to win today, but nor did they play bad a enough to lose,and they way in which they lost was terrible.

You could argue that the two players got there at the same time, but 99% of the time that this happens where a keeper is involved he gets the decision, but of course not with Fulham. Then to add insult to injury the ball clearly comes off Solanos arm, the law states no goal can be scored by a players arm or hand, plain and simple handball.

We simply at to win today especially after Brums ridiculous draw, but I have to take issue with the tactics today, we play Mcbride up front with Kamara and dempsey as deep wingers, everything wanted to go thru Bullard to the extent nobody was willing to take on anyone, McBride was not given any quality balls, his strength is in the air, so why were we not pumping balls into the box, instead of working our way backwards, surely the time for defensive line ups as long passed, in games like this caution as to be thrown to the wind and we have to go for it.

We played in a defensive mode and still lost, unjustly most certainly, but one of my sayings when i coach is that referees are only human and the way you take them out of the game is by putting it beyond the reach of your opponents before they can screw it up for you, as per today, but Fulham were too timid either because of RH's tatics or because quite honestly we dont have the players to pull it off.

But I think today relegation was sealed for us, well at least if we keep most of this team we will win more games next season, although that will mean no games on TV, but lets be honest watching Fulham this year as been a chore rather than enjoyment, but we can honestly say we were robbed today.

 

RE: today

I'm actually looking forward to next season...8 more league games! These last two weeks with no games was tough.

 

Back from the game

It was so frustrating today. The ref had it in for us from the start, in my opinion the players gave it everything and many looked completely shot at the end. McBride probably should have not played the full 90 I think it was just to soon for him. Jimmy worked his socks off but got little support but most of all I can't thinking that today was the day to play 2 up front. The bottom line today was we had to win and being slightly more positive west am were there for the taking. Disappointed to see EJ come on and play on the wing!! WHY?

I am now convince we are gone and I am preparing for life in the championship. The team is improved and improving but Lawrie just left us with to much to do.

 

well it has to be said that the thread of inadequacy against West Ham had a distinctly American feel to it.Dempsey ,as always,erratic and ineffective.Every important oversight and error came from the boot of Dempsey.Mcbride-did anyone realise he was playing?(no need to wash his kit before the next game).Eddie Johnston-should have stayed back in USA-already past his best and looks inadeqate at this level of football.3 million is a lot to spend on this type of lumbering buffoon.if we cannot even beat WHU at home,i fail to see much hope in securing premiership status this year.And alas,perhaps,in the long run it is better for Fulham so can we clear decks and start all over again perhaps with a new owner.

 

RE: Back from the game

Broke my heart in two!!

I am a huge fan of Dempsey, but I was not impressed today. He did not look comfortable with the ball at all, especially in the mid-field. I was impressed with Bullard though. He has got to be one of the hardest workers in the EPL!

The next few weeks look tough. Hopefully the Whites will get some good bounces!

 

Does Woy realize that we are IN the relegation zone and trying to GET OUT of it, NOT STAY OUT??

I've had enough of him. He's shown me absolutely nothing. Yea, we're playing more "attractive" footy, but 5 goals scored and 10 conceded in 8 games?!?!? Thats not lighting a fire, thats just dressing up the pile of turd thats the club right now.

This match is it for me. We're going down and I'm not going to pay attention for the rest of the season. There's wayy too many other stressful things going on right now in my life and FFC isnt helping.

No, I'm not giving up as a fan but taking a leave of absence.

See everyone in August when we're traveling to Hull City and Blackpool.

 

Niemi was just too slow off his line and it put him in the perilous position (other than allowing the winning score, I thought he performed solid at least a couple of times - including saving the awful back pass by Hughes, who needs to leave the first XI), still, I saw shithead's arm knock the ball in from San Francisco. We're just fucked for luck. And, not only with respect to Fulham, I think the overall officiating in the league has been shit this year.

What else can I say? It's still only 4 pts...and with everything from Boro to today that has gone horribly wrong this year, I believe this club is about to make its own luck before the year's out. Damn, at least I hope so...

 

Well at least we play Man U. at home. It certainly does feel like we will be following the championship fixtures next season. No more live games on fsc for me.

 

The attack on the goalie was a foul. He went into the goalie studs up. It was OK twenty-five years ago to make a play like that, but not in the supposed modern era. Also, he hit the ball in with his elbow. Anyone who has ever officiated even a Rec Match would know that there were two fouls on the play. Also, it was not the first hand ball. Ferdinand blocked Kamara's shot inside the box with his arm in clear vision of the Linesman. West Ham survived relegation last year with the illegal Tevez transfer. Now they have three points because of officiating. Sure, Murphy should have marked better, but one defensive let down should not excuse the horrible non-call. Sky Sports was gutless about it (Fair and Balanced). Did not hear Fox Soccer Channel comment, but they are no better. To top it all off, nothing like sitting in a Pub watching it surrounded by West Ham fans. Sorry for the rant.

 

The commentary I saw on Fox blamed Murphy due to his being lazy on defense. They only said the call was hotly contested and didnt show it.

I still like (actually love) Woy and given more time I think he could make the difference. That being said, I dont agree with a lot of his decisions. Not playing two up front, like most have said, but also bringing Johnson in for Dempsey. Dempsey did miss some chances but he was still making a solid contribution in terms of possesion, creation, and defense. If Johnson was going to be brought in, he needed Dempsey in there. Isnt that a no-brainer? However, I dont think Johnson should have been brought in period. We didnt need to bring in someone who has never played a game in the primiership. Johnson looked lost and he missed a great chance.

The call was horrible and convinced me that the EPL needs a video replay rule. There is just too much at stake for team's like Fulham to not have it. It's not as if they can say "wait til next year". Our luck will change". They will probably go down for this.

 

That call was absolute BS. I mean absolute shit. Solano did 2 freaking things wrong and still got the goal. I mean you might miss one call, but fucking 2!? Oh and lets not forget the horrible calls in our pk box. 2 freaking calls go uncalled and both were legitmate and should of been called. We're going down, but this is the Premier League giving us a fuck you before we do so. I used to bitch at all the Fulham fans who said the EPL and the refs were always against this team since we came up. I'm actually joining that bandwagon as of now. This is complete shit.


As for mr. Hodgson- WE ARE IN THE BOTTOM 2, YOU STUPID IDIOT! This means play for 3 points. This means playing 2 or even 3 up front. This means putting EJ as a forward rather than a freaking winger. This means Throwing everything the teams has into every game. Get the picture mate?

 

Well if luck supposedly evens out over the course of the season, Man U will score four own goals on Saturday. Topped only by Liverpool's eight own goals a few weeks from now.

Aaaaah shit. We absolutely dominated that game for ten, fifteen minute stretches, and we did it more than once. I thought I was still watching the Arsenal game. Gorgeous passing, great build up, then...no finishing. That's prolly cause were playing a fucking 4-5-1 at home!!!!!!! 1 as in 1 attacker...and an attacker who hasn't started in quite a while.

Seriously questionable and I refuse to believe it is any one person's fault. We really did play well enough for three, let alone one, or the loss. I think we just got unlucky in this one much as we did with Hughes' own goal against Villa. Only difference is there wasn't as much time to make up for it.

As I said, if there is a Football God, McGod will net a hat trick against United only surpassed by Bullards 4 against Liverpool, and EJ's 5 against Birmingham, and Dempsey's 6 against Everton.

COYW's

 

As an alternative, since a lot of people are opposed to the very concept of video replay (don't ask me why), how about adding two more officials, each of which is solely responsible for goalmouth calls. (Yes, obviously this idea is motivated by the end of the West Ham game and the blown call in the Middlesbrough game early in the season.) That way you get the goalmouth calls right, you take some responsibility away from the linesmen so they can focus on stuff away from the end line, and there are more jobs available for people who want to go into officiating.