Fulham Bounced from FA Cup by Leyton Orient

I know Fulham has a number of injuries right now, but the 2-1 loss to League 2 side Leyton Orient in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup was unacceptable. I am not happy with this result at all. We obviously need to get some injured players back before Newcastle pays a visit to the Cottage next week.

 

So Fulham is the only Premireship Club Bounced???

In round three???

Horrible, just Horrible.

Not a single American on the pitch with McBride out as well.

What is the Manager Thinking?? A 4-5-1 against a hungry lower division team???

Oh well some good signings I guess will make up for it, and they'd better win with Newcastle or things are going to start smelling up the cottage over there.

On the brighter side there's always next year...

Excuse me while I go bury my head in the sand.

P.S. I won't be watching the Fox Soccer Premiership Review tonight...

 

Pathetic. An embaressment. The players should be ashamed of themselves. we are gonna need more than a decent goalkeeper to make sure we stay up this season.

 

From what I have read, Simon Elliott did not have the best of debuts for Fulham. In addition, I know we have a major injury crisis right now, but Ian Pearce has no business getting in a game. If Alain Goma can come on as a sub in the 86th minute, there is no reason he should not have been in there from the start. Ian Pearce stinks!

 

Oh well... consider this:

Since Elliot figured so prominently in the match results/recaps, it's clear he is not Fulhamish!

Here's a lesson, Simon...

"If you feel you're not quite up to it, do what all the old boyz do.... Hide!"

I really cant believe some of the comments on the offal.... it's like those guys have ONLY watched Fulham or the big four, and ONLY for a few games. :twisted:

 

One man doesn't make A Team, this whole team takes the blame for this defeat. lets face it were are S@#t.
Were not good enough and the players should be told pull your socks UP or your out.

 

heh... so true.

If Goma/Boca were in the back, and papa plus HH were playing, might have been close as well, but the attack would have had much more of a bite.
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Comments now coming in from attendees.. still mixed.

But I have to add a question:

Why was a 'new boy' getting so many touches on the ball?

Not that I'm defending Elliot, the ONE thing he should be able to bring in is control of the ball... the easiest thing to teach young ones is how to 'dis-possess', and even MLS reserves give a seminar on that to better teams that come in for friendlies... and he should have been able to prevent that.. at least, not given up the ball two possessions in a row.

 

cup

You can make any excuses you want, but to lose to a second division team at home is just unforgivable, I have seen over the years lots of cup upsets, I was at Old Trafford when a upstart Watford team took on the mighty reds, and did the unthinkable scored inside two minutes, the great players of Man U stormed the Watford goal for the rest of the game and were lucky to get the equalizer, but they did go all out, by all accounts we only managed 1 shot on target in the whole of the first bloody half, compared to the O's 6. We are the only premier team not in the hat tomorrow, are we the only team that thinks its better to get knocked out and concentrate on our league placing. I could talk on and on about this but to get beat is one thing to get beat in the manner we did is something else, our season is over, there is nothing to play for now, and please dont tell me our time in the premiership, I would agree with that if I felt that the club was looking forward to building a team for the future but by its own actions it is not showing that, CC said today he is not blaming the keeper or defenders, if so why does he spend 1 million of obviously limited funds on another keeper who is 33, he raids the MLS good, there are a lot of quality players there, but no disrespect to Mr Elliott but he is 31, these are not actions of a team building for the future it is of a manager and a club just happy to keep the status quo, and if losing to a second division team in the 3rd round of the cup is part of their plan, then I fear for the clubs future.

 

I completely disagree with this. The FA Cup is possibly the most prestigious domestic trophy in Emglamd and Fulham's brightest moment in its' history came in 1975 when they made the final of this great competition against West Ham, losing 2-1.

While we did have injuries and such in the team, getting knocked out of this competition is not good at all for the club. In terms of players wanting to possibly come here, it makes the club look bad and it also leaves the supporters void of any hope at achieving the impossible and winning the Cup.

It just goes to show once again the lack of depth we really have at this club. Most other Premiership teams are able to field second string squads and easily defeat smaller clubs from lower divisions. However, unless we have our first team, we struggle against most all teams no matter what division. Unless Big Mo injects a healthy amount of cash into the club, it will be the same story year in and year out with Fulham.

Injuries are going to happen, that is part of the game. However, the club should be better suited to field teams when players are injured. I really, really hope this loss helps the players learn a lesson and they can respond positively rather than letting the season go down the toilet.

Unlike Atlanta John, I do not think the season is over. In fact, there is a long way to go. This loss hurts a lot, but there is still an opportunity to finish strong in the league. We have to hope our injured players return soon and that we can get some fresh, new faces in this month as well.

All is not lost, but it is a sad day for Fulham supporters with this loss.

 

today

I agree there is a long way to go til the end of the season, my point was that all we have to look forward to now is our annual relegation dog fight. Fulham have been in the top division now for 5 seasons, and you surely mark success on where you were when you came into the division and where you are now, to steal a phrase from the past are you better off now than you were then. Yes we put a weakened team out there today, but how weak, if you are a member of a premier squad, you should be able to deal with a team thats well below you, and how many of those players in a Fulham shirt today might not expect to be in the first team squad, Radz, Knight, Rosenoir, Boa, Warner, Leggy, CJ, Goma. Pearce Jensen and elrich were all bought for cover, you cannot blame Elliott who must wonder what the hell he as got himslef into. But if you buy players for cover that should mean they can play at that level otherwise why do you buy them, so if you bring in Papa, Steed, McBride and Volz, that leaves 7 other spots, dont say HH CC did not play him until he was forced to, so today against second division players we had nearly 70% of our first team squad out there, and we not only got beat we were outplayed according to every report I have read. Having followed this club for 50 years, I can tell you this one hurts, and only hope the players feel the same hurt that us fans do, because whether you are chasing a Euro spot or fighting relegation if you are a professional footballer losing to players in a lower division should hurt your pride.

 

Injuries have rattled this team in the last month, but outside of that month, injuries have not been a major problem this season. To say a loss in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup to a minnow in the 2nd Division is a good thing is just plain wrong.

In addition, what we all do not know is how this loss will affect the team's morale and their approach to league games. Yes, you are right in the fact that we will now be able to focus only on league matches, but this loss is devastating to the supporters and I would hope and assume the players and coaches as well.

Fulham has had success in the FA Cup the last five or six seasons with a small, thin squad. That has not hurt their league status at all. Thus, I do not agree with that argument.

 

Wait a minute... A little too much drama , here.

What is a "Conference side"? And why wouldnt ManU, playing Saha 90 minutes and Rooney 32, be able to score against them?

Like I said, even if it were played underwater.
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And ELVIS HAMMOND! sparking Leicester?

Yeah, I agree it shouldnt have been a throwaway as it seemed to be... but I've seen too much sports where the 'better' team didnt have the incentive... or didnt think they needed it.

And THAT I believe is what roused CC's ire, and I think it was primarily directed at Elrich... color him gone.

 

leyton O

That is the whole trouble to many non premier players in the squad, who gets the blame for that, I am sorry to say it falls squarley on management, all we have seen as Fulham fans in the five years that we have been in the top tier is a sell off of our quality players, the players who replaced them have been of a lot less quality, with one or two exceptions. CC did not want to lose Saha a front line with Mcbride and him would have been a joy to watch, losing VDS was obviously a big blow as the team as struggled in that area all year and still seems to not know what direction to take, this new guy if he comes makes 5 keepers. Then you ask yourself why dont players want to come to this team, yes we are Fulham that little club on the Thames but players seem to want to go to other teams struggling, if you read the BBC news web site and hit the gossip column you very rarely see Fulham mentioned, and if they are its usually because some club as been interested in one of our stars, I like CC and think he will make a top manager one day but the reality is quality players just dont want to come to the cottage, and CC with limited funds as to rely on getting sub standard players or players over the hill, Mr Elliott might be a good player but going from the MLS to face the likes of Terry or Ferdinand or competing in midfield with a Lampard is over the heads of a lot better quality players than him. This game for me is the culmination of a lot of major problems with Fulham Football club right now, they appear to have lost their way, to many signings of dubious or downright bad judgement have led us to this, and you have to ask yourself where do they go from here, even if they survive and quite hoinestly looking at the rest of the season I am becoming increasingly pessimistic about their chances, but what then, is the clubs only ambition year in year out to avoid relegation, if it is then surely we as fans can ask for at least a little more commitment from them in the competetions where we might have a shot namely this season the Cup, yes the players are to blame on the field but who in their right mind when you are playing at home against a much lower team can start with a defensive set up like 4-5-1 is beyond me, it tells the other team we are scared and it says to the guys who paid to watch it, we are not here to entertain you we are here to squeeze out a result, and for me that is an insult to any Fulham fan.

 

RE: leyton O

We're not the first team to get mugged in the FA Cup, this season or any other - and we won't be the last.
Orient wanted it and played out of their skins. They deserved their win because we had too many players who thought they could coast it. They were wrong. It's all very well for Coleman to take a 'dig' at certain players but the buck stops with him, and a bunch of over-paid, decidedly average players (with a few exceptions) who are no better or worse, than a great deal of other collectives in the premiership. Sorry guys and gals but that's Fulham; the outrageous, the mind-boggling and the downright inexplainable, it goes with the territory. Welcome to the club.........

nb to Tom. It was 2-0 to the Hammers in 1975. Unfortunately for GK Peter Mellor, the final will always be remembered for his open legs, rather than the focus being on his outstanding performances in the marathon that got us there. I've still got my ticket stub..........

 

Re: RE: leyton O

I typed up a post then closed it by accident. In summary, I know getting upset by a League Two team is terrible, but why haven't the Spurs been getting their fair share of the negative press after the Leicester upset? Leicester is a point from relegation themselves. I see it as a pretty big deal.

 

RE: Re: RE: leyton O

AGAIN, .......to say nothing of what blistering invective should have been directed at Saha and Rooney about being unable to score against semi-pro's!