Fulham v Stoke

Finally!! Stoke City is never an opponent you get excited about playing, but given the layoff, the standings, and the fixture list this is a MASSIVE game. The Potters are sitting in 10th on 33 points, Fulham is 4 points behind in 12th, but more importantly 6 points ahead of Reading which is in 18th. A win and the pressure is further relieved and the goal of finishing in the Top 10 is back on track. Frankly, don't even want to consider the flip side of the coin. 2-0 to the Mighty Whites, Berba and Hugo to find the back of the net.

 

I don't see us shutting anyone out at this point, not even Stoke at home, so I'll just say 2-1 good guys and hope we take care of bidness. Anybody heard anything about Shea? Don't know if we'll see him or not.

 

:angry-banghead: Didn't pay attention to the start time until HD mentioned it, which means that it must be the ESPN2 match.

 

Still no Diarra but Riether is expected to be back in the line-up. Stoke is saying Shea is a possible sub appearance.

Hope you all get to bed early on Friday night (Heather, just slip the little one some Benedryl ) and COYWs

 

You are correct Maureen, it appears he will travel and be named to the bench. Same article says Jerome picked up a knock in a practice with Scunthorpe, and may be a question mark, although right now it looks as if he will play. Would help us immensely if he didn't.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/...ncluded-in-stoke-squad-for-fulham-trip-022113

 

I usually don't get in on guessing scores but I am also thinking 2-1 good guys for this one.

 

Jol's preview of Stoke. He is very diplomatic about the Potters style of play :roll: translation: 'I hate their route one style and they are a pain in the arse to play'. His final quote is about Simon Davies, and all us DIgger fans probably will only get a cameo at the end of the season.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/febru ... ke-preview

 

Nervy win today, but a solid performance for many. Super 3 points right when we needed them.

 

Important points. Feel somewhat better about staying up now, although we're certainly not out of the woods quite yet. Lot's of work to do yet, hopefully this is the start of some more consistent performances and efforts. And a clean sheet! Seems forever since we've had one of those!

 

A moment of magic from Berba and with the help of a poorly taken penalty it's :banana-linedance: time.

Sky Sports gave Shea a 7 (out of 10) for his debut, even though it looked like he has long way to go. The fact he got into a match this early says he's made a good first impression on the training ground.

 

Berbatov's goal was pretty damn good.

How did N'Zonzi not get a red card?

 

Finally watched the DVR (had a rare night out Friday night and was out of commission on boyfriend duties most of the day on Saturday) and although it was nervy, thought it was a great team performance. Excellent strike by Berba, probably his best goal for us. Our fullbacks and wings absolutely ate them alive- it seemed Riise or Reither were either taking or creating chances half of the match. Except for the careless penalty giveaway, a really solid match for Dejagah and Duff was his usual self. Hangeland looked pretty good too, glad to see him back in some kind of form. It wasn't the best penalty shot by Walters, but still a good save from the Aussie. Overall, a nice team game against a team that's very physical and tough to play. I take some issue with people saying Stoke is a "dirty" team, they walk a fine line, but mostly just come off as tough to me, that said, N'Zoni slapping Ruiz in the face was totally uncalled for and he should've been sent off. We've looked in good form- we've earned 7 points from our last four matches (and the one we didn't earn points from was a narrow defeat at Old Trafford where we actually looked decent) . With QPR and Reading at Home left and three or four matches left that getting a point from isn't out of the question, I think we can put the relegation murmurs to bed.

~ Steve

 

Happy for the much needed three points. I thought pretty much everyone had a good or decent game so it appears the team is back on the right track. Having Reither back was key, I thought he was probably the best player out there, after Berba obviously. However, I wish I felt as comfy as the rest of you about the relegation picture but I do not. We only have two easy home matches left - Reading and QPR. Unfortunately, I dont see the latter as being easy since QPR will be fighting for their lives. We will need some away results.

As far as N'Zoni slapping Ruiz, I think it would have been harsh to send him off in the end. He was playing with a broken nose compliments of Berba's elbow.

 

Highlights from the Offal. Berbatov's goal was the #3 entry on ESPN weekend's Top 10 plays. Wasn't paying attention at the beginning of the match and didn't realize Walters had an easy pass for a tap in around the 6 minute mark for Stoke, but went for the shot instead. N'Zoni should have gotten a red card, he literally attempted to hit Ruiz. Lukcy for him the ref didn't see his face when he did it or he would have gotten run for sure.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/febru ... highlights

 

I am feeling like the grumpy old man of the message board. I was happy to see the dominance in possession and thrilled with the three points but Fulham have to figure out how to put more shots on goal. With all the shots taken and all of the possession at the end of the match Fulham only managed one more shot on goal than Stoke. With only great thanks to Mark Schwarzer and a sublime Berbatov shot did Fulham walk away with more than a point or any points at all from a match that it felt as if they should have won going away. If not putting shots on goal was a one-off or two-off problem I would not be so concerned about it but how many more times is Karagounis or Berbatov going to pull a game saving shot out their bag this season? Fulham have a hot and cold run down the stretch with some matches against very beatable squads and some matches that they should on paper lose. If nothing else I think the squad will point their way to safety but I could see how it could get ugly if somebody besides Berbatov does not start kicking the ball at the oppenents net. One pointers against the teams we are supposed to beat will only put us on 37 if we lose to the teams that are supposed to beat us and three of those one pointers are on the road.

 

Here is a shocker :roll: . Huth charged with violent conduct against Senderos and N'Zoni warned. Huth is looking at a 3 match ban.

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/13552 ... ct?cc=5901

 

According to CNNSI Huth has been banned for three matches.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2013/s ... index.html