Fulham vs. Charlton

Important to bounce back with an improved performance against a side that's very beatable. Charlton have lost 3 in a row after a promising start to the season and will be looking to get back on track. Looks like we'll be without Cairney and Fredericks. I'm hoping we bring in Richards and LVC.



This one is also listed for broadcast on Sky, so I'm hopeful we can watch it somewhere.

 

Charlton dropping 5 of last 6 and winless in 7? FFC on the ol road. 2-1 with the good guys.

 

Heather put the * in the shooting star or blowing out the birthday candle category. You can't say out loud (no matter the font size) your true intentions. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but if things go array at The Valley it might just be down to your reverse-reverse cosmic karma psychology

 

According Kit, Richards and Garbutt are available for Charlton.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/october/02/team-news

 

On paper, a game we should win. In reality? Who the hell knows? It will help if we keep all 11 playing for the entirety of the match. Would still like to see us do better in both short handed and man advantage situations. Has not been a strength in recent seasons...or, hell, FOREVER. It's sounding trite, but seems true: as Ross McCormack goes, so goes Fulham, at least for the foreseeable future. Oh, and we're gonna be hard pressed to keep Moussa Dembele Two for very long. Kid's got the goods big teams look for, and will make us an offer we can't refuse. The only variable is time. In the meantime, it'll be interesting to see what Mr. Garbutt brings to the side, IF he sees the pitch at all for this one.

 

The reason you can't get a handle on how we'll perform is because (imo) we almost never dictate matches. If teams give us space to play, we'll win. If they take the game to us, press & score early, we'll lose. If they can't convert their press into 1st half goals or can't sustain pressure for more than 45 minutes, any result is on the table.

So who wins? That's up to Charlton. Form would suggest we will but that same form makes turning things around big for them. I think Don is right & we're probably looking at a draw. I'll go with 2-2 though.

 

I do miss Olbermann doing sports only. "...if you're scoring at home, or even if you're alone..." I think you're spot on Matt. We don't dictate squat.

 

Lineup:
Lonergan
Richards, Stearman, Ream, Husband
Christensen, Tunnicliffe, O'Hara, Pringle
McCormack (c), Dembele.

Subs: Lewis, Fredericks, Burn, Garbutt, Mattila, Kacaniklic, Woodrow

No surprises given the forced changes. Garbutt makes an appearance on the bench, I'd like to get the chance to see him on the field.

 

Managed to wake up with that 'oh no didn't set the dvr' moment and tuned in at the 88th minute..ugh. With a minute left in stoppage can someone (not sure who tried the too late close out) be freaking aware that a Charlton player is running absolutely free at the back post, two points gone.

 

Just finished watching the game and I'm tuning up my voice to join that chorus. It's the same issues we've had for the entire Symons tenure. Can't defend set pieces and can't kill off a game. We had sooooo much more talent than Charlton. There no way we should draw that game from 2-0 up.

 

Same old shite no matter who plays. I'm so sick of set piece defense & our weakness against aerial balls in the box in general.

Kudos to Kit for using his subs at appropriate times (60, 75 & 89) since I constantly rag on him for it. Not sure I liked sticking a young player like Garbutt out of position on his debut, but up 2-0 and given the other options, I get it.

The announcers seemed really interested in that fan sofa. Can't see the appeal though if it's raining.

 

Some highlights -> http://www.socceryou.com/en/highlight.php?competition=9&video=26413&match=91438

 

The Pie Pundit is back! Here's his review of the Charlton game and pie:
https://thepiepundit.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/charlton-3rd-october-2015/

Hopefully he made it to today's Bristol match and he can be a little more cheerful in his next post.