Fulham @ West Ham [R]

My shirt also may its way to the laundry. It will be the first time washing it since getting it Christmas day from the wife.

 

My excuse is I am, still....to this moment, emulating a single father of two this weekend, my wife had to go see her mother this weekend and left me with the kids. I would not have been able to be a Dad and all the morning things like breakfast, showers, get ready for Church, say I love you,etc. all that sort a thing if I had been watching the game live and typing my computer.

I'm sure the room was going good until the penalty kick.

One thing: Was Konch's goal the most wicked authoritative goal you ever saw?

 

Come on man get your yourself together. I did all that and only missed the last five minutes of the match. However, if you had to miss one you choose wisely. We played an ugly match.

 

I know dude. My single Dad game is not well practiced so my overall efficiency is about a '4'. I didn't plan well as Saturday was 'tough' ride day, go to the park day, make lunch and dinner, do the dishes, clean the house....blah, blah, blah, blah......kids wanted to sleep with me since their Mom was gone so they tossed and turned, kicked me, woke me up, etc,, so I was pretty 'knackered' as our friends across the pond say. We had a good weekend though except the blooming game.

Let's get em next week!

 

5.30am! You're havin a laugh :3d laughing:

I was bummed as anyone when I woke up and looked up the score though :x

 

Okay, I only watched the game on a 3 x 3 screen and half the time I was answering my kids' questions, reading chat room stuff about the wiggles, or saying "hi" to BarryP 50 times, but from what I did watch I agree with Ridgerider. I thought Spam played at a wicked pace today. The Fulham blunders were in part due to what West Ham threw at us. We got our butts kicked and Obama's boys totally deserved the win.

 

It wasn't the left coasters' fault for the loss today, as West Ham had 14 players on the pitch. Yes, they did. I counted them.

 

I thought we looked rusty. I don't know if it was the unexpected week off or the 9 game unbeaten run, whatever the case, WestHam played at another speed and a number of our guys didn't have their heads in the game. Our ball control was terrible as well. Saw a lot of passes bouncing off of our guys, resulting in lost momentum or turnovers. Sloppy on all counts.

All that said, not a bad problem to have. We did it on the road against an opponent who has had our number and the problems are should be easily corrected. I think this match exposed that Roy might want to consider looking at another (more offensive) option in place of Bullard should he miss more time. Etuhu and Murphy are redundant.

While I'd have liked a result, I'm not all that saddened to hear Don's shirt will be laundered since I'll be sitting next to him for the Sunderland match.

 

Sorry I was not int he chat room. I don't have Setanta, so I was at Summers, where they don't have free wireless.

The bottom line is that we did not play well. The main points of discussion have been the three plays that directly led to goals. I'm much more concerned about the lack of serious goal chances.

That said, every sports team has one of those days where the team is flat and they run into a determined opponent, so the worst thing we can do is overreact. I recall a certain pointy-football team losing 47-7 a few weeks ago who did not let that loss ruin their season.

Just don't let it happen too often!

 

Look 'West ham' up in the dictionary and what will you find? 'Fulham's bogey team'.

If you take the events over 2 matches vs them this season and you will find an amazing amount of blunders, bad luck, craziness, hoohaa, etc. In the first 5 minutes you could see we weren't at the paces and we paid for several bad, bad errors.

Only bright spot is Konchesky's goal...WOW!

 

Where did this performance come from? It was a total lack of communication, confidence, awareness - you name it.

Horrible!

Anyone think we want to get rid of Bullard? This is exactly how we were playing before he and McBride returned from injury. I am telling you that we are not a team without him running his motor at everyone.

Poor Pantsil. I am not sure what they West Ham fans were chanting, but he was getting it... He deserved it, but still - demoralizing.

Pantsil, Pantsil, (Something Something Something) Pantsil, Pantsil, Pantsil.

 

Amen, brother! Speak it!!!

 

I think Roy had it right in his post-match interview (on bbcnews.com): if we're going to make these mistakes, better all at once to get them out of the way.

We were perhaps getting complacent with our run of form; this loss is just the kick in the pants our boys needed.

 

Sorry Jens but I think you have gone a bit over the top. I do not want to see Jimmy leave. I think we are a better squad with him in the middle than without him and I have yet to be impressed by Etuhu. However, this was only one match. I agree that it was an incredibly poorly played match but it is not the run of poor form that we showed for extended streches last season. Lets not throw all the toys out of the pram over one poor performance after two weeks off.

 

Hatter taking a jab at Arsenal? Fine by me.

I would agree with you Barry that Fulham are better with him, but I disagree that we only have one match to base this on... we were crap in the match when Bullard went out as well.

So lets see...

Bullard injured with his knee... We were Crap.

He comes back - we perform the great escape with him playing a keystone role.

Bullard in the starting 11 for all of this season - a run of form that we have not seen in what - 4 years?

Bullard out of the starting 11 - we play poorly, make stupid mistakes, lack communication and awareness.

Hmmmm...

Since you like mental imagery, think of a baby in a 'pram' who tossed its toys out in favor of doing basic math in an effort to draw simple logical conclusions.

All I am saying is that we cannot lose Bullard - Not for any amount of money in the middle of the season. His leadership and personality are essential to the success of the club.

Over the summer - fine. Bring in someone else and build a new team dynamic - but not now.

You are correct - it is only one match, but this is not a fact that calms my heart. Fulham may be sitting in 10th with 2 games in hand - but they are only 5 points out of the rock bottom of the table.

They have taken 5 points out of a possible 27 on the road, and we have to face Man Utd away (Also home btw), Arsenal away, Chelsea away.

A few matches like this one against West Ham and all hell could break loose. Fulham does not have 4-6+ matches for another player to get settled.

 

Jensers. We played just fine the last 2 games without Jimmy. I think that, with time, Etuhu/Murphy can be as effective as Bullard/Murphy - the latter just needs to fully adjust his game to having a more defensive minded player alongside him.

That's not to say that I want to lose Jimmy, but he is hardly the bellweather for our performances.

 

Wow - I am shocked at how quickly you seem to forget that without him we would be trying to find coverage of CCC matches this season.

Just fine? Just fine you say?

I tell you Bullard is the Heart of this squad - full stop. If he is out - mark my words - prepare yourself, because the club will be pulled into the relegation battle.