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Post by andyl on Feb 10, 2015 15:09:07 GMT
Day of the game and no thread yet... I'm here. Wondered whether to bring boots with all the tales of woe!
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Post by davidm on Feb 10, 2015 15:20:21 GMT
Day of the game and no thread yet... I'm here. Wondered whether to bring boots with all the tales of woe! Hi Andy, I'm worried about this one. Traditionally, matches at home to Fulham are dour (how many 0-0s have we had?). Our injuries will catch up with us one day but lets hope that the loanees can shine. Hopeful for a much needed win but fearful of a 0-0. |
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Post by andyl on Feb 10, 2015 16:07:59 GMT
I was at Fulham earlier in the season. It has to be better than that!
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Post by realtrottersforever on Feb 10, 2015 16:57:33 GMT
I am also worried about this one, and fear our injuries have already caught up with us. Hopefully Danns will be back (I assuming he only had a 1 match ban following 2 yellows), Trotter will not be missed.
Feeney, unfortunately, will have to play, WHEN WILL HE ACTUALLY GROW A PAIR, AND TAKE A DEFENDER ON FOR ONCE. How Lennon expects him to do any tackling back to cover the right back position, when he won't take anyone on when he has the ball at his own feet, never mind when it's at the opposition's feet, I will never know. He and Trotter are two of DF's signing we could definitely do without, never understood why he signed them, don't know why we still have them.
Dependent on which back 4/3 he plays I might go for an optimistic 1-0 to us, but am thinking it's more likely to be a 0-0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2015 18:25:02 GMT
I am hoping for a win just to settle us down a bit but as others have said could be 0-0 again.
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Post by riochforthereebok on Feb 10, 2015 18:30:03 GMT
One nil
To the Wanderers...
COYWM
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Post by socalwanderers on Feb 10, 2015 22:13:01 GMT
How about 3-1??
Wahoo!!
2 debut goals an all!!
Glad to get a home win after our recent results!!
Some new faces!! How did they do??
I'll await AndyL's report!
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Post by riochforthereebok on Feb 10, 2015 22:16:49 GMT
No one predicted that tonight!!!!!
Well done Wanderers, I predicted a 1-0 win but I'm honest enough to admit, it was more in hope...
Just shows how unpredictable this league really is.
Well done NL too, that should there or thereabouts confirm our position in this league for next season..
Hopefully we can push on from this, get all our players back fit again and take next season by storm, hopefully with NL at the helm
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Post by megsontilidie on Feb 10, 2015 22:19:44 GMT
great 2nd half. was looking quite bleak in first half. took us 30 mins to get a shot on target & the crowd was ever so quiet. Fulham had had 3 on target up to 35 mins and other close things off target...but thankfully after that they had no further shots on target. in the end the SOT'S ( that's an abbrev not a mis-spelling !) count was 8 for us. 3 for them. 8 being a seriously healthy number, unlike the Dougie days when he regularly claimed from 3 shots on target that'd we'd created enough to win games.
Janko probably has to have MOM with assist for 1st goal and cracking 2nd one himself.
glad we got Le Fondre off the mark too. glad also we were able to give Clough a rest. he was a well timed sub on to try and win it but it didn't happen this time.
in the Derby thread O.M said he "expected 2 pt's from these 2 games ( fulham and watford) though hoped for 4. i 'd have settled for 3. win one, probably today the easier, and accept a loss re watford who are a good side . but now having won this , there's a decent chance to dig in for a draw on sat'day.
Danns energy and tackling were much needed. Bannan is settling in well. Janko was right wing back btw, and Feeney a surprise choice as left wing back. he actually did ok there. "OK" being the operative word seeing as Janko in 1 game has surpassed any of Feeneys previous efforts at rwb.
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Post by OohMac on Feb 10, 2015 22:29:13 GMT
I too was very worried about this match, recently we've been Jekyll and Hyde at the back. Good resolute games against Liverpool but horrorshows after plus two goals against Wolves at what was a bit of a fortress at The Macron. I was going to say you never know what Bolton side will turn up but with the injury list thats almsot literal. I didn't know today if we could play Wheater, Mills, Bogdan, Trotter, Pratley, Clayton, not one but two Davies' and Heskey. Note to mention if we got clearance for Janko and whether or not the other loanees were match fit.
Was looking like we could have re-arranged the game over the road at the Arena on the 5 a sides. So yeah I was dreading it. Thought McCormack and Rodegella would fill their boots to be honest.
Millwall grab a win and i'm thinking we are right back in this(relegation scrap) if we don't get a win, but we did and no matter what happens for Lennon to have that many injuries and unfit players and to come off a couple of drubbings and to get a result is fantastic.
Neils name will be branded around in the next few weeks I'm certain Leicester and Villa jobs will become available and my thinking is he will be heavily linked with both. Doubt Randy Learner wants to pay compensation though.
Weird league though, Blackburn still well in it with a chance and for me fully fit we have the miles better team. A lot of similarities in the clubs we both wanted managers out, now both giving young players games and seeing how good they can be. Just wish we had Lennon from August.
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Post by andyl on Feb 10, 2015 23:09:49 GMT
Three points and a game successfully seen out to the end. It didn't start well though. We looked dreamy and lackadaisical in midfield allowing them way too much time on the ball when they had it. Strange this because we played three at the back and began with Vela ahead of Janko yet much of the action was in our own half.
Yet we we were getting good breakaways almost exclusively down Feeney's left wing. I shall be interested to hear what others made of his performance. He certainly worked tirelessly and probably got around ten crosses in but I thought he was a complete liability. He never looks up or attempts to find a man and today he just fired it across and started Fulham breakaways.
Fulham won a corner. It was headed on. Lonergan got underneath it but had the reflexes to get a hand to it. We breathed again. But not for long. The corner went to an unmarked man on the edge of the box who slid it inside defenders and a teammate then took it inside before pulling back for Hutchinson to knock in. It was a soft goal, poor marking a dithering keeper who should have gone out to make the block and slow central defenders. A sickening hush descended.
In the first half we had one clear cut chance when a loose ball fell to Eidur who was slow to react and hit a weak shot until just before half time when a delightful through ball from the excellent Le Fondre found an aggressive Janko on the overlap and his fierce cross broke to Eidur who this time coolly converted. So we attacked ten times on the left to no avail and once on the right for a goal. The contrast was stark. In fact Feeney had one carbon copy of their goal chance cutting through along the bye line but they, keeper and defender came out to block. Feeney belted it blindly and off they went into attack.
No half time team talk can have been easier to predict. It will have been succinct 'Josh, give the ball to Janko. Stop cutting inside. We must play on the right. Anyone found passing to Feeney will be fined a week's wages!'
it did the trick. After a slowish start we got right on top and it was Janko lifted the crowd. First he fired a curling shot from inside left and then time after time Vela and he worked opportunities down the right. Very little happened on the left. It was the opposite of the first half
we got right on top and put Fulham under relentless pressure. We had a few corners. Le Fondre had a fierce shot cleared off the line. Bannen took over corner duties from Feeney and took some delightful corners and he also whipped in a free kick which Le Fondre all but got to.
It began to feel as if it was not going to be our day then suddenly Janko lashed in a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Then it was all us. In the end the glory goal went to the tireless Le Fondre. It was a lob from 40 yards but arose after Le Fondre himself and then Clough hounded defenders and keeper into error. It was a just reward for a man of the match effort by Le Fondre.
What else.? A key moment at 0-1 was when Lonergan made a fine low one handed save to his left in the first half. Vela formed a promising partnership with Jankovic but was himself a bit lacklustre. Danns demonstrated his importance to the team but was a bit casual on occasion and Bannen came in and out of the play but we saw some excellent passing from him. Ream was in the wars a lot but played fairly well. Wheater was imperious. Dervite at times very good at other moments a bit loose
Lonergan 7 Vela 6 Wheater 8 Dervite 7 Ream 7 Janko 8 Bannen 7 Danns 6 Feeney 4 Eidur 6 Le Fondre 9
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Post by realtrottersforever on Feb 11, 2015 8:17:55 GMT
When Fulham scored their goal all my fears for this game were being realised. As Andy has said we were allowing them too much space, and when the one good chance we had, fell to Eidur and he fired in a "powder puff" shot straight at the goalie I thought that was it. But thankfully he redeemed himself with his goal created by Jenko.
I agree entirely with Andy on Feeney's contribution, hardly any of it positive. Much of what we tried to do in the first half went through Feeney, but unfortunately that's as far as it went. He ran in to dead ends, blind alleys and crossed the ball to no-one. I know we are short on bodies but he is just a waste of space.
What a contrast between him and Jenko.
I am not a fan of this back 3 malarkey and in the second half we seemed to have changed to a back 4 with Vela dropping back to right back and it worked much better and he and Jenko worked well down the right and Jenko got his reward for all his good work with a well taken goal.
When Bannen started to take the corners (of which we had many) what a breath of fresh air. Someone who can actually put the ball into the danger areas and which almost led to a couple of chances that could so easily have gone in. Long may that continue.
LeFondre worked his socks off, pressurising defenders and chasing back (a bit Kevin Daviesesque, but without the physique) and I am pleased he got his reward of a goal.
I had said with 20mins to go that I would take Eidur off to bring Clough on to run at their defence. Eidur doesn't have the legs and can't be expected to play a full game. It took NL another 5 mins to make the decision he should have made it earlier.
Jenko was out on his feet even before his goal and I think he should have been subbed shortly after, we don't need him breaking down, although I can see why he wasn't, but we need to protect our younger players.
Overall a pleasing result and a spirited fight back let's hope for some of the same on Saturday against Watford a much sterner test.
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Post by andyl on Feb 11, 2015 9:48:59 GMT
Yes I agree with all of that. The reason I thought Le Fondre was MoM was that he gave his all for 90 mins. If we had SKD or even Jutkiewicz alongside him he'd score loads.
Re Feeney we are being more contentious. He certainly ran his opponent ragged in that first half and I can see why NL praised him. But on each and every one of those runs if his'cross' stayed in play we had by that time committed to midfielders to support and Danns was isolated when they broke away. He was reminiscent of David Lee recently romanticised for his part in the 1993 Anfield triumph but who week to week made more crosses than anyone but 90% were awful. So it is with Feeney. If Le Fondre, Eidur, Bannen , Janko and Danns had murdered him in the post match bath no court could do other than acquit
I agree as re the back three even if it worked well at Sheffield Wed . The problem is though that we haven't a fit specialist fullback Rather the three than DF'S rigid and desperate deployment of Ream at right back!
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Post by bonaparte on Feb 11, 2015 9:54:06 GMT
I find that I cannot agree with you Andy re scores.
In my view the first half was flat and everybody deserved a 6.
Jenko did not get past his man at all, whilst Feeney did regularly only for him to provide a poor cross, or having outpaced the attack, or our diminutive attack force was unable to get the better of the bigger Fulham defence.
Fulham defended well, but were undone when Jenko did get a pass in, and Gudjonssen controlled a poor ball a slotted home.
In the second half the tempo picked up and the game became really open, great fun to watch, end to end until Bolton applied the pressure, although still vulnerable to a quick breakaway. Some great blocks and stops by Fulham, to frustrate Bolton. Bannan settled in nicely and showed some good touches.
The Jenko goal was out of the blue, his runs had often taken him to far and had not released to waiting colleagues at time. This one space opened up for him and he hit a superb unstoppable shot. Everybody raised their game resulting in a crass error in the Fulham defence to give LeFondre an easy chance, well taken.
7s all round for me in the second half, and 7 for the manager.
Best of all, we beat Fulham at last, another bogey laid to rest.
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Post by andyl on Feb 11, 2015 10:10:44 GMT
I have in fact scored 6 or 7 for 7 of 11, Bonaparte and I agree with your assessment of the match. You are harsher on Janko than I but I was factoring in that NL switched Vela and Janko to create the momentum switch and thought Janko did ok defending early on certainly for a debut. Like rtf though I did feel he ran out of steam after about 70 mins
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