Fulham v Wigan: Player rankings

Here's how I scored our lads against Wigan.

Niemi - 5/10
Didn't look as commanding as in recent games. Some of his kicks were so wide of the mark I thought he might have his boots on the wrong feet. Also angered his defenders by sticking to his line when he should have come to claim.

Omozusi - 7/10
Was having a great time until forced off injured in the second half. Growing in confidence every game. Good tackling, excellent tracking back and some surging runs. A superb prospect that can make that right back slot his own.

Hughes - 6/10
A decent game, although I'd question his suitability for the captain's job. He just seems so silent out on the pitch - particularly after Wigan scored their goal. I would prefer him to be more in the mould of Lee Clarke or Cookie.

Bocanegra - 6/10
Back in the heart of defence following the return of Konchesky at left back and an injury to Stefanovich. Pretty solid game and has managed to iron out the annoying mistakes which have blighted some past performances.

Konchesky - 5/10
Poor today. Looked a bit rusty after not having played for a couple of weeks. His passing was off and he was getting skinned alive in the first half. However, recovered his form in the second and was starting to look back to his best.

Simon Davies - 5/10
Extremely average - which is not what you would usually say about Davies. Had a good shot and was involved with things but not the presence he has been in past games. He has the ability to win matches but this wasn't much in evidence.

Davis - 5/10
Made some decent tackles - but also shied away from plenty more which is not what we want to see from a midfield 'general'. He's not a bad player by any stretch, but he's too similar to Murphy which is why this partnership just doesn't work.

Murphy - 4/10
It's no secret that I struggle to see what he brings to the team and this was proved once again yesterday. To say his performance was mediocre would make it sound half decent. It wasn't. His distribution was woeful, his tackling non-existent. Shouldn't retain his place.

Bouazza - 4/10
Er, shall we just put it down to an off day? I like Hameur and his speed and ability to strike a ball with such venom can make him a lethal tool to have in the armoury. Today, however, he was all over the place and didn't pose any real threat whatsoever. Very disappointing.

Dempsey - 7/10
If there is another player in this squad that gives more commitment to the cause then please tell me. Quite simply this guy is great. He's involved with everything, knocked some great passes about and even pole-axed Michael Brown, as well as getting the all important goal...on the downside, his mis-timed jump (onto Baird's back) ended up leading to Wigan's goal.

Kamara - 5/10
Made a number of exciting runs across field but sadly very few forward surges. Stole in for a couple of half chances but, as usual, spent most of the match on his backside appealing for fouls that even the Fulham fans didn't see. Frustrating to say the least.

Substitutes

Baird - 6/10
Sold performance although him and Dempsey jumping - and missing - the same ball led to Wigan's goal. However, the rest of the time he played well and thankfully seems to have put his nightmare opener to the season to rest.

Healy - 6/10
Things do seem to happen when Healy is on the pitch. Came close with a turn-and-swivel shot and definitely upset the Wigan defence. I don't like seeing him stuck out on the wing though - it's far better to have him in the centre.

Kuqi - 4/10
Very poor today. Outjumped on almost every occasion which has been very rare. Would dearly love for him to get on the score sheet but not sure it's going to happen. He does, however, unsettle defences and this helped in the build up to Dempsey's equaliser.

Man of the match: Clint Dempsey. If we could bottle his passion and commitment we'd make a million. Hard as nails with the skills and goal-scoring flair to match. True class.

What does Ray Lewington really think of the squad?

I've just been reading Ray Lewington's comments on the main site ahead of tomorrow's match at the Cottage and was intrigued by what he said about the team. He described them as "an honest bunch of players". I might be reading too much into it but that sounds like a bit of a back-handed compliment to me...Honest. Not talented, Not fiercely determined, Not top class...but Honest. I don't get the feeling that he rates them too highly. Here's the par:

“It’s vital the fans get behind us tomorrow and I’m sure they will because we’ve got an honest bunch of players. They will go out there and give their best and with the crowd behind them the combination of the two will get us three points.”

A brighter future?

Well, hands up who knew that was coming? I think it's fair to say that we all presumed Sanchez would be retained until after the Christmas period so the timing seems rather strange to say the very least. Sacking a manager - without having a replacement - 24 hours before a crucial match smacks a bit of Russian Roulette to me, so I wouldn't be surprised if a successor is named this afternoon.

I believe this is the right decision to make. Sad as it is for Lawrie - who did his best, let's be fair - sinking to 18th in the table after four months was never going to be good enough considering the whole point of bringing in him was to bring about something akin to a revolution in fortunes for us. It was a gamble....and it failed.

So who should take over? My personal preference is for a young passionate manager on his way up who can inspire players. To be honest I only really see two people that fit the bill: Paul Ince and John Collins. My personal preference: Collins. He is passionate about the club - as he proved in a relatively recent interview about his time at the Cottage - he has been hugely successful with Hibs and he's got a great rapport with the fans. Three very important qualities.

Interview: Wigan fans

We caught up again with George Chilvers who runs The Ultimate Wigan Athletic Website for his views on the season so far and his prediction for this weekend's match at the Cottage. I always think the opinion of another team's supporters normally gives a pretty fair assessment of how a side is generally perceived so I think George's comments make particularly interesting reading. As usual, our thanks go to him for his time.

Q. When we last spoke you were quite optimistic about your start to the season. How are you feeling now?
A. Disappointed with the way things have gone. I’m still convinced we have the players with the technical ability, but somehow they've been performing below par. We have a long run of defeats behind us (hopefully behind us) but that has included ‘The Big Four’. This Xmas period is really important to us with games against teams we would hope to pick points up against.

Q. Are you pleased you’ve got Steve Bruce? What does he bring you?
A. Yes, very much so. He brings experience of relegation fights and I get the impression he'll be sorting out the underperformers.

Q. How important is getting a result at Fulham to you this weekend? There’s a bit of fan unrest at the moment at Fulham and this match is being seen by many as make or break time for Lawrie Sanchez.
A. It's very important for us and we do see this as a chance to pick up much needed away points (sorry!). We need to start picking up points now and move out of the bottom three.

Q. Where do you think you’ll end up this season?
A. A few places above the drop, say 14th - 16th.

Q. Who do you think will go down?
Derby obviously, and then any two of Sunderland, yourselves I'm afraid and Middlesbrough.

Q. Finally, what do you believe the score will be on Saturday?
A. 2-0 to us if we play like we did last week, 0-5 to you if we play like we did at Bolton.
Cheers (and I hope I’m wrong in question 5).

What's next for Fulham

I have scrapped the poll running on potential successors after realising that not only was the line-up pretty uninspiring, but that i'd forgotten to include John Collins who is a realistic possibility for the post...therefore i have replaced it with a new version to see how long people are willing to give Sanchez to turn things around

A beaten man?

Inspired by comments from Rich at CCN about how optimistic he felt at the beginning of the season and how saddened he is now I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the body language of Lawrie Sanchez when he was first appointed...and how he is now.Is it just me or does he seem like a man defeated? See here for his first press conference back in April and here for his chat with Fulham PR Sarah Brookes last week and judge for yourselves.

Who should replace Sanchez?

With the general consensus being 'when', rather than 'if', Sanchez departs, who should we get in to replace him? I have put forward a list of potential candidates on the left hand side of the page - under the Johnny Haynes photo - so please feel free to vote.

The Sanchez signings: An honest appraisal

I have listed the signings that Sanchez has made - that have actually played - and think they can be broadly categorised like this. Your comments would be very welcomed - as would a reminder of anyone I may have missed out.

All are listed in order - best to worst...

Good
Paul Konchesky
Hameur Bouazza
David Healy
Dejan Stefanovich

Average
Steven Davis
Aaron Hughes
Shefki Kuqi
Kasey Keller

Poor
Joe Kamara
Danny Murphy
Chris Baird
Seol Ki-Hyeon

Sanchez must go NOW!

Another game; another week closer to relegation. Saturday's lame defeat to Newcastle reinforced my long-held belief that Sanchez is not the man to take us forward. He's had ample time - and money - to prove his worth but, thus far, has failed miserably.

This weekend he was bemoaning our luck (good teams make their own luck as well Lawrie; we're not especially cursed by the Gods); just after attacking bookmakers for taking bets on who will be the next manager facing the axe.

A few weeks back he was suggesting we needed to change the points system; then he was pointing out we'd be top of the league if all games finished at halftime - i'm paraphrasing, of course, but that was the point he was trying to make.

I'm tired of his rantings and I'm tired of his excuses. It was a gamble putting him in charge of the team and it's a gamble that has failed. We are simply not up to it. Two wins in four months is ridiculous. We can't win at home; we can't win away. What's more, the players seem as confused by what's going on as we do in the crowd.

Now, I don't think any of us can fault the lads' commitment in the second 45 on Saturday (although the first half was dire). We were all over Newcastle. Bouazza was threatening; we passed the ball around sweetly; chances came and went...And then, well, we all know what happened in injury time. The point is we shouldn't have been in a position to allow them to rob us like that. We should have had the match wrapped up long before then.

Unless we enjoy a dramatic transformation in fortunes, the trap door is looming...fast. To be honest, I really can't see us getting clear. The relegation dogfight is here and it's here to stay.

Sanchez has been given his chance...and blown it. He hardly worked miracles when he replaced Coleman at the end of last season, but we were assured things would be different this time around once his own players were in situ...

...Well, he wasn't wrong there. Within four months he has managed to do what Coleman never achieved: taking us into the relegation zone. Unless he is replaced with immediate effect then he will go down in history as the first manager to take us out of the Premier League.

Fulham v Newcastle: Player Rankings

I will post a full opinion after i've had a proper chance to digest yesterday's match. In the meantime, here's a rundown of how I scored our lads against Newcastle

Niemi - 7/10
Another good performance - which saved us a number of times - and very nearly saved the penalty as well.

Omozusi - 8/10
Giving the penalty away, albeit in somewhat dubious circumstances, will remain the abiding memory but that is unfair. Until then he was absolutely outstanding.

Bocanegra - 6/10
A decent display

Stefanovic - 7/10
Commanding. A good display by the big fella - at both ends of the pitch

Hughes - 6/10
Relatively solid display.

Simon Davies - 5/10
Very poor by his high standards.

Bouazza - 8/10
The difference between the two sides on a number of occasions. When he has the confidence to take players on he is awesome and his crosses are fierce and troubling.

Murphy - 4/10
There is no logical reason for this man being in the team. Hard to believe he turned out so many times for Liverpool.

S. Davis - 7/10
His best performance in a white shirt. Showed confidence and strength in midfield, as well as saving the day when Niemi dropped the ball momentarily in the first half.

Dempsey - 7/10
Unquestionable commitment and desire. Also came close to scoring from Bouazza's cross.

Healy - 7/10
Good to see him get a full match under his belt. Caused constant problems and fired in a few shots as well.

Substitutes:

Kuqi - 7/10
This man is already something of a cult hero. Caused the Geordies no end of problems when he came on and won virtually every header.

Man of the match: Hameur Bouazza. His testing crosses - as well as for the amusement factor of leaving Alan Smith on his backside - is enough to win the day. Young Omozusi ran him close but giving away a penalty ruined his chances.

RIP Jim Langley

Sad news over on the main site for those who haven't seen it already. Fulham legend Jim Langley passed away on the weekend. Our thoughts go to his family and friends. Click here for the full story.

Interview: Newcastle fans

We caught up with Ed Harrison of the Newcastle United blog (http://www.nufcblog.com/) to hear his views ahead of tomorrow's match. Our thanks go to him for his time.

Q. How would you describe your season so far?
A. Disappointing - we were doing quite well when we beat Tottenham 3-1 on Oct 22nd but then had a run of 6 matches with just 2 draws against Sunderland and then Arsenal. But we won last Saturday against Birmingham - who were good - and hope to keep that up at craven Cottage.

Q. What is your view of Sam Allardyce – is he the right man for you?
A. There's divided opinion on him still. We think he's good but he's come in for unreasonable rough treatment from the fans. But we think they have relaxed a bit with 4 points from the last 2 games and will give him a chance. As we said we think he's good for us..

Q. Who have been your star performers and why?
A. James Milner been very consistent and very good on the wings almost every game. he's a great young player coming through. Also another 21 year old Frenchman - Charles N'Zogbia has been very good. He's playing left back right now but is really a left winger. We expect him to be LB at Craven Cottage. Recently one of our new players Habib Beye, right back, has been looking good. We've had big problems in defense, with too many mistakes being made by our new defenders.

Q. What’s been your biggest disappointment so far this season?
A. Not being further up the league. Also the two recent home games with Portsmouth (3-1) and Liverpool (3-0) we were just hopeless. Terrible performances. But then against Arsenal we were great and really deserved all 3 points.

Q. Where do you think you will end up this season?
A. We want to finish in top 6 so we can get into Europe - that's what we really want. But we'd probably be happy now with top 8.

Q. How do you view Fulham?
A. As a team we can beat. Although when we've seen them Sanchez has them playing very well and they may be hard to beat. Aaron Hughes was here for a while and played over 250 games for us - a solid player and a great guy who married a Geordie girl. But we are really going for all 3 points on Saturday. Since you are below us in the league we think we should win - we'll see

Q. Where do you think we will end up this season?
A. Probably bottom 8, but don't think you are in any real danger of relegation. I've been impressed with Sanchez this season - he seems to be able to motivate the players but hasn't got too much skill at the club.

Q. Any of our players that you’re particularly wary of?
A. I haven't really looked to be truthful. Your 2 Americans Brian McBride and Dempsey look good. Also Kasey Keller - but I think he's now injured.

Q. Who do you think will be relegated this season?
A. Derby, Wigan and Middlesbrough. We are hoping Sunderland stay up - but they need to start picking up points.

Q. Finally, what’s your score prediction for this weekend?
A. It would be great if we can keep a clean sheet - I'd go for a 1-0 Newcastle win.

Crunch match this weekend

It's clear from reading the message boards/blogs that there's a deep seated feeling of unrest amongst most Fulham fans. Our situation is best described as precarious and as it looks unlikely there will be a new man at the helm by Saturday, it's vitally important that we give Sanchez and the boys our full support - at least for the 90 minutes of the match.

Needless to say it's crucial that we get all three points against Newcastle. Our hopeless away form means we don't have the luxury of dropping anything at home if we want to survive in this division. However, almost more important really, is how the team plays. We need a terrific, battling performance to restore any faith in the side.

In my opinion, a couple of major things need to happen: Healy must start - and everything focussed on getting balls through to him in scoring positions; Boca should be brought in to replace Stefanovic and Smertin must be restored to the side instead of Murphy. Quite what the ex-Liverpool man brings is a mystery to me.

I have had a chat with some Newcastle fans and will be putting up the usual Q&A tomorrow.

* By the way, Chopper over at the Hammy End Chronicle has a thorough analysis of our present situation, most of which I agree with totally. It's definitely worth a read.

Time for a change

I haven't posted much during the past week because I've been afraid of what I've wanted to write. People have accused me of being too negative in recent weeks and I was starting to believe that was the case. After yet another humbling defeat and more excuses by Sanchez, I am now convinced of my own opinion. We need a change of manager...now.

As I write we have sunk to 17th spot - only out of the bottom three on goal difference - and that is simply not good enough. We are now in December...four months into the season...and the team is firmly on skid row. Anybody who doesn't believe this is the case is, quite frankly, living in a dream world. Unless changes are made now we will be a Championship side next season.

Our performances are turning us into relegation fodder. Two victories all season - both at home - is woeful, while the chance of us ever getting three points on the road is so remote as to be pointless even discussing. We are either not as good as we think we can be or Sanchez is not getting the best out of the players. His players, I might add.

So which one is it? Well, let's look at the players that have starred for us this season. The best, in my opinion, have been Konchesky (a Sanchez hire), Simon Davies (Coleman), Niemi (Coleman) and Dempsey (Coleman). Hughes and Davis have also been good, Baird has had, shall we say, a rocky ride thus far; Murphy has been very weak; Kamara is excrutiatinly frustrating; Healy is a star but rarely plays a full 90 minutes; Bouazza is a decent signing; Seol has had about three good minutes in all his appearances so hardly a success story; Smertin is very good but hardly gets near the pitch; and Kuqi has been okay, nothing more.

To be honest I think we have the makings of a good side - but we should be building around the key people that can help us deliver the points. Players like Healy. Giving a world class, international striker 10 minutes here and there is simply ridiculous, as is him ending up out on the wing. He's a natural goal poacher so needs to be in the centre and the team built up to get the ball to him - as England do on the rare occasions that Michael Owen is fit.

There's no point Sanchez banging on about this being a 'learning side' in need of experience at this level. Forgive me if I'm wrong but Sanchez knew we were a Premier league side when he took over so with a £25m purse to spend maybe he should have bought more experience from the off if that's what he thinks we needed. Saying - like he did after the Everton match - that one wrong off-side decision changed the course of the game is farcical. There were still 40 minutes left for us to get back into the game but we were over-run.

I'm not claiming to be any expert - far from it in fact. Sanchez clearly has infinitely more experience and knowledge about the game than I'll ever have, but then again that's why he's the manager of this team and I'm just a face in the crowd. That's why Mo pays him the big bucks - for his knowledge and skill as a manager. I, for one, don't think we're getting value for money.

Unless we get six points from our next two games - both at home - against Newcastle United and Wigan, then Sanchez' position really will be untenable. Personally, I think we need a replacement now. It's been an experiment that hasn't worked.

Fulham bag international striker

Using investigative journalism i've managed to find to my shock and surprise that Fulham actually have an international goal scoring superstar in the squad. If Lawrie is reading this then please click here to find out who he is and put him in the STARTING LINE-UP