FtF goes to Derby

Having a young family - and all that entails - means that away trips are a rare luxury these days, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The team's perilous league position makes it vital that as many fans as possible follow them on the road. So with that in mind we set the alarm for 5.30am on Saturday for the long trek to Derby.

Living on the south coast meant catching the 7am train up to London Victoria, then a District Line tube to Putney Bridge. Then it was a 20 minute stroll through Bishop's Park - always guaranteed to put you in a good frame of mind - before arriving at the Cottage in time to join one of the 14 coaches laid on by the chairman.

A three and a half hour trip - including a half-hour stop for lunch at a service area - saw us arrive with about 20 minutes to go before kick-off. Thankfully, someone had brought along a DVD of Al Murray, Pub Landlord, which succeeded in calming our nerves on the second leg of the journey.

For those who have never been, Pride Park is a pretty impressive stadium. Set on an industrial estate - the type filled with the usual selection of outlets, such as Halfords - it is clear of local residents and the usual noise gripes, and has the benefit of a huge car park used by season ticket holders and plenty of space for away coaches.

After walking through that annoying, drizly rain, and going through the turnstiles, we were met with a wall of noise. It may be a cliche but our fans were in very good voice and there was a real feeling of optimism. Would it last?



We took our seats in the upper tier and sang all the way through a rather hit-and-miss first half which consisted of that sinking feeling of seeing a deflection past Keller for their opener - and then the unconstrained joy of Joe's equalising header. Here we go. Plenty of time to snatch the winner.

Half-time arrived with the scores level and it was off to scout some food. The gates were actually opened allowing you to buy burgers from outside stalls, have a smoke and stretch your legs. The stewards and police were courteous and chatty. All we needed now was three points and a happy trip home was guaranteed.

Despite a scrappy start to the second 45 we were sent into delirium by Hameur's messy, deflected goal. "We're winning away...how sh*t must you be we're winning away" we sang to the home supporters. Needless to say we hadn't sat back down before their equaliser came. I didn't even see it. Soul destroying.

Chances came and were squandered; Keller pulled off some great saves; but there was a feeling that this just wasn't going to be our day...or season for that matter. The away faithful were getting restless. Calls for Roy to "sort it out" and make some changes were finally answered with the arrival of Eddie Johnson and Danny Murphy, but it was too late to have much effect.

As the minutes ticked down, Derby fans stared singing: "Going down, going down, going down" to which we responded: "So are we, so are we, so are we". At the final whistle there was a mixture of applause and boos with most people resigned to the fact that the Great Escape no longer looks likely. The guards, it seems, have discovered the tunnel being built and there's not enough time left in which to build another.

It may have been a draw but it felt like a defeat and the mood on the coach was sombre. A three hour run back - including a five minute break on the hard shoulder while the driver relieved himself! - meant we were back at a rain swept Cottage shortly before 8.30pm. It was then a walk, tube, mainline train and drive back home which saw us through the door around midnight.

A disappointing day, full of what-ifs and what might have beens, but we felt proud to have been part of Roy's Army for the day. Even if we do go down we can take heart from the fact that we couldn't have had any more fans at recent away matches, nor been in greater voice.

The tickets for Reading and Pompey away have already arrived. If this is going to be the last hurrah! in the Premier League - for a year or two at least - we at FtF are determined to enjoy it. Roll on next weekend.

Opinion: Derby v Fulham

It was a late decision - 6am Saturday morning, in fact - but we were at Derby yesterday afternoon to see what must surely be the final nail hammered into our coffin. Not being able to secure three points against a team already doomed to relegation or even hold on to a lead for more than 30 seconds tells you all you need to know about our woeful season.

The performance was pretty poor and disjointed; changes were made too late in the game to have much effect; and worryingly we didn't even look like we knew what to do when we had the ball. Shocking stuff all told.

The result was made all the worse by both Sunderland and Birmingham winning - the latter, of course, being the team we had an outside chance of overhauling. They're now six points ahead (seven if you count goal difference) which makes it look highly improbable that we'll be playing Premier League football next season.

I shall be on later with my diary for our day trip to Derby plus player ratings.

Derby...this really is a MUST WIN game

Apologies for the lack of posts this week. Our house is having major surgery which means I've been unable to get online as much as normal, and even more annoyingly, this is putting my trip to Derby in serious jeopardy. Aaarrrggh!

My ticket has been purchased, the seat has been booked on the coach from CC and the itinerary for the long haul up from the south coast has been planned. Whether or not I'm there at kick-off, however, remains to be seen.

Thankfully, there will be plenty of us there even if I don't make it as we've sold out our allocation and that is fantastic news. It just goes to prove how a crisis brings everyone together. And it needs to because tomorrow really is a MUST WIN game if we want to stand any chance of retaining our Premier League status. This really is the most important match of our season.

Derby may only have 10 points on the board but they are no push-overs - as they proved with their draw against us earlier in the season (which they were unlucky not to win) and even against title chasing Manchester United a couple of weeks ago.

Good luck everyone...we'll need it

The way it stands

Not a great set of results for us with Sunderland recording their first away win of the season at Aston Villa and Bolton managing a draw at home to Man City. Cheers Sven. Reading also beat Birmingham which, according to my calculations, leaves the foot of the table looking like this.

• 15th. Reading - 31 points
• 16th. Sunderland - 30 points
• 17th. Birmingham - 27 points
• 18th. Bolton - 26 points
• 19th. Fulham - 23 points
• 20th. Derby - 10 points

It doesn't change things greatly. A couple of wins and the whole picture will look different. At the moment we are still four points from safety with Birmingham needing to be overhauled. Sunderland and Reading, meanwhile, have managed to put some daylight between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack. We can still survive - but we've got to start winning to do so.

Chin up...it's not over yet

As I write there are less than 15 minutes left at St James' Park and things are looking bleak. After falling behind to a Mark Viduka goal in the sixth minute it was always going to be an uphill struggle. With Keegan's links to both sides maybe it was written in the stars that he would break his duck against us...

However, this result in isolation won't determine our season. We have a string of winnable home and away games coming up and they will prove to be the deciding factor so don't get too downhearted. Focus on the next match, then the one after, and we'll see where we are come May 11th.

UPDATE: Michael Owen makes it two with minutes left...game over for this weekend.

Saturday is for football

Already slightly irritated that I left it too late to buy Newcastle tickets, I ventured into town this morning to buy Easter Eggs. It was heaving. People shoving, fighting for car parking spaces and stomping around with miserable faces. It was grim stuff and made me realise something: Saturdays are for football. Whether we win, lose or draw this afternoon, those hardy souls that have made the trek up north will have missed out on the shops. And that's a victory in itself.

Something to make you smile

FtF joins Facebook

I have just launched the blog as a group on Facebook...or at least I hope I have! Any Facebook members that want to join are more than welcome...Click here and hopefully it should take you straight to the page...Any problems please let me know

Jari Litmanen back...

News on the official site is that Jari Litmanen is back training with the First Team. He lacks match fitness - tell us something we don't know - but Roy believes he may still play a crucial role in the run-in. I doubt it to be honest. By the time he gets fit the season will be over and I'm not sure how we'd accommodate him anyway.

A new look

With an hour to kill tonight I thought I'd have a play around with the blog...truth be told it was anything to keep my mine occupied and off worrying about our upcoming trip to the Toon on Saturday. Did it work? Yes, for about 20 minutes or so!
Anyhow, hope you like it - comments (good or bad) very welcome as always.

All up for Derby

Newcastle away has sold out but there are still tickets left for Derby away on Saturday 29th March so I would urge everyone to make a special effort to get there. Chairman Mo is once again laying on free coaches - I'm already booked on one of them - so hats off to him for that.
Adult tickets are only £29 - and that is a very good deal when you consider that includes the travelling costs as well. Click here to find out more.

Elsewhere, many congrats to our friends over at Craven Cottage Newsround who are on the shortlist for a blogging award. Let's hope they win as it will be richly deserved.

All hail the slippers

Forget Jimmy Bullard and Brian McBride - they haven't been the true catalysts for our return to winning ways...it is all down to a pair of slippers on the other side of the Atlantic. Brian of Craven Cottage Newsround fame has been wearing these during recent matches and each time we have come away with points. I promised a picture of them would go pride of place on the blog if we beat the toffees...so here we go" Apparently, rumours that Brian even has them on in the shower are wide of the mark.

UPDATE: Apparently they did make an appearance in the shower as well...but got a bit soggy!

Burst of enthusiasm

Isn't it funny what three points does for the moral eh? By 9am yesterday morning I was on the phone to the club to order tickets for Derby and Reading which I imagine will be two season defining games. I have even booked a seat on the coach for Derby as my partner in crime isn't able to make that match so let's just hope we pull a couple of away wins out of the bag.

Player rankings: Fulham v Everton

Here's how I scored the lads yesterday.

Keller: 7/10
Solid, dependable, and there when he was needed.

Konchesky: 7/10
Another good performance, although he didn't look quite so confident when he was pushed up the park and replaced at the back by Boca.

Hangeland: 8/10
Awesome display by the big fella. Kept Yakubu as quiet as a sleeping baby.

Hughes: 7/10
Competent and assured.

Stalteri: 7/10
Good display and also provided some testing crosses. Nice to see him getting forward.

Murphy: 5/10
One good touch; three bad. Frustrating but not as woeful as usual.

Bullard: 5/10
Not one of his better games. His passing radar was way off today.

Andreason: 7/10
Pushed out wide for much of the game but then brough into the centre. As ever, a solid game.

Davies: 6/10
Missed a golden opportunity to put us two up, but a great cross to find Brian for the goal.

Johnson: 6/10
An A for effort. Came close at the end and showed enough to indicate he will be good once he finds his Premiership feet.

McBridge: 7/10
Great goal. Age is catching up with him but he put in a terrific shift again.

Substitutes

Bocanegra: 6/10
Did everything that was required of him when he slotted into Konch's left back slot.

Volz: 6/10
Added steel to the midfield

Dempsey: 6/10
Looked very sharp in his brief appearance. Maybe a rest was just what he needed.

Man of the match: Brede Hangeland. A fantastic defensive display.

An opinion: Fulham v Everton

You can't describe this as a classic football match to watch and there were plenty of things not to like, such as Jimmy B's wayward passing, but it was an occasion on which the result mattered far more than the performance.

Ignore the media droning on about the Toffees' European hangover, this was a fantastic victory over a very good Everton side. One of the best, in fact, that has come out of that side of Merseyside for many years.

Roy got the tactics pretty much bang on. Having two players up front works infinitely better - I can recall us all chanting: Four, Four, Two at Coleman and, when he eventually conceded defeat and implemented this strategy, it helped turn us around.

I like the look of Eddie Johnson - despite the dogs abuse he was subjected to from some people behind me in the Hammy End. He's quick, unsettles defenders and possesses a fierce shot. It will come together for him and when it does we'll have a superstar on our hands.

It was a great goal from Brian who started to look back to his best; winning headers and putting himself about; and a great cross from Simon Davies, even though he squirmed the chance to put the match out of reach with an opportunity he can normally be relied upon to bury.

All in all a great day out.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic result; fantastic atmosphere; fantastic day out. On an absolute high this morning and will be back on with more later...

An apology

Almost 10 years ago we played Liverpool in the Carling Cup at Anfield. It was a fairly cold late October evening and I had to sit in the 'home' end having not secured tickets in time. We lost, although Paul Peschisolido scored a peach of a goal that, at one stage, allowed us to dream.

As the minutes ticked down with Michael Owen & Co well in command, the Fulham fans as one started singing: We'll be back in two years' time. It even drew a round of applause from our hosts and illustrated the great spirit we have at this club.

I was reminded of this during the depths of my mini-depression during the past 10 days following our painful - tho predictable - defeat at the hands of United. The defeat had sent me into a sulk from which I've only just emerging.

I haven't even been able to summon the enthusiasm to keep the blog updated. Sad? Yes. Pathetic? Undoubtedly, but football brings out the irrational animal in most of us. Or does it? Roy Hodgson, it appears, is above all that.

You don't hear him bemoaning his lot; whinging about the state of the pitch or the fact that the referees were against us. He just quietly, confidently, gets on with the job in hand. No fuss, no fanfare, no histrionics. I, for one, am glad that he is at the helm.

Now, quite frankly I think our number is up this season but I intend going to every match I can - home and away - to support our boys. Having the backing of the crowd might just swing the pendulum in our favour, and if it doesn't? Well, as we sang back in '98 we'll be back again.

A few pointers about yesterday

Right, cards on the table time. I'm angry, hurt and bloody miserable this morning so here's a list of factors associated with yesterday that are annoying the hell out of me this morning:

1. LG's marketing gimmick
Felt totally used by Diddie encouraging us all to hold up our "Come on Fulham" banners at the start of the match - no purpose other than to publicise LG's latest washing machine and make us look ridiculous. It appears to have worked on both grounds.

2. Late susbstitutions
Just what was supposed to be achieved by bringing on Joe and Nevland deep in injury time? Ridiculous. Brian should have been taken off half hour earlier and replaced by one of them rather than waiting until it was impossible for any difference to be made.

3. Lack of respect by players
We cheered and chanted throughout yesterday's match but they couldn't be bothered to come over and clap us. Bloody irritating. We are all in this dogfight together and that's why we need to stick together. Someone get this through to the players.

4. Stop the crap in the programme
If I read another 'interview' with a player spouting the usual PR guff of: we know we're in a dogfight; the team spirit is better than the war; the fans are everything...I will go mad. Pass the sick bowl and prove it on the pitch.

5. Shocking refereeing decisions
Nani. Need I say more? The only punishment his farcical dive received was when Konch shoved him into the advertising hoardings. Pathetic.

That will do for now.