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