Bristol...in the rain

If you live in England then the chances are that you will have woken up to howling wind and driving rain - great weather for football eh?!

Ironically, the last time we played Bristol Rovers away conditions were similar and I remember it very well. In fact, I dug out the programme and it was in a dreadful condition due to the utter drenching that it (and I) received on that Friday night.

The match was during our 1998/99 promotion season from what is now classed as League One (or the old third division as it was known in the good ol' days), there was no roof over most of the away section, it was so foggy you could barely see the players and the pitch was a mud bath.

There was also a lady running the line - still a rare sight even today - who received a fair bit of stick poor thing as I remember. We actually ran out winners although the conditions were so bad I don't actually remember seeing any of the goals!

Happy days though seeing Fulham win away eh?

Doomed

Any hope still lingering that we can avoid the drop has been dashed - certainly as far as my household is concerned. I'm not being defeatist...I would love us to turn things around...but I simply can't see how we are going to do it.

We are now five points behind the team in the last relegation spot and in very real danger of being cast adrift with Derby. Soon the pundits won't even be talking about us facing relegation, it will be which of Sunderland, Wigan, Bolton will be going down with us.

I really can't believe we are in this position. In the first couple of games the new squad looked young, fit and exciting. In fact I was more enthusiastic about our prospects than I had been for the past couple of seasons. How wrong was I?

There are a few reasons for our plight. Firstly, under-investment in the club over the past five years (prior to last summer); getting rid of Chris Coleman when we weren't anywhere near the relegation zone rather than giving him money to spend; and Lawrie Sanchez.

I know he didn't mean to screw us up - but the fact is that he completely dismantled a team, replaced them with, in retrospect, a pretty average bunch of players and took us to the brink of relegation. Absolutely disastrous.

Of course not all the signings have been poor. Paul Konchesky has been one of the bright sparks of the season, Bouazza has been exciting when fit and Healy has shown he can score goals...when he is given the chance to play. Others - such as Davis and Hughes - have been okay at best.

Then we look at players like Kamara...This is where the big money has been spent but apart from a fantastic bicycle kick against Spurs he has been excrutiatingly awful; while the fact that we swapped Rosenior for the lumbering Seol still keeps me awake at night.

The man I feel sorry for is Roy Hodgson. He has an impossible task - which I think he realises, judging from what he says in interviews. Like Paul Jewell, I imagine he knows we'll be a Championship side next season and is planning for then.

Congrats to CCN

Just going back through the posts to catch up on Fulham stuff from recent weeks and I noticed that Rich over at Craven Cottage Newsround has been given a bottle of champers for his excellent work in The Times. Very much deserved I say. His columns are a great read so well done to him.

Manager merry-go-round

Well, well, well, big Sam has left by "mutual agreement" from Newcastle. That phrase always makes me laugh. I imagine the conversation went something like this:
Newcastle board: time you went Sam. Clear your desk eh son?
Sam: er, okay.

I have to say it seems rather farcical to sack a manager when your side is on the brink of the top 10 but expectations are high on Tyneside.

It now means that of the 10 bottom sides in the Premier League only three have the same manager today as they had at the start of the season: Reading (13th), Middlesbrough (15th) and Sunderland (18th)...Spurs, Bolton, Birmingham, Wigan, Derby, us and now Newcastle have all made changes.

Time will tell if this proves to be the filip they're looking for but it's a mad world in which we live isn't it?

The worst possible result

Due to late family problems I was unable to attend our match against Bristol Rovers on Sunday afternoon and never feel it's right to comment on the performance/commitment of a team if I haven't actually been in the ground myself....

...However, I do believe the result is the worst possible outcome for us. I would have rather us be knocked out of the cup then have to play an annoying replay when all we really want to do is concentrate on the league.

That said, if we do manage to win away (although even against lower league opposition this will be a tall order) there is the prospect of Swindon or Barnet away so a little run in the cup is not beyond our reach.

Up for the cup

I used to love the FA Cup weekends - particularly during our ride up the football league when this competition gave us the chance to test ourselves against the Premiership giants. The games that stick in the mind are our victory over Aston Villa when they were top of the league (just about the most enjoyable match i've ever attended); a last gasp Barry Hayles goal at the Cottage to knock out Southampton after we'd drawn at the old Dell; and the fantastic trip to Old Trafford when 9,000 Fulham fans made the trip north. Fantastic times....which brings me on to this weekend and the current debate raging in our household as to whether we'll actually go.

The anticipation - or 'magic' - of the cup only exists for teams in the lower leagues. For the likes of us it's just another potential banana skin at best. For Bristol Rovers it is their cup final which is why over 7,000 have already bought tickets. I'm envious of them. It will be a great occasion for them and, let's face it, they've got a great chance of beating us at the moment and getting through to the next round.

However, while I really don't care about us progressing in this competition, I do think it's important the players taste victory...something which has only happened twice all season after all. They've not just forgotten how to win - some have never ever been on the winning side in a white shirt which is why we're languishing in the league's basement.

I know Roy Hodgson has stated survival is the priority (which I wholeheartedly support) but this weekend is the perfect opportunity to try out different players and formations to see what is likely to work best against the Hammers next weekend. A resounding victory over Rovers would lift the mood and confidence and (hopefully) kick start 2008 in the best possible way.

A new year and a fresh start

Happy New Year everyone! Apologies for the lack of action from this blog over Christmas - a combination of family and work duties having prevented me from getting to the keyboard.
A break to EuroDisney also meant I couldn't take my seat for the match against our friends from up the road which, sadly, ended in failure once again.
I would also like to welcome Roy Hodgson to the manager's hot seat. Not my first choice, to be honest, but FtF will be giving him our full support in the hope that he can turn things around.
Let's hope we can climb out of the relegation zone so we're not scrapping for our lives come May.