Team v Wolves

The two things that stood out for me was the style in which both teams attacked.

Fulhams forwards seemed to play with their backs towards the goal while Wolves forwards faced the goal and ran onto the ball.
Our forward momentum was slow and ponderous, and seemed it was all about keeping possession.
Our subs at HT were playing pretty patterns of passing in a 10ft square area, but maybe we should give them shooting practice.

Wonder how long Magath will experiment before he gets a settled formation and side, because tonight whatever he was trying to do didn't work.
Will he look to get a more experienced spine to the team before the transfer and loan deadline ? Otherwise it will be a long winter and a bit of a struggle.

The big screen at HT said we had had 8 shots on target!!! not sure we had 8 shots on target all game.

 

The Championship is the most competitive league in England (maybe even Europe), most teams having a mix of seasoned professionals, loan signings from prem clubs and a few who make their way through the clubs youth set up.

Having seen your team against us (Millwall) on Saturday, you have a very talented group of young players who pass the ball well.

Unfortunately for you, they will not be able to play (successfully) this way in the Championship, you really need some 'battle hardened' lumps who can sort out the opposition, so that your youngsters can play their football..........and fast

because if you lose another couple of matches ...Derby ...Cardiff...next matches on the horizon...you will begin to lose confidence and the rot could set in

this is a very unforgiving league

 

I've not posted here for some time - change of working patterns and moving out of London means I don't see many games these days. Listened to last night on 5live. Steve Claridge's assessment at the end was that Felix's approach was "Sunday league management". I want to give the guy time, but the last three team selections are like he thinks we're still in preseason. Apparently he's used 20 players in three games. There's no chance of any understanding developing between players - all over the pitch you've got different combinations from one game to the next. I'm happy to be patient with young players, but there's got to be some sense that the manager has a clear plan and understanding of how to win games at this level. As Roy said once when questioned about a team selection, players who don't play always seem to have a good game. But I just don't understand the stubborn refusal to play most of the few players left from last season who have a bit of Championship or Premier League experience: Kaca, Burn, Amorebieta, even Tunnicliffe. If Felix hangs around I expect all of these to leave, and possibly Hugo as well if he doesn't get a proper run in the side. I know it's far too early after three games to be calling for a manager to be sacked, but at the moment I can only see this ending one way - Magath out by the end of October, if not sooner, and another relegation battle. It's all a bit grim - someone give me cause for optimism!

 

I have not seen the game but my son went and described it as clueless with no penetration being made by the strikers, no runs in behind the defence and then Felix put our 11 million pound signing on the wing in the second half for 40 mins.

It is hard to believe that 18 months ago we were a steady premiership team. I am at a loss with what is going on at the moment. If there is one thing that annoys me with football it is the chopping and changing of managers so frequently. Here we are with manager number 3 in just over a season and I feel that we still do not have the right man for the job. Against all my better judgements I cannot see us moving on with Felix at the helm.

Last season, Leicester and Burnley kept a small squad of players playing all season. They both had prolific strikers who scored. The signing of McCormack was a good one. I genuinely feel he will come good if played in behind the striker. However, what is Felix doing with his team selections. Surely he must be aware that stability is the very basic requirement we need at the moment. It is so frustrating as a fan when a manager promises so much and then seems clueless after just 3 games. The championship is a ruthless league, and fragility will be exploited. We need to steady this ship and do it soon because the last 12 months have been the most unfulhamish time I have known.

COYW

 

I never want to see Parker and Fotheringham starting together again. No creativity whatsoever, wasting both Parker and a spot that should be filled by Hyndman/Eisfeld/David.

Magath has to pick a team and give it some time to gel. Chopping and changing so much is not helping.

 

I didn't see or hear this one, after watching the previous two either live or on TV. It sounds as if, unlike the previous games, we can't claim to have played well this time. I'm usually one of the optimists, but I've got nothing this time. All I can offer is the observation that coming out of this to beat favourites Derby would be entirely Fulhamish.

 

It was a terrible display. Magath has to go not only for sins listed above but also for exposing Kavanagh as he did last night and not subbing him until his confidence was completely shot. It was clear he wasn't ready - our own players were keeping the ball away from him. Magath has not got a clue - by the end we had strikers on the wing, left back in midfield and no clear tactic for scoring. Wrong man for the job.

Patrick Roberts looked lively again, if I were him I'd look to leave sharpish.

 

What Felix had to say.
“It is different if you have a team like Wolverhampton,” he said in his post-match press conference. “They were promoted from the league below and they stayed together and they stick together.
“They have very good confidence so it’s always a problem to play against the promoted teams at the beginning of the season, and so for me we played a very good Wolves team today.

“In the first half it was a very good game. It was really fast. It was an open game and, sure, Wolves are more confident than us. If you concede a goal in the first minutes, it brings them up.”
He continued: “It was almost the same as Saturday. We conceded an early goal – that was not what we wanted to happen.

“It was a good performance form Wolverhampton and so we were one down and we tried to go forward, we tried to create chances, but we were not strong enough. We didn’t have the right last pass to score and we didn’t have many chances.

“We are in a situation now where we need a win and with three points from a game we will build up our confidence and I’m sure it will work.”

Asked if he had a message for the Fulham supporters, Magath stated: “The message is sorry for the defeat again but it does not change the situation. I can only ask for patience because we have a young team. I know that it might be a tough beginning of the season but I’m sure we’re on the right way.

“It is a long season, not a short run in the Championship, so I don’t worry about the situation now. I followed the Championship last season – I have Peter Grant, an excellent Scottish coach, he knows everything about the Championship, so we are prepared for the Championship.”

If that is what he calls a good first half then I have to disagree with him.
But I do agree with him about the confidence factor. I said before the game what our players need is a win to give them confidence and a boost.
But the problem is we heard this from Felix last season and it never materalised.

 

The game yesterday reminded me of Jol's last few games where he threw in all his strikers to get a result to save his life... Exactly the same. I fear for relegation and so many around me yesterday.

The team was disjointed!
No creativity!
No width!
What was Fotheringham was doing on the pitch?
Why Dan Burn or Amorebieta are not playing?
The best striker brought back to midfield?
Why Mitroglou is not playing? Apparently he is fit and ready?
I would go to the extreme and say why not even Brian? I think he will do a job in this league.

Felix sort it out or just have the balls to resign now that is still early. Pick a team and let the team gel!! Leave the experiments and ask the players to play in the positions they understand!

 

I think the angst may be in danger of going overboard here. Every team can put in a dodgy performance now and again and the general consensus so far is we have looked okay.

I agree that the team needs time to gel and chopping & changing every game doesn't help but we have only had 3 games of a 46 game season. There are 129 points left to play for. Hardly time to panic or call it a crisis, is it?

It is ridiculous to suggest Felix doesn't know what he is doing. He's won the Bundesliga twice, for goodness sake, and promotion, too. It's like saying Arsene Wenger doesn't know what he's doing. He is experimenting and that will mean we lose games. If we don't go up this year then does it really matter? Yes, it would be nice but it wouldn't be the end of the world. And realistically we are unlikely to go down, even if we lost our first 10 games.

And he is doing exactly what we wanted Jol and the Mule to do, giving the kids a chance. The fact that we are not winning might indicate that maybe they aren't as good as we had hoped (or as developed as we had hoped may be more accurate) or that Jol and the Mule were right not to throw them in when we were in the Premiership to avoid them really being ripped to shreds.

We also don't see and work with these players everyday so just because we think someone should be playing instead of someone else what counts is the view of those close to the players. Let's face it, we are more likely to be wrong than the coaching staff and the manager. Someone we identify as an ideal replacement for someone else may be right out of form, or not able to do some of the things the game plan requires. For instance, how do we know McCormack didn't say to Felix, "why don't I go out on the left and try and mix things up from there?" We don't and we may be castigating the manager for listening to his players ideas. (I concede this probably didn't happen last night but you get the general point).

I'm sure the performances will come but we just need to be patient. We were never going to have teams faint with fright just beacause we were ex-premiership with a good track record and a European final not long behind us, and they will be more determined than ever to beat us so it will be a struggle this season, but I'm sure that if we keep hold of our courage and let Felix work things will turn out okay.

 

Im currently reading 'The Chimp Paradox' by Steve Peters. Its a great book where he talks about us all having a chimp in our brain that acts on emotion and a human in our brain that acts on logic.

I would imagine that having been to the game the chimp in everyone would be going bananas, excuse the pun, but a little bit of logic and looking at the facts might just settle the chimp down a bit. I think Fulhamman has hit the nail on the head. I agree that some consistency in team selection would be great but the experience the lads are getting is priceless and a bit of a wake up call.

Lets not be panicking yet.

I actually thought Kavannagh had a great game. Very assured but tired towards the end. Fotheringham should not play for Fulham, imo, useless peice of..... oh, there goes my chimp again!

COYW

 

I like it Cravingawin but Felix does not help the situation with some of the choices... My point is that as a manager who has apparently been watching our youth last year, had them for pre-season cannot be claiming that he doesn't know his best 8-9 players... For me that is insane!

I do not know what is happening behind the scenes, and according to some accounts yesterday the situation is pants, but the manager is at fault for a lot!! And the reason I am not saying the players is because they are young and rely on him and his staff! If the confidence of the players drops is not because the lost is because of him rotating in such mass making them feel responsible!

The problem is not to stay in this division but to drop further. And the coming games are not easy with the gap widening!!!

 

Anybody who was at the Cottage last night has good cause to be irritated Fulhaman. I agree absolutely with everything my fellow “angsters“ have posted and the following three quotes very precisely mirror the comments I have;

Felix has to hold his hands up, primarily for his team selection but also for his tactics (such as they were). Having three defensive midfielders was a terrible choice. And not helped by the fact that those three (Fotheringham, Parker and Stafylidis) were incapable of closing the opposition down or pushing into space to support our front players . When Fotheringham was (rightly) replaced there were no central midfielders on the bench and a ’striker’ was brought on. Indeed by using both Dembele and Rodellega, Felix seemed to miss the simple piece of logic (tactic?), that having a wodge of ‘strikers’ is pointless if you can’t get the ball to them.

Of course, the players aren’t blameless either. There’s no excuse for not being able to successfully complete 5 or 10 yard passes (and every jack man of them was guilty). Nor is their any excuse for being so static (is that the word to describe ball watching?). Woodrow was the only player I’d exempt from that.

And to perfectly fair - mostly because I’ve criticised him recently - Parker probably had his best game so far. Unfortunately the rest were clueless.

Felix desparately needs to get a grip. And as FFC-Madess said in the last post, he can’t keep fiddling around making wholesale changes. Playing players out of position and/or out of their depth doesn’t help either.

 

Just to have my two pennyworth, I agree whole heatedly with Fulhaman.
Sorry the rest you are being unrealistic.

 

When a manager makes comments like the below it alienates me.
"Sure the fans are not satisfied with the situation, but we have to change things and Fulham is not just struggling at the moment, they have been struggling for the last couple of years. The fans know that," said Magath.

That's why you are here mate. Not to give us a history lesson as we probably know better than you. You are here to fix it. Get on with it!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28881324

 

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pitchside-europe/earth-gone-wrong-fulham-103848717.html

Interesting read...

 

An interesting read, indeed. However, it winds me up a bit when he suggests - twice - that clubs are only 'relevent' when they're in the premier league. That's a bit of an insult to the vast majority of players and clubs who are just as relevant to their fans as the big boys are to theirs. Long standing fans, did you ever think Fulham weren't relevant back in the Jimmy Hill era or before? I certainly didn't.

 

Captain I agree. The chap just happen to be around in the good years. But is an indication how good it has done to the team image!

That's what the board needs to think and take decisions!

 

A blog, presenting the case for the unrealistic:


http://www.footballislife.co.uk/football/fulham-undone-by-wolves

 

Fulham have a very good squad of players who were good enough last season. what is lacking is leadership and organization from the manager. He may have done well elsewhere but the premiership is the hardest league in the world and the championship is the best league in the world and if you dont or cant handle the pace of the two divisions then you will struggle. Fulham need a good manager that understands British football and with the players you have on your books can be a contender for promotion. Leadership and knowing how British football works best is the answer for fulham as that part is lacking ATM...