Video highlights of the goals - preceeded by the unsavoury bits. Still say Josh Smile's tackle was good and fair!
Massive game for the U21s against table toppers Manchester United tomorrow night. At the Cottage kick off 7pm. Support them if you can. Expect it to be free for ST holders; £3 for adults and £1 for kids and oldies.
Fulham 1 Manchester United 4 (21s) You got the feeling that United wanted to win this one with Pereira, Van Persie and Januzaj playing up front. Our team was: Norman; Donnelly, Buatu, Baba; Sheckleford, Mesca, Edun (de la Torre 67'), Smile, Evans; Plumain, Redford (Humphrys 60') Unused Subs: Elworthy, Rodák After an even opening spell United took control scoring two in fairly quick succession through Rothwell and Van Persie with really slick passing. The first of those came about the 15 minute mark and to be honest we were never in the game from that point in the first half. United added a third just before the break with Rothwell getting his second. We changed things a bit at the start of the second - going from 5 at the back to more convention 4 and Liam Donnelly pushing into midfield. And at last we had the greater of the possession. Unfortunately 10 minutes from the end a silly error by Noe Baba in our box gifted the ball to Van Persie who calmly lobbed the ball over Norman into the net. We did get a consolation goal though in stoppage time when Stevie Humphrys headed home a de la Torre cross. And I guess you could say honours even at 1-1 in the second half. United were the bigger, more confident and more experienced side without a doubt. However, some of our lads had very decent games; Jon Buatu read the game well with some great covering work. Liam Donnelly good surging runs in the second half, as did Jordan Evans throughout, and Josh Smile was superb at finding space and making himself available. A few disappointed though. Don’t know where Mesca’s pace has gone, Freddy Plumain contributed little and young Tayo Edun was a mixture of lazy and too casual. Not sure why we fielded such a young team, given the size of our squad and the very urgent need to try and stave off relegation - which is now looking more than likely.
I think generally the club is in a zombie state... Not sure who is actually taking any meaningful decisions...
FFC could not agree more, we need to review the positions of managerial and coaching staff from top to bottom. If we do get in a new manager ( I for one think we should).it must be done sooner than later, enabling the new man to put his mark on things as early as possible, and not like the past when at the last minute we are scraping the barrel.
Everton did us a favour losing the other night. The U21s are now lying third bottom in the League table and 1point ahead of them. So the next two games against - Chelsea on Monday 4th May at Motspur Park Spurs on Friday 8th May at White Hart Lane - are crucial if we are to avoid relegation. Of late this side has been mostly been made up of U18s and others, like Mesca, who are on the way out of the Club. Surely this is the time to put out our strongest possible side. With the Championship finished get in: Bettinelli, who although 22 is eligible under the ’January Birthday’ rule (well I assume he is since he was in the England U21 squad); Roberts; Woodrow and Dembele. Hell, even Fofana - what does it matter that he’s on loan. And also take advantage of being able to play up to 5 ‘over age’ players. Like Tunnicliffe (who just misses out on the ‘Birthday’ rule) . Hell, even Scotty Parker if he’s fit.
We have an extremely strong U21s team if we actually play all our eligible players. -----------------------Bettinelli---------------------- Grimmer----Donnelly----Buatu----Kavanagh Roberts--Hyndman--Christensen--Plumain -----------Woodrow------Dembele-------------- Subs: Rodak; Evans; Baba; Cole; Taggart. Even without playing any over age or on loan players that team would walk the U21s league.
Fulham v Chelsea A game where Chelsea dictated the pace, this was defiantly men v boys, we were in it for great parts of the game only because Chelsea cruised. The manager was cloned from Kit, trying to play a diamond formation another lacklustre performance like their senior colleagues. ( new manager P Neville ? )
RF, apologies if I'm misreading you, but are you really suggesting Phil Neville as our next manager? After several months of everyone complaining about Kit's lack of experience and his resulting inflexibility and inability to adapt when a match is getting away from us, the last thing we need is a manager even less experienced than Kit was back in September! I'm not saying Phil Neville won't make a good manager, he may well do, but he's not what we need right now. I'm as guilty as everyone else in having called for Kit to be given his chance, but let's at least learn from that mistake and go for someone who is seasoned and battle-ready.
I most defiantly would not like to see PN as manager, apart from Kit who was generally the fans choice, , we have had a couple of oddballs so I thought I would add another, hoping if the hierarchy do not read these columns and say what a great idea.
Fulham 1 Chelsea 3 (U21s) Video highlights of the goals. Impression obviously given such a short snippet, but our lads look very disheartened after their first goal. Perhaps not surprising how we were, yet again, set-up and how big the Chelsea lot appear in comparison. Fotunately Everton also lost their game on Monday night. But it's still not looking great for the lads and only something special at White Hart Lane tomorrow will save our bacon.
Spurs 2 Fulham 0 (U21s) A couple of familiar names - Lasse Vigen Christensen and Emerson Hyndman - were included to bolster the midfield. Also welcomed back from injury was Solomon Sambou (who came on for LVC at half time). Unfortunately those changes were not enough to affect the outcome. And with Everton beating West Ham 2-1 it means … we are relegated. The team was: Rodak, Baba, Buatu, Donnelly, Evans, Christensen, Hyndman, O'Halloran, Na Bangna, Plumain, Taggart. Subs: Norman, de la Torre, Redford, Sambou Match details to follow.
Match Report please log in to view this image “The home side set the tone from the off, with Nathan Oduwa seeing his low strike well saved by Whites keeper Marek Rodak after seven minutes, and Kenny McEvoy skied the rebound from close range. Noe Baba, starting at centre-back, made an important saving tackle to stop Oduwa creeping in behind, and Kyle Walker-Peters took aim but fired over Rodak’s crossbar in the ninth minute. The pressure was mounting as Rodak scrambled across his goal to clutch a shot from Joshua Onomah on 14 minutes, and the home side finally made the break-through two minutes later. It arrived from a set-piece, as Grant Ward’s right-sided free-kick found Maghoma on the penalty spot, who won his challenge and headed in to the corner of the Whites’ net. The goal prompted Fulham to spring into life. They won a corner on the right-hand side which Jonathan Buatu attacked but the Whites Captain could not quite direct his header goalwards. The midfield battle began to swing back and forth, as Ward drilled an effort wide and Ange-Freddy Plumain headed off target after good work from Jordan Evans earned the Whites a corner. Shaquile Coulthirst sent a strike skimming wide of goal and Onomah’s stinging drive was held well by Rodak, before a fantastic chance to level the scores passed the Whites by. A miscommunication in the Spurs defence allowed Adam Taggart clean through on goal but the Australian striker rolled his 40th-minute shot the wrong side of the post. Three minutes later, the home side were guilty of missing an equally clear-cut chance. The move on the right was well-worked but Coulthirst clipped his six-yard shot past Rodak’s far post. Solomon Sambou replaced Christensen at the interval, and the midfielder almost orchestrated a good shooting opportunity soon afterwards but he was quickly closed down by Spurs shirts. The hosts continued to show their intent, Oduwa’s 20-yard effort narrowly missed the crossbar, before Luca de la Torre replaced Dean O’Halloran in the 53rd minute. More Tottenham pressure followed, Oduwa’s long-range effort cannoned back off the crossbar and Rodak came to the rescue on 61 minutes to deny Coulthirst’s shot from close range. The Whites gave Tottenham a fright on the counter attack six minutes later. An outstanding turn and pass from Plumain put de la Torre through on goal, but the substitute pulled his shot a fraction wide. Rodak saved low down from substitute Harrison on 70 minutes, then Plumain burst past the Tottenham defence only for keeper Luke McGee to deny him with his legs from a tight angle. With the clock ticking down, Fulham had the best of the closing exchanges. Liam Donelly’s close-range header was fumbled by McGhee and Spurs survived when Sambou’s shot was scrambled away. But the Whites could not find that elusive goal and the home side struck in the final seconds, Harrison tapping him from close range to confirm Fulham will finish 11th in the table.”
