Fulham v Bolton will not be an easy match: Bolton played well to win against a typically frustrating Arsenal yesterday; and Fulham should have been out-of-sight with 3 points at Molineux. A 2-1 home win would do nicely to push Fulham up the table. It might and make us feel better having been dumped out of the Cup by them - a game we should not have lost. COYW
Bolton are surprisingly good this year. They're also motivated to finish high in the league, so I don't think this will be an easy game at all. Having said that, Bolton are tied with Fulham and Stoke as the third worst road team in the Premieship.
Courtesy of Saturday's draw at Wolves Fulham have now picked up more points on the road (12) than Stoke & Bolton (11 each). Bolton's only two away wins in the league have been at Wolves & West Ham. I've not forgotten they beat us at home in the cup, but I think we'll be ok on Wednesday. We'll do well to keep Sturridge quiet, so I'll agree with GeraScores & say 2-1.
Won't be an easy game at all. I'm optimistic becauswe we're at home and Bolton don't travel well. I'll go for a sneaky 1-0 win, I can see us coming out of the traps and scoring early then hanging on for 80 minutes. Hangeland and Hughes will have their work cut out.
We were certainly robbed in the cup game so the team will be looking to make amends. A close win for us I'd agree is likely.
We had Zamora just coming back in that game, and no Duff. Salcido hadn't hit form yet. My starting XI would be: GK: Schwarzer Defence: Baird Hangeland Hughes Salcido Midfield: Duff/Davies Murphy Sidwell Dembele Attack: Zamora Johnson (Throw Dempsey in if one or other not fit)
I know AJ scored at the weekend and Dempsey had a poor game, and I know that Dembele has been attracting criticism recently (I've even joined in with it myself), but I'd still start with one of the D's alongside Bobby, and use AJ as an impact sub (ghastly term - when did we all start using it? What was wrong with 'sub'? Oh dear, I'm sounding very old all of a sudden).
I think 'impact sub' makes them sound a little less useless Nigel Adkins at Southampton refers to his bench as 'impact players' rather than subs.
Dembele is a fantastic player cutting in. He played that role in Belgium perfectly. Its his favoured role. If he ever scouted him (Which I know he did) he would know that he is a winger at heart. When Zamora and AJ came on against Wolves Dembele retreated to midfield where he played fantastic. We would be vicious with Dembele on the wing. When Zamora and Johnson play we get goals and chances. Its the way to go.
I think the fact that Dembele was one of Hughes's signings means that he will rarely be dropped. It was the same with Salcido, who made a few high profile errors yet still managed to keep his place. Compared to Pantsil who was dropped after one mistake, although this was justified.
I don't buy into the theory that Hughes won't drop players that he signed - the in and out between Sidwell and Etuhu goes some way to refuting that. I think some fans are still carrying the baggage of our disappointing start to the season when Hughes was being blames for absolutely everything. Most of the time Salcido was playing and Pantsil wasn't, we had better options at right back than at left. Keeping Salcido in the team seemed a legitimate call at the time to me. As much as I like JP, I don't think he was treated unfairly on the basis of his perfomances this season, not when we had Chris Baird available for the same position. Since then, Baird has had some good performances at left back, but I think it's fair to say that he's better on the right (of course, others may disagree with me on that). I've seen Hughes criticised for being stubborn, but actually what that usually means is that he doesn't agree with the opinion of the person calling him stubborn. Why should he have to change his mind to agree with the likes of us? We're entitled to our views, and we're entitled to express them, but that doesn't mean he's doing something wrong by not doing what we want.
It looks like Sturridge is a doubt for the game tomorrow, which would be excellent news if it's true. Personally, I'd like to see Kakuta used more as an impact sub. I think he could do a job against Bolton.
Sounds good to me, Cottage. I'd predicted a prudent 2-1, but you were spot-on with 1-1 at Wolves. COYW
Schwartzer Baird Hughes Hangeland Salcido Duff (if healthy, Davis otherwise) Sidwell Murphy Kakuta Johnson Zamora Punish Dempsey for his lack of team spirit, bringing him on in what we Americans call "garbage time" to mop up in the dying minutes. Rest Dembele until Zamora tires. Fulham 2-1
It's incredible that at this stage of the season a win could move us up the table by 5 places. I thought Davis had a good game on Saturday so wouldn't rush Duff back unless he's fully fit. As for Dempsey - he's the kind of player who's likely to react to being hauled off on Saturday by scoring tonight so I'd stick with him. He's due a goal as well. I agree with Johnson & Zamora upfront and Dembele and Kakuta coming off the bench later in the game if needed. It's good to have different attacking options. I've a feeling we may need them this evening.
I'm with fulhamish as far as Dempsey goes - he should start so he can make amends. And he's due a goal. And he's in my fantasy football team, so I don't want to lose the appearance points. Maybe that last one isn't a reason that's going to carry much weight with anyone apart from me. Was confident about this one a few days ago, getting a bit jittery now and fearing the worst. Hope my initial thought of a 2-0 win is right, but I'm beginning to think we may be anxiously looking over our shoulders going into the weekend. My latest info on Sturridge is that he will probably play, by the way. Enough of my doom and gloom. Can someone post something positive and encouraging please?
