Agree with you Cottager , Malone seemed to be in no mans land much of the time, his position is one we need to strengthen. Jorronen solid and capable in goal, and of course De La Torre one of my tips for the future. Both teams had many of their 1st team squad missing, but I was very impressed how Slavi has got some cohesion into the squad, A very enjoyable night
Has to be a wind up Cookie, but I'll bite. Don't think it was a coincidence that after 20 minutes 'Boro moved first Nugent and then Downing to his side. That they didn't make more of it was thanks to young Edun and Ream. When defending the closest Malone got to anyone was the linesman when he asked him to pass a bottle of water.
Lol didn't get to the game Cottager so can't really comment but most reports state he played well, plus the highlights showed he assisted both goals and the one off the line.... Just seen on the official website the fans have voted him man of the match????
Only a link (again) for the highlights but here it is: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/august/25/match-action-boro Cookie - what on earth was Malone playing at for their goal?
Just watched the link again Cottager and although none of themselves cover themselves in glory for me the main player at fault is the wide man who gave Fabio a ridiculous amount of time to pick a cross, then Ream lost his man off his shoulder and got caught under the ball and having seen Reams error Malone has tried to pick Reams man up but didn't give himself enough time/space. Alot is down to the quality of the cross which was perfect but the time he was given to pick it was ridiculous!
A few of many thoughts...... It was a good night, although the start did not augur well. Giving Nugent what amounted to a free header after 8 minutes was a nonsense, even if the cross should have been quashed. A bit of doom set in, but we managed to get to half time for Slavisa to get things sorted properly, having started with a side full of subs. That resulted in some improved performances, including by RyanT who had a bit more freedom in the middle of the park (can't belive I just said that). Frankly, Boro were poor second-half, with Fulham marshalling Nugent and with Downing very quiet. We were good value for the equaliser. But of course could have slipped-up. Cauley put his heart into everything, was unlucky not to score, but had to drop back too much for my liking. Pity he had to go off. As soon as Matt Smith came on, he was drawing 2 defenders, which gave us space. Interesting to see Grimmer, Kavanagh (both did well but rusty), and the skilful De La Torre gave Boro a few scares. Jozabed could be a ggod signing. Jorronen did well, and covered for few of our errors. Anyway, we get Bristol City at home (twice in a week) - so some confidence! Finally, it's good to open the season with 6 matches unbeaten - COYW
