Mitroglou, according to Felix in his lunchtime press conference today, has trained every day this week but is ..(pause).. a ‘maybe‘ for Saturday. Wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. Otherwise the only injury worry is the biggest - Steve Sidwell. He hasn’t trained and his chances of making it are very, very slim! Doubt if Felix will change his tactics, that is select a side to keep it tight in the first half and then ring the changes to try for a result. His main concern must be to find a midfield that can last 90 minutes. Diarra can’t; Parker can’t; Kara can’t. I think he might have to revert to 4-4-2 simply because of who is available. Which probably means bringing Kasami back and risking Richardson from the start. One thing I’m sure about is that, regardless of the difficulties, I wouldn’t select Parker. And would go to start - ……………..Stockdale………… ..Heitinga…Hangeland…Amorebieta…Riise.. ….Riether..Kasami..Diarra..Richardson.. …………..Holtby…Hugo…
William Kvist seems to be a forgotten man. I'd go for your suggested line up cottager with Kvist in Kasami's place, move Kasami out to the left and put Richardson where Riise is.
Or even put Kvist in at Riise's expense and play with three centre backs again, with Reither and Richardson as wing backs and Diarra, Kvist and Kasami all in the centre.
No to Parker thanks. Sidwell being injured is a major blow. He was the only one who could handle the physicality of Stoke, maybe Kasami could and Kvist could. Actually I should have just said ditto to everything. Ditto to everything you all have said! Couldn't Bun come int he middle and move Amore out to the right and Hietinga to the left? Felix will surprise us no doubt. Also Dejagah deserves a start I think
He made a tremendous contribution against Hull but thought he was struggling to last even 45 minutes. Think he'll be used as an 'impact sub' (again).
In his internal video interview Felix gives a little bit of optimism that Stevie Wonder could play. Leave you to make up your own mind about his assessment of the Greek Myth however. [video=youtube;mdwUBRgQ5zs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdwUBRgQ5zs&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Hopefully Mitro is fit enough to get in - I like Hugo and can't fault his effort but I think he's run out of steam since his burst after scoring at Villa.
Hugo's problem, for all his effort, is that he isn't a reliable goalscorer. If Mitroglou really is fit and ready to go, we should throw him in. If he's still working his way to match fitness, then forget him until next season. The trouble is, our young strikers haven't yet shown that they can get goals among the seniors, and our senior strikers have repeatedly shown that they've either lost what they once had or they never had it in the first place. We've all banged on (rightly) about the absence of a reliable left back, but I think the absence of a goalscoring striker has been just as damaging this season. If you could put the Berbatov of last season in the current side, we'd be several points better off. Trouble is, the Berbatov of last season never showed up and we missed all our chances to buy a fit and able alternative.
Just read that the team trained at St George's Park for their final session. I get the impression Felix is really trying to drum into the team the importance of this game, it really is do or die. With regard to the striker issue, putting mitroglou in against a stoke defence is risky. That said, shawcross and huth are not playing so a makeshift centre back pairing could help. I would start with rodders and introduce mitroglou later as part of a 4 -4 - 2. The game will be won or lost on how well our defence holds out. Have a lot of faith in Stokkers but not sure about those in front of him. The Brittannia is a bloody hard place to get any result, let alone a win. Ball retention is key, as well as pace and aggression. Keeping the faith. 2 - 1 to us with a nervy last 5 minutes !!!! COYW
Will he, won't he play? It's a definite maybe! please log in to view this image Link to pic: http://www.fulhamfc.com/-/media/PlayerActionShots/2013-14/Kostas Mitroglou/KostasJump300400.jpg "Felix Magath may be able to call upon Kostas Mitroglou in his quest to keep Fulham up, but our Manager would not divulge his intentions for the striker this weekend. Mitroglou arrived in London with a reputation as a clinical finisher but injuries have limited his impact to just two appearances for his new Club â although he could double that figure before the season is over. âHeâs been out for a long time,â Magath stated. âHe joined us from the beginning of this week and heâs part of our team now. Heâs available, [but] he had a period of injury, so we have to see.â Magath did go on to express his opinion that Mitroglouâs return to fitness has coincided nicely with an improvement in Fulhamâs attacking play â something which he believes could work in the Whitesâ favour. âHeâs a player who is very dangerous in the box,â he explained. âYou see, when I was here at the beginning we didnât come into the box so it was not the right situation for him. Now, we create some chances and we come into the box, and he is very good in the box. He wanted to play and he will help us. If he has not played you never know how he will realise his abilities in the game. You can try in training sessions but itâs not the same situations as in games.â Saturdayâs trip to Stoke City is the epitome of a must-win match as anything less could consign Fulham to relegation depending on results elsewhere. Throughout his tenure at the Club, Magath has always stressed his belief that the Club would secure survival â a standpoint he continues to back. âI know itâs a difficult situation but Iâm confident I can manage it,â he explained. âI worry a little bit about the last result [against Hull City] but Iâm confident we can make it better on Saturday. âItâs a game where we have to win â we have no choice, we have to win, and thatâs all. You need not think about it â we have to win. I will be nervous on Saturday because itâs very important for the Club.â Source: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/may/02/magath-on-mitroglou
Win today and Cardiff are relegated, which for you means Swansea won't have to play their youth team against Sunderland next Saturday and might win that that game! You'd only need 1 point from a safe mid-table Palace and the end result Fulham is guaranteed to stay up. (I like going to Craven Cottage - proper football ground) Or you could just win both games and job done. Good luck today
The man in charge today is Mr Foy. please log in to view this image Link to pic: http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608017234366172917&pid=15.1 This will be the Merseysider's (yup, he's another of the North West mafia) first visit to the Britania this season. Amazingly we haven't seen him at the Cottage either, his only match with us being the 1-0 defeat away to Newcastle at the beginning of the season. Known as "Handy" Foy in some circles because of the way he hands out cards, the label took on another meaning with his reluctance to give hand ball decisions against Stoke players at both ends of the pitch in a match against our SW6 neighbours and similar controversy when they played another London side.
That's why we are down... Tactical? Passion? Players? Awful!!! Gutted but also happy this most of this lot will not be playing for us.
Absolutely Madness. The tactics/team selection beggared belief. Not helped by a non-existant midfield. Sad day for all of us. Good on Stockdale though (bottom left of pic) for saying 'sorry' to the fans - please log in to view this image Link to pic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmuQxlCIUAA88cG.jpg Will leave the recriminations for another time.
As many of you have seen in my past postings I have never been enamoured by the players we have picked over the past season and the managerial quality, of the selected teams. For me a complete clear out, including the manager, the players have not given their all, and the waffle from felix sounded believable, I for one was taken in. Someone new from say next month Hoddle ? and or DM Jol, RM, & felix out,out,out
I don't feel too deflated, really. After Hull last week, I'd accepted we were down and deserved to be down. We took the gamble with Magath, but ultimately we didn't have the players with the desire needed. However if Magath does now walk away, I wouldn't be opposed to taking a chance on someone like Murphy. There are some very good young managerial candidates out there who we could get (look at the impact Rosler has had at Wigan) rather than any older retreads. We have a great youth team; with the right senior team structure, the future is still bright for Fulham.
Time difference meant I was soundly asleep and haven't yet seen the highlights - not that I intend to watch them. No surprise really - start the clear out today and hopefully next week we'll see the start of next year's team. Don't think Magath is the man to bring through our academy talent - if we sack him before next week we can have had 4 managers in a season. Next week will be interesting.
