Fulham v Newcastle United - Official Build Up / Matchday Thread

No Remy - out for 3 games. No Debuchy - out for 4 games.

So 3 losses and at best a draw coming up.

Go Cisse....

 

Yep that's us ****ed for a few games. Debuchy being out is bad but Remy is absolutely irreplacable.

 

Oh Dear.

 

I bloody hope not, we've got to replace him in three months time anyway.

 

Well I should clarify that I was thinking in terms of what's available re our current squad.

 

I'd with Mbiwa at RB and bring Colo back in.

Up top I'd either play Gouffran and bring Ben Arfa in to play wide (he seems to like playing at the Cottage) or I'd just plump for Cisse and see how he gets on with a striker partner that's a good target man but also links play well.

 

Mate, I would LOVE to see Hatem playing off an actual target man. Give him one more shot, what difference does it make? It's either him or Cisse. Worse still, could be Shola.

 

Devastating blow to our chances, we'll be vulnerable now. Debuchy and Remy are 2 of our 4 most important players in terms of quality. Its a good job Colo is back and him/Tiote will have to give it the best go possible. Personally I'd start young Armstrong alongside De Jong, moving Mbiwa over to right back unless Santon is back. I expect it will be Toothless (Cisse) or Fatty (HBA) alongside De Jong though. I'll be honest, I'm not as confident with this news. I was beginning to fancy us quite strongly due to the pressure on Fulham.

So disappointing knowing I have to suffer HBA's selfish "watch me lose the ball" routine or Cisse's "I've forgotten what a football is" routine. Surely there has never been a better time to involve the likes of Armstrong, Kemen and Aarons in some way?

 

Isn't Benni a doubt too?

 

So essentially what you are saying is, all I need to do is slip some heavy duty sleeping pills into Cisse's food on Friday night (JPF will lend me them), and I won't have to have my Saturday spoilt by HBA or Cisse?

 

hope we can pay them back ..for that draw ..when we went doon.. this time its them that's in trouble big time ..and a chance of getting rid of a London club .. even though there manager looks like a mad doctor with some funny specs on ..


110 per cent needed .. a draw at least ..

 

I'd rather Cisse or Ben Arfa over Shola though.

Got to be honest, watching the youngsters the other night I thought both Aarons and Kemen looked like much better prospects than Armstrong. He took his goal well but was practically anonymous for the remainder of the game. He might have just had a poor game to be fair as Chelsea were the better team and we didn't see loads of the ball.

 

Sounds like Cisse but he scored

I agree I'd rather be tortured by Cisse or HBA than Shola. I find it pathetic that we are having to scrape around 3 ****ty options! Hopefully all 3 will go in the summer and be replaced with some effective options.

I like the look of Aarons.

 

Give armstrong a chance. We need to replace remy somehow. What do we have to lose.

 

Aarons was so comfortable on the ball, beat players with ease. He's like a young Ben Arfa but with work rate.

Having said that I've always thought Ben Arfa will come good and part of me still does, probably because he's the most gifted player to ever wear the toon shirt imo and because of this there must simply be a way of not only getting him motivated but also finding a place for him in the team.

Sadly my life experiences with Newcastle have taught me that it'll more than likely end in tears.

 

On a side note anyone know if Debuchy and remy are likely to be abck for Southampton away on 29th? Just want to knwo in advance if my journey is going to be a wasted one

 

I have given up on Benni. He's had more chances than I care to remember. It hit home when I realised the other day he is now 27 and is nearing the end of a third season with us. He has had more than 250 professional games now, worked under numerous managers, and still can't bring himself to even rock up fit for duty. Surpremely talented but seems to have shunned efforts to help him harness it because of a misheld belief he has Messi type talent so he can do it all himself. He doesn't. His early career was littered with bust ups, immaturity, underachievement and false dawns. He seems to have ditched bust ups but still plays like an immature amateur schoolyard player who underachieves.

Even when we saw him turn over a new leaf after some tough love from Pards, he soon slipped back into his old ways. Just one of those players everyone will always wonder what could have been had he applied himself. That said if we really are down to the bare bones and we are not gonna give the youngsters a go, taking the winning emotion out of it, we could do with playing him to get his value up ready for sale.

 

I can see why you, and many others have given up on him to be fair. As you've said he's had plenty of chances.

I just can't help but get excited when I see his name on a team sheet. Mainly because no matter how sh*t either he or the team are playing there's always that hope that he'll beat 3 or 4 players and stick the ball in the top corner. Granted it doesn't happen half as much as it should do, but when it does I just find myself thinking "how the f*ck has he just done that"? Although those very same words also enter my head everytime Shola gives the ball away or misses a sitter from six yards

 

I don't think anyone would argue against him being capable of those grandstand moments that make you think "****ing hell!!". Come to think of it we are way ovedue one! I used to be genuinely excited about him too. When he came he was 23 and there was a feeling he may just be a late developer. A seriously talented lad who mabe just hadn't been mature enough for professional football. He wouldn't have been the first afterall. At 23 you think "its worth the risk, if he turns the corner we've got a superstar". At 27 you think "bastard we should have seen this ****er coming!". I still think he was worth the risk at the time, its the only way we can get or afford players like him. We have to take a punt of on the maybe less stable types or injury prone ones. Its like Ravel Morrison, if his normal brain functioned as well as his football brain, they'd be all over him. As it is they'd rather pay 15m more for Ross Barkley because you know he is going to make use of the talent he has. My worry is if we don't offload Benni soon, he'll be difficult to get much money for.

 

My team for Fulham:

Krul
Santon or Mbiwa
Dummett
Willo
Colo
Tiote
Anita
Gouffran
Sissoko
De Jong
Armstrong