Looking at Cazola's second goal again and Giroud was definitely offside and obstructing Stek's view. This was miles worse and more obvious than the one newcastle had disallowed. please log in to view this image As more than one manager said at the weekend, "it's these small margins....".
Agree with what others have posted, although I don't think Kaca is PL standard player he gives us shape and an option on the wing. We played with slow wingers on their wrong side for too long, the middle gets too congested. This is why I think Dempsey was a terrible signing - where does he play in the system that we've had some joy with? When he's on the left he is completely absent, he doesn't even start there and cut in, he just wanders. I'd rather see us go with 3 midfielders in the centre than try wedge Dempsey in there - Kasami is a better option although I think having Kara, Sidwell and Parker works best.
So, some upsides, just reinforce "Glass-Half-Full": - 2-0 is not a hammering; - one of goals was offside according to the Laws; - everyone knows that Dan Burn is better than Senderdross/Senderloss (at last!); - Sidwell-Parker axis can work well. We're in a relegation fight but ANY of 11 clubs can go down; next-up Swansea away which could be worth a point. C O Y W
I think we yet to see the best of Kaca and for that matter Kasami. I would have thought beforehand that Dempsey would have helped our cause but so far he has been anonymous. I'd play him against Sheffield Utd to protect more valuable players in the squad. By the way - seems a bit unfair that we play Sheffield Utd on Sunday then Swansea on Tuesday.
I've been meaning to ask these questions to see if anyone knows the answers. Before kick-off do they still toss a coin to chose which ends they want to kick towards ? Because I've noticed every Fulham home game we kick towards the Putney first, and it seems every other team also kicks towards the same end in the first half at home from what I've seen on TV. So when did this change. As I can't see the home team winning every toss. Can anyone remember the last time we kicked towards the Hammersmith in the first half ? Think I remember a Man City game a few years ago? Who decides which away shirt we play in against teams. As on Saturday I was expecting us to play in white shirts and black shorts and maybe red socks, but we played in the away blue kit. Can't remember us having to change for an Arsenal game ?
We were talking about this at band practice last week, it doesn't look as if any team wears their home kit when they play away these days.
The only game I've been at where we played toward Hammersmith in the first half in recent memory was West Ham 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/dec/26/premier-league-fulham-west-ham when Grant managed to prolong his misery with a 3-1 win. I think it is still a coin toss but it suits both teams to have us playing toward the home fans for the second half because the away section is at the other end so the visiting club gets the same benefit of having vocal support behind the goal they are shooting at.
As far as away shirts goes, there used to a rule (and still is, as far as I know) that teams have to wear their home shirt for home games. Other than that, they can wear whichever (non-clashing) shirt they like for away games. I would imagine that lots of sides choose to wear the change kit whenever possible in order to put it in the shop window, making it more desirable to impressionable young fans and therefore squeeze even more money out of them. I remember the days when clubs kept shirts for two or more seasons before changing them. I'm sure in the early 90s Fulham's policy was to bring out one new shirt - sometimes home, sometimes away - per season. That meant that each shirt stayed as 'the current one' for longer and fans got better value for money. Does anyone else remember that, or am I imagining it?
I think the demand for replica shirts nowadays (especially overseas) is so great now that clubs feel they would be missing out if they didn't release new shirts every year. Our 3rd kit this year will serve as our away kit next year so that shirt will last 2 years. That's as good as we're going to get at the moment I think.
