Team v Cardiff

I didn’t find the following article in the Telegraph humorous, as intended. However, reluctantly have to concede, as someone said (probably Shakespeare), “many a true word is spoken in jest” -


“In the week that Fulham finally waved goodbye to their Michael Jackson statue, here was a defeat for which neither sunshine, nor moonlight, nor indeed the boogie, could be held responsible.

Their fans knew who to blame for this fiasco. “Jol out!” they shouted. As Cardiff City's stoppage-time winner went in, the Fulham manager held his head in his hands, looking on the verge of tears. He loves this job, but this agonising defeat moves him closer to losing it.

“I think it is awful when people ask a manager to quit,” Martin Jol said. “I don’t want to see this club at the bottom of the table. I think we will be OK, but this is a blow. Even a draw would have been awful. We have to win these games. If we are bottom of the table at the end of the season it’s not about me, because I won’t be here, it’s about the club and I don’t want to see this club at the bottom of the table.”

“They (the fans) expect us to do better. If you are in the bottom three or bottom five, even if it’s early in the season, you get pressure. I take responsibility, because I can’t say that the players don’t work hard. Fulham is not a club who should be in the top six. We were 20th in the league in spending money.”

Asked if he is now nervous about his own position, Jol said: “I know that we can do a lot better. I’ve got players who have played 300 games. We had all the size in the world today and we still lost headers at the far post, even when we are 6ft 6 ins or 7 ins. And that is worrying.”

[see comment below]

“Not to overdo the Jackson puns, but Fulham were really, really bad. Jol’s decision to play Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov in tandem left them badly short of defensive cover. At the back, you have to wonder how many more yards of pace Brede Hangeland has left to lose. As Cardiff’s front three teased him this way and that, Hangeland never accelerated beyond a tentative lope, like a man running with eggs in his pockets.

Cardiff could have won the game by half-time. Instead, they led by just one, a simple header by Steven Caulker from Peter Whittingham’s corner. Captain Caulker was excellent again, as were Kévin Théophile-Catherine at right back and Gary Medel in midfield, benefiting from the early departure of Scott Parker with a dicky hamstring.
“What we’ve got is real belief,” said Cardiff manager Malky Mackay. “We’ve got a real belief after six games, about our ability to play at this level and be at home at this level.”

Simply put, Cardiff were better organised, and wanted it more. Fulham were carrying more passengers than the Putney to Waterloo train.

Just before half-time, Jol gambled, making his second substitution and bringing on Bryan Ruiz. Almost instantly, Ruiz received Sascha Riether’s pass unmarked 25 yards out and curled the ball left-footed past a startled David Marshall. Craven Cottage sat agape for a fraction of a second, before exploding in a mixture of disbelief and relief.

Cardiff maintained their intensity in the second half, continuing to enjoy the better chances. Yet as full-time approached, Fulham looked to be escaping with a deeply frustrating but faintly tolerable point. Jordon Mutch had other ideas. Though Marshall’s goal-kick fell kindly for Mutch, you would still have given him odds of 20-1 against from where he was, near the corner of the penalty area. But he let the ball drop, lashed it with his left foot, and it was still rising as it bulged the net. For Cardiff, frustration turned to joy. For Fulham, to anger.”

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...375/Fulham-1-Cardiff-City-2-match-report.html



Comment: You could write an opus analysing that reply. However I will contain myself with the observation that he is apparently blaming Hangeland for the first goal when in fact it was Sidwell who did not jump with Caulker. More importantly though is the generic malaise in marking at corners where the blame must, at least in a great part, fall to poor coaching.

 

He's seems now to have taken to lying http://www.theguardian.com/football...16/premier-league-transfer-window-interactive - this charts puts as 3rd lowest spenders, rather than 20th as he claims.

Picking out your captain out for criticism (even if justified which it appears not to be in this case) isn't a wise move, about as smart as when he said he wanted to take the fans who booed out back. Give it time Marten and you'll want to take about 22,000 out back for some Dutch justice.

I'm annoyed about this constant repetition that we are not top 6, not real madrid etc.. Yes, we know that the club isn't going to be in the CL anytime soon- if ever, but a bit more positivity wouldn't go amiss.

Whilst trying to cover his own arse and emphasise his managerial value he is undermining the confidence of the players and underselling the club to any prospective players. Furthermore he is taking pressure off the squad and giving them excuses for losing against a team that has made a bigger outlay.

I am really concerned now about the rest of the season. I don't believe we have a real team spirit which is essential for getting through this and not many players truly invested in the team- many could find a nice payday elsewhere, even in the leagues below. January is a long time to wait for more investment and by the time it comes, if things carry on, the damage could be significant.

As always, I hope I am wrong and Jol proves me to be a twat who opines too quickly- I hope he can turn it around but I think it may be too late now.

 

A lot of people ask how a new manager will help us? Simply by playing the players where they should be playingharded and making them work . How Taarabt is playing ahead of Dejagah as a winger is beyond me. Yesterday Kara went wide to the left...

As C58 says it is clearly poor coaching. Sparky will be laughing next week...

 

I'm laughing this week mate.

 

So is Jol suggesting you shouldn't expect to finish above us because we spent more than you this summer (our first ever PL season)?
You've had years to build a squad, Berbatov, Bent, Ruiz, Hangeland, Parker, Sidwell are all the sort of PL experienced higher level players the likes of ourselves and Hull have had to try to acquire this Summer.

You were weak on set pieces but we are very very good at them. The deliver is almost always spot on and we attack the ball with real commitment. If Sidwell was the one who lost Caulker, why was he marking the 2nd most dangerous player we have from the corner? Only Turner is more likely to get his head on it for us. You guys might correct me but I've never seen Sidwell as a towering presence in defence.....

I was expecting a lot harder game and thought Berbatov in particular was very poor, he seemed to spend most of his time in centre mid. He did have the superb Gary Medel to deal with when he dropped into the 'hole' though.

I dont think Jol has got much longer but you have got a couple of winnable matches coming up. Good luck for the rest of the season except when you play us again.

 

To many passengers is absolutely spot on.
This is Jols fault no questions and I love the guy, I think he's very Fulhamish. However his trying to put square pegs in round holes is so bloody frustrating!

 

That was one of the worst Fulham performances I've seen since the Sanchez era. The MOTD highlights flattered us as we were slow, predictable and passionless in the flesh. Bent made endless runs but frustratingly our midfield rarely picked him out.

What was going on with Stockdale's kicks in the first half? I think at least 4 went straight out for a throw in. It was reminiscent of my dodgy golf swing! In the first half Cardiff could have had 3 or 4...they won absolutely everything in the box. It was so bad I was willing Jol to bring on Senderos!! Cardiff were worthy winners and 2-1 definitely flattered us (along with the brief MOTD highlights).

What happened to thst 2nd half performance against Everton? I don't quite know what, but something has to change and quickly.

 

After the West Brom game Fulham COYW posted a blog which put our performance in a decent light. Today the same blogger posted another which highlights what went wrong against Cardiff and points to what needs to change.

http://www.vivaelfulham.co.uk/articles/talking-tactics-fulham-1-cardiff-2-7-304.html

 

Very good blog indeed. It highlights there isn't just one problem area but several. For me, you can't blame the players as they don't select themselves, positions or tactics. Jol must be the problem. If it wasn't for the Everton display, I'd have absolutely no confidence in him. He's got until the Stoke match to turn things around or it's adios MJ.

 

Bidley
Sorry for the late reply. Wasnt being arrogant. So far this year we have been starved of possession, aka, Man city, Everton, Spurs, but came away with a credible 4 points from those games. Against Hull and against you on Saturday we had more possession for the simple reason, you could say, our teams are quite evenly matched. However having watched the match live on the TV down by local pub on some quite dodgy feed, i have to say that you got away with it a little on Saturday and the bare facts are we Pummelled your defence, but we were wasteful. Onwards for us, and i think Fulham will be ok and Jol will sort it out. We were well drilled and organised. You were not to put it in a nutshell. Good Luck for the rest of the season, and your next 3 games are the acid test for you, and Martin Jol.

 

Here is a link to FulhamTV and video highlights:

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/september/30/cardiff-highlights


I know it's clutching at straws but watching it again and the dubious foul given against Berbatov which led to the Cardiff winning goal, reminded me of the poor game Mr Pawson had. Apart from getting in the way of the ball more than once, his decisions on what constituted a foul rarely went in our favour.

 

Bit one-eyed there pal. The second time Caulker got the ball in the net was perfectly legal.

Your keeper flapped at the high ball that Gunnarsson was clearly going for quite legitimately. Stockdale was obviously impeded at his attempt to reach the ball but in no way was it unfair - Gunnarsson had his eyes firmly set on the dropping ball.

The ref was overprotective of the keeper, an approach that has gone over the top in recent years and getting more obvious each season.

Berbatov's challenge on Ben Turner was a clear jump on his back when he was nowhere near the ball. An obvious call for any ref.

Ruiz goal apart (class I must admit), you were light years behind us in the game. You were very lucky to get away with a loss.......

Club bias rules eh mate? (both ways I mean )

 

Did say that it would have been a limp excuse Olds. From what you say though, we seem to be in agreement that Mr Pawson was poor.

 

No probs with that at all pal.

(BTW, I prefer "Sparkey" to "Olds"........)

 

I think Sparky has enough of his own problems after their own home defeat against Norwich.