I do not believe it .. !!! Our Deadline Day Defender Harvard Nordtveit isn't fit. He fractured his ankle at the end of November in a game against Shakhtar and while that's mended he hasn't played since. Could it get worse? Well, yes. Rumours are that he's now fielding a shinbone injury. The other window boy. Lazar Markovic is simply not match fit. Fosu-Mensah isn't eligible because of his loan deal. Mawson and Bettinelli we know are long term casualties and Anguissa is out there somewhere (possibly with an ankle injury!?). At United, Solskjaer has no such worries; all his lot are fit and well. Indeed he even has Chris Smalling back in contention. Won't dwell on them overly since everyone knows about their resurgence. They have got the game against PSG on Tuesday so he might tinker a bit - for instance giving Young a rest and bringing in young Dalot at right back - but it'll be minimal and he's likely to stick with a 4-2-3-1 formation. The one to keep an eye on is Martial, anxious to get back among the goals, in that front three. The good news for us is that we're no longer 'Pirates'. We are 'Soldiers' up for the battle. However, everything else is confusing. Might as well start at right back. Fosu-Mensah is out and Christie walked off early holding his thigh at Palace. If Ranieri had had any faith he would have nursed Steven Sessegnon into some of the last games. But he didn't and it seems wrong to throw him into this one. So that probably only leaves Odoi. Consequently what does he do about his favoured five at the back? Frankly I dread to even speculate. Further forward ? Schurrle missed the Palace game with a 'knock'. Like Christie, not sure he's match fit (mentally as well as physically) but what's the betting he'll be selected. All in line with Ranieri's mantra that "experience is key" you understand. Think I'll just hang up my coat at this point please log in to view this image
The man up for it tomorrow is Paul Tierney. please log in to view this image Funnily enough watching him on the West Brom v Brighton cup game the other night, had an intuition we'd get him. Possibly brought on by the memories of the last time we 'enjoyed' his company. That was on 11th November 2018 and what turned out to be Slavisa Jokanovic's last match with us - Liverpool at Anfield. You recall it now as well? The highly disputed disallowed goal by Mitrovic for his hand being offside. Followed rapidly by their goalie punting the 'moving ball' to Salah who scored to make it 1-0 just before half time. Wasn't the Wigan supporter's only bad decision of the day - try Gomez hauling Mitrovic's shirt off his back and nothing given. But it was a travesty of all that is fair and who can truly say how much it has cost our Club. For the record Tierney has done 17 Premiership games so far and awarded 62 yellows and 1 red.
So which Fulham player is going to get the Red card today. Sessegnon ? being asked to be more aggressive Cairney for battling back. If either actually play. 'everything else is confusing' kinda sums up my thoughts on Ranieri. The Transfer injury doesn't surprise me anymore, we seem constantly to pick up injured players, so much for our medicals.
I wasn't sure about Ranieri when we appointed him and I'm still not sure about him now. Chants of “you don't know what you're doing” as hes making subs, feels like hes lost the fans as well as some of the players who just dont look up for it. Is it worth getting another new manager in now? Someone to see out this season and allow them to start building now for what will inevitably be a new season in the Championship next season.
I'm beginning to think so Fabrio, and if it is to happen it needs doing now so there is a target for the new manager and more importantly the squad. After the first minutes where we actually looked a threat, nobody looked much like a soldier. Man of the match, Billy the Badger.
With today's results your future in the prem looks limited. After the momentum you had at the end of last season and the money you spent I thought you'd survive. Looks like it'll be you, udders and one of us, Southampton and Newcastle to join you.
I do not believe it ... he actually thought the 'chants' were because he was taking Schurrle off [based on what he said post-match]. Anybody put that bet on he'd start with Schurrle ? And even though said player was out of commission with flu until Friday. But hey, not even Mad Magath would have replaced him in the 54th minute with Christie, which of course was what the 'chants' were all about.
What does Schurrle offer at this point? I'm no big fan of Christie, but playing with Schurrle is like having 10 players from the start. His lack of interest is embarrassing.
Schurrle is what you would call a luxury player, a luxury we can't afford at the moment. He pops up with a goal now and then, but other than that hes offering very little to the team. If this was 10 years ago and we were the Fulham of old then I dont think it would be much of a problem, sadly we are in the here and now and we need every player giving 100% every game
He has twice the ability of many of our players (and probably 4 times the salary). Unfortunately for you, he appears to give a quarter of the commitment.
