Jan at the back just contributed soooo much. The moment I saw him in the team I felt better. Also, after one minute , you could see Fulham were not pressing like Gent did which meant we had more time on the ball to play.
Blimey, your a naughty boy. She was the guvnor wife's . I remember her but she didn't do it for me my old mucker . The guvnor had a prog rock look , a bit like Jefro Tull as the 70s ended he started colouring his barnet. To be fair a nice geezer. The one with long hair worked upstairs on the singles . His look was sort od poor man s Lemmy. Always got a plate of cockles from the unsmilling old sod on the seafood stall in Surrey street . Back to business, that was rather enjoyable. I prefer it when Kane stays down the middle and becomes a target than constantly making runs for Son to fire Blanks . That was an improvement.
No Rooney again for United. They must be desperate to flog him to China.......or as the Propaganda Dept. would prefer, he's not feeling 100%.
Generous comments from the Fulham manager Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic: "They showed great respect to us, they chose a very strong team and they didn't want any risks. They didn't give us so many chances in the game. "They gave us no space to move the ball, this is different to what we normally find in our competition. When they scored we didn't have enough energy to change our situation. "They dominated all of the game, they had it under control and put us in a difficulty we are not used to. "Now we have to concentrate on the games in front of us. We must be optimists and fight for the top six."
I used to live in Croydon and don't live that far away now but won't let my girls go there. I'd rather they went to Oxford Street.
Flawless performance. Toby and Jan reunited = Winks, Eriksen, Trippier and Kane = Rest of lads = Subs were a little bemusing, Sissoko on for Kane when he could've given Janssen a go up top was odd. Dembele on for Winks was unnecessary, should've been for Wanyama to give him a bit of a rest and Onomah should've got more than just 5 minutes to help with his development. Anyway, great performance against what was seemingly going to be a tricky away tie at Fulham, absolutely brushed them aside. Only concern for me is that our first teamers aren't getting much of a break, it's looking likely the majority will be featuring heavily in four games in the space of ten days, could prove a problem for us down the line at the business end of the season. Is it?
My Dad was there with the EOKA troubles , he was in the colonial police after being in the army . He felt great sympathy for the independence movement but he still had to do his job . He loved the island and the warmth of the people. In the 60s he bought a small house near the port area in Larnaca . Many summer 6 week holidays were spent in a local neighbourhood , in 74 the house was used as a dwelling for refugees after the invasion and forced partition. In later years my parents would spend a 1/3rd of the year there . He died 4 years ago when visiting Cyprus and is buried in the English cemetery in Larnaca. The family have many great Greek Cypriot lifelong friends who come and stay with us in the UK. My mother will be there for Easter . I read Durrells Bitter Lemons many years ago and felt he never got in the mentality of the locals , rather slightly pompous .l have to say they are the kindest people
Crystal Palace, where I lived for 20 years, has a very large Cypriot population. Our next door neighbours were displaced in 73 and moved to the UK. We still go back to visit and always come away with a bottle of Cypriot brandy.
Excellent win and aside from a tricky 15-minute period in the second half (after future Spurs LB Sessegnon came on), it was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy a game for once! I thought Winks was absolutely superb, as was my main man Trippier. The two of them ran the show and did everything with such purpose and thought. What I love about Winks is that he doesn't make the same mistake twice. If he dwells too long and gets caught in possession, his next move is usually quick and direct. If he tries an over-ambitious pass and gives the ball away, his next pass is safe. Simply amazing visibly seeing a player improving his game with every performance. Fulham's approach played into our hands but there is no denying we look much more fluid and direct when he plays there instead of Dembele. Against teams who are likely to give us room and let us play, would now start selecting Winks over the Belgian. I can't share the same praise for Son and Alli, who were lackluster throughout. The latter is beginning to annoy me by how much time he spends lying on the floor waiting for a free kick that never comes. Play to the whistle, young man. Eriksen, 2 assists aside, was also pretty poor. His final ball and decision making in the final 3rd are severely lacking at the moment. And just when I think we've seen it all, his set-pieces sink to a new low. Really worrying at the minute as against better teams than Fulham he wouldn't have got the two assists either. Needs to up his game massively between now and the end of the season. I really am gutted for Vince but this does, as I predicted before the game, spell 'curtains' for him. If you can't get a look-in when you're 3-0 up in a cup tie and your striker has scored a hat-trick, you're never coming back from it. There just seemingly isn't enough time left in the season for him to prove himself. I'd hate to sell him in the summer: a loan to a PL side seems a far more sensible option. We wouldn't be able to flog him for as much as we signed him for anyway so it's a win-win. As others have said, excellent to have Jan back. Apart from being a superb defender who is the perfect partner for Toby, he restored balance to the back line (said Obi-Wan), and allowed the FB's to enjoy the freedom of Craven Cottage. I noticed for the first time in a long time Wanyama dropping back into the 3 whenever we pushed forward; something that has been noticeably absent over the past month. I disagreed with the line-up before the start but I do think that a convincing win was just what the doctor ordered. Kane spoke after the match about how important it was to go into Thursday's game with confidence restored and he is right. If approach that game with the same energy and allow Davies/Walker to enjoy the wider Wembley pitch as wing-backs, I think we'll get through. Hoping for a home tie in the QF against Sutton United
Yes your right, there is a Greek Church opposite the supermarket in Palace . I once had my housed blessed by Father Dimitri ( from Sparti, Greek mainland ) who was the priest their in the 90s . We ended up on a bender , he drank I bottle of Tspiro ( not sure correct spelling) l think a double strength ouzo and a bottle of 15 year old malt . After throwing holy water around the house and making me kiss an icon of the Virgin Mary he had 40 winks on my sofa and passed out for an hour . Then jumped in his car , hit the curb and made his way home . He was a top bloke. This l swear is a true story .
Whenever I went to my neighbours' house I would be handed the best part of a bottle of brandy in what looked like a vase. Never left sober, everr.
Something I found odd was how, in the leadup to the game, there were so many articles about Winks wanting to play against his former mentor Scott Parker...and then Winks was subbed within five minutes of Parker coming on. The obvious thing that stood out for me was, with the exceptions of Winks and Trippier, how little trust Poch seems to have with the backup options: Kane being replaced with Sissoko rather than Janssen was the obvious one, while Verts playing the full ninety instead of having Wimmer deputise when the result seemed safe or the fact GKN wasn't even on the bench certainly stood out.
Missed the game but pleased to see Winks doing well again. He's hardly put a foot wrong so far a very impressive young footballer. Like all really good players everything he does looks simple. Big future for Winks I think.
