Question for those who went to the game

[finnster01]

I only had a sparingly link and GJ in my ear, but from what I could gather and see it sounded like Murphy had a bit of a shocker and the big Norwegian giraffe was back to his old self and had a stormer.

The Big Aussie also sounded uncharacteristically dodgy in his office.

Could someone at the game deny/confirm that please?

[alfie]

Hangers/Hughes were excellent, Gera man of the match non stop running and won the ball to set up Okaka

Murphy gave ball away an awful lot today Big Aussie had a couple of moments but nothing too serious

Must be the worst team and the worst ref to visit CC this season

[Jimpav]

As per what Alfie said but I would also add that Elm was poor, Dempsey put on the wrong pink boots and Dickson was iffy. Good play as always by Duff though.

[TonyGilroy]

I'd agree with Alfie except that I thought Hangeland had a few iffy moments.

Gera was outstanding. Etuhu, Dempsey and Murphy were a long way from their best.

Ultimately we did just enough to win against a competitive and busy team without enough quality at either end.

[Dragoman]

Dempsey had a shocker but then so did Etuhu. To my mind Etuhu has played poorly in the past few games. I've criticised him for his short passing game and unwillingness to run with the ball but today his passing was atrocious.

[Tonywa]

Thought Dempsey pulled himself together in the second half and began to look much more dangerous.  Gera was excellent throughout - how he's come on this season - but poor Murph really looked out of things. 

I really can't agree with all the criticism of Etuhu.  His job is not to run with the ball or to thread forty yard passes through to front men.  He is there to provide physical presence in front of the back four, to break up attacks, win the ball and pass it short to someone else to take forward.  To my mind he does this extremely well for the most part.  Thinking of other exponents of this role, Palcios at the Spuds plays exactly the same role and has made a huge difference to their side since he joined it. I don't seem to notice him running with the ball any more than I used to see that past master of the art Cyril Makelele do so.  David Batty was effective in the role for a number of years and he rarely made a pass further than about seven or eight yards, yet won England caps off the back of it.

TW

[TonyGilroy]

I have no problem with the Etuhu role but he didn't play it well today. Too much possession lost and half hearted interceptions. He's usually much better than that.

[Peabody]

IMO Demps was shocking today could'nt have hit the barn door, control was completely off and kept giving the ball away. Murph was ok in patches and equally had bad patches. Dickson had a far better game today than on thursday. UNfortunately, I think David Elm just is'nt up to Premier League standard.

[Peabody]

I also thought that Mark Clattenburg gave the worst display of referreeing I have seen this season and we had some bad ones in the early rounds of The Europa

[Dugliss]

I thought Etuhu was shocking today. For a big lad he sometimes tackles like a girl and I lost count of the times he gave the ball away in dangerous positions. Strange player, sometimes looks excellent and other times awful. He`s certainly no Palacios

[HatterDon]

as it turned out, Elm gave everything he had. His virus isn't clear yet, and when Okaka scored the equalizer elm was on an i.v. Roy said he shouldn't have started him.

Danny had his moments, but the problem wasn't WHEN he gave away possession but WHERE. Three times by my counting he passed square to a Wigan player 25 yards from our goal. Dempsey did look under par, although he was streets better than at Hull. Simon Davies is turning into a stormer of a RB and performed well at both ends of the right flank. Gera was indeed the man today, and I don't know what GJ said, but I thought that at least two of the four penalty shouts were valid -- first half on Gera and second half on Deuce.

Oh, and Mr. Finn, I wouldn't take those "the worst team we've seen at the Cottage this season" remarks too much to heart. They were very well organized and pressured us very well -- especially in the first half. They were every bit worth their lead at the half, just as we were every bit worth ours at full time.

Oh, and you guys don't get FSC PLUC in NYC yet? It was on today -- delayed until 1400 your time.

[finnster01]

Oh, and you guys don't get FSC PLUC in NYC yet? It was on today -- delayed until 1400 your time.

Oh Bugger...Another schoolboy error on my part Mr Hatter. Could have nipped down to the pub. There are just too many channels in this country for me to get my head around

[ScalleysDad]

If life was all about the maths then certainly Murph is not earning his place. He is becoming a bit like the boy Bullard in that the odd peach of a pass, shot or skilful intervention is balanced against countless poor passes and if you look at the second phase, ie what happens with the pass, it has invariably played a teammate into trouble or down a one way street. Wolfsburg figured him out and built their momemtum towards the end of the game through him when his tackling and passing became woeful. Baird has come on leaps and bounds and I would play him ahead of Murph everytime........ at the moment!!!!!! Some people will say we will lose our creativity but Duff, Demps, a revitalised Gera and BZ have proved that free kicks, corners and pens can be taken throughout the squad. On a prozone board I'm sure Hangers and Hughes would prefer Baird in front of them as well.

The Etuhu debate drags on I see. I get the point about doing a specific job but why pass sideways when well within shooting range. On Thursday night it was all set up for him to break the net and instead it was the almost meek sideways pass straight into a pile up. No confidence at all.

Davies is a handy full back is'nt he and if we keep Shorey and Pants comes back fit its not looking too bad. O Hara a must purchase to replace Murph as a starter, a forward to compliment BZ and AJ plus the rest of Roys bargain purchases/no hopers off the books will make it a fine summer.  

[jarv]

I just got in and found out we won....good performance to play poorly (according to all your comments) and win. What it actually shows is Fulham are now a solid mid table team. Can play against a team battling at the end of the season, and come away with 3 points.
RH comments were excellent....don't expect too much! Fulham have a big game coming up. I was surprised though to read he played Murphy who looked knacked last week, Baird was on the bench, a man who has filled in brilliantly.
Great result, good confidence booster.

[SuffolkWhite]

I thought the first half we deserved to get a wake up call with Wigan scoring. Elm had no pace and was as good as Burpatov for Manure, he did not run-into space and did not read the game thus giving midfield a hard time in making attacking passes,
Etuhu was not at the races in the centre and was sloppy but in the second half he was more switched on which helped the team significantly. Okakakakaka made a difference and was running into space and the passing improved all over the pitch. Schwarzer had a couple of moments but was helped by the defence who played better also in the second half.

A good result and hopefully Konch and Demps gained more match fitness.

[CaliforniaFFC]

Much of the relatively poor possession today was partly our fatigue but mostly Wigan closing quickly on our normal patterns of passing play especially when Demps and Duff tuck inside and the fullbacks use the space on the flanks. You have to assume the other managers watch the game video and try to stop the opposition. I felt we were a little off and Etuhu's passing was poor but the team was OK in general. Murph is truly what makes us tick, as evidenced when Greening is in that role. Baird plays only if Etuhu is struggling but NOT for Murphy. Gera played very well dropping into the space between the midfield and forwards.

Whoever says O'Hara to replace Murphy is close but Stephen Ireland would be spot on (outside of Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi, Kaka etc)

[Oakeshott]

Ireland would indeed be excellent but I can't see us able to afford anyone who has been on Man. City wages. O'Hara more realistic.

[KCat]

IMO, Hangeland was the man of the match .............scored from Duff's corner (how often do we score from set pieces ??)
and cleared off the line when Mark stretched his marker.  Gera and Davies worked hard, Hughes looks really comfortable with Davies to his right.  Dempsey need to get over himself and burn the red/yellow/orange/green boots wear  , Bradley (what's his face) need to pick him for SA, that would settle the lad down ??? ....he looks tired/ dispondant ??

Reality check : Murphy is a 60 minute man

[TonyGilroy]

Reality check : Murphy is a 60 minute man

Interesting thought. He'd probably be pleased.


Sixty-minute man, sixty-minute man

Look a here girls I'm telling you now
They call me "Lovin' Dan"
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man

If you don't believe I'mm all that I say
Come up and take my hand
When I let you go you'll cry "Oh yes,"
"He's a sixty-minute man

There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
Then you'll holler "please don't stop"
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
And 15 minutes of squeezing
And 15 minutes of blowing my top

If your man ain't treating you right
Come up and see ol' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man

Sixty-minute man
They call me Lovin' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man

Sixty-minute man
They call me Lovin' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man

There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
Then you'll holler "please don't stop"
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
And 15 minutes of squeezing
And 15 minutes of blowing my top

If your man ain't treating you right
Come up and see ol' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man, oh yeah

[Logicalman]

Has to be said, it was purely down to Murph that we conceded the first goal.

He picked up the ball in the last third, and should have laid it off and kept the momentum going, but, in the manner he seems to have adopted since December, he delays passing it, gets in trouble and then looks to laying it back. In this case he laid it back 30 yards - back into our own half - with a crappy pass that put the defence under pressure immediately losing the ball, and within 10 seconds, we were 1 nil down.

In the second half I counted no less than 5 times - almost in a row - in a short space of time, when Murphs passing not only left something to be desired, but actually went directly to a Wigan player.

He has been a great captain for the club, but for some reason (age/fitness?), he appears to lose concentration after 20 minutes or so in the first half, and then very quickly again in the second half. Yesterday he hardly touched the ball in the first 15 minutes, and it was noticeable that once the plays started going through him, how less effective they were. I would prefer we get the Murph of old back, but if we cannot, then it's time that he stepped aside and we look to promoting someone else into midfield.