In the cold light of day

[Fernhurst]

Still enormously proud of that performance last night.

Just wish the match this coming Sunday was not SO important.

[AnotherVicHalomLoveChild]

Fully agree about last night
As for Sunday, well it's now on a "game by game" basis for us
The past has gone & nothing we can do about it - including Jol & poor performances - GONE
It doesn't matter who we have got to play now, it's the proverbial approach to each game on it's own merits
No point in worrying about it beyond the very next match
Clearly Rene has a game plan & given the performance last night the turn around has started
Rene will build on this, develop it, remove the dead wood & add new players in January
I like his quote "the most important thing in this position (in the bottom three) is to continue to work hard or the fear factor can kick in"
Keep it simple for the players to respond to
They can be pleased with last night but we lost & the game is history
The important thing now is to build on the good start & deliver 3points on Sunday
No point in the players thinking beyond that
No idea whether Rene will be able to save us but there is hope - there wasn't before
COYW!     

[ltd-ffc]

and Villa beat Southampton away last night..... great

[AnotherVicHalomLoveChild]

and Villa beat Southampton away last night..... great

So what?
Everton won @ Man U!
There is nothing we can do about either of those results
ALL we can do is focus on beating Villa on Sunday, that IS under our control & very much down to us
No point in concerning ourselves with what other teams do or don't do
Focus only on our next game & what we need to do
At least we have rediscovered some fight, flair, effort, playing as a team
But it is only a start - & MUST be continued & developed - on Sunday
COYW!

[JBH]

and Villa beat Southampton away last night..... great

Totally irrelevant  :028:

[Herbie]

For the first time in a while I feel optimistic that we will go into the next game with a plan, rather than just putting out the normal XI and waiting to see what happens.  Even though it's still early days, the improvement was there for all to see last night.

[Luffy86]

Exactly it's irrelevant, we lost to west ham yet they lost to palace who lost to us.....

[Luffy86]

By listening to GJ on the radio it sounded as if it was a really good performance add to the positive comments from fans and Rene, I think our season has just started!! It was nice hearing a loud stadium again!!

[YankeeJim]

and Villa beat Southampton away last night..... great

Not to worry. Southampton has the second longest losing streak in the league.......after us.

[HatterDon]

We're going to have to fight tooth and nail for 90 minutes for every match until the season ends. We can't count on three teams playing like crap to make it easy for us. This could very well be as close a thing as was The Great Escape season.

[Berserker]

We're going to have to fight tooth and nail for 90 minutes for every match until the season ends. We can't count on three teams playing like crap to make it easy for us. This could very well be as close a thing as was The Great Escape season.

Agree totally

[Fulham1959]

By listening to GJ on the radio it sounded as if it was a really good performance add to the positive comments from fans and Rene, I think our season has just started!! It was nice hearing a loud stadium again!!

Right from the start of his commentary, I barely heard the names of the opposition players which was an about-turn on the season to-date.  It was clear that we had taken the initiative and you could sense the change of approach in GJ's positive comments.  OK, Spurs eventually came into it and we lost ;  but what a difference  -  and you could plainly hear the crowd's positive reaction.

Sunday will be tough and we may even lose again but at last there is now a 'Plan A' and, I have no doubt, a backup plan on a match-by-match basis, too.  Who knows, RM might become one of the great managers !

[Fulham1959]

Exactly it's irrelevant, we lost to west ham yet they lost to palace who lost to us.....

It's a funny old game !

[AnotherVicHalomLoveChild]

We're going to have to fight tooth and nail for 90 minutes for every match until the season ends. We can't count on three teams playing like crap to make it easy for us. This could very well be as close a thing as was The Great Escape season.

Can I suggest that we make it 95 minutes that we fight tooth & nail
Just to ensure we take care of "Fergie time" & the occasional times we concede goals near the end of the first half & full time
That should do it!

[Forever Fulham]

I wish the players' average age would allow them to fight tooth and nail for 95.  While it's night and day better, they have to incorporate more passing, less long running, and try to avoid having to track back long distances.  We should start a thread about how to best play with older players.  Another reason why I think they won't hit their stride under Rene until January.  They need time to get truly match fit, which many of them didn't appear to be under Jol.

[Berserker]

Definitely age would play a part in that