Maja watch part II

[Pluto]

Yeah...he's pretty good

[Dunstable Fulham]

Terrific performance from Maja and the rest of the team. Well done to everyone involved tonight. Now can we build on this on Wednesday and Saturday

[Texas White]

Maja magic

[junior white]

He had his calf strapped up and ice on it at the end, hopefully nothing serious

[Deeping_white]

Big LOL at howitis saying Maja was out of his depth after just 20 minutes into the game on the match day thread

[Caedal]

Great overall play. Got himself into dangerous positions. Good stuff

[H4usuallysitting]

Apparently he's been on fire in training

[Twig]

He had his calf strapped up and ice on it at the end, hopefully nothing serious

Here's hoping.

[hovewhite]

Scott knowing we have to win will will bring him on with 10 minutes to go and losing 2-0 and blame fine margins for the defeat.

You're not allowed to be critical of Parker on this board.. everything is cause for optimism and we're doing well (third relegation under the khans, won 2 games and been in relegation places almost all season and despite having a good squad still not getting more points..).. Doesn't matter going down... because we'll come up again (and perhaps still get it wrong then)... that'll be fine though, because we have a habit of looking after the players that get us up when we're in the championship - have definitely not made those players feel ostracised and under appreciated (two times) and their loyalty will stick with us.. not got a reputation for chucking them by the wayside and getting in loads of new players to replace them.. Definitely don't have the players who could/can score in this league (mitro and Lookman and BDR despite the fact they can) - who are being managed perfectly and we're just unlucky/they've suddenly been unable to score...

It's dry, it's boring, it's lacklustre, it's uninspiring... and I know i've gone to a more extreme level with my posts as this season has worn on, but insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results - took us ages to get out of the five at the back, we've hardly seen mitro all season, we've constantly persisted with Cav... It's like watching the US election before trump got elected in slow motion, but knowing how it pans out...

This has been (on a purely results/points basis) a horrendous season. The only reason fans are approaching it more calmly is because we've been in a bad place all season, we're not getting thwacked in every game (which was the fear when we started the season) and you could argue we're now becoming used to being the premier leagues relegation team.

It's embarrassing. Used to have pride in how this club was run, despite some difficult moments in the premiership, used to have faith that we either had a manager who knew what to do, or a owner in Al Fayed who knew when to pull the plug but put in considered decisions re recruitment and hiring/firing managers (minus Lawrie Sanchez)...

But you're not allowed to point out that we're 11 points worse off than we were last time we were up (and there's a chance we may not even eclipse the 26 points we got then) under parker and this season, despite having a better defence.

TK has consistenly over the ENTIRE time he's been DOF got our transfer policy horrendously wrong - he's responsible for managing the books, for taking FFP into account, to bringing in the right players that form a well balanced TEAM - Not an attack heavy one, or a defence heavy one.. but a balanced team that gives us a chance... He's done that at the championship, but simply has no clue how to do it at premiership level.

This isn't even a rant of me saying things that are speculative and untrue - it's based on trends of what's happened over YEARS of watching this team and club under the Khan's and even under Parker. I will always follow and support Fulham, they're my team and I look forward to one day taking a family of my own to CC, but this period definitely goes down into the catergory of dour/tiresome and pretty poor.

Maja starts - he scores - we win

and that's what happens, and he's on from the start, well done scott

[Andy S]

Three games in a week will be hard so expect some player rotation for the mid week game

[AnotherVicHalomLoveChild]

Well every credit to the lad
He comes over as a Predator in the mould of Ivor, Sniffer Clarke, Steve Earle, etc
In the right place, @ the right time to slot the goals away
Now is this just illusion, a lucky break (& boy don't we deserve that) or what...?
Can he continue to deliver in such a way?
With Mitro out for a minimum of 10 days can Maja fill his place & do it in his own style?
Nothing to lose after a fabulous start, well done fella!
AND take a bow Harrison Reed, way to go & show others how to perform, brilliant
COYW!! 

[Woolly Mammoth]

Josh Maja is no lightweight, he showed in tonight's match that he can hold the ball up with his back to goal and has strong upper body strength. Links well and scored two opportunist goals goals due to his natural instinct in being in the right place at the right time due to his anticipation which in itself is an art.
He could turn out to be the piece in the jigsaw that has been missing.
But we must not make the mistake of building him up with high expectations, just let him relax and play without fear.

[BarryP]

Josh Maja is no lightweight, he showed in tonight's match that he can hold the ball up with his back to goal and has strong upper body strength. Links well and scored two opportunist goals goals due to his natural instinct in being in the right place at the right time due to his anticipation which in itself is an art.
He could turn out to be the piece in the jigsaw that has been missing.
But we must not make the mistake of building him up with high expectations, just let him relax and play without fear.

Well put WM!

[ChesterTheTabby]

Josh Maja is no lightweight, he showed in tonight's match that he can hold the ball up with his back to goal and has strong upper body strength. Links well and scored two opportunist goals goals due to his natural instinct in being in the right place at the right time due to his anticipation which in itself is an art.
He could turn out to be the piece in the jigsaw that has been missing.
But we must not make the mistake of building him up with high expectations, just let him relax and play without fear.

Very true Woolly, and I caught glimpses of a Bobby Z type fella. Wouldn't that be grand if he could develop as such?

[FFCFOREVER]

Josh Maja is no lightweight, he showed in tonight's match that he can hold the ball up with his back to goal and has strong upper body strength. Links well and scored two opportunist goals goals due to his natural instinct in being in the right place at the right time due to his anticipation which in itself is an art.
He could turn out to be the piece in the jigsaw that has been missing.
But we must not make the mistake of building him up with high expectations, just let him relax and play without fear.

Yes your Maja - sty

[Denver Fulham]

The way he read the play and peeled off the back of the defender for a far post run on the first goal is something we simply haven't had.

Wonderful linkup play between Aina and Lookman and a lovely ball in, but describing it as "a simple tap-in" doesn't do justice to Maja's read and run.

If all he can do is tap in 6 or 7 more goals, we may actually escape this ... but he showed more than that in terms of movement and hold-up play.

[FFC In Oz]

Amazing post by the OP.

Happy to be proven wrong on this one.

[RaySmith]

Josh Maja is no lightweight, he showed in tonight's match that he can hold the ball up with his back to goal and has strong upper body strength. Links well and scored two opportunist goals goals due to his natural instinct in being in the right place at the right time due to his anticipation which in itself is an art.
He could turn out to be the piece in the jigsaw that has been missing.
But we must not make the mistake of building him up with high expectations, just let him relax and play without fear.

Agree, that  way he brought the ball down on his chest and laid it off with his back to goal, defenders right up him, was very impressive, and his awareness of what everyone else is doing, his anticipation and timing of runs into the box.
Real centre forward play. And his attitude - of a winner.

But i agree, we must be careful not to put too much pressure of expectation on him, and not to jump on him is he makes any mistakes, or plays poorly.

[Craven Mad]

Yesterday showed the value of just having a striker plonked in front of goal. It isn't particularly clever, but it's easier to score from 2 yards away than it is from 20 yards away.

If/when we do have to rely on Cav, I hope he learns from Josh's successful performance last night

[FFC1987]

I can't believe how mature he came across as. He's not played much football this season, he's 22 and he was thrust into the lone striker role. Take the two goals away for a second, his touch, work rate, ability to hold the ball when isolated and link the play and generally, the clever runs he was making to get a yard of space  on defenders was great to watch. I think he looked a little lacking match fitness in areas of the match but that's fair enough considering he's not played much this season. Did Parker mention anything post game about injury, as I read he had ice strapped to him?