We will not be staying up, said it months ago

[karldutton]

The team and management are not the only ones to blame here, what about the refs mate. Every time I check the stats at half time we always seem to foul more, when the ref is all day giving them anything and when it comes down to our players most of the time it isn't a foul. I call it unlucky but also you gotta take every chance you have, and our team hasn't. Not really looking forward to the last 8 games honestly, going insane at this point

[WolverineFFC]

Did the O.P. remind us of his prediction after the win against Liverpool? That would have been the time to prove how great is his conviction. As it is, it's easy to come on here after what, for the rest of us, is a painful defeat and tell us he predicted something that we have all known has been on the cards since day one. Of all the predictions one could have made about our season, this is the least surprising.

:plus one:

I fail to understand the point of posts like the OP's.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Did the O.P. remind us of his prediction after the win against Liverpool? That would have been the time to prove how great is his conviction. As it is, it's easy to come on here after what, for the rest of us, is a painful defeat and tell us he predicted something that we have all known has been on the cards since day one. Of all the predictions one could have made about our season, this is the least surprising.

But but but from where I am sitting the OP has made an error of judgement and we shall stay up at Newcastle's expense simply because we are better than them.

[love4ffc]

Fans are mad and understandably upset after tonight's result.  Fulham are getting ever closer to the end of the season and things are getting they seem to be making things tougher on themselves rather then easier. 

While I am still upset at how the team played, I am still clinging to hope that Fulham will stay up.  Don't know why I still feel this way, guess I'm crazy. 

[ALG01]

Did the O.P. remind us of his prediction after the win against Liverpool? That would have been the time to prove how great is his conviction. As it is, it's easy to come on here after what, for the rest of us, is a painful defeat and tell us he predicted something that we have all known has been on the cards since day one. Of all the predictions one could have made about our season, this is the least surprising.

But but but from where I am sitting the OP has made an error of judgement and we shall stay up at Newcastle's expense simply because we are better than them.

we'll see

I am not so sure that when the chips are down that newcastle's forward line will probably be better than our lack of goalscoring threat.
leeds have the worst defence at set pieces and whilst we got one, we hardly looked likely at any other delivery into the box. that has been a feature for two or three seasons. we needed to buy forwards in summer and we didn't, we needed too on january 1st and waited way to long to get maja, but really we do not have a proper forward line... needing to keep playing cav and a cursory glance at our subs bench proves that.

in the great escape we had nevland, kamara, healey mcbride and clint could chip in as could jimmy B. now we have a way less potent threat, and doesn't it show.

[Texas White]

Sad to say it, but I think we are relegated.

[jeremyfulham]

Well done you ! Give yourself a huge pat on the back if we go down COYW 049:gif

[toshes mate]

Last night's game reminds me where Parker is as a coach, and how his Fulham teams lose discipline when under pressure at both ends of the pitch.  In defence there was apparent panic from players just as there had been in the Championship.   In attack there was little composure in the final third and it is no surprise that our best player in terms of quality scored our one success.   Midfield, as a consequence just didn't lock together to give a smooth transition between defenders and attackers. 

Perhaps the City game wasn't a blip but a warning because of the five goals conceded this past two games probably only a couple would have gone in given our previous form.   Parker seems to struggle with attacking football even when he has access to reasonable players.  Cavaleiro is consistently the same every game and, as such, is reliable and I do get why Parker plays him.  The others are in and out of matches simply because the wavelength necessary to get to purposeful football isn't there when it is needed. 

The potency of players is the product of many things and not just individual genius.  Andersen can pick a pass but he needs support from those around him both to generate space for him and to offer the openings he can exploit.   Last two games we have failed to do the cleverer things we were getting to do before.   Is that because we were at home in both games or is this just a repetitive quirk in Parker's methodology?

I still believe we can avoid relegation if Parker recovers momentum in the next two games (i.e. six points) and shows the same latitude to, for example, Mitro, as he has done with his noted favourites.   He now has time to get the team back on that edge we had a few short games ago and I hope he does so.   

[humphrey]

I'm not going to say we are going down yet.  But tonight was a punch in the gut.

Fulham are down- don't score enough!

[Andy S]

Nerves are coming into it a little bit as well. We had an opportunity tonight to temporarily move out of the bottom three it didn't happen but there will be other opportunities whether we can take them who knows. It is no longer just about skill or tactics. There is psychology I There as well

[Whitesideup]

Everyone has been saying we have no hope from the start of the season. There's no kudos in that prediction - and in fact in some ways it's wrong in that we did, and still do, have some hope. However, a lot of it was blown away last night and we have to credit Leeds with a good performance as well as bemoan our own. Good opportunities either came to nothing or were squandered. The turning point clearly Lookman's miskick from 7 or 8 yards out - should have scored, and then we concede within 30 seconds, another sloppy goal. But our performance was shoddy. Admittedly Leeds put us under pressure, but after the first 20-25 minutes I thought we had grown into the game and were starting to give them problems. The second half we let it go again, partly maybe because of losing Reed in the middle.

So to the merchants of doom, yes, we may well go down this year, and staying up now looks like a very big ask, but it has not been the hopeless task you predicted. The perception is that you get some kind of perverse pleasure out of a not very clever prediction, as if there is something wrong with being a bit more positive and optimistic. If we do go down, I will look back on the season ruefully and reflect on the games we should have won and think what could and should have been, because the side has grown into a team that does compete at this level, albeit perhaps a little too late. Last night's below par performance does not distract from that.   

[ALG01]

We are in a better position than i thought likely in september but
With man utd and chelsea we are unlikely to get any points as they fight for top 4.
Arsenal? Unlikely to get points, they have top quality all over the pitch and will be keen to stay above spurs.
Villa and wolves? Anything is possible and will depend on how motivated they are.
Leaving southampton burnley and newcastle.

Hard to make a case for more than 10 points from that lot. If we can beat the last three i mention and get 4 from anywhere else, that gets us 39 points. But i suspect we struggle to get even 9 more because of our shocking inability to score goals.

[humphrey]

I'm not going to say we are going down yet.  But tonight was a punch in the gut.

IF FULHAM GO DOWN, THEN HOPEFULLY WITHIN 3-4 YRS THE CLUB CAN GET BACK TO THE PREM-  IT WONT BE STRAIGHT BACK UP.

[Woolly Mammoth]

It is finally balanced, although we appear to have one foot already in the trap door if some people are correct.
However, the other foot is firmly on solid ground and will kick us to safety if we can win 4 of the remaining 8 matches as they are all winnable in their own way.
We are limited with strikers and creative mid field players. So we play to our strengths, the strengths that bought us victories at Everton, Liverpool and Leicester. Only conceding one goal in 3 games but scoring 5 in those three games and points to the tune of a grand total of 9.
So how did we do that, by going back to basics and play to our strengths. We over ran Palace and outclassed them yet it ended 0 0 as many games have.
Last night Leeds created problems as they always do with most opponents, and we did not handle it properly because unusually we lost our shape and balance especially at the back. This was compounded by not starting with Tete our best full back and further compounded by substituting Maja and T
Reed. What Scott was thinking of I fail to comprehend, not so much shooting ourselves in the foot, more a case of blowing it completely off.
Nevertheless, we lick our wounds dust ourselves down and get back on the horse, that's what winners do when matches do not go according to plan.

[Arthur]

Everyone has been saying we have no hope from the start of the season. There's no kudos in that prediction - and in fact in some ways it's wrong in that we did, and still do, have some hope. However, a lot of it was blown away last night and we have to credit Leeds with a good performance as well as bemoan our own. Good opportunities either came to nothing or were squandered. The turning point clearly Lookman's miskick from 7 or 8 yards out - should have scored, and then we concede within 30 seconds, another sloppy goal. But our performance was shoddy. Admittedly Leeds put us under pressure, but after the first 20-25 minutes I thought we had grown into the game and were starting to give them problems. The second half we let it go again, partly maybe because of losing Reed in the middle.

So to the merchants of doom, yes, we may well go down this year, and staying up now looks like a very big ask, but it has not been the hopeless task you predicted. The perception is that you get some kind of perverse pleasure out of a not very clever prediction, as if there is something wrong with being a bit more positive and optimistic. If we do go down, I will look back on the season ruefully and reflect on the games we should have won and think what could and should have been, because the side has grown into a team that does compete at this level, albeit perhaps a little too late. Last night's below par performance does not distract from that.   

Decent post.

Leeds played well - I wouldn't be surprised if their supporters rate last night as among their best.

Bielsa's approach is in contrast to Parker's: had we led 2-1 going into the final quarter of the game, our focus would have been upon maintaining our defensive shape inside our own half; Leeds, in contrast, continued to press us no matter where we had possession. And whereas we would have sacrificed possession of the ball and, with it, almost any further attacking intention (as happened in our victories over Everton, Sheffield and Liverpool), Leeds, in contrast, counter-attacked in numbers to the final whistle in search of a third goal. It doesn't always work out for Leeds - they've lost as many games as we have, and Bielsa's cavalier tactics can look naive when they do - but it has enabled them to win seven more than us and relegation has, of course, never been an issue for them.

While it's to be expected that this forum will examine our efforts far more closely than that of the opposition, I do think last night's result was more about Leeds' performance than ours. It should be no surprise a team that presses as well as did Leeds (and, of course, Manchester City last weekend) can make us appear to be 'off our game'; we struggle enough to break down teams that allow us longer on the ball - how much more difficult it must be when the time afforded to the players further challenges their technique and decision-making. (A clear example of this, in my opinion, came in our back-to-back games, last month, against Everton and Burnley. Despite their positions in the league table, we looked better playing against the higher-flying Toffees, who stood off us, than we did the lower-riding Clarets, who sought to deny us time on the ball.)

We are what we are and not every opponent is in the mould of a Leeds or a Manchester City. We can hope our next, Aston Villa, will be less able to disrupt us. We wanted to be out of the relegation places this morning, and that we are not (out of them) makes our task more difficult, but it hasn't yet sealed our fate. In my opinion, this is not the time to give up on the team.

[cookieg]

I said months ago I was having fish and chips for tea one night and I am. God my predictions are so accurate.

[WindyCity]

I concur with OP that FFC going down.  Sad to say.  But I do like SP and feel he should stick with the team over next 2-3 seasons to maintain at least some continuity.  Yes, he too has probably made mistakes along the way, some player selections were certainly debatable.  That said, I think he has the making of a good manager.  Give him adequate time.  We'll see what happens.

[RaySmith]

While there are games to be played, we have a good chance of surviving, the team having clawed themselves back from 10 points from 17th place, I don't think these players  are going to give up now.

Still all to play for.
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