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So Near, But Now a Million Miles Away

I have deliberately not posted here during the Christmas matches, so as to do a summary of all of them together. As the games panned out, this ended up being a great call as they all pretty much went the same way.

We played well in patches of all of the games, could easily have had between 7-9 points but a combination of bad luck, low self esteem and rank bad defending means we ended up with a solitary point for our efforts. I don't suppose anyone will give me a cigar for suggesting this is not our season!

Roy Hodgson: why not?

It’s not an appointment that will excite the masses, but what this club needs now is a solid, knowledgeable coach who can improve the good players we have and work on other areas of need. Hodgson can do this.

Rules Are There To Be Broken

For once, the law of the ex failed to surface and it was probably just as well, with so many former Tottenham players in the Fulham line-up.  With Murphy, Simon Davies and Paul Konchesky all starting, it had a goal from one (or all) of them written all over the afternoon's proceedings, but it failed to happen and it was Spurs who eased to three points without much threat from the visitors.

The job that nobody wants: who next for desperate Fulham?

Ray Lewington's application may now be in Mr Al Fayed's waste paper basket, but another manager has distanced himself from the Fulham manager job.   After Slaven Bilic declined last week, Martin Jol has now made noises about the squad not being good enough.   Which leaves us with unproven John Collins and a number of proven managers with somewhat mixed backgrounds.

The end of the road: Lawrie Sanchez is fired

Lawrie Sanchez kept Fulham up last year, and we shouldn't forget that.  Sadly for him, it looked like he was taking us down this year, and in today's Premier League that's not acceptable.  Something probably had to be done.   

The Johnson versus Downing debate

The transfer window is nearly upon us and all football fans are getting slightly excited about the thought of seeing new players unveiled at their club in hope that they will improve their team's performance for the rest of the season.

I should be excited then? But I'm not, as I fear we could be selling players first to fund new ones come January. Reports are flying around at the moment that Adam Johnson will join Spurs early in the new year. Let's hang on to our best players please Mr Southgate.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way ...

... oh, how unusual it is to see Tottenham win away !!

"We hate it when our 'friends' become successful..."

...and if they're northern that makes it even worse. Manchester City returned to winning ways on Saturday with an entertaining 4-2 victory over a resurgent Bolton Wanderers and pleasingly returned to the top four of the Premiership. Even more satisfyingly, the result well and truly pissed on the chips of Rupert Murdoch and the Sky Corporation. Their ludicrously over-hyped promotional campaign for "Sky Sport's Super Slamdunkin' Showdown Sunday" (or something) had to be re-recorded to refer to the 'Big Four' rather than the 'Top Four'. You could almost feel Richard Keys bristling with indignation that these cocky young upstarts from Manchester were threatening the hegemony of Chelsea, Arsenal, United and Liverpool. During their 63 hour preview Martin Tyler even went as far as to state that he hoped the big four returned to their 'rightful' positions at the top of the table come the end of the season.  Yep Martin, the last thing any football fan wants is for the mind-numbingly dull domination of the aforementioned clubs to be broken.  There stands a man with his finger on the pulse of the nation...

Bloodied and Beaten

New manager, new ways. Sadly, the new way involved losing at the Emirates but, in keeping with the less confrontational style of Avram and his new 4-year deal, it seems important to this particular correspondent to be magnanimous in defeat. So our hats off to Arsenal, who played a good game in front of a surprisingly noisy crowd, and came through winners thanks to a header from – who else – William bloody Gallas, and a shocking flap from – who’da thunk it – the world’s best keeper. Nice timing, Mr Cech.

Deja vu at Derby

2 months ago, Derby had just put in a promising away performance at Fulham. We were bottom of the league but there appeared to be a glimmer of hope. A new chairman was about to buy into the club and the words "the season starts here" could be heard muttered around Pride Park. This was followed by the dampist of damp squib home performances- a 2-0 defeat to Everton.

Last weekend, Derby put in a credible performance at Old Trafford (forget the scoreline), we had a new manager and are on the verge of a takeover by an American consortium. The words "the season starts here" could be heard muttered around Pride Park. This was followed by a completely demoralising 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough. Deja vu? Absolutely, week after week.

The silly season: Fulham v Newcastle, and it's a must win game for the whites

It seems silly to talk about must-win games in December, but football is silly these days.    Fulham stand above the relegation places with all the confidence of a drunk on a tightrope.  We need wins.  Lawrie Sanchez needs wins.

Anyone for a Turkish delight?

I was looking at Boro's fixture list on Sunday morning before the game against Arsenal and was wondering where the points would come from and more importantly where that third win of the season was coming from. Going through the fixtures I ignored Arsenal at home, brushed past Derby away (draw written all over it) and then the first maybe was West Ham at home a week on Saturday but by this time we could have been second from bottom and possibly minus a Southgate.

Boots and other feet

What a difference a week makes.  Last week it was Robbie Keane seeing red, as Spurs lost out to Birmingham in the last minute and this week an opponent is sent off, with Tottenham taking the three points.  Oh, if only Rob Green had been sitting in the stand for over half of the West Ham match !!

Crisis (Ahem..!) Averted

NUFC’s slow road to improvement continued with a hard fought, last gasp win against Birmingham shedding some light on a gloomy winter’s afternoon. Again we had to come from behind after a woeful bit of defending from Rozenhal let Jerome in to round Given in the first ten minutes but on balance, we just shaded it over the ninety minutes and deserved the three points.

The Rams will rise

Another weekend, another heavy away defeat for Derby. Reading pull off a shock win against Liverpool and then Middlesborough inexplicably beat Arsenal to also pull away from the bottom three. As Rams fans have to jealously look at prospering smaller clubs like Blackburn and Portsmouth, you may wonder if things can get any worse?

However, whisper it quietly, but the green shoots of recovery are sprouting at Pride Park. Is this blind faith gone mad? Read on.

A customary defeat, what more can I say?

A trip to Chelsea isn't a game that your season will hinge on, especially if you're stuck at the wrong end of the table fighting over who doesn't have to play Plymouth, Burnley and Stoke next year. This was a game that would be spent browsing through the latest scores on your mobile, hoping the teams around you would also go home empty handed, leaving the table looking exactly the same as Saturday morning, when Sunderland sat looking down at the bottom three.

Hot gambling tip!

Do you like to gamble on football?   I'm very bad at it, but sometimes have a go anyway. 

On Monday evening I felt certain that Fulham would surprise Manchester United.   By carefully studying the Times Fink Tank predictor machine I realised that if Fulham were to prevail it would probably be by a single goal to nil.  And for this to happen one of either David Healy (if international defenders can't stop him, how will... oh... well, anyway) or Clint Dempsey (nobody can stop him either, sometimes) would have to come up with the goods.

Climb out of the web yourself, before you shatter your dreams

After leaving the Stadium of Light pitch, jubilant after scoring a last-minute winner in a relegation six-pointer, your delight uncontrollable due the importance of your goal, you enter the dressing room receiving congratulatory pats on the back and hand-shakes, out comes your top of the range Sony Ericsson K850i and your organisation of a nightly celebration commences. Wait. A calm Roy Keane heads over to where your sitting and politely reminds you that you won't be going anywhere tonight as you are now banned from Sunderland's most popular nightclub. And why? Because he said so.

Geordies Are Back

A great result, performance and show of solidarity from the terraces (can you still call them terraces?) at SJP last night put a smile on everyone's face and reminded folk how enjoyable following Newcastle can actually be.  OK, it was 'only' a draw but it was acheived against one of the best sides in Europe right now and given the run we've been having and the stick we've been getting it certainly felt like a victory.

The Fulham glass is half full

Nobody should be too unhappy with last night's result.   We escaped Old Trafford with our dignity intact, and in today's Premiership that's something.

Fulham supporters are quite negative at the moment.  Many are complaining openly and loudly about our manager, the players he has purchased, and the way the players are playing.  But there are signs that the team is gradually improving, if you want to see them.   

"Slide Away..."

Once more Manchester City's season veered from the sublime to the ridiculous, quite literally within the space of a minute's playing time (albeit separated by seven whole days). The sublime was provided by Stephen Ireland's sumptuous last minute strike against Reading last week, the ridiculous by Titus Bramble's catastrophic error after just 28 seconds against Wigan. Geovanni was the grateful recipient, cooly rounding the keeper to give City a start we could have scarcely hoped for. If there's a worse player in the Premiership right now than Bramble then I'm yet to see him.

West Ham bring lasers but no fireworks

In some ways, you can see a little microcosm of England over at Upton Park. Marvellous history. Statues and memories. Done sod-all for years and years and years.

Dowd By Law

While Tottenham Hotspur proceed to give charitable donations to the needy of the Premiership Parish, it appears that not everything that comes wrapped up in red at this time of year is to be welcomed.  As Christmas approaches ever rapidly, perhaps THFC should add a “helping hand” to their present list, as most other sides seem to be getting one this season.

A little late, a little lucky, and a little happier

Both sides had this fixture circled on their calender, next to the date read three, closely followed by an exclamation mark on top of several underlinings. If either side has any chance of surviving this season then victory against their rivals, home or away is an absolute necessity. That's why beating Derby was crucial.

Rum Deal

Due to the consumption of a bottle of rum on the mini bus down to Lancashire, I am not going to attempt a factual report on Saturday's game.  From what I remember, the support was fantastic, we were slightly unlucky but didn't defend overly well and away from the (not insignificant) minority of twisting gets at SJP there wasn't any pantomime booing.  Normal, rum-free reporting will resume on Wednesday.

It's Grim Up North (east)

At about 10 to 5 on Saturday afternoon, I was sat in a now half empty Stadium of Light. Robert Earnshaw was hesitating over the ball and a Sunderland defender nipped in to kick the ball into touch. The corner would see out the match and although a point wasn't great for Derby, it was an improvement on recent form. Inexplicably, the linesman awarded a goal kick. A minute later, Sunderland had scored and the Rams had lost yet again.

Five minutes later a group of young teenage Mackems were swarming around a lone Rams fan making his way home. Another five minutes later and a reversal of age's, a Mackem "man" was punching a teenage Rams fan, forcing the latter to flee across a busy road. As a mate said "I wonder what they're like when they lose?". An hour later, we were still stuck in traffic on the outskirts of Sunderland. Not a good end to the day.