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Fulham
Posted by Tom Wille on 03/21/2009

I will be the first person to admit that I was wrong in my recent claims on this blog that Fulham had no chance against Manchester United this weekend or any weekend.

After Saturday's decisive 2-0 win over the European champions I will gladly eat my words and enjoy a beer or two tonight in honor of this memorable victory that cements Fulham's position inside the top ten with just two months remaining in the season.

Before I get into match details and such I want to make it clear that despite my recent rants about not feeling the Cottagers had it in them to pull off the upset over Manchester United, I like the rest of you was hoping and praying that I was wrong. Just because I write something, does not mean I really want it to happen. I bleed the White and Black of Fulham and I am a loyal supporter of the club that takes us on a rollercoaster ride every season. However, all too often I have gotten my hopes up only to be heartbroken by the Whites.

On the other hand, this team has also surprised me with results like Saturday's and that is what makes supporting this club so great. You honestly never know what is going to happen. And I for one like it that way.

As for the match on Saturday, not only did Fulham win 2-0, they really dominated the Red Devils for large chunks of the match. Fulham took advantage of a blatant over the head handball on Paul Scholes which set up perennial United killer Danny Murphy to slot home his kick from the spot to give Fulham the 1-0 lead. Scholes was also given a red card and sent to the dressing room early leaving Sir Alex Ferguson with just 10 men for the remainder of the match.

The second half saw much of the same for Fulham in terms of crisp passes, attacking chances and solid defense at the back. With the match still in question, Zoltan Gera put an exclamation point on it as he scored deep into the second half to give the Cottagers their first win over Manchester United at their home ground in over 50 years.

What is most shocking about this win is that it was expected that after being stuffed by Liverpool at home the previous week, that Manchester United would take out all of their pent up frustration on the Cottagers in similar fashion to a pair of lopsided defeats Fulham suffered to the Red Devils in the last month. Fortunately it was a different Cottager team on Saturday and credit has to go to the players, the coaching staff and the supporters who sounded great as I watched the match on TV here in Chicago.

Fulham is definitely back on track after a rough patch that included home losses to Hull City and Blackburn in the last two weeks. But after on Saturday's win, their is no doubting this team. In fact, the Cottagers have raised the bar for themselves and shown that on a given day this club can beat any team in the league when they play this way. Whether it be Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton or Aston Villa, all teams the Cottagers have to play before the season ends, Fulham has a chance to get positive results and remain in the top ten.

Additionally, it is hard not to think about the possibility of a UEFA Cup birth which will go to the 5th-7th place finishers in the Premier League. While 6th place is out of the question, Fulham only trails West Ham by one point in the race for that final spot. Can you imagine the Cottagers battling it out in the UEFA Cup next season? If things continue in a positive fashion, it is a definite possibility.

Overall it was a great day to be a Fulham supporter. I was wrong in my previous comments and I have no problem in admitting it. I love this team and along with the Chelsea win in 2006 and the famed win at Old Trafford in October 2003, this match is one I will remember for many years to come. I even went against my wife's wishes and grabbed my 16-week old son to watch the final few minutes of this glorious match. It is not often one sees Fulham beating Manchester United. I hope for my son's sake that it happens sooner rather than later.

Onwards and upwards my fellow Fulham supporters. Enjoy the win and let's get that UEFA Cup spot!

Feel free to post comments and tear me up for my earlier posts. I deserve it. I also want to ask this question to all of you: Would you have rather seen Fulham win Saturday's match or the FA Cup match two weeks ago? I am curious what you all think.

Cheers!
Tom

Comments
Posted by Dan R. on 03/21/2009

This match. To me making it to that 7th and final spot ahead of West Ham is more important than the semifinals of the FA Cup. Getting to the semifinals is still a long way from winning. Looking at West Ham's schedule you can see that it is very similar to ours, they have to play Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Everton before the end of the season. With Fulham's current form and lack of injuries, we have a great opportunity to finish ahead of West Ham and get into Europe.

Posted by Jimmy G on 03/22/2009

Hi Tom, watching in New Zealand I woke my 12 year old daughter in the middle of the night to watch the end of the match. Wins against United are rare. I have The Sun's back page report of our win in 2003 framed on my wall, that's how much it meant to me. What a great day for all Fulham fans. Maybe under Hodgson we don't need top wait another 35 until we beat them again at The Cottage. We may not be "the Manchester United of the South" - thank God - but today we were better than the best side in the world. COYSW.

Posted by R Hyder on 03/22/2009

It pays to stick with the one unit as Roy has. All that self-belief instilled in the 11 is coming good. Bar the glaring odd blip, these are good times. Guardedly, finishing higher than West Ham and perhaps even in Europe is just the kind of consolidation we need to kick off next season, building upon the core group of players already at the Cottage. There's nothing more disheartening than to be reduced to a selling club, and given time, a solid couple of seasons culminating in continental involvement, there is no reason why we shouldn't command respect as other top-flight London clubs and attract, even keep, big name players.
On that note, I am probably the proudest owner of a GERA shirt in all of Asia.

Posted by Steve Earle on 03/22/2009

As an ex Fulham player 1961/1973 I would like congratulate Roy on a job well done not only for the result V Man U but for getting the team to play attractive football not like the previous Managers. I wish him and the team all the best for the rest of the season.
Good luck Steve Earle

Posted by Richard PJ on 03/23/2009

I spent many, many hours watching Earle, Clarke and Barrett in the old days. I still have a scrap book from those "golden years". We have such a gracious, humble and realistic manager in Roy Hodgson. He has Fulham playing attractive football that is being recognised even by our foes. We've been 'lucky' with having few injuries this season and a settled team. I look forward to Roy strengthening the squad and consolidating on this season's success.

Posted by Shaheed V on 03/23/2009

Hey Tom, love your weekly posts. This past Saturday for some reason I forgot to set my Tivo before I went to school, something told me to call my wife and ask her to set it to record the Fulham match. The first question she asked was "Who are they playing?" when I told her it was Man U, she asked if I was sure I wanted to record the match after the thumping we received just a few days ago. Boy am I glad I called her! As bad as the FA Cup loss hurt, I am very satisfied with the win this past Saturday, with the 3 points against the defending champs, being a point away from 6th... after what happened last season, this is like a dream come true. And if you look at the craziness that is going on a few spots bellow us in the table, I'm so fortunate we are clear of all of that. I raise my glass and toast with all the other Fulham supporters from London to New York (where I am) and every where in between.

Posted by Cristiano Ronaldo on 03/23/2009

Hello is me Cristiano,

I think that the game was maybe fixed? I think that the referee is trying to make difficult for me and, and uh, Manchester United. The Fulham players knew, I think, that I was too good and it meant they had to kick me sometimes, but that is what happens when you are best player.

Posted by Joshua N on 03/24/2009

I am a Man U fan from Thailand, I too expect Man U to stuff Fulham after their defeat to Pool! But I must admit that we were completely outplayed by you guys! You deserve the victory and wanna say congrats to Fulham! Hope you guys make it to Europe!And do us a favour, do to the Pool as you did to us! :) You have a good manager in Hodgson!

Posted by Martin Barber on 03/24/2009

It's been a long time waiting for a victory over Manchester Utd and I would just like to say a BIG thank you from Nashville TN for making a very loyal born and breed Fulham boy very very happy.

And if the person posting really is Steve Earle, Steve I watched all most all the games you played in at the cottage being a season ticket holder along side Conway Barrett and one of my all time fav's Paul Went, thanks for being a part of Fulham's history, I have so many great memories.

I always wondered what some of thsoe old players are doing now it would be great to know what your doing Steve?

Thanks

Martin

Posted by Harvinder on 03/24/2009

Fulham did a great job on Saturday. They are very few teams in the world who can outplay Man utd and Sir Alex. Roy and Fulham did it. They fully deserved the victory.

All the best for the remanding 8 matches.

Posted by tom on 03/24/2009

fantastic win, i was in the crowd at 1975 final and beating united last week , brought back great memories from that cup run, so we lost to them in the cup , and that dream is over for this year, lets keep going and get to euro..great team ,great club. forever fulham ..tom now living in new zealand

Posted by baba on 03/24/2009

...As for the match on Saturday, not only did Fulham win 2-0, they really dominated the Red Devils for large chunks of the match"

Make that first half. Asides the natural bloating of events by an admitted fulham fan, a well written article.

Posted by SteveM19 on 03/24/2009

Great work Tom, when Gera did his bicycle kick, I screamed so loud I scared my family and started hyperventilating!!!

Mr. Earle, thank you for posting!! A lot of American Fulham fans know about your day too.

Liverpool, you're next.

Posted by Iohann on 03/24/2009

As a Man U fan from Waterloo Canada i have to accept the defeat, good for you Fulham fans. Our guys are going thru a bad time hope it ends ..... soon.

Posted by Akinwumi Hakim on 03/24/2009

As a United fan, i believe there is a time to win and lose, however, our subsequent opponents will do well at their own peril to believe they can run over us just like Fulham and Liverpool did, that we will realise our now postrate quintuple ambition

Posted by Huss on 03/24/2009

"they really dominated the Red Devils for large chunks of the match". => too much bluster. 10-man United dominated Fullham in the 2nd half the shots at goal final tally showed advantage United.Fullham were lucky not to have dropped pooints to a 10-man team

Posted by richied on 03/24/2009

Fulham were not better than ManU....unfortunately it was 11 v 10 for73minutes. Even with a lacklustre first half. Man U almost killed Fulham in the second. The game can be cruel at times and if any of the chances were scored (Tevez, Park, Rooney etc) Fulham would have LOST even with 11 v 10.

Enjoy the victory, it will be a very long time before that happens again.

League of FA Cup win? Must be Fa cup...that's the only thing you would have the remotest chance of winning.....hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Posted by Jeremiah Dogo,Nigeria on 03/24/2009

This goes to show that the English Premiership is the most competitive league in the world.Man U had not gotten over the truama of the heavy defeat by Liverpool.
Well hold your breaths as man U will fall to Arsenal.

Posted by Desmond da Silva (Tanzania) on 03/24/2009

THANK YOU FULHAM!!!

Thank you for blowing the EPL title race wide open, and thank you for making the league more interesting!

I feared the worst for Fulham, especially after the FA cup defeat and the totally comprehensive thrashing of ManUre to Liverpool.

But thank God for Murphy ("Once a Red, Always a Red!") for keeping his head to score the penalty and to Gera for his athleticism. Also thanks to Rooney for his childish petulance … now ManUre have to face Villa without Rooney, Scholes and Vidic … perhaps Villa can show more spine than when they played Liverpool, and let this league go down to the wire!

This is what make the EPL so interesting … look at the other end, any of the bottom 10 clubs can get relegated … which other league in the world can boast these attributes??

Posted by Ismael Hasan on 03/24/2009

MANUTD IS THE BEST they will win the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND THE PREMIERSHIP

Posted by Tony Smith on 03/24/2009

I have been a fulham supporter for over fifty years what a great result against Manu all the dummies have been thrown out of the prams they dont like it when they get beat, its wonder Ferguson did not try to say Scholes had been put in goal as for Rooney incident saying he was trying to get the ball back quickly the venom he put into throw the Ref was the target.

Posted by Steve on 03/24/2009

Thank you Fulham!
I'm a Liverpool fan and that win made the Liverpool 5-0 thrashing even more glorious. All credit to Fulham players but hopefully you wont be playing that well against us in two weekends time. Nevertheless, let's celebrate this great week!

YNWA

Posted by Joe-Reds on 03/25/2009

And all this happened after The Reds Liverpool showed you how to beat the devils. Walk on Reds...

Posted by P Scholes on 03/25/2009

I got sent off because I handled the ball? Give me a break! It is human instinct that I'll have to protect my head when someone is hitting the ball towards you. Try putting Stevie G there and see...

Posted by Lord Scott on 03/25/2009

However much i hate to admit losing to a team like Fulham is NO excuse, we really played one of our worst games in a few seasons, i would say...The defence was an utter dissapointment, and we rightfully deserved to LOSE! Having said that, I hope the int'l break will do United a great deal, as it would allow them to take a break from the league and concentrate on different matters for a different cause. I hope they will use this space to re-think their priorities, re-cuperate and get back to winning ways against AV and diminish any hopes of the KOP....(Knock-Out Punch)

Posted by Manchester Rules on 03/25/2009

You guys were JUST LUCKY. That will not happen ever again! The first was a unlucky penalty. The seconds was a fluke shot. Things like these happen once a lifetime.

Posted by -G- on 03/25/2009

"they really dominated the Red Devils for large chunks of the match"

Maybe you have a little bias on your blog, but it is understandable for me. Fulham has to thank the goalkeeper for holding ManUtd attack waves at 2nd half, if Utd score an equalizer, it might be different.

Anyway, a win is a win, Fulham deserves the credit. Hope Man Utd can recover as soon as possible :)

Cheers.

Posted by Richard Wood on 03/25/2009

I just had a comment for Steve Earle that I hope he reads. Steve, I left England to live in Toronto in 1981 but I first went to the Cottage in 1967 when I was 8 and you were playing. You were my favourite player for years. My 50th is coming up on Monday and my family is throwing a party and there'll be a photo presentation. One of the photos that will be shown is of you and me from a photo session in 1970 at the Putney End when the club invited kids to have pictures taken with you. It remains a prized possesion and takes me back a lot of years. Thanks for that memory and you were a heck of a striker by the way. Cheers, Richard Wood.

Posted by greg miller on 03/25/2009

You can ramble on with all that rubbish you want mate but the fact is that your no proper Fulham fan because you have absoluetly no faith or belief in Fulham, you mug. Tom Wille the Fulham correspondent, ha. What a bloody laugh that one is. I should have your job right now mate. Why? Because I am just as capable as you journalistic wise but more importantly because I will exude confidence in our team; not undermine our fan base by doubting their abilities and capabilites. Move over mate and let a proper fanny take the reins. Why you ask. Because Fulham and her supporter's deserve much better. Instead of enjoying that pint why not trying to pour it over your own bloody head.

Posted by Ike on 03/26/2009

6th is out of the question???? So is beating Man U...It would be a strecth, but if we can pick up 5 points on Everton over the next 7 games it could come down to the final game of the season against Everton! I will still hold out for 6th place! Come On Fulham!!!

Posted by JL on 03/26/2009

Yes great job Fulham. i am a Lpool supporter, doubt we wikll loose the game. Problem wih Manu they are ver confident ! Hope to see a good game, and might the best team win. come on you REDS !!! Y N W A

Posted by Rooney on 03/26/2009

Congratulation to Fulham. It is not miracle and it can happen again anytime from now. It is simply because you believe on yourself and at the same time ManUre if off form and play like amateur. Use hands to stop the ball and throw the ball to others. ManUre is aiming for quintuple which is just remain as a dream. They might lose in the BPL title simply because of too many matches and too much pressure mounted on the player. Anyway, Fulham will be thrash by Liverpool.

Posted by BOB GLAUDEL on 03/26/2009

A GENERAL COMMENT. I AM ONE OF THE FEW AMERICANS WHO REALLY LIKE WORLD-CLASS SOCCER - THE WORLD CUP, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, AND THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE. I FIND IT MUCH MORE RIVETING AND SUSPENSEFUL WHEN ONE GOAL CAN WIN A GAME, THAN WATCHING NBA BASKETBALL TEAMS NEEDING SOMETIMES 120 POINTS TO WIN. I ADMIT I AM A MAN UNITED FAN, BUT LIKE TO FOLLOW SEVERAL OTHER PREMIER TEAMS. SOCCER SOMETIMES ISN'T FAIR AS I HAVE WATCHED TEAMS SOMEWHAT DOMINATE A FULL GAME BUT LOSE OR JUST TIE. HOWEVER, THAT'S WHAT MAKES THE GAME SO INTERESTING. I DON'T LIKE THE RULE THAT A TEAM HAVING A PLAYER EJECTED PLAYING A MAN SHORT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE GAME. DOESN'T SEEM FAIR. TO ME, A BETTER SYSTEM WOULD BE TO GIVE THE OPPONENT A PENALTY SHOT AND THEN ALLOW THE TEAM WITH THE EJECTED PLAYER TO REPLACE HIM WITH ANOTHER. ANY THOUGHTS?

Posted by ronnie on 03/27/2009

Cheers, Tom. I know you must be full eating your words now!

Just hope you don't write off Fulham again when they are up against us (Liverpool) next weekend. I'd fear the worst!

Posted by Pacer on 04/01/2009

The win against Man U should keep Fulham up, in the TOP HALF that is!The only downside is that Fulham is kinda like Arkansas weather, you never know what to expect.It could change at any minute.Unfortunately I like Liverpool as well so it will be a difficult game for me to watch this week.Gotta go for Liverpool.Its time for them to win the league!Sorry Fulham fans.I'm still loyal though

Posted by Martin-in-Nashville TN on 05/16/2009

I love reading the comments from Man utd supporters saying how lucky Fulham was and against only 10 men, thing is there aint 10 men in Manchester just guys with bad heads with sour grapes, suck it United you got beat on the day and that's that.

Fulham may have to wait a long time to beat United again but theres always next year

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