Roy Hodgson's side battled all day against one of the two best teams in the league and for 91 and a half minutes Fulham stood toe to toe with the Merseysiders and were all set to derail Liverpool's title aspirations but it was not to be on Saturday as Liverpool's late magic did Fulham in once and for all on this day.
While I could write about this being a "morale victory" of sorts for the Cottagers I will not. Instead I will talk briefly about my disappointment and I will look ahead to the next three matches in trying to assess whether or not Fulham can stay in the top ten come May 24th, the final day of the season.
In years past I would have written how Saturday's match was a good one for Fulham. The Whites played well defensively for most of the game. Perhaps the Liverpool goal frame was on the Fulham books Saturday as it seemed to stop Liverpool more times in the first half than I have seen in a match in quite some time. Regardless, this was a match that the Cottagers deserved to get a point from. Unfortunately, football is a game that has to be played until the final whistle and Liverpool did just that.
What I have gathered from Fulham over the course of this season is that this team can play and compete on the same pitch as anyone in the league. The Cottagers have beaten Arsenal and Manchester United as well as having draws against Liverpool and Chelsea on their resume. Unlike years past, when opposing teams see Fulham on the fixture list it is not seen as an easy three pointer and that alone gives me great pride in seeing how far this club has come in just one calendar year.
It was a year ago that Fulham was a sure bet to go down to the Championship. Fortunately, a late season miracle run kept the Cottagers in the top flight and since then the team has kept on moving in a positive direction. Hodgson has bought well and handled this team splendidly in getting them to 9th spot in the league with a month and a half remaining.
Over the course of the next three weeks Fulham will have matches against Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Stoke City. All three of these matches are winnable and if Fulham can even take two of these three, I would think a top ten finish is in the cards.
For me and perhaps other Fulham supporters, I would not just like to see Fulham finish in the top ten, but I would like to see the Cottagers finish 8th or better and give the club its best ever Premier League finish. The way this season has gone, the Cottagers have had a great season and supporters like myself think this is a better Fulham team than the one that finished 9th in the 2003-2004 season.
Hopefully the Cottagers will not have their heads down after Saturday's heartbreaker but will get ready for a tough trip to Eastlands to take on Manchester City, possibly the most unpredictable team in the league. With City pushing for a top ten spot as well, this match will go a long way in determining how the final table shapes up. Fulham has not played too well on the road, but after getting the monkey off their back against Bolton a few weeks back, perhaps the Cottagers will have more magic for the Citizens come Sunday when the match is shown LIVE on Sky Sports in England and LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel here in the States.
I can't say in words alone how pleased I am with Fulham at present time. I never thought in my wildest dreams that this club would be in the position it is at present time after last season's near disaster. Roy Hodgson should be handed the manager of the year award for the job he has done with Fulham. He has shown many of us that he is the real deal and he has shown us that having a capable manager of his stature can go a long way in helping a club do great things. That is not a knock on Chris Coleman or Lawrie Sanchez, but clearly Hodgson is in a class well above these two former Fulham managers and Mohamed Al-Fayed did the club well in getting him in here when things looked bleak in December of 2007.
Unlike last season I do not have to bite all my nails off and be nervous about being relegated. I can be nervous about finishing the season strong and finishing in the top ten but that is much different kind of nervous. Enjoy this time Fulham supporters. It does not happen all that often for this club. Perhaps with Roy in the driver's seat we can make this an annual thing, but until that happens, have fun watching our club do things that this club has not seen done in its long 125-year plus history.
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