First up, welcome once again to all our loyal supporters from overseas who make the effort and the financial sacrifice to attend these games. Will Nick the Swede be looking out for the moron who swung a punch at him on the walk back from the Bridge last October?
It's Valentines Day after all so here's hoping the rival fans can spread a little love, regardless of the result. Lobbing heart-shaped chocolate bonbons at each other we could just about tolerate, but no hard centres please. To continue the theme, a massacre on the night is unlikely to be headlines come Tuesday.
Why? At home Fulham's defence is back to its miserly best. Roy's fortress has been well and truly restored. The side are going for their 6th straight home win in 2011, with no goal conceded in our last three league home wins. In fact, against WBA, Stoke and Newcastle chances created by the opposition were all but non-existent, while the Cup win over Spurs was a stroll in the park.
This suggests the same-again back four sent out at Villa Park. Forget the aberration of Pantsil's oggies this campaign. Before being injured last season in our narrow loss at the Bridge (own goal that day too, Smalling the unfortunate son), John had Drogba in his pocket. Go back further. In 2007 Bairdinho did such a number on Didier at their place, the Ivorian's frustration boiled up and he got sent off.
Chelsea, and Drogba are in decline. The club conceded their title chances had gone after last week's home loss to Liverpool. Drogba's season has been blighted by malaria, an ever lurking curse for players from West Africa. It's a disease difficult to eradicate from the body, and leaves you drained, playing as if with a heavy cold. I saw George Weah struggle with it for half a season at PSG in the 90's - his magnificent physique rendered torpid as a tortoise.
Will Hughes be sweating under the duvet Sunday night trembling at the threat of Torres? Why should he? He's done nothing against us recently and failed utterly to raise a performance against his old club last week. He and Luiz are just two further megabuck signings to a squad of superstars. Both are still feeling their way into a side that has at times lost its way on the road this season. As for that vital ingredient from your 12th man - 'motivation' - I sense the hunger may not be there for this visit as it has been in recent years.
Enough of the opposition. Hughes won't under-estimate them. But Monday sees an opportunity for Fulham to get on the ball from the off and really dictate the game. We don't want to see an improvement after the interval, as at Villa last week. We need to go for the throat at a high tempo from the off and really shake Chelsea to their boots. In contrast to last October, we have goals in the side now. Confidence levels, so vital in expressing yourself on the pitch, must be sky high. Monday is the perfect showcase for Hughes to demonstrate our 'top 10' credentials.
Ignore the record books and our dismal showing in London derbies, it's all in the mind. At the risk of repeating my optimism ahead of the Liverpool trip, Fulham must be fearless in their pursuit of a win Monday night. It is very achievable. A final plea to the footballing gods, how about an OG at the other end for once? And to the man on the whistle, Mr. Dean, 'keep it real!'
Away from Fulham stuff, it's been a week to make me chuckle. Laughing at others misfortune diminishes our humanity, but is deliciously irresistable. In their current striker crisis Newcastle have turned to 34 year-old semi-retired journeyman Shefti Kuqi to give them a 'bulk and presence' up front. Why not stick a shirt over the St James Park heavy roller? Both have the same amount of mobility.
Roy makes a quick return to management at West Brom. Nice club, good fit. Can he keep them up? Possibly. What's good about the appointment will be the exodus of Fulham players to the Hawthorns this summer. If the Baggies do drop, I'll be rushing to get money on them to walk the fizzy pop league next season with the likes of Gera, Davies, Kamara, Dikgacoi and Pants added to the 5 decent players they've got now.
COYW! The essence of a proper football club
Twitter@fulhamphil
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Posted by Roy on 02/12/2011
Phil, I liked your comments save the last paragraph. What would be good about loosing those players to any team. Gera is great to have off the bench and pants, bad luck aside, has saved our butts in more than one game and makes great runs up the side and can put good crosses in the box. When is comes to Pants, I wish the fans would get off his back and remember the good, hard, and dedicated work he has put into this side.
Blog Central: I love JP to bits, which is why the piece leads with his famous pose from before and after games. I will also never forget Gera's contribution to last season. The sentiment is jokey but with a hard dash of realism. Seeing some of our old boys reunited with Roy means we can still follow them in a surrogate kind of way.
There is no sentiment in football. If Hughes is serious about making FFC a top 6 side, as he did with Blackburn, he must have further plans to re-shape the team this summer. That means better and younger players than we have now to take us to the next level. Or are we happy to keep bobbing along mid-table? Sad as it is, I see John being cast off come May, but I hope I'm wrong.
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Posted by Jonathan Atkinson on 02/13/2011
Hi Phil,
Do you seriously think we can beat Chelsea? Such a result would be magnificent, and would be a huge boost to our hopeful top ten finish, but our record against the Boys from the Bridge is dismal, to say the least. What sort of things do we need to focus on in order to win?
I want to also wish Roy all the best with his new gig and West Brom. Hopefully, he won't completely ransack our player larder (excuse the expression, but I couldn't come up with a better one on short term notice). Still, I won't be too disappointed if Dikgacoi or EJ go, but seeing as they rarely featured under Roy, their departure to West Brom would seem unlikely. Not so Gera or Zamora. I wouldn't be suprised if a Baggies Bid came in May.
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Posted by Michael P on 02/13/2011
I think we can beat the Blues, but whether or not we will is another matter. However, now may be a good time to do so. We are playing well and Chelsea's still in its funk. We are at the Cottage. While Chelsea's confidence seems low, this may be the perfect opportunity to beat them. Still a tough win, as Chelsea is still Chelsea. It is at least fun to anticipate what might come...
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Posted by Scott J. on 02/14/2011
This match is Fulham's opportunity to break from the historical norm and get a decisive win against the Blues. Since the start of this year, Hughes has the boys playing great football. There seems to be a true spirit with the team, and the manager has brought in exciting players to create a very competitive environment for playing time. Chelsea, on the other hand, seems emotionally down (Drogba's recent comments) and lacking cohesion (Ivanovic and Cech's onfield argument). I'd like to see Torres start tomorrow because that forces Drogba and Anelka out of their preferred positions. Phil, any word about whether Carlo will start with Torres, Drogba, and Anelka?
Now, let's hope the Whites come out hard right from the start!
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Posted by Kim Gwott on 02/14/2011
chelsea is not just one of your push over teams, have some respect to the reigning champions.....
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Posted by Brandon on 02/14/2011
I have to agree with Phil on that last paragraph. Gera already wants out so it's going to be hard to keep him as our +70' sub if he doesn't even want to be at the Cottage. With Davies and Kamara seeing less time each match, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move on as I imagine they both still have the ambition to play 90 minutes somewhere. I don't see Pants going so easily though - he's playing a key role right now. And I guess KD could make room for some real youth? As much as I would hate to see these guys go, it's fairly likely to happen.
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Posted by Victor on 02/15/2011
Good comment, but some issues need to be addressed properly.
Do you mean by malaria made Drogba to loose form? Drogba only spent a week or so in West Africa a country where he was born and brought up, and you felt Malaria is the reason he is not playing good football anymore. This lad is no longer good, age is telling on him. If it was malaria, then everyone from western part of Africa should be sick of malaria.
Posted by Justin on 02/15/2011
If offered a point before this match, I'd have taken it no questions asked. But damn, I wanted Dempsey to bury that in the net and when he didn't I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
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