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Fulham vs Newcastle, the second half as it happened

Posted by Marc Duffy on 01/21/2012

One change for Fulham at the half. Ruiz, who looked like a fish out of water in the centre of midfield, is replaced by Baird who will also be playing out of position but is much more defensively minded.

I fully expect Fulham to show a lot more in the second half.

51 - Goal Fulham. 1 - 1. Yet again a Premier League referee and his assistant display total ineptitude. A foul on petulant Damien outside of the box is given as a penalty and Murphy scores it. Bloody terrible and these things happen EVERY SINGLE WEEK. Sian Massey made the call, but I'd better not say too much about her abilities or I may be deemed a sexist......

Why do they pay referee's? What a waste of money. You could pick any one of this 20,000 crowd out and they couldn't make decisions that were worse than that one. Fulham now on the front foot.

56 - their first corner of the match, Krul saves well from Zamora and a second shot goes wide for a corner off Colo. From the second corner Zamora takes a ridiculous dive in the area. He might as well with these people in charge.

58 - Goal Fulham. 2 - 1. Dempsey scores - Johnson slips in Zamora, Zamora takes the defence out, Dempsey bundles it in.

You couldn't get a better example of how an incorrect referee decision can completely turn the tide of a football game. Not good enough. As you can probably tell, I am seething.

Poor decisions aside, this also highlights the need to convert you're chances whilst you are hot. 60% possession is all well and good, but if you only score one then you are always in danger,

64 - Goal Fulham. 3 v 1 Dempsey again. Good goal. We have collapsed like a house of cards. Very, very worrying and pretty pathetic.

66 - Penalty Fulham. Williamson tried his best to wipe Johnson out, Krul succeeded in doing so. Clear penalty. Krul booked. Zamora scores it and it is 4 v 1. I thought this Newcastle side was a team built on heart and spirit? This is an embarrassment. Four goals in 16 minutes.

Fulham in the first 45 were one of the poorest sides I have seen in years. In this half our players have let the first penalty decision get to them so much that we are now making them look like Real Madrid. This is not good enough.

72 - Ameobi goal quite rightly ruled out for off-side.

We are also making Andy Johnson look like Diego freakin Maradona. ANDY JOHNSON.

75 - Guthrie off Perch on. The comeback is imminent. Strange sub that - Perch is an out-and-out defensive minded player so unless there is another change to follow soon, looks like we are going to play to keep it at 1 v 4?

We have been a revelation this season and we have definitely over achieved, but there are some supporters out there who are absolutely convinced that we will finish above Arsenal and Liverpool whilst challenging Chelsea for a top 4 slot. The fact that we have shipped 8 goals away to Fulham and Norwich should put a swift end to that chat. 7th will be an achievement.

It has proven to be very difficult for me to write this without multiple swear words.

83 - Cabaye off, Gosling on.

At least the lads can save themselves for their nice break to the Canary Islands.

84 - GOAL, Ben Arfa, excellent consolation goal. 4 v 2.

84 - Best off, Ryan Taylor on. Didn't see a great deal from Leon today.

Dempsey hat-trick, 5 v 2. WOEFUL defending. No point in finger pointing, but we definitely need someone to come in and challenge Williamson at CB. When the going has gotten tough today, far too many players have gone missing.

FULL TIME: 5 v 2

Krul 5 A little harsh as he had little help, but his penalty concession was rash
Simpson 5 Standard Simmo
Santon 4 Excellent up until the point that he hauled Johnson back at the end of the first half
Colo 4 All over in the second half. Missed a great chance in the first half too
Williamson 4 Very poor
Guthrie 6 Great goal, went missing when it mattered
Cabaye 5 Less influential than normal
Jonas 5 Excellent in the forst half, especially through th middle. Also disappeared
Ben Arfa 6 Great goal and dangerous at times.
Best 4 If he is not scoring from close range, he doesn't offer anything.
Ameobi 5 Won a few flick ons.

In summary:
Very, very weird. We were outstanding in the first half - one of the best away 45's that I've seen from us, however as I noted in the 1st half summary, 60% possession is all well and good, but if you only score the one, you are never safe. If we had taken a two goal lead in to the break a poor Fulham team would never have recovered.

Anyone who knows football knows that one incident can change the entire pattern and momentum of a match. Sadly that was the case today with Sian Massey awarding a penalty for a foul that was outside of the area. After that our collapse was absolutely pathetic. Yes, the decision instigated it, but a team with true ability and heart (and a Tiote) would not have succumbed so easily to such a poor side.

Disappointing.

And just when I thought I couldn't dislike Duff anymore than I already did.

The true test of character will come next time out.......

Follow @MarcSDuffy

The Gaffa © Getty Images

Comments

Posted by ToonSG on 01/21/2012

Right on Marc, we never recovered after that first penalty and I would've liked to see a lot more spirit from the players. Tiote and Ba are being sorely missed - they're players who really put their hearts out there on the field. I couldn't complain about the first half but in the second 45, well, for the first time this season I couldn't bear watching the screen.

MD: Wed have been home and dry with Demba in the first half and we old never have capitulated with Tiote in the second

Posted by ToonJack on 01/22/2012

Wow, what a dispointment. Agree with you that we played a great first-half, then lost it completelty. On a positive note, I'm happy that if anyone on Fulham would score a hat-trick, it would be Dempsey, as a yank. Also, Liverpool dropped points, and Arsenal has Man U, so the 5-7 race should virtually stay the same. Hoping for wins vs Brighton and Blackburn. Cheers.

Posted by BlacknWhite on 01/22/2012

Even before this game, been wondering about the refeering standards these days. There is no consistency at all. Against MUFC, Ferdinand took Ba down, there was no penalty & Pardew was waving his arms aghast. Then Newcastle suffers from such a bad 1st penalty decision in this game. Against Mufc, we had almost our best XI so we were able to win it. But with key players missing this time, the game becomes tight, one bad referee decision can cost you the game. City had 3 players send off for 3 games in a row. It seems Newcastle & City have suffered from bad refereeing the most.
We need to get behind our lads, its not easy playing out there with such a lousy referee.
We need a quality CB urgently, Cisse signing is welcomed but I would have preferred a CB signing first. Newcastle seldom has a problem in scoring goals all these years but we need to keep it tight at the back.

Posted by Darren Grant-Hall on 01/22/2012

God that was hard to watch, Santon is young but at the minute seems rash. Kinda like Glen Johnson but with the excuse he is only 21.

I'm really not sure what to say about our front line, it is weak. I love Ameobi but he is not premiership quality, and looks more frustrated and out of sorts then normal at the minute.

However, IF we can just hold out and grind a win or 2 till Ba and Cisse come back, then we have a fair chance of doing something special.

Posted by Toon on 01/22/2012

Soccer can be an unfair game with bad referee decisions. Let's look at the bright side:
1) Hartem scored again, well done!
2) We are still 6th as Liverpool lost
3) Guthrie's great shot will do his confidence good.
4) We'll get a reaction from the lads and they do well for the next games, hopefully.
5) Krul gains a painful experience from his penalty given away and he will learnt from it.
6) Maybe with this result, the owners will be convinced we need a CB asap.

Marc, what do you say about Chris Samba? Should we be getting him or is he too expensive? He would probaly be too exp.

Hartem & Cabaye are 2 good players but playing both together in midfield not be a good idea as we need a hustling terrier in the middle as well. That was Tiote's forte but he's not around.

I am not worried about the frontline. We got 2 goals today.

Its not the end of the world, let's fight back. We appreciate every Newcastle player. C'mon, lads.

MD: Samba is a good player, but he's very slow and that was our undoing at CB yesterday. He is definitely better than Willo though. Sadly he will be cost prohibitive I'd have thought - for the money they're asking we would have a chance of signing Vertonghen who, in my opinion, is superior.

Posted by adam on 01/24/2012

I think ameobi is too slow for premiership forward, cabaye and hartem do link good because of their skills and good pace they have best if very powerfull when he has a ball and on target!! as some other lads commented we need of a CB (a strong one like tiote) and another defensive midfielder (central) cause the flanks are okay with gutierez and obertan!! another needfull thing is to hold on to players we have, we are not rich in players, so lets hold on to what we have...

Posted by Sean on 02/03/2012

Good commentary. Though, as the commentator was, to complain so whole-heartedly about a penalty that was given for a foul that was within a half yard of the area, if not inside, is letting your allegiance cloud your judgment. Not only was that a close call, but at the end of the half, Santon's foul on Johnson was exactly a textbook definition red card, and the referee gave only yellow. A 100% professional foul was committed from directly behind the player, a rugby tackle in fact, to prevent a scoring chance. There was noone between him and the goal.
That was clearly wrong, more clear in regular speed than the penalty decision, so the two decisions, really, were a wash. Fulham capitalized on chances after Toon didn't, and that was the difference. The referee's decisions allowed Newcastle to play at full strength in exchange for a goal.
Also, it was a clear and clumsy foul, and I always like to focus on what is in the players' control. And that foul did not need to be committed.

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