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We caught Blackburn cold scoring after just 90 seconds. Clint Dempsey took down a high through ball and bundled through the defence before poking his shot past former England 'keeper Paul Robinson. Blackburn, who looked awful at times in the first half, kept scrapping and in the end it was their desire to win that gave them the points. Diouf scored after a high ball into the box caused chaos in the Fulham defence. This gave Rovers the boost they needed and we never looked like responding. Five minutes from time Jason Roberts out muscled Tony Kallio (on for an injured Aaron Hughes) and fired home the winner. Fulham are starting to look tired after three weeks of double fixtures and it's times like this when the size of our squad is a concern.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes (Kallio 77), Konchesky, Davies (Nevland 90), Etuhu, Murphy, Gera (Kamara 80), Dempsey, Johnson.
Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Dacourt, Gray, Stoor.
Booked: Murphy.
Goals: Dempsey 2.
Blackburn: Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Andrews (McCarthy 56), Kerimoglu (Mokoena 82), Warnock, Diouf, Roberts, Pedersen (Dunn 86).
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Khizanishvili, Villanueva, Simpson.
Booked: Diouf.
Goals: Diouf 69, Roberts 85.
Att: 22,259
Ref: Rob Styles (Hampshire)
Saturday morning in Shepperton and I awake to a scene resembling a Christmas card. All very pretty but nothing to unduly concern me. The phrase match postponement didn't enter my thoughts. I had no concerns when Dad rang to ask if I thought the game would still go ahead, though I did keep one eye on the Internet from that point on. Dad headed up from Sussex and I popped down the High Street. It really was a magical sight, a thin covering of frost on the ground and sparkling ice in all the trees. Quite cold but surely not bad enough to stop a Premier League game from going ahead?I decided to dig out my thermal underwear which took a bit of finding and eventually involved a trip to the loft and the movement of a fair number of boxes. I had Radio 5 on when Dad arrived. As he walked through the door they announced that the game at Portsmouth was off. Uh-oh. News filtered through of a pitch inspection, thanks largely to TiFF, and then, at the exact moment we were about to leave the house, confirmation that the game was postponed. Bugger!I'd been up to the club shop the week before to get replica shirts for both my boys with some of their Christmas money. They'd not had much in stock and we'd planned to collect the one for my eldest on the way to the game. With not much else to do, and some doe eyes to encourage us, we decided to go up anyway. Arriving in Fulham there were plenty of home fans milling about, some filling the football shaped hole in their day with an extended stay in the pub, some heading for home. Blackburn fans probably didn't have the same options, booked on coaches and trains well in advance and with no alternative but to stick with those arrangements. It made me wonder weather Rob Styles would have been better waiting until nearer kick-off before making a decision.We made it back before the half-times and settled down for a cup of tea and a chat. The kids arrived home shortly afterwards and got very excited about the new football tops. We had a mini fashion show as they tried them on and pulled their best football star shapes. An oddly satisfying day despite the lack of any actual match.
On Match of the Day Lee Dixon said he thought Fulham would stay up. I'm not sure how he thinks we're going to do it but I'm glad of a little positivity. I've spent 11 hours at work today and missed the fireworks in the cup and the tension of an away game watched from afar - I think that's probably a good thing. A point at Ewood Park is a great result, especially when it's won thanks to a last minute free kick. Stalteri was clearly fouled for Blackburn's opener, Gamst-Pedersen "freeing himself" from Stalteri's clutches with a little too much vigour. I'm not sure we'd have done much better had the officials taken a different view. We've shown a lot of character to hang in there and have Jimmy B to thank for another important dead ball strike but may have been happy to hang in for the 0-0 had the Rovers goal been disallowed. A good point, however you look at it, but yet again it's results elsewhere that leave us in ever deepening peril. Reading's 2-0 win over Man City catapulting them up the table.Whilst there's a chance we have to keep believing, though the Countdown To Survival clock shows just how big a task we're facing. Ah well, spirit of '66, keep the faith & come on you whites!
Despite being outplayed at times and twice conceding the lead I feel quite positive after that. I thought we looked more comfortable on the ball and were working harder as a team to defend. My expectations have lowered in the last few weeks, maybe that altered my perception of the game, but I enjoyed it more than the win over Reading.Blackburn seemed to have set their stall out for a point right from the start with Benni McCarthy the sole striker and a five man midfield. This tactic took a knock early on when Dejan Stefanovic caught McCarthy high on the leg and after a long period of treatment McCarthy had to be replaced. This made me briefly think we might snatch a win as Rovers, also missing Santa Cruz and Derbyshire seemed short of striking options. Jason Roberts, however, came on and played a blinder. He worked incredibly hard up front and teamed up well with the two wingers and Bentley in a free role behind him. When Rovers attacked us we looked fragile, the periods after both out goals saw Rovers attacking at will and I felt had they maintained that attitude beyond their equalisers they probably could have won the game hands down. Instead they sat back seemingly content with the point.The first half was patchy but Fulham had the better of the first fifteen minutes. A glorious ball from Dempsey set Kamara through on goal for a one on one with Friedal. Kamara earned my wrath (yet again) by not shooting first time and attempting to side step around Friedal. He eventually aimed a fairly tame shot past the 'keeper's right hand which the American comfortably saved. Blackburn then got themselves back into the game and spent far too long in our half for my liking. Bentley, who was roundly booed every time he got the ball after a poor dive for a penalty claim, was causing us problems playing in a free role where he was difficult to pick up. Kamara did break free down the left wing firing in a dangerous ball across the face of goal which Friedal did well to palm away from a rampaging lunge by Dempsey. Just before the break we had a real eye opener as Blackburn had two excellent chances blocked just short of the line. The first was, I think, well saved by Niemi, the second blocked by Baird.Blackburn were looking threatening again at the start of the second half when Clint Dempsey found a bit of room on the left and sent another excellent pass through for Kamara to chase. Ryan Nelsen clattered into him taking man and ball and, with a little assistance from an outraged Hammy End, the Ref awarded us a penalty. Danny Murphy slotted this away extremely well sending Friedal the wrong way and finding the bottom right corner of the net. We knew it was coming but that tricky 5 minutes after scoring proved too great an obstacle for us to deal with. Blackburn attacked at will and it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. An unimpeded Warnock crossed from the left wing, Jason Roberts (later shown to be offside) flicked on and Brett Emerton controlled with his chest before firing home past a helpless Niemi.I was worried now that Rovers would go on and win, but instead of going for our jugular they relaxed a little and thus allowed us the opportunity to get back in front. An excellent passing move saw Danny Murphy find Simon Davies on the right wing, Davies sped on before firing a low testing ball across the face of goal where Kamara was waiting to tap home a chance even I could have scored. Brian Q at Craven Cottage Newsround makes an excellent point about Kamara's celebration which I completely agree with. In an attempt to hold on to the lead Sanchez made a change, bringing Kuqi on to play lone front man in place of the disappointing Bouazza. Kamara moved to the left wing (where I felt he actually looked more effective), Dempsey to the right wing, and Davies, Davis & Murphy formed a tighter central three. Kuqi was again excellent in this role (though I doubt he'd ever be up to playing much more than 20 minutes) and you could see the whole team trying really hard to defend the lead. Kuqi almost won it for us, racing on to a lose pass and doing very well to be first to the ball, but an advancing Friedal managed to get a hand to his first time shot and the opportunity was lost. Somehow, whilst I was concentrating on my clapping, Jason Roberts found a way to get the ball across goal where a completely unmarked Steven Warnock arrived to slot home a second equalizer. Healy and Seol replaced Murphy and Kamara as we reverted to 4-4-2 again, but this time Blackburn stood firm. 2-2 at full time and it was hard not to feel a little disappointed.A game of contradictions in many ways. Niemi made several excellent saves throughout the game, but is still shocking at claiming crosses. The defence as a whole looked solid but were seemingly incapable of stopping Blackburn from scoring if they really went for it. Murphy was a key player, picking out a number of excellent passes and Steven Davis looked sharp early on, but neither player seemed alert to attacks down the middle. Dempsey was excellent wherever he played and Simon Davies was again our most creative attacker. Bouazza and Kamara were less impressive but shown flashes of the ability they clearly have. I'd have taken a point before the game, but felt we were pretty close to a very important win despite Blackburn's obvious superiority.Gavin Peacock astutely picked up two areas of concern on MOTD2. He noticed that Steven Warnock had acres of space almost every time he got the ball, a fact that was exploited in both Rovers goals. Simon Davies has been one of our best players over the last month or so, but I'm pretty sure he's the man that should have been closing Warnock down. Baird did better on Sunday but was in a dreadful position when the second goal was scored. The other thing Peacock spotted was the gap between midfield and defence. I don't think we are playing as high a defensive line as we were at the start of the season, which is fine, but the midfield need to respond to where the back four are and close the gap between them. We are desperate for a decent holding midfielder but that won't happen until January. Right now we just need to be more organised and that's one thing I thought Lawrie would have sorted out.I'm back on Lawrie's side for the moment, a bit more time and maybe it will all fall into place, but he must be feeling the heat. Billy Davies was sacked by Derby County yesterday following their 2-0 defeat by the Filth. That comes after Chris Hutchings was sacked by Wigan followed by their 2-0 defeat by the Filth. Come New Years Day I reckon Sanchez might just be feeling a bit vulnerable.
Simon Davies
Simon Davies was made captain of the Welsh side that earned a very creditable draw in Germany. Wales have been almost as poor as England recently and whilst Germany had little to play for I’m sure Davies will have been immensely proud to have led his country in a much improved performance. Really pleased for Simon who has been excellent for us in the last few games.
New Fulham Blog
There’s another new Fulham blog on the street. It’s called White Lines and has started with an interesting post about Sanchez attempting to beat the second of his stated role models when we play Blackburn Rovers, having already achieved victory over Reading.
Welcome on board smfifteen – I’ll add a new link to the ever expanding list as soon as I can.
Blackburn on Sunday
Looking ahead to the weekend we have a tough game at home to Blackburn Rovers. It’s hard to judge what sort of performance we’ll get as both teams will be suffering a little from the loss of players to international duty. That added to a late Sunday kick-off and the possibility of a dark, wet and cold evening ahead may make the chances of a quality game of football fairly slim. Blackburn impressed me on their last visit to the Cottage and I felt we were very lucky to escape with a point. Their form is looking good again so it certainly won’t be easy but I’m hopeful we can put up a good fight and get something positive out of the game.(Yeah - I know I didn't mention any other Super Heroes - I just liked the headline. Sorry if you were disappointed)
