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I’ve had a brilliant day today. Can’t stop smiling. Fulham stand 8th in the top flight of English football and have reached the quarter final of the F.A. Cup. Makes me happy just to type that, how far we’ve come. Last night brought back memories of midweek games in less confident times, the hustle and bustle of a well contested cup match, a sparse crowd (though 12,000 would have been a decent turnout back in the day) and an excitement about what might happen next I've not felt for some time.
“Super, Super Dan, Super Danny Murphy!”
If anyone still doubted it, the last two matches have been as startling a piece of evidence of Danny Murphy’s importance to Fulham as you’re likely to find. He ran the game on Sunday from start to finish and it wasn’t a big surprise Roy chose to rest him. Olivier Dacourt took his place in the starting eleven and I felt confident he could do a decent job for us. Olivier had a stinker though, we’ve seen hints that he’s a quality player but as the pace of the game increased he couldn’t keep up. A series of misplaced passes and tumbles suggested it just wasn’t going to be his night. Murphy was already changed and waiting when Dacourt took the knock that saw him hobble of the pitch. Hopefully nothing too serious and just a bad night at the office for Dacourt. Murphy’s arrival was spectacular though. 1-0 down at the time Captain Dan was the catalyst that turned the game in our favour. His passing and movement were as exemplary as ever but he also worked incredibly hard in the centre to win back possession when we lost it.
I’d not been particularly excited when Lawrie Sanchez signed him back in August 2007. It seemed a purchase born of desperation. He played well enough at times but I felt he’d struggled to impose himself too often. Even under Hodgson I doubted his qualities. Had I been picking the team he wouldn’t have got in – that will be one of many reasons why I’m not earning a living as a professional football manager. The purple patch that saw us achieve the great escape began to show me the error of my ways but even then I could never have imagined a scenario where Danny could change the shape of a game so effectively and rapidly as he did last night. He really is a quality player and it’s a joy to see him play for us right now.
“He scores with his left, he scores with his riiii-ght, that boy Clint Dempsey makes Drogba look …”
You know the rest. Dempsey impressed me again last night. He worked his socks off and looked genuinely spent when he was subbed near the end. He’s earned the right to be in the starting eleven and seems happy to play in whatever position he’s given. He showed great desire to reach Simon Davies corner and head home the opening goal and almost grabbed a second minutes later.
“Bob, Bob, Bobby Zam-orrr-ra!”
Bobby had a hatful of chances and there were moments when I began to lose patience with him. I’ve been a pretty firm supporter of Bobby Z thus far but found his performance last night frustrating. He turned up trumps in the end crashing home the second and match winning goal less than five minutes after Dempsey’s opener and celebrating in style.
“Come on you Whites”
Dickson Etuhu hasn’t got his own song yet. He might never get one as it’s a tricky name to scan but he’s fast becoming a cult hero at Fulham. Despite Dacourt’s personal nightmare, Dickson continued to provide the anchor for our midfield. Despite a needless booking from “Cerebral” Halsey very early on, Dickson was imperious throughout and even managed another cannon bolt shot from distance, though this time he didn’t find the target.
Arsenal on Saturday, Hull next Wednesday then United arrive for that quarter final and a chance to play at Wembley. Let’s enjoy it while we can, I’m off to do more cartwheels down the corridor.
Fulham edged a pedestrian first half, in which both teams exchanged free kicks from a variety of angles, but then got caught napping just after the break as that man Jason Scotland nipped in to give the Swans the lead. It took the arrival of our Captain Marvel, Danny Murphy, to kick the tie into life and turn the tide in our favour. Two goals in four minutes, the first from the excellent Clint Dempsey, the second from a resolute Bobby Zamora sealed the win and sent us through to a quarter final at home to Man Utd.
More tomorrow.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Davies, Dacourt (Murphy 59), Etuhu, Dempsey (Kamara 90), Nevland (Gera 60), Zamora Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Milsom, Kallio, Baird.
Booked: Etuhu
Goals: Dempsey 77, Zamora 81
Swansea: De Vries, Rangel, Williams (Bessone 90), Serran, Tate, Gower (Tudur-Jones 55), Britton, Gomez, Dyer, Scotland, Bauza (Butler 72) Subs Not Used: Cornell, O'Leary, Orlandi, Collins
Booked: Bauza
Goals: Scotland 47
Att: 12,316
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
We knew this was going to be a tricky game. Swansea had cruised past Pompey in the last round and reports from my Championship supporting pals all said they were the best team in the division. So it proved. Neat passing and good movement we might have expected but this team showed a work rate and passion for the fight that swung the tie completely in their favour. In the end we did well to weather the storm and give ourselves another opportunity to admire the Welsh side up close.
Alarm bells must have been ringing when as early as the fourth minute Swansea were able to slice their way through our defence. Jason Scotland and Mark Gower exchanging passes before Gower fired his shot against the far post. I'm still not sure how it came out and as it did Gower almost had another chance to tap it in before Mark Schwarzer gratefully smothered the ball.
Murphy and Dacourt linked up well in the centre to regain some sort of momentum for Fulham as the game progressed. Dacourt looked classy and solid in the defensive holding role, whilst nearly all our attacking moves began with a Murphy pass. Danny picked out several long passes over the top of the Swans defence and one of these put Andy Johnson through to face the 'keeper alone before being wrongly pulled back for offside. Swansea created the better chances though and a cross from the right wing found that man Gower in space again on the left of the penalty area. Stoor was horribly misplaced and Simon Davies static as the left winger took aim but Schwarzer pulled of a remarkable point blank save to deny him again.
Our one decent chance of the first half came as Eric Nevland flicked a Davies long pass towards goal but Swansea keeper De Vries just beat Johnson to the ball. The balance of play was very much with Swansea so it was unexpected when we took the lead a couple of minutes before half-time. A corner from Konchesky was missed by the fist of De Vries and came off defender Monk's hip to give us an unlikely goal. The half time graphic showed we'd not managed a shot on target.
Thoughts that taking the lead would help us take control of the game were soon dispelled as Swansea came out for the second half in much the same fashion as they'd played the first and didn't take long to level the scoreline. A fluid buildup down the left hand side resulted in a pass to lone centre forward Jason Scotland. With his back to goal he held the ball up well, before a shift of feet bewildered Aaron Hughes and allowed Scotland to fire home under the body of Schwarzer. We were up against it now. Player for player it seemed Swansea had greater technical ability than us a fact that hardly bodes well for the replay. Our two banks of four stood up well and made it difficult for Swansea to break us down but all the creativity came from them.
Their wide men really hugged the touchlines and took every opportunity to switch play and stretch our resources. This put our wide men in the spotlight and none of them came out with very much credit. Stoor and Davies in particular suffered down the right flank, whilst Gera was conspicuous by his absence throughout. A flurry of changes from the hour mark onwards saw any ambition from us slowly dwindle and in the end it was a relief to claim a replay.
Swansea: De Vries, Rangel, Williams, Monk, Tate, Britton, Gomez, Allen (Bauza 81), Gower (Orlandi 71), Dyer, Scotland Subs Not Used: Cornell, Tudur-Jones, Bessone, Serran, Butler
Goals: Scotland (51)
Booked: Williams
Fulham: Schwarzer, Stoor, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Nevland (Zamora 75), Gera, Murphy, Davies, Dacourt (Dempsey 60), Johnson (Gray 85) Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Pantsil, Milsom, Kallio
Goals: Monk o.g. (43)
Booked: Dacourt
Att: 16,573
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)
More good stuff from Mike Whalley at World of Sport. Fulham are building a comfortable lead in the race to be crowned Gubbometer champions. The '97 encounter against Wigan at the Cottage was one of our biggest games that season. I still remember the eruption of delight as Mark Blake slotted home an 82nd minute penalty that levelled the scores and rescued a point. Coincidentally, Wigan's midfield that day featured the talents of Roberto Martinez, an excellent player and key factor in Wigan's success. Martinez is of course now manager of Swansea City who we face in the F.A. Cup next weekend.
