My flirtation with relegation

I've realised that I've been quite lucky as a football fan in that with all the teams I've picked up along the way I don't ever recall being in a relegation fight, never mind being relegated. The worst I've had as a Manchester United fan is them being mid-table and mediocre under Big Fat (and now racist) Ron. I got into Preston 10 years ago when I moved to the town (and now city) since which they've been promoted twice and involved in the play-offs on four occasions.
Times do change though and thanks to the acquisition of a Fulham season ticket and the collapse in trust of a nice, if weak, manager in Preston means I am not so much having a flirtation with relegation, but a full blown affair. I wonder if I should buy a Valentine's Card?
A relegation battle is harder work on the fans than the players in my opinion. If the player is good enough they can just transfer to a non-relegated team in the close season. The fans are stuck with it. The hard part is the hope. Personally I though Fulham were going down after they failed to beat Derby at home. When they went one down to Villa, I questioned whether Fulham would get any more points at home at all. But suddenly they started playing. And won. And provided that kernel of hope that relegation would be avoided. But the existence of that hope makes the dread of relegation even harder to stomach. I'm sure Derby fans are quite relaxed and trying to enjoy what's left of their season. But for the other clubs in the mire, games are so tense there's no sense of enjoyment. Only relief.
I went over to Colchester United last night to see Preston play at Layer Road (before it gets bulldozed at the end of the season). I really wanted to go and watch a game in terracing again and it helped the atmosphere and singing. However PNE got beat 2-1, not helped by an atrocious officiating performance by the referee and his assistants, a result which leaves North End very much in the relegation mix. The players tried their hardest, but I still couldn't help feeling betrayed. It's horrible this relegation lark. I can see why the Americans don't bother with it - the sales of Prozac would treble within a season.
Still - here's hoping!

Healywatch 2

Healywatch makes its exciting second appearance! In truth it's been hard to watch Healy. After a bright start, much like the team, things haven't quite worked out for the record goalscorer in European Championship qualifiers.
He has always tried, much more than Kamara at any rate, but it appears he has now fallen out of favour with Woy Hodgson who has brought in three new strikers and seen McBride come back from injury. He didn't even make the squad for the win against Villa, a situation that appears to have upset him in this article.
He says: "I knew it wouldn't be easy making the step up to the Premiership. In my book it is the best league in the world with many of the finest defenders on the planet out to stop strikers like me hitting the net. Despite what has happened this season and especially recently, I still have great faith in my ability.
There have been question marks raised about whether I can cut it in the top flight. Well, I can tell you right here in this column that I DO BELIEVE I am good enough to play in the Premier League."
Ten out of ten for attitude I suppose, but I'm not sure what kind of a look-in Healy's going to get now, especially with Woy's purging of the smaller players in the team. If only Healy had come from Scandinavia - he'd be a cert to start. However finding yourself behind 36-year-old Jari Litamen in the pecking order might persuade Healy to go out on loan. He might like to return to the only club side he scored regularly for - Preston North End. They could certainly do with the help at the moment.

Fulham 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Yes, you read that right. A third home win of the season and well deserved too against a high flying Aston Villa team which could have moved into fourth spot (albeit by scoring five) with a win.
This was the first glimpse that the home fans had been given of Woy Hodgson's new look side, despite him being in situ for around six weeks, and there were definitely signs that it may not be too late yet.
The midweek away match at Bolton provided a bit of an indication that Fulham were now a 4-5-1 team even with the new players. This is a bit frustrating, especially at fellow strugglers where a win would have been wonderful. However a defeat would have been unthinkable and in the end it appears the goalless draw was a good set-up for a somewhat unexpected victory against the Villains. Anyway - expect more 0-0 draws away from home.
In this match poor Baird got booed before he even came on, but despite this he started brightly and won some important headers and made some useful tackles. After about 20 minutes though, he reverted to type and was quite simply shocking. His distribution went awol, which caused his head to drop, which then affected the rest of his game. I'm amazed he didn't get hooked during the 90 minutes. If he thought the crowd was on his back during this game then he should be pleased that the fans didn't know that he'd decked St Jimmy Bullard in training. They'd have lynched him. Other players who played below their previous high performance levels were Danny Murphy and Paul Konchesky.
In the first half, Fulham were reasonably comfortable, but that all changed at the start of the second with Villa having constant pressure, but not really testing the keeper. Inevitably they did score from a corner but yet another own goal. Villa have only scored 3 against Fulham this season, which includes two OGs - one from an ex-Villa player and one from a defender who signed for Villa three days later!
Anyway, whether the goal made Villa rest on their laurels, or gave Fulham a kick up the arse, or whether it was the introduction of the talismanic Brian McBride for the hardworking Erik Nevland, the game suddenly changed. Fulham were in the ascendancy, equalised quickly and then saw Bully do his Roy of the Rovers stuff from the freekick. Woy doesn't want too much pressure to be placed on the shoulders of the maniac (or McBride either) but if they continue to have such influence on games then the weight of expectation on them will only grow. Especially at the business end of this season.

Fulham 0 - 3 Arsenal

I know it's taken me a while to get here, but what a depressing game. In the first instance of Woy Hodgson actually doing something different to Lawrie Sanchez, Fulham went out to tackle Arsenal in a 4-5-1 formation. Surprisingly, Dempsey was the 1 upfront. None of the new signings were involved.
It was no doubt meant to stifle Arsenal's progress in the middle of the park, but lasted all of 19 minutes before Adebayor activated his go-go-gadget legs and calmed headed the ball into the net. For all intents and purposes, this signalled the end of the match. Individually Arsenal's players impressed with the speed of their feet around the ball and some of the passes they pulled off, but in reality they didn't get out of third gear. The second goal was almost a carbon copy of the first, with Fulham's defence as clueless and gormless as ever. Adebayor also showed himself to be the classless idiot he really is by goading the Fulham fans in the Hammersmith End after the second goal, despite there being no provocation the other way.
Although I have heard the third goal to involve Rosicky 'acrobatics' you couldn't really make anything out from our seats and I have not bothered to catch it on television since.
This wasn't so much a thrashing as a public dressing down. There are light years between the two squads at the moment. This is perhaps emphasised by the fact that Arsenal only bothered to have three shots on target all game (three more than Fulham though).
Since the game, the Cottagers have crashed out of the FA Cup on penalties to Bristol Rovers and entertain (perhaps the wrong use of word) Aston Villa on Sunday desperately needing points. The awful performance of Derby County (who got a point at the Cottage) is masking how bad things are for Fulham. They are one of the worst performers in the League at this stage over the last 15 years.
Still they've now signed ex Man Utd trainee Erik Nevland, who will join Eddie Johnson in attack, with midfielder Leon Andreasen and defender Breder Hangeland starting tonight against Bolton - one of the two teams that Fulham have actually defeated this season. Another defender is necessary in my opinion, but the transfer window closes on Thursday night.

A case for optimism?

The first new signing of Woy Hodgson's reign has arrived and several more appear to be on the way. Norwegian International defender Brede Hangeland (pictured) has joined the squad from FC Copenhagen and was part of the line-up that beat Manchester United 1-0 in the 2006/07 Champions League group phase.
As is the want with new managers, Hodgson wants to bring in players he knows he can trust. While managing FK Viking, Hodgson made Hangeland club captain.
While it is unlikely that Hangeland will become captain (at least not straight away) he will hopefully add some much needed pace to the backline.
Although a Norweigan international, Hangeland was actually born in Texas, so should fit right in with FulhamUSA, as will the new striker Eddie Johnson. The American international will provide some bite (and height) to the attack. Johnson's international form is actually better than his domestic form, which sounds worryingly like a certain Mr Healey, but it at least provides some options upfront, work-permit permitting.
Perhaps the most exciting potential signing is Watford's Marlon King, although £5m appears to be at the higher end of the Championship scale. King has dominated defences at the lower level, but never really got a chance to shine in the Premiership after a knee injury wiped him out of most of last season. And that sounds horribly similar to Mr Kamara. Unfortunately worries over this knee injury appears to be holding up the transfer and he won't be around to face Arsenal today.
With these three, all Fulham need now is a holding midfielder, although Hangeland can apparently play there as well. Throughout the season, scoring has not been a problem but conceeding goals has cost Fulham dozens of points. Therefore another defensively-minded player could work wonders. Hopefully it will not be too little, too late.