Jack and Loz at the Cottage - Blog 306

Date: 20th April 2025

Opposition: Chelsea

Score: 1-2

Fulham goal scorer: Alex Iwobi

Weather: chilly

Atmosphere: unhappy

MOTM: despite Iwobi’s goal, Pereria’s pressing, and Sess being Sess it’s another win for Not Applicable

Lunch: picnic by the river

Drinks: Sessegnon Blanc by the river

Dinner: the Blue Boat (by the river)

The buzzword at Fulham Football Club recently has been “consistency”. And in their own Fulhamish way the team has found it with a WLWLWL pattern of results keeping us, impressively, in the hunt for more than just Easter Eggs.

With the latest L at Bournemouth, it was natural for fans to wonder if the inconsistent consistency would continue when we faced our neighbours on Sunday. We were hoping to do the double over them for the first time since someone tried to start a football club in Fulham then realised there was already one there.

The first unwelcome event of the afternoon was seeing the line-up and discovering that Muniz was injured, despite Marco assuring us all on Friday that only the long lost Reiss Lightning was out of contention. Apparently ESR was injured too although presumably that injury wasn’t of a footballing nature. On the positive side, Kenny Tete was starting and Harry Wilson was back on the bench. So was Carlos Vinicius who we last saw trying to head butt someone. Makes you wonder if a small squad is always a good idea.

The second unwelcome event of the afternoon was Chelsea’s manager, big bald head gleaming under the floodlights, making Fulham attack the Hammy End in the first half. As we’ve said before, when Roy Hodgson does this it’s clever; when anyone else does it, it’s desperate. However, the Cottage was rocking and the match kicked off in a chorus of song and a cloud of acrid smoke from the flame throwers.

Fulham did very little wrong in the first half. The football was fast and fluid, Raúl won literally every ball, Sess looked sharp, Iwobi was full of energy and Andreas full of menace. The defence looked strong, Leno looked….distant. The early disallowed goal was a sign of things to come and a statement of intent. Chelsea looked shaky, Fulham were dominant.

Iwobi’s goal was the result of one of many swift and stylish build-ups. This was the Fulham we love to watch, playing entertaining football and bubbling with team spirit. Trouncing our rivals was just a by-product.

But we are Fulham and we always need a second goal. And it didn’t come. Andreas supplied some corner deliveries of varying quality but nothing came of them, we got the ball into the box but didn’t manage to shoot, our decision making was bad. Our intensity was slipping and the ref was feeling sorry for Chelsea. The half ended on a bizarre but ominous note - having won a corner, we weren’t allowed to take it. In that Moment (as some might say) the match turned against us.

Chelsea’s manager upped the ante at half time, bringing on subs worth approximately half a billion pounds and telling his team to go for it. And they did. And Fulham were just along for the ride - hanging on for dear life.

The fluid football evaporated, the team spirit became confused, the decision making got even worse. Literally every ball went to a Chelsea player. If it wasn’t for Leno’s excellent skills we would have conceded more goals and much earlier. To compound the avalanche of problems we were suddenly dealing with, Sess got injured, Tete was knackered and Iwobi lost the plot so all three had to be subbed. We won’t comment on the Lukić/Cairney switch other than to confirm Marco’s view that it didn’t work. We won’t comment on Vini’s introduction other than to confirm that at least he didn’t head butt anyone this time.

So just when we needed to be strong, we were weakened; when we needed to be better we got worse. Chelsea’s goals were always coming. Waiting for them was terrifying. The first was disappointing, the second devastating. As a team, they weren’t particularly good, we just made them look that way. They didn’t have to play well to win because we defeated ourselves.

But as disheartened as we feel, let’s not forget that first half. Fulham were the better team and worthy derby rivals. Perhaps Chelsea knew it because they celebrated their victory like they’d won the league.

Random musings:-

- Alex Iwobi was Ivan’s guest in the Riverside and, despite the result, he was warmly welcomed. He is very popular and was very obliging at signing things after the chat

- Bjarne Goldbaek received his Forever Fulham award and we saw Les Strong on the riverside

- Harry is back at just the right time. This is a team which is rapidly running out of steam

- But where on earth is Issa Diop?

- (There is another centre back we’re not mentioning)

- There were sightings of Chelsea fans in the Hammy End

- We haven’t seen that many ticket touts at the Cottage for years. If a ticket tout applies for a bank loan how do they describe their job on the form???

- It was Stuart Gray’s birthday this week. Our understated legend probably didn’t make a big thing of it but it’s worth remembering that every silva lining has a touch of grey.

This result is a hard one to take for lots of reasons including the manner of it and the opposition, but mainly because of its potential effect on the outcome of the season. Incredibly, at the end of April and despite our famous inconsistency, we are still in the conversation about European football, but every dropped point makes a return to European nights less likely.

This too, will be disappointing for lots of reasons - we’ve got unfinished business in Europe and there will be few better chances than this season to secure a slot with eighth likely to guarantee it and some of the usual suspects languishing far down the table. That probably won’t happen next year.

And then there’s the Marco question. Will he stay or will he go? Would a European tour guarantee his signature on a new contract? Surely it would. But will he leave without one? We know the Khans’ feelings - Tony’s public declaration of everlasting love would make any employee feel trusted and valued and we can be pretty sure of Marco’s too. His words may be cautious but he’s not as good at hiding his feelings as he might think. No one watching that scene in the dressing room after Sess scored against Spurs can have any doubt that Marco absolutely loves his job.

Whatever happens, the summer of 2025 will be crucial. The squad is small, old and tired. Just to stand still we need multiple recruits in lots of positions and for ESR to come good. To improve, or if (because it’s still a possibility) we do get Europe we need to strengthen further. Marco will know who he wants and what he wants them to do.

So the key question is probably not, will Marco leave? It’s will the Khans match Marco’s ambition with their resources? If Tony really wants Marco to stay forever, he needs to put his money where his mouth is.