Jack and Loz Not at the Cottage - Blog 177

Date: 1st May 2021

Opposition: C*****a

Score: 2-0

MOTM: Antonee Robinson stood out for his endless running, unconquerable spirit and never-say-die attitude. He is going to be awesome in the Championship

Snacks: Loz - almond cake; Jack - spicy BBQ Pringles

Scott Parker talks a lot about fine margins. Whilst this is getting tedious it is appropriate. Over the course of 34 games, Fulham have fallen short many times, but only marginally. The match against our old rivals is the latest example of that. We were only marginally worse than a “Super League” team in the first half but because the deficit in quality was evident at both ends of the pitch, we ended up being 1-0 down at half time despite lots of corners, plenty of possession, several shots on target and a spirited performance.

Fulham started ambitiously, one might almost say, aggressively. Unlike in several recent Must Win Games where we looked like we wanted to draw, the players were fired up and flinging themselves into the fray. There were a series of early corners and early shots including an excellent effort from Antonee. But they all came to nothing of course, while at the other end, C*****a scored an almost effortless goal.

This didn’t put the Fulham players off their collective strides and they continued much as they had started with long periods of possession (which led to nothing) and plenty of shots, some of which were much better than others, but both Lookman and Aina were pipped at the post by C*****a’s keeper who, Frankly, kept the Blues in the game in the first half.

But therein lies the truth of the matter: C*****a are better at shooting, passing and defending. Only marginally. But that’s all it takes.

We hoped that the second half would be different but in fact it was downhill all the way from kickoff. If C*****a’s first goal was effortless, their second was men against boys stuff leaving all the Fulham defenders dazed and confused.

Let the record show that the players kept on fighting. Some of the crosses fired into the box, particularly from Aina, could have been lethal.....but there was no one to meet them. Some of the resulting corners could have been dangerous.....but they didn’t clear the first man.

The players were tiring but for reasons we don’t understand Scott didn’t bring on reinforcements until the 77th minute. And even then, whilst it was great to give Carvalho his debut (he’s going to be awesome in the Championship as well) he’s not Serbia’s all time top goal scorer is he???

Eventually, Mitro was brought on to replace the flagging Maja. Once again, we didn’t see them play together. Once again, Mitro did little but how much can anyone do in 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there? In other words, the Mitro mystery continues.

The long drawn-out agony of of this relegation continues too, and the recriminations and the speculation. The end is in sight, and it can’t come soon enough.

Social Media Boycott

We joined the Club and other fans in not posting on our Twitter account over the weekend to show our support for football players, others within the game and the many people outside of it who suffer racist abuse online while social media platforms do little to tackle the issue.

We appreciate that muting our Twitter feed for the weekend was a small gesture in the face of a massive problem but this is something we feel very strongly about and we hope that the combined silence of the football community sent a loud message to the giants who control social media.

We therefore didn’t look at Twitter either before, during or after the match. For anyone who has never tried this, let us assure them it leads to a much less stressful weekend.

Random musings:

- what a relief not to have to watch RLC “play football” for our club

- no doubt Thomas Tuchel was thinking the same

- C*****a’s claim to be the “Pride of West London” was even more dubious than usual given that they couldn’t even make the words on their banner fit around their seats

- for a player supposedly in the shop window, Frank made a lot of mistakes....

- if the unfortunately named Mason Mount was an actor he would obviously be in Blue movies

- not snuff movies though.

The first relegation felt devastating and unexpected even though we should have seen it coming. Two years ago, going down felt disappointing even though it was deserved. This time, although, briefly, we gave ourselves a better chance of staying up than ever before, the fine margins have stretched into a gulf to safety. When it finally happens, this relegation will feel like a relief. Let’s get back to the Championship and regroup, reorganise and win some matches.

For now, we are Fulham fans and must bear the ongoing misery with our customary fortitude. We must turn our backs to the storm and endure.