Jack and Loz Not at the Cottage - Blog 174

Date: 4th April 2021

Opposition: Aston Villa

Score: 3-1

Fulham goal scorer: 🔥

MOTM: you’re kidding, right?

Snacks: Loz - Rhubarb crumble and cream; Jack - raisin whirl

We’ve been here before. Teetering nervously on a creaky trap door, disenchanted and uncertain, waiting for the heartbreak of the drop. One time we escaped, thanks to one man’s brilliance and eleven men’s hard graft and belief; last time we didn’t and we didn’t deserve to.

This time, our fate is still unknown but hope grows dimmer with every point we throw away. If we fall this time, we become what we despise - a yo-yo club, destined to hover in no man’s land for ever, churning through players, picking managers off the merry-go-round and paying them off months later.

What is so frustrating is that we are so near yet so far. The players have worked hard so claw their way back over the gulf that developed between us and safety; our defence became impenetrable and we are in touching distance of Newcastle and even the teams above. For a few minutes on Sunday we were there - not exactly home and dry but seventeenth and fighting, believing again.

And then it all went horribly, Fulhamishly wrong.

For a Must Win Game, Scott Parker picked a strong line-up. Mitro, pretty much literally on fire following his stellar performance for Serbia during the international break, started and our favourite back four were in operation. Frankly, we were surprised not to see Frank. As for RLC, he’s still the weak link but who else was going to play there?

For a Must Win Game, though, there was little urgency in the first half. Mitro had a couple of sighters and Bobby and Lookman looked lively but the midfield was too easily overrun and the defence were living dangerously with their faffing around at the - sorry [checks Scott Parker’s playbook] - playing out from the back. Frankly, Lemina looked poor and Harrison Reed couldn’t impose himself. This was surely a game which Frank could have grabbed by the scruff of the neck, controlled and dominated. Instead, there was space in the middle for Villa to exploit and they used it - at no point did they look like the weakened team.

The drama of the penalty shout and VAR riding to the rescue should have been a wake-up call. Whilst it definitely wasn’t a pen, Lemina was asking for trouble by being too casual and slow. And we don’t want to single him out - everyone was making mistakes, giving the ball away in risky positions, giving free kicks away in even riskier ones (albeit these were not always fairly won or given thanks to the precarious balance of the Villa players and the gullibility of the ref).

But we got to half time at 0-0 (one of the cardinal rules of the aforementioned playbook) and if we didn’t come out fighting we did come out composed and determined, but unchanged in midfield.

A word now on Aleksandar Mitrovic, Serbia’s all time top scorer with 5 goals in 3 matches for them - all 5 extremely good. Mitro is many things - troubled, emotional, hot-tempered on the debit side, unselfish, loyal and hard working to his credit. Most of all though, Mitro is a battler, a predator, and a force of nature. Of course, this wasn’t a classic goal but it was only a simple tap-in because Mitro made it look easy. He had been menacing Mings all match, he forced the mistake and took advantage of it. There is only one positive from this game - Mitro is back.

So for a few short minutes we were in seventeenth and the world should have seemed a happier place. But there are few things more stressful than watching Fulham cling on to a one goal lead, and few things more predictable than watching them lose it.

Predictable, yes. Inevitable, no. The team didn’t have to unravel like that. There were chances for a second but no one grabbed them. Passing became nervy, possession dubious. Villa reacted well and so did their manager and his ghastly side kick - their subs changed the game in their favour.

Our subs - where the hell were our subs???? Where was Frank to bring some order and stability to midfield? Where was Joe Bryan to swing some crosses in to Mitro once Lookman limped off? Why was Lemina still on the pitch? Whilst the injury to Lookman may have disrupted Scott’s game plan, the other subs were far too little too late. We’ve all been asking to see Mitro and Maja play together. But not like this.

There is little more to say. We needed to win this game - all the more so after Newcastle’s draw - but we lost it. And we lost it partly through individual mistakes and lack of concentration and partly through naive mismanagement. And partly, of course, because we still can’t score more than one goal a game.

All of this is worrying but in particular the capitulation of the defence which has been our one huge strength through this difficult season. If the new Thames Barrier has fallen, all hope is lost.

Random musings:-

- so much for thinking the international break came at a good time for us

- the celebration for the goal was team wide and passionate. Mitro’s popularity with his teammates was never in doubt

- it was nice to see Matttttt Ttttargettttt again and his comforting hug for Mitro at the end

- it was a lot less nice to see Jh T*y again. And was Scott chatting to him as they walked off the pitch????

- of course we also saw the Triangle of Doom again, and that is never welcome

- if Ruben Loftus-Cheek was as unselfish as he is strong he would be a much better player

- really hoping Lookman’s injury isn’t serious.

We are in a two club league with a points disadvantage, more games played and a decent goal difference which is rapidly eroding. But despite the doom and gloom, Scott still believes and we must too. Mitro is back and the flames are flickering.

This result doesn’t mean we are relegated. What it probably does mean is that the best we can hope for is what we wanted to avoid - a last day showdown at the Cottage in the biggest Must Win Game of them all.