Jack and Loz at the Cottage - Blog 202

Date: 3rd December 2021

Opposition: Bournemouth

Score: 1-1

Fulham goal scorer: Tosin Adarabioyo

Weather: not as cold as expected

Atmosphere: from the raucous chorus of We’ve Got Seri as we queued at the turnstiles to that glorious, jubilant, taunting rendition of We Are Top of the League at the final whistle, the Cottage was rocking on its foundations

MOTM (football): we don’t often give this award to a sub, but what a sub he was - as attacks faltered and the football fell flat Tom Cairney came off the bench and changed the game. Creator, provider, dictator, inspirer, Tom snatched control of the midfield, changed up the rhythm of play and concentrated the potency of the attack. When he swung in the decisive cross, Bournemouth had 11 men behind the ball. None of them could get to it.

MOTM (non-football): of the two men at Craven Cottage on Friday night who have played for and managed Fulham, one is held in very high esteem. A class act on and off the pitch, it was fantastic to see Ray Lewington receive his Forever Fulham award

Dinner: Ruan Thai

Pub: the Blue Boat

A top of the table clash is always going to be a tense encounter, especially in a league which has turned into a two horse race. But Friday’s match against Bournemouth wasn’t just the biggest game in the Championship so far this season, it was a battle of wills, a contest of styles, a shuddering reminder of a past best forgotten and an affirmation that Fulham are now on the right path. In short, it was a tale of two managers.

Scott Parker managed Fulham for just over two years in which we encountered the best of times once and the worst of times twice. The first relegation was not, of course, his fault and credit is due to him for stopping the rot and rebuilding the team and leading it all the way to Wembley. While his dress sense was self-consciously dapper, his footballing style was insecurely conservative. Parker didn’t like to lose, he didn’t like to take risks and he didn’t want to accept any blame.

So whilst that victory at Wembley was his finest hour for Fulham, it shouldn’t really have happened. The squad at his disposal (most of whom now sit at the top of a league in either England or Italy) was too good to finish 4th. Even in the final match of the season against Wigan, when we had literally nothing to lose and automatic promotion to gain, Parker played for a draw.

The events of last season are still too raw to dwell on. Our mantra was Stick With Scott until the end was near. He did his best but it wasn’t good enough. We know he had to play the lazy and under skilled RLC because he was contractually obliged to, but continually talking up the “player’s” non-existent attributes made Parker look deluded and naive. We sense Mitro can be hard to manage but to drop your best striker for Cav who wasn’t a striker at all was criminal mismanagement.

We had some good results last season and, at times played decent football - the dominant, marauding performance at Leicester will live long in Fulham fans’ memories as will the extraordinary victory at Liverpool. But just as safety was within our grasp, Parker let it slip away. During the run-in when Fulham should have been scrapping for every available point, our manager took his eye off the ball. And now we know why. He was watching Bournemouth instead. He had his head turned by a small, seaside town where people go to retire. And that says it all.

In terms of entertainment the match didn’t disappoint and in terms of quality football the first half didn’t disappoint either. Not for the first time recently, Fulham did everything but score, with the Bournemouth keeper and defenders playing out of their skins to keep the ball out of their goal. Our attacks were fast paced, organised and constant. Bournemouth’s defence was good but increasingly desperate and progressively dirty. Once again, Scott Parker was playing for the draw and he would use any means to achieve it.

The second half was a different matter. Four of Fulham’s back five made only one mistake on Friday but it was big one. Scott Parker knows Fulham always start the second half slowly and he took full advantage. Snoozing on the job is never good (unless you’re employed to test beds) and the defence deserve to be strongly reprimanded and no doubt have been. But it was a flukey goal and Bournemouth’s last meaningful attack of the game. They immediate sat back and Parkered the bus and weren’t going to score again. They couldn’t because if one man accidentally passed forward, there was nowhere else for the ball to go but back again.

The question was, what could Fulham do? After a short period of disarray we were pleased to see them regroup and, roared on by the hyped-up crowd, only stop attacking when scythed down by the opposition or unjustly pulled up by the ref.

Part of the reason Tom is our Man of the Match is because no one else stood out in an all around excellent team performance. Kebano was as lively as ever but was careless not to score, Mitro was heavily marked but perhaps overly generous to his teammates. Seri was controlled, Fab energetic and Harrison Reed unstoppable. Bobby provided a booster jab of momentum just when we needed it, Denis was involved in nearly every move of the game at both ends of the pitch and, as usual, acquitted himself well. And Tosin scored.

The goal was a fantastic one, bettered only by the explosion of jubilation in the stands and Tosin’s teasing celebration on the pitch. Unlike Parker and his team who had been keen not to score another goal, the instant the ball hit the back of the net Mitro scooped it out and ran to the centre circle and Marco Silva’s wild gesticulations became even more frantic as he urged his players to go for the win. In the end it wasn’t to be and we are all ruing the wasted shances but lessons will be learnt and mistakes not repeated.

This is the obvious point to make some obvious comparisons. Do Scott Parker’s Bournemouth play a lot like Scott Parker’s Fulham? Yes, in that they play out from the back to the point of madness. Those suicidal sweeping passes across goal were so familiar that we felt tense even watching the opposition make them. Yes, in that the formation is primarily defensive with reliance placed on a strong front man to score. Yes, in that the team will sit on a lead and retreat further and further down the pitch and withdraw further and further into themselves to try to preserve it.

But where Bournemouth are most assuredly not like any Fulham team we have ever watched is that they fouled at will, cheated as much as they could and started time wasting in the 16th minute when their striker decided to roll around in the goal mouth. Things went rapidly downhill thereafter with the referee letting them get away with everything up to and including robbery with menaces and GBH. We understand that the officials were wary of their decisions influencing such an important game but their lack of decisions was actually decisive. Suffice to say, whilst the penalty shout wasn’t clear cut, a lot more fouls were deserving of yellow cards and someone should have ended up with a red.

The match was a reminder of a period we want to forget and a vision of what might have been. Parker might have stayed and we might have still been watching that dull, monotonous, negative football, without Mitro or Seri and probably a few more. Ultimately, Scott Parker was a hard working player, a good captain and an average manager. He gave us another win at Wembley and, other than the unprofessional manner of his departure, we bear him no ill will.

But he is in the past. Marco Silva is our future and is different in every way. He was disappointed with the draw. He wants to win all the time. He’s rejuvenated some disillusioned players, got Mitro playing the best football of his career and made us excited about every game. Despite the words of his song, we’re not sure he’s a genius. But if he carries on like he’s started at Fulham, we might just be persuaded.

Random musings:-

- the rainbow corner flags and Tim’s rainbow armband looked fantastic

- two centre backs scoring is consecutive games has got to be very unusual

- Boa’s fury at a free kick not being given was both amusing and justified….

-……but it was Marco who ended up with a yellow card

- we hate to say it but Joe Bryan was the weak link. We don’t know if Antonee is much better but this was a wayward, haphazard performance from our old favourite

- Parker forgot that time wasting at Craven Cottage always comes back to bite you

- and how refreshing is it to have a manager who thinks more about football than his wardrobe?

- we weren’t convinced by Parker’s fake bonhomie with the players at the end of the match and doubt they were either

Parker will be pleased that he got the draw he came for. But it is Fulham who proved the point. We have better players who play football as it should be played - with attacking intent, entertaining skill and smiles on their faces.

There is still a very long way to go this season but when the second best team in the league can only scrabble away with a point after riding their luck and bending the rules we have every reason to feel confident. Our momentum is slowing and the pack is closing but we’re still on top. The league is ours to lose.