The Magic of the (League) Cup - Part III
A gulf in class ... or a lower league club 'banana skin'? Again, which was it to be?
Fulham FC versus Doncaster Rovers: 8pm kick-off
Craven Cottage - 23/9/14
Prior to the kick-off in Tuesday’s League Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers, former club captain Danny Murphy had labelled Fulham FC a place of “trouble, trauma and stress”. That was AFTER the club had belatedly parted company with arguably the worst manager in their 135 year history. Think what it must have been like before the German’s departure! Führer Felix (Magath) has been roundly condemned by pundits and former club players alike; reviled as a destructive, tyrannical dictator; a petty despot and a bully, with little tactical or strategic nous, a penchant for freezing out his few remaining senior players and a preference for imposing gruelling fitness training over developing any practice routines involving a spherical object. Don’t get me started on what he may, or may not, do with cheese. His appalling 20% win ratio would have seen him sacked from most Sunday pub teams long before the seven months he survived at Fulham. A popular former club player and recent Under-21's coach, Kit Symons, now has the unenviable task of beginning to rebuild morale, ball skills and tactical nous at London’s oldest professional football club. His first game in caretaker charge of the side had ended in a 0-1 home league defeat, to a poor Blackburn Rovers side, on Saturday. Things might have ended very differently, however, had it not been for Fulham’s second consecutive sending off in the first-half of a game. Symons’s ten-man side were still the better team and were unlucky to concede the only goal of the game, after some comedy, pin-ball defending in their own 6-yard box. The damage was all done by a predatory striker’s instinctive close-range finish, from a player with whom the club have been linked regularly over the last couple of seasons – Jordan Rhodes. That was last weekend, though. Now, onwards to this week’s potential web of woes.
The third round of the League Cup featured some interesting numbers. For instance, tickets were just £10 for any adult seat in the ground at Craven Cottage; only £5, for concessions. Elsewhere, there was a record-breaking penalty shoot out at Anfield, such that the luckless Anglo-Ghanaian, Albert Adomah, apparently lost count of how many kicks had already been taken, as he stepped out to miss the decisive kick - oblivious to its critical importance. Many top tier teams also changed their entire line-ups from Saturday's league games, to show in how little esteem they hold the trophy. The tie between West Brom and Hull saw all 22 players lining up for the kick-off altered from Saturday's starting rosters for both teams. Even high-flying second-flight sides seemed uninterested in focussing on a tournament which holds out the (admittedly distant and unlikely) promise of European qualification for next season. Nottingham introduced 9 new players; Norwich changed all 11. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Forest came away with nothing from White Hart Lane; while the Norfolk outfit consequently were eliminated at Second Division Shrewsbury - the lowest ranked team remaining in the draw. In an interesting parallel for Fulham fans, "The Shrews" had brought in 16 new players over the summer. That huge degree of change hasn't stopped them achieving 6th place so far under new manager Micky Mellon, whilst maintaining an unbeaten home record. Those are achievements the London club could only dream of whilst under the leadership of the newly-departed Magath, who repeatedly appealed for more time to gel a team entirely of his own choosing and making. It is a sign of just how very far
Fulham have fallen recently – and how frighteningly fast – that Doncaster Rovers arrived
to compete for that further step towards Wembley and Europe in front of only their second-biggest
crowd of the season: a mere 8,070. The largest attendance for one of their games so
far this term (more than 45% bigger than that at Craven Cottage) was for a
0-3 league defeat at top-of-the-table Bristol City’s Ashton Gate ground. Admittedly
that was a Saturday fixture; and it was always going to be a tough ask to get
away team supporters from South Yorkshire to the North bank of the Thames on a
Tuesday night – even for an 8pm kick-off. But that is a component part of the “Magic of the Cup”.
It was a surprise that even several hundred had committed to the 350-mile
round-trip. Perhaps a lot of them live and/or work in The Beautiful South? And,
if so, who can blame them? But enough of these interesting numbers!
A gulf in class ... or a lower league club 'banana skin'? Again, which was it to be?
Fulham FC versus Doncaster Rovers: 8pm kick-off
Craven Cottage - 23/9/14
Prior to the kick-off in Tuesday’s League Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers, former club captain Danny Murphy had labelled Fulham FC a place of “trouble, trauma and stress”. That was AFTER the club had belatedly parted company with arguably the worst manager in their 135 year history. Think what it must have been like before the German’s departure! Führer Felix (Magath) has been roundly condemned by pundits and former club players alike; reviled as a destructive, tyrannical dictator; a petty despot and a bully, with little tactical or strategic nous, a penchant for freezing out his few remaining senior players and a preference for imposing gruelling fitness training over developing any practice routines involving a spherical object. Don’t get me started on what he may, or may not, do with cheese. His appalling 20% win ratio would have seen him sacked from most Sunday pub teams long before the seven months he survived at Fulham. A popular former club player and recent Under-21's coach, Kit Symons, now has the unenviable task of beginning to rebuild morale, ball skills and tactical nous at London’s oldest professional football club. His first game in caretaker charge of the side had ended in a 0-1 home league defeat, to a poor Blackburn Rovers side, on Saturday. Things might have ended very differently, however, had it not been for Fulham’s second consecutive sending off in the first-half of a game. Symons’s ten-man side were still the better team and were unlucky to concede the only goal of the game, after some comedy, pin-ball defending in their own 6-yard box. The damage was all done by a predatory striker’s instinctive close-range finish, from a player with whom the club have been linked regularly over the last couple of seasons – Jordan Rhodes. That was last weekend, though. Now, onwards to this week’s potential web of woes.
I took a visiting, octogenarian American relative along to see his first “pro-soccer” game. Jack is a true multi-sports fan and had gladly grappled with this Summer’s FIFA World Cup™. Tonight he would struggle manfully to gain a deeper understanding of the arcane offside rule; but it wasn't always easy to explain the inconsistent officiating of referee Kevin Friend and his assistants. Jack might have been harbouring some reservations about our long trudge to the ground and the absence of a Fast-Forward button on the play. If so, fortunately, under the strong floodlights, the Cottage playing surface, at least, looked Premier League class; and the stadium was a stunning sight - even with a near-empty Away (& Neutrals) end. The low number of home fans present was disappointment enough; but it soon became clear that the presence of one particularly opinionated, empty-vessel of a home “fan”, sitting just a few rows behind us in the Johnny Haynes stand, was going to be even more disappointing. His repeated, high volume, critical, know-nothing comments should have been an embarrassment to the group he was sitting with; but it seemed like his brainless heckling was just 'business as usual' for all of them.
McCormack delivers an early corner, in front of a near-empty Putney End.
There seemed little to justify the fear of yet another dreaded, lack-lustre home performance (Fulham were winless at The Cottage this season, at the start of the match) as Fulham took the game to their visitors straight from the whistle. After just 20 seconds, young Fulham ‘keeper Marcus Bettinelli comfortably collected a weak early Doncaster cross from their left and delivered an excellent flat kick for Colombian international Hugo Rodallega to win in the air. Scottish international Ross McCormack took an excellent first touch on Hugo’s pass, rode the first of the evening’s many ‘robust’ challenges on him to break free on goal, past defender Luke McCullough. He shaped nicely and struck sweetly; but his left-footed shot from left of the centre of the box was saved by the outstretched left foot of visiting goalkeeper, Jed Steer, as it went across him. In the sixth minute, a lovely 1-2 between McCormack and Costa Rican international (and World Cup star) Bryan Ruiz fed Rodallega again. This time, Hugo showed a classy first touch on receiving a precise pass. He broke between two defenders to run onto his own through ball; but, as he leaned backwards under pressure from both Rovers players, he spooned his shot, stretching with his left foot from just left of centre - and saw the ball go tamely wide to the left of Steer’s goal. His right foot would, surely, have been the better option.
The first half saw little genuine threat from Rovers. More threat was provided by referee Kevin Friend (inappropriately named, for Fulham fans). In a match that needed control of a frustratingly savvy approach that was intended to hamper the better footballing technique of the home side, Friend provided the opposite. Constant niggling late tackles, heel-clips and other clever contact from the visitors went consistently unpunished. While the few, minor (often invisible) infringements by Fulham players were draconianly dealt with. Bettinelli was, rightly, booked in the 9th minute for handling the ball outside his area; when he ought to have cleared more easily with his feet from the onrushing Nathan Tyson, who had beaten Bodurov to a well-weighted through-ball.
Rovers then had a pair of free kicks from good positions on the left-hand edge of Fulham’s area; but both were squandered, as were a couple of corners. Mostly they drove the ball deep in the (mostly unfruitful) hope of turning and catching out Fulham's defence. It was soon clear that Rovers’ greatest threat was likely to come from set-piece moves – and from the referee. They were already fighting an uphill battle from as early as the 15th minute, when Fulham broke down the left. A flighted, long ball from Venezuelan international Amorbieta was knocked down by Rodallega. McCormack (with rather uncharacteristic politeness) considerately(?) left the loose ball for Bryan Ruiz, who duly sprinted in to despatch a driven, left-foot shot, high into the left-hand side of the net for the opening goal. All very much with the run of play.
After 31 minutes, a short-corner
routine on the left involving MCCormack and Ruiz allowed the Scotsman freedom to play in a right-footed
cross towards the far post; where giraffe-like skipper Dan Burn
had ghosted in to apply the finishing touch with a towering header to make the
score 2-0, shrugging off the ineffectual and poorly-timed aerial challenges of two Rovers
defenders.
Kit Symons looks on from the technical area as Bryan Ruiz (white #10)continues to find space easily and looks entirely at ease on the ball in a dominant first-half display. Referee Kevin Friend practices the chicken dance, apparently oblivious (as ever) to the ongoing play.
Fulham failed to convert a couple of further promising breaks; but ended the first half comfortably, as convincing two-goal leaders. Rovers’ website match report later acknowledged simply that “they were out played by the former Premier League side”. The situation forced Doncaster’s manager Paul Dickov into ringing the changes. A double half-time substitution saw Robinson and the not-entirely-fit Forrester introduced, for Bennett and Wellens, strengthening Rovers' forward focus. It was a risky roll of the Cup dice, so early in the game; but clearly a necessary one - and it made a huge difference.
Kit Symons looks on from the technical area as Bryan Ruiz (white #10)continues to find space easily and looks entirely at ease on the ball in a dominant first-half display. Referee Kevin Friend practices the chicken dance, apparently oblivious (as ever) to the ongoing play.
Fulham failed to convert a couple of further promising breaks; but ended the first half comfortably, as convincing two-goal leaders. Rovers’ website match report later acknowledged simply that “they were out played by the former Premier League side”. The situation forced Doncaster’s manager Paul Dickov into ringing the changes. A double half-time substitution saw Robinson and the not-entirely-fit Forrester introduced, for Bennett and Wellens, strengthening Rovers' forward focus. It was a risky roll of the Cup dice, so early in the game; but clearly a necessary one - and it made a huge difference.
Suddenly, the visitors were a more threatening prospect. They were pressing
harder; and looking more composed when in possession. 10 minutes after the
restart, Nathan Tyson out-sprinted Burn to the right-hand side of the Fulham
box; but his shot across Bettinelli raced past the far post. Donny’s ‘tails’
were decidedly up. On the hour Coppinger played a neat give-and-go on the left which
saw him receive the ball deep, in space. He cut back onto his right to unleash
an excellent right foot shot across and beyond Bettinelli to halve the deficit.
It all felt very 'Fulham-ish'. Having controlled the bulk of possession and territory for an hour, the home side suddenly looked very nervous. Not entirely surprising, given their appalling recent league form and failure to hold a lead. In quick succession, Kit Symons brought on Kavanagh for Amorebieta and (former) England international Scott Parker for Greek international Stafylidis. Neither new player was able to impose their authority on a game where the momentum was now all with Rovers.
After 78 minutes, a hopeful cross from the right by goal-scorer Coppinger hung in the air for Robinson to head powerfully from the corner of the 6-yard box directly at the hapless Hoogland’s outstretched hand. Suddenly echoes of last season's ignominious and servile home FA Cup exit to struggling lower league club Sheffield United were in the air. The former Schalke and Stuttgart player’s blushes were saved, however; as was the well-struck penalty from Robinson, low to his left by Bettinelli - but, crucially, too close to him.
Doncaster’s pressure started to look less convincing as they tired late in the game. Symons replaced Ruiz who, after weeks of being ignored by the the previous manager, had (unsurprisingly) shown his lack of match fitness and faded as the game wore on. Winger Williams came on for him after 81 minutes; and the threat of his pace tied Rovers’ defence back a little deeper on their left. The tireless Hyndman drew a foul, around 25 yards out, with just four minutes left. A committee convened briefly to award McCormack the right to try his luck; and he almost made the most of the opportunity. The Scotsman was denied only by a fine leaping save high to his left by Steer; tipping away the rasping, goal-bound effort for a corner. With one minute remaining, Doncaster rolled their last remaining Cup dice and brought on tall central defender Jamie McCombe as an additional make-shift striker. The extra space it provided at the back would give Fulham a couple of break-away chances; but the Yorkshiremen were now desperate to earn a period of extra time. That was an unwelcome prospect for the nervous home fans (particularly the tiring Jack) who were unhappy that the 4th official had found FIVE minutes of lost time to add. It would be even more than that. In stoppage time, Tyson came off the worse after an aerial challenge for the ball with Bettinelli. He stayed down for an extensive period of treatment. Things looked bad as two stretchers entered the field of play; very bad, if he needed TWO stretchers. Eventually the stretchers were sent away and Tyson struggled back to his feet; but he headed straight for The Cottage dressing rooms and an ‘early bath’ – effectively ending Rovers’ valiant come-back efforts. Dickov's early, dice-rolling chickens had finally come home to roost. Fulham would, for the first time in recent games, finish with 11 men on the pitch - against 10.
The free-kick committee concludes McCormack (centre) should gauge the distance and take a crack at providing Fulham’s third. He was on target and drew a fine, athletic, desperation save.
With the final whistle expected at any moment, Williams showed his turn of pace. Latching onto a well-timed through-ball from Rodallega on the left, he bore down on goal, seemingly in plenty of space. His final touch took the ball just to his right, where the persistent Pottinger was able to execute a desperate, but well-judged, saving, sliding tackle to extinguish the danger and put the ball out for a corner - just as the inexperienced Williams was about to ‘pull the trigger’. He should have put the result beyond question. The ref had, anyway, seen enough; and there was no time for Fulham to take the resultant corner, as the whistle finally went on an eventful match - and a not entirely satisfactory performance from Fulham.
The 2-1 result meant that the Londoners were through to the Fourth Round, though, without even facing extra time; and they appeared to have avoided any serious injuries. Objective achieved, you might think; but the early dominance they had enjoyed had not been sustained after the break. Symons had failed to nulify Dickov's positive half-time changes. This was as much an acknowledgment of his lack of suitable resources as it was a lack of tactical invention, or necessity. Fulham had very nearly, once again, given up a lead to opponents. For long periods in the second half, it's true, there had been little movement off the ball and no appetite to press forwards when in possession. Ruiz's early influence and control had faded significantly. Boos and whistles from the home crowd began to attend every faltering back-pass or loss of momentum; and there were plenty of those. Admittedly, with a lead already in the bag, it was not necessarily their place to press for another goal; but it might have made things a little more comfortable. Fulham’s possession advantage and positive intent had become decidedly unconvincing – after all their early promise. Of that penalty save, Dickov later said “if it had gone in I think we would have gone on to win the game" – and it was very difficult to argue with that view. What did Jack think? He’d seen better! Arguably, that
Not quite a gulf in class, then; nor quite the proverbial 'banana skin' either, after all, on Tuesday night. 'Close but no banana', you might say. Although to hear the loud, know-nothing, moaner maintaining a near-constant tirade of high-volume, negative chatter behind us, you'd have thought we'd taken a right spanking... again. How very Fulham-ish of him. Just imagine how unbearable he must be when we really are losing badly; as has so often been the case, of late.
It all felt very 'Fulham-ish'. Having controlled the bulk of possession and territory for an hour, the home side suddenly looked very nervous. Not entirely surprising, given their appalling recent league form and failure to hold a lead. In quick succession, Kit Symons brought on Kavanagh for Amorebieta and (former) England international Scott Parker for Greek international Stafylidis. Neither new player was able to impose their authority on a game where the momentum was now all with Rovers.
After 78 minutes, a hopeful cross from the right by goal-scorer Coppinger hung in the air for Robinson to head powerfully from the corner of the 6-yard box directly at the hapless Hoogland’s outstretched hand. Suddenly echoes of last season's ignominious and servile home FA Cup exit to struggling lower league club Sheffield United were in the air. The former Schalke and Stuttgart player’s blushes were saved, however; as was the well-struck penalty from Robinson, low to his left by Bettinelli - but, crucially, too close to him.
Doncaster’s pressure started to look less convincing as they tired late in the game. Symons replaced Ruiz who, after weeks of being ignored by the the previous manager, had (unsurprisingly) shown his lack of match fitness and faded as the game wore on. Winger Williams came on for him after 81 minutes; and the threat of his pace tied Rovers’ defence back a little deeper on their left. The tireless Hyndman drew a foul, around 25 yards out, with just four minutes left. A committee convened briefly to award McCormack the right to try his luck; and he almost made the most of the opportunity. The Scotsman was denied only by a fine leaping save high to his left by Steer; tipping away the rasping, goal-bound effort for a corner. With one minute remaining, Doncaster rolled their last remaining Cup dice and brought on tall central defender Jamie McCombe as an additional make-shift striker. The extra space it provided at the back would give Fulham a couple of break-away chances; but the Yorkshiremen were now desperate to earn a period of extra time. That was an unwelcome prospect for the nervous home fans (particularly the tiring Jack) who were unhappy that the 4th official had found FIVE minutes of lost time to add. It would be even more than that. In stoppage time, Tyson came off the worse after an aerial challenge for the ball with Bettinelli. He stayed down for an extensive period of treatment. Things looked bad as two stretchers entered the field of play; very bad, if he needed TWO stretchers. Eventually the stretchers were sent away and Tyson struggled back to his feet; but he headed straight for The Cottage dressing rooms and an ‘early bath’ – effectively ending Rovers’ valiant come-back efforts. Dickov's early, dice-rolling chickens had finally come home to roost. Fulham would, for the first time in recent games, finish with 11 men on the pitch - against 10.
The free-kick committee concludes McCormack (centre) should gauge the distance and take a crack at providing Fulham’s third. He was on target and drew a fine, athletic, desperation save.
With the final whistle expected at any moment, Williams showed his turn of pace. Latching onto a well-timed through-ball from Rodallega on the left, he bore down on goal, seemingly in plenty of space. His final touch took the ball just to his right, where the persistent Pottinger was able to execute a desperate, but well-judged, saving, sliding tackle to extinguish the danger and put the ball out for a corner - just as the inexperienced Williams was about to ‘pull the trigger’. He should have put the result beyond question. The ref had, anyway, seen enough; and there was no time for Fulham to take the resultant corner, as the whistle finally went on an eventful match - and a not entirely satisfactory performance from Fulham.
The 2-1 result meant that the Londoners were through to the Fourth Round, though, without even facing extra time; and they appeared to have avoided any serious injuries. Objective achieved, you might think; but the early dominance they had enjoyed had not been sustained after the break. Symons had failed to nulify Dickov's positive half-time changes. This was as much an acknowledgment of his lack of suitable resources as it was a lack of tactical invention, or necessity. Fulham had very nearly, once again, given up a lead to opponents. For long periods in the second half, it's true, there had been little movement off the ball and no appetite to press forwards when in possession. Ruiz's early influence and control had faded significantly. Boos and whistles from the home crowd began to attend every faltering back-pass or loss of momentum; and there were plenty of those. Admittedly, with a lead already in the bag, it was not necessarily their place to press for another goal; but it might have made things a little more comfortable. Fulham’s possession advantage and positive intent had become decidedly unconvincing – after all their early promise. Of that penalty save, Dickov later said “if it had gone in I think we would have gone on to win the game" – and it was very difficult to argue with that view. What did Jack think? He’d seen better! Arguably, that
Not quite a gulf in class, then; nor quite the proverbial 'banana skin' either, after all, on Tuesday night. 'Close but no banana', you might say. Although to hear the loud, know-nothing, moaner maintaining a near-constant tirade of high-volume, negative chatter behind us, you'd have thought we'd taken a right spanking... again. How very Fulham-ish of him. Just imagine how unbearable he must be when we really are losing badly; as has so often been the case, of late.
Fulham
40 Bettinelli - Booked05 Amorebieta (Kavanagh - 69' )
02 Hoogland
06 Bodurov Booked
33 Burn Booked
03 Stafylidis (Parker - 72' )
21 Christensen
10 Ruiz (Williams - 81' )
28 Hyndman
20 Rodallega
44 McCormack
Substitutes
01 Kiraly
08 Parker
14 Roberts
16 Woodrow
27 Williams
30 David
32 Kavanagh
Doncaster Rovers
01 Steer
12 McCullough
15 Wakefield (McCombe - 89' )
03 Evina
22 Wabara
19 Wellens (Robinson - 45' )
04 Furman
23 Bennett (Forrester - 45' )
26 Coppinger
18 Keegan
14 Tyson
Substitutes
06 McCombe
09 Robinson
10 Forrester
13 Marosi
21 De Val
30 Askins
35 Ferguson
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