It’s remarkable how 45 minutes of football can change your whole attitude about things. I’ll admit that after the miserable defeat at Burnley that I thought that there was no hope that this squad could drag themselves out of this relegation battle. It’s the first time in years were I have genuinely lost hope in our team and it felt awful. My mood didn’t change after the Spurs game, despite a decent performance, and at half time against Brighton I was one of the many who considered it season over.
But then something changed. While our defence is still a considerable worry, we showed a bit of fight for the first time in ages. I have said for ages that I thought the turning point in our season was the draw away against Brighton where we were seemingly cruising only to end up with a 2-2 draw, so perhaps it is fitting that a possible comeback could come off the back of us coming from 2-0 down against the same team.
It has been a frustrating January so far in terms of the transfer window, with just one player through the doors of Motspur Park. While the signing of Ryan Babel looks like a very positive one, we all know that it is in defence were we really need personnel. With just a matter of hours left in the window, I’m hoping that our business isn’t done yet, but I’m beginning to get a little fearful.
Next up we have a trip to Selhurst Park to take on Roy Hodgson’s Palace, and for once we have already had some fortunate news with a Wilfred Zaha red card meaning their star man is unavailable. It’s mad to think that they apparently haven’t won a Premier League game without him while he has been with them, so hopefully we don’t go all Fulhamish and allow them to turn this unwanted record around. I’m gutted that I can make Saturday as Selhurst Park has been on my football to-do lists for some time, but I’ll be stuck following from afar because of work. I fully expect the Fulham faithful who are there to be making a real racket, especially after Tuesday night’s result. As a fanbase we really can make a difference to what happens on the pitch, and continuing to be behind the boys can help get them over the line.
We still have so much work to do to get us out of this mess, but there have been some positive signs recently. I really hope Ranieri goes with the team that finished on Tuesday night against Palace as we were so much better then than how we started the game. I thought Cairney was sensational, and I hope it puts to bed some of the doubts about his attitude! He was very unfortunate not to score himself, but it was his shot that allowed Vietto to score after it had cannoned off the bar. Shout out to Sergio Rico as well who made an unreal save from a Murray header when the score was 2-2. Chambers, Babel, Mitro and Seri all had great matches in the second half. We have the players who can turn this around, so we need to keep believing.
Great Escape II anyone?
#COYW
