Roy Hodgson said he was pleased that Fulham had managed to steady things this week after seeing his side pick up a point in a dour encounter at Bolton.
The Cottagers ended a sequence of five consecutive league defeats with a narrow win over Portsmouth and today’s goalless draw at the Reebok Stadium. Though Fulham are still far from their fluent best, Hodgson professed himself happy with a much more positive week.
I’m pleased. Of course I am. These were two very tough games.
Today we were coming here against a rampant Bolton side. They play their football well and put you under pressure.
They are good at keeping the ball in and around the box. I’m delighted with the goalless draw.
We consider ourselves fortunate, but it was a brave performance. I’m really quite satisfied. We have an awful lot of players missing. I thought the lads who came in did really well.
We were lucky today that Schwarzer was in magnificent form and that the back four were very strong. I was pleased with the determination and the character to get the points.
Hodgson believes referee Mark Clattenburg was right to disallow a late header from Kevin Davies.
I do honestly believe having seen the video that it was a good decision. They will consider themselves had done by.
If we were beaten by both Pompey and Bolton we could not complain. We deserved maybe a point from these two games. We seem to be going backwards in form and the injury problems may be a huge reason. But if we play Elm and Nevland up front while allowing Kamara to go to Celtic. We deserve our fate,
Thought Elm was encouraging again today, Nevland less so. Give it some time to gel Lighthouse. That was a great point today and I’d argue this week was a massive step forward in form.
Why do we seem to be embarrassed when we get a touch of long overdue luck? A point’s a point. People have been clamoring for Roy to give Elm a chance, and when he does, (and Elm performs competently) we shout doom and gloom. What else is Roy supposed to do? It was a battling point. Sure Bolton could have won, but then again Shorey’s deflected free kick could have gone in. We’ve dominated matches more than Bolton did and lost.
I am puzzled by the negative reaction to Elm by a number of Fulham boards. He is not as good in the air as some one that tall should be, but he held up the ball well and showed some really clever touches. His Telegraph chalkboard suggests he hardly put a foot wrong. On the other hand, Nevland had a real stinker. I am a fan of his, but I cannot remember his ever playing as badly.