Dickson Etuhu has revealed all about Mohamed Al-Fayed’s visit to Motspur Park in a column for the Evening Standard tonight …
We had a visit from the chairman this week at our training ground. Mr Fayed always comes to see us after matches at the Cottage but this was the first time we had seen him at Motspur Park this season.
All the players have a close affection for the chairman. After investing nearly £200million in the club, he is the reason that Fulham are in the Premier League today.
He was as disappointed as we all were by last Sunday’s result against Manchester City. It always hurts to lose in the manner that we did.
The dressing room was a very quiet place after the game – I turned my phone off for two days afterwards, I just did not want to talk to anyone because I knew we had let ourselves, the fans and the manager down.
Okay, City are the richest club in the world right now . . . but we have beaten them before. On Sunday we just allowed them to play too much and got punished.
City have a great team and I think it is fair to say they probably played their best 45 minutes of the season against us and it was certainly a tough afternoon for everyone.
It was a big game, live on Sky, and we all expected to produce a better performance than we did.
That is why we were so disappointed because we know we can and will play better.
What we all needed was a lift and that is what Mr Fayed gave us when he came down to see us on Tuesday. He spent an hour with the players and spoke openly and honestly – as we have come to expect from him.
The message was clear and a positive one: learn from the defeat and move on.
It was the arm around the shoulder that we all needed and the training ground has felt a very different place for the rest of this week – the buzz is definitely back.
It was great to have Mr Fayed come down to see us and was the perfect encouragement that we need to achieve a better result against Birmingham City in the Premier League tomorrow. Three points will make all the difference.
Don’t forget that we have only lost the same amount of games – four – as Chelsea so far this season. We have just had far too many draws . . . eight in 14 matches.
Our supporters certainly deserve a victory especially at this time of year when it can be pretty cold watching our home games at Craven Cottage down by the River Thames.
