Trotting Home - Great Expectations
Author: as / Date: Thursday 4 February 2010
The visit of Fulham portents a winnable game. Up for the three points is as, as it were...
High expectations are back at the Reebok. Under a certain ex-manager I’d be expecting a depressing defeat at home to (fairly) high-flying Fulham this weekend, however we’re a ‘new’ club thanks to Mr Gartside having the balls to persuade 'Moses' Coyle to leave Burnley, who’ll almost certainly be relegated come May. The urge to visit to the Reebok is back, and after using up all my excuses in recent months not to bother going, I feel the total opposite now. Whilst this might only be a game against Fulham, I’m actually looking forward to it.
Owen will have some selection problems, such as whether or not to keep Ricketts at left-back in favour of Robinson/Samuel, and whether or not Zat Knight has woken up by kick-off. We’ve seen Weiss, Holden and Wilshere arrive, and all will surely expect to play a part in this game at some point, as well as Ricardo, who's no doubt wondering when he’s going to get a game. Up front we could either play Davies and Elmander, or simply Davies, with back-up from midfield (surely nobody thinks Elmo can do the job alone). I’m sure Mr Coyle has a plan and I’m confident he’ll choose the right option.
Fulham have been something of a surprise side in recent years. When they gave Roy Hodgson the manager's job I chuckled and thought they’d signed a one-way ticket to the Championship. I was wrong, very wrong. Roy has assembled a decent little squad, and even managed to make Bobby Zamora look like a useful player! I’ve been impressed when I’ve seen them live, a solid defence with the highly rated big Scandanavian Hangeland at the back; their midfield works hard for each other, and they have some very good players like Clint Dempsey pulling the strings. The 'little and large' attack might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as Andy Johnson could teach Ronaldo a lesson on diving in the area, and Bobby Z seems to fly around everywhere like an angry bull, one that gets so angry that he looks like he’s going to attack his own team-mates after scoring a goal. And, to his credit, Mr Hodgson has managed this without spending big. Any club in West London aren’t going to be short of a few pennies, but he’s not managed to bankrupt Al-Fayed just yet.
But at the end of the day they are still, of course, a London club, so the media are rooting for them... whilst those annoying ‘little’ Lancashire clubs have the audacity to remain in the top flight, despite having a far richer history and bigger fanbase (bar Wigan, but they’re a Rugby League town anyway). MotD will doubtless be hoping for an away win, after all who wants to watch ‘dirty’ Bolton with ‘Judas’ Coyle? I’m confident though that we’ll turn them over and move a step closer to staying in the Premier League for a TENTH consecutive season... and who’d have thought that back in Cardiff in May 2001?
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