RAW Review: 27th April

Hello! It's another RAW Review- it feels weird having two RAW Reviews in two days right? Anyway after the RAW on Sunday we had the one last night- and they had a lot of work to do in a lot of different areas- because there was a lot of open ends after Sunday that needed clarifying. Anyway, I didn't really have high hopes for this RAW- and the hastily thrown together King of the Ring stuff did little to enthuse me, but perhaps unlike some people I'm always open-minded to the stuff that is presented- because frankly if you aren't you won't like anything they throw at us. Anyway, LETS.... GET.... REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seth Rollins & Co., Randy Orton, Roman Reigns Promo
This was alright for what it was, the explanation for Seth's SKO was pretty funny- although I still maintain it was a Diamond Cutter. I do think they should have teased a bit more tension between Orton and Reigns right off the bat- as opposed to the height of tension being "with respect I deserve the Title shot". Kane does play his role well- it's just a bad role for him, and he's capable of a lot more than what he's currently stuck in; although they are teasing him being used in a different way quite soon which I'm all for.

Bad News Barrett v Dolph Ziggler- KOTR
There are some guys who will always put on at the very least a passable match- and that's why they presumably keep pairing a handful of guys together. There really isn't much you can say about this match before it reached it's last chapter- there's only so many different ways you can do the same moves, and because of the way WWE limits movesets we've pretty much seen all of them in the case of the two guys involved. The finish with Sheamus distracting him was pretty much to be expected after last night, although Barrett winning did surprise me just because the way the brackets were set up I presumed it would be a Sheamus v Barrett final.

Big E v Tyson Kidd
This was too short to be anything of note, Xavier as the main heater of the group with all of his heel tactics is a good way to approach it because Big E is the power, Kofi is the athletic one- and before they turned Xavier was just kind of there. The more I think about New Day the more I get into them- because the Tag Division has lacked a proper heater of a Tag Team for quite a while now.

Ryback v Bo Dallas
I thought Bo had him for a second. The Bray attack was a good way to go- but I still maintain it's stupid they've given roughly a months worth of cryptic promos to this feud, because it's a Midcard feud that'll get 10 Minutes at most at Payback- I don't mind them putting effort into Midcard feuds, but there's putting effort into them, and then there's just frankly wasting time; and for Bray in particular it's just another Midcard feud before he'll get fed to the one of the "big guys" (Pun Intended).

John Cena's Open Challenge
Two weeks in a row Slater has been denied the chance of getting his hands on the US Title- Rusev knew Slater would win and once Slater wins a match he'll go on a run that'll never stop. The Promos were what they were- but can I just point out Cena decided that after the Rusev stuff went down that the Locker Room was clearly empty with nobody else wanting a chance at the Belt; He's not a Fighting Champion, He's a very Naughty Boy.

R-Truth v Stardust- KOTR
This was a bit "meh"- both guys have properly cooled off since the Mania build which is a shame because Stardust in particular is capable of a lot more- and has a built in story once they do resume interest in him. The match itself was a bit "meh"- and was just filler, which was a shame because the King of the Ring stuff should have been featured more prominently.

Adam Rose v Fandango
Yup, My Leo Kruger idea is still better than anything they've given Rose (#HireSam). Rosa ended up with a mic, so that instantly makes this segment one of the worst of the year so far- and it worries me because Rosa being featured means she may not necessarily be in the Spring Cleaning.

Brie Bella Interview
How do you make the Bellas babyfaces after randomly turning them- Use Daniel Bryan.

Naomi v Brie Bella
Ugh.

Sheamus v Dean Ambrose- KOTR
I did like this match, I'm almost becoming a broken record with regard to Sheamus so I won't go there again- the finish annoyed me though. While Dolph isn't always the best booked person in the world his character has already had a degree of "streetwise" about him- so him attacking Sheamus and gifting him a win after Sheamus cost him his chance at King of the Ring was poorly thought out from my point of view- and unless they're building to a Triple Threat involving Ambrose at Payback which I doubt it was poorly thought out with no pay off.

Damien Sandow's Reintroduction
I like Sandow, I like Axel- but this was just too childish and didn't do either of them any favours. Judging from this and the thing they did with Renee on YouTube it seems as though his new gimmick is something 6 year olds do in order to get a reaction from someone. I'll give it 2 weeks before Sandow's off TV with this gimmick. This segment did have one good thing though- it reminded me of my genius Hartdow call.

Bray Wyatt Promo
If you read these regularly you know without me having to tell you I like Bray and his Promo style- but as I've already said it just seems like a waste doing all of this for Ryback.

Neville v Luke Harper
In another world this is a PPV Main Event, two of the best athletes currently on the roster going at each other- and crucially giving us a Fresh Pairing (for the Main Roster) provided us with a great back and forth match. It was pretty clear Neville was going to win- and the way they've set up the brackets Neville could well be in the Final if they get their heads on straight when thinking about how to handle Dolph and his chase of Sheamus.

Roman Reigns & Randy Orton v Seth Rollins & Kane
Literally nobody would have seen that finish coming. As with a few matches tonight- the pairing is anything but fresh and especially in Roman's case he does the same moves- just occasionally in a different order, so when he's facing pretty much the same combination of people every week it gets old really quick. They could have saved a lot of time with the whole vote thing if they'd seen the adverts for Payback that had already gone out- and I'm hoping the fact that Roman looked good this week will mean he'll be destroyed one of these next two weeks by Rollins- because Rollins needs to look properly dangerous against someone more "powerful" than he is.

Thanks for reading as always, as I've already said- the 2 RAWs in 2 Consecutive days experiment was a weird one; but on balance in wasn't completely atrocious. However any goodwill WWE had built up after Mania has well and truly dissipated- and WWE has a long way to go to even get back to a passable level across the whole 3 hours. Anyway, thanks again for reading- if you come here for my Wrestling Posts you're in luck- there's one more Impact before the Impact reviews'll start up again because the Football Season, or at least from a Fulham perspective is over. I'll remind you again next week, but stay tuned for those- and I'll also be bringing out a few more booking posts over the Summer months- so if you enjoy those this is pretty much your best day ever. Thanks again for reading, and remember- #NoMoreSpiders.

Extreme Rules Review

Hello! It's a PPV Review- albeit you didn't necessarily have to pay for it; which on balance was a good thing given what happened last night. I touched on it yesterday in my Predictions but the Free Month equals Bad Month strategy WWE adopts is so short-term and ill thought out it's unreal. Yes, it inflates the numbers just in time for the quarterly reports- but once that small stock boost happens what is WWE left with? Because I doubt a 10p Rise in Stock Prices is enough to offset the potential 9.99 a Month earned- EARNED by putting on a good show and convincing the free subs to part with their cash and keep their subscription. But then again, what do I know- anyway, let's get reviewing!

Pre-Show: Neville v Bad News Barrett
This was pretty good for what it was, and what it was is a filler because of Bryan's ill-health. This match was in a way helped because of it's lack of build because we didn't know who would win- especially because Barrett was already booked on the PPV in the Bryan match. That meant the false-finishes actually meant something. Both of the guys involved are top competitors and it wouldn't surprise me to see this being a feud over the IC Title soon.

Dean Ambrose v Luke Harper (Part 1)- Chicago Street Fight
This was never going to be a pretty match, or a technical masterpiece- but brawls can often be the best types of match because of how chaotic and violent they tend to be. The first part to this match was at least passable in that regard, Harper in terms of where he's placed on the card is so underrated it's unreal, and while some of the shine has come off of Ambrose he's still a good in-ring guy- and when you combine the two guys- and throw in weapons it would take a special set of circumstances for this match to lead balloon. The finish to this part of the match was just stupid- and while they put over the fact the match was still going on meaning that it wasn't the finish it properly took the wind out of the match just as it was starting to get good with it spilling over into the backstage area.

Dolph Ziggler v Sheamus- Kiss Me Arse
This match, well not the match itself- but this "segment" has properly pissed me off. The match was actually pretty good, both guys can go in the ring, and Sheamus works better both in the ring and as a character when he's a heel. They told a good story of Dolph being the plucky underdog against the bully Sheamus- but this is when it all starts to go downhill. Firstly, I fundamentally disagree with Sheamus losing in the first place- it was his first PPV match back and he loses, so any chance of him being taken as a legitimate heel have already gone drastically down in my book. Then we get onto the thing that really annoyed me, the actual Stipulation was beyond idiotic from the start- but what followed the roll-up and Dolph win was just really awkward and left a bad taste in mine- and I'm sure everyone apart from Vince & Kevin Dunn's Mouth who were presumably jerking it in gorilla to it all. Then not only did we get the awkward build to it all, the stipulation didn't mean anything anyway.

New Day v KiddSaro- Tag Title Match
If you look back on my Predictions, I pretty much talked myself into why New Day would win last night- and then I still went with KiddSaro because- well I don't know why. KiddSaro aren't really Heels- in that they don't really draw too much heat they're too good in the ring to draw heat from "wrestling" fans- New Day on the other hand are heat magnets- and as such will make much better champions for the Lucha Dragons to oppose- and after the way New Day won the #1 Contender's Gig on RAW you've got a built in story. I can't see KiddSaro lasting much longer- they may keep them together for a couple of Triple Threats but apart from that KiddSaro aren't long for this world- and I just hope they do the smart thing and have Cesaro turn.

Dean Ambrose v Luke Harper (Part 2)- Chicago Street Fight
This would have been alright as the finish- had all of the heat not vanished off of the match because of the gap between the two parts of the match. They didn't even any explanation as to where Harper & Ambrose went in the car and we didn't even get old OJ footage like a certain previous match that supposedly had a car chase in- then this actual part of the match was pretty short so they didn't have time to get the heat back onto the match- overall this was just an Anti-Climax of something that could have been a lot better.

John Cena v Rusev- Russian Chain Match
These matches are flawed right from the start, the fact the two guys can only get so far apart from each other- combined with the fact any kind of move set up from a corner is off the table pretty much shafts anyone involved in this type of match from the start. As such I'm not really sure how to judge this match- this was so- meh, there weren't many memorable spots- the closest they got to telling a compelling story was Rusev sending Lana to the back, but I'm gonna place the blame of this match being "meh" on Cena & Rusev because they were set up to fail.

I'd hoped the Cena win, coupled with the American Flag dropping etc. would have meant that was that and we could finally move on from the "MURICA" feuds we've had had for pretty much a solid year- but nope, they couldn't let Rusev be Kozlov'd in peace.

Nikki Bella v Sasha Bank- I mean Naomi- Divas Championship
Fresh off of giving Cena a Urinary Tract Infection (See my Predictions for Context) Nikki, who is apparently the babyface won against a freshly heel'd up Naomi who blatantly stole Sasha Banks' look- with heel tactics courtesy of Brie. It was an average match at best, and the finish was just a complete cluster, I don't count the Bellas as Babyfaces, and with Summer turning last Monday we don't have an active Babyface Diva on the Roster, The Divas Division is a complete clusterfuck at the moment- and I have zero faith in WWE to rectify said clusterfuck.

Roman Reigns v Big Show- Last Man Standing
I'm slightly torn on this match, firstly I should say it was better than it had any right to be and I give credit to Show & Roman for putting their bodies on the line like they did with some of the spots they did. But on the same token, it was just that- a series of spots without anything connecting them, and hardly any story for us to invest in. I'm not being a blind Reigns hater, if people deserve credit I'm the first one to give it out- but we had the spots, but we didn't have the reason as to why we should care about said spots. I'm hoping this will firmly end the Big Show rivalry with Show- because Roman needs to be in the ring with different guys in order to keep improving, however the way they protected Big Show with the finish means I'm not at all confident of that fact.

Bo Dallas, Ryback "Thing"
This was just mindless filler, it could have meant something if Bray had ambushed Ryback when he was about to Shellshock Bo- but he didn't and that meant there was absolutely zero point to it.

Seth Rollins v Randy Orton- WWEWHC Match
For a PPV called Extreme Rules, this wasn't a very "Extreme" Main Event- but on balance it told the best story of the night I'd say. Yes, it was overbooked as anything- the finish hardly made any sense whatsoever in the grand scheme of things- and Kane still being relatively on the fence is quite annoying. The RKO Finish was clever I'll admit it- because it keeps Orton in the hunt which is presumably where they're going for Payback, but as with Big Show Orton doesn't need protecting- for a different reason, but he doesn't need protecting and- with the history making of J&J and Kane managing to breach the integrity of the Cage for the first time it wasn't a very convincing first defence for Rollins- which in my opinion he needed given the way he's been booked in every PPV since The Shield broke up.

It'll be interesting to see where they go with a few of these feuds tonight- and beyond, because unfortunately a PPV which is based around matches that should be the blowoff there was hardly any blowoff matches (or at least from where I'm standing). Anyway, thats for tonight.

Thanks for reading as ever, as always I hope you enjoyed this Review- I'll have a RAW Review up tomorrow so stay tuned for that- and I hope you tag along during RAW tonight for my usual sarcastic Twitter Tones. Anyway thanks again for reading, and let's hope 2 Editions of RAW on Consecutive Days doesn't hurt tonights show- Oh Wait.

Extreme Rules Predictions

Hello! Yes, the PPV is today- it caught me off guard as well. As always with these Predictions I'll be jotting down my thoughts combined with who I think will win, after all that is the point of predictions; I generally try and get these to 1000 Words minimum but the Problem with this card is that is probably the most straightforward set of Predictions I'll have done since I started this Blog last August. From my Point of View there's only one match that can go either way- and that match is purely so doubtful because WWE doesn't have much stock in either guy at present. Anyway let's get down to business.

Pre-Show: KiddSaro v New Day- Tag Team Championships
You could make an argument as to why New Day will win tonight- you'd be wrong to, but you could make the argument. It's incredibly rare that the Babyface doesn't win on the Pre-Show- and while both teams are Heels, in front of the Chicago Crowd KiddSaro- Cesaro in particular will be up there in terms of babyface reaction for the whole night. New Day will be a weird one, in fact the more I think about it the more I do think they could win tonight- and in terms of legitimising them they probably do need the win today; and with the Luchas waiting in the wings for the Tag Title hunt after New Day done them in on Monday it could actually happen, however I personally can't see it so...
Winner: KiddSaro

Daniel Bryan v Bad News Barrett- IC Championship
There's two questions to this match, will Bryan even wrestle- and if he does wrestle will they take the belt off of him because of the doubts attached to question one.

I love Daniel Bryan, in term of an organic story his ranks right up there not just in terms of "Today's WWE" in all-time. Yes, I would love to see him wrestle not just tonight- but for years to come; however Bryan Danielson owes us nothing, similar to Edge if he has to stop wrestling to prevent potential paralysis or other serious life-long disability he should stop right now, and he can look back on his career as a success.

In terms of the match itself, if it does indeed happen- it all depends on how much belief they have in Bryan staying healthy- if they think they'd have to wrap in cotton wool and wheel him out for PPVs they'd have him drop the belt to Barrett, however I think if the match does go ahead it'll be with a view of Bryan "changing his style" which seems to be the phrase attached to him at the moment and as such...
Winner: Daniel Bryan (If it Happens)

Sheamus v Dolph Ziggler- "Kiss Me Arse" Match
In terms of stupidest match on the card it's a toss up between this Stip and the Cena v Rusev one- I think it's marginally Cena's match just because we will get a proper match before the stipulation comes into play. Again, this match is pretty much as straightforward as it gets- Sheamus won't lose in his first PPV Match back with his "new attitude"- especially against someone like Dolph who WWE makes lose more often than not.
Winner: Sheamus
Quick Side Note, Just my Predictions- Sheamus is about to make Dolph "Kiss his Arse" and Neville does a run-in and kicks his head off before doing the Red Arrow. If the Bryan match doesn't happen I can see Neville getting a match on the card against Barrett- but at the minute I'm working on the basis that the Bryan match is going ahead.

Dean Ambrose v Luke Harper- Chicago Street Fight
This is the match that I don't have a clue about, both guys have been booked relatively poorly in this feud and prior to it that I genuinely don't know which way this one will go. On the one hand you could say that Ambrose will win as the vengeance for Harper putting him through a Ladder and end the feud- but on the other you could say that Harper'll win using the age old formula of the Guy that looks strong on the RAW prior ends up losing at the PPV. So being the type of guy that I am I've looked at the odds for both guys (Yes, on PaddyPower JBL) and have seen that Ambrose is favourite so...
Winner: Luke Harper

Nikki Bella v Naomi- Divas Title
Naomi is a bit similar to New Day- no not in that way; in that they could win depending on how much stock WWE puts into their "new attitudes". However Nikki is, well as I'm writing this waking up next to Cena after possibly giving him a Urinary Infection overnight- so because Nikki is getting on her back- Naomi shall oblige on the PPV
Winner: Nikki Bella

Roman Reigns v Big Show- Last Man Standing
They've really built Big Show to the point where he looks like a legitimate threat, I genuinely don't know who's going to win this... NOW, BACK TO REALITY
Winner: Big Show

John Cena v Rusev- Russian Chain Match
I still have no idea what makes the Chains Russian, unless of course they were forged in the icy depths of a gulag- but I think the Chain Stip can protect Rusev to an extent- and as I said with Wyatt and many, many others Cena never loses the perceived "Rubber" match and I can see Cena winning after STFing the life out of him while Lana weeps- Good Guy Cena
Winner: John Cena (LOL)

Seth Rollins v Randy Orton- Steel Cage WWEWHC Match
I said it in my RAW Review from this last week that Orton is the perfect opponent for Rollins in that he's legitimate enough to pose a proper threat to Rollins while still not being for want of a better word "relevant" enough to need the win. Of course Rollins won't win clean- I saw someone do it- but I can't remember which forum of Rollins' PPV History since he killed Roman & Ambrose all that time ago but he hasn't won "clean" at any PPV since said Shield breakup. This is where the real test will come into play... Can J&J penetrate the impenetrable Steel Cage- I can't think of any examples in history of people not in the match being able to get into the Cage to perform shenanigans. However I think we'll see History tonight as J&J Penetrate the Cage by managing to climb the cage before realising as nobody has done before that the Cage doesn't actually have a roof (I can see Kane stopping J&J entering via the Door- but they'll climb the Cage). While Randy is distracted by J&J Rollins will use that to his advantage and perhaps via some berating from Trips or Steph Kane lets him leave via the Door- before Chokeslamming him setting up the Match at I think Payback (that is the next PPV right?)
Winner: Seth Rollins

Thanks for Reading as ever, the build for this PPV has been pretty poor- perhaps WWE will take the Free Subs for this month and factor them all into their next announcement not realising a sustainable business model is to translate those Free Subs into Paying one's by putting on a quality product.

As Always I hope you join me on Twitter tonight for the PPV and tag along, while the build has been bad the matches should be pretty good with the exception of a few- which you can pretty much guess. Anyway thanks again for reading, I hope you come back for the Review tomorrow where I'll- well Review the PPV, it's kind of self explanatory really. Anyway thanks again for reading- and let's see how wrong I am with my Predictions!

Fulham v Middlesborough Review: Game of the Season

Wow. This was by far and a way our game of the season- and it probably ranks up there in terms of the Championship overall this season. It truly had everything- and pretty much summed up the Rollercoaster of Emotions we've had across the whole season nicely in a 90 Minute Package. I'm going to preface this by saying I still want Kit to go in the Summer- a win when we could play with a lot more freedom is simply papering over the cracks, and the fact we still nearly blew it sums it up in my book- that said I'm happy he got a win in (hopefully) his last Home Game- and we did put in a good performance today so I'll rightfully praise it.

This goals paragraph'll be a long 'un. When you talk about times to score a goal- just before Half-Time is right up there, and that's what we did today, I'm not sure who had the initial header- I think Hutchinson and then it was a good diving header from Turner, It's weird considering we scored 4 but Konstantopoulos couldn't have done much for any of the goals we scored today. The second was the first of the Penalties, and we've had a lot of luck in that we've almost always had a Penalty Taker who can score them almost every time dating back at least 6 or 7 years now with Murphy- then Berbatov and now McCormack. The first Boro goal was completely out of left field, Karanka went for broke with the 3 Subs at once tactic, and that did energise them- and it was a good finish from Reach, I do think Bettinelli should have done better for it, and without wanting to speak for him I think he slightly misjudged the flight of the ball. The second penalty as with the first one- you're relatively confident of McCormack finishing it, and he duly obliged. These next two goals were what's been dogging us all season- both times Ayala and then Kike had pretty much free headers and were able to loop and direct the headers into the net, the first of which came from a Punch from Bettinelli- and that's one thing he has to improve in his game because I hate Keepers who punch regularly- especially when they can catch it. McCormack's goal to complete his Hat-Trick was mental, and summed up the game- Boro truly went for broke when they sent Konstantopoulos up for the Corner and when they don't go right chances are you'll concede. I thought we'd blown it first at around the halfway line, and then again when McCormack decided to run in a bit further and let Konstantopoulos get in front of him, I'll admit I thought he'd blown it- but perhaps it was his way of rubbing it in and getting his Hat-Trick emphatically.

Bettinelli didn't have his best game, even he admitted it- apart from at Corners he wasn't ever put on a significant amount of pressure throughout the game; It's a straight fight between Bettinelli and McCormack for player of the season- and it all depends on if you take the attitude of it doesn't matter how many we concede as long as we score more- or it doesn't matter how many we score as long as we concede less. I'll talk about it more in one of the more immediate posts once the seasons over and will declare my Player of the Season- which to be honest is the only one that matters.

Both teams were a long way off of a defensive masterclass, I was quite disappointed we started the Defence we did for varying reasons. Jazz Richards chances are won't be here next season- and as we were playing with nothing to lose I wish we'd have played either Evans or Edun to blood them and break them in gently, and then I was disappointed with Hoogland playing- because he was playing Right-Back; that said I thought Hoogland did do alright today, he is very limited because of his pace- or rather lack of but he did well(ish) today and managed to anticipate a lot of the stuff coming down his side which helped. Turner got the goal of course- and he did look pretty solid, but that's pretty much what you expect from Turner, as did Hutchinson who I was surprised to see in the team in all honesty and I guess Kit's effectively made our minds up for us on Dan Burn as a potential started- that said Kit definitely picked right because a Turner & Burn partnership would have been ripped to shreds today against the likes of Bamford who was kept remarkably quiet today. Richards had his hands full today with Adomah- however for the most part he coped well enough to not get shown up, and between he and McCormack effectively salvaging the win by managing to get the ball back at around the halfway line when we had the chance I'd say it was a job well done(ish).

I admit I was surprised to see Bryan in the team today, but as with another player I think it was done for sentimental reasons as much as anything else and giving them a proper send off. Bryan isn't everyones cup of tea- but in terms of technical ability he's without a doubt Top 3- if not number 1 in the whole division and he produced some special moments today, I think we have an option of a year extension on his deal which I think we should use if nothing else than to command a fee for him- because he's too good to let go on a free. Another player I was disappointed to see was Danny Guthrie, however with Parker missing and Kit not wanting to give a debut out he was probably our best option at this stage- and he had probably his best game in a Fulham shirt today, he really put himself about and were it not for the fact it looked like he could have been Sent Off moments earlier I doubt we'd have subbed him. Broken record time- in that Tunnicliffe put in a solid display, I'm not expecting moments of magic from Tunnicliffe as I am Bryan; and Tunnicliffe plays his role to perfection- you only have to see his celebrations at the end when he murdered the Corner Flag to see how passionate he is- and unfortunately we've had quite a few times this season when people haven't been playing for the Badge on the Shirt. Now onto an unfortunately more down note- Kavanagh is a lightweight, he looks completely devoid of confidence evidenced in the Second Half when he had a seemingly free shot at goal but instead decided to play it back across the box and we blew the chance; and he's bodied off the ball way too easily. All I can say with Kavanagh' persistence in the team is that I hope Kacaniklic is injured.

McCormack is a Special Player, the fact he's had a return of 19 Goals and 10 Assists (with a game left) is testament to how good a player he actually is, McCormack is one our "must keep" list along with Bettinelli, Christensen and not many others for next season- and hopefully with a better team, and a more robust team in behind him he can equal or better his tally next season for us and his goals'll mean more. It was most likely Rodallega's last game- as with Ruiz's- Hugo isn't a clinical striker, and he had two or three chances today that he probably should have buried, but it doesn't matter in the end- more so with Bryan, but I will be sad to see Hugo go because he's a player who does care and wears his heart on his sleeve and I respect that.

All three of the subs Kit made today were glaringly obvious. the first was bringing off Guthrie- who as I've already said was taken off pretty much to preserve our man advantage, because if he'd done one more foul we'd have lost it- we brought on Fofana who I hope gets more of a look in next week, and I'd still be quite keen to bring him back in next season- although hopefully bringing someone else in may change that and they (hopefully Allardyce) may not fancy him. Both Woodrow and Smith were players we needed to attempt to secure the match and maybe expand on the lead Hugo was labouring and we needed someone to hold the ball up a bit more- it didn't really work, but it was the right thought.

I despise the word "Fulhamish" but I think we can describe the game today as such. Beating a team well in the hunt for Promotion and effectively wrecking any chance Boro had for Automatics was a job well done- if we can't have a good season at least we can wreck other teams.

Thanks for reading as always, the clocks nearly up on the season now- and obviously depending on the Bournemouth Result on Monday we could prove to be gate crashers for a Promotion Party once again next week. That's for next week, and then we can properly look ahead to the Summer hopefully with Allardyce in charge. But that's for next week and beyond, I hope you come back for the Norwich Posts next week- and then the one's over the Summer, but thanks for reading this one at least, and let's just bask in the sheer mentalness of the game today.

Fulham v Middlesborough Preview: Thinking Ahead

Hello! It's the penultimate Preview of the season- and the last visit to the Cottage until August, and we're facing Promotion Pushing Boro in a match that is of the utmost importance for Boro- and with the Millwall Result a few days ago means absolutely nothing for us in terms of permutations to our place in the Division next season. The only pressure on us now is he pressure the players put on themselves in order to get a good performance from the game tomorrow. It was a long time coming, but we're finally mathematically safe- and we can properly look forwards and (hopefully) up as opposed to down as we have almost exclusively since Christmas.

The main news coming from this last week was the renewed links with Allardyce, I made it clear in my Rotherham Preview that Allardyce would be my number one pick for the Summer of the realistic options- and I'll reiterate that here. Some of the people who are opposed to Allardyce cite style of play as there main reason for not wanting him, to which I say we can worry about style of play and get on Allardyce's back about that when he's got us up- because his track record shows that to be an incredibly likely scenario. I don't care how we go up, it's that we get up- we've tried to play possession football at times this season and it simply hasn't worked, and besides West Ham have actually played some decent stuff at times this season. As I said in my Rotherham Preview I'm wary of us getting Warburton and when he steps outside of a system he doesn't know like the back of his hand I think he'll be shown up as Eddie Howe was to an extent at Burnley- so for me Allardyce is by far and a way the best option.

Now onto our more immediate future- Boro tomorrow, I think we should avoid using players that we won't have next season almost definitely for varied reasons- I hope Kit doesn't go for another really negative midfield with Guthrie etc. because we have nothing to lose now, I'm going to pick the team I think we'll see tomorrow- and my team I'd love to see, but chances are we won't see in that it's a full Academy Graduates XI.

The one player who'll be a constant is of course Bettinelli- he's been our player of the season by quite a margin all things considered, and if it weren't for a combination of Bettinelli and Rodallega- and then McCormack's goals you have to wonder where we'd have ended up this season.

The main defensive news I suppose is the fact that James Husband is ineligible which opens up the Left-Back spot for tomorrow. Left-Back is one area where we've got very, very limited options- especially seeing as Kit views Kavanagh as exclusively a midfielder, I wouldn't use Stafylidis at this point of the season- because to be frank I don't want to see him in a Fulham shirt ever again- I suggested we played him against Blackpool for his pace, but now that game has passed I hope his time in a Fulham shirt is over. So for me the Left-Back spot is screaming out for a debutante- with Jordan Evans being the most likely person to make said debut, I'd have Tayo Edun on the Bench as well because he's a versatile player and obviously depending on how the game goes we could also blood him in either the Left-Back or Midfield roles he's capable of playing. As I've said repeatedly since Charlton- I'm not sold on Dan Burn yet, but him facing off against his first quality Championship attack force since his return to the first team and it'll be a good test for him- and these next two games will more than likely determine his place in the team next season. Michael Turner is someone who could be signing permanently- and it all depends on how forward thinking we are because Turner because of his age wouldn't be a 4 to 5 year defender for us- and my preference would still be Aden Flint come the Summer, but I'm not ruling out the signing of Turner so I would play him tomorrow. The Right-Back position is pretty straightforward, while Jazz Richards is someone who I could see us signing this Summer I doubt we'll sign him- and as such I'd be playing Jack Grimmer tomorrow and indeed next week against Norwich.

The midfield is where a lot of debate is to be had both short-term in the next two games- and then over the Summer. Now that we're safe- and everyone (should at least) is looking toward the future I'm definitely more so on the "Play Patrick Roberts" bandwagon a load of people on Facebook who haven't seen a minute all season are on. As such I'd give Pat Roberts 60 Minutes tomorrow in which to prove himself- starting him would be more of a statement of intent than a Sub Appearance which is why I'd do it this way, and then I'd have Plumain on the Bench coming on for Roberts after said 60 Minutes- and then switch roles next week against Norwich. I'd have Kacaniklic go back to the Left-Side he's frequented for the majority of his Fulham career for the sake of this game and next week. Kacaniklic is someone who's very much a next season player- especially if we are to bring in someone like Allardyce who is one of the only people left who still uses traditional wingers- as such Kaca on one wing and then a new signing on the other would be very welcome and would make us a very dangerous prospect. Out of all the Loans we have Fofana is the only Loan I'd renew for next season- he's shown signs of being a proper player- and with another season under his belt it would benefit both him and us in my opinion as such I'd play him tomorrow. With Scott Parker being doubtful I'd have Hoogland coming in as the DM type player- Hoogland's a player who's contract is up come the end of the season unless I'm mistaken so I think we should use these next two games to have a look at him and decide if we want to renew him or not- I personally think we should renew him because I personally think he's our best pure DM, so as long as we keep him away from a position requiring width we're golden.

The Strikers are pretty straightforward, Smith & McCormack should continue tomorrow- and most likely will next season- barring Greeks baring Gifts.

Team for Boro (1)
                    Bettinelli
   Grimmer, Turner, Burn, Evans
Roberts, Fofana, Hoogland, Kacaniklic
               Smith, McCormack

Team for Boro (2)
                  Bettinelli
Grimmer, Donnelly, Burn, Evans
Roberts, Sambou, Hyndman (I think he's fit), Kacaniklic
              Dembele, Woodrow

As I said with that second team it's more of a hope as opposed to an expectation- but with very little riding on these next two games I'd love to see a full graduates XI.

The Bench would be exclusively made up of our own products in the first team's case, as I've already said I'd have Edun and Plumain on the Bench- and the other five spots would be taken up by Rodak, Donnelly, Hyndman (as I say I think he's fit- or at the very least fit enough to get on the Bench) Woodrow and Dembele. I realise that means I've left out a few people like Tunnicliffe but as I've said repeatedly I like him- and next season (depending on signings) I'd have him back in for his work ethic but for these last two games we don't necessarily need a player like Tunnicliffe in the team.

Of course we could very well end up seeing Stafylidis, Richards and Guthrie in the team- I'm hoping at the very least we do what we did against Huddersfield with Richards and Grimmer both in to avoid playing Stafylidis tomorrow- but as I've said repeatedly, these next two games are about thinking ahead now- so what would be the point of using three players who most likely won't be here next season. There's also a distinct lack of Bryan- and I think he's actually rode off into the sunset this time with his contract up, and we can finally close the book on Bryan's Fulham career.

Thanks for reading as ever, as always the Review'll be up tomorrow- so stay tuned for that, and then these'll back next week for the last game of the season. After Norwich these Fulham blogs will of course slow down a bit- but they aren't going to completely stop- and I'll be putting up one a week about varying topics until the new season starts in Early August when we get to do it all over again! If you have anything specific you want me to talk about feel free to let me know either in the Comments on this or on Twitter- you can probably work out some of them just by using common sense, I'm not going to guarantee I'll cover what you suggest- but if it interests me and is relevant I'll go for it. Anyway that's for later on- Thanks again, and hopefully we have some good memories of the Cottage to hold us over the Summer after tomorrow.

RAW Review: 20th April

Hello! It's another RAW Review, and it was the go-home show for Extreme Rules- so you had to believe that WWE would somewhat try and ya know- get people mildly involved into the feuds to make the PPV mean something, so let's get straight down to business and get reviewing!

Randy Orton, Seth Rollins Promo
This was a good way to start off- the way things have been going since Mania I am somewhat sold on Orton as a Rollins opponent, even if I wish he wasn't in the Main Event scene he's the right opponent for Rollins at this stage of his Title Run because he's got enough history to look like a legitimate threat- but at the same time Rollins can go over without too much of a debate. I thought the Promos were alright- I don't know if it's because I'll always compare him to his previous heel run as the Legend Killer & then his run where he was killing the McMahons but I don't really like Orton's babyface promos on a consistent basis- that said him wanting to just go crazy and RKO everyone in sight was a good thing, although I would've liked if he'd RKOd babyfaces as well to give a "nobodies safe" mentality to the episode.

Dean Ambrose v Luke Harper
This was all a bit of a cluster, both guys are capable of a lot better than the feud they've wound up in- and the position that feud is in; especially Harper. This all just felt really rushed- and it did feel like they were trying to pack 10 Minutes worth of a brawl into half the time; which is most likely a preview of the match we'll get on Sunday.

Seth Rollins Backstage Promo (1)
This one with the PTP did make me laugh- you can say a lot about Rollins but he does get timing to a T, both in terms of his reaction with Titus and his "I'll kill the next person I see" before looking like a complete mug when he saw Triple H. The "Orton is just 1 Guy" line annoyed me to an extent because wasn't the whole point of the Cage thing so J&J etc. can't get to Orton and Rollins would be left on his own- so surely Rollins should be increasingly worried about that "1 Man".

The New Day v Lucha Dragons
I do like the new New Day- they're proper heels in the sense that the crowd genuinely dislikes them, and in a way it's what I want them to do with Roman. The match was alright, it was nothing special- but given the time constraints on the match and the way in which they had to protect the Luchas given the outcome it wasn't unexpected. I wasn't sure at the time why New Day got the match on Sunday- but when you remember that it's in Chicago and KiddSaro will be massively over- and contrast it to "New... Day Sucks" it does make a lot of sense- and once they've gotten Sunday out of the way I would expect the Lucha's to take up their spot in chasing KiddSaro.

The Orton RKOs after the match annoyed me- in effectively a week Orton has destroyed 4 of the 5 potential participants in the Tag Title match on Sunday, which has basically gotten any potential heat on the match well and truly off of it.

Fandango v Curtis Axel
This was such a short, standard match that there isn't really much to say about it- this was the first of the matches that had be convinced they had gotten their Superstars and Part of the RAW scripts confused after seeing the Superstars results.

Triple H's thing
So the entire Tough Enough thing was Triple H saying stuff we already knew- but of course because it was Triple H he managed to double the amount of time it took to say what needed to be said. The teased Rollins/Kane stuff has been going for a few weeks now- and I do like it to an extent; I'm not sure if they'll be going down the Rollins/Kane route after Extreme Rules which would carry on the Kane v Unplanned Champ tradition- and give us another PPV Main Event involving someone who has no business being in the Main Event at the stage of career he's currently at. The  "Guardian of the Gate" thing is pretty stupid- but it gives Kane a spot on Sunday, and one that'll have some eyes on him.

Quick Point, I've seen some people complaining about the 10 Men and 5 Women thing for the Tough Enough casting and saying it's sexist- to which I say; how many Men are on the Roster- and how many Women? So why would they have equal amounts of both genders; also the fact we get 1 Guy and 1 Woman winning at the end completely puts paid to that theory because in all likelihood if there was a direct comparison and only 1 winner a guy would win.

Seth Rollins Backstage (2)
Triple H firmly putting the WWE Champion in his place- if anyone didn't think Triple H had an ego complex, HELLO.

Naomi v Brie Bella
This was just so Meh. The crowd didn't know who to cheer for- so they just decided to do nothing, and that affected an already average match and made it instantly forgettable. The two things that were worth getting annoyed about were Naomi still having the "Funk" theme- considering she's trying to sell a new "attitude" surely that should have gotten a new theme to come with it; especially considering it's pretty much the most babyfacey theme ever. The other thing that annoyed me was Naomi still using the Rear View- it's arguably the worst finisher of all time- and considering we've seen her do stuff like a Split Legged Moonsault as a Finisher it's even more stupid.

Randy Orton Backstage RKO
I think we can all agree Orton did Cena a favour last night- because Slater was gunning for that US Title, and he would have won it and made the Cena v Rusev match on Sunday mean very little.

Roman Reigns' Thing
If Roman Bolieved he'd be straight back in the Title Picture- I'm also counting this as a Heel Turn; He killed the WWE equivalent of Mother Teresa.

Sheamus v Zack Ryder
This was an epic rematch from the WWE Title match of a few years ago, it was Chapter 2 of an epic battle, and one that I loved (no really)- joking aside I loved this- Heel Sheamus beating the holy hell out of people is entertaining, and whether people want to admit it or not it makes Sheamus look really good. The Dolph run-in was so "Well Bryan isn't here" it annoyed me, but the only thing I'm concerned about with Bryan is that he can live the rest of his life without anything permanently damaged.

John Cena v Kane- US Open  Challenge
Considering we had Zack Ryder being destroyed by someone, followed by Cena v Kane I was surprised we didn't have Eve show up. This match was alright, it was never going to be outstanding given the nature of the beast- I'm hoping the US Open Challenge will give us some really fresh pairings the other side of Extreme Rules and give us some really good matches because the last two weeks we've had matches that we've seen a lot of.

The Miz Backstage Interview
The Promo was neither here nor there, but the one thing I did like was Miz holding the DVD so it covered Summer's face- it's slight things like that, that not everybody notices that make good characters.

The Miz v Mizdow
Considering Miz is apparently getting written off TV for filming purposes I think this well and truly was proof WWE doesn't want Mizdow to be featured prominently- and unfortunately I can see him going the way of so many of Miz's partners before.

Ryback v Adam Rose
Once again, No clue why this match happened- and it's just a desperate attempt to get some semblance of momentum for Ryback after they've repeatedly derailed him. I'm not going to go over my Adam Rose idea I pitched last week- but anything would be better for Rose at the minute, other than not being featured, which isn't even that much of a big thing on this RAW because it was pretty much the Orton/Rollins Show and others last night.

Seth Rollins Backstage Promo (3)
We've gone from Brock who rarely showed up to Rollins who's showing up in pretty much every other segment- they're in a very real danger of overexposing him.

Seth Rollins v Dolph Ziggler
I'm not sure how many different times Rollins took up a place on the screen last night- but once he actually gets into a ring he pretty much always delivers. I'm not sure about the new Rollins finisher with the Powerbomb into the corner headed into the DDT- because it seems like a finisher that needs someone good to sell it, which was alright last night against Dolph but Dolph is almost one of a kind in terms of his selling ability.

We had yet another promo after the match from Rollins- and by this point I'm pretty sure everyone was just sick of hearing his voice- the cage lowering and Orton eventually RKOing him was a nice touch to end the show on, but if it's possible they managed to make a new angle stale in one night last night with the number of RKOs on jobbers.

Thanks for reading as always, if you solely ready my Wrestling Blogs and don't have an interest in the Soccerball part I'll let you know that after the next two weekends I'll be adding Impact Reviews to my portfolio for this summer until the new season starts. So stay tuned for those coming soon- as well as the continuing RAW Reviews, I'll be back with the Predictions for Extreme Rules this weekend so stay tuned for those- and thanks again for reading.

Blackpool v Fulham Review: Only the Points Matter

Hello! It's another Review, and this time we've gotten the 3 Points- which at the end of the day is all that really matters given the position we're in. It wasn't pretty, it definitely wasn't easy; but I think we can be pretty confident of safety now and start building for next season starting next week against Boro.

With no exaggeration whatsoever, in terms of a spectacle this ranks up there with some of the worst games I've ever seen- the pitch didn't help matters, but it was two teams devoid of any real quality watching the ball fly through the air and occasionally trying to head it on. So perhaps fittingly the only goal of the game came from a Cross & Header, I'll have my say about Sean Kavanagh's overall contribution to the game a bit later on- but credit where credit is due and he put in a quality ball and Smith got on the end of it and really directed the header to leave Lewis with no chance of saving. There was also a second goal that should've counted- it was the best bit of quality on show all day, the bloke in the Wig and the dress made a darting run into the box; robbed Bettinelli and showed a real poachers instinct with the Finish- forget Aden Flint, he's gone down to second on my signings for the summer list after the display of sheer quality from him today.

Speaking of said man, Betts has gotten incredibly lucky as he said it best he's "pulled a worldy"- but enough about his extra curricular activities; Bettinelli had a weird game- we could've been a goal down after about 3 Minutes when we were sliced open; then we got onto the 2nd Half, we could have conceded if not for a Jazz Richards clearance after Bettinelli was clearly fouled in the box- but it wasn't given and as we discussed in the Sheff. Wednesday & Leeds Reviews, play to whistle; then Bettinelli had nothing to do until the last minute when he pulled off a great save to keep us in the lead from a Blackpool volley. I think that save today to basically guarantee safety has all but confirmed him as our Player of the Season, that may not have been a highly contested award this season- but he still more than deserves the title.

Also if you didn't already see it (and I only saw it because it was pointed out to me) the Telegraph are now linking Bettinelli with Chelsea after Mourinho showed up against Rotherham- which if you read my Preview I put up on Thursday was exactly what I theorised, so seeing as someone from the Telegraph clearly reads these- Hi, I'd appreciate some sort of credit next time mate.

I'm not sure what to say about our defensive efforts today- it could have been an awful lot worse had we conceded rather than have our post rattled after 3 Minutes, and we were properly carved open for that chance- and the one not so long after. However in general we looked as solid as the makeshift defence we've ended up with to see out the season is going to look- and while Blackpool had a lot of half chances after the two early chances and the chance late on Bettinelli wasn't really tested. Jazz Richards once again grew into the game- first half I thought he was poor, he looked really frantic- and unsure of himself, which is alright (with respect) if we're not playing Blackpool; the one team where if you play with any semblance of quality you'll unlock them and have a field day. As I said in my Preview my opinion on players is relative to the opposition- as such I'm still not entirely sold on Burn, the Strikers him and Turner have faced have hardly been of the Top Championship standard- that said he did reasonably well today against another poor Striker in Gary Madine- the same can be said for Turner; I'm not sure if I'll have viewed it different if I were a neutral and wasn't on edge every single time a player I hardly knew anything about got the ball on the Halfway line, but with the way we've defended this season I was always on edge even when I perhaps shouldn't have been. Husband had another mixed game, This wasn't a game for anyone without a distinctive "physical presence"- but he did well enough when he did get on the ball.

This was never going to be a game where the Midfield were the stars of the show so to speak- and I think Kit had that in mind with the selection- as with the Wigan selection I didn't agree with the Selection because in my opinion we should've tried to take the ball to Blackpool right from the first whistle and force mistakes from them, but Kit set us up to play through Smith and the Midfield was picked as much as anything else for us to avoid getting caught on the break. Kavanagh did put the cross in for the goal, unfortunately that's where the positives end for him, he was poor, panicky and just generally bad when he got on the ball- he had one good run not long after the goal and apart from that I can't remember him doing anything I'd label good- he was outmuscled on the ball far too often- and his passed (not aided by bobbles) outside of 5 yard or less passes rarely made contact with the intended target. I think his game can be summed up by the Shot (or at least I think it was a shot) in the Second Half that went entirely sideways when he had a good opportunity to end it. It seems I'm becoming a broken record with Tunnicliffe, I'm not expecting the world from him- in terms of technical ability he's on the low end of the scale, but what he does do and does well is work for the team and he did that again today. Guthrie was so "meh" today, he was one of the few players that on occasion tried to pass it along the floor- but we were set up so negatively in terms of style of play we rarely put together any kind of move involving a string of passes- and Guthrie isn't capable of much else to be blunt. Hoogland was another player who put in a shift today- he's definitely pulled himself together in the last two games and he's turned in some better performances after he was leisurely jogging back against Wigan just over a week ago.

McCormack was pretty much the only player who looked like making something happen on the ground today- while he didn't score he was by far the most dangerous player on either team, and with very poor service he still managed to either set-up for other people or for himself a handful of chances chief of which were late on when Woodrow should have done better with his 1 on 1's. Smith did pretty much what was expected of him today, I'm pretty sure it was his first headed goal for us- and as I said while McCormack looked the most dangerous- Smith was the most likely to grab a goal for us given the style in which we were playing. Other than the goal Smith's contributions were almost solely of the aerial duel variety- and (I haven't seen Kit's comments yet) I hope he hasn't gone off with anything other than a tweak because he's definitely become one of our important players since he's come back.

Yet again Kit made just the one sub- despite the rather half-hearted attempts from the crowd to get a Bryan Ruiz chant going (imagine Bryan on that Pitch). It was an enforced on as well with Woodrow coming on for Smith. Woodrow should have no doubt done better late on when we were on the Counter Attack he's a lot more mobile than Smith and him hassling the defenders was exactly what we needed in the later stages of the game. Personally I would have brought Fofana on for Kavanagh or Guthrie for the last 10 Minutes, but it's not worth doing a lot of "I would have's" when we've won.

The performance today was a long way away from perfection- but not matter what the performance is like you get the same number of points at the end of the game, as such I think we can say it was job done; and as I've said we're all but safe now with the Millwall draw today and we can look ahead to next season now- and pick the teams accordingly now- it may be a bit too much to ask for a whole XI of Academy Graduates but I'd definitely like to see a lot more now if nothing else than to give them some game-time.

Thanks again for reading as always, we're pretty much at the Finish Line now- and with it is still mathematically possible we've got a bit of a cushion both in terms of points and place now we've ascended to the lofty heights of 18th and while I don't want to tempt fate I think we can say we're safe now; it's been a long time coming, but I think we've limped over that safety line now- Thank God. I'll talk about it a bit more in my Boro Preview and a lot more after Norwich because I don't want these Fulham posts to just stop once the Season is Over and I'll try and get some different types of posts up over the Summer whether they be Transfer, Managerial or simply Opinion as the core of it. Anyway that's for next week- we've gotten the 3 Points today, and going into the game that's all I could have asked for.

Blackpool v Fulham Preview: Must Win

Hello! It's a Preview up a day earlier than usual- this is because I'm up in Blackpool for the weekend, and when I should be writing up a Preview tomorrow I'll be headed up to Blackpool, hence this being up a day earlier; and Saturday's game is definitely a must-win. Millwall's game in-hand is the major thing for us with regard to the doubts over our security in this division, and once they play their game in-hand against Blackburn the picture will become a lot clearer. However we can truly take it out of their hands if we win on Saturday and at the very least maintain the 7 Point Gap with Millwall having 3 games to make up said gap- and while stranger things have happened the chances of them not losing to any of Blackburn (A), Derby (H) and Wolves (A) are pretty slim.

This isn't intended to be disrespectful to Blackpool, but we should win on Saturday- Blackpool are already down and out; and while they've put in a few improved performances against Ipswich & Reading since said Relegation they've still only picked up 1 Point from those two games, and provided we show up (which we didn't yesterday, especially in the First Half) we're in with a good shout of winning and from my point of view we just need 1 win to guarantee safety. After Saturday we've got two very difficult games to end this horrendous season against Boro and Norwich, which makes Saturday our most likely source of getting said Win; mind you Fulham logic is we lose on Saturday and then thrash Boro and screw up their Promotion Party a week later.

I said it in my Review last night and I'll say it again now- we were shocking last night, and Rotherham deserved to win; second half we were better, but we were still poor and if the Ref/Linesman had his eye in and caught the McCormack Handball we would've lost- as such I'd make a few changes both with Rotherham in mind, and the Blackpool pitch in mind.

One player who definitely won't be changing is Bettinelli-  even if he could have done better for the Derbyshire goal (which in my opinion he couldn't, yet again), he more than made up for it with some of the saves, specifically the ones in the First Half against Derbyshire when he had a 1 on 1 and I think Broadfoot when he pushed the ball onto the post. While there is still some time left, our player of the season- or Least Worse Player of the Season is a shootout between Bettinelli and McCormack this year, with Christensen being third because of injury problems as much as anything else; and on balance I'd go for Bettinelli at this stage, because McCormack has (likely) kept us in the Division with his goals- his goals would have meant nothing in some games if Bettinelli hadn't have kept us in the game.

With that in mind I'm going to present a theory of sorts which I'm hoping to hell isn't true and is entirely from my own mind. If you weren't already away Jose Mourinho was at the Cottage Last Night (obviously sizing us up before he takes over in the Summer), and after some discussion with someone I sit with (and he reads these, so Hi!) one theory as to why Mourinho was there won't be pleasant reading for us Fulham Fans. Chelsea are more than likely to lose Petr Cech this Summer- because he's way too good to be a #2 and with the homegrown quota being something Chelsea need to fulfill Bettinelli may well be a considered option to be #2 to Courtois. As I said this isn't an ITK type thing, It's just an opinion- and one I hope remains just that.

Jazz Richards grew into the game last night, but there's no way he'll be fit for the game on Saturday given yesterday was his first game since Huddersfield- as such I'd be bringing Jack Grimmer back into the team, who I thought was really harshly dropped for yesterdays game because I thought he was our best player against Wigan and put in the best Full-Back performance I've seen since Riether's first season with us. I said it last night and I'll say it again, I'm hoping we're playing Richards with some view to buying him in the Summer- because if we aren't it's ridiculously short-term thinking from Kit because all it's doing if this is just a short-term fix then it's just hurting Grimmer's development. The rest of the defence should stay the same, I'm still not really sold on Burn & Turner-and the game on Saturday will hardly be a game where Burn & Turner are pushed to their limits (or at least it shouldn't be), which is why I'm still not going to be sold on Burn until he comes up against what I'd label quality Championship opposition such as Boro & Norwich, and if he performs well against them I'll happily get on the Burn bandwagon.

The Midfield is where we need to see vast improvement, and if we get it right on Saturday we'll win the game without a shadow of a doubt. I think we should use the two games so close together excuse in order to save face and drop Parker, because he was truly dreadful last night- I'm pretty sure he forgot how to play Football. I also think we need to go for a lot more width than we have in recent games to really spread the Blackpool team and create spaces for the players who'll make something happen. To the best of my knowledge (it isn't helped Kit hasn't had a Presser) Kacaniklic isn't injured as such he'd be first name on the team sheet for Saturday in my book. Kaca has been played on the right more often than not since he's come back in, as such the Left sided Midfield spot is still open, and I'd give it to Stafylidis (no really), he has his flaws, but I do rate him to an extent from an attacking perspective and his pace will cause problems. The other two midfield spots would be more central and I'd give them to Hoogland and Tunnicliffe, Hoogland would take up the Parker role of sitting in front of the Back Four- and he'd be the one player who's got a proper defensive head on for Saturday and sitting back allowing the rest of the Midfield and the Full-Backs to attack, Tunnicliffe was fuming when he came off yesterday-and while I didn't see it apparently he kicked the hell out of the dugout post and threw a right tantrum, which I don't mind one bit because it shows he actually cares- and with the exception of McCormack particularly (and a sprinkling of others) people showing passion in a White (with Grey Stripes and Orange Bits) shirt has been few and far between. I would be putting Tunnicliffe back in the fold for Saturday though because his energy in the Midfield could well be our driving force on Saturday.

I was debating having Bryan Ruiz playing just off McCormack up front on Saturday, however with the pitch in mind I can't see it being a game for Bryan- and with the reasoning behind him not playing against Sheff. Wednesday I can't see him going even further north for Blackpool. As such we'll be going with the Smith and McCormack partnership, with the pitch in mind Smith could be a useful weapon for us on Saturday- I'm just hoping given the opposition we don't completely go Long-Ball because Smith is far from useless with the ball at his feet- and unless I'm mistaken all of his goals with Fulham have been with his feet.

Team for Blackpool
                        Bettinelli
       Grimmer, Turner, Burn, Husband
Kacaniklic, Hoogland, Tunnicliffe, Stafylidis
                 McCormack, Smith

I hope this hasn't come off as disrespectful to Blackpool, but we should be beating Blackpool- however similar to Reading a few years ago, an already down team has nothing to lose and'll play with freedom; so we can't afford to take Blackpool lightly. However we still need a win to make sure of our safety in my opinion and Blackpool is by far and a way the most likely game in which we'll get such a win.

Thanks for reading as always, I know this up a day earlier than usual- but I hope you understand why, the Review will still be up on Saturday after the game so stay tuned for that; I know this has come fresh off the heels of the Rotherham Blogs but that's the nature of the beast- anyway thanks again for reading and let's hope we get that much needed win.

Fulham v Rotherham Review: Doing "Just Enough"

Hello! We're another game closer to the Summer, and that's pretty much the only overwhelming positive we can take from the game today- Before I start reviewing the game from a Fulham perspective (and I hope this isn't patronising for Rotherham Fans reading) I thought Rotherham were good tonight- the best teams play better than the sums of their parts and I thought Rotherham put in a really solid away performance that on balance deserved the 3 Points- and if the Championship had competent officials chances are they would have done.

Let's get onto the goals, Rotherham got at us from the first whistle- they could have scored after 23 Seconds- and again without wanting to patronise Rotherham this was the type of goal you'd have expected them to score in that it was ridiculously scrappy- but they more than deserved it; I'm not really sure who to blame for the goal from a Fulham perspective, I know Smith had a touch somewhere in there but it was all a bit of a blur. A Week and a Day ago we conceded an Equaliser to make it 1-1 when it shouldn't have stood, so I guess this was the old "It all Evens itself out" cliche- Sitting in H2 I had pretty much a perfect view of the McCormack handball- and I'll freely admit we got away with one today, that's made it 4 games in a row McCormack's scored in; and I said it in one of my recent Previews it is good for a striker who's a bit off colour to still be scoring.

Bettinelli had his busiest game for a while in that he was actually tested semi-consistently. The one thing I don't like about Bettinelli's game is his tendency to punch from crossed and it nearly cost us tonight. As I said the goal was all a bit of a blur from where I was- it didn't help I haven't eaten all day and have a bit of a headache so I'm not sure if Bettinelli could've done better for the goal, so I'll leave it as a maybe.

Turner looked shaky today, of course the performance today came directly after I said I'd like to see us sign him permanently in the Summer- he nearly gave away a goal in the second half when he got caught on the ball, that said he was far from bad and considering some of the defensive displays we've seen this season it ranks somewhere in the Middle. Dan Burn was pretty solid again today- however I'm still reserving judgement on him because (although he scored) Matt Derbyshire is hardly the standard for Championship Strikers, and if he puts in a good performance against Boro & Norwich then I'll start getting on the Dan Burn bandwagon. I don't think Jazz Richards was fully fit today- especially in the first-half we were completely shown up on his side and all of their attacking threats were coming down our Right-Hand Side- but he did grow into the game, which is understandable given he hasn't had any game-time before today in roughly a month. I'm not sure why we didn't at least have Grimmer on the Bench because I thought he was our best player against Wigan, and I'm hoping we're playing Richards with some kind of view to signing him permanently because if we don't have him come August we'll have just hindered the development of Grimmer for very little return. Husband was pretty indifferent again- and that's pretty much all you can say about him today, I do still rate him though and as I said in my Preview if we can get rid of Amorebieta and get in Husband in one move I'll be more than happy to do so.

Parker was a complete liability today, I think I was harsh on Fotheringham after his performance today. He seemingly made it his mission to lose the ball at every opportunity- it makes zero sense that Parker can go from his performance against Derby a little over a month ago to his performance today where he was the worst player on the pitch by a country mile. Tunnicliffe was pretty indifferent today, he has his part to play in all of our games because of his work-rate but with Rotherham scoring early and then sitting back it was hard for Tunnicliffe to do his Tunnicliffe things- because as I've said he is a limited player. Guthrie in a passing sense was probably our best player today- he was the one player who was consistently spreading the play and getting the ball up the pitch with any semblance of urgency especially in the First Half. Bryan was quite indifferent today, I do still rate him though- and it wasn't exactly helped we put him on the Left-Wing for the Second Half, which all but neutralised him.

As I've already said McCormack is a nice change in that he's not exactly on form at the minute- but he's still scoring goals consistently at this stage, making it 4 in a row now; and you have to think or at least hope McCormack will get the chance to score again on Saturday, which he'll hopefully convert. Smith was completely ineffective today, once again he looked knackered after about 65 Minutes- so why he wasn't subbed was beyond me.

Speaking of Subs we only made the one today, with Hoogland coming on Tunnicliffe- and from a Right-Sided Midfield perspective this was probably Hoogland's best game for us, he was up and down the line and got himself in a position to score on multiple occasions- his first header in particular he should've done a lot better with. The reason we only made the one sub tonight in my opinion was because Kit didn't know whether to stick or twist- and was shown up in terms of his naivety, he didn't know whether go for it and bring on Woodrow or bring on someone like Stafylidis, basically he didn't know whether to bring on a sub with a view of protecting the point or going for all three so he did neither.

We got a point by the skins of our teeth today, and we were lucky I'll admit it; this game pretty much summed up our season in that we're still pretty likely to stay up but because of outside influences as opposed doing it under our own steam. Once again I didn't join in with all the booing etc. at any point of the game, I think it's just because I'm beyond caring at this stage of the season- yet I'm still going to Renew (felt really bad for the guy who renewed at Half-Time by the way) and as I've said I'm going up to Blackpool this weekend, stupidity- probably. I'm not for one second going to blame Khan- and anyone who thinks Kit is the man for next season is beyond stupid, I'll direct you to my Preview for tonights game where I discussed managerial candidates for next season- and I think these last two games where we've been outplayed by two of the teams in this division who are supposedly worse than us in terms of positioning sums up why Kit isn't the right man for us come the Final Whistle against Norwich- and I think giving Kit the Summer will be a decision on par with appointing Magath in terms of the detrimental effects for the team.

Thanks for reading as always, these Fulham blogs are coming thick and fast now- and my Blackpool Preview will be out a day earlier than usual because I'm headed up to Blackpool on Friday, so come back tomorrow for that- as always I hope you enjoyed the Review even if the game was sub-standard; and let's hope to see a win to end this run of draws.

Fulham v Rotherham Preview: Limping Over the Line

Hello! It's another Preview and with just 4 games standing between us and the end of the season you can practically taste the few months without worries, anger and crushing disappointment. We're currently 9 Points Clear of the Relegation Zone, but Millwall have a game in hand- the game tonight between Millwall and Wigan will relegate one of, or both teams depending on the outcome in my opinion; and while I'm not going to say we're safe until we are mathematically safe I think we can cautiously start planning for next season.

I've got a bad feeling that Kit is going to get the Summer, which would pretty much kill us for next season in my opinion; similar to "him" doing us in with naive tactics in the first games of the season- and making any kind of push for promotion a long-shot.

I've seen some people talk about Tigana, but I don't want him- yes he did do a great job for us; but the Championship is a completely different animal to the one it was when Tigana got us up; and since his stint with us he's had spells in China, France and Turkey where he hasn't been very successful; in contrast to the expectations surrounding the clubs he was at. I think it's pretty clear Allardyce's contract isn't going to be renewed at West Ham; and there's general displeasure directed from the West Ham fans toward Big Sam. As such if I were Khan/Rigg or whoever is in charge now I'd have Big Sam as #1 on the Speed Dial list and as soon as the Final Whistle goes against Norwich I'd be dialing it. I have seen some people's arguments over Allardyce and his "brand of football"- but we've seen in this division that possession football only gets you so far; and since Matt Smith's came in we've been launching the ball up-field a lot anyway- and let's put it this way we can't get more negative and route one than we did against Wigan last Friday. Allardyce is someone who's got a prove track record of getting teams up and keeping them up- and although West Ham are on a bad run of form at present the fact West Ham fans are getting pissed with Allardyce while they're in 9th after Allardyce took them over while they were fresh off a Relegation sums up why I want him.

There are 3 other names I'd expect to see in and around the job this summer, the first of which is Mark Warburton. I'll preface this by saying I respect what he's done at Brentford- but similar to Eddie Howe once he stepped out from under the Bournemouth umbrella I'm not sure how Mark Warburton will fit in a system he hasn't had a hand in building; and I think it'd be a bigger risk than some people realise to appoint him. If we wanted a "young" Manager who will play "attractive" football I'd go after Karl Robinson- he's someone who I wanted after the initial sacking of "him" in September and I sighted Dele Alli as a Exhibit A when I made the argument on Twitter. Since then Alli has gone on to sign for Spurs and be nominated for the Football League Young Player of the Year as of today. Robinson wouldn't necessarily be an "immediate return" manager but if we wanted to have a 2-3 year Plan with Robinson working in conjunction with Rigg to develop a team capable of not just getting up but staying up. The other name I've seen banded around is Mick McCarthy, but I'm not going to talk about him as a viable candidate yet- because McCarthy could still be managing in the Premier League with Ipswich next season.

Now onto the game tomorrow- and with the potential Rotherham points deduction Relegation suddenly looks a lot more likely for Rotherham tomorrow so they'll have extra motivation to win in tomrorows game that they might not have had.

Bettinelli'll continue in goal of course- Wigan was another game where although we conceded Bettinelli couldn't do much for either goal, and he wasn't really tested. In the Summer I'd make it a fairly high priority to have a Keeper who can challenge Bettinelli in a sort of Courtois/Cech dynamic- because when Bettinelli was making a few mistakes I'd have taken him out of the firing line for a few weeks, but we didn't have a capable replacement in order to do so- whether that is Stekelenburg or a new signing is a debate to be had once the season is over.

The news over the last couple of days from a defensive standpoint has been Swansea potentially recalling Jazz Richards because of their injury concerns. I'm not that bothered if they do recall him because Grimmer has grown back into the role he vacated for Richards and with the limited games between now and the end of the season I'd like to see us give our players more time. Burn & Turner is a partnership that hasn't been properly tested yet in my book, Charlton were alright- but Tony Watt, Vetokele etc. are hardly the pinnacle of Championship forward lines, and then Fortune and later on Waghorn hardly tested them at all. I'm not discrediting Burn & Turner- and I'd continue with them tomorrow, but I'm still not sold on Burn as a long-term Starter for us; Turner is someone I'd love to see us sign this Summer on a 2 Year Deal (no more) because he's been our most capable defender by quite a long way- or if we wanted to go a bit more long-term I'd love to see us go after Aden Flint who I really rate as a Centre-Back, and if you haven't seen Bristol City play you only have to look at his statistics both in terms of goals etc. as well as his disciplinary record to see why I want him. James Husband is another who I wouldn't mind signing in the Summer he's proven to be a very capable player since he came in, and if we could do a swap deal and get Amorebieta's wages off the books at the same time then I'd be even more for it.

The Midfield is another area that needs a lot if improvement this Summer- Kit hasn't had a Presser today, but I've said for the last few weeks that Christensen is out for the season even if it hasn't been said yet- and I don't want us to rush Christensen back for the sake of our last few games. The midfield tomorrow is pretty straightforward in my book, We need Tunnicliffe and Parker without a doubt because Rotherham will try and bully the midfield and we need both guys' work-rates to prevent us from getting overrun. We need to go more attacking tomorrow- and I think we can afford to go a bit more attacking tomorrow as such I'd go for Kacaniklic taking up one of the Wide Spots. Bryan Ruiz is someone who needs to start, he's someone who most likely won't be here next season- but while he's still under contract we can't afford not to play him in my opinion.

The Striking situation is relatively straightforward with McCormack and Smith carrying on after their goals on Friday, these two along with Woodrow would be the foundation for our goals next season hopefully- and then if we can add someone who's capable of scoring at this level, but wouldn't necessarily play every week (and be content with that role) it'd be a perfect fit for us- because the Smith/McCormack partnership could very well be the difference maker next season.

Team for Rotherham
                  Bettinelli
Grimmer, Turner, Burn, Husband
 Kacaniklic, Parker, Tunnicliffe
                     Ruiz
         Smith            McCormack

As I said, I'm not saying we're safe yet- but I do think we can cautiously start planning for next season- I'll be going into a lot more detail with new signings etc. once the seasons over and we can properly start looking ahead. I as I'm sure all of you will be keeping an eye out for the Millwall/Wigan score and as I've said I think whoever loses that is down- and if they draw I think both teams are down- and we'll have taken a giant step toward safety without even playing.

Thanks for reading as always, I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on the Managerial Situation- specifically Allardyce and Warburton- or if you have your own suggestion feel free to share it. Anyway, there's going to be a barrage of Fulham blogs coming up this week- with the Review tomorrow and Blackpool Preview on Thursday because I'm making a weekend of the Blackpool game and I'll be headed up to Blackpool on Friday when I'm usually writing. Anyway- Thanks again, and lets hope the Review tomorrow is a good one.

RAW Review: 13th April

Hello! It's another RAW Review, and this time RAW was in my neck of the woods. That means two things- no surprises, because it's a Pre-Tape and edited/muted crowd reactions when the crowd doesn't buy into Vince's way of thinking. I don't have high hopes for RAWs in the UK- which is why I don't get tickets for it, and prefer to stay home and play Football Manager. Anyway, let's get reviewin'.

John Cena's Open Challenge
I thought the match against Barrett was pretty good, I like the Barrett/Cena pairing- I'd hoped they'd play up the history between them on Commentary to make this more than a random open challenge match- but I think that was perhaps asking too much- the simple act of kicking out of finishers adds so much to a RAW match where it's a rare occurrence, and as soon as Barrett kicked out of the AA you could sense the switch from the crowd and they managed to suspend their disbelief (to an extent) that Barrett could actually win (They Should have Read the Spoilers).

I'm still not sure what specifically makes the Chains Russian for the Russian Chain match- and unless I'm mistaken it makes it  lose-lose for Cena because if he is to win he has to sell his soul and use said Russian Chain; a cunning plan from the Russians who aren't actually Russians.

Divas Battle Royal
Now Give Divas a Chance doesn't seem like such a good idea. This was a trainwreck from start to finish- and it ended up with Paige missing a kick to the stomach by a mile and Naomi eliminating herself.

The beatdown after was more like it though, I've seen a thing on the Dirtsheets today saying that is how they were writing Paige off TV- so I'm not sure why they her win the Battle Royal (unless she's getting a day off filming for the PPV) and then Naomi's turned heel so she isn't a viable candidate for a Heel Champion. Overall this made zero sense to me- and with Paige off TV, AJ Retiring and Naomi turning I think the only babyface Diva left is Summer Rae- I'm counting Emma as a heel even though it hasn't been addressed).

Bray Wyatt Promo
I love Bray, I think I've made that abundantly clear- but I said it in my "Ending Taker's Streak being a Good Thing?" Blog a while back with regard to Heyman that they can do the best promos ever- but if it isn't backed up in the ring they lose credibility and people stop buying into what they're saying- and I think this next feud (I say it's Sting) is make or break in that respect for Bray because he's lost pretty much every big match he's been in.

The Lucha Dragons v The Ascension
With one of The Usos injured it seems for the time being that The Luchas are going to fulfill the babyface role to oppose KiddSaro- so why there was zero interaction between the two teams 2 weeks away from a PPV is beyond me, and having KiddSaro lose a Handicap match was the cherry on top of the Cake which doesn't have any rising agents or sugar.

Roman Reigns Interview
Every Promo Roman does at the minute has balls and/or bitch in it- in a desperate attempt to distance Roman from the uncrowned corporate champion mentality the crowd has had toward him pretty much from Summerslam against Orton. Unfortunately it's ridiculously see-through. I don't count using supposed "edgy" words as improving on the Mic, and he has a long way to go in my book before he's even slightly above average on the mic.

That said Roman isn't going to get people caring about him when he's facing off with Big Show every week- it's just tedious and considering Roman's beaten Show on multiple occasions I'm not sure how WWE thinks even the guys who think Wrestling is "real" would view Show as a legitimate threat. There's so much disinterest toward Show- as opposed to another old-timer who I shall talk about later that the "Please Retire" chants had some legs to them.

Randy Orton v Cesaro (KiddSaro)
I didn't like this to put it bluntly. Something just seemed off- and when Kidd is botching moves you know it simply isn't a good night for those involved. Combine that with the fact Orton has beaten the Tag Champs on his own has made KiddSaro look weak this close to a PPV- it seems as though now Bryan & Cena have the IC & US Belts they're taking all of their irrational "lets have the Champs lose" booking decisions to the Tag Division.

Seth Rollins, Kane Backstage Segment
I liked this, it set up the angle well for the match later on in the night- and the tease of Kane turning into h a monster again got the crowd to reinvest into his character, and got the crowd behind him again.

Dean Ambrose v Adam Rose
I lieu of reviewing this match, because it was average at best- I'm going to pitch you guys an idea properly that I floated on Twitter last night but it was in Tweet form so it was a bit disjointed. Firstly, Watch this;

I've made it pretty clear my affection toward the Leo Kruger character, and Rose is going nowhere let's be honest and WWE needs credible midcard heels- especially once Cena & Bryan get done with Rusev and Barrett. So picture this, Rose loses to someone (preferably someone who works stiff so it looks like he's actually hurt) and he's looking all dejected in the Middle of the Ring like he's lost- then the lights go out and you hear "They're Laughing at You" (You have to Watch the Video to get this reference). This'll happen for a few weeks, I'd have him job to Neville at Extreme Rules to give Neville a PPV win- and further this angle, and then on the RAW after Extreme Rules Cena's open challenge happens and Adam Rose comes out- he loses in about a Minute and he grabs the Mic and he cuts a Promo switching between the weird British accent he does and his natural South African one which ends with "Everything You Know, Is about to Change... Tata" and he walks out of the ring with the Leo Kruger theme (which I love by the way). He then goes on a Rampage over the next few weeks, and eventually gets built to the point he looks a capable challenger for Bryan- I'd keep him clear of Cena, just because I don't want them to do another America Sucks type feud, which'd happen if Cena was paired up with another foreigner i.e. Kruger/Rose. TELL ME THIS WOULD NOT WORK #HIRESAM. 

Kane, Big Show Backstage

MAY 19TH, MAY 19TH!!!!

Stardust v Fandango

Again the match was pretty standard and quick, I like they for once planned something right by having Fandango turn in front of a crowd that got him over in the first place pretty much (also Stardust winning with the Disaster Kick was a nice touch) Cody gets psychology of a Gimmick/Feud to a T. I still don't like the Fandango gimmick, I don't see why they couldn't have just let him be "Lets Get Weird" Johnny Curtis and he chloroformed Saxton after the match (people who didn't watch NXT Redemption or heard about it will think I've gone off the deep-end with that last sentence). How great was NXT Redemption though, WWE just didn't care about it and it was basically their bastard step-child- but I absolutely loved it because of how mental it all was, me and about 8 other people watched it weekly- but we are the ones who shall take over one day- and you shall beg for mercy, and we will consider it. 

Kane, Daniel Bryan Backstage

It wouldn't have happened, but I'd have loved it if Bryan tried to Hug Kane. I liked this because again it set up the angle well- IDEA ALERT- Literally just thought of this, Kane is teetering on the edge of going full psycho so The Authority brings in Dr. Shelby's star student to remind Kane to Hug It Out- that star student is of course Bayley; we've got a new babyface diva who'll be in a good angle from the start BOOM #HireSam. 

Seth Rollins v Kane

The disinterest in Big Show was there for all to see- but when Kane did the sit-up and chokeslam etc. on Kane the crowd loved it, which is proof that Kane still has "it" he just needs a little direction and he'll be quality again, I'm not saying he'll be a Main Eventer- but he could easily be built to challenge consistently at a Midcard level- they've all but forgotten about the Bryan/Kane stuff which could be revisited especially with the backstage promo that preceded the match. 

Mizdow v Miz

Again this match was pretty standard, I'm just happy they gave Mizdow the rub of finally winning and presumably Miz is being written off TV if Paige is so they could make up some bullshit about him going to a swiss spa resort to calm down- which then ends with Mizdow ambushing Miz in a Spa. Also quick side point, whoever told Eden to introduce Mizdow as the star of The Marine 4 is a genius. 

Primetime Players "Thing"

This did make me laugh I'll admit it, I'm not sure where they're going with all the PTP stuff- but I do think they're entertaining and as long as they leave most of the talking to Titus I'm fine because he's by a long way the more charismatic of the two. 

Ryback v Luke Harper

Screw all the Ambrose & Harper stuff... RYBACK WON A BLOODY MATCH! WHAT DAY IS IT BOY, WHY SIR ITS CHRISTMAS DAY! 

                                         

Naomi Promo

This was the best promo I've seen from a Diva in a while, and its exactly what Naomi needed to get over as a heel- but we've got a Heel Champion so she doesn't need to get over as a heel in order to get a Title Shot. 

Dolph Ziggler v Neville

I loved this, I said it last week that Neville doesn't need to win every week in squash matches to get over- and in the last two weeks he's been paired with arguably the two best in-ring workers currently on the roster, which has given him the opportunity to show a variety of offence and get over in front of the crowd with longer matches. 

The Sheamus stuff was take it or leave it, I wanted to see Sheamus be brutal with Dolph- Dolph's just won a hard fought match did he really need to get in offence on a fresh Sheamus? Dolph is the perfect guy for this new Sheamus persona because he can sell stuff like he's been killed- and with the type of "superstar" Sheamus is he needs someone like that to get this new persona over. 

Seth Rollins, Randy Orton "Extreme Decision"

When will the babyface learn that a Steel-Cage is in fact incredibly easy to breach when the heel has outside influences? The psychology behind it is good- but if J&J don't end up in the cage I'll deep-fry my Fulham shirt and eat it. SCREENSHOT IT. Although presumably after Rollins steals a win and goes for a Phoenix Splash off the Top of the Cage which ends up being an RKO I'll love it. 

Thanks for reading as always, I hope you liked my booking ideas in particular and I'd love some feedback on them- Last Nights RAW was pretty flat in all honesty, I never like Pre-Taped RAWs- and this wasn't an exception; but we've got the go-home show for Extreme Rules next week so let's hope we see an improvement- Thanks again, and Remember #HireSam. 

Fulham v Wigan Review: The Good, The Bad & The Stafylidis

Welp. We didn't lose today- if there's something you wanted to take from the game you may as well start there. I'm not sure what the prize money is like in the Championship but I'm guessing there's a minimal difference between the positions we can realistically achieve at this stage of the season- and while a win would have been nice, we didn't lose and I think we've all but sent Wigan down (if they weren't already). The attention with regard to the relegation battle from our perspective is now firmly on Millwall- they're playing Watford tomorrow and if they pick up something from them then I'll start to really get on edge again about us going down. Football is a weird game without a doubt- which is why until we're mathematically safe I won't be content.

The goals from both sides were almost polar opposites of each other. McCormack's goal was a perfectly placed shot- I said in my Preview that it's nice to have a striker who I perceive to be off form and looking a bit lethargic to be picking up goals still. Smith's goal was also a really good strike- both goals for us came from largely nothing; and we looked devoid of any creativity pretty much all game, which I was pretty much expecting when I saw the team selection; and I don't care what Kit says he wanted the Draw today- so we got what he wanted. The Wigan goals were just annoying, giving away fouls in those areas are always dangerous- and we were punished today via Pennant; I didn't like him milking the tackle from Kavanagh but it was a quality Free-Kick so credit where credit is due. CORNERS. When will we learn to defend at bloody corners- I think it was Pearce who scored their second, and he simply wanted it more; we were playing like the away team pretty much all match and it was clear that Wigan simply wanted it more, characterised by the second Wigan goal.

I don't think Bettinelli had a save to make all game- once again the only thing he really did all game (other than boot it up the pitch after countless backward passes) was pick the ball out of the back of the net- which seems to be a common theme in recent games.

It's weird considering we conceded two goals, but I thought all in all we defended alright today- granted against a very poor Wigan front-line. On balance I thought Grimmer was our best player tonight, he was up and down the line like a proper Right-Back and with the very limited games between now and the end of the season I'd like to see us giving him game-time, or if we are playing Jazz Richards have some sort of verbal agreement that we're signing him in the Summer. Turner and Burn looked solid again, they dealt with pretty much everything thrown at them- but I'm conditioning that with the fact Fortune, and then Waghorn were really poor and didn't exactly test the pairing; which is why I'm still not sold on Burn's long-term future in the team. Husband was quite indifferent today- in terms of an attacking threat this was his quietest of his games for us so far, but considering how quickly the games have come- and I'm not sure how much game time Husband had for Boro this season but it is understandable to a degree that he looked a bit off the pace today.

The reason I was convinced we were playing for a point today was the Midfield Selection. The most important thing today was that we didn't lose- I'll admit it; but I'd hoped we would show some sort of attacking intent with the Selection today, the Midfield I wanted us to with I thought at least had a good balance to it- and would've made us dominate the Midfield- what we had instead was Wigan properly overrunning us in the Midfield and us ending up having to play like the Away Team. Kavanagh looks really unsure of himself- I do like Kavanagh and he has shown a lot of potential in some games this season, but there's better options available for the Midfield- two of which were on the bench today, one of which didn't even come on. Parker is a weird player, there's some games i.e. Derby where he looks like a top draw midfielder for this level and then there's games like today where he just slows everything down and he harms the team a lot more than he helps us- but I'm conditioning that with I do think we need him in the team, just because we don't really have anyone to fulfill the "Parker Role" as Kit clearly doesn't see Hoogland as being able to do it (even if I do, but then again what do I know). Speaking of Hoogland, I do like him- he's just being used entirely the wrong way- which falls at the feet of Kit- he isn't a wide player, he doesn't have the pace or the energy in order to play a Wide role. Tunnicliffe is a limited player without a doubt, I think even he'd admit it- but why I like Tunnicliffe, and why I'll stick with him is his commitment- he was one of the few players tonight that actually looked like he cared and got stuck in.

McCormack showed signs of his quality- but in a game where we had such limited possession and the way we played when we did have the possession of the ball McCormack's opportunities were limited today- I'll talk more about the sub a bit later on- but in my opinion he looked out on his feet by the time he was subbed. Smith was another one who looked shattered- he needs someone to feed him as much as anything else, and with the way we were set-up Smith's opportunities to do anything other than challenge for balls launched up to him were limited, and when he did get the ball on the ground he scored from 25 yards.

The Subs were pretty much the most contentious issues of the night, I did hear a few boos for the Smith sub- but I'm not sure why because Smith looked quite tired- and it's not like bringing on Woodrow was a negative sub, and Woodrow is a competent Striker- who had limited chances to actually score tonight, he should have arguably taken the chance he had late on- but it was a decent save from Carson. Anyone who doesn't think Bryan Ruiz has a place in this team- close the window right now and never come back, yes Bryan had a limited impact tonight- but he's one of our only players who can pick a pass with attacking intent and while we have him we really can't afford not to use him. The Sub that really got on everyone's nerves was Stafylidis for McCormack, McCormack or Hoogland should've came off after around 80 Minutes in my opinion while the main goal was to not lose- we should have at least tried for the win and brought on either Kacaniklic or Rodallega- who are both limited players, but are at least attack minded.

I didn't join in with the "You Don't Know What you're Doing" chant and boos that came as a result of the sub, I'm not even massively upset after the game today because we didn't lose- and as soon as I saw the team selection that was what I expected to happen and the goal of the day. I don't want Kit next season- while I can't speak for Khan I've got a feeling we're going to give Kit the summer which'll be a huge mistake because we need a proper Championship Manager to build a squad that at the very least will challenge for the Top 6 by bringing in a few players in conjunction with Mike Rigg and helping develop the spine of the team.

Thanks for reading as always, we're another game down on what has become a truly dreadful season- which I can't wait to be over. The two Millwall games tomorrow and on Tuesday before our next game will determine how I view the Rotherham and Blackpool games in terms of team selection and outlook on the game- but anyway that's for another day- and all we can do is become day long Watford fans tomorrow. Thanks again, and remember- it can only get better, right? RIGHT?!