Hello! We've ended the month on a loss, and perhaps fittingly it was far from a straightforward win for Blackburn- as it was in Kit's first game in September with a Jordan Rhodes goal proving the difference between the two teams.
In previous games when we've conceded I've said we shouldn't necessarily be blaming the defence despite conceding- unfortunately the same can't be said for the goals we conceded today. The first goal was just bizarre from my point of view, it was a pretty rare mistake from the current incarnation of our defence- but what'll become a recurring theme during this review; its these small margins that are why we're not quite there with regard to playoffs/promotion this season. The second goal was criminal from my point of view, Blackburn had been looking threatening from crosses throughout the game- so to give Olsson the amount of time we did just isn't on from my point of view; and although he isn't on top form this season Rhodes definitely knows where the back of the net is and punished us. On a slightly more positive note- the goal we scored today was good, and I was happy to see Christensen getting involved in the goals again and the McCormack finish was as cool and as easy as you could have wanted.
It wasn't Bettinelli's best game by a long way- but there wasn't much he could have done for either of the goals and as usual he coped with almost everything well enough to not have any massive panic attacks from a fans perspective.
I liked Jazz Richards' performance today, considering it was his debut- and despite their recent form Ewood Park is a tough place to go was reasonably impressed with his performance. He could have arguably scored just before Blackburn scored their first- but from a defensive standpoint he done alright as well. He of course isn't eligible for Sunderland, which'll mean the return of Grimmer and his performance on Tuesday will be interesting- and will have a large say in the Grimmer vs Richards debate for Birmingham next Saturday. As I've already said, there was a definite mistake that lead to the first goal- but apart from that the Bodurov & Hutchinson partnership still performed reasonably well, and the same can be said for Stafylidis.
The Midfield Selection today confused me today, we of course had the news that Bryan is off to Levante as of last night- as such I don't know why we went for the Diamond with the players we had available. As I've already said with regard to Kacaniklic I'm happy we didn't start him- and although he did get 30 Minutes in he'll be fresh for Sunderland on Tuesday. That means we didn't have a defined player for the #10 Role- which meant we could either change formation or push McCormack back to the midfield after getting a Hat-Trick from Striker in his last league game, so of course we pushed McCormack back to midfield. The players we had available in my opinion either lent themselves to a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3, in the 4-4-2 scenario I'd have Tunnicliffe on the right because his Work Rate lends itself to a winger in my opinion with Parker, Christensen and Kacaniklic/G. Williams making up the rest of the midfield- or we can go for a 4-3-3, or a 4-3-2-1 perhaps with The "3" being Tunnicliffe, Parker and Christensen with McCormack and Kacaniklic/G. Williams playing either side of Hugo/Woodrow. Assuming Bryan is off to Spain, we only have Kacaniklic who can slot into the #10 Role (of the players who still have a pulse) and I still don't think he's fully match fit- so I'd make it a priority on Deadline Day to either sign a #10 Player along the lines of Nick Powell; as it seems Kit is very much set in his ways with regard to the diamond.
The Strikers were once again a mixed bag today, I'm counting McCormack in this section because he scored when he was pushed up as a consequence of Hugo going off for Kacaniklic. McCormack of course got the goal- but it was a really mixed bag from him today; perhaps as a consequence of him being played in midfield. I think some people will be harsh on Hugo today- and yes, he has played better but I thought he played reasonably well today given the circumstances; he's still a long way away from where he was around November/December time- but it seems as if Kit is persisting with Hugo during his "down swing" so when he does get the perhaps lucky goal sometime down the road he'll go on another run. I liked Woodrow's performance today- I was a bit confused as to why he was taken off for Dembele when we were pushing for the equaliser; as he did look reasonably dangerous- no more so than when he hit the bar just before McCormack scored.
I think the subs Kit made were the wrong ones in the circumstances they were made. Kacaniklic for Rodallega was a decent sub, it allowed McCormack to push forward- and his Kacaniklic's pace added an extra dimension to us for the last half hour. The Dembele for Woodrow sub confused me, Dembele is yet to get a League Goal for us- and he doesn't look quite there yet, it does make you think considering we had a load of people slating Jol for not playing Dembele in the Premier League. The Fofana for Parker was confusing in the sense that- at 2-1 with roughly 5 minutes left you have nothing to lose so you might as well go for it, I'm by no means a Pat Roberts fan but one thing he definitely does it keep defenders guessing- and a tricky player at that stage of the game is whats needed to perhaps create an extra yard for either him or someone else to get a shot away that ends up getting us a point.
We've ended the month on a loss, but I think on balance we can look at this month positively- we're still in the Cup, we've turned in some sublime performance; particularly the first half against Forest and the overall display against Wolves in the Away leg. I think it says a lot for the sort of team we are at the moment that both of the games we lost this month were against teams who hadn't won in a minimum of 5 (League). We are a Mid-Table team this season, which is why I've repeatedly said we should be looking for a Cup Run, and its these types of games against out of sorts teams that a legitimate promotion contender would at least pick up a point from.
Thanks for reading as always, and thanks for making this my best month so far view wise- and I hope we make better the total once again in February. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to work this- and it could go horribly wrong but I'm planning on doing a 24 Hour Shift on Deadline Day, and having a live blog which I'll update hourly- and if/when a deal goes through so I hope you stop by for that because there's a good chance I'll be dead by the end of it. Anyway thats for Monday- as is the Sunderland Preview, so I'm going to forget the result today and try and sleep through the whole of Sunday. Anyway thanks again, I hope you stay tuned for that on Monday- and lets hope Deadline Day isn't a lead balloon.
Saturday 31 January 2015
Friday 30 January 2015
Blackburn v Fulham Preview: Coming Full Circle
Hello! Its another Preview blog- and this time we're headed to Ewood Park to face Blackburn. It was this game in September that was Kit's debut as Fulham Manager (in a caretaker capacity), and it as symbolic of (another) new beginning. 33 Points later we're in a much more secure position than we were when we had the reverse fixture in September- and a lot of credit has to go to Kit for this.
This game will be an interesting indicator of how far we've come since the first game under Kit- because despite recent form Blackburn are still a very dangerous team, who'll be disappointed if they aren't in the mix for promotion come May. That said, this game is most definitely winnable- both because of Blackburns' recent "blip" combined with the injury doubts over players such as Gestede and Hanley. It'll also be interesting to see how we balance this game with the Cup Replay on Tuesday- I would hope we're looking at the Sunderland game as the more important of the two, although I don't doubt we could win both if we get the balance right- along with a bit of luck.
Naturally, Bettinelli will continue in goal. He's arguably the first name on the team sheet at this point- of course there are players like Parker, Christensen and McCormack; but Bettinelli is the only viable option we have at Goalkeeper. I'm not sure what Kiraly's contract situation is- but I think he was only signed on a 1 Year Deal, so come next season we should have Joronen as the back-up to Bettinelli; and while I would have hoped Joronen's Loan at Accrington would've been more beneficial, I would hope when he's fit he'll go back out on Loan for the rest of this season to get him some more experience.
The obvious talking point for this game is of course Jazz Richards' level of inclusion for the game today. Similar to Fofana, he'll have come to play; and with him not being eligible for the Replay I think its worked out perfectly with Grimmer starting against Sunderland, and Richards starting against Blackburn tomorrow- and then we'll go from there and Birmingham will be the first game where there'll be a proper debate because we'll have seen how Richards performs in a White (and Grey Striped with Orange Bits) shirt. As per Kit; Amorebieta, Hoogland and Kavanagh are pretty close to returns now- and once all three are fully fit the defence will probably be the most interesting area with regard to selection- and rotation. However, as it stands we don't have those options available and while Richards will most likely be coming in- the other 4 of the Back 5 which has become our foundation should remain the same.
The Midfield as it currently stands is probably the area where the most debate is to be had. There we of course the bad news earlier in the week that Hyndman had done his Collar Bone- and is out for a while. However, with the good news Parker is back and available; we have numerous midfield options available to us. I think two games this close together may be a bit soon for Kacaniklic, as such I'd save him for Sunderland on Tuesday. However this still leaves us with; Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Fofana, Parker, Ruiz and to an extent McCormack to fill four spots. I think Tunnicliffe is an absolute must for the game tomorrow- his workrate will be key to our failure or success in the game tomorrow- and of course by footballing logic Tunnicliffe will most likely score. Bryan should continue in the Starting Eleven tomorrow- in what could possibly be his last game in a Fulham shirt with the approaching Deadline Day. This leaves Parker, Christensen and Fofana to make up three spots. Perhaps unsurprisingly I'd have Christensen and Parker take up the two spots- however if as I suspect Fofana has a clause stipulating he has to start; I'd take out Christensen, because I doubt he's fully fit yet.
Of course McCormack will continue up front, and its his striking partner where the debate has to be had. As I said in my Sunderland Preview I think I was a bit harsh on Hugo in my Forest Review- however he's still far from where he was in November/December. Then we've got Woodrow who's recently played well, and gives us a physicality which Hugo even on his best form doesn't give us. However, I'd have Hugo starting up front tomorrow with McCormack- and I can only assume the fact Hugo and McCormack being benched together against Sunderland means Kit still views these two as our First Choice Partnership.
There are of course the rumours of Chris Wood coming in, and while a Striker wouldn't be top of the agenda- a physical striker such as Wood would definitely be a good signing to make if it were to come off, and as with Woodrow he'd add a dimension to our team that Hugo simply doesn't. However, Wood also has buckets of Championship experience and most definitely knows how to score at this level. But more of that on Deadline Day.
We of course lost to Blackburn in Kit's first game in charge, but it was far from a one-sided game- and on another day we'd have walked out with 1 if not 3 Points; and while a Cup Run as I've repeatedly said should be the priority- if we still want to have any hope of getting into the Top 6 we realistically need to start picking up points against the supposed Promotion Chasers.
Thanks for reading as always, the review will of course be up sometime tomorrow- and then we're headed to Deadline Day; while I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to work this- and it good go down like a lead balloon I think I'm going to have a "Live Blog" which I'll update every hour (and of course if/when a deal happens) with any rumours I've seen (most likely on Twitter) and the likelihood of the rumour coming to fruition, permutations for the team etc. so stay tuned for that on Monday- and lets hope we head into Deadline Day with 3 Points.
This game will be an interesting indicator of how far we've come since the first game under Kit- because despite recent form Blackburn are still a very dangerous team, who'll be disappointed if they aren't in the mix for promotion come May. That said, this game is most definitely winnable- both because of Blackburns' recent "blip" combined with the injury doubts over players such as Gestede and Hanley. It'll also be interesting to see how we balance this game with the Cup Replay on Tuesday- I would hope we're looking at the Sunderland game as the more important of the two, although I don't doubt we could win both if we get the balance right- along with a bit of luck.
Naturally, Bettinelli will continue in goal. He's arguably the first name on the team sheet at this point- of course there are players like Parker, Christensen and McCormack; but Bettinelli is the only viable option we have at Goalkeeper. I'm not sure what Kiraly's contract situation is- but I think he was only signed on a 1 Year Deal, so come next season we should have Joronen as the back-up to Bettinelli; and while I would have hoped Joronen's Loan at Accrington would've been more beneficial, I would hope when he's fit he'll go back out on Loan for the rest of this season to get him some more experience.
The obvious talking point for this game is of course Jazz Richards' level of inclusion for the game today. Similar to Fofana, he'll have come to play; and with him not being eligible for the Replay I think its worked out perfectly with Grimmer starting against Sunderland, and Richards starting against Blackburn tomorrow- and then we'll go from there and Birmingham will be the first game where there'll be a proper debate because we'll have seen how Richards performs in a White (and Grey Striped with Orange Bits) shirt. As per Kit; Amorebieta, Hoogland and Kavanagh are pretty close to returns now- and once all three are fully fit the defence will probably be the most interesting area with regard to selection- and rotation. However, as it stands we don't have those options available and while Richards will most likely be coming in- the other 4 of the Back 5 which has become our foundation should remain the same.
The Midfield as it currently stands is probably the area where the most debate is to be had. There we of course the bad news earlier in the week that Hyndman had done his Collar Bone- and is out for a while. However, with the good news Parker is back and available; we have numerous midfield options available to us. I think two games this close together may be a bit soon for Kacaniklic, as such I'd save him for Sunderland on Tuesday. However this still leaves us with; Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Fofana, Parker, Ruiz and to an extent McCormack to fill four spots. I think Tunnicliffe is an absolute must for the game tomorrow- his workrate will be key to our failure or success in the game tomorrow- and of course by footballing logic Tunnicliffe will most likely score. Bryan should continue in the Starting Eleven tomorrow- in what could possibly be his last game in a Fulham shirt with the approaching Deadline Day. This leaves Parker, Christensen and Fofana to make up three spots. Perhaps unsurprisingly I'd have Christensen and Parker take up the two spots- however if as I suspect Fofana has a clause stipulating he has to start; I'd take out Christensen, because I doubt he's fully fit yet.
Of course McCormack will continue up front, and its his striking partner where the debate has to be had. As I said in my Sunderland Preview I think I was a bit harsh on Hugo in my Forest Review- however he's still far from where he was in November/December. Then we've got Woodrow who's recently played well, and gives us a physicality which Hugo even on his best form doesn't give us. However, I'd have Hugo starting up front tomorrow with McCormack- and I can only assume the fact Hugo and McCormack being benched together against Sunderland means Kit still views these two as our First Choice Partnership.
There are of course the rumours of Chris Wood coming in, and while a Striker wouldn't be top of the agenda- a physical striker such as Wood would definitely be a good signing to make if it were to come off, and as with Woodrow he'd add a dimension to our team that Hugo simply doesn't. However, Wood also has buckets of Championship experience and most definitely knows how to score at this level. But more of that on Deadline Day.
We of course lost to Blackburn in Kit's first game in charge, but it was far from a one-sided game- and on another day we'd have walked out with 1 if not 3 Points; and while a Cup Run as I've repeatedly said should be the priority- if we still want to have any hope of getting into the Top 6 we realistically need to start picking up points against the supposed Promotion Chasers.
Thanks for reading as always, the review will of course be up sometime tomorrow- and then we're headed to Deadline Day; while I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to work this- and it good go down like a lead balloon I think I'm going to have a "Live Blog" which I'll update every hour (and of course if/when a deal happens) with any rumours I've seen (most likely on Twitter) and the likelihood of the rumour coming to fruition, permutations for the team etc. so stay tuned for that on Monday- and lets hope we head into Deadline Day with 3 Points.
Sunday 25 January 2015
Royal Rumble Predictions
Hello! Its another Predictions Blog, and its the first stop on the Road to Wrestlemania- and this year that stop is in Philadelphia. This is going to be an interesting predictions blog, I've made my mind up on all of the outcomes apart from the Rumble Match- so when you see my waffling a bit its simply me putting my thought process down on paper, so I'll not only be convincing you- but also myself.
Pre-Show: New Day v KiddSaro and Adam Rose
This is possibly the most straightforward prediction, The Babyface pretty much always wins on the Pre-Show- although I'm a bit confused because I thought Xavier Woods was wearing one of those protective boots on RAW.
Winner: New Day
The Ascension v New Age Outlaws
Firstly, Weren't the Outlaws heels up until RAW? Or was their dastardly heel turn forgotten about as soon as "you know who" died returning to his home planet. Logic dictates that Ascension win, the Outlaws (among others) got the upper hand on RAW which usually means the opposite will happen at the PPV. The problem is, it seems Vince completely despises the Ascension. They're debut was beating former Tag Champions- but since then all of their opponents were plucked from the "Victims of Ryback Support Network" and the commentators were practically burying them on commentary. As such this isn't nearly as straightforward as it should be- but I have to pray that WWE isn't so shortsighted they'll have Ascension lose on their first PPV to two guys who won't wrestle again in a hurry.
Winner: The Ascension
The Bellas v Paige and Natalya
Again this could go either way, for almost similar reasons. On the one hand you could make the argument that Paige and Nattie will win because they're the babyface Total Divas- and while I'm on that subject I think its ludicrous they've sacrificed the Divas Title being defended for a Total Divas Tag Match. However, unfortunately I have seen the Total Divas episodes with Paige and they've teased some tension there (Total Divas logic, I know it was months ago) so I can see a miscommunication between the two resulting in
Winner: The Bellas
The Uso's v The Miz's: Tag Team Championship Match
On second thought this is probably the easiest match to predict, it seems as though any type of Naomi turn is firmly in the past- which also means no Stunt Naomi (Cries). As such The Uso's will win pretty convincingly and I would assume pretty quickly.
Winner: The Uso's
Brock Lesnar v John Cena v Seth Rollins: WWE Championship Match
If you look back at my Late Summer/Autumn PPV Prediction Blogs you'll know I had a bad feeling about Cena beating Brock in both- and I was technically right on one count. However, the addition of Rollins means Cena doesn't even have to beat Brock to win the belt. I think we're all agreed that Rollins has no hope. I'd like to see a scenario where Heyman turns on Brock in favour of Seth with Seth cashing in and winning the belt- but I think "you know who" coming back and joining Vince's KMA club is more likely. As such its between Brock and Cena, as I said with regard to the Ascension- the guy who gets the upper hand on RAW usually doesn't leave with the "W" and that would also rule out Brock- however I can't see them taking the belt off Brock this close to Mania so...
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Royal Rumble Match
Before I start, I'm going to be predicting the whole match- Yes it won't be spot on because jobbers can enter in pretty much any order, so if you want to skip the the overall winner more power to you.
#1- Daniel Bryan
#2- Kane
#3- Bo Dallas
#4- Luke Harper
#5- Stardust
#6- Fandango
#7- Finn Balor
#8- Rusev
#9- Goldust
#10- Matador #1
#11- Adam Rose
#12- Kofi Kingston
#13- Dolph Ziggler
#14- DDP
#15- Tyler Breeze
#16- Cody Rhodes
#17- The Bunny
#18- Matador #2
#19- Dean Ambrose
#20- Big Show
#21- Miz
#22- Cesaro
#23- Ryback
#24- Mizdow
#25- Roman Reigns
#26- Bad News Barrett
#27- Bray Wyatt
#28- RVD
#29- Seth Rollins
#30- Randy Orton
The Authority will pull some shenanigans tonight resulting in Daniel Bryan being drawn as #1 to seemingly give Bryan no hope of winning (even though its been done before), and just for an extra measure they sent out Kane as the #2 to try and get rid of him as quickly as possible. However, the opposite will happen with Bryan eliminating Kane after roughly 30 Seconds- giving him sufficient amount of time for some "Yes-ing". (Kane Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). Then we'll see Bo Dallas enter the fray- I can see him cutting a promo in the ring telling Bryan to Bo-lieve before Bryan kicks his head off, but I don't think he'll be eliminated yet because he'll literally hold on to the ropes for dear life to prevent it. With Kane already out, another "Authority Agent" will enter the ring with the intent to get rid of Bryan- this time Luke Harper. He'll come in and take Bryan's head off with a lariat (BECAUSE ITS A DAMN LARIAT) but there'll be that usual thing where it takes them an age to get to the ropes which'll mean Bryan can recover in time before kicking Harper's head off before eliminating him. (Luke Harper Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). We'll then see the entry of Stardust, which as you have already seen would be part of an angle for the Rumble Match- and bringing him in early would give them sufficient time to do so.
Then we'll see the entry of Fandango, I can see him dancing a load with Rosa on the stage and shimmying his way to down to the Ring before being dispatched in roughly the same time frame as Santino that one time- and this'd be accomplished by him getting his head kicked off by Bryan causing him to fall back over the Top Rope (Fandango Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). Unless I'm mistaken- and granted I'm not the biggest follower of Indy Wrestling, but I don't think there was ever "Devitt v Danielson" as such I can see Finn Balor coming in with his body paint with the crowd going mental before having a prolonged face-off with Bryan, and because the Rumble is in Philadelphia in front of one of the smarter crowds they'd appreciate the significance of this. We'll then see one of the guys who's predicted to have a big impact in this years Rumble Match- Rusev. He'll come in and do the usual laying everyone out (apart from Bo who'll still be hanging on to the bottom rope) and then once the initial flourish is done it'll be business as usual for a while. We'll then see the other half of The Dusts enter the fray, as part of the angle I'd have in the wings they'd initially be working together. Then we'll see Matador #1, I can't remember their names but I'm guessing their stereotypical so Chico it is. He won't last long though because The Dusts will quickly team up and dispatch him. (Chico Eliminated by The Dusts). But whats this, Goldust is eyeing up Stardust who has his back turned *GASP* (Stardust Eliminated by Goldust).
We shall then see the entry of Adam Rose, and he'll be one of the more entertaining entries for a number of reasons, similar to Fandango I can see him dancing his way down to the ring with The Rosebuds before swiftly being booted in the head by Bryan and falling back over the Top Rope- BUT The Rosebuds will catch him before doing a lap around the ring with him before swiftly placing him back on the Apron. We'll then see Kofi enter the mix, and the question will be how he magically manages to stay in the Rumble this time, and when it looks as though he's about to be knocked off the apron with no hope- The Rosebuds catch him, and do a celebratory lap around the ring with him before carefully putting him back on the Apron- this'll work for a number of reasons primarily because Rose is feuding with Kofi and the New Day (who I debated catching him as well.) However once Kofi has done his spot, his isn't long for this world and I can see Rusev superkicking him out of his boots and over the Top Rope as soon as he gets back in. (Kofi Kingston Eliminated by Rusev). We'll then see the entry of one of the favourites for the match- Dolph Ziggler. He'll come in and superkick everyone (apart from Bo) for his flourish, and I can see him setting his sights on Rusev primarily because of his Authority ties. We'll then get the token "Old-Timer" entry, I saw a number of rumours for who it could be- but given the HOF rumours accompanying him I can see DDP being the one. We'll then get the Second NXT-er entry, with Tyler Breeze entering the mixer- I was debating Neville or Zayn, but on balance I think it should be one babyface and one heel from NXT; and Balor will be the babyface. This'll lead to a face-off in the ring between the two NXT-ers and after a mini brawl I can see Balor eliminating Breeze pretty quickly. (Tyler Breeze Eliminated by Finn Balor).
Then to the shock of Goldust, we'll hear Cody Rhodes' theme play- and him coming out with a target firmly on Goldust's back and after a brief brawl (Goldust Eliminated by Cody Rhodes). He'll then go on to Cross Rhodes everyone (apart from Bo) for his little flourish. I'm not sure what the theme will be but we'll then get The Bunny coming out (so technically Sami Zayn is in the Rumble) with its sights firmly on Adam Rose and once again after a brief brawl we'll get Adam Rose being flung over the Top Rope by The Bunny and being caught by The Rosebuds- however this time they'll drop him. (Adam Rose Eliminated by The Bunny), and then something that'll be a hilarious visual in my book we'll have Dolph superkicking the bunny over the top rope (The Bunny is Eliminated by Dolph Ziggler). We'll then get Matador #2 who'll have another Stereotypical name, so he shall be called Raul- however Raul isn't long for this world and after a brief flourish he'll be taken out by Rusev. (Raul Eliminated by Rusev). We'll then get another of the favourites for the match- coming out Dean Ambrose. At this stage we'll have arguably the Top 3 Babyfaces that'll be entering the Rumble Match (Top 3 by Philadelphia Standard) Dolph, Bryan and Ambrose and after a brief moment I can see them turning around and seeing each other and eventually going at it with each other. We'll then get Big Show who's sights will be locked on Bryan- however Balor will get in his way resulting in his elimination (Finn Balor Eliminated by Big Show). We'll then get the usual "gang up on the massive guy" bit where Big Show eventually throws everyone off leaving them all briefly dead.
Then we'll see the entry of the The Miz, and his entry is pretty much just to facilitate a spot later on in the match. We're going to get one of my favourites coming out- Cesaro. However aside from him swinging a few people I don't think he'll be long the world, and by this stage it'd have been a while since Bryan got an elimination. (Cesaro Eliminated by Daniel Bryan), this'll also have the added bonus of having Bryan eliminate someone they like so it won't garner boos. We'll then get an entry from The Ryback- and after a brief tear through everyone he'll go after Rusev- and after some back and forth Ryback will get the better. (Rusev Eliminated by Ryback). But wait whats this, Ryback hasn't realised Bo Dallas is still there *GASP* (Ryback Eliminated by Bo Dallas). Then as Bo is going ballistic after eliminating the monster Ryback- he turns around to a Superkick from Dolph. (Bo Dallas Eliminated by Dolph Ziggler). After that chaotic string of events we'll be going back to sanity- with Mizdow entering the mix. However, he won't be long for this world as Miz will be taken out by Bryan almost as soon as Mizdow enters the ring. (Miz Eliminated by Daniel Bryan), and fulfilling his dutiful role as a stunt double- (Mizdow Eliminated by Mizdow). We'll then get the massive fan favourite Roman Reigns making his entry, and his entry flourish will result in a number of eliminations via Superman Punches (DDP Eliminated by Roman Reigns), (Cody Rhodes Eliminated by Roman Reigns), (Big Show Eliminated by Roman Reigns). This'll leave at this stage 4 of the favourites as the only guys in the ring; Bryan, Dolph, Ambrose and Reigns, who are coincidentally 4 Babyfaces.
This of course means we're due a heel, so who better than Bad News Barrett- who so it turns out took the IC Title from Dolph; so that'll be the focus for a bit just while everyone gathers themselves for the big finish- because Roman will no doubt be winded already. Now lets bring out another heel, and arguably the best full-time heel on the Roster- Bray Wyatt. Who as it turns out has a big history with Daniel Bryan; ya see I haven't just put this together randomly. We'll then get the token ECW guy for the Philly crowd; I saw a rumour that The Dudley's were talking to them- but I'm not sure how a Tag Team (which is all WWE would view them as) could make a "huge pop return" in the Royal Rumble- so I've gone with the slightly obvious choice of RVD. If it were entirely up to me I'd have had Raven; but the chances of that are minuscule. I'm basing this next entry off of a) The Rumble Match being the Main Event, and b) Brock winning- and to give their golden boy another chance at the Mania Main Event The Authority have brought in Rollins at seemingly the best possible time almost as late as possible with almost everyone exhausted. We'll get the stare off between the three ex-Shield members which'll no doubt get the crowd excited. But whats this? Someone hears voice in their head? The last entry will be a triumphant Randy Orton return with his eyes firmly set on Rollins- who I have no doubt could sell his return as his a nuclear holocaust was impending, and after a brief back and forth (Seth Rollins Eliminated by Randy Orton).
That's all entries out of the way and as it stands we have Bryan, Dolph, Ambrose, Reigns, Barrett, Bray, RVD and Orton to fight it out.
The first to go will be Barrett, as he's the most disposable- I'd have Dolph eliminate him because of the IC Title permutations surrounding that pairing, but *sigh* gotta make Roman look strong. (Bad News Barrett Eliminated by Roman Reigns). Next to go will be RVD- and I'll have Bray eliminate him purely because he's the only proper heel left at this stage. (Rob Van Dam Eliminated by Bray Wyatt). At this stage I'll have Bray going full throttle on the match- and given his history with Ambrose that'll be next on the list, with Bray as he has done frequently getting the better. (Dean Ambrose Eliminated by Bray Wyatt). But whats this? Its Rollins and J+J coming back out- why are they going after Orton they're not in the damn match (Randy Orton Eliminated by Rollins & J+J).
This'll leave us with a Final Four of Reigns, Wyatt, Bryan and Ziggler. Its a fact Reigns'll at least be in the Final Four so I challenge anyone to realistically pick a Better Four. The first to go will unfortunately be Dolph, out of the Four he's probably the most disposable in the eyes of management and I'd have Bray eliminate him for Babyface-Heel purposes; (Dolph Ziggler Eliminated by Bray Wyatt). However, Bray isn't long for this world- but I would have Bryan and Reigns briefly team up on him, and a series of kicks- leading into a Superman Punch meaning (Bray Wyatt Eliminated by Roman Reigns).
The Final Two is pretty obvious for all to see, and there is a different outcome every single time I think about it. On the one hand, you'd like to think they learned their lesson from last year when they got crucified for having Batista win it- in favour of Bryan (or ironically Reigns). But on the same notion Reigns is the golden child, so unfortunately (Daniel Bryan Eliminated by Roman Reigns).
Winner: Roman Reigns
If you skipped this and want the Short Version Here you Are:
The Kofi Spot is getting Caught by the Rosebuds
Bo Eliminates Ryback
Orton Returns & Eliminates Rollins
Rollins comes back with J+J and Returns the Favour
The Final Four is: Bryan, Dolph, Wyatt and Reigns
Roman Wins (LOL)
Thanks for reading as always, I hope you enjoyed my Rumble Match if you did read the long version- it was fun in a weird way to put together the match completely in my head; and I think the match I booked made sense and had a good balance to it- but I'll leave that up to you lot to decide. There'll of course be a Rumble Review tomorrow so stay tuned for that; and lets hope I'm wrong about the Main Event.
Pre-Show: New Day v KiddSaro and Adam Rose
This is possibly the most straightforward prediction, The Babyface pretty much always wins on the Pre-Show- although I'm a bit confused because I thought Xavier Woods was wearing one of those protective boots on RAW.
Winner: New Day
The Ascension v New Age Outlaws
Firstly, Weren't the Outlaws heels up until RAW? Or was their dastardly heel turn forgotten about as soon as "you know who" died returning to his home planet. Logic dictates that Ascension win, the Outlaws (among others) got the upper hand on RAW which usually means the opposite will happen at the PPV. The problem is, it seems Vince completely despises the Ascension. They're debut was beating former Tag Champions- but since then all of their opponents were plucked from the "Victims of Ryback Support Network" and the commentators were practically burying them on commentary. As such this isn't nearly as straightforward as it should be- but I have to pray that WWE isn't so shortsighted they'll have Ascension lose on their first PPV to two guys who won't wrestle again in a hurry.
Winner: The Ascension
The Bellas v Paige and Natalya
Again this could go either way, for almost similar reasons. On the one hand you could make the argument that Paige and Nattie will win because they're the babyface Total Divas- and while I'm on that subject I think its ludicrous they've sacrificed the Divas Title being defended for a Total Divas Tag Match. However, unfortunately I have seen the Total Divas episodes with Paige and they've teased some tension there (Total Divas logic, I know it was months ago) so I can see a miscommunication between the two resulting in
Winner: The Bellas
The Uso's v The Miz's: Tag Team Championship Match
On second thought this is probably the easiest match to predict, it seems as though any type of Naomi turn is firmly in the past- which also means no Stunt Naomi (Cries). As such The Uso's will win pretty convincingly and I would assume pretty quickly.
Winner: The Uso's
Brock Lesnar v John Cena v Seth Rollins: WWE Championship Match
If you look back at my Late Summer/Autumn PPV Prediction Blogs you'll know I had a bad feeling about Cena beating Brock in both- and I was technically right on one count. However, the addition of Rollins means Cena doesn't even have to beat Brock to win the belt. I think we're all agreed that Rollins has no hope. I'd like to see a scenario where Heyman turns on Brock in favour of Seth with Seth cashing in and winning the belt- but I think "you know who" coming back and joining Vince's KMA club is more likely. As such its between Brock and Cena, as I said with regard to the Ascension- the guy who gets the upper hand on RAW usually doesn't leave with the "W" and that would also rule out Brock- however I can't see them taking the belt off Brock this close to Mania so...
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Royal Rumble Match
Before I start, I'm going to be predicting the whole match- Yes it won't be spot on because jobbers can enter in pretty much any order, so if you want to skip the the overall winner more power to you.
#1- Daniel Bryan
#2- Kane
#3- Bo Dallas
#4- Luke Harper
#5- Stardust
#6- Fandango
#7- Finn Balor
#8- Rusev
#9- Goldust
#10- Matador #1
#11- Adam Rose
#12- Kofi Kingston
#13- Dolph Ziggler
#14- DDP
#15- Tyler Breeze
#16- Cody Rhodes
#17- The Bunny
#18- Matador #2
#19- Dean Ambrose
#20- Big Show
#21- Miz
#22- Cesaro
#23- Ryback
#24- Mizdow
#25- Roman Reigns
#26- Bad News Barrett
#27- Bray Wyatt
#28- RVD
#29- Seth Rollins
#30- Randy Orton
The Authority will pull some shenanigans tonight resulting in Daniel Bryan being drawn as #1 to seemingly give Bryan no hope of winning (even though its been done before), and just for an extra measure they sent out Kane as the #2 to try and get rid of him as quickly as possible. However, the opposite will happen with Bryan eliminating Kane after roughly 30 Seconds- giving him sufficient amount of time for some "Yes-ing". (Kane Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). Then we'll see Bo Dallas enter the fray- I can see him cutting a promo in the ring telling Bryan to Bo-lieve before Bryan kicks his head off, but I don't think he'll be eliminated yet because he'll literally hold on to the ropes for dear life to prevent it. With Kane already out, another "Authority Agent" will enter the ring with the intent to get rid of Bryan- this time Luke Harper. He'll come in and take Bryan's head off with a lariat (BECAUSE ITS A DAMN LARIAT) but there'll be that usual thing where it takes them an age to get to the ropes which'll mean Bryan can recover in time before kicking Harper's head off before eliminating him. (Luke Harper Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). We'll then see the entry of Stardust, which as you have already seen would be part of an angle for the Rumble Match- and bringing him in early would give them sufficient time to do so.
Then we'll see the entry of Fandango, I can see him dancing a load with Rosa on the stage and shimmying his way to down to the Ring before being dispatched in roughly the same time frame as Santino that one time- and this'd be accomplished by him getting his head kicked off by Bryan causing him to fall back over the Top Rope (Fandango Eliminated by Daniel Bryan). Unless I'm mistaken- and granted I'm not the biggest follower of Indy Wrestling, but I don't think there was ever "Devitt v Danielson" as such I can see Finn Balor coming in with his body paint with the crowd going mental before having a prolonged face-off with Bryan, and because the Rumble is in Philadelphia in front of one of the smarter crowds they'd appreciate the significance of this. We'll then see one of the guys who's predicted to have a big impact in this years Rumble Match- Rusev. He'll come in and do the usual laying everyone out (apart from Bo who'll still be hanging on to the bottom rope) and then once the initial flourish is done it'll be business as usual for a while. We'll then see the other half of The Dusts enter the fray, as part of the angle I'd have in the wings they'd initially be working together. Then we'll see Matador #1, I can't remember their names but I'm guessing their stereotypical so Chico it is. He won't last long though because The Dusts will quickly team up and dispatch him. (Chico Eliminated by The Dusts). But whats this, Goldust is eyeing up Stardust who has his back turned *GASP* (Stardust Eliminated by Goldust).
We shall then see the entry of Adam Rose, and he'll be one of the more entertaining entries for a number of reasons, similar to Fandango I can see him dancing his way down to the ring with The Rosebuds before swiftly being booted in the head by Bryan and falling back over the Top Rope- BUT The Rosebuds will catch him before doing a lap around the ring with him before swiftly placing him back on the Apron. We'll then see Kofi enter the mix, and the question will be how he magically manages to stay in the Rumble this time, and when it looks as though he's about to be knocked off the apron with no hope- The Rosebuds catch him, and do a celebratory lap around the ring with him before carefully putting him back on the Apron- this'll work for a number of reasons primarily because Rose is feuding with Kofi and the New Day (who I debated catching him as well.) However once Kofi has done his spot, his isn't long for this world and I can see Rusev superkicking him out of his boots and over the Top Rope as soon as he gets back in. (Kofi Kingston Eliminated by Rusev). We'll then see the entry of one of the favourites for the match- Dolph Ziggler. He'll come in and superkick everyone (apart from Bo) for his flourish, and I can see him setting his sights on Rusev primarily because of his Authority ties. We'll then get the token "Old-Timer" entry, I saw a number of rumours for who it could be- but given the HOF rumours accompanying him I can see DDP being the one. We'll then get the Second NXT-er entry, with Tyler Breeze entering the mixer- I was debating Neville or Zayn, but on balance I think it should be one babyface and one heel from NXT; and Balor will be the babyface. This'll lead to a face-off in the ring between the two NXT-ers and after a mini brawl I can see Balor eliminating Breeze pretty quickly. (Tyler Breeze Eliminated by Finn Balor).
Then to the shock of Goldust, we'll hear Cody Rhodes' theme play- and him coming out with a target firmly on Goldust's back and after a brief brawl (Goldust Eliminated by Cody Rhodes). He'll then go on to Cross Rhodes everyone (apart from Bo) for his little flourish. I'm not sure what the theme will be but we'll then get The Bunny coming out (so technically Sami Zayn is in the Rumble) with its sights firmly on Adam Rose and once again after a brief brawl we'll get Adam Rose being flung over the Top Rope by The Bunny and being caught by The Rosebuds- however this time they'll drop him. (Adam Rose Eliminated by The Bunny), and then something that'll be a hilarious visual in my book we'll have Dolph superkicking the bunny over the top rope (The Bunny is Eliminated by Dolph Ziggler). We'll then get Matador #2 who'll have another Stereotypical name, so he shall be called Raul- however Raul isn't long for this world and after a brief flourish he'll be taken out by Rusev. (Raul Eliminated by Rusev). We'll then get another of the favourites for the match- coming out Dean Ambrose. At this stage we'll have arguably the Top 3 Babyfaces that'll be entering the Rumble Match (Top 3 by Philadelphia Standard) Dolph, Bryan and Ambrose and after a brief moment I can see them turning around and seeing each other and eventually going at it with each other. We'll then get Big Show who's sights will be locked on Bryan- however Balor will get in his way resulting in his elimination (Finn Balor Eliminated by Big Show). We'll then get the usual "gang up on the massive guy" bit where Big Show eventually throws everyone off leaving them all briefly dead.
Then we'll see the entry of the The Miz, and his entry is pretty much just to facilitate a spot later on in the match. We're going to get one of my favourites coming out- Cesaro. However aside from him swinging a few people I don't think he'll be long the world, and by this stage it'd have been a while since Bryan got an elimination. (Cesaro Eliminated by Daniel Bryan), this'll also have the added bonus of having Bryan eliminate someone they like so it won't garner boos. We'll then get an entry from The Ryback- and after a brief tear through everyone he'll go after Rusev- and after some back and forth Ryback will get the better. (Rusev Eliminated by Ryback). But wait whats this, Ryback hasn't realised Bo Dallas is still there *GASP* (Ryback Eliminated by Bo Dallas). Then as Bo is going ballistic after eliminating the monster Ryback- he turns around to a Superkick from Dolph. (Bo Dallas Eliminated by Dolph Ziggler). After that chaotic string of events we'll be going back to sanity- with Mizdow entering the mix. However, he won't be long for this world as Miz will be taken out by Bryan almost as soon as Mizdow enters the ring. (Miz Eliminated by Daniel Bryan), and fulfilling his dutiful role as a stunt double- (Mizdow Eliminated by Mizdow). We'll then get the massive fan favourite Roman Reigns making his entry, and his entry flourish will result in a number of eliminations via Superman Punches (DDP Eliminated by Roman Reigns), (Cody Rhodes Eliminated by Roman Reigns), (Big Show Eliminated by Roman Reigns). This'll leave at this stage 4 of the favourites as the only guys in the ring; Bryan, Dolph, Ambrose and Reigns, who are coincidentally 4 Babyfaces.
This of course means we're due a heel, so who better than Bad News Barrett- who so it turns out took the IC Title from Dolph; so that'll be the focus for a bit just while everyone gathers themselves for the big finish- because Roman will no doubt be winded already. Now lets bring out another heel, and arguably the best full-time heel on the Roster- Bray Wyatt. Who as it turns out has a big history with Daniel Bryan; ya see I haven't just put this together randomly. We'll then get the token ECW guy for the Philly crowd; I saw a rumour that The Dudley's were talking to them- but I'm not sure how a Tag Team (which is all WWE would view them as) could make a "huge pop return" in the Royal Rumble- so I've gone with the slightly obvious choice of RVD. If it were entirely up to me I'd have had Raven; but the chances of that are minuscule. I'm basing this next entry off of a) The Rumble Match being the Main Event, and b) Brock winning- and to give their golden boy another chance at the Mania Main Event The Authority have brought in Rollins at seemingly the best possible time almost as late as possible with almost everyone exhausted. We'll get the stare off between the three ex-Shield members which'll no doubt get the crowd excited. But whats this? Someone hears voice in their head? The last entry will be a triumphant Randy Orton return with his eyes firmly set on Rollins- who I have no doubt could sell his return as his a nuclear holocaust was impending, and after a brief back and forth (Seth Rollins Eliminated by Randy Orton).
That's all entries out of the way and as it stands we have Bryan, Dolph, Ambrose, Reigns, Barrett, Bray, RVD and Orton to fight it out.
The first to go will be Barrett, as he's the most disposable- I'd have Dolph eliminate him because of the IC Title permutations surrounding that pairing, but *sigh* gotta make Roman look strong. (Bad News Barrett Eliminated by Roman Reigns). Next to go will be RVD- and I'll have Bray eliminate him purely because he's the only proper heel left at this stage. (Rob Van Dam Eliminated by Bray Wyatt). At this stage I'll have Bray going full throttle on the match- and given his history with Ambrose that'll be next on the list, with Bray as he has done frequently getting the better. (Dean Ambrose Eliminated by Bray Wyatt). But whats this? Its Rollins and J+J coming back out- why are they going after Orton they're not in the damn match (Randy Orton Eliminated by Rollins & J+J).
This'll leave us with a Final Four of Reigns, Wyatt, Bryan and Ziggler. Its a fact Reigns'll at least be in the Final Four so I challenge anyone to realistically pick a Better Four. The first to go will unfortunately be Dolph, out of the Four he's probably the most disposable in the eyes of management and I'd have Bray eliminate him for Babyface-Heel purposes; (Dolph Ziggler Eliminated by Bray Wyatt). However, Bray isn't long for this world- but I would have Bryan and Reigns briefly team up on him, and a series of kicks- leading into a Superman Punch meaning (Bray Wyatt Eliminated by Roman Reigns).
The Final Two is pretty obvious for all to see, and there is a different outcome every single time I think about it. On the one hand, you'd like to think they learned their lesson from last year when they got crucified for having Batista win it- in favour of Bryan (or ironically Reigns). But on the same notion Reigns is the golden child, so unfortunately (Daniel Bryan Eliminated by Roman Reigns).
Winner: Roman Reigns
If you skipped this and want the Short Version Here you Are:
The Kofi Spot is getting Caught by the Rosebuds
Bo Eliminates Ryback
Orton Returns & Eliminates Rollins
Rollins comes back with J+J and Returns the Favour
The Final Four is: Bryan, Dolph, Wyatt and Reigns
Roman Wins (LOL)
Thanks for reading as always, I hope you enjoyed my Rumble Match if you did read the long version- it was fun in a weird way to put together the match completely in my head; and I think the match I booked made sense and had a good balance to it- but I'll leave that up to you lot to decide. There'll of course be a Rumble Review tomorrow so stay tuned for that; and lets hope I'm wrong about the Main Event.
Saturday 24 January 2015
Sunderland v Fulham Review: Still In the Mix
Hello! Wasn't that a mental day of Football? After Liverpool failed to crack the Bolton nut there could still be a scenario where only 3 Premier League teams are in the 5th Round- although that is unlikely it just goes to show what the FA Cup is all about. With all of the goals that have gone in today we're unlikely to get more than 5 Seconds on Match of The Day (so no changes there badumtshh) but the game today was far from uneventful- and on balance I'd say a draw was a fair result, but if one team was going to win it'd have been us.
Normally at this stage I'd go through the goals- but as with the Wolves Home Game there is nothing to talk about goal wise so instead I'll talk about two other things. Firstly the team selection, Aside from the Striking Partnership and Parker's injury I'd say that was about as close to full strength as we could have gotten. I was a bit confused that Kit decided to use the game today to rest McCormack and Hugo in particular, although Kacaniklic is a quality player- Ruiz can fulfill the same role to the same quality. I had hoped we'd go all out against Sunderland because despite their Premier League stature they were definitely vulnerable as evidenced by the way the game played out. It was good to see Christensen back in the team- and I'm going to be really interested to see how Kit fits in everyone, if as I have a suspicion Fofana has a clause in his Loan Deal stipulating he has to play.
The other thing to talk about is the signing of Ashley/Jazz Richards, if I'm honest I thought we'd signed brothers when I saw the news. I was talking about signing Kyle Naughton at the start of the window and indirectly Naughton's signing has affected us as presumably Naughton was the security blanket Swansea needed in order to send one of their Right-Backs out on loan. While I wouldn't have seen Right-Back as our main priority because I thought Grimmer was growing at quite a good rate- despite being far from perfect, and as you'll know if you saw when I was talking about Robert Huth unless the signing would have been a marked improvement on a position in our Back 4 I wouldn't have disturbed a Settled Back 5. Whether Richards is an improvement on Grimmer we'll have to wait and see- but he's presumably come to play and his first test will be a tough one against Blackburn next week. This signing also means Hoogland is out for at least another month, and its a shame to see how limited Hoogland's appearances have been over the last few months- because if he hadn't picked up the injury the Golden Boot, Balon D'or, and BAFTA would have all been in Hoogland's trophy cabinet.
At points in the game it was Bettinelli v Defoe- and as shown by his Clean Sheet Bettinelli came out on top. He made several vital saves- as he does in nearly every game it seems, it does seem in Bettinelli we've finally found our long-term replacement for Schwarzer- although I did rate Stockdale he definitely had less favourable moments in a Fulham shirt; and although we wouldn't have said it at the start of the season I'm happy we sold Stockdale because it has (eventually) led to Bettinelli's emergence in the first team. According to TransferMarkt we've got Bettinelli under contract until the end of the 15/16 season but I'd still like to get him on a new deal ASAP to send out a statement to other clubs as much as antything else- because the type of performance he put in today against a Premier League club can be considered being "Shop Windowed".
I thought the defence coped reasonably well today, there were a few scary moments- most of them involving either Defoe or Larsson but they either recovered well or had Bettinelli bailing them out. Bodurov captained us for the first time today- and his performance was more than worthy of the armband. On the way back from the Forest game there was a long debate on 5 Live with regard to Adebayor being Captain when Spurs played Sheff. Utd and him having the wrong characteristics for the role- and as I've said Bodurov is far from a perfect player, but he's definitely one of our better and more consistent players and the partnership he's formed with Hutchinson since the Watford humiliation has made our defence look a lot more solid. Stafylidis didn't quite have the impact I predicted for the game today- and there was a rare occurence where Stafylidis didn't have to make a goal-line clearance. As I've already discussed with (insert first name) Richards, I think Grimmer is growing into the role game by game- and I sometimes think people forget that Grimmer is a natural Centre-Back.
I thought the midfield trio did extremely well today, as I predicted Christensen's return to the team had a direct impact on Fofana's performance- and he was outstanding today, and on balance our best outfield player for the game today. It was great to see Christensen start- and get 90 Minutes under his belt in the game today, and when it comes around to Blackburn we won't be throwing him into a League game completely cold coming off the back of an injury. Tunnicliffe's work rate was outstanding as usual- and was definitely a midfielder we needed in the game today, although nothing he did will make the Papers; his performance was understated but no less important to the overall result. I've seen some people slating Bryan from the game today, and it seems if he doesn't score a Hat-Trick, Solve the Problems in the Middle East and Find a Cure for Cancer it isn't good enough from Bryan. Yes, it wasn't his best game in a Fulham shirt- but he worked no less than some of the players around him and we've seen what happens when we don't have Bryan from our 4 Game goalless streak.
Woodrow and Dembele up front surprised me as I've already said, but they had a good first half- and in a game where there were very few clear cut chances in the First-Half they coped really well and worked hard to keep the pressure on Sunderland when their Defence had the ball. I'd hoped to see a bit more of Woodrow if I'm honest, but given the Red Card for Rodwell I can see why we wanted to turn the screw and bring on "proven" options like McCormack and Rodallega.
Speaking of McCormack and Rodallega, I thought the Subs Kit made were good today- even if they were for the wrong people. As I've already said Fofana played great today, as such I wouldn't have subbed him off- especially for Kacaniklic because it led to us being really congested in certain areas when we should have been pressing our 1 Man advantage. Kacaniklic in the #10 Role appears to be working wonders, as such I'd have brought Bryan off for Kaca as a like for like substitution and seen how the added pace from Kaca would have affected the Sunderland defence. Rodallega probably had our best chance of the game, and the Rodallega of a month ago would have arguably scored that- but as such it hit the post and that was that.
The Rodwell Red Card is probably the biggest talking point from the game, it was 2 Yellows- but it should have arguably been a straight red given the circumstances of his first tackle being two-footed. The Second Yellow was just bizarre and unnecessary on Rodwell's part, and summed up Sunderland's performance on the large part.
We're still in the Draw for the 5th Round, and with the results today- this year is as good a year as any for us to try and get to Wembley. We can definitely take Sunderland down at the Cottage in roughly a week and a half if we play to our potential and with some of the supposed "big teams" already out the path to Wembley just got a bit clearer and if we do get through the Replay we'll "only" be two rounds from Wembley- which is far from impossible.
Thanks for reading as always, At the end of the day we went to a Premier League team with a team where with the exception of Bryan the average age of the team was 21.4- and it wasn't as if Sunderland rested a load of players for the game either so we can take positives from that. The Replay was a fixture we could have done without, but we're still in the Cup- so we still have the Wembley Dream alive.
Friday 23 January 2015
Sunderland v Fulham Preview: The Difference a Year Makes
Hello! We're here for another Cup game on (hopefully) the long road to Wembley, and we're headed to Premier League Sunderland. On paper we don't have a hope, but I'm cautiously optimistic for this game for a variety of reasons.
It was around this time last year where we'd lost 4-1 at Home to Sunderland and been largely dominated, although a questionable referees performance definitely had a part to play. Since that game we've sacked two managers, had a massive squad exodus and of course been relegated- largely because Sunderland suddenly decided they were Real Madrid. To put it into perspective of how much things have changed for us in roughly a year, our Starting Eleven that day was;
Stockdale (Brighton)
Riether (Freiburg)
Senderos (Villa)
Amorebieta
Riise (APOEL)
Duff (Melbourne)
Parker
Taarabt (QPR)
Dempsey (Seattle)
Berbatov (Monaco)
with the Three Subs we used being;
Dejagah (Al-Arabi)
Kasami (Olympiakos)
Bent (Derby)
However the team we do have now, I believe is more than capable of at the very least doing enough to keep us in the draw for the 5th Round when it comes around.
Of course Bettinelli will continue in goal, he's one of a few in this team that I can see succeeding at Premier League level- and then some. He isn't quite the finished article yet, but given his age thats a non-issue- given the fact we're currently signing up our youngsters to new deals I would hope Bettinelli is close to the top of the list.
Unless there's some injury news I'm not aware of I think we should keep the same Back 4 from the Forest game. Another player I can see making it at Premier League level is Bodurov, he isn't the quickest, tallest or even the best Centre-Back by quite a long way- but what Bodurov is, is one of the smartest Centre-Backs we've ever had. Given the fact he's currently 28- which is quite young for a Centre-Back (at least by our standard) I can see him playing in the Premier League before he finishes. Stafylidis could bizarrely be the difference for us tomorrow. We saw in the First-Half against Forest where Stafylidis found himself in a lot of space and was stretching the Forest defence which in turn created space for some of the other players around him, and with the wider Stadium of Light pitch- if we play like we did First-Half against Forest Stafylidis could turn into a proper threat tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how Bodurov and Hutchinson handle Jermain Defoe, he looked pretty bad against us when Spurs came to the Cottage last season but he is still undoubtedly a player who can score goals- and we've conceded to a lot worse this season.
Parker is a doubt for this match, and considering how we performed once Parker went off on Wednesday that could cause us some problems if Parker comes out on the wrong side of a Fitness Test on Saturday morning. However, A a Definite Positive- and a player I can definitely see making it at Premier League level is Lasse Vigen Christensen. Christensen is a player who's already been linked with Premier League teams and given another year or two he could be at a Top 4/6 team if his current trajectory is anything to go by. A player who'll definitely benefit from Christensen's return is Fofana, he was quality First-Half against Forest- but there were very few players who weren't and it was because Forest gave us a ridiculous amount of space with which to play, which Sunderland simply won't give us. However, Christensen is a player who creates space for others just with his presence and general play- and its hardly a coincidence that Fofana's best performances have come when Christensen has been on the pitch, or at least in my opinion. The other midfield spot if we're going to be playing the diamond will of course go to Tunnicliffe- and his work rate will be key for us if we're to get anything from the game. The tip of the diamond is interesting for us, Kacaniklic in the #10 Role was top draw against Forest although he wasn't directly involved in any of the goals he most definitely played a part- and his pace combined with his link-up play with McCormack could cause Sunderland a lot of problems.
In the last couple of days we've seen the links for Bryan and Boca Juniors- and while there isn't anything set in stone its a transfer I can definitely see happening, even if I thought he was more likely to go to a La Liga team. However, while he's still at the club we should be using him- and Bryan could add an extra dimension to our attack off the bench.
The Striking options we have are an interesting debate to be had for this game. In retrospect I think I was a bit harsh on Hugo from the Forest game. Yes, he was from his best- but he was able to assist for two goals and his pressure on Hobbs was definitely why it was headed to McCormack for the third. As such I'd have the McCormack-Hugo partnership up front for the game tomorrow, as the little bit of quality such as a one-touch layoff to McCormack from Hugo could be the difference between us being in the 5th Round Draw and not doing so. McCormack along with Christensen is the player I can most see succeeding in the Premier League. When we signed him I was expecting a goalscorer- and not much else, although granted that type of player was someone we lacked for such a longtime, but instead we got someone who can pretty much do everything- and fulfill a number of roles. As such I can see him fitting in to a large majority of Premier League teams, however similar to Christensen I hope we can hang onto him for as long as possible- and given his age I hope we can get the peak years of his career out of McCormack.
Team for Sunderland
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis
Christensen, Fofana, Tunnicliffe
Kacaniklic
Rodallega McCormack
Along with the Villa v Bournemouth game this is one of the games where a Cup upset could definitely be on the cards, although we've been far from amazing as of late- Three Wins on the bounce should by all right mean we're full on confidence, compare this to Sunderland who have won just two from their last ten- and will most likely be fully focused on avoiding Relegation compared to us who given our current place in the League of being 10 Points from the Playoffs and 11 from Relegation we can see the Cup as our main focus.
Thanks for reading as always, as you know if you read these regularly I think we should see the Cup as our main priority- and a Cup Run breeds confidence for the League as evidenced by Wolves but its not like we're in the immediate hunt for the Playoffs so barring a miracle run of wins (which isn't impossible) we'll be comfortably mid-table and provided we don't get some ridiculously hard draw, which we made a habit of in all but last season a few one-off wins is all that stands between us and Wembley- we might as well buy the tickets now.
It was around this time last year where we'd lost 4-1 at Home to Sunderland and been largely dominated, although a questionable referees performance definitely had a part to play. Since that game we've sacked two managers, had a massive squad exodus and of course been relegated- largely because Sunderland suddenly decided they were Real Madrid. To put it into perspective of how much things have changed for us in roughly a year, our Starting Eleven that day was;
Stockdale (Brighton)
Riether (Freiburg)
Senderos (Villa)
Amorebieta
Riise (APOEL)
Duff (Melbourne)
Parker
Taarabt (QPR)
Dempsey (Seattle)
Berbatov (Monaco)
with the Three Subs we used being;
Dejagah (Al-Arabi)
Kasami (Olympiakos)
Bent (Derby)
However the team we do have now, I believe is more than capable of at the very least doing enough to keep us in the draw for the 5th Round when it comes around.
Of course Bettinelli will continue in goal, he's one of a few in this team that I can see succeeding at Premier League level- and then some. He isn't quite the finished article yet, but given his age thats a non-issue- given the fact we're currently signing up our youngsters to new deals I would hope Bettinelli is close to the top of the list.
Unless there's some injury news I'm not aware of I think we should keep the same Back 4 from the Forest game. Another player I can see making it at Premier League level is Bodurov, he isn't the quickest, tallest or even the best Centre-Back by quite a long way- but what Bodurov is, is one of the smartest Centre-Backs we've ever had. Given the fact he's currently 28- which is quite young for a Centre-Back (at least by our standard) I can see him playing in the Premier League before he finishes. Stafylidis could bizarrely be the difference for us tomorrow. We saw in the First-Half against Forest where Stafylidis found himself in a lot of space and was stretching the Forest defence which in turn created space for some of the other players around him, and with the wider Stadium of Light pitch- if we play like we did First-Half against Forest Stafylidis could turn into a proper threat tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see how Bodurov and Hutchinson handle Jermain Defoe, he looked pretty bad against us when Spurs came to the Cottage last season but he is still undoubtedly a player who can score goals- and we've conceded to a lot worse this season.
Parker is a doubt for this match, and considering how we performed once Parker went off on Wednesday that could cause us some problems if Parker comes out on the wrong side of a Fitness Test on Saturday morning. However, A a Definite Positive- and a player I can definitely see making it at Premier League level is Lasse Vigen Christensen. Christensen is a player who's already been linked with Premier League teams and given another year or two he could be at a Top 4/6 team if his current trajectory is anything to go by. A player who'll definitely benefit from Christensen's return is Fofana, he was quality First-Half against Forest- but there were very few players who weren't and it was because Forest gave us a ridiculous amount of space with which to play, which Sunderland simply won't give us. However, Christensen is a player who creates space for others just with his presence and general play- and its hardly a coincidence that Fofana's best performances have come when Christensen has been on the pitch, or at least in my opinion. The other midfield spot if we're going to be playing the diamond will of course go to Tunnicliffe- and his work rate will be key for us if we're to get anything from the game. The tip of the diamond is interesting for us, Kacaniklic in the #10 Role was top draw against Forest although he wasn't directly involved in any of the goals he most definitely played a part- and his pace combined with his link-up play with McCormack could cause Sunderland a lot of problems.
In the last couple of days we've seen the links for Bryan and Boca Juniors- and while there isn't anything set in stone its a transfer I can definitely see happening, even if I thought he was more likely to go to a La Liga team. However, while he's still at the club we should be using him- and Bryan could add an extra dimension to our attack off the bench.
The Striking options we have are an interesting debate to be had for this game. In retrospect I think I was a bit harsh on Hugo from the Forest game. Yes, he was from his best- but he was able to assist for two goals and his pressure on Hobbs was definitely why it was headed to McCormack for the third. As such I'd have the McCormack-Hugo partnership up front for the game tomorrow, as the little bit of quality such as a one-touch layoff to McCormack from Hugo could be the difference between us being in the 5th Round Draw and not doing so. McCormack along with Christensen is the player I can most see succeeding in the Premier League. When we signed him I was expecting a goalscorer- and not much else, although granted that type of player was someone we lacked for such a longtime, but instead we got someone who can pretty much do everything- and fulfill a number of roles. As such I can see him fitting in to a large majority of Premier League teams, however similar to Christensen I hope we can hang onto him for as long as possible- and given his age I hope we can get the peak years of his career out of McCormack.
Team for Sunderland
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis
Christensen, Fofana, Tunnicliffe
Kacaniklic
Rodallega McCormack
Along with the Villa v Bournemouth game this is one of the games where a Cup upset could definitely be on the cards, although we've been far from amazing as of late- Three Wins on the bounce should by all right mean we're full on confidence, compare this to Sunderland who have won just two from their last ten- and will most likely be fully focused on avoiding Relegation compared to us who given our current place in the League of being 10 Points from the Playoffs and 11 from Relegation we can see the Cup as our main focus.
Thanks for reading as always, as you know if you read these regularly I think we should see the Cup as our main priority- and a Cup Run breeds confidence for the League as evidenced by Wolves but its not like we're in the immediate hunt for the Playoffs so barring a miracle run of wins (which isn't impossible) we'll be comfortably mid-table and provided we don't get some ridiculously hard draw, which we made a habit of in all but last season a few one-off wins is all that stands between us and Wembley- we might as well buy the tickets now.
Wednesday 21 January 2015
Fulham v Nottingham Forest Review: Its Never Simple
Pulses returned to normal, fingers and toes nice and warm- now lets get reviewin'. At the end of the day, a win is a win whether its a comfortable 3-0 as it was for 44 minutes- or a nailbiting 3-2 as it was for the second half. I'm honestly not sure what to make of the game tonight, on the one hand we were absolutely outstanding in the first half- although the Forest players seemingly forgetting how to play football did help and the Second Half was much tighter, but we showed good character and resolve to stay in the game and pick up the Three Points which after the First Half we more than deserved.
The last time we saw a Hat-Trick from a Fulham player was Pavel Pogrebnyak against Wolves in March 2012- but McCormack has now reset that statistic with three quality goals. The first was a really good move between Ross and Hugo and it was a really good finish into the corner- this could even have been his second if De Vries hadn't made a good save a couple of minutes earlier. The Second was another curling goal- if I'm honest I thought he'd missed when it hit the post and went almost the full way along the line before nestling in the Right-Hand side of the goal. Our old friend the dubious goals panel might have something to say for the third, it was definitely on target but the deflection is definitely what put the ball in the back of the net and wrong-footed De Vries. The foul for the Free-Kick was a bit dubious in my opinion, I can see why it was a foul- but at the same time Antonio definitely threw himself into Stafylidis for the foul. I'm not sure who was at fault for the ball ending up in the back of the net- I saw Bettinelli acting as if the wall should have been slightly more to the right, but I'm not sure if that was Bettinelli's fault for lining the wall up wrong or The Wall's for not being where they should have been. I'm honestly not sure how the ball got in the net for the Second Goal, I've only seen it once at the game but it looked like Bettinelli should have done better just from my perspective.
Speaking of Bettinelli, he had a few shaky moments in the game- not all of them his doing considering some of the decisions Stafylidis made, especially in the first half. But he coped really well with almost everything- but as I said I think he should have done better for the second Forest goal. However, he stayed a very cool head throughout and looked really assured in Set-Piece situations where he sometimes hasn't previously.
As I've said in previous blogs, although we've been conceding goals- the defence hasn't necessarily been to blame; and it does seem weird to be praising a defence after conceding twice but here we are. I thought Bodurov and Hutchinson were outstanding today, they coped with everything remarkably well- and they made Assombalonga look awful; and although he isn't necessarily a Top Draw Striker his goal tally this season is proof he most definitely knows where the back of the net is. I thought Stafylidis in the First Half was absolutely top draw, he was causing Forest's right-hand side problems just with his runs as well as when he was on the ball- and when we get to the Wider Pitch at the Stadium of Light I'm hoping he can cause similar problems. He did seem to be getting a bit complacent toward the end of the half- nicely exampled when he nearly got a headed assist for Forest midway through the First Half. The same can be said for Grimmer, he coped with the threat Forest posed really well and for the most part dealt with everything.
The Back 5 we're currently playing is far from perfect, there are of course the links with Robert Huth that have come out this week- and while Huth wouldn't necessarily be a bad signing I think we need to be thinking long-term and put together at the minimum a 3-Year Plan as such I'd wait until the summer before we make any defensive additions- especially considering we'll have the further options of Hoogland, Amorebieta- and even Kavanagh coming back from injury in the near future.
In the first half, the Midfield played as well as I've seen any Fulham Midfield play in god knows how long. The play we put together was really expansive, and we looked dangerous everytime we got on the ball. The balls we were putting in behind the defence were causing no end of problems for Forest- and between Tunncliffe, Parker and Fofana they shut down most of the attacks Forest tried to put together. I love Kacaniklic in the Number 10 Role he was playing in the first half, his link up play with McCormack and Hugo was sublime and him rotating with Hugo and McCormack and sometimes shifting to the central role kept the defence on their toes- combine that with making good runs in behind the defence which you can't always rely on Bryan to make. Parker went off because he had a knock, but I'd like to think he was going off around the time he did with an eye on Sunderland- and that meant we had to change formations, with Kacaniklic playing on the Right-Hand side and that left Forest with more room to maneuver in the midfield and that was when they started to get on top of us.
The Striker area was a mixed bag today, on the one hand we had McCormack scoring a 35 Minute Hat-Trick and looking like the Striker (Key Word) we spent 120 Billion Pounds on- and not just because of the Hat-Trick. As I've already said his interchanging with Kacaniklic in particular was sublime especially in the First-Half, when McCormack is playing like he was in the First Half every single player around him plays ten times better as a consequence. However, in the second half we shifted him out to the Left-Hand Side- which I wasn't necessarily against because his work-rate definitely helped us in the second half chasing down on the Left-Hand side, its just in the type of game we found ourselves in during the second half McCormack playing centrally would have given us a much sharper edge on the Counter. I'm starting to think Hugo is playing with an injury- he just looks a step off the pace at the moment, and considering how sharp he was looking roughly a month ago it begs the question. In the First-Half I thought Hugo looked alright- his link up play with McCormack was for the first goal was great and in the sort of game we found ourselves in during the First Half he played his role well. Second Half he simply wasn't what the game needed from our perspective- even if Hugo was on the form of his life he can't really hold the ball up which was what we desperately needed just to slow the pace of the game down, and we looked much more assured once Woodrow came on.
The Subs we made were necessary, even though in the grand scheme of things they didn't have a huge impact. As I've already said Parker had a knock, and Bryan was the best option we could have brought on given how limited our options off the bench were with regard to style of player. As I've already said Woodrow was the player we needed just to see the game through and slow the game down.
I said it with the Reading game, and I'll say it again now- we're not in a position to pick how we win a game, and despite the fact it should have been more comfortable than it turned out at the end of the day it'll go in the record books as a win and lets be honest when it comes to being a football fan- if it weren't stressful and taxing, the good moments wouldn't feel quite as good.
Thanks for reading, we're now headed to Sunderland for the FA Cup- which as you'll know if you read these regularly what I believe should be our priority, especially given our current points tally of 10 Points off the Playoffs and 11 off Relegation we're about as Mid-Table as its possible to be; despite that we're more than capable of putting together a Cup-Run and our bad start is as much a reason as anything else as to why we're not closer to the Playoff spots. So anyway, thanks again- and lets hope we're in the hat for the 5th Round Draw when it comes around.
The last time we saw a Hat-Trick from a Fulham player was Pavel Pogrebnyak against Wolves in March 2012- but McCormack has now reset that statistic with three quality goals. The first was a really good move between Ross and Hugo and it was a really good finish into the corner- this could even have been his second if De Vries hadn't made a good save a couple of minutes earlier. The Second was another curling goal- if I'm honest I thought he'd missed when it hit the post and went almost the full way along the line before nestling in the Right-Hand side of the goal. Our old friend the dubious goals panel might have something to say for the third, it was definitely on target but the deflection is definitely what put the ball in the back of the net and wrong-footed De Vries. The foul for the Free-Kick was a bit dubious in my opinion, I can see why it was a foul- but at the same time Antonio definitely threw himself into Stafylidis for the foul. I'm not sure who was at fault for the ball ending up in the back of the net- I saw Bettinelli acting as if the wall should have been slightly more to the right, but I'm not sure if that was Bettinelli's fault for lining the wall up wrong or The Wall's for not being where they should have been. I'm honestly not sure how the ball got in the net for the Second Goal, I've only seen it once at the game but it looked like Bettinelli should have done better just from my perspective.
Speaking of Bettinelli, he had a few shaky moments in the game- not all of them his doing considering some of the decisions Stafylidis made, especially in the first half. But he coped really well with almost everything- but as I said I think he should have done better for the second Forest goal. However, he stayed a very cool head throughout and looked really assured in Set-Piece situations where he sometimes hasn't previously.
As I've said in previous blogs, although we've been conceding goals- the defence hasn't necessarily been to blame; and it does seem weird to be praising a defence after conceding twice but here we are. I thought Bodurov and Hutchinson were outstanding today, they coped with everything remarkably well- and they made Assombalonga look awful; and although he isn't necessarily a Top Draw Striker his goal tally this season is proof he most definitely knows where the back of the net is. I thought Stafylidis in the First Half was absolutely top draw, he was causing Forest's right-hand side problems just with his runs as well as when he was on the ball- and when we get to the Wider Pitch at the Stadium of Light I'm hoping he can cause similar problems. He did seem to be getting a bit complacent toward the end of the half- nicely exampled when he nearly got a headed assist for Forest midway through the First Half. The same can be said for Grimmer, he coped with the threat Forest posed really well and for the most part dealt with everything.
The Back 5 we're currently playing is far from perfect, there are of course the links with Robert Huth that have come out this week- and while Huth wouldn't necessarily be a bad signing I think we need to be thinking long-term and put together at the minimum a 3-Year Plan as such I'd wait until the summer before we make any defensive additions- especially considering we'll have the further options of Hoogland, Amorebieta- and even Kavanagh coming back from injury in the near future.
In the first half, the Midfield played as well as I've seen any Fulham Midfield play in god knows how long. The play we put together was really expansive, and we looked dangerous everytime we got on the ball. The balls we were putting in behind the defence were causing no end of problems for Forest- and between Tunncliffe, Parker and Fofana they shut down most of the attacks Forest tried to put together. I love Kacaniklic in the Number 10 Role he was playing in the first half, his link up play with McCormack and Hugo was sublime and him rotating with Hugo and McCormack and sometimes shifting to the central role kept the defence on their toes- combine that with making good runs in behind the defence which you can't always rely on Bryan to make. Parker went off because he had a knock, but I'd like to think he was going off around the time he did with an eye on Sunderland- and that meant we had to change formations, with Kacaniklic playing on the Right-Hand side and that left Forest with more room to maneuver in the midfield and that was when they started to get on top of us.
The Striker area was a mixed bag today, on the one hand we had McCormack scoring a 35 Minute Hat-Trick and looking like the Striker (Key Word) we spent 120 Billion Pounds on- and not just because of the Hat-Trick. As I've already said his interchanging with Kacaniklic in particular was sublime especially in the First-Half, when McCormack is playing like he was in the First Half every single player around him plays ten times better as a consequence. However, in the second half we shifted him out to the Left-Hand Side- which I wasn't necessarily against because his work-rate definitely helped us in the second half chasing down on the Left-Hand side, its just in the type of game we found ourselves in during the second half McCormack playing centrally would have given us a much sharper edge on the Counter. I'm starting to think Hugo is playing with an injury- he just looks a step off the pace at the moment, and considering how sharp he was looking roughly a month ago it begs the question. In the First-Half I thought Hugo looked alright- his link up play with McCormack was for the first goal was great and in the sort of game we found ourselves in during the First Half he played his role well. Second Half he simply wasn't what the game needed from our perspective- even if Hugo was on the form of his life he can't really hold the ball up which was what we desperately needed just to slow the pace of the game down, and we looked much more assured once Woodrow came on.
The Subs we made were necessary, even though in the grand scheme of things they didn't have a huge impact. As I've already said Parker had a knock, and Bryan was the best option we could have brought on given how limited our options off the bench were with regard to style of player. As I've already said Woodrow was the player we needed just to see the game through and slow the game down.
I said it with the Reading game, and I'll say it again now- we're not in a position to pick how we win a game, and despite the fact it should have been more comfortable than it turned out at the end of the day it'll go in the record books as a win and lets be honest when it comes to being a football fan- if it weren't stressful and taxing, the good moments wouldn't feel quite as good.
Thanks for reading, we're now headed to Sunderland for the FA Cup- which as you'll know if you read these regularly what I believe should be our priority, especially given our current points tally of 10 Points off the Playoffs and 11 off Relegation we're about as Mid-Table as its possible to be; despite that we're more than capable of putting together a Cup-Run and our bad start is as much a reason as anything else as to why we're not closer to the Playoff spots. So anyway, thanks again- and lets hope we're in the hat for the 5th Round Draw when it comes around.
Tuesday 20 January 2015
RAW Review- 19th January
Hello! Its another RAW Review, and its the last RAW before the Rumble- and it was Raw Reunion as well with the promise of all of your favourite stars from the past coming together for one big super show. Forget the fact it was the last RAW before the Rumble- what everyone wanted to see was a load of people who weren't going to be at the PPV! Right? RIGHT?!
Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Authority, John Cena and The Kitchen Sink Promo
For once Brock's talking didn't reach excruciating levels of unbearable-ness. I liked Heyman trying his best to talk Brock down at every opportunity, because in my opinion Brock should have been booked as an Authority agent gone rogue after he won the Belt given he was "Plan C". Cena has another new T-Shirt, bringing his total to 42. Overall the segment was a good way to set up the Main Event and the permutations even though bringing so many elements into one talking segment means nobody can really get in an amazing level promo- even with the best talkers in the business such as Heyman.
Bray Wyatt v Daniel Bryan
This match technically went three segments, and was remarkably unremarkable considering some of the matches we've seen these two guys put together. The ad breaks harmed the match I suppose, and there was never really a great flow to the match- which can be put down to the Ad Breaks and Bryan's still relative ring rust. Its funny because it was around this time last year where Bryan and Wyatt put on a proper Match of the Year contender at the Rumble. Despite the interference being the reason Bray won, the fact he Pinned Bryan on his second match back- and first on RAW means Taker has given some sort of commitment to working with Bray at Mania.
KliDX Backstage Segment
This segment gave me the best idea ever, Miz eventually gets pissed with Mizdow outshining him and fires him- we then get a Couple of Months of Mizdow being an out of work stunt double coming out with a different guy each week.
Royal Rumble Panel
I hated this segment. All three guys can in one way or the other be considered a great talker- and I have no doubt these guys could have gotten the Rumble Match over had they just been told what to do and let them have free reign on the mic- actually with Flair that probably wouldn't be the best idea. Flair was also the reason why I assume Saxton was announcing, because if Eden or Renee were in there- there would be a sexual harassment case on their hands. Big Show coming out and knocking out Flair was strangely hilarious in my book- and of course Reigns was the hero, and I'm just hoping his limited involvement on RAW means he'll win the Rumble.
Dean Ambrose v Bad News Barrett
The Intercontinental Champion losing clean the week before a PPV, We're back in business. Ambrose has just come of a series of matches with Bray where he came off second best- and now he's beaten the IC Champion clean, how does that make BNB look?
Big E & Kofi v KiddSaro
This was nothing more than a token Black Win for Martin Luther King Day- call me cynical but thats a fact.
Just a reminder that this was at roughly 2 Hours in, and we had a grand total of three matches so far.
The "Lets Make Ascension look like Jokes" Segment
I Can see why some people liked this segment, it was a good pop and we saw some of the stars of the past. But as Punk said in "that" podcast- Who's going to be there tomorrow, with the exception the Outlaws- who's going to be there to put The Ascension over in a match- and I'm not even convinced the Outlaws will indeed be putting Ascension over the way they've been booked since coming up.
Paige and Natalya v Alicia Fox and Summer Rae
Nikki Bella coming on to JBL and JBL completely blanking her was unfortunately the highlight of this match.
Rusev v R-Truth
Its a Black guy on Martin Luther King Day, which also happens to be his birthday- and he gets killed in roughly 50 Seconds. Who said WWE was prejudiced against minorities?
Jey Uso v The Miz
This feud is almost as extended as the Wyatt v Ambrose feud- but instead of 20 Minute Stipulation matches we're getting 2 Minute throwaway ones.
John Cena v Rollins, Kane and Big Show
The match itself was pretty average, considering all of the pairings are ridiculously overused by this point there wasn't anything we haven't seen before.
The end of the match- and what followed almost made up for the near 3 Hours of blinding mediocrity. "Thats not Sting, Its a Picture of Sting" is possibly up there with the "Jannetty tried to Escape through the Window" in terms of completely stupid statements. I would have gone with Orton making the save, just because that was a waste of one of Sting's appearances in my opinion- because Orton could have easily fulfilled the same role.
I was expecting Cena to go back in the Ring after Lesnar had F5'd Show and Kane so he was standing tall going into the Rumble. I suppose the fact he didn't might be a double bluff with regard to the outcome of the Title match- but we'll wait and see.
Thanks as always for reading, this blog is a bit shorter than usual because of the lack of meaningful segments in the last RAW before the Rumble, So... Here's a White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Authority, John Cena and The Kitchen Sink Promo
For once Brock's talking didn't reach excruciating levels of unbearable-ness. I liked Heyman trying his best to talk Brock down at every opportunity, because in my opinion Brock should have been booked as an Authority agent gone rogue after he won the Belt given he was "Plan C". Cena has another new T-Shirt, bringing his total to 42. Overall the segment was a good way to set up the Main Event and the permutations even though bringing so many elements into one talking segment means nobody can really get in an amazing level promo- even with the best talkers in the business such as Heyman.
Bray Wyatt v Daniel Bryan
This match technically went three segments, and was remarkably unremarkable considering some of the matches we've seen these two guys put together. The ad breaks harmed the match I suppose, and there was never really a great flow to the match- which can be put down to the Ad Breaks and Bryan's still relative ring rust. Its funny because it was around this time last year where Bryan and Wyatt put on a proper Match of the Year contender at the Rumble. Despite the interference being the reason Bray won, the fact he Pinned Bryan on his second match back- and first on RAW means Taker has given some sort of commitment to working with Bray at Mania.
KliDX Backstage Segment
This segment gave me the best idea ever, Miz eventually gets pissed with Mizdow outshining him and fires him- we then get a Couple of Months of Mizdow being an out of work stunt double coming out with a different guy each week.
Royal Rumble Panel
I hated this segment. All three guys can in one way or the other be considered a great talker- and I have no doubt these guys could have gotten the Rumble Match over had they just been told what to do and let them have free reign on the mic- actually with Flair that probably wouldn't be the best idea. Flair was also the reason why I assume Saxton was announcing, because if Eden or Renee were in there- there would be a sexual harassment case on their hands. Big Show coming out and knocking out Flair was strangely hilarious in my book- and of course Reigns was the hero, and I'm just hoping his limited involvement on RAW means he'll win the Rumble.
Dean Ambrose v Bad News Barrett
The Intercontinental Champion losing clean the week before a PPV, We're back in business. Ambrose has just come of a series of matches with Bray where he came off second best- and now he's beaten the IC Champion clean, how does that make BNB look?
Big E & Kofi v KiddSaro
This was nothing more than a token Black Win for Martin Luther King Day- call me cynical but thats a fact.
Just a reminder that this was at roughly 2 Hours in, and we had a grand total of three matches so far.
The "Lets Make Ascension look like Jokes" Segment
I Can see why some people liked this segment, it was a good pop and we saw some of the stars of the past. But as Punk said in "that" podcast- Who's going to be there tomorrow, with the exception the Outlaws- who's going to be there to put The Ascension over in a match- and I'm not even convinced the Outlaws will indeed be putting Ascension over the way they've been booked since coming up.
Paige and Natalya v Alicia Fox and Summer Rae
Nikki Bella coming on to JBL and JBL completely blanking her was unfortunately the highlight of this match.
Rusev v R-Truth
Its a Black guy on Martin Luther King Day, which also happens to be his birthday- and he gets killed in roughly 50 Seconds. Who said WWE was prejudiced against minorities?
Jey Uso v The Miz
This feud is almost as extended as the Wyatt v Ambrose feud- but instead of 20 Minute Stipulation matches we're getting 2 Minute throwaway ones.
John Cena v Rollins, Kane and Big Show
The match itself was pretty average, considering all of the pairings are ridiculously overused by this point there wasn't anything we haven't seen before.
The end of the match- and what followed almost made up for the near 3 Hours of blinding mediocrity. "Thats not Sting, Its a Picture of Sting" is possibly up there with the "Jannetty tried to Escape through the Window" in terms of completely stupid statements. I would have gone with Orton making the save, just because that was a waste of one of Sting's appearances in my opinion- because Orton could have easily fulfilled the same role.
I was expecting Cena to go back in the Ring after Lesnar had F5'd Show and Kane so he was standing tall going into the Rumble. I suppose the fact he didn't might be a double bluff with regard to the outcome of the Title match- but we'll wait and see.
Thanks as always for reading, this blog is a bit shorter than usual because of the lack of meaningful segments in the last RAW before the Rumble, So... Here's a White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
- 150g salted butter, softened
- 80g light brown muscovado sugar
- 80g granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 225g plain flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 200g plain chocolate chips or chunks
- Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
- Put the butter and sugars into a bowl and beat until creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt over the mixture and mix in with a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate chips and stir well.
- Using a teaspoon, place small mounds of the mixture well apart on the baking trays. Bake in the oven for 8–10 mins until light brown on the edges and still slightly soft in the centre.
- Leave on the tray for a couple of minutes to firm up and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Have fun with the cookies, The Impact Reviews are going to be quite sketchy now, because they're on Friday (effectively Saturday) when Fulham are at Home I simply don't have the time to watch Impact until Monday/Tuesday when of course its RAW Review time. I hope you understand- and have a good week, and Stay Tuned for all of my blogs leading to the Rumble because there'll be a few.
Fulham v Nottingham Forest Preview: Role Reversal
Hello! We're here for another Preview, and this is the first team I didn't Preview in the reverse fixture- it was Mid-September, it looked like Forest already had one foot in the Premier League; and we were still under the villainous reign of a tyrant who were looking like we could be going down for a second successive season. Now, while we don't look like getting promoted- the managerial pressure is most definitely on Stuart Pearce despite the Forest result at the Weekend and who knows a loss to us could be the end for Stuart Pearce at Forest as it was for "him" in the Reverse Fixture.
Since my Reading Review we've gotten another one of our talented youngsters to sign a new deal- this time Sean Kavanagh. Kavanagh is a player who suffered somewhat under "him", but since Kit's come in- in his albeit limited opportunities he's looked very good playing in a midfield role and depending on other players Kavanagh could turn into a key player for us next season.
With games coming thick and fast, and an FA Cup game at the weekend we need to prioritise one fixture over the other in my opinion- and as you might be able to guess if you've read my blogs since the Wolves Replay I'd be looking to the game at the Weekend as the more important of the two- as such I think we should pick the team accordingly for tomorrows game.
Naturally Bettinelli should continue in goal, of course in the reverse fixture we had the treat of Gabor Kiraly conceding 5 Goals from 5 Shots on Target- and thankfully our exposure to the Tracksuited one has been limited since.
The Defence is definitely an area of contention for this game, for multiple reasons. Despite the positive result make no mistake we were completely annihilated in wide areas against Reading on Saturday. McCleary was a constant danger and if Reading had more of a cutting edge- say Britt Assombalonga they would have definitely scored more than one. Now we're coming up against a Forest team who's wing play is equally as good if not better with players like Antonio, so we'll need to pick the defence and midfield with that in mind. I wouldn't make any changes the Back 4, purely because the Back 5 is somewhat settled and I don't see any massive reason to disrupt that unless its for injury or fatigue.
The Midfield is an interesting debate for this match, firstly we should rest Parker for this match in my opinion he's played 3 games in quick succession including an added 15 minutes against Wolves this time last week and we need him fully fit for Sunderland on Saturday. However the debate isn't as complicated as it could possibly be in my opinion. Christensen should be held off team selection wise until the Weekend, and with Hyndman still at the Youth Tournament the Three Midfielders are pretty straightforward being Tunnicliffe, Fofana and Kacaniklic. Tunnicliffe and Fofana will be key for this game, we'll need them to be at their absolute defensive best in order to deal with the attacking threat Forest pose. Then with the diamond there is of course a needed top for the diamond, and unless something changes between now and tomorrow night it should be Bryan Ruiz. When Bryan came on against Reading he added an extra dimension to the attack- and as long as he's still on our books we should play him, especially when he's the best option we have the role he fulfills.
I touched on it briefly in my Reading Review, I've finally gotten to the point where I would drop Hugo. Hugo is very much a confidence player, and when he's low on confidence he's one of the worst strikers we've ever seen in a Fulham shirt and he's currently on one of those low points- characterised by him hitting the post from roughly a yard against Reading. Especially with the way Woodrow is playing at the minute, with his two goals against Wolves and the sublime assist he done for the Winner on Saturday. Of course, McCormack will occupy the other position- and it'll be interesting to see how a Woodrow-McCormack dynamic performs in preparation for Saturday's game where we'll need to take our very limited chances if we are to get to the 5th Round.
Team for Nottingham Forest
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis
Fofana, Tunnicliffe, Kacaniklic
Ruiz
Woodrow McCormack
This Forest game will be somewhat full circle, it was "his" last game- and arguably one of our best performances of the season despite the result so it'll be interesting to see how we've progressed under Kit- although Forest are definitely a different prospect now compared to what they were in September.
Thanks for Reading as always, this game will be an interesting game without a doubt- but as I've already said the game on Saturday should definitely be our priority.
Saturday 17 January 2015
Fulham v Reading Review: Winning Ugly
Hello! I suppose this is technically our first win of 2015- and while late winners aren't good for the blood pressure there isn't a better way to win a football game in my opinion. I'm going to try my best not to be smug in this blog- as there are a lot of people who have slated Bryan, and while I haven't always been his biggest fan some of the stick he's gotten is undeserved and he deserved a goal like that- and in the likely event he goes this window at least he's left us on a high note.
I usually go straight into the goals at this point, and I'd like to preface this with saying I don't like slating refs- and I'd be one of the first to praise a ref should he have a good game. However, when you see a ref put in an absolute atrocious performance he should be slated. Yes, Reading did play the way they did- Pogrebnyak and Cox should have had about 7 Yellows between them. However, that isn't all Reading's fault as the ref allowed them to play that way with hardly any repercussions. There was an incident at roughly 15 minutes where Pogrebynak dived in on (I think) Parker, and the ref had a quick word with him and sent him on his way- and that set the tone for the whole match. It did get ridiculous by midway through the second half- when Kacaniklic was taken out off the ball there wasn't so much as a foul given (although granted we had won a Free-Kick more centrally) and the linesman didn't even flag it despite the fact it was about as in his line of sight as it was possible to get. Refs are often slated, I remember listening to a Podcast from 5Live a while back where they had someone important with regard to Referees on taking questions and I gained a lot if insight from that with regard to being a ref- but the ref today was completely abject, and more than anything we could have ended up with a player injured considering how late some of the tackles were today; and the primary job of any ref should be to protect the players
Deep Breath, Rant Over- lets move on to something a bit more positive.
The Goals today from our perspective were really good in different ways, The Ball Parker did to put Kacaniklic through for the first goal was absolutely top draw- I'll be honest when it hit the underside of Federici's leg I thought he'd missed it, but I'm sure when I see the goal from a "TV" angle it'll look like it was never in doubt. The goal we conceded was a typical Fulham goal, Corners are such a basic aspect of Football- and the fact we aren't drilled enough to stop goals coming from corners worries me deeply. The Second Goal for us was scrappy as anything- and if you'd told me Bryan would have scored today, a header in the manner in which he took the header would have been the last thing on my list with regard to guessing how he scored; but it was great work from Woodrow to get the ball back in the middle- and also from McCormack who put the ball in and we really needed that goal because we haven't been anywhere near our best since Christmas and the two wins we've had- and the manner in which we have won will breed confidence in our young team without a shadow of a doubt.
Bettinelli had an alright game today, there weren't any massive saves he made- although I suppose that can be seen as a good thing. But he dealt with the number of crosses coming into the box well enough, and its good to see the calming influence he has on the Back 4. You can go back to my really early blogs in August when I was talking about the need for a "Back 3" and we've almost gotten into a "Back 5" situation now- when everyone is fit I'll be really interested to see how/if Kit includes Hoogland and Amorebieta. Since Christmas although we've been conceding goals, with a few exceptions the goals haven't happened and you've gone "The Defence or Bettinelli should have done better there".
Speaking of the defence, We massively rode our luck today from a defensive standpoint. Granted, Reading didn't have that many clear cut chances- but between McCleary, Obita and Robson-Kanu they completely shredded us in the wide areas; and that is definitely a worry going forward because we've seen what happens when we come up against pace- combined with a better quality of player when we played Watford. Bodurov won't get a lot of attention when it comes to the end of the season- with a lot of it going on Christensen, Bettinelli, McCormack etc.- but I've really liked Bodurov since we signed him. He had a pretty unremarkable game today, but from a defensive standpoint an unremarkable game isn't necessarily a bad thing; and if "he" did nothing else for us- the fact "he" plucked Bodurov from obscurity (at least as far as this country goes) and has given us a really solid centre-back with quite a few years left in the tank.
The Midfield was interesting today. I'm genuinely not sure what formation we started with, it looked like a Flat 4-4-2- but that might have been a consequence of Readings persistent wing play as opposed to a plan. I do genuinely like Fofana- but I think since Christensen's gotten injured he's needed to play a different role and that has greatly affected his performances, I'm not saying he's played badly today; but he just looks a bit unsure of himself in my opinion and I wouldn't be locking him in at Motspur Park to stop him from going back to City at the end of the Month- especially when we could potentially get a midfielder like Nathaniel Chalobah on loan who would fulfill a similar role- but also bring a proven Championship track record to the table. Tunnicliffe was quite frustrating today, I think he has to adapt his game a bit to our style of play- as there were points when he was caught on the ball or gave it away cheaply; I also think he needs to get used to playing in a team which to be frank- simply isn't as good as the team he was playing in a month ago, but his undoubted work ethic more than made up for that today.
Parker was another one who frustrated me today, I can only assume Kits told him not to shoot- there was a moment in the Second Half where Parker had a clear sight of goal just outside the box, and rather than shoot he tried to dribble it into the box and there was a similar event where Parker dribbled the ball into the box successfully and all he had to do was cut it back for McCormack but he made a hash of it and blew the chance. I don't like to dwell on the negatives that much when we've won- but there are sometimes when its so blindingly obvious what should happen, and a professional footballer with the experience of Parker stupidly tries to overcomplicate it. Its the same with defending corners, football is fundamentally a simple game and when the basics are done well- everything else falls into place. Kacaniklic was an interesting player today- he of course scored the goal, him and Stafylidis down the left are an interesting prospect and on some of the wider pitches I have no doubt we'll cause some teams serious problems and you could see his runs were causing the Reading defence some issues. I'm somewhat worried about his defensive play- but I noticed Tunnicliffe was floating from Right to Left defensively and if he can keep up that level of performance Kacaniklic can continue with the way he's playing, and when he's scoring goals he's more than worth keeping in the team.
I've finally gotten to the point where I agree with dropping Hugo. As I'm sure people who regularly read these will have gathered I'm a big fan of Hugo- but with the exception of Berbatov he's possibly the most hot and cold striker we've had in god knows how many years and its a matter of whether you're willing to persist with him during his cold patches, but his luck simply isn't in at the moment and with Woodrow playing the way he is with his goals in midweek and the assist today he should be given a run in the team. McCormack was interesting today, firstly it was good to see him not playing as a Holding Mid considering how deep he's been playing recently and it definitely added to our attacking play and options. The only major criticism I'd have with McCormack is his deadball delivery, Federici had possibly his easiest day with regard to set-pieces as 99% of them were straight down his throat.
For once Kit gave the subs enough time to make an impact, and make an impact they did. Firstly, I thought Bryan was coming on when Woodrow did because I saw him putting his shirt on and the squared numbers made me think the "6" was a "0". Woodrow is probably the best option we have currently available to us with regard to hold-up play- and given the number of long-balls we're still playing we need him, or someone like him in the team. Bryan of course scored the winner, but he also added another dimension to our attack- while he might not be here come February its completely worth keeping him in the team until he leaves; and as I've said if he is going soon- he's gone out on a high now.
This was far from a good performance, but in the position we're in- we can't afford to be picky about how we win games as long as we do so. I'd rather win ugly as we did today, than lose pretty like we did against Cardiff.
Thanks for reading as always, you've already seen my view with regard to the ref today- but I think in a way his bad performance did help us in a way as the anger of the fans was directed at the ref rather than the players after the abject performance in the First Half. We've now gotten our first league win of 2015- and despite the result today for Forest I still think Forest is a winnable game, so lets make it our second on Wednesday.
I usually go straight into the goals at this point, and I'd like to preface this with saying I don't like slating refs- and I'd be one of the first to praise a ref should he have a good game. However, when you see a ref put in an absolute atrocious performance he should be slated. Yes, Reading did play the way they did- Pogrebnyak and Cox should have had about 7 Yellows between them. However, that isn't all Reading's fault as the ref allowed them to play that way with hardly any repercussions. There was an incident at roughly 15 minutes where Pogrebynak dived in on (I think) Parker, and the ref had a quick word with him and sent him on his way- and that set the tone for the whole match. It did get ridiculous by midway through the second half- when Kacaniklic was taken out off the ball there wasn't so much as a foul given (although granted we had won a Free-Kick more centrally) and the linesman didn't even flag it despite the fact it was about as in his line of sight as it was possible to get. Refs are often slated, I remember listening to a Podcast from 5Live a while back where they had someone important with regard to Referees on taking questions and I gained a lot if insight from that with regard to being a ref- but the ref today was completely abject, and more than anything we could have ended up with a player injured considering how late some of the tackles were today; and the primary job of any ref should be to protect the players
Deep Breath, Rant Over- lets move on to something a bit more positive.
The Goals today from our perspective were really good in different ways, The Ball Parker did to put Kacaniklic through for the first goal was absolutely top draw- I'll be honest when it hit the underside of Federici's leg I thought he'd missed it, but I'm sure when I see the goal from a "TV" angle it'll look like it was never in doubt. The goal we conceded was a typical Fulham goal, Corners are such a basic aspect of Football- and the fact we aren't drilled enough to stop goals coming from corners worries me deeply. The Second Goal for us was scrappy as anything- and if you'd told me Bryan would have scored today, a header in the manner in which he took the header would have been the last thing on my list with regard to guessing how he scored; but it was great work from Woodrow to get the ball back in the middle- and also from McCormack who put the ball in and we really needed that goal because we haven't been anywhere near our best since Christmas and the two wins we've had- and the manner in which we have won will breed confidence in our young team without a shadow of a doubt.
Bettinelli had an alright game today, there weren't any massive saves he made- although I suppose that can be seen as a good thing. But he dealt with the number of crosses coming into the box well enough, and its good to see the calming influence he has on the Back 4. You can go back to my really early blogs in August when I was talking about the need for a "Back 3" and we've almost gotten into a "Back 5" situation now- when everyone is fit I'll be really interested to see how/if Kit includes Hoogland and Amorebieta. Since Christmas although we've been conceding goals, with a few exceptions the goals haven't happened and you've gone "The Defence or Bettinelli should have done better there".
Speaking of the defence, We massively rode our luck today from a defensive standpoint. Granted, Reading didn't have that many clear cut chances- but between McCleary, Obita and Robson-Kanu they completely shredded us in the wide areas; and that is definitely a worry going forward because we've seen what happens when we come up against pace- combined with a better quality of player when we played Watford. Bodurov won't get a lot of attention when it comes to the end of the season- with a lot of it going on Christensen, Bettinelli, McCormack etc.- but I've really liked Bodurov since we signed him. He had a pretty unremarkable game today, but from a defensive standpoint an unremarkable game isn't necessarily a bad thing; and if "he" did nothing else for us- the fact "he" plucked Bodurov from obscurity (at least as far as this country goes) and has given us a really solid centre-back with quite a few years left in the tank.
The Midfield was interesting today. I'm genuinely not sure what formation we started with, it looked like a Flat 4-4-2- but that might have been a consequence of Readings persistent wing play as opposed to a plan. I do genuinely like Fofana- but I think since Christensen's gotten injured he's needed to play a different role and that has greatly affected his performances, I'm not saying he's played badly today; but he just looks a bit unsure of himself in my opinion and I wouldn't be locking him in at Motspur Park to stop him from going back to City at the end of the Month- especially when we could potentially get a midfielder like Nathaniel Chalobah on loan who would fulfill a similar role- but also bring a proven Championship track record to the table. Tunnicliffe was quite frustrating today, I think he has to adapt his game a bit to our style of play- as there were points when he was caught on the ball or gave it away cheaply; I also think he needs to get used to playing in a team which to be frank- simply isn't as good as the team he was playing in a month ago, but his undoubted work ethic more than made up for that today.
Parker was another one who frustrated me today, I can only assume Kits told him not to shoot- there was a moment in the Second Half where Parker had a clear sight of goal just outside the box, and rather than shoot he tried to dribble it into the box and there was a similar event where Parker dribbled the ball into the box successfully and all he had to do was cut it back for McCormack but he made a hash of it and blew the chance. I don't like to dwell on the negatives that much when we've won- but there are sometimes when its so blindingly obvious what should happen, and a professional footballer with the experience of Parker stupidly tries to overcomplicate it. Its the same with defending corners, football is fundamentally a simple game and when the basics are done well- everything else falls into place. Kacaniklic was an interesting player today- he of course scored the goal, him and Stafylidis down the left are an interesting prospect and on some of the wider pitches I have no doubt we'll cause some teams serious problems and you could see his runs were causing the Reading defence some issues. I'm somewhat worried about his defensive play- but I noticed Tunnicliffe was floating from Right to Left defensively and if he can keep up that level of performance Kacaniklic can continue with the way he's playing, and when he's scoring goals he's more than worth keeping in the team.
I've finally gotten to the point where I agree with dropping Hugo. As I'm sure people who regularly read these will have gathered I'm a big fan of Hugo- but with the exception of Berbatov he's possibly the most hot and cold striker we've had in god knows how many years and its a matter of whether you're willing to persist with him during his cold patches, but his luck simply isn't in at the moment and with Woodrow playing the way he is with his goals in midweek and the assist today he should be given a run in the team. McCormack was interesting today, firstly it was good to see him not playing as a Holding Mid considering how deep he's been playing recently and it definitely added to our attacking play and options. The only major criticism I'd have with McCormack is his deadball delivery, Federici had possibly his easiest day with regard to set-pieces as 99% of them were straight down his throat.
For once Kit gave the subs enough time to make an impact, and make an impact they did. Firstly, I thought Bryan was coming on when Woodrow did because I saw him putting his shirt on and the squared numbers made me think the "6" was a "0". Woodrow is probably the best option we have currently available to us with regard to hold-up play- and given the number of long-balls we're still playing we need him, or someone like him in the team. Bryan of course scored the winner, but he also added another dimension to our attack- while he might not be here come February its completely worth keeping him in the team until he leaves; and as I've said if he is going soon- he's gone out on a high now.
This was far from a good performance, but in the position we're in- we can't afford to be picky about how we win games as long as we do so. I'd rather win ugly as we did today, than lose pretty like we did against Cardiff.
Thanks for reading as always, you've already seen my view with regard to the ref today- but I think in a way his bad performance did help us in a way as the anger of the fans was directed at the ref rather than the players after the abject performance in the First Half. We've now gotten our first league win of 2015- and despite the result today for Forest I still think Forest is a winnable game, so lets make it our second on Wednesday.
Friday 16 January 2015
Fulham v Reading Preview: Looking Forward
Hello! Its another Fulham blog. After our cup exploits these blogs will be a bit closer together than I anticipated- but I don't mind if you don't. As I've said in my last couple of Fulham blogs- our ultimate goal this season should be a good cup run, with that in mind I'd be picking teams accordingly for the next two games to have a Fully Fit, Full Strength (or closest to) available for the trip to the Stadium of Light in just over a week.
Despite my view we should be looking at a Cup Run as our primary goal this season, it doesn't mean we should completely discount the League- as simply put we aren't safe enough to do so. However, with the squad we have available we should have enough to win enough games to be comfortably mid-table- so we might as well start getting to a "safe" points tally in tomorrows game. Reading are starting to look a bit better under Steve Clarke, and they've picked up some good points against Middlesborough and Norwich in recent weeks- but I still view Reading as a winnable game provided we get our tactics right.
Of course Bettinelli will continue in goal, in the last few days we've had Cameron Burgess and George Williams sign new contracts- and I would hope Bettinelli along with some of our other youngsters will be signing new deals soon. Bettinelli is a player I can see some Premier League sides being interested in him come Summer- and a new deal would be as much of a statement as possible to other teams, and if nothing else a long-term deal would inflate his transfer fee.
The defence selection is also pretty straightforward as it has been recently, until Tim Hoogland and Amorebieta are fit again there isn't even a debate over the current Back 4- unless of course we sign someone. Its probably more to do with the fact we're in the Championship, but the lack of rumours surrounding us at the moment makes me think we'll be prioritising new deals for our young guys over new signings for this window- which is alright in my book, because as I said in my Cardiff Review this season is pretty much over for us with the exception of a Cup Run- so we should be looking ahead, and the best way to do that is to prioritise signing the players we'll need next season to new deals.
As always the debate is going to be had for the midfield spots. As per Kits Press Conference Christensen is back in training today- but it'll be a week before he's selected, so he'll be back in time for Sunderland. Another notable part of Kits Press Conference was that Bryan Ruiz was fit again- whether we use him is another thing entirely, because as I've said in previous blogs I didn't think he'd factor into selections this month- but because of this I'll tentatively put him in my team for this game with an "*" and an alternative. The inclusion of Ruiz will of course mean keeping the diamond- and for once the three in behind aren't a sure thing. With the options we have available of Tunnicliffe, Fofana, Kacaniklic, Parker and G. Williams we have a number of options that can provide different dynamics to the team. According to Kits Press Conference everyone's recovered from the Wolves game, so Parkers fitness isn't an issue- the two people who play around him are another issue. I could be wrong- but judging by the number of minutes Fofana has gotten under his belt there is a clause in his contract stipulating that if he's fit, he starts. However, because that isn't public knowledge I'm going to work on the basis that there isn't such a clause- and with the 3 Games in a week I would keep Fofana for Wednesday when he would come in for Parker, because we need him fit for the Sunderland game- which as I've said should be our priority. This leaves us with the two recalls and the newly signed George Williams fighting it out for two spots, personally Tunnicliffe will be a must going into the back end of this season- and next season and when everyone is fit I can see him playing Right-Mid the position he took up for a couple of games under Meulensteen, which as I see it is the only way we can have Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Parker and Kacaniklic in the same team.
Of course Bryan coming back will mean him taking the spot at the tip of the diamond, this'll leave McCormack taking up the unfamiliar spot of taking up the position he was signed to play in the first place. This'll be an interesting selection after Tuesdays game, because Woodrow has just scored a double meaning he is high on confidence. However, McCormack moving back to Striker will also free up space for Hugo- who is a more potent striker, despite his recent barren run. As such I'd give Hugo and McCormack the starting positions- and then depending on how the games going bring on Woodrow for either Hugo or Bryan after 60 Minutes.
Team for Reading
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis
Tunnicliffe, Parker, Kacaniklic
Ruiz*
Rodallega McCormack*
*If Bryan isn't in, McCormack would drop the the tip of the diamond- with Woodrow going up front.
As I've said on numerous occasions, the Cup should be our priority this season- however that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and get as high up the league as possible, you only have to look at Reading's promotion season to see what can happen in the Championship if you put a run together.
Thanks for reading as always, this'll be our first League Game at Home this season- and we need to start making the Cottage a fortress again like it was under Hodgson- and to an extent Mark Hughes, and we need to start doing so tomorrow.
Despite my view we should be looking at a Cup Run as our primary goal this season, it doesn't mean we should completely discount the League- as simply put we aren't safe enough to do so. However, with the squad we have available we should have enough to win enough games to be comfortably mid-table- so we might as well start getting to a "safe" points tally in tomorrows game. Reading are starting to look a bit better under Steve Clarke, and they've picked up some good points against Middlesborough and Norwich in recent weeks- but I still view Reading as a winnable game provided we get our tactics right.
Of course Bettinelli will continue in goal, in the last few days we've had Cameron Burgess and George Williams sign new contracts- and I would hope Bettinelli along with some of our other youngsters will be signing new deals soon. Bettinelli is a player I can see some Premier League sides being interested in him come Summer- and a new deal would be as much of a statement as possible to other teams, and if nothing else a long-term deal would inflate his transfer fee.
The defence selection is also pretty straightforward as it has been recently, until Tim Hoogland and Amorebieta are fit again there isn't even a debate over the current Back 4- unless of course we sign someone. Its probably more to do with the fact we're in the Championship, but the lack of rumours surrounding us at the moment makes me think we'll be prioritising new deals for our young guys over new signings for this window- which is alright in my book, because as I said in my Cardiff Review this season is pretty much over for us with the exception of a Cup Run- so we should be looking ahead, and the best way to do that is to prioritise signing the players we'll need next season to new deals.
As always the debate is going to be had for the midfield spots. As per Kits Press Conference Christensen is back in training today- but it'll be a week before he's selected, so he'll be back in time for Sunderland. Another notable part of Kits Press Conference was that Bryan Ruiz was fit again- whether we use him is another thing entirely, because as I've said in previous blogs I didn't think he'd factor into selections this month- but because of this I'll tentatively put him in my team for this game with an "*" and an alternative. The inclusion of Ruiz will of course mean keeping the diamond- and for once the three in behind aren't a sure thing. With the options we have available of Tunnicliffe, Fofana, Kacaniklic, Parker and G. Williams we have a number of options that can provide different dynamics to the team. According to Kits Press Conference everyone's recovered from the Wolves game, so Parkers fitness isn't an issue- the two people who play around him are another issue. I could be wrong- but judging by the number of minutes Fofana has gotten under his belt there is a clause in his contract stipulating that if he's fit, he starts. However, because that isn't public knowledge I'm going to work on the basis that there isn't such a clause- and with the 3 Games in a week I would keep Fofana for Wednesday when he would come in for Parker, because we need him fit for the Sunderland game- which as I've said should be our priority. This leaves us with the two recalls and the newly signed George Williams fighting it out for two spots, personally Tunnicliffe will be a must going into the back end of this season- and next season and when everyone is fit I can see him playing Right-Mid the position he took up for a couple of games under Meulensteen, which as I see it is the only way we can have Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Parker and Kacaniklic in the same team.
Of course Bryan coming back will mean him taking the spot at the tip of the diamond, this'll leave McCormack taking up the unfamiliar spot of taking up the position he was signed to play in the first place. This'll be an interesting selection after Tuesdays game, because Woodrow has just scored a double meaning he is high on confidence. However, McCormack moving back to Striker will also free up space for Hugo- who is a more potent striker, despite his recent barren run. As such I'd give Hugo and McCormack the starting positions- and then depending on how the games going bring on Woodrow for either Hugo or Bryan after 60 Minutes.
Team for Reading
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis
Tunnicliffe, Parker, Kacaniklic
Ruiz*
Rodallega McCormack*
*If Bryan isn't in, McCormack would drop the the tip of the diamond- with Woodrow going up front.
As I've said on numerous occasions, the Cup should be our priority this season- however that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and get as high up the league as possible, you only have to look at Reading's promotion season to see what can happen in the Championship if you put a run together.
Thanks for reading as always, this'll be our first League Game at Home this season- and we need to start making the Cottage a fortress again like it was under Hodgson- and to an extent Mark Hughes, and we need to start doing so tomorrow.
Wednesday 14 January 2015
Wolves v Fulham Review: Never in Doubt
I think the 0-0 was a bit more exciting if I'm perfectly honest. I mean what did this game really have? I mean it only had a small blizzard, penalty incidents, missed open goals, a 120th Minute Penalty and a Penalty Shootout- oh yeah and 6 Goals.
I said in my Preview blog that a Cup Run can breed confidence, and although we may have left ourselves with too much to do Playoff wise this season- a Cup Run would keep the fans happy, and give us something to get excited about. A Win in the manner in which we did although its probably taken years off my life, is most definitely going to (or should) galvanise the players who have looked a bit lethargic since Christmas.
I've been loathing these paragraphs since Christmas, it is of course where I look at the goals. The First Goal was an absolute peach, Stafylidis- who I thought was great tonight putting in an inch perfect cross (YES, AN INCH PERFECT CROSS FROM A FULHAM FULL-BACK) and a great header from Woodrow. I thought the game was going to be pretty dull in the second half, I thought Wolves would be walking dead by 60-70 Minutes given how congested their two games were- and we would pass the game away. Instead it all went absolutely mental. Wolves were definitely worthy of their equaliser, the number of times they hit the woodwork was pretty ridiculous before they scored- and Wolves must have thought it wasn't their day. I don't think we could have done much for Edwards' first- Iorfa (who looks like a quality player) put in a good cross and that was that. Similar case with the Van la Parra goal- we were simply carved open by a quality ball. Woodrow's second was probably the easiest goal he'll get all season, but at the end of the day they all count and it was the Tap-In that kept us in it. I think we should have done a bit better for the Fulham goal, yes I acknowledge it was Extra Time etc. but to allow a player of the build of Batth to win the ball, advance and then cross is unacceptable. We rarely get penalties in open play, or in any form- but its good to know when we get Penalties in Open Play we have multiple players who can take them and convert them.
If you want an interesting fact, aside from the Sidwell Penalty last season against Spurs- to my best knowledge the last time we missed a Penalty was Kasami when we played Chelsea and lost on Penalties, which I think was in 2011.
Once again Bettinelli proved himself to be a vital player- despite conceding. Him, and the frame of the goal were the only reasons we weren't on the receiving end of a cricket score in the second half. As it stands I'd rank our Top 3 Players of the season as;
1. Christensen
2. Bettinelli
3. McCormack
The overall defensive performance wasn't great, but as I've already said some of the individual performances who were in the defence- I've already highlighted Stafylidis and Grimmer was also quality tonight. It frustrates me as much as anything else when we have such schizophrenic players in our team, and don't get me wrong I'm happy we've gotten through- but certain players perked up today when there weren't any points available. The defence we currently have is far from perfect, but it is good enough in my opinion if we decide to hold off on the Summer before making defensive signings, and of course with Hoogland and Amorebieta coming back soon we will have versatile options in the defence.
The Midfield was a mixed bag tonight. Fofana despite his tendency toward losing possession counterbalanced that with decent attacking play tonight- and he definitely played a lot better than he has recently. Kavanagh I thought played really well tonight as well, its bizarre how some of the players who were picked under "him" are starting to flourish, with Sean Kavanagh being the prime example. I'm slightly worried about Parkers fitness for Saturday given the conditions they were playing in- combined with the fact he played 105 Minutes, I'm sure the physios will work with him tomorrow- but given the fact Tunnicliffe and Kacaniklic will be eligible for Reading I wouldn't want to risk him getting injured as well given we're without Christensen at the minute. I'd be interested to see McCormacks heatmap from tonights game because it seemed like he was everywhere- and while I disagree with him playing deep, as you may have managed to guess if you read my last few blogs, if we can get a performance like we did from Woodrow- combining with a Rodallega who will hopefully be re-energised now he's put in the winning penalty I'm willing to persist at least until 5 O'Clock on Saturday.
Given the fact we were on a 4 Game barren run, I'm just happy we scored a goal- let alone three. As I've already said Woodrow played really well tonight, and has probably done enough to cement his place in the Eleven for the next few games. The same cannot be said for Dembele, while the way we won was much more exciting than it could have been- Dembele missing an open goal in the first half could have been the turning point, and had we gotten a two goal winning margin I doubt we'd have let it slip.
The Subs we made (for once) actually done something for once- because Kit gave them enough time. Pat Roberts' penalty was way beyond his years, and highlighted the quality he does have- and the confidence he has at such a young age; the same can be said for Woodrow's Penalty. As I've already said Hugo scoring the winning penalty was a good end to the game- and in a way I'm happy it was him because after the chance he should have put away late in Extra Time he would have probably been slated if we hadn't won. Zverotic came on too late in the game to make any real impact, and as I've already said- it was probably more to do with Parker needing to come off than wanting Zverotic to come on.
Overall, this was a great cup game. We're now headed to Sunderland a Week on Saturday- and with Kacaniklic and Tunnicliffe being eligible, potentially Christensen being back in time and Sunderland firmly needing to focus on the league the way they're playing at the moment I would honestly say we have a good chance of getting into the hat for the 5th Round.
Thanks for reading as always, I've now firmly gotten back to a normal heart rate- but I was shaking like a leaf during the Penalty Shoot-Out as I'm sure many others were. Now lets carry on this goalscoring form, and confidence into the League on Saturday.
I'd also like to briefly pay tribute to Sir Jack Hayward, I'm sure many people who are closer to Wolves will do a better job of it- but I'd just like to say I respect anyone who goes out of their way for their club like Hayward did, and despite me being happy we're through- My thoughts are firmly with his family and Wolves.
Tuesday 13 January 2015
RAW Review- 12th January
Hello! Its another RAW Review, *yay*. After last weeks car crash it could only get better, don't worry the guy driving the ambulance was sacked. But seriously, it couldn't get worse than last week- Could It?
The Authority, John Cena Promo
A new and exciting opening segment really got the juices flowing for the whole show last night. The promos are alright don't get me wrong, but when you've heard almost the exact same Promo with the Names interchanged even an amazing promo can wear thin eventually. Everyone played role at least adequately, and I suppose it was a good way to set up the first match.
Seth Rollins v John Cena- Lumberjack Match
The Best thing about this match, they really made Rollins look like a legitimate threat in this match- I mean he had to win dirty, he is a heel after all; but at least Rollins took Cena to the absolute edge before the heelish antics got in the way, right? I'm not so much going to review this match as have a mini-rant. Seth v Cena should be Headlining PPVs, but instead they've given us this match- or a form of it with regard to Tag Matches, Handicap etc. so many times WHEN it headlines a PPV it won't mean anything because we've all seen it a million times before. While I don't agree with giving Brock the Title, the fact he wrestles such a limited schedule makes every match he's in mean something. This especially doesn't make sense given the fact the potential pairings for Cena are pretty much unlimited at this point.
New Day v Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
Firstly, I'm happy Cesaro got a defined spot in the Lumberjack match when he swung Cena into the barricade. The match was perfectly fine, but it won't ever be anything more than that with the current gimmick dynamic.
Big Show, Roman Reigns Promo
One Promo was well though, delivered impeccably and was really rather good- the other came from the person earmarked as a future Main Eventer. I'm not quite sure why Roman, or rather Vince felt the need to tell us a bedtime story- it was appreciated don't get me wrong; but usually I try to stay awake.
Roman Reigns v Luke Harper
This match was pretty average, at least the crowd got really into the match- and got firmly behind Roman which leaves me hopeful he will get his deserved Main Event Pu- Oh Wait, They were chanting "Lets Go Harper".
Alicia Fox v Naomi
I don't think literally handicapping Divas is the way to go. The only thing of note from this match was the worst execution of a scissor kick I think I've ever seen.
Dean Ambrose's Evaluation
The first two segments weren't really noteworthy so I left both of them for this bit, this was the first comedy segment WWE have done that I've laughed at for a long time (for the reason they intended it to be funny). Ambrose's delivery was great for all of these segments, the only thing I would have done to improve it would have been to bring Dr. Shelby back rather than a random indy guy- as I could definitely see Dr. Shelby and Ambrose having chemistry. The last skit was pretty uncomfortable in my opinion, to my best knowledge the "Psychiatrist" was neutral- and Ambrose shredding him was just uncomfortable in my opinion. I know he isn't a "clean-cut" babyface, but still.
Paul Heyman Promo
I think the only real fantasy is that Paul Heyman can do a Bad Promo.
The Miz v Jey Uso
You know, "back in my day" I always thought that a feud ended when the babyface conquered the dastardly heel- apparently that is no longer the case. The match was pretty average, similar to the Rollins-Cena dynamic- the matches they put on can be good; but when you see them so frequently you get jaded pretty quickly to the pairing.
Daniel Bryan, Stephanie McMahon Promo/Daniel Bryan, Kane Brawl
This was just a way to reintroduce Bryan's moveset to the "Casual" fan in my opinion. Its not a secret that Bryan isn't an amazing promo, but he got his message across in a concise way. Stephanie's promos are always at least half decent- and this was no exception, but once again the problem is we've seen a variation of said promo 2.7 Billion (conservative estimate) already.
Brie Bella v Paige
Tyson Kidd was in multiple segments, so this was the best RAW ever.
Bray Wyatt Promo
It almost feels like a disservice to say a Wyatt Promo is good now.
Randy Savage HOF Induction
I'm happy it actually happened, I was almost convinced it wasn't going to happen when they were saying "expected" with regard to his induction for close to 2 and a Half Hours. But this was one of the HOF Inductions that simply had to happen eventually.
The Ascension v Unnamed Jobbers
One of the jobbers had really good tights, thats what I took from this match. Ascension should at the very least be squashing active main roster stars as opposed to random jobbers. Although I get the feeling their whole gimmick is going to be squashing unnamed jobbers and getting a big head- with the commentators burying them week-in week-out on commentary because Vince has utter contempt for almost everyone who's made themselves in NXT.
Lana, Rusev Promo
This was pretty standard with regard to the Rusev & Lana Promos, They really need to find something for them to sink their teeth into- which doesn't involve beating Ambrose.
Rusev v Dean Ambrose
I didn't mind the finish if I'm honest, a DQ loss for Rusev wouldn't have done anyone any favours in my opinion because it'd have entailed Rusev destroying Ambrose in order to facilitate the DQ. Of course, this whole thing could have been avoided had they not booked themselves into a corner in the first place with the pairing.
WWEWHC Contract Signing
I Really liked Rollins' promo from this segment. It could be to do with his voice, but his promos are pretty hit and miss in my opinion- but this one was a really good one. I think they should give Rollins and Cena an "Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend" dynamic with regard to Lesnar- because he is clearly the biggest threat out of the three. Brock sold the Curb Stomp better than almost anyone I've seen, which really surprised me- I liked the fact Rollins got the upper hand, and if it were up to me I'd have Brock completely destroy everything until the Rumble- and go on to win and have him look really good going into Mania.
Overall this RAW was average, but that is quite an accomplishment the way the WWE has been lately- and its safe to say this was the best RAW of the Year.
Thanks as always for reading, I'm writing this during the Fulham game thats going on at the minute so I'm not entirely sure which blog I'm going to put up first- but either way I hope you enjoyed this one and are still enjoying these reviews- in terms of Wrasslin my next blog will be an Impact Review most likely so stay tuned for that; and thanks again.
The Authority, John Cena Promo
A new and exciting opening segment really got the juices flowing for the whole show last night. The promos are alright don't get me wrong, but when you've heard almost the exact same Promo with the Names interchanged even an amazing promo can wear thin eventually. Everyone played role at least adequately, and I suppose it was a good way to set up the first match.
Seth Rollins v John Cena- Lumberjack Match
The Best thing about this match, they really made Rollins look like a legitimate threat in this match- I mean he had to win dirty, he is a heel after all; but at least Rollins took Cena to the absolute edge before the heelish antics got in the way, right? I'm not so much going to review this match as have a mini-rant. Seth v Cena should be Headlining PPVs, but instead they've given us this match- or a form of it with regard to Tag Matches, Handicap etc. so many times WHEN it headlines a PPV it won't mean anything because we've all seen it a million times before. While I don't agree with giving Brock the Title, the fact he wrestles such a limited schedule makes every match he's in mean something. This especially doesn't make sense given the fact the potential pairings for Cena are pretty much unlimited at this point.
New Day v Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
Firstly, I'm happy Cesaro got a defined spot in the Lumberjack match when he swung Cena into the barricade. The match was perfectly fine, but it won't ever be anything more than that with the current gimmick dynamic.
Big Show, Roman Reigns Promo
One Promo was well though, delivered impeccably and was really rather good- the other came from the person earmarked as a future Main Eventer. I'm not quite sure why Roman, or rather Vince felt the need to tell us a bedtime story- it was appreciated don't get me wrong; but usually I try to stay awake.
Roman Reigns v Luke Harper
This match was pretty average, at least the crowd got really into the match- and got firmly behind Roman which leaves me hopeful he will get his deserved Main Event Pu- Oh Wait, They were chanting "Lets Go Harper".
Alicia Fox v Naomi
I don't think literally handicapping Divas is the way to go. The only thing of note from this match was the worst execution of a scissor kick I think I've ever seen.
Dean Ambrose's Evaluation
The first two segments weren't really noteworthy so I left both of them for this bit, this was the first comedy segment WWE have done that I've laughed at for a long time (for the reason they intended it to be funny). Ambrose's delivery was great for all of these segments, the only thing I would have done to improve it would have been to bring Dr. Shelby back rather than a random indy guy- as I could definitely see Dr. Shelby and Ambrose having chemistry. The last skit was pretty uncomfortable in my opinion, to my best knowledge the "Psychiatrist" was neutral- and Ambrose shredding him was just uncomfortable in my opinion. I know he isn't a "clean-cut" babyface, but still.
Paul Heyman Promo
I think the only real fantasy is that Paul Heyman can do a Bad Promo.
The Miz v Jey Uso
You know, "back in my day" I always thought that a feud ended when the babyface conquered the dastardly heel- apparently that is no longer the case. The match was pretty average, similar to the Rollins-Cena dynamic- the matches they put on can be good; but when you see them so frequently you get jaded pretty quickly to the pairing.
Daniel Bryan, Stephanie McMahon Promo/Daniel Bryan, Kane Brawl
This was just a way to reintroduce Bryan's moveset to the "Casual" fan in my opinion. Its not a secret that Bryan isn't an amazing promo, but he got his message across in a concise way. Stephanie's promos are always at least half decent- and this was no exception, but once again the problem is we've seen a variation of said promo 2.7 Billion (conservative estimate) already.
Brie Bella v Paige
Tyson Kidd was in multiple segments, so this was the best RAW ever.
Bray Wyatt Promo
It almost feels like a disservice to say a Wyatt Promo is good now.
Randy Savage HOF Induction
I'm happy it actually happened, I was almost convinced it wasn't going to happen when they were saying "expected" with regard to his induction for close to 2 and a Half Hours. But this was one of the HOF Inductions that simply had to happen eventually.
The Ascension v Unnamed Jobbers
One of the jobbers had really good tights, thats what I took from this match. Ascension should at the very least be squashing active main roster stars as opposed to random jobbers. Although I get the feeling their whole gimmick is going to be squashing unnamed jobbers and getting a big head- with the commentators burying them week-in week-out on commentary because Vince has utter contempt for almost everyone who's made themselves in NXT.
Lana, Rusev Promo
This was pretty standard with regard to the Rusev & Lana Promos, They really need to find something for them to sink their teeth into- which doesn't involve beating Ambrose.
Rusev v Dean Ambrose
I didn't mind the finish if I'm honest, a DQ loss for Rusev wouldn't have done anyone any favours in my opinion because it'd have entailed Rusev destroying Ambrose in order to facilitate the DQ. Of course, this whole thing could have been avoided had they not booked themselves into a corner in the first place with the pairing.
WWEWHC Contract Signing
I Really liked Rollins' promo from this segment. It could be to do with his voice, but his promos are pretty hit and miss in my opinion- but this one was a really good one. I think they should give Rollins and Cena an "Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend" dynamic with regard to Lesnar- because he is clearly the biggest threat out of the three. Brock sold the Curb Stomp better than almost anyone I've seen, which really surprised me- I liked the fact Rollins got the upper hand, and if it were up to me I'd have Brock completely destroy everything until the Rumble- and go on to win and have him look really good going into Mania.
Overall this RAW was average, but that is quite an accomplishment the way the WWE has been lately- and its safe to say this was the best RAW of the Year.
Thanks as always for reading, I'm writing this during the Fulham game thats going on at the minute so I'm not entirely sure which blog I'm going to put up first- but either way I hope you enjoyed this one and are still enjoying these reviews- in terms of Wrasslin my next blog will be an Impact Review most likely so stay tuned for that; and thanks again.
Monday 12 January 2015
Wolves v Fulham Preview: The Value of a Cup Run (Part 2)
Hello! Its another blog, and we're headed to Wolverhampton for the FA Cup Replay- which has only added to our already congested fixture list. I know its traditional, but I think FA Cup games should simply go to Extra Time and Penalties if they're drawing after 90 minutes- it just generally being better on the players and (to an extent) the fans.
I touched on it briefly in my Cardiff Review/Breakdown of where we've been going wrong since Christmas- but I would value a Cup Run pretty highly as of now. Unless a lot of things fall into place we aren't going to go down, and we're by no means going to challenge the Top 6 unless a lot of things fall into place- as such I think we should look at trying to piece together a good Cup Run just to give the fans something to get excited about this season, and give the young players some confidence.
In terms of when we're playing Wolves, I genuinely can't think of a better time. Sako is in Equatorial Guinea- and Wolves are coming off the back of a tricky game Yesterday against Blackburn which I'm sure will have left some tired legs in the dressing room with little time to recover. As such I can see Wolves doing almost wholesale rotation for tomorrows game- and while that One Extra Day isn't a huge difference the fact we were on the ball for the majority of the game in comparison to Wolves should leave us in good stead with regard to fitness- at least in comparison to the players in Orange.
As You may have already ascertained, I would go pretty full strength tomorrow- with a few exceptions. Naturally Bettinelli should continue in goal, even though he hasn't been keeping many clean sheets he is still definitely one of our better players and suspension and injury notwithstanding he should be in goal for the rest of the season without a doubt.
The Defence is another area where I don't necessarily see the need to change. I think Grimmer and Stafylidis are in the team whether we like it or not until Hoogland and Amorebieta are fit again, because Kit clearly doesn't trust Zverotic (or Voser) and Kit clearly sees Kavanagh as more of a midfielder. However, I do think Bodurov deserves a rest- and considering the physicality of the Wolves side I think Dan Burn should use this game to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans, and in the eyes of Kit after the Watford debacle. Although Hutchinson looked a bit shaky at the weekend he is definitely coming on leaps and bounds still- and I don't see a reason as to why we should halt this momentum.
I'm accepting Bryan Ruiz will not be a factor in the Midfield plans, at least for this month and if by some miracle he's here come February then it will be similar to when he came back into the team against Blackburn in September. You also have to bare in mind Kacaniklic and Tunnicliffe are ineligible for this game (to my best knowledge, basing it off the fact Holtby etc. were ineligible for Sheffield United) so we do have very limited options with regard to the Midfield. I think we should go for a Flat 4-4-2, but I think we'll persist with the failing diamond so I'll talk about who I would pick for both formations. If we are going for a Diamond, it would mean McCormack playing at the tip most likely. The Three in behind should be Fofana, Parker and Kavanagh, despite Fofana's short comings he's probably the only viable option we have for this game, because to my best knowledge Hyndman is away at a Youth Tournament. If we are going for a Flat 4-4-2 the personnel would be similar, but of course how they would lay out would be different- and McCormack would go to where he rightly belongs-up front. If we go for a 4-4-2 I'd have George Williams playing on the right, Fofana and Parker playing in the Central Roles and Kavanagh on the Left.
As I've already said with regard to McCormack, he belongs in this section, and that is where I'll keep him- at least until I'm convinced McCormack playing in the Diamond doesn't hamper his game- and that of the players around him. Of course using the fact Kit has played McCormack in the diamond, similar to the midfield means I'll discuss both options. If McCormack does play in the Diamond it would probably mean Rodallega and Woodrow up front, however I firmly believe Rodallega needs a rest as he is looking jaded at the moment which only really leaves us with Dembele and Woodrow, neither of whom- especially in Dembeles case are fully ready at this stage. This is also why I think McCormack should be up front in a 4-4-2, and the Woodrow-McCormack dynamic will be an interesting one to explore for the game tomorrow.
Team for Wolves (Diamond)
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Burn, Stafylidis
Fofana, Parker, Kavanagh
McCormack
Rodallega Woodrow
Team for Wolves (4-4-2)
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Burn, Stafylidis
G. Williams, Fofana, Parker, Kavanagh
McCormack Woodrow
As I've already eluded to, we should be looking at putting together a Cup Run as that will be our only real source of excitement barring a fight for 14th as we currently are. This combined with the fact Wolves will most likely be prioritising the league and the time they've had to prepare for the game we should be looking at this game to at the very least break out barren run in front of goal.
Thanks as always for reading, I hope our current lack of form isn't turning you off to these blogs- as I still enjoy doing them despite the on the pitch antics. Anyway thanks again for reading, and lets hope we're headed to Sunderland rather than the Cottage on the 24th.
Quick Side Note: Odds on us winning tomorrow, and Stuart Pearce being sacked just in time to play us in the rearranged fixture with the New Manager effect doing us in.
I touched on it briefly in my Cardiff Review/Breakdown of where we've been going wrong since Christmas- but I would value a Cup Run pretty highly as of now. Unless a lot of things fall into place we aren't going to go down, and we're by no means going to challenge the Top 6 unless a lot of things fall into place- as such I think we should look at trying to piece together a good Cup Run just to give the fans something to get excited about this season, and give the young players some confidence.
In terms of when we're playing Wolves, I genuinely can't think of a better time. Sako is in Equatorial Guinea- and Wolves are coming off the back of a tricky game Yesterday against Blackburn which I'm sure will have left some tired legs in the dressing room with little time to recover. As such I can see Wolves doing almost wholesale rotation for tomorrows game- and while that One Extra Day isn't a huge difference the fact we were on the ball for the majority of the game in comparison to Wolves should leave us in good stead with regard to fitness- at least in comparison to the players in Orange.
As You may have already ascertained, I would go pretty full strength tomorrow- with a few exceptions. Naturally Bettinelli should continue in goal, even though he hasn't been keeping many clean sheets he is still definitely one of our better players and suspension and injury notwithstanding he should be in goal for the rest of the season without a doubt.
The Defence is another area where I don't necessarily see the need to change. I think Grimmer and Stafylidis are in the team whether we like it or not until Hoogland and Amorebieta are fit again, because Kit clearly doesn't trust Zverotic (or Voser) and Kit clearly sees Kavanagh as more of a midfielder. However, I do think Bodurov deserves a rest- and considering the physicality of the Wolves side I think Dan Burn should use this game to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans, and in the eyes of Kit after the Watford debacle. Although Hutchinson looked a bit shaky at the weekend he is definitely coming on leaps and bounds still- and I don't see a reason as to why we should halt this momentum.
I'm accepting Bryan Ruiz will not be a factor in the Midfield plans, at least for this month and if by some miracle he's here come February then it will be similar to when he came back into the team against Blackburn in September. You also have to bare in mind Kacaniklic and Tunnicliffe are ineligible for this game (to my best knowledge, basing it off the fact Holtby etc. were ineligible for Sheffield United) so we do have very limited options with regard to the Midfield. I think we should go for a Flat 4-4-2, but I think we'll persist with the failing diamond so I'll talk about who I would pick for both formations. If we are going for a Diamond, it would mean McCormack playing at the tip most likely. The Three in behind should be Fofana, Parker and Kavanagh, despite Fofana's short comings he's probably the only viable option we have for this game, because to my best knowledge Hyndman is away at a Youth Tournament. If we are going for a Flat 4-4-2 the personnel would be similar, but of course how they would lay out would be different- and McCormack would go to where he rightly belongs-up front. If we go for a 4-4-2 I'd have George Williams playing on the right, Fofana and Parker playing in the Central Roles and Kavanagh on the Left.
As I've already said with regard to McCormack, he belongs in this section, and that is where I'll keep him- at least until I'm convinced McCormack playing in the Diamond doesn't hamper his game- and that of the players around him. Of course using the fact Kit has played McCormack in the diamond, similar to the midfield means I'll discuss both options. If McCormack does play in the Diamond it would probably mean Rodallega and Woodrow up front, however I firmly believe Rodallega needs a rest as he is looking jaded at the moment which only really leaves us with Dembele and Woodrow, neither of whom- especially in Dembeles case are fully ready at this stage. This is also why I think McCormack should be up front in a 4-4-2, and the Woodrow-McCormack dynamic will be an interesting one to explore for the game tomorrow.
Team for Wolves (Diamond)
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Burn, Stafylidis
Fofana, Parker, Kavanagh
McCormack
Rodallega Woodrow
Team for Wolves (4-4-2)
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Burn, Stafylidis
G. Williams, Fofana, Parker, Kavanagh
McCormack Woodrow
As I've already eluded to, we should be looking at putting together a Cup Run as that will be our only real source of excitement barring a fight for 14th as we currently are. This combined with the fact Wolves will most likely be prioritising the league and the time they've had to prepare for the game we should be looking at this game to at the very least break out barren run in front of goal.
Thanks as always for reading, I hope our current lack of form isn't turning you off to these blogs- as I still enjoy doing them despite the on the pitch antics. Anyway thanks again for reading, and lets hope we're headed to Sunderland rather than the Cottage on the 24th.
Quick Side Note: Odds on us winning tomorrow, and Stuart Pearce being sacked just in time to play us in the rearranged fixture with the New Manager effect doing us in.
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