blgstocks

[IMG]www.premierleague.com/en/images/club_normallogos_180x160/fulham.gif[/IMG]

Fulham continue to impress, but injuries take there toll as sicklist grows

What can i say to summise my season with Fulham so far? Well i'll start with the positives and that is i find myself 5th in the premier league table, with ten games gone. Also Collins John finds himself joint top of the league scoring charts with 7 goals. Luis Boa Morte also tops the average player rating charts with an average in excess of 8. I have also passed through the first two rounds of the carling cup without any trouble with teams largely made up of youth with a smidgeon of experience thrown in.

However no matter how good my start to the season has been, there are certain elements that temper the success. Primarily i have had a horrendouse run on the injury front, with itleast 2 and up to 5 first team players out at a time since the beginning of the season, indeed i have never had the chance to deploy a team i deem my "first choice" due to the spate of players arriving at the medical centre. However the gravest fact is that damned rogue niall murphy has managed to usurp me positionally in the league, and with a game coming up, is something i hope to rectify.
N.B. the table pops up on the epl website when niall finally overhauls me....i smell a rat!

Game wise i played a further 4 games winning 2 and drawing 2, with the results and goalscorers as follows:-

Fulham 2-1 Spurs(home)
Goals-Malbranque,John-Keane.
We started well, and immediately asserted ourselves on a tottenham side low on confidence after a rotten start to the season. The strategy seemed to be working as we took the game to them and were rewarded when Malbranque fired past the keeper from 10 yards after a sweet interchange of passes with the dynamic Wurtz. This seemed to fire spurs up and they got back into the game with both teams having chances to score. The breakthrough happened when keane headed in from a corner that was given in error by the referees assistant. 1-1 forcing me to attack from the platform i was sitting back from. However cometh the hour cometh the man, and indeed collins john was on hand to take the ball at his feet from Stoica, turn Dawson and smash home from the edge of the box...2-1 3 points for Fulham and a happier manager indeed.

Fulham 0-0 Boro(home)
Simply put bore draw... i had the better of the chances and Wurtz missed a pen 2 points dropped.

Fulham 1-1 Bolton(away)
Goals-John(pen)-Nolan
A tough game against big sam' trotters and to be honest i was second best for most of the game, taking the lead early and then hoping to sit on it. However Bolton struck back after half time(when that rat murphy showed his head in gartside' box), but i managed to hold on for a draw. Johnson played well in goal and kept me in the game.

Fulham 1-0 Cheltenham(home-AET)
Goal-Briand
The kids were sent out for this game and they did not dissapoint, despite the game being taken to extra time, with Fulham controlling the game throughout. The tie was settled in the second half of extra time when Briand showed his class rounding 2 defenders before chipping over the GK with a sublime finish...thats class baby!

With injuries mounting, as well as a worsening financial situation, i hop to get to january with as many points as possible, when i can trim the fat from my team. As ever the aim is to avoid relegation, but on current form i hope to stay well out of that...fingers crossed. Now anyone for a "murphy sandwich" ...goaty...???

blgstocks

and again the badge doesn't work...damn this i blame the premier league...NOT personal error as has been suggested

retired_hollieo

So far so good for Birmingham.

Into 4th place in the league, not bad on a spend of only £3m, a fifth of what the Goat has splashed out on Blackburn Rovers only to have the same number of points in the table....Of course Murphy had to play the next set of matches without his star striker Forssell....

Recent Games was head to head almost all the way....


Birmingham 1 - 0 West Ham

Danny King has already stated that he's worried about relegation and on this performance his side looked like a championship outfit in the making. :p

The 1-0 final score line was not a fair reflection of the complete domination Birmingham enjoyed in this game where King was indebted to goalkeeper Roy Carroll for keeping the score line respectable. My £1.9m Czech international right winger sealed the points from the spot in the first half. West Ham have the quality to survive but the question is, do they have the right manager?!!

West Brom 0 - 2 Birmingham

A midlands derby and a match against a Liggins controlled side which meant we knew that WBA would be fired up and giving 200% in an attempt to beat my side. :p

Oh the joy then when in the first two minutes David Dunn, who was on a high after being called into the England squad for the injured Chelsea player Joe Cole, fired home a rasping drive from 25-30 yards beating Albion's reserve keeper all the way. As Birmingham completely controlled the first half, the second goal arrived from another piece of magic from Dunn. Drifting infield from his position wide on the left, Dunn beat a few static Albion defenders before hitting another unstoppable shot past the keeper. After HT, WBA made a good attempt to get back into the game, but moving to a 4-5-1 for the final 25 minutes saw the game out.

Birmingham 3 - 3 Charlton Athletic

A tremendous match against Dave Williams' Charlton here at St Andrews with both managers agreeing after the game that a draw was a fair result but also rueing missed opportunities to win the game. Charlton have a good record so far on the road so I was anticipating a tough game and we got it. Charlton went 1-0 and 2-1 up with Heskey and Pandiani bring us back into the games both times. Finally in the second half, Birmingham took the lead at 3-2 but a spectacular finish by Darren Bent a few minutes later saw the points shared - although Pandiani should have won the game but hit the bar when straight through!!


Birmingham 1 - 0 Bournemouth

Comfortable win in the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup, Damian Johnston scoring the winner to send us into Round 4.

Next up, it's Rick Boult....

Table After 10 Games

retired_utyorc

Have you ever has that sinking feeling?

Well I certainly have at West Ham


After winning my opening game of the season against much favoured Spurs the wheels have well and truly fallen of the bandwagon.. With the unrealistic amount of injuries in the game and generally starting with a half baked team we are struggling in the relegation zone within the premiership.

Our main problems are:

*No Cash
*No World class player only a few young ones with ability
*No real way to raise cash via player sales
*No way to ever field a first 11 (not even a first 7) with the amount of injuries I’m getting
*No luck like Mr Murphy and Mr Nilsen get game in game out


The only real plus they have is ME, a world class manager in the making


Results….


Premiership Game 1

West Ham 2
Holm 5, 12
Tottenham 0
Man of the Match: Konchesky 9/10 West Ham
Attendance-35559
Refereed by Matt Messias

Maybe this was the best time to play pagi as Spurs had a few injuries in there team with the like of King being out. I couldn’t have asked for a better start with Holm heading a Yossi Benayoun cross pass Paul Robinson. Then Holm picks the ball up in the centre circle and left the spurs midfield for dead hitting a low left drive into the bottom of the net. With pagi knowing the only way he could stop Holm in this game was to injure Holm his players done just that with Holm limping off in the 17 minute . For the rest of the first half it was all the hammers. Spurs did come back in the game in the second half and Mido had a goal ruled out for offside but West Ham was the better team in the game but did look a bit toothless without Holm. 2-0 Win


Premiership Game 1

Fulham 2
McBride 2, 79
West Ham 0
Man of the Match: McBride 9/10 Fulham
Attendance-21961
Refereed by Matt Messias

The bad news for this game was Holm was still out injured. With morale high after the Tottenham result I was hoping for a point even without him. McBride was the only real difference between the teams putting Fulham into an early lead. Yossi Benayoun and Noble were at the heart of most of West Ham best play but there shooting let them down in front of goal when really they should have scored. Second half with Fulham still leadng 1-0 I deciecded to thorw the kickten sink at the Fulham goal and used all 3 subs in the 60th minute, no sooner had I done this then one of my players when of injured playing the last 25 minutes with only 10 men. With Mcbride in great form nicked a second to seal Marks first win over me in Football manager . 2-0 Defeat


Premiership Game 3

West Ham 2
Holm 45
Bolton 3
Fernandez 19, 59 Svensson pen 85
Man of the Match: Fernandez 9/10 Bolton
Attendance-35583
Refereed by Chris Foy

The good new was that Holm passed a late fitness test to start the match but the bad news was Henri Camara picked up an injury in training. This was one of Carroll worse game for the club this season letting in 3 goals in only 4 shots on target. How I ever lost this game is beyond me with the amount of possession and chances I enjoyed against Bolton but you always get games like these in football so I’m hoping it will even itself out over the season. 3-1 Defeat


Premiership Game 4

Sunderland 1
Georigiev 32
West Ham 2
Camara 45 Harewood 66
Man of the Match: Carroll 9/10 West Ham
Attendance-32506
Refereed by Andy Durs

With Sunderland taking the lead in the first half I was fearful of another defeat but in the second half Camara scored his first goal for the club with a 20 yard effort on goal. Knowing I had to try and win games like these if I have any chance at staying in this division I put on Harewwod with 30 minutes to go and he immediately replayed my faith with the winner after only 6 minutes after coming onto the pitch. Carroll pulled of some fine saves late on but West Ham ran out deserved winners.
2-1 Win


Premiership Game 5

West Ham 0
Portsmouth 0
Man of the Match: Robert 8/10 Portsmouth
Attendance-35541
Refereed by Rob Styles

With Portsmouth manager Jay being call away on urgent business it was left to his assistant manager to fill in for him. This was a boring game mainly due to Rob Styles handing out cards for fun and spoiling the flow of the game my players collecting 5 along the way. Laurent Roberts was Portsmouth main danger man supplying crosses for the strikers which luckily for me they couldn’t finish. 0-0 Draw


Premiership Game 6

Blackburn 2
Deschacht 27 Young 89
West Ham 1
Holm 16
Man of the Match: Pedersen 8/10 Blackburn
Attendance-29338
Refereed by Phil Dowd

If Andy Nilsen could bottle his luck and sell it on he could be a multi millionaire in his own right by now . This was a game of two half’s with Blackburn making a bright start but West Ham finishing the much stronger team. Holm scored a good goal running past a Blackburn defender and beating the keeper only for Blackburn to score a thunderbolt from outside the area via Deschacht. Second half West Ham went on the attack only for there keeper to make save after save, the best of the chance coming when Holm was sent clear only for the goalkeeper to somehow save the one on one. Another good chance was when we hit the bar but with West Ham in control of this game I decided to go for the win and stuck on Harbuzi with 10 minutes left only for him to lose possession in the middle of the park and it left 2 Blackburn forwards bearing down on goal with only one defender back . With Goats luck the forward passes the prefect ball to his strike partner who had an empty net to slot the ball into it and win the game in the 89th minute. Andy later declared it was his great tactical change that won him the match but it was clearly an awful mistake by Harbuzi that gifted them the 3 points . 2-1 Defeat


League Cup 2nd Rd

Braford City 2
Windass 75, 106
West Ham 4
Vitti 35, Weatherall og 101 Harewood 112, 115
Man of the Match: Harewood 8/10 West Ham
Attendance-8832
Refereed by Andy Penn

Put out the mainly the reserves out for this game as we had another big game against Manchester United at the weekend. Vitti got his first start for the club and made the first goal himself after some fine work outside the box then slotting home but he then picked up a minor injury which I decided best not to take any chances so he was replaced. The evergreen Windass then scored a good goal after an error from Luke Davenport gifted him the ball. Then the game went to extra time and with West Ham better fitness starting to show as Weatherall put the ball into his own net. Windass scored again but Harewood popped up with a quick double to seal victory and send us into the next round.
4-2 Win


Premiership Game 7

West Ham 0
Manchester United 0
Man of the Match: Carroll 8/10 West Ham
Attendance-35588
Refereed by Andy D’urso

A great battling performance for my team against one of the great EPL teams in today football. Yossi Benayoun scored a stunning goal in the 10th minute only for the ref to rule it out for offside but on closer inspection the goal cearly should have counted . Carroll again was our main man pulling of some saves from the likes of Rooney and Smith but I was left to rule that goal that would have given us 3 points. 0-0 Draw


Premiership Game 8

Birmingham 1
Pitak pen 40
West Ham 0
Man of the Match: Carroll 9/10 West Ham
[i]Attendance-30856/I]
Refereed by Rob Styles

Facing the second most luckiest manager in EPL I came to st Andrews with a game plan which was to defend, defend, defend and defend striaght out of the bible of the lengendally Mo . My team done me proud mainly keeping Birmingham chances to long range efforts or last ditch tackles. Again lady luck didn’t shine on me but on the Irish one. Birmingham was awarded a penalty that won them the game. Niall reaction after this game was the West Ham team was good enough to stay in the premiership but maybe not there manager. You wait until our next game your luck can only last so long unless you’re buying the bottled stuff of the goat . 1-0 Defeat


Premiership Game 9

West Ham 0
Everton 1
Cahill 8
Man of the Match: James McFadden 8/10 Everton
Attendance-30508
Refereed by Barry Knight

Another game that my football deserved to be awarded some points from but on Everton first attack on goal they scored from a corner via Cahill header. We had our fair share of chances to score but our morale is hitting a low and it showed in front of goal. The best chance was when Holm hit the bar and the ball fell straight to Harewood who somehow missed an open goal from 5 yards out :eek:. 1-0 Defeat


Premiership Game 10

Arsenal 2
Reyes 7, 33
West Ham 0
Man of the Match: Cole 9/10 Arsenal
[i]Attendance-38408/I]
Refereed by Matt Messias

Just what you need when you’re on a losing steak is taking on Arsenal at Highbury. Arsenal was lot better team on the day and two well worked goals from Reyes gave them the victory they deserved. We had a few chances to score but we were never really at the races in this game and another negative was we picked up another two injuries in this game. 2-0 Defeat



With form like this I could soon find myself out of a job but it could be worse I could be Rick or Pagi but they are good managers and I’m sure with the teams they have they will be climbing the league in no time and leaving me at the bottom of the table . With the injuries mounting up and no real depth within the squad the future doesn’t look great down at West Ham. On top of this our first game Sunday will be against Chelsea but after that will have Wigan managed by ET in a game I have to win if there is any chance that I might stay up.



More to follow soon

retired_teresa assis

Thank God for the assistant

Due to other committments, I had to leave the new assisstant in charge of affairs for July and August. It's a good job I did as well...

Firstly, transfer news:

IN

Tom Muyters - Gk - £300k from PSV

Good keeper, one for the future, will see more action when splitter Kirkland leaves next season

Nicolas Lombaerts - DLC - £350k from AA Gent

20 year old CB with a big future in the game

Andrew Considine - DC - £20k from Aberdeen

Absolute bargain for a brilliant young talent. 18 years old but already with U21 caps, sent straight out on loan to Cardiff

OUT

Lloyd Dyer - AML - £400k to Plymouth

Good pace, but not enough quality at this level.


There have been some transfers arranged for January, but they shall remain a secret for now.


Anyway, onto the fixtures. My trusty assistant took charge of the following results.


WBA 3-1 Liverpool
Spurs 0-0 WBA
WBA 2-1 Fulham
Bolton 0-1 WBA
WBA 1-1 Sunderalnd
Portsmouth 2-2 WBA

At this stage, we were as high as 2nd, although the team did go down 1-0 away to Plymouth in the League cup. Unfortunately I came along and f**ked it all up...

WBA 4-6 Blackburn

Blackburn 3-0 after 10, WBA 4-3 up after 25. 1 man sent off, 1 off injured reducing WBA to 9 men, 2 penalties for Blackburn - this game had it all. At the end of the day, though, Blackburn deserved the 3 points

Man Utd 2-1 WBA

2-0 down after 8 minutes, Liggins stormed off leaving the faithful assistant in charge (well, I was disconnected, but I prefer my story.) A late consolation was all the team could muster

WBA 0-2 Birmingham

Murphy, annoyingly, took all 3 points home, after David Dunn raveged the Baggies in the first half with two individual 20 yard strikes. WBA then controlled the 2nd half but couldn't break down the resolute scummers from Small Heath.

Everton 2-1 WBA

Horsfield gave the Baggies a half time lead, but Everton fought back to claim an unlikely and fortunate victory.


So there we are, I come in and lose 4 on the bounce. Still, it can only get better, can't it?

retired_teresa assis

Liggins finally doesn't lose!

Yes, it's happened, Richard Liggins has picked up his first point in charge of WBA. Fans rejoice, and an open-top bus ride is being planned.

WBA 0-1 Arsenal

A decent performance, but the game changed on 39 minutes when Liggins was sent to the stands for decent, after intimating that the ref needed glasses (Yes the bloody game disconnected me again, sort it out SI.) It was 0-0 and very even. Come full time, Earnshaw had been sent off and Henry grabbed a late winner. Grr.

Chelsea 2-1 WBA

An excellent performance from the lads, a point would've been fair. Gera put the Baggies one up with 10 to go to the break, only for Tillen to equalise just on the stroke of half time after a defensive error from Albrechtsen. West Brom controlled the 2nd half thanks to some tactical genius from Liggins, only for young carthorse Carlton Cole to grab a winner in the last minute. Grr, again.

Newcatle 3-3 WBA

Woohoo, a point, but it should've been all 3. Gera put the Baggies one up after 5 minutes, only for Owen to pounce on another defensive error, this time from Watson, after 20. Kamara restored the lead to put WBA ahead at the interval. Shortly after the break Shearer was left unmarked and equalised for the Newcastle, before Luque put the Toon into an undeserved lead. But in injury time some sort of justice prevailed, as man-of-the-match Koumas grabbed a point.



After 6 straight defeats, a draw away from home was very welcome. The performances have started to improve, and with Albion having a game in hand and the chance to move up from 17th to 13th, plus plenty of transfer activity planned for January - high earning reserves out, fresh faced young talent in - things should be about to improve.

Hopefully.

Boing Boing

blgstocks

Fulham continue to perform above expectation, but the spectre of administration looms!

Nearing the half way mark in the season, Fulham lie in 5th in the premiership, a position that would see them qualify for europe, if they can maintain these level of performance for the duration of the season. In the league cup all goes well, with a trip to the Madjeski stadium next on the cards, a match which D'Ardenne has tipped to be a cracker. However it seems that Fulhams best ever season in the premiership, is destined to be ruined, after a series of unfortunate events, beginning with a horrendous injury crisis which lasted for 2 months and when the team has finally recovered to a decent level, the clubs finances begin to spiral out of control. This seems somewhat unfair to D'Ardenne who feels misled by chairman Al Fayed. D'Ardenne took over the club with the realisation that the club was £2m in the red, and after some wheeling and dealing in the transfer market came out ahead, by over £1.5m. However despite making money im currently losing £500k a month, even though im currently under wage budget, and am at a loss of what more could be done to stem the flow, except to dismantle my squad. Thus it is with great sadness that i am placing Papa Bouba Diop and Luis Boa Morte on the transfer list. With both player expectd to go for fees in excess of £6/7 million, they should provide the money that will see the club comforably avoid administration. This however will ravage my squad, and with little money to bring in reinforcements, my season could easily subside into mediocrity, or worse relegation. Damn you Sigames, you've ruined me .

Anyway onto the match reports.

Fulham 1-3 Sunderland(home)
goals-John-Etherington,Flitcroft,Gray

Dour performance really with only Collins "the hitman" John turning up for the game, and with so many injuries(5 missed this 1 i think) my team could not cope with a surprisingly decent Sunderland. Collins john did however conjure up some magic when he chipped the ball over a defender, a la gazza, and fired past Davis with a stinker of a shot.

Fulham 0-0 pompey(away)

This game despite not having goals was quite exciting with both sides having good chances to score and indeed win the game. Lua Lua terrorised the fulham defence and created lots of chances for himself but didn't take the opportunity to score. John and Mcbride were presented with the better chances of the game but failoed to find the back of the net, John in particular geting onto a pass slotted thorugh the pompey defence by the ever improving Reo-Coker, and firing past the keeper but just wide, 2 points dropped really, but the game was quite even, however given i was away 1 point is not to be sniffed at.

Fulham 4-2 Blackburn(home)
Goals-John(2)Mcbride(2)-Joo Young(2)

This game was billed as a cracker of a match with both teams being attack minded, and it certainly did not dissapoint. With Gardner carrying a strain the fulham defence was below par as was the blackburn defence, missing 2 central defenders. In addition to this the teams boasted the 2 best strike partnerships in the premiership(perhaps along with brum's) so goals seemed inevitable. Fulham opened the scoring when larsen panciked and crossed the ball into his own box under pressure from John and Mcbride rose imperiously nodding past the keeper, with larsen credited with the assist . Fulham continued to completely dominate in the opening 20 minutes and were rewarded when petit hacked down john conceding a penalty. Being the last man the fulham faithful chanted "off,off,off" gleefully but the referee decided to only award a yellow card, another slice of luck for the "goat pie". Retribution was swift as john slotted home for his 10th premiership goal of the season, giving Fulham a 2 goal lead. In typical goat fashion Blackburn rallied and hit back through korean prodigy Joo Young(or egg foo yung, however its spelt ). despite a now even game Young got another and you could tell goaty thought he was destined to win. Petit then omitted another cynical foul on Diop and surely he was destined to receive his marching orders, no he wasn't :thup: .

Fulham 2-2 Man Utd(away)
Goals-McBride,Wurtz(pen)-Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo

A tough game but my lads really exceeded themselves dominating a side containing a host of big players. But for the absence of john i feel i might of won the game as i would have had more of an edge upfront. As it happened i left old trafford with a point and united were definitely the happier side. Unfortunatley every time i scored united conjured up a reply at will, and the game finished deadlocked, but it was a performance to be proud of.

So looking to the future aims include avoid administration, beat Murphy and preferably maintain a decent league position

retired_teresa assis

Baggies improve as others feel the strain

With Messers D'Ardenne, Boult and Pagi all feeling the strain, West Bromwich Albion are slowly pulling away from the drop zone.


WBA 3-2 Wigan

Ben Jackson was sent back up the M6 with his tail between his legs after his expensively assembled Wigan side were dispatched by the Baggies. Just 2 minutes were on the clock when Ellington (2) scored his 1st goal for his new club against the team he left in the summer. But typically WBA didn't wanna make life easy for themselves, and after Neil Clement gave away a needless penalty, Kavanagh (9 pen) quickly got the Latics back on level terms. Ellington (16) quickly restored the home team's advantage, and when Earnshaw (50) made it 3-1, the game looked to be over. Roberts (72) kept up the trend of scoring against former clubs, but West Brom hung on to record a well deserved victory.


WBA 0-0 West Ham


Danny King was lucky to get anything out of this game, as West Brom dominated. Despite 1st choice keeper Roy Carroll being injured for the Hammers, Shaka Hislop showed he was a worthy replacement with an outstanding performance, producing save after save. As it was, West Ham could've nicked an undeserved victory, but Haydan Mullins hit the post after a one-on-one with 10 minutes to go.


The next 2 games were controlled by the assistant manager, due to Liggins being on a scouting mission (more bloody technical problems at my end )

Middlesbrough 1-0 WBA
Charlton 1-1 WBA

Very annoying, as I was confident of getting more than a point from those 2 fixtures. But, these things happen, and so it was time to look forward to the Boxing day clash with under pressure Rick Boult


WBA 3-1 Man City


City turned up, but Rick Boult didn't. And he made the right decision, as his side gave a poor performance, despite taking an early lead through Cole (3). WBA got back on level terms in fortunate circumstances, Onuoha (26 og) diverting a cross past the stranded David James. The Baggies took advantage of this fortune and went on to dominate, with Horsfield (59, 72) heading home twice from Greening free kicks to secure the 3 points.


Villa 2-2 WBA


2 days later and Villa Park was the venue. Sam Bouchard had slowly and quietly taken his Villa side upto 7th in the league, so this was always going to be a tough game. And in the 1st half, Villa showed their superior class with a dominating performance. Despite this, they fell behind to another Horsfield (19) header from a Greening cross, this time from open play. The home side deservedly levelled 10 minutes later, Baros (29) scoring a wonderful equaliser. Villa continued to press, but the sides went in level at half time.
The second half was a totally different story, as it was West Brom who made all the running. They deservedly took the lead for a second time, Horsfield (63) again heading home at the near post, this time Inamoto the provider. But yet again Baros (68) popped up with a quick equaliser. After this the game somewhat fizzled out, and a draw was a fair reflection on what was a highly entertaining game.



We're now up to 14th place, only 6 points off 7th. Unfortunately we're only 6 points off 18th as well, so it's all rather close. But we now enter the January transfer window with the prospect of plenty of big earning reserves leaving, freeing up some money to spend only hopefully 3 or 4 new faces to help continue the relegation fight, and possibly push the club on towards the top half.

Boing Boing

retired_hollieo

The halfway stage has been reached in season one for Murphy's Birmingham City and with 19 games completed the conclusion has to be that it's been an excellent start for the boys in blue. With a record of 12 wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats, Birmingham sit in unprecedented heights of 4th place in the English Premier League - six points ahead of our nearest rival - big spending Andy Nilsen's Blackburn Rovers.

Indeed the Birmingham fans are just coming down from the high of the perfect Christmas present. A thrilling victory at "the Goat's" Ewood Park achieved via a momentous comeback from three goals down with only half an hour to play..... The DVD of "Three nil down, Four - Three Up!" is expected to be one hot seller as Nilsen's troops and morale were battered on their own turf...

More good news is Birmingham's progress to the Carling Cup Semi Finals where a two-legged head to head against Wenger's Arsenal awaits. The quality in the Carling Cup semi finals is very high this season with Manchester United and Everton appearing in the other semi final...Very close to the Millenium and the chance of some silverware then...

Some recent games:

Birmingham 1 - 0 Tottenham, Birmingham 2 - 0 Tottenham

Two meetings in three days against Pagi's Spurs, one in the League and one in the Carling Cup saw two wins for Birmingham...Pagi is really struggling at Spurs which is a shame for one of the modern game's great gentlemen. I have to say that on both occasions Spurs could have won the game with better finishing and put in two very good performances. Both times, Birmingham just had a little extra composure in front of goal and that was enough to win the games. I'm hoping Pagi stays on at Spurs, cos with more experience a better manager will eventually emerge....

Liverpool 5 - 3 Birmingham

At this stage we were on a good run of eight games without defeat, but Anfield is a ground I don't like travelling to as Liverpool invariably get the result. Here I watched amazed as my side ran Liverpool ragged for 35 minutes, scoring three times and having an effort cleared off the line. However, before HT, the scousers had managed to pull two back through expert finishing by Spanish international Morientes. Despite doing everything I could to contain Liverpool in the second half, Morientes was unstoppable and ended up rattling home five goals as the scousers completed a great comeback. For us, a devastating result.

Birmingham 2 - 1 Aston Villa

The points in the first Midlands derby against Sam Bouchard's Aston Villa went to Birmingham in a tight, even, well contested derby, where Birmingham just did enough to secure the win. If all the games are as interesting as this one, Bouchard and I should have a lively rivalry....

Man City 1 - 2 Birmingham

Struggling Rick Boult's City look a doomed side at the minute and the Championship looks inevitable on this performance. Birmingham coasted to the win, with a late goal from City as consolation. Rick could stay up, but has he got the determination to try or does he only "sing when he's winning?" That's what the City fans need to know...

Birmingham 2 - 0 Portsmouth

Absent Jay's Pompey go down to mean Murphy has tasted victory against all human opponents with away trips to D'Ardenne and Nilsen to come.

Fulham 1 - 0 Birmingham

Mark's Fulham have been performing excellently this season and he has surpassed all early expectations of his managerial ability. With a comprehensive victory over the Goat already under his belt, I knew this would be a tough game. Fulham attacked early on with verve and style, especially from the two wing men, Malbranque and Boa Morte. As it was, Fulham took the lead from a poorly defended set piece, with Brian McBride scoring from close range. After that, Birmingham had some great chances and periods of play, but an outstanding performance from D'Ardenne's signing Espen Johnsen in the Londoners goal kept us out. In an even contest, D'Ardenne played a good game from the bench (even if a draw would have been a fair result), to record my first defeat to the Frenchman ever and my ambition of completing a set of al lthe human scalps destroyed...!!

Blackburn Rovers 3 - 4 Birmingham

Well the fixture list had kept us waiting all the way until the 28th December for the first head to head between Nilsen and Murphy, which is always one of the most hugely anticipated meetings of the season. With both bosses sitting in the top six, Murphy's side held a three point advantage going into the game, but I had been impressed by Blackburn's style in hammering Middlesbrough 4-0 in a scouting trip prior to the game.

Goatee Beard came into the match in attacking style as always. A 4-4-2 diamond with Petersen feeding the dangerous Kuqi up front, a player the Goat has been trying to offload all season. Fortunately, as both sides had played only two days earlier, Nilsen's best striker Cesar Delgado was on the bench.

Well I could go on for ages about this match and Goat will no doubt put in a very biased report later, but the facts were this. The game was very even before HT with Birmingham looking good, but Blackburn's finishing was superior and that had given them a 2-0 lead. After HT, Blackburn added another to make it 3-0 (again with Birmingham playing well) and I was starting to get concerned about a mauling. Then I remembered.

It is foolish to try to prevent Goats sides from scoring as they always do....But Goat's sides are usually sh1te at the back!! Replicating Goat's diamond for the last 30 minutes, we went for the jugular. As goal, after goal, after goal, and then GOALLLL!!! hit the back of Nilsen's net, I just sat there and grinned as the wails from the Blackburn bench got ever louder....You shut up!!!!!

Overall press reports were all in agreement that Birmingham had been the better side over the entire 90, but what a way to win the match....


So all has been good so far, Bury in the FA Cup 3rd Round await....can it possibly be as good in the second half of the season when I basically have 17 players...we await to see.....

Heskey, what a legend...

blgstocks

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Season falls apart as morale hits an all time low!

Okay as you will have garnered by now, my season has in fact gone tits up, and im definitely up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Having gone on hols for a few games as i nipped out, my assistant Steve Kean proceeded to ruin my season in 2 games, quite an achievement i think we will all agree. The first game he took my lads to Goodison and was on the end of a 6-0 thrashing, i cant really tell you how the game panned out as i have not worked up the courage to check myself! Anyway as we all know morale is a crucial part in this latest installment of FM06, and im certainly learning that the hard way, with that heavy defeat still having a lasting affect over my teams performances, we have not played to our potential since my return.

However more grave than my league form, i think im around 10th but to be honest had more worrying things to think about other than league placement, is the prospect of going into administration. With my club losing some 850k a month, and the balance in the red at some 5 million, worrying times indeed at craven cottage, and i think the only way to avoid this is to sell off Diop,Boa Morte and Malbranque, hopefully for around £20million, to sort out my negative balance, and if funds are available to invest in a few young,cheap players to take their places. With the dip in form, and financial problems times are tough at Fulham but i hope to push through, and come out of it a better manager!

On to match reports however there will be a change in structure today; in that i will list the results and then talk about them after that, i fear my form must be seen to truly appreciate my crisis!

Fulham 2-1 Reading(league cup 4th round away)
Fulham 1-0 Birmingham(home)
Fulham 0-6 Everton(away)
Fulham 0-2 Arsenal(away)
Fulham 1-3 Arsenal(league cup quarter final)
Fulham 1-3 Chelsea(away)
Fulham 0-3 Wigan(home)

On the face of it, as Niall said, with the exception of Wigan, all the teams who beat me beat him, and to be honest are expected to get the points against me. However it was the manner of these defeats that upset me with my team easily surrendering goals and generally being second best throughout the game, something i could not accuse them of earlier in the season. To truly turn the knife i welcomed ET's Wigan side to Craven Cottage and a team i should be looking to take 3 points from, particularly at home, beat me 3-0, with performance perhaps a little improved, but still alot to be desired. I fear that is as detailed as the match reports will get as i look to the future and not the past as i attempt to improve morale, and get my team back on form.

However despite my doom and gloom report, i am currently meeting my season expectations, and my main season aims which were avoid relegation(not down yet) avoid administration(desperately bailing water) and beat Niall...which i managed to do.

So on the face of it December has been a rotten month for Fulham, but if we can recover our early season form and solve our financial crisis, then there is still some hope yet for this season and the future.