A great football ground

By Ivybridge Wolf
February 24 2023

Wolves travel down to Craven Cottage this evening to play a Fulham side who have won two and drawn one of their last three premier league matches. Frankly, it was unbelievable how they managed to get all 3 points at Brighton last weekend given the play and chances Brighton had. No matter, Fulham found a way to win it. If only Wolves had found a similar style at home to Bournemouth.

And what of that Bournemouth defeat? Very disappointing indeed and shades of past defeats to so called relegation fodder, the likes of Huddersfield, Grimsby etc …!! Whenever or whatever, we all know the seemingly repeated feeling! The key problem being that our ‘two wins on the trot’ bubble was well and truly burst with a particularly lacklustre attacking display. It was the kind of defeat which smacked of the form which dragged down to bottom of the league at Christmas, and on a weekend which provoked a jittery look down the table at teams gaining vital points on us. The evidence showed that we are not exempt to these kinds of performances. Nevertheless, the fact remains that since the World Cup break, we have gained a healthy 13 points from 8 matches and the two previous fixtures v Liverpool and Southampton demonstrating how far we’ve come in a short space of time with Lopetegui with two very different and two very fine victories. Can we put the Bournemouth down as ‘just one of those games’? There is a case, definitely.

The first Fulham 2022/23 encounter at Molineux in August was unmemorable in terms of quality, ending 0-0. We missed a series of opportunities, particularly in the first half, then Jose Sa saved our bacon with a late penalty save from Mitrovic. Can either team, or both, do better this time around? Hopefully the Old Gold will! By the way, I read somewhere Mitrovic might be a doubt? Good news if that’s the case – a player who can be totally anonymous for 89 minutes before providing the killer blow. He’s scored 11 goals so far this term.

Looking toward to tonight, The Cottagers are currently in the top 6 and have performed outstandingly well since Christmas, a force to be reckoned with, with a mean defence and, of course, playing at home today. Not to mention that our summer target João Palhinha has been winning plaudits for his great form. Nevertheless, we haven’t lost to them in the premier league so far, winning 3 and drawing 2, in fact Fulham last beat us 5 years ago to the day. Here’s a statistic – did you know we haven’t lost any away fixture to promoted club since Bramall Lane in July 2020.

As for team selection, surely Mario Lemina will be straight back into the Wolves starting line up? His forward drive, guile, tackling and overall effort and combination with Neves versus Liverpool was an outstanding highlight in a wonderful game. Lopetegui has been reported to say the goals will come, and if the Liverpool midfield strength can be captured again, we have a better than outside chance that can come true! My guess is the starting back 4 will be the same, so that leaves the attackers. I can’t predict if Adama has done enough to start tonight, it was widely reported we lost a spark when he came off the pitch last Saturday. Who else, Sarabia, Cunha, Jimenez, Podence, Costa etc etc? Even Neto, on the bench with a real chance at playing at some stage is my guess. One thing that I would like to see is Cunha (not a centre forward in my book) partnered for a decent period with a recognised striker and see what happens … I’d be hopeful such a combination could pay dividends. Apparently, it’s still too early for Boubacar Traore whilst reports suggest Hwang, whilst side lined, is making significant progress.

Friday night football then! Still an aberration for me unless you are a Southend or Torquay United supporter …. But there you go, such is life. I was trying to think what our record is like on a Friday? Any knowledge on that one? At least it is being screened by Sky with a kick off at 8pm.

If you would like to offer your thoughts about any aspect of the match or contribute to updating as the match progresses, please feel free in the usual way. Enjoy the game and hope our side can get the ball rolling once again!

UTW!!

Match Thread: Fulham v Wolves KO 8pm 24/02/2023

Discussion started by Wolves , 24/02/2023 17:48

Wolves
24/02/2023 17:48

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:13:10:55:23 by Ivybridge Wolf.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 19:06

It looks like JLo has listened Ivy (Good write up by the way) and has paired Cunha with Raul up front, whilst also restoring Lemina back into midfield. Line-up:

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Lupy
24/02/2023 19:15

No Neto on the bench and I'm a bit surprised at Podence not in the starting eleven.
Cmon lads, we need this.

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Ivybridge Wolf
24/02/2023 19:21

Decent starting line up and I get my wish 😂

Wonder if Netos absence is a concern about his rehabilitation or just a fitness thing?

All to play for, UTW!

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:00

A real challenge ahead of us this evening against a team in great form, but time for our new lads - Nunes & Cunha in particular - to step up.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:04

Bright start from Wolves particularly down the right wing

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:08

Game stops as Fulham’s Reed is down injured and has crawled back onto the pitch!

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:14

Pablo playing on right side, Cunha on left & Raul through the middle. Matheus puts a good cross in but cut out. More good play between Cunha & Raul leads to Hugo getting a corner.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:17

Corner to Fulham is poor.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:19

Palhinha brings down Cunha on the break and gets the yellow card which will bring on a two game suspension for him. JLo’s name ringing round the ground from our fans

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:21

Good play by Semedo then Nunes leads to a very weak shot from Pablo when he should have scored

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:24

This time Pablo does it after great joined up play after being fed by Raul
Fulham 0 Wolves 1

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:28

Nunes is having a very positive & confident game so far

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:34

Cunha tries a lob from the half way line but it goes wide!!!

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:37

Best effort by F’ham so far - a header by Vinicius which Jose collects easily

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:40

Ruben gets his head to a Nunes cross in the box but over the bar

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:43

Tete gets in to the box but pulls his shot wide. One minute plus 2 mins AT to play



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:02:24:20:45:17 by Cheshire wolf.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:50

Lamina gives a foul away just before the half time whistle would have gone. Jose puts the free kick over the bar but no time for a corner as the whistle is blown.
A very good first half for Wolves with Pablo Sarabia getting his first goal for Wolves after a good cross by Matheus headed back to Pablo by a Raul. A good solid showing from our lads and a well deserved lead.
Fulham 0 Wolves 1

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 20:56

Great to see Raul earn an assist and he has been linking up well with Cunha and Sarabia in the front line

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Lupy
24/02/2023 20:56

Managed to get a stream for about 5 minutes and we were looking quite slick.

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Ivybridge Wolf
24/02/2023 21:00

What an enjoyable half and we are clearly the better side! Great performance, so many players contributing so just hope it keeps going and we see close to a 90 minutes effort!

In the pub this evening, darts, chat, music all stopped for the Sarabia goal ….. they had to, such was the noise from the 6 of us here tonight! Great goal wasn’t it? Brilliant move, nice finish

Keep it going!

UTW!!

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Ivybridge Wolf
24/02/2023 21:02

Quote:

Cheshire wolf
Great to see Raul earn an assist and he has been linking up well with Cunha and Sarabia in the front line

Agree there. Only one thing better, Raul scores the next !

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:04

Quote:

Ivybridge Wolf

Quote:

Cheshire wolf
Great to see Raul earn an assist and he has been linking up well with Cunha and Sarabia in the front line

Agree there. Only one thing better, Raul scores the next !

Absolutely Ivy

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:05

De Córdoba Reid and Reed replaced by Lukic & Solomon fog Fulham as we restart



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:02:24:21:06:07 by Cheshire wolf.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:09

Cunha fouled ten yds outside the F’ham area Ruben puts it on Max’s head but he puts it just over

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:12

Pablo puts a ball in from the right which Raul heads just wide - shame

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:16

Cunha and Pablo both down hurt and play is eventually stopped by Michal Oliver. Pablo up but Cunha still needing attention.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:18

He gets up… then goes down again. Looks like Adama will replace him. F’ham fans are less than sympathetic!!

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:19

Strange to see Cunha taken off on a stretcher after a tackle that was considered fair by the ref. Adama comes on

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:22

Good cross put in by Adama but hand ball given against Pablo. Lamina takes a long shot but too high

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:24

Good goal by Solomon from our right wing from outside the box which curls round Jose.
Fulham 1 Wolves 1

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:27

Free kick to Wolves to the right of their area, which Dawson gets a corner from. Another corner but cleared for a throw in

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:35

Good break by F’ham until Pereira shoots high & wide. Pereira gets a yellow card for a challenge on Pablo which upset the bench. Pod and Joao ready to come on. Free kick given away by Lamina. Palhinha dives in the area after a challenge by alumina, but nothing given. Pablo & Nunes replaced by Joao & Pod

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:41

Corner to F’ham cleared by Ruben. Raul makes a good tackle just outside our box - he has been fully involved in the game and just needs the ball when he’s in the box!

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:43

Willian replaced by Harry Wilson. Diego Costa replaces Raul

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:46

Five minutes plus AT - which will be fairly lengthy after the Cunha injury - to play

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:49

Poor ball put in by Pod after excellent work by Hugo

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:50

8 added minutes to play

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:54

Good ball in by Adama but it goes over Pod’s head!, Good break by F’ham and a fine save by Jose to keep out a Vinicius header. Wolves counter but a poor pass loses possession.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 21:57

Storming break forward by Lemina but Costa does poorly with the pass. Ruben puts the ball in the net from outside the area but the whistle had gone for a foul. Hugo Bueno gets MotM from Carra deservedly

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 22:01

All over and Wolves get a well deserved and hard earned point. An excellent first half for Wolves but F’ham got into the game much better second half and scored a very well taken goal. Podence and Costa offered very little when they came on. We stay in 15th place on 24 points but 3 points clear of the pack. Looking forward to seeing us take on Spurs next week, but we’ll need another good performance like this next Weds at Anfield

Full time Fulham 1 Wolves 1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:02:24:22:09:52 by Cheshire wolf.

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Andy Fincher
24/02/2023 22:09

It's Liverpool next Chesh ( I'm being a bit picky there ). Good performance tonight and a good point. I hope it will be enough with the three matches we have coming up.
Two great goals. Good to see Jimenez play so well and Bueno was fantastic.
Typical Wolves though. We stuff Liverpool, beat Saints with only 10 men for more than half the match and get a good point with a good performance against Fulham. And inbetween we lose at home to Bournemouth.
I would have taken this result beforehand though.

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Cheshire wolf
24/02/2023 22:12

Quote:

Andy Fincher
It's Liverpool next Chesh ( I'm being a bit picky there)

I’d just realised and edited my post Andy!! Too excited at the thought of going back to Molineux I guess!!

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essington wolf
24/02/2023 22:22

Decent point away from home especially as fulam have been flying lately.
Played really well first half but you just had a feeling that if we didn't get that killer second goal when on top what would happen and unfortunately it did and fulam got their goal.
Game of 2 halfs yet again with us bossing the first and fulam having the better of the 2nd half.
Thought we lost our way a little bit when cunha went off injured, let's hope it's not a bad injury.
2 tough games now coming up next against Liverpool and spurs and we need to take some points from them.
Happy the way we played tonight just a shame we didn't take all 3 points.

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Ivybridge Wolf
24/02/2023 22:48

Fully deserved point at least and whilst Fulham come back into it second half I thought we were the better side overall. Nonetheless it finished 1-1 and as said by others, I’d have taken the point pre match. Fulham have been a good in form team but we did well and showed them a clean pair of heals in the first half, shame we couldn’t have got that second vital goal.

Bueno was great …. Again ….. this lad is on a really good path, an exciting prospect indeed. I thought the team played well as a whole but faded a bit second half. Despite that I do have a frustration we didn’t win it …… I honestly believed we merited it. The team looks better equipped with Lemina playing.

Couldn’t believe the tackle on Cunha was pulled up, foul all over, maybe a yellow, looked nasty so we keep our fingers crossed there. Not sure we learnt loads about the best forward combination, however some of the link up play was very good first half which created a number of good opportunities and ultimately the goal.

And so to Anfield. As we won there 3-2 in the cup (but cheated), I see no reason we cant give ‘um a match midweek. And then Spurs on Saturday. What a great week of football ahead!

Good effort tonight Wolves …….. UTW!

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Risca TM
25/02/2023 06:26

Cheers for the intro and MbM lads. Not the first time a good first half wasn't carried over into the second.

Typical that when it looks like the combo of Raul and Cunha might be the one that clicks, one of them gets knacked!

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Andy Fincher
25/02/2023 09:24

Quote:

Ivybridge Wolf
Decent starting line up and I get my wish 😂
Wonder if Netos absence is a concern about his rehabilitation or just a fitness thing?

All to play for, UTW!

I see Neto played for the under-21s last night so I assume they're building his fitness.

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An angry wolf
25/02/2023 12:07

Poor result against a team that were pre season favourites for relegation. Fulham are clearly in a false position in the league up from the championship and the idea that a 1 point is a good result after losing to Bournemouth with lpool and spurs to come is bizarre. I've no idea what some of you lads are smoking tbh, Fulham will be in a relegation battle next season and this was a golden chance for 3 points in a league table where teams are in false positions. We will probably stay up on a wing and a prayer, but settling for a point against Fulham which means we are likely to be closer to the drop zone at the end of the week with the games to come? Behave yourselves.

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An angry wolf
25/02/2023 22:35

177 million quid spent this season, and we're celebrating drawing with Fulham. Time to raise the bar, Fosun must be pulling their hair out with this dreadful return of results and league position. How many Fulham players would get into wolves first 11? They currently sit 6th but teams behind them have 2 or 3 games in hand so basically mid table and massively overachieving whilst our season is an unmitigated disaster. If we get relegated we will go down with the highest expenditure in the squad in football history I'd imagine. The target this season should have been top 6 , now we are breaking bottles of champagne open battling relegation with Bournemouth and Sa pulling off a wonder save to get a point at a newly promoted club. Jesus wept..shift the sh*te out of Raul, geriatric Moutinho as we are going nowhere with the old guard.

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chicagowolf
26/02/2023 10:48

Yes we were poor against Bournemouth, and deserved more than a point here. As has often been pointed out there is a randomness about football at this level . We rightly beatLiverpool but the score flattered. At Christmas we were dead bottom with ten points from fifteen games; since then nine games have yielded fourteen points. That pace would see us end half way up the league.
More likely though we could just squeak safety. It is a mark of our recent decline (despite late cash outlays) that fixtures Nuno would have relished now look terrifying. Confidence takes some rebuilding.
Personally optimistic I still expect us to get little over 40 points (although students of the Prediction League might laugh at the crystal ball being used).

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An angry wolf
26/02/2023 14:27

At the start of each season there are 3 potential outcomes in the league, qualify for Europe, relegation, or neither. Fans talk about a top 10 finish..what's the point of that? There's around 12 million quid difference in placement money between 10th and 17th..as if that is going to make any use to a transfer budget when clubs are spending over 100 million each transfer window. Other than avoiding relegation each season, unless we get into Europe there is literally nothing to play for every year. The run in the cup of course is always there, but VAR is ready to stop that anyway

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An angry wolf
26/02/2023 14:42

1 change that should be brought in is increasing the relegation places. The bottom 3 go down and then the 3 teams above are in a relegation playoff with the championship teams in 4,5,6. Itd mean the season would be alive for all teams instead of the sleep inducing goal of " Can we make a top 10 finish" every January which bores the hind legs off a donkey 😴 Hopefully the boxing will be more interesting later than this monotonous rubbish. Big John Fury has been preparing for battle should things go wrong later for poor Tommy. ⚰💀🥊

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Cheshire wolf
26/02/2023 19:31

Quote:

An angry wolf
Poor result against a team that were pre season favourites for relegation. Fulham are clearly in a false position in the league up from the championship and the idea that a 1 point is a good result after losing to Bournemouth with lpool and spurs to come is bizarre. I've no idea what some of you lads are smoking tbh, Fulham will be in a relegation battle next season and this was a golden chance for 3 points in a league table where teams are in false positions. We will probably stay up on a wing and a prayer, but settling for a point against Fulham which means we are likely to be closer to the drop zone at the end of the week with the games to come? Behave yourselves.

At the end of the day Angry - whether you think they merit it or not - we were playing away from home against a top six team, who are there because they have been hard to beat, have won more games than Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea and have scored plenty of goals. I do accept that they - and Brighton - have massively benefited from the poor performance so far of L’pool and Chelsea. In my view the fact that we came away with a point, even though we did our best to get all three, shows the impact Lopetegui is having on the squad and pleased me as we would usually perhaps have expected to have left empty handed.
I wonder whether people also expected us to be relegation fodder the next season after finishing 7th in our first season back in the Premier League? They would have had their eye wiped as we finished 7th again.
I have no doubt we will have our work cut our in our next two games but hope this result will provide some encouragement.
As for your statement that none of the Fulham players would get in our team, I can only think that was firmly said with tongue-in-cheek!! I think Mitrovic is exactly the sort of striker we have needed to lead our line the past two seasons, and we reportedly tried to recruit Palhinha as a potential replacement for Neves but he opted to go to Fulham.

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An angry wolf
26/02/2023 20:55

Top 6 team lol.. tell you what Cheshire, let's have a bet on where Fulham finish. If Fulham finish top 6 name your price. I suppose the fact teams have 2 or 3 games in hand has escaped you. I stand by my comment, our squad is probably worth 3 times Fulham's squad value. Fulham has a record of 11 wins 6 draws and 8 defeats..if you that that is top 6 points per game, I'll have whatever you're drinking. Fulham won't be anywhere near top 6 and even if they are so what? We finished 7th ourselves 2 consecutive seasons and since then have spent literally hundreds of millions whilst Fulham have p*ssed around in the championship.
.

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An angry wolf
26/02/2023 20:56

Incidentally I never said none of Fulham's players would get into our team, I asked how many. The answer is very few

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An angry wolf
26/02/2023 21:13

I shall look forward to the bet on Fulham finishing top 6 amount tomorrow.. meanwhile I have managed to get a fire stick from Cheshires criminal underworld empire to watch the boxing. I bid you good evening

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An angry wolf
01/04/2023 19:13

I stand by everything I said in this thread.. as for JL's "impact on the squad" if you include taking us down to the championship with the biggest transfer outlay in premier league history for a relegated team, he's doing a sterling job. JL has managed Sevilla, Spain, like Mourinho now at Roma, put these "tactical masterminds" in charge of clubs like ours and they haven't a @#$%& clue how to win a football match without spending a small country's GDP on wages. BTW Bournemouth 2 Fulham 1

We will probably stay up, but even if we do it will be more of the usual rubbish next season in the prem so not worth losing sleep over.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:04:01:19:51:53 by An angry wolf.

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