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The Head Is Safe...
I might just headbutt my desk if there are more Liverpool mails than Fulham mails this morning.
Alex (Nigel Spackman-Turner Overdrive) Collinge
We'll Start With A Fulham Fan
I am delerious Fulham supporter currently exiled in Tokyo, half-way through the working day having not been to bed yet, so please excuse the lack of logic,
Firstly, obviously, congratulation to Roy, Ray and the team. This was one of the finest Fulham performances ever and showed skill and determination beyond any expectation I had. But maybe that's because the heroes of my childhood were Clive Walker, John Marshall and Jim Stannard. Anyway, I just want to say that taking part in this EuropaLleague has been an absolute pleasure. I was lucky enough to be home and go to the group games, and I really beleive that this competition is great for clubs like ours, at least the fans. I can only hope the financial benefits of shared TV rights are there too, but for the fans, the chance to see these teams and support Fulham in Europe has been great, even if most of the away at alleged 'European giants' have been poorly supported by home fans. e,g capacity 24,000 at the Cottage compared to 11,400 in Turin.
As for the match, Yes, we were a bit fortunate with the red card and penalty decisions, but, they were both 50/50 and not just mistakes that seem to be a feature of this competition ad Fulham have suffered many already. It is amazing that, in this competition with SIX referees, almost every match I have seen has contained major refereeing errors, even in the box where there should, in theory, be three refs from three positions, to keep track of the action. I am not sure how much of a success this experiment has been.
Also, Last season, all the 'experts' made the point that the success of a seventh-place finish was built on having few injuries and a settled line up. This result, and the appearance in F.A Cup quarter-finals and healthy league poition has been acheived with long-term injuries to over half of that team and additional suspension, cup-ties, and registration issues for Europe league games. For this, even more credit must go to the management team.
There were other things but I forgot them already so should just thank the team, manager, fans and chairman for making it possible that there is a West London representative in a European quarter-final!!
Ben (tired) Kokubunji
And Then One From A Fulham/Arsenal Fan
Just got back from the Cottage, what a night!!
- Ooooooh Bobby Zamora, what a player! how Capello has ignored him up to now is beyond me, but upon him tearing apart three of the Italian first choice defenders, can he seriously ignore him now??? Heskey is useless compared to him...
- Roy Hodgson is an absolute ledge, he has to be the next England manager..
- Fulham in Europe and Chelsea not? What a result..
- Is Italian football on the up was an email yesterday? On tonight's showing, certainly not, Juventus couldn't handle Fulham's tempo, imagine then against United and the Arsenal, they'd get battered.
Josh 'Pray we get Valencia, desperate to see David Villa not in a Chelsea or City shirt' AFC
Everybody Loves Roy
I would be very surprised if any English football fan would not be delighted that Fulham spanked Juventus last night.
Everyone's favourite second team? I think so. Well done Fulham...congrats.
Brian Tansey
...Seriously, is there any thing to dislike about Fulham or Roy Hodgson?
Arron 'If Fulham were a girl, I'd be temped to stray with her' Kildare
...Well done Fulham. If there was ever a team you could admire that aren't your own, then it's Fulham. Woy is fast becoming a cult hero. If he can make Bobby Zamora look like a decent player, then maybe he should have a go at the England job when Fabio is done.
Also, well done Liverpool, and this will hopefully give them the confidence to get some points of Manyoo at the weekend.
Adonis (When the ball hits your head and you're sat in row zed.....) Stevenson, AFC
...Roy Hodgson really is a fantastic manager. Beating Europian giants Juventus 4-1 can perhaps seen as a most surprising result of whole season. Credit to whole team for the achievement and a tactical masterclass from Hodgson. Although Italian football is at crisis, Juventus still has world-class players all over the field and their budget is something quite different than Fulham's. He seems to always get the best out of his players. There has been even some calls to include Zamora in England team. That won't happen probably, but the way Zamora has improved under Roy is quite something.
When Hodgson was a manager of Finland, he got us one goal shy of EC finals, which we have never been part of. We got good results against teams such as Portugal (snatching a draw away and home) and other big countries as well. Was really dissapointed to see him leave, but hey, it's Finland (our two stars are a 35 year old CB and a 39 year old FC), so it's quite understandable. It's also nice to see that you don't have to make up excuses and moan every time results don't go your way and instead be objective and gracious even in defeat (take note SAF, Mourinho etc.) and still be very succesful.
Matti (Here hoping Roy gets a chance with a 'big' club in the future, though it seems he has been most succesful always as a underdog with tight defending) Katara, Helsinki
...Blimey, I wish I was a Fulham fan tonight.
Bloody brilliant. Congratulations
Sally
...So Inter beating Chelsea was the rebirth of Italian football, the saving grace after Milan's arsethumping at Old trafford? Next time, someone better tell Fulham. They were fecking glorious.
If Arsenal don't win the league, there is no other candidate for manager of the year. Question time then. Who would the 365ivers like more as an uncle? Stephen Fry, or Roy Hodgson?
Football. Is. Great.
Brett, AFC
...As a Spurs fan i just wanted to send in my congratulations to Fulham on their magnificent win last night over the Old Lady.
Hodgson has shown what a fantastic manager he is, however whilst the calls for him to be considered England manager are justified the FA will never go for him purely because whilst most intelligent football fans would recognise what a top manager he is, sadly for the masses he wouldn't be considered famous enough to take on the job and that would be a shame.
I blame Big Brother and Heat magazine personally.
Jim (how long does Lennon's groin take to heal?) Barnett, THFC
...The whistle has just gone on an amazing match and I just wanted to say congratulations to Fulham, not only for producing an outstanding display of football but also for showing the likes of Gary Megson, Martin O'Neill and Harry Redknapp that trying to win a trophy is what football is all about, not trying to finish 6th or trying not to get relegated. Well done Roy!
Dave, London
Some Fulham Thoughts
Some thoughts on the Fulham vs Juventus match from last night...
What is the point of having the extra referees' assistants standing behind the goals if they miss clear fouls happening in front of them? Two blatant fouls went unpunished last night - Cannavaro wrestling Zamora to the ground in the first half as a cross came in, and Sissoko doing a similar job on Hangeland in the second half from a corner. Seriously - what is the point in having them there if they can't make decisions on fouls that are happening yards from where they are standing?
Having looked at Clint Dempsey's winning goal a few times on replay, I have my doubts about whether he meant it or not. Most of the commentators and match reports credit him with some kind of wonder strike, but when you look at it again, he doesn't even look up to see where the goal is before hitting it - my guess is that he was trying to stand it up to the back post and got lucky. If he did mean it, then he must have some kind of superhuman peripheral vision..
How funny was Damien Duff squaring up to Del Piero after he had been kicked from behind (by Zebina, who was sent off)? Clear case of mistaken identity, the look of confusion and innocence on Del Piero's face was priceless. Incidentally - the petulant foul by Felipe Melo on Zamora shortly after Zebina had been sent off was a much worse offence, he should have walked as well.
Dave Horgan, AVFC
About To Get Slapped By A Very Big Man...
Firstly, after looking at Sarah Winterburn's feature on who'll finish fourth filled me with dread and I'll tell the mailboxers why.
I made a bet back in October last year that Liverpool wouldn't finish in the top four. This bet was made in a pub when we were pretty hammered and well money began to be no object in the bet...so instead after watching a 'How I Met Your Mother' marathon...we decided to go for a 'Slap Bet'. So if Liverpool finish in the top four my 6'5, 18 stone Dutch mate will slap me... if they don't I get to slap him (only 5'10, 13 stone)... This bet fills me with more tension than any fantasy football league or any previous bet. I've had myself pressing F5 on football sites on a Saturday afternoon hoping Liverpool are getting beat while the rest of the challengers are doing well...Now with Torres back and Spur's run in its going to be tight.
The next few weeks will have me buying more underwear than a man will probably buy his whole time...Any chance I can get some response from the mailboxers about how god awful Liverpool are? Might cheer me up!
The last note... Bloody well done Fulham. Epic result.
Ally 'Severely Bricking It' Reid
It Warms The Cockles
On behalf of Arsenal fans everywhere I would just like to express my relief that Ryan Shawcross has managed to 'move on' from last month's incident. Was genuniely worried he might never be the same player again.
Ed (We'll win the league for Aaron Ramsey) Lyne, North London
...Thank God Ryan Shawcross is ok, and has vowed to continue his run of seriously injuring one player a year. I was a bit worried he might not make it through his ordeal, but somehow he has found the strength to carry on. What a hero. That Ramsay is a bit rude not to return his call though. Arsenal really do raise them to be rude.
Adonis (Flummoxed) Stevenson, AFC
And Here's The Musical Footy...
A few that spring to mind:
Kanye West Ham.
Deepdale Purple.
Wonder Walsall.
And my personal favourite:
Celine Dion Dublin.
Raz (also) Dublin
...How about Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Boys of Bern?
I'm hoping to sneak this into the mailbox as one of the Mediawatch writers is a Neil Young fan...
Chris (only love can break your heart) Livingston
...I can't take credit for all of these, as I'm copy/pasting most of them from a forum I posted on ages ago:
Gullit for my Valentine
Death Cab For Guti
I Love Djourou but I've Chosen Harkness
Leboueffalo Springfield
Batty For Lashes
Emilli Vanilli Heskey
Lilly Allen Thuram
Dwight Bjork
Ian Dowie and the Blockheads
Bosnich! At The Disco
Andy Lane, Dublin
...Here's a list of my musical footy names, for some reason it made me think of the episode of the A-Team when a group of red necks in a bar think they are getting a Country singer called Cowboy George and by some mistake they end up with Boy George, at first they are shocked ,but by the end they are dancing away merrily.
Guti and the blowfish
Motley Carew
Ji Sung Parklife
Drogbarbara Ann
Rushden & Diamond Lights
Tubular Belhadj
Preston North end of the world as we know it
Kanye West ham United
Ashley Cole and the Commotions
Five Star Belgrade
Liverpaul Young
Lucio in the sky with diamonds
Fabregas light Anthem
Bruce Springstevenage borough
It's Reina men
Agger do
That's all folks , unless you count Borussia muchen gladback to the future original soundtrack recording.
But I didn't, cos it's s**t.
Tim Knaves, Horsham
...Musical football eh? These are all dreadful, but I'm enjoying myself...
Stand and De-Liverpool
Emerton, Blake and Palmer
Don't Look Back in Agger
Simply Arshavin a Wonderful Christmas Time
Stoke on the Water
Candle in the Windass
BananaCarltonPalmerrama (truly awful, but still my favourite)
Nasri-t Petite
Ji-sun Parklife
Luck N'Zogbia Lady
Nani Lennox
Better the Neville You Know
The Tuncay of the Tiger
Elbow (A Steven Gerrard tribute act)
Adam (Films next?) Gooner
...Arsene Vengaboys
Emin-Emerson Boyce
Jennifer Rushden and Diamonds
Sarah Brightman and Hove Albion
Bon Jovi McAnuff
David Lee Rotherham
I didn't say they were any good.
Ian and Jonny
...In response to Brett Stirling (Albion), musical football club names. Here's my contribution (not a football club but I still think you'll like it).
Jesus Navas and Mary Chain
Chris (was originally going to go for Stockport County Aitken and Waterman) Ryder, Leeds
...Raith against the Machine
Kings of Lyon
Jon Steggles
...Stoke Aitken and Waterman
Rob, High Wycombe
...Good efforts from Brett Sterling, seem to remember this being done about two years ago in the mailbox though. The fact that I still remember ACDC Milan and Earth, Wind and Feyenoord shows how much they impacted on me/that I spend waaaay too much time on this site instead of working.
Ivor Guiney
