For some unknown reason, over & above any other player we have. I like it most when Gray does well. Transformation utterly ridiculous.
Jokanovic didn’t have to pick them. They didn’t sell off any of the team that got them up and therefore could have stick with it.
Good confidence boosting win and some great goals. At half time i was actually thinking I wish we had played a weaker team as I thought we were going to be beaten anyway. Not sure what was going on but we were awful and Fulham were running rungs round us , whilst we kept giving the ball back to them . Great changes from Javi though. Gray, absolutely superb and thought we were getting better width with holebas and Femenia . Also a glimpse of what Will Hughes can do in a more central role . We can look forward to we,blew now knowing we’re still in the hunt for 7th . Wolves with another win over Utd , really hope Javi gets his tactics right and we don’t leave ourselves too exposed to the wolves counter attack. Sorry for Fulham though as I think they are quite a likeable club
It has been quite a transformation from the Gray of last season , who seemed incapable of controlling a football . What I like most about Gray ( apart from his recent habit of scoring ) is he generally keeps it simple . Receives the ball and passes it on . Gerry has bags more ability but he needs to do this more.
Andre 'Mesut' Grey was incredible tonight. Shows what a difference confidence can make to a striker I worry about Mapps starting at Wembley, liability tonight and not for the first time
Capoue really enjoyed Hughes' goal. I know Fulham aren't famous for their massive away support but that was an especially poor effort. With Kiko's goal there can only be Foster yet to score.
I agree Loyal,my grandad supported Fulham and when they lost used to say "poor old Fulham". Poor old Fulham indeed but they were worth at least level terms at half time and Kiko was isolated against the enormous lump that is Mitrovic. Babel had Maps all day long and it looked a bit iffy. Great change up and Javi has some decisions to make. Some great goals and Doucs could have had another but for a good save by Rico. It just shows what confidence can do to a player,with Gray's first touch now a thing of beauty,rather than a huge lump of Vogon putty! Speaking of which I saw Big Fat Don,the FFC fan at the 405 lights at Bricket Wood. I shall be interested to hear his views tomorrow. What a pity I won't understand a word of it! I hope the rather infirm elderly lady who sat near me got out ok. Goes home and away she said.Had red socks on too,to contrast my yellow. Roll on Sunday.
Agree with all the praise for Gray. He's never really tried to do anything fancy, and always put his efforts into being a team player - perhaps the skills just needed confidence to bring them out. As I think has also been said, Deulofeu spends far too much time trying to show off, making bad decisions and complaining - although he has been putting the work in over the last few months. Can't make up my mind about Pereyra - can turn a game, but sometimes seems totally detached. Also agree about Doucoure - ability to read the game, get in a position and stand back and let another player take the chance. We will miss him. Such a shame that Man Utd gave Wolves a result tonight ...
Troy not mentioned on here tonight but into double figures again, he is another having a good season!
Javi has effectively engineered two Frankenstein teams. If you don't look like you're going to beat your opposition playing tika taka in the first half, get a couple of the Ex Barcelona & Juventus boys off & inject a good old fashioned English striker from Burnley on with pace, vision & a team ethic then watch the magic ensue. The beautiful game.
Only 17,301 turned up tonight. That's the lowest attendance since before promotion. Shocking effort. Plenty of glory boys on show on Sunday to make up for it though.
Absolutely. This was a really poor turnout. This team deserves a full house. What a shame cos this was the only disappointment tonight apart from taking over 3hours to get there. M25 was gridlock.
I hope the rookery burst into a chorus of “Deeney and Gray” to the tune of the old “Terry and Ray” chant after the former’s goal. It’s quite obvious how much those two like playing up top together.
Great win. Huge confidence boost going into the weekend. I’m actually pretty confident of beating wolves. Think they will underestimate us and their win against a Man Utd B team with 10 men, will give them a false sense of security that they are better than us.
To be fair I thought their support was great. Instead of in a Rookery I sat in Upper Rous as had hospitality and thought they were loud and good fun. Especially given not too much to cheer about
I suspect he did have to pick players sourced by the owner's son ! Imagine if he hadn't after £100m spent. Would have made the owner look stupid. There was always tension between Joka and owner re recruitment. It would always be the case that the owner would replace him as soon as results could justify it.
Wonder if the no shows were season ticket holders? I get why non season ticket holders didn't bother considering it's ~£40 and no doubt Sunday is going to be an expensive day!
STHs are still counted even if they don't show up, I think? Although I think plenty of them didn't go either, it looked much lower than 17k to me Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
It's because every goal he scores or sets up for us is a gut punch for those ****s up the road. I fluffing love the ace-tatted, ear-cupping, popstar-whalloping goal getter.
I was refering to quantity rather than quality. We had double at our Relegation Party up at Middlesbrough.
It was certainly a lot easier getting out of the ground after the match, I also think there was less than 17k in the ground. Thought it was great that even though Gray did not score, the crowd sung his name after the goals to give him credit for setting them up.
I thought we were OK first half but it felt like the players knew they were in the semi final line up and had nothing to prove or didn't want to get injured. That was why I thought we might make a few changes so players coming in could push for a place for Sunday. Good goal from Doucoure but some poor defending from Fulham which just got worse as the night went on Second half was much better with a lot more effort and desire, no more so than Andre Gray. Holebas and Capoue have improved a lot this season but the transformation of Gray is astonishing. First touch, passing, shooting, all improved immeasurably. Can anybody honestly say that this time last year you would have sat there and said to yourself, "in a year the whole ground will up singing his name"! I wouldn't change the line up for Saturday because him coming on as an impact sub is working so well but you can't ask him to do more than he did last night in a quest for a starting berth. Foster - What a signing he's proven to be. The save at 4-1 was outstanding and he has been brilliant for us all season. Very good bet for POTS Femenia - Such a good footballer and pleased he got a goal. When under pressure at the back and he gets the ball you feel safe in the knowledge he won't do anything stupid and always finds a yellow shirt. Excellent second half Cathcart - Did what he virtually always does with the minimum of fuss, very dependable Mariappa - I think he will start Sunday but we badly need to upgrade this position in the summer. With Britos leaving and Prodl sent to pasture we probably need two quality centre back additions Holebas - Not my favourite player before this season but he's been excellent this year, defensively and creatively. Another chance for POTS. Inevitably booked last night. What is it with left backs at Watford and getting booked a lot. Robbo, Pudil and now Holebas Pereyra and Delefeou - The two most talented players in the squad and the most frustrating as well. Far too much show boating without any end product. if they play like this Sunday hopefully Gracia will do what he did last night Capoue - Absolute revelation this season and very good again last night. Strange that it's taken so long to find his best position but he broke up so many Fulham attacks last night before they became dangerous and passing was excellent. Another POTS candidate Doucoure - I hope he gets his move in the summer because he should be playing at the top level but despite him mentioning moving on a little too frequently for my liking he has never given anything but 100% to the club. The last two games he has gone up a level for me and he will be vital on Sunday. Man Utd might be a good move for him if they sell Pogba and that could mean us getting a little more than we thought Hughes - Best performance for a while and a fabulous strike. Would love to see him in the middle a bit more but I understand why he is played a little wider. Back to his best last night and a very timely return it is too Deeney - the weight loss over last summer has made a big difference to Troy. He looks so much better than the player of last season and has hit double figures again, this time with very few penalties, one in fact. Never stopped working last night and really lead the line well. Very pleased we didn't sell him and suspect he still has another season or two left in him at the top level, maybe more if he stays off the pies Gray - Already mentioned above Janmaat - Did very well when he came on but thought he might have gone for the challenge that he was booked for. Only going on what I saw live but it looked a bit naughty. His lack of pace will probably mean he misses out for Sunday but very useful if we went down the route of the formation we played second half Quina - Not on long enough to do much but still looks very tidy on the ball and suspect we may see a lot more from him next season. Possibly the most important month in the clubs history and it has started very well with a win that could easily have been larger but tougher tasks are ahead starting Sunday. Gutted I can't be there but I'm confident we can do this. Gracia has created a fabulous atmosphere and should be nominated for coach of the year which in my view should be between him, Nuno and Colin (if Cardiff stay up) but I'm sure will go to Pep or Klopp. If either us or Wolves went on to win the cup then it should that coach that wins it
It will be a crime if foster wins POTS. It's "player" of the season. Goalkeepers cannot play football. That's why they go in goal. If you are shyt at football, you go in goal. It was ever thus, from the kickaround in the park with your mates, through school football, sunday league right up to international football. If you are shyt, you go in goal. The thought of him winning it ahead of all the genuinely brilliant footballers we have makes me want to weep. Yes he's talented, but his skills are incomparable to any outfield player in our entire squad. Every single one of them is better at football than him.
I was only going to mention Andre Gray but got caught up in the moment and got carried away. Short version Gray was excellent, some nice goals
They were loud and good fun for us, but didn't support their team one bit. Not much fun for their players.
