Monday, April 07, 2014

Relegate: Alive?

Please, please, please
When we last looked in on Fulham, the Cottagers were off to a mediocre start, sitting in 18th in the Premiership table having just sacked their manager. Now,with five league matches to play, they...sit in 18th in the Premiership table having recently sacked their manager (again).

While the tight battle at the top of the Premiership has justifiably received a great deal of attention, there's arguably more action down below. With just over a month remaining in the season, ten teams are within 12 points at the bottom of the table.

Fulham are on 27 points through 33 Premiership matches, ahead of only Sunderland (25 points) and Cardiff City (26). The Cottagers trail Norwich City (32) and West Bromwich Albion (32) by five points, with Swansea (33) a point further in front and Crystal Palace (34) and Aston Villa (34) yet one more point clear of the relegation line. Hull City (36) and West Ham United (37) will be forgiven if they consider themselves safe, but might wish to tie up any loose ends, just in case.

Magath has cool specs, bad team
Despite, or perhaps because of its precarious position, Fulham have actually begun to show some life over the past few weeks. The Cottagers topped Aston Villa on Saturday, as halftime substitution Hugo Rodellega scored with four minutes remaining to give the visitors a vital three points. The victory makes two in four for Fulham, who surprised Newcastle at Craven Cottage on March 15.

Fulham Manager Felix Magath, who replaced Rene Muelensteen, who had replaced Martin Jol (to say this year's been a bit of a circus under owner Shahid Khan would give the big top an undeserved black eye) said before the Villa match that his side needed four wins in its final six to avoid relegation. They had seven in the previous 32, which gives a sense of the hill Fulham must climb.

Next Saturday, Norwich City visits Fulham in what essentially amounts to a must-win for the Cottagers. A win would close the gap between the two teams to just a pair of points, and Norwich's final four matches are a murderer's row (home matches against Liverpool and Arsenal sandwiched around road trips to Manchester City and Chelsea).

'Hairy guy in a little tie...'
Fulham closes the Premiership campaign with a visit to Spurs, a home match against middling Hull City, a roadie at Stoke (40 points), and finally, a home tilt against Crystal Palace. Winnable matches all, with the exception of the top-flight Tottenham squad. No other side in the relegation battle faces as many mediocre opponents, with the exception of Sunderland, who has oddly played only 30 matches thus far. Jozy Altidore and his mates face Cardiff, West Brom, and Swansea, in addition to five of the league's top teams.

It will still take some doing, and some help from others, but Fulham's slight stirring under Magath has the Craven Cottage faithful holding out hopes. Not. Dead. Yet.

46 comments:

rob said...

pour a little out for mickey rooney. and bite me, randy newman.

rob said...

fulham haters, huh?

rob said...

lefty driesell, winner of 786 games and taker of four different schools to the ncaa tournament, is not in the basketball hall of fame. this is an outrage.

zman said...

I'm starting a movement to minimize workplace acronyms in daily speech. There is no reason to use "TC" instead of "phone call" when speaking. Same number of syllables.

mayhugh said...

How do you feel about non-acronym workplace buzzwords. For example, if you were to refuse a work assignment because you were too busy, how would you phrase your refusal:

"I don't have the time"
"I don't have the bandwidth"
"I don't have the cycles"
or
Other?

Danimal said...

Lefty. No positive thoughts when I think back to that guy, whether during MD or JMU days. Sure, he could coach a bit, but I don't think (no, I don't know) he did much of anything on the up and up. And he did next to nothing with loads of talent at JMU.

rob said...

he took four programs with essentially no history and built them into ncaa tournament teams. left them all better than he found them. has far more wins than guys like louie carnesecca and john chaney, both of whom are already in.

zman said...

I don't have a cycle, that's my wife's department. I would say "I'm too busy."

zman said...

I have stopped giving shits about how various Halls of Fame choose enshrinees. It's all a mess of subjectivity and morality.

rob said...

you're gonna hate our newest recurring feature, then

Danimal said...

I'm not making an argument against his induction, just stating my distaste for the man. If he gets in, meh. If not, meh.

Danimal said...

And btw, jmu had some, though limited history. they went to the ncaa's in '81/'82/'83 and came out in top in the first round of each. they are 4-5 in ncaa appearances, with 3 of the wins in that stretch, and 3 of the losses, in the 2nd round. in '82, they lost to unc 52-50. If you do some digging, you'll find that jmu got completely hosed in that loss. (I'm sure you'll be all over that project) That UNC team was pretty good.
Lefty got them to one tournament, with so much more talent. To his credit, they took the Gators to the wire where they lost by 2. Anyway, I lived in Hburg at that time and was a huge JMU bball fan. You couldn't not be. Plus, the coach's son, like Babcock was also in my grade and good pals w/the Danimal. (the football coach's son also was same age, same grade, same school strangely enough) Campanelli built the program - there was not a convocation center prior to his success. Fuck, I think when he started they had just become a co-ed school. Now ya know. Fuck Lefty.

TR said...

Fulham is going to be relegated. They are a hot mess. And Dempsey was awful with them.

Only thing worse than Fulham is Jozy Altidore, who has had a shitastic season w/ Sunderland.

rob said...

true dat

zman said...

Write on br'er squirrel! I just won't get my knickers in a knot regarding who is or isn't in a Hall.

Mr KQ said...

Went to Lefty's sleepaway camp 3 years running as a youngster. Played our division's 3 on 3 final in Cole Field House - With the likes of John Lucas, Brian Magid, and Len Elmore as instructors. Kinda cool. Lefty could make hook shots from anywhere in the gym.

Also, I believe former Mt Vernon Major Derek Steele was on those early 80's JMU Hoops Teams. Played against him in both football and basketball in HS. Serious talent. Him not me.

Whitney said...

Listening to WXPN as I work. Touted the station here before, a Philly based (UPenn) station that has my favorite new stuff and mixed in some old classics once in a while. (They love Springsteen, natch.)

They are now playing Bill Conti's theme from Rocky. After some Ryan Adams, Jenny Lewis, U2, Robert Cray, Ozzy, Neko Case, etc this afternoon. Did not see that coming. So Philly. And now I'm fired up to write this proposal.

Danimal said...

Derek Steele. Loved that guy. He must have been a running back, no? Must have been a bitch to tackle...MJD-ish.

rob said...

rex chapman just said on twitter that calipari is leaving to become the lakers' coach after the tournament.

mr kq said...

Bang on Danimal, except with breakaway speed. I was shocked he chose hoops in college. Btdubs his HS hoops team went undefeated and won the state title, beating us by a cool 40 in the regional final.

TR said...

Brandon Flowers - not only a great singer, but a great actor. He was tremendous in Boys Don't Cry.

TR said...

Can't wait to see Shabazz's mom's weird mole in HD again.

zman said...

Is that Jake Voskul?

TR said...

Think how fast DeAndre Daniels would be if he wasn't wearing 3XL shorts and t-shirt.

Mark said...

I love Shabazz Napier as much as I've ever loved anyone who's beaten Florida twice.

rob said...

uconn is quiiiiick

TR said...

Sam Jackson is morphing into the ebony James Carville.

zman said...

Shabazz is no Kemba.

zman said...

UConn wears an insane assortment of elbow and shin accoutrements.

TR said...

I urge all homeowners out there to give a good review of refi opportunities out there. I am about to refi my 3.875% mortgage to something cheaper with a 7-mo payback period.

The refi is to a 7-yr amortizing ARM. We plan to leave this house in ~5 yrs, so it seems worth it. For folks who may move in 5 yrs, the amortizing ARM is mighty cheap these days.

TR said...

And that's one to grow on.

zman said...

TR moves every 10 months so he know what he's talking about.

Mark said...

Where are you going in five years? Do you just figure you'll be sick of Z living so close to you by then?

TR said...

I have 0.13 acres and hope to be a baller and triple that one day, which would mean moving one mile away from Zman. I will still be close enough to drunk bike home.

My two wild animal kids need a bigger yard.

zman said...

Last time TR drunk biked home with me he fell into a bush. This plan will be great story fodder.

TR said...

We've got mole. We've got mole.

zman said...

Now that's a dunk.

TR said...

We've got mole. We've got mole.

rob said...

tr, i would think you, of all people, could get behind fulham's quixotic quest. you and shahid khan have a sort of kinship of the hirsute.

Mark said...

That was impressive. Drunk bike rides are the best bike rides.

rootsminer said...

how come dick pill ads don't have the same litany of side effects to disclose as every other pharmaceutical commercial?

zman said...

Are you asking for a friend?

rob said...

what a weird ending. but those uconn guards, man. nails.

zman said...

The official ladder of the NCAA championships!!

TR said...

One too many couch scotches for this guy last night. Oof.

I hear you on Khan, Robbie. In fact, I finally shaved my winter beard, which had gotten way too long. I sported a big, fat Khan-Esquenazi stache all day on Sunday, much to the chagrin of my wife, since I was outside with the kids most of the day.

The Fulham matches I've watched this year have been excruciating. They snatch defeat from the jaws of ties like no other.

TR said...

One too many couch scotches for this guy last night. Oof.

I hear you on Khan, Robbie. In fact, I finally shaved my winter beard, which had gotten way too long. I sported a big, fat Khan-Esquenazi stache all day on Sunday, much to the chagrin of my wife, since I was outside with the kids most of the day.

The Fulham matches I've watched this year have been excruciating. They snatch defeat from the jaws of ties like no other.