The Tanner Report/ Fulham 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1
The Fulham programme tends to take an optimistic party line. 3 draws are treated as an unbeaten run rather than winless. The fanzine, in contrast, tends to major more on examining the issues troubling fans, notably the input on transfer policy by the owner’s son Tony Khan and his analytic guru friend Craig Kline. Both fanzine and programme are big on retro articles on Fulham past but the take on the present is somewhat different.
But what is the evidence of our own eyes? Again fans have very diverse views. One I spoke to after then game put our problems on recreating the free-flowing game of last season to the distribution of keeper David Button, one of the few successes this campaign. My view is we miss the surging runs of left back Scott Malone who left us for Huddersfield. It was at this game last year that he popped up in the box to gain us a point after Wednesday took the lead. This time this replacement at left back is right-footed and thus turns into play rather than head for the line. Most Fulham goals last season were scored by reaching the line and a low, telling cross. If you factor in the heartbeat of the side Tom Cairney is not nearly the same force, possibly because he is still carrying a injury, and Stefan Johansen has not rediscovered his form, we are a stuttering second hand jalopy, not the smoothly running purring limousine of last season.
There was one positive. New forward Rui Fonte is fast, mobile and can bring others into play. He looks like he will score too and being the captain of Braga, from whom we acquired him, is a leader. Tim Ream and Tomas Kalas as the central defensive pairing look like they can secure the defence. It took a fine strike by Steve Fletcher to breach it. I can see us picking up points on our travels where teams cannot employ the ‘doing a job’ tactics of Sheffield Wednesday that frustrated last season too. In the meantime whilst it is still early days the Championship table does not lie either and we are close to the bottom of it .
