The Tanner Report : Fulham 1 Wolves 3
Fulham are the Arsenal of the Championship with our passing game so pleasant on the eye but ineffective against teams who scrap. Harold Wilson famously observed that a week is a long time in politics, it certainly is at Fulham. A week ago we beat league Newcastle 3-1 then only achieved 1 point from Blackburn and Wolves leaving us still outside the play-off positions.
Sides, particularly those below Fulham, come to the Cottage with a game plan: to stop Tom Cairney, to get men behind the ball and hope that Fulham may make a defensive error. Sure enough fullback Ryan Fredericks was too easily brushed aside by Costa whose cross Cavaleiro converted to give Wolves the lead. At the start of the second half Wolves added another when Sessegnon left too much space behind him Weimann scored when he was allowed to move the ball to his better foot. Denis Odoi drilled a long shot home and with 25 minutes left Fulham might have hoped to get on equal terms. But no, Sessegnon again gave away too much space and this time Edwards converted the cross.
I had an engagement fixed for May 15th which is the date of the play-off semi final second leg between 6th and 3rd place. This I had to cancel and rather resented that Fulham, so capriciously unreliable, should so dominate my life as no doubt come the 15th Fulham will not be in the play-offs. Still ever hopeful, we might garner more away points at Derby, Norwich, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday as these sides will not be set up to frustrate Fulham and Rotherham are now a lost cause so many points adrift at the bottom can surely offer little resistance. At home, Ipswich and Aston Villa will have nothing to play for though Brentford fans will enjoy nothing more than stopping us from reaching the play-offs. The brutal reality is that we do not deserve the play-offs but let us not be too critical as it’s been a season when 6 years of decline have been reversed.