Good morning all!

First and foremost, I’m sorry for yesterday’s debacle. For starters, the actual post itself was very poor on my account. There are reasons as to why our writing was below standard yesterday, there were some major problems with my laptop and I was really rushing to sort it all out before I had to go.

That’s me apologised and you can all forget about it, right?

I’m sure you will forgive me, but we have a big match to sink our teeth into from last night, where Fulham played host to Chelsea at Craven Cottage. In light of Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat by the hands of Norwich City, Chelsea had a massive opportunity to move into fourth place, level on points with Spurs, but ahead on goal difference, which you feel will be a massive factor in deciding the race for fourth spot.

Having occupied tenth in the Premier League last night, with forty-two points on the board, Fulham have little, if nothing to play for. Fulham will not be relegated, of that much we can be certain, whilst there is no chance of progressing further for Europa League football.

That sort of situation can make teams really difficult to play. If a team in Fulham’s position apply themselves correctly, then their style of play becomes more expansive and as the match was played, you could see that was evident in how Fulham attacked Chelsea and more specifically, the way in which Kerim Frei held on to the ball, dribbled and picked passes.

Earlier in the season, Fulham set out defensively against Manchester United at Craven Cottage and were smashed apart 5-0. That night, Fulham were tentative, nervous and played within themselves. Just a few weeks back, Fulham travelled to Old Trafford and attacked Manchester United and very nearly earned themselves a point. Knowing you’re safe makes such a difference in your approach and that makes for Fulham being a very tricky fixture for the final few matches of this season.

Fulham edged the first half, lumping pressure on Chelsea to no avail and created the better chances. We’ve been here before with Fulham though and despite creating chance after chance at Old Trafford, Martin Jol’s side failed to score and it looked to be a continuing trend against Chelsea last night.

After Fulham’s early pressure, Chelsea managed to hold the ball and started to manipulate the tempo, though unlike Fulham, Chelsea weren’t creating chances, any shots they fired off were speculative to say the least and when Chelsea were awarded a penalty just before half-time, I felt a masive sense of unjustice considering the way Fulham had played.

Predictably, Frank Lampard converted the penalty low to Mark Schwarzer’s right-hand corner, but had the referee got the decision correct? For me, it goes down as yet another referee blunder as Mark Clattenburg judged Danny Murphy to have fouled Salomon Kalou. In the replays that followed, Murphy clearly gets the ball and Kalou falls over said ball. Never in a million years is it a penalty; if those tackles were to set the precedent for penalties being awarded following such a challenge, we’ll see teams awarded fifteen penalties per game.

I’m not exclusively blaming referees for their blunders, they’re only human and we’re all liable to making errors, but when these things happen with such a staggering regularity, you have to ask if referees are getting the support they need? We know referees don’t get the support they need, if we had video technology, football would be so much better. It’s amazing that we sit here in the 21st Century with all our gadgets and yet in a multi-billion pound industry, we’re relying on the eyesight of middle-aged men.

In the second half, chances tended to dry up, though any that did fall came Fulham’s way as they increased the pressure on Petr Cech’s goal and eventually, in the 82nd minute, a Damien Duff cross was met by Clint Dempsey’s shaven head and deflected in off of Gary Cahill’s back.

Without too much happening after that, Fulham held Chelsea for a well deserved point and Roberto Di Matteo had missed a great opportunity to go level with Spurs and into fourth.

For what it’s worth, I still believe Chelsea will enjoy Champions League football next season, purely because they’ve been there and done it before. Of course, the romantic inside me wishes Newcastle United could make fourth, but honestly, I believe their run-in to be far too difficult to comprehend such a lofty finish.

Sheffield Wednesday

I’ve not been able to stay away from news revolving around Sheffield Wednesday this season. Two months ago, Sheffield Wednesday packed Hillsborough to the rafters for the Sheffield derby versus Sheffield United, with 36,364 fans laying witness to a narrow 1-0 win in Wednesday’s favour. If you want to make a comparison, that’s a better attendance than last season’s North London Derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at White Hart Lane, which 36,138 fans attended. Of course, White Hart Lane can’t demand anything bigger in terms of attendance, but it just goes to show how massive football is in Sheffield.

Amazingly, that match turned out to be ex-manager Gary Megson’s last match for the club. A former player himself (as well as his Father, Don Megson) and I was appalled by the decision. I keep going on about it, but I felt it was disrespectful and came just as Wednesday were turning a corner of indifferent form.

Dave Jones was appointed as Sheffield Wednesday’s new manager and as much as I like Gary Megson, I will say that Dave Jones is head and shoulders above Gary Megson in managerial ability. If there was anyone that Milan Mandaric could have picked of the available managers, it would always have been Dave Jones as the ultimate signing in my eyes.

Since his Jones’ arrival, Wednesday have played eight games, won seven and lost one, scoring nineteen and conceding just four. It’s such phenomenal form and requires the reward of promotion and Championship football for next season.

Yesterday, Sheffield Wednesday were matched for much of the first half by Paul Dickov’s Oldham Athletic and you wondered if Wednesday might drop points.

When a team is in such good form however, a goal can come from anywhere, at any moment and it did, through Gary Madine’s brilliant diving header. For Oldham fans, it’s an absolute sickener to concede. Miguel Llera was allowed far too much time on the wing and Oldham failed to close him down before Llera opted to cross. Llera’s ball was met by Gary Madine when Tarkowski failed to track Madine’s run. Two instances of bad defending cost Oldham their first goal and with that, Wednesday stamped their dominance upon the game, Oldham shrinking into the vast, blue surroundings of Hillsborough.

Two more crosses proved to be Oldham’s undoing, as Miguel Llera turned goalscorer rather than provider, nodding home Keith Treacy’s (once on loan at Sheffield United) cross in the 67th minute. Treacy again opted for the role of architect to Wednesday’s three points as he sent in a cross for Ryan Lowe to head home ten minutes later.

In my ideal world, Sheffield Wednesday go up automatically and wait for it Wednesday fans reading this… I’d like to see Sheffield United go up via the play-offs. Hate the Blades though you may, but you cannot deny that your weekends are more interesting when your hated rivals are in direct competition with you. competition between the two Sheffield sides has made for an incredible story to tell this season and the fight has seen Wednesday fans really come together and everybody is positive, as opposed to the negative, horrible atmosphere I experienced last season when I saw Sheffield Wednesday defeat Leyton Orient 1-0 via a scrappy Darren Purse header under Alan Irvine. Both clubs need each other more than they might think and I for one would love to see both sides competing on a larger platform than what they currently are.

Right, that’s me done for today, I’ll see you in the comments…

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