Fulham recap; bring on Blue Moon

By: Lucas | November 2nd, 2007

Sorry I’ve been such a bad blogger this week. No recap of the Fulham match, no mid-week news, and now this lame attempt to combine both with a preview of Monday’s Man City match. Apologies in advance for your reading displeasure…

EPL Round 11: Sunderland AFC vs Fulham FC - Kenwyne Jones to the rescue again as the Trinidadian hero heads in a late equalizer to salvage a point for 10-man Sunderland.

1-1 vs Fulham at the Stadium of Light is disappointing: this is a team that couldn’t put the ball in the net for over a month, could only manage a scoreless draw at home against lowly Derby Co. the week previous, and generally look like they’ll be in drop-zone danger all season. So what happens? Fulham grab the first goal, coulda/shoulda already had one before that, but David Healy missed a gifted sitter. Then Sunderland have I’m-going-to-call-him-Rob Halford sent off for two yellow cards, and it looks like another hugely despressing Saturday until Jones saves the day (sort of).

1 point at home vs the EPL bottom-feeders is not going to keep Keane, Quinn and the fans happy, and it certainly isn’t going to keep Sunderland up. Which brings me to:

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EPL Round 12: Manchester City FC vs Sunderland AFC - this is a game Sunderland will be more than happy to walk away from with a point. City is playing very well right now (last week’s humiliation at Stamford Bridge notwithstanding), and the game is at the City of Manchester Stadium, where they are perfect in 7 games in all competitions this season, scoring 11 goals and allowing only 2.

In what looks to be a continuing theme, Sunderland have got to get their defense in order. Their back line has looked shaky at best for most of the season, conceding dumb goals on dumb mistakes (Danny Higganbotham got lucky on Healy’s miss last weekend), and this must be a point of major concern for Roy Keane.

It doesn’t look to get any easier for the City match, as we’ll be missing two starting defenders (Halford is suspended for his red vs Fulham, and Paul McShane is serving the final installment of his 3-match ban). Craig Gordon has been solid in goal, and can’t be blamed entirely for only having kept one clean sheet thus far. He’s optimistic, despite the turmoil in the lineup, saying, “We’re scoring a lot of late goals and that’s a great thing to have in your locker. It’s about fitness, but it’s also about belief and character. We’ve got a group of players who are willing to fight and to work for each other right until the end.”

Our midfield is seriously hurting without our injured starters. Carlos Edwards, Kieran Richardson and captain Dean Whitehead are all still laid up, none expected back until possibly Edwards, who may return the middle of this month at the earliest. Jones is in great form up front, and guys like Anthony Stokes, Michael Chopra and Grant Leadbitter are looking good; once our other playmakers are back, the offense will really start to click. Until then we have to dig in our heels and stop conceding shit goals.

Bring on the Citizens, says I. Anything can happen and I feel lucky! (did I mention I’m spending the weekend in Las Vegas?)

Ha’way the Lads!