I’m still trying to get my head around last night!
It’s as if we’ve joined the growing band of clubs that treat the Carling Cup with disdain and I can’t understand why.
It’s not as if we’re one of the big four, we’re not going to challenge for the title however much we may daydream about it.
And, considering the money Roy has spent this summer, we should be confident enough to accept that potential relegation should not be an issue also, so why did Roy make so many changes?
I’m intelligent enough to accept he wanted to see how certain players performed and how they could be slotted in during the season when injuries and suspensions kick in but I fail to see why we had to make eight.
Already, we’ve reported that Roy felt some of the players were carrying niggles but surely not eight.
A victory last night would have put us in the next round, a round nearer Wembley, a round nearer European qualification. Instead we’re left with an empty feeling, a feeling that life as a Fulham supporter, in these Premier League is all important times. Mid table mediocrity is the best we can hope for.
I guess some may feel that I’m being unreasonable, that I should accept that football has changed and that one competition has become all consuming but I can’t, I’m from the old school, a school who believe that you should field your best team wherever and whenever possible.
I can’t accept quotes such as,
‘The Premier League is our priority and some of my players have niggling injuries.
‘I am pleased with our team as many players were in for the first time. We looked on for extra time then we conceded so close to the end.
‘Burnley looked a good side. I don’t know the Championship well enough but I would think they could do well. They are well organised defensively and have players with pace and skill.’
Come on Roy! Burnley are, at best, mid-table, if they get promoted I’ll eat my hat!
What grates me the most is this continual harping on about Premier League survival, we should be aiming higher than that, we’re better than that but maybe, just maybe, the whole crux of the matter can be found in that last quote.
Perhaps, and I’m guessing here, Roy knows just enough about the Championship to realise that if we do not survive, the end is nigh. We’d be shorn of our decent players and what was paraded last night will become the norm.
A frightening thought and probably a bitter article but I don’t half feel better for putting pen to paper.
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