Player ratings - Fulham (a)

[Skaville]

Stockdale - 8 - great penalty save and a couple other decent stops. No chance with the goal
Bong - 7 - they had joy down the flanks but he made some important challenges
Bruno - 6 - a poor penalty to give away. Got caught out being over elaborate on several occasional
Duffy - 8 - what you expect from Duffy!
Dunk - 9 - MOTM. What a player. Superb run for the goal. Threw his body at everything.
Stephens -6 - okay but we never really bossed the midfield, bar that spell
Norwood - 6 - same as Stephens
Skalak -5 - did little of note going forward and out paced too often going the other way
Knockaert 6 - very frustrating. Some terrible decision making and final balls. One of those days
Murray - 6 - a very quiet afternoon
Baldock - 7 - full of energy. A great outlet which was vital given us losing the midfield

Hemed - 7 - very cool with the pen
March - 6
Murphy - 6

 

[dazzer6666]

Stockdale - 8 - great penalty save and a couple other decent stops. No chance with the goal
Bong - 7 - they had joy down the flanks but he made some important challenges
Bruno - 6 - a poor penalty to give away. Got caught out being over elaborate on several occasional
Duffy - 8 - what you expect from Duffy!
Dunk - 9 - MOTM. What a player. Superb run for the goal. Threw his body at everything.
Stephens -6 - okay but we never really bossed the midfield, bar that spell
Norwood - 6 - same as Stephens
Skalak -5 - did little of note going forward and out paced too often going the other way
Knockaert 6 - very frustrating. Some terrible decision making and final balls. One of those days
Murray - 6 - a very quiet afternoon
Baldock - 7 - full of energy. A great outlet which was vital given us losing the midfield

Hemed - 7 - very cool with the pen
March - 6
Sidwell - 6

Pretty much as I saw it, Bong possibly worse than a 7, gave the ball away far too much and he and Jiri got nothing going. Bruno had his worst game for ages too.

Generous for Sidwell. He warmed up pretty well but didn't do much else (because he didn't get on [emoji23][emoji23]). Give 6 to Murphy instead.

Hughton - 9 (eventually), subs changed the game (again)

Crowd - 9 - just watched the highlights, confirmed how loud we were. Fulham fans quiet all game.

 

[Munchkin]

Stockdale - 8 - Key save, distribution a little off today but a lot better in the air the past couple of weeks
Bong - 5 - Weak link IMO. Not helped by Skalak in front of him.
Bruno - 6 - Not his normal flare performance today, struggled for large periods
Duffy - 8 - Solid, won everything in the air, just stop the long balls !!
Dunk - 9 - MOTM. Superb, every aspect of his game today. Pivotal.
Stephens -7 - Busy and work rate superb but also sloppy at times today.
Norwood - 7 - Maybe a little lightweight today but moved the ball around well.
Skalak - 5 - Frustrating and little impact on the game, poor defensively and sloppy in possession
Knockaert - 6 - Not his day today, almost tried to hard, looked bright on the counter.
Murray - 6 - Put himself about but didn't influence the game as per previous performances
Baldock - 7 - Pulled the centre halfs all over the place, worked hard and created two of our best chances.

Hemed - 7 - Made a positive impact, cool as ever with the pen.
March - 7 - Made a difference, stretched them and kept possession well
Murphy - 6 - Didn't have much time to influence the game.

 

[goldstone]

Poor display today, but we came away with all three points. And I hate those orange shirts (first time I've seen them) ... what connection do Brighton and Hove Albion have with ORANGE??

Stockwell 8. Great penalty save and a few other decent saves. Distribution generally OK.
Bruno 6. Worst game I've seen him play this season. Constantly gave the ball away, particularly in the first half. He's allowed an off day ... let's hope it'll just be the one.
Duffy 7. Not his best. Gave the ball away too frequently.
Dunk 9. Immense, and a great goal. And perfect timing for the yellow card!
Bong 6. Could do nothing right for much of the first half. Improved in the second.
Stephens 7. Has played a lot better.
Norwood 8. The best of our midfield two today.
Skalak 5. Not good enough based on today's performance.
Knockaert 7. Very frustrating today. Decision making poor, held on to the ball too many times when should have passed, lost the ball in dangerous positions.
Baldock 8. Played well, but could have done better with a couple of goal opportunities in the first half.
Murray 7. Won very little in the air and a quiet game.

Subs:
March 7. Not much opportunity to shine.
Hemed 7. Nicely taken penalty, but not a lot else.
Murphy N/A

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Stockdale - 7 - Good pen save, solid handling
Bong - 6 - Not his best game
Bruno - 6 - Subdued
Duffy - 7 - solid and good in the air
Dunk - 9.5 - OUTSTANDING and i do mean OUTSTANDING in every aspect of his play
Stephens -7 - Worked very hard
Norwood - 6 - some good passing but passed-by a lot
Skalak - 4 - Very poor, with the greatest of respect, he is not up to this level
Knockaert - 6 - some lively bursts forward
Murray - 6 - Gave us presence up front but a quieter game from him
Baldock - 7 - our most lively forward, ran his socks off as usual

Hemed - 7 - Made a great impact as sub, cool as you like with the pen
March - 6
Murphy - not enough time to rate

 

[Wardy's twin]

Pretty much as I saw it, Bong possibly worse than a 7, gave the ball away far too much and he and Jiri got nothing going. Bruno had his worst game for ages too.

Generous for Sidwell. He warmed up pretty well but didn't do much else (because he didn't get on [emoji23][emoji23]). Give 6 to Murphy instead.

Hughton - 9 (eventually), subs changed the game (again)

Crowd - 9 - just watched the highlights, confirmed how loud we were. Fulham fans quiet all game.

Thought Stockdale probably just shaded the MOTM award.

Don't think there was much difference between Bruno & Bong

Skalak was poor, would rather have seen a three man midfield with Sidwell playing instead of him.

Not sure why AK was taken off he had really started playing very well a looked likely to score , once he was off they regained the initiative.

I wish Baldock could control the ball......

 

[lawros left foot]

Stockdale - 7 - Good pen save, solid handling
Bong - 6 - Not his best game
Bruno - 6 - Subdued
Duffy - 7 - solid and good in the air
Dunk - 9.5 - OUTSTANDING and i do mean OUTSTANDING in every aspect of his play
Stephens -7 - Worked very hard
Norwood - 6 - some good passing but passed-by a lot
Skalak - 4 - Very poor, with the greatest of respect, he is not up to this level
Knockaert - 6 - some lively bursts forward
Murray - 6 - Gave us presence up front but a quieter game from him
Baldock - 7 - our most lively forward, ran his socks off as usual

Hemed - 7 - Made a great impact as sub, cool as you like with the pen
March - 6
Murphy - not enough time to rate

Stockdale the same amount of points as Tomer,are you sure??

Without Stickers we could have been two down at half time, and he saved a fairly decent penalty, 7/10, again,are you sure??

 

[DJ NOBO]

Skalak is an oscar Garcia kind of player. Boring and slows everything down.

 

[drew]

Seems the Baldock love in for some continues. He squandered our best chance in the first half when played into space, went wide rather than towards the goal. Did miles of running but just can't hold the ball up.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Stockdale - 8 - great penalty save and a couple other decent stops. No chance with the goal
Bong - 7 - they had joy down the flanks but he made some important challenges
Bruno - 6 - a poor penalty to give away. Got caught out being over elaborate on several occasional
Duffy - 8 - what you expect from Duffy!
Dunk - 9 - MOTM. What a player. Superb run for the goal. Threw his body at everything.
Stephens -6 - okay but we never really bossed the midfield, bar that spell
Norwood - 6 - same as Stephens
Skalak -5 - did little of note going forward and out paced too often going the other way
Knockaert 6 - very frustrating. Some terrible decision making and final balls. One of those days
Murray - 6 - a very quiet afternoon
Baldock - 7 - full of energy. A great outlet which was vital given us losing the midfield

Hemed - 7 - very cool with the pen
March - 6
Murphy - 6

I agree with that.

 

[Skaville]

Seems the Baldock love in for some continues. He squandered our best chance in the first half when played into space, went wide rather than towards the goal. Did miles of running but just can't hold the ball up.

He doesn't need to hold the ball up, that's Murray's role in the partnership. Baldock's job is to stretch the defence and he certainly did that today. He's never going to be your 20 goal a season striker at this level but credit where credits due. He's doing a great

 

[Munkfish]

Stockdale: 8 Great Penalty save, solid distribution today, not much ue could have done for the goal.
Bruno: 5 very poor today, just a blimp from a classy player.

Bong: 7 a couple of decent tackles nowhere near as bad as people are making out.
Duffy: 9 Joint MoM the man is a complete beast. What a signing essential to our success along with Dunky.
Dunk: 9 Joint MoM Brilliant as ever alongside Duffy. How good that run! Sol Campbell 98 esq.

Skalak: 6 solid defensivly however didnt show anything going forward or from set pieces.
Knockers: 7 involved in the build up for both goals, however made some poor final decsions today.
Norward: 7 did well on the ball however the game by past our midfiled most of the day.
Stephens: 7 same as above.

Murray: 7 Didnt get the suply today. But worked hard closing down
Baldock: 7 worked very hard but nothing paid off.

Hemed: 7 right move to give him the pen. Tucked it away very cooly.
March: 7 the game changed when he came on however he wasnt involved too much. He would have given fulham more to think about than skalak which could have lead to creating more space for knockers on the other side.
Murphy: 6 didnt have time to do much. Done his job when called upon.

 

[WeveGotAK]

Stockdale - 8 - poor distribution during the game put a lot of pressure instantly back on us unlike him but what a save
Bong - 5 - struggled massively defensively with Skalak with their right back getting in dangerous positions constantly
Dunk - 9 - what a player
Duffy - 8 - key headers and strong tackles late on
Bruno - 6 - unlucky with the penalty out of position occasionally not his usual self
Stephens - 7 - out of it first half but superb in the second led the fight back
Norwood - 6 - gave the ball away in worrying areas but improved second half
Skalak - 5 - completely ineffective often the case away from home where we have less of the ball
Knockaert - 7 - dangerous with the ball in the second half and was a massive part in both goals
Murray - 6 - put himself about well but wasn't his game and often got by passed
Baldock - 7 - good movement could have been more clinical with the early chances

Hemed - 7 - very reliable as always from the penalty spot after a long debate with Murray over it
March - 6 - a lot better than Skalak had a few good direct runs at their defence
Murphy - n/a

 

[One Love]

Stockdale - 9 - Kept us in the game
Bruno - 4 - Regularly he is sublime, today he was ridiculous. His head was somewhere else.
Dunk - 9 - Brilliant even in booking timing.
Duffy - 8 - Kept his head under extreme pressure.
Bong - 5 - Prepared to be in his corner most of the time but today he really didn't look good enough.
Stephens -6 - Poor first half, much better second.
Norwood - 5 - Not good enough.
Skalak - 4 - We were in all sorts of trouble down his flank. Fulham had done their homework. Too slow to be able to defend the overlap.
Knockaert 6 - Quiet until second half where he looked dangerous
Murray - 6 - Tried to do what he could with no service from midfield and having to deal with being the target of every long ball.
Baldock - 6 - Did his best but comes unstuck against better players.

Hemed - 7 - Superb penalty under pressure
March - 7 - a threat
Murphy - 6

First half we defended too deep with no pressing on the ball. This cannot have been planned and was a repeat of Blackburn. Did we even have a shot? We got away with it again.

 

[Simon Morgan]

Stockdale - 8: Really good save from the penalty and especially good with crosses. One dodgy kick in the first half but a really commanding performance overall in a difficult game.

Bruno – 5: Not great but some important defensive contributions. Was trying to be a bit too intricate in possession against a team that was very good at keeping the ball. Not a great idea...

Dunk - 9: What a goal, what a player. Having the season of his life. Some brilliant defensive moments and I very much enjoyed the rather streetwise tactics that he and Duffy resorted to to combat Smith.

Duffy - 8: Very solid again. We really needed to be strong in the middle to have any chance today and luckily we had the best 2 CBs in the league.

Bong - 5: Some sloppy moments in the first half but made a crucial interception when Aluko seemed clean through. Does a lot for us going forward but could sometimes cross himself rather than always giving it to the winger further forward.

Knockaert - 7: Seems to be approaching his former self which is great to see. Had three of our best chances (one of which we scored from) and could have perhaps been a bit calmer in front of goal. Looked very dangerous when we hit the ascendancy in the second half.

Norwood - 6: Wasn't his kind of game first half, got stuck in but the game passed him by a bit. His range of passing gives us something different and I'd like to see him continue to start.

Stephens - 7: Great aggression and presence as ever. Was slightly guilty of slowing the game down once in possession but he did a lot to drag the team forward.

Skalak - 4: Didn't have a good game. When he isn't able to get crosses in he really offers very little. I'm not sure he's good enough to start in a 4-man midfield.

Baldock - 7: Good effort early in the second half and they didn't have the best of times keeping track of his movement. Don't think we did a great job of getting the ball to him.

Murray - 6: A quiet afternoon but his very presence gives us the option of going long if need be. Our most important player.

SUBS

March - 6: Much clamour for him to be brought on but ironically he wasn't that central in the turnaround after being introduced. Did a good job of running the clock down towards the end.

Hemed - 7: Incredibly calm for the penalty. If he didn't score, we wouldn't have won.

Murphy: Not on long enough.

Not sure how many times I've now said something like this this season, but when they scored having missed a pen I really thought the run had come to an end. Our performance wasn't bad but Fulham were the better team for most of the match. They kept the ball very well and we were afforded pretty much nothing in the way of winning second balls. However, we somehow pulled it off. The scenes in the away end for Dunk's winner were very special. He was probably the difference overall. Bring on the next game.


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[drew]

He doesn't need to hold the ball up, that's Murray's role in the partnership. Baldock's job is to stretch the defence and he certainly did that today. He's never going to be your 20 goal a season striker at this level but credit where credits due. He's doing a great

Sorry, but that is utter bullshit. When he receives the ball in the channels or wherever, he needs to retain possession but he is too frequently muscled off the ball or doesn't get the ball under his control. You can get any player to run around (see CMS) but the better ones will hold the ball up as well. What planet do you live on to suggest that he has no responsibility to help retain possession. He is having his best season for us but that in itself doesn't make him flawless.

 

[RM-Taylor]

Genuinely didn't even know Murphy came on

 

[Bob'n'weave]

Bruno must have been pissed, not a good day for him at all - 6
Bong always makes me nervous, don't want to be a Bong basher but i'm just not sure about him. 5
Stockdale - Epic - 9
Dunk 9 - also epic
Skalak 6 - must have been on the piss with Bruno
All the rest 7/8, hard game with Bruno having a mare and did well to hold it together.

 

[Machiavelli]

Stockdale 9 -- what a penalty save
Bruno 5 -- an off-day
Duffy 9 -- extra point for the way he barged/banged into Stockdale after his penalty save; I've not idea why he thought that would endear Stockdale to him, but just goes to show that Duffy is a beat
Dunk 9.5 MotM -- near perfection, delighted he got that goal following on from that marauding run
Bong 5.5 -- one or two good defensive moments, but distribution was dire; I think Pocognoli needs a few more starts
Knockaert 6 -- I really wish he'd stop shooting from the narrowest of angles; it's not all about him; still love him though
Norwood 6.5 -- a few stray passes, a few sumptuous ones
Stephens 7 -- asserted himself and tried to get a grip of midfield, but his radar was off at times today too
Skalak 4 -- very poor, no crosses which is what he's in the team for; can't understand why he's keeping Murphy and March out, especially when Norwood's starting and is as good if not better at set pieces
Murray 6 -- did OK
Baldock 7 -- stretched them, and was the one that made us look dangerous on the break when we were being battered

March 6.5 -- didn't quite make the most of a few opportunities, but his introduction was key to turning things round, as it meant that Fredericks (who looks a player) had to think twice about rampaging forward
Hemed 8 -- won, and converted a penalty. What's not to like
Murphy n/a

Just a thought: cheeky bid for Cairney this transfer window?

 

[Normski1989]

I was listening to the game on the radio and after we went ahead, we were on the back foot and I heard Hemed's name several times as he cleared the ball from set pieces. From the comments on this thread, it sounds like he won and scored the penalty but did little else. Were they over-selling it on the radio or did he actually do a decent defensive job when we trying to cling on to all three points?