Watching monday night's game again....We barely ever hoofed the ball. It's something we definitely have worked on in trainings, and it's a great sign IMO. Back 4 passed it all the time...and I doubt the rare hoofs would have happened had our general, Lucas, been fit.

I think we have made a lot of improvements since our lackluster draw vs Swansea and I've seen so many encouraging signs in the past month. I think last night's performance was better than half of our wins, and we were very unfortunate to lose the game, but I think we have the right management in place, and with a couple of more acquisitions we'll be a very good team.

There was a Lucas-shaped hole in front of our defense last night that allowed Fulham to take that many shots as they did, and that's how they ever threatened. It was expected as it was Jay's first game as sole DM, but he still made plenty of good tackles and interceptions.

Henderson was our best player IMO, and I am very excited to have him play for us for many years. He has a great awareness and movement, and with more experience and confidence, he'll be an immense player for us that we'll look at 16M as a bargain very very soon.

It's obvious that we lack that final quality ball and decisiveness in front of opposition's goal. The fact that Bolton, Blackburn, and Norwich have scored more than us clearly shows that, and that's something we'll have to address in January. I'd be much more worried if our defending was letting us down as opposed to our attacking. Pepe won't make a mistake like that for many more months to come, so I am not worried on that part. Also very surprised we didn't see Maxi come on, considering Kenny's interview that he is tempted to play Maxi every game. Maybe the red card changed everything ?

In all case....there is a lot of room for optimism. We have the right management in place and we are playing football in the way it should be played. Kenny has kicked hoofing almost completely outta the team. Unfortunately, that's now how teams are judged. It's a result-orientated business. No matter you perform dominantly and score a 0-0, compared to get completely outplayed and battered but get a smash and grab 1-0 win...people will think the second was better.

I hope we see more of Maxi (by far our best finisher) until January when we go out and address this problem..but I am very happy with the progress we've made since our draw vs Swansea. Henderson has continuously improved, Coates looked like a rock vs Chelsea, and Bellamy has been very effective. Agger-Skrtel partnership also goes marching on !!

Just very gutted for Jay, as now he'll miss 3 games....hopefully the encouraging sub appearance Downing had last night (how unlucky has he been this season btw ?) will bring him to life, because despite his limitations, he is better than what he's shown so far...

It won't be a surprise and not end of the world, if we don't get top 4 spot back (we are 5 points behind with 24 games to go btw) , because we'll address our problems with a couple of quality signings, new players will gel further, and we'll push on....I doubt John Henry is daft to think otherwise.

My biggest dream this season, is to end our 6 year trophy drought. Can't believe players like Kuyt and Lucas hasn't won anything with us yet. Or Pepe has a FA Cup and a Community Shield only, same with Agger. Seeing City's January schedule, gives me optimism. I'd love it if we won a cup (or 2)

Question to all.

If we win the League Cup, will Lucas get the medal if he doesn't feature in the final?

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Anyway. I'm still optimistic that we'll get top 4.
I see us gaining some points this weekend to the top 4 as Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal have difficult games (well... not Arsenal.)

The only thing we need in January is a mobile player like Suarez, a DM to cover Leiva's absence and EITHER a RW or STRIKER that can FINISH.

ynwa wrote:Question to all.

If we win the League Cup, will Lucas get the medal if he doesn't feature in the final?

____

Anyway. I'm still optimistic that we'll get top 4.
I see us gaining some points this weekend to the top 4 as Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal have difficult games (well... not Arsenal.)

The only thing we need in January is a mobile player like Suarez, a DM to cover Leiva's absence and EITHER a RW or STRIKER that can FINISH.

doesn't every player who participated in A league cup become entitled to a medal?

or its the 25 man squad chosen (i think thats only european cups)

I believe only the matchday squad gets a CC medal, but I could very well be wrong.

Lucas tweeted/ said in his interview that he wanted that medal ... Must mean he does get it ..

Everyone who has played a part in the competition gets a medal. I am still wondering whether we are hoof-free or not

With Carra and Carroll on the bench i don't see us hoofing anytime soon. Carra was mostly the hoofer and Carroll always the target for the hoofs. But Kenny has done a great job working on that with the lads.

And Sepi is right, everyone that participated in the competition gets a medal.

Bad news for Carrol.........