Jamie’s report: Stoke 0-0 Fulham

So, then: another away day, another point picked up and another game in which the prospect of a goal for either team barely reached the realm of remote possibility. It’s difficult to know what to say about this game without sounding repetitious. As at Anfield and Villa Park, we played a version of the ‘passing game’ which killed the contest completely – our ponderous and cautious use of the ball meaning the game never became stretched and both teams were invariably well set enough to snuff out the other’s attacks with ease.

Jimmy Bullard in particular seemed to want three or four touches every time he received possession – usually one yard away from one of our defenders, whom he liked to pass it straight back to, and often whilst Johnson or Dempsey would be making enterprising runs into space up front. By the time our midfield did work the ball towards them, the space had long gone. For all our possession, we failed to create a single chance of note – two decent but optimistic long-range efforts from Davies and Dempsey being the closest we came. Stoke had the one real opening when, on the half hour, Cresswell curled a shot over having been slipped through by the impressive Fuller.

As for the infamous throw-ins, Stoke’s first came on about ten minutes. Forward went the big defenders as the crowd chanted ‘Rory’s gonna get you…’ and the boy Delap prepared to launch his missile. As the Fulham fans held their breath, he took his run up and promptly spilled the ball a matter of yards in front of him – the most delightful of anti-climaxes. His shoulder injury was aggravated and it was left to Sonko to take over chucking duties for the rest of the game, against which Schwarzer and our defence coped admirably. Brede Hangleland was again an absolute class apart throughout – by far our man of the match.

In the second half, there was a period when the game threatened to be overshadowed by the performance of the referee – the already infamous and unfortunately pretty incompetent Stuart Atwell. He could easily have awarded us a penalty twice in the first half, but had soon exasperated both sets of supporters with a succession of bizarre decision, to the point where ‘You’re not fit to referee’ was sung in unison by home and away sections alike.

With the atmosphere increasingly restless, there was suddenly a flashpoint between Paintsil and Fuller, the former falling to the ground theatrically after their heads came together. Atwell simply did not know what to do – neither punishing Stoke’s player for a head-butt or ours for ‘simulation’, but the home fans had their own opinion and Paintsil inevitably had his every touch booed thereafter. His reaction? To revel in the attention, demanding possession and twisting and feinting to ridiculous excess whenever he received it. Soon, we won a throw in on the right hand side and were treated to the wonderful sight of our hero nonchalantly (and with no little skill) juggling the ball along the touchline as, just yards from him, thousands of fans screamed torrents of abuse. Brilliant stuff.

But that was as entertaining as it got. As a collective, the team now seem to be stuck in something of a rut. The passing ethic is in principle a good one but it relies on the occasional risk being taken – an attempt to beat a man, a difficult first-time pass being tried – and at the moment our play is far too conservative to really threaten our opponent’s goal. Against Stoke, there was no reason to be cautious – if we’d opened the game up slightly I’d have backed our players to score more goals than theirs. It seems a shame that the management and players don’t have the confidence or ambition to ‘go for it’ a little more – perhaps that will come. In the meantime, watching Fulham away can be pretty dull and frustrating stuff.