Source: Team_Talk
Fulham fans receive Roy reminder
Roy Hodgson asked for "sympathy and understanding" from Fulham fans after they booed his side off at half-time in Sunday's 2-1 win over Wigan.[LNB] Fulham were losing 1-0 to Jason Scotland's 34th goal - his first in the Premier League for Wigan - and some elements of the Craven Cottage faithful were not happy with the performance of the home side.[LNB]The Cottagers fought back to win the game with second-half goals from substitute Stefano Okaka and Brede Hangeland and will now concentrate on Thursday's Europa Cup quarter-final second-leg at Wolfsburg.[LNB]However, Hodgson wanted to remind the Fulham fans that at some point before the end of the season, they might have to suffer a poor home performance.[LNB]"The crowd has been fantastic but you do hope sometimes that people show some degree of understanding for the level of difficulty people are being faced with," said Hodgson.[LNB]"I am just taking the moment really to remind the fans we do still try to give them everything but there is going to come a time in these last six games when I'm pretty sure we will disappoint them.[LNB]"I am afraid that sooner or later there is going to be a performance like the first half against Wigan which goes on for 90 minutes and we lose two or three-nil at home because these things are written in the stars.[LNB]"No team can go on and on and on. I am bit annoyed with myself for talking about it. I am just making the point that we have done so much this year that I know that sooner or later, we are going to hit a barrier that we are incapable of surmounting.[LNB]"We have got six more games in the league and I know they won't be at the level of the previous 54 or 55. All I am saying is that it would be nice if people showed some sympathy and understanding for that.[LNB]"They don't deserve people shouting 'wake-up'. It is not a question of waking-up, it is a question of getting tired legs going again in a tough Premier League game."[LNB]The second-half fightback was even remarkable after Hodgson revealed that striker David Elm, who had been suffering from a virus, had to go to hospital at half-time.[LNB]Hodgson admitted he should never have selected the tall striker.[LNB]"He was totally shattered at half-time," added Hodgson. "With hindsight I made the wrong decision playing him because he is in hospital at the moment on an ECG machine because the virus in his body is still there.[LNB]"I could see that he was struggling. I thought it was maybe because he had not played for a while and the pace of the game was beyond him.[LNB]"I suddenly realised at half-time I had made a big mistake and that I should never have thrust him into a game of this nature. The illness took more out of him than I thought."[LNB]Wigan manager Roberto Martinez blamed lapses in concentration by his defence that allowed Fulham to win the game and leave Athletic perilously close the relegation zone.[LNB]"It is really frustrating," said Martinez. "The second-half we dropped our concentration in two key moments and if we do that we will get punished. I felt it was a self-inflicted defeat.[LNB]"The two lapses in concentration were unacceptable and the players know that. We had to work so hard to get the reward in the first-half.[LNB]"We knew the first 10 minutes of the second-half were going to be crucial but Fulham didn't have to do too much to get a reward.[LNB]"It is extremely disappointing when we gifted Fulham the two goals. We have two home games coming up and they are going to be vital.[LNB]"We showed today the good things we are capable and the bad things in the lack of concentration. That is something we have to eradicate.[LNB]"It is important we learn our lessons. At the moment the concentration we showed in the second-half means it is very difficult to get a result away from home. We need to keep the concentration and be a bit more ruthless."
