|
|
Dominic Fifield at The Guardian
|
Derby (1) 5-1 (0) Fulham
Fulham manager Felix Magath said he remains confident he can take Fulham back to the Premier League but admitted there must be changes after this thrashing by Derby. A fourth consecutive defeat leaves Fulham below Blackpool and Bolton at the foot of the Championship.
"That was the worst performance but the good thing is that it is clear we have to change something," Magath said. "The result was very bad and so now is the time to change. A few minutes after the game is not the time to talk about what we will change but for sure there will be new players in.
"I am not satisfied with the situation. Derby are one of the favourites for this season and you can lose against such a good team but not in this manner."
On this evidence, Magath has a big job ahead after his young team collapsed despite Scott Parker's second-half equaliser that cancelled out Jamie Ward's opener. Ward volleyed Johnny Russell's cross from the right past Jesse Joronen from eight yards in the 23rd minute but Fulham levelled in the 54th minute when Parker's precise low drive from 15 yards fizzed inside Lee Grant's right-hand post.
The rest of the game was a horror show for Fulham as Craig Bryson volleyed in Russell's cross in the 59th minute before Chris Martin was allowed to turn too easily two minutes later and beat the exposed Joronen. Martin tapped in his second in the 87th minute after Simon Dawkins had gone clear to strike a post and Dawkins completed the rout a minute later when he ran through another gaping defensive hole to complete a memorable day for Derby.
Steve McClaren, was delighted with the way his team responded to the defeat at Charlton on Tuesday. The Derby head coach said: "We certainly look at the results and the players do and we wanted to make sure we put a marker down and we've done that, but it's no good doing it in one game, we've got to do it consistently."
Source .