SAM Allardyce did not need to point fingers or name names after seeing Wanderers thrashed 4-1 at Loftus Road.

His double substitution at half time of Jay Jay Okocha and Bernard Mendy spoke for itself and when he referred to the "woeful" defending that gifted Fulham two of their four-goals from the penalty spot, there was no hiding place for Gudni Bergsson and young Mendy.

It's a tough life in the Premiership and, at times, tough talking is in order. This was one of those occasions and, regardless of the players' feelings, the Wanderers' boss could not hold back.

The only consolation was that Fulham, who are now just one game away from Uefa Cup qualification after their Intertoto Cup adventures, were well ahead of Wanderers in terms of match fitness.

But Big Sam refused to accept that as an excuse for such a lame performance after Michael Ricketts had given them a fourth minute lead from the penalty spot.

"We found ourselves wanting," he admitted. "We were miles apart. Fulham's preparation for this season has been seven Intertoto games and, after us getting off to that great start, they showed us how far we are behind them in terms of match fitness.

"But it was all about basic errors, defenders selling themselves. You just don't do that in football any more, especially not in the Premiership. You have to stay on your feet; we didn't and we paid the penalty.

"Unfortunately our defending was woeful."

Explaining the double substitution that left two of his summer signings sitting out the second half, he said: "Bernard was having a torrid time and had to come off before he was sent off. In fact he can count himself lucky not to get himself sent off when he conceded the penalty.

"Jay Jay felt he'd got a kick on the knee but he wasn't involved enough. We'd like to have seen him do more but the real concern was the defence not defending properly. The penalty - and it was definitely a penalty - gave us a great platform to get something out of the game but, unfortunately, we handed it to Fulham.

"It troubles me that people with the experience we've got should make tackles like that. Gudni ... I could forgive Bernard Mendy because he's younger but he's played 80 to 90 games for Paris St Germain and he should know his defensive duties. All he had to do was stay on his feet. That's the basics of defending because as soon as you go to ground these days, even if you make a fair challenge, it generally ends up with a free kick. Slide tackling, as far as referees are concerned, is a thing of the past. Nearly all those challenges are penalised but worse still when you make them in the penalty area.

"People are going to take advantage and go to ground - although I'm not saying anyone from Fulham dived because I thought they were both definite penalties, as ours was. They were just stupid challenges.

"Our back line was fantastic last season but we didn't do that sort of job at Fulham. I just hope this is the big kick up the backside they need and that reality has struck home because anything less than the commitment we showed last year will not be accepted. We have to win games and we won't do that by handing gifts to the opposition. We can't perform at that level if we are to get the results.

"We can't be as bad as we were on Saturday."

And with the reprimands came a warning. The manager is prepared to give Okocha and Mendy time to adjust to life in the Premiership but he knows he cannot afford to wait too long.

"Everybody who comes to the Premiership finds life difficult," he accepted, "but they have got to make sure they get up to speed very quickly because otherwise they won't be in my team or anyone else's. Their places will be in jeopardy and my patience will run out rapidly."

Allardyce said he saw no individual plus points in the performance and his only consolation was that Fulham's European adventure had given them a distinct competitive edge.

"I have to hope that was the difference," he added, "and once we get to full match fitness, we'll be a lot better.'

The introduction of the reliable Mike Whitlow at half time sent Bruno N'Gotty to right back to handle the threat from Luis Boa Morte, who had caused Mendy many of his problems in the first half, while the determined Henrik Pedersen put some drive and energy into the attack. But it was all to no avail.

"We got good opportunities in and around Fulham's box," Allardyce added, "but never really made the goalkeeper make a save, That's one of the most worrying and disappointing things.