Saturday Fulham Stuff (21/01/17)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham make loan approach for former striker Ross McCormack?

Fulham have reportedly made an audacious bid to take Ross McCormack on loan from Championship rivals Aston Villa for the remainder of the season.

The Cottagers, who only offloaded the 30-year-old to Villa for £12m in the summer, are said to be after a short-term fix up top to bolster their playoff push.

According to The Sun, Steve Bruce is happy to let McCormack leave Villa Park this month but is instead holding out for a permanent sale in order to fund a move for Middlesbrough ace Jordan Rhodes.

It is claimed that Fulham are preparing a cash offer to take their former player back for the next four months, despite the Scotsman - also a rumoured target for Wolverhampton Wanderers - finding the net just three times in 20 Championship outings this season.


http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/fulham/transfer-talk/news/fulham-make-loan-approach-for-mccormack_289962.html

[WhiteJC]

 
One to Watch - Chris Martin

Name: Chris Martin
Date of Birth: 04.11.1988
Former clubs: Norwich City, Luton Town (L), Crystal Palace (L), Swindon Town (L), Derby County (L), Derby County.
Apps (goals): 387 (126)

Despite a run of just one defeat in their last seven league matches since the beginning of December, there has been some unrest at Fulham in recent weeks, with on-loan Derby striker Chris Martin refusing to play for the Cottagers for their trip to high-flying Brighton, after informing the club that he wanted to return to Derby.

Having been deemed surplus to requirement at Pride Park by Nigel Pearson at the start of the season, Martin moved to Craven Cottage on a season-long loan, only for Pearson to be sacked by the Rams in October, and replaced by former manager Steve McLaren, who stated prior to Christmas that he`d like to recall the striker.

McLaren worked with the forward during his previous spell at the Midlands club, but having bagged six league goals for Fulham prior to the match against the Seagulls, Whites boss Slavisa Jokanovic stated that Martin would not be going anywhere, and he has since returned to the side, scoring in each of his last two outings.

The Scotland international leads the way in the goalscoring charts for Jokanovic`s men this term with eight in total, and should have been on the scoresheet to open his account for Fulham when QPR travelled to Craven Cottage in October, as he found himself infront of a gaping open goal, only to stumble and miss the target.

The Suffolk-born striker began his career with Norwich, coming through the Canaries` youth ranks before making his debut in January 2007, coming on as a late substitute in a 1-0 defeat to Wolves, before he notched his first goal in professional football two weeks later in a 3-2 victory over Blackpool in the FA Cup third round.

He went on to find the net in four successive Championship games shortly after, in what was a promising start to his career at Carrow Road, and he ended the 2006/2007 season with five goals in 20 matches in all competitions, but the following campaign would prove a frustrating one, as he failed to net in just 10 outings.

He moved on loan to League Two side Luton for the entirety of the 2008/2009 season, turning out 51 times for the Hatters, chipping in with 13 goals, and on his return to Norwich, who had just been relegated from the Championship, he established himself as a key member of the side, helping secure an immediate return.

17 league goals that year helped Norwich to the League One title under Paul Lambert, but goals didn`t come quite so regularly in the second tier during the 2010/2011 campaign, during which he scored six times, but by the end of the season, he had become a Premier League player, as the Canaries finished second behind QPR.

After featuring just four times for the club in the top-flight, Martin dropped back down to the Championship in November 2011, as he was loaned out to Crystal Palace, initially on a short-term deal, which was eventually extended until the end of the season, and he found the net on eight occasions in 28 outings for the Eagles.

His final three appearances for Norwich came at the beginning of the 2012/2013 season, as he was shipped out on loan again, firstly to Swindon, before moving to Derby for the second-half of the campaign, and after featuring 12 times for the Rams, scoring twice, he signed a permanent deal at Pride Park in the summer.

With his contract having come to an end at Norwich, the club opted against extending his deal, leaving the Rams with the opportunity to sign him on a free transfer, and his 22 goals in 2013/2014 almost helped the club to promotion, only to lose out in dramatic fashion at Wembley thanks to Bobby Zamora`s strike at the death.

More heartache would follow at the end of the next season, as Derby finished just one point adrift of the top six, but Martin again proved his prowess in attack, netting 21, convincing Gordon Strachan to award him five of his Scotland caps during the qualifying campaign for last summer`s European Championships in France.

Last year his 16 goals helped the Rams to a play-off position, only to lose out both legs to Hull at the semi-final stage, and it came as a surprise in the summer when Pearson agreed to allow Martin to leave the club on loan, but if McLaren remains as manager next term, it appears that he still has a future at his parent club.


Read more: http://www.qpr.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=477124#ixzz4WNwlhW6i

[gang]

His future is in Fulhams' hands not Wallyman.

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic gives his verdict on QPR counterpart Ian Holloway
The Rangers boss returned to the club after spending a year out of the game working at Sky as a football expert

Slavisa Jokanovic has praised Ian Holloway's achievements in the game as Fulham make the short trip to Loftus Road tomorrow to face QPR.

The Rangers boss returned to the club after spending a year out of the game working at Sky as a football expert.

And the Serbian has full respect for his opposite number when he lines up against him at Loftus Road.

He said: "All managers are different. He [Holloway] has done many important things in this profession. He has been successful with many clubs in this country.

"I think he has been promoted two or three times and we have to respect him. QPR is in a great moment.

"They have won three games in a row. They have shown important improvement in the last few games."

The R's won the last encounter between the two sides at Craven Cottage, with the visitors managed at that time by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

In the last few matches, Holloway has brought about a revival in fortunes and Jokanovic is wary of the threat that tomorrow's hosts pose.

"They have shown in their last few games that they are really competitive. They push hard. They aren't going to fight us to win possession of the ball, they will try to be effective, quick and clinical.

"We are going to follow our style. They have made important progress in the last few games."

Fulham completely dominated the reverse fixture but ended up losing. However, Jokanovic is bullish about his team's chances.

"I expect we are going to dominate, I expect we are going to make more attempts, I expect we are going to shoot more times and in the end I expect a different result to the last match against them.

"Our identity more or less now is clear, I don't expect that we are going to surprise them so much. I believe I know what they are going to try against us.

"They are going to be ready, we are going to be ready and we will see who is going to win the game."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-slavisa-jokanovic-gives-12486581

[WhiteJC]

 
TOM CAIRNEY ENJOYING FULHAM BEING BETTER THAN BARCELONA

Fulham vice-captain Tom Cairney has revealed the Fulham dressing room have been revelling all week over the fact they are playing better than Barcelona!

Stats showed the Cottagers made more passes and with higher percentage accuracy in their 2-0 win over Barnsley last Saturday than Lionel Messi and Co did in their 5-0 drubbing of Las Palmas.

Slavisa Jokanovic's boys completed 647 of their 725 passes against the Tykes, giving an 89.2 per cent success rate, compared to Barca's 88.7 per cent as a result of 504 completed from 568.

Not only that, but Fulham's season average for successful passes per game would put them only behind Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in Europe's five big leagues.

The number crunching shows how Jokanovic has transformed the West Londoners into the pass-masters of the Championship, and arguably England, which has not gone unnoticed by Cairney and his team-mates.

The creative midfielder, 25, told SunSport: "Someone said that we had passed more than Barcelona at the training ground.

"It's a crazy stat and one you can't think can happen to often on a weekend.

"But it just shows the confidence of the boys have with the ball. Long may it continue.

"I'm not being biased but I do honestly think we play the best football in the division. We've played every single team and I haven't come across anyone who plays better football.

"I don't think our league position represents what we've done to a few teams this season. Hopefully in the second half of the season we'll get more results that we deserve for our performances.

"We've got to be looking at play-offs, minimum."


http://www.fulhamweb.co.uk/news/tom-cairney-enjoying-fulham-being-better-than-barcelona.aspx