FulView for September 2023
Since Fulham is off this weekend is a good time to bring back the monthly recap. Before we get to Fulham, let's take a moment to thank August's site sponsor - @stlouisbrad ! Thanks Brad for getting things going this year! If you haven't already sponsored a month there are still two months (April and May) that you can sponsor.
Fulham's August Record: 1 W, 1 D, 2 L (for the sake of readability I'm including the City match from Sept. 2)
Upcoming September matches: Luton Town, Crystal Palace
I'm frankly a little disappointed in all of the, well, whining I've been hearing from Fulham fans (but not much from the folks here). Yeah, the transfer window was crazier than necessary and there are a number of questions about how the team is managed, but can we take a breath before declaring Fulham's inevitable doom? Fulham came out of a difficult opening stretch with 4 points - 4 points that just about everyone said they would be happy with when the season kicked off. Fulham got those points despite multiple blown calls from officials, finishing two matches with only 10 men, missing key players, and facing possibly the two best teams in the league on the road. Isn't that at least something to celebrate?
I almost forgot to mention that Fulham also dispatched Tottenham in the Carabao Cup. The team put all their penalties into the back of the net! Both of those were unexpected surprises.
I'm not saying that there aren't concerning issues with the front office and how the transfer window was managed. I just think there is a lot of overreacting. Let's see what happens with the squad over September and October. If Fulham is within 3 points of relegation after hosting Brighton at the end of October then I'll be worried. Right now though I'm excited to see what they can do.
In the remaining September matches Fulham should get three points from Luton and I would hope for something from Crystal Palace in what should be a very competitive match. In the Carabao Cup Fulham will face Norwich to close out the month.
On a personal note, it will be a little sad when Fulham faces Luton on September 16. That was going to be a really special game for Don, and I was looking forward to hearing his take on that moment. Unfortunately that Premier League matchup we were all hoping for will take place without the one man who deserved to see it the most.
https://fulhamusa.com/threads/fulview-for-september-2023.10474/
Mohamed Al Fayed: the 'unacceptable face' of late capitalism
The notorious billionaire exploited a decadent UK establishment that shunned him.
Why has last week's death of 94-year-old Mohamed Al Fayed, a once-notorious UK-based, Egyptian-born billionaire, unseen for years, excited such an outburst of news headlines and media comment?
The BBC broadcast an old recording of Al Fayed himself, declaring with typical bluntness that 'I love the masses and the people, I don't care about those bastards' – the bastards in question being the British establishment. Many other media commentators came to bury not to praise Al Fayed, damning him as a ruthless bully 'obsessed with status and wealth', who had tried and ultimately failed to wheedle and cheat his way into the upper classes and even the royal family itself.
So, self-styled caring man of the common people or arrogant wannabe British gentleman? Either way (or perhaps most likely, a bit of both), Al Fayed's impact on UK society in life, and the reaction to his death, surely reveals at least as much about the turmoil of the British establishment in the 20th century as it does about the man himself.
Al Fayed's story was certainly extraordinary. Born in 1929, he rose from selling Coca Cola on the smog-choked streets of Alexandria, Egypt to become a London property magnate and the owner, alongside much else, of Harrods, the posh people's store in Knightsbridge, and Fulham Football Club.
Along the way, he invented a wealthy background (it is assumed that plain Mohamed Fayed added the upper-class prefix 'Al' to his name in the 1970s, to denote fictitious aristocratic connections), and got rich by mixing (and falling out) with the likes of legendary international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, the uber-opulent Sultan of Brunei, and 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, bloody dictator of Haiti.
Once landed in Britain, Al Fayed would use every trick to scramble up the social pole, from double-crossing fellow tycoon Tiny Rowland, in order to secure ownership of Harrods in 1985, to attempting to bribe Tory MPs to do his bidding in parliament in the 1990s. He became a staple feature in satirical magazine Private Eye, where every other word would be punctuated with his trademark expletive, 'fuggin'.
Al Fayed's ultimate advancement scheme, to marry his son Dodi off to the divorcee Diana, Princess of Wales, and thus become step-grandfather to Princes William and Harry, ended in tragedy when Diana and Dodi were killed in a drink-driving accident in 1997. They had been motoring at speed from Al Fayed senior's Paris Ritz Hotel, with his intoxicated employee at the wheel. Ignoring all evidence to the contrary, Al Fayed insisted in both a libel court and at the inquest that Diana had been pregnant with Dodi's baby, and had been assassinated by MI6 and Prince Philip – 'a murdering Hun with Nazi tendencies' – to prevent a Muslim from becoming half-brother to William, the future British king.
Little wonder, we might think, that the outrageous Al Fayed was so widely and often bitterly remembered over the past week or so. Yet an important part of his story is that, at every stage, he was able to exploit the weaknesses of a decadent, divided British establishment that had shunned him as a vulgar upstart.
Al Fayed's first business success was seemingly an indirect result of the 1956 Suez Crisis, when the British Empire was politically and militarily humiliated after President Nasser of the new republic of Egypt nationalised the key imperial trade route, the Suez Canal. Many foreign business interests in the area took fright and sold up cheaply, with Al Fayed on hand to collect.
Once he moved to Britain, Al Fayed would persuade the fee-obsessed financial suits of the City of London to endorse his claims to be the son of a wealthy Pasha, as part of his successful battle with Rowland to take over Harrods.
Furious at being double-crossed, Rowland demanded an inquiry, which revealed Al Fayed in such a bad light that the new owner of London's premier department store was deemed unfit for British citizenship. Though anybody inclined to imagine Al Fayed as a unique foreign stain on the good name of UK plc might recall that Tiny Rowland's own business had previously been memorably branded by former Tory prime minister Edward Heath as 'the unacceptable face of capitalism'.
Horror in high places at the idea of an Egyptian upstart owning Harrods did not, however, prevent Britain's hungry elites from accepting Al Fayed's largesse. For years, Harrods under his ownership retained its royal warrants and was even allowed to sponsor the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which allowed him to sit next to Her Majesty the Queen. (The arrangement was eventually ended reportedly due to his 'colourful' outbursts.)
Outraged at being denied British citizenship, Al Fayed turned to the exhausted, sleaze-ridden Tory Party of the 1990s in search of revenge, offering MPs bribes to ask questions in parliament on his behalf. When the Tories failed to deliver, he exposed them as corrupt. One, Neil Hamilton, sued him for libel and lost. Another, former Conservative cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken, tried to sue the Guardian and Granada TV for reporting on his dealings with Al Fayed and ended up in jail for perjury. The Al Fayed-inspired 'Cash for Questions' sleaze scandal would prove a factor in John Major's Tory government being destroyed by Tony Blair's New Labour at the 1997 general election.
Denied the status that traditionally came with owning a UK national newspaper (unlike the 'unacceptable' Rowland, who was proprietor of the supposedly liberal Observer), Al Fayed instead turned to the new national platform for publicity and influence provided by Premier League football. One of many dubious businessmen who would be allowed to pass English football's pathetic 'fit-and-proper-person' test for owning a club, Al Fayed did deliver on his promise to take lowly Fulham FC to the promised land of the Premier League. He was in his element striding across the pitch at Craven Cottage to the Fulham fans' acclaim, 'like a pharaoh' as one obit had it, or introducing his celebrity pal Michael Jackson to the players. ('Hide your willies!', he is said to have shouted to them as a presumably bemused Jacko entered the dressing room.)
Even Al Fayed's manoeuvrings around the royal family were about taking advantage of the old establishment's turmoil, from Charles and Diana's divorce to the royals' declining public esteem. Of course, his allegations that Diana and Dodi were murdered by MI6 and the Duke of Edinburgh, with the support of Blair's government and the French authorities, sound like the paranoid rantings of a heart-broken, guilt-wracked parent. Yet in the febrile atmosphere of national 'mourning sickness' that followed Diana's death, such wild stories could be treated seriously by many. His later outbursts would also feed into the widening conspiratorial outlook taking hold in sections of public opinion and the media, when it seemed anything could reasonably be branded a plot by 'them'. At the inquest into Diana and Dodi's deaths, where Al Fayed gave full vent to his fact-free conspiracy theories, he was actually represented by top radical lawyer Michael Mansfield QC, legal hero of the British left from the Miners' Strike to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.
There might seem little doubt that Mohamed Al Fayed was an unsavoury character. His reputation has also fallen foul of the changing ethical standards in working and public life, with former employees latterly coming forward to complain about bullying and sexual harassment. The giant, risible statue of Michael Jackson that he installed outside Fulham's stadium has now been relegated to a storage unit of the National Football Museum in Manchester, a symbol of the pariah status of both Jacko and Al Fayed in many circles today.
Yet it remains important to situate such an extraordinary individual in the wider context of his times, where both the impact he made in life and the reaction he prompted in death can surely only be understood as a side-effect of what was happening at the top of British society.
Unlike some of my fellow journalists of 'a certain age' who have commented after his death, I never worked for or even met 'Mo'. (He spent a small fortune on a failed revival of the legendary satirical magazine, Punch, from 1996 to 2002.) I do, however, recall seeing a memorable 'secret' tape of his meeting with Tiny Rowland during their long-running feud. It begins halfway through an exchange, with Al Fayed laughing at Tiny. 'I'm talking about your ****', he scoffs, 'not my ****'. It seems a fitting epitaph, somehow.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/08/mohamed-al-fayed-the-unacceptable-face-of-late-capitalism/
Sources: Tottenham plotting to sell Eric Dier and sign 25-year-old as January replacement
Tottenham will look to sign Tosin Adarabioyo in January if they can offload Eric Dier, sources have told Football Insider.
Spurs have been interested in the Fulham defender for most of the summer window and are likely to revisit a deal in the winter window either for a cut-price fee or in the form of a pre-contract agreement.
Adarabioyo's contract expires in June 2024 after the Cottagers activated the 12-month extension clause in January this year.
Football Insider initially revealed Spurs' interest in the centre-back in June as Ange Postecoglou eyed up defensive reinforcements.
The Lilywhites did add Wolfsburg defender Micky van de Ven to the back line but a late move for Adarabioyo did not materialise.
Current centre-back option Eric Dier has entered the final year of his contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and is yet to feature for the side this term.
The England international signed an extension to his deal back in 2020 after joining from Sporting in 2014.
Last month (14 August), Football Insider revealed that there was a real possibility the centre-back would quit the club in the summer window after being left out of the squad for their Premier League opener.
But, as quoted by the BBC after the game, Postecoglou insisted Dier remains a part of the team despite his absence.
The 29-year-old has made 360 appearances for Spurs during his nine years at the club, netting 13 goals and offering up 12 assists in those outings.
https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-tottenham-plotting-to-sell-eric-dier-and-sign-25-year-old-as-january-replacement/
"Very difficult time" – National manager speaks about Fulham player's situation
Fulham star João Palhinha was on Thursday a subject in the press conference held by Portugal's national team.
As manager Roberto Martinez spoke to local journalists, he was asked about the midfielder and his failed transfer to Bayern Munich.
In quotes relayed by Record, the coach admitted that Palhinha is mentally affected by the situation, and the time out with the national team should actually help him.
"João had a very difficult time. He's on a different level to the best teams in the world. But on a personal level it was very difficult, because it wasn't a possible signing, but a situation. He took a flight, he had a mental change of team. It's very difficult.
"I think it is positive to have João here, for him and for us. The level he showed in training improved. But I think he appreciated having the family of the national team because it was a very difficult time."
The local media is even wondering whether Palhinha is fine to play against Slovakia on Friday, and Martinez made it clear he may have to choose other options in the squad.
"We have very good options. Rúben had a very good training camp, he did well against Bosnia and Iceland. Otávio is physically very good. Danilo can play centre-back and we have good options."
Following the failed move to Bayern Munich, Palhinha didn't take part in Fulham's match against Manchester City, which ended with a 5-1 win for Pep Guardiola's side.
It seems like the time with the national team could indeed be good for the player, who'll have more time off to let the situation sink in before he returns to play for Fulham again.
The Whites will be back in action on the 16th of September, when they receive Luton Town at Craven Cottage.
http://sportwitness.co.uk/difficult-time-national-manager-speaks-fulham-players-situation/
Fulham loanee Fode Ballo-Toure opens up on deadline day shock: 'I didn't expect it'
Craven Cottage switch was just too good to pass up for the AC Milan and Senegal defender
New signing Fode Ballo-Toure believes Fulham can improve on last season's 10th-place Premier League finish, and revealed that a move to Craven Cottage was too good to turn down.
Manager Marco Silva bemoaned Fulham's lack of options at full-back in the final week of the summer transfer window. And after bringing in Timothy Castagne from Leicester, the club also announced the loan signing of left-back Ballo-Toure late on deadline day.
The 26-year-old Senegal international signed a one-year loan deal with Fulham, temporarily leaving AC Milan, who he joined from Monaco in 2021.
"It's a very big club, a historic club", Ballo-Toure said of Fulham. "It's been very peculiar. I didn't expect it — I thought I was going to stay in Milan.
"At the last minute, I got a phone call from my agent, who told me that Fulham wanted me. I didn't hesitate. I said yes and it happened very fast.
"I'm a very big fan of the Premier League. I followed Fulham last season and they played very good football. I know I will improve here.
"For me, you can't turn down Fulham. I saw how they played last season and it was hard for me to turn them down. I hope [Fulham] do better than last season."
Ballo-Toure did not make his Fulham debut in their 5-1 drubbing away at reigning champions Manchester City last weekend, but will hope to be in contention after the international break when Silva's side take on newly-promoted Luton at home.
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-fc-fode-ballo-toure-loan-ac-milan-b1105730.html
Manchester United are set to rival Bayern Munich for João Palhinha
As reported via Bild, Bayern Munich could miss out on transfer target João Palhinha as Manchester United show their interest.
As previously understood, the Fulham midfielder had been set to sign for Die Rekordmeister on transfer deadline day, but Fulham's failure to identify a replacement in time led to the move collapsing. However, as recently reported, Bayern are hopeful of securing Palhinha's signature in January,
Nevertheless, with United still on the hunt for midfield reinforcement, they have established the Portuguese international as a possible option. Nonetheless, optimism is still high at the Säbener Straße due the fact that the 28-year-old is still dreaming of a move to Bavaria.
If a bidding war were to emerge in January for Palhinha then it is understood that Bayern would be willing to pay €100m for the defensive midfielder. But, this would be a drastic increase from the €65m that was agreed between both clubs on deadline day and there is a belief internally at Bayern that the fee will remain the same.
Signing a 'number six' is the priority for the German champions in the winter as it is the demand of head coach Thomas Tuchel. However, his constant frustration that the club failed to sign Palhinha over the summer has begun to cause tension between the head coach and the management at Bayern.
https://www.getfootballnewsgermany.com/2023/manchester-united-are-set-to-rival-bayern-munich-for-joao-palhinha/?expand_article=1
Ballo-Toure reveals background on late Milan exit: "You can't turn down Fulham"
Fode Ballo-Toure has admitted his surprise at being able to seal a move to Fulham so late in the transfer window, claiming that he could not reject the opportunity.
It was well known from the beginning of the mercato that Milan wanted to offload Ballo-Toure given that he failed to convince as the deputy to Theo Hernandez when called upon, but despite several clubs being linked things dragged on into deadline day.
In the end, the 26-year-old Senegal international signed a season-long loan deal with Fulham and it was just completed in the nick of time before the window slammed shut in England.
Ballo-Toure spoke about his move to west London and gave some background on what happened during the summer months, with his comments relayed by the London Evening Standard.
"It's a very big club, a historic club. It's been very peculiar. I didn't expect it, I thought I was going to stay at Milan," he said.
"At the last minute, I got a phone call from my agent, who told me that Fulham wanted me. I didn't hesitate. I said yes and it happened very fast.
"For me, you can't turn down Fulham. I saw how they played last season and it was hard for me to turn them down. I hope [Fulham] do better than last season."
Fulham finished 10th last season under Marco Silva and have aspirations to potentially finish even higher this season, so it is a good move for a player who had fallen out of favour at Milan.
https://sempremilan.com/ballo-toure-you-cant-turn-down-fulham
Report: Wolves' £3M Bid Sparks Fulham Contract Race
Fulham, a club synonymous with the ebbs and flows of footballing fortune, faces another pivotal moment. This time, it's centred around the future of Harrison Reed.
Journey Thus Far
Hailing from the southern coasts and originally stamped with Southampton's seal of approval, Reed's journey to west London was layered. A £6 million move in summer 2020, preceded by a productive loan spell, placed him firmly in the Cottager's scheme of things. Since then, 150 appearances, three goals, and 11 assists. Numbers don't lie, and they show Reed's impact at Craven Cottage.
The Contract Chronicles
Despite these enviable numbers, Reed's weekly wages have remained consistent at £30,000. But with the clock ticking down on a deal that's set to end in 2024 (though Fulham do have the ability to extend this by a year), the question emerges – what next?
It's reported by the Evening Standard that Fulham and Reed are currently deep in discussions over a new contract. The stakes? An improved deal and the prospect of anchoring Fulham's midfield for the foreseeable future.
More than Just Fulham's Glances
Wolves, known for their sharp eye for a bargain, tried tempting Reed with a £3 million offer. It's a testament to Reed's importance to Fulham that this offer was swiftly deemed inadequate and refused. And while Reed did have an eye on Molineux, his heart seemingly remains at Craven Cottage, provided the terms are right.
But it's not just Wolves who've been casting admiring glances in Reed's direction. Everton, ever in search of that missing piece to complete their midfield jigsaw, has shown interest too.
2023: A Pivotal Year in Reed's Career
This year is vital for Reed. With every appearance, whether it's a start or off the bench, as seen in the recent west London derby against Brentford, he demonstrates his worth. He's cemented his position in the Cottagers' lineup, having already graced the pitch in all five of their games this term.
Conclusion: The Ball's in Fulham's Court
Reed's future has myriad potential paths. A lucrative contract at Craven Cottage? A move to another English top-flight team? As the saga unfolds, one thing is clear: Harrison Reed's tale in the English football tapestry is far from over. And as always, Fulham stands at the crossroads of decision, holding the strings to their next act.
https://eplindex.com/96142/report-wolves-3m-bid-sparks-fulham-contract-race.html
How Alex Iwobi went from symbol of Farhad Moshiri excess to undroppable player Everton will now miss
Inside story of how Alex Iwobi endured a difficult start to his Everton career before rising in prominence, getting stronger and stronger in the club's time of need
The revival of Alex Iwobi's Everton career was founded upon disappointment, both personal and at the club.
His was a four year-stint that had two very distinct halves. For so long, to some he was a symbol of the wasted excess of the spending of majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
Initially, he struggled, as did so many of the players signed with expectations as lofty as their price tag. As managers changed he continued to get opportunities but flattered to deceive after his arrival on transfer deadline day 2019 from Arsenal in a £35m deal.
But as Everton's plight worsened, Iwobi's impact increased. He remained a player who split opinion to his final day in Blue. Yet few can question that he fought hard for a club over its toughest years of recent history - playing a key role in two ultimately successful relegation battles.
The obvious turning point in Iwobi's Everton fortunes would be the dramatic 99th-minute winner he scored against Newscastle United in the spring of 2022. Surging through midfield he linked with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, slotted past Martin Dubravka and sent Goodison Park wild. One of just six Premier League goals for the Blues, at the time it felt of huge importance. Under the lights at the Grand Old Lady he appeared to have given his side the boost it needed to pull away from a fight for survival. That did not end up being the case but it would not be his last major contribution as Everton faced the threat of the drop - his equaliser at Leicester City last May the strongest contender for his most important goal.
For all the ecstasy and emotion that night at Goodison, it was not a spontaneous act of seizing the initiative - that moment had been weeks in the making. The turning point came in late January as, within days, events unfolded across different continents that would shape Iwobi's career.
In Cameroon, Iwobi reached his professional nadir. Less than 10 minutes after being introduced during the second half of Nigeria's African Cup of Nations knockout tie with Tunisia, he received a straight red card after VAR intervened and ended his tournament. His side would go on to lose and he later wrote on Instagram: "We will be back to fight for our nation, stronger. We owe it to you, and I owe it to myself."
The red card hit Iwobi hard and forced him into a period of reflection that was supported by his loved ones. It was a low point set against a backdrop of struggle at Everton, where he was finding it difficult to prove his value to then manager Rafa Benitez. Speaking to the ECHO in Washington DC the following summer, he explained: "I had lows of not really playing under the previous manager [Benitez] and then that red card was one of the hardest challenges to overcome. What I am grateful for is the support system I have at this club, with Nigeria, and with my family. They were able to talk to me and get through to me. That is why I was able to have a decent run towards the end of the season because without them I would have been struggling."
The "decent run" he referred to stemmed not just from the determination to push on in his career following the disappointment in Cameroon. It came because the birth of his new focus coincided with the departure of Benitez from Finch Farm and the appointment of Frank Lampard.
Iwobi said: "I feel like ever since the new manager came in and I came back from the Africa Cup of Nations it was almost like a a new challenge and a new start. When I came into training I felt I was capable. I was hungry to get myself back into the team and the gaffer appreciated that. Luckily he had that faith and belief in me and I was able to do what he wanted me to do and able to help the team get results. It was good for me when he came in, it has been helpful for my career. He is able to relate to how someone is feeling mentally as well as trying to help people on the pitch. For me, when I was going through a difficult period where I wasn't playing [under Benitez] and coming off the back of the Cup of Nations he was literally talking to me just saying, 'go again, I know the qualities you have'. He kept saying, 'express yourself, play freely' - and that is what I have been doing."
Lampard's assistant, Joe Edwards, was also key to Iwobi's growing sense of belief. The goal against Newcastle did not end the relegation fight. The threat grew increasingly worse before the relief of the survival-clinching win over Crystal Palace in the penultimate game of the season. Iwobi's star rose in that period. With an injury crisis decimating Lampard's squad he was moved to right wing back and from there his determination, power and fitness levels enabled him to become a crucial outlet for a side playing with its backs to the wall. Off-the-pitch he stood up to the media spotlight during tough moments, shielding others from the glare of the relegation fight.
Iwobi grew from strength to strength but was undermined by the turbulence of Everton's squad. His versatility earned him his place under Lampard and then saw him retain it - albeit elsewhere on the pitch. Lampard started last season how he had ended the previous one, with a team severely hampered by injury. In the final game of pre-season, a friendly with Dynamo Kyiv, Iwobi formed part of a two-man centre midfield with Abdoulaye Doucoure. The pair took up the same roles against Chelsea in the Premier League curtain raiser one week later.
He remained in the middle under Lampard and became part of his preferred three man central unit alongside Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye. Iwobi found the best form of his Blues career on the left of that central midfield. It was from there he emerged as a much-needed creative force, scoring a stunning goal against Manchester United and picking up several of his seven assists of the campaign from there. This was some feat considering just how much Everton struggled to score goals. Had it not been a side largely without the spearhead it had been built around, his figures would likely have been far better.
Sean Dyche was also a fan of Iwobi's talent, though his workrate defined his role after Dyche's appointment in late January of this year. The decision to move Iwobi to the right of midfield appeared to have been influenced by his fitness and willingness to help out defensively. But he was again key - starting every game of last season and scoring the second-half leveller that prevented what would have been a catastrophic late-season defeat to Leicester, who were relegated instead of the Blues. This season, amid more injuries, Iwobi started on the left.
Iwobi's departure appeared increasingly inevitable, the only question whether it would happen this summer or next, when his contract expired. Talks over an extension were opened last September amid the heady early season optimism under Lampard. An agreement was never reached. When Fulham came in with a late deal worth around £22m, it was an offer that was attractive financially.
Dyche knows the value of what he has lost, however. He acknowledged this the day the player's departure was confirmed. He said: "Alex Iwobi left us, which is a shame because I think he is a top player. We wish him well beyond our situation." Such sentiments for Iwobi and the hole his absence creates for Everton were difficult to imagine two years ago.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-alex-iwobi-went-symbol-27678363
Dibley-Dias Signs New Deal(https://images.webapi.fulhamfc.com/fit-in/1600x1600/44ed84f0-4e24-11ee-a4ab-b7d8c1535937.png)
The Club is pleased to announce that Academy midfielder Matt Dibley-Dias has signed a new deal, keeping him with us until 2027.
Matt has been a key cog in our Under-21 side for the past couple of seasons and impressed during our pre-season tour in America, coming on from the bench in all three of our games.
The youngster joined Fulham at Under-14s level following the temporary closure of Brentford's Academy, where he was based before. Since then, he has shone at multiple age groups and worked his way up the club's pyramid.
After signing on, Dibs told fulhamfc.com: "It's an honour to extend my stay here. It's been a long journey with ups and downs but I'm really happy to be here for another four years.
"Since joining from Brentford I've felt as if I'm at home here, because I've been here for a large part of my life now so it feels good to continue my journey at Fulham.
"There were a lot of factors and thoughts put into the decision. I was shown a plan for the next steps in my career and I feel like for my development this is the best place to be, so now I just want to kick on."
Head of Football Development Huw Jennings added: "We are delighted to announce Matt's new contract signing.
"He has shown excellent promise since joining the Academy at 14 years of age. Along with a number of other Academy graduates, Matt has signed a long-term deal which will enable him to establish himself in the First Team environment, having made the squad a few times already."
https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2023/september/08/Dibley-Dias-Signs-New-Deal/
Dibley-Dias signs new four-year Fulham contract
Fulham under-21 captain Matt Dibley-Dias has signed a new four-year contract this afternoon.
The teenager, who was announced as the winner of the Fulham Supporters' Trust's Johnny Haynes Trophy for academy player of the year last week, has been a star for Fulham's under-21 side over the past eighteen months and his emergence into the first-team squad saw Marco Silva put the classy playmaker on the bench for the final game of last term at Manchester United and this season's opening Premier League fixture against Everton.
Dibley-Dias, who has been at Fulham since he was fourteen, told the club's website:
"It's an honour to extend my stay here. It's been a long journey with ups and downs but I'm really happy to be here for another four years. Since joining from Brentford I've felt as if I'm at home here, because I've been here for a large part of my life now so it feels good to continue my journey at Fulham. There were a lot of factors and thoughts put into the decision. I was shown a plan for the next steps in my career and I feel like for my development this is the best place to be, so now I just want to kick on."
Huw Jennings, Fulham's head of football development, added:
"We are delighted to announce Matt's new contract signing. He has shown excellent promise since joining the academy at 14 years of age. Along with a number of other academy graduates, Matt has signed a long-term deal which will enable him to establish himself in the first team environment, having made the squad a few times already."
https://hammyend.com/index.php/2023/09/dibley-dias-signs-new-four-year-fulham-contract/
'Pre-contract agreement' – Tottenham looking to sign Premier League ace in January after Ange recommendation
According to Football Insider, Tottenham 'will look to sign' Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo in January.
Spurs were strongly linked with the Fulham centre-back in the summer as Ange Postecoglou was keen on further bolstering the defense after the signing of Micky van de Ven.
But Tottenham failed to sign another centre-back leaving them in a very delicate situation as the only back up Tottenham now have is Eric Dier and Ashley Phillips.
The report claims that Tottenham are 'likely to revisit a deal' in the January transfer window either 'for a cut-price fee' or in the form of a' pre-contract agreement'.
Adarabioyo has one year left in his current contract which expires in June 2024 after Fulham activated the 12-month extension clause in January.
Spurs are hoping to get a deal agreed for Eric Dier in the winter window and it is suggested in the report that a move for Tosin Adarabioyo could depend on him being offloaded first.
Tosin Adarabioyo was among the three players that Ange Postecoglou recommended to the Tottenham board to sign in the summer.
It was reported that The Australian had identified his back four as a weakness at the start of the summer and had apparently given the club three names: Perr Schuurs, Gleison Bremer and Tosin Adarabioyo. These were identified by the manager hinself and chief scout Leonardo Gabbanini.
While Levy failed to secure any of the three, it's said that Ange remains happy with how the transfer window went. They managed to sign 7 players, some of whome have already made a big impact, namely James Maddison, Manor Solomon, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham are in dire (pun intended) need of another centre-back and perhaps Ange will get one of his recommendations secured in January.
https://theboyhotspur.com/pre-contract-agreement-tottenham-looking-to-sign-premier-league-ace-in-january-after-ange-recommendation/
Ballo-Toure stuns Milan by claiming he 'could not turn down Fulham'
Milan eyebrows have been raised by comments made by Fode Ballo-Toure, who said 'you can't turn down Fulham' after a deadline day move, because that is definitely not what the scenario looked like earlier this summer.
The full-back was not part of coach Stefano Pioli's plans for this season and had been offered to numerous clubs, but the transfers always collapsed either because the teams could not work out a fee, or the player refused the switch.
That included Bologna, Werder Bremen, Torino, Royal Antwerp and Fulham.
There were even reports in the Italian media on July 26 that Milan were positively 'irritated' with Ballo-Toure for turning down the move to Fulham, which would've been worth €4m.
However, all that was forgotten when Ballo-Toure spoke to the Evening Standard newspaper about the Fulham transfer in the final minutes of deadline day.
"It's a very big club, a historic club. It's been very peculiar. I didn't expect it — I thought I was going to stay in Milan," said the 26-year-old Senegal international.
"At the last minute, I got a phone call from my agent, who told me that Fulham wanted me. I didn't hesitate. I said yes and it happened very fast.
"I'm a very big fan of the Premier League. I followed Fulham last season and they played very good football. I know I will improve here.
"For me, you can't turn down Fulham. I saw how they played last season and it was hard for me to turn them down."
There is also still some uncertainty over the terms of this deal, as it was reported originally that Milan loaned him to Fulham with an option to buy for circa €4m.
https://football-italia.net/ballo-toure-stuns-milan-by-claiming-he-could-not-turn-down-fulham/
Sources: Wolves last-gasp Harrison Reed move failed after Fulham talks
Wolves saw a last-gasp move for Fulham midfielder Harrison Reed fail before last week's (1 September) transfer deadline, sources have told Football Insider.
It is believed the Midlands club submitted an offer of around £3million to Fulham for the 28-year-old's services.
Wolves were aware of Matheus Nunes' imminent departure to Man City and were forced to scour the market for potential replacements before the 1 September deadline.
But they were unable to agree a deal with Fulham – who also staved off late interest from Bayern Munich in defensive midfield star Joao Palhinha.
Reed has less than 12 months left to run on his deal at Craven Cottage, which nets him a reported wage of £30,000-a-week.
The London club have the option to extend his deal by a further year.
He has started four of a possible five games for Fulham so far this season – and has played 344 minutes in total.
Reed joined the Cottagers from Southampton in 2020 and has gone on to make 150 appearances across all competitions for the club, notching three goals and 11 assists.
Wolves were in the market for a central midfielder after losing Nunes to Man City for a reported £53million.
They went on to sign Strasbourg ace Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – who started the new Ligue 1 season with two goals and two assists in three games.
Football Insider revealed on Friday (8 September) that Chelsea intervened to prevent Wolves from signing Strasbourg midfield talent Habib Diarra in the summer window.
Wolves have won one of a possible four Premier League games this season and sit 15th in the table.
https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-wolves-last-gasp-harrison-reed-move-failed-after-fulham-talks/
Ballo-Touré: 'I didn't hesitate to join Fulham'
Fodé Ballo-Touré feels Fulham can improve on last season's top half finish and insisted his deadline-day loan move to Craven Cottage was too good to turn down.
The Senegalese international's comments – made to FFCTV this evening – have already raised eyebrows at his parent club AC MIlan, who were surprised that the left back took up the option of a loan to London at the last minute having turned down offers from across Europe earlier in the summer, including the Cottagers, when the Serie A side made him available for transfer at around £4m.
The 26 year-old arrives to challenge Antonee Robinson at left back after Marco Silva bemoaned his lack of depth in both full back positions before Ballo-Toure and Timothy Castagne arrived very late in the window. The former Monaco man expressed his delight at joining London's oldest professional club, telling FFCTV:
"I am very happy to be here at Fulham. It's a very big club, a historic club. I am very, very happy to be here in England, at Fulham. It's a very nice stadium. It's an old, traditional stadium – it shows the story of the club and I like it. I think that is Fulham – they respected their tradition and it is a beautiful stadium, historic.
I'm a very big fan of the Premier League. I followed Fulham last season and they played very good football. I know I will improve here. For me, you can't turn down Fulham. I saw how they played last season and it was hard for me to turn them down. I hope [Fulham can] do better than last season."
Speaking specifically about the deal that was concluded after the closure of the English transfer window when the Whites submitted a deal sheet to the Premier League proving that they had completed negotiations with Milan in time, Ballo-Touré added:
"It's been very peculiar. I didn't expect it — I thought I was going to stay in Milan. At the last minute, I got a phone call from my agent, who told me that Fulham wanted me. I didn't hesitate. I said yes and it happened very fast."
Ballo-Touré, who was ineligible for last weekend's heavy defeat at Manchester City, could be in line to make his first Fulham appearance when Luton Town come to the Cottage on Saturday 16 September.
https://hammyend.com/index.php/2023/09/ballo-toure-i-didnt-hesitate-to-join-fulham/
Fulham 'fanbase rattled' now by unlikely source at Craven CottageFulham have kept hold of some of their top talent at Craven Cottage this summer.
Fulham could be set to lose one of their key players come the January transfer window.
His agent's comments have unsettled the Cottagers fanbase, but the midfielder must focus on performing well for the club.
The club should prepare for potential interest from other top clubs during the January transfer window.
Fulham star Joao Palhinha missed out on a move to Bayern Munich on Deadline Day this summer, as transfer insider Dean Jones provides his verdict to GIVEMESPORT on the midfielder's agent's recent comments.
Head coach Marco Silva will be delighted to keep the services of his best player in his Cottagers squad until at least January.
Fulham transfer news – Joao Palhinha According to BILD, Bayern Munich agreed on a £55m fee with Fulham to sign Palhinha at the Allianz Arena ahead of transfer Deadline Day. The German champions' fee could increase based on performance-related add-ons heading into the season. Bayern's second offer came after the west London outfit rejected the Bavarians' initial £47m approach for the midfielder.
However, a transfer broke down at the last minute, with Fulham pulling the plug on the deal, unable to secure a replacement for Silva's squad before the 11 pm UK deadline. The Cottagers had been looking to sign Tottenham Hotspur and Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. But, the 28-year-old wasn't interested in a move across the capital, having a domino effect on Palhinha's prospective transfer.
In an interview with GIVEMESPORT on Deadline Day, Jones described the deal's collapse as a "blow" for the Fulham midfielder, who must hit the ground running on his return to the captial. Meanwhile, the Portugal international's brother and agent, Goncalo Palhinha, has claimed his move to Bayern is only postponed, not cancelled.
Sport1 in Germany has reported that it's possible Bayern move for Palhinha during the January transfer window, as the 28-year-old aims to join Harry Kane in their quest to win the Champions League.
Joao Palhinha vs Fulham squad 2023/24 | Output | Squad ranking |
| Tackles per 90 mins | 3.5 | 1st |
| Interceptions per 90 mins | 1 | =3rd |
| Pass success rate | 86.8% | 5th |
| Overall rating | 6.94 | 2nd |
| Stats according to WhoScored | | |
What has Jones said about Fulham and Palhinha?Jones believes that the comments from Palhinha's agent have "rattled" the Fulham faithful and suggests the player has his sights on a January move to Bavaria. The transfer insider told GIVEMESPORT:
The comments from Palhinha's agent have rattled the Fulham fanbase. He's still got his sights set on ending up at Bayern Munich in the winter, and it sounds like they are confident that will happen. That might be the case, but team plans can change. If Bayern suddenly suffered injuries in other key positions, there is always a danger they have to prioritise something else. Palhinha has to knuckle down now. It's probably good that he has the international break to get his head straight and time to cool off before returning to Fulham. At the end of the day, the main reason he didn't leave is because Bayern made their offer too late. That's their problem, not Fulham's. And it's refreshing to know the smaller clubs are not always cornered into letting their best players go."How does Palhinha respond to the setback?Whilst allowed to be disappointed that a dream move to one of European football's most iconic names collapsed at the last minute, Palhinha must get his head straight before returning to Premier League action with Fulham. The 21-cap Portugal international, dubbed "fantastic" by pundit Jamie Redknapp, arrived at Craven Cottage for £20m from Sporting CP and has made a name for himself as one of the best holding midfielders in the league.
And Palhinha recently told Eleven Sports he was happy at Fulham before Bayern's interest turned the enforcer's head.
"It was my first season outside my country – the Portuguese league – the first time I'd left Portugal. It was a change. It was everything together, and I think I faced this challenge very well. It is a league that suits my characteristics and qualities very well. I've settled here very well, like a glove. I'm very happy here, and so is my family. At the moment, I'm very happy here [at Fulham], and I want to continue around here. I think it's the league that suits my football."Will Palhinha leave Fulham in January?Despite keeping hold of their star man this month, Palhinha's eventual departure from Craven Cottage is becoming inevitable. Bayern's interest in the midfielder will have alerted several of Europe's top clubs, who could also be looking to sign someone to dominate proceedings in the middle of the park.
Therefore, Fulham must brace themselves for a potential bidding war during the January transfer window, aiming to replicate last season's top-half finish this term. However, Palhinha's focus should be on continuing to impress for the Premier League outfit and maintaining his fitness levels ahead of a potential switch elsewhere in four months.
https://www.givemesport.com/fulham-joao-palhinha-transfer-news-bayern-munich/
Quote from: WhiteJC on September 09, 2023, 12:33:11 AMMohamed Al Fayed: the 'unacceptable face' of late capitalism
The notorious billionaire exploited a decadent UK establishment that shunned him.
Why has last week's death of 94-year-old Mohamed Al Fayed, a once-notorious UK-based, Egyptian-born billionaire, unseen for years, excited such an outburst of news headlines and media comment?
The BBC broadcast an old recording of Al Fayed himself, declaring with typical bluntness that 'I love the masses and the people, I don't care about those bastards' – the bastards in question being the British establishment. Many other media commentators came to bury not to praise Al Fayed, damning him as a ruthless bully 'obsessed with status and wealth', who had tried and ultimately failed to wheedle and cheat his way into the upper classes and even the royal family itself.
So, self-styled caring man of the common people or arrogant wannabe British gentleman? Either way (or perhaps most likely, a bit of both), Al Fayed's impact on UK society in life, and the reaction to his death, surely reveals at least as much about the turmoil of the British establishment in the 20th century as it does about the man himself.
Al Fayed's story was certainly extraordinary. Born in 1929, he rose from selling Coca Cola on the smog-choked streets of Alexandria, Egypt to become a London property magnate and the owner, alongside much else, of Harrods, the posh people's store in Knightsbridge, and Fulham Football Club.
Along the way, he invented a wealthy background (it is assumed that plain Mohamed Fayed added the upper-class prefix 'Al' to his name in the 1970s, to denote fictitious aristocratic connections), and got rich by mixing (and falling out) with the likes of legendary international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, the uber-opulent Sultan of Brunei, and 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, bloody dictator of Haiti.
Once landed in Britain, Al Fayed would use every trick to scramble up the social pole, from double-crossing fellow tycoon Tiny Rowland, in order to secure ownership of Harrods in 1985, to attempting to bribe Tory MPs to do his bidding in parliament in the 1990s. He became a staple feature in satirical magazine Private Eye, where every other word would be punctuated with his trademark expletive, 'fuggin'.
Al Fayed's ultimate advancement scheme, to marry his son Dodi off to the divorcee Diana, Princess of Wales, and thus become step-grandfather to Princes William and Harry, ended in tragedy when Diana and Dodi were killed in a drink-driving accident in 1997. They had been motoring at speed from Al Fayed senior's Paris Ritz Hotel, with his intoxicated employee at the wheel. Ignoring all evidence to the contrary, Al Fayed insisted in both a libel court and at the inquest that Diana had been pregnant with Dodi's baby, and had been assassinated by MI6 and Prince Philip – 'a murdering Hun with Nazi tendencies' – to prevent a Muslim from becoming half-brother to William, the future British king.
Little wonder, we might think, that the outrageous Al Fayed was so widely and often bitterly remembered over the past week or so. Yet an important part of his story is that, at every stage, he was able to exploit the weaknesses of a decadent, divided British establishment that had shunned him as a vulgar upstart.
Al Fayed's first business success was seemingly an indirect result of the 1956 Suez Crisis, when the British Empire was politically and militarily humiliated after President Nasser of the new republic of Egypt nationalised the key imperial trade route, the Suez Canal. Many foreign business interests in the area took fright and sold up cheaply, with Al Fayed on hand to collect.
Once he moved to Britain, Al Fayed would persuade the fee-obsessed financial suits of the City of London to endorse his claims to be the son of a wealthy Pasha, as part of his successful battle with Rowland to take over Harrods.
Furious at being double-crossed, Rowland demanded an inquiry, which revealed Al Fayed in such a bad light that the new owner of London's premier department store was deemed unfit for British citizenship. Though anybody inclined to imagine Al Fayed as a unique foreign stain on the good name of UK plc might recall that Tiny Rowland's own business had previously been memorably branded by former Tory prime minister Edward Heath as 'the unacceptable face of capitalism'.
Horror in high places at the idea of an Egyptian upstart owning Harrods did not, however, prevent Britain's hungry elites from accepting Al Fayed's largesse. For years, Harrods under his ownership retained its royal warrants and was even allowed to sponsor the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which allowed him to sit next to Her Majesty the Queen. (The arrangement was eventually ended reportedly due to his 'colourful' outbursts.)
Outraged at being denied British citizenship, Al Fayed turned to the exhausted, sleaze-ridden Tory Party of the 1990s in search of revenge, offering MPs bribes to ask questions in parliament on his behalf. When the Tories failed to deliver, he exposed them as corrupt. One, Neil Hamilton, sued him for libel and lost. Another, former Conservative cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken, tried to sue the Guardian and Granada TV for reporting on his dealings with Al Fayed and ended up in jail for perjury. The Al Fayed-inspired 'Cash for Questions' sleaze scandal would prove a factor in John Major's Tory government being destroyed by Tony Blair's New Labour at the 1997 general election.
Denied the status that traditionally came with owning a UK national newspaper (unlike the 'unacceptable' Rowland, who was proprietor of the supposedly liberal Observer), Al Fayed instead turned to the new national platform for publicity and influence provided by Premier League football. One of many dubious businessmen who would be allowed to pass English football's pathetic 'fit-and-proper-person' test for owning a club, Al Fayed did deliver on his promise to take lowly Fulham FC to the promised land of the Premier League. He was in his element striding across the pitch at Craven Cottage to the Fulham fans' acclaim, 'like a pharaoh' as one obit had it, or introducing his celebrity pal Michael Jackson to the players. ('Hide your willies!', he is said to have shouted to them as a presumably bemused Jacko entered the dressing room.)
Even Al Fayed's manoeuvrings around the royal family were about taking advantage of the old establishment's turmoil, from Charles and Diana's divorce to the royals' declining public esteem. Of course, his allegations that Diana and Dodi were murdered by MI6 and the Duke of Edinburgh, with the support of Blair's government and the French authorities, sound like the paranoid rantings of a heart-broken, guilt-wracked parent. Yet in the febrile atmosphere of national 'mourning sickness' that followed Diana's death, such wild stories could be treated seriously by many. His later outbursts would also feed into the widening conspiratorial outlook taking hold in sections of public opinion and the media, when it seemed anything could reasonably be branded a plot by 'them'. At the inquest into Diana and Dodi's deaths, where Al Fayed gave full vent to his fact-free conspiracy theories, he was actually represented by top radical lawyer Michael Mansfield QC, legal hero of the British left from the Miners' Strike to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.
There might seem little doubt that Mohamed Al Fayed was an unsavoury character. His reputation has also fallen foul of the changing ethical standards in working and public life, with former employees latterly coming forward to complain about bullying and sexual harassment. The giant, risible statue of Michael Jackson that he installed outside Fulham's stadium has now been relegated to a storage unit of the National Football Museum in Manchester, a symbol of the pariah status of both Jacko and Al Fayed in many circles today.
Yet it remains important to situate such an extraordinary individual in the wider context of his times, where both the impact he made in life and the reaction he prompted in death can surely only be understood as a side-effect of what was happening at the top of British society.
Unlike some of my fellow journalists of 'a certain age' who have commented after his death, I never worked for or even met 'Mo'. (He spent a small fortune on a failed revival of the legendary satirical magazine, Punch, from 1996 to 2002.) I do, however, recall seeing a memorable 'secret' tape of his meeting with Tiny Rowland during their long-running feud. It begins halfway through an exchange, with Al Fayed laughing at Tiny. 'I'm talking about your ****', he scoffs, 'not my ****'. It seems a fitting epitaph, somehow.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/08/mohamed-al-fayed-the-unacceptable-face-of-late-capitalism/
Why do people when referring to the Jackson statue keep saying outside the stadium, when it was inside.
Regarding Palhinha can we say again in the winter window "only if we can find a suitable replacement" because the truth is we are never going to find a replacement to suit us as well as Palhinha.
What was also not commented on regarding Fayed was that every Xmas he gave free books to kids in and around Surrey
Also regarding Palhinha, we need to be looking for a replacement now + 1 and a striker and not be waiting till end of Jan.
Palhinha will not be here come then.
Quote from: Thames Bank 1 on September 09, 2023, 08:54:58 PMWhat was also not commented on regarding Fayed was that every Xmas he gave free books to kids in and around Surrey
He gave my wife a bottle of the most expensive vodka in Harrods at promotion dinner