Team news: Magath confirms Fernando Amorebieta hasn't trained this week and won't feature against Chelsea
Kostas Mitroglou has also been ruled out of the SW6 derby (F*******************************K), as has former Blues winger Damien Duff
Our Manager is confident of giving Chelsea a good game tomorrow, and he admits it may be an advantage that they played abroad in midweek
FM: "The players have worked hard and are in good condition, but we can improve."
I think Jose Mourinho and I are similar in that we both hate to lose.
FM: "It's an important game for me, my first appearance at Craven Cottage, and the crowd can be the 12th man for the team."
Ali Mac has surely got to come under the spotlight for his hand in the Mitroglou deal, absolutely shocking transfer so far
was just about to post this
12 million for him to save our season and he'll only be able to play a handful of matches.
Without a capable forward, I'd say that our chances of getting anything from this game are zero. My initial thoughts are that the Greek isn't fit, won't be risked against Chelsea and we're going for the draw.
from what I'm getting from other journo's at the press conference is that mcgath wants to unleash him at cardiff
FM: "I think Jose Mourinho and I are similar in that we both hate to lose."
i think magath joined the wrong club.
Im glad im working so i wont be forced to watch us. I cant help subject myself to watching when im free
Does Chelsea have a truly productive forward? The engine on that team is its midfield.
Quote from: Forever Fulham on February 28, 2014, 01:17:06 PM
Does Chelsea have a truly productive forward? The engine on that team is its midfield.
Most of Chelsea's midfield are more productive and capable of scoring more goals than our than our forwards, so..
Quote from: KP_FFC on February 28, 2014, 01:09:44 PM
was just about to post this
12 million for him to save our season and he'll only be able to play a handful of matches.
This has to be one of the biggest Fulham cock ups ever. To spend the amount of money we did on a clearly unfit player, when we were desperate for someone to hit the ground running is sheer lunacy.
Nothing against Mitroglou, but on top of his injuries I think we payed miles over the odds
Who knows who else we had a prospect of getting - we clearly thought though that he'd be fitter sooner.
Whether he proves to be value for money can only be assessed if we sell him or when (if?) he's fit enough to play.
He may well be our trump card next season.
Mitroglou not available ??? This is a disaster and needs an explanation, the fact that he played for part of the match last week suggests he is possibly carrying an injury, Rodders (Bless his heart ) and Bent have shown they are not up to the job and so the team is really without a man up top.
A reported £12m for player in the January window who is not fit to play by 1st March indicates that a huge mistake has been made or that we have been conned.
Blimey... Is the Trog injured again or not fully recovered from the last one? Not the most sensational of starts to his career here!
Looks like the hattrick will come from Bent now.
Not bothered by Amorebieta. He hasn't exactly been setting the world alight.
What a waste of money. Unfair to bring him in with 13-14 games to go on him and us when he isnt fit. All our hopes pinned on him and he hasnt started a game yet. Comical, absolutely comical.
Well done FFC.
Most annoying is that Jol said we looked but didn't go in for Boney (to play a whole season) because he was outside our budget for the same price we paid for Mitro(for 12 games at best), there is logic there somewhere, like to see Ali Mac explain that decision. Bony must be worth £18/20m now.
Almost any club you care to mention have their strikers purchased in January all up & running & scoring. We are a joke.
I blame Heerenveen, Finnbogason would be banging them in for us (probably).
Quote from: elgreenio on February 28, 2014, 01:09:31 PM
Ali Mac has surely got to come under the spotlight for his hand in the Mitroglou deal, absolutely shocking transfer so far
Does Alistair Mackintosh do the medicals as well as everything else at the club?
Quote from: MasterHaynes on February 28, 2014, 01:56:19 PM
Most annoying is that Jol said we looked but didn't go in for Boney (to play a whole season) because he was outside our budget for the same price we paid for Mitro(for 12 games at best), there is logic there somewhere, like to see Ali Mac explain that decision. Bony must be worth £18/20m now.
If I were Alistair Mackintosh then I think I would say that he doesn't provide the money so that you are addressing the question to the wrong person.
The Chairman made a big point about Mackintosh being in charge of the transfers when Rene was sacked. So Kvist is in the squad, the two United players (Rene's picks) have moved on. The Greek has yet to really play for us,Holtby on loan is a shoe in and we didn't pick up any full back.
So the January transfer window had us lose Berbatov and Sendusdross. But we have only a loan attacking midfielder who has made the first team consistantly.
Looking back on it I think 12 million for a player who isn't fit is pretty dire. If Ali had been the manager Mackintosh would have had to sack him by now.
We were sold a pup we were.
Look our club has totally messed up this season in all areas, which in fact probably started the season before, and this is just another example. If we do go down it's because the club deserves to by their actions
Quote from: MasterHaynes on February 28, 2014, 01:56:19 PM
Most annoying is that Jol said we looked but didn't go in for Boney (to play a whole season) because he was outside our budget for the same price we paid for Mitro(for 12 games at best), there is logic there somewhere, like to see Ali Mac explain that decision. Bony must be worth £18/20m now.
Wilfred is class... a bruising and powerful striker that can hold the ball up.
Mitroglou will come good but he is not fit and looked like it when he came on against West Brom. I think he needs to get game time is the problem but he is out of his depth in the prem right now.
I think Hugo will start again. Magath likes players that work hard and press and Rodallega can run the channels.
Quote from: Berserker on February 28, 2014, 02:21:59 PM
We were sold a pup we were.
Look our club has totally messed up this season in all areas, which in fact probably started the season before, and this is just another example. If we go do down it's because the club deserves to by their actions
Couldn't agree more. The chances we had and when all the angst over the January transfer window I really thought we would at least bring in players who could step into the side and be an improvement. But we failed yet again. So fed up with the way our club has been run over the last few seasons. A disgrace.
Kostas Mitroglou has been ruled out of Fulham's squad for tomorrow's west London derby.
The January arrival from Olympiakos made his debut as a second-half substitute in last weekend's draw with West Brom after overcoming a niggling knee injury.
However, boss Felix Magath says the Greek striker won't be included because he's not up to speed with the intensity of Premier League football.
Fernando Amorebieta and Damien Duff also miss out as the Cottagers bid to cause an upset against Jose Mourinho's league leaders.
Darren Bent could replace Hugo Rodallega in attack after missing the clash at The Hawthorns for personal reasons.
"Fernando Amorebieta has a muscle problem and hasn't trained this week, so he's not ready," said Magath.
"Mitroglou is developing and I think next week we can count on him. The game against Chelsea will come too early.
"Damien Duff is still injured. The rest are looking forward to Chelsea."
I think its a shrewd move by felix not to risk him v Chelsea
Hull purchased long and jelavic who are already scoring goals for them. We loaned our striker to monaco and spent 11mil on a crock. Dear oh dear, what a disastrous season this has been
What a farce. We may as well not bothered signing the bloke.
"He doesn't have an injury, he has a lack of fitness," he explained. "The Premier League is not the same as the Greek league. He's a very dangerous striker, sure, but in this league here you need to be fit to come into a situation where you can score and defend. We need him to be able to work hard for 90 minutes and at the moment he can't do that, but I'm convinced that he will belong to the squad next week."
Did you really think that Mitro needed to start this week? After his performance last week, he's obviously not ready. Magath and everyone could see that. I'll agree that it looks like the powers that be dropped the ball, but knee injuries don't always heal at the same rate. He's not going to make all of the games, but he'll make a difference in the run in.
I think last week they were seeing how ready he was, missing Chelsea to play 7 the next makes sense, maybe he will get a run out for the 21's.
He clearly is a goal scorer, good news is bent is available after personal issues;)
I'm not really sure why people are surprised. It fits perfectly with the way everything else has gone this season.
Absolute nightmare.
Having seen quite a lot of stuff ranging from the slightly mind-boggling to the out-and-out Fred Karno's in my years of suffering, I tend to avoid moaning.
However there are a couple of things currently irking me about our beloved club right at this moment.
The Mitroglou business seems to be something of a fiasco. If he is injured we had no business buying him in the first place and we certainly shouldn't have then put him on the field last week. If he is not fit, then why not? His former team mates didn't seem much lacking in fitness against Premier League oppo this week.
We should have a bit more information. As we should about our junior sides.
Quite a few of us, who live in the vicinity, make it to Motspur Park whenever we can, and most rewarding it is, too. The u21s are at this moment playing Stoke away (as informed by the website). But there is not an iota of information to be gleaned from any FFC source. The score is 0-0 at HT, but the only source of info seems to be the Stoke twitter outlet and they, understandably, have recorded only their team. Not a word from Fulham. Very poor stuff.
Not injured then,but not up to Prem speed. This could happen with any player bought from abroad, the only problem is that we haven't got much time.
But I expect Hugo or Bent to step up to the plate, and score tomorrow.
Quote from: psand22 on February 28, 2014, 03:01:50 PM
Did you really think that Mitro needed to start this week? After his performance last week, he's obviously not ready. Magath and everyone could see that. I'll agree that it looks like the powers that be dropped the ball, but knee injuries don't always heal at the same rate. He's not going to make all of the games, but he'll make a difference in the run in.
In our position, we needed someone to come in and have an immediate impact i.e. Jelavic at Hull. Instead we've shelled 12 million on a guy who is nowhere close to match fit. This is absolutely suicidal. I like Rodallega, but if we're relying on him to dig us out of trouble then we're toast. Our club is being run by a bunch of imbeciles.
I hate to say I told you so but FACT - it was a panic buy by AM - they knew he was injured - total shambles - but worse is that he is not injured anymore, he has just been rubbish in training/U21 games - has no energy can't run and can't jump - typified by his first touch at WBA - a pathetic handball as the ball passed him buy and he couldn't control it.
AM must also carry the can for both Jol and RM fiascos - although credit due for recruiting Magath
Not at all surprised he is not involved. I was quite shocked at how unfit he looked last week even during the HT warmup.
I'd go as far as saying that in 35 years I don't think I have seen a player less ready fitness wise for a game than he was.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
4 weeks into a four and half year deal is a big early to say he was a waste of money.
He needs to be fit for next week, that's the game that matters.
In the transfer window we are desperate to get players in to turn our season around and this is what we end up with.
Two untried but promising youngsters are persuaded to sign, but are unlikely to set the world on fire, and now they are gone.
Heitinga was a good shout but he will be gone come the start of next season.
Mitro's signing is more bizarre with every day that goes by. Needing a replacement for Berbatov at the very least, we end up with player who can't get in the team.
And Kvist who is an improvement but was not a priority.
So Why TF did we bother.
I don't think Kostas is unfit anymore, after all he was playing with us just fine before he received a casual knock right before you guys bought him.
I just think that Felix wants to protect him from another game where fulham won't cross the middle and throwing him head on upon cardiff.
If he's really not fit someone from your management team needs to be fired.
I have just heard (from a reliable-ish source) that the Greek has been placed on a 12 day intensive fitness program by Felix & Co, deemed to terribly unfit, not injured.
It's been explained fairly and reasonably. He's close, but not up to speed yet for a game we need every single player to put in 100%. But yeah, let's all make a mountain out of a molehill.
He's fine to play, but it wouldn't be fair to him to chuck him tomorrow, we did it with Bryan Ruiz, we chucked him in against Blackburn and he looked out of his depth, to make that even fairer to Mitroglou, Ruiz was 100% fit. What are you lot like? And some people ask me why I leave the board for periods. Zzzzzzz....
You lot are like old women!
He's not match fit yet, end of.
He came to us off the back of a bad knee injury that involved surgery to get it fixed.
We knew what we were getting.
Don't panic - we're staying up alright!
We'll see plenty more of Mitroglou yet!
Surely another 90 minutes with the U21 s would have been in order if match fitness is the problem, no sign of him on reports though?
Quote from: epsomraver on February 28, 2014, 05:49:37 PM
Surely another 90 minutes with the U21 s would have been in order if match fitness is the problem, no sign of him on reports though?
He 'strolled' though the entirety of the under 21's game against Leicester, and his minutes against WBA proved he is far from match fit.
Quote from: Admin on February 28, 2014, 05:55:24 PM
Quote from: epsomraver on February 28, 2014, 05:49:37 PM
Surely another 90 minutes with the U21 s would have been in order if match fitness is the problem, no sign of him on reports though?
He 'strolled' though the entirety of the under 21's game against Leicester, and his minutes against WBA proved he is far from match fit.
Scott, I was there , he had sweet FA to do, the service to him was so poor, not a good example
very good, very interesting especially candid with regard to mitroglu.... clearly must have been unfit last week.
It is a shame he can't play but I'd rather him have another week of conditioning before heading to Cardiff than risking it against a much tougher defense tomorrow. Still, everyone is right in questioning why we bought him. Could be worse though, we could be without a new striker!
049:gif
Quote from: Julius Geezer on February 28, 2014, 05:39:23 PM
You lot are like old women!
He's not match fit yet, end of.
He came to us off the back of a bad knee injury that involved surgery to get it fixed.
We knew what we were getting.
Don't panic - we're staying up alright!
We'll see plenty more of Mitroglou yet!
:plus one:
Quote from: Admin on February 28, 2014, 05:55:24 PM
Quote from: epsomraver on February 28, 2014, 05:49:37 PM
Surely another 90 minutes with the U21 s would have been in order if match fitness is the problem, no sign of him on reports though?
He 'strolled' though the entirety of the under 21's game against Leicester, and his minutes against WBA proved he is far from match fit.
For goodness sake! By the time he came on we were in full lock down mode....no service, we sat back in our own half. There was precious little for him to do. No way we could judge him by the West Brom appearance. As far as unfit goes I really don't understand what you lot are basing this on.
Let's wait and see and stop findings reasons to eat ourselves and wallowing.
That would be a nice change wouldn't it?
Jol giving Schwarzer to our enemy Chelsea is the main reason for our current predicament. Slowly Stekenleberg is recovering some form but is it too late??
Let's wait and see and stop findings reasons to eat ourselves and wallowing.
Too right Terry.... Far too prone to doing that myself
You have to admit, it is a little reminiscent of Samba at QPR last year (sorry). Similar fee and similar fitness issues, but at least we're trying to get him up to speed rather than throwing him into a situation he's not prepared for, like they did with Samba. And Remy missed a few games, which I think was attributed to fitness issues or minor knocks rather than a more serious injury, but managed to score almost one goal every two games he did play. Sorry again for the QPR comparison, but if Mitroglou plays the last ten games and can score four or five goals then it may end up looking like a brilliant signing. If we go down we might also be able to do what they did, loan him to a Premier League club for the season, and if we manage to get promoted we'd already have an experienced PL striker. If not we'd probably sell him for a loss, but at least we have that possibility.
Am I the only one who's comfortable with Rodallega for the time being? Thought he did very well against WBA. Not saying he'll rip Chelsea apart, but I think he feels he has a point to prove and will give it his all. He's always been a decent player, he just hasn't gotten enough minutes here. Bent's
I'm never comfortable with rodders playing, rather have bent there or dembele or tankovic or my grandmother and she's 89
Quote from: Nick Bateman on February 28, 2014, 07:02:00 PM
Jol giving Schwarzer to our enemy Chelsea is the main reason for our current predicament. Slowly Stekenleberg is recovering some form but is it too late??
I assume this is a joke?
Just got this inkling that Hugo could be the hero tomorrow - do hope so on so many counts. Think he's had it rough here - much maligned and always puts in 100% more effort than some (ex-)players that could be mentioned!
Quote from: FPT on February 28, 2014, 05:24:42 PM
It's been explained fairly and reasonably. He's close, but not up to speed yet for a game we need every single player to put in 100%. But yeah, let's all make a mountain out of a molehill.
He's fine to play, but it wouldn't be fair to him to chuck him tomorrow, we did it with Bryan Ruiz, we chucked him in against Blackburn and he looked out of his depth, to make that even fairer to Mitroglou, Ruiz was 100% fit. What are you lot like? And some people ask me why I leave the board for periods. Zzzzzzz....
We paid a club reco
Quote from: FPT on February 28, 2014, 05:24:42 PM
It's been explained fairly and reasonably. He's close, but not up to speed yet for a game we need every single player to put in 100%. But yeah, let's all make a mountain out of a molehill.
He's fine to play, but it wouldn't be fair to him to chuck him tomorrow, we did it with Bryan Ruiz, we chucked him in against Blackburn and he looked out of his depth, to make that even fairer to Mitroglou, Ruiz was 100% fit. What are you lot like? And some people ask me why I leave the board for periods. Zzzzzzz....
Of course, it has been explained that the poor thing just can't possiby lead the line for us after having cost c.11mil
Quote from: Twig on February 28, 2014, 08:07:39 PM
Quote from: FPT on February 28, 2014, 05:24:42 PM
It's been explained fairly and reasonably. He's close, but not up to speed yet for a game we need every single player to put in 100%. But yeah, let's all make a mountain out of a molehill.
He's fine to play, but it wouldn't be fair to him to chuck him tomorrow, we did it with Bryan Ruiz, we chucked him in against Blackburn and he looked out of his depth, to make that even fairer to Mitroglou, Ruiz was 100% fit. What are you lot like? And some people ask me why I leave the board for periods. Zzzzzzz....
We paid a club reco
We all knew he was unfit. The club did, the management did. He would be playing if we were in any other league, but the Premier League is so quick, he needs extra time to regain sharpness. I feel like 20th spot has become a sign of impossibility and desperation. It's not the case, we need to support and calm the fudge down.
Quote from: Twig on February 28, 2014, 08:09:17 PM
Quote from: FPT on February 28, 2014, 05:24:42 PM
It's been explained fairly and reasonably. He's close, but not up to speed yet for a game we need every single player to put in 100%. But yeah, let's all make a mountain out of a molehill.
He's fine to play, but it wouldn't be fair to him to chuck him tomorrow, we did it with Bryan Ruiz, we chucked him in against Blackburn and he looked out of his depth, to make that even fairer to Mitroglou, Ruiz was 100% fit. What are you lot like? And some people ask me why I leave the board for periods. Zzzzzzz....
Of course, it has been explained that the poor thing just can't possiby lead the line for us after having cost c.11mil
He can, he just needs extra fitness training to improve sharpness because the Premier League is the quickest and most ferocious is the world. He'll be fine, as I said above "I feel like 20th spot has become a sign of impossibility and desperation. It's not the case, we need to support and calm the fudge down."
Unbelievable.......
Quote from: FPT on February 28, 2014, 08:24:37 PM
Quote from: Twig on February 28, 2014, 08:09:17 PM
Quote from: FPT on February 28, 2014, 05:24:42 PM
It's been explained fairly and reasonably. He's close, but not up to speed yet for a game we need every single player to put in 100%. But yeah, let's all make a mountain out of a molehill.
He's fine to play, but it wouldn't be fair to him to chuck him tomorrow, we did it with Bryan Ruiz, we chucked him in against Blackburn and he looked out of his depth, to make that even fairer to Mitroglou, Ruiz was 100% fit. What are you lot like? And some people ask me why I leave the board for periods. Zzzzzzz....
Of course, it has been explained that the poor thing just can't possiby lead the line for us after having cost c.11mil
He can, he just needs extra fitness training to improve sharpness because the Premier League is the quickest and most ferocious is the world. He'll be fine, as I said above "I feel like 20th spot has become a sign of impossibility and desperation. It's not the case, we need to support and calm the fudge down."
Surely there is only one way for him to get prem match fit and that is to start him for at least 45 minutes at a time? he cannot get match sharp on the training ground.
Well he looked pretty much off the pace against the Baggies, in fact he reminded me of Bent's earlier run outs. I am actually happy to have Bent back as I thought against Liverpool he worked hard and I assume Hugo will not start and Darren will. Sounds strange to say that but against Terry I would feel better with Bent. I also thought the pointed questions from Sarah Brooks were as if she had been reading this forum - all the grief about sending out Cole and Tunnicliffe. He said squad was too large and needs to get them focused and obviously felt he would rather have those two playing somewhere than getting splinters in the arises and too many people in front of them, sure they can be called back if the people in the line ahead get injured. Just hope he starts Kvist and not Parker...
Quote from: filham on February 28, 2014, 01:35:11 PM
A reported £12m for player in the January window who is not fit to play by 1st March indicates that a huge mistake has been made or that we have been conned.
That sums it up.
Bad situation. Wish the reported Finnbogason deal went through.
this feels like paying top dollar for a luxury second hand car up front but you are told you have to wait a few months before you can drive it as it needs repairs and a major service and a new mot and a full valet and it is a cut and shut. you'll go nuts.
was this guy the best 10-15 million could buy? i hope so for all our sakes.
I believe there is something in the Mitroglou deal that most of don't know about. When signed, Rene' let the cat out of the bag by saing he was an 'investment'. I wonder if he has a big sell on clause, or is a bit like Remi.
Any player we buy is an investment, whether they are a good one or not depends on what they produce. If they are a good investment, then chances are someone will buy them off us at some stage as we will never be in a position to retain our best players for long.
Quote from: TonyGilroy on February 28, 2014, 01:33:02 PMHe may well be our trump card next season.
If we go down he'll probably be loaned out to a PL side like QPR did with Remy.
I am utterly staggered beyond belief that we could spend a club record fee on a striker that the new manager describes as "not good enough for the premier league". Heads have to roll. Ali Mac clear out your desk.
