Murphy On Smalling & New Signings

[White Noise]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/danny-murphy/article/3182/

Shocked to see Smalling go


Tue Feb 02 03:31PM


Chris Smalling's transfer to Manchester United was a bit of a shock at the club, given the limited exposure he has had to Premier League football.

There is no denying he is an extremely gifted footballer who has pace to burn, and is extremely strong in defence. His talent was recognised early by both Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and his move gives him the opportunity to cut his teeth at one of the finest clubs in the country in Manchester United.

It will be interesting to see how much game time he is given competing alongside some of Europe's finest defenders in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, but Chris has a fantastic opportunity that I am sure he will relish. From Fulham's perspective, it is great to be able to keep him until the end of the season prior to his departure to Old Trafford.

I am very happy with Fulham's transfer window activity and think we have managed to reinforce the squad in a number of areas that we were struggling with injury.

Nicky Shorey is an excellent addition at left-back from Aston Villa, with good experience at this level. Christopher Buchtmann is a young German player signed from Liverpool that I haven't yet had the opportunity to meet, but look forward to doing so shortly.

Finally, Stefano Okaka, the AS Roma and Italy U21 striker has signed on loan until the end of the season. He looks very strong and quick in training, and will hopefully be able to form a good partnership with Bobby Zamora given the injuries we have at present up front.

January has been a bad month for us in the context of our season so far, but we have addressed this period as a minor blip that all clubs go through in a season. The game against Portsmouth gives us an opportunity to get things back on track, and start getting some points on the board again.

In terms of fixtures, we have had a difficult run with defeats coming to Chelsea at the end of December, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, but now is the time we have to pull together and build on our form prior to the New Year.

We have a good number of home fixtures coming up and so we must look to build on our excellent home record. We can't be complacent against the likes of Portsmouth, Burnley and Bolton, which we have identified as winnable games if we put in the performances we know we are capable of.