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Thursday Fulham Stuff (17.03.11)

Started by White Noise, March 17, 2011, 06:38:39 AM

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White Noise


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/fulham/8386826/Fulham-manager-Mark-Hughes-tops-list-in-Bayern-Munich-head-hunt.html



Fulham manager Mark Hughes tops list in Bayern Munich head hunt

Mark Hughes heads a three-strong shortlist to become the new head coach of Bayern Munich. The Fulham manager, a former Bayern player, is understood to have been targeted by the club's president, Uli Hoeness, and an approach may be made in the next few days.


Wanted man: Bayern are investigating how much it would cost to hire Mark Hughes  Photo: PA


By Jason Burt 10:50PM GMT 16 Mar 2011
Jason's Twitter

Bayern are also considering Bayern Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynkes, who has stalled on contract negotiations at his present club, and former Germany captain Matthias Sammer, who has had managerial jobs at Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart and who is working for the German Football Federation.

Bayern's coach, Louis van Gaal, was told last week that his contract would be terminated at the end of this season after suggestions for some time that the Dutchman would go despite having one more year left.

The German champions have struggled in the league this season, were knocked out of the domestic cup and went out of the Champions League to Inter Milan on Tuesday night despite winning the away leg.

Fulham would be an intriguing choice for Bayern, the club he played for in the late 1980s, on loan from Barcelona, when Hoeness was the general manager.

The former Manchester City manager joined Fulham at the end of last August, after Martin Jol turned down the post, although soon after his appointment there were discussions at Aston Villa as to whether they should approach him to replace Martin O'Neill.

It was announced that Hughes had signed a two-year deal but it is understood there may be an agreement in his contract which means he could leave at the end of this campaign without compensation being paid.

Bayern are investigating how much it would cost to hire Hughes, and if there would be any compensation involved, and whether he would be determined to bring his backroom staff with him.

Hughes works with a tight network of staff who have been with him for some time and it is likely he would want to bring the likes of Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki.

If Bayern do decide to approach Fulham over Hughes, 47, it would be a bold move by the club and would also be tempting for the highly-ambitious manager.

Hughes's managerial career began with a five-year stint in charge of Wales, whom he almost took to the Euro 204 finals, only a play-off defeat to Russia by a single goal over the two legs denied him.

He then spent four impressive seasons at Blackburn Rovers, leading them to three domestic cup semi-finals and establishing them in the top half of the Premier League.

Hughes left Ewood Park for City in the summer of 2008 and weeks into his reign the club were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group, who harshly sacked him in December the following year.

Fulham had a difficult spell in the first half of the season, with a squad badly affected by injury and the exertions of the last campaign when they reached the Europa League final under Roy Hodgson.

There was a fear that Hughes was going to be sacked around Christmas time. An away victory at Stoke City began the team's rally and Hughes's stock has continued to rise.

Hughes is understood to be happy at Fulham and there is no great urgency for him to leave Craven Cottage. However if Bayern were to follow up their interest with a serious offer it might be difficult for him to turn down a club of their stature and resources.

White Noise


http://paisleygates.com/?p=2974



The Duty of Owners

Posted: 17th March 2011 by CSD in Editorial

View CommentsI woke up today to the strange news of Fulham chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, having a statue of Michael Jackson commissioned. Jackson was apparently a long time friend of Fayed and will have his likeness immortalized outside of Craven Cottage. This led most of the world to say, "WTF?"

One of my long time tweeps on the Twitter said that Fayed was the chairman and could do whatever the hell he wanted. But I think being the owner of a club involves a bit more than indulging in whatever whims he or she has. I am not going to even touch on Michael Jackson or why I personally think there are more appropriate representatives of Fulham Football Club to be forever perched outside of their grounds. The question I would like to raise is this: does the owner of a club have the right to do as he pleases?

Put Fayed's actions in contrast to those of our own board. Fenway Sports Group has been cautious when treading in the waters of Liverpool supporters. This strategy is smart considering the disdain with the past regime and lack of respect for The Liverpool Way. But what if they started changing things? What if John W. Henry decided that Rebecca Black needed to be the new official singer of You'll Never Walk Alone before matches? Would we be obligated to say that he who holds the gold, makes the rules? I dare to say no.

The respect for the club's history that FSG has shown thus far is one of the things I appreciate most about them. All owners should take note and realize that no one is bigger than the club, not players, not managers, and certainly not a chairman. Being involved with a football club at any level is a privilege, but one that has a beginning and an end. FSG will not own Liverpool forever just as Fayed will not own Fulham forever. Long after they are gone, the clubs will carry on. The club's interests should always be the priority and personal indulgences should remain elsewhere.


White Noise


http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/17032011/58/premier-league-match-facts-everton-v-fulham.html


Premier League - Match facts: Everton v Fulham


Thu, 17 Mar 01:11:00 2011


Facts and figures relating to the Premier League clash between Everton and Fulham at Goodison Park.


Clint Dempsey has scored five headed goals from just six headed attempts on target.

Tim Cahill has scored six headed goals from just eight headers on target this season.

Everton have not had any players booked in six of their last eight Premier League games against Fulham and only one in the each of the other two.

Everton have won their last 17 home league games against Fulham and all nine in the Premier League era.

Fulham have won only one of their last 32 Premier League away games.

The Londoners have only lost one of their last nine Premier League matches, but that came on Merseyside against Liverpool.

If the Premier League only counted the second half of games this season, Fulham would be fourth with 45 points.

No player has scored the final goal of the game on more occasions than Clint Dempsey (5) in the Premier League this season.

Fulham have conceded a league-low proportion of their goals in the second half of Premier League games this term (39%).

10 of the last 12 goals that Fulham have scored in the Premier League have been netted in the second half.

Opta .


White Noise


http://www.grandoldteam.com/news/fans-view/2011/mar/17/everton-v-fulham


Everton v Fulham

Written by chicoazul on Thu 17th March 11, 01:57

Another home game as Fulham and their brogue wearing, famed and feared, mob handed twenty three fans come to L4.

It felt a bit weird to look at the league table and see us in ninth place. Or as it were, page 1/2 of Ceefax which was infinitely better than Oracle. For those of you under the age of 17, think of it as the internet´s biological dar, but on the telly. Were currently five points of an unlikely respectable finish this season and six points away from disaster. I think the over riding emotion is a lot of meh as we predictably failed to collect three points from another average team to come to Goodison this season against Birmingham.

Fulham are made of marginally sterner stuff and sit two points behind us, they will all too aware that if you sit deep at Goodison it´s likely you´ll come away with at least a point. They´re on a bit of a run in the league too, unbeaten in the last six games and in that period getting results against Spurs, Chelsea and City away.

Their squad is devoid of any real outstanding players but after a very slow start it would seem that their wire haired tit of a manager has got them playing well as a team. It´s weird with Fulham as you expected Al-Fayed´s little ego trip to fade out after a while but he´s still hanging on in there possibly in the hope that the association with an English football club will somehow help his passport application. If not then the statue of Michael Jackson outside Craven Cottage should gain him popular public opinion. Don´t rule out Fulham moonwalking out to Black and White next season, someone tell the DJ that Dirty Diana is off the playlist.

With Fellaini, Arteta, Cahill and Neville out it won´t inspire positive thinking from many of our fans. Especially we watched us huff and puff to a point last time out. Leon is our saviour, exhibit A. What I would like to see is Saha really put himself about instead of sometimes having application of a seventeen year old playing for the U-14s. It´s likely to be two up top again with Beckford pitched slightly ahead of him.
We come back again to Jack Rodwell who with the more defensive minded Heitinga playing alongside him, will need to show more attacking intent. There really is no better time to take your opportunity than with the players we have out. Osman to his credit has been one of our better players in the last few games and the only real poser Moyes has is to put him on the opposite side of midfield to either Coleman or Bilyaletdinov. The former I reckon. The defence should remain unchanged.

OK, maybe you´ll start to feel excited by about Friday evening then.


White Noise


http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/swiss-ramble-on-wolves/

Swiss Ramble on Wolves

Filed under: General — rich @ 1:09 pm

Interesting.

Mixed feelings towards Wolves.  On the one hand, they were a disgrace at the Cottage earlier in the season.   On other they've been quite good fun this season, the Premiership's banana-skin surprise, capable of causing slip-ups when least expected.

Also, their 1950s sides were seriously good.  Good to the point where their lack of recognition these days is a huge oversight:  those Wolves teams were right up there with the best teams the league's seen.  Only Huddersfield of the 20th Century greats get more overlooked.

You could argue that the best English sides ever are:

Liverpool/United (massively good at various stages)
Arsenal (30s, 90s+)

Then a few others:
Huddersfield in the 20s
Wolves in the 50s
Chelsea in the 00s
Preston, Sunderland and Villa from the very early days

Then:
Everton in the 80s
Maybe Leeds from the 60s
Clough's Forest perhaps
Spurs (a couple of really good teams, but low because they've never sustained it have they?)

Anyway, Wolves seem to be debt free, which was the initial point of all this.   Good on them, in that sense, although it did require a bit of help earlier on.


White Noise


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2011/03/gatesy-sorts-out-football-on-the-television/



Gatesy Sorts Out Football On The Television


by gatesy on March 16, 2011

'Hurrah' and 'Woot' are the cries from the armchair fan of Fulham! Our next two league fixtures are being shown live on the tellybox. There'll be no need to fiddle about on the internet finding a dodgy-bodski feed from China, or the hassle of having to leave the house, travel to the stadium and interact with real live actual people. Instead we can sit at home and watch Sky and ESPN's excellent coverage while drinking a lovely cup of tea and eating biscuits. The only problem is; football coverage on the telly is rubbish.

This weekend just gone, due to the lack of proper football (and by that I mean Fulham) I resorted to watching the FA Cup games. We all know that ITV struggle to a decent job with presenting football well, especially since deciding the average football fan in the UK wants nothing more than to see Adrian Chiles before, during and after EVERY game. Not happy with that they've teamed him up with a dull as ditchwater panel. So dull in fact you could see that Strachan had brought a book with him to read during the Stoke 'Stam game on Sunday. ESPN aren't much better, awkwardly perching on the edge of a pitch to do their half time shtick. And let's not even start on the things I'd like to do to Ian, Keef and Andy with their ruddy bloody sponsorship of the cup. I've purposely stopped giving an inch on the road to anybody driving a Kia solely down to these adverts.

But how can it possibly be improved? Especially as when members of the panel make points they believe in they suddenly get every manager in the Premier League on their back saying they don't know what they're on about (See: Danny Murphy). Well, Mr Murdoch, put me in charge of Sky Sports for next season and I'll show you how it should be done.

First: In adverts, films and on telly whenever people are shown watching football it has their total and utter attention, there eyes will not leave that pitch, and they're all having a right royal time. We all know this isn't the case. Usually football is a pantomime of heartbreak and disappointment, wiping smiles of faces and bringing a tear to the eye. And while we're at the game we spend a lot of the time bantering with our neighbours and laughing at people who sit around us (such as spending most of the Bolton cup game being enthralled by a spider climbing all over the man in front of me's head) or if you're me, having the man behind you at Eastlands subject you to unfunny comments all game which only he found hilarious and laughed at continuously like Dr Hibburt off of the Simpsons. This kinda stuff should all be shown more. Cut away when the game gets boring to show a man who's clearly wearing a wig. Get the commentators to reminisce about the time they saw their mate get smacked in the face by a misplaced shot while he was eating his hot dog. Instead of repetitive replays of goals let's see replays of a fat man attempting to catch the ball when it went out, but falling over instead. And don't cut away and play the moral superior when there's a streaker. "And some idiots come onto the pitch, We wont give him the coverage he's after" the commentator will say. You lie Clive Tyldesley, we all want to see it. Just show it.

Since the loose cannon that was Ron Atkinson was sent packing and Andy Gray also got his P45 for being sexy, commentary has become even more boring. Our Cookie had a crack and was pretty insipid. Andy Townsend hasn't been the same since he was forcibly evicted from his tactic truck. The only one who's shown promise is Big Sam. Though, if he could make his comments a bit more like his Twitter feed it'd make the games a whole pile more interesting...

I'm not sure what qualifies an ex-player or manager to be part of an expert panel, but I can't remember the last time one of them said something genuinely interesting that I hadn't noticed myself. Even my friend, who only has three phrases in relation to football: Wing It!" "Skin Him!" and the more obscure "When an Inspector calls!", gives more of an insight than most of the tools currently employed (See: Garth Crooks).

The best part of Sky's coverage at the moment is Martin Tyler. As the teams run out, before they cut to a break he's guaranteed to inform us that:

"It's Wigan versus Hull. It's a massive game. AND. IT'S. LIVE!"

It's brilliant! Live league football coverage stopped being something special years ago and even though Sky broadcast around seventeen thousand games live each week and this game is clearly going to be dross, he still gives the impression that he's never looked forward to anything more in his life – and you're a fool if you don't feel the same! Let's have more over blown excitement over nothing. I love it.

The presentation teams take it all too seriously too. As we all know, football is quite boring in reality. So it needs livening up. All the talk in the studio before the game is mind numbingly tedious at best. Let's shake it up. If we must be subjected to Jamie 'Redders' Redknapp let's at least put him to good use. Every time he uses his favourite word 'literally', let SOMEBODY literally poke him with a sharp stick. That'd soon stop ludicrous talk of "Arsenal being literally passed to death by Barcelona" quickly.

Or lets just cut the halftime analysis altogether. I quite enjoyed watching the big racing balls during half time at Blackpool earlier this season. We could show that. Or just as in the old days when the television companies had nothing worthwhile broadcasting, they simply shut down. Why not save paying Ben Sheppard the big bucks he's inevitably on and just turn the transmitter off for ten minutes. Or fill the time with pictures of people pelting fruit and office stationary at Ian, Keef and Andy instead.

That Mr Murdoch, is why you should make me controller of Sky Sports this instant.

Unless anybody else has any other good ideas?



White Noise


http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110316/NJSPORTS/103160316/1002/NJSPORTS/Landon-Donovan-Clint-Dempsey-headline-U-S-roster?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey headline U.S. roster

11:09 PM, Mar. 16, 2011 


Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey head a 24-man roster as the United States brings in most of its top players for exhibition games against Argentina and Paraguay.

Players will start gathering Sunday in Cary, N.C., for training. The U.S. plays Argentina on March 26 in East Rutherford, and Paraguay three days later in Nashville, Tenn.

Three players with no previous national team experience were selected Wednesday by U.S. coach Bob Bradley: Nuremberg defender Timothy Chandler, Duisburg goalkeeper David Yelldell and Norwich defender Zak Whitbread.

Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and defender Jay DeMerit were selected for the first time since the World Cup. Donovan and Dempsey had not been picked together since the tournament in South Africa last June.

Just four players were picked from Major League Soccer: Donovan, DeMerit, New York defender Tim Ream and forward Juan Agudelo.

Eight players are based in England, four in Germany, and one each in Belgium, Denmark, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Turkey.

The U.S. is preparing for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where it has first-round matches against Canada on June 7 at Detroit, Panama four days later at Tampa, Fla., and Guadeloupe on June 14 at Kansas City, Kan.

Argentina, led by two-time FIFA player of the year Lionel Messi, and Paraguay are getting ready for the Copa America. Argentina hosts South America's championship, which starts July 1.

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England), David Yelldell (Duisburg, Germany)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne, France), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres, Mexico), Timothy Chandler (Nuremberg, Germany), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Vancouver), Oguchi Onyewu (Twente, Netherlands), Tim Ream (New York), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England), Zak Whitbread (Norwich, England)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Aston Villa, England), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Mikkel Diskeruud (Stabaek, Norway), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn, England), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht, Belgium)

Forwards: Juan Agudelo (New York), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor, Turkey), Edson Buddle (Ingolstadt, Germany)

White Noise


Fulham v Blackpool tickets



Barclays Premier League

Sunday 3rd April

Kick-Off 13:30

On-sale dates
Season Ticket Holders  On sale (6 tickets)
Fulham Club Members On sale (6 tickets)
General Sale On sale (4 tickets)
Loyalty points: 3 (more info)| 

Buy tickets online| 

How to Buy Tickets
buy tickets online  - 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day. Save on booking fees by booking online*
by phone on 0843 208 1234 (option 1) - 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day
in person from the Ticket Office: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; non-match day Sat 10am-12pm
by fax 0207 384 4810 (download printable form )
by postal application to FFC Ticket Office, Stevenage Road, Fulham, SW6 6HH enclosing a stamped addressed envelope (download printable form )
Seatwave - the official fan-to-fan ticket exchange * Lower booking fees compared to telephone booking

† Special offers and packages only available on advance bookings and not on the day of the match.

Prices
Category B prices apply to this match.

NB: Blocks A and AL are a designated Family Area and are not available to  book online. To book, call the Ticket Office on 0843 208 1234 opt 3 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm).

 

  Stand (Grade B)   Block   Adult   Conc   Junior 
Riverside   S, Z   £40   £25   £10 
J Haynes   D, DL, G, GL   £42   £28   £15 
Hammersmith / Putney   All Blocks   £35   £25   £15 
J Haynes   B, BL, C, CL J, JL, H, HL    £40   £25   £10 
J Haynes   A, K, AL, KL   £30   £20   £10 

 

Junior - under 16
Concessions: Young Person - under 21. Under 21 prices are not available to purchase after midday on matchdays (Saturday/Sunday) and after 4pm for midweek matches.
Concessions: Senior - over 65
Matchday Info
Seat Moves & Upgrades


Seat moves are not available on the day of the game. Upgrades can be obtained by visiting the Ticket Office.

Refunds
Refunds will only be given on tickets if the match is cancelled or postponed. The ticket must be returned to the Ticket Office within 7 days of the rescheduling announcement, which shall be made on fulhamfc.com

Postponements
Tickets will remain valid for the rearranged match.

Lost Season Tickets / Match Tickets
Fans must report to Ticket Office where valid ID must be shown. £5 is charged to replace a lost access card.

Concession Ticket Holders
Supporters with junior and concession tickets are reminded to bring ID to the stadium in the event of being asked for proof of age on matchday.


Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Tickets/Games/BlackpoolHome.aspx#ixzz1Gpxgvi9a

White Noise


http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/collins-fit-saha-would-have-everton-top-four-1511661



Collins: Fit Saha would have Everton in top four

17.03.11 | tribalfootball.com


John Collins feels Everton are not in contention for the top four due to Louis Saha's injuries.

Collins played at Fulham while Saha was with the Cottagers.

He told evertonfc.com: "It is nothing to do with Louis' professionalism – he has just been so unlucky.

"He looks after his body and does all the right things, he has just had rotten luck. I was fortunate to have played with him at Fulham and I had phone calls from Manchester United asking me about Louis and I couldn't speak highly enough of him.

"Louis is skilful, good in the air, can hold it up and can get away and finish, but in football you need to be fit to prove to people that you can do it on the pitch.

"He is so unlucky, and it has been a real shame for Everton because I do believe if he had stayed fit he would have scored the goals that would have taken them up to challenging the top group of four or five teams. It is a shame for the club, as they have not had that goalscorer who can turn those draws into victories."



White Noise


http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/hibbert-everton-must-keep-watch-fulham-striker-johnson-1511671



Hibbert: Everton must keep watch on Fulham striker Johnson


17.03.11 | tribalfootball.com


Everton defender Tony Hibbert says they must be wary of ex-teammate Andy Johnson when they face Fulham this weekend.

AJ enjoyed great success at Everton before moving south.

"AJ is back fit again and that is good to see," Hibbert told evertontv. "He is a great lad to be with and the pace he has is frightening. He is sharp and can finish as well so we will have to be wary of him.

"He was a great lad when he was here, a good pro, and it was just one of those things that he moved on. He has had a bad injury but is back now so hopefully for him he can stay fit and get a good run of football."


White Noise

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/everton-fullback-hibbert-not-surprised-hughes-succeeding-fulham-1511681


Everton fullback Hibbert not surprised Hughes succeeding at Fulham


17.03.11 | tribalfootball.com


Everton defender Tony Hibbert isn't surprised seeing Mark Hughes succeeding as manager of Fulham.

The long-serving defender reaches the 10th anniversary of his first debut later this month, and Hibbert can even remember Fulham boss Hughes' short stint at Goodison Park in 2000.

"Mark Hughes was here when I was here and I trained with him," he recalled to evertontv. "He has gone on to be a good manager at a number of clubs.

"It is a great influence when someone like that comes in. Seeing players like that when you are training, it was not just Mark Hughes, we had a lot of senior pros and you do look up to people who have done what they have in the game."


White Noise

#11

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/fulham-west-brom-target-johnson-warming-leeds-stay-1511841


Fulham, West Brom target Johnson warming to Leeds stay

17.03.11 | tribalfootball.com


Bradley Johnson is talking up his chances of staying with Leeds United.

The midfielder has been linked with Fulham and West Bromwich Albion after rejecting new contract talks at Leeds.

"All the lads want to play in the Premier League," he told the club's official website.

"I've played in every league and my dream is to play in the Premiership and to do it with Leeds would be a dream."