Wednesday Fulham Stuff (20.04.11)

[Mr Fulham]

http://www.fansfc.com/story/31598.html


Sunderland lining up Zamora swoop


07:00 PM 19 April, 2011


Sunderland Football Club have added Bobby Zamora to their wanted list.

Steve Bruce was left reeling in the New Year, when Darren Bent engineered a staggering £24million transfer to Premier League rivals Aston Villa.

The Black Cats were unable to land a replacement for their star striker, but money will be made available for reinvestment when the window reopens.

Bruce accepts he has little chance of persuading Manchester United to let him have Daniel Welbeck, so he has turned his attention to other targets.

And the News of the World claim the Stadium of Light boss is interested in Zamora, the Fulham striker, 31, who is under contract at Craven Cottage until 2014.

Bobby's 30....so this should be bollocks.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.teamtalk.com/fulham/6885981/Fulham-loan-helping-Kakuta?

Fulham loan helping Kakuta

The coach of France's Under-20 side believes Gael Kakuta will benefit greatly from his loan spell at Fulham.

The youngster linked up with the Cottagers in January, having been given the green light by parent club Chelsea to go and find regular first-team football.

Kakuta has been in and around the senior fold at Stamford Bridge for some time, but the Blues are unable to offer him the opportunities he needs at this stage of his career.

Fulham were more than happy to offer a helping hand and the 19-year-old has improved with each passing appearance for Mark Hughes' men.

France U-20 coach Francis Smerercki is delighted to see the tricky winger doing so well, with the U-20 World Cup set to take place in Colombia this summer.

Kakuta will have a key role to play for Les Bleus at that tournament and is expected to head to South America in high spirits following a productive spell at Craven Cottage.

"During our two friendly matches in Peru in March, I talked to Gael and he was fine," Smerercki told L'Equipe.

"He feels at ease at Fulham now after initially being wary of going there. He was settled at Chelsea and didn't want things to change.

"He has done well at Fulham, though, and they have started to win.

"Gael has been ill, but it is good to see him playing more again now for Fulham.

"Being at Fulham has allowed him to understand the game better. It has opened his eyes to the job he has to do.

"He believes he has improved on a physical level, and I think that is true.

"He might not be back to his best technically, but he is on the right track and I have faith in him."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/mick-mccarthy-plays-down-subplots-before-fulham-clash-2270360.html?

Mick McCarthy plays down sub-plots before Fulham clash

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has urged his players to focus on the football and not the sub-plots for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Fulham.

Wolves' 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage in September was overshadowed when Bobby Zamora sustained a broken leg following a challenge from captain Karl Henry.

Soon after Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy caused outrage when he accused some managers of pumping up their players before sending them out into a game.

Specifically mentioning Wolves, Blackburn and Stoke, Murphy claimed the players were under orders to stop other teams from playing, and that "no brains" were involved when it came to some tackles.

Throw in the additional fact Adlene Guedioura faces Steve Sidwell for the first time since his leg was broken in September following a tackle from the midfielder, who was then with Aston Villa, and there is plenty to spice up the occasion.

McCarthy, however, has reminded his players there is only one subject that deserves any attention, and that is the bottom-of-the-table club's battle to beat the drop.

"I think you'll find that staying up is the bigger story with me. I'm not bothered about anything else," McCarthy told Wolves' website.

"People can always find something in any game, such as one player went to school with someone else, so-and-so went out with someone else's girlfriend, or another player suffered a bad tackle from him or somebody got booked or sent off.

"There is always a sub-plot which the media all like, but it goes right over my head.

"None of that garbage washes with me at all because I played enough games against enough people to know there were sub-plots in all of those.

"You just go and play. I don't think players think too much about all that, and Fulham are a good side.

"I expect a really hard, difficult Premier League game. I watched a DVD of their game against Manchester United [2-0 defeat on April 9] and they did all right.

"They've good footballers, but I'm sure people will drag up Danny Murphy and all of his comments.

"I'm sure people will look to drag the backside out of that one, but as usual I'm not interested in talking about it."

As for Guedioura, who spent just over six months on the sidelines before returning to action in a 3-0 home defeat to Everton earlier this month, McCarthy insists there is no lingering ill will.

"It happens - Adlene was most gracious about it," added McCarthy.

"He's back playing and that's all that really matters. I never griped about it and I haven't changed my view on it either."