Sunday Fulham Stuff (26/06/11)...

[ScalleysDad]

A round of golf with Brian McBride
by DAN on JUNE 25, 2011

Lovely Chicago Tribune interview with former Fulham striker and all-round good guy Brian McBride, who has just launched his own football academy.

Among the interesting snippets are the fact that he has the highest regard for his first coach at Fulham, Chris Coleman:

A great communicator. He understood there was a time to have a laugh and a time to get serious.

What shines through in this short – and largely, non-football related – piece is the two qualities that really endeared McBride to the Craven Cottage faithful: optimism and determination. What I wouldn't give to still see him pull on the black and white shirt.



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2011/06/a-round-of-golf-with-brian-mcbride/?

Oh so true. He never got the send off he had earned did he. Typically there was nothing underhand about his departure as we knew for ages he was going back home but the John Aldridge type of goodbye, or even leading the team out tracksuited after he had gone, did'nt happen. 

[White Noise]

http://blogs.bettor.com/Martin-Jol-and-Fulham-Football-Club-the-great-expectations-EPL-debate-a78252


Martin Jol and Fulham Football Club – the great expectations: EPL debate


Posted By:  Michael Anderson



Fulham Football Club have finally succeeded in roping in the Dutch manager Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol. They had made a similar attempt last year and had all terms finalized, but Martin Jol was with Ajax then and they refused to let him go. Jol is backed by a positive reputation for the work done at Tottenham Hotspur, Hamburg and Ajax. And now he has signed a two-year contract at Craven Cottage with an option for the third.

Last year, the move was made when Fulham's manager, Roy Hodgson, had left the club and moved to Liverpool. Even though Ajax did not let their manager go, Fulham and Jol had been communicating and Jol resigned from Ajax later on in December 2010.

Martin Jol may not have very fond memories of his last stint at English Premier League and nor with the way it came to an end. His services were terminated through a text message during a UEFA Cup match between the Spurs and Getafe. Since his departure from Ajax, Martin Jol has waited for the right kind of job to come across.

While at White Hart Lane, Jol was largely responsible for putting together a strong team and the club almost qualified for UFEA Champions League in the process – perhaps, Harry Redknapp has much to thank Martin Jol for. The most notable players he signed back then for Tottenham include Gareth Bale and Dimitar Berbatov. In fact, six of the players from the team that beat Inter Milan were signed during Jol's tenure.

He is known to be a player friendly manager yet he takes his job very seriously. He has all the ingredients that will settle well with the fans. The good thing is that it could end up being a perfect relationship between the owners of the club, the fans and Martin Jol. He could very well be what Fulham need to help continue their upward trend.

Fulham have changed four managers in four years. Just like his predecessor, Jol will be given full backing by his boss, Mohamed Fayed. Martin Jol will enjoy Fayed's complete faith and no interference in managing the team and its affairs.

Martin Jol was liked by the fans back in his Tottenham days, but winning a fan base has not been his priority. Instead, his focus has always been to watch out for the team's interests by winning the games. It does not have to be by making friends.

Jol's plans are simple. He is not looking to over achieve or raise the hopes of the fans. He will be happy to finish as high in the top 10 as possible. Fulham had finished eighth after a poor start to their English Premier League campaign in the season ended. Jol's first priority is to put up an entertaining display of football for the viewers, "There's always one principle for me and that is to make people happy. I will always try to do something on the flanks and try to play attacking, nice football."

Martin Jol has already hinted of adding four to five players to the squad, but he already has a decent enough team with talented footballers to continue their impressive run.

Fulham might have found a manager in Jol who is tough and has the skills to deliver for the club. He will be up for the challenge to have Fulham taken as a serious top-flight club in the League. More importantly, in Fulham, Jol might have found the club that is willing to give him the time to do just that.



Disclaimer: Views expressed here are the writer's own and in no way represent bettor.com's official editorial policy

[White Noise]

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/birmingham-claim-villa-boss-mcleish-rejected-odemwingie-babel-1718061


Birmingham claim Villa boss McLeish rejected Odemwingie, Babel


26.06.11 | tribalfootball.com


Birmingham City have hit back at claims they interfered in the transfer plans of former manager Alex McLeish.

McLeish is now in charge at Aston Villa and their bitter war of words is continuing.

The statement from Birmingham yesterday read: "The club is disturbed and very concerned with the recent reporting by selective, and we believe agenda-led, reporters suggesting that the Birmingham City board had interfered with the previous manager in the transfer market. That is factually incorrect and the club did, on June 14, 2011, release a statement stating our position.

"It is reiterated very strongly that there is a robust system in place whereby only players with the written authorisation of the manager had ever arrived at the club under the previous manager and will still be the case going forward.

"Players recommended by the board, such as, Babel, Odemwingie, Pennant and a Chinese player, for commercial reasons, didn't arrive as no approval was forthcoming from the manager.

"Players such as (Fulham forward Mousa) Dembele chose not to come and (Wigan winger Charles) N'Zogbia due to his sudden demand for a last-minute increase in wages.

"In the case of (Bobby) Zamora, it was felt there had been quite a few injuries and anyway he signed a massive new contract at Fulham due to our approach.

"As the legal dispute is ongoing, it is appropriate that this myth of interference is put to rest once and for all."

[White Noise]

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2011/06/el-hamdaoui-not-welcome-at-ajax/


El Hamdaoui 'not welcome at Ajax'


by Dan on June 25, 2011


Fulham target Mounir El Hamdaoui has been told not to report for pre-season training with Ajax next month.

http://www.voetbalprimeur.nl/site/nieuws/169946/El_Hamdaoui_niet_meer_welkom_bij_Ajax_1.html

The Moroccan striker received a letter telling him that he is no longer considered part of the club's first team, according to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaph. If the 26-year-old is still contracted to Ajax on 11 July, he will be expected to train with the youth team in Rotterdam.

Ajax insist that they are not going to sell El Hamdaoui for anything below their valuation of the player, but the relationship between the forward and coach Frank de Boer has proved a rocky one. Matters came to a head after the Dutch Cup semi-final against RKC Waalwijk when de Boer dropped El Hamdaoui after 'something unacceptable happened in the dressing room at half-time'.

El Hamdaoui, who scored 13 goals in 26 appearances for Ajax last season, has been widely linked with a move to Fulham, where he would be reunited with the former Ajax manager Martin Jol.

[White Noise]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/diana/8598896/Anger-as-Mohammed-Fayed-burns-Harrods-royal-warrants.html

Mohamed Fayed burns the royal warrants that used to adorn Harrods in the final scene of a controversial documentary on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.


The final scene of the film shows Mr Fayed in the grounds of his country estate near Oxted in Surrey with the film's director Keith Allen

By Robert Mendick, Chief reporter8:00AM BST 26 Jun 2011

73 Comments

As he looks on at the bonfire, he turns to the camera and brands the Duke of Edinburgh as a "Nazi". Even the film's makers admit the burning of the crests is likely to be viewed as "spiteful".

Critics condemned the decision to film the burning of the Royal crests as malcicious and vengeful.

Hugo Vickers, the Royal historian and author, said: "It does seem vindictive and in very bad taste to burn the warrants but I suppose it's up to him. He was the shopkeeper."

The film, entitled Unlawful Killing, has already provoked outrage for including a sickening, close-up photograph of Princess Diana taken moments after the Mercedes she and Dodi Fayed were travelling in crashed in a Paris underpass.

At one stage in the documentary the Queen is labelled a "gangster in a tiara" while Prince Philip is described as a "Fred West-style psychopath".

The documentary, which was made with £2 million funding from Mr Fayed, will not be shown in the UK for legal reasons but receives its first public screening at a film festival in Ireland on July 6. Shown to distributors at a private viewing at the Cannes film festival in May, Unlawful Killing was roundly condemned as "ludicrous", "cynical" and "cruel".

Still images from the final scene, which have been obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, show Mr Fayed in the grounds of his country estate near Oxted in Surrey with the film's director Keith Allen, an actor, one-time comedian and father of the pop singer Lily Allen. Mr Fayed's son Dodi is buried nearby in a mausoleum.

With the warrants in flames behind him, Mr Fayed then addresses the camera directly, declaring: "I am destroying these royal crests as a tribute to my son Dodi. I feel that he is looking down on this today.

"There was a clear verdict of unlawful killing, so why has nobody been arrested? What is at the core of all this is racism.

"Powerful people in this country - my country - don't want to hear me talking about Prince Philip's Nazi background, but I have to, because it is 100 per cent true. They wouldn't accept me or my son, and when he fell in love with Diana, they murdered him."

Mr Vickers said it was completely untrue to suggest Prince Philip had "a Nazi background". The film ignores the Duke of Edinburgh's distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

Mr Vickers said: "It is a great pity that Mohammed Fayed persists in peddling these myths when the inquiry into Diana's death has proved all the allegations were complete nonsense.

"It is rather sad. I had seriously hoped he had given up on this after the inquest's final verdict."

An inquest in 2008 ruled Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed were unlawfully killed but blamed their deaths on their driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi.

Four Royal warrants were removed from Harrods in 2000. Reports had suggested the warrants were burned that year but it now appears Mr Fayed, who sold Harrods last year, kept them in storage.

The film's final scene was shot last year. It is not clear if all Harrods' warrants were put on the bonfire. Before princess Diana's death, the Knightsbridge store enjoyed the Royal seal of approval from not only The Queen and Prince Philip but also from the Queen Mother and the Prince of Wales.

Mr Allen said: "The images of the burning Royal Warrants, filmed next to Dodi Fayed's mausoleum, appear as the climax to my equally inflammatory film. This sequence will doubtless be interpreted by some as spiteful or vindictive. But it is not.

"Any spitefulness came from the Royal Family who, only weeks after the death of Dodi, ordered his father to take down the Royal Warrants from Harrods.

"The final sequence in the film shows him achieving a symbolic justice by burning the royal warrants."

[WhiteJC]

 
More Keeper News!
Have Fulham opted for something cheaper?

Having reported that Martin Jol was keen to bring the Espanyol keeper, Carlos Kameni, to Craven Cottage we now find that the name of another keeper is being mentioned in dispatches.

The keeper finding himself linked with a move ot West London is the Monaco stopper, Stephane Ruffier.

Twenty-four years of age, Ruffier is seen as a cheaper option and wishes to leave Monaco who suffered the indignity of being relegated from the French top flight last season.

I`ll repeat myself again - why not persist with David Stockdale if, or when, Mark Schwarzer decides to leave?



Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=245402#ixzz1QNfywzPC

[WhiteJC]

 
Small Change but a Big Talent!
Investing in youth is always a difficult situation as so many fail to live up to their potential.

But Fulham seem quite keen to take on board the Wycombe Wanderers 18 year old midfielder - Kadeem Harris.

A £50,000 bid has been rejected and the tabloid press are insistent that Fulham will be returning with an increased bid of £75,000 to secure the services of the youngster who was voted the League Two Apprentice of the Year.

But they`ll have to move swiftly with it also being reported that both West Ham and Spurs are showing a more than plausible interest.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=245403#ixzz1QNg95rzb

[WhiteJC]

 
Lack of security for Jol
Boss concedes contract could be terminated with poor start

Fulham manager Martin Jol believes managerial contracts mean little in football due to the unpredictable nature of the game.

The former Tottenham boss returned to the Premier League to replace Mark Hughes, who stepped down at the end of his sole season at Craven Cottage last term.

Jol, who almost took the Fulham job last summer, admits his two-year contract provides him with little comfort as a poor start in the job could easily put him on the managerial scrapheap.

He said: "I'm ambitious, but not over-ambitious. If I had asked for a three-year contract here, they would have given it.

"I signed two years with an option for another year, but it doesn't really mean anything. They can get rid of me after a couple of months if they want.

"When I was at Ajax they offered me a 10-year contract, but I still left after 18 months."

Jol admits good-natured talks last summer, from which the parties failed to come to an agreement before Fulham turned to Hughes, played a pivotal part in his appointment this time around.

Relationships

"Football is about relationships," he said. "Fulham were good to me last year when I could have joined, and they were good to me again this year.

"I don't know the reasons Mark Hughes left. I thought he would stay here for a couple of years to be honest, because he was doing a good job.

"Instead, I was thinking of other challenges and other clubs. But when the chief executive Alistair Mackintosh called me, I came the next day."

With Fulham qualifying for Europe through the Fair Play League, Dutchman Jol will make his competitive debut against Nes Soknar Itrottarfelag on Thursday.

The former Hamburg coach admits he will treat the early stages of the Europa League as pre-season, but plans to be competitive, starting against the Faroe Island minnows at the Cottage.

"I will now work to see how we can become better and we will treat the Europa League like it is our pre-season, but it will have a serious touch," said Jol.

"Of course, it would be nice to progress in the tournament."




http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_7005871,00.html?

[Mr Fulham]

Small Change but a Big Talent!
Investing in youth is always a difficult situation as so many fail to live up to their potential.

But Fulham seem quite keen to take on board the Wycombe Wanderers 18 year old midfielder - Kadeem Harris.

A £50,000 bid has been rejected and the tabloid press are insistent that Fulham will be returning with an increased bid of £75,000 to secure the services of the youngster who was voted the League Two Apprentice of the Year.

But they`ll have to move swiftly with it also being reported that both West Ham and Spurs are showing a more than plausible interest.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=245403#ixzz1QNg95rzb

I absolutely love our approach this summer - Cauley Woodrow, Dan Burn, Tom Donegan....alleged interest in Fraizer Fyvie, Kadeem Harris and that Sheffield United Youngster. That's great. :54:

[White Noise]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8598513/Andre-Villas-Boas-and-Co-may-be-paid-handsomely-but-you-cant-put-price-on-success.html


Andre Villas-Boas and Co may be paid handsomely but you can't put price on success


One of the more amusing observations made by a worldly Chelsea fan after the club paid £13.3 million compensation for Andre Villas-Boas was that if Portugal was run as financially robustly as Porto, "the country wouldn't need bailing out".


Class act: Andre Villas-Boas heads to Chelsea with a serial winner's reputation Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Henry Winter

11:00PM BST 25 Jun 2011


6 Comments


Porto's sensible strategy reflects that good managers are now like their stars, commanding substantial transfer fees. Birmingham City even sought £5.4 million compensation for Alex McLeish and he'd been relegated.

A perception strangely persists that managers are losing their power, that chairmen, chief executives, directors of football and supporters impinge increasingly on them.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, flew to Denmark to watch Barcelona's Bojan against England Under-21s and was besieged throughout the second half by Spurs fans clamouring for his autograph.

They all left with the signature they wanted. Redknapp didn't.

Even a simple scouting trip has a myriad demands.

It is hard to imagine Redknapp surfing online forums, discovering what is being written about him, but some managers do.

Before joining Fulham last week, Martin Jol did due diligence on the club, including assessing fans' reaction to the possibility of his arrival and their hopes for the season.

"I had a good look at the forums,'' reflected Jol, "and the fans expect us to do well but they don't expect us to be in the Champions League.''

Fulham fans are known to be amongst the more level-headed terrace inhabitants but Jol clearly felt it wise to check.

A confident Dutchman, Jol still offered up the opinion that the manager's task was being inhibited by other escalating influences, notably the chairman, chief executive, and, as he discovered painfully at Spurs, the director of football.

Jol is fortunate that at Fulham he now works for one of the most respected chief executives around, Alistair Mackintosh, while he also went out of his way to praise Mohamed Fayed as an owner "who does not interfere".

But, Jol argued, the all-powerful "Boss", laird of all he surveys, is no more.

"What is a Boss?" Jol mused. "Do you think there is one manager in England who makes the decisions about financial matters with players? There is not."

"Fergie?" somebody suggested. "You're right," he acknowledged.

Managers have the power. Ferguson wanted Phil Jones, Ashley Young and (pending) David de Gea and his very able chief executive, David Gill, duly obliged.

There are others. Kenny Dalglish has gone into Liverpool, working with Jol's old bête noir Damien Comolli, and stamped his mark on the transfer policy. Stewart Downing, not Sylvain Marveaux, is now the target for the left-sided slot.

Managers still dictate transfer-market movements. Villas-Boas is already being linked with two of his Porto stars, Falcao and Joao Moutinho.

At Chelsea, Roman Abramovich will always lob an expensive gift into the dressing-room, whether Andrei Shevchenko or Fernando Torres, and the manager has to deal with it.

But Villas-Boas need start worrying only if Avram Grant walks into Cobham. Abramovich's main interference comes primarily with the ridiculous frequency with which he dismisses accomplished managers.

There will always be takers for the job.

Such is the ambition of some managers that they move on suddenly, some resigning by fax (Villas-Boas) or by email (McLeish) to reach pastures new.

Mark Hughes, a multi-millionaire, even quit Fulham without a job to go to, a decision that currently looks bizarre although may be clarified at the end of June when he is free to negotiate with other clubs.

But who? Hughes appeared destined for Villa but they were unimpressed by the way he left Fulham (mutual respect defines the working relationship between Mackintosh and his Villa counterpart, Paul Faulkner).

As Hughes looked on, Villa chased McLeish, whose reputation was strong enough to survive the embarrassment of relegation. For all the understandable tribal concerns of some Villa fans, good managers like McLeish are wanted men.

Compensation shows that. Birmingham City's acting chairman, Peter Pannu, claimed that McLeish's contract entitled them to £5.4 million if he left before June 30 (and £3 million after).

"If he came to me and said 'Pete you know we had a great relationship, but Villa want me' I would say I would grant you permission if you give me £5.4 million by the end of this month or Villa does, I don't care who pays me,'' argued Pannu.

"I would grant that if he pays me the money. If he says Peter I want to go for free of course I wouldn't grant it, you have taken me down with the relegation, now take me back up".

Pannu's frustration is understandable. McLeish walked while Birmingham were busily spending money on four players chosen by the manager.

He will be even angrier if McLeish returns for Ben Foster, an England keeper too good for the Championship.

McLeish was briefly linked with the Fulham vacancy, partly because he has recently bought a property nearby, although this is actually for him and his wife to have a base when visiting London for shows or shopping.

The man who has moved into the Cottage, Jol, has spoken of the pressures of his profession but the rewards are obvious. Jol himself owns a decent art collection.

Even for the popular Jol, whom Spurs fans always claimed looked like Tony Soprano, nobody is opening the violin cases.

Sympathy is inevitably limited for those paid so handsomely. True figures of managers' salaries can be hard to establish fully so it was illuminating when a piqued Birmingham released details about McLeish.

"His contract is halved, it goes down by 50 per cent to about £800,000 circa in the Championship,'' said Pannu.

Even those of us with the most rudimentary maths do not require a calculator to realize McLeish was on £1.6 million a year in the Premier League. Pannu believes McLeish "is likely to be on £2 million a year at Villa". Probably more.

Whether in wages or compensation, good managers are worth it.