Wednesday Fulham Stuff (28/09/11)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham defender fires Odense warning



BREDE Hangeland has warned his Fulham team-mates to take nothing for granted against Odense.

The Norwegian has locked horns with tomorrow night's Europa League opponents before during his time playing in Denmark for Copenhagen.

And he has told his Fulham pals they will be no pushovers.

"I've played against them loads of times during my two years with Copenhagen," he said. "They were the second team then, so it's going to be tough.

"They are a solid team – similar to West Brom – who play with two banks of four. They are well organised with decent players and I'm aware of their threats."

The Whites go into the game looking to record their first win in the group stages.

And Hangeland added: "We're disappointed not to have beaten Twente – it's a game we felt we should've won.

"We want to get through to the knock-out stages without getting any injuries."



Read More http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/london-sport/fulham-fc/2011/09/28/fulham-defender-fires-odense-warning-64767-29500806/?#ixzz1ZF7KzFCR

[WhiteJC]

 
Brama reveals Cottage snub

FC Twente's Wout Brama has confirmed that his club turned down a summer transfer window swoop from Fulham for his services.

The 25-year-old midfielder was a late target of Cottagers boss Martin Jol, who also snapped up striker Bryan Ruiz from the Dutch outfit in a £10.6million swoop.

However, Brama claims Twente were reluctant to allow him to leave for Craven Cottage because they did not have enough time to bring in a replacement before the window closed, while he did not want to leave anyway.

"In the end I didn't have to make a decision as FC Twente did not want me to leave," he told De Telegraaf.

"I am flattered Fulham were interested as they are a good club.

"However, I would not have liked to have left here on the final day of the window."



http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2011/09/28/Twente-ace-reveals-Cottage-snub/gnid-110775/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Dempsey tipping derby glory



Clint Dempsey is confident that Fulham will end their wait for a Premier League win in this weekend's derby against QPR.


The American international forward feels Martin Jol's Cottagers are due a first three-point haul of the season and feels it will be the ideal time to secure it against their London rivals at Craven Cottage.

And, while Dempsey is expecting a tough encounter against Neil Warnock's impressive-looking squad, he is confident of a victory.

"It would be a good time to put down that first win especially as this is a game that everyone is looking forward too," he told fulhamfc.com.

"Fans always want to do well in these derby games and with it being the first between the two clubs in a little while there's even more interest as a result.

"To be honest, it doesn't matter who that first win comes against as long as it happens at some point.

"QPR have started the season well and will be looking to come to Craven Cottage in the hope of adding to that. But we're confident that we can get the result that we need."




http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2011/09/28/Cottage-ace-tipping-derby-glory/gnid-110776/?

[WhiteJC]

 
The Dugout - 60 seconds with Martin Jol

We spent a minute with the Fulham manager and found out about his taste in music.

If you hadn't been a football manager, what career would you have had instead?
I really don't know, but I think I would have something to do with property. My mum said when I was 17: "You have to buy stones." So when I came to England I bought a house, in Hamburg I bought a house - every two years I bought something because she said that was the best investment. Or maybe in the clothes business, because my family had five or six ladies clothes shops in my home town and also in Germany on the border.

What was your first car?
Do you remember the Citroen 2CV? We called it a Duck. It was a useless car, it had a lot of problems but it was my first car. After two years on a low contract of about £1,000 a year, I was able to buy a Ford Capri. I was 20, that was my second car, and it was nearly new. But when I was 18 I drove the Duck.

What in your opinion is the greatest song ever recorded?
For me, it's 'Mr Tambourine Man' by The Byrds. Or in a different mood 'Imagine' by John Lennon.

What's your TV guilty pleasure; what do you enjoy watching when you get time?
I would always try to watch football - there's so much choice on TV now you can always find something.

If somebody made a film of your life, which actor would you like to play you?
I could easily say the guy who plays Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) but I'm not sure. So I would probably say Robert De Niro; I think he's the best actor ever and he could easily do it. Or Al Pacino playing a manager because I saw him do it in 'Any Given Sunday'.

What's the nicest place you've ever visited?
The Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. It was unbelievable. If you haven't heard of it, you should look it up. Otherwise London is the best town ever, but if you go to Hamburg you won't believe your eyes. It is amazing, they've got woods, lakes, everything within 30 square kilometres.

If you could throw a dinner party for any three people in history, dead or alive, who would they be?
I would have a nice dinner party with Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac, to do some singing. Then Bryan Ferry who was always my favourite with Roxy Music. And then probably Winston Churchill, it's always nice to  have a few cigars after dinner and he  probably had the biggest personality ever.
And I would have Gordon Ramsay to do the cooking. A few years ago there was an auction item to have dinner with Gordon Ramsay, and Daniel Levy said to me: "OK, you can have that." It was a bonus because we were doing well. But then I saw a statue by Sean Henry, probably the best sculptor in England. Then I went to the toilet and said to my wife  "OK, tell Daniel I'd like the sculpture." He bought the sculpture by Sean Henry, but later I thought maybe I should have taken the dinner for 12 at Gordon Ramsay's house. But I would only ask him to  cook because he shouts a bit too much for my liking.

What would Gordon cook for you?
I would ask for  English food; probably roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. I think Churchill would like that.

What is your favourite sport apart from football?
Tennis. I haven't played for the last three months because we have been so busy, but in the summer I love playing tennis.

Crystal ball time – what do you think you will be doing in 2030?
I will probably be  watching a lot of football in my home town, because I've never been able to do that. My first club was ADO Den Haag. Where I live in The Hague, it's on the coast, we use a lot of English words, and see the Norfolk Line ferries from the Hook of Holland. I would also go to my house in England every month and to my house in Spain every two months. And hopefully I will have some grandchildren by then because I've got three daughters and one son.

Martin Jol was speaking to Yahoo!'s 'The Dugout' through its partnership with the League Managers Association
Eurosport




http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/28092011/58/dugout-60-seconds-martin-jol.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Former Fulham striker Okaka targets England return



Former Fulham striker Stefano Okaka is on the verge of leaving Roma and has a return to England high on his agenda.

The 22-year-old spent three months on loan at Craven Cottage two seasons ago and left his mark on the club by scoring two goals in 11 Premier League appearances.

The ex-Italy Under-21 has fallen further down the pecking order at the Stadio Olimpico following the arrival of Bojan from Barcelona and his agent has revealed he is seeking a move.

"It is up to the boy to decide but it seems that there is no room for him according to coach Luis Enrique," Giampiero Pocetta said.

"If things do not change soon then we will seek a solution. Okaka is a striker of interest to Italian and English clubs and we will make a decision in January."

The forward's decision to leave the Serie A side could have been hastened by the attack he suffered from Roma fans in August for allegedly refusing to sign some autographs.



http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/1148/64/former-fulham-striker-okaka-targets-england-return?

[WhiteJC]

 
SussexBaggie speaks...Fulham and formations

Tom Harper discusses the disappointed draw and the way forward for Albion
There seems to be a rather unnecessary amount of negativity among Albion fans at the moment. I acknowledge that we have had a disappointing start to the season, but some of the talk about wanting Roy Hodgson sacked is almost laughable.

This kind of pessimism increased after a rather dull 0-0 draw at home to Fulham on Saturday, who were missing three of their key attacking players in Damien Duff, Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora.

Our first-half performance was almost as poor as the Swansea City debacle of a week ago, with some of the players not seeming to know where on the pitch they were meant to be playing.

The booing from all four stands of The Hawthorns at half-time left the players and Hodgson with a real understanding of just how frustrated the supporters were getting with how we were playing, especially seeing as Fulham had enjoyed around 60% of the possession during the first 45 minutes.

Signs of optimism
The second half was a marked improvement on the first, although we were still unable to find a breakthrough past a solid Fulham defensive unit and when that was breached, the right-hand post of the Brummie Road goal. Our best opportunity of the second half fell to Peter Odemwingie, who shot straight at Mark Schwarzer when clean through on goal, following an excellent through-ball from Youssouf Mulumbu.

The main positive to come from another slightly subdued Albion display was the performance of Premier League debutant Gareth McAuley, who replaced Craig Dawson in the side. McAuley received the Man of the Match award and produced a faultless display at the heart of our defence alongside Jonas Olsson, with him and Youssouf Mulumbu being the only other players to produce notable performances.

Three days before the Fulham game, we crashed out of the Carling Cup after suffering a 2-1 defeat at Goodison Park against Everton. Hodgson described the side he put out for that game as "experimental" and it sounds as though they performed reasonably well, before conceding an equaliser after 89 minutes and losing the match with a goal just before half-time in extra-time from Phil Neville.

I don't think many Albion fans will be too disappointed at being knocked out of the Carling Cup, although it would have been good to try and get the winning feeling back in the squad if possible.

The tinker man
The main talking point over the last week or so has been about what formation Hodgson should play. We have started the season in a conventional 4-4-2, which saw us produce very impressive performances against Manchester United and Chelsea during the opening two games of the season.

Since then, however, it has yielded only one win from three more realistically winnable games, with our performance in each of those games being somewhat below-par.

For the first time this season in the Premier League this season against Fulham, Hodgson decided to play a 4-3-2-1 formation, which essentially became a 4-3-3 when we were in possession. Unfortunately, the performances of several of the players suggested that they were not at all comfortable in this system and were unsure about exactly where they were meant to be playing.

This led to us reverting back to 4-4-2 in the second half and playing much better, which must be incredibly frustrating for Hodgson after watching the players struggle in that system throughout the previous three games.

The question now must be which formation is best? I get the impression that Hodgson prefers to play 4-4-2 when possible, but the change of formation for the Fulham game suggests that he acknowledges just how poor our performance was whilst playing that system at Swansea City.

I personally don't think there is a way we can accommodate all of our quality attacking midfield players in the side if we play 4-4-2, whereas we could probably get far closer to doing so if we played a 4-5-1 or some variation of that as we did last season.
With this in mind, I would like to see us line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, as we did towards the end of last season. This would probably mean a re-call for Paul Scharner, who has started the season very poorly. However, I believe this is because he does not have the mobility to play as a box-to-box central midfielder in a conventional 4-4-2 formation, whereas he could comfortably play as one of the two midfielders sitting in front of the back four in a 4-2-3-1.

The black cats
This weekend sees us make the trip to Sunderland, who have had a slow start to the season themselves so far. Their result and poor performance at Norwich City on Monday has led to questions again being asked of Steve Bruce, which will add an extra edge to the game on Saturday.

This is our last match before a two-week break due to yet more international fixtures. After this break, we face arguably two of our biggest matches of the season, with a home game against Wolves before a trip to Aston Villa.

It would be good to go into the international break and the forthcoming derby fixtures with a bit more optimism, so hopefully we can play well on Saturday and get a positive result to help end some of the unnecessary criticism from Albion fans at the moment.



http://www.westbromwichalbion-mad.co.uk/roll/ed42/sussexbaggie_speaksfulham_and_formations_703048/index.shtml?

[WhiteJC]

 
Odense v Fulham Preview: Martin Jol's Side Seek Winning Lift After Run of Draws

A midweek trip to Denmark is not ideal when your Premier League season has yet to gather momentum and as much as Martin Jol respects the warmth his new club feels towards this competition, the Fulham's manager's thoughts will be focused beyond this game to the meeting with QPR on Sunday.

Jol has already complained of fatigue amongst a group of players who, because of the demands of Europe's secondary competition, began their season on June 30th and have already played 16 games.

The perceived advantages of a competitive warm up to the domestic campaign have so far failed to materialise and while five successive draws – including the 1-1 draw with FC Twente in the opening group game - have brought a degree of stability to Craven Cottage, Jol's side has yet to bed down and take shape.

The Cottagers know from previous experience, however, that a run of success in Europe and generate confidence. Jol will be anxious to protect the legs of the older members of his squad, but he will also be anxious to restore the winning habit amongst his players.

Odense have never beaten English opposition but head Group K after an opening round win over Wisla Krakow.

Key Match-up: Eric Djemba Djemba v Dickson Etuhu: So good they named him twice was the claim when the Cameroon midfielder arrived at Old Trafford. Unfortunately Eric, now 30, didn't live up to billing but will be anxious to prove a point against Premier League opposition. Etuhu is likely to be given a start in place of the rested Danny Murphy.

Form Guide: Jol's side have yet to win in the Premier League but are unbeaten in five games in all competitions. Odense have suffered three successive defeats since beating Wilsa including Sunday's 4-1 reverse against FC Midtjylland and lie mid table in the Danish league.

Odds: Odense 9/5, Fulham 6/4, draw 9/4

FULHAM:
Odense are in a difficult run of form but Brede Hangeland warned they will be difficult to break down on home soil.

"I've played against them loads of times during my two years with Copenhagen," the centre back told the Fulham Chronicle. "They were the second team then, so it's going to be tough.

"They are a solid team – similar to West Brom – who play with two banks of four. They are well organised with decent players and I'm aware of their threats."

Striker Clint Dempsey believes the trip presents the side with an opportunity to recover after the disappointing home draw with FC Twente.

"We're taking things in our stride as we have done in the past," the forward told the club's official website. "Of course we want to advance from the Group Stage and three points will be the target on Thursday night.

"We want to go as far as we can in the competition and having drawn our opening group game we're looking at putting things on track with a victory. It's a good chance for us, and although we know that it will be a difficult game, we have shown that we are capable of getting the results we need and a win on Thursday would put us in a strong position."

Strategy: Jol's side have struggled for goals in recent weeks but the manner in which they recovered from a two-goal deficit against Manchester City confirmed there is no shortage of resolve, while solid defensive performances at West Brom and Chelsea highlighted the defensive strength. With a solid platform apparently in place, Fulham should feel confident about taking the game to the home side.

Injury Update: Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora were ruled out of the weekend trip to West Brom and are unlikely to be risked. Mark Schwarzer is confident he will be fit after a back problem. Bryan Ruiz is ineligible.

ODENSE:
Odense have lost just one of their last 15 home European ties, to Stuttgart in last season's Europa League.



http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/09/28/odense-v-fulham-preview-martin-jols-side-seek-winning-lift-aft/?