Tuesday Fulham Stuff (15/05/12)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Manchester United Prepare £10m Bid for Fulham Attacker Dembele

Fulham may have a difficult time hanging onto attacking midfielder Moussa Dembele after Manchester United were linked with a move for the Belgian.

The Daily Mail believes that United are willing to offer £10million for a player they see can act as a long term successor for Paul Scholes who has yet to make a decision on his future.

Scholes played a major part in the second half of the season but at 37-year-old, and having already retired once, could well be on the verge of quitting the game for a second time.

Dembele, 24, has impressed in Martin Jol's side and has become a crucial member of the first team after the decision was made to play him in a slightly deeper role behind the forwards.

The central midfielder may have only scored two goals this season but his creativity has been instrumental in helping the west London club finish in ninth place.

Dembele is an established member of the Belgium national side with 38 caps and five goals to his name and a former league winner with AZ Alkmaar back in 2009.

While they may well be considering a move for Dembele, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has made it clear that he would like Scholes to stay at the club for another season.

"I will speak to Paul," Ferguson told the Daily Mail. "Obviously he made a tremendous contribution when he came back. But it was his decision to return and I will respect whatever he wants to do.

"I haven't discussed it with him yet, to be honest. I think I made that mistake last season, talking to him before the season had finished. 'It is better getting the season over and having a break and I may not speak to him before he has been away on holiday."



http://www.sportsvibe.co.uk/news/football/manchester-united-prepare-10m-bid-for-fulham-attacker-dembele-16489/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Trotta's Striking Accolade

Fulham striker Marcello Trotta finished the 2011/12 campaign as the second highest scorer in the Barclays Premier Reserve League. Trotta netted 15 times for Fulham's Development Squad over the course of the season. Only Manchester United's David Keane could better Trotta's tally with 16 goals. 

Trotta started the 2011/12 campaign with a five goal haul against Bolton's Reserve team in the third game of the season before scoring four times against Norwich at Motspur Park in early October.

The Italian's second place finish in the Barclays Premier Reserve League scoring charts is all the more impressive considering the striker spent from November until mid-January on loan at Wycombe Wanderers, where he netted eight times in eight games.

Following his return from Wycombe, Trotta continued to find the net for Fulham's Development Squad as Ray Lewington's team secured second place in the Barclays Premier Reserve League South.

Trotta's form for Fulham's Development Squad in 2011/12 earned him a place in Martin Jol's matchday squad and Jol handed the striker his First Team debut against Everton in the FA Cup in January.

The striker then made his Barclays Premier League debut for Fulham as a second half substitute against Bolton Wanderers on the 7th April and featured on Fulham's bench for the final match of the 2011/12 campaign at White Hart Lane last weekend.



Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2012/May/TrottaStrikingAccolade.aspx?#ixzz1uuELgZTL

[WhiteJC]

 
Everton Keeper In Plea To His USA Mates

Everton keeper Tim Howard has revealed that he will spend his Summer contacting his American international teammates, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan in a bid to bring them to Goodison Park

Dempsey has been Fulham's best player this season. The 29-year-old has scored 23 goals this season. It's thought that there will be a few clubs interested in Dempsey, but manager Martin Jol is hoping he will keep him at Fulham.

Jol said: "Clint will not go because if he does, then I will need 20 goals and that is not easy to find. That is what I told Clint and all the other people around him, so, hopefully, we can keep him.

"It is in our own hands, there have been no bids and even if there were, I don't think we would sell. It is hypothetical, there have been no bids for Clint over the last couple of years - not one bid."

Donovan is well known to Everton fans having two loan spells at Everton.

Howard said: "We need to assess a lot of things. We need the gaffer in place, let him pick and choose the players who he wants to bring in.

"I'm going to be on the horn to Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan and I'm going to try my best."



http://www.bluekipper.com/players/something_fishy/4487-everton_keeper_in_plea_to_his_usa_mates.html?

[WhiteJC]

 
A Classier Kind of Bird?

It wasn`t the way in which I hoped we`d end the season but I guess that Spurs just had a little more to play for than we did with Martin Jol`s ex-club looking for a Champions League qualification spot.

Following the game, Jol entertained the media with two classic quotes.

The first of which related to our Premier League finishing position with Jol commenting,

"In hindsight, if you look at the gap with the other teams, they were better than us. But maybe you could say we were the best of the rest."

Which is a fair enough quote and the acid test, for Martin, is to now close that gap. But, for me, the second quote is an absolute classic with Jol, referring to returning to the club where he was so acrimoniously axed, commenting,

"Spurs fans are great. I always feel it`s nice if you have a good connection with a former club. I am here with my new girl and you have to be nice to your old missus. But it felt a bit awkward."

What a splendid way of putting it, all we can hope is that this new bird is classier than the ropey one he shacked up with in N17!



Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=282345#ixzz1uuEvxQLn

[WhiteJC]

 
Jol wants Russian hitman to extend Cottage stay



Fulham boss Martin Jol is confident the club can agree a deal to sign Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak on a permanent contract.

Pogrebnyak has impressed Jol during his short spell with the west London club and wasted no time settling into his new surroundings scoring five goals in just three games.

With Andy Johnson set to leave the club, Jol is keen to bolster his forward line and feels Pogrebnyak can become a big star in the Premier League.

Jol said: "Pog wants to stay. First we talked about one year, then two years and now three years so I'm sure he wants to stay."


http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/120514/jol-wants-russian-hitman-extend-cottage-stay-172052?

[west kowloon white]

Well Scholes has signed up-surely we can screw MUCH more(Smalling?) out of that lot for Dembele?In Mac I trust.