Sunday Fulham Stuff (08/07/12)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Lewington joins Hodgson's England backroom team on four-year deal after leaving Fulham

Ray Lewington has joined England's coaching staff on a full-time basis, signing a four-year deal.

The 55-year-old worked alongside Roy Hodgson during Euro 2012 but was set to return to his role as Fulham coach in time for the new season.

However, Lewington has now ended his long association with the west Londoners to take up a permanent role with the England team.


Part of the team: Ray Lewington joins Gary Neville as a full time member of Roy Hodgson's coaching set up

'I'm delighted to be joining Roy's England coaching staff permanently,' Lewington said.

'I really enjoyed the experience at the Euros this summer and am looking forward to spending more time with the squad as we look to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil.

'I would like to thank everyone at Fulham Football Club for such a wonderful time since I joined as a player in 1980.

'I have been coach, manager and assistant manager during my time here and this is a very special club full of great people dedicated to taking it forward.

'Being offered a full-time position with England alongside Roy Hodgson is a fantastic opportunity for me and one that I simply couldn't turn down.

'I'm excited at the prospect of being part of a special group of players and backroom staff, who will do their very best to make the nation proud.'

There had been reports that the FA would have to pay £1million for Lewington's services, although it is understood the compensation fee is in fact around £150,000.


Long and loyal servant: Ray Lewington has been part of the Fulham set-up one and off for 32-years

Speaking of the deal, FA chairman David Bernstein said: 'The FA would like to thank Fulham for their cooperation in Ray's appointment to the England coaching set-up.

'I am personally very pleased to have Ray with us full-time as we look to build on the foundations laid at Euro 2012.

'We have important games coming up soon: the August fixture sees England facing Italy again before the World Cup Qualifiers start in earnest with Moldova and Ukraine during September then San Marino and Poland in October.

'Ray will be playing a key role as we approach these matches.'

The new full-time contract will see Lewington work alongside Hodgson and fellow coach Gary Neville in England's campaigns to reach the Brazil 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championship in France.

The former midfielder was Hodgson's first appointment as England manager, having worked with him during his time at Fulham.

Lewington has now left the west Londoners, who said in a statement: 'Fulham Football Club would like to thank Ray Lewington for his services over a period spanning 32 years at the club and wishes him all the very best for the future with the England team.'

Lewington made 407 league appearances as a player during a career that took him to Chelsea, Wimbledon, Fulham twice and Sheffield United.

He managed Fulham, Brentford and Watford, coached at Crystal Palace and served the Cottagers in various capacities since rejoining them in 2005.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2169836/Ray-Lewington-joins-England-coaching-team-leaving-Fulham.html#ixzz200bMpHGY

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham grabs Reither on loan

Fulham has completed the signing of right-back Sascha Riether on a season-long loan.

The 29-year-old has made two appearances for the German national team and joins the Cottagers from Cologne, who was recently relegated from the Bundesliga.

Riether has signed on loan until the end of the season and Fulham has an option to make the move permanent at the end of that period.

"I feel very pleased to have signed," Riether said.

"It feels like I've had a long break from football and for me this is a new experience in a new country.

"Fulham is a good club, a big club with a big tradition and for me it's great to be here.

"I played here one time with Wolfsburg and I remember Craven Cottage being a great stadium with great fans, and I hope I can go on to have a great season here."

Riether, who can also operate in midfield, spent last season at Cologne after joining from Wolfsburg.

The defender began his career 10 years ago at Freiburg, where he made 139 appearances over five seasons.

Riether then went onto enjoy four seasons at Wolfsburg, helping it to the Bundesliga crown in 2008/09 before joining Cologne.

The Lahr-born player's arrival helps shore up the Cottagers' defence as last season's regulars at right-back, Stephen Kelly and Zdenek Grygera, are both out of contract.



http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/transfers/news/1112436/Fulham-grabs-Reither-on-loan?

[WhiteJC]

 
Gera hoping to start season

West Brom midfielder Zoltan Gera is hopeful of being fit for the start of the new season despite making just three appearances during the last campaign.

The Hungary international was initially sidelined after ankle surgery and then ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments during the clash with Tottenham in December.

But Gera expects to resume full training with Albion during the next two weeks and has targeted being available for the Barclays Premier League opener with Liverpool on August 18.

Gera said: "Hopefully I will be ready for the first game of the season against Liverpool. I look forward to starting the season and in a couple of weeks I should be able to train fully with the team.

"I'm looking forward to playing again but I don't want to rush things and, if I need more time, that's fine. I want to be 100% and, as soon as I'm ready, I will want to play."

Gera re-signed for West Brom last summer after his contract ended at Fulham. He spent an initial four years at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies are continuing to track Gent striker Yassine El Ghanassy although reports that a deal has already been agreed for the Belgium international are wide of the mark.

El Ghanassy, who will be 22 next week, can also operate as a wide player.



http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/7879349/gera-hoping-to-start-season?

[WhiteJC]

 
Helenius not sure of England
AAB striker would prefer Germany and Holland to England


Nicklas Helenius: Not sure about move to England

Danish striker Nicklas Helenius has revealed he would prefer a move to Germany or Holland ahead of England.

Sky Sports has revealed that a number of Premier League clubs are keen on him.

Norwich, West Brom and Fulham are all believed to been keen on the 21-year-old target-man, but he admits he would only move to England if the option suited him.

Helenius, 21, feels honoured by the interest from English clubs, but would prefer a move to the German or Dutch leagues as they fit his style better.

"Naturally I'm happy to wanted by various clubs in Europe as that is what every young player dreams about, but I'm fairly calm about the whole situation. I'm just concentrating on my football so I can become even better," Helenius told Bold.

"A move to England would be an attractive proposal, but I'm not on the fence here or looking to move at any cost. A move to England will only happen if I feel that it is the best option for me.

"If it was up to me I would prefer the German or Dutch league as their culture is closer to the Danish culture and I really feel that my playing style would fit well in those two leagues. The Premier League is also attractive, but only if a club shows a genuine interest in helping me develop as a footballer."

Helenius scored 14 goals last season for AAB in the Danish Superliga.



http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7880195/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham FC Finding Formation and Potential Transfer Targets.

Long gone are the days when Fulham played 4-5-1.


'Transition' is a word that would fittingly describe the first year of Martin Jol's tenure at Fulham. Yesterday was the day when Fulham would set out in a 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 formation, rigid, defensive containment and not entirely positive. Today, however, we are being subjected to the Fulham version of the Dutch 'Totaal Voetbal' under Martin's Oranje Revolution. The 2011/12 season saw Fulham overhaul their character of a rigid side – to a side that have now adopted a flexible, counter attacking and technically astute 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation.

Both 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations are counter attack minded, although 4-2-3-1 is slightly more defensively minded and allows for more control in the midfield. Both formations allow for a 4-5-1 shape when defending an opposition attack and also share a similarity in the fact that they both rely on a lone striker to hold the ball up.

Towards the end of that season it became clear that Martin had settled upon a 4-3-3 formation – with variables. The midfield three were flexible, interchanging and creative, ever since Moussa Dembele was shifted into the midfield as a deep lying playmaker, Fulham really shifted up a gear. The creativity of Danny Murphy, Mamahdou Diarra and Moussa Dembele lead Fulham to the top half of not only the form table, but also the Barclays Premier League.

As we have come to expect with a Fulham the back four were solid, another great season from Brede Hangeland and in the second half of his debut season John Arne Riise really showed his worth and qualities. Hughes, Senderos and Stephen Kelly all had very solid seasons – but you tend to wonder whether Stephen Kelly really does posses the qualities to hold that RB spot down should he be challenged by another player as he was by the class Zdenek Grygera this year.

The front three of Dempsey, Pogrebenyak and Duff had stellar second halves of the season. Of course, Dempsey is our player of the year this year, and rightly so. Scorer of 20+ league goals with numerous assists the American has been our go to player this year – victories over Newcastle, Bolton (twice) and draw against Chelsea may not have been had it not been for Clint's goals. The emergence of Frei and Kacanakilic really brightened the second half of the season – both are exciting technically gifted, fast and confident in their ability, and it shows. Again, notable mentions for newcomer Bryan Ruiz who scored two brilliant goals against Everton and Bolton – and now ex-player Andy Johnson who scored a hat-trick against QPR.



However, during the off-season we've lost Pavel Pogrebnyak, Andy Johnson, Danny Murphy and Orlando Sa. Which leaves 2/3 spaces in our starting line up:


Schwarzer

Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, Riise

Diarra, Dembele, ?

Duff, Dempsey, ?


These positions need to be filled over the summer, with strengthening in other areas such as RB, CM and most notably at ST. Acquisitions of Mladen Petric and Sacsha Reitner have strengthen at RB and ST, however I still believe there are more to come. Below are a few singings that I believe would benefit Fulham and some players that we have already been linked with.


RB – Nathaniel Clyne – Crystal Palace

Young, British and technically gifted Clyne has made a name for himself with solid seasons at fellow London club Crystal Palace. Capped by England at U-19 and U-21 he has attracted interest from Manchester United, Aston Villa, West Ham and Fulham. Key attributes include his lightning pace, ability to read the game and good passing range. £4-7m



CM – Moussa Sissoko - Toulouse

6 ft 2 inch tall Sissoko is 22 years old and has been a main stay of the Toulouse team in Ligue 1 for near on 5 years now, making 168 apps. Strong, fast and with an impeccable reading of the game Sissoko is hot-property. Linked with moves to Tottenham in the past Sissoko is available for around €7m



CM – Lassana Diarra – Real Madrid CF

Diarra has been around the Premier League block once or twice, having already played for Arsenal, Portsmouth and Chelsea. Despite being small, Diarra is strong, has great technical ability and can break up play effectively. Has been linked with moves to Fenerbache, AC Milan and Spartak Moscow. £6-10m



LW – Nacer Chadli – FC Twente

Belgian international of Moroccan heritage, Chadli is a tricky winger. A quick player, who possesses a wide skill set with fantastic ability to run at players with speed. Good dead ball ability and an eye for goal. €5-7m



RW – Alessio Cerci – Fiorentina

Cerci is a skilful, young Italian right winger. Left-footed Cerci can cut in off the wings with his pace and skill and find the net regularly. Phased out by Fiorentina because they use a 352 formation. Nearly joined Everton in January. €3-5m



ST – Steven Fletcher – Wolverhampton Wanderers

Fletcher possesses a cracking left foot, often overshadowed by his fantastic ability win the air. Scored 10+ goals last season for a team that struggled to score. Strong, with good feet but not the quickest, knows where the goal is. £6-9m



ST – Abel Hernandez – Palermo

Strong, very quick and good with both feet – Uruguayan Hernandez is in the early stages of his career, scored 6 in 20 last year. Has been capped at international level for Uruguay. €6-8m



These are some players who I believe would improve the team, yet also be realistic in terms of money and availability. All opinions and viewpoints accepted, please comment and let me know who you'd like to see at the Cottage next year!

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham visit for friendly

Dons will host Premier League outfit Fulham in a pre-season friendly next month.
Martin Jol's side will visit stadiummk on Tuesday, August 7, for a 7.45pm kick-off.
The Cottagers will be the second top flight side Karl Robinson's men will play during pre-season, as Norwich City are the visitors on August 3.


http://www.mk-news.co.uk/Sport/MK-Dons/Fulham-visit-for-friendly-06072012.htm?

[WhiteJC]

 
Jol nets German Defender

Fulham have announced that they have secured the services of Cologne`s international full-back, Sascha Riether.

Riether, twenty-nine years of age, has signed on for a season long loan deal after Cologne suffered relegation from the Bundesliga.

If the loan deal proves to be a success Fulham have an option to make the move permanent with the German international remarking,

'Fulham is a good club, a big club with a big tradition and for me it's great to be here."

'I feel very pleased to have signed. It feels like I've had a long break from football and for me this is a new experience in a new country.'

Welcome to Craven Cottage.



Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=286615#ixzz200fKJaK3

[WhiteJC]

 
David Villa is the perfect Robin replacement | Clint Dempsey in at Arsenal?


How are we all feeling?

So the story we ran yesterday caused quite a lot of debate in the social space. In the main, most people understood the point I was trying to make, those who didn't generally all fell off the concentration bike in the same place. Just a quick recap.

A. I wasn't questioning the accounting of people like the Swiss Ramble or the AST. The projected spare cash that could be available for transfers isn't in question.

B. The revelation as such was the fact that Arsene isn't given all the money he generates through transfers to spend on players. So basically the deal is he has to sell to spend, but even then, he can't have all the sale money.

This would make sense if you consider how little we did to replace Cesc Fabregas last summer... and then in January. This would make sense if you consider how little we've done to bolster our midfield this summer. This would make sense as to why we always ask what the price is then shave 70% off for our first offer.

Much of the debate yesterday centered around what Stan was earmarking the cash for if it wasn't for players. Potential loan repayments perhaps? One for the AST meeting on Monday I feel...

Anyway, that was yesterday's news. Let's deal with the issues on hand because of our lack of ambition in the transfer market today.

Robin is rumoured to be interesting FC Barcelona. Sky and John Cross are pointing to Juve and PSG as potential front runners. I've said it plenty of times before, playing to empty stadiums in Italy in a league more corrupt than a travelers dog fight meet cannot be appealing to a player who is among the top 5 finishers on the planet. Joining a project like PSG should only really appeal to a 29 year old when they've won everything. That for me only leaves a few clubs that would be acceptable to host talent like our Dutchman's.

Barca and Madrid are the perfect fit.

Now I can't understand why we don't look at what these clubs have on offer before we accept the hard cash. City have at least 3 strikers who are transferable and maybe even a few midfielders. Barcelona must have a surplus youngster we can borrow for 4 years. Word has it they'd look to sell David Villa to fund the purchase. Why don't we just do a swap? Villa was interested in moving to us when he was at Valencia. We play a similar style of football to the Spanish... he's such a good finisher I doubt he'd need too much time to adapt. He'd be the perfect player to come in for Robin. He's also the only elite striker I can imagine we have a chance of snaring... there have been rumours abound for years that Villa isn't much liked by Messi.

(Remember we when we sold Anelka and brought in Suker... like that but better)

In other transfer inbound news, apparently Victor Moses is interesting us. I remember we were sniffing around him when he was at Palace. I'd heard we eventually cooled on him because there were rumours about his actual age. Maybe I made that up? Anyway, if he's as young as he doesn't look, I wouldn't be that disappointed in his signature. That might have something to do with how low my standards for a winger have dropped. After watching Theo for so long... they basically need to be able to stand up, complete on 6 yard passes more than 40% of the time and shoot. Victor Moses can do all these things and more. He's very powerful, he caused us plenty of problems last year and he has a fair amount of skill.

Again, please take that last paragraph with a pinch of hungover and a dash of deflated expectation.

Another signing  which has apparently depressed a lot of Arsenal fans is the rumoured one about Clint Dempsey signing for us for £10million. The signing was fine by me until I read it was based on guaranteed playing time.

Seriously?

Surely no one get's guaranteed playing time at Arsenal. He's a great squad player, I'm not sure he'd be one for a start every week. I'd see him playing out wide rather than centrally. If he was playing centrally, I wouldn't imagine he'd play ahead of Giroud or whoever we buy in to replace Robin.

Hold on.

Please don't tell me Dempsey is Robin's replacement.

Say he's Theo's.

PLEASE GOD SAY HE'S THEO'S REPLACEMENT!

Anyway, he'd be a great squad buy. I like his work ethic and I love the type of goals he scores. The one he floated in against Juve a couple seasons ago was quite spectacular.

What I'm worried about is that all of our signings or mooted signings are simply good players. They're not club direction changers. Where is that 'wow' signing? Where is the player that forces a song like... 'who needs Anelka when you've got Kanu?'... I can't see one in sight. I can't see one being linked. I'm getting worried. Because to topple City or United, we're going to need one of those and we're going to need one before the disruption of preseason kicks in and Arsene has a whole raft of excuses as to why we're not signing players.

Sorry I don't have more to report on this morning. Things are little dry. One positive I can leave you on is one I mentioned in a post the other day. Apparently Steve Bould is already working on what he can bring to the squad next year. He'll be taking ownership of the defence. That means he'll be looking to push more video analysis, that means he'll have the boys practicing defence separately and that means you'll see a more old school approach to accountability. From the people I've been speaking to... Steve Bould is still by far the most exciting signing we've made this summer.

Good luck to Andy Murray at Wimbledon today. I'm not a huge fan of him. However, this tennis hoodoo needs to be addressed. If you're indifferent to the result, check out this site (Murray site) for updates on what you should be thinking.



http://le-grove.co.uk/2012/07/08/david-villa-is-the-perfect-robin-replacement-clint-dempsey-in-at-arsenal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=david-villa-is-the-perfect-robin-replacement-clint-dempsey-in-at-arsenal

[WhiteJC]

 
Liverpool 'want to sign Dempsey from Fulham for £6m'

Liverpool want to sign Clint Dempsey from Fulham for £6m, according to The People.

The American is believed to be keen on a move to Anfield and it is claimed that Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will table a formal bid for him.

Swansea's Scott Sinclair and Luciano Narsingh of Dutch club Heerenveen are touted as possible replacements for Dempsey, while Bristol City have apparently refused to give winger Albert Adomah permission to speak to Fulham.

The People also say QPR are close to agreeing a deal to sign Wolves winger Matt Jarvis.

Jarvis, 26, is keen to return to the Premier League and has apparently been spotted house-hunting in the west London area.

Fulham are said to also want the England international, but it is claimed they are not prepared to meet Wolves' asking price.

The paper suggests that Fulham have enquired about Wolves striker Steven Fletcher, but again are unwilling to pay the required transfer fee.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will an reject an offer from Aston Villa for left-back Ryan Bertrand, according to the Sunday Mirror.

It is claimed that Villa manager Paul Lambert is keen to sign Bertrand either permanently or on a season-long loan, but Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo is believed to want him to stay at Stamford Bridge and sign a new contract.

The People report that relegated Bolton want to sign Oriol Romeu on loan from Chelsea, while the Mail on Sunday say Chelsea are vying with Tottenham for the signature of £20m-rated Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski.

And The Sun on Sunday say Chelsea have beaten off a host of Premier League rivals to sign 15-year-old George Brady – nephew of West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady - from French club AS Cannes.

They are said to have paid £250,000 in compensation to land the 6ft 4in defender, who it is suggested was also wanted by Arsenal, Tottenham and both Manchester clubs.

The Sun also have an interview with Frank Lampard, who denies speculation linking him with a move to LA Galaxy.

"There's nothing in that at all. I'm really looking forward to getting back to Chelsea," he said.



http://www.westlondonsport.com/paper-talk/liverpool-want-to-sign-dempsey-from-fulham-for-6m/