Saturday Fulham Stuff (15/09/12)...

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FULHAM v West Brom: Ruiz fitness provides doubts while Richardson misses out

Fulham striker Bryan Ruiz is rated as 50/50 as he battles against a hamstring injury ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash against West Brom.

New signing Kieran Richardson will miss out with a hip problem, while fellow recent recruit Ashkan Dejagah is not yet match fit, but Greek midfielder Giorgos Karagounis will be available after his free transfer.


In the balance: Bryan Ruiz (right) may miss out for Fulham

Midfielder Mahamadou Diarra has a knee injury. Kerim Frei (pelvis) and Philippe Senderos (foot) are still ruled out.

Provisional Squad: Schwarzer, Hangeland, Riether, Hughes, Riise, Sidwell, Duff, Kacaniklic, Petric, Berbatov, Rodallega, Baird, Briggs, Kelly, Stockdale, Kasami, Ruiz, Karagounis, Somogyi.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2203311/FULHAM-v-West-Brom-Bryan-Ruiz-fitness-provides-doubts-Kieran-Richardson-misses-out.html#ixzz26VQzTNdw

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Jol: new style, new players for WBA


Bubble popped: Fulham's early season optimism has quickly disappeared. Photo: PA

Martin Jol hopes a lot of work in a short time will help Fulham get their Barclays Premier League campaign back on track against West Brom at Craven Cottage tomorrow.

After opening the new campaign with a 5-0 trashing of Norwich, Fulham have suffered three straight defeats, being knocked out of the Capital One Cup at Sheffield Wednesday and then turned over 3-0 at West Ham before the international break.

Jol accepts it has not been an ideal schedule kicking his heels at Motspur Park for the best part of two weeks as he looks to reshape the group following the transfer deadline departure of Moussa Dembele and want-away Clint Dempsey also eventually ending up at Tottenham.

"It was almost ridiculous after the West Ham game that everybody left for the international period," said the Dutchman.

"We could not do a lot with them, but we have done something today and hopefully it was enough to play in a different style again with different players.

"We threw everything away in the first couple of minutes against West Ham, when we could not stay with the runner from the knockdown, we should have done better.

"Now we must look forward to the next game, when West Brom will play a different style, and we have talked about that with the players today.

"We have done something about it in our training session, so hopefully we will get a better result."

Jol offered no excuses for his side's failures at Upton Park, where they could not cope with the direct balls up to Andy Carroll.

"If you have the experience we have got, then the players can cope with any style," said the former Tottenham and Ajax coach.

"Now it will be a challenge again because we play with a totally different midfield.

"We have to try to find a solution, maybe change it a bit because we have lost a lot of players, and hopefully we can take a step forwards again."

Veteran Greek international Giorgos Karagounis will go into the squad following his free transfer move from Panathinaikos, but Iranian midfielder Ashkan Dejagah needs a bit more time to get match fit after joining from Wolfsburg.

Jol is expecting big things from the 26-year-old.

"He is a player who is pretty young, and played in the Bundesliga," said the former Hamburg manager.

"I know him very well from when I was in Germany, so I thought to get some competition in that area was good, he also wanted to come to England at Fulham, so it was a nice transfer to get him over here."

The manner of Dempsey's departure, however, continues to irk Jol, who made it clear the American remained an integral part of Fulham's plans despite the player clearly wanting to further his career elsewhere.

"We were really disappointed," said Jol.

"It always looked like he was going to Liverpool, everything was almost wasted, because five or six weeks ago, we thought he would join them, then Spurs came in on the last day.

"We had to make a decision, it was not probably what we wanted, but the club decided to let him go.

"Clint did not literally say 'I will not play'. Everyone knows we wanted to keep him, but there was one player who wanted to leave.

"If you have a bit of imagination, you know he did not want to play here."

Striker Bryan Ruiz is battling to recover from a hamstring problem to play tomorrow, so Dimitar Berbatov could lead the line on his home debut after a deadline move from Manchester United.

Jol said: "To get him to Fulham was an unbelievable thing for me and hopefully for the team as well, because he is a real quality player."



http://www.itv.com/sport/football/article/2012-09-14/jol-new-style-new-players-for-wba/?

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Hughes signs new Fulham deal
Defender happy to extend Craven Cottage stay


Aaron Hughes: Signed a new deal to keep him at Fulham until 2014

Fulham defender Aaron Hughes has signed a new one-year deal at Craven Cottage.

Hughes' existing deal was due to expire at the end of the season, but the club have secured the Northern Ireland international on a contract until 2014.

The 32-year-old has been a mainstay in the Fulham defence since making a £1million move from Aston Villa in 2007, clocking up over 200 appearances for the Cottagers.

Hughes was delighted to secure his long-term future with the West London outfit.

"I'm obviously delighted as I've enjoyed my time here so far and to know that I'll be around for another couple of years is a nice thing for me," Hughes told the club's official website.

"I've had a lot of good experiences so far and hopefully I'll have more between now and 2014.

"When I signed here I really didn't know how long I would be here, I just wanted to do as well as I could and hopefully fit in to the team well

"To be here now and to experience what's happened so far and to know that I have plans for the next couple of years as well, I'm happy with that."


http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11681/8078795?

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Fulham must bounce back - West Brom (h) preview

Fulham haven't won in three competitive fixtures and, if George Co-Hen's prediction is anything to go by, we won't be putting a halt to such a worrying decline.

Our feathered friend suggests, perhaps, a draw is more likely but, then again, he did think we'd beat Manchester United. We came close, as you know, but just not close enough.

Against West Bromwich Albion, you get the feeling that close just won't be enough, in spite of the away side's phenomenal start to the season. The feeling around Craven Cottage is one of excitement, even if the purchase of Dimitar Berbatov is a mere positive note on an otherwise sour transfer window in which Moussa Dembele, Clint Dempsey and Danny Murphy left the club. Arguably, they were our three most influential players.

Giorgios Karagounis has now entered the fray, presumably, to fill the hole left by both Murphy and Dembele. He's very unlikely to feature on Saturday, however, with a lot of fitness work to catch up on - by his own admission.



Steve Clarke and his West Brom side travel to London with a fine start to this campaign behind them. They sit in third place after two wins and a draw, their latest outing being a solid 2-0 win over a strong Everton side.

Many had doubts over Clarke's ability to take the hotseat after many years of filling in the number two role but he seems to have settled in quite wonderfully.

Martin Jol, of course, will be hoping to put a stop to that positive settling in period but it will be no mean feat. Fulham haven't won since the opening day which was, admittedly, a fine 5-0 win over Norwich City but, at the time, we could still boast a line up that included Moussa Dembele.

We drew with West Brom on both occasions last season, 1-1 at home and 0-0 away but, in recent years, we've given the Baggies some quite extensive footballing lessons. In 2006 we beat them 6-1 while as recently as 2011 we breezed to a 3-0 victory.

It remains unclear as to whether Zoltan Gera will start for the away side, though the home crowd will be hoping he does after a fine three years at Fulham. Steven Reid is likely to return but head coach, Steve Clarke, has admitted that Jerome Thomas will not be fit.

For Fulham, Kerim Frei stated on his Twitter feed that he is still not ready for action while Jol will hope Bryan Ruiz is fit after a hamstring complaint kept him out of both the Sheffield Wednesday and West Ham United games.

Potential line-up:


via www.footballuser.com

Score prediction:

Fulham 1-0 West Brom



http://www.cottagersconfidential.com/2012/9/14/3331114/fulham-must-bounce-back-west-brom-h-preview?

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Fulham v West Bromwich Albion: Squad sheets

Given that Steve Clarke has been a No2 at Chelsea and Liverpool, the top four is not unfamiliar territory for him but it is to Albion fans who, even at this early stage of the season, are wide-eyed in disbelief at being in third place. Victory in this fixture for the first time in 45 years could even see them go top on Saturday. Martin Jol, having lost the services of Moussa Dembélé and Clint Dempsey across the capital to Tottenham, gives a first start to Dimitar Berbatov, who will need him to find his old Spurs form if Fulham are to prosper. Paul Chronnell

Venue Craven Cottage, Saturday 3pm

Tickets Sold out

Last season Fulham 1 West Bromwich Albion 1

Referee Roger East

This season's matches 1 Y2, R1, 3.00 cards per game

Odds Fulham 10-11 West Brom 3-1 Draw 5-2


Fulham v West Bromwich Albion: Probable starters in bold, contenders in light.
Photograph: Graphic

Fulham

Subs from Etheridge, Somogyi, Stockdale, Kelly, Baird, Grygera, Briggs, Davies, Kasami, Dejagah, Karagounis, Na Banga, Rodallega, Ruiz, Trotta

Doubtful Davies (neck), Dejagah (match fitness), Diarra (knee), Ruiz (hamstring)

Injured Frei (groin, 22 Sep), Richardson (hip, 29 Sep), Senderos (ankle, Oct)

Suspended None

Form guide LLW

Disciplinary record Y1 R0

Leading scorers Duff, Petric 2

West Bromwich Albion

Subs from Myhill, El Ghanasy, Lukaku, Jara, Dorrans, Dawson, Brunt, Fortuné, Rosenberg, Jones, Tamas, Thorne, Hurst

Doubtful Reid (hamstring)

Injured Thomas (knee, Oct)

Suspended None

Form guide WDW

Disciplinary record Y4 R0

Leading scorers Gera, Long, Lukaku, McAuley, Morrison, Odemwingie 1

Match pointers

• Albion have scored three goals in their past 13 visits to Fulham and have not won at Craven Cottage since October 1967

• Fulham have the best shooting accuracy (80%) in the division this season

• This is Albion's best start to a top-flight campaign since they won their first three games of the 1978-79 season

• All six of the league goals Fulham have conceded in 2012-13 have come in the first half of matches

• Albion have kept only two clean sheets in their past 39 Premier League away games

• If selected, Damien Duff will be making his 350th appearance in the top flight



http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/14/fulham-west-brom-squad-sheets?

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Jol to unleash Berbatov on West Brom

Fulham manager Martin Jol has confirmed Dimitar Berbatov will make his first start for the club at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Jol also revealed new arrival Giorgos Karagounis could also feature in the match after being named in the squad, but Bryan Ruiz remains a doubt.

"Karagounis will be in the squad but Berbatov will start against West Brom," Jol told reporters.

"We will do an injury test on Bryan on Saturday, so he's 50-50 at the moment.

"As for the rest of the squad, (Kieran) Richardson is out with a hip injury, and of course we know about Kerim Frei. (Ashkan) Dejagah was not fit when he joined so hopefully we will get him fit in the next couple of weeks.

"Philippe Senderos is doing well, he came back and trained with us on Friday, but he's not ready to join us yet. And (Mahamadou) Diarra has a problem with his knee."

Fulham suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to West Ham United in their last league outing and Jol said he was unhappy with his side's inability to deal with their opponents' direct tactics.

"I think if you've got the experience that we've got, then the players can cope with a variety of playing styles as they are used to it," Jol said.

"We spoke about West Ham's style and I don't want to say that it's a bad style because it's good to have a style.

"But to watch the game and analyse the game, you see that in the first minute they hit a long ball and got a knock down and we conceded a goal which was exactly what we spoke about."



http://uk.soccerway.com/news/2012/September/14/jol-to-unleash-berbatov-on-west-brom/?

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MARK SCHWARZER FINISHED

Four years ago, Mark Schwarzer was tipped by many to be Arsenal's new goalkeeper after some rather unimpressive performances by then number one Manuel Almunia.

Despite the apparent interest from the Gunners, the Australian international chose West London over North London as he signed for Fulham after leaving Middlesbrough at the end of his contract with the Riverside outfit.

Now in his fifth season at Craven Cottage, it seems that the 39-year old maybe entering the final months of a distinguished career with the reports that Martin Jol is interested in bringing Standard Liege keeper Sinan Bolat to the banks of the Thames.

The 24-year old Turk has been rehabilitating from a cruciate ligament injury in the English capital and it is believed that this is a precursor to a bid in January from the former Tottenham and Ajax boss.

The former Genk stopper could be brought in to provide competition to the aging Schwarzer, but it is rumoured that Jol is looking for a ready-made predecessor to the veteran of over 500 games in English football.

If true, it is not only a blow to Schwarzer who would have wanted to go out under his own terms, but also to David Stockdale, who has impressed in his 16 appearances for the Premier League side so far.

The former Darlington man was selected in a number of England squads under Fabio Capello, but his lack of first team football has seen him overtaken in the pecking order by Birmingham' s Jack Butland and Norwich's John Ruddy, and it would seem that he may have to look elsewhere if he is going to push for international honours on a more regular basis.

Whether Schwarzer, who will enter his fourth decade next month, will have the chance to retire from the game as a regular starter remains to be seen, but he will take heart from 41-year old Brad Friedel, who is currently keeping France number one Hugo Lloris out of the starting eleven at Tottenham.


Read more at http://www.footballtransfertavern.com/2012/09/premiership/mark-schwarzer-finished?#0DPYlzgMKT6eGShy.99

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FULHAM v WEST BROM: BAGGIES RUN UNLIKELY TO CONTINUE

West Brom have enjoyed a surprising start to the season, picking up seven unexpected points against Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton.

Fulham's solidity at home, however, means it's unlikely they'll chalk up an away win here, as a price of 11/4, correctly, signifies.

The Cottagers got off to a flyer in front of their own fans, smashing five past Norwich, but have lost three on the road since in league and cup action and will be keen to get back to west London for this game.

Article continues below...



They only lost four games in all competitions at Craven Cottage in a typically steady 2011/12 season, only one of them to a side they would normally expect to beat.

You can back a home win at 1/1 which, given the contrasting fortunes for both sides in recent weeks, is a touch on the short side and should be avoided, despite Fulham's aforementioned reliability at home.

However, a bet offering excellent value, based on the evidence of last season, is 1/1 for there to be over 2.5 goals scored. Of the 19 games Fulham hosted last term, 13 of them surpassed this mark, which was also the case in 11 of the Baggies' 19 away days.

With Fulham lamping in five on the opening day and Steve Clarke's men hitting five in two away days at Spurs and Yeovil, there looks set to be a few crossing the line when these two lock horns.

In terms of who'll score them, Dimitar Berbatov is in line for his first Cottagers start and is priced up at 9/2 to win over the fans early doors with the game's opener, though 6/1 for Mladen Petric to beat him to it could be a more profitable option after his brace on debut in his last home appearance.



http://www.sportingpreview.com/football2012/2012637.php?