Monday Fulham Stuff (17/09/12)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Academy Insight: Daniel O'Reilly

In getting to know some of the Club's youngsters, fulhamfc.com pays a regular visit to our Under-21 and Under-18 squads to put a potential star of the future in the spotlight. Today we spoke to Under-18s defender Daniel O'Reilly, who talks us through his fledgling career so far.

Have the other players given you a nickname?

Not really. Being Irish, I just get stick for the way I pronounce 'three' and 'think'. That seems to cause great hilarity.

Coming from Ireland, I bet you support Manchester United?

Yep! But now I'm over here, I'm only really interested in Fulham. When Fulham played United a few weeks ago in the Barclays Premier League I was rooting for the Whites.

Were you homesick at all when you left Ireland? It must have been hard for a young lad to leave his family behind?

It was tough at the start. You get used to it, though, and my family come over a fair bit from Kildare, which is about 20 minutes from Dublin. My Dad also has a place up in St Helen's. He comes down a fair bit – he loves watching the games. So seeing him is good and all the lads helped me settle in. There's a couple of other Irish boys here as well which always helps.

What's it like being in digs?

I like it. I'm still in the same digs as last year; it's a real nice family atmosphere in a good location. I get all my cooking done for me. I've offered to cook, but I haven't been taken up on it yet!

In your brief career so far, what's been your footballing highlight?

I've captained Ireland at Under-15, 16 and 17 level. I love playing for my country.

And your low?

Touch wood, I've been blessed with not having any injuries. Lets hope it stays that way! My lowlights would be when I've not been picked to play.

Is there a stadium apart from Craven Cottage that you'd most like to play at?

Old Trafford!

What was the first football shirt that you owned?

I used to get a Manchester United kit every season. I think there was a reversible shirt one year.

Is there any one player that you like to watch closely?

Being from Ireland, I liked watching Richard Dunne, just for the way he loved playing for his country and would always put his body on the line. I also liked watching Fabio Cannavaro. Like me, he wasn't a massive centre-half but the way he approached the game and dealt with bigger strikers was so clever.

For people who don't know too much about you what are your main strengths as a player?

My main strengths are probably how comfortable I am on the ball. I'm left footed and I'm good in the air, as you have to be for a centre-half.

What about areas for improvement?

I can improve my physical presence, but that's natural and takes time. There are lots of other areas, no-one's perfect. All you can do is work hard and go from there.

Away from the pitch, what is your all-time favourite film?

I saw Ted recently, that was pretty funny. Happy Gilmore is my top film, though. You can't beat a bit of Adam Sandler.

What song would you choose for a spot of karaoke?

Probably 'You Are Not Alone' by Michael Jackson. Just for a bit of banter.

And what do you never miss on the box?

It's got to be Match of the Day. I love a bit of Friends as well.

Turning your attentions to your teammates, which one makes you laugh the most?

George Williams. He's got no brain. I can't mention some of the things he says and does! He's just a silly little kid.

You lot love your tricks - which player has the most in his locker on that front?

[Muamer] Tankovic and George Williams are pretty skillful, but Moussa Dembele is probably the best. He's settled in well. His English is better than he sometimes lets on!

And finally, as your career moves forward, what's the one piece of advice that you remember above the rest?

Never take things for granted. If you have an opportunity, give it your all. I learnt that at school. My principal said it when I was graduating, but it's true.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/september/17/academy-insight-daniel-oreilly?

[WhiteJC]

 
Mixed Fortunes For Loan Stars

Fulham youngster Marcus Bettinelli helped loan side Dartford to a resounding 4-0 win over Hereford United on Saturday.

The goalkeeper kept a clean sheet as the Blue Square Bet Premier outfit climbed up to sixth place in the table thanks to goals from Ryan Hayes, James Rogers, Danny Harris and Jon Wallis.

Dartford head to fellow high-flyers Wrexham on Saturday (3pm).

In the same division, Richard Peniket started as Kidderminster Harriers drew 0-0 at home to Grimsby Town on Saturday.

Peniket departed the action after 68 minutes as Harriers' search for a first win of the season continued.

Kidderminster, who sit bottom of the league, are away at Alfreton Town this Saturday (3pm).

Elsewhere, Corey Gameiro was a 69th-minute substitute as FC Eindhoven lost 4-3 to Helmond Sport on Friday.

Dutch second division outfit Eindhoven are away at SBV Excelsior this Friday (8pm).


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/september/17/mixed-fortunes-for-loan-stars?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham Focus - Berbatov makes the perfect start to life at Craven Cottage

Once again, a sunny Craven Cottage brought out the best in Martin Jol's men and after two consecutive defeats on the road, a return home was just the tonic for Fulham as they comfortably saw off previously unbeaten West Brom.

The star of the show was undoubtedly deadline day signing Dimitar Berbatov. Billed by Jol as "the biggest signing in Fulham's history", the Bulgarian produced a supreme performance full of languid grace and skill to add to the ice cool finishing we have long become accustomed to.

Berbatov's impressive full debut will have given great encouragement, not only to Jol, but to Fulham supporters who may have had fears that the side would descend into a season of struggle following their recent poor form and the loss of Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey in the last few days of the transfer window.

The Cottagers were helped by the stupidity of West Brom's Peter Odemwingie, who deservedly was shown red with the score at only 1-0 after a wild hack at Sascha Riether, but Jol will certainly not worry about that with his side now sitting comfortably in eighth place.

Berbatov may rightly get the headlines but Jol will no doubt have been hugely impressed by the exciting young Alex Kacaniklic, who lit up Craven Cottage with his tricky, direct wing play, which not only created Berbatov's exquisite opening goal but also won the penalty on the stroke of half time that effectively killed the game.

Fulham still seem to have problems in midfield however and with Mahamadou Diarra absent, Jol's threadbare midfield options were starkly highlighted as Steve Sidwell was partnered by Chris Baird, nominally a central defender in the middle of the park. Thankfully with the likes of Berbatov, Kacaniklic and Damien Duff in good form, the middle pair's lack of creativity hardly impacted on proceedings.

However, what Sidwell and Baird did provide was a solid defensive platform for their side's attacking talents to perform. The visitors may have been down to 10 men but in the likes of Shane Long, Chris Brunt, Romelu Lukaku and James Morrison, they retained the ability to cause the Fulham defence some damage. However, the Baggies found it difficult to break through Fulham's central midfield.

Indeed, at Craven Cottage and particularly under Jol, Fulham should never lack creativity particularly in their forward line, but away from home, the Cottagers will perhaps deploy a more defensive midfield pairing, caused by the loss of Dembele and Dempsey.

This could be necessary on the road, where the Cottagers can often be far too open and particularly when Dembele played in central midfield, as fantastic as the Belgian was in driving forward with the ball, he would often leave his midfield and defence exposed.

Thus all in all, it proved a highly satisfying day at the office for Jol and his team and they can look forward to the to Wigan next week in high spirits once again.



http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_1_16731_fulham-focus-berbatov-makes-the-perfect-start-to-life-at-craven-cottage.html

[WhiteJC]

 
So Much Fun

Sascha Riether highlighted his defensive and attacking pedigree last weekend with a first-class performance during Fulham's three-nil victory over West Bromwich Albion.

The defender's crosses from the right flank hit double figures at Craven Cottage on Saturday and Riether was delighted with a fine overall performance by the Team.

"It was a good win but we had to win after losing the two previous games," said Riether. "It was a very good performance on Saturday with three goals.

"As a defender it's always important to keep a clean sheet and when you've got strikers like we have you're always going to score goals. It was a very good day for Fulham Football Club."

Fulham appear to have once again secured another transfer coup in Riether and the German international is clearly enjoying life in SW6 since his summer loan move from FC Cologne.

"It's been unbelievable so far and a lot of fun to play here," said Riether. "The team has made it easy for me to settle in and they've helped me a lot. It's a big honour for me and we've had a good start so hopefully now we can keep performing like we did on Saturday."

Whilst there were several Man of the Match performances for Fulham last weekend, the headlines of course went to two-goal hero Dimitar Berbatov, whose rich talents are admired and respected by all at Craven Cottage.

"We know what a wonderful striker he is and on Saturday we saw he can score goals for Fulham and hopefully there will be many more," said Riether. "He's got a touch of class and he's going to be very important for us."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/september/17/rietherreaction?

[WhiteJC]

 
Exclusive - Gray: Berbatov would have been perfect signing for Liverpool

Andy Gray believes Dimitar Berbatov would have been a perfect signing for Liverpool.

The former Manchester United striker signed for Fulham this summer and has made an instant impact at Craven Cottage, scoring two goals in his first start for the west London club against West Brom on Saturday.

The Reds have struggled up front this season, following the decision to loan Andy Carroll to West Ham, and are relying heavily on Luis Suarez to perform the 'go-to striker' role.

That experiment doesn't seem to be working, with Brendan Rodgers' side scoring just three goals in their opening four Premier League matches in what is their worst start to the season for 100 years.

And former striker Gray claims Liverpool should have signed an out-and-out forward, similar to Berbatov, in the summer transfer window to help ease the load on the Uruguayan.

"He [Berbatov] would have been a perfect fit for Liverpool," he told talkSPORT. "He could have played up front with Luis Suarez.

"There's absolutely no way Sir Alex Ferguson would have sold him to Liverpool in the first place, but he is the type of player that could have gone into that Liverpool side and stitched everything up.

"It would have allowed Suarez to play in his best position, just off the front, as a creator and part-time scorer rather than as a full-time goal scorer, as he's playing at the moment."



Read more at http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/120917/exclusive-gray-berbatov-would-have-been-perfect-signing-liverpool-181107?#G3tegBMfQPc0RYEa.99

[WhiteJC]

 
Jol lifts lid on Berbatov snub prior to Fulham switch

Former Manchester United star Dimitar Berbatov rejected an approach from Martin Jol last December, the Fulham manager has revealed.

The Bulgarian sealed his surprise move from Man Utd to Fulham on deadline day and scored twice on his home debut against West Brom on Saturday.

But Jol, who signed Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen while in charge at Tottenham in 2006, says the 31-year-old had previously ruled out a move to Fulham after Man Utd beat the Cottagers 5-0 at Craven Cottage last year.

"I asked him a few months ago when [Man Utd] beat us 5-0 and he gave me his shirt, I don't know why," said Jol.

"Maybe because when he left Spurs he wanted to go to Man Utd and I wanted to keep him.

"So he gave me his shirt and I said 'maybe you can play for us' but he said no.

"So it was very nice that he said yes after a couple of months."

Berbatov was close to joining Serie A side Fiorentina before the close of the transfer window and Jol says the Bulgarian was at the airport preparing to fly to Italy when he had a last minute change of heart.

"He was at the airport going to Italy and I phoned him again – I didn't even know he was going to Italy – and he came back, so I was ever so grateful."



http://www.london24.com/sport/fulham/jol_lifts_lid_on_berbatov_snub_prior_to_fulham_switch_1_1518823?

[WhiteJC]

 
Riether the right-back



If you exclude the Paintsil years, right-back is arguably the position Fulham have most struggled to fill in recent times. Since Steve Finnan we haven't been in a position where our right back is one of the better players in our team.

This isn't really an issue because the same could be said for most teams: right back perhaps the least glamourous position in football. It also seems to be a place where you can almost get away with lesser quality, as the job description can be quite a low level one: don't get caught upfield, hold your position well, don't dive in, hold your position well, etc. If you can do these things well then you're more or less an asset to the team. It's what John Paintsil did while things were going his way. A lot of players could make decent right backs if they wanted to, but most have higher ideals and this does seem to leave a certain type of personality actually doing the job. A good clubman, a quietish, or at least a non-flamboyant type, someone you feel you can rely on. If they can cross then so much the better, but as Liverpool found out, crossing is overrated (unreliable, anyway) at the best of times so this isn't much of a stick with which to beat a player.

Sascha Riether is the archetypal right back in a lot of ways. Shortish, decentish, solid. I thought he played quite well against Norwich, was not great against United (who was?), and probably could have done a bit more against West Ham. It's his first season in a new league and in a new team, so we must cut him some slack. When I've mentioned any perceived shortcomings it's merely been as a sort of note to self: how is our new right back doing? I haven't been at all sure. And I had noticed a couple of things awry, I thought.

But he did do very well against WBA. Whoscored.com say that he had 120 touches and played 89 passes, both of which are big numbers. He found space and used it quite well. I like the shape of his delivery from the right wing, he seems to have a bit of variety in his crossing and I imagine that sooner or later his work down there will lead to some goals.

Fingers crossed that he builds on this and grows into the player I thought Fredrik Stoor would become!



http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/riether-the-right-back/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Midfield General

After playing a starring role in our 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the weekend, Steve Sidwell admitted he was delighted with his side's reaction to back-to-back Barclays Premier League defeats.

He and his midfield entourage of Chris Baird, Damien Duff and Alexander Kačaniklić didn't give their counterparts from the Midlands a moment's respite, as Dimitar Berbatov's brace either side of Peter Odemwingie's red card, and Sidwell's late volley, wrapped up the points on Saturday afternoon.

"It was a good performance," Steve said. "Obviously the sending off made it a bit easier for us and we would have liked to have been a bit more comfortable, but overall it was very pleasing.

"It was nice to get a goal and nice to start another game so now it's about cementing that, continuing to play well and keep pushing up the league.

"The last result [against West Ham United] was very disappointing and we had to wait a long time for this game to bounce back. We know our form at home is good and, as I say, we were pleased with our performance as we were able to take control and we took the game to them."

Berbatov delighted the Cottage Faithful on his home debut as his workmanlike shift up front was complemented by a fine opening goal and a crisp penalty on the stroke of half-time.

"He was very good and he showed his class," Sidwell said of his new team mate's performance. "He's a great addition to the squad and is just what we needed, especially after losing Clint [Dempsey] and Mousa [Dembele]. But he's looked good in training and he deserved his goals on Saturday.

"Obviously he's worked closely with Martin Jol before at Tottenham Hotspur so he already knew of his qualities and he's come in and shown it in training and against West Brom. Hopefully there's a lot more to come as well.

"Football's all about confidence and what a way to start. He'll be full of confidence now going into the Wigan Athletic game and if he gets another goal – his assist record is great as well – that's what he's here to do, to play and score goals."

The arrival of the Bulgarian was hailed as a huge coup for the Whites when he arrived on 31st August and Sidwell declared his pleasure at sharing a dressing room with the former Premier League Golden Boot winner.

"He's got this calmness on the ball and good awareness," Steve explained. "He can obviously shoot and he knows how to score penalties as well! His touch is superb and the ball doesn't get away from him. He's always calm and collected and he brings the best out of those around him as well.

"When you have players of Dimitar's calibre come into the Club, the rest of us know we have to raise our game to get to that level and, if we make sure that happens, then we're only going to push off in one direction."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/september/17/midfield-general?

[WhiteJC]

 
BERBATOV IN WHITE AGAIN – WHY HE LOOKS LIKELY TO SETTLE THE SCORE:

The Bulgarian recently had his Premier League career saved by Martin Jol. Now in Fulham's lilac, teamed up with Rodallega, the former Manchester United striker seemed bound to prove something to the footballing world.

3 shots on goal for a brace against West Bromwich Albion were more than enough to silence doubters. It seemed like resurging confidence took over his body and boots at Craven Cottage on a not so warm afternoon for the 4th gameweek, as his team came out with 3 points after maintaining 63% of the possession.

The halls of history hold similar stories related to the ostracising of players in squads where reliance on their abilities came short. I believe a man with trust in his abilities rarely gives up when tested. Darren Bent, Di Santo, Bendtner... have all shown their abilities when given time away from the prisons of inactivity.

"I don't think I deserved such a treatment at United – not playing in the last year", Berbatov told Sky reporters shortly after joining Fulham.

"He [Ferguson] tried to explain to me that the team will be using a more direct style, with more speed – But I've never been among the fastest players, I like to hold the ball, this is my style", were the Bulgarian words to Sky Sports.

Ferguson's decision was in no doubt going to hurt the former Spurs hotshot who found it hard to accept.

"I still have my dignity. I scored many goals, I won the league two times, and I was the league top scorer, so it's not bad", said Berbatov.



Being partnered with the powerful Colombian, Rodallega, Berbatov will likely be supported and serviced by Fulham's solid and experienced midfield, with the likes of Duff, Kacaniklic, Sidwell and Baird pioneering the attack.

The physicality and air presence the two freshly acquired forwards add to Jol's squad make them perfect targets for long glided passes.

September 23, 2012 – Wigan v Fulham (AWAY)
September 29, 2012 – Fulham v Manchester City (HOME)
October 7, 2012 – Southampton v Fulham (AWAY)
October 20, 2012 – Fulham v Aston Villa (HOME)
October 27, 2012 – Reading v Fulham (AWAY)

The 31-year old striker will have ample opportunities to express his frustration with Fulham's next 5 fixtures looking promising, given they maintain the consistency they displayed against Steve Clarke's Baggies.

With a total of 14 games (started / All competitions), Berbatov bagged 10 goals and 2 assists during the 2011/12 campaign. Known for his game revolving around placement and timing, age does not seem to be a factor that will affect Berbatov's proficiency any time soon. Maybe Dempsey's departure might be forgotten sooner than expected after all.


Read more at http://thisisfutbol.com/2012/09/blogs/berbatov-in-white-again-why-he-looks-likely-to-settle-the-score?#kZUGxtV5lUsCPExf.99