Thursday Fulham Stuff (28/02/13)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham could lose seven key players for nothing this summer

Although it's unlikely, Fulham could lose seven first team players this summer.

The reason they could lose that many stars is because they are all on contracts which are set to expire once the season has finished.

Fulham boss Martin Jol has confirmed that the club are in talks with a number of the players in questions, over new deals which will keep them at the club for the foreseeable future.

The players include top profile stars Mark Schwarzer, Brede Hangeland, Mladen Petric, Giorgos Karagounis, Simon Davies, Chris Baird and Philippe Senderos.

The good news is Fulham seem to be on top of the situation and are working on deals to keep those players in place, months before the end of the season.

However, if agreements aren't reached then there could be an exodus of epic proportions at Craven Cottage which may see some of the side's best players walking away for nothing.

"There's a lot of players finishing their contracts [at the end of the season] and we are talking to most of them. We will have a few more in the next couple of weeks," Jol told the Fulham Chronicle.

What's most interesting is that some of the players in question have clauses in their current contracts which will trigger an automatic extension if they play a certain number of games.

Considering Fulham's relative mid-table obscurity in the Premier League and no real threat that they'll go down, don't be surprised if Jol uses his rotation policy quite a lot over the final few weeks of the season.

Why the club has let the situation grow to such an extent is a little unclear because there's no doubt that it's a big risk.

If there are any key players in question who have already made up their minds that they want to leave Fulham at the end of this campaign, they now have free licence to do just that because the club has missed out on the chance to sell them.

The point for Fulham is to keep all of the big name and important players in place and then support those players with summer additions, which is inevitable as Fulham are unlikely to agree new deals for all key players.

Damien Duff is the most recent star to pledge his future to the club and gradually others should follow suit but it's not exactly the best example of how to handle contracts.


http://hereisthecity.com/2013/02/28/ld-fulham-could-lose-seven-key-players-for-nothing-this-summer/?

[WhiteJC]

 
UPDATE: Watford set to sign Fulham defender Matthew Briggs but new arrival won't be available for televised clash with Wolves

Watford are on the verge of signing Fulham defender Matthew Briggs on loan but we understand he won't be available for tomorrow night's televised game with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Briggs is due at the Hornets' London Colney training base later today ahead of his loan move but we understand he will not be available for the game with Wolves.

The 21-year-old can play as a left-sided wide player but he has been signed due to the Hornets' injury problems at centre half.

Briggs has made eight appearances for Fulham this season and also appeared for Championship side Bristol City three times in November.

The Fulham website describes Briggs as primarily a left back but adds he has "desirable attributes at both ends of the pitch. He can defend but he's also extremely comfortable on the ball; he has pace, can pass, is athletic and can get up and down the pitch."

Briggs became the youngest player to feature in a Premier League game when he came on as a substitute against Middlesbrough in 2007.

Fulham boss Martin Jol seems to rate the player, who can also fill in at centre half, as the 21-year-old has made six starts and two substitute appearances for the Cottagers this season, either side of his stint with Bristol City.

Briggs has made 27 appearances for Fulham since his debut and also had brief spells on loan at Leyton Orient in 2010 and Peterborough United last year.

He has represented England at Under-16, Under-17, Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level.

Briggs was part of the England Under-19 squad which reached the final of the European Championship in 2009 and he also travelled to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt that year.



http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/watfordfc/watfordfcnews/10258760._/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Jol's Sunderland Preview

Martin Jol is targeting three points against Sunderland on Saturday as Fulham bid to reach the 40-point mark as soon as possible.

Three wins will see the Whites surpass that tally and our Manager admits that he is keen to put any lingering flirtation with the relegation zone behind him.

"Like a lot of other teams, we set a target that we would like to have 40 points," the Dutchman said in his press conference on Thursday. "Then we can relax maybe a bit more and, from then on, try to get as high up the table as possible.

"If you see the league over the last five or six years, you will see the same situation. There are three or four clubs down there but, at the end of the year, you always see one or two teams dropping into trouble.

"Wigan Athletic, for example, are almost specialists in getting out of trouble, so there will always be one or two clubs to be dragged into it and we don't want to be one of those clubs.

"Our first target was to stay in the league because that's important for the Club. If you look at the resources all the clubs in the Premier League get at the end of the year, it's virtually eminent or vital for us to stay in the league. And then even 12th or 11th would be fantastic for us."

Victory at the Stadium of Light at the weekend would see Fulham open up a six-point gap ahead of the Black Cats, and Jol stressed the importance of getting wins against the teams around us in the table.

"Of course the Chelsea game has been postponed so I think that is a problem as we now probably won't have a home game in March," he explained. "We will have to play three games possibly in six or seven days and that is not what you like.

"If you look at the games that we should get the points from, Reading and Sunderland for example, hopefully we will get the points from the teams who are in a similar position to us, or below us."

Jol continued: "I felt that although we started [the season] well, Sunderland didn't have the best of starts. But they had a good run of games and are now in the same situation as us.

"We've said before games a couple of times that we need this win – before West Ham United, before Newcastle United and before Stoke City - and we managed to get these nine points so we were ever so pleased to be in that situation.

"But, on the other hand, if we stay on 32 points we will be in trouble anyway, and Sunderland are in a similar situation. They play at home [on Saturday] and, of course, it is not easy to go there because it's a noisy crowd.

"But I think we have done okay away from home lately and, hopefully, we can capitalise on our possession game and our football, because we didn't do that at Norwich City and hopefully we can do that now and get a result and stay above them."

Jol also provided an injury update ahead of the trip to Wearside, with Mahamadou Diarra the only man still on the treatment table.

"We had a good training week," he said. "Diarra had a little setback a week ago and, hopefully, he will be fine in the next three weeks but I can't have a guarantee from my medical staff so that is a problem for him and a problem for us.

"After his operation we thought he was better, he thought he was better, then he felt this aching pain.

"That's it [for injuries] so we are doing quite well on that front. Kieran Richardson was injured and now he's been back over the last two weeks and he will be involved in the squad, so we will have to wait and see if he starts or if he's on the bench.

"He's a versatile player, he can play on the left, he can play in midfield and he can play left-back. And I feel that he should be – not could be – a terrific left-back because he did that before.

"He had a good season with Steve Bruce [at Sunderland] as a left-back but then he played a bit differently so if you give him the licence to express himself I think he will be good as a left-back, but he will be good in midfield as well."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/february/28/jols-sunderland-preview?

[WhiteJC]

 
Hangeland close to Fulham deal

MARTIN Jol hopes to tie Fulham captain Brede Hangeland to a new deal within the next fortnight.

The Whites have been locked in talks with the towering defender for the past six months, with the Norwegian's contract due to expire in the summer.

However, boss Jol has revealed he is close to thrashing out terms to keep the 31-year-old at Craven Cottage beyond the end of the season.

He said: "We are talking so that is a positive thing.

"He wants to stay here. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks there will be some news."



Read More http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-fc/2013/02/28/82029-32899866/?#ixzz2MD5Kv0qo

[WhiteJC]

 
My Team: Example Talks About The Ups And Downs Of Being A Fulham Fan!



Why Fulham?
I grew up with Craven Cottage at the end of my street. Now I practically live right next to it, so you can't get more local than that. My dad, granddad, uncle and all of my mum's family are Fulham fans. It was unavoidable!

Earliest memory?
Me and my mates used to skateboard down the terraces and run onto the pitch, only to get chased off by the caretaker. Then Mohamed Al Fayed bought the club and introduced tighter security. There was even anti-climbing paint. We'd scale a wall and get covered!

Fondest memory?
Winning promotion to the Premier League in 2001. Four years earlier, we were languishing in the old Division Three! Then came Al Fayed, Kevin Keegan, Jean Tigana and a bunch of new players. We had Luis Boa Morte, Louis Saha and Barry Hayles scoring every week. It was great to watch.

Favourite player?
Louis Saha was brilliant when he was fit and Clint Dempsey comes a close second. We used to go for American barbecue dinners together. He'd have liked to have finished his career at Fulham, but he had his reasons for moving and fans shouldn't be bitter. Plus, he's a rapper!

Favourite chant?
"Al Fayed, whoah!
Al Fayed, whoah!
He wants to be a Brit,
And QPR are sh*t!"

Sh*ttest player?
Steve Marlet. We paid a record £11.5m for a bloke who was supposed to be the new Thierry Henry – and he was f**king useless. He scored 11 goals in just over 50 games. Rubbish.

Favourite kit?
I liked the Nike kit we had a few seasons ago, then we switched to Kappa. Imagine you're Nike – you feel euphoric. The next minute, you're a Kappa slapper. That's like the worst come-down ever!

Team you love to hate?
I'm not one to hold grudges against teams, but I do join in the banter and some of the chants can be funny. Whoever wrote this is a genius:

"We hate Chelsea,
We hate Chelsea,
We hate Chelsea,
We hate Chelsea,
We hate Chelsea,
We hate Chelsea,
We are the Chelsea...haters!"

They've repeated the same line and then flipped it at the end. Clever stuff! Ha!

Favourite manager?
Roy Hodgson is a genuine man. You can't begrudge him for going from Premier League obscurity to a bigger job with Liverpool. Now he's the England boss. Top guy.

Funniest memory?
Michael Jackson once did a lap of honour with Al Fayed, but no one knew it was him! Everyone in the ground wondered why this random-looking bloke was waving to the supporters. When I got home, my mum said, "So what was it like to see Michael Jackson?" I was like, "We all thought it was Al Fayed's weird, skinny bodyguard!" Don't get me started on the statue, either. I can see it from my flat. It's disgusting!

Get to many games?
I go whenever I'm at home and I've sat in nearly every seat! I've had season tickets in the Hammersmith End and the Riverside Stand, and my uncle used to get free tickets for the Johnny Haynes Stand. These days, I often sit in John Arne Riise's box, but for the recent game with Man United, I was in the Directors' Box. It was me, Al Fayed, Sir Bobby Charlton and Roy Hodgson! The floodlights went off that evening. Al Fayed obviously didn't pay his bills!

Best game?
Beating Juventus to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2010. I was behind the goal when Clint Dempsey chipped in the winner – and hugged about 10 people at once! I couldn't make the Final as I had a gig in Swansea, but I did watch it beforehand. I was in bits when we lost, then I had to walk on stage minutes later. Horrible!

Clint Dempseys Chip

Player you'd swap your missus for?
Manchester City's Yaya Toure

Example's new single Perfect Replacement is out now.



http://www.zootoday.com/sport/archive/2013/02/28/my-team--rapper-example-talks-about-the-ups-and-downs-of-supporting-fulham.htm?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fan Focus: A Cosy Little Chat With The Cottagers

For this edition of Fan Focus we speak to top Fulham fan and blogger, Loran O'Connor who you can follow on Twitter @LRCN0CNNR or check out his regular musings on the ace Fulham site, HammyEnd.

Give us the story of Fulham's season so far then...

Lorcan O'Connor: Think of an upside-down bell curve... We started off incredibly well - 2nd after 6 games i think - and then it was the reverse fixture against you actually where everything started going wrong. It was a game we looked like winning comfortably until Hangeland's red, and a game we arguably still should have got a result of, but it halted us completely. Performances tailed off, we lost momentum until the turn of the year and since then we've picked up some wins, lifting us fairly comfortably out of the relegation battle. Now, the agenda is to push for a top 10 place, which is what we expected at the beginning of the season (and is testament to how well we started), but it's disappointing we're already out of the cups.

Dimitar Berbatov - is it as enjoyable to watch him week in, week out as it is for us who only casually see him play?

LO'C: Yes. Even when he has a poor game he is guaranteed to make you say 'wow' at least once, whether it's a delicate touch to pluck the ball from the air, a pass no one else in the ground had seen or a volley in to the top corner. One thing that irregular viewers of Fulham don't appreciate is that when we went through our slump Berbatov, seemingly in protest of some sort, withdrew quite a bit from playing in the interests of the team. It begs the question whether Berbatov makes the team play well or vice versa. The reality is somewhere in between. I wrote about that - and his combination with Ruiz - in length here, which you may find interesting HERE and HERE.

Martin Jol has also made a number of other signings though. Was January good to you?

LO'C: Essentially he padded out the squad enough to carry us to the end of season, which was all we could ask for. It was incredibly disappointing Spurs and Roma pulled out of permanent deals for Huddlestone and Stekelenberg though. Both are fantastic players who would've become very important over the next few years.

Then of course there's Kieran Richardson, who at the time we were disappointed to lose but really we haven't missed a beat without him. How's he getting on?

LO'C: He started off very shakily, never really putting in a performance above 6/10 (being generous) and suffering from injuries. Then Riise lost his form, Briggs couldn't grab his place and Richardson had a chance to make an impression at left back (against his wishes, he joined to play more advanced than he did at Sunderland), where he was really very, very good, scoring a great goal up at Blackpool with the last kick of the game to keep us in the cup. And then he got injured again. I don't know when he's back and Riise has found a bit of form again so I'm not sure what this means for Richardson but certainly I'd play him at left back when he's back and fit.

I always see Fulham in the same group of teams as ourselves in that mid-table mini-league. What will it take for either you or us to ever break out of that, and is it a real possibility one day?

LO'C: It would take one of: big money, exceptionally savvy management at both board and coaching level, a huge bit of luck or a combination of all three. At Fulham, well we are incorporating a Everton-esque model, having basically reunited the Southampton Academy staff of the Bale-Walcott-Chamberlain era, and we are hoping that will help us manifest riches in both money and player quality. Personally from what I understand of our current youth team, it is going to be something special. As for Sunderland, I'm not so sure; it seems so turbulent there at the moment. But we will see. I hope it does happen.

Looking ahead to our game, who do you think will provide the biggest danger for Fulham?

LO'C: Berbatov is the easy answer but I will go with Ruiz, and I'm not trying to be different or edgy here. Just as important to the team, he knits together our attacking game and possession so well. Once in a while he'll pop up with a quite exceptional goal too. A matchwinner in a less subtle sense than Berbatov.

And on the reverse, what are Fulham's weaknesses and who from Sunderland do you think will give you problems?

LO'C: Attack Riise down the flank and you will get joy. I'm hoping Adam Johnson doesn't suddenly spark his Sunderland career in to life here. Set pieces have been poor for us this season too, and although we were very good at those against Stoke and West Ham, they didn't have Larsson. I'm also hoping Lady Luck doesn't play her hand in your favour again!

Finally, what's your prediction for the game and how it will go?

LO'C: We are in a bit of form and playing much better than we were a couple of months ago, but away we are not nearly as elegant. I can see it being a 0-0 or 1-1, with both teams struggling for potency in opposition third.



http://www.rokerreport.com/2013/2/28/4032758/fan-focus-a-cosy-little-chat-with-the-cottagers?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham handed boost ahead of Sunderland trip

Sunderland v Fulham

FULHAM are boosted by the return of Kieran Richardson for Saturday's trip to the Stadium of Light.

The versatile midfielder hasn't featured since the 2-0 defeat at Manchester City on January 19, but is in contention to face his former club.

Kerim Frei will miss out as he builds up his fitness following a pelvic problem, while Mahamadou Diarra faces a further three weeks on the sidelines.

Boss Martin Jol feared Diarra's niggling knee injury could keep him out for the rest of the campaign, but the Dutchman is now hopeful of having the Mali international available again towards the end of March.


He said: "Diarra had a setback a week ago and will hopefully be OK in three weeks.

"After his operation we thought it was better but he felt this aching pain again."

Jol has no fresh injury worries as Fulham look to build on last weekend's win against Stoke.


http://www.ealinggazette.co.uk/sport/fulham-fc-ealing/2013/02/28/82029-32899904/?