Tuesday Fulham Stuff (19/03/13)

[jmh]

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/march/17/manager-reaction


Manager Reaction


Sunday 17 March 2013 18:23


Martin Jol praised the organisation shown by his side as Fulham came away from White Hart Lane with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

...

"I was very pleased because we needed the three points," he said. "There were a lot of clubs around us with 33. Wigan Athletic have a game in hand and could be on 30 points so there will be one or two clubs in that mess and nobody wants to be in that bottom three.

"You've got Reading and, of course, Queens Park Rangers, but who else will be there?

I love this little dig.  OF COURSE Queens Park Rangers. 

[Joe McDonald]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/10708139

Bulgaria's Manolev doubtful for World Cup qualifierReuters, Tuesday March 19 2013
SOFIA, March 19 (Reuters) - Bulgaria midfielder Stanislav Manolev could miss the World Cup qualifier against Malta on Friday after sustaining a thigh injury in training, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) said on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Fulham right back, who plays in midfield for Bulgaria, has left the team's training camp in Pravets and will undergo a medical in Sofia to assess the extent of the injury he suffered on Monday.
Manolev, capped 29 times by the Balkan country, has scored twice in the qualifying campaign, against Italy and Armenia, and is one of the most influential players in Luboslav Penev's squad.
Bulgaria will play Malta at the Vasil Levski national stadium behind closed doors after their fans were found guilty by FIFA of racist behaviour in the qualifier against Denmark in October.
Unbeaten Bulgaria, who visit Denmark next week, have made a solid start to their campaign and are second in Group B with six points from four matches, four behind leaders Italy. Czech Republic are third with five points from three games.
(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov, editing by Ed Osmond)

[White Noise]

http://epltalk.com/2013/03/19/clint-dempseys-season-of-discontent-at-tottenham-hotspur/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EPLTalk+%28EPL+Talk%29


Clint Dempsey's Season Of Discontent at Tottenham Hotspur


Posted on March 19, 2013 by Anthony Lane




Most Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been frustrated by Clint Dempsey's performances for the Lilywhites this season. On the popular Spurs Show podcast this week, Tottenham experts Barry Castagnola, Theo Delaney and Paul Hawksbee likened Dempsey to a bad impression of Jermain Defoe and said that he looks a great player in a lesser team (i.e. Fulham) where he was a big fish in a small pond.

To make matters worse, there always seems to be confusion among Tottenham supporters when Dempsey's name is brought up. Is he an attacking midfielder or striker? As a striker, he hasn't been scoring the goals on a consistent basis. And as an attacking midfielder, he faces stiff competition from several players who play in the same position as Dempsey. Yet Dempsey isn't the type of creative attacking midfielder that Tottenham needs or wants.

A lot of people speculated that when Clint Dempsey made his summer move to Tottenham Hotspur that he would excel at Spurs the way he did at Fulham. I was one of those people. I had high hopes for Dempsey as I wanted to see an American be a vital player at a club that was challenging to cement their place among the elite.

Dempsey had a great career at Fulham that peaked in his last year, scoring 23 goals and recording assists. He was the focal point of the Fulham attack and was a threat to score at any moment when on the attack, but when he moved to Spurs it seemed his game didn't. Dempsey is an unconventional type of player, an attacking midfielder that is capable of moving up and playing striker. In both spots though he is not one to create his own chances, as most of his goals came from clean ups or goals set up for him. This season at Spurs it seems as though he has lost that scoring touch, only scoring 8 goals and 5 assists.

Dempsey has look uninspired this season at Tottenham, as it looks as though he is out of his element. Dempsey has been supplanted by the likes of Lewis Holtby, and Gylfi Sigurdsson in his favored attacking midfielder position. Dempsey has failed to adapt his style of play to Andre Villas-Boas system, and that is hurting him. The problem I see with Dempsey is that he wants to win, but he wants to do it his way. He doesn't seem to want to play the role that he needs to, so that he gets himself on the team sheet more often. This is somewhat understandable. A player who was the first choice at his previous club has been asked to be a supporting player and not the star anymore. To be frank, Dempsey needs to put aside his stubbornness and selfishness and do what is best for his team and for his playing time.

A Tottenham fan I spoke with about Dempsey feels as though the club purchased the American because he "moves" merchandise. Dempsey jersey's are a big seller, especially here in the US as Dempsey is one of American soccer fan's favorite players. The prospect of Bale and Dempsey on one team seemed like it would be a deadly combo on the field as well as in the media, but so far it has been the case of one player rising above expectation and reaching new heights and one player fading into the background.

The only thing keeping Dempsey from being a factor at Spurs is the man himself. If he can put aside the ego of being the American star and become a supporting player at his club, then he will earn himself the playing time he deserves. For now though, it seems Dempsey will be confined to the bench as AVB has found other midfield options he prefers over Dempsey. This is what Clint wanted, though, to play at a club that challenges for Champions League football, but I don't think he wanted to sit idly by as his team put themselves in contention for it while he saw limited playing time.

[Bassey the warrior]

So the Stekelenburg ship has sailed. Great! Thanks a lot Roma.

[A Humble Man]

So the Stekelenburg ship has sailed. Great! Thanks a lot Roma.

It is not Roma's fault, he has got in the team since January and is playing well, why should he leave. Most footballers are moody creature desperately unhappy they are not playing and gusshingly ecstatic when they.

[Bassey the warrior]

So the Stekelenburg ship has sailed. Great! Thanks a lot Roma.

It is not Roma's fault, he has got in the team since January and is playing well, why should he leave. Most footballers are moody creature desperately unhappy they are not playing and gusshingly ecstatic when they.

It's their fault he didn't come in January. They failed to sign a replacement and thus blocked his transfer to us.