Thursday Fulham Stuff (16/05/13)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Does Poyet's play-off failure make him more or less appealing to Fulham?

Following his failed attempt to guide Brighton into the top flight, is Gus Poyet now heading to the Premier League on his own?

Following Brian McDermott's departure from Reading back in March, Brighton's Gus Poyet was strongly backed to succeed him.

It was reported that talks took place between Royals owner Anton Zingarevich and the Uruguayan, with Poyet ultimately choosing a promotion push in the Championship over a battle to avoid slipping into it.


As Reading – now under Nigel Adkins – lost their fight with games to spare, Brighton secured a play-off place, only to lose 2-0 to a Wilfried Zaha-inspired Crystal Palace; which leaves Poyet reportedly considering his future at the Falmer Stadium.

But his failure to deliver Premier League football doesn't seem to have stopped those currently blessed with it from contemplating a move for him.

It is a widely-held belief that should Poyet leave Brighton, it will be a decision based on a lack of financial support rather than a doubting of his own managerial ability.

At Fulham – the most recent club to be linked with his services – he would find no such problem.

Recent reports suggest Fulham are considering the former Tottenham and Chelsea midfielder should Martin Jol leave Craven Cottage.

And they will take his recent comments as encouragement to do so.

Speaking after the loss to Palace he said, "I don't go to places just to have a job, I go to places to put things right and to make the place better and I think I've done my job here.

"I have always said that during the time we keep improving I am going to be at this football club and the day we hit the roof I'm not."

There is a suggestion that roof has been hit, that without a considerable injection of funds the club will struggle to match or surpass their impressive fourth-place finish this season.

And yet having got so close, does his failure to navigate those final few hurdles mark him out as a risk worth taking or one to avoid?

He made the right move in turning down Reading. They were a Premier League side only in name, a status that's loss was confirmed months after it was deemed almost certain.

But Fulham have top flight foundations on which to build. And despite their unimpressive end to the season, they have a squad that requires smart changes rather than wholesale ones.

Following his failure to navigate the play-offs, Poyet may well be available this summer. It is a failure that may be overlooked by his growing list of admirers; a failure elsewhere that they hope will be the catalyst for future success of their own.

Would you welcome Poyet as the next Fulham manager?  Or is there nothing in the talk of Jol moving on?



http://hereisthecity.com/2013/05/16/vr-does-poyets-play-off-failure-make-him-more-or-less-appealing/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Barclays U18s: Fulham and Reading in final

Barclays U18 Premier League final to be held at Craven Cottage on 19 May


Cauley Woodrow gave Fulham a 2-0 lead in the first half (Photo: Martin Goldthorpe)

Fulham survived a dramatic comeback as they beat Sunderland 4-3 to progress to the final of the Barclays Under-18 Premier League, where they will face Reading.

The Cottagers, who won the last Premier Academy League before the inaugural Barclays Under-21 and Under-18 competitions were launched this season, raced in to a 4-0 lead with free-flowing football at Motspur Park.

Goals from 16-year-old French striker Moussa Dembele and Cauley Woodrow gave Steve Wigley's side a 2-0 lead before a fine finish from Patrick Roberts and a fourth goal from Stephen Arthurworrey seemingly put Fulham out of reach.

But, in the final 20 minutes, George Honeyman pulled a goal back for Sunderland before Victor Zapata-Caicedo got a second on 84 minutes and Carl Lawson made it 4-3 on 90 minutes to set up a tense finish.

Fulham held on and they will face Reading in the final at Craven Cottage, after the Royals emphatically defeated Everton 4-0 at Hogwood Park.

Eamonn Dolan's side controlled the match from the outset and Jack Stacey's long distance drive gave Reading the lead midway through the first half.

Dominic Hyam doubled Reading's advantage just before half-time and, with first-team manager Nigel Adkins looking on, two late strikes from Craig Tanner put the game to bed.

The final will be played on Sunday 19 May at Craven Cottage (1pm kic-off), the home of Fulham's first team.

Queens Park Rangers were crowned champions of the Under-18 Professional Development League Two after beating Huddersfield Town 1-0 in the play-off final at Loftus Road.

A penalty from Peter Skapetis proved to be the difference in a tight contest at QPR's home ground.
Barclays Under-18 Premier League semi-finals

Wednesday 15 May
Fulham (Dembele, Woodrow, Roberts, Athurworrey) 4-3 Sunderland (Honeyman, Zapata-Caicedo, Lawson)
Reading (Stacey, Hyam, Tanner 2) 4-0 Everton
Barclays Under-18 Premier League final

Fulham v Reading, 19 May, 1pm, Craven Cottage
Download full fixture list here  | For full results click here
To view the league tables after the qualificaton stage, click here
You can follow developments on Twitter with the Premier League's account @premierleague or via the hashtag #BU18PL



http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2012-13/may/fulham-set-up-u18-final-with-reading.html?

[WhiteJC]

 
Play-Off Pair Looking To Wembley

Fulham will have a representative on each side in the npower League One Play-Off Final as Marcello Trotta and Dan Burn will meet for loan clubs Brentford and Yeovil Town on Sunday.

The Under-21 pair have enjoyed success on loan this season, with Trotta's nine goals helping the Bees' promotion push and Burn providing defensive solidity while playing almost every game for Yeovil.

Despite experiencing some highs and lows, Trotta is sure that his loan spell has helped him to develop and is looking forward to making his appearance at Wembley.

"I think I have settled quite well at Brentford," he told fulhamfc.com. "It was quite difficult for me when I started because it was a new place but the lads and the manager have been very good and it's been going well. The Play-Offs are so important and it will be amazing to be a part of the Final at Wembley.

"Being on loan has been great and I've had a lot of good experiences. League One is a very tough league and it has helped me develop in different ways. I certainly think it has been a positive move for me to go on loan."

The Italian missed a stoppage-time penalty that could have seen Brentford seal automatic promotion against Doncaster Rovers, but he believes the incident has made him stronger now they have another chance to go up.

"It was a hard experience for me and not really a positive one, but it made me grow up a little bit and made me tougher," he said. "I have to say that the lads have been great with me and they've helped me move on and think about the Final."

Trotta is also looking forward to the challenge of coming up against his Fulham teammate in the Final.

"I am happy for Dan because he has done so well, but it's a Final that we both want to win so we will do our best," he said. "He's a good player and is very tall, good in the air, so I will have to do my best. I am confident that if we play our game then we will come out on top."

Burn is equally excited to face a familiar face on Sunday, but doesn't think that knowing his enemy will help much on the day.

"I haven't spoken to him since the Play-Off Semi-Final, and I'll probably leave it now until the game," he said. "It should be good, we played each other at the start of the year when he came on at half-time but we never really crossed paths in the game. I'm not sure if I can capitalise on any inside knowledge as he doesn't have many weaknesses; he's a good player, but we haven't seen each other for a while so anything could happen."

And the defender is keen to ensure that he takes the chance of a lifetime for Yeovil when he walks out on the Wembley turf.

"I can't wait, we've worked hard all season and when I first arrived we were on a six-game losing streak," he said. "I don't think anyone imagined that we would be in the Play-Off Final then, so it's going to be something special.

"It's another step for me after playing in the Under-21s last season. It's been a great experience as I've been playing against other players who have hundreds and hundreds of league games under their belts. I missed out on Wembley the first time with Darlington, so to have another chance at the age of 21 is pretty special. Not many players have a chance to play there, so I just hope we win."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/may/16/trotta-v-burn?

[WhiteJC]

 
Trotta won't rule out a permanent switch to Bees

Marcello Trotta is open to the idea of staying at Brentford next season.

The striker is on loan from Fulham and Uwe Rosler will consider whether to keep him at Griffin Park after Sunday's League One play-off final against Yeovil at Wembley.

Martin Jol has challenged the  20-year-old, who has found opportunities limited at Fulham, to prove he deserves to be part of his first-team plans.

Nine goals in 28 games for Brentford have not gone unnoticed by Jol but he believes the Italian needs to improve other areas of his game.

Trotta has two years left on his contract but wants to help Brentford into the Championship before deciding his future.

He missed an injury-time penalty against Doncaster that would have seen the Bees promoted on the final day of the season and is determined to make amends. "These six months have been unbelievable," he said. "I will think about Wembley and we will see [about my future] after that. Both clubs will speak.

"You feel very disappointed [after the Doncaster game] and you want to give something back to the team and the fans.

"The supporters have been great, even after the Doncaster game they have been great in supporting the team and me.

"We have got another game to go. I think the lads have put in a great effort. They have done unbelievably well. As a team, I think they are great."

Yeovil manager Gary Johnson has revealed that on-loan Fulham defender Dan Burn was 'run over' by team-mate Paddy Madden earlier this week but will be fit for the Wembley showdown.

Madden is the top scorer in League One and Johnson, who has been linked with the vacant managerial position at Millwall, said: "Paddy has only just passed his test and he drove over Dan's ankle on Tuesday, which is unbelievable. He nearly put our centre-half out of action!

"We are keeping our fingers crossed that nobody gets injured but training has been quite aggressive and competitive because we want to get the players into that game mode. We are keeping our fingers crossed that nobody kicks anyone else."



http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/trotta-wont-rule-out-a-permanent-switch-to-bees-8618528.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Martin Jol poised for crunch talks but Fulham say he'll stay
Club are not planning for new boss despite links with Gus Poyet and current manager's concerns over budget

Fulham expect Martin Jol to remain in charge next season despite recent poor form and speculation linking Gus Poyet with the managerial position at Craven Cottage.

Reports this week suggested Fulham would review Jol's position this summer following a run of five straight defeats that saw them narrowly miss out on relegation.

Fulham, who end their season at Swansea on Sunday, have taken only one point from a possible 21 in the Premier League.

Poyet emerged as a contender to take over but a Fulham source says Jol, who agreed a contract extension last October to keep him at the club until 2014, is staying.

There are still doubts over whether Jol believes he has the financial backing for the expected overhaul of his squad this summer. The 57-year-old will hold talks with chief executive Alistair Mackintosh and the board to discuss plans for next season.

Ten of Fulham's squad, including goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, are out of contract this summer and a number of loanees are expected to leave.

Jol is confident of keeping key players like Dimitar Berbatov but was reportedly frustrated at a lack of backing in the transfer market during the last two windows.

Jol, who will want assurances over the club's ambitions, said last week: "If you lose seven or eight players of course you need five or six [to come in]. Hopefully, you get players in who could be good and strengthen us. If not you have a problem.

"Last year I thought there were only one or two pieces left of the puzzle. And then Mousa Dembele left, then Clint Dempsey. Danny Murphy was the same. You have to be creative and that is good in the short term but in the longer term it is not what you want."

Poyet is considering his future at Brighton following their Championship play-off semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace. The former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder rejected the chance to take over at Reading in March but wants to manage in the Premier League.


http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/martin-jol-poised-for-crunch-talks-but-fulham-say-hell-stay-8618636.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Riether has been better than Berba

FanZone's Fulham blogger Henry Walmsley can't believe Dimitar Berbatov was named fans' player of the season, saying Sascha Riether deserved it.

Whilst the players were walking around the pitch after the Liverpool loss, offering their traditional thanks to the near empty Craven Cottage, the fans' player of the season was announced, and it left the remaining fans speechless.

Sascha Riether's name was announced first, met by applause by the Fulham fans who thought that this was their player of the season, a man who had already won player's player of the year. Giorgos Karagounis was named as the runner-up, before Diddy Hamilton announced "and your player of the season is...Dimitar Berbatov!". Hang on a second, wasn't that Riether? No one had heard Hamilton say "in third place" before the German full-back's name.

The reason everyone was so confused, was because everyone voted for Riether! I genuinely do not know a single person who didn't vote for Riether, so how he finished third is beyond me. My only explanation is that there were a lot of 'armchair fans' or members of the Dimitar Berbatov fanclub who voted for the striker. If you did vote for someone other than Riether, please let me know! Let me give you my reasons for voting for him.

Unlike Berbatov, Riether was ever dependable, he has not had one bad game all season; not only that, he has been our best player in pretty much every game.

Everything about his game this year has been exquisite, both his defending and also his getting forward. The balls he has put in from the right flank have been excellent, and I can guarantee that Berbatov wouldn't have as many goals this season if the German was not in the side.

His attitude is fantastic too. Regardless of the opposition he always gives his all - and you can't say the same about Berbatov. So many times this season he hasn't turned up, and with him usually being deployed as the lone striker, if he doesn't play well, we look very, very bad going forward. This has been a pattern seen in the months between November and January, and also between April and May - our two poorest spells of the season.

If your knowledge of football comprises of what the idiots on Match of the Day tell you, then I'm sure you'll believe that if it were not for Berbatov we would have been relegated and probably finished on negative points having scored no goals.

Well, I don't know how we would have fared and neither does anyone else. All I will say is that Petric was playing very well before his arrival, and our team has looked considerably better when Rodallega has been in the side. I won't deny Berbatov's class, or his ability to score match-winners, but his importance shouldn't be elevated the way it has been.

Fulham fans who are on Twitter would have seen the tweet from Riether last night saying: "Alles Gute @fckoeln.geile Stadt geiler Verein.ich drücke weiterhin die Daumen.der Fc gehört in die 1.Bundesliga.Danke für alles."

I do not speak German, and google translate came up with something along the lines of, 'goodbye, horny horny', which I'm fairly sure is not what he meant. I am informed, though, that the tweet basically said, 'goodbye and thank you fc Koln, good luck in getting back into the 1 Bundesliga.' Surely this means that he is signing for us on a permanent deal? If so that is fantastic news to end a very, very bad season.

Going into our final game of the season, well I'm not confident. We've lost every time we've played Swansea in the last three years and I can't see that changing at the weekend. We simply cannot play against good passing teams, such as Swansea and Liverpool, and I expect us to get beaten 2-0 to bring the season to a close.

If we do lose, that would mean we have picked up one point in our last eight matches, which is simply not good enough.



http://www.teamtalk.com/fanzone/16970/8715778/Riether-has-been-better-than-Berba?

[WhiteJC]

 
Stockdale - Hull Is No Go!
   
That`s gratitude!

Having played a major part in getting Hull City automatic promotion to the Premier League, it would appear that Hull City are not prepared to take David Stockdale on a permanent transfer.

News reaching us suggests that Steve Bruce has been put off by the valuation Fulham have placed on the player and that Bruce will now be concentrating on trying to lure Kasper Schmeichel from Leicester City to the KC Stadium.

If the move comes off, it`ll mean that Bruce will be reunited with the Schmeichel family having played in front of his father, Peter, during hi sown playing career at Manchester United.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=319635#ixzz2TSwA8fkl

[WhiteJC]

 
Jol Makes Eyes At Dutch International. Transfer Scouting Report



With the season coming to an end, the rumour mill has come back into full operation, with plenty of talk about how Martin Jol will look to strengthen a Fulham side that has probably not looked as comfortable as they should, with their place in next season's Premier League not mathematically assured just yet.

One of those heavily linked with a switch to Craven Cottage over the summer months is Roma goalkeeper, Maarten Stekelenburg, with Jol a known admirer of the stopper from their time together at Ajax.

Mark Schwarzer is currently the holder of the number one shirt at Fulham, but Father Time has begun to catch up with the big Australian and the West London club could follow the example of Tottenham Hotspur by dropping their experienced statesman to the bench in favour of a younger European international.

Stekelenburg has found himself in and out of Roma's team this season, with the capital club having conceded 55 goals so far this season despite residing in fifth in the table, with only already relegated Pescara boasting a worse goals against total.

Part of this can come down to the fact that Stekelenburg has averaged only 1.89 saves per game, with his average of 1.58 goals conceded per game nearly matching the number of saves he makes in a game. This has been part of the reason why Roma, who boast the most potent attacking force in Serie A with 66 strikes, have been unable to mount a credible title challenge.

Schwarzer on the other hand has mustered an average of 3.40 saves per game, which has been vital to Fulham not being seriously dragged into the relegation mire of the Premier League.  A saves per goal ratio of 2.09 is very much favourable to Stekelenburg's poor total of 1.20, and would suggest that he is still a superior option to the Dutch international.

But question marks still hang over the 40-year-old, with his lumbering performance against Reading highlighting the campaign to get a fresher face into the club, with David Stockdale clearly not doing enough to convince Jol that he is ready for the number one slot.

Whether Stekelenburg is the right option is something that remains to be seen, but with Sir Alex Ferguson having scouted him heavily upon the retirement of Edwin Van Der Sar, the quality is still there.

But given that Fulham are the most interested party now, it would suggest that his stock has fallen since departing Ajax and his poor saves to goals conceded ratio is evidence that perhaps he is not quite the superior option to Schwarzer that some would have you believe.


http://blog.squawka.com/2013/05/16/jol-makes-eyes-at-dutch-international-transfer-scouting-report/201305169336?

[WhiteJC]

 
Riether's Fulham deal made permanent

Player is thought to have said goodbye to his parent club FC Koln, ahead of confirmation of his move

Fulham have finally tied up the deal to bring right back, Sascha Riether, into the club permanently.

The player, who has been on loan with the club all season, will join for approximately £1.2 million after Fulham agreed to pay the fee that was originally set when the player first joined.

Speaking on Twitter, Riether is thought to have thanked FC Koln for his time at the club, and wished them success in their bid to gain promotion back to the Bundesliga 1. German website, Kicker, confirmed the news.

It will come as a huge relief to Fulham fans, who have been stressing the importance of tying the 30 year-old down permanently. He has been invaluable in his first Premier League campaign, claiming the full back spot as his own despite pressure from the likes of Chris Baird, Stanislav Manolev and, before he left, Stephen Kelly.

His reliability has been his greatest asset - the German rarely makes mistakes and puts in consistently solid performances. This is rare for any player, and even more exclusive for a defender.

Yet, while his sturdiness has been vital, so has his exploitative nature. Riether has become an overlap master, forming a partnership with right winger Ashkan Dejagah that has proved exceptionally fruitful. He was recently awarded the Players Player of the Year award, too.

The only factor that does not work in his favour is, inevitably, his age, but few will have any qualms over that given his performances. There are many areas in the squad that require a hefty injection of youth but, with Riether where he is, right back is not one of those places.



http://www.cottagersconfidential.com/2013/5/16/4336524/riethers-fulham-deal-made-permanent?

[WhiteJC]

 
John Arne Riise wants Fulham to end season on a high

John Arne Riise says Fulham are determined to finish the season on a high and bring an end to a run of eight games without a win.

The Cottagers have endured an inconsistent campaign that has tailed off dramatically in the last two months to leave them 15th in the table.

Their Premier League safety may already be secured ahead of the final-day match with Swansea, but defender Riise says the team want to finish on a high.

"It's a very tough place to go," he said ahead of the trip to the Liberty Stadium.

"They've had a bit of a slump after winning the League Cup but they're still a great side. It's a hard place to play but we want to finish on a high.

"We don't want to end the season having taken just one point from the last eight games - that's not what Fulham is about.

"Hopefully we'll have a good week in training, get our energy back and finish on a good note.

"We're not thinking about our holidays yet - now is not the time, we've still got a game of football to play.

"We're on a bad run of form and we want to end that so we go into the summer in a good frame of mind."


http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8716151/?