Monday Fulham Stuff (24/06/13)...

[WhiteJC]

 
No to Hull?
   
Although it might have prolonged his Premier League career, it appears a move to Hull City isn`t for Mark Schwarzer!

Speculation, in recent weeks, following Fulham`s decision to release the 40 year-old, had inferred that Steve Bruce, Hull`s manager, had decided that Schwarzer would be a valuable commodity when it comes to assisting his promoted side with ensuring Premier League survival.

But, despite the possibility a move to Hull would most probably give Schwarzer the regular first team football he craves, one Sunday red-top, without really giving a reason, infers that Schwarzer has snubbed any such move!


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=322622#ixzz2X6J8ej4o

[WhiteJC]

 
Meanwhile, Down At Loftus Road...........
   
As one of those released by Fulham, with his contract having run down, Chris Baird had been linked with a move to West Bromwich Albion.

This morning though Baird is linked with a move that would spare him the upheaval associated with a move north.

Rumour has it that Harry Redknapp, over at recently relegated Queens Park Rangers, would be interested on taking Baird on board to assist in what Harry hopes will be an instant return to the Premier League.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=322623#ixzz2X6JJym6R

[WhiteJC]

 
Five players Fulham should sign

It was by no means a spectacular campaign where Fulham were concerned, but Martin Jol's side achieved their main aim of retaining their Premier League status last term.

They did however have their critics, who claimed that the playing squad at Craven Cottage was now too old. It's a school of thought that Jol appears to agree with, having released the likes of Mark Schwarzer, Chris Baird, Simon Davies, Mahamadou Diarra, Georgios Karagkounis and Mladen Petric.

The likes of Derek Boateng, Fernando Amorebieta and Maarten Stekelenburg have already been recruited, but more work is needed. Here, Sports Mole has picked five more players that could improve Fulham's chances of perhaps finishing in the top half next season.

Alexander Buttner, Manchester United

During his time, John Arne Riise has been a decent left-back. At the age of 32 though, there were signs last season that his legs are not in the shape that they once were.

The Norwegian, particularly during his Liverpool days, was able to get up down with great effect.

While he may not be able to score the goals that Riise has done throughout his career from distance, Alexander Buttner showed last year during his brief spells in the Man United side that he has potential. He is a full-back that likes to attack, but is quick enough to get back to carry out his defensive duties.

With Patrice Evra, Fabio da Silva and perhaps even Leighton Baines for competition at Old Trafford next year, more starting opportunities with the Whites could well appeal to the Dutchman.



Tom Huddlestone, Tottenham Hotspur

When Danny Murphy departed for Blackburn Rovers last summer, Fulham lost their best ball-playing midfielder. They still had Steve Sidwell and have since purchased Boateng, but both of these are more comfortable when it comes to the industrious side of the game.

When fit, there are few English midfielders that are more comfortable in possession than Huddlestone.

The 26-year-old has a wide range of passing and has shown down the years with Spurs that he is capable of finding the net from outside of the area.

What's more, he is known to have a good relationship with Jol following the pair's spell together at White Hart Lane. A lack of football may prompt the four-capped England international to consider a switch across London.



Scott Sinclair, Manchester City

If ITV were to create a show called 'I'm a struggling Premier League footballer, get me out of here', Sinclair would be the number one contestant.

He made the switch to Man City last summer from Swansea City with high hopes, but that seemingly back-fired and he made just 14 appearances in all competitions last season.

Fulham do have a handful of wingers, but perhaps the best (Damien Duff) is the wrong side of 30. Sinclair would bring some pace to the Whites' attack, while he showed during his time with the Swans that he has a decent eye for goal.

As he surplus to requirements at the Etihad Stadium, and with the arrival of Jesus Navas, he is likely to be available for a relatively cheap price.

Fulham may hold the advantage over other potential suitors as knows the area well, having spent a number of years with Chelsea during the early part of his career.



Darren Bent, Aston Villa

There were times last season when Fulham struggled to find the net, particularly away from home.

In fact, without Dimitar Berbatov's return of 15 goals, it's fair to say that Jol's men would have been battling against relegation. Petric was next in the standings with five, but he has been released, while Bryan Ruiz added the same amount as the Croatian.

If nothing else, England frontman Bent guarantees goals. He may have lost his way at Villa recently, but on the rare occasions that he was given a start by Paul Lambert, he still looked dangerous.

Like Huddlestone, the 29-year-old has previous with Jol, albeit briefly before the Dutchman was sacked by Spurs.

The switch may also appeal to Bent, who could maybe force his way into Roy Hodgson's plans for the World Cup with a clinical campaign.



Mame Biram Diouf, Hannover

For one reason or another it didn't work out for Hugo Rodallega at the Cottage and reports have linked the Colombian with a move away over the coming weeks.

If he was to move on, Jol would need not just one but two frontmen to ease the goalscoring burden on Berbatov.

Now, the name Diouf may result in sniggers from some Man United supporters - after all, he hardly impressed during his three-year spell at Old Trafford.

Since then though he has been in the Bundesliga and shown a clinical side that had deserted him England. In 51 appearances for his German employers, the 25-year-old has scored on 27 occasions.

He may now feel that the time is right to show the Premier League that he has got what it takes to succeed in England.




http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/fulham/transfer-talk/news/five-players-fulham-should-sign_90245.html

[WhiteJC]

 
No More Than £5 Million
   
Aston Villa have a big decision to make!

With Darren Bent now being second choice, behind Christian Benteke, do they sell him or not?

The papers are reporting that whilst Villa want a return on their outlay, of £18 million, offers coming in for the striker are not matching their reported price-tag of £8 million.

In fact, if the Sunday tabloid press are to be believed then several clubs are willing, including Fulham, Newcastle and Hull, to cough up £5 million for his services, but no more.

Will Aston Villa relent?

Only time will tell!


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=322631#ixzz2X6K1e54z

[WhiteJC]

 
Former Premier League star Boa Morte scores outrageous penalty as Figo's XI beat Venezuelan champions

Mario Balotelli has an incredible penalty record of 24 for 24, but even he hasn't reached the heights of former Premier League star Luis Boa Morte.

The former Arsenal, Southampton, Fulham, and West Ham winger scored twice in an exhibition game between a Luis Figo select XI and Venezuelan champions Deportivo Anzoátegui, and Boa Morte helped Figo's men to a 3-2 win.

It never got better, however, than his outrageous penalty to equalise for the Portguese legends' side.


Tricky: Luis Boa Morte steps up to take the penalty...

...before swinging his foot over the ball...

...and bringing his foot back to roll the ball into the corner with the keeper stranded (below)



Exhibition: The match was for a Luis Figo XI, with the legend talking to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

Stepping up to the ball, Boa Morte swung his foot over it, confusing the keeper into going the wrong way.

He then simply rolled the ball unchallenged into the corner of the net to make it 2-2, before former Real Madrid star Santiago Solari won the game for Figo's men on 88 minutes.

Also turning out for the 'legends' side was former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly, ex-Arsenal and Chelsea man Emmanuel Petit and controversial Newcastle cult hero Faustino Asprilla.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2346884/Luis-Boa-Morte-scores-outrageous-penalty.html#ixzz2X6KRL06b
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[WhiteJC]

 
Investigating The New Home Kit
by LRCN on JUNE 23, 2013

So already we have see a few snippets of what our new home kit will look like:



So, adidas stripes on the shoulders and a black bib-ish v-neck kinda thing. Here is Swansea's adidas kit (EDIT: apparently this isn't Swansea's new kit. The source for the shirt below was the Daily Mail.):



and Aberdeen's:



So this is a standard adidas template kit (see Spain's here and Schalke's here). Here is one final adidas template:



Working off of the available info, WhiteJC of Friends of Fulham has come up with a couple of mock ups of what we should expect:




So what do you think? Impressed?

LRCN



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2013/06/investigating-the-new-home-kit/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham rumored to sell two players


Julian Finney

Reports are swirling that Schalke 04 have their eyes set on Sascha Riether. And in the rumor that won't die, Galatasary remain interested in Kerim Frei.

Both Sky Sports and Kicker are reporting that the Bundesliga club Schalke 04 are interested in a move for Sascha Riether. Even though his move to Fulham was just completed, it could be that Fulham purchased him just to resell him at a profit. There are also reports floating around that Galatasary is once again trying to purchase Kerim Frei. I feel like this rumor has been popping up for at least a year, but this time they are backed up by quotes from the team president and Kerim's father.

On the Sascha Riether rumor, I have trouble believing it would happen. The Schalke GM has admitted they won't pay a very high fee for him. Even if they were to pay £3M for him, leaving a £1.8M profit, Fulham would still need to find a right back and would only have £1.8M to do it. Chances are you can't find a replacement player anywhere close to Riether's quality for that price. The only way I could see sense in the move is if Fulham are confident that Jack Grimmer is ready for the first team this season and/or Riether has expressed interest in returning to Germany. Riether seems to have enjoyed his time at Fulham, and will get much more playing time there than he would for Schalke. However, we've seen before that the draw of Champions League Football can be a big one.

The Frei rumor actually makes more sense to me. Here's a quick list of player who could play on the LW for Fulham: Kerim Frei, Alexander Kacaniklic, Ashkan Dejagah, Damien Duff, Kieran Richardson, Pajtim Kasami, Mesca, Hugo Rodallega, and Bryan Ruiz. Now to be fair, not all of those players are best used there; and some are better when used on the right versus the left. However, it does show the depth Fulham have in wide midfield. Frei might once again struggle to get playing time in that group and if he has another season with injuries and very little playing time, his value is only going to drop. However he could have a very good U-20 World Cup performance, and his value might never be higher than it is following the tournament. I myself would rather him stay then go, but I could see how it is in his interest to move on. Especially to a club that is in the Champions League. If Galatasary were to overpay a bit, say £4-6M, the money could be used to buy a similar but more versatile player. Someone like Scott Sinclair or Gylfi Sigurdsson perhaps. Or the money could be used to fill a position of greater need, like a creative central midfield player.

Chances are of course this is just more silly season nonsense and nothing will come out of either rumor. They only serve to remind me how anxious I am for the season to start so that I have something more concrete to think about.



http://www.cottagersconfidential.com/summer-transfer-rumours/2013/6/23/4456824/fulham-rumored-to-sell-two-players?

[WhiteJC]

 
Memory Lane



From the past or present, each week we catch up with a different Fulham personality. This Sunday, it's Darren Freeman.

With his sea of flowing locks, Darren Freeman was one of the most recognisable men at Fulham in the mid to late 90s.

The forward – who was comfortable playing as a striker or in a wider role – was a crowd favourite at Craven Cottage having performed a pivotal role in the successful Micky Adams era. He was one of the many grafters brought in by Adams as we secured promotion from the (old) Third Division in 1997, just one year after sitting in our lowest ever position of 91st in the Football League.

"Micky brought in a great bunch of lads and the togetherness was fantastic," Darren told fulhamfc.com. "The team morale was really, really good.

"He was quite a young manager, I think he'd actually played that season, but, as I say, he'd got a great bunch of lads together and we really kicked on. When you consider that it was Micky's first full season as a manager, it's incredible what he achieved. He went about his business and did his job fantastically.

"Micky had done his homework and his man management skills were fantastic – he got the best out of players individually and created a team. The fans really got behind that team and I think people underestimate what that can really do.

"We achieved massively that year and everyone played their part. The fans did their bit, Micky did his bit and the players did their bit. I think if you get all those factors coming together then you've got a magic potion."

The Whites finished that season in second position as Wigan Athletic pipped us to the title on the old 'Goals Scored' ruling (frustratingly, we actually had a superior Goal Difference), with Freeman grabbing the winner on the final day at Cambridge United. It was a goal that, for a while, was set to win us the league, until the Latics took the lead against Mansfield Town in the second half. It was cruel on Fulham, but promotion was a dream for the players and fans nonetheless.



"I remember that game clearly in my mind - it was a really hot day," Darren recalled. "The keeper came out and I did a stepover to beat him and score. That put us 1-0 up and we needed that to win the league but Wigan ended up finishing above us. I remember it so clearly, as if it was yesterday.

"You look back at those days and it's pretty unbelievable. I'm just a normal lad really who's been lucky. Micky had a lot of faith in me and I feel very privileged to have achieved my goals and my ambitions from when I was a kid, and to be a part of Fulham was the icing on the cake.

"We were paid to do a job but, when I look back at it, it was a dream come true and I don't think you realise until later on in life how important it was. Fulham, to me, the fans and the whole Club, it was just a special time for me.

"You've got memories and that's the one thing nobody can take away from you. We like to think that we played our part. It's very difficult to get a team together and I think we created a good momentum and togetherness and the results just sort of continued from there."

The 1996/97 Fulham side went down in history that season as they started us on a journey that would lead all the way to the top flight, with a few stops across Europe to boot.

It was the final season before Mohamed Al Fayed took the Club over, and so Adams needed to be inventive in the transfer market. He brought players in on a shoestring budget - Freeman being one of the first - who would fight for the shirt and graft for their teammates. It was a group that Darren relished being a part of.

"Micky knew what he'd get from me," he said. "I always give 120 per cent. I know I wasn't the greatest player in the world but I was a passionate player. Whenever I played, whatever position I played, I always gave my all. I was the sort of player who wore my heart on my sleeve. That's what I believe in - at the end of the day, if you work hard then everything else will come. Micky knew what he'd get out of me and I had a great relationship with him.



"I still speak to Micky quite a lot actually. I'm a manager now so I've contacted him a few times about players. He gives me advice as well which is great to have someone like him to bounce ideas off. Me and Chippy [Richard Carpenter] speak every now and again - and Watto [Paul Watson]. I've spoken to Robbie Herrera a couple of times, and Rodney McAree, so I still speak to a couple of the lads.

"We still keep in touch and we reminisce about the old days. We've all often said that it would be great to get a reunion together and try and get a game somewhere – I think that would be the ultimate. One of my dreams would obviously be to come back at Craven Cottage and have a game there."

After playing 38 times during the 1996/97 campaign, the following season was a testing period for Freeman, with injury limiting him to just nine appearances.

"It was a tough time," the 39-year-old admitted. "I had ripped cartilage and I ended up having about 20 knee operations - I was out for nearly the whole season. I was in a bit of a bad place then because I'd had quite a good season. I kept trying to come back but every time I came back my cartilage would rip a bit more and I was having operation after operation after operation.

"They took all the cartilage out of my knee so I was in a pretty bad way. It was a grim time for me but it's a learning curve in football and I accepted that I'd have to have it out. I had to play the rest of my career with bone on bone which obviously isn't ideal.

"The surgeon said to me that I shouldn't be playing full-time football and that I probably wouldn't play again, but I've got a never-say-die attitude and I just got on with it."

That injury-plagued season proved to be his last at Fulham and, following spells at Brentford and Brighton (before a period in non-league), Freeman prematurely hung up his boots.

He's now forging a reputation as a talented young manager, with his Whitehawk FC team climbing the football ladder at a rapid rate. The decision to go into management was inspired by his father - a man who Darren looked up to with great esteem.



"Unfortunately my Dad passed away four years ago," he said. "He was my agent and my biggest fan - he was everything to me. Before he passed away he said to me that I should get back into football and maybe get into management.

"It was something that hadn't really crossed my mind but since I began I haven't looked back. I've tried to take little bits from each manager I played under and put them to good use. We've just gone up three divisions in four years and I've got a great bunch of lads with a real togetherness – it's exactly the same as Micky had when we got promoted.

"We've gone from the county league into the Conference South this year which is a magnificent achievement. I'm grateful for the values that I've picked up being a footballer and I've used them in my capacity as a manager."

With the Whites now an established Premier League side, younger fans may find it hard to envisage their team scrapping in the fourth tier against the likes of Darlington and Lincoln City, but that was the case almost two decades ago.

Mr Al Fayed's input at Fulham will never be underestimated, but neither should the contributions of the boys of '97.

"Fulham have gone on and done fantastically well now," Darren said. "And I like to think that we played our part in that. It's just nice to have been a part of a great Club where we had a successful few seasons.

"It's a Club that means a lot to me, in my heart, and a lot of that is down to the fans - they were unbelievable. The fanbase is massive now and it was unbelievable to be a part of - it's just fantastic and I wouldn't change any of it for the world."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/june/23/memory-lane

[WhiteJC]

 
Terrific Experience

In Kerim Frei, Ryan Williams and Corey Gameiro, Fulham have three representatives at the highly regarded FIFA Under-20 World Cup which is currently taking place in Turkey.

It's a sign of the top work being done with the Club's youngsters, and Academy Director Huw Jennings insists that their presence in the competition can only aid their development.

"It's excellent for them to get international experience," Huw told fulhamfc.com. "We've had a number of boys this year who've been out with their respective nations – most recently in the Under-19 Elite Round qualification with Sean Kavanagh, Lasse Vigen Christensen, Noe Baba, Muamer Tankovic and Jack Grimmer.

"And for the Under-20s it's exactly the same. This time, of course, it's the Final stages of a FIFA competition and for any of our boys to get that experience is terrific. If you take Kerim Frei, he decided recently to represent Turkey and I think for someone such as Kerim, with such a mixed heritage, for him to make that decision is obviously a key factor in his development.

"He's already had opportunities with the Turkish senior team and now he's going to get into a tournament with the Under-20 team, and it's going to be great experience for him.

"Kerim had a difficult season because he had two major injuries and that's set him back. He didn't get the amount of appearances that he would have liked, and I think he knows that it's a big season coming up for him at Fulham. So to have this almost as part of his pre-season programme, having had such a long period out, will be really good for him. And for it to be for the home nation, as well, is even more significant."

Frei's Turkey face Australia in the final match of Group C which will pit him against Fulham colleagues Williams and Gameiro (whose contract expires at the end of the month) – two young men who Jennings is delighted to see earn international recognition.

"We've got two boys with Australia," he said. "We're pleased to see Corey Gameiro involved – he had a loan spell at Wellington Phoenix so hopefully he can use the tournament as a launch pad for his career.

"For Ryan Williams, who's a young member of the Australia Under-20 party, it's a chance to establish himself with an international group. I watched some of Australia's qualification matches and it was interesting to watch Ryan play internationally and to show that he's certainly got potential to make an impact in this tournament."



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/june/24/terrific-experience?

[WhiteJC]

 
#takemehome



The full reveal and instore launch of our new highly anticipated adidas 2013/14 Home Kit is scheduled for early July, but supporters can pre-order now for delivery upon launch!


If that isn't enough, be amongst the first 500 fans to pre-order and you'll also be entitled to a FREE #takemehome t-shirt, which will be delivered with your purchase.*

Pre-order your 2013/14 adidas Home Kit online, at the Stadium Store or direct on 0843 208 1223 today.

*The first 500 Home Kit pre-orders are entitled to a #takemehome t-shirt free of charge, to be delivered with your order upon launch in early July. #takemehome t-shirts available in one size. Available while stocks last.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/june/24/preorder-home-kit-24-june