Saturday Fulham Stuff (17/05/14)...

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Fulham star-in-the-making reckons Magath is right man for him

Striker Cauley Woodrow thinks he will get chance to shine next season under German


Felix's friend: Cauley Woodrow upbeat about his future
Cauley Woodrow believes he will get a fair crack of the whip next season – because Felix Magath has already shown he has faith in younger players.

The teenager bagged his first goal for Fulham with a supremely assured finish in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the Cottage in the final game of the season.

It was a fitting reward for a player who has caught the imagination of home fans – and more importantly, the boss.

"The manager's been playing us young lads throughout. He's shown that he has faith in us," said a confident Woodrow, who has been called up to England U21s for next week's Euro qualifier against Wales.

"He's played me, Moussa Dembele and Chris David. With this manager, I think if you are doing well, he doesn't really care what age you are.

"Us young lads are hungry. We want to prove ourselves and we want to play games. I think the manager wants to get a mixture of youth and old, so there's a nice balance.

"To be honest I didn't think I'd be scoring in the Premier League this season.

"I thought I'd stay out on loan and play games there and then come back here eventually or go out on loan again at a higher level. But I've just tried to take it in my stride and it's been great.

"At Southend I played a different style of football and when I came back here, I was playing against world class defenders and with world class players, so for me it's been great. I just try to enjoy it and do as well as I can."

Woodrow knows that Fulham face a huge task bouncing back up to the top flight at the first time of asking next season, but he thinks that with Magath remaining at the helm, they have a chance.

"He's said to us he's going to be here and his main aim's to get us promoted next season, so that's what our focus will be as well," he said.

"It's not going to be easy, but it's the same for every team in the league, so there will be no excuses next season and we're just going to have to work as hard as we can and get the results to get promoted.

"It's obviously disappointing that we're not still in the Premier League but for me it was a nice moment to score my first goal, but we've got to focus on next season now and get promoted.

"For Chris as well, it was a great goal for him and us young lads have hopefully got a good future."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-star-in-the-making-reckons-magath-right-7128749?

[WhiteJC]

 
Darren Bent rules out Fulham switch as he returns to Aston Villa
Darren Bent today ruled out a permanent switch to Fulham with Villa saddled with his bumper wages for another season.


Darren Bent spent the season on loan at Fulham. He is now set to return to Aston Villa.

The £24m striker will not stay in London after the Cottagers were relegated from the Premier League. He scored just six goals in 30 games last term after moving to Craven Cottage on loan.

Bent earns around £60,000-a-week but Fulham had agreed to pay all of the cash during his spell. The 30-year-old has another year left on his Villa contract and the claret and blues are now braced to shell out for the misfit again.

"I've enjoyed my time down here but obviously it hasn't gone well," said Bent. "I haven't played as much football as I would have liked.

"When I first came here I hoped it was going to be a case of playing fairly regularly, but it just wasn't meant to be. "

Villa are also still paying Alan Hutton £40,000-a-week and Charles N'Zogbia £60,000 with neither in manager Paul Lambert's plans. Bent will not play for Villa while Lambert is in charge and is now looking for a new club.

Bent's return gives Villa another headache with talks in New York between chairman Randy Lerner and Lambert continuing today.

Lerner has put the club up for sale and the pair, along with chief executive Paul Faulkner, are thrashing out a short-term plan.

Lambert is willing to continue as manager but is seeking assurances he will not get all of the blame if Villa continue to struggle.



http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/aston-villa-fc/2014/05/16/darren-bent-rules-out-fulham-switch-as-he-returns-to-aston-villa/?

[WhiteJC]

 
The last moment

Every vantage point in Craven Cottage has its pluses and minuses. I used to sit at the back of Johnny Haynes and from there I felt I had a really good appreciation of the game overall. Then we found a loophole that presented the chance to sit at the front of the Riverside at bargain prices. This meant a loss of overall perspective but a real sense of the game's hurly burly, how physical it is, how little time there is. I once sat by the dugout on the halfway line and that brought home just how bunched the game is, how congested the middle third can be.

On Sunday we were right behind the goal and this showed me how little room for error there is in the penalty box. Split seconds determine absolutely everything. I'm a naturally worried person when teams attack Fulham so on a number of occasions early on I thought Fulham were in big trouble, only for someone to intervene at the very last moment.

The trouble is, "the last moment" can vary. I've harped on in the past about how goalkeepers can mislead us. Slow footwork from the outset can give the impression that a shot couldn't be reached. But a good goalkeeper will be well positioned and well set so early that he might have made the save comfortably. This is how Kasey Keller, who never seemed to move, and Antti Niemi, who was an acrobat, can end up conceding about the same number of goals. One is in place early and doesn't need to dive; the other isn't but is agile enough to compensate. I haven't mentioned him for a while, but this is partly why our old friend Paul Robinson routinely led the league in being beaten from outside the area. Robinson was world class close in but awful from distance. (Fulham never once tested him on this either.)

Anyway, I digress. One of the reasons Fulham have let in 80+ goals this season is that the last moment is too late now. With the lack of midfield protection our defence are being drawn into situations they don't like. Our midfielders, who are under pressure, too, aren't closing down quick enough. We're too porous.

It's not a massive thing. My sense is that the players are just a second too slow, a fraction under-organised, half a yard out of position. These are the margins you're working to. Palace's first goal on Sunday was typical. A free shot on the edge of the area, a centre-forward who was both unmarked and onside deep in the area, and in. There are no blunders there, but there are probably three or four small things that ought to have been done better. And again, that's all it takes. Football is a very complex game and goals are rare, and as many teams are finding, the fine line between success and failure is tiny. Fulham were just off the pace in too many ways, a second too late to everything. This has been Fulham's problem. It's not the obvious mistakes that everyone said Philippe Senderos made – those were rarer than advertised and not usually costly – it's the little things, those hundreds of moments where a good team gets things right and a bad team doesn't. That's how you concede 80+ goals a season.


http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/the-last-moment/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Relegation looked inevitable long before abject Cottagers were downed at Stoke - Fulham season review

http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article9320784.ece/alternates/w620/Fulham%20down.jpg

Going down: After a 13-year stay in the Premier League, Fulham are facing life in the Championship next season.

This was not the season Shahid Khan had in mind when he took over last summer. Fulham's 13-year stay in the Premier League ended after a desperate campaign and, less than 12 months after his arrival, the club is preparing for the Championship. 

Things could not have gone much worse and relegation looked inevitable long before their fate was confirmed in abject fashion at Stoke. Mohamed Fayed says removing the Michael Jackson statue was behind Fulham's relegation but Brede Hangeland has admitted there were worrying signs before the season even started. 

The writing was on the wall for an aging squad in the opening weeks and Martin Jol was sacked in December following an awful run. There were signs of a revival under Rene Meulensteen but Fulham continued to leak goals and slipped deeper into trouble. Alan Curbishley and Ray Wilkins were appointed over Christmas but both quickly departed when Felix Magath became the club's third manager of the season.

Much was made of Magath's reputation of keeping struggling clubs up but, in truth, Fulham never looked like surviving. The £12million club-record signing of Kostas Mitroglou was a disaster. There are signs the future could be bright after the emergence of a number of talented players form the club's youth system but bouncing straight back up to the Premier League next season is no guarantee. 

Of the 30 teams to be relegated in the last ten years, only four have been promoted at the first attempt. Magath, who will remain in charge, has a tough job on his hands.



http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/relegation-looked-inevitable-long-before-abject-cottagers-were-downed-at-stoke--fulham-season-review-9382280.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Berbatov to remain with Monaco

Dimitar Berbatov has signed a one-year deal to remain at Monaco until the end of the 2014-15 season.

Berbatov had six months to run on his contract at Fulham when he left Craven Cottage in January to join Monaco on loan until the end of the season.

The 33-year-old scored nine goals in 14 appearances for the Ligue 1 club and he has now signed a one-year extension to keep him in France.

"With AS Monaco, Dimitar showed all of his talent," Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev said in a statement.

"He is a great player and we are very proud to have him for the next season."

Prior to joining Monaco, Berbatov had been linked with a move back to his former club Tottenham.



http://www.setanta.com/ie/berbatov-to-remain-with-monaco/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Schools Tournament

Corpus Christi Primary School and Ursuline High School have won the opportunity to represent Fulham at the eighth annual Premier League Schools Tournament after beating off fierce competition from other local schools.

Corpus Christi will enter in the U11 mixed competition while Ursuline will compete in the U13 division for girls.


The Premier League Schools Tournament is all about increasing participation in football for boys and girls, and offers schools nationwide the chance to team up with their local Premier League club. Each of the 20 Premier League clubs stage their own regional competition to select a school to represent them in the finals, which will be held at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday 20th May. 

Over 10,000 young footballers from more than 1,300 schools will take part, with the teams aiming to reach the Etihad. An expected 1,000 spectators will fill the seats of the famous stadium to see the Premier League Schools Tournament champions crowned and presented with a replica Premier League trophy.

All the students participating on the day will receive an authentic Premier League experience; wearing their Premier League club kit, using the Manchester City dressing rooms, and walking out of the tunnel to the Premier League anthem, and even having their matches refereed by Premier League match officials.

The Schools Tournament will feature on a special episode of BBC Match of the Day Kickabout airing on 24 May at 7.30am.

You can follow news on Twitter with hashtag #plschools.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/may/16/schools-tournament?

[WhiteJC]

 
Former Man United striker agrees Ligue 1 stay

Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has agreed a one-year extension with AS Monaco.

Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov joined Monaco in January after a spell with Fulham and immediately made an impact, scoring six goals league goals in his 11 games, making up for the injured Radamel Falcao.

Colombian striker Falcao is currently out injured but his expected return ready for the start of next season had seen a new deal for Berbatov seem unlikely.

However, officials at the French club have decided to keep the 33-year-old at the club and have agreed a one-year deal.

Berbatov is commonly known for his time at Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, with whom he won the Premier League title on two occasions.


http://www.footballdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/49504-former-man-united-striker-agrees-ligue-1-stay.php

[WhiteJC]

 
England U21 call for Woodrow

Former Luton Town striker Cauley Woodrow has received his first call-up to the England U21 squad for their European Championship qualifier against Wales in the Toulon Tournament.

The 19-year-old Fulham player, who played in the Cottagers' final six Premier League games of the season, scoring once, is one of eight potential new caps named by coach Gareth Southgate.
Woodrow made his Hatters debut as a 15-year-old in an FA Trophy clash against Welling and after the announcement, he tweeted: "Thanks everyone for the messages. Buzzing to be called up for England U21 squad."

England face Qatar, Colombia, Brazil and South Korea in their Toulon group.

They lead their qualifying group for the 2015 European Championships by six points and would all but seal their place in the finals in the Czech Republic if they beat Wales at Swansea's Liberty Stadium on Monday.

Southgate's squad will fly to France the following day to prepare for the Toulon Tournament, which runs from May 21 to June 1.



http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/sport/luton-town/england-u21-call-for-woodrow-1-6064638

[WhiteJC]

 
New Boys' Verdict

Defenders John Heitinga and Fernando Amorebieta were left reeling after their maiden campaigns in Fulham colours ended in relegation.

Heitinga joined the Club at the end of the January transfer window from Everton, while Amorebieta arrived in the summer from Spain, and the Venezuela international admitted his first stint in the UK did not go as planned.

"It's different football, it's a new team for me, a new experience," he told fulhamfc.com. "It was not a good season because we went down and now we need to play in a different division and make sure we go up again."

Heitinga agreed that the displays were not up to scratch, stating: "It's a feeling that is not nice. I've been here for more than three months, played 14 games, and unfortunately we didn't have enough to survive in the league.

"It's more that we disappointed people inside and outside the Club; the Chairman, the fans. They don't deserve this and hopefully we can manage to come back in one season."

The Sky Bet Championship has earned a reputation over the years as a difficult league to get out of, and it will certainly be an interesting year for the Whites next season.

Looking ahead to 2014/15, Heitinga mused: "I think that the combination of promising youth with experienced players means it's possible to have a really good squad next season."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/may/16/new-boys-verdict?