Riether gone to Freiburg

[Banjo123]

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/june/26/riether-heads-for-freiburg?utm_source=Social&utm_medium=AllSocial&utm_campaign=TB

[westcliff white]

on last years form no loss, on the seasons before massive loss.

[rusty shackleford]

Is this the biggest clearout in football history?

Hangeland, Sidwell, Holtby, Duff, Bent, Berbatov, Taraabt, Heitinga, Riether, Diarra, Karagounis, Riise,  Briggs, Etheridge, Boateng gone since Jan

Kasami, Ruiz, Miroglou, Tank, Richardson, Stek likely to leave.

And thats only off the top of my head, theres been more

[shnlwswlkr]

Holtby, Bent, Taarabt were loans, that doesn't really count.

[cmg]

Is this the biggest clearout in football history?

Hangeland, Sidwell, Holtby, Duff, Bent, Berbatov, Taraabt, Heitinga, Riether, Diarra, Karagounis, Riise,  Briggs, Etheridge, Boateng gone since Jan

Kasami, Ruiz, Miroglou, Tank, Richardson, Stek likely to leave.

And thats only off the top of my head, theres been more

Incredible isn't it?
And yet, as you yourself said in a response to another thread, there's hardly a one, out of all those who have definitely gone, whose departure particularly bothers me.

[EJL]

Riether's performances in his debut season easily made him one of the best fullbacks in the league. I remember players like Bale and Nani not being able to get a sniff against him. He was strong, tenacious, fantastic on the overlap, a great crosser of the ball, tireless and, most importantly, our most consistent player. However, he bafflingly showed none of those qualities during the last campaign.

[Tonywa]

In what was, last season at least, a lamentable defence, he stood out as being one of the worst players. Always getting caught out of position and prone to lunging in and giving away needless free kicks or (in the case of the Liverpool game) a penalty. In addition his attacking work was poor.  Such a falling off in form from the previous season, but I don't think many supporters will regret his departure.

[grandad]

Seems his form dropped as soon as he got a contract after his loan spell. Sad really as hi was great in his 1st season. Wish him well though.

[RaySmith]

Maybe he felt more pressure on him in his second season. in his first he had nothing to lose, plus our defence was collectively playing with little confidence.

He's a top player and it's a shame to lose him, but hopefully his fellow German replacement will be more than adequate.

[PokerMatt]

Based on Riether's performances last season, we've done well to effectively swap him for Hoogland.

Riether might have improved in the Championship, but Hoogland will be good for that league.

[MasterHaynes]

As many have said practically all of the players that have left so far will not be missed, which underlines the main reason why we got relegated last year, yet on paper at the start with all our players CV's it looked like one of our strongest squads ever. S this season I'm not going to predict how good we might be by looking at the names and their CV's or who other teams have signed and wait until I see the whites play at Crawley and our 1st game at Ipswich.

[Pluto]

In his first season he was phenomenal but last season he was beyond abysmal. I would go as far as to say our worst defender.

[Fernhurst]

on last years form no loss, on the seasons before massive loss.

Plus one ----- really went off him.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

Based on Magrath's history this clear out can't be a surprise although I'm not sure he's been this extreme before.

I wouldn't have been surprised if this hadn't happened even if we didn't get relegated

[Burt]

The thing is, whilst individually it is easy to say that "they won't really be missed", what it does mean is a huge amount of disruption as Felix in effect has to build a completely new team.

There are a lot on here who are confident of an immediate bounce-back to the premier league.

On the basis that we have a massive transition to go through whilst playing established teams like Forest, Derby etc, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we struggled for a bit.

We have some big games against some of the promotion hopefuls in our first 10 fixtures, how we perform in these matches will be a good signpost to the rest of the season.

[Jamie88]

Does anyone know what sort of fee we got for him? Not much I would expect

[Berserker]

It looks to me that we are re-building a new team.

[Classic94]

The thing is, whilst individually it is easy to say that "they won't really be missed", what it does mean is a huge amount of disruption as Felix in effect has to build a completely new team.

There are a lot on here who are confident of an immediate bounce-back to the premier league.

On the basis that we have a massive transition to go through whilst playing established teams like Forest, Derby etc, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we struggled for a bit.

We have some big games against some of the promotion hopefuls in our first 10 fixtures, how we perform in these matches will be a good signpost to the rest of the season.

Good points, but I'm actually quite excited by the idea of a fresh start. I'd much rather us shaft the deadwood and build around the kids than persist with the same old rubbish. The squad had become so poor and last season we were just pitiful to watch. In truth, I haven't enjoyed watching Fulham for a good few years - it all became so predictable and stale. The transition is daunting but also necessary.

[eloc]

From the teams website, Sascha has left for SC Freiburg for an undisclosed fee.

While I appreciated his efforts during his spell here, I believe this is a good move for the club. Riether is 31, an age too old for most wing backs. Speed is often the most important asset for a wingback, and riether lacked that. His age will only slow him down the longer he stays. Thanks for everything Sascha, and best of luck!

[Jamie88]

This was news about 10 days ago mate.
But yes I think it was time he moved on. As soon as he signed permanently, his form went downhill at an alarming rate when you consider his first season with us