Mitroglou will stay at Fulham

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Mitro does not look like a player that is going to get back to to form he once had. The injuries so far have made him look slow, short sighted and lacking in any positional sense. I would love it if he somehow could cut it again. But there is no way he will come close to returning to what we are told he once was without lots of time.

On saying that, if he is honest he cannot go to another top league and fail. Better to try and win back his place at Fulham and take a gamble. It is after all a better league than several of the ones the clubs that want him are in.

I am struggling to understand this.

I can follow how an injury can make you look slow but how does it make you look "short sighted and lacking in any positional sense"? Did he have a bang on the head?

I presume by "he cannot go to another top league and fail" you mean he failed in the PL with Fulham. That's an unfair assessment considering he hardly played through injury.

And at £10m I would hope that it shouldn't take much effort to "win back his place at Fulham" otherwise we really have been taken to the cleaners again. He ought to be ahead of all our other forwards, even McCormack.

And why is it a gamble?

You can' really be struggling with the simple concept that an injury can effect the way a player plays beyond the physical. There are so many instances of players losing form after injury despite them supposedly surmounting the physical problems. Players can lose the timing and 'football sense' and fail to get it back.

If he leaves and fails in another league because of the above problem, managers and owners will not say, 'Oh we can't count his time in the Prem'. If he was injured with another injury and played, then that was foolish of him. As he looked short sighted and lacking in any football sense.

You also state that for some reason his big fee will allow him to glide in and take his place in the team. 'At 10 million it wouldn't take much effort'. These people are not machines but people. These over paid millionaires can still be short of match awareness and practice and can lose it altogether. The fee means nothing.

Hope this explains my post more clearly.

Yes, I understand that after an injury players may never play as well again but it is usually down to a loss of speed that used to be their main asset, a weakness due to the injury or a fear of a repeated injury, not to appearing "short sighted and lacking in any positional sense".

If Mitroglu succeeds or fails next season his first six months with us will be forgotten (excepting that it was when problems first occurred). If he fails with us in the Championship not only will it look that he has not got over his injury but that he doesn't have a future career even in the second level.

I said "And at £10m I would hope that it shouldn't take much effort to "win back his place at Fulham" otherwise we really have been taken to the cleaners again". Ignoring the "I would hope . . ." and "otherwise . . ." completely changes my meaning always assuming his problems are now down to fitness and not a long term possibly career ending injury.

[greek_coyw]

Hello guys!
Since he is my favourite player (sad story) i have to remind you of a fact about his style/ injury
If you look on videos the way he scores, it does not involve much running
He is a great finisher both with foot and head still he needs someone to pass him the ball.
He is physically strong and he can keep the ball between defenders, but he woks IN the penalty box (or close to it)
If he recovers, we will have a great finisher in fulham that can score a lot but on the other hand he will need good midfielders for assists. Even in his 100% he will not be the person to run half the field and score. If he was, in his good days he would have a 20+ million price
Unfortunately, he seems career-dishoriented these days

What made me like this player is his strength and crazy attitude, so lets hope he will regain both of them and stay in Fulham for a great scoring year

[MJG]

Here is an article from Viva El Fulham defending him
http://www.vivaelfulham.co.uk/articles/the-case-for-the-defence-of-k-mitroglou--7-441.html


When news of Konstantinos Mitroglou's departure from Olympiakos to Fulham arrived, the majority of the footballing journalist aristocratic class came to the same conclusion: good move Fulham. This was the striker who had spent seasons scoring for fun in Greece, and had done so against the best in the Champions League. Arsene Wenger, Le Professeur himself, had claimed he was a "true finisher". Fulham were getting a player whose quality was above their station, and El Pistolero was the man to fire Fulham out of the rut they found themselves in.

Now, five months later, we can see that he was not the man to rescue Fulham from the pit of the Premier League. But can we really write Mitroglou off as a failure? The Greek, after all, featured but twice due to injury and related fitness issues in the dying embers of the doomed campaign to keep Fulham up. Surely we cannot write him off personally as a failure, if the issues that he came with were known. We can't say, oh, Mitroglou, well he played a lot and didn't score many, and that is why we went down.

Rather there is an important distinction that I think has become rather blurred recently. The transfer may have been a failure, mostly because its intended purpose was a failure: we didn't stay up, and Mitroglou didn't score the goals to keep us up. But personally, the player hasn't been a failure: he hasn't played, so we can hardly blame him for the transfer being less than successful. This distinction, of the blame being with the club or with the player, has shifted so that both sides seem to take equal flack. But this isn't fair on Mitroglou.


A club failure rather than a personal failure?

Browse a fan forum on the keyword search of Mitroglou and the same comments crop up. Lazy. Not fit for English football. Poor touch. Slow. Do we have any evidence for this? Not proper evidence. We have two appearances worth of evidence, after he was injured, and when he was still coming back to full fitness. We were a poor team, playing even worse football: as most fans will readily admit, we lacked structure, we lacked a plan and, most obviously, we lacked a playmaker. Mitroglou played upfront, unfit, away from home, with no service, and instantly we apparently received the full measure of the man. I think not. Furthermore, perhaps it was our expectations of Magath's character that reinforced any stereotypes we had assumed. Magath is infamous for his dedication to fitness and hard work, even once dropping his striker, Patrick Helmes, for not doing enough defensive work. If Magath didn't play him, then surely he was lazy, right? Again, this is flawed logic. Mitroglou was not fit.

Even more, Mitroglou's appearances at the World Cup were used to reinforce this image that was appearing. "poo!" roared Twitter collectively after Mitroglou hit a shot over the bar. "AWFUL" it shouted when he misplaced a pass. Placed under the microscope at the finals, he could do no right. Again, there are some important points that were missed. Mitroglou was coming into the finals having played under 180 minutes of football since February. He barely had time to influence matches, rather being chucked on for the last half hour to see if he could muster up something. This was the Greek team that managed to score just two non-penalty goals in four games at the final. They were hardly the world's most amazing attacking outfit.

Mitroglou the man hasn't failed. He hasn't had a proper chance to prove himself.

Now, the transfer certainly failed, and the club should take a lot of stick over this. Mitroglou didn't score the goals because he wasn't fit. We were relegated because we didn't have anybody who could score goals (or defend them, for that matter). Seven million pounds and rising for a man who wasn't fit and was injured when signed? Madness. Why wasn't Finbagsson, who we bid for according to the player himself, properly chased,when he was both fit and in form? A number of questions can be asked about the failure of the transfer, and some criticism certainly can be aimed at the club for it.

But personally, Mitroglou has received a lot of unfair stick. He didn't play- this wasn't his choice, he was injured. We haven't seen him properly, and so we can't really make a proper evaluation of the man, his skill sets and his relative worth. Think about it: if you were unable to go to work because of an injury due to a long-term health problem,say, a five month long migraine, and then went to work when it got better (but you still felt under the weather) and then were criticsed for poor work performance, you'd feel slightly aggrieved. Rightly so. You were never going to perform to your best when still recovering. You would be criticised for being ill, a problem that wasn't your fault.

The same is true with Mitroglou. Criticise the club and the transfer, call it the worlds worst transfer, the worst relegation buy of all time. It was. The transfer failed. But criticising Mitroglou,calling him a flop of a player who isn't suited to the English game, saying that he was useless, pretending that his performances was a major part of why we went down. It doesn't make sense. He never got the chance to try and save us. Mitroglou has never had a chance to show what he can and can't do. Therefore, can we really label him personally a failure? The transfer we can, but judgement on Mitroglou the man perhaps should be reserved until further viewing.

@ten_centpistol

[RaySmith]

I agree that Mitro has had a lot of unfair stick. No-one can criticise his performance when hardly played, in a failing team, and unfit.

Even in the WC I thought he got criticised unfairly -usually coming on in the last 30mins, as said-
but when he played for a significant proportion of the match it was only two great saves by the keeper that stopped him ensuring a Greek victory-
chances that Mitro did well to be in position for, and to direct on target.
Though he did score a classy penalty.

So IF he stays at Fulham, which seems uncertain, and is fit, I expect him to play an important role.

[F(f)CUK]

If there was one player in our entire squad that needed a full pre season workout behind him it's Mitroglou , every other player that went out at the same stage as Greece have long since returned to their club, and yet we still wait for Mitroglou (and Dejagah)
Forget which game it was at The World Cup when he went off injured after 20 mins rubbing his side after a minor collision, but that moment told us all we need to know about Mitroglou !
Loic Remy signed for Liverpool yesterday for £8.5 million, in that case how much is Mitroglou worth now ?
I think the club will do everything in its power this week to move him on , probably on loan, and fully expect a mystery illness or injury to prevent him from travelling to Florida !

Remy had a buy-out clause of £8.5M - so does not reflect the current market top price for that player.

[westcliff white]

If there was one player in our entire squad that needed a full pre season workout behind him it's Mitroglou , every other player that went out at the same stage as Greece have long since returned to their club, and yet we still wait for Mitroglou (and Dejagah)
Forget which game it was at The World Cup when he went off injured after 20 mins rubbing his side after a minor collision, but that moment told us all we need to know about Mitroglou !
Loic Remy signed for Liverpool yesterday for £8.5 million, in that case how much is Mitroglou worth now ?
I think the club will do everything in its power this week to move him on , probably on loan, and fully expect a mystery illness or injury to prevent him from travelling to Florida !

I believe under FIFA regs they are allowed upto 3 weeks off, so there was nothing we can do about it, I would not say all players are back that went out at the same stage but I do take your point. I am sure if he stays he will get fit and put in some good performances.

[YankeeJim]

He barely had time to influence matches, rather being chucked on for the last half hour to see if he could muster up something. This was the Greek team that managed to score just two non-penalty goals in four games at the final. They were hardly the world's most amazing attacking outfit.



This is an argument that he is still, at the least, unfit and likely still injured. He if was capable of doing more, he would have started. The Greeks certainly needed some help. I'm beginning to believe that his injury was a career ender.

[bmasar]

I really dislike when thread titles sound factual when they are in fact very much opinion.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

One thing I will say is that with everything that has happened in the last 7 month, if I was him I would have
skipped a long holiday and been straight back to Fulham getting fit to start the new season and repay our faith
outlay and support.
Perhaps there some thing in his contract or 'union' that says he can't
That tells me something about him, not rushing back to his employers to try to get in the good books.

[AUSFFC]

I think everyone is putting too much criticism on a guy who has hardly played, I understand the disappointment... he never did what he came to do for us last year, but you cant blame the bloke for being injured! I think if they gave him a chance to get fit (and if he wanted to) he would be a great player for us, especially in the championship.. and yes I do believe he will need a midfielder to deliver it to him..

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I honestly believe that if he stay's and get's fit, he will be our main striker next season.... I can't see it happening though unfortunately.....

[westcliff white]

One thing I will say is that with everything that has happened in the last 7 month, if I was him I would have
skipped a long holiday and been straight back to Fulham getting fit to start the new season and repay our faith
outlay and support.
Perhaps there some thing in his contract or 'union' that says he can't
That tells me something about him, not rushing back to his employers to try to get in the good books.

I think you miss the point roger, fifa and the country can insist on a rest period of up to 3 weeks, the club have no say in this. The player can ask for it to be shorter through his countries FA but if they refuse then fulham can do nothing. At Least that's my rudimentary understanding of how the regulation is written.

[Northern Cottager]

Mitrogolou fit and Mc Cormack up top with Woodrow and Taggart waiting sounds phenomenal.

[fulham traveller]

he will be off, I will bet my mortgage on it

[andyk]

I imagine he may start in August, if he scores goals he will be off in the transfer window, if he proves to be rubbish he will stay. That's the way it usually works.

[epsomraver]

Told you we should have bought Andy Carroll when we had the chance! :005:

[TheManOnTheBus]

He is not travelling to the US of course, but is he in Austria getting fit?