Saturday Fulham Stuff (30/08/14)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Mohamed Al Fayed slams Felix Magath and labels Shahid Khan an 'absentee landlord' after their criticism of former Fulham owner
Fulham manager Felix Magath had blamed former owner for club's demise
Mohamed Al Fayed rejected claims that he had recruited badly
Former owner said Magath needs to focus on improving results
Al Fayed described new owner Shahid Khan as an 'absentee landlord'

Mohamed Al Fayed has hit back at Felix Magath after the Fulham manager blamed the club's former owner for their recent demise.

The Cottagers were relegated from the Barclays Premier League in May, after 13 seasons, and a poor start to life in the Sky Bet Championship saw fans of the club calling for the manager to be sacked.

Magath told the London Evening Standard Al Fayed 'had not spent money', despite injecting around £200million into the club in 16 years to take them to the Premier League. He also claimed, under Al Fayed's ownership, Fulham 'sold the best players and brought in average players. You cannot go on doing that for a long time.'


Changing hands: Shahid Khan (right) bought Fulham from Mohamed Al Fayed (left) in 2013

Torrid time: Felix Magath has overseen Fulham's awful start to the Championship season

However, Al Fayed has described suggestions he is to blame as 'absurd' and was keen to point the finger back at Magath and 'absentee landlord' Shahid Khan, who he sold the club to last year.

Writing in his column for the London Evening Standard on Friday, Al Fayed said: 'What an odd man Felix Magath is. I am not talking about the way he jumps around in the technical area when things go wrong on the pitch and then appeals to the dugout as if the physio and team doctor had caused it.

'No, what's strange is that after losing Fulham's first four games of the Championship season, he has got time to criticise me - someone he has never met - instead of devoting every waking second to putting right his own glaring mistakes.

'There is nothing dishonourable about failure, if you face up to it. Mr Magath isn't the first foreign coach to find the English game hard. What is wrong, and frankly un-English, is to blame someone else instead of taking responsibility for your own actions.


Hitting back: Al Fayed has described suggestions he is to blame for club's demise as 'absurd'

'I sold my beloved Fulham on July 13, 2013. If a week is a long time in politics, 13 months is a lifetime in football. Mr Magath was brought in to stave off relegation from the Premier League but instead presided over a meek surrender.

'It broke my heart. After 16 years at the helm at Craven Cottage, to see my work destroyed in a season was a bitter experience. To be blamed for that failure, is absurd.

'Fortunately, there are 25,000 people who know the truth. The Fulham fans. I am content to be judged by them.'

Al Fayed also insisted he spent money in the best interests of the club, who saw their best years under his ownership as they reached the final of the Europa League in 2010.

'We played our part in making it the best and most entertaining league in the world. Fulham achieved their highest ever top-flight finish, seventh,' he wrote.


Under pressure: Fulham boss Magath is in desperate need for his side to start picking up points


Outraged: Al Fayed insisted he spent money in the best interests of the club

'We carried English prestige into the inaugural season of the Europa League, taking Atletico Madrid into extra-time in the final and within five minutes of a penalty shoot-out.

'Mr Magath says I bought only average players? So who were the men playing that night in Germany? I'll tell you: titans of the game and every one a hero.

'In football, you cannot be an absentee landlord, as I fear Shahid Khan is most of the time. I went on the pitch before games. I met the fans. I talked to the players. I encouraged them. Yes, they are paid a lot of money but they are still young men who need inspiration. People work for people, not anonymous boards of directors. I gave the players gold chocolate bars from Harrods. If they needed to try harder, I handed out blue peppermints and said they were Viagra.

'Those players never let me down.


Misery: Fulham's Scott Parker looks dejected as the west London side lose 1-0 against Wolves

'The personal touch is important. Managers need encouragement too. Every manager I chose tried to take Fulham forward. Two of them became England managers.'

He added: 'When I was young, there was a cartoon character, Felix the Cat. Whatever happened to him - whether he was run over on the road to Dover or blown up with dynamite - he just kept on walking.

'If Fulham's results do not improve, starting with Cardiff tomorrow, perhaps this particular Felix should follow that cat down the road to Dover and then just keep on walking.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2737897/Mohamed-Al-Fayed-slams-Felix-Magath-labels-Shahid-Khan-absentee-landlord-criticism-former-Fulham-owner.html#ixzz3Br8IBoRn
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[WhiteJC]

 
McCormack up and running and looks a good bet to score against Cardiff

fter a much-needed win in the Capital One Cup in midweek, Fulham now need to start picking up points in the Championship – beginning with the visit of Cardiff City this weekend.charlie-mcCann_Aff

The Whites are out to 33/1 for the title and 12/1 for promotion after their poor start, but the 5/1 at BetVictor for a top-six finish might be a shade too big.

The Welsh Club did the double over Fulham in the Premier League last season although they have only won one of their last 18 on the road in the league.

Felix Magath's side are 9/5 for a first Championship win of the season, with Cardiff marginal favourites at 17/10 and the draw at 23/10.

Ross McCormack is up and running for the Whites after scoring the only goal of the game in the local derby against Brentford and the striker is 11/2 to score the opener against his former club and 40/1 to grab a hat-trick.

McCormack has drifted out to 20/1 to be the Championship's top scorer but he is slowly finding his feet at Craven Cottage and now might be the time to support him.



http://www.westlondonsport.com/features-comment/football-wls-mccormack-is-up-and-running-and-looks-a-good-bet-to-score-against-cardiff

[WhiteJC]

 
Buy High and Sell Low: The Economics of Fulham's Relegation
by CHRIS GILBERTSON on AUGUST 29, 2014

The drawbridge is about to rise and another transfer window set to close. With that in mind, a quote in Felix Magath's latest letter where he claims Fulham were quoted £12m for a Championship goalkeeper has left me wondering why Fulham seem to have so much trouble when it comes to selling players? We either seem to give them away on the cheap or can't sell them at all?

This might actually be a false assumption. When it comes to transfers, appearances can be deceiving and reports in the press can be highly deceiving. Comparing one deal to another is a fool's errand at the best of times, let alone without the full facts to play with. Seeing one well respected journalist tweet a comparison between the transfers of Ross McCormack and Xabi Alonso today shows the ease at which transfer stories can be manipulated and misinterpreted.

However, one undeniable fact is that, on the face of it, Fulham have for a while now, appeared to under-value our players when it comes time to show them the exit. Felix Magath's £12m goalkeeper claim comes in stark contrast to the sale of David Stockdale to Brighton for a paltry £1m. Bryan Ruiz reportedly has a £3m price tag around his neck despite costing £11m and starring at the World Cup, while Kostas Mitroglou seems to have been linked to every team in Europe with nobody yet willing to pay us what we paid for him seven months ago.

So why then, do Fulham appear to come off on the bad end of these deals?

Communication (or-lack thereof)

Under the club's current communications regime it is safe to say there has been a reluctance to share information. We may have actually profited on some deals, but Fulham could have sold Ashkan Dejagah to Qatari side Al Arabi for half of Doha and 50,000 barrels of crude oil and we'd still be told it was an undisclosed fee. The need-to-know basis on which information has been shared with fans and journalists over the past few years has restricted the flow of facts to the very minimum. This has led to rampant speculation amongst fans and a need to get information from other sources for journalists. Hence the talk of Ross McCormack's fee being £11m coming from the Massimo Cellino spin machine at Leeds. With no retort from Fulham is it any wonder we've been the butt of so many ill-fated comparisons so far this summer.

*Of course there must be reason to Fulham's methods, indeed one can't help but think this week's tub-thumping bout of verbal mud-slinging between Felix Magath, Shahid Khan and former owner Mohamad Al-Fayed has come about thanks to an apparent bypass of the club communication team. Although, while the public blame game has now turned somewhat unsavoury, it is at least nice to see Fulham actually make the papers. With perpetual undisclosed fees and player quotes normally coming straight from watered-down club website PR puff pieces this change of tact is at least a tiny bit refreshing.

Selling at the wrong time

Part of the blame for Fulham having to sell low is that we're currently obvious sellers. Having been relegated and left with disillusioned players, Fulham's negotiation poker face has been turned into a blank stare. When buyers know you want to sell, there is no incentive to pay fair value, let alone over-pay. The transfer window system has made the entire business of negotiating player movement one giant game of chicken. Unfortunately for us it is usually the party in the more eager position that blinks first. Fulham have been panic buyers in previous windows and are facing the prospect of being panic sellers on Monday.

An example is Bryan Ruiz in whom Fulham have a player they do not wish to keep, and one who himself does not wish to stay. With a year left on his contract, Bryan currently resembles a used car, if he stays at the club a minute past the transfer deadline, his value will plummet below its already deflated asking price.

Selling the wrong stock

Of course you can't sell what you don't have. Unless Alistair Mackintosh is sat at Motspur Park practicing his best Jordan Belfort impression, there is little chance of him conjuring up any miracle transfer fees. Of the playing staff from last season there was barely a player of decent value amongst them. Most were old and suffering from a decline in performance even Mohamed Al-Fayed's 'peppermints' would have struggled to fix. The younger ones were nearly all played sparingly or out-of-position by Fulham's cavalcade of different managers, diminishing any prospect of generating future hope value.

Those that did command fees on departure mostly left under the aforementioned iron curtain of undisclosed ambiguity, such as Kasami and Dejagah. Others, like Stockdale, were reportedly sold disaffected and un-wanted. It's the exact method Roy Hodgson used so brilliantly to acquire the likes of Etuhu and Murphy for us in exchange for little more than a few grains of sand.

The outward transfer of Kerim Frei in 2012 was a prime example on the face of it. Our brightest academy prospect at the time, he left for Besiktas under-valued and over-weight. Players must be nurtured in order to yield magic beans come transfer windows and up till now the pressures of Premier League football have prevented that from truly taking place.

One look at Southampton this summer though and we can see where Fulham might be in a few years in terms of transfer fees received. There is little to suggest that the likes of Roberts, Woodrow, Dembele, Hyndman, Bettinelli and Burgess don't have the talent to emulate the Lallana, Shaw, Forster, Chambers and Schneiderlin's of the world in years to come. Given the right environment and regular game time these players could command significant fees in the future. Of course not every young player has the potential to be bought for £20m but it's amazing the value that big clubs will place of young players who have actually played.

Negotiation

Alistair Mackintosh has always had a good reputation when it comes to negotiating. There often seemed a "take it or leave it" hard-line stance to our negotiations. We rarely usurped other teams when buying, and when we wanted rid of players we sold them with little fuss and fanfare. The Jol years slowly seemed to change that though and the now infamous Dembele & Dempsey summer was particular disastrous. The Belgian's release clause was set at the frustratingly realistic sum of £15m, while we were surreptitiously held to ransom by a wantaway Dempsey. Of course, none of us know whether Mousa's release clause was a condition of his transfer from AZ Alkmaar in the first place, but it was hard not to feel as if a part of Fulham's soul got burned that fateful August week in 2012.

Whether you bear in mind the fact he largely dealt himself the hand in front of him, considering what he had to work with our CEO did actually do quite well to get any return on some transfers. Getting Monaco and Valencia to absorb the contracts of Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos felt a bit like giving a piece of rubbish to someone else to put in the bin. That both players are actually now playing at a higher level above and beyond their performances for Fulham is more a testament to our lack of decent coaching and management than anyone's negotiation skill.

Ashkan Dejagah was sold almost immediately following a stellar World Cup and you rather feel we missed a trick not selling Bryan from a beachside cabana in Brazil while his stock was at its highest in July.

Currency

There is one other factor making sales difficult, foreign exchange. The British Pound is incredibly strong at present. The value of £1 Sterling has risen 10 cents from €1.16 to €1.26 in last year.

If you consider Bryan Ruiz's reported asking price of £3m, currency fluctuations over the past 12 months would mean an increases cost of £300,000 (or €380,000) for a continental European buyer. If we also consider that Ruiz is likely to command anywhere up to £40,000 a week, currency movement alone has increased his wage by £208,000 a year (€262,000). Over the course of a four year contract that's an additional £1,150,000 in total cost for a European team looking to buy Bryan. If you consider then that the majority of our more expensive players would be targets for clubs in the Eurozone (as opposed to domestic £GBP sales) and combine that with players' ages, contract length and desire to leave along with our position as known sellers, the only realistic outcome is that asking prices become reduced.

Similarly, why would a club like Werder Bremen who are struggling financially mess around structuring a transfer deal in multiple currencies when they have the option not to?

It is cheaper for European countries to sign players from areas where the Euro is the stronger currency. It is perhaps then no surprise that we discover Werder Bremen's biggest transfer outlay this summer has been €1m on Argentinean defender Santiago Garcia from Chilean club Rangers Talca. The Euro has risen almost 20% against the Chilean Peso in the past year. As Garcia was signed at a pre-agreed price following a loan spell, were the fee agreed in Pesos at the start of the deal, he would have been €200,000 cheaper at the end of his loan deal than at the start. Though that transfer was likely hedged against currency movement, the point still stands that it will always be easier to import to a strong currency than export to places with a weaker currency.

Relativity

The final point is that relative value is generated in each particular market. This is not necessarily a currency point and more a multi-layered question as to a player's style, experience and perceived compatibility to a particular league. Does a £1,000,000 fee in England for one player equate to a €1,000,000 fee or a €1,260,000 fee for an identical player in Europe? Is it a question of currency or relativity? With the in-built wealth present in the English game, it is inherently a question of relativity.

The highest transfer fee paid domestically in England this summer was the £30m paid by Manchester United for teenage left back Luke Shaw from Southampton. The biggest domestic fee in Germany on the other hand was the €14m paid by Bayer Leverkusen for Hamburg attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. The highest fee in Italy was €22m, paid by Roma for Argentinean winger Juan Iturrbe from Hellas Verona, however, Hellas themselves had simultaneously exorcised a €15m purchase option in Iturrbe's loan from Porto in order to cash in on a player who had taken immediately to Serie A. The Iturrbe deal aside, the next highest domestic fees in Italy were the equal €5.5m deals Lazio completed for Dusan Basta and Marco Parolo respectively, while the highest in Spain was the €20m Barcelona paid Valencia for experienced French centre half Jeremy Mathieu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK58AssP9tc

Would any of those transfer fees have been as high if there were only foreign clubs in for the players? Maybe as each players value comes as a result of supply and demand, but as long as there's a player who's a proven commodity in any particular league, demand for signature will always be higher. This explains the Ross McCormack price as he is worth more to a team in the Championship, where he is proven, than a team in the Premiership where he'd present a risk.

The magnitude of those domestic European deals serves to reinforce the assertion that the intrinsic value held within the English game places it at a premium above its European rivals. For a smaller club like Fulham looking to the European markets to sell, this premium can make it incredibly difficult to sell unless our expectations of fees received come down.

When you put all these together, perhaps it's little wonder that Fulham haven't been able to cash in this summer.

COYW


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2014/08/buy-high-and-sell-low-the-economics-of-fulhams-relegation/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham v Cardiff City. Match preview

Fulham are still looking for their first points in the League. Can Cardiff pile the pressure on Felix Magath?

Fulham finally won a game this season when they beat Brentford in midweek in the Capital One Cup. Ex City player and £11m!! striker Ross McCormack getting the only goal.

But in the League Fulham have lost all four games and sit bottom of the Championship table.

11 months ago this was a Premier League fixture and Jordon Mutch's injury time winner saw the Bluebirds come home with all three points. There's no Mutch in the City squad now but summer signing Federico Macheda could be in line to start after a two goal debut in midweek as City beat Port Vale.

Early team news:
Fulham have doubts over Scott Parker and Mark Fotheringham ahead of the visit of Cardiff.

Whites skipper Parker twisted his ankle during Tuesday night's Capital One Cup victory at neighbours Brentford while fellow midfielder Fotheringham suffered a hip injury and needs a scan.

Boss Felix Magath rotated his squad for the trip to Griffin Park but might be tempted to keep changes to a minimum this time after Fulham won their first game of the season at the fifth attempt.

Striker Adam Taggart is expected to miss out again with a back injury.

Cardiff striker Federico Macheda is set to make his league debut after his two-goal show in the Capital One Cup victory at Port Vale.

The Italian joined Cardiff on a free transfer earlier this summer after his contract with Manchester United came to an end, but until Tuesday's 3-2 win the former Birmingham loanee had been sidelined for a month with a back injury.

"Kiko will definitely be involved at Fulham, it is possible he will start," Cardiff manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.

Aron Gunnarsson is battling to be fit for Saturday after picking up an ankle injury against Wolves last weekend and summer signing Kagisho Dikgacoi stands by for his first league start if the Icelandic midfielder does not make it.


http://www.cardiffcity-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/fulham_v_cardiff_city_match_preview_839902/index.shtml?

[Nero]

just read in the sun that fulham are going to put a bid in for matt smith the leeds striker

[WhiteJC]

 
Striker Coming?
   
With the transfer window set to slam shut at 23:00 hours on Monday 1st September, the grapevine suggests that Felix Magath may be preparing to bring in a striker.

Having already signed Ross McCormack from Leeds United, for £11 million, it`s rumoured that Magath is set to return to Elland Road for another striker.

The player in question being Matt Smith a 25 year old six feet six inch striker who was playing non-league football as recently as 2011.

Smith has scored 12 goals in 42 games for the Yorkshire club and it is hoped that a £500,000 bid could lure him to London.

We`ll keep an eye out for any developments on this one.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=368813#ixzz3BsfKtnw9

[WhiteJC]

 
Owen Hargreaves: 'Felix Magath runs players into the ground'

Owen Hargreaves has said that Fulham manager Felix Magath makes his players work too hard during training.

The former England international played under the German during his spell in charge at Bayern Munich from 2004 to 2007.

The retired midfielder told BT Sport: "He definitely does that. I can guarantee you he's running them into the ground, that's standard procedure.

"At times we would have a game, pre-season, in the evening and we'd be doing stairs in front of the top players. The lads had won Champions Leagues and we'd be thinking, 'what's going on here?'

"But that's his philosophy, it's medicine balls, it's running. We used to do full-length sprints holding medicine balls. The sport scientists would be having a heart attack watching that nowadays, but that was just his regime. He came from that era. That's the way he knows to prepare players and there's no way it's going to work in this country. Impossible."

Fulham sit at the bottom of the Championship table with no wins from their opening four matches of the season.


http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/fulham/news/hargreaves-magath-runs-players-into-the-ground_173887.html

[WhiteJC]

 
Magath On Kiraly

Felix Magath believes new signing Gabor Kiraly's experience will prove beneficial to his young goalkeepers.

Jesse Joronen has started Fulham's four league games this season, while Marcus Bettinelli took the gloves for Tuesday's Capital One Cup tie at Brentford.

Kiraly has since arrived from TSV 1860 Munich and Magath feels the 38-year-old will be a positive influence on the Club's shot-stoppers.

"A very good goalkeeper costs a lot of money," Magath said. "So we don't buy a very expensive goalkeeper and I changed my mind because in training sessions both young goalkeepers were doing very well; they were ambitious and worked hard.

"I was searching now for an older goalkeeper whose career is at the end and he should join us and both young goalkeepers to teach them and help them to develop. Therefore, I took a 38-year-old. If he is good enough and in good shape, why shouldn't he play? We have competition now in the team with three goalkeepers and the best will play."

Kiraly is famous for wearing jogging bottoms on the pitch and Magath had no problems with the veteran sporting those for Fulham, stating: "Yeah sure, he always wears these trousers so why not if he keeps out goals he can wear all the trousers he likes!"

With the transfer window closing next week, Magath was inevitably asked about potential comings and goings at the Cottage and whether he felt his squad was too large.

"It is not less but not too many because the Championship season is longer than any other season and besides, we try to stay a long time in the cup games," said Magath. "We need, until the end of the season, more players. Here we have a lot of young players that are 18, Pat Roberts is 17. You cannot count on them to play for us 40 times this season. So they are here to develop in this season."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/august/30/magaths-cardiff-preview?