Monday Fulham Stuff (15/09/14)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham Send for Grant Holt?
   
As Fulham`s season continues to lurch from crisis to crisis with another calamitous defeat, this time to Reading, transfer gossip links us with an ageing striker.

According to reports filtering through, courtesy of the Sunday People, it is being intimated that Felix Magath is looking at bringing Grant Holt to Craven Cottage.

The 33 year-old striker is currently plying his trade with Wigan having previously had Premier League experience with Norwich City and Aston Villa.

Is Grant Holt somebody you believe can help us out of the wilderness , or is it yet another panic measure , if it were to happen?


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=370444#ixzz3DJB3Dl2B

[WhiteJC]

 
Has Time Run Out for Felix?
   
With only one point won all season, we find ourselves firmly entrenched at the foot of the Championship.

Last season we were a Premier League team, this season we languish in the Championship and the way things are going it wouldn`t surprise me if we were dumped into League One come May.

Those, including me, who persevere and spend our hard-earned cash following the club, must deserve an award.

Yesterday, it came as no surprise to hear the travelling support burst into a chorus of,

"Magath Out."

and

"We want our Fulham back."

Things have gotten that bad.

I must admit I even broke into a wry smile when the Reading supporters burst into a chorus of,

"You`re getting sacked in the morning."

Would it be too much to ask that it comes true?


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=370458#ixzz3DJBJWF4M

[WhiteJC]

 
Parker: No Excuses

Scott Parker is making no excuses for the 3-0 defeat to Reading and the Fulham Captain admits Wednesday's match with Nottingham Forest cannot come soon enough.

The Royals controlled the game at the Madejski Stadium and Parker gave credit to the hosts for being the dominant side, insisting the Whites must quickly put this performance behind them.

"Before the sending off I think we were up against it," said Parker. "Then the sending off makes life doubly hard really. We get in at half-time at 1-0 and then they wore us down. To be fair to them, I thought they were a very good side. They dominated the game from start to finish and deserved to win.

"In the first half there were a couple of chances but as the game wore on we started to get a bit leggy, which you can understand playing with 10 men for a large part of the game, but we're not making any excuses for the 10 men.

"We dropped off them a little bit. They have a lot of time on the ball and every time they were switching the play it was causing us a few problems which we tried to deal with, but it was difficult at times, so we all need to take a long hard look and see what we can do moving forward."

A short turnaround between matches sees the Whites travel to the City Ground to play one of the division's early pace-setters, and Parker is expecting more of the same in terms of the challenge Stuart Pearce's men will provide in midweek.

"We all knew at the start of the season that the Championship is a tough league," added Parker.

"Maybe we're starting to realise how tough it really is now. It'll be exactly what we've seen since the start of the season really. Every game we've had has been really difficult, really tough."

"Going to Forest away will be equally as tough as Reading, so it is a quick turnaround, and I suppose one positive is that we can get to work and in a few days we play again, so we can't dwell on this for too long. We've got to draw a line under it and try and move forward."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/september/14/parker-no-excuses?

[WhiteJC]

 
nightmare debut for Fulham

Former Leeds United striker Matt Smith made his debut for his new club Fulham on Saturday.

The 25-year-old joined the Cottagers from fellow Championship outfit Leeds on transfer deadline day for a reported transfer fee of £500,000.

The switch came as a shock to many Leeds fans, especially as he moved to the West Yorkshire outfit just last year and followed Ross McCormack out of Elland Road to Craven Cottage this summer.

So it was no surprise that Leeds supporters did not wait long to mock their former star's performance for Fulham against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

Smith started the Championship encounter on Saturday afternoon, but he could not even last 20 minutes. That's because the former Oldham Athletic player was sent off in the 18th minute for a lunge on Hope Akpan.

Reading were 1-0 up at the stage, and scored two more goals in the remainder of the 90 minutes to win the game 3-0 and pick up all three points. The result leaves Fulham rooted to the foot of the Championship table with just one point from six matches.

Leeds themselves failed to win on Saturday, drawing 1-1 with Birmingham City at St Andrew's Stadium (click here to read more), but the club's fans did not hold back in mocking Smith on social networking site Twitter.


http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/09/14/leeds-united-fans-mock-matt-smiths-nightmare-debut-for-fulham/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Magath on Smith Red Card
   
As we reflect on life as the bottom team in the Championship, our under-fire box Felix Magath, has spoken about the red-card our debut striker Matt Smith received.

We could debate until the cows come home as to whether we`d fared any better with eleven against eleven but, the way things are going I seriously doubt it would have made any difference.

But, returning to the thoughts of Magath, this is what the boss had to say,

"I`ve spoken with him in the dressing room. Sure, he made a mistake but, in the first second of the match, he was wrestled to the ground."

"He did wrong - it was a sending-off. But is wrestling someone to the ground allowed in England?"

"What he did was wrong but it`s a problem in the game. If a player Is not protected by the referee, he will try and protect himself."

"Matt is a good guy and he apologised to everyone. But I can understand him."

Finishing, I must admit I chuckled when one of the travelling supporters remarked to me that he`d probably seen enough of life under Magath and decided he`d be better served serving a suspension!


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=370460#ixzz3DJFBoH8r

[WhiteJC]

 
Europe's last dictator is taking Fulham backwards

Felix Magath's reign as Fulham manager has been a mix of bemusement and constant disappointment in West London.

Brought to keep the club in the Premier League, Magath quickly angered players with his strict methods; January loan signing Lewis Holtby keen to leave once he heard his fellow German would be in charge.

The club went down with a whimper as Fulham showed minimal fight in their cause, as they ended second from bottom with just 32 points.

Magath was well known for his old school methods in the Bundeliga, being described as a dictator at former club Frankfurt.

Pre-season was a hefty mix of grueling runs and 11 v 11 matches between the squad as new faces arrived by the dozen.

The chance to revitalise the squad in the summer was undertaken in an odd manner as experienced British players were shipped out, including Damien Duff, Steve Sidwell and Kieron Richardson, only to have their places taken by imports. And the majority of their summer transfer budget was spent on Ross McCormack for £11million from Leeds, who was quickly declared as unfit by Magath.

Both senior goalkeepers were allowed to depart, with only Jesse Joronen and Marcus Bettinelli left to battle it out for the No.1 shirt, despite neither having played for the club beforehand. Since then jogging-bottomed supremo Gabor Kiraly has arrived, looking substandard on his debut in a 3-0 defeat to Reading on Saturday.

In defence captain Brede Hangeland was released after a successful spell with the club, with a collection of defenders being acquired in an attempt to take his place. Nine different defenders have already been used in their six Championship clashes, which they have only taken one point from.

Hangeland heavily criticised Magath, who has already used 27 players this season, and his methods following his departure from Fulham, he said: "He's very difficult to work with.

"He's a very strict manager and his main tool is to try to mentally and physically batter his players and hopefully get some results out of that.

"Is that the right fit for English football? I don't think so. I thought rather than help us try to avoid relegation he made things worse.

"I hope I'm wrong but I don't think he is the right man (to get Fulham promoted) and things will get worse before they get better."

Of the 27 players who have appeared for Fulham this season, nine have not appeared in English football before and 12 are academy graduates.

Fulham's under-18s made it to the Youth Cup final last season, showing they're not short of ability, but throwing these teenagers in at the deep end - replacing stalwarts - when Fulham need a quick return to the top flight is short-sighted from Magath, as it would be preferable to ease the kids in slowly.

Nine of the starting 11 at Reading on Saturday have made their Fulham debuts in the last six months, indicating the turnover in players the club have witnessed.

Former England international Scott Parker is the club captain now, providing the experience, but his best days are far behind him.

Magath has decided against selecting experienced internationals Fernando Amorebieta and Bryan Ruiz, who are easily better than Championship players.

Champions League winner John Arne Riise, who left in the summer, wasn't a fan of Magath, speaking out against the German following a 5-0 defeat at Derby in August.

"With his [Magath's] arrival, they've flushed everything [that club stands for] down the toilet. His methods are ancient.

"I spoke to a few players after the Derby match. Once they returned to London, Magath ordered a team meeting at 10.30pm.

"Then the next morning [which is normally their day off], players were ordered to run for one hour, then another training session at 2.30pm. It's not the way to get the boys going. And training methods are terrible."

If Riise is to believed and the players aren't enjoying his methods, which obviously aren't working, then it will be an uphill struggle for the Fulham squad to revitalise and save a season that already looks doomed to end in nothing better than Championship survival.

With one point in seven games following relegation from the Premier League and dissenting voices galore it might be time to end this failing experiment under Magath.


http://www.itv.com/sport/football/article/2014-09-14/europes-last-dictator-is-taking-fulham-backwards/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham fans heckle boss Magath

Fulham supporters called for manager Felix Magath to be sacked as the Cottagers slumped to a fifth defeat in six Sky Bet Championship games.

The visitors finished with 10 men as they slumped 3-0 at Reading, adding to the pressure on manager Magath who only joined in February. Reading won at a canter with a pair of headers from on-loan striker Glenn Murray, on his debut, and a late effort from Nick Blackman. Fulham's cause was rendered almost lost as early as the 18th minute, when former Leeds striker Matt Smith, also on debut, was sent off for a lunge on Hope Akpan. The west London club endured a miserable end to last season, winning only three matches out of 12 under Magath as they were relegated from the Barclays Premier League. Fulham have started the Championship similarly poorly, losing their opening four matches before earning their first point in a 1-1 draw with Cardiff. It hardly got any better for them at the Madejski Stadium, where they were a goal down and a man down before having the chance to settle into the game. Fulham had begun brightly, with Ross McCormack volleying over from close range after a Smith header. But they went behind in the 15th minute from Reading's first meaningful attack, led by Jordan Obita along the left flank. Obita crossed early and Murray, on loan from Crystal Palace until January, dived forward to head in from close range for his first goal for the club. Three minutes later, it got worse for Fulham. Smith went in late and high on Akpan and referee Mike Jones issued the red card immediately. Fulham responded well, with Tim Hoogland denied only by a last-ditch tackle from Chris Gunter and Chris David forcing a fine save from home goalkeeper Adam Federici. But Reading swiftly assumed control, with Murray and Gunter going close from well-struck efforts. The Reading pressure continued after the interval, with Simon Cox volleying straight at Fulham goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly. Kiraly, on his debut, was in action soon after, making a stunning save to keep out a powerful strike from Jake Taylor. But the pressure inevitably told, with a second goal arriving in the 54th minute when Murray nodded in a precise corner from Obita from close range. It was too much for the 2,745 Fulham fans, who voiced their displeasure at manager Magath. "You're getting sacked in the morning" was followed by further choruses of "Felix out". The visitors could have been swamped. Kiraly tipped a header from home substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak - a former Fulham player - against the crossbar and Taylor drove narrowly wide from distance. But they could not hold out at 2-0 until the end. In the 85th minute, substitute Blackman ran through, went by Kiraly and slotted the ball home. Fulham's misery was complete.



Read more at: https://www.clubcall.com/fulham/fulham-fans-heckle-boss-magath-1740002.html?