Tuesday Fulham Stuff 09.06.2015

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Fulham flop could be set for shock Liverpool move despite Manchester United links



Liverpool are eyeing up former Fulham manager Rene Meulensteen to become Brendan Rodgers' assistant at Anfield.

The Telegraph claim it is between Meulensteen and Rafa Benitez' former assistant Pako Ayestaran to replace the departed Colin Pascoe who was told his contract would not be extended last month. Rodgers kept his job after pressure talks with the boards and has already started his summer transition of the squad with English free agents James Milner and Danny Ings arriving. A mightily disappointing season was evident all over the pitch but mainly in front of goal where the lack of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge hurt the Reds. Meulensteen has been out of work since he was sacked by Fulham, along with Ray Wilkins and Alan Curbishley back in 2014 but is one of two candidates for Liverpool. ADVERTISEMENT - Article continues bellow... The spell at Craven Cottage was a struggle for the former Anzhi boss as the Whites sunk towards the Championship and entered a fairly dark time for the club. More than 11 years of serving under Sir Alex Ferguson at rivals Manchester United may be a stumbling block for Liverpool fans though, with comments directed at Rodgers in the past not sounding too complimentary. The Reds are hoping to make an announcement before the players return to pre-season training in the next few weeks.

http://www.london24.com/sport/football/clubs/fulham/fulham_flop_could_be_set_for_shock_liverpool_move_despite_manchester_united_li

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Stadium Store Closed

Supporters are advised that the Stadium Store will be closed on Saturday 13th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June.

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Fulham are reportedly interested in signing former Leeds United defender Tom Lees from Sheffield Wednesday this summer.




Fulham are interested in signing Tom Lees from Sheffield Wednesday this summer, according to The Daily Mail.

Lees was one of the best players for Wednesday in the recently concluded 2014-15 campaign.

The 24-year-old defender created 10 chances in 44 Championship appearances, had a pass accuracy of 69% and a shot accuracy of 50%, and won 196 headers, nine dribbles and 36 tackles.

The former Leeds United defender's performances appear to have impressed Fulham, who made a bid of £1.2 million for him, according to The Daily Mail.

However, it has been reported by the British newspaper that that bid has been rejected by Wednesday, who have allegedly offered the defender a new contract.

Lees moved to Wednesday from Leeds in the summer of 2014 on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, as reported by BBC Sport.

SEE ALSO: Don Hutchison tweets his hopes for Sunderland and Newcastle - are they realistic?

The Owls finished 13th in the Championship in the 2014-15 season with 60 points from 46 matches, four points and two places above Leeds.

Meanwhile, Fulham ended the campaign in 17th place with 52 points from 46 games.

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2015/06/09/report-fulhams-bid-for-sheffield-wednesdays-tom-lees-gets-reject/?

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Sheffield Wednesday turn down Fulham bid for Lees



Fulham have been rebuffed in their bid to sign the Sheffield Wednesday defender Tom Lees after the Owls rejected a bid of around £1.2m for their centre half, according to a report in this morning's Daily Mail.

The 24 year-old has only been at Hillsborough for a single season having joined from Leeds last summer but firmly established himself as a key member of the miserly Wednesday defence, which matched the club's record of seventeen clean sheets last term. Lees, who was capped at England under-21 level by Stuart Pearce in 2012, made 48 appearances for the Owls last season and has already been offered an extension to the three-year contract he signed on leaving Leeds – for whom he had played over a hundred games – last July.

Kit Symons is keen to reshape a porous defence that conceded 83 goals during a trying Championship campaign and has been linked with summer moves for the likes of Lewis Dunk and Richard Stearman. With Wednesday keen to hold onto one of their outstanding performers, Fulham will have to return with a significantly improved second offer and it remains to be seen whether Symons will switch his attentions to another target.

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2015/06/sheffield-wednesday-turn-down-fulham-bid-for-lees/?

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Best And Worst Away Fan Experience - Fulham
   
A survey carried out on away fans travelling the length and breadth of the country this season for Premier League and Championship clubs has been carried out, with the results revealed.

Thousands of fans were surveyed, by the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF), with them asked to give a score out of 10 for the 'away fan experience' and this has seen some interesting results.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, is one of those looking to make the experiences as good as possible for all fans wherever you're travelling and that's why those that do it right, and not so right, are highlighted as it's all for the greater good as they say.

'Away supporters are vital to the health of our game and football matches would be far poorer places without their presence. Football shouldn't take them for granted.

'If a visitor comes to your home, you treat them well, yet we often hear from travelling fans who feel they're treated as a problem, rather than as a valued guest. Whether its high prices or an unfriendly welcome, away supporters are often at the sharp end.

'We want to fix that, stand up for the travelling fan, and highlight those clubs who do it right. It's in everyone's interests, particularly in terms of atmosphere in the ground, to have healthy away attendances.'

Away fans rated a range of things such as:-

· Transport links
· Turnstiles
· Stadium layout
· Food and drink
· Sightlines
· Safety and Security

It'll come as no surprise that 45% of those surveyed had the match ticket price as an 'important' factor behind deciding what games they travelled for with 53% basing this on the day and time of the game with the distance of travel required a key factor for 52%.

But, perhaps, most surprising of all was the fact that only 4% picked a game based on 'likelihood of victory' so it's clear to see that, as much as we want to see our team winning it's not the be all and end all of things is it - first and foremost we want to enjoy our experience and be entertained, even if it doesn't mean we'll win, after all entertainment is the name of the game! That and the fact we want a good experience to the ground we're travelling too.

Now to the all important 'best and worst' from the 2014/15 season....

As a combined Premier League and Championship figure a trip to the JD Stadium as a travelling fans to Wigan, who might have endured a miserable season in the Championship as they suffered relegation into League 1, came out on top with a score 0f 7.83 out of 10.

QPR, who also had a miserable campaign as they were relegated from the Premier League, not only finished bottom of the Premier League pile with only 3.58 out of 10 scored that also saw Loftus Road tips ranked lowest of the two combined.

The top Premier League experience, again despite relegation being suffered, was Hull with 7.79 out of 10 given for a trip to the KC Stadium, so this might act as some consolation following a return to the Championship?

Obviously, having topped the combined list, Wigan was the top Championship away fan experience with Blackpool's, another club that had a fair share of problems on and off the field last season, 5 out of 10 deeming Bloomfield Road the worst away day experience.

Combined Premier League and Championship results (marks out of 10):-

Wigan Athletic 7.83
Derby County 7.82
Hull City 7.79
Brighton & HA 7.69
Rotherham United 7.55
Cardiff City 7.40
Huddersfield Town 7.32
Southampton 7.23
Reading 7.23
Stoke City 6.94
Sunderland 6.93
Fulham 6.86
Watford 6.86
Leicester City 6.84
Arsenal 6.84
Middlesbrough 6.74
Swansea City 6.72
Newcastle United 6.68
Charlton Athletic 6.65
WBA 6.63
AFC Bournemouth 6.63
Manchester City 6.53
Blackburn Rovers 6.51
Millwall 6.50
Birmingham City 6.48
Nottingham Forest 6.35
Brentford 6.32
Bolton Wanderers 6.31
Spurs 6.11
Ipswich Town 6.08
Everton 5.80
Burnley 5.76
Wolves 5.70
Aston Villa 5.69
West Ham United 5.58
Chelsea 5.52
Manchester United 5.40
Liverpool 5.32
Leeds United 5.28
Sheffield Wednesday 5.26
Norwich City 5.09
Blackpool 5.00
Crystal Palace 4.94
QPR 3.58

I'll point out that a survey was also carried out on League 1 and League 2 clubs but the FSF report that the 'datasets were not as comprehensive' hence why clubs from those levels aren't included in this list.

For more details on this, and how the FSF could help you, visit the Football Supporters' Federation.

What do you think? Are you happy with the experience we offer away fans then again are you happy with the experience you get as a home fan!

Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=402178#ixzz3cYJsLIpf

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Sheffield Wednesday reject £1.2million bid from Fulham for defender Tom Lees


Fulham have had a £1.2million bid for Sheffield Wednesday defender Tom Lees rejected.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed an outstanding season at the heart of Wednesday's defence helping to equal their best defensive record of 17 clean sheets.

He joined from Leeds United last season and has been offered a new contract already. However, Fulham manager Kit Symons keen to bolster his defence ahead of a promotion push next season has targeted the former England U21 international and made an opening offer.

Lees made 48 appearances for Wednesday last season, with the Birmingham-born defender beginning to rediscover the form that earned him an U21 call-up by Stuart Pearce in 2012.

Meanwhile, Leeds United have made an approach for young French forward Sehrou Guirassy, who has been the subject of interest from Saint-Etienne.

Guirassy currently plays for Ligue 2 side Stade Lavallois, and the 19-year-old has represented his country at both U16 and U19 level.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3116255/Sheffield-Wednesday-reject-1-2million-bid-Fulham-defender-Tom-Lees.html#ixzz3cYLcATf7

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Derby County join Fulham in the hunt for Premier League defender

Derby County have joined the race for Swansea City full-back Jazz Richards, according to the Sun.



The 24-year-old started his youth career with Cardiff, before joining Swansea in 2007, and he's since enjoyed loan spells with Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town and the most recent with Fulham this season.

He's only ever managed 39 appearances for Swansea, and after their huge success in the Premier League this season, it now looks like he's surplus to requirements for Garry Monk.

This has prompted newly relegated QPR, Championship strugglers Fulham and play-off near misser's Derby County to show an interest in him, and are believed to be willing to pay £500,000 to secure his signature.

It's the second right back Derby County have been linked with this week, and it appears that Paul Clement may have highlighted that as a potential weakness in his starting eleven, as he was linked with a move for Aston Villa right back Matthew Lowton.

http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/derby-county-join-fulham-in-the-hunt-for-premier-league-defender/?

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Roberts scores as England U18s win in Russia



Patrick Roberts won a penalty and scored a superb long-range strike as England Under 18s recorded an impressive 2-0 win over their Russian counterparts in Moscow this afternoon.

The Fulham midfielder won the spot-kick that broke the deadlock after a tight first hour at the Arena Khimka. Roberts beat three defenders at pace during a trademark run before he was crudely bought to ground inside the box and Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong clinically converted the subsequent penalty.

The eighteen year-old then doubled England's lead just four minutes later. Collecting a pass out on the right flank, Roberts was afforded far too much time to take a touch and curl a delightful effort into the top corner from 25 yards out. He was substituted shortly afterwards and is likely to feature again as Neil Dewsnip's side face the same opponents in a second fixture on Wednesday.

You can see the highlights from the friendly – including Roberts' sensational goal – below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB3kVOeX6s

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2015/06/roberts-scores-as-england-u18s-win-in-russia/?

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Napoli and St Etienne join race for Championship striker



The 18-year-old Frenchman, who was a former PSG youth academy star, is being encouraged to sign a new contract at Craven Cottage with his current deal set to expire at the end of next season.

Dembele appears to be playing a waiting game, with Everton, Feyenoord and Genoa also in the race for his signature.

Fulham have refused to slap an asking price on the striker, who's made 13 appearances since breaking into the first team squad in 2013.

He has also been capped at U19 level for France, making six appearances and scoring three goals.

Dembele made 10 appearances for Fulham in the Championship last season, as the Cottagers stuttered to a 17th place finish.

The West-London side will be hoping the youngster signs on the dotted line to commit his future with the club, although next season could define whether he can engineer a move away.

http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/napoli-and-st-etienne-join-race-for-championship-striker/?

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Fulham have bid for Brighton and Hove Albion defender rejected


Fulham boss Kit Symons has been knocked back in his attempts to bring Brighton and Hove Albion defender Lewis Dunk to Craven Cottage.

HITC Sport are reporting that the Seagulls have rejected the Cottagers' bid for the highly-rated centre-half.

Dunk is widely regarded as one of the best young defenders in the Championship after several eye-catching displays for Chris Hughton's men last season.

Symons has made a central defender with Championship experience his number one target this summer and this latest failed bid comes on the back of last week's knock back from Wolves for their defender Richard Stearman.

Fulham are understood to have bid £2.5m for the 23-year-old but it seems a bid considerably higher will be needed to tempt Brighton into selling one of their prized assets.

Boss Chris Hughton is reluctant to sell Dunk as he aims to try and build a side around his young central defender who only recently signed a four-year extension to his contract at the AMEX stadium.

http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/fulham-have-bid-for-brighton-and-hove-albion-defender-rejected/?