Monday Fulham Stuff 15.06.15

[Friendsoffulham]

Kit Symons will leave Wales role to fully focus on Fulham



Wales manager Chris Coleman has revealed that Kit Symons will not be continuing as his assistant so that he can fully focus on his job managing Fulham.

Symons, 44, has been Coleman's right-hand man since January 2012 and continued to be involved with the national team after his appointment at Fulham last year.

However, Symons's last game with Wales was on Friday night when Coleman's men beat the number-two ranked Belgium in Cardiff to go top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group B.

"We will have a chat but I think Kit will have to stop and concentrate on Fulham," Coleman said after the match.

"It will be a shame for him to go as he has done really well, but managing a club and working with your country is very difficult to do.

"He is probably very emotional as he has represented Wales for 25 years as a player and coach and I will miss him."

Coleman also revealed that he has chosen his next assistant, but that he could not announce the appointment as the contract has not yet been signed.

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/wales/news/kit-symons-to-leave-wales-role_227986.html

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham boss Kit Symons to step down as Wales assistant



Kit Symons is set to step down as Wales assistant manager to fully concentrate on his role as Fulham boss.

Symons has been Chris Coleman's number two since January 2012 and continued in the role despite succeeding Felix Magath at Craven Cottage in October 2014.

Fulham chairman Shahid Khan gave Wales permission to retain Symons's services after he was appointed manager.

Former Wales centre-back Symons was capped 37 times by his country.

He had combined his role as Fulham manager with his duties as Coleman's assistant during Wales' Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
After beating Belgium 1-0 on Friday, Wales are top of Group B and have a strong chance of qualifying for a first major tournament since 1958.

Fulham, who were relegated from the Premier League in the 2013-14 season, had picked up just one point from their first seven league matches of the last campaign when Symons replaced Magath as manager, initially on an interim basis.

In October, he was given a deal until the summer of 2016 after the club took 13 points from a possible 21.
The Craven Cottage side eventually finished 17th in the table, 11 points above the relegation zone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33126380

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Eccentric, exciting and unfailingly Fulham – looking back at Luis Boa Morte



I had a look on one of those 'On this day' websites this morning – and I'm very glad I did. Buried at the bottom of countless interesting factoids was the revelation that it was fourteen years ago today that Fulham concluded a deal to sign Luis Boa Morte from Southampton on a permanent basis. Boa Morte was essentially an enigma; one of those people you couldn't sum up in a sentence, but one of the greatest Fulham characters of my generation. At his very best, he was simply unplayable, as a legion of befuddled full-backs could attest to, and he always played the game with a smile on his face.

He headed back to London after being unfairly jettisoned by Southampton manager Glenn Hoddle and came with a pedigree after breaking through into the Arsenal first-team during the early years of Arsene Wenger's tenure. Jean Tigana was encouraged by Boa Morte's enthusiasm during a trial and figured that pacey Portuguese forward might be able to fire a promotion bid. He wasn't wrong. Boa Morte's first season at Craven Cottage was breathtaking. Part of an attacking triumvirate including Louis Saha and Barry Hayles that tore the First Division apart, Boa Morte scored 21 goals in 46 appearances – combining predatory finishing with the burst of acceleration that characterised Tigana's extraordinary side.

Take a look, for example, at this sweeping move during a deadlocked game at early promotion rivals Norwich, featuring Saha, Sean Davis, and John Collins, which Boa Morte finished with real aplomb:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1HY5fin8uE

Boa Morte initially struggled to recapture his Division One form in the top flight, flitting between a centre forward's role and a position on the left of midfield, although he did star as Fulham took their first steps into Europe, reaching the third round of the UEFA Cup after winning the Intertoto Cup. When Chris Coleman implemented his 4-5-1 system and played Boa Morte as a genuine left-winger, the 'Dead Snake' began to rediscover his venom. His contribution to the side couldn't simply be measured in goals alone, such was his undoubted commitment to the course and unquestionable will-to-win. That desire may have got him on the wrong side of referees, but it certainly endeared him to the Fulham fans almost as much as his uncanny ability to deliver a moment of magic from nowhere.

Boa Morte looked fearsome in full flight down the Fulham left flank. He married a turn of speed with an exceptional football brain, the ability to shift the ball from foot to foot in the blink of an eye and the means to fashion a shot irrespective of the position or pressure around him. Ten goals in 2003-04, including one sensational length of the field run to score a simply stupendous effort against Blackburn Rovers in April, were a key factor in helping Coleman's charges reach a ten club record of ninth in the top flight and secured a return to the Portuguese national picture. An indication of Boa Morte's 'mad as a bunch of frogs' mentality came on the final day of the season, when he stripped to his underpants in celebration of a win at Bolton, to throw his kit to the celebrating away fans after the final whistle.

That cult hero status was only underlined by his sublime performances in the next two years. He scored nine goals in 2004-05 as Fulham flirted with the relegation zone, before finishing the season with four fine wins over Everton, Newcastle, Blackburn and memorably, Norwich City, in the spring sunshine. That summer saw the likes of Newcastle United and Tottenham chasing his signature, with Fulham fans putting together an internet petition full of messages that ran to fully thirty pages pleading with him to stay. Boa Morte flashed that trademark smile – he is, essentially, a humble and modest man – on receipt of the fans' pleas and duly signed a new contract.

The following season saw an uncomfortable experiment in central midfield stifle some of Boa Morte's creativity, upon which the side thrived, but also included the moment he wrote his name into Fulham folklore with that memorable winner against Chelsea at Craven Cottage. An instinctive, somewhat scrappy strike, that meant so much: the game was won with the grit and determination that Boa Morte's never-say-die attitude encapsulated. His form might have tailed off towards the end of his Fulham career, but the affection for Boa Morte has never dwindled – as evidenced by the disappointment that greeted his decision to return to Portugal to pursue a career in coaching that had begun at Motspur Park.

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2015/06/eccentric-exciting-and-unfailingly-fulham-looking-back-at-luis-boa-morte/?

[Friendsoffulham]

Coleman Bids Symons Farewell
   
On Friday, a Fulham combination helped Wales move a little closer to qualifying for the finals of Euro 2016.

Wales, managed by a former Fulham manager in Chris Coleman and coached by the current manager Kit Symons, beat the current #2 rated team in the world, Belgium, 1-0.

For Coleman it will be a wonderful achievement to take Wales to the finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1958, but for Symons, Friday night was his last involvement with the national team after deciding to devote all his time to managing Fulham.

Coleman, acknowledging that the Belgium victory would be the last with Symons at his side, remarked,

"It will be a shame for him to go, he`s done really well. I`ll miss him."

But, for us Fulham supporters, it will be great for Symons to be able to devote 100 per cent of his time to matters relating to Craven Cottage.

Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=402684#ixzz3d7PMmC4h

[Friendsoffulham]

Kit Symons quits Wales role to focus on managing Fulham



Kit Symons is stepping down from his role as Wales assistant manager to focus on Fulham.

The 44-year-old has been working alongside Chris Coleman since his appointment as Dragons manager in 2012.

However, Symons became a No 1 himself in October last year when he was promoted from his U21s role with the Whites to first-team boss after taking over from Felix Magath.

Becoming Craven Cottage chief has made combining two roles increasingly difficult for Symons and last week's memorable 1-0 win over Belgium was his final involvement with the national team.

All of the wild celebrations in pictures as Wales beat Belgium in Symons' last game as assistant:

"We will have a chat but I think Kit will have to stop and concentrate on Fulham," Coleman said.

"It will be a shame for him to go as he has done really well, but managing a club and working with your country is very difficult to do.

"He is probably very emotional as he has represented Wales for 25 years as a player and coach and I will miss him.

"I have got his replacement, but he is in work at a club and until he puts pen to paper we cannot make it official."

Symons is looking to improve on last season's 17th place finish in the Championship and will be hoping the time recouped from his decision to step down will pay dividends for Fulham next term.

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/kit-symons-quits-wales-role-9450875?

[Friendsoffulham]

Mitroglou Swap Deal on the Cards
   
Trying to get rid of Kostas Mitroglou, on a permanent basis, is proving to be a difficult task.

The most expensive signing, so far, of the Shahid Khan era, Mitroglou`s Fulham career has been nothing short of woeful.

However, reports coming out of Turkey, suggest that Fulham might have sorted out a loan deal that will see Mitroglou join Fenerbahce and their Nigerian forward Emmanuel Emenike come to Craven Cottage.

Last season Mitroglou was loaned out to the Greek side Olympiakos, helping them to a domestic double. However, the Olympiakos manager, Vitor Pereira, moved to Fenerbahce recently and wants Mitroglou to join him.

As for Emenike, it`s being suggested that he favours a move to the UK and has already purchased a house in Essex ahead of any potential move. At twenty-eight years of age, Emenike finished as the top scorer in the 2013 African Cup of Nations but recently fell foul of the Fenerbahce boo-boys and favours a move.

Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=402689#ixzz3d7Rh1j3V