Monday Fulham Stuff 20.07.15

[Friendsoffulham]

First Four On Sale



Tickets for Fulham's first four home fixtures are now on General Sale.

The Whites kick-off their home campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion (Saturday 15th August, 3pm), where we'll also have a Fans' Day in Bishops Park for supporters to enjoy, before hosting Huddersfield Town a week later (Saturday 22nd August, 3pm).

The visits of Blackburn Rovers (Sunday 13th September, 12noon) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wednesday 16th September, 7:45pm) complete the first on sale block of the season.

Ticket prices for the 2015/16 campaign at Craven Cottage begin from £20 adults and just £10 juniors. To celebrate our first home game of the season a special price of £5 will be available on all junior tickets sat in home areas of the ground*.

Football is back at the Cottage - don't miss it!

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/july/20/first-four-on-general-sale?

[Friendsoffulham]

Symons' player search continues



Fulham boss Kit Symons remains on the hunt for new faces ahead of the Sky Bet Championship season. Symons has already brought in five players this summer in the shape of Ben Pringle, Andy Lonergan, Tom Cairney, Jazz Richards and Jamie O'Hara.

The club's coffers have since been boosted by the sale of Patrick Roberts to Manchester City and Symons is keen to strengthen further. "We're hopeful for another couple of players so we're looking and we're talking to people," he said. "You never know so I wouldn't count our chickens. We're looking all over the pitch as we want to be strong in all areas. I want real quality in every position because it's a long, tough season." - See more at: https://www.clubcall.com/fulham/symons-player-search-continues-1775404.html?#sthash.LFfeme5c.dpuf

Read more at: https://www.clubcall.com/fulham/symons-player-search-continues-1775404.html?

[Friendsoffulham]

Crawley Highlights



Watch the best of the action from the Checkatrade.com Stadium as the Whites ran out 3-1 winners at Crawley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ816l4-5-M

[Friendsoffulham]

Everton defender Luke Garbutt wanted by Fulham on loan - sources



Everton's highly rated defender Luke Garbutt is loan target for Championship side Fulham, sources have told ESPN FC.

Everton boss Roberto Martinez revealed earlier this month he planned to send Garbutt on a season-long loan deal so that he can get regular first-team football to continue his development.

Garbutt is highly regarded at Everton after joining the club from Leeds United in 2009 and signed a new five-year deal at Goodison Park last month.

Martinez is happy to loan out Garbutt as Baines and Bryan Oviedo are both expected to be fit for the start of the season after injury.

"The idea will be to send him on loan to get important experience. But it was very important that Luke wanted to stay at Everton, a place where he can fully develop his potential," Martinez told reporters during the club's involvement at the Asia Cup in Singapore.

"As a club we're looking forward to seeing his best years, once he's had that year away. At the moment we're very strong in that position but that doesn't stop us wanting to keep a very good left back with incredible future."

A number of clubs have expressed an interest in Garbutt, but sources told ESPN FC that Fulham are hoping to win the race for the England under-21 international.

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/everton/story/2528639/everton-defender-luke-garbutt-wanted-by-fulham-on-loan?

[Friendsoffulham]

The Craven Corner: Why Fulham's excellent summer can give fans a lift despite Manchester City's raid



London24's Fulham blogger looks at Fulham's summer business past and present. The summer transfer window continues and with more deals to discuss, I wanted to share my opinion on the new arrivals and departures. First of all, I believe that we have done well to sign Jazz Richards from Swansea for a proposed £500,000. To sign a 24 year old player, who also is a full international for his country and to beat Premier League interest for him, we have done very well to secure his services. To judge him on last season's performances would be harsh considering it wasn't a squad that Kit Symons wanted to assemble nor did they have a full pre-season to adapt to Symons' methods and ideas. The benefit of last season's loan spell on the other hand is that he is a player that doesn't need time to settle at the club and will already have strong relationships within the squad. With Symons managing Richards at international level, you have to understand that Symons believes in the player, so we as fans have to support that decision. One player that has sadly left the club is young Patrick Roberts, in a lucrative deal to join Manchester City and whilst I'm gutted to see him leave the club, it's only right that we wish him good luck. He's a young lad, who has been given a massive opportunity to join a giant club and financially he will be stronger. I just want to say to the fans who have been sending incredibly insulting tweets to young Roberts - grow up; he's a young footballer who's only 18 and his decision to leave, he hasn't done a Fabian Delph on us, he's just been offered a great opportunity and the club have been rewarded financially for that. Whether he plays or not is a completely different story, because let's be honest - he didn't feature heavily for Fulham either. The reason being is that Symons wanted to protect him and develop him more steadily rather than hastily throwing him in at the deep end. It has been revealed that Symons had a meeting with Roberts and his family, expressing how much he valued him at the club and the future plans, but sadly his head was turned and a transfer request was submitted. This is not Khan's, Ali Mc's, Mike Rigg's or Symons' fault - it's natural, players want to leave and take up other opportunities all the time, so please try and see the bigger picture. We have been fortunate to receive a reported £8m upfront with a potential fee of £11m - an incredible amount of money for a teenager who only has one year remaining on his deal and could agree to leave for free on pre-contract terms in January. Furthermore, I understand if fans are questioning our reported contract offer, but at the end of the day our club is in a different situation, while it may be acceptable for Manchester City to offer him £40,000 a week, we wouldn't be able to compete near that, so financially it was a sensible decision to move him on and it's still a big risk to take on someone at such a young age - anything could happen. Roberts, I wish you all the best in the near future and I hope that one day we do see you succeed at club and international level. You were one of the most exciting talents I've seen at the club and your performances during the FA Youth Cup journey were mesmerising. Good luck! Pre-season has been successful so far and it's been a great opportunity to see a lot of players given a second chance. For example, Thomas Eisfeld was given the chance in our 3-1 victory over Aston Villa, and in all honesty he excelled in an un-natural wide role assisting one of our goals too. The football on offer was much different to last year and to beat the Aston Villa side that was on show, was an impressive feat. Even against Crawley, we have managed to see the likes of Tom Cairney scoring, Jamie O'Hara dominating a midfield - glimpses of we can look forward to next year. I'll completely agree that Symons was never my first choice of manager and that last season was an absolute mess, but this summer has gone incredibly well and that'll show in the upcoming fixtures. Symons is assembling a side that has experience at this level, but is signing players in their prime and still have room to develop - increasing any potential sell-on value. We've managed to get a huge fee for young Roberts, we extended Ruiz's deal just to get an extra £2m in funds and we've still got some big earners to shift. It's a great summer so far, and as fans we need to support the club in its decisions more. They are doing a terrific job in recruitment and that has shown on the pitch. Thank you for reading, please feel free to tweet your thoughts @ABronsSmith.

Read more at: http://www.london24.com/sport/football/clubs/fulham/the_craven_corner_why_fulham_s_excellent_summer_can_give_fans_a_lift_despite_manchester_city_s_raid_1_4159401
Copyright © LONDON24

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham defender offered last chance to resurrect career and save buying Brentford player



Kay Voser is all but forgotten by Fulham fans.

One of the few players flop Felix Magath paid money for last summer made only four appearances last season – and he was booked in two of those.

But the man who took over from Magath reckons Voser might save buying a new left-back – the opposite flank from where the Swiss started out.

Kit Symons says it's a new season and a new dawn for those on the fringe, but time is running out for them to prove a point, especially as R are linked with purpose made Jake Bidwell at neighbours Brentford.

The gaffer insists Voser might be better suited to the left than the right, especially as he played there in Saturday's 3-1 defeat of Crawley.

The manager added: "We played against Villa (in Portugal) with him there.

"We've got Sean Kavanagh, and it's true we're a bit light there (at left back), but Kay has played there in the Champions League against Chelsea for Grasshoppers – so it's not like I'm asking him to do something he hasn't done before.

"He has the experience. It's a new season and it's a new start for people."

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-defender-offered-last-chance-9689801?