Thursday Fulham Stuff (03/09/15)...

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GARY HOOPER: Will Fulham pay £500,000 loan fee to Norwich City after move to Sheffield Wednesday for former Celtic & Scunthorpe United striker fell through?

Gary Hooper's proposed loan move to Sheffield Wednesday fell through despite reports the Owls had agreed a £500,000 loan fee with Norwich City

FULHAM may have to pay a £500,000 loan fee if they are to land former Scunthorpe United striker Gary Hooper when the window re-opens next week.

The Sheffield Star newspaper has reported Hooper passed a medical with Sheffield Wednesday last week after the club agreed a deal with Norwich City to pay the player's £32,000-a-week wages in full and the half-a-million-pound fee.

But the newspaper has said the move fell down because of other aspects of the deal.

Hooper, who also starred for Celtic, was heavily linked with a move away from Norwich throughout the summer, with the Glasgow club also thought to be interested in taking him back.

He was also strongly linked with a move to Fulham on transfer deadline day yesterday, although the Championship club could not reach an agreement with the Canaries before the 6pm deadline.


Read more: http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/GARY-HOOPER-Sheffield-Wednesday-Norwich-City-said/story-27721325-detail/story.html#ixzz3kezbszb4
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The Craven Corner: Analysing the squad overhaul at the Cottage

Ashley Richards of Fulham is one of Kit Symons' summer recruits. (Photo by Ker Robertson/Getty Images)

It was an eventful summer for Fulham, with 12 new senior signings coming into the team and two more additions to the Under-21s side.

A much-needed overhaul of the squad was needed and Kit Symons has finally built a side that has the potential to compete at this level.

There has been a complete midfield change with the additions of Jamie O'Hara, Ben Pringle and Tom Cairney becoming first-team regulars with Sakari Mattila waiting in the wings for his opportunity.

O'Hara, Pringle and Cairney won player of the season awards at their previous clubs and it proves how highly rated these additions are in the Championship.

O'Hara has proved since his arrival that he is finally the player to fill the gap left by beloved Danny Murphy, while Pringle provides much needed width to our system.

Tom Cairney, while being impressive in his start to the season, wants to play more centrally. He often drifts infield to get involved with the play and we could see him play in his preferred number 10 role as the season progresses. Mattila was scouted through Fulham's stats department and while being a set-piece specialist he will have to wait patiently for his chance in the starting eleven.

Fulham fans have been treated to a host of new defenders including permanent deals for Jazz Richards, Ryan Fredericks, Tim Ream and Richard Stearman while securing James Husband and Luke Garbutt on loan.

Richards returns to the club after last season's loan spell and has done a comfortable job in the opening fixtures. With the addition of Ryan Fredericks, Richards will finally have competition for the right-back slot and I strongly believe competition brings out the best in players.

Ream has already proved a good addition and has formed a calm and dominating partnership with Dan Burn in Fulham's recent fixture against Sheffield United.

Stearman will provide more experience in the back four, which will only aid the development of the younger defenders in the squad and provide a solid option to rotate should Symons wish to change the side.

It's very exciting news to have Husband back at the club even if it's just a short-term loan. He proved last season that he was the answer to Fulham's left-back crisis, and while Garbutt is currently injured James will prove to be the perfect acquisition.

Symons has managed to sign two new goalkeepers going into this season, with the additions of Andy Lonergan and Joe Lewis.

With Marcus Bettinelli currently injured both goalkeepers have the opportunity to prove their worth and future at the club.

Lonergan has claimed the number one spot in Bettinelli's absence, but will now have experienced competition in Joe Lewis.

Both keepers have Championship experience and will also be able to pass on their knowledge to Marcus who is still learning his trade.

Overall, it has been a very successful summer with proven players joining especially with them all being in their prime. Credit must be given to the board for overseeing this summer, the recruitment will provide Symons with an incredibly strong squad going into this season.

Finally, there have been two younger additions in the shape of Ian Pino Soler and Anthony Dawber. I hope both will make the grade and will one day play for the senior side. Best of luck!



Read more at: http://www.london24.com/sport/football/clubs/fulham/the_craven_corner_analysing_the_squad_overhaul_at_the_cottage_1_4217012
Copyright © LONDON24

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Fulham boss to turn to youngsters when the time is right

Symons will always select the best available Fulham side and is keen to give the young Whites a chance

Kit Symons is happy to use his home-grown players when needed but will always pick the best available side.

When the Fulham boss took over from Felix Magath last year, he was happy to bring in the young players from the academy.

But, as time went on, he started to rely more on his senior players and lost Patrick Roberts to Manchester City for £11million.

Symons said: "I know all the young players very very well. I'll pick the best team available for each given game.

"If that involves our young players then brilliant but it won't always. I'm a big believer in young players and homegrown players and I'd love to see several playing in our team but it's important to make this into a winning run and getting the results."

Fulham had several players come through the academy last season with the notable success being Marcus Bettinelli, before his injury, and there currently is nobody knocking on the door to the first team; partly because so many came through last year.


Success: Marcus Bettinelli
Symons added: "There's probably nobody close. So many players came through in one hit last season. Moussa is still very young.

"There's nobody on the verge of breaking in. Given time, hopefully they'll become good enough for our first team squad.

"I think it's important to have a strong academy. Since my time, we've had an excellent academy and it has produced players.

"The type of club we are, it's important for us to have that link from the academy to the first team."


Comeback trail: Adam Taggart is biding his time
The likes of Adam Taggart have not been given a chance this season and a loan deal may be in the offing in the future, if an opportunity doesn't materialise.

The manager added: "We'll have a fairly tight squad but because it's tight people will get opportunities.

"We'll be relying on people to be ready and take their chances. It's tough for some of those young players.

"For some, there'll be loan opportunities once we won't be leaving ourselves short to get first team football on a regular basis. We need enough quality bodies for the first team here."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-turn-youngsters-time-9964648?

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Symons seeks right blend at Fulham
by DAN on SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

Kit Symons has pledged to continue to give young talent a chance to shine at Fulham – but insists he will always pick the best team available as he seeks to guide the Whites up the Championship table.

The Fulham manager, who was previously in charge of the club's under-21 side, has brought through a clutch of youngsters during his brief time in the Craven Cottage hotseat. Despite losing Patrick Roberts to Manchester City, Symons is still keen to offer the brightest young stars a first team opportunity, encouraged by the performances of Lasse Vigen Christensen and Marcus Bettinelli during their first taste of senior football last season.

I know all the young players very very well. I'll pick the best team available for each given game. If that involves our young players then brilliant but it won't always. I'm a big believer in young players and homegrown players and I'd love to see several playing in our team but it's important to make this into a winning run and getting the results.

Symons is clear that the next batch of young talent from the club's academy still needs time to develop, however:

There's probably nobody close. So many players came through in one hit last season. Moussa [Dembele] is still very young. There's nobody on the verge of breaking in. Given time, hopefully they'll become good enough for our first team squad.

I think it's important to have a strong academy. Since my time, we've had an excellent academy and it has produced players. The type of club we are, it's important for us to have that link from the academy to the first team.

We'll have a fairly tight squad but because it's tight people will get opportunities. We'll be relying on people to be ready and take their chances. It's tough for some of those young players. For some, there'll be loan opportunities once we won't be leaving ourselves short to get first team football on a regular basis. We need enough quality bodies for the first team here.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2015/09/symons-seeks-right-blend-at-fulham/?

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The Mike Rigg Era
by FPTAYLOR on SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

The transfer window is shut, the summer business is done and once the players are back from the international break, the season really starts. But we move back in time to just after Christmas when it was announced that Shahid Khan had invested in a 'Chief Football Officer.' Khan, a man whose ownership has been about trusting others with enough rope to succeed or to hang themselves with, lifted the pressure on CEO Alistair Mackintosh with appointment of Mike Rigg to take charge of the footballing side of club. This move frees the aforementioned Mackintosh to concentrate more on the business side and growing of Fulham FC as an entity, with Rigg growing it as a football club.

Mike Rigg came to Fulham with an impressive CV, notably coming from the FA as the Head of Talent Management as part of a team looking to reshape English football; and prior to that being the Head of Recruitment for Manchester City as they looked to quickly transform from any old Premier League team to title contenders and Champions League participants. An experienced recruiter, Rigg was involved in Manchester City signing Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and David Silva – as well as Nigel De Jong who he first tracked as Blackburn's Chief Scout, a role he held from 2006 to 2008. So meticulous were the reports on players, Manchester City's report on Alexis Sanchez was 56 pages long, including detail like his family home and external activities. In an interview with Goal, Rigg said "[scouts] would check into hotels where they knew the team was playing and pretend to be a fan and go up and get an autograph off them." The particulars of this report, all for a player that ultimately signed for Barcelona, is representative of the template that Mike Rigg wishes to implement and the standards he aims to live by.

I don't want to make this is transfer window review post, but Rigg has displayed his ability to recruit with flair – transforming the playing staff with quality whilst also slashing the wage bill and keeping the net spend miraculously low. Fulham's squad has tonnes of division experience, and former success with 7 club specific Players of the Year. Our core squad is now resolute, technically comfortable and mobile, leading to the spending figure deserving to be drummed to highlight the magnificent work done by our management over the summer. Players like Tom Cairney and Ben Pringle will be hungry to reach the Premier League, a Jamie O'Hara hungry to rejuvenate his career (to success thus far) as well as Jazz Richards, Richard Stearman and Tim Ream keen to return to the Premier League and add to their snippets of top-level experience. A squad has been assembled of those with the ability to take the ball in any situation, those with the right characters to succeed and those together for one goal – promotion.

The lack of patience in football is a common complaint in the modern game; managers sacked frequently and no long-term plan. In Michael Calvin's award winning The Nowhere Men, Rigg commented on this, saying "Everybody in football wants it and wants it now. No one is prepared to wait for anything, anymore," he said, "surely there should be a consistent set of principles to work on." This was made even clearer to our Chief Football Officer when whilst working for the FA, he visited small Spanish side Alcorcón in search of inspiration construction a new DNA for English football, he said in an interview with the Guardian, "The council runs the club, it's about 20 minutes outside Madrid, and it's got a stadium that holds about 4,500 people and an Astroturf pitch that is the training ground. I sat down with their sporting director and I was blown away with how they develop players because of their DNA. It was essentially about having a plan, sticking to it and getting everyone to buy into it." The ideology of continuity in philosophy will benefit Fulham infinitely. We've seen the picture (snapped by yours truly) of what can be fairly accurately presumed to be the eventual formation that will run through our football club from the first team down to the under 8s. Small pieces like this build up to create one big animal as the football club looks to return to Premier League and continue the conveyor belt of academy, with the club financing itself rather than extraneous income to grow with the best facilities and the best infrastructure.

Recruitment isn't Rigg's only role at the football club; he's also to work with the academy, and the sports performance, medical and analytics teams. Analytics and statistical data are already a feature at Fulham, and that's prior to Tony Khan's input (who may have taken it to another level). Scott McLachlan, now Chelsea's Head of International scouts, revealed, "The Fulham CEO [Alistair Mackintosh] could see the future before the whole Moneyball thing became a parody of itself. He believed we could combine analysis and metrics with scouting." I won't explain the Moneyball theory in detail, but in short, Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics (Oakland's baseball team), built a competitive baseball team despite its uncompetitive revenue using statistics. Statistics will be used for both performance analysis and recruitment to create sophistic scouting reports for both opposition and potential incomings. The team effort of Fulham is heightened when we discuss Fulham, as mentioned earlier about the separate roles of Mackintosh and Rigg coming together to move forward, Shahid Khan's son, Tony manages Fulham's statistical research alongside his role as Senior Vice President of Football Technology and Analytics for the Jacksonville Jaguars. When it does come to analytics and recruitment, there's a nice blend at the club of believing in the ability to statistically breakdown players coming to positive results, whilst Rigg will not neglect the actual watching and scouting of a player and really learning what it is that you are investing in.

I can't say what Mike Rigg will provide the football club from a medical and sports performance basis – if it is something he's experienced before, it has not been recorded from what I've tried to find, but with the success of his transfer window and the early signs of his tenure, I'm sure that gears will start to turn to positive effect for Fulham.
A man with a plan, Rigg has given Kit Symons all the tools to succeed on the football pitch and has laid the basic foundations down for Fulham to move forward as a club. A man who only officially joined in March, Mike Rigg will still only be in the infancy of the larger picture for our unique football club and I am sure that the right people are in place for the key roles here. Alistair Mackintosh is a wonderful CEO who helped negotiate the clubs' record sponsorship deal with MarathonBet and also set about developing our now renowned by appointing Huw Jennings as the Academy Director three months after his own appointment. A successful window has turned the mood of supporters but building a squad able to finish in the top six is only the start before Shahid Khan's plan for our football club starts to move in the energy, work and passion of Alistair Mackintosh, and our Chief Football Officer, Mike Rigg.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2015/09/the-mike-rigg-era/?

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Tarkowski Update
   
A good reason not to have pursued the player to a conclusion!

The deadline day signing of Richard Stearman should provide Kit Symons with more defensive options as Fulham Football Club try to capitalise on the two back-to-back wins we`ve recently had, albeit in differing competitions.

However, regular readers of this site will know that throughout the summer Kit Symons has had his eye on the Brentford centre-back James Tarkowski. In fact we`ve covered, in several articles, this summer the fact that Fulham have had several offers knocked back for the 22-year-old.

It appears that Fulham weren`t the only club monitoring the situation over at Griffin Park with it also being suggested that Burnley were also tracking the player with a view to him strengthening their squad.

But it seems that both Fulham and Burnley were put off by the price-tag that Brentford put on the 22-year-old, a cool £6 million!

No wonder we walked away!


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=412294#ixzz3kf2qN317

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Former Fulham Favourite Goes Greek
   
Over the weekend, as the transfer window closure threatened to close, we ran an article that suggested that the former Fulham favourite, Dimitar Berbatov, was heading back to the Premier League.

The inference was that AFC Bournemouth were set to enquire about the Bulgarian`s situation.

As it turned out that interest came to nothing and yesterday Berbatov was being linked with a move to Aston Villa.

But it seems that Berbatov priced himself out of a move to Vila Park but, being a free agent, it hasn`t taken the 34-year-old long to find a new club with it being confirmed, by the BBC this afternoon, Berbatov has signed a one year deal with the Greek club, PAOK.

Here at Vital Fulham we`d like to wish Dimitar all the best in Greece and it`ll be interesting to see what impact, at 34-years-of-age, he can make.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=412296#ixzz3kf3AsLnT

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The Transfer Window

Watch a recap including all of the Whites' new signings from the summer transfer window of 2015.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCjg7kzerao

Not seen the new boys in action yet? Well there's no fewer than four matches at Craven Cottage in September, with tickets available to purchase on General Sale for each of them! Follow this link to pick up your tickets for the visits of Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers, with adult prices beginning from just £10.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/september/02/the-transfer-window?

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Kit Symons reveals Alan Curbishley's role at Fulham

Former Charlton boss used as a sounding board to tap into for advice


Watching brief: Fulham coach Alan Curbishley in the stands

Kit Symons is using Alan Curbishley as a sounding board regarding decision making at Fulham.

The former Charlton boss first joined the club in December 2013 only to leave two months later after Felix Magath's appointment.

After the German was sacked in September 2014, he returned to the club to assist Symons in March 2015.

And Symons revealed how grateful he was for Curbishley's influence as he looks to help Fulham rebuild from a poor season last year.

The manager said: "He's been really good. He's vastly experienced and very down to earth. He's been a big help to me and the staff.


Fulham manager Kit Symons before the match

"He's come in to assist me with first team affairs. His level of experience is top drawer. He's not a mentor but he's someone I can tap in to with his experienced.

"I can court his opinion on all football decisions and he's got good solid opinions."

One area where Fulham have struggled this season is in defence with individual errors costing them.

Symons added: "We always do defending work. We did last season and did big blocks of it in pre-season.

"We look at the opposition's strengths and try and combat it. A lot of goals have come down to errors and mistakes. It can be frustrating."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/kit-symons-reveals-alan-curbishleys-9964676?

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International Whites

We take a look at which Fulham players could feature for their respective teams over the international period.


Jazz Richards and Wales could book their spot at next summer's European Championship during the upcoming international period.

Chris Coleman's men have a fixture against Cyprus in Nicosia on Thursday, before hosting Israel in Cardiff on Sunday, and they know six points would guarantee their place in France next year.

Cauley Woodrow and Emerson Hyndman are set to go head-to-head on the international stage when England Under-21s face the United States Under-23s at Preston North End's Deepdale on Thursday evening.

For the Three Lions the game is a warm-up for the more serious business that follows, when their qualifying campaign for the 2017 European Championship in Poland gets under way. Gareth Southgate's boys kick off against current Group 9 leaders Norway in Drammen on Monday.

For the Americans, Thursday's encounter is the first of two friendly matches they have scheduled on British soil, as they face Qatar five days later at Bury's Gigg Lane.

Nikolay Bodurov is in competitive action on Thursday as Bulgaria take on Norway in Sofia in a European Championship Qualifier. It's an important period for the Bulgarians as they currently sit fourth in Group H, although there is only six points separating the top-four.

They then travel to Palermo where they'll meet second-placed Italy on Sunday.


Sakari Mattila and Jesse Joronen's Finland also have Qualifying matches to look forward to, as they're pitted against Greece in Athens on Friday, and the Faroe Islands at home in Helsinki on Monday.

Finland have a real job on to qualify for the Finals in France next year, as they currently sit second-bottom in Group F, with just four points from their opening six matches. The Fulham duo could come up against out-on-loan Kostas Mitroglou this week, after the striker was named in the Greece squad.

Tim Ream is the final Fulham player named in a senior international squad, and he's travelled to his home nation for two friendly matches.

First the United States play Peru in Washington on Friday, before moving to Boston to take on Brazil next Tuesday.

Lasse Vigen Christensen is in the Denmark Under-21 party as they prepare for a couple of away friendly encounters.

Germany provide the first opposition in Lübeck on Thursday, while attentions will then turn to a trip to Kiev to face Ukraine on Tuesday.


Jordan Evans' Wales Under-21 side have one competitive fixture ahead in the current international period, as they make the trip to Luxembourg for a Euro Qualifier on Friday where they'll be looking to continue their 100 per cent record in Group 5.

Liam Donnelly is also in competitive action, as Northern Ireland's qualifying campaign gets started with matches against Scotland at home on Saturday and Iceland away on Tuesday.

Like Hyndman's national side, Sean Kavanagh's Republic of Ireland Under-21s have a friendly match against Qatar at Gigg Lane on Friday, which they'll be using as preparation for their qualifier away to Andorra on Tuesday.

Marek Rodák is the other man to potentially have some Under-21 game time, as Slovakia's Group 8 campaign begins against Belarus in Slutsk on Sunday.

Cameron Burgess and Adam Taggart are part of the Australia Under-22 squad who have two away European friendlies. They face Turkey in Istanbul on Friday, before travelling to Skopje where Macedonia await three days later.


We have one player involved at Under-20 level, with Moussa Dembélé named in the France squad for their friendly match against the Netherlands in Lisse on Monday.

In the Under-19 age groups, Aron Davies could feature in Wales' friendly at home to Poland on Saturday, while Anthony Dolan and Shane Elworthy are in the Republic of Ireland group for a similar game away to Italy on Monday, and Mattias Kait's Estonia have two matches in three days against Belarus in Minsk.

Tayo Edun is in the England Under-17 fold as they have back-to-back friendlies away to the Netherlands, while Luca de la Torre will be competing in the Limoges Tournament for the United States U17s.

In addition, Harrison Paton has an event with Canada's Under-18s, and Mikolaj Kwietniewski has a training camp with Poland Under-17s.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2015/september/03/international-whites