Monday Fulham Stuff (30/11/15)...

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Fulham boss' warning for Everton and Spurs target

Dembele needs to stay at Fulham to develop his game more, says manager


In demand: Moussa Dembele

Peter Grant has urged Moussa Dembele to stick with Fulham and improve his game than end up rotting in the reserves of a Premier League side.

The young striker has been linked with the likes of Man United, Chelsea, Everton and Spurs after bagging nine goals in 20 games for the Whites this season.

But caretaker-boss Grant, who has also managed Dembele for Fulham's U21s, warned the 19 year old against being distracted by the 'bright lights' of the top flight too soon.

He said: "Moussa played a few games for me in the U21s, and I knew all about him when I was at other clubs too, so I already knew his strengths and weaknesses.

"He is very strong and powerful, has a great work ethic and is a very pleasant boy. He's still got a hell of a long way to go, but he wants to work and take it on board.

"He's a talented boy, but he has to keep his focus and keep doing his job on the pitch. So many lads like him follow the bright lights of the Premier League, going to a big club and not getting a game, and then within five or six months they're back in this division out on loan.

"There will always be speculation, but he's nowhere near the finished article. At this level he has to score more, he missed too many chances.

"He scored at MK Dons last week, but I was more concerned about the four or five chances he missed. He could have had a hat-trick, but that's what he's getting better at."

Dembele could already be further down the road of development if so many first team games didn't clash with U21 fixtures last season, and Grant has made moves to address the issue.

He added: "Last year was difficult for Moussa. He missed a lot of game time as the U21 fixtures were always on the same time as first team matches. He would travel with the first team and miss out on the U21 games, but I have tried to change that, which will benefit people in the future."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-warning-everton-spurs-10520296?

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Fulham boss salutes return former West Ham man

Parker finally back in the fold - and Grant is delighted

Fulham's interim head coach Peter Grant has hailed the return of captain Scott Parker after the midfielder's first appearance of the season against Preston.

The former England international has been missing since March after having failed to recover from multiple setbacks to a recurring ankle injury.

But the 35-year-old skipper made a successful, albeit sudden, return to the first team after being named in the starting line-up less than an hour before kick-off in the Whites' 1-1 draw.

And Grant believes Parker's preview of dugout life at MK Dons helped the skipper produce his influential performance in the Cottagers' second consecutive draw.


Happier times: Parker celebrates scoring with Hugo Rodallega

He said: "He was magnificent. I took him with me last week to the game, I thought he'd be important for me.

"I told him, "you're doing your licenses but there's nothing like match day to come and see what it is like for real. You can't learn that on a coaching course. Come and see the difference it is sat on the bench. You'll see a completely different game to the one you see on the football pitch."

"So I think the experience he has got from last week, his performance at the last minute was excellent, and I had to take him off because I didn't want him to get another injury. I was chuffed with him, and it's a great credit for the way he looks after himself."

The Whites transformed a flat first half effort into a point after a fiery second half against their recently promoted visitors.

After two penalty appeals were turned down, as many Fulham players were at risk of seeing marching orders after appearing to lash out at their Preston counterparts. But Grant insists that his side's feisty streak is a critical component for future success.

"I always say if you've got no passion, you cannot play football. You can have all the technique in the world, but if you don't have fire in your belly, you're not going to survive," he added. "You need to play with fire, and have a cool brain. These are the best days of your life.

"I think it was handbags. Players are like that, they don't like to be looked upon like cheaters or divers, but as quickly as it happened, quickly it was finished. You could see the experience on the pitch, people just walked away."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-boss-salutes-return-former-10521194?

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Fulham targeting Mark Warburton as new manager

Championship side Fulham want to make former Brentford manager Mark Warburton their new manager, according to the Telegraph.

It is understood Fulham have been turned down by 4 other managers and Mark Warburton is the latest manager the London club are targeting.

Warburton is currently at Scottish Championship side Rangers after leaving The Cottagers' rivals Brentford in the summer, who he left after guiding his side to the play-offs.

Warburton received lots of plaudits last season for the way Brentford played, and it was a shock when he left Griffin Park after disagreeing with owner Matthew Benham over the club's philosophies.

The current Rangers boss is unlikely to leave the Scottish club with the chance of promotion to the Scottish Premiership a possibility, and he may not want to break his relationship with the Brentford fans by joining close rivals Fulham.

Fulham need to appoint a manager sooner rather than later if they are to mount a genuine play-off push, which owner Shahid Khan expects after spending around £7m in the summer.

On the pitch Fulham are 13th with 22 points from 18 games after a 0-1 home defeat to Preston on Saturday.


Read more at http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/fulham-targeting-mark-warburton-as-new-manager/?#7WQ0W7GDmshP5VcR.99

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Fulham managerial betting update: Rowett's odds shorten, Rangers boss in contention

Birmingham City's Gary Rowett and Rangers boss Mark Warburton are the two favourites for the vacant Fulham post.

Another Championship fixture passes, and still no new signs of Fulham naming a new manager.

The West Londoners sacked Kit Symons in early November and have yet to appoint his successor, much to the frustration of the supporters and probably the players too.

Fulham boast a decent squad of Championship players with a few outstanding talents such Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele, and there is certainly playoff potential there.

However, there seemed no real plan in place upon sacking Symons and the likes of Hull City's Steve Bruce, Reading boss Steve Clarke and Nigel Pearson have all been linked but to no avail.

So what next for Fulham? Well, according to Sky Bet, the latest manager to be listed as the favourite is Birmingham City's Gary Rowett and his odds are shortening.

The former Burton Albion boss started as a rank outsider, jumped to favourite at odds of 6/5 and is now priced at 1/3 – suggesting that there could be something on the horizon.

But one can only wonder whether this is all a bit hopeful. After all, Rowett hasn't been in the Birmingham job too long and he appears extremely at ease managing the West Midlands outfit.

The Blues boss has Midlands links, his team are still occupying a top six spot despite losing to league leaders Brighton this weekend and there is plenty of potential at St. Andrews.

Another big mover in the odds is Rangers boss Mark Warburton, a popular choice among supporters.

The 53-year-old (now second favourite at 7/2) did a superb job at Brentford before leaving Griffin Park for Rangers and now his reputation is fully glowing following his current success at Ibrox.

Warburton has led Glasgow giants to the top of the Scottish First Division and to the Challenge Cup final, winning 18 of his 21 games in charge thus far.

The former non-league right-back would be a superb appointment for Fulham. However, having only moved to Rangers last summer, it's unlikely he would up sticks and move now.


http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/11/29/tt-fulham-managerial-betting-update-rowetts-odds-shorten-rangers/?

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PNE ace Stevie awaits specialist's verdict


Stevie May is treated by PNE physio Matt Jackson

Preston North End striker Stevie May was seeing a specialist today to determine whether a knee injury has brought his season to a premature end.

The Scotsman suffered suspected cruciate ligament damage during stoppage time of PNE's 1-1 draw at Fulham.

He left Craven Cottage on crutches and returned to Preston by train with the club's medical staff.


May had only been on the pitch for four minutes when he suffered the injury, having replaced Adam Reach at the beginning of injury time.

The ball broke to him in the box and as he shaped to shoot, centre-half Richard Stearman slid across to block.

No blame is being attached to Stearman, the Fulham player visibly distressed by seeing May on the ground.

North End manager Simon Grayson described the injury as potentially 'severe' but will wait for a full diagnosis from the specialist before putting a timescale on May's recovery.

"It is looking like a severe knee injury unfortunately," Grayson told the Evening Post.

"Richard Stearman came across, made the challenge and has caught him as he went through – there is no blame attached to him.

"It could be one of the ligaments that Stevie has damaged, which is not a good sign for him or us.

"He has been looking really sharp in training and in the practice games we've had.

"Stevie drove into the box, the ball just went away from him slightly and the defender made the challenge.

"Unfortunately, his other leg caught Stevie. He's in good hands with our medical staff and the Fulham staff were very good with him too after the game."

This was only May's eighth appearance since his move from Sheffield Wednesday.

He had come on as North End looked for a late winner after being pegged back by the Cottagers.

Joe Garner headed them in front after 11 minutes, before a Ross McCormack free-kick levelled things up in the 77th minute.

In between, Preston created chances to score a second and their failure to put those chances away was to cost them a deserved victory.

Said Grayson: "On one hand, we are happy to take a point against a strong side but I'm disappointed we didn't take all three, because of how good our performance was.

"It has probably been the theme of the last few weeks that we've been getting into the 18-yard box but not finishing off chances.

"Having said that, we looked a threat going forward.

"I thought our attacking play was better than in previous games, we looked vibrant going forward and played with a lot of energy."

Grayson took off Eoin Doyle and Paul Gallagher in a double change during the second half, and Fulham levelled soon afterwards.

Grayson said: "Gally had got a kick on the top of his foot and we just felt that John Welsh could go in there to shore things up."


http://www.lep.co.uk/sport/national-football/pne-ace-stevie-awaits-specialist-s-verdict-1-7597496?

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Fulham send best wishes to stricken Preston striker

Grant hopes to see May make return from injury and absolves Stearman of any blame after fair challenge

Fulham caretaker boss Peter Grant wished stricken Preston striker Stevie May a speedy recovery after he sustained what looked to be a long-term injury, casting a shadow on the 1-1 draw with Preston.

The frontman went down after a hard, but perfectly fair, challenge from Richard Stearman and stayed down clutching his knee. Replays suggested he had just planted his foot, which added to the unfortunate nature of the tackle.

He was stretchered off after a lengthy delay and left the ground on crutches and in a knee brace heading to hospital for a scan, while his team-mates went for their Christmas party.

Stearman was, naturally, shaken up after the incident but Fulham's interim boss absolved his player of any blame but his foremost thought was to wish May well.

Grant said: "When you see a young player like Stevie May go down with an injury it's sad. They're all human beings and they don't like their fellow professionals getting injured.

"I don't think it was Richard's challenge, I think it's the way the bodies have mangled up and obviously his knee has bent.

"You see it so many times that an innocuous challenge and all of a sudden you end up with a fellow professional injured.

"Richard was upset about it. He's fine now. He went in to Stevie and we wish him a very speedy recovery."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-send-best-wishes-stricken-10521987?