Monday Fulham Stuff (09/05/16)...

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Tom Cairney admits strike brought Fulham relief after finally beating gritty Bolton goalkeeper Ben Amos

Whites midfielder broke the deadlock with 13 minutes remaining in the season


Craven Cottage joy: Fulham fans and players alike breathe sigh of relief

Tom Cairney says Fulham's relief was palpable when his strike against Bolton hit the back of the net.

The former Blackburn midfielder curled an effort beyond Ben Amos in the 77th minute against their already relegated counterparts to earn the Whites a 1-0 win .

Wanderers goalkeeper Amos pulled off a string of terrific saves, including one from Cairney himself in the first half, and a remarkable double stop to deny Matt Smith and Ross McCormack from close range.

And the 25-year-old was just pleased to finally beat the Bolton man, after a dominating performance which saw the Whites retain 66% possession and have 26 shots on goal.

Cairney said: "It was especially good because Ben Amos was on fire today.

"He was their best player and we were struggling to beat him, especially with that double save second half. It was a great feeling.

"In the first half we had quite a few shots. In the second half, he had the double save that was brilliant.

"And then it started to feel like it was going to end on a nil-nil. It was a great relief when it went in."

The result edged Fulham up to 20th in the Championship - a final position as the season came to an end.

It proved to be another disappointing season for the Whites, with another relegation scrap the result of having four managers at the helm during a rocky first half of the season.

Slavisa Jokanovic eventually took the Craven Cottage role in December, but any January plans were restricted by a transfer embargo after the club breached Financial Fair Play rules.

With a full pre-season ahead though, and a chance to create his own Fulham team, the manager will be eyeing up success next season.

And Cairney says the boss will debrief his players ahead of their summer break, which begins Monday.

He added: "We're in tomorrow, we will have a bit of a meeting and then it is holiday time for us. Not for everyone else, ours is early.

"The hard work starts end of June, start of July.

"We might have individual meetings, maybe a collective meeting, I'm not sure.

"I'm guessing we find out tomorrow."


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/tom-cairney-admits-strike-brought-11301201?

[WhiteJC]

 
Burn moves on
by DAN on MAY 8, 2016

Dan Burn announced this morning that yesterday's win over Bolton Wanderers was his last game in a Fulham shirt. The club and the player had been engaged in preliminary talks over the possibility of extending his contract earlier in the year, but after five years at Craven Cottage, the central defender will move on in a search of a new challenge. The likable 23 year-old has taken a fair bit of a flak from some of Fulham's more vocal social media followers, but I would prefer to remember him by the two excellent performances that turned out to be his last showings in a white shirt.

Plenty of surprise was expressed when Slavisa Jokanovic shuffled his pack to include Burn and Shaun Hutchinson at the heart of his defence when Fulham travelled to Ipswich a couple of weeks ago. The duo were the pairing that was usurped by the arrival of Richard Stearman and Tim Ream late in the August transfer window and have struggled for game time since but put in a composed and mature defensive performance against a side pushing for the play-offs and were cruelly denied a clean sheet by an injury-time strike that happened to be Town's first on target.

It perhaps wasn't as big of a shock when Jokanovic made four changes following the horror show at Griffin Park for this weekend's visit of Bolton. The Trotters might have already been relegated but they posed plenty of attacking threat in the contrasting form of the experienced and imposing Emile Heskey and the pacier, diminutive and talented Zach Clough. Burn produced one excellent last-ditch tackle to prevent the latter escaping and marshalled the former effectively as well as finding time to strike the post with a rasping drive after a rare foray forward, which even he acknowledged with a chuckle on his way back down the pitch.

Burn's passion for the club shined through whenever you spoke to him – he was fiercely determined to do well and recognised he was in a privileged position as a footballer – and I got the impression he wanted to repay Fulham's faith in him. Not that there was a shortage of suitors for his services when the Whites swooped to sign him from Darlington, with whom he won the FA Trophy, for around £350,000 in spring 2011. Indeed, Burn picked Fulham over his boyhood club Newcastle United, believing he could develop better at the Motspur Park academy and eventually flourish in the first team.

The 6ft 7in defender will, of course, always be remembered for heading away most of Manchester United's 81 crosses on that extraordinary afternoon at Old Trafford when Fulham somewhere escaped with a 2-2 draw. There's also the small matter of him scoring in the League One play-off final against Brentford at Wembley ensuring Yeovil reached the Championship for the first time in their history during a successful loan spell on the south coast. But perhaps the moment I'll most fondly recall was the unexpected and glorious headed equaliser that snatched a point at Rotherham in October 2014 from an injury-time corner. At that stage, given Fulham's dreadful start to the season, points were precious.

Burn had his detractors but he never shirked a challenge and performed well as part of a back three in the early weeks of Jokanovic's reign, especially in the easy win at Loftus Road. A move to Sheffield United has long been rumoured and, should he end up at Bramall Lane, I'm sure he could become a firm favourite with the Blades fans. Jokanovic is looking to reshape his squad for a serious dart at promotion and whilst Burn no longer figures in those plans, he should leave the Cottage with the best wishes of the Fulham faithful.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2016/05/burn-moves-on/?

[WhiteJC]

 
3 Fulham players following Ben Pringle out of the club this summer

Fulham have not had the best of seasons in the Sky Bet Championship.

In the bottom half of the table and staring down at the bottom three instead of up at the top six is not where a team only relegated from the Premier League not so long ago should really be.

Fulham have had a very mixed couple of seasons, but the acquisition of some players for huge Championship prices such as Ross McCormack have showed the London club's ambition, but unfortunately the transition into the league is something you feel Fulham still haven't fully adapted too.

FootballLeagueWorld writer Conor McGilligan identifies THREE players that could follow Fulham's Ben Pringle out of the club this season...

Ross McCormack


The talismanic striker is a ridiculously good acquisition for any Championship side, which most are aware of after his exploits at Cardiff City, Leeds United and now Fulham.

His goalscoring you could say has kept Fulham afloat this year – his creation of chances, ability on the ball and leadership skills have been a positive in quite a negative season for the former Premier League club.

McCormack's move to Fulham was a controversial one, as he moved to London in a record transfer of up to £13 million.

His pedigree in front of goal is something never to be put into question – 40 goals in 84 games is nearly 1:2 goal to game ratio.

Premier League clubs have been looking at McCormack as he comes to the peak of his career. Fulham will do well to keep hold of McCormack after a poor season.

Moussa Dembélé


Dembele will be moving on this season from Fulham, something his agent has announced and the club really does understand.

Dembele is class. His technical ability is way above the Championship and, at such a young age, the Frenchman is reportedly wanted by PSG, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Enquiries about the youngster are coming in thick and fast. Can Fulham keep the youngster at the club? Probably not.

A player that can lead the line or play wide in a front three, the France youth international has pace to burn, skill in abundance, and an ability to get in behind the opposition defence.

Highly-rated in his homeland, Dembélé has great potential.

Konstantinos Mitroglou


Unfortunately, injuries limited his impact following his move to London, with the forward featuring just three times as Fulham were relegated.

Now established as Greece's main striker, Mitroglou played a major role in their qualification for the 2014 World Cup Finals, with his three goals over two legs helping to see off Romania 4-2 in the play-offs.

He spent the 2014/15 season back on loan at Olympiakos, scoring 19 times, before joining Portuguese outfit SL Benfica on a similar deal for 2015/16.

Mitroglou has already expressed his need to move back to his home country, so a move outside England will be very likely this summer.



http://footballleagueworld.co.uk/3-fulham-players-following-ben-pringle-out-of-the-club-this-summer/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Dan Burn to leave Fulham when contract expires next month

Centre-back Dan Burn signed for Fulham from Darlington in 2011

Defender Dan Burn has confirmed he is leaving Fulham when his contract expires next month.

The 23-year-old centre-back has played 35 times this term for the Championship club, who narrowly avoided relegation to League One.

The Whites conceded the third-most goals in the division this season - 79 - but Burn played as they kept a rare clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Bolton on the final day of the season.

On Sunday, Burn announced on Twitter: "I played my last game for Fulham yesterday, had five great years there and met some amazing people.

"I wish all the lads, the club and the staff all the very best in whatever they do. Thanks for the memories."

Burn, who joined from Darlington in 2011 and had loan spells at Yeovil and Birmingham, was the subject of a move from Sheffield United in the January transfer window that was rejected by Fulham.


http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11681/10275023/dan-burn-to-leave-fulham-when-contract-expires-next-month?