Tuesday Fulham Stuff (10/01/17)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Cardiff City's new FA Cup tradition.

I suppose the best thing I can say about Cardiff City's 2-1 defeat to Fulham at a less than 20 per cent full Cardiff City Stadium yesterday in the Third Round of the FA Cup was that it was not quite as pathetic a game as the last two matches we played in the competition when Reading and Shrewsbury came here and won while hardly breaking into a sweat against a team and support that could best be described by adding a letter "a" at the start of a word I used three lines ago!

In saying that, the reason why yesterday was slightly better than those two earlier matches was entirely down to our opponents who provided all of what quality was seen – Fulham moved the ball around neatly and purposefully in a way which asked serious questions as to the ability of the very highly paid players in our team, some of whom have cost us millions in transfer fees.

The difference between the sides was embarrassing at times. Every outfield Fulham player  was comfortable with the ball at their feet, whereas our attempts to string any sort of passing football together soon petered out after a few seconds, due to us being unable to perform what should be basics, for players at this level at least, such as controlling the ball with one touch and getting the right weight on what should have been a simple pass.

The only visiting player who struggled when using their feet was goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, who is one of several players that have been linked to us in recent weeks. This is a deal that I would place in the "highly unlikely" category, but, if it did come off and Bettinelli's kicking is really as erratic as it looked at times yesterday, he can rest assured that he won't feel as self concious about his lack of ability in that aspect of the game as he must do at times at Fulham, because there will be plenty of his new team mates who will be able to show him that he will be far from alone when it comes to displaying the various ways a football can be mistreated!

I think I've speculated on here before as to whether the somewhat basic, long ball approach that has been the preferred method of playing the game for two of our last three managers could be put down to it being the "trademark" style of Messrs Slade and Warnock or whether they look at our squad and think it is not capable of playing in a more "cultured" way?

My honest answer is that I think both managers would still want their team to play a set piece orientated, physical game where shorter passing out from the back is frowned upon even if they had a group of players with better footballing ability than the ones they work/worked with. However, our wholly unsuccessful attempts to play in a manner favoured by sides like Fulham under Paul Trollope does rather point to Messrs Slade and Warnock being hamstrung if the possibility of getting their side to play in a more expansive, possession based way ever entered their minds.

I don't like the passing for the sake of passing approach of some clubs (I thought that one of the reasons why Fulham didn't win by a margin that their superiority merited yesterday was that they were a little Arsenal like at times as the desire to score a "perfect" goal took over, when a more simple approach would probably have paid dividends) and I've made it clear that Warnock's approach to playing the game has led to some far more entertaining home matches lately than we had become used to, so I'm not going to be too critical of the way he gets the side to play here.

After all, it was only six days ago that I was declaring that Warnock was maybe in the process of giving us our old Cardiff City back after a 1-0 win over Villa that was one of the best games I've watched and atmospheres I've experienced at a home game in ages, so it would be hypocritical of me if I was to slaughter the way he is getting us to play now.

However, while Monday was all about "up and at em", yesterday was much more stand back and let them play. Just as it was under Russell Slade, the game plan favoured by Neil Warnock has no saving graces whatsoever when it is carried out as poorly as it was yesterday, there are no passages of play in defeat which allow you to think "we may have lost, but at least we kept on trying to play football and there were parts of our play that I enjoyed" – when a Slade/Warnock Cardiff team played/plays badly, there are no such consolations to grasp, it is just artless thud and blunder as we hope to force free kicks, corners and throw ins from which we may be able to find a chance to have the goal attempt that we are never going to create from open play.

It got so bad yesterday that, with Aron Gunnarsson rested and new signing Greg Halford substituted, we were reduced to Sean Morrison taking the long throws presumably in the hope that, if he made them slow and loopy enough, he could get into the middle and get his head on the ball as it dropped!

I accept that there are sides out there who do perfectly well thank you when only having possession of the ball for about forty per cent of the time when they play and there has been at least one example of a team winning with as low as twenty per cent possession (Burnley v Liverpool in August) this season. However, we have consistently been down in the early thirties under Warnock when it comes to possession and against Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield and again yesterday it was as low as twenty nine per cent - I find it hard to believe that any side can enjoy concerted success when they see as little of the ball as that.

The BBC's stats say that we had eight goal attempts yesterday with four of them on target, but, apart from our goal, which owed everything to a deflection off the wall that left Bettinelli completely wrong footed and a Joe Ralls shot a few minutes later that the keeper did well to turn aside, we never looked like scoring. So, we reverted to what has been our norm at home far too often this season whereby those in the Canton Stand spend forty five minutes watching us attacking their end of the ground without seeing anything happening to get them thinking that a City goal might be coming – it's incredible how many times we have had offered absolutely nothing as an attacking force in the second half of home matches this season.

Judging by his post game comments, Neil Warnock found it hard to get too excited about yesterday's match. Our manager used the line that he "struggled to get out of bed for the game" and, while that was partly a dig aimed at the early kick off time which no doubt contributed to an attendance figure of just over 5,000, it also said much about the way the club, on the footballing side at least, treated the game.

This was the first game we have played under Warnock where there were not league points at stake and so, although there were not as many changes made as there were by other teams over the weekend, we still went into the game with nearly half of the team which started against Villa missing.

With Warnock admitting that most, if not all, of the missing five would have been out there playing if it had been a Championship game, there is little doubt that this veteran is treating cup games in exactly the same manner  as most of his juniors do.

Yes, Warnock said it was sad to see the oldest cup competition in the world reduced to what it is now, but the truth is that he was just behaving like a modern day manager does in a game where you start to think that trying to make sure you don't lose your television money has become more important than the game itself.

Why should the FA Cup be treated like that and when did it become the norm at Cardiff City for any cup game to be treated as an irritant? When was it that the FA and League Cups turned into tournaments where you get the strong impression that those on the playing side of things at the club would prefer to make as early an exit from as possible?

It was so ironic to read a thread on a City messageboard on Friday celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the epic win over Leeds United when Scott Young's late goal saw us beat the team that was at the top of the Premier League at the time. Many of the contributors to the thread rated that game as the best they'd ever seen while supporting the club and I can understand why they would do so, because it was a brilliant occasion which not even the post match controversy which centred on what was a festering sore at the club at the time, crowd misbehaviour, could diminish.

The fact is though that three quarters, at the very least, of those who were there against Leeds didn't make it to yesterday's game. Now, there are all sorts of reasons why some of that fifteen thousand or so couldn't make it to the Fulham match (being dead being the best of them!), but somewhere along the line, it's got to the stage where those who went to yesterday's game are almost viewed by other supporters as being a bit eccentric for going along to watch their team play on a Sunday morning.

It's probably true to say that the FA Cup began it's long, lingering demise on the day that the first Premier League television deal was signed, but, at Cardiff, although Dave Jones was often prone to making  a few alterations, I think I'd trace it back to 7 January 2012.

This was when Malky Mackay, having already picked "experimental" City sides for the early rounds of our march to Wembley for the Final of the League Cup that season, made ten changes from the team that had played so well in beating Reading in that match I referred to in my piece about the Villa game, only five days earlier for a Third Round FA Cup tie at West Brom.

Mackay did have the excuse of a First Leg Semi Final a few days later coming up to justify the weak side he sent out at the Hawthorns, but his cup selections always bore little resemblance to the one that had played in the previous league games once we had played Liverpool in the League Cup Final. So it was that the precedent whereby the cups were little more than nuisances or distractions as far as Cardiff City were concerned was set.

There are still people around who say that the Third Round of the FA Cup represents their favourite weekend of any season, but, surely, if they are being honest with themselves, what they really mean is that it used to? That's how it was for me, but that all changed some time before that great day against Leeds restored my faith, for a short while anyway.

Yesterday, I watched three matches, one in the flesh and then Liverpool v Plymouth and Spurs v Villa on the telly. The only "magic of the FA Cup" I saw in them came from the supporters of the Devon team who were, understandably, ecstatic to see their side draw at Anfield after having been forced to start their journey north in the early hours of the morning because of another kick off time for television that paid no heed whatsoever to the thoughts of travelling fans.

Even then, Plymouth owed their "cup glory" to a very negative "park the bus" philosophy which blunted a second string Liverpool attack – it was hard to blame them for this approach even though it made for very boring viewing.

So, three Cup ties to watch, with, maybe five minutes of genuine quality on offer between them and the stat which says the most about the nature of these games was the one which showed that there was not a single yellow card in the trio of matches - how can there be when there was hardly a tackle made in any of them?

If one of the game's true motivators admits that he had been unable to motivate himself for an FA Cup game, how could Neil Warnock be expected to motivate his players? To be honest, I was never expecting to see the sort of burning commitment which did for Villa, but what I was hopeful of, especially after a fairly bright first fifteen minutes during which both sides scored, was a decent game of football where the lack of points at stake might have encouraged the "stars" on view to be a bit more expressive.

Instead, what I saw, from the ones in blue at least, was a shortage of basic techniques and a lack of desire from some of those given a rare first team chance – only Brian Murphy and Sol Bamba out of the City side had any cause to be reasonably happy with their performances in my opinion.

In saying that, Mark Harris will remember the day forever as he became the first locally produced youngster in far too long to make a senior debut for the team. Harris played the last twenty five minutes or so and found it hard to make an impact in a team where so many were playing so poorly, but there was one nice little run followed by one of the few perceptive passes played by a City man in the game that offered a clue as to what he could offer.

Harris came on for Greg Halford who showed the versatility which Neil Warnock said was the main reason for his signing from Rotherham for a "nominal" fee late last week by starting as the middle member of a back three, before soon shifting to a holding midfield role. I suspect that Halford was also brought here to perform the sort of eyes and ears in the dressing role that the likes of Paddy Kenny, Sean Derry and Clint Hill have done in the past for our manager, but there was little in his play yesterday which suggested he is an improvement on what we have already.

When the Halford signing was announced, I was reminded of an interview I'd read at the time of Neil Warnock's appointment here where a QPR fan said we should expect "underwhelming" signings that have a habit of working, Based on yesterday, it looks like the first bit was right and the second part wrong as far as Halford is concerned, but any incoming player deserves more than one game in which to be judged by the supporters of his new team and so I will give him more time and trust that the QPR supporter was right on both counts.

There was another new arrival announced in the week as Ibrahim Meite, who had been on trial at the club, signed for us on a contract until July 2018. The striker cum winger was cup tied having been part of the Harrow Borough side that faced Northampton in the First Round of the competition in November, but it is understand that, for now, he will be a member of the Development team squad (who play at Charlton later today) rather than a candidate for the first team.

Finally, there was yet another of those "contract cancelled by mutual consent" departures, for which City are becoming notorious lately, on Friday when it was announced that Lex Immers had left us with it being reported that he has already signed for Club Brugge in Belgium.

In this instance though, I find it hard to be too critical of the club because, following his successful loan spell over the final three months of last season when Immers established himself as possibly the stand out player in a team doing far better in the Championship than the current one is, there were hardly any dissenting voices (I definitely wasn't one of them) when he was signed on a permanent deal in May. However, we never got to see the same player this season and it was hard to avoid the feeling that he had played his last game in a City shirt after his wholly ineffective forty five minute showing after being given a start against Wolves. Even so, although I have no real evidence to back this up, my suspicion is that off field matters were at the heart of his return to mainland Europe.


http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/cardiff-citys-new-fa-cup-tradition/

[WhiteJC]

 
Chelsea loanee confirms loan extension at Fulham will be 'done ASAP'

Lucas Piazon's having a pretty good time of things on loan just down the road from Chelsea Football Club, featuring regularly for former Chelsea player Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham Football Club. Piazon has played in all but two of Fulham's games since mid-September, including Sunday's 2-1 win over Cardiff City in the FA Cup third round (fellow Chelsea loanee Tomas Kalas missed out through a hamstring injury).

But Piazon only joined on a half-season loan that's due to expire next week. Understandably, Jokanovic would like to keep him, but so far, there's been no official word either way. According to Piazon himself however, a new deal will be hopefully "done ASAP".

Fulham are Piazon's fifth loan since joining in 2011 and making three appearances in 2012-13. The 22-year-old's current Chelsea deal expires next season. It would not be surprising at all to see him make a permanent move to Fulham or somewhere else before then.


http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2017/1/9/14210836/chelsea-loanee-confirms-loan-extension-at-fulham-will-be-done-asap

[WhiteJC]

 
Newcastle In Move For Fulham Attacking Midfielder Tom Cairney

Th Mirror are reporting today that Newcastle are interested in signing 25 year-old Fulham attacking midfielder Tom Cairney.

The report is that Rafa Benitez is keen to bring in the 6ft tall central midfielder who has been at Fulham since the summer of 2015.

In that time he has played 67 games for the Craven Cottage side with 13 goals and 9 assists so he is a productive player.


Tom Cairney – 25 year-old attacking midfielder

And here is yet another Englishman who Rafa is trying to bring into the club – so he seems to be trying to build a core of British players at Newcastle.

Tom was born in Nottingham and started his career at Leeds United Youth Academy before joining Hull City  back in 2007.

Six years later he joined Blackburn Rovers in 2013 where he stayed for just a couple of years before joining Fulham.

However, it could prove difficult to get the player in during January, with Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic saying he will not sell one of his best players:

"Tom Cairney is so important to us. He makes us tick and he shows he can do damage to teams."

"I'm going to guarantee he's going to stay with us."

Rafa is keen to get at least two players through the door this month and it will depend on what kind of offer Newcastle make for the player, as to whether we can get the lad signed.

Tom has played for the Scotland U19 and U21 youth sides and qualifies to play for either England or Scotland because of his Scottish father and English mother.

In his career so far he has played 239 games with 29 goals and 37 assists.

It's important that Newcastle sign some players this month to refresh our squad, which has looked stale over the last few weeks.


http://www.nufcblog.com/2017/01/09/newcastle-in-move-for-fulham-attacking-midfielder-tom-cairney/

[WhiteJC]

 
Derby tipped to pip Fulham to Nugent

Derby County are set to sign David Nugent from Middlesbrough, The Sun say.

Fulham are keen to sign Nugent, with both a potential loan or permanent deal having been discussed. The striker is also a target for Leeds United.

According to The Sun, Nugent is poised to join Derby in a deal worth up to £3m.

Derby are looking to sign a forward, having been told that Fulham will not agree to terminate Chris Martin's season-long loan.

Martin wants to return to the East Midlands club but there is no clause in the loan deal enabling Derby to recall him.

Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic has insisted that the player will not be allowed to leave.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/features-comment/newcastle-brighton-norwich-hull-cairney-gossip

[WhiteJC]

 
Pretty passing and tactical fluidity
by DAN on JANUARY 9, 2017

That the overriding feeling at the conclusion of yesterday's FA Cup tie at the Cardiff City Stadium was one of overwhelming relief told you everything. Fulham had a massive 72% of the possession and yet, for all their dominance of both the ball and territory, were never quite able to kill Cardiff off. That this is not unusual underlines just how frustrating a season this has been so far for Slavisa Jokanovic – and encouraging all the same. Largely gone are the defensive rickets that appeared so regularly during Fulham's first two seasons in the Championship – but there are replaced with the kind of lack of cutting edge in the final third that could severely undermine Fulham's promotion hopes.

For me, there are uncanny echoes of the 1999/2000 season under Paul Bracewell. Then, a cohesive unit played predominantly pretty football and produced some excellent early season results to put themselves firmly in the play-off picture. But, ultimately, a combination of too many draws – which could become a factor in the final reckoning this year – and an inability to shoot effectively from distance left Fulham with far too much to do as the season reached its final chapter. Bracewell paid for this with his job and a promising managerial career was over in the blink of an eye. Jokanovic can't be under similar pressure given the rapid transformation his side has made since the summer – but the similarities are striking.

Part of this is down to the Serbian's footballing philosophy, which largely suits the club where he now finds himself. Jokanovic, not being from this sceptred isle, doesn't want to lump the ball forward like so many English sides and abhors additional physicality in favour of a possession-based game. He encourages his team to work the ball out of the back, be patient in midfield and not be around to take the extra touch if necessary. All of that makes Fulham one of the league's most eye-catching sides but, at times yesterday, you were screaming for the men in white to pull the trigger from the edge of the box.

Tom Cairney and Stefan Johansen's central midfield partnership has been one of the revelations of the season. It has certainly been refreshing to see Cairney liberated both from being firmly Ross McCormack's shadow and also from being pressed into service out on the right flank, from where he had little opportunity to exert the influence over proceedings that he does now. Johansen's emergence from a nervous debut where he was hooked well before half time to arguably Fulham's player of the season has been quite something – and his all-action displays from a deep midfield role have breathed new life in a side that on occasions had lacked mobility in a central area. I do wonder, however, whether Cairney would increase his goal return and effectiveness in the final third were he to be played even further forward behind the central striker. He looked very useful in such a role when Jokanovic deployed him there on occasion last season and it might free from the shackles of having two opposition markers detailed to him by alert opposition managers.

Jokanovic's willingness to switch systems had been commented on when he arrived at the club, but we saw it in action yesterday. Fulham went from a nominal 4-2-3-1 (or more likely a 4-1-2-3) to a 5-3-2 very, very comfortably. The latter formation was used successfully at times by Kit Symons, who had to conduct what looked like a pretty uncomfortable post-match interview with Jokanovic for BBC Wales yesterday, but with the personnel the Serbian had at his disposal it worked wonderfully yesterday. That system looks as though it is designed for marauding wide men like Ryan Fredericks and Ryan Sessesgnon, who both bombed forward to devastating effect, and it totally bamboozled a bewildered Cardiff side, who were very much second best. Expect to see it more often later in the campaign.

Even if the broadcasters and the FA themselves have unwittingly devalued the competition over the past decade, Fulham took the FA Cup very seriously yesterday. Credit to Jokanovic for fielding a very strong side, when it would have been easy and understandable – with Fulham's play-off push taking a bit of a jolt on Monday – to have thrown in all the kids. In the end, the eleven Fulham started with was close to the club's strongest, especially when you consider we will need to go shopping in the January sales for a new centre forward at the very least, and it was nice to see Marcus Bettinelli back in goal again. On a weekend where teams have made wholesale changes, it was good to watch a strong Fulham side show that the Cup still means a great deal – and delight an impressive travelling support of over 700 (staggering given the crazy morning kick off time) deliver an impressive victory away from home.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/01/pretty-passing-and-tactical-fluidity/

[WhiteJC]

 
NORWICH TRACKING FULHAM MIDFIELDER

Norwich City are one of a number of clubs tracking Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney, according to The Mirror.

The report claims that Norwich, Brighton, Hull and Newcastle are all fighting to sign Cairney this month, following his impressive form for Fulham.

The central midfielder has five goals and three assists in the Championship this season, an impressive return.

Cairney has been captaining Fulham this season, following an injury to club captain Scott Parker.

Newcastle are said to be in pole position at this point, which is unsurprising given their financial muscle and league standing.

Norwich, however, are likely to be well behind in the race. This is due to the much-stated fact that the club must sell before they can think about signing players this month.

Robbie Brady has been linked with a £12m move to Leicester or Crystal Palace, which would certainly free up the funds for Norwich to make a move for Cairney.


http://readnorwich.com/2017/01/09/norwich-tracking-fulham-midfielder/

[WhiteJC]

 
Gary Lineker mocks Cardiff City's paltry FA Cup crowd on live TV as fans fume over BBC scheduling
The BBC pundit criticised the poor attendance at Cardiff City Stadium

Gary Lineker has riled Cardiff City fans with his comments about the club 'playing behind closed doors' for their FA Cup clash with Fulham yesterday.

The BBC pundit was referring to the crowd of just 5,199 that saw the Bluebirds slip to an uninspiring 2-1 defeat in the third round.

In the build up to the match, many Cardiff and Fulham fans complained about the BBC decision to move the match to an 11.30am kick-off for broadcasting purposes.


Just 5,199 saw the FA Cup 3rd round match (Photo: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

Lineker was recapping highlights of the Bluebirds cup match when he made the comments during the BBC's coverage of Tottenham's match with Aston Villa.

"Blimey, was the game played behind closed doors," quipped the former England striker.

"There was hardly anyone watching was there?"

The early Sunday kick-off time, coupled with a lengthy journey for Fulham fans, meant that Cardiff City Stadium was far from full come kick-off yesterday morning.

With the clubs focus firmly on the league, Warnock said in the build up to the match he would be fielding an understrength side and fans could expect fringe players to be given a run out.

As it turned out, Warnock made five changes to the side that beat Aston Villa last week, and none of the fringe players made a compelling case for inclusion in the Severnside derby on Saturday.

The Bluebirds boss has also admitted the tie was not one which whet his appetite and that he understood if fans felt the same way.

Lineker's comments led to an outcry on social media, with many pointing out the irony of his jibe.

The Match of the Day front man later took to twitter to respond, and clarify that his comments were made in jest.


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gary-lineker-mocks-cardiff-citys-12424445

[WhiteJC]

 
Former Manchester United midfielder faces a waiting game as Fulham weigh up whether to extend SPL loan
Slavisa Jokanovic will make a decision on whether to give the extension the green light



Fulham will assess whether to extend Larnell Cole's loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle for the rest of the season.

The 23-year-old's deal at Caley expires in the coming days and the SPL side are keen to extend the loan for the rest of the campaign. The midfielder is willing to extend his stay in the Highlands

Cole joined Fulham in January 2014 from Manchester United but has only made one appearance for the Whites, ironically as a substitute against the Red Devils in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.

He has had further loan spells at MK Dons, Shrewsbury before moving to Scotland in the summer.

And Slavisa Jokanovic will make a decision on whether to give the extension the green light.

He said: "Generally, for young people it's important to have the games and work hard. We're going to assess what the situation is around this player."

Cole has made 11 SPL appearances for Thistle since making the move, scoring in the 1-1 draw with Hamilton on December 10.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/former-manchester-united-midfielder-faces-12424990

[WhiteJC]

 
Transfer news: Fulham would want £10m from Newcastle for Tom Cairney
Whites pivotal midfielder attracts interest from high-flying Magpies - best of luck with that, Rafael


On the march: Tom Cairney R) closes down Sean Morrison

Newcastle United are interested in signing Fulham's pivotal midfielder Tom Cairney.

The Evening Chronicle reports the man Whites paid close to £4m for in summer 2015 is on boss Rafael Benitez's wish list.

Their chance of getting him are next to nothing - and slim. And as the old joke goes: Slim just saddled up and left town.

The 25-year-old is as key to Fulham's chances of making the play-offs above all others currently in the 24-man squad.

As former boss Kit Symons said after Whites eased home 2-1 in the FA Cup tie against Cardiff yesterday: all paths lead to Cairney in midfield.

GetWestLondon, prophetically as it turns out, wrote after his Cardiff player rating:

'Could have been man of the match on another day. All routes in midfield lead to the man who cost Whites £4m from Blackburn in 2015. What does that make him worth now?'

Still, everyone has their price, and Fulham would find it hard to turn down £10m that would double and then some what they paid.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/transfer-news-fulham-would-want-12425114

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham considering Cole loan extension
by DAN on JANUARY 9, 2017

Fulham are due to decide in the next few days whether to extend Larnell Cole's loan spell with Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Cole has gradually forced his way into Caley's first team during a successful loan spell, making eleven appearances since moving north of the border earlier this season and scoring in December's 1-1 with Hamilton Academicals. The former Manchester United midfielder has struggled for game time since moving to Craven Cottage back in January 2014 and Thistle are keen on extending the current loan until the end of the season, although manager Richie Foran had recently criticised the Championship club for not responding to his enquiries.

The 23 year-old has only made one senior appearance for Fulham, which came as a substitute at Old Trafford during Fulham's breathless 2-2 against his old club in January 2014, and has since been plagued by injuries and loss of form. Cole has had to be content with recent loan stints at MK Dons and Shrewsbury. The player is believed to be keen to extend his spell in Scotland, but the final decision rests with Fulham head coach Slavisa Jokanovic, who told the press after yesterday's FA Cup win against Cardiff:

Generally for young people it is important to have the games and work hard. We are going to assess what the situation is around this player [Cole].


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/01/fulham-considering-cole-loan-extension/

[WhiteJC]

 
£10m for Tom Cairney? Welcome to the silly season
by DAN on JANUARY 9, 2017

We are well into January – so it is time for the latest incarnation of the silly season. If you want an indication of just how ridiculous the transfer rumour mill can be at this time of year, look at the manufactured interest in Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney.

News of a 'possible bid' for the Scottish playmaker from Newcastle United spread like wildfire around the internet last night. On the face of it, interest in Cairney is plausible. He looks classy on the ball and, in a side as comfortable in possession as Fulham have become, has plenty of time and space to showcase his talent. But, where's the evidence of a concrete offer for the 26 year-old's services?

The Mirror printed the rumour that Newcastle, Brighton and Hove Albion and Norwich City – all striving for promotion from the Championship, like Fulham – were interested in signing Cairney in Sunday's newspaper. I'm sure they all would be. That allowed a Newcastle site to suggest that Newcastle's 'official media partner' were keen on signing Cairney. And we're off to the races. Only a few minutes ago, Paul Warburton – of Get West London Sport – wrote an article suggesting that Fulham 'want £10m for Cairney,' with no actual facts behind the unsupported supposition.

As it happens, Slavisa Jokanovic has been quick to rule out the prospect of Cairney leaving Craven Cottage. He first did so after the captain's virtuoso performance during Fulham's win at Griffin Park back in November – and he was quite categorical after the FA Cup success in Cardiff yesterday afternoon:

Tom [Cairney] is so important to us. He makes us tick and shows how he can do damage to teams. I'm going to guarantee he's going to stay with us.

The player himself finished 2016 with a post on social media saying that, unlike most of us, the past year had been the best of his life. Settled in London, starring in an upwardly mobile side and enjoying life off the pitch. Sorry if that spoils your next splash, lads.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/01/10m-for-tom-cairney-welcome-to-the-silly-season/

[WhiteJC]

 
Transfer gossip: Newcastle among clubs linked with Cairney

Fulham vice-captain Tom Cairney is said to be a transfer target for Championship front-runners Newcastle and Brighton.

The Newcastle Chronicle say the Magpies have enquired about Cairney's availability, but claim the Whites want "a huge fee" for the midfielder.

And this weekend's Sunday Mirror had suggested that Newcastle's title rivals Brighton, plus Norwich and Hull, were also interested in Cairney, who cost Fulham £3.5m when he signed from Blackburn in 2015.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/features-comment/newcastle-brighton-norwich-hull-cairney-gossip

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham and Brighton considering move for French defender, player wants 'permanent move'

Not exactly the best defence in the Championship, but also not the worst, Fulham's 30 goals conceded in 24 games appear to still be too much for Slaviša Jokanović, and a new defender is on the agenda.

At least, that's what local Italian newspaper Messaggero Veneto have been reporting over the weekend, with interest emerging from Craven Cottage for Udinese's Thomas Heurtaux.

The 28-year-old, who was a target for Swansea over the summer, hasn't played as much as expected this season, and his agent recently told TMW Radio that there were 'several clubs interested' in his client, and that they would 'find a solution, in Italy or abroad'.

According to Messaggero Veneto, Fulham are in pole position for the French defender, while Chris Hughton's Championship leaders Brighton, currently two points clear of Newcastle with a game in hand, are also looking at the Udinese man.

The Seagulls have turned Falmer Stadium into a fortress this season, conceding only six goals so far, and losing just the once, yet a move for Heurtaux there seems to make little sense.

Both Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy are 25, and with the pair clearly in great form right now, game time would be hard to come by for Heurtaux.

The player's agent said his client is looking for a 'permanent solution', meaning a loan deal appears to be out of the window unless a compulsory purchase option is included.

Heurtaux has made seven appearances for Udinese so far this season, picking up one assist in a 2-2 draw against Fiorentina when deployed as a right-back.


http://sportwitness.co.uk/fulham-brighton-considering-move-french-defender-player-wants-permanent-move/

[WhiteJC]

 
Championship trio after out of favour Middlesbrough winger

Sky Bet Championship sides Aston Villa, Derby County and Fulham are set to battle it out for the signature of unwanted Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing who has been informed he can leave the Teeside club on loan this January, according to reports.

News broke this morning that the 32-year-old experienced Middlesbrough winger would be allowed to leave the Premier League side on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

This has sparked a lot of interest in the midfielder for the Premier League, the US, China and also amongst some of the bigger clubs in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Birmingham Mail has announced that Sky Bet Championship outfit Aston Villa are apparently interested in bringing their former winger back to Villa Park but will face stiff competition from fellow division rivals Derby County and Fulham if they make a move for Downing.

The tricky winger has been pushed to the side of late at Middlesbrough as the Teeside club look to target their own transfers during the January transfer window to strengthen their bid of survival in England's top flight. The announcement that Downing will be allowed to leave for the rest of the campaign has come as a bit of a shock as the former England international made a solid start to this season with the North-east side.

Downing offers real experience for all three sides vying for his transfer. Derby County are looking for depth in their squad out wide whilst Fulham could be looking to replace star man Tom Cairney should he leave this January.

The winger previously played at Villa Park after a £12million move from home-town club Middlesbrough in 2009 which could persuade him to move back to the Midlands for the remainder of this campaign.


http://the72.co.uk/72149/championship-trio-after-out-of-favour-middlesbrough-winger/

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham linked with move for French defender
by DAN on JANUARY 9, 2017

Fulham and Brighton and Hove Albion are among a host of European clubs considering a move for central defender Thomas Heurtaux this month, according to reports in Italy this weekend.

The 6ft centre back has struggled for first team football at Udinese this season, making just six appearances for the Italian club in Serie A this term, and is keen to make a permanent month during the January transfer window, according to a radio interview with his agent. Hertaux, who was a prominent transfer target for Swansea City when they were looking for a replacement for Ashley Williams during the summer, made his name with Caen, for whom he made 67 league appearances over two seasons, before moving to Italy.

The 28 year-old would be open to interest from England and Slavisa Jokanovic is keen to strengthen his defence further in January after the untimely injury to Tomas Kalas. Even if the on-loan Chelsea defender were to return from his hamstring problem sooner than expected, Fulham can currently only choose from Tim Ream and Ragnar Sigurdsson at centre back and could badly do with reinforcements given the gruelling Championship fixture programme. Hertaux is also rumoured to be a target for the high-flying Seagulls, who are also eyeing defensive additions before the window shuts.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/01/fulham-linked-with-move-for-french-defender/

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham

Saturday, February 18th 2017, kick-off 3pm.
Fulham
Ashton Gate Stadium
Saturday, February 18th 2017, kick-off 3pm
Sky Bet Championship

This is a Silver category game.

THIS IS A QUID A KID MATCH (fee free for under-12s)

PRICES

ATYEO: SOLD OUT.
SOUTH: Adult - £23 (£28), Senior +65/Under-25 - £20 (£25), Under-22 - £17 (£22), Under-19 - £11 (£16), Under-12 - £1 (£1).
DOLMAN WINGS: Adult - £25 (£30), Senior +65/Under-25 - £22 (£27), Under-22 - £19 (£24), Under-19 - £11 (£16), Under-12 - £1 (£1).
DOLMAN CENTRE: Adult - £27 (£32), Senior +65/Under-25 - £24 (£29), Under-22 - £21 (£26), Under-19 - £11 (£16), Under-12 - £1 (£1).
WEST WINGS: Adult - £29 (£34), Senior +65/Under-25 - £26 (£31), Under-22 - £23 (£28), Under-19 - £11 (£16), Under-12 - £1 (£1).
WEST CENTRE: Adult - £31 (£36), Senior +65/Under-25 - £28 (£33), Under-22 - £25 (£30), Under-19 - £11 (£16), Under-12 - £1 (£1).

Ticket prices are inclusive of all fees. Please note all online print at home and online load to member card transactions will be £1 cheaper. There is a £1 charge for postage.

SALES PROCEDURE

Forever Bristol Member online – Monday, December 12th at 10am
Forever Bristol Member online/phone – Monday, December 19th at 10am
General Sale online – Monday, December 26th at 10am
General Sale online/phone – Tuesday, January 3rd at 10am

HOW TO BUY

Phone: Call 0117 963 0600


Read more at http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/fulham-3456169.aspx#4z1IFoPocmMOzIyc.99

[WhiteJC]

 
Newcastle United Interested in Tom Cairney

The transfer rumors are coming in, and one that has been gaining some steam within the past hour is Tom Cairney. Newcastle United have enquired about the player who plays for Fulham.

The 25-year-old midfielder will likely cost Newcastle United around £10m for his services. But it is also quite possible that Fulham reply that he is not for sale at all. Fulham is in the race to make the playoffs, and Cairney is seen as one of their top players. To sell him now could be detrimental to their future success in the Championship.

After the mistakes and errors made following Jonjo Shelvey's five-match ban, Rafa Benitez is going to have to try to find something to get the team back in form. A creative midfielder would help do that. Since Shelvey's ban, Newcastle United have fallen back down to second as well as struggling in their recent FA Cup tie against Birmingham City.

Benitez knows that something needs to be done to combat Newcastle's bad run of form. If he manages to sign Tom Cairney, that would be a step in the right direction. But it wouldn't solve all the problems.

Defense also needs some work, as well as news coming out that Benitez may be interested in another striker.

But for now, Tom Cairney is Benitez's big target, and if he manages to land him, it may bring back a bit of the creativity that was lost with Jonjo Shelvey's ban.

So far this season, Cairney has made 26 appearances for Fulham, scoring five times. Not a bad record, and one that would be good to add to Newcastle United's ranks.


http://newcastletoons.com/2017/01/09/newcastle-united-interested-tom-cairney/

[WhiteJC]

 
Johansen: 'We dominated from start to finish'
by DAN on JANUARY 9, 2017

Stefan Johansen said Fulham dominated their FA Cup third round tie at Cardiff from 'start to finish' and was delighted to ensure the Whites were in the hat for the fourth round draw.

The Norwegian midfielder continued his fine recent run of form with the equaliser after Fulham had fallen behind to Anthony Pilkington's deflected free kick, which was a fitting way to mark his 26th birthday. Speaking to FulhamFCTV after the final whistle, Johansen was very pleased that Slavisa Jokanovic's side had delivered such a composed and complete performance:

Yeah, it's nice. That's what we came here for and it's good to get through to the next round. That was always our goal – so, yeah, it's nice. I think we have played well for the last couple of games now, but some games we couldn't see out the result. I think we did it today. I can't really remember that they had any very big chances so it was a great team performance and, as I say, I'm happy that we're through to the next round.

He saluted his team-mates character to come back after what he described as a 'lucky goal' could have dented Fulham's confidence.

To be honest, I think it was a bit of a lucky goal. It took a deflection. I think Marcus [Bettinelli] would have been there if it went over the wall, so it was a bit lucky but we always believe we are going to score goals and we did in the end. We wasn't too stressed about that.

The former Celtic midfielder feels he should be judged by his personal contribution in terms of assists and goals and wants to keep his own excellent form going until May as Fulham push for promotion from the Championship.

As I said when I first signed, I want to help the team with goals and assists. I feel that I am in good form right now so it's just about keeping that going until the end of the season and count up how many points we get and how many goals and assists I have done.

Johansen also praised Jokanovic's flexibility – the Serbian head coach switched to a back three of Ragnar Sigurdsson, Tim Ream and Denis Odoi – and the change in system allowed Fulham's flying wing-backs to cut through Cardiff with ease.

We changed the formation today. We played three at the back and, as I said, I think it went really well. I think we controlled the game from start to finish, even when we went down. It worked out well for us and we just need to continue that because, for me, we have such a good team with the ball, we're not a team who really should kick it long every time, we want to keep it in the floor, and I think we did this well today.


http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/01/johansen-we-dominated-from-start-to-finish/

[WhiteJC]

 
Newcastle make enquiry about Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney - but Cottagers are reluctant to sell
"He makes us tick and he shows he can do damage to teams," said Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic of Cairney, who he 'guarantees' will stay at Craven Cottage


Cairney is on Newcastle's radar (Photo: Nathan Stirk / Getty)

Newcastle are understood to have made an enquiry to Fulham over the availability of Tom Cairney.

The midfielder has two years left on his contract at Craven Cottage and the Londoners are reluctant to let him leave, report Chronicle Live.

Cairney joined Fulham from Blackburn Rovers for £3.5million in 2015 but after the 25-year-old made a success of the move, the Cottagers want a huge fee for the central midfielder.

Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic recently said: "Tom Cairney is so important to us.

"He makes us tick and he shows he can do damage to teams. I'm going to guarantee he's going to stay with us."

It means that United may have to look elsewhere in what is proving to be a testing transfer window.

When asked about transfers Rafa Benitez said in his latest Press conference: "Hopefully I will talk with Lee Charnley in the next couple of days.

"We will see if we can get any movement or good news this week."

But an injury to Aleksandar Mitrovic will not alter his thinking in the January window.

He added: "I don't know if it could be long term; for us it doesn't change too much in terms of our decisions. We'll see how long.

"In terms of what we were thinking before, it's the same situation."


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-make-enquiry-fulham-midfielder-9591285

[WhiteJC]

 
Where does David Nugent's arrival at Derby County leave Chris Martin?

David Nugent's arrival at Pride Park should not affect Derby County's stance on Chris Martin.

Derby have signed Nugent from Middlesbrough in a deal worth £2m plus add-ons.

He would add to the Rams' attacking options that include Darren Bent, record signing Matej Vydra and Nick Blackman, who is currently injured.

Martin is on a season-long loan at Fulham but Rams boss Steve McClaren has said he would like to see the striker come back if all parties can agree on cutting the loan short.

That remains the case and the two clubs are still in discussions, the Derby Telegraph understands.

Martin is also keen to return, it has been reported. He has not been available for Fulham's last three games.

Fulham are defiant over the Martin situation and are saying he will stay until the end of the season.


Read more at http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/where-would-david-nugent-s-arrival-at-derby-county-leave-chris-martin/story-30042345-detail/story.html#tV6cOXTSEEjf5fJH.99