Saturday Fulham Stuff (08/07/17)...

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Fulham target William Rémy

Championship side Fulham are targeting Montpellier central defender William Rémy for a possible transfer, according to L'Équipe.

The London side's pursuit of Rémy has been given a boost by news that Johan Djourou will be joining the Ligue 1 side at the beginning of next week.



http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2017/fulham-target-william-remy/

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Fulham's apparent 'clear path' to sign 26-year-old defender, new recruit could push player out

After a few months of speculation that Johan Djourou could end up at the London Stadium under the supervision of Slaven Bilic at West Ham, the former Arsenal man has decided to give Ligue 1 a try, signing a three year deal with Montpellier.

However, one London club's loss could be another's gain, as the signing of the 30-year-old could cause a few exits in the south of France, including William Rémy's, wanted by Fulham.

The 26-year-old's season in Ligue 1 last year was one of sporadic appearances, and with one year left on his contract, the versatile defender's time at Montpellier appears to be coming to an end.

L'Equipe on Friday report the Cottagers' interest in Rémy, who had also caught the attention of Huddersfield, yet with the signing of Mathias Jorgensen on Friday, that might not be the case anymore.

This would leave Fulham with an apparent clear path to the Montpellier man, who is unlikely to cost Fulham a lot of money.

Slavisa Jokanovic has already recruited Marcelo Djaló from CD Lugo this year, and going for Rémy as well would suggest he either expects one of the three other centre-backs to leave or wants a lot more depth in his squad for the upcoming campaign to avoid a repeat of last season's playoff exit.

We'll see.



http://sportwitness.co.uk/fulham-clear-path-sign-26-year-old-defender-new-recruit-push-player/

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Gordon Rahere Hoare: the Arsenal player who transferred 23 times.
by Tony Attwood

According to Wikipedia Gordon Rahere Hoare (18 April 1884 – 27 October 1973) was "an English amateur footballer" – and that's all you get.  Which is rather sad given the extraordinary nature of his engagement with the game.

Now if you are a regular reader of this site you might recall that we already have an article on Gordon Hoare, but I am adding this one to add some more detail that I have discovered from a most remarkable site: Football and the First World War.

And as a result of access to that site we can even challenge Wiki's single fact – the players dates.  This is what Football and the First World War has to say...

"Gordon Rahere Hoare (1884-1973) was born in Blackheath, South East London on 18 April 1884 and died in Putney in December 1973. An amateur international, the inside-forward played for three Football League clubs before and immediately after World War One, during which he served overseas with the British Army. In 1912, Hoare was part of the Great Britain team that won the gold medal at the Stockholm Olympic Games."

If you've been following any of this story you'll know that one of the key problems for Woolwich Arsenal and for Henry Norris in his initial engagement with the club was in finding proven goal scorers, and inside forwards who could supply them.  We'd even converted our centre half into a centre forward, and still nothing worked.  Players came in and went out, getting one or two games before moving away.

Hoare was a local south Londoner who had played amateur football with Woolwich Polytechnic and Bromley.   (Woolwich Poly FC is interesting – we seem to have picked up a number of players from there, in the early days.  The Poly was formed in 1892 and lasted until 1970 – and seems to have had a football team for much of its life – although I have not found any sort of history written up.)

Anyway, Gordon Hoare joined Woolwich Arsenal in 1907 and played for the first time against Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the 1907/8 season.    He stayed on the club's books as an amateur and played 11 first team games in the 08/09 season.

But despite the total failure of Arsenal to find a suitable forwards he was not picked throughout the opening part of the 1909/10 season, until this last match in November.   He got his game, but it was too little too late, and he moved to Glossop North End in December 1909.

Now this is rather interesting because Glossop, despite being a little market town in Derbyshire at the time had a second division team which had got to the quarter finals of the FA Cup in 1908–09 where they lost to 1-0 to Bristol City after a replay.

But this is the real twist: the chairman and (inevitably) benefactor in 1909 was Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, who later became chairman of Arsenal and whose descendants ruled the club until the events that led to the takeover by Stan Kroenke.  They were significant in the eventual overthrow of Henry Norris at Arsenal.

I don't have access to playing records for Glossop but somehow and for some reason one year later, almost to the day, Hoare was back in Woolwich Arsenal.   This time he got 14 games and six goals before going back to Glossop in 1912.

In all he had 13 clubs – although this is a bit misleading because two of those were Woolwich Arsenal, and one was Arsenal!

But I suspect that will have meant less than the fact that he played all three matches for England (ie Great Britain) in the 1912 Olympics and so won an Olympic Gold.  He scored two goals in the final against Denmark.

He retired from football in 1920, and died in 1973 at the age of 89.  If any descendant of Gordon Hoare should ever read this and would like to contribute more to the story, I would be honoured to include additional information from such a prime source.  If I have got anything wrong thus far, please accept my apologies – I am more than ready to correct the data.

Here's his Arsenal record from 11v11

Season    Team    Competition    Apps    Goals
1907-08    Arsenal    League Division One    1    
1908-09    Arsenal    FA Cup    2    
1908-09    Arsenal    League Division One    11    5
1909-10    Arsenal    League Division One    1    
1910-11    Arsenal    FA Cup    2    1
1910-11    Arsenal    League Division One    14    6
1911-12    Arsenal    League Division One    3

The Football and the First World War site also tell us that Hoare "won 13 amateur international caps for England. Between December 1914 and April 1915, Hoare turned out for Scottish side Queens Park and would also appear as wartime guest for Fulham and Manchester City during the First World War. In 1919, Hoare returned to Craven Cottage and played a further four league and two FA Cup games for the club, scoring on two occasions."

The link with Fulham of course is tantalising – as Sir Henry Norris, as he was by then, was director of both Fulham and Arsenal until the bust up over the London Victory Cup. 

I can't tell if Hoare went back to Fulham before or after that acrimonious dispute, but if after, it seems curious that Sir Henry would allow any player to go to Fulham at that point, so bad had relations become between the two clubs.

Hoare's military service is outlined by the Football and the First World War site:

"Hoare initially enlisted as a private in the Army Service Corps (ASC) and was posted to the mechanical transport (MT) section. In April 1916, Hoare was reported to have been based at Mottingham, Kent and was subsequently commissioned as a second lieutenant in the ASC on 3 July 1917. By the end of the war, Hoare had been promoted to lieutenant."

And now I want to quote wholesale from the Football and the First World War site, because they have produced a complete analysis of Hoare's progress as a player.  I think this is incredibly valuable because it shows the wandering nature of some amateur players at the time.  Hoare was by no means the only player we have come across to move from club to club so readily but each time we find one, I find it a fascinating reflection on the way football was played at the time.

Season    Club    League Position    FA Cup    Lge Games    Lge Goals    FA Cup Games    FA Cup Goals
1905    Westcombe Park                   
1906    West Norwood                   
1906    Woolwich Polytechnic                   
1906    Bromley                   
1907/08    Woolwich Arsenal    14th (First Division)    R1    1          
1908/09    Woolwich Arsenal    6th (First Division)    R2    11    5    2    
1909/10    Woolwich Arsenal    18th (First Division)    R2    1          
1909/10    Glossop    6th (Second Division)    R1    10    2    1    1
1910/11    Glossop    14th (Second Division)    R1    1          
1910/11    Bromley                   
1910/11    Woolwich Arsenal    10th (First Division)    R2    14    6    2    1
1910/11    Pilgrims                   
1911/12    Woolwich Arsenal    10th (First Division)    R1    3    1       
1911/12    Glossop    18th (Second Division)    R1    11    3       
1912/13    Glossop    18th (Second Division)    R1    25    9    1    
1913/14    Glossop    17th (Second Division)    R2    4    2       
1913    West Norwood                   
1913    Bromley                   
1913/14    Queen's Park    16th (Scottish First Division)                
1913/14    Arsenal    3rd (Second Division)    R1             
1914    Norfleet                   
1914/15    Arsenal    5th (Second Division)    R2             
1914    West Norwood                   
1919/20    Fulham    6th (Second Division)    R1    4       1    1
Summary                      
   Arsenal          44    18    6    2
   Fulham          4       2    2
   Glossop          51    16    2    1
   Queen's Park                   
   Totals          99    34    10    5

That really is a record and a half.




http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/15554

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New Coventry City signing Jack Grimmer wants 'to give something back' to Sky Blues fans

The defender is Mark Robins' ninth acquisition of the summer and has revealed the manager made him feel "wanted"

Jack Grimmer became a Coventry City player earlier this week after completing a move from Championship club Fulham.

The defender is Mark Robins' ninth acquisition of the summer and has revealed the manager made him feel "wanted."

The 23-year-old is most comfortable at right-back and joined the Sky Blues on a two-year deal.

The attacking full-back made 17 appearances for Fulham and has had a string of loan spells, one at Port Vale and three at Shrewsbury Town where he played 27 games for League One Shrewsbury Town last season.


Leon Clarke of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Jack Grimmer of Fulham

On joining the Sky Blues, Grimmer told the official club website: "As soon as I met the manager and the backroom staff I knew it was a place I wanted to come and play.

"They made me feel wanted.

"I've settled in very actually, sometimes you're never sure how you'll settle but the reception from the fans have been amazing and the players have welcomed me with open arms."

Grimmer began his football career at his hometown club Aberdeen and became the youngest ever player to represent the Dons in a senior fixture at just 16 years, two months and 13 days old - a record he still holds today.

The talented young Scot was snapped up by Fulham in 2012, signing a three-year contract at Craven Cottage.

Following his move to the English capital, Grimmer was farmed out on loan to Port Vale in 2014, making 14 appearances for the Valiants, before returning to Fulham at the end of that season.


Shrewsbury Town's Jack Grimmer and Coventry City's Kwame Thomas battle for the ball

In October 2014, Grimmer moved on loan to Shrewsbury for the first of three spells at New Meadow.

The defender impressed over a seven game spell for the Shrews before being called back to Fulham as injury cover. He made his senior debut for the Cottagers on November 29, against Brighton and Hove Albion, before signing a new two-and-a-half year deal in March.

Grimmer then returned to Shrewsbury on loan in January 2016 until the end of the season, before a third stint with the League One club in August 2016.


Shrewsbury Town's Jack Grimmer and Coventry City's Stuart Beavon

The Scotland U21 international made 58 appearances over three spells with the Shrews, but was not offered a permanent deal by the League One side.

On returning to the club as part of the Checkatrade Trophy group stages in the 2017/18 season, Grimmer said: "That's brilliant, I didn't know that actually.

"That is the way football works to be honest, I've found that out recently so I'm looking forward to that."

On the new season, Grimmer revealed he was hopeful of a successful campaign.

"Everyone is pushing for the same goal," he said.

"I've been part of a promotion season in League Two with Shrewsbury so I want to take that experience and help here at Coventry.

"One of the things that stood out for me was the goals set by the manager and the club as a whole, not just for this season but also in the future.

"It's a club that should never be in the position that it is, but unfortunately that is the situation.

"It is definitely time to give something back to the fans."




http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/transfer-news/coventry-city-jack-grimmer-13298395

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Transfer news: Fulham eyeing deal for Montpellier defender William Remy


Fulham want William Remy

Fulham have set their sights on Montpellier defender William Remy.

The Championship club are looking to land a new centre-back this summer and reports in France have suggested that 26-year-old Remy is on their radar.

Montpellier have been reluctant to sell but may be about to change their stance.

They are to set to sign former Arsenal defender Johan Djourou on a free transfer and Remy can go for the right price.

That will come as good news for Fulham as they attempt to negotiate a transfer fee with the Ligue 1 side.



Read more at http://talksport.com/football/transfer-news-fulham-eyeing-deal-montpellier-defender-william-remy-170707245839#awTzH3kpDixdV2e5.99

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Transfer Talk: Fulham stopper Marcus Bettinelli linked with Bristol City following Chelsea interest

Betinelli, who has been linked with a number of clubs this summer, including Chelsea, looks increasingly likely to leave Craven Cottage, as speculation mounts around his future.

Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli has been linked with a move to Bristol City, according to the Bristol Post.

Betinelli, who has been linked with a number of clubs this summer, including Chelsea, looks increasingly likely to leave Craven Cottage, as speculation mounts around his future.

The stopper has made it clear that he's searching for regular first team football, and speaking to Get West London at the end of the season, Betinelli appeared determined to fight for the number one jersey.

He said: "Its been a long season for me, it hasn't been a great season for me if we're honest.

"I love this club and I've been at this club for a long, long time but I'm going to be turning 25 in the summer and I want to be playing regular football, and this season I haven't done that.

"I've got two more years left and I want to stay here, I love this club and want to play for this club but at the end of the day I need games and if I'm not going to get them that's it, but hopefully I can get them and get this number one shirt."



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/transfer-talk-fulham-stopper-marcus-13298701

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Fulham Defender Stearman Signs

On Thursday, Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder secured his fifth transfer of the summer when Fulham's former England U21 international Richard Stearman was secured.

Stearman, who spent last season on loan at former club Wolves, has been signed on a three year contract with United paying 'a substantial undisclosed fee' for the central defender - he can also play at right back too.

Wilder said Stearman, 29, had been his 'number one target' and was therefore obviously delighted to clinch the signing of the experienced defender, a veteran of over 240 - a little over 200 for Wolves alone - Championship appearances.

He told the Official Website: 'Richard was our number one target throughout the summer and I'm delighted he has signed. We've been on the look out for a central defender who has played extensively in the Championship and who possesses the qualities and characteristics to fit in with our group.'

United weren't the only club in for him but Wilder managed to lure him to Bramall Lane.

'Richard will undoubtedly strengthen us, he's a calm influence in the dressing room and every manager who I have spoken to about him says he has outstanding leadership qualities and will offer 100 per cent commitment, on and off the pitch. He had other opportunities to pursue, but I am delighted we have managed to tempt him to Bramall Lane.'

Stearman follows the previous additions of Ched Evans, Nathan Thomas, Enda Stevens and George Baldock.




Read more: http://www.sheffutd.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=496990#ixzz4mDoeBoEm

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Hammers to face Fulham in pre-season clash

West Ham have added another date to their pre-season schedule, this time against rather more local opposition.

It has been confirmed that West Ham will face Championship side Fulham in a pre-season run-out on Thursday, 20 July in Graz, Austria.

The match will be played at the Sportzentrum Graz-Weinzödl training complex, which is situated on the banks of the 300 mile-long River Mur.

It is the fifth game the Hammers have scheduled to play in Germany and Austria this summer, with the final match of pre-season - against Manchester City on 4 August - to be played in Reykyavik, Iceland.

West Ham Utd: confirmed pre-season dates

17th July: SK Sturm Graz (a)
20th July: Fulham FC (n)
28th July: Werder Bremen (n)
29th July: Werder Bremen (n)
1st August: Altona 93 (a)
4th August: Manchester City (n)

The last meeting between the two clubs came in the Premier League three years ago, with Fulham recording a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage - just six weeks after the Hammers beat the Cottagers 3-0 at the Boleyn Ground.



Read more at http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=131404#BFyTT9DQvtsD72qh.99

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Odds update: Derby and Fulham surprise 8/1 outsiders to sign Max Gradel

The Bournemouth man has been attracting attention from Sunderland, but both Fulham and Derby County are in the race too, according to the bookies.

Popular bookmakers BETVICTOR have listed the Rams and the Cottagers as outsiders in the race to sign Bournemouth winger Max Gradel.

The 29-year-old joined the Cherries in the summer of 2015, but hasn't made much of an impact on the south coast, making just 11 league starts for Eddie Howe's men during that period.

It was reported right here on HITC Sport earlier today that Sunderland are tracking the former Leeds United man, and BETVICTOR list the Black Cats as 2/1 favourites for his signature.

Somewhat surprisingly though, considering the lack of links, the bookies have made Fulham and Derby joint fourth favourites to sign Gradel, listing the pair at 8/1.

The Ivorian still has three years remaining on his current deal at the Vitality Stadium, but it is understood that he is keen to move away from the south coast in an effort to gain more regular first-team football.

And Gradel would certainly offer both the Rams and the Cottagers something different in forward areas, should either of them manage to sneak in and steal the pacey attacker from under Sunderland and Leeds' noses.



http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2017/07/07/odds-update-derby-and-fulham-surprise-81-outsiders-to-sign-max-g/

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Fulham, Hull, QPR, and Sunderland to battle for Ligue 1 midfield sensation

The Championship quartet of Fulham, Hull City, Queens Park Rangers, and Sunderland are expressing an interest in Paris Saint-German starlet Christopher Nkunku, according to Get West London.

The 19-year-old midfielder came up through the youth ranks at the French giants before making his first team debut back in 2015 in a Champions League group stage clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.

And the France youth international has since gone on to add a further 21 appearances for the side, including 16 in all competitions last term as Unai Emery's side came up short in their quest to win a fifth successive Ligue 1 title, finishing eight points behind champions Monaco.

And with Nkunku unlikely to command a regular starting berth at PSG next term, he has reportedly been attracting interest from a whole host of clubs around the continent, not least the Championship quartet of Fulham, Hull, QPR, and Sunderland.

Leonid Slutsky's Hull and Simon Grayson's Sunderland will be looking for an immediate return to the Premier League following relegation last term, and as such will want talent like Nkunku in their ranks to aid in that quest.

Fulham reached the top six last season but fell to Reading in the semi-finals, and will hope to bolster their attacking options ahead of another promotion push, while Ian Holloway's QPR finished just two points clear of the bottom three, and thus need reinforcements to climb the division next time round.

However, with Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne reportedly having made a loan move for the 19-year-old, it very much remains to be seen whether any of the aforementioned Championship quartet can get a deal done for the Frenchman this summer.




https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/fulham-hull-qpr-and-sunderland-to-battle-for-ligue-1-midfield-sensation/