Sunday Fulham Stuff (26/09/10)...

[WhiteJC]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/arsenal/996223/Arsenal-looking-to-poach-Liverpool-stopper-after-Manuel-horrorshow.html
HELLMUNIA! FLOP GUNNERS EYE REINA

ARSENAL are poised to make a fresh bid to snatch keeper Pepe Reina from cash-strapped Liverpool.

The Anfield club rejected a cheeky £15m bid from the Gunners during the summer.


But after a howler by cock-up keeper Manuel Almunia gifted West Brom a 3-2 win at the Emirates, Arsenal are considering a new bid in the January transfer window to solve their long-standing goalkeeper problem.


Reina, 28, was the keenest of all Liverpool's stars to quit Anfield after a season of turmoil on and off the pitch.


But the club regarded Arsenal's bid as far too low.


Now Liverpool, humbled by League Two Northampton in the Carling Cup last week, are facing another lurch towards financial disaster.


The deadline for Hicks and Gillett to renegotiate their £282.4m bank loan is due to expire next month.


And unless something dramatic happens in the coming weeks, Liverpool will be in a much weaker position to resist bids for their star names.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/09/25/arsenal-line-up-surprise-january-move-for-7m-rated-premier-league-keeper/
Arsenal Line Up Surprise January Move for £7m rated Premier League Keeper

Emirates boss keen on Sunderland's Scottish international.

Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon as Arsene Wenger looks to replace Manuel Almunia after another sub standard performance. The Emirates boss had been looking to bring in a goalie last month but failed to capture Mark Schwarzer but will be even more desperate to bring in reinforcements and is hoping to pick up the Scottish international in January.

The former Hearts man arrived at the Stadium of Light for £9m and was considered at the time as one of the best keepers in Britain at the time but has struggled with injury leaving Steve Bruce to use Belgian Simon Mignolet who has impressed thus far.

Gordon has a great deal of experience and has shown in the past what he is capable of and Wenger may see the Edinburgh born custodian as a steady replacement for Almunia and at 27 he clearly has a lot more in the tank than 37 year old Schwarzer.

Sunderland would demand a fee in the region of £7m for Craig Gordon and such a fee would not be a problem for Wenger as he has been given a large transfer budget as the north London side looks to end a five year silverware drought.

[WhiteJC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9021031.stm
Fulham   0 - 0   Everton
By John Sinnott 

Everton slumped to the bottom of table after this draw, but the visitors showed plenty of spirit and adventure.

The Toffees only just shaded the first half and Mikel Arteta's deftly struck shot was well saved by Mark Schwarzer.

The Cottagers, who protected their unbeaten league record, upped the ante after the break and Everton keeper Tim Howard was drawn more into the action.

Howard beat away a Clint Dempsey effort before Schwarzer rescued Fulham as he twice saved well from Nigerian Yakubu.

Everton have won on only one of their last 11 visits to Fulham and, given Schwarzer's goalkeeping masterclass, might reasonably argue that they deserved to enjoy a rare Craven Cottage victory.


Click to play
Click to play
Hughes buoyed by Fulham start
Instead, with West Ham securing their first win of the season, the Merseysiders find themselves at the bottom of the Premier League after six games.

What is undeniable is that the visitors did not look like a team without a league win, with Seamus Coleman and Steven Pienaar providing plenty of width.

It was Pienaar who produced the game's first meaningful shot after Tim Cahill chested the ball down for the South Africa international, but Schwarzer safely gathered low to his left.

Coleman, who normally plays at right-back, was full of purpose on the right of midfield and he quickly adjusted to the demands of his new position as he made his first full Premier League start.

Leighton Baines then took advantage of decoy runs to break into the box and unleash a shot, which Aaron Hughes did well to block.

Fulham had less of the ball than Everton boss David Moyes's team and it took well over half an hour before Zoltan Gera produced their first shot, when Dickson Etuhu marauded into the box only to place his header straight at Howard.

606: DEBATE
I hope this is the beginning of our turnaround!!!

sockrobberreturns
On the stroke of half-time, Schwarzer produced a wonderful one-handed save to tip away Arteta's shot that threatened to dip into the corner of the net as the Spaniard used his right boot to devastating effect.

The Cottagers came out for the second half to the sound of The Clash's London Calling and whether it was the sound of manager Mark Hughes's half-time team talk or Joe Strummer's rallying call, the home side looked a lot more lively.

Midfielder Danny Murphy started to move further forward and Gera and Carlos Salcido attempted shots, though both failed to trouble Howard.

But Howard was certainly troubled by a Dempsey shot that the Everton keeper had to beat away after the Fulham forward was teed up by Murphy's clever pass, with Damien Duff unable to convert the rebound.

Everton were now having less of the ball, though Coleman's teasing cross caused pandemonium in the the home side's area, with Yakubu coming agonisingly close to getting the decisive touch.

Fulham were soon back on the attack and Dempsey's deflected shot had Howard throwing himself to his left as the ball went past the post.


Click to play
Click to play
Moyes confident of Everton revival
Schwarzer then produced another superb save to push away Yakubu's diagonal shot and Chris Baird cleared the ball.

In the closing stages, Fulham striker Dempsey again went close with a shot wide of fellow American Howard after a foraging run.

But Yakubu almost won the game for Everton when he fired in a speculative shot that fizzed past the post, before the Nigerian worked himself some space but was unable to produce enough power to direct the ball past Schwarzer.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fulham manager Mark Hughes:
"Everton showed that they're in a false position and it's clear they're a very good side.

"They're at the wrong end of the table but I don't anticipate that lasting for long.

"In most of the games I've seen of them on video and TV they've played well and had impact. They've been unlucky not to get more points.

"They probably just need a win to get them going again. I'd imagine no one in the Everton camp is too concerned."

Everton manager David Moyes:
"It's one way up now. Someone has to be bottom and it's us at this present time.

"I don't think we look like a bottom-of-the-league team but we are so we have to get out of it. It's up to us to put it right.

"We just have to keep doing what we're doing. We'll keep playing. There was no lack of confidence from us against Fulham. We tried to do the right things.

"The spirit's good. The players are all together and are all working for the cause to get a result. "My belief is that we have a really good team. That's never changed."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6400797,00.html
Hughes hails Schwarzer
Cottagers boss reveals AJ is close to making return

Fulham manager Mark Hughes was 'reasonably happy' with his side's point against Everton at Craven Cottage.

The goalless encounter ensured that the West London club remained one of only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League.

The Cottagers have drawn five and won one of their six games this season and Hughes was full of praise for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer after his man of the match display.

The Australia international produced a superb performance, denying Ayegbeni Yakubu on two separate occasions.

Praise
Hughes told Sky Sports : "We have got to be reasonably happy with a point.

"Schwarzer played very well and his concentration levels were high even towards the end of the game when he made a vital stop. I think that he coped very well.

"We need guys to come in and make an impact because of the number of strikers we have out injured at the moment.

"It was nice to see (Diomansy) Kamara back and he did well along with (Eddie) Johnson.

"All in all, against a good Everton side, I think we have to be reasonably happy with a point without any team really deserving to win I thought today."


Return
Hughes revealed that striker Andy Johnson is close to making a return to the senior squad following his troublesome knee problems, which have kept him out of action.

"Johnson is training with the full first-team squad on Monday. We'll look to get games arranged to allow him to get match time and make sure his timing right.

"He'll be with the senior group for the rest of the season."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/london-sport/fulham-fc/2010/09/26/kamara-wants-more-at-fulham-82029-27344440/?
Kamara wants more at Fulham

DIOMANSY Kamara is relishing the chance to get a fistful of Premiership games under his belt for Fulham after nine months out of the first team.

The Senegalese international came on against Everton in the 70th minute on Saturday - and is more than aware a string of striker injuries in the camp could be his chance to claim a first-team spot.

When Kamara came on for Simon Davies in the 0-0 draw against the Toffees he chalked up appearance number 50 in a top-flight game for the Whites. But then denied that record was under threat had Celtic wanted to make the loan-deal permanent after he went north of the border at the end of January.

He said: "I was injured for the last two months with a sore foot - but now I think I have more chance to play. It was a god experience playing for Celtic - but Scottish football is different. It's not as difficult as Premier League.

"For me I knew I everyone at Fulham and the set-up here - so Celtic was just an experience."



Read More http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/london-sport/fulham-fc/2010/09/26/kamara-wants-more-at-fulham-82029-27344440/?#ixzz10djndkJo

[WhiteJC]

http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=214644
Fulham - Top Drawer
Admittedly, I'm going to act with a degree of smugness over the coming days, explaining over-and-over again to my glory-hunting friends that humble Fulham are, statistically, one of two unbeaten Premier League teams as September draws to a close.

However, those who dig deeper will be well aware that only one of the six games we've played so far in the Premiership, has gained us three wholesome points.

So, rather than racing into October full of enthusiasm and confidence, we're quite literally hobbling into the Autumn term to face what could prove to be a dull few weeks.

It is, though, due to no fault of our own.

Thanks to some dirty, and frankly unnecessary tackling in some previous games (no names mentioned) we do find ourselves with a distinct lack of firepower.

Bobby Zamora shall be all but a memory for the coming months and Belgian star Moussa Dembele won't be gracing the white shirt for a couple of weeks yet, which leaves two natural midfielders in the form of Zoltan Gera and Clint Dempsey leading the now fruitless front-line.

To be fair, I've always been one to believe that, given some decent service, anyone can realistically bag a few goals, yet, when you deploy midfielders up-front, you also deploy the mindset of a midfielder, up front.

We're not going to score many goals when our strike force is more prone to crossing and passing than taking a crack at goal.

I know it's a very simplistic view to take, but I'd have far more confidence in our ability to win if we started with a pair of natural strikers, rather than a singular midfielder as we did against Everton.

Taking into account Mark Hughes' formation, it was almost a foregone conclusion that we'd end the game without troubling Tim Howard in the slightest.

That's why I'm regrettably calling for Sparky to start with Eddie Johnson and Jo Kamara.

I'm well aware that EJ is nowhere near Premier League standard, but, he does offer a decent threat and his pace will always cause problems to the opposition.

Also, if Eddie Johnson does prove to be the catastrophic failure that many would expect him to be, why not capitalise on our injury situation and give some of the younger players an opportunity to impress?

The likes of Marcello Trotta and Danny Hoesen were firing in goals for fun in the development squad last season, so why not give them a run out?

After all, if Blackpool can score four goals away from home with a strike force that includes Marlon Harewood, then we can bag 6 at West Ham with Kamara up front!