Tuesday Fulham Stuff (01/05/18)...

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Crystal Palace join race to sign Fulham defender Ryan Fredericks?

Fulham defender Ryan Fredericks has reportedly emerged as a transfer target for Crystal Palace.

Fredericks has established himself as a first-team regular with Fulham in the Championship but as it stands, the full-back will be out of contract at the end of the season.

The 25-year-old's availability has allegedly resulted in interest from Arsenal and according to The Sun, Palace are also monitoring the situation.

Palace are currently well stocked for players at right-back, but it appears that Roy Hodgson is keen to take the chance to sign the Englishman on a free transfer.

Fredericks began his career at Tottenham Hotspur but he is yet to make an appearance in the Premier League.



https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/crystal-palace/transfer-talk/news/palace-show-interest-in-ryan-fredericks_324736.html

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Loan Round-Up

Marek Rodák was in between the sticks for Rotherham United as they lost 2-1 for the first time in five matches away to play-off hopefuls Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon.

An injury time penalty won it in the end for the Pilgrims after Rotherham took the lead in the first half through Richie Towell.

Joel Grant cancelled out the opener and Graham Carey scored the eventual winner from six yards out in the 91st minute.

Rodák played the whole match and was forced into making four saves through the 90 minutes.

With one match left, Rotherham are guaranteed to finish fourth in League One. Who they will face in the play-offs is yet to be decided, but with Plymouth now two points off sixth place, the two teams could be facing each other again soon.

Up in Scotland, George Williams started for St Johnstone in their 1-1 home draw to Partick Thistle. Joe Shaughnessy put the Saints ahead in the 39th minute but a last minute penalty to the visitors ensured the points were shared.

Williams made way for John Robertson in the 84th minute.

St Johnstone are eighth in the the SPL, three points off Motherwell. That point for Thistle means they are two ahead of bottom placed Ross County.

The Staggies lost 2-0 away at Hamilton Academical, Mattias Käit was un unused substitute on the bench in that match.

In Iceland, Atli Andrason was an unused substitute in Víkingur  Reykjavik 's 1-1 home draw to Fylkir.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/april/30/loan-round-up

[WhiteJC]

 
England could play fewer games at Wembley if FA agree pay-as-you-play deal in sale of stadium to Shahid Khan - with matches costing more than £500,000 each

    England would have financial incentive to play matches away from Wembley 
    Shahid Khan has proposed pay-as-you-play agreement with governing body
    This would afford FA flexibility to stage matches at variety of different venues
    Going rate for Wembley games would appear to be £535,000 per match

England would have an incentive to play matches away from Wembley if a pay-as-you-play deal is struck with Shahid Khan, who is in negotiations to buy the stadium for £900million.

Khan is willing to accept an arrangement which would give the FA flexibility to schedule international games around the country, according to the Times.

The billionaire Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham owner's plans to take over the home of English football has provoked widespread criticism.


England could play more matches away from their iconic stadium if the bid is successful


Shahid Khan is willing to accept a pay-as-you-play deal with the FA to use the ground

News of a potential pay-as-you-play deal is a blow for fans of the belief that England should always play at Wembley.

Khan would demand the market rate to host a fixture at the stadium, should he complete a deal.


The Jacksonville Jaguars owner is likely to bring his team over to use the ground

The fee is thought to be £535,000 for one match, based on the current rate Tottenham are paying this season.

This means the governing body would be able to find far cheaper options elsewhere, producing a financial incentive to take England on the road, though Khan has said he hopes the team would continue to use Wembley for every fixture.

There is also the possibility that the 67-year-old could charge different rates depending on the game, due to a wide variety of ticket prices determined by the significance of the event.

Sale of the iconic site for the proposed bid of £900million would fill the FA coffers and could then be pumped into grassroots football.

But many believe it isn't worth sacrificing Wembley to Khan, who is worth an estimated £5.2billion, believing it's value to the English is priceless.


Wembley moving to private ownership could force England to play all over the country



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-5673599/Pay-play-deal-England-Wembley-mean-fewer-games-national-stadium.html

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Wolves keen on defender Fredericks



Wolves are interested in signing Fulham defender Ryan Fredericks, according to the Daily Mirror.

The newspaper claims in its live transfer blog (11:09am, Monday) that the Championship title winners are keen on the 25-year-old, as they begin preparations for next season back in the top flight.

It is understood that West Ham have also been monitoring the attack-minded right-back, who has been a stand out in the Championship this campaign for third-placed Fulham

The Sun also reported on Monday that Crystal Palace and Arsenal are also in pursuit of the in-demand full-back.

Fredericks has been a great attacking influence for promotion chasers Fulham this campaign and weighed in with a stunning tally of 10 assists in the league.

Good move for Wolves?

Fredericks has all the attributes of a modern day full-back and looks ready to compete in the Premier League.

The defender is renowned for his blistering pace and has sharpened up his end product this campaign at Craven Cottage.

Matt Doherty has been the outstanding option at right-back for Wolves this season and deserves a crack at Molineux next season, but adding Fredericks to the mix could provide the competition required in Nuno Espirito Santo's squad.

This Is Futbol rating: 7/10

Likely to happen?

Fredericks deal with Fulham expires in the contract and there is no surprise that a number of clubs have been linked with him.

It would take some serious work for Wolves to pull off a deal for him and would have to fight off teams they will be competing in the Premier League with next season.

This Is Futbol rating: 3/10



https://thisisfutbol.com/2018/04/transfers/wolves-keen-on-defender-fredericks/

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Fulham could end final day with record but have little to cheer


Hot streak: Fulham extended their run to 23 games unbeaten with victory over Sunderland (PA)

Fulham could set a record this Sunday but it would not be a cause for celebration on what promises to be a dramatic final day in the race for automatic promotion to the Premier League.

If Cardiff beat Reading and Fulham win at Birmingham then Slavisa Jokanovic's side will end the season on 91 points, the highest total for a team finishing third in the second tier since the play-offs were introduced for the 1986-87 season.

Fulham moved into second place with a 2-1 win against Sunderland on Friday but Cardiff went back above them as they beat Hull 2-0 and victory at home on Sunday will give Neil Warnock an eighth promotion of his career.

Anything less will leave the door open for Fulham, who trail Cardiff by one point and are enjoying a 23-match unbeaten League run.

A total of 91 points would have secured a top-two finish in seven of the previous 10 seasons. In five of those years, it would have been enough to go up as champions.

Cardiff, go into the final weekend as favourites but there is another element of drama as both rivals face teams fighting relegation.

Fulham will be confident of holding up their end of the bargain against a Birmingham side who were dragged back into the battle for survival when they lost 3-1 at QPR on Saturday.

Jokanovic's side are the second highest scorers in the Championship behind Wolves and, with Aleksandar Mitrovic leading the line, should have too much for a Birmingham team who have scored the fewest in the division.

Birmingham manager Garry Monk said his team played with fear against QPR and, needing a win to guarantee survival, there could be plenty more anxiety at St Andrew's on Sunday.

Reading were thumped 4-0 at home by Ipswich on Saturday and boss Paul Clement has demanded a response, urging his men "to put in the performance of their lives" against Cardiff.

They will need it given they have lost their previous five away games while Cardiff have won eight of their 11 home matches this year. However, Cardiff could be without Aron Gunnarsson because of an ankle injury and that would be a big blow given the Iceland midfielder is a central player for them.



Fulham expect left-back Matt Targett will recover from the ankle injury that forced him off against Sunderland so Jokanovic should be able to name the same team that started on Friday.

"It is in our own hands now and we cannot ask for any more than that," said Warnock. "Everyone has kept expecting us to fall away but this set of lads don't know when they are beaten. Sunday will be massive for everyone. Both us and Fulham have got hard games because Birmingham and Reading each need a point to be safe."

Fulham have taken their fight for promotion to the final day but Millwall, barring an unlikely sequence of results, and Brentford had their play-off hopes ended over the weekend.

Millwall are three points outside the top six after losing 2-0 at Middlesbrough but their goal difference means their promotion chances are effectively over.  Brentford cannot finish higher than seventh after a 2-0 loss at Barnsley.

Should Fulham go into the play-offs with the unwanted record they will have beaten the 90 points set by Sunderland in the 1997-98 season.

Sunderland missed out on promotion that year when they suffered a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to Charlton at Wembley after the final ended 4-4.

Fulham will be desperate to avoid such torment and will need a favour from Reading if they are to be spared the lottery of the play-offs.



https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-could-end-final-day-with-record-but-have-little-to-cheer-a3827166.html

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£7.2m-rated winger in, striker out: 2 in, 2 out at Fulham in the next few weeks

Fulham are still in with a shout of automatic promotion with one game remaining as they trail Cardiff City by one point.

The Cottagers need to better Cardiff's result to give them any chance of finishing in the top two.

This end of season run-in could be make or break for Fulham.

If they fail to win promotion – either automatically or via the play-offs – then a number of star players, such as Ryan Fredericks, Tom Cairney, Kevin McDonald and Ryan Sessegnon, could leave the club to join Premier League sides.

Slavisa Jokanovic will also be targeted by Premier League teams looking to upgrade their manager.

However, if they go up, they have a good chance of keeping these stars as well as negotiating permanent deals for impressive loan players such as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Matt Targett, Tomas Kalas and Lucas Piazon.

Here are two players that Fulham should axe and two they should sign this summer.



OUT: Rui Fonte

After arriving in a big money move, Fonte has failed to live up to expectations.

The former Portugal under-21 international has struggled to adapt to life in England and is struggling for game time now.

Although they may not be able to recoup the fee they paid for him, Fulham should cut their losses and flog the 28-year-old abroad.



IN: Aleksandar Mitrovic

If Fulham go up, their first bit of business should be securing a permanent deal for Mitrovic.

The Serbian international has been sensational for Fulham since arriving on loan in January, scoring 12 goals in 14 starts to spearhead their promotion bid.

Not only is the 23-year-old scoring goals but he also brings others into the game with his strength and hold-up play and he is at the right age to make a permanent move to Craven Cottage and really thrive.



OUT: David Button

Button has had another poor season for Fulham.

Some of his mistakes earlier in the season are looking even more costly now as the Cottagers trail Cardiff by one point going into the final game of the season.

Fulham should look to get rid of the former Brentford man and find a new goalkeeper to challenge with Marcus Bettinelli next season.



IN: Adama Traore

If Fulham go up and Middlesbrough stay down, they should try to take Traore with them to the Premier League.

The 22-year-old, rated at £7.2m on transfermarkt, is surely the fastest player in the Championship and now he is starting to add some end product to his endless tricks, strength and blistering pace.

Boro will not be able to keep the former Barcelona man at The Riverside if they fail to go up and Fulham should look to have a front three of Traore, Mitrovic and Sessegnon in the Premier League.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/7-2m-rated-winger-in-striker-out-2-in-2-out-at-fulham-in-the-next-few-weeks/

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Our Brentford, Fulham and QPR coverage has moved

Football.London is the new go-to place for all your latest news

There is a new home for all your west London football clubs - Football.London .

Football.London was launched at the end of 2016 with a focus on the capital's biggest clubs.

But, following its continued success, we have decided to grow the site by incorporating the rest of London's clubs.

From covering just the top Premier League outfits, Football.London now covers from north to south and east to west London and everything in the middle.

So if you're a Brentford, Fulham or QPR fan we have not stopped covering your clubs, there is just a new place to find the biggest and best stories from Griffin Park, Craven Cottage and Loftus Road.

Football.London has it all, so bookmark the page, add it to your favourites and stay with us as we continue to delve into the heart of your clubs.

You can find dedicated page to your clubs right here - Brentford , Fulham , QPR .



https://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/brentford-fulham-qpr-coverage-moved-14594900

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From shock defeat at Sunderland to overhauling Manchester City - a look at Fulham's stunning run

How have the Whites done it?

Who would have thought, back in November, when Fulham were 17th and there were rumblings of discontent with manager Slavisa Jokanovic, that they would be in with a shout of automatic promotion going into the final day of the season?

It's unlikely that the Whites will finish second of course - they are a point behind Cardiff going into the final weekend, with the Bluebirds hosting relegation-threatened Reading - a team who have lost their last two games 3-0 and 4-0 - while Fulham travel to similarly relegation-threatened Birmingham City.

But you have to marvel at the run of form Jokanovic's men have hit to get into this position.

The victory over Sunderland on Friday night meant Fulham registered the longest unbeaten run in English football this season at a staggering 23 games.

We thought we'd take a look at how the last four-and-a-half months have played out.

December 16 - Sunderland (A)

The Black Cats were only heading in one direction, but it did not look as if Fulham were faring much better. Sunderland had not won at home in a year, until the Whites came to town. It was a shocking 1-0 defeat, but it was the last time that happened.

December 23 - Barnsley (H)

There was no sign of what was to come here. Barnsley played for 76 minutes with ten men and Fulham struggled to grind them down. Floyd Ayite and Sheyi Ojo came up with the goods in a 2-1 win.

December 26 - Cardiff City (A)

Victory voer the Tykes may have officially started the run, but this was where it really got started. A 4-2 win away at promotion-chasing Cardiff was quite the Christmas present.

December 30 - Hull City (A)

Two-nil down at half-time, Joaknovic called for Aboubakar Kamara and he delivered with two second half strikes to earn a morale-boosting point.

February 3 - Nottingham Forest (H)

A fifth straight win and Fulham had gone from 12th to fifth in the table, conceding just twice in those five matches - quite extraordinary.

February 17-March 10 - Aston Villa, Bristol City, Wolves, Derby County, Shefffield United, Preston North End

After drawing with Bolton Wanderers, this would be the run of games that would make or break Fulham, and boy did it make them. Five wins and a draw was a truly remarkable return and put them firmly in the play-off picture. There was an outside chance of the top two, but it looked tough, given how they had started the season.

March 17 - QPR (H)

The Whites were 2-0 up and cruising against their west London rivals. But they let them back in and had to settle for a draw in the end, how costly would that prove?

March 30-April 10 - Norwich City, Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading

Four consecutive wins without conceding a goal and the dropped points against Rangers did not seem to have too much damage, although Cardiff continued to pick up wins at the same time.

April 14 - Brentford (H)

Another west London derby and this was a real killer in the quest for automatic promotion. A 94th minute Neal Maupay goal cost the Whites two precious points and it looks like it is going to be extremely costly.

April 20 - Millwall (A)

What a performance. Millwall were the second most in-form team in the league behind Fulham and after holding the Lions at bay, they tore through their hosts to equal Manchester City's run of 22 games unbeaten.

April 27 - Sunderland (H)

Hardly vintage and they had to come from behind but Jokanovic's men showed their mettle and made it 23 games unbeaten, the longest run of any English side this season. Incredible.

Yet Fulham remain third, and will have to ensure this unbeaten run continues in the play-offs if they are to be promoted, unless Reading turn the tables on Cardiff on Sunday...



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/shock-defeat-sunderland-overhauling-manchester-14594682

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The FA should not be selling Wembley at all, let alone for £600m

Price is not right but more relevant than the lack of control over the stadium's future is can we really trust football's governing body to oversee the reinvestment into the grassroots game?

It takes some doing to sell a piece of London property for less than it cost you 10 years ago, a decade in which house prices in the capital have risen, according to the Office of National Statistics, by an average of 100%. Yet this magic trick is what the Football Association seems to be on the brink of pulling off, in selling a home that cost more than £800m to the Pakistani‑American billionaire Shahid Khan for around three-quarters of that sum.

No wonder Ken Bates was apoplectic. "You never sell your freehold – it's your home," the former Chelsea chairman exclaimed on being told of the deal to sell Wembley. To find oneself on the same side as Bates is a remarkable side-effect of the FA's sudden announcement. And on that of Sir Dave Richards, the former chairman of the Premier League and, like Bates, once a prominent member of the FA board. But their point is a powerful one, as those millennials waiting for their parents to die in order to be able to own a house will confirm.

Khan arrived in the USA 50 years ago with only pennies in his pocket, built an auto-parts business and is said to be worth more than $8bn. As a commercially astute man, he must think the FA are a bunch of mugs. Either that, or he must be wondering if there's a catch. But, this being English football's governing body, a cunning plan would be too much for them to devise, unless it came from Baldrick's playbook.

If they let the freehold of the stadium go to the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC for the reported £600m, the ultimate size of the cheque deposited in the FA's bank account is likely to be significantly smaller. It should be reduced, in the first instance, by the total of £112.7m of public money provided in order to subsidise the final work of replacing the old Twin Towers with Norman Foster's tilted arch.

When Sport England gave £78m, the department for culture, media and sport contributed £18.5m and the London Development Agency coughed up £16.2m, the donations were for a specific purpose. They were not made for the benefit of grassroots football. The money was given to complete the creation of a stadium that would be the showplace of the English game, built in a location of great historical importance and emotional significance.

This was to be the shining city on a hill, a football cathedral, visible from all points of the compass, a place of inspiration, aspiration and pilgrimage. And, for the first time, it would belong to English football, once Messrs Bates, Richards and their various committees had negotiated their way to ensuring that the old building, and the freehold of the land on which it stood, had been purchased for £106m from Wembley PLC, the heirs to the owners of the original Empire Stadium.

That plan has now been abandoned, at a point where the debt of more than £400m incurred during the course of construction had been brought down to £140m – or a little more than half the total sum Ellis Short has just written off in order to persuade a bunch of investors to take Sunderland off his hands. That debt will still have to be repaid over a planned six-year term, but the £112.7m of public money should be reimbursed without delay.

No doubt the FA will hope to avoid that obligation by pointing to its ambition to use its supposed windfall to benefit grassroots football by providing thousands of all‑weather pitches around the country. The desire to repair the damage done by cuts to public amenities during the long years of Tory-driven austerity is an admirable one but the fear must be that, given its erratic record over the decades, the FA will not use the money with the necessary discipline. And once you start taking large chunks out of £600m, it can disappear pretty quickly.

The key issue, however, is this: do we need the Wembley we have known since Giampaolo Pazzini of Italy Under-21s became the first player to score a goal at the new stadium 11 years ago? Is it worth having a home which acts as a symbol of the country where the game was invented, where the statue of Bobby Moore provides a permanent record of a shining hour, and whose facade can be used to note the passing of a Cyrille Regis, a Jimmy Armfield or a Ray Wilkins, as it has done with dignity this year?

Supporters of the plan will say that it makes no difference whether the FA owns the place or simply rents it when required, while continuing to take the income from broadcasting rights, sponsorship deals and Club Wembley. But owning and renting carry very different emotional weights. And although, after a rocky start, Khan is proving himself to be a good steward of Craven Cottage, his priority as the owner of Wembley would undoubtedly be to establish it as the home of his NFL team, the Jaguars, providing the league with its long desired permanent bridgehead into Europe.

No doubt the lucrative sale of the naming rights would be an early consequence. Most NFL teams, after all, play in places bearing names such as MetLife, Heinz, AT&T and FedEx.

It is absolutely right to want to improve facilities for amateurs and young players around the country. But with the amount of money sloshing into and sluicing out of the game each year, there must be cleverer ways of paying for it than by selling your birthright for a mess of pottage. Esau regretted his bargain, and so will the FA.



https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/apr/30/fa-wembley-sale-600m-price-football-grassroots

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Here's the crowd figure Birmingham City are expecting against Fulham as Bluenoses answer the call

BCFC have opened another section of St Andrew's guaranteeing bumper attendance

Birmingham City will be roared on by their biggest crowd in more than three years against Fulham on Sunday.

The club have decided to open Blocks 1-4 in the upper tier of the Gil Merrick Stand for the first time in several seasons, with tickets already selling out in that section.

With the Tilton Road end and Kop now full Garry Monk's men could be watched by in excess of 28,000.

That's more than the 26,914 who saw Blues beat Huddersfield 2-0 in the final home game of last season - and the most since West Brom last came to St Andrew's.

A crowd of 28,438 was in attendance in January 2015, as Gary Rowett's Blues lost an FA Cup tie to Tony Pulis' Baggies. A brace from Victor Anichebe cancelled out Jonathan Grounds' strike.

There is far more riding on this weekend's match, with Blues starting the day two places and two points above the relegation zone.

Five clubs are in danger of filling the final two places destined for League One. It is the third time Blues' status has been in doubt in the last five seasons.

Odds against

The odds on Birmingham City being relegated from the Championship have tumbled - but bookmakers still consider them outsiders for the drop.

Garry Monk's men could have effectively secured their second tier status with a point at QPR on Saturday - but instead slipped to a flaccid 3-1 defeat.

With Burton and Barnsley both winning and Bolton and Reading both losing the final day will be a nervy one up and down the country.

Nowhere more so than at St Andrew's where Blues, who were 40/1 against when they went to Loftus Road, face a Fulham side that has not lost in the league since December 16, 2017.

Their 22-game unbeaten sequence is currently the longest in English football. Blues are 4/1 outsiders to end that run, long odds for a home match.

However, they are still rated as 14/1 to go down - with Sky Bet giving Burton very little chance of staying up.

The Brewers are away to Preston, who still have an outside chance of the play-offs.

Bolton are next favourites to join them, with Barnsley almost evens.

Reading, the other club in the shake-up, are as long as 50/1 with many bookmakers.

Relegation odds (Sky Bet)

Burton 2/9

Bolton 1/2

Barnsley 5/6

Birmingham City 14/1

Reading 50/1
Fixtures and odds

Birmingham City v Fulham

Blues win 4/1

Draw 11/4

Fulham win 2/3
Preston v Burton

Preston win 8/15

Draw 10/3



https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-fulham-tickets-odds-14596144

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Birmingham City Screening

Craven Cottage will host a live screening of Sunday's fixture against Birmingham City.

Match tickets for the final game of the regular season sold out quickly, with 3,300 Fulham fans making the trip to St Andrew's to support the boys.

If you weren't able to get your hands on a ticket, why not head down to the Cottage to watch the crucial game with your fellow supporters in our hospitality lounges?

Tickets are priced at just £10 and include a drink and a food item (bacon, sausage or egg bap).

Tickets will go on sale from 10am on Tuesday 1st May and can be purchased online at fulhamfc.com/tickets or by telephone on 0203 871 0810 (opt 3).

The match kicks off at 12.30pm but doors open at Craven Cottage at 11am, with a cash bar available.

If you fancy watching the game in style, a Hospitality option is available for £40 per person, which features champagne on arrival and a brunch menu.

Availability is limited, so don't hesitate in booking your spot.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/april/30/birmingham-screening

[WhiteJC]

 
The EFL may SCRAP matchday programmes from the beginning of next season after a 'decline in sales' and 'rise of digital and social media'

    The EFL are set to have talks on whether to scrap matchday programmes
    Football League clubs will vote on being able to choose to print the publication
    Several teams have asked whether the programmes are mandatory next season
    The EFL will still print programmes for the five finals hosted by the association

The EFL are set to have talks with a number of Football League clubs in the summer over the choice to produce matchday programmes from the beginning of next season.

Teams up and down the land will be able to vote on a proposal that will decide whether it is a requirement to print the paperback publication for each match day.

Following a 'decline in sales' and the 'proliferation of digital and social media', clubs will still be able to produce a programme for supporters which would likely be available on smartphones and tablets.


The EFL are set to have talks on whether to scrap matchday programmes next season

The EFL confirmed that despite the result of the proposal, they will still produce a match programme for the five finals hosted by the association.

A statement read: 'At its summer meeting in June 2018, EFL Clubs will vote on a proposal that will determine whether or not it is an absolute requirement to produce a match programme from the start of season 2018/19 onwards.

'A number of Clubs have asked the EFL if the mandatory publication of a match programme can be addressed as a result of an overall decline in sales and the proliferation of digital and social media, which has the ability to deliver the same content in a more cost effective manner.

'Irrespective of the outcome at June's AGM, The EFL will continue to produce a match programme for its five competitions finals (Carabao Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and the Sky Bet play-offs).'

Premier League clubs will be unaffected by the outcome of the proposal.


Football League clubs will vote on being able to choose to print the publications this summer



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5675141/The-EFL-SCRAP-match-programmes-decline-sales-rise-social-media.html#ixzz5EEJfvo00
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[WhiteJC]

 
The Leeds, Wolves and Ipswich players with a cautionary tale for Fulham fans

Trio of players in the team of the season are the most sought-after commodities

Missing out on promotion could mean that Fulham have a 30 per cent chance of losing their best players this summer.

Falling just short of making it to the Premier League is always a blow for supporters, especially if it's on the last day of the season or in
the play-off final.

It's made all the worse though when you see the vultures circling above the club, ready to pick the squad apart and take all the best
bits.

With Ryan Fredericks, Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney all making it into the Championship PFA team of the year they'll no doubt be
attracting plenty of interest from other clubs this summer.

The bad news for the Cottagers, if they miss out on promotion, is that 30 per cent of the players from the last ten Championship PFA teams of the year (2007/08 - 2016/17) who missed out on promotion and weren't on loan, left the club the following season.

A further 14 per cent left the season after.

Two Fulham players from last season's team of the year - Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney - could still add to those figures. That does mean, however, that 52 per cent of the players in question stuck at their respective clubs for at least two more seasons.

Players who left the season after they were in team of the season:

2016/17 | Chris Wood | Leeds United
2015/16 | Ross McCormack | Fulham
2014/15 | Bakary Sako | Wolverhampton Wanderers
2013/14 | Aaron Cresswell | Ipswich Town
2013/14 | Ross McCormack | Leeds United
2011/12 | Nathaniel Clyne | Crystal Palace
2011/12 | Jay Rodriguez | Burnley
2010/11 | Wes Morgan | Nottingham Forest
2010/11 | Danny Graham | Watford
2008/09 | Kyle Naughton | Sheffield United
2008/09 | Roger Johnson | Cardiff City
2008/09 | Danny Fox | Coventry City
2008/09 | Stephen Hunt | Reading
2008/09 | Jason Scotland | Swansea City
2007/08 | Danny Shittu | Watford



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/leeds-wolves-ipswich-players-cautionary-14596996

[WhiteJC]

 
Martin O'Neill: Christie abuse shows racism still rife in football
But Ireland manager says situation has improved a lot since the dark days of the 70s

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill believes that while the treatment of black players and those from other ethnic backgrounds has improved hugely since his Nottingham Forest team-mate Viv Anderson was pelted with fruit at away games, the recent experience of Cyrus Christie on social media shows that more needs to be done to tackle the problem of racism both in football and wider society.

"The situation has improved immensely over the last 25 to 30 years but there are still problems," said O'Neill at the annual Show Racism the Red Card creative art competition prize-giving in Tallaght where more than 300 schoolchildren and youth group members gathered for the event.

"Some years ago I played for a very decent football team that produced the first black man to play for England in Viv Anderson. He was a wonderful footballer and adored by all the football fans in Nottingham but he took terrible abuse away from home and all because of the colour of his skin.

"There is much greater integration now so there is no place for racism, absolutely no place for it, but it exists. I'm not on Twitter but I have heard of it [the abuse that Christie took] and been made aware of it. It is remarkable that people in this day and age can attack somebody in this way and also get away with it.

"Cyrus has, on the surface, adopted an attitude like Viv Anderson by saying: 'well, it's happened, I don't like what they are saying but such is life'. But he has the feeling that nothing has been done and that's disappointing. It's sad but it's something that we have to highlight."

Experienced discrimination
O'Neill, who appeared on stage alongside women's international team manager Colin Bell, was speaking at the event after Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, said that she had experienced discrimination on occasions after moving to Ireland from the United States almost 30 years ago.

The former Nottingham Forest midfielder O'Neill said being Irish in Britain could be an uncomfortable experience when he first went there, even as a professional footballer.

"It was obviously when the Troubles in Northern Ireland had erupted in the mainland; it became an issue and I think even my fellow team-mates had a problem with it because suddenly you're Irish and you are seen as part of that even though that's not the case.

Pretty difficult
"It was particularly acute when some of the bombs were around Nottingham, or not too far away, Birmingham, and a lot of people lost their lives. I'm going way back to 1974. We were Irish and, even though we were footballers, we probably didn't have a status at that time. We really did feel the effects of it. It was pretty difficult; it was difficult for a number of years. The ordinary Irish person living in England had a difficult time."

Anderson, he said however, had "changed a lot of people's minds by his own great willpower but, O'Neill acknowledged, "he had a pretty tough time of it. It's a serious issue and he dealt with it very well. I think it has come on fantastically since then but I still say we have a long way to go before it's eradicated.

"Whether that will ever happen, I don't know. Funnily enough, with these particularly new gadgets coming in like Twitter, it seems to be getting back to the surface again."

Bell urged members of the audience to address the issue on a personal level by respecting people regardless of the colour of their skin, their nationality or their gender.

Former Celtic boss O'Neill, meanwhile, made light of the news that Steven Gerrard appears to be at an advanced stage of talks with Rangers about becoming the club's next manager. "He hasn't got a clue what he's letting himself in for," he joked. "Although he has been born and bred in Liverpool so he must have an idea. I hope he does [become manager], it would be nice to see him.

"I think he would be terrific for Rangers just at this stage because Rangers . . . unquestionably it's the worst side that has ever, ever played for Rangers at this minute. They are so, so bad. They are worse than bad, they are dreadful! I think the only way is up for him, if that's the case."



https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/martin-o-neill-christie-abuse-shows-racism-still-rife-in-football-1.3479463

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Wembley would remain home of English football, says Khan

(Reuters) - The sale of Wembley would be a boost to England's goal of winning a World Cup, the stadium's potential new owner Shahid Khan has said, adding that the iconic venue would remain the home of English football under the proposed deal.

The U.S. billionaire, who owns the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, has made an offer to buy Wembley from the English Football Association (FA) in a deal reported to be worth up to 1 billion pounds.

Under the plan, the FA would keep Wembley as the main venue to host national games and cup matches and Khan said the name of the stadium would not change.

"Wembley is the essence, the cradle of English football," Khan told the BBC. "We would very much like for England matches and cup finals to be played at Wembley, that is the DNA.

"(The FA) will have a pool of money of about 600 million pounds that can be invested into the core mission of the FA, which is English football and their ultimate goal of winning a World Cup."

The 90,000-seater stadium was reopened in 2007 after being rebuilt at a cost of 757 million pounds on the site of the original ground where England won the World Cup in 1966.

Khan, who also owns Championship side Fulham, said: "Wembley is a great stadium and you want to get it configured to hold Super Bowl and World Cup finals."

He added that he would look into the possibility of installing a roof, and that Chelsea would be "welcome" to use the stadium as their temporary home when they leave Stamford Bridge during its redevelopment, which is expected to begin in 2020.

"Personally, I have not spoken to Chelsea, but the CEO of Fulham has spoken to his counterpart at Chelsea," he said.

"It was never an issue to us. Chelsea has been a great club and those relationships go back a long time."



https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-khan/wembley-would-remain-home-of-english-football-says-khan-idUKKBN1I22RY?rpc=401&;

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Wembley: Shahid Khan wants to host World Cup and Super Bowl at stadium

Purchasing Wembley would "provide the support" for a World Cup bid, says potential new owner Shahid Khan.

The billionaire owner of Championship side Fulham and NFL franchise the Jacksonville Jaguars has made an offer worth around £1bn to buy the stadium from the Football Association.

Khan said he would be keen to hold the Super Bowl at Wembley, though it was "premature" to discuss the prospect.

"Our role would be to provide a world-class venue," he told BBC Sport.

"[The FA] will have a pool of money of about £600m that can be invested into the core mission of the FA, which is English football and their ultimate goal of winning a World Cup.

"Wembley is a great stadium and you want to get it configured to hold Super Bowl and World Cup finals."

The offer for the stadium is £600m but the FA would retain all the national games and cup matches, which generate revenue for the association, and have a value of about £400m.

When it was put to Khan that former England international Gary Neville and some FA councillors were among those opposed to the deal, he claimed "if you love English football, you want this deal to go ahead".

He also said the name of the stadium would not be changed.

"Wembley is the essence, the cradle of English football," said Khan, the 217th richest person in the world, according to the 2018 Forbes rich list.

"We would very much like for England matches and cup finals to be played at Wembley, that is the DNA.

"We want to keep the original mission of Wembley alive. Frankly, that's what gives Wembley its value."

In a bid to increase the usage of Wembley, Khan said they would "look at" adding a roof, though he would not want to affect the "soul of the stadium".

Chelsea would also be "welcome" to use the stadium as their temporary home while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped, which is likely to be from 2020.

"Personally, I have not spoken to Chelsea, but the CEO of Fulham has spoken to his counterpart at Chelsea," he said.

"It was never an issue to us. Chelsea has been a great club and those relationships go back a long time."



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43957009