Tuesday Fulham Stuff (02/11/10)...

[WhiteJC]

http://www.eatsleepsport.com/fulham/midfielder-in-fitness-race-1113867.html

Midfielder in fitness race

Fulham midfielder Dickson Etuhu is in a race against time to be fit for the west London derby against Chelsea next week.

An ankle injury picked up in the draw with West Ham at the start of October has kept the Nigerian out of the side but it is now hoped he will be back in time for the clash at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday.

Etuhu has been using an oxygen chamber to try and speed up his recovery from the ligament damage he suffered and Mark Hughes is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be okay for the clash at Stamford Bridge.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-captain-Danny-Murphy-s-comments-an-insult-to-Stoke-s-Tony-Pulis-Wolves-Mick-McCarthy-and-Blackburn-s-Sam-Allardyce-says-Manchester-United-boss-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-article619227.html

Murphy's comments "an insult" to Pulis, McCarthy and Allardyce, says Sir Alex

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has defended fellow bosses Tony Pulis and Mick McCarthy against the charge that their teams are too aggressive.

Fulham's Danny Murphy made the claim last month, causing a storm of protest from the men concerned, which also included Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce.

As someone whose own Manchester United team has successfully overcome Stoke and Wolves - who visit Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday - over the past 10 days, Ferguson is uniquely placed to assess the two sides and the Scot does not feel Pulis and McCarthy are guilty of any crime beyond wanting the best for their team.

"It is an insult to the managers of the teams, because you couldn't get two more honest guys than Tony Pulis and Mick McCarthy," he told Inside United.

"Their job is to get their players committed and motivated. There is nothing wrong with that.

"I know more about Tony Pulis' team because they have been in the league longer. They have always been honest.

"Mick was an aggressive player himself and his teams play in a similar way but you don't get punished for that. You can't say they are any different from any team that's come out of the Championship to survive in the Premier League.

"Sometimes it takes years to get to the next level of play and maintain that higher standard."

Known for his own aggressive style during his playing days in Scotland, Ferguson does not believe current standards come close to comparing with what he was used to.

"The players are babies now," he said.

"In my day you had to hit someone with a hatchet before a referee booked you. It's a different game now."



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-captain-Danny-Murphy-s-comments-an-insult-to-Stoke-s-Tony-Pulis-Wolves-Mick-McCarthy-and-Blackburn-s-Sam-Allardyce-says-Manchester-United-boss-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-article619227.html#ixzz1481h7RwY
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[WhiteJC]

http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/chalkboards-without-the-chalkboards/

Chalkboards without the chalkboards
Filed under: Analysis — rich
The chalkboard images are on the laptop at home, but a few things seemed to stand out against Wigan. 
Partnerships – this was something Roy brought up in his UEFA coaching videos, but all over the field you have partnerships, pairs of players who will be linking up together in various areas. On Saturday we had some terrific partnerships.

Dempsey and Dembele didn't pass the ball to each other all that much, but both were extremely hard to pin down. If you look at the chalkboards both were operating all over the opponents' half to the point where they were both almost in 'false 9 roles'. Their interaction with the midfield was superb.

The engine room of Murphy and Greening must have driven Wigan's midfield to distraction. These two were imperious, towering over the game. Both saw a lot of the ball, both used it well and quickly. It'll be different with different opponents, but let's not forget that Wigan were unbeaten away before they came to us. Dempsey and Salcido got the plaudits, and thoroughly deserved this, but you win games in the middle of the pitch and Murphy and Greening dominated here.

Down the right Chris Baird's chalkboard looks like that of two players: he was an army on the wing. (I have some suspicions here – the Guardian has almost twice as many Baird passes as the Telegraph, and Baird and Gera do look somewhat alike – but the general partnership point holds: Baird and Gera were an absolute menace to Wigan.)

Gera was in his element. The difference between European Gera and League Gera was sizeable last season, potentially because European refs are stricter and European teams less aggressive. There were no yellow cards on Saturday, I don't think, and Wigan certainly let our boys play. This suited Gera, who ran riot in the advanced wide midfield role. Like Dempsey and Dembele, he was all over the place in attack (in a good way) – very hard to pick up.

I flagged up Carlos Salcido's crossing after the season's first home game. As I recall, out of nowhere he ran onto the ball and blasted in a couple of deadly crosses first time. The excellence of those crosses shocked me; you just don't see that sort of delivery in the game today. Well since then he's laid on a goal for Dempsey at Blackburn, and another on Saturday. What a cross it was. It's been said that Dempsey had an easy header, but this oversimplifies things; Clint made it look easy with glorious technique.

Working with Salcido on what was effectively our 'weak side' (in that we went down there a lot less) was Simon Davies. There was a moment in the second half that was classic Davies: the ball looped towards him on the left flank, and Davies, facing the wrong way, angled himself backwards and redirected the ball first time towards Dempsey (I think). It was a really sharp pass, and it was intercepted, but the sort of ball that defences can't set themselves for. He's technically brilliant isn't he? With him and Murphy in the side, and Dembele ahead of them, we have three wonderful ballplayers working together. When it clicks like it did on Saturday they're a real handful.

[WhiteJC]

http://sport.virginmedia.com/football/article/2010/11/02/johnson_praises_amazing_fans?

Johnson praises "amazing" fans
Fit-again Fulham striker Andrew Johnson has revealed how his Craven Cottage comeback sent a shiver down his spine following his injury-plagued year.

Saturday saw Johnson make his first home appearance since January, the 29-year-old coming off the bench for the final nine minutes of his side's Barclays Premier League win over Wigan.

Johnson had been sidelined with a serious knee injury, something he picked up shortly after returning from almost three months out with a groin problem.

"To come back to a set of fans like that is amazing," he said. "It sent a shiver down my spine and I just need to get match fit now and give them back what they gave me.

"It's been a tough time, I'm not going to lie. I was down for a long time but you see the rewards when you come back out and see the fans."

[WhiteJC]

http://sport.virginmedia.com/football/article/2010/11/02/johnson_grateful_over_hughes_patience?

Johnson grateful over Hughes patience
Andy Johnson has thanked Fulham manager Mark Hughes for not rushing him back from his nine-month injury lay-off.

Saturday's Barclays Premier League win against Wigan was Johnson's second substitute appearance since recovering from a serious knee problem.

The striker said of Hughes, who succeeded Roy Hodgson in the summer: "He's been absolutely fantastic; he's not rushed me one bit.

"He said, 'Take your time; the last thing we want is you to come back and have a setback'.

"He's been very understanding and mindful of the fact that I can't rush it because I rushed my last two injuries."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/November/KickzSuccess.aspx?

Kickz Success

Kickz is a nationwide initiative in which projects are placed into areas in the country where high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour take place. Currently Fulham FC Foundation deliver 7 projects, these are run in the London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham which has 1 project, and Merton, Lambeth and Kingston upon Thames which each have 2.

In the period running from 1st December 2009 to 1st September 2010 the Kickz programmes have engaged with 1027 different young people with a total of 27,878 contact hours with Fulham FC coaches. A total of 807 sessions have been delivered with the split of male attendees at 755 and female at 272.

Workshops are also delivered as part of the programme and have ranged in topic from employability skills to sexual health awareness, with 678 young people attending in the last 10 months. 16 different accredited courses have also been delivered, including FA level 1's and BTEC courses.

Of the 16 courses, 404 young people achieved a qualification. This represents 65% of young people who have attended Kickz have taken part in an outcome based workshop, and 40% of all Kickz participants have received an accredited outcome.



Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/November/KickzSuccess.aspx?#ixzz148B9s4t9

[WhiteJC]

http://www.teamtalk.com/fulham/6482336/Johnson-grateful-for-Hughes-patience?

Johnson grateful for Hughes patience

Andy Johnson has thanked Fulham manager Mark Hughes for not rushing him back from his nine-month injury lay-off.

Saturday's Premier League win against Wigan was Johnson's second substitute appearance since recovering from a serious knee problem.

The striker said of Hughes, who succeeded Roy Hodgson in the summer: "He's been absolutely fantastic; he's not rushed me one bit.

"He said, 'Take your time; the last thing we want is you to come back and have a setback'.

"He's been very understanding and mindful of the fact that I can't rush it because I rushed my last two injuries."

Johnson added: "To come back to a set of fans like that is amazing.

"It sent a shiver down my spine and I just need to get match fit now and give them back what they gave me.

"It's been a tough time, I'm not going to lie. I was down for a long time but you see the rewards when you come back out and see the fans."

[HatterDon]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-captain-Danny-Murphy-s-comments-an-insult-to-Stoke-s-Tony-Pulis-Wolves-Mick-McCarthy-and-Blackburn-s-Sam-Allardyce-says-Manchester-United-boss-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-article619227.html

Murphy's comments "an insult" to Pulis, McCarthy and Allardyce, says Sir Alex

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has defended fellow bosses Tony Pulis and Mick McCarthy against the charge that their teams are too aggressive.

This goes back to October BLOODY 6. Does it take this long to get The Sun up to Manchester? [okay, unintentional pun there]. Or perhaps he's just now read the LMA directive that all bosses have to trash that guy from Fulham who has the temerity to speak the most obvious truth in English football.

What the hell is red nose trying to prove by stirring this up again now? And how exactly does one go about instulting Pubis, McCarthy, and Allardyce? I mean, their very presence in the PRem is an insult.

You done pissed off the hatter now, Sir Alex!  :airfix:

Aw, crap, that's not the right one.  :035:

They're so hard to tell apart.