Sunday Fulham Stuff (13/12/09)

[WhiteJC]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11708_5767545,00.html
Hodgson rues missed chances
But Cottagers boss praises in-form striker Zamora

Roy Hodgson was disappointed his Fulham side could not finish Burnley off in the first-half as both sides shared the spoils.

Damian Duff, Erik Nevland and Clint Dempsey all spurned good chances to kill the game off for the Cottagers at Turf Moor.

The away side could have been up two up in the opening minutes when Duff sent his lob wide of the post and Nevland's near-post effort was parried away by Brian Jensen.

However, the Fulham chief paid credit to a hard-working Burnley side and said he was satisfied with an away point.

"All credit to Burnley, they worked very hard and pushed players forward in the second-half," Hodgson told Sky Sports.

"They went to a 4-2-4 and it brought them the equaliser so I can't be too dissatisfied.

Magnificent chances
"If anything, we were the team that probably could have won this game today - we had two magnificent chances in the first five minutes.

"We caused them plenty of problems with our attacking play and I thought that we were more than good value for the point.

"It's not an easy place to come and we know how good they are here at Turf Moor so maybe one shouldn't be too disappointed."

Bobby Zamora silenced his critics with a superb opener for Fulham in the 50th minute, however Wade Elliott soon equalised 10 minutes later when he sweetly struck a volley past Mark Schwarzer.

And the Fulham boss was full of praise for his main striker who has been tipped to feature in Fabio Capello's England squad for next year's World Cup.

Hodgson added: "He was strong enough and composed enough to hold the defender at bay and finish with an excellent right foot shot.

"I've always thought once he starts scoring, he'd score lots of goals."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-captain-Danny-Murphy-determined-to-avoid-more-heartache-in-Basel-article255097.html
Fulham captain Danny Murphy determined to avoid more heartache in Basel


Danny Murphy has already suffered European heartache in Basel – and he is determined not to make it an unwanted double on Wednesday.

The midfielder scored as Liverpool drew 3-3 in the Champions League in November 2002, a game they had to win to have a chance of going through.

And history could repeat itself as Murphy's Fulham go to the St Jakob-Park knowing anything less than a victory will see them knocked out of the Europa League, with the Swiss side joining Roma in the last 32.

But the 32-year-old Fulham captain said: "I've played in Basel before with Liverpool.

"I've got good and bad memories of it as we went out, but I scored.

"When we played Basel at the Cottage [Fulham won

1-0] I thought they were decent, but I wouldn't say I was overly impressed.

"We had half a team out when we played them and they certainly don't put the fear of God into us.

"They don't have the class or the quality of Roma. But we'll respect them.

"These are the types of games you want to play with something big riding on it."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2009/December/BurnleyReaction.aspx
A Valuable Point
Saturday 12th December 2009

Fulham came away from Turf Moor on Saturday unfortunate not to be returning to SW6 with maximum points, as Manager Roy Hodgson explained after the game.

`'We had two great chances early on and got behind them well. I thought at half time we'd actually played very well in the first half and we were a little bit unlucky to come in at nil-nil.

"I thought when we took the lead it might be enough because we'd been very comfortable defending up to that point but they threw a few more players forward and scored a very good equaliser.

`'Still, I think we can consider ourselves a little bit unlucky not to get all three points because we did have one or two good chances.

"I think with a bit of luck and generosity on behalf of the Referee we'd of got at least one penalty in the game.

"There's a tinge of regret because I thought there was a good chance of us getting three points and I thought the performance merited the three points."

Fulham consolidated their position in the top half of the Barclays Premier League table on Saturday and Hodgson is clearly delighted with the Club's standing considering the additional fixtures the team has played so far this season.

`'It's 23 points after 16 games played and that's a very good return considering how many games we've had in Europe.

"We've had nine games in Europe on top of that and that does make life a bit more difficult for you so considering we're still in the top half of the table I'm really pleased."

Bobby Zamora's superb strike in the 50th minute earned Fulham the lead at Turf Moor on Saturday and Hodgson praised the striker on Saturday night following another notable performance.

"He's playing very well. He was in a bit of pain at half time and we were concerned that was going to be a problem for him but it wasn't. They treated him at half time and he went out and gave another very good performance in the second half."