Tuesday Fulham Stuff (21/12/10)...

[WhiteJC]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/12/20/2270395/west-ham-united-receive-triple-injury-boost-ahead-of-boxing?

West Ham United receive triple injury boost ahead of Boxing Day clash with Fulham - report

West Ham United manager Avram Grant is hoping to receive a huge boost for the Boxing Day clash with Fulham, as three important players are expected to return to first team action.

Goalkeeper Robert Green, Valon Behrami and Victor Obinna all missed Saturday's draw away at Blackburn but according to Talksport all three are expected to return to training this week.

Green was ruled out of the Ewood Park clash after having minor surgery on a hip problem, Obinna suffered a brusied leg in training in the build up to the match and Behrami injured his hip in the warm up against Rovers.

However all three are expected to make a return to training this week and give the Hammers a huge boost as they begin their battle to avoid the drop.

It will also be good news for Grant who is reportedly fighting to save his job at the bottom of the table club.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/December/Advent21-JWKidspack.aspx?

Win a Jack Wolfskin Kids Pack

Win a fantastic kids pack courtesy of Jack Wolfskin, our Official Outdoor Equipment Partner.

In today's great Christmas offer, we are giving you the opportunity to win a fantastic Jack Wolfskin Kids Pack, containing a front paw hat, a Kids Wolf Bottle and a pair of Artist gloves.

Jack Wolfskin have recently opened their third store in London, located at 179-183 Regent Street. Spanning 400 square meters, the store offers a wide selection from three product areas of clothing, shoes and equipment, so check it out or visit Jack Wolfskin online.

For your chance to win this great prize, enter our free prize draw below. By entering your details, you agree to allow the Club to contact you by e-mail regarding Club news and offers.

Terms and Conditions: Entry to the prize draw is free, no purchase necessary. All prize draw entries must be received by midnight on 24/12/10. Draw to be independently made on 28/12/2010. The winner will be notified by 29/12/10. No cash or prize alternative. Decision of the Club is final. Details of the winners can be obtained by writing to Promoter: Fulham Football Club, Motspur Park Training Ground, New Malden. KT3 6PT, Jack Wolfskin draw. Winners may be required to take part in advertising, including photographs. Staff of Fulham Football Club and their associated companies are excluded.



Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/December/Advent21-JWKidspack.aspx?#ixzz18jOq0o1S

[WhiteJC]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-ham/8215276/West-Ham-United-willing-to-take-Tottenham-Hotspur-striker-Robbie-Keane-on-loan-deal-in-bid-to-beat-the-drop.html

West Ham United willing to take Tottenham Hotspur striker Robbie Keane on loan deal in bid to beat the drop
West Ham United are to join the bidding for Tottenham Hotspur's Robbie Keane by offering the striker a six-month loan deal with the option of a three-year contract should he help keep them up.

Keane is surplus to requirements at Spurs with manager Harry Redknapp desperate to move him on so he can make room in his squad.

Aston Villa and Birmingham City — who have both wanted Keane in the past — have been linked with new moves, as have Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton, while there have been suggestions that the 30 year-old could be used as a makeweight to tempt Newcastle United into selling Andy Carroll.

West Ham have been offered Keane before and will resist Spurs' attempts to use the negotiations as a way of obtaining Scott Parker.

Spurs are also hoping to move Jamie O'Hara to Upton Park and he is also interesting West Ham, who would have made a move for the midfielder in the summer had he not been injured.

Given that O'Hara is still to recover from his back injury, it may well be that West Ham turn to Aston Villa's Steve Sidwell, with a deal understood to be under negotiation.

That could lead to the departure of Valon Behrami, who is anxious to return to Italy because his wife has failed to settle in London.

Despite the possibility of one — or both — of Keane and O'Hara joining West Ham, the Premier League's bottom club remain adamant that they will not sell Parker.

Keane returned to Spurs at the beginning of last year, from Liverpool, signing a four-year contract for a £12 million fee, but fell out of favour and is no longer in Redknapp's plans.

Despite uncertainty at West Ham over whether Keane is worth his £65,000-a-week salary, the club's hierarchy also realise they not only need to bolster their attack — with just 16 goals in 18 league matches — but also need stronger characters in the dressing room. An inquiry has been made about Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.eatsleepsport.com/fulham/grecians-starlet-in-cottagers-link-1136572.html

Grecians starlet in Cottagers link

Fulham have been linked with a possible January transfer window swoop for highly-rated Exeter City midfielder Liam Sercombe.

The Cottagers and Premier League rivals Wolves are thought to be in the driving seat to take the 20-year-old starlet, who has made 84 appearances for the League One outfit since working his way through the Academy ranks.

Grecians boss Paul Tisdale would be loathe to lose such a key player, who scored his fourth career goal in Saturday's 5-1 over Sheffield Wednesday.

However, if a bid of around £350,000 is forthcoming next month, then it could be too tempting for the Devon side to turn down.

[WhiteJC]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/21122010/2/rehman-adds-premier-league-touch-new-look-thai-league.html

Rehman adds Premier League touch to new-look Thai league

Former Fulham defender Zesh Rehman has joined Thai champions Muang Thong United and is set to become the first former English Premier League player in the new-look Thai league.

The 27-year-old central defender has signed on a free transfer from League Two (fourth division) Bradford City following manager Peter Taylor's decision to strip him of his captaincy for criticising his team selection on a live radio show.

Rehman, a Pakistan international, became the first South Asian to play in the English top flight when he made his debut for Fulham, for whom he made 30 appearances. He has also played for Blackpool, Brighton and Hove Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City.

"This move is a good opportunity for him because we couldn't guarantee him a starting place," Taylor told the club's website (www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk). "We wish him all the best at Muang Thong, he is welcome back any time."

Muang Thong United is Thailand's richest club, owned mostly by a local media company and boasting a new stadium with a capacity of 25,000. They won the Thailand Premier League (TPL) title in 2009 in its first season in the top flight.

The TPL, created in 1996, has undergone a major revamp in the last two years following pressure from the Asian Football Confederation to commercialise the league and raise playing standards. Most clubs are now owned by big local companies. For more soccer news click:

[White Noise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/dec/20/fitness-avram-grant-west-ham?INTCMP=SRCH


Fitness worries deepen gloom for Avram Grant at West Ham


• Five first-teamers unable to train more than twice a week


• Owners willing to splash out on a star signing next month


David Hytner guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 December 2010 23.00 GMT


Injury problems are not helping Avram Grant as he battles to lift West Ham from the bottom of the table. Photograph: Neal Simpson/Empics Sport

Avram Grant's battle against relegation from the Premier League at West Ham United is being undermined by fitness concerns, which include five of his first-team squad being unable to train more than twice a week.

The defenders Danny Gabbidon and Herita Ilunga, the midfielders Luis Boa Morte and Kieron Dyer and the striker Carlton Cole have to be nursed along because of deep-seated injury problems.

West Ham are bottom of the table, with only two wins from 18 games and the manager is under intense pressure. Grant has complained about the thinness of his squad and his concerns have now been laid bare.

The latest illustration of his difficulties came on Friday, after he had named his starting XI in the morning for the away fixture at Blackburn Rovers. He promptly lost two of his line-up in training – one of them, the forward Victor Obinna – and, on the eve of Saturday's game, he lost a third, Valon Behrami, to a hip injury in the warm-up.

Gabbidon and Boa Morte completed the 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw at a sub-zero Ewood Park, where Dyer was withdrawn in the 82nd minute and Cole introduced as a 57th-minute substitute. Ilunga did not play.

Adding to the state of flux for Grant is the fact that four of his players are out of contract in June – Gabbidon, Dyer, Matthew Upson and Lars Jacobsen – and a fifth, Obinna, is due to return to Internazionale when his loan deal ends.

West Ham's owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, are desperate for Grant to turn around the club's fortunes and prove a success. The club's next three fixtures are away at Fulham and at home to Everton and Wolves. Sullivan and Gold would be willing to splash out on a star signing next month, most likely a striker, in an effort to spark the revival but the state of affairs at Upton Park makes selling the club to potential new players more difficult.

Grant lost his main summer acquisition, the midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, to serious thigh damage before he had kicked a ball for the club – he will be out until well into the new year – and, in some ways, that set the tone for what has been a spluttering season, pockmarked by an assortment of injuries and problems.

[White Noise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/dec/20/five-things-learned-premier-league?INTCMP=SRCH


4) Blackburn offer hope for the bottom three


Sam Allardyce might not be to everybody's taste, but there is surely no debate to be had about his effectiveness as a manager and, judging by Blackburn's dire performance against West Ham, their new Indian owners have made a terrible mistake in sacking him. In what may come to be seen as the worst game to be played this season, Blackburn were horribly lacking in both drive and invention, their goal a witless affair that ought to have been prevented. Given their rather agricultural approach, that is not a great surprise.

What was perhaps more worrying, though, was the complete absence of any of the qualities that tend to characterise their attack. With West Ham forced to play an uncertain first-timer in goal in the shape of Ruud Boffin, Blackburn failed to test his ability to cope with their rough-and-ready approach. He was rarely put under any pressure and although he flapped at a few crosses, Blackburn appeared reluctant to exploit the apparent weakness in West Ham's defence.

Given the way El Hadji Diouf roughed up Fulham's goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer earlier this season, was this an early sign of caretaker manager Steve Kean's tactical naivety? Blackburn are only six points above the bottom three and they have played a game more. The owners' hopes for a top-five finish in the near future might just have to be put on hold. JS

[WhiteJC]

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/851047-landon-donovan-closing-in-on-everton-loan-despite-fulham-interest?

Landon Donovan closing in on Everton loan despite Fulham interest
Everton manager David Moyes is close to agreeing terms with LA Galaxy to take forward Landon Donovan on loan in January, despite the continuing interest of Fulham.

Moyes believes Donovan is the man to add much needed spark to his stagnant attack this season - despite the Toffees' 2-1 win at title hopefuls Manchester City on Monday night.

The United States captain looks likely to return to Goodison Park for what would be a second loan spell after joining the club around this time last season.

However, the deal is not quite done and dusted with Fulham manager Mark Hughes keen to take the battle for Donovan to the wire by offering improved terms to the American's parent club.

Donovan himself appears keen to rejoin Everton - rather than go to London, though.

And on Twitter during last night's game at Eastlands, the striker praised Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and expressed his continuing support for the Merseysiders.

'Up the Toffees!' he wrote on his micro-blogging page.


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/851047-landon-donovan-closing-in-on-everton-loan-despite-fulham-interest#ixzz18jwyjCW8

[WhiteJC]

http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/timing-is-everything/?

Timing is everything...
Filed under: Analysis — rich

I can't remember where I saw the stat, but this year's Fulham side have conceded a lot of first half goals.   Is this strange?  Anything to worry about?   ESPN.com has a nifty little tool to explore this sort of thing,  so I pulled up the data.



So yeah, in the first half of games we have conceded 13 and scored 7.   In the second half we've conceded 7 and scored 9, which is better in so far as the concessions have almost halved and the goals have increased a bit.

Does this mean anything?

Who knows?  For context I pulled up the last three and a half seasons to see if the time at which goals are scored and conceded tells us much about our team.

At the bottom you can see the 07/08 side, the team that at one point would have been top of the table on its first half performance alone, but which was at the time not doing very well overall (a fact I'm sure Lawrie Sanchez brought up in an interview).  The team scored a relatively high number of early and late goals, but was massively vulnerable in the fifteen minutes after half time and in the last fifteen minutes (which was part of what made the whole Sanchez experience so heartbreaking; every week a corner was about to be turned, then, horribly, it wasn't).   Overall we were outscored in five of the six time-bands.

Next up is the famous seventh place season (08/09), and really there's not a great deal to see.  We scored at the start of each half quite a bit, were still more vulnerable to concession in the second half than the first, but outscored our opponents in four of the six bands.

In 2009/10 we were outscored in five of the six bands but still did okay overall.  The interesting thing here is that we scored 13 goals in the first half, 26 in the second, conceding 25 in the first and 21 in the second.   That's not too far from what we're seeing now under Hughes.  Is it the start of a pattern?  Is this ageing, cool, calm and collected team being too cool, calm and collected and not firing off the blocks like it ought?   who knows?

Having looked back through all of this I'm not sure there's much to say.  You can talk about whatever patterns you see but is there any reasoning there, or is it just describing when the goals happened to go in?  Ultimately good teams score more than they allow, and when this happens is perhaps not particularly relevant.   Some findings here are maybe informative:  we're not conceding late goals under Hughes, which you'd assume is a good thing, but then this might be because we've already conceded the early ones so are chasing the game.  As discussed, under Sanchez the late goals were killing us.  Under Hodgson there were perhaps relatively few goals in the middle of halves (16-30 and 61-75), but again, I'm not sure that there's a story here.  (Although you can imagine that perhaps Roy treated these periods as times for consolidation (it might explain the absence of subs before 75 minutes!).)

[WhiteJC]

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/December/DembeleReturnstoTraining.aspx?

Training Target

Mousa Dembele is hoping to return to training this week following an ankle injury sustained whilst on international duty for Belgium.

Mark Hughes had initially hoped to have Dembele back for last weekend's postponed fixture against Liverpool but it was decided that the striker needed a further week of rehabilitation.

"It's been very slow. I thought the recovery was going to be faster but the most important thing is that I feel good now," Dembele told fulhamfc.com. "I had a good rehabilitation and the most important thing is that my ankle is strong now so I'm happy about that.

"I hope to train this week and see how I feel – at the moment I feel good."

The last two matches have seen the Whites narrowly defeated by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium before being held to a draw at Craven Cottage by Sunderland.

"I've seen the last two games against Arsenal and Sunderland," Dembele said. "We played very well in the second-half against Arsenal and we were also good against Sunderland. We attacked well and took the initiative but we didn't have the luck.

"So I think the team has been playing well but it's not a new thing this year – we've played a lot of good games but we got too many draws and it has to change now. We have to win games now.

"I think our luck will come, you can't play well and not get the points for too long. I think we're going to start picking up points; the secret is to continue playing well. There has to be a point where it will turn and things will be with us. It's always like that.

"If you start getting too disappointed it can have a negative effect, we have to keep focusing and I'm sure we're going to get the points."

Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/December/DembeleReturnstoTraining.aspx?#ixzz18kE0c1Qy

[WhiteJC]

http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/48391/Wright_The_fans_have_stopped_believing.aspx?

Wright: The fans have stopped believing

Former West Ham and Arsenal striker Ian Wright believes time is running out for Avram Grant at Upton Park with morale the lowest he has seen at the club in a long time.

Wright left Arsenal for the Boleyn ground in 1998 scoring 9 goals in 22 appearances, and the former iron is increasingly worried with his former club's Premier League predicament.

The Hammers lie in a precarious position with only two wins from a possible 18 and a goal difference of -15. Manager Grant must pick up points fast but the former Chelsea and Portsmouth manager faces a difficult next three fixtures in which to save his job with a tricky trip to Fulham, followed by two tough home fixtures against Everton and Wolves.

"Even the fans seem to have stopped believing." Wright said in his Sun column.

"They used to generate an incredible atmosphere during my brief time at the club. But it's no longer the sort of backing you get at grounds like Stoke or Everton.

"I have a lot of mates who are Hammers fans and they and I are all very worried. Very few of them are confident they can get out of this situation under Avram The team has picked up a bit in recent weeks but not enough to get out of the bottom three.They are still not winning games.

"I have met Avram on a number of occasions and he is a genuinely nice guy. I've not come across anyone in the game with a bad word to say about him. But is he a good manager? That's a question he must answer in the next couple of weeks.

"I am told David Gold and David Sullivan are giving Avram every possible opportunity to save his job after handing him a four-year contract last summer. But they understand the financial implications of relegation from the Premier League and must do everything within their powers to protect their investment.So they have to make a firm decision about the manager while there is still time."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.eatsleepsport.com/fulham/cottagers-to-miss-out-on-us-ace-1136870.html?

Cottagers to miss out on US ace

Fulham are set to lose out to Premier League rivals Everton in the race to take LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan on loan.
Cottagers boss Mark Hughes is scouring the market for a player who can help add some goals to his struggling side in the second half of the season. And recent reports suggested that he would attempt to lure USA international captain, Donovan, to Craven Cottage after he scored twice in 13 appearances during a loan stint at Everton last season and fired in three goals in the summer's World Cup finals.

However Toffees boss David Moyes looks favourite to agree terms on taking Donovan back to Goodison Park when the January transfer window opens in less than a fortnight.

Hughes could try and hijack the deal by offering improved terms to the player's parent company, but Donovan appears to prefer a switch to Everton, having posted 'Up the Toffees!' on his Twitter site following the side's 2-1 win at Manchester City on Monday evening.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.wolves.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=225280

Fulham & Wolves target Sercombe
League One Exeter City are bracing themselves for the loss of their promising young midfielder Liam Sercombe with ourselves and Fulham reportedly interested.

talkSPORT have suggested that the 20-year-old would cost around £350,000, a snip if his potential can be realised.

Despite his young age he has already made 84 appearances in League One after coming through the youth ranks at the Devon club.

Vital Wolves Comment: Any Exeter fans out there? Let us know about your lad in the article comments below.


Read more: http://www.wolves.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=225280#ixzz18kLlO1qA

[WhiteJC]

http://cottagers.blogspot.com/2010/12/meet-fans-nicky.html?

Craven Cottagers
Following the 2007/8, 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons at Craven Cottage - recounted by season ticket holders who aren't actually Fulham fans.

Meet the fans - Nicky
As we didn't make it to Sunderland and none of us will be around for the West Ham game either, I thought I'd do the odd profile piece on the people who have had a season ticket with us. These could be representative of the influx of season ticket holders over the last couple of years - people like us who have adopted Fulham as a 'second team' while living in London.

Name: Nicky
Season tickets held: 2008/9, 2009/10, 2010/11
Hometown: Twickenham
Football team supported: Manchester United
Why did you get a Fulham Season Ticket? Cheap, nearby and the side were likable
Favourite Game: Fulham 4 - 1 Juventus last season
Favourite Goal: Clint Dempsey's goal v Juventus
Favourite Player: Bobby Zamora (I always love the underdog)
Least favourite player: Dickson Etuhu
What do Fulham now mean to you? I like to see them do well and enjoy going to watch them.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6606202,00.html?

Dembele sets training target
Belgian forward closes on Cottagers return

Fulham forward Moussa Dembele is hoping to be back in training this week following an ankle injury.

The Belgian frontman aggravated a previous problem while away on international duty in November.

It was initially hoped that the 23-year-old would only be sidelined for around a month, taking him to last weekend's fixture with Liverpool.
In the end that game fell foul of the weather, but Mark Hughes had already taken the decision that Dembele would play no part.

The Cottagers are, however, confident that another week of rehabilitation work will see him back in contention over the busy festive period.

Slow progress

Dembele has confirmed that he may be available for a home date with West Ham on Boxing Day, with his ankle no longer giving him cause for concern.

"It's been very slow. I thought the recovery was going to be faster but the most important thing is that I feel good now," he told Fulham's official website.

"I had a good rehabilitation and the most important thing is that my ankle is strong now, so I'm happy about that.

"I hope to train this week and see how I feel. At the moment I feel good."

[WhiteJC]

http://www.teamtalk.com/aston-villa/6606219/Premier-League-January-needs-Part-One?

Premier League January needs - Part One

With the January transfer window just days away, TEAMtalk's Rob McCarthy looks at where he thinks Premier League clubs need to stengthen.

Fulham: The draw specialists are clearly missing that something special to go on and win games and Bobby Zamora's return cannot come soon enough.

I feel for Mark Hughes as it was always going to be a tough task to follow on from Roy Hodgson's successful reign at Craven Cottage, but it doesn't help when literally all your decent strikers come a cropper.

Zamora has been joined on the sidelines by Andy Johnson and Moussa Dembele at some point this season and there is only so much the under-rated Clint Dempsey can do on his own (yes I know Diomansy Kamara has been playing but he's not exactly prolific!).

If anything Hughes needs to add a goalscoring central midfielder to his ranks as Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu are rarely seen in the opposition penalty area.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1340504/Moussa-Dembele-making-good-progress-striker-eyes-Christmas-comeback-Fulham.html?

Moussa Dembele making good progress as striker eyes Christmas comeback for Fulham

Moussa Dembele hopes to hand Fulham a much-needed boost by returning to training this week.

The Belgium striker, who has scored three times since his £5million transfer from AZ Alkmaar this summer, has been out of action since aggravating an ankle injury while on international duty last month.

Without him and fellow injury victim Bobby Zamora, the Cottagers have struggled in front of goal and now find themselves just outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Dembele had pencilled in last weekend's postponed match at Liverpool for his comeback but that plan was scrapped after it was decided that the striker needed a further week of rehabilitation.

The 23-year-old now hopes to return to training this week with the aim of playing some part in a crucial festive programme that sees Fulham take on West Ham, Stoke and Tottenham within the space of six days.

'I hope to train this week and see how I feel - at the moment I feel good,' Dembele told Fulham's website. 'The recovery has been very slow. I thought it was going to be faster but the most important thing is that I feel good now.

'I had a good rehabilitation. The most important thing is that my ankle is strong now so I'm happy about that.

Fulham's progress has been hindered by their failure to win in their last seven games and the fact that they have drawn 10 games this season - more than any other team in the Barclays Premier League.

Manager Mark Hughes has the backing of chairman Mohamed Al Fayed and Dembele has seen cause for optimism in the club's draw against Sunderland and narrow defeat at Arsenal.

He continued: 'We played very well in the second half against Arsenal and we were also good against Sunderland. We attacked well and took the initiative but we didn't have the luck.

'I think the team has been playing well but it's not a new thing this year - we've played a lot of good games but we got too many draws and it has to change now. We have to win games now.

'I think our luck will come. You can't play well and not get the points for too long. I think we're going to start picking up points; the secret is to continue playing well. There has to be a point where it will turn and things will be with us. It's always like that.

'If you start getting too disappointed it can have a negative effect. We have to keep focusing and I'm sure we're going to get the points.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1340504/Moussa-Dembele-making-good-progress-striker-eyes-Christmas-comeback-Fulham.html#ixzz18lCBgH1b