Thursday Fulham Stuff (23/12/10)...

[WhiteJC]

http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/48457/Wanderers_star_set_for_Fulham_switch.aspx?

Wanderers star set for Fulham switch

Bolton midfielder Matt Taylor is attracting the interest of Fulham as Cottagers boss Mark Hughes is keen to bolster his options.

Taylor has managed just seven league starts for the Wanderers this season following the arrival of Martin Petrov, although the former Portsmouth star has seen more action of late.

The midfielder has previously been linked with Everton but Fulham are the latest club believed to be lining up a January move.

Fulham bos Mark Hughes is desperate to bring in reinforcements in a bid to push the Cottagers away from the drop zone, with the west London side currently 17th in the Premier League with just goal difference separating them from Wigan in 18th place.

Bolton boss Owen Coyle will be reluctant to part with Taylor but the Scottish manager may be tempted to cash in on the 28-year-old after admitting he will struggle to bring in his own targets in January due to limited funding.

It is thought Bolton would be prepared to listen to offers of around £2million for the versatile midfielder, who can also play in the left-back position.

[WhiteJC]

http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk:80/football/west-ham/hughes_v_hammers_grant_in_the_sack_race_1_761310?

Hughes v Hammers Grant in the sack race

West Ham travel to Craven Cottage on Boxing Day for a vital league clash with both managers under pressure.

IF YOU believe everything you read in the papers, then the Boxing Day clash at Craven Cottage will be a real battle in the sack race.

Whoever loses out in the relegation battle on Sunday between Mark Hughes and Avram Grant is apparently destined to join the ever expanding dole queue – which suggests that it will probably be a draw.

Hughes has hardly set the world alight since taking over from Roy Hodgson at the Cottage.

He has been hampered by the loss of star striker Bobby Zamora with a broken leg, as well as injury to £5million signing Moussa Dembele from Alkmaar, but even so, the Welshman has failed to ignite his team.

Draws have been their problem, especially at home where five of their nine fixtures have finished all square.

They have managed to beat Wigan (2-0) and Wolves (2-1), but couple that with a failure to win all season on their travels has seen them slump to fourth from bottom with 16 points from 17 games.

One man who has stood out for them is American striker Clint Dempsey – the nemesis of West Ham keeper Robert Green and the one to watch on Sunday.

Aside from that goal in the World Cup, Dempsey beat Green last season in the 3-2 win at the Cottage, and followed it up with a snapshot goal at Upton Park back in October in a 1-1 stalemate, where Freddie Piquionne's second half strike levelled it up.

Last season's victory for Fulham was their first over the Hammers in nine games, so West Ham will be hoping that normal service is resumed on Boxing Day when they come face to face once again.

Zamora may be missing, but West Ham fans should have the treat of seeing former cult hero John Paintsil playing against them, which is always entertaining.

More news that may be welcomed by many Hammers fans is that midfielder Luis Boa Morte is suspended after picking up five bookings and will miss the trip back to his old club.

Can West Ham end a dismal run of 27 league games without an away win? Probably not, but a point may be the order of the day.

Possible team: Schwarzer, Hangeland, Paintsil, Hughes, Salcido, Etuhu, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey, Davies, Kamara.

Prediction

Fulham 1 West Ham 1

[WhiteJC]

http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/gloomy-man/?

Gloomy man
Filed under: General — rich  
Hmmmm.  Paul Doyle in the Guardian writes about stale old Birmingham.

Stale Birmingham plod towards relegation.

A simple exercise in devil's advocacy:

Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City have been stitched up. The least entertaining team in the Premier League is Birmingham City Fulham. What is more, they will probably be relegated. None shall mourn their passing. The memory of several other aspects of their game, however, may continue to cause sobbing.

Birmingham Fulham can pass the ball in basically competent fashion, albeit mostly in front of the opposition, and they retain a certain defensive sturdiness which is padded out by a fine goalkeeper, who occasionally enables his team to scrape improbable victories draws such as the one over Chelsea with Man Utd. Beyond these qualities Birmingham Fulham offer nothing. They have little creativity and no cutting edge. They have no pace. They do not even have the power of Blackburn and Stoke, nor the dynamism of Wolves, who inflicted an emphatic 1-0 defeat on them in their last outing. And Alex McLeish can do little about these shortcomings, since he has been told that there is no money for purchases in January.

[deleted some player specifics that could quite easily apply to us, too]

There is a staleness about Birmingham Fulham. Without the injection of a lot of new blood, it is hard to see how they can finish above at least three teams.

Or am I being too negative?    I think he's wrong about Birmingham, but it's interesting how much we have in common as teams (on the pitch), and how we're both struggling.    But then, as noted earlier today, we're missing most of our goal threats, so keep calm and carry on, etc.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/856983?cc=5739

Sidwell having medical at West Ham
December 23, 2010
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By ESPNsoccernet staff
Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has confirmed midfielder Steve Sidwell is undergoing a medical with West Ham.


GettyImages
Steve Sidwell is keen to return to London
West Ham are fighting a desperate battle to pull themselves away from the drop zone and, having made a number of enquiries as they seek to improve the squad, Sidwell looks set to be their first signing of the January window.

"Steve is having a medical," Houllier said. "He's at the end of his contract [next summer]."

Houllier suggested Wolves could have been tempted into a bid, but the lure of a return to the south appears to be a factor in Sidwell's decision to make the move.

"It's not a secret that he lives in London," Houllier added. "Otherwise I think Wolves would have been interested in signing him."

Houllier also said veteran goalkeeper Brad Freidel may look to move on as Villa step up their search for his successor.

Villa have been weighing up a move for Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor and Houllier said: "We are looking at several goalkeepers and we've told Brad.

"We're looking for a keeper for the future. If Brad is fine in February, then we will keep him.

"I've spoken to him and said, 'Obviously, you're 39, so I need to look to the future but I'm perfectly happy with you' and, if he feels fine, why not? We'll ask him in February. If he feels all right, we'll keep him.

"If he stays, he'll stay as the first-team keeper."

[WhiteJC]

http://betting.betfair.com/football/premiership/premier-league-betting-fulham-v-west-ham-231210.html?

Premier League Betting: Fulham v West Ham

It's a Boxing Day six-pointer as Fulham play host to West Ham and Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch isn't expecting a festive goalfest. Best Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.75.

Venue: Craven Cottage

Kick Off/TV: 12:00/Sky Sports 1

If you were to judge the Premier League purely on newspaper headlines rather than the league table, then you'd probably think that there's quite a lot of clear daylight between Fulham and West Ham.

Whilst bottom of the table West Ham's woes have been well documented, Fulham are sliding towards the relegation zone with the minimum of publicity. The Cottagers are only three points above West Ham (albeit with a game in hand) and need a home win to ensure that they don't spend part of the festive season in the bottom three.

The biggest reason for Fulham's problems this season has been the absence of Bobby Zamora, who is not expected back until January. Mark Hughes is also without the injured Moussa Dembele and Phillipe Senderos.

West Ham have the likes of Jack Collison, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Manuel da Costa injured, with Luis Boa Morte suspended and Mark Noble a doubt with a hip injury. The good news for Avram Grant is that he should be able to welcome back a trio of players from injury, with Rob Green, Valon Behrami and Victor Obinna all expected to be available.

Match Odds: Fulham 1.98, the draw 3.5, West Ham 4.6

It says a lot about Fulham's recent form that a West Ham side that have yet to win an away match, are priced as short as 4.6 to claim their first three points on the road this season.

Fulham have not won since October when they beat Wigan at Craven Cottage. They are finding goals very hard to come by and have only scored two goals or more in a game on one occasion in their last 13 matches.

They do keep it pretty tight at the back though and as a consequence, Fulham's position in the league is down to the amount of games that they have drawn rather than how many they've lost. Fulham have drawn more games (ten) than any other team in the league and with West Ham having drawn four of their nine away games, common sense says that the draw at 3.5 is where the value lies.

Yet I just have a gut feeling that Fulham will sneak a win here and break their recent run of poor form. There certainly isn't a better team to do this against at the moment than West Ham.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals: Under 2.5 1.75, Over 2.5 2.3

I've already mentioned Fulham's recent problems in front of goal and West Ham are in a similar predicament, having found the net just five times in their nine away games.

Neither side can call upon a goalscoring forward at the moment, with the midfielders Scott Parker and Clint Dempsey leading the club's respective top scorer lists.

When these sides have broken the 2.5 goals barrier recently, it's been because the opposition have scored a few and the 1.75 seems like great value, with the 3.35 for under 1.5 goals also worth considering.

Fulham win to nil

Hughes' side have only kept four clean sheets in 17 games this season, but they did manage to keep out a dangerous Sunderland attack in their last game.

Clean sheets might be hard to come by, but I think the 3.1 for Fulham to win to nil, is a decent price against such a weak West Ham attack.

Correct Score

A 1-0 Fulham win is the joint favourite in this market, alongside 1-1 at 7.4. Back both and you probably won't go far wrong, with 2-0 to Fulham at 9.6. 2-1 at 9.8 and a 1-0 West Ham win at 13.0.

Best Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.75

Recommended Bets: Back Fulham @ 1.98, back Fulham 1-0 @ 7.4

[WhiteJC]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1341160/FULHAM-v-West-Ham-Mark-Hughes-sweating-Moussa-Dembele-derby-clash.html?

FULHAM v West Ham: Mark Hughes sweating over Moussa Dembele for derby clash

Mark Hughes will give a fitness test to Moussa Dembele before deciding whether he will play any part in Fulham's Boxing Day derby clash with fellow relegation strugglers West Ham.

Dembele returned to training this week after spending the last five weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Matthew Briggs (calf) is out until next month, while Bobby Zamora (leg) and Philippe Senderos (achilles) should return in February.

Team (from): Schwarzer, Kelly, Salcido, Hughes, Baird, Hangeland, Duff, Dempsey, Murphy, Davies, Gera, Etuhu, A Johnson, E Johnson, Dembele, Stockdale, Pantsil, Kamara, Greening, Dikgacoi.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1341160/FULHAM-v-West-Ham-Mark-Hughes-sweating-Moussa-Dembele-derby-clash.html#ixzz18wxRMtfm