Craven Cottage Newsround

Lee Cook has gone to Charlton on loan for the rest of the year. Tony Warner has gone to Barnsley for a month.

If Cook’s fit enough to go on loan why haven’t we seen him play?

UPDATE: Steve Davis has gone to Glasgow Rangers until the end of the season. Let’s not forget that Davis is still very young. There is still time for him to be a good player in this team but with as many midfielders as we now have (and that would appear to include Dempsey) there’s probably no room for him at the moment. Of course he may not return, but I don’t know that he was especially well served by the direct tactics employed when he was a regular in the team.

Also, check out Championship at Best: the adjusted +/- stats suggest that Davis has probably only played in the games we were supposed to lose anyway, as he fares remarkably well by this measure. As usual with these things, it might mean nothing or everything, but worthy of some passing consideration.

(this also frees up the number 10 shirt)

Steve B on TiFF, who has a contact at Sky, says that Adrian Leijer is talking to Brighton about a loan. (this would free up the number 37 shirt)

Paul Stalteri joins on loan. Versatile right back, from Canada.

Well I can’t really, but Martin has.   This time he’s writing about Fabio Capello’s first squad.   Sadly for Martin I have posted this link a while after the piece was written, which was before the squad was announced, but it is, as with all Mart’s stuff, very much worth a read.

Incidentally, Capello’s decision to leave out underwear model and unfortunate husband to Posh Spice David Beckham is surely the right one.   This is a results business and Capello has decided that Beckham’s lack of football (he hasn’t played since November) precludes him from consideration.  Quite right too.   While it would be easy to pick the man and give him five minutes at the end of the match, this again signals that David Beckham’s personal glory is more important than whatever schemes Capello needs to hatch in order that England returns to something like a quarter final team.

We’ve got seriously distracted over the years, blinded first by our own arrogance, and latterly by the incompetence of Steve McLaren, who was poor but far from the only problem with English football.    Fabio Capello, being Italian, understands football, understands tactics, and isn’t going to fanny around with our pathetic celebrity culture.   Our best players might learn something working with Capello, which is what a coach is supposed to be for.   For too long we have been less than the supposed sum of our parts; hopefully this is about to change.  Football is not about who’s most famous, after all.

Updates on the BBC as our intrepid bicycle kicking forward-cum-winger endeavors to turn around a difficult situation for his countrymen.   They are 1-0 down already.   Gorn, Joe!

Read it here.

I don’t think there is a need to explain the qualities that Jari possesses as a player or the obvious reasons for wanting to bring him to Fulham, and I am delighted that he has agreed to join us for the remaining months of the season. Although he is not entirely match fit at the moment, I have no doubt that he will have a big part to play over the coming months and that we shall benefit as a team from his skill and experience.

-Roy Hodgson-

In news we’ve all been waiting for, Fulham Captain Brian Mc Bride put in a full 90 minutes in a reserve team game against Cardiff City at Motspur Park on Wednesday. Evidently Roy Hodgson was there to watch Brian play and had this to say.

Brian has done extremely well to be back so early from the injury. He’s worked very, very hard at it. It was good that he played 90 minutes on Wednesday and I thought the longer the game went on the happier he looked on the field. We mustn’t overestimate the level of opposition. It was an extremely young Cardiff team and that game was nothing like a Premier League game but the really positive thing is that our captain, Brian, who is a really influential character and person, is well on the road to recovery. We’re hoping that if he continues at this rate it won’t be long before we see him in the First Team.

-Roy Hodgson-

Some really encouraging things here. The medical team was said to have checked out Brian after the match and reports are that he came through it just fine. Also, did you notice that Roy called Brian, “Our captain”. I was wondering how that all would pan out for McBride, with a changing of the guard. But he left no doubt that Brian is still the man.

It’s also very encouraging to hear that Brian seemed to get stronger as the game went on and that he got in a full 90 as well. I also like RH’s honesty. “It was a young reserve team, nothing like real life in the Prem, but what was important was his fitness”. Great news.

The rest of the article is interesting as well. Evidently both Nevland and Johnson will be available for Sunday’s match. Johnson had to return to the U.S. immediately to get all his papers in order for his work permit. He will fly back on Thursday and be available to play on Sunday. According to Hodgson, “We couldn’t send him back to do the necessary procedures in America until he got the permit. When that happened we sent him back as fast as we possibly could.”
Hodgson also thanked U.S. coach Bob Bradley for releasing Johnson to Fulham. Johnson was to be training with the U.S. National team as they prepare to play arch rival Mexico in Houston Texas on February 3rd.

In talking about his striking options Roy said, “Clint Dempsey is playing as our lone striker and is, in actual fact, a midfield player. We have new strikers now to bring into the team alongside David Healy, who is a different type of striker.”

It’s nice to see our manager acknowledging the fact that Dempsey is playing out of position. How that will play out is still anyones guess, but I do hope that the team will have a place for him when things settle down a bit.

Shocking news today that Fulham’s Chris Baird is suspected of “somehow being involved” in a number of serious issues that, when considered collectively, may force the club to reconsider his suitability for further employment.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling set the ball rolling with a staggering accusation over dinner last night. Darling, who was dining with several friends, was overheard to say “this is all well and good, but when Baird moved to Fulham house prices were going up. Now look. Coincidence? I don’t think so. And we have top men on the case trying to prove it.”

[figure 1: growth in the UK housing market has stagnated since Baird's move to London. Experts fear a crash in the near future]

Gordon Brown’s government has since distanced itself from the remark, but Downing Street insiders say that they can “neither confirm nor deny reports that a taskforce has been created to investigate Chris Baird.”

All of which would be interesting but not serious were it not for *another* rumour emanating from Whitehall, this time from the office of Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

In a brief statement Benn said “It is too early to comment in full, but research shows that Chris Baird’s presence on the earth has coincided with a sustained period of global warming. We will, of course, seek to explore this issue in full and comment further when the time is right.”

[figure 2: experts agree that the world has got warmer since Baird was born]

And tonight Craven Cottage Newsround can reveal that Chris Baird is also being investigated by French police. Jerome Kerviel, the Societe General trader at the centre of a £7 billion fraud investigation, may somehow have been spurred on by Baird. Police have made no further comment at this time, although Baird is said to be someone they would “very much like to speak to”.

[figure 3: did rogue trader Jerome Kerviel act on instructions from Fulham full-back Chris Baird?]

Baird was unavailable for comment last night. He was playing for his club side, Fulham, for whom he was rubbish, too slow and a liability against pace. Also he was too short. Baird was generally agreed to be at fault for everything that went wrong for Fulham in a dismal 0-0 draw away to Bolton.

[figure 4: Chris Baird tries to rip a Fulham shirt into bits for no good reason]

Interview here.   More good stuff.   He was pleased with the new signings and acknowledges that Clint is a ‘makeshift’ centre-forward in that he hasn’t played there much.

In an interesting interview with Fulham goalkeeper Kasey Keller, US SoccerPlayers.com talks to Keller about his life in London which he calls his second home. He speaks about his frustrating injury, his time with Lawrie Sanchez as well as his new manager Roy Hodgson. He also laments the quick out of the U.S. World Cup team and what the future may hold for him. He’s also questioned about the newest American to come to Fulham.

Yes, it’s a wide ranging interview.
On London:

I’ve had a great life in London over three different teams now, in three different regions of London, so I feel very comfortable now in this city – this is really my second home.

On the Americans at Fulham:

Fulham is a very friendly club, and the American guys have taken to it very well.  The fans have taken to the American players, to Brian obviously, and Carlos [Bocanegra] starting it off, and Clint [Dempsey] coming in and scoring a good goal to keep them up last year.  So I think there’s a good affection, and I think because of that there are a lot of American ex-pats in London who have really taken to Fulham as their club.

On Eddie Johnson:

 I’ve talked to Eddie lots of different times throughout his National Team career about the possibility of coming here, and I’m just glad it’s finally happened and that the work permit came through.  Now it’s just up to him to prove that he’s the player Fulham hopes he is, and that he hopes he is.  The opportunity’s now here for Eddie, and it’s one I’m sure he’ll take with both hands.

A scruffy, hard game in the North-West, and a well-earned away point. While Fulham rarely threatened the Bolton goal, it could also be said that much of Antti Niemi’s work was routine.

This was partly a consequence of the good defending in front of him. New signing Brede Hangeland repelled much of the high stuff Bolton punted our way, and should be an automatic selection on this evidence. It’s a facile comparison, but his play resembles that of Sami Hyppia. Others did their bit, of course, not least a rejuvenated Paul Konchesky who, if he was erratic in possession, showed a happy knack for being in the right place at the right time when defending. He saved us more than once with late interventions.

There was also more evidence of Fulham defending as a team. Roy Hodgson almost qualified Finland for the European Championships by organising his side into a hardy bunch of 0-0 specialists, and perhaps we’re seeing evidence of this in his Fulham side. At times the Fulham area was full of red and black shirts, helpful - necessary - against Bolton’s chaotic attacks. Moritz Volz was conspicuous, but Bullard, Murphy and newcomer Andreasen all did their bit without the ball. We also saw late substitute appearances for Philippe Christanval and Carlos Bocanegra, on for Volz and Andreasen. Hodgson was serious about closing out the game.

What this meant was that the loneliest man in football, Clint Dempsey, really did have little to work with up front. He made a couple of half chances but lacked the pace, or, more often, the support, to make them count. The closest Fulham came to scoring was early on when Andreasen skimmed the bar with a powerful shot from distance. He looks like a player who will contribute at both ends of the pitch, and showed a strong (but occasionally clumsy) tackling presence tonight. His passing was erratic but on this evidence he also looks like a good buy.

The game puffed along and, a fifteen minute spell of Fulham passing aside, was largely played on Bolton’s terms. They nearly scored with twenty minutes left as Niemi’s punch fell to Michalik on the edge of the area, but the Bolton player’s volley dropped against the outside of the post. The net was unguarded and this was an escape. But Fulham deserved that luck. All incredible journeys start somewhere, and this point must be built upon on Sunday, as the pacey and dangerous Aston Villa visit the Cottage.

Hello!

We’re back from Paris and can now take the wheel from Brian, who must, by now, be knackered from all this driving.

Exciting days away though. I kept myself away from the internet so had no idea of any Fulham news, but thanks to the wonders of French Eurosport and Canal + I was able to watch a good deal of football.

People always ask us what we do in Paris (which is not to say that a lot of people are interested in my holidays, just that we go to Paris most years and this provokes questions), and in truth we never *do* much, we just *be*. So we flitted in and out of cafes, tried out various Italian restaurants (I know…) and made sure we visited the best crepe stand in the whole world every night by Saint-Germain metro station. In between we strolled around, looked at some things, got cold outside, got hot inside, and had a great break overall. We ate some amazing pastry type things (there are hundreds of indy bakeries in Paris, quite the change from England where it’s really Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Greggs, most of which aren’t great), really well made stuff by people who know what they’re doing. So we’re both a little bit fatter now.

I saw some great African Nations football, including our man Diomansy for Senegal. His goal in the opening game was replayed and he did that hand/ear celebration thing again, so I guess that it really has nothing to do with West Bromwich Albion after all. He also played in the 3-1 defeat by Angola, having a tidy enough hour on the right wing before being replaced by Henri Camara. His touch looked pretty good and his eye for a pass was quite impressive, so I’m starting to re-evaluate my thoughts.

My boys from Morocco had a shocker, losing to Guinea after beating Namibia 5-1, then being jobbed against Ghana in a defeat that consigned them to oblivion. In that game Chelsea’s Michael Essien scored a fantastic goal. He has shown himself to be a terrific footballer in these games.

As have others: the tournament has been fast, exciting and impressive. I’m glad that I’ve had a chance to watch it.

The other incident of note was on my first evening out there when I stepped in front of a bus which (luckily) emergency stopped a foot away from me. In England vehicles drive on the left, in Paris they drive on the right. So I looked right, hopped into the road, and nearly got into trouble as a result. This wasn’t any old near miss and I’m very lucky to be here. Look both ways!

Fulham are in action tonight and I think we’re expecting Hangeland and Andreasen to play. That’ll be good and I’m hoping the internet feed is working. I had hoped to go but my Eurostar train arrived in London after the coach had departed, so it’s a night at home for me. We’ll see what happens, but we must be optimistic, right?

I don’t know what the staring line up is but I do know that Brede Hangleand has been given the nod for the start by our man Roy Hodgson. Hodgson told the official that Hangleand will start in place of suspended Dejan Stefanovic. Do you remember when Sanchez started Stef the week he came in and just after an international? Confusion reigned in the backfield.

With some new faces coming into the club will any of them see time tomorrow? Who will the other defenders be and who will be sitting on the bench? Who will be at right back, Jr., Baird or Volz?

Will Jimmy Bullard get the start and who will play beside him if he does? Will Eddie Johnson see any play time tomorrow…how about Neveland? Then there’s Andreason?

I’d love to hear from everyone what they think the starting line up will be and how they will line up? I really haven’t a clue at this moment. But it’s sort of fun to think about the options?

According to Sky Sports he will be. As I wrote earlier today, Fulham are close to securing a loan for Neil Clement until the end of the season. Sky Sports is now confirming this. They are saying that he could extend his stay at the Cottage if the loan period goes well.

I read this morning that Clement is being secured by RH to challenge Konchesky for the left back position. Although the defender has been used at both center back and left back and at times has been asked to push up into midfield. As I wrote this morning, Clement does have several seasons of premiership seasoning.

However, Clements has hardly played all year as he comes off a fairly serious ankle injury and is just now starting to regain fitness.

Is this the answer to our defensive problems? I don’t think so. But having a little experienced cover in the back can’t hurt.

On another note, rjbiii alerted me to an article at Sky Sports explaining some of the confusion surrounding the Marlon King deal that never materialized for Fulham. I had actually read this story on the boards this morning but hadn’t dug up a source yet. So thanks for the link.

The bottom line is they say King passed the physical for the club, but then Mo asked for his personal physician to take a look at King. His doctor said that he could not guarantee that King would not reinjure that knee.

The whole thing sounds a bit suspicious to me. RH is saying he wanted the man and there was nothing he could do about it. Mo’s personal physician didn’t say that King couldn’t play or had new damage. He just said he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t go out again. Well, can’t you say that about anyone who’s knee had gone out and had surgery. It seems like an excuse to me. Why they wanted out of the deal, I don’t know. But it just smells a little fishy to me.

Well, it looks as if the rumors were true and the drama is finally over. Sky Sports is reporting that Erik Nevland has signed with Fulham for £1.85M with £500,000.00 more to be paid if the club avoids relegation. According to Sky the striker is currently undergoing a physical.

UPDATED

We now have confirmation from the club.

He is a player that I know well and I am confident he will contribute to the squad to assist us in this, and further, campaigns.

After joining FC Groningen he quickly established himself as a firm favourite both with the fans, and with the management, and it has been no easy task securing his signature at Fulham.

-Roy Hodgson-

The boards are buzzing this past 1/2 hour or so saying that the Nevland deal is not only back on, but is done… all but for the medical. Remember, this is all rumor from the discussion boards, but it sounds as if someone saw an interview with one the the trainers at FC Groningen and he confirmed. According to these same rumors, Nevland was released for €2.5 m. Fans at FC Groningen are saying he’s gone. Let’s wait for the official word and see what happens.

A good Monday to you. So what’s happening on the transfer front with 3 1/2 days remaining. Well, evidently not much. I let you know about the Nevland breakdown this weekend. But here is the latest news I read last night and this morning.

- Evidently we were in for Guglielmo Stendardo but lost him to Juventus where he went on loan for the rest of the season. Word was he wanted to stay in Serie A.

-Sky Sports is saying that the Daniel Cousin deal is still held up on the FIFA rule that says a player cannot play for more than two clubs in a season. He has played for both Rangers and Lens. Those appealing seem confident that they can get a variance to the ruling because he only played 20 min. for Rangers.

-Sky Sports also has a brief story on the Nevland debacle. It runs down all the numbers involved in the failed transfer. Meanwhile, a disappointed Nevland has “respectably” turned in his captains armband and resigned the position. 

-According to The Independent West Bromich Albion website, Chris Brunt is to have been rumored to being looked at by Fulham and Reading. A stronger rumor is that Neil Clement, who has been with West Brom since 2000, and has seen three stints in the Premiership, may be coming to Fulham on loan until the end of the season. However, Tony Mowbray, manager for West Brom is saying that Clement deal will not happen.