Franck!
Franck! I’d forgotten about him. A player who I really liked and one that nobody seems to miss.
He had something about him. There was no ball he didn’t think he’d win. If his man received a pass Franck would be there in a flash, usually finding a way to get something on the ball, but sometimes not, and so he got booked a lot. He was fearless in the air, soaring above many an opponent to great effect. And he spent more time on the floor than any recent Fulham player not named Dempsey. This had disadvantages - Charlton’s Dennis Rommedahl left him in a heap on several occasions during one particularly tricky game at the Cottage - but generally he found a way to get things done.
With the ball things were equally erratic. Being left-footed and of a relaxed demeanor, the obvious thing was to lump him into the Kevin Sheedy/Liam Brady cultured southpaw category, but Franck’s use of the ball would have made those artists wince. At times he went for spectacular driven passes of the sort that David Beckham used to try, but these rarely went anywhere near a Fulham player. He took free kicks too, but not very often, and certainly not as often as he’d have liked. One feature of waiting for away matches to start was to see how Franck’s free kick warmups were going. He’d stand on the edge of the box whipping balls in the general direction of the goal. Some weeks he’d have ‘it’, some weeks he wouldn’t; either way, he didn’t get to take them in games. But on he practised, patiently waiting for someone to get out of the way, or for Jan Lastuvka to throw his ball back. There was something quite endearing about all this.
He left us under a slight cloud, making the usual noises about Lawrie Sanchez’s methods. We grinned at the time and pointed to some sparkling football under the new manager, but it turns out he was right and we were wrong. Sanchez had, I believe, some quite strong ideas about full-backs not going forward, which probably cost us a couple of them, but we have Konchesky now and he’s done alright, so all’s well that ends well.
More or less. I like watching characters and Franck Queudrue was a character. Who do we have this year? I’d say that Diomansy Kamara shares some of what made Franck special, a quiet determination that he is right in what he is attempting on a football field, results and outcomes be damned. Franck didn’t stop trying hollywood passes, trying to jump over or around wingers, even when the angles weren’t with him. Kamara’s the same. Diomansy perseveres with his little runs, his eager (that’s the word, eager!) dribbles that are usually doomed to failure, but still he keeps on because he believes in himself and in his methods. And why not? Sometimes it works.
So welcome back, Franck. Enjoy the game.
