Cottagers Confidential

Q&A with Bitter and Blue

2012-02-03T20:40:08Z

We pay a visit to the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday evening and I thought I'd help Martin Jol a little by getting the inside line on Mancini's side. I spoke with Danny Pugsley, editor of Bitter and Blue, to get his thoughts on all things City, including their title challenge with Manchester United and their relatively poor form at home against Fulham.

1. Obviously you find yourselves top of the league, but do you feel you're deserving of a greater gap over Manchester United, and if so, how come you haven't got it?

Almost certainly because of the form of United themselves. The pace City have set (even accounting for the dip in form so far in 2012) would see them well clear for the majority of seasons (and they are well on course for a 90+ point season). You can point to recent slips away from home, and this hasn't helped but their home form has compensated for this. At the halfway stage City had 45 points and I said that if they replicated that over the second half of the season they would top the Premier LEague come the end of May, and I still stand by that.

2. Which areas do you think are strongest in your team, and which individual will be most threatening to us?

The attacking third is one that City have largely relied on this season - and the area that has slightly stuttered of late - and they possess quality and depth in this area, evidenced by some of the numbers in terms of goals, chances and conversion that they have posted this season. Unlike the past couple of seasons they are not as over reliant on certain individuals, which has made them far harder to defend against.

3. Are you happy with the business you did in the January transfer window?

I'm not sure there were any expectations in terms of arrivals to be honest. From the outset it was clear that no real money would be spent but the signing of David Pizarro is an interesting one. Roberto Mancini clearly knows him well and if he can integrate quickly into the side he could be a very useful addition. There are some issues with form and fitness in attack so it is a little surprising Mancini perhaps didn't target this area, but it is always difficult to find a great deal of quality in the January market.

4. What would be Jol's best bet if we were to beat you on Saturday? Sitting back and hitting you on the break or stumping up the courage to attack throughout the game?

It is a difficult one as teams that have had success against City this season are ones who have defended smartly as a collective unit, but also who have been able to take a chance (or even chances) when it has presented itself. The difficulty that Fulham will find is that this has been when City have been away from home. Teams that have come with a mindset to contain and try and catch City on the break have been exposed. The best option for Martin Jol I feel is to try and press high up the field and make City play far deeper than they want to - thus restricting the opportunities for the creative aspects within the City side to cause damage.

5. How do you feel your season has gone so far?

After finishing third in 2010/11, the requirement was to mount a sustained title challenge, but I don't think anyone really anticipated a performance quite as they have managed so far in the Premier League and as mentioned earlier City in some ways can count themselves unfortunate not to have a healthier lead at this stage. That said, there have been disappointments in the Cup competitions. The Champions League was a venture into the unknown given it was the debut season in it but although City were unfortunate to be handed possibly the toughest group (proved by not qualifying despite gaining ten points) there was a degree of naivety to the displays and overall approach. More disappointing I think were the domestic Cup exits, for contrasting reasons: The FA Cup in exiting to United at the first hurdle was far from the outcome anticipated in terms of defending the trophy and contrasting that, to lose at the semi-final stage of the Carling Cup with a winnable final at Wembley within reach no doubt left a feeling of frustration.

6. Are there any players you would happily take from the Fulham squad at all? You don't have to say yes out of courtesy.

I haven't seen a great deal of Fulham this season to be honest but they are one of the sides that always seem to get decent results whenever you cast your eye over the results. He has started to get some praise of late but I think Clint Dempsey is a player who has perhaps not always got the credit he perhaps deserves.

7.Generally, we do quite well at the Etihad Stadium - our 3-2 win under your Sven era a particularly good moment. Do you think we stand a chance this time around of causing an upset?

Even with a couple of recent defeats it would still be a huge surprise. Don't forget that City have a 100% home record this season (that actually stretches further back into 2010/11) and there aren't many games that have truly been that close. Still, as you say Fulham have a decent record at City and they were the last time to prevent City winning at The Etihad Stadium.

Johnson on verge of new deal

2012-02-03T16:42:05Z

It appears that, after the persisting rumours that linked Andy Johnson with a move to Wigan Athletic in exchange for Hugo Rodallega, the striker will be offered a new deal at Craven Cottage, and on the terms he has expressed as acceptable.

Manager Martin Jol was speaking ahead of Fulham's visit to Manchester City on Saturday and admitted that, while there was interest in the former Crystal Palace forward, he was never going to let him go.

"I said to Andy you will stay here whatever happens and that probably wasn't ideal for him," Jol stated.

"But it was good for me because we can now get on with the job and hopefully he can play for us and score goals.

"It is more to do with his situation. His contract is up at the end of the season and he is a bit insecure about his future."

Jol then went on to confirm just why there has been difficulties in the tying down Johnson, and also stated a new offer has been put on the table, despite the fact that age is getting the better of him.

"I don't think there is any problem with him so we will find a solution. And I think he wants to stay as well."

"We have made him an offer a couple of times and in the latest stage we even offered him what he wanted and that was two and a half years.

"So we are close. The sticking point was a year difference."

Game preview - Manchester City (a)

2012-02-03T16:28:35Z

We always seem to have a pretty lovely time of it at the City of Manchester Stadium, but something tells me that, this time around, the tide is somewhat against us. Manchester City are in the midst of a slight recession - certainly not financially, but their form has been dipping - and, as Manchester United damningly proved earlier in the season, a wounded animal should always be feared. They beat us 5-0 and we had never been so humiliated since our introduction to the Premier League.

Not only that, but we have a crisis of our own, following the delirious happenings of transfer deadline day and Bobby Zamora's subsequent departure. Our 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion proved as much, with the Baggies pegging us back while we pushed up without a recognised striker on the field of play. We all had an inkling in the Summer that, without a new striker, there'd be trouble ahead, but nobody believed it would reach such a harsh pinnacle.

Perhaps, then, we're a wounded animal too. But, unfortunately, with our lacking front line, we have the arsenal of a mouse while City will come at us, claws and everything.

They can be held, though, as Roy Hodgson proved with his West Brom side. It may have been at the Hawthorns, and it may have been a defensive display that proves the antithesis of Martin Jol's attacking philosophy, but it showed that the likes of the remarkably powerful Sergio Aguero and the comically inept Mario Balotelli can be halted in their tracks with pure, unadulterated organisation.

If that wasn't enough, Everton and Sunderland did a decent job too, both grabbing 1-0 wins.

As stated, City are incurring somewhat of a dip in form in the new year, with only 3 wins from a possible 7 competitive fixtures. They did, and they'll consider it crucial to their title challenge, topple Spurs, but the fact that, were Jermain Defoe 2 inches taller they'd be second in the league, may well play on their minds. That was their last victory and it came two weeks ago.

We're in a similar blip - it's just unfortunate for us that it's lasted the whole season so far. We can win, but they're very sporadic and the likes of Blackburn Rovers and West Brom are, for some reason, very difficult to conquer in this campaign.

A well fought 2-2 draw earlier in the season between the two sides will go a long way to boost the confidence of Jol's men, but they know better than anyone that fixtures away from Craven Cottage provide a vastly different examination of their guile. Last term we drew 1-1 here, despite losing 4-1 in the home leg, and the stadium will always bring back wonderful memories of our dramatic escape from relegation in 2008 - Diomansy Kamara the unexpected hero that day.

City will be without the suspended Mario Balotelli, surely much to the relief of Jol, while both the Toures will not be back in time from the African Nations Cup.

Moussa Dembele and Mark Schwarzer return for Fulham, though it's not clear whether either will start. David Stockdale has held fort admirably in the Australian's void. Steve Sidwell suffered a hernia problem and will be out for six weeks, while Andy Johnson is still sidelined. Word is, Pavel Pogrebnyak's confirmed absence is down to matters of international clearance.

Predicted line up: Schwarzer; Riise, Hangeland, Hughes, Kelly; Dempsey, Etuhu, Murphy, Frei, Duff; Ruiz

Score Prediction: Man City 2-0 Fulham

El Hamdaoui rejects Fulham at last minute

2012-02-02T15:43:13Z

The agent of Ajax forward Mounir El Hamdaoui has revealed that his client turned down the opportunity to move to Fulham on a 5 month loan deal in the dying moments of Tuesday's January transfer deadline day.

El Hamdaoui, a Moroccan international, has worked with Martin Jol at his Dutch club and is thought to have a good relationship with the current Fulham boss. Signing the striker would have taken some the strain off of Bobby Zamora's departure to Queens Park Rangers, but after a move fell down for El Hamdaoui to transfer to Fiorentina, the 27 year old striker denied the opportunity of playing at Craven Cottage.

Jol signed the striker at both Tottenham and Ajax, and, if he didn't enjoy the best of it in North London, the Moroccan enjoyed a good spell in Holland. The striker is known to want out of the Amsterdam ArenA, but will now have to wait until the Summer for any move to go through - presumably not with Fulham.

"At 8:44pm, Jeroen Slop [Ajax's finance director] sent me a text message proposing to send the player on a five month loan deal to Fulham," said agent, Sigi Lens. "But we were still in Florence and anyway, Mounir said no."

Jol: Zamora had to go

2012-02-02T12:50:14Z

Fulham manager Martin Jol has openly admitted that Bobby Zamora had to leave the club, stating that accepting an offer from Queens Park Rangers, of around £4 million, "was not a difficult decision".

The pair were rumoured to have fallen out earlier in the season, supposedly over tactics and Jol's suspicious decision to leave Zamora at home for some of our away European ties. The England international forward expressed his disappointment at such choices and the rift only widened.

Zamora was reported to have substantial offers from abroad, although nothing has been confirmed, but insisted on staying in England in an attempt to sustain well being for his family.

Despite the disdain that he faced from Fulham fans off the back of Zamora's move across West London, Jol believes it was the best available option for all parties.

"You would have to ask Bobby why he wanted to leave, but I think it was the best that we could do," Jol said.

"It was a decent offer and we decided to accept it. It was not a difficult decision. It was lingering on for months that he wanted that move.

"Of course you always want to keep your players on board, especially in this transfer window, but on the other hand, we had to make a decision and this is not something that happened in the last couple of days. I knew it was always a possibility of Bobby going to QPR and we anticipated that."

In losing one of his few strikers to QPR, however, Jol found sufficient solace in his replacement, Pavel Pogrebnyak, whom he labelled "a good boy who works hard for the team."

"I think the timing [of the deal for Zamora] was probably ideal though, because Bobby left so we could get Pavel [Pogrebnyak], who has got a good record.

"He's had a very good spell at Stuttgart, played 45 times for Russia. His coaches, Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat were complimentary. They said he was a good boy who works hard for the team, so I was really happy to get him in because it's not easy to get players like him.

"Pavel hopefully comes in the next one or two weeks and we will be fine. Andy Johnson has a groin injury, Moussa Dembele dropped out yesterday and Bobby went to QPR, so I lost three main strikers [for west Brom], but for the near future, I'm quite optimistic."

Fulham 1-1 West Bromwich Albion

2012-02-02T00:39:25Z

The post Bobby Zamora era of Fulham promised so little and offered just as much. Clint Dempsey was almost, yet again, the saviour here, but his solitary goal was not enough to defeat West Bromwich Albion as Roy Hodgson's men lumbered back into the game and embezzled a draw from our less-than-firm grasp.

Fulham played decently throughout, their insistence to play neat, passing football straight from the back line being an irritable but still somewhat pleasant representation of the fact. Martin Jol's men pressed well but West Brom always had a foot in the door and the back four of Kelly, Hangeland, Senderos and Riise didn't look as composed as they arguably should be. That proved to be our downfall too, and Hodgson will leave SW6, not for the first time, with a positive experience behind him. Jol, meanwhile, left to a chorus of boos.

Hodgson was received well by the home crowd as he made way to his seat, while Simon Davies took his place in the starting eleven for the first time in a long while. The Welshman put in a good shift and made up well for lost time but, ultimately, without an out-and-out striker on the pitch, Fulham were lacking sufficient edge to bypass a restrictive West Brom side.

Steve Sidwell set the scene early on, trying his luck from 25 yards and firing wide before Dempsey paraded his way into the Baggies' area before being halted at the last moment.

The visitors then responded to Fulham's early dominance, James Morrison forcing David Stockdale into a save, but it was Dempsey and the home side who then had the ball in the net. The American was set free and fired neatly past Ben Foster, yet his goal was ruled rightfully offside.

Odemwingie put himself in a good position after out-manoeuvring an attentive Stephen Kelly, but hit his shot over the bar to the relief of home fans. Fulham were arguably on top but it seemed that West Brom were carving open the better opportunities as Youssouf Mulumbu and Marc-Antoine Fortune followed up Odemwingie's miss with efforts on goal.

The deadlock remained and the second half began with the game in the balance. Danny Murphy was given plenty of room in the middle of the park and, as such, was spraying fine passes around all evening. Jol made no substitutions in the match, so the skipper lasted the full ninety minutes and was influential with his display.

No amount creativity was ever going to prove its worth without a goal, though, and Fulham's lack of potency was becoming a worry. Despite dominating possession, Fortune had another good opportunity for the away side and the game appeared to be slipping away from the Whites.

Along came Dempsey to save the day, though, with a goal to add to his already abundant tally of 15 this season. Bryan Ruiz was the man whom Jol opted to play as striker, but while the Costa Rican had a good game, Dempsey always looked the most like scoring. The Texas-born midfielder finished accurately across Ben Foster after being fed through wondrously by Ruiz, and all that was needed was some defensive resilience from the Cottagers to see out the tie.

Hodgson took some initiative, replacing Simon Cox with Somen Tchoyi. Almost as if to cement his omnipotence in the eyes of Fulham fans, his change was telling. Tchoyi pegged Fulham back with a well placed shot across goal that Stockdale couldn't reach. Only eight minutes remained and there was a strong sense around Craven Cottage that that wouldn't be enough time to pluck a goal from the air.

As much was proven, but Jol took the large brunt of the anger. He failed to make any attempt to swing the game back in our favour, Kerim Frei and the like remaining on the bench.

It's not quite the way we wanted to get over Zamora and Hodgson proved yet again that we've not really moved on from him. A night for reminiscing, then.

Pogrebnyak in action

2012-02-01T13:25:22Z

Pogrebnyak in action

Catch our latest signing Pavel Pogrebnyak in action on Youtube by clicking above.

Zamora's loss will damage us but we can turn a corner

2012-02-01T13:19:03Z

It's all well and good to curse at him when he turns and walks through the door, but perhaps the ramifications of losing Bobby Zamora to Queens Park Rangers are more serious than we could at all pre-empt last night. And maybe, just maybe, we should be grateful to Zamora for the truly prodigious shift he put in at Craven Cottage over the years.

Of course, none of this hides the betrayal of his act. He can paint over the departure all he likes, with talks of disputes and disagreements, but choosing QPR, in much the same fashion as Mark Hughes did earlier in the year, is a blow of great sentimental value to Fulham fans.

Hughes' departure undoubtedly had a more prominent sour taste to it. He had walked out, amidst ludicrous diatribe in the form of 'lacking ambition' and wanting 'bigger things'. The former Manchester United man left us cut and dry. We were manager-less and, worst of all, we hadn't even come close to expecting it. His departure came out of nowhere, off the back of what was a notably successful campaign for Fulham Football Club.

With Hughes, though, we all found solace in his failures. He didn't find a better club - in fact, he didn't find a club at all until half a year had passed. We also had a ready-made, and arguably harmonising, replacement in our current manager, Martin Jol. That eased the pain somewhat, but with Zamora, the cut penetrates that little bit deeper under the surface.

He was a player of immense value to the club, who offered something that very few players in the Premier League did in that he held up the ball with inordinate ease and fused such a talent with an eye for goal. Zamora brought others into play, he waited for support and kept ahold of possession when it was most vital. All the while, as his Europa League showings in 2010 proved, he could score goals of baffling beauty and, even though his shooting boots appeared somewhat temperamental at times, he could always be relied on when most necessary.

What's more damning than his departure, though, is the lack of proven replacement. It would seem that Pavel Pogrebnyak will be his direct stand in, with his similar build and stature. He's even left footed, too, but maybe the similarities end there. The Russian international doesn't seem to have nearly the same skill set as Zamora with regards to hold up play and work off the ball - all under rated attributes in any player. It seems Pogrebnyak can score goals, but there's nothing prolific to his past statistics and I can't see that changing in the English leagues, where defences are eminently more difficult to break down.

You can't help but feel that there should have been someone else coming to SW6 on the 31st, but it wasn't to be. As it stands, if you ignore our strong threesome of midfielders-cum-strikers (Dembele, Ruiz and Dempsey) we only have Andy Johnson, Orlando Sa and Pavel Pogrebnyak to step up to the plate. This most assuredly means that Marcello Trotta will find himself in or around the squad with a warming regularity, perhaps a sign that Jol's policy on youth really is coming to fruition. But you have to ask the question, is this by design or by accident?

Either way, Zamora's loss is still a hurtful one. He provided something different, and his talks of 'ambition' at his new club up the road will resonate in the ears of all Fulham fans for a long time.

Still, Hughes and Zamora are damages we can probably take at this football club, even if their departures are under particularly bitter circumstances. The England striker only featured with sporadic success this year, but we have easily managed a reputable league standing without much of his guidance while the loss of Hughes never really hit us hard. Trotta may well get his chance to shine and Jol may get his chance to be proved right, not only with the sale but with Pogrebnyak's signing too. There is definitely talent in the Russian, but we will have to wait to see it come to the fore.

Who knew that transfer deadline day would have us turning such a sharp corner so briskly? Life without Zamora starts on Wednesday evening with a visit from yesteryear in the shape of his true founder, Roy Hodgson. How splendidly ironic.