Hogshead has brought in: Erik Nevland - 30 year old Norwegian striker Leon Andreasen - midfielder Brede Hangeland - defense Maybe Daniel Cousin - striker EJ - Stiker Jari Litmanen - old school midfielder hmmm... where the hell is demsey going to play? They will need to drop Murphy and Davis (Davies is a good player). If they make him A-mid they better have two very good dmids because he is still losing balls in the middle of the field (is this due to extra attention or lack of talent around him to receive a pass? dont know) They might have enough talent to open up early, get a lead, then grind teams down. That's the hope. All in all, I feel more positive about them staying up, but after watching the last two matches, it is likely all just wishful thinking.
have they actually brought in Cousin is that official yet? I think they were looking at a Korean striker as well, name escapes me though. second question, waht kind of striker is Nevland? Im assuming norweigan means hes big, tall, power forward-esque. EJ will have been with the squad for a little over a week, id like to think theres a good shot of him being on the roster for Bolton and playing a role in that. Given the quotes of the fulham boss, it sounds like he's going to be the go to new forward of all the signings he brings in. Makes it interesting for Dempsey though, i think he could make good medicine with EJ as a withdrawn forward setting up the grown ass man. Finally weighing in if Fulham can pick it up or not, an Anelka-less Bolton is as good a chance as theyre going to have to boost their confidence. some teams just cant function after losing a player like that. Same thing if Middlesbrough lose Woodgate, sure theyll have Alves but they will bleed goals even worse than Fulham IMO. Thats relevant 3 weeks down the road as Fulham goes up there. Two 6 pointers in three weeks; BIG say in wether they stay up or not.
It's more of the same with Fulham.. they already have two old school midfielders.. Don't think Cousin has or will sign.. EJ is apparently back in the US filling out some paperwork and will not make the Bolton trip.. ????
Cousin's problem is that this would be his 3rd team in a year, which means a FIFA appeal to get around it. Where did you read that EJ won't be available? All the news sources I see show he should be around to play, if chosen by Roy.
Not sure if the Eddie info is outdated, but this article is from today... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=502828&cc=5739 "American international Eddie Johnson is also expected to join the club after he was granted a work permit. The striker is currently back in America completing the necessary paperwork to seal his move to the Premier League."
Lots of money spent, lots of new players, and I don't think they're that much better. The best signing will probably be Hangeland, who I've seen a couple of times for Copenhagen and was impressed. We always talk about an adjustment period players have to go thru when they join the EPL, though. This is similar to what Fulham were doing in the off-season. They got a lot of average players to replace average players, and they spent a lot of money doing it. These guys will not have an impact in time to save the club from relegation. Jari Litmanen? He's 37, and has played in 10 games since 2005. Oh yeah, he's the savior.
Outcome?? loks like they are preparing for the Colaship. Average players to replace average players.. Haageland is the only decent signing. And it takes time to adapt to the EPL. Newbies may take up to a month (or more) to be really ready. Haageland might start the earliest. Fulham's midfield needs help.. and well we all know about the shoody defense.. Bad moves in my opinion... but i'm still hoping they stay up... don't know how ... but i can still hope
I think they'll go on a tear and finish 11th. Why not? McBride Johnson Davies Andreasen Bullard Dempsey Bocanegra Hughes Hangeland Omozusi Niemi/Keller subs: Nevland Litmanen Konchesky Murphy Niemi/Keller Looks better to me than: Dempsey Healy Bouazza Davis Murphy Davies Konchesky Bocanegra Hughes Baird Niemi subs: Warner Ki-Hyeon Kamara Kuqi Smertin
I would have loved to see Andreasen at 96, he's a good player, but we can't compete financially with Fulham these days.
That's the greatest joke ever DaPrince84, like Bradley would want to go to Fulham. He's going to a bigger club team, and hopefully does well with the team. Let's hope he goes to Italy.... Juventus please.
As rabidly as the British media cover the EPL, as much as every little breath is supposedly A Really Big Deal, it's always bizarre how something as simple as where's-Fulham's-new-striker can be so vague and uncertain, and nobody really seems to question it. Is he in America at the moment? Is he in London? Has he been training with his new team? Is he in Kansas City packing a suitcase? It seems nobody really knows, and nobody on the team side or in the media thinks anybody cares to know. It's weird. I can't envision such an information void when, say, an NBA team signs some new player. I'm not saying I expect a paparazzi to be shadowing Eddie Johnson's every move. I'm just saying it's odd how something as basic as "Is that new guy available to play on Tuesday" isn't well-known conventional wisdom.
Much as I hate to ask, to what extent might these moves signal a shift away from Brian McBride, or at least anticipation of his reduced effectiveness due to age and injury? Weren't they also looking at a Korean target forward?
I've been thinking the same exact thing. Tuesday at Bolton is one of the 4 or 5 biggest games of the rest of the season and it looks like the strikers will once again be Healy and Dempsey. Couldn't Eddie have taken care of this "paperwork" during the week he waited around to get Home Office approval?
If Fulham have any sense, they'd not count on McBride for anything else except maybe the coaching contract they should try to get him to sign. That was a devistating injury at his age. Hangeland was an outstanding signing-- the best of the bunch. Not sure much about the rest. EJ has the speed to play in the Prem, but he'll been better service than I think he's going to get. Dempsey is good- hopefully good enough that a better team tries to buy him this summer.
Fulham over the last 2 years have thrown money at lame players. They dont spend wisely. But I think Bullard and McBride will do them well. I think Andreasen was a good buy and will help the horrible CM pairing we have seen. I think Fulham will save their season
Litmanen is the biggest head scratcher, I mean sure the guy is a Finnish legend but his best days are well past him. More then anything they now have some decent depth. I always thought that was one of their problems. I don't see them going down but it will be close, maybe down to the last game again.
I don't think Litmanen's official yet: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2008/January/Hodgsontransferwindow.aspx He's not mentioned by Hodgson here. All that we know is that he had a 10-day-trial. Maybe it won't happen.
Supposedly there is a Finnish newpaper that says Litmanen signed to play through the rest of the year but nothing on the Fulham website yet. There isn't a lot of class at Fulham in the way of playmaking other than Murphy, so it is an area where he could make an impact - as much as his injured ankle and age allows. Also, as someone mentioned he is someone who could set a great example in the clubhouse and on the training pitch. Andreasson sounds like the kind of player Fulham needs in central midfield and hopefully he is good enough to get lots of time. Nevland does not do well as a target forward but is more suited to playing off of a target forward according to a fan of the team he plays on. Sounds more like a replacement / back-up for Healy than for McBride. I imagine Dempsey is going to continue at forward until there is a legit target forward such as McBride available to replace him. After that, who knows where he plays - maybe left wing or maybe backing up Murphy, Bullard and Andreasson. Hangeland may put Boca on the bench for a bit but he is a player that always seems to find a way to get back on the pitch. Hodgson is supposedly looking at another Finn that is a LB which would challenge Boca for more field time. Boca isn't the classiest looking defender but he is effective and I'm sure will continue to be a significant part of Fulham's efforts to stay up.
EJ's playing opportunities may have just gone up. FIFA has cancelled Fulham's effort to sign striker Daniel Cousinhttp://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3090790,00.html. "Fifa's regulations forbid a player from appearing for more than two clubs in one season." He played 20 min as a sub for Lens early in the season before moving to Rangers.
Glad to see MLS complies with at least one FIFA rule - using different rules on different days of the week.
Very good post. I agree with you. In my opinion, Fulham has one of the deepest benches in the Premiership in terms of a lack of a drop-off from their starting line-up to their bench. The problem is, they don't have any real impact players, aside from perhaps Niemi in goal (but he can be prone to some mistakes at times). Their roster is consistently average ... they have a puddle of decent, average players at every position, but no true pool with any difference makers. Fulham is a team full of squad players.
Well, so much for my above post... Fifa is now claiming that it has not denied the transfer and that a decision is still pending.
After watching Bolton-Fulham yesterday it didn't even appear that there was one area that needed more help than the others: all aspects of their game are not up to EPL standards. How does the coach choose what to work on this week when everything needs help! It is worrisome that Hodgson (based on his comments about EJ's size) has already cast EJ in the mold of target man, when that is not Eddie's game. It is also worrying that Fulham's transition game is slow and ineffective since that does nor play into EJ's strength.