Fulham Players Out on Loan

This weekend's round-up:

Stephen Arthurworrey played for 54 minutes as Tranmere Rovers boosted their Sky Bet League One survival hopes with a 2-1 victory at Colchester United on Saturday. Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro put the away side in front in the 36th minute when he burst clear but Freddie Sears equalised on the stroke of half-time. Arthurworrey was booked just after the break and departed the action a few minutes later, before Ryan Lowe scored the winner to keep Tranmere in 19th place.

In Sky Bet League Two, Marcus Bettinelli and Accrington Stanley were beaten 1-0 at home to Northampton Town. The Cobblers scored the only goal of the game after four minutes when Chris Hackett finished from a tight angle. The result leaves Accrington in 16th spot.

AFC Wimbledon are a place below Stanley after 0-0 draw at home to Bristol Rovers. Tom Richards played the full 90 for the Dons.

Ryan Williams and Oxford United dropped out of the top seven for the first time this season after a 2-0 defeat at home to Fleetwood Town. David Ball tapped in at the far post to put the visitors in front in the 34th minute and Antoni Sarcevic’s free-kick doubled the advantage just after the break.

In the Dutch Eredivisie, Bryan Ruiz played the full match as PSV Eindhoven dropped down to fifth after a 3-0 defeat at Heerenveen thanks to goals from Bilal Basacikoglu, Rajiv van La Parra and Alfred Finnbogason.


PS Neither Marcello Trotta or Ryan Tunnicliffe were in the starting line-ups for their respective clubs. Larnell Cole is out with an injury (I think).

 

Stephen Arthurworrey’s loan spell at Tranmere Rovers has been extended until the end of the season.

The centre-back has been a regular in the Rovers defence since initially joining the Sky Bet League One outfit on New Year’s Day, and has gone on to make 15 appearances for the club.

He’ll now remain with Rovers for the final six games of the campaign as they battle to avoid the drop, with goal difference currently the only thing keeping them out of the relegation zone.

 

Marcello Trotta was a late substitute as Brentford edged closer to promotion from Sky Bet League One with a 1-0 win over Crawley Town on Tuesday night. Brentford went in front in the 58th minute at Griffin Park when Crawley keeper Paul Jones let Jonathan Douglas' header slip through his hands and into the net.

It proved to be the only goal of the game and the result means Brentford are now nine points clear of the chasing pack in second place with just five games to go. They need seven points from those remaining games to ensure promotion

 

The weekend round-up:

Marcello Trotta played 65 minutes as Brentford slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Swindon Town in Saturday’s Sky Bet League One match. Michael Smith had already missed a penalty for the home side by the time they went ahead on the stroke of half-time, with Louis Thompson finishing coolly after the Bees had given away possession. Brentford’s task was made all the more difficult when Adam Forshaw was dismissed for a second bookable offence a minute after Trotta was withdrawn.


Elsewhere in the division, Tranmere Rovers secured a massive three points in their quest to avoid the drop, as they overcame Shrewsbury Town 2-1 at home, with Stephen Arthurworrey coming on for the final 12 minutes. Rovers took the lead early on when Max Power found the back of the net with a header, but the visitors levelled through Paul Parry’s close range effort on 73 minutes. But Arthurworrey’s fellow substitute Junior Brown converted with five minutes remaining to earn his side a crucial win over their relegation rivals.


Oxford United moved back into the League Two Play-Off places courtesy of a 2-0 win at Plymouth Argyle, with Ryan Williams featuring for 90 minutes. The U’s went in front through Dave Kitson’s volley shortly after the half hour mark, before Argyle were reduced to 10 men when Maxine Blanchard was shown a second yellow card just minutes after the restart. James Constable then made sure of the points on 63 minutes with a fine strike from distance.


Tom Richards also saw 90 minutes of action as his AFC Wimbledon side secured an impressive 1-0 victory over promotion-chasing Southend United at Roots Hall.
The decisive goal came just before the hour mark when former Shrimpers man Jack Midson converted from 12 yards after Kwesi Appiah had been fouled in the penalty area.


Elsewhere, Marcus Bettinelli played a key role in helping Accrington Stanley earn a point at York City as they scored a stoppage time equaliser to draw 1-1. The goalkeeper was in good form to deny John McCombe, but was beaten from the penalty spot on 61 minutes when Michael Coulson scored after a handball by Kayode Odejayi. But substitute Shay McCartan headed home from a corner in the first minute of stoppage time to grab his side a point.


Over in Finland, Alex Brister played 90 minutes as FC Honka defeated Turusta 1-0, with Roni Porokara netting the winner just before half-time. After the game, Brister told HonkaTV: “We really had to battle for it in the last 30 minutes and, credit to the boys, we stuck to it and got our victory in the end. It’s different out here to how it is in England but I just have to adapt and hopefully I’ll get a few games and help Honka go as far as they can this season.”


On Sunday, Bryan Ruiz played the entirety of PSV Eindhoven’s disappointing 2-0 home defeat by Feyenoord. Goals in each half from Joris Mathijsen and Daryl Janmaat did the damage.

 

Random fact: Alex Brister's opponents at the weekend, TPS, had a certain Wayne Brown playing in midfield for them. Remember him? He came through the academy at Fulham, played one game for us against Manchester United. His career never exactly took off.

 

Although he was player of the year in Finland (I think) when we loaned him out. A season or two after that I saw him playing for Bristol Rovers at Bournemouth. He had a good game. Shame he's never really made the progress we hoped for him.

 

MK Dons have confirmed that midfielder Larnell Cole has returned to Fulham.

"Cole, who arrived at stadiummk in late February, made just two appearances for Karl Robinson’s men before a knee problem ruled him out of action. The Club would like to wish Larnell a full and speedy recovery as well as all the best for the future."

Source: http://www.mkdons.com/news/article/cole-returns-to-fulham-1491770.aspx#4gQlP84Q8eU0j9Hg.99

 

Big decision time for Marcello Trotta as Brentford secure promotion to the Championship.

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He played for the first 76 minutes in their 1-0 win today against Preston North End. Kind of interesting that the winning goal was from a first half penalty, which was not taken by Marcello.

Match report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26983131

 

Do we know that Trotta's got a big decision to make? Have we said he can go, and have Brentford said that they want him permanently? I know that many of us on here have said that we don't see him having a future at Fulham, but is it more than speculation on our parts?

 

He seems to believe there's a decision to be made, according to a recent interview with the local paper. Brentford getting promotion will only up the ante.


Marcello Trotta says he would be interested in a permanent move to Brentford this summer. The 21-year-old Fulham striker, thriving in his second season on loan at Griffin Park, admits his future is uncertain and he expects to hold talks with his parent club at the end of the season. He has a year left on his contract at Fulham, where he has made just one senior appearance.

Trotta told West London Sport: “I would be interested in a move if Brentford wanted me but I have to talk to Fulham and see what happens in the summer. I don’t know what Fulham want to do with me. There are a lot of things to talk about."

Source: http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/trotta-interested-permanent-move-2

 

I remember when he was at Wycombe scoring for fun, seems like a lifetime ago...

 

And here's how the others got on over the last couple of days:


In League 1, Stephen Arthurworrey came on at the death as Tranmere Rovers tried to salvage something against Gillingham, but goals from Bradley Dack and Cody McDonald earned the Kent side a 2-0 win.

In League Two, Marcus Bettinelli was in goal as Accrington Stanley salvaged a late point at home to Mansfield Town. Jake Speight had put the visitors in front with 15 minutes remaining, but Kal Naismith converted a penalty in stoppage time to level the scores.

Elsewhere in the division, Ryan Williams played 69 minutes of Oxford United’s 1-0 home defeat by York City as Michael Coulson’s penalty early in the second half proved decisive.

Over in Finland, Alex Brister was on target but couldn’t prevent FC Honka from going down 2-1 to Mypa on Saturday.

 

Oh for the Easter of old when all the teams played two games. Here's how the lads in the other divisions who had their second outing got on:


Tom Richards played 90 minutes as AFC Wimbledon came from behind to win 2-1 away at Plymouth Argyle in Sky Bet League Two on Monday. After going down to Conor Hourihane’s long-distance effort early on, the Dons responded through Jack Midson’s equaliser shortly before half-time. And Richards played a significant role in the winner on 59 minutes when Kwesi Appiah collected his pass before slotting home to guarantee safety for the London outfit.


Accrington Stanley, on the other hand, will have to wait a little longer to secure their League Two status after losing 1-0 at Southend United. Victory would have guaranteed safety for James Beattie’s side – for whom Marcus Bettinelli played the whole game – but Barry Corr’s 64th-minute strike won the game for the Shrimpers. Stanley remain four points off the drop zone with two games to play, although they do have a substantially better goal difference than 23rd-placed Northampton Town.


Elsewhere in the division, Oxford United’s hopes of nabbing a Play-Off spot are hanging by a thread after they went down by a solitary goal at league leaders S****horpe United. Matt Sparrow scored what proved to be the winner after a quarter of an hour, with Ryan Williams introduced as a substitute in the 60th minute as the U’s looked for a way back into the game. Oxford now need to win their remaining two matches, and hope

 

Josh Pritchard has joined FC Honka on loan until 31st May 2014.

The midfielder, who can also play in defence, teams up with Fulham teammate Alex Brister at the Finnish top-flight club. Honka are managed by ex-Fulham striker Shefki Kuqi.

Pritchard, who spent time on loan earlier this season at Norwegian FC Tromso, has made 10 league and cup appearances for the U21s since his return.

 

Both lads played for Honka yesterday in a 2-2 draw away to HJK. Just to continue the Fulham-Finnish connection, HJK's goalkeeping coach is ex-Fulham 'keeper Antti Niemi. I actually watched a bit of that game on Bet365 live streaming and Honka seemed to give Brister a lot of ball, building attacks down the right. Ex-Chelsea striker Mikel Forssell was playing for HJK and scored the opener. Pritchard played OK, got 75 minutes of action. Brister got the full 90.

 

A number of the lads were on the score sheet this weekend but the congratulations go to goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli and Accrington Stanley -


Ryan Williams was on target for Oxford United but Marcus Bettinelli and Accrington Stanley won 2-1 on Saturday to retain their Sky Bet League Two status. Kayode Odejayi put Stanley ahead in the first half after James Gray's effort was saved by Ryan Clarke. Gray then beat Clarke with a second-half strike on the angle to double the lead but Williams pulled one back when he collected Dave Kitson’s nod-down and beat Fulham teammate Bettinelli with a calm finish from just inside the box. The loss ended Oxford's slim Play-Off hopes.


In Sky Bet League One, Marcello Trotta played for just under an hour as already promoted Brentford were beaten 4-1 at Colchester United. The Bees trailed 3-0 after Marcus Bean, Alex Wynter and Freddie Sears (penalty), found the net before Stuart Dallas pulled one back on the stroke of half-time. Trotta departed the action in the 59th minute and Sears restored Colchester's three-goal cushion soon.


Over in Holland, Bryan Ruiz found the net as PSV Eindhoven moved up to fourth place in the Eredivisie after a hard-fought 2-1 win at PEC Zwolle on Sunday in the penultimate game of the season. PSV took the lead through Jürgen Locadia on 21 minutes but Mustafa Saymak levelled the scores just after the hour mark. Ruiz, though, ensured the visitors left with the points when he headed home in the 74th minute.


In Finland, Alex Brister scored and Josh Pritchard played for 79 minutes as FC Honka defeated FC Inter 3-1 on Sunday. Roni Porokara put the hosts into an early lead, an advantage Brister doubled in the 42nd minute. Henri Lehtonen reduced the arrears on the brink of half-time but Nnaemeka Anyamele made sure of the points with an 89th-minute effort. The win moves Honka up to fifth place in the Veikkausliiga.

 

That makes 4 goals since his loan in January, which is half the total he scored for us from 2011 until he left.

 

Maybe they're playing him in a formation/position which makes the best use of him. We certainly didn't do that very often.

 

What puzzles me is that the majority of his games were under Jol, who knew him and how, where he could play. It seems to me that he failed/couldn't be bothered/didn't have the ability to adapt. He clearly has skill but regardless of whether he played in his favourite position or not, he should have made a much better fist of his time with us than he did for our outlay on him in terms of fee and wages.

 

There's been a lot of chat about the best learning experience being actually playing, and praising the 'loan system' (Wickham of Sunderland comes to mind). Also I read in the Evening Standard yesterday (only reason being that it was dreadfully slow on the Tube coming back from last night's Cup Final and somebody had left it behind) Huw Jennings saying that the Academy was open 350 days a year.

Putting those two things together got me wondering about some the more experience Academy players who might be vying for a first team slot next year. The likes of Christensen, David, Islamovic and The Tank. None of them have had a very full season, playing wise. Do you think they might go on loan to a team abroad where the season is still being played after our own has finished?