I vaguely recall him from when Twente came to us last year- think he stood out more for his physique than his ability but that might be unfair as I can't really remember much about the game.
Nigel Reo-Coker Reports of our interest are hotting up. As a replacement for Murphy, as suggested, not so sure but woudl give more beef to the midfield - something that was lacking on occasion, certainly away from home, last season. He's headlined as ex-Bolton in this article since he's now a 'free agent' - http://www.clicklancashire.com/sport/bolton-wanderers-fc/1213013-fulham-closing-in-on-ex-bolton-wanderers-midfielder-reo-coker.html
Milos Krasic An outside chance but apparently an approach has been made for us to take him on loan - http://www.football-italia.net/21351/krasic-unwanted
Charlie Adams The world and his dog are back to linking him as a part exchange (plus cash ranging from £2m to £5m) for Demps. My personal view can be summed up in this clip - http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2wrmdcl.gif
He is box to box... But lacks discipline to track back. He was effective-ish for us last season until Lucas got injured, as Lucas did all his dirty work. He's meant to be a good set piece taker - he was SHOCKING at both free kick and corner delivery last season. He has a tendency to spray the ball long, which works about half the time. Decent touch, decent passer, would (no offence) look better in your side than he did at Anfield. He is terribly one footed, however, and a dreadful tackler. Gave away a lot of points for us last season from conceding freekicks - he's slow and tugs shirts, clips heels and so on. Good value as an all action midfielder if he's valued around £5M.
Thanks Rev in Red - and not because I happen to agree with everything you say - your input is really welcome. Adams isn't a Murphy or a Dempsey and that would be fine so long as our expectations are suitably tempered. That said, as suggested in my earlier post, Adams is not a signing I would welcome. My main problem is the number of times he loses possession in dangerous positions and doesn't track back. This happened at Blackpool not just at Liverpool. If (and it's still if) we do sell Demps to them we should insist on a straight cash deal. We could use the extra money much better.
No problem. He's a funny one. He can win matches for you but he can lose them equally. In some areas talented but in some limited. Needs to see a lot of the ball to be effective.
Moussa Dembele Almost inevitablythe rumours of ManU's interest have re-appeared. There doesn't appear to be any connection between the story and Moussa not playing today but .. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/moussa-dembele-linked-with-manchester-united-1152800?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter As an aside, Chris Smalling did a Bryan (metatarsal) today and will be out for at least 2 months. Guess we can now expect stories of Sir A signing every decent CB around.
Don't know if any of you are watching us play Toronto right now (ESPN), but Adam played the first half and basically reaffirmed everything I said about him being wasteful. He doesn't look like he can fit our tika taka revolution... We've a teenager playing better than him second half.
Red top link, so I can breathe a bit easier. I can see them going for him though. That link also said something about us eyeing Alou Diarra. What is it with us and going after players who have the same names? I'm waiting for us to sign someone called Barry Hangeland or Dave Ruiz or something.
Romelu Lukaku Another red top Bidley, but this time they are saying that we have signed him on a 1 year loan - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4442516/Romelu-Lukaku-to-join-Fulham-on-a-season-long-loan-deal.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter The story was reported by the Swedish 'red top' Aftonbladet earlier, so the Sun may have got it from there - http://bloggar.aftonbladet.se/sillyseason/2012/07/21/ingen-tycks-vilja-ha-roque/ Only 2 days ago the Chelsea Website was singing his praises - http://www.chelseafc.com/page/Tour_News/0,,10268~2853487,00.html Until there's something official, it would seem prudent to keep the story in this ('Paper Talk') Thread.
Thanks for the Adam feedback, NI. To be honest, I've only ever noticed the positive sides of his game (that's the trouble with MOTD highlights of teams you don't support yourself) so it's good to hear a fuller, more balanced appraisal. I'm not so sure about him now!
He's the kind of player that would look good on a highlight reel... Not saying he never does any good - he does, he will pick up assists and a few goals but he was found lacking last season for us - he couldn't make the step up entirely, like Downing. Now that Murphy is gone and perhaps Dempsey, Adam might not be too bad a signing - he'd benefit from playmaking duties being on his shoulders, he needs to run everything to show his natural game. The main negative is his terrible tackling and constant little fouls though, so infuriating to watch.
