Felt this deserved its own thread To clarify, the signings we made today are: Dimitar Berbatov Keiran Richardson Ashkan Dejagah Outgoings: Clint Dempsey Rafik Halliche Mousa Dembele (I'll include him despite his departure a few days previous) Near misses: Tom Huddlestone Chris David Wilson Palacios Steven N'Zonzi Michel Bastos Vadis Odjidja Ofoe I'll start with the positives. Berbatov is a fantastic signing and more than fills the gaps left by the likes of Zamora, Pogrebnyak, Dempsey and Johnson. Probably the most high profile player ever to sign for the club, behind VDS. Can see the Bulgarian getting near 15 goals this season. Jol needed a signing to get the fans back on side after selling Dembele, and Berbatov was more than sufficient. Clint leaving the club has to be seen as a positive, despite his previous legendary status. I had hoped the deal would have been concluded earlier so we could have re-invested but good old Daniel Levy likes to make life difficult for Fulham, so we were left with plenty of money but no time to sign anyone. I don't wish Dempsey the best, he had become a cancer of the club in recent weeks and am glad to see the back of him. The negatives. WHERE WAS THE CENTRAL MIDFIELDER?! We sold Etuhu, Murphy, Dembele, Gecov and Dempsey, all central midfielders, and have brought in a total of zero replacements. Our remaining central midfielders are Sidwell, Diarra and Kasami, two of which did themselves no favors against Sheffield Wednesday in the Cup. We really needed a central midfielder above any other position, and Jol must be fuming that he has failed to bring in even one replacement. The bloke from Wolfsburg is an unknown entity to me, but I know he plays on the wing, a position we really don't need to strengthen. We are overloaded with wingers now with Duff, Davies, Frei, Kaca, Ruiz and Kasami, all of whom can play there. I hope he can do the business, but it isn't a signing that strikes confidence into me. Most of you know my feelings on Richardson, he fills positions we don't need filling. If we did then he would be a decent signing, and had we secured a CM then I would be fine with the transfer. Dembele leaving is and will prove to be a huge loss to the club, replacing him will not be an easy task, maybe even impossible, which is why Jol may have chosen to take more time in deciding on the player he has chosen to bring in and fill that role, at least that is what I hope. Opinions welcome.
Academica in Portugal - on loan (sorry no translation but that's what I interpreted it as) http://futebolportugal.clix.pt/2012/08/halliche-na-academica/ EDIT : So much for my Potuguese - he was released http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/august/31/halliche
What happened with the "near misses"? Especially Chris David, I thought that was a done deal? Gutted we couldn't bring in any CMs, but it definitely won't have been for lack of trying. Dare I say it? What's Reo-Coker up to?
What happened with the "near misses"? Especially Chris David, I thought that was a done deal? Gutted we couldn't bring in any CMs, but it definitely won't have been for lack of trying. Dare I say it? What's Reo-Coker up to?
By "the bloke from Bremen" I presume you mean the bloke from Wolfsburg, Dejagah. All I can think is that perhaps Jol plans to play one in CM. I'm quite sure that Jol knows more than us about these players and our squad, he won't have gone "hey, we have loads of wingers and not many CMs, lets sign some more wingers", he must have a plan. Perhaps Dejagah will be playing CM for us, like Dembele. You never know.
Thanks for the summary Bandit. I thought we might have had 4-5 inbound today rather than 3. I have concerns about midfield but am starting to have more confidence in what MJ is doing as a plan and agree with Bidley. At least 1 point at West Ham and then onwards.
Thanks for the summary Bandit. I thought we might have had 4-5 inbound today rather than 3. I have concerns about midfield but am starting to have more confidence in what MJ is doing as a plan and agree with Bidley. At least 1 point at West Ham and then onwards.
Good summary. Davies and Ruiz can both play central midfield. Especially Davies can see him being very successful with his passes!
I'm excited about the haul of new players. Jol has certainly put his stamp on our team, and I think it's for the better. Sad to see Dempsey go, but it's probably for the best. I'm sure he'll get double the salary he was paid by Fulham.
I was thinking just that about Davies Madness. The failure to sign a CM might just offer him a lifeline to resurrect his Fulham career. Bruce played Richardson in the middle, but didn't Jol say he sees him as a winger? My overall assessment of this window - including the earlier Summer signings - is that we're stronger in some areas than before, and weaker in others. At the back it's just been about fine tuning with Riether coming in. If Grygera gets a contract - which looks likely with Halliche released - then we've got good strength in depth across the back four. In central midfield we're weaker than we have been for a long time, particularly when you consider that Sidwell's injury record isn't great and Diarra hasn't played a full season for about five years. On the flip side, we're stronger up front than we have been for years with Berbatov, Petric, Rodallega and Ruiz, although one of the pundits on Radio 5 last night did question the wisdom of having Ruiz and Berbatov in the same side. On their day they could be unplayable, but if things aren't going their way it'll be like having 9 men on the pitch. Overall, then, until we bring in a couple of CMs we're not looking as strong as we did at the end of last season, but if we can paper over the cracks in midfield until January and the new signings hit the ground running then it could be a good season.
I think Jol may not be entirely pleased with the way the window has gone. Yes we signed three great players but we lost Dembele, which Jol is obviously fuming about. I think Jol will be dissapointed at what might have been. Deals for Chris David, Bastos, Boateng, Palacios, Chadli, Vadis Odjidja Ofoe all looked like they may have gone through at points but never materialized. To me all this last minute signing points to Jol trying to use the Dembele money as quickly as possible, and so I think we may be able to look forward to an exciting window in January As far as the central midfield situation goes I agree with Bidley: either Jol will put a winger in or he will raid the Free Agent market again. (Simon Davies is my all time Fulham hero, I'd love to see him at CM) Also I think there is still time allowed for loan deals to go through? could be mistaken. On a side note am I the only one sad to see Rafik Halliche go? He arrived 2 years ago for £1.3M, with a small fanfare after playing for Algeria in the world cup. I had watched him in those matches and thought he was a great signing but it never really clicked for him in the premier league (according to wikipedia he's played 1 game for us in 2 years) and he had been linked with a move away from the club pretty much straight away. So goodbye Rafike and thanks for trying, and all the best at Academia
Davies played a couple of games in that role when Murphy was injured. We also have Baird as a defensive midfielder should we need him. Who is a free agent?
thanks for the summary Bandit. Likewise I would be concerned with regards a CM and am sure MJ has his tricks up his sleeve. with regards to Free Agents, the only one i can think of, dare i say it, would be Owen hargreaves, however he is laso a 'defensive' midfielder and we know his injury prolems.
Good round up Bandit. I needed the summary as my head was whirling yesterday. I must clarify 2 things though my friend. Jol had no choice in selling Dembele as Spurs invoked the clause. Second, I don't think losing Dembele will prove costly to Fulham. Jol will be reasonably pleased, the players coming in except Berba are very versatile. IMO. COYW.
I understand that and in no way blame Jol for the sale of Dembele, but his swift exit toward the end of the transfer window was a nightmare scenario for us. Finding an able replacement could take weeks, and Jol was obviously left in no man's land with only days to go. We are not a one man team, we will go on without Mousa, but his absence will be notable. All of our attacking movements seem to come through him, and that's not even mentioning his fantastic defensive work. Diarra has to do one hell of a job up until January for our midfield not to suffer.
Agree with most of the above comments,i think Jol will play it by ear,until the Jan window, when i am sure he has a better idea on who he wants to bring in. And of course there is a few quit in the pot.
There will be a few experienced players who are out of contract and free agents, bit like Grygera last year. Jol may pick one or two of those. I'm not sure about the transfer loan policy, whether it closed yesterday or if there is a period to do a deal or two.
