There are one or two statistics in this article that may be questionable but the principle of the thing is sound. And re-inforces the importance of Holtby in our final games. Hopefully Felix sees it that way as well. please log in to view this image "Holtby is currently Fulhamâs highest rated player (7.13). The club have lost all 3 of the Premier League games he hasnât started since he moved to Fulham, while they are scoring more goals per game with him in the starting XI (1.22) than without (0.67). Even though he is deployed in behind the striker, it's no coincidence that Fulham concede fewer goals when Holtby starts (1.78) than when he doesn't (3.67). The defensive input of the 23-year-old has seen him develop a strength of âdefensive contributionâ and while the Cottagers are shipping more than they should if they are looking to stave off relegation, Holtbyâs inclusion in the starting XI is vital in their pursuit of top-flight safety. The energy he brings to the midfield has galvanised the team and gives them a fighting chance of remaining in Englandâs top tier, regardless of the loss at the weekend. His enthusiasm in the middle of the park means Holtby is able to charge across the pitch, not only in pursuit of playing a pass that will create a goalscoring opportunity, but to win possession for his side. As a result, only Sidwell (3.2) is averaging more tackles per game than Holtby (3.1) of every Fulham regular this term." The full article: http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/HouibFU55EGR8Lc0UEaKzQ
Survival or not, Holtby is the sort of player that we should be trying to secure on a permanent basis.
I completely agree, kunye (makes a change for us to see things the same way!), but I can't see him wanting to sign for us if we go down. If we stay up, he should be at the very top of our shopping list, number one priority. He seems to like it here, so it's worth a shot. Hopefully the prospect of playing regularly will weigh more heavily for him than European competition. If he's happy to be a squad player, he could easily move to someone bigger.
Also agree. I don't know the terms of his contract, but I sure keeping him will require us staying up. He came to Spurs from a Bundesliga team with some aclaim, so I doubt he's got a contract that would allow Spurs to shipped him anywhere without his approval. I'm left wondering if he'd join Fulham on a permanent basis even if we stay up? I certainly hope so. I don't think his prospects at Spurs are great. I think he'd end up a squad player on a team that's already got some top-quality midfielders like Dembele, Paulihno (sp?), Sigurdsson, Lennon and more.
I definitely think there's room for him, especially if we qualify for the Europa League. This season we'll have played 54 competitive games when the league's finished and if it wasn't for Sideshow Sherwood sending us crashing out of each competition(1 cup win from 6) it would've been higher. It is a question of whether the new manager wants him though and as we don't even know who that is yet it's hard to say. What I would add though is that Spurs fans were split on him when he left, some loved him and some thought he was average. If the fans on our board are anything to go by, those that weren't sold on him are impressed by what he's done at Fulham and want him to stay now. If it was up to me I'd sooner sell any of our midfielders, bar Sandro, Eriksen and Paulinho than Lewis. Dembele's great at keeping the ball but he's far too slow to pass and his end product is poor too. Sigurdsson has a good scoring record for us but he was bought on Sherwood's recommendation and if he can't even get a regular start with his main cheerleader in charge then I doubt he has a future with us. If we sell Holtby we're going to look very stupid, particularly if it's to another PL club
It would take a miracle of epic proportions for us to sign Holtby, even if we stay up. I'd love him to stay but if he does leave Spurs I'd be shocked if it was to us.
Holtby would be great for us. With Eriksson playing so well I just can't see him getting a game at Spurs. Come on Lewis, stay with Fulham! You know you want to.
I kind of agree but it's tough to know with Holtby, he's just a guy that loves his football and playing in the Premier League is his dream so there's always a chance. The big ifs at the moment are if you stay up and if we decide to sell. We're definitely a couple of midfielders heavy in our squad, if you include those out on loan but Holtby and Eriksen are the only quality passers that we have. I'd think the new manager(whoever it is) would be mad to think we don't need Holtby, unless he's planning on bringing in some new midfielders but I reckon defenders and a striker will be top of the priorities this summer.
And hopefully he has to sell some midfielders to fund those players. We'll take Holtby and Dembele please.
I swear it's been like that for you guys since Juande Ramos was there. You always seem to hoover up about 5 or 6 quality midfielders every Summer and bench most of them! Not a dig, just how it seems as a (jealous) outsider. Mind you, Chelsea the same (or worse) of late. BTW, always look forward to your input on this board YV, makes a nice change from the usual brand of dipshit supporter from other clubs we get on here.
I'd take a money back deal on Dembele in a second, to be honest. I had high hopes for him but his end product has always been poor for us. Tackling he does well(although refs tend to like giving soft fouls against him) and running with the ball he's great with but there's never any incisiveness and he always ends up taking the ball forwards, running into a dead end and passing it backwards, or taking a shot that doesn't trouble the 'keeper. Maybe a new manager would give him the confidence to start playing like he did with you guys but at the moment, I'd be happy if he was sold in the summer. Sigurdsson could be a very cheeky bit of business if a team bid for him in the summer. He's got a great nack for scoring goals, the problem for us is that he's better suited to being given less defensive responsibilities but with Eriksen being the same and Paulinho preferring not to get his shorts dirty he just doesn't really fit. Could also be a case of good player, wrong club like when we signed Pienaar. Bringing it back to Fulham, I've seen a few Spurs fans mention that they'd like us to sign Stockdale if Friedel retires. What do you guys make of him? I thought he was good a year or two ago when he got a run of games but I haven't seen much of him since.
It wasn't just Ramos, it was the same under Jol too but I think it was Comolli's fault as he was signing our players. Jol would ask him for a winger and he'd sign 3 centre mids instead. The trouble we have now though is that Sandro and Dembele are quite injury prone. Add to that Capoue, who's picked up a number of injuries this season, and Lamela who's missed about 6 months now and we actually need all the ones we have when you consider the rest all will pick up the odd injury here and there too. We do have a lot of quality there though, you're right. This summer I'm hoping we slim it down a bit so that the likes of Carroll and Bentaleb can take up the backup roles whilst we get ourselves a defence that doesn't pass the ball to the opposition attackers every game. I like it here too, it's always good to hear from fans of other clubs and you guys all know your stuff
There are so many variables on offer with regards to Holtby. First and foremost his undoubted talent would be grace most premiership teams but what makes him really stand out for me is his passion. He has moved from a top 7 team to a relegation fight and has thrown himself in with full commitment, a quality that both fulham and Tottenham could use. YY, how do you feel your signings have got on. Personally, I have been underwhelmed. Lamela, Chadli, Soldado, Capoue have been a bit uninspiring. Eriksen has been world class. Holtby has the desire that could be really useful for you guys, much as it pains me to say. As for dembele, would have him back in a flash. I agree with what you say but his ball retention is exceptional. With right movement ahead of him he is superb. He linked up really well with Bryan Ruiz for us, alas when Moussa left so too did ruiz's contribution.
Poor Stockdale has always seemed to be the bridesmaid here. We had Schwarzer who was one of the best 'keepers in the league so Stockdale was (understandably) no.2 and then Jol went out and spent big on Stekelenberg so again Stockdale had to be back up. In the past few weeks Magath has given him a chance in the first team and he's been one of our best players. Turns out all he needs is a manager to have faith in him. He's not the most gifted goalkeeper by any means but he'll try his heart out when given the chance. Opinions can be very mixed on him but if he continues playing as he has been recently he'll prove his doubters wrong. I'd like to keep him, but if he were to move on it wouldn't be a disaster by any means.
I know it's all just speculation, but selling Stockdale would be a catastrophic error. He's good and young, just what we need. He could be our keeper for 20 years, given some luck.
I agree, his passion is infectious and exatly what you want in a player. He's very much living the dream that we all dreamt of as youngsters and approaching it as we would love to. Regardless of ability we could do with more characters like him in the game. As for our transfer business. 4 of our signings were around the £8-10mill mark which is relatively cheap(as ridiculous as it sounds to us mortals!) and they've showns what you'd expect. The only exception is Eriksen who's been supurb in recent weeks, perhaps showing what a run in the team can do for a player The big ones were Lamela and Soldado. With Lamela he's young and has a lot of adapting to do. I'm very confident that if we let him settle that he'll really impress in this league. He has that something about him that makes me think he'll be a special player. Similarly with Bale, even when he was quiet, I think Spurs fans knew how good he was going to become but the little things can hold you back at the start. Soldado I didn't want for precisely the reasons he's shown. I think we needed a target man with techincal skills too, like Benteke. I wasn't so much concerned with the fee, you have to over pay on players from time to time but I just didn't see how a poacher fitted into our play. I like him though and he works hard so that's good enough for me, regardless of his transfer fee. I think our biggest problem has been injuries. Bringing in 7 players is tough and you need a spine to the team you're building on but between Kaboul, Vertonghen, Sandro, Dembele and Bale's absence/injuries it's made it difficult for new players to slot in. Especially when you consider Townsend, Rose and Bentaleb had never played a significant role in our team until this season too. Ultimately we've sold the best player in the league(last season) and could potentialy equal our record points number this season so I guess we aren't doing too badly, regardless of perceived flops. Is Stekelnberg dropped rather than injured then? Hmm, could be a case of style for us. As a 'keeper he's solid but do we want something closer to the Lloris style of being quick off their line? Reckless and brilliance can be a fine line with Lloris but I have to say I like his style. I made the same mistake in thinking he's a youngun. Turns out the baby face is older than me lol. Still, he's a good 'keeper though. His shot stopping is really good and he seems to fit in well when called upon. Apologies if there are any bits that don't make sense, I've checked it over but I've also had a few tonight
