Could this be grounds for optimism ? http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/04/16/3040196/fulham-striker-pogrebnyak-purchases-mourinhos-old-house Must have been a decent pay offer !
Yes. I'm not sure I can see any other London clubs going for him - the one's he'd leave us for wouldn't want him, and the one's who might want him wouldn't be as attractive a prospect for him. I still won't be quite happy on this until the deal is signed, sealed and delivered though.
It makes sense for all parties involved to get the deal done. It will be a solid cheap acquisition if it goes through.
I am in favour of signing up, although my only concern is thinking about various strikers who made brilliant starts in England then gone completely off the radar. Didn't Amir Zakhi score about 10 in 10 for Wigan before descending into the wilderness, or more recently Chamakh made a brilliant start for Arsenal then went nowhere. I like what I've seen of him as a finisher, but I'm not sure we're looking at a player who will track when the chips are down and I don't think he's as good as Zamora at holding the ball up. Hopefully these concerns are premature however and upon his return from injury he'll again prove himself as a top striker. I did think in the Chelsea game that had we had an out and out striker then we would have won, giving our midfielders more to aim at than playing Dempsey up front (when we all know he is better on the wing and cutting in).
I agree that he isn't as good as Zamora at holding the ball up, but part of the problem between Jol and Zamora seemed to be that Jol wanted a centre forward who would play more on the shoulder of defenders rather than with his back to goal, so Pog fits that model far better. I hope he stays, but even if he does I suspect that we will still be in the market for another striker in the summer (I certainly hope so). Chamakh. I was musing the other day about whether we should make a move for him as part of any deal if Arsenal come in for Dempsey. My recollection of his start was that he did great playing as the main striker when Van Persie was injured for the first ten or so matches of Chamakh's first season. Once RVP came back and Chamakh was moved to a supporting role, he stopped scoring and lost confidence. From then on he never looked the same player when he got rare opportunities in the team. Perhaps - and it's a big perhaps - if he was given a regular starting spot somewhere with plenty of creative players around him making chances (I think we'd qualify as that) he could shine again. On balance, I don't think I'd want to see us take a chance on that, particularly if Pog stays, but it's an interesting thought.
I agree. I think we should offer a contract to him but it shouldn't the highest wage. I'd like us to look around a bit this summer and weigh up the various options, we could do with one more addition if AJ goes.
Unless Jol's philosophy forbids it, I see no reason why we can't go after a target man as well. Pog will be good as the Captain said for playing on the shoulder of the last man, but with AJ and Dempsey likely to move and considering Zamora only left a few months ago I think we would have room in the squad for another target man. That said Trotta may of course fit that bill and only time will tell once we've seen him get a bit more 1st team action. Although it may be something of a risk were we to go into next season with just the Pog, Sa and Trotta as out and out strikers.
In an interview today, Jol adds confidence to the Pog signing up - http://www.ealinggazette.co.uk/sport/fulham-fc-ealing/2012/04/22/jol-confident-fulham-hold-aces-over-russian-striker-82029-30816259/ I'm sure I know what Jol was intending when he said, “There is not a lot of rivalry up front and that is a good feeling for him.”. Hopefully he was only referring to AJ and Sa and not the younger players. But it does re-inforces the need for back up.
