Summer '08: Ins and Outs

Fulham needs to buy some young guys. Everybody on the team is mostly old.

I highly doubt any big name players come to Fulham. Hodgson will know of quality players abroad who he can get, but that we don't know much about, a la Hangeland and Andreasen.

Forget about people like Stekelenburg and Beasley.

 

Dream big. Stekelenburg isn't nearly as established as van der Sar was when he came to Fulham.

 

Saha would be a perfect Hodgson-type player. Unfortunately, I don't think we can afford to gamble on his fitness. Ideally, Eddie Johnson could fill this role, but he's not there yet. I propose we go after Djibril Cissé.

Oh, and should we start the bi-annual Ujfalusi rumor yet?

 

Ujfalusi is available on a free but there are bigger fish than us rumored to be out to sign him, including Atletico, Juve, Sevilla, Spurs and Liverpool.

Adding somebody with good pace could make for a solid CB partnership with Hangeland (who really has to be viewed as a tremendous signing by Hodgson, doesn't he?). I just don't think Hughes is good enough.

 

I have to say it is nice not to "have" to get a central defender. I have been very happy with Hangeland and Huges. We just need strikers or AMF who can hit the back of the net.

 

I disagree about Stekelenburg and Beasley. These players really aren't that sought after, especially Beasley. I think Beasley can be signed for 3M or less. We screwed up and should've went after him last season as he cost less than a million. The Ajax keeper(I don't feel like spelling his name) has not attracted that much attention. I think we could sweep in and get him.


Fulham really needs to get it through their head that signing players that "might" make it or that are the best championship players hasn't worked. If we continue to sign these types of players, then sooner rather than later we will go down. It's time to sign big or next season we'll be preparing our team to play Swansea and the like.

 

You need to understand that Fulham doesn't have much money to buy "good" players with. That's why Lawrie Sanchez bought the players he bought. Everybody knows who the good players are, but it is a matter of being able to afford the transfer fee and the players personal terms.

Stekelenburg is already being sought after by Tottenham and some other teams. So I'd say there's a 1 in 10 chance he comes to Fulham.

More than likely Hodgson will bring in players like Hangeland and Andreasen, i.e., people who nobody is talking about.

 

We paid 6 million pounds for Kamara and 3 million for Baird. Portsmouth paid an undisclosed fee rumored to be 9 million pounds for Jermain Defoe, who scored 8 goals in 12 matches for them this spring.

Now, I'm not saying we could've signed Defoe. What I'm saying, though, is that the amount of money Chairman Mo has made available in the recent past is enough to buy quality players. It needs to be spent wisely.

 

What jmh said. We have plenty of money. We have alot more money than many of our supporters think. I think Mo has finally seen the light and wants to spend big again. Remember we spent like crazy our first 2 years and we spent well over 35M in the last year alone. We need to find the right players to do the business. Hodgson is this guy. He has experience and connects throughout Europe. If we get into Europe players will want to play for us. If Europe calls us, then this is the off-season to spend big. This is the one chance to finally breakthrough. This is the season where players will want to come to us. It's all about having the will to spend.

 

I like the way you think, HatterDon.

Naturally, Roy seemed to go for players he knew from his days with Switzerland and Copenhagen, but I get the sense that his reach can go a little farther. At least he's not confined by the English language. I'll be very interested in his first moves this summer.

 

Lets add Danijel Ljuboja to that list too.

Here's whose def gone: Baird, SK Hyeon, Stef, Smertin, Boca, Christanval, Litmanen, Cook, Niemi, Elliott

Might go: mcbride, volzy, stalteri, booze

Who will Woy bring in? I for one am excited to find out...

 

No it isn't, because you not only have to pay the transfer fee, but the guy's higher wages. Fulham has a limit on its wage bill. That's why Fulham doesn't get top of the line players.

 

How much money does Fulham have and what's the cap on the wage bill?

Who wants to come to a team that finished 17th?

 

please no Beasley, i think he is so overrated, I just dont see what teams like rangers, PSV, and man city saw in this guy.

If we want more americans, Michael Bradley anyone? Definitley a long shot, but a great play-making CM, and turned himself into a goal-scorer this year at Herenveen. Probably too expensive for us.

I think prospective players will not look at us as a 17th side, but more as a side that figured it out and is moving in the right direction. Roy knows what he's doing, and think it will make us more attractive than our position shows.

 

Don's right about London (I've said the same thing before, along with Don and a lot of other people): foreign players want to live in London. So Fulham does have the London factor, but it doesn't have the stadium or history factor. There are four bigger London teams than Fulham, and Fulham is comparable to QPR, Charlton, and Crystal Palace but in the Premier League. So if and when one of these teams come up Fulham with have to compete with them for the same type of players.

Craven Cottage is also a draw because of its location, looks, and history... but this probably only applies to British players (expensive) who care about such things (e.g. a Jimmy Bullard or a Liam Rosenior).

Even if a 17th place Fulham is more of an attraction than Wigan or Bolton (not in recent years though, Diouf, Anelka, Okocha, etc.) it still is a concern for pause for a lot of players, i.e., "Will this team stay up?" or " I want to play in Europe... will they make it there?".

 

Well I had seen Andreasen and Nevland play, and I've heard about Hangeland...When I heard they were coming to Fulham I couldnt've been happier. Andreasen especially, I've admired him since the first time I saw him touch a ball...(I watch scandinavian football alot )

And I agree with you 100% on the other thing, I trust Roy alot, and I believe he will only buy players that we need, and will use...I really hope he doesnt let me down!

On to other things: Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen has been linked with the team recently, being Icelandic and all I would absoluetly love to have him at the club, but the odds are probably around 1000/1...I want your opinion though, so would you like to see Eiður's face at the cottage?