Berbatov

I'll believe it when I see it, but I'd take him in a second.

 

Huh... now I have a season or two of listening to Digital Martin Tyler yelling "BERBATOV" at the top of his lungs while I'm playing FIFA <Insert Yearly Iteration Here>.

If this goes through, I'd guess he'd be the Bench Striker/Replacement Eastern European (In place of Petric). An upgrade (And valid use of the part of the Dembele Money) that would at least shore up the Forwards. But there is a need for youth and quality in the Midfield. That is where I feel the focus should be.

As for Juvy/Fiorentina/Whoever getting all bent over the player letting the deal get hijacked so as to stay i nthe country of his choice? Whatever. He didn't sign his contract with them, and they can remain butthurt all they want. Not like Serie A is the only league in existence.

 

If, and that is a big IF, we are trying to sign Richardson, Berbatov and Gomis and not bring in any reinforcement for the central midfield that would lead me to think one of a couple things are possible.

1. The team is working very hard behind the scenes to patch things up with Dempsey and they plan to go to more of a straight 4-4-2, or

2. The team is planning on running really thin through the midfield until January on proven players and hoping that Frei and Kacaniklic are going to be major contributors this season.

Either way we would still be paper thin in the center of the pitch. I would think Diarra and Sidwell would be the logical starters with Baird, Kasami, Richardson (if acquired) and Davies as the backups. So that gives us three real CM's, two wingers and a back penciled in for the CM duties. Unless of course Jol would be planning to drop Ruiz back beside Diarra or he still has Dempsey in his back pocket with plans to move him central.

I hope the Noble rumors have legs of some kind or something similar is in the works.

 

That's kind of it. At this point the club isn't in need of yet another striker/forward. Jol has been doing the "Drop Ruiz into a Center Attacking Midfielder.... sorta" and looks to be having one player over-the-top as his primary go.

A 4-4-2 would be fine (I'm more a 4-5-1 with the fifth midfielder being in Center Attack, but then again, I'm not a professional manager, so take that with a proper boulder of salt), and might even be necessary with the lacking of established quality midfielders. But having two strikers won't mean squat if the team is unable to control and get the ball forward.

Patching things with Dempsey might be impossible beyond "Get him to play until the January Window." What's making that fiasco more and more crazy is that no team looks to be placing ANY bid in (Unless FFC really is putting up a price-tag that would choke the proverbial horse.) Nightmare Scenario on that front might be those dreaded words: Free Transfer. (After the end of the season, obviously.)

 

If the Berb comes to Fulham I will relent and buy one of those Kappa kits after all, with Berbatov on the back, for my kid.

 

Can Ruiz play CM? He can pick a pass and has the skill to drive forward and create his own chances. It seems like he plays that deep anyway when he's supposed to be behind Petric.

I love the Berbatov move if it happens. He can not only score, but he can set up Petric. If we sign him and figure out our problems in midfield then it's very possible that we might actually still have a shot at the top 8.

 

Jol likes 4-5-1 with a CAM as well. Signing Berbatov would be good, he's had success with Jol before. I can't see us getting him and Gomis though. One or the other maybe...and possibly neither, although the myriad reports out there sound like Berbatov is a done deal. I do think we need more strikers though, because while I think Petric will be good, I don't have much faith in Rodallega and Trotta is still an unknown at this level.

I'd like to see Berbatov up top with Petric (or Rodallega) in the hole and Ruiz in one of the wide mid slots opposite Duff, I guess. Richardson has been playing lb for Sunderland and was a lm before that, so I'm guessing he's either going to be the Chris Baird of the left side (jack of multiple trades coming off the bench) or playing in Dempsey's old slot? We have Kaca and Frei there though. Or maybe Jol changes formations, but I doubt that since the team was set up for a 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1) when he got here and he insisted, to the point of us hanging out in the relegation zone til Christmas, on doing it his way. This despite having a proven top 10 side if he'd just left it alone. That's not a criticism per se b/c it worked out for him in the end. It's more an observation of his flexibility or lack thereof.

I'd say we need a striker (Berbatov), a true passing cm and I still think we need a starting attack mid, either for Dempsey's slot or to play in the hole with Ruiz out wide. I don't think Ruiz can play Dembele's cm spot b/c his defense is poor. However with such little time remaining in the window, we may wind up with a bit of a hodge-podge until January.

 

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is undergoing a medical at Fulham, their manager Martin Jol has confirmed.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... 08?cc=5901

 

Kinda wonder if another duct tape for Ruiz, "B Ruiz - Muscle Injury - no return date ", like Richardson for Dembele and or Dempsey.

 

Not sure how I feel about this one. His numbers speak for themselves, but the few times I've had the opportunity to see him play, I got the impression that he's a lazy poacher who's a red card waiting to happen on defense. Somebody please tell me I'm wrong.

 

Gotta say I'm pleased with this one. Always viewed Berba as true goal scorer who was a victim of waiting in a long queue at ManU.

Above that, though I think it says more about the club's intention to actively spend the money and make a splash. I still think Noble should be the priority to provide quality in the midfield since I don't hold out any hope of getting ANY production from Clint at any point.

All in all, happy with this. Welcome, Berba. Now score. A lot.

 

Dimitar Berbatov is…The Continental

Next chapter . . . FULHAM

I think when Jol was at Tottenham he said he would rather die than lose Dimitar Berbatov

 

Speculation (Sky & others) is that Sullivan is referring to Carroll who Liverpool appear to be making a late push to offload, as well as Adam.