Edwin

Well Edwin has agreed a new 2 year deal with Man U. he only has to pas the medical test and then he's off. to bad for Fulham he kept us in the premiership the last 2 seasons so ti will be a big lost however I think he deserve it to go to an club like Man U. and play for the championship.
Thank You Edwin for what you gave Fulham.

 

This is disappointing that Edwin has left. I know this move us not completely unexpected, but it is still sad to see him go. Jaroslav Drobny has some big shoes to fill this coming season.

Edwin kept us in so many games that it is hard to figure out how mnay points he earned us in his time at the Cottage. Edwin will be missed!

 

Breaking news .. thanks and welcome Pim...

...

ManUre is going to have a good core... Howard will learn a lot from Ed. And, perhaps, then get to the US team as more than a #3.

Hmmm.. we have two reserve keepers, right? Baptista and Drobny?

 

Re: RE: Edwin

Drobny was the starter for Panionos and Baptista was our reserve keeper. I am looking into more information about Drobny in hopes or writing a piece about Drobny in the next week or so.

 

This sucks for everyone except EVS and his wallet.

The ManUre Evil Empire is still alive and well. :twisted: :twisted:

 

Was lucky enough to meet Edwin and the man is a true gent. He's the best keeper I've ever seen in a Fulham shirt and I wish him all the very best (except against us of course).

 

Wish we could ahve got Howard in return for him...i think he'd do much better at a team like Fulham where the pressure is much less intense than ManUre.

 

Edwin is a good keeper, but he is replaceable. I just checked the stats and we gave up 60 league goals this year. Only four teams gave up more, and three of those got relegated. We need to get the goals against down, whether that means improving the keeper, defense, or both. Look what Everton did. They scored 45 league goals this season, exactly the same number as last-place Southampton. But they conceded 20 fewer. That was the difference between going to the Champions League and finishing dead last. I can't look at the Fulham squad's performance and say anyone, Edwin included, can't be replaced.

Hopefully we got a nice chunk of cash for VDS that we can use to improve somewhere else. I'll wait to pass final judgement on the move until all the deals are done and we see what next season's squad ultimately looks like.

Cheers, Edwin. Thanks for your good work for FFC. Good luck at Old Trafford, the place where good keepers go to die. Enjoy St. Alex's merry-go-round.

 

Fair play to Edwin... as a few on the banterdrone have pointed out to the many who dont have enough brains to select socks, Ed did the business for us PLUS signed a year extension so Fulham could get a fee. That is the mark of a TRUE pro!

Note that McBride did the same before he left the Crew, and I believe the UNDISCLOSED agreemant was that MLS would lower the fee so he could get a slot in England.

 

While we did give up 60 goals this season, I would venture to guess that most of them were not the fault of Edwin. I can remember a few that were, but for the most part, he has been stellar throughout his stay at Fulham. I think the reason we conceded so many goals was because of defensive errors from the back four. A keeper can only go as far as the back four in front of him will allow.

Eddy was put into some difficult situations all season long and in looking at the stats our conceded number was not very good. However, if you ask me, Edwin's contribution and value to this team is not just something you can measure in stats. He had numerous pentalty saves and frankly kept us in quite a few games.

The bottom line is that he is gone. I hope Drobny can come in and do a great job for us. As Pettyfog mentioned above, Eddy was classy for signing the extension in January for us to get the transfer fee. That is someone who cares about the club. I hope he does well, but as everyone said, not against us.

 

Big Ed

Saha didn't exactly set the world on fire there, so thanks ED, good luck and I hope we got well compensated. We had more defensive woes this season and that should be getting better now. Someone tell me a little about the keepers we have? How about Netti?Too expensive?

 

RE: Big Ed

Currently we have three keepers:

Mark Crossley - 35-36, backed up Edwin and played well for three-four matches in November. He is a good back-up, but over the course of a full season, I do not think he would last.

Ricardo Baptista - 19 year old Portuguese keeper. At least I think he is Portuguese. He was the #1 keeper on the Reserves team in the second half of the season. While he has potential, I do not think he is ready for the Premiership. A few more years and perhaps he will be our guy.

Jaroslav Drobny - 25 year old Czech International. He has played for Panionios since the start of the 2001-2002 season. Started matches in the last two UEFA Cups for his club. He was selected to the Greece all star team in both 2003 and 2004. Drobny has not been capped as a full Czech International because of the presence of Petr Cech on the Cech team. Drobny seems to have all the right tools to be a good keeper in in the Premiership. He is about 6-2 I believe and moves well. I think this will be our starting keeper next seasoin.

 

His leave taking will surely necessitate investment in and/or development of our back four. Despite the transfer fee-- The Sun is reporting ?2-3mm-- Fulham will have de-rated as a destination for prospective transfers in. While I could not find '05/'06 relegation odds on William Hill-- and admittedly I am not a bettor- they make us 751:1 to win the League or second lowest grouping behind the newly promoted sides. Lastly, I am hopeful VDS's transfer will not increase the probability that Boa and Wardrobe will follow him out, but it might.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Man. So I hope for Drobny and the rest of our side. To be realistic though, we Fulham supporters need to brace ourselves for a tough slog to stay up all season long.

(BTW, anyone know if the Cravenettes coming to the friendly in Columbus?)

 

there's been some great great players who turned out for fulham.....
edwin van der sar has joined the ranks....
thank for the memories 'eddie'
enjoy your retirement at manu.....
and give SAHA a slap from all of us

 

I agree that a shaky defense was largely to blame and a lot of the goals were not Edwin's fault. I wasn't really trying to dismiss his contribution. My point is that the keeper is just one piece of the puzzle. If you spend a bit less on that piece and a bit more on some others, maybe you improve as a whole.

I can understand him wanting to leave. He's getting old and probably only has a few seasons left in him. ManU provides him with a better opportunity to win a trophy or two before he retires. I see it as an opportunity for Fulham to bring in somebody who is younger and has more of a long-term future at the club.