The appointment of Martin Jol should promise to be one of Mohamed Al Fayed’s wiser decisions (whatever happens with the former Tottenham Hotspur man, it surely won’t be as despairing as the sight of a (badly) sculpted Michael Jackson lingering outside Craven Cottage.
New managerial appointments in football almost always serve up links with the said manager’s former players. It certainly applies to the Cottager’s new boss who is reportedly looking to sign his former protégé at Spurs, Republic of Ireland international Robbie Keane. The Irishman enjoyed an affluent time under Jol, winning the club’s Player of the Year in the 2005/2006 season, a campaign in which the Dutchman guided Tottenham from their usual end-of-season mid-table mediocrity to the brink of the Champions League, which they would have qualified for had it not been for a 2-1 defeat against West Ham United in their last game of the season. Keane has spoken of Jol in glowing terms in the past:
I haven’t got a bad word to say about him. I loved working with him and we got on really well
Al Fayed said after Jol’s appointment, ‘‘we have enjoyed three incredibly successful years, and my hopes and dreams for this club are for that journey to continue.’’ The signing of Keane could well be a good deal for all concerned. If Fulham are to continue pushing on and progressing then they need a few more players first; starting front to back, the acquisition of Keane would mean that Fulham would have four good quality strikers on their first-team books – the other’s being Bobby Zamora, Andy Johnson and Mousa Dembele (Eidur Gudjohnsen is not expected to extend his loan deal or turn it into a permanent one, but if he did, then they would have five top-notch forwards should Keane join) – not to mention free-scoring midfielder, Clint Dempsey, the club’s top marksman last season with twelve league goals.
It could be argued that Keane is beyond his best form, the kind of form that saw him win Tottenham’s Player of the Year three times, but he has shown recently on the international stage that he’s still got the mettle needed to score goals as he overtook England legend, Bobby Charlton as the top scorer for a country that is situated in the British Isles. The white’s will need the former West Ham United loanee to be in form if the rumours are to be believed that Dempsey desires a move away from Craven Cottage, because if does, then that ‘desire’ is likely to come true with many side’s I’m sure, willing to offer him their services.
If he leaves the west London club then the perfect replacement, for now at least, could be Newcastle United’s captain Kevin Nolan – 29 later this month – a high-scoring midfielder who coincidently also scored twelve league goals playing in the centre of the park, and another player who has been linked with Jol’s new regime. Nolan, along with Keane, would give Fulham the potential to become a team that is very capable of yielding a healthy goal return. And with defender Brede Hangeland chipping in with six in the league last term, goals shouldn’t be a problem, should they sign Messrs Keane and Nolan.
Many of Fulham’s providers such as Damien Duff and Danny Murphy are arguably past their best, but with Zamora seemingly at his peak, they are still good enough to create chances for Fulham’s decent forward line. Keane could soon be joining them. Fulham completed the 2010/2011 Premiership campaign in a respectable 8th place albeit in an unusual season whereby their 49 points would have seen them finish well inside the bottom half in previous ones. If they are to ‘’progress’’ as Al Fayed wishes them to then they will need to keep hold of their best players like Dempsey, whilst also acquiring the services of players such as Robbie Keane and Kevin Nolan or at least ones of the same calibre. Arsenal are said to be monitoring Brede Hangeland’s situation and with other side’s ready to splash out in order to ‘progress’ and finish top of the ‘mini-league’ that has been created outside of the top-six then the Cottagers will surely have to strengthen within their ranks. Whether they will be able to afford or be willing to pay the equivalent to or in excess of Keane’s wages, thought to be around £70,000 a week, is another matter. Think that sounds ridiculous? Then head to the entrance of Craven Cottage. There, you will see ridiculousness in its true art form.
Give us your thoughts.
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My thoughts are that your whole article is based on terrible hearsay and a very bad pun. Apparently if somebodies dog used to play for Spurs we are interested and Fulham would never pay that much money for a long time out of form striker on the strict wage budget we have. Also you clearly know very little about Fulham, apart from the facts you have pulled off Wikipedia, as the (badly) sculpted Michael Jackson is inside the stadium in the corner of the Riverside and Hammersmith end stands.
Are you sure that the statue is inside the stadium? Assumption makes an arse of you and me: I assumed it was outside and you assumed I got the information off Wikipedia, which I didn’t. I’ve just read numerous articles from The Guardian and BBC News and it appears to me that it’s outside. If you’ve been to Craven Cottage since its unveiling then you should know, but read these: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/03/mohamed-al-fayed-michael-jackson-statue?intcmp=239 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12950708
My article is based on ”a very bad pun.” What does that mean?
Also, you said, ”apparently, if somebodies dog used to play for Spurs we are interested.” (‘somebodies’ should be spelt ‘somebody’s’, but I’ll let you off). Keane is the only Spurs player, in my article at least, that has been linked with Fulham. What other ones have ”apparently” been mentioned?
Surely its all agent talk, Fulham have enough experienced players in the ilk of Murphy, Duff, Schwarzer, Davies, Zamora, Hughes, Hangeland, Baird, Gera all players who know their jobs, know Europe and are ripe to pass that knowledge on, we should focus our transfer targets on younger players.
Its definitely inside the stadium. Im sorry I’ve re read my post and it comes off a bit rude but to date I have read from numerous sources that we are in for Jenas, Bentley, Keane, Krancjar and even Crouch. I just think that some of these stories seem so unrealistic and the same things get regurgitated over and over without any reliable source apart from the fact that Jol was once Tottenham manager. And as you corrected my grammar, is the saying not “when you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME”? Sorry.
That’s alright. I think that is the saying you’re right, but they both mean the same thing, so it can be said in different ways. If I was a Fulham fan, I would be very pleased to capture Krancjar. He’s a very good player with European and International experience. I haven’t heard of the rumour relating to him, but he’d be a good signing I feel.
And to ‘Lol in H7’, I think you’re right, but sometimes team’s have to take what they can; so if there are not the suitably young players available, an older player can do a good job for the club whether it’s a year or five years.
I predict that, bottom of the log and in a daze of disaster six games into the season, Fulham will be wondering what they ever saw in Martin Jol. The manager will explain it all away with some illogical and incomprehensible statement that the media will declare their liking for, mainly because, like everyone else, they won’t understand it.