Not being miserable or anything, but Defoe’s hat-trick probably means Bob’s not going to start for England for a bit.  Shame, I thought he might have done tonight if fit.  Now look what’s happened.

Still, nice win for England, and Captain Murphy’s been a fine pundit, too.

So the 25 man squad for the first half of the season has been announced as is the new Premier League rules. No surprises really. Here’s the list:

• Mark Schwarzer,
• David Stockdale,
• John Pantsil,
• Fredrik Stoor,
• Aaron Hughes,
• Rafik Halliche,
• Chris Baird,
• Brede Hangeland,
• Carlos Salcido,
• Stephen Kelly,
• Zoltan Gera,
• Clinton Dempsey,
• Bjorn Helge Riise,
• Dickson Etuhu,
• Kagisho Dikgacoi,
• Danny Murphy,
• Jonathan Greening,
• Simon Davies,
• Damien Duff,
• Andrew Johnson,
• Diomansy Kamara,
• Moussa Dembele,
• Bobby Zamora,
• David Elm,
• Eddie Johnson.

The only thing that worries me slightly is that we only have two recognised goal keepers. And one of them is out for around two months. Pascal Zuberbühler isn’t featured in the 25 man squad at all, meaning if Schwarzer returns to the first team next week we will have a young, untested ‘keeper on the bench.

Elsewhere in the squad both Johnson and Kamara are included showing that Hughes has faith they’ll be fit and ready for the first team before Christmas, whereas Senderos is left out.

Here’s a quick round up of the ins and outs, if I’ve missed any leave it in the comments section and I can edit it in:

In (player/old club/cost) -
Salcido, PSV, Undisclosed (estimated £2 million)
Senderos, Arsenal, Bosman
Dembele, AZ Alkmaar, Undisclosed (estimated £4 million)
Halliche, Benfica, Undisclosed (estimated £1.5 million)
Dalle Valle, Liverpool, Player Exchange
Kacaniklic, Liverpool, Player Exchange
Greening, West Brom, Undiclosed (estimated £2 million)

Out (player/new club/cost) -
Konchesky, Liverpool, Undisclosed (estimated £2.5 million plus two player exchange)
Smalling, Manchester United, Undisclosed (estimated £9 million)
Buchtmann, Cologne, Undisclosed (estimated £200k)
Payne, Gillingham, Undisclosed (estimated free transfer)

Released After End Of Contract -
Andranik
Brown
Omozusi
Foderingham
Kallio
Moscatiello
Uwezu
Nevland
Osei-Gyan
Owusu
note: Omozusi and Brown have sell-on clauses because we weren’t willing to release their registration without compensation

I think we’ve done ok as far as transfers go. Like I’ve said I think we needed a Bobby style player, and with just Kelly as reserve to both full back positions there should be some concern. Stoor’s never looked comfortable since he joined, so maybe this is finally Briggs’ breakthrough season and I really hope he gets a run out at Stoke who will be a test in the Carling Cup. Other than that our squad looks pretty good all over the pitch I reckon.

I was suprised a few players didn’t leave, Eddie Johnson, Elm, Stoor for example. But the strength of this transfer window has been just that, that hardly anyone left. All but one of our key players last season have stayed, and in Salcido we seem to have a very good replacement for Konchesky.

Schwarzer was linked with a move to Arsenal all season, a player that would have helped them immeasurably and why they decided to be so stingy I don’t know, it could well be their shortcoming as it was last season. He stayed however even against his will, which is great news for us and a hark back to the old days where if a club decided a player was staying he was staying. I hope that Fulham fans don’t hold it against him that he wanted a move so badly. Afterall, you couldn’t blame him for wanting a shot at the Champions League and the title, and wanting to move to Arsenal is alot different to wanting to leave Fulham. Reading between the lines it seems that he would have gone should we have signed a replacement but that never materalised and we can look forward to arguably the greatest goalie in our history carrying on with us next season.
Zamora also stayed, which is good for us and for him if the rumours of a double your money contract are true, but I never expected him to leave. Dempsey probably flirted with it, he’s easily good enough to play for a top 10 team yet he’s started one of four games this season so I’m really pleased to see him still here. Other than him, Schwarzer and Konchesky I didn’t think anyone would leave so in terms of that it’s been a great transfer window.

Our ins are quite interesting. We have Dembele who is a player who promises much based on his few appearances so far and looks to be a starter for us already. Senderos is a player I really like and I’m gutted he’s picked up such a bad injury because I think this is the perfect club for him to settle and finally live up to the potential that he showed a few years ago at Arsenal. Halliche who I assume is a replacement for him is an unknown quantity, apart from a few decent performances in the World Cup I haven’t seen or heard much about him. Not even Benfica fans could tell me alot! However he’s cheap and he’ll be our 4th choice defender so even if he turns out to be poor, which I doubt he will, there isn’t much risk.

Salcido has alot to live up to I think as Konchesky’s replacement. Konchesky’s part in our team shouldn’t be underestimated, his attacking and defending play contributing significantly to our recent successes, yet somehow in his most consistant episode of his career he’s been labeled as someone who’s error prone and will garuntee the opposition a golden chance per game which is really unfair. I wish him luck at Liverpool and I’m sure he’ll do well. Salcido excites me though. Someone known for his tenacity, skill, agression, strength, ability to attack and defend equally well and with a beast of a shot on him, sounds like the perfect left back. To make a profit on swapping these left backs and bring in two talented young players (especially Dalla Valle who by all accounts is a very talented young player and one that Elias has been after for a while, we had a 3 million pound bid rejected for him last summer) is really good business, credit must go to Alistair Mackintosh for that. Greening’s signing was just making a loan permanent, I think he’s an alright player who can do a job for us which is all we need in a reserve.

Andranik Wayne Brown Wesley Foderingham Toni Kallio Luca Moscatiello Michael Uwezu Erik Nevland King Osei-Gyan Dan Owusu

But not in the way you might have expected.  Below the line are all (most) transfers since 2006.

First, just goes to show how many players come and go.  We know this, of course, but seeing them all written down is nevertheless very surprising.  

I had a quick look through the ins and figured maybe 19 good signings, 16 bad ones, and another 19 in between.   So the hit rate isn’t marvellous, but generally speaking the good players have been bought at a decent rate.  Only AJ’s price was a bit ‘out there’, even if we question the actual amount.  Greening looks expensive, of course.   Diomansy Kamara is impossible to evaluate, but it’s hard to say he cost too much given subsequent contributions.    Lawrie Sanchez’s signings all look a little overpriced.   Lots of players come and go for nothing.   

Going the other way we have few (any?) regrets.  Steed’s departure arguably set the whole Coleman/Sanchez/Hodgson/Jo…Hughes merrygoround off in the first place, but there was no reason to think Chris was going to turn things around anyway, so in retrospect this wasn’t that big a loss.    Andreasen would perhaps have been useful, Konchesky we don’t know, but otherwise it looks like we’ve generally extracted value (Boa’s fee stands out doesn’t it?). 

In/Out Player Meelions
In Davies 0
In Smertin 0
In Queudrue 4
In Bullard 3.4
In Dempsey 2.7
In Zakuani 1.4
In Runstrom 0.9
In Routledge 0
In Lastuvka 0
In Ashton 0
In Keller 0
In Litmanen 0
In Murphy 0
In Leijer 0
In Seol 0
In Kamara 8.1
In Davis 5.3
In Hangeland 4.2
In Baird 4
In Bouazza 4
In Andreasen 3.8
In Cook 3.4
In Kallio 0.3
In Konchesky 2.7
In Nevland 2.7
In E.Johnson 2.3
In Healy 2
In Hughes 1.4
In Stefanovic 1.4
In Watts 0
In Brown 0
In Kuqi 0
In Stalteri 0
In Schwarzer 0
In Andranik 0
In Zuberbuhler 0
In Gera 0
In Zamora 3.7
In Stockdale 0.4
In Gray 0.4
In Paintsil 3.4
In Stoor 2.7
In Etuhu 1.7
In A.Johnson 12
In Smalling 0
In Kelly 0
In Elm 0.5
In Duff 3.6
In Dikgacoi 0.3
In Riise 1.8
In Greening 4.5
In Senderos 0
In Dembele 5.4
In Halliche 2.3
In Salcido 1.8
 Average 1.863636364
Out Out 
Out Watkins 0
Out Green 0
Out Rehman 0
Out Legwinski 0
Out NJensen 0
Out Sava 0
Out McDermott 0
Out Kazeem 0
Out BoaMorte 6.1
Out Leacock 0.5
Out Malbranque 2.7
Out Pratley 0.1
Out Goma 0
Out Batista 0
Out Crossley 0
Out Radzinski 0
Out Elrich 0
Out James 0
Out Collins 0
Out Diop 0
Out Knight 4.2
Out Queudrue 3.4
Out Helguson 2.6
Out Rosenior 1.7
Out M.Brown 1.2
Out Jensen 0
Out Runstrom 0
Out Zakuani 0
Out Runstrom 0
Out Timlin 0
Out Bocanegra 0
Out Warner 0
Out Ehui 0
Out Litmanen 0
Out Keller 0
Out McBride 0
Out Stefanovic 0.8
Out Zakuani 0.6
Out Bullard 4.7
Out Davis 3.4
Out Andreasen 2.3
Out Healy 1.3
Out Batista 0.1
Out Cook 1.1
Out Ashton 0.09
Out Smertin 0
Out Christanval 0
Out Pearce 0
Out Niemi 0
Out Omozusi 0
Out Bouazza 0
Out Volz 0
Out Moncur 0
Out John 0
Out Gray 0
Out T.Brown 0
Out Seol 0
Out Watts 0
Out Leijer 0
Out Volz 0
Out W.Brown 0
Out Nevland 0
Out Kallio 0
Out Foderingham 0
Out Smalling 7.2
Out Konchesky 3.6
 Average 0.722575758
  
  
  
  
Out Smalling 7.2
Out Bullard 1.3
Out Konchesky 0.9
Out Batista 0.1
Out Ashton 0.09
Out Keller 0
Out Leijer 0
Out Litmanen 0
Out Smertin 0
Out Kallio -0.3
Out Gray -0.4
Out Stefanovic -0.6
Out Queudrue -0.6
Out Healy -0.7
Out Zakuani -0.8
Out Runstrom -0.9
Out Andreasen -1.5
Out Davis -1.9
Out Cook -2.3
Out Nevland -2.7
Out Bouazza -4

All data from here.

So the transfer window slammed disappointingly shut last night. No major moves of note, and who would have thought Sunderland would have been the big spenders? With a total of around £250m spent by top flight clubs this transfer period this has been the quietest since 2006.

At the Cottage we bode farewell to Konch and waved a friendly hello to Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic from Liverpools reserve side. Now, the Observer claim that these signing are somewhat of a coup for us, but who exactly are they?

Dalla Velle is a young Finnish forward. He played in the Reds Youth team which reached the final in 2009. According to media reports there was some interest in the past from both Barcelona and Ajax in signing him. For a youth system which has seen both Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen pass through it in recent years, when a Liverpool Academy scout says “I would say he is the most natural finisher in the history of our academy,” you should probably take note. Finnish sports magazine Urheilulehti has named him as “ultimately one of the most talented Finnish players of all time” (and we’ve seen Shefti Kuqi play so that’s high praise!)

Sweedish youngster Kacaniklic joins Fulham. Gel suppliers in Putney rejoyce.

Kancaniklic is a Swedish left winger who also played in the Youth Cup final time in 2009. “Alex is a clever, close dribbler whose delivery of the ball into the box is very good.” said Liverpool Academy Manager John Owens. Promoted from the academy to the reserve side after just two years it was thought on Merseyside that he has what it takes to make the step up to Premiership level football.

Christopher Buchtmann in his Liverpool days.

Who remembers the last hot prospect we got from Liverpool? Christopher Buchtmann. Signed by Roy he was trumpeted as being something special for the future. But as is somewhat traditional with Fulham’s young players he didn’t live up to what was promised. A year younger than Dalla Velle, Buchtmann signed an 18 month contract with us in January this year but left us without much noise being made in the summer for him to return home to Germany. Incidentally, where he plays at Koln alongside former Fulham fans favourite Pierre Wome.

What did you think of the transfer dealings then?  Here is a roundup of everything, showing that we’ve balanced the books better than most this off-season (mainly because we had a decent squad and no manager, perhaps!).

The big move was Paul Konchesky to Liverpool.  On the surface this is really disappointing, not least because it’s not a move that, for footballing reasons at least, needed making.  Off the field we can’t know, although those strange rumours about Birmingham being interested in him last season were perhaps the start of something.   If he was unhappy then he was unhappy.   A shame to see the fabled defence disassembled so quickly though.

We have Carlos Salcido in to play left-back (although he’ll be in Mexico until next Tuesday at least, so must be a doubt for the Wolves game), Matthew Briggs looked fair there, and Stephen Kelly is capable of filling in.    It feels like we’re replacing a good player with uncertainty, but I write this without having seen Salcido in action.

I wish Konchesky good luck, and am sure he’ll be a good signing for Liverpool.   You only had to look at Manchester United’s side the other day to realise that not all players at big clubs are famous names, and it’s long been my belief that Konchesky’s a better left-back than all English alternatives not named Ashley Cole.   And if Roy’s assembling a Fulham-like side up there, well, how good would Fulham have been last year with Torres and Gerrard?   They’ll be alright.

Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic came the other way, of course, and this is where things get interesting.  I can see a point where teams are going to be forced to commit to young players as a way of keeping their wage bills down.   Not yet, maybe not for a few years, but it seems like the only obvious solution to the ongoing losses being made.  Established footballers know their price and take most of the game’s money.   Young players cost less and aren’t necessarily much of a drop-off.

This is for another day, of course, but it is encouraging that we have raided Liverpool’s production line and picked up some of their better kids.   As ever, let’s wait until we see one of them in the first team before getting too excited, but it’s the sort of move we should try more often.

Mark Schwarzer (whose back will just have to mend itself now) is still a Fulham player, which is great.  For one thing he’s a brilliant keeper; for another, his desire to leave gives Hughes every reason to let Stockdale play a bit more (even if he is injured too).   Win-win, after a fashion.

Most surprising was the lack of movement away from the club.  I had expected Diomansy Kamara to leave, plus one or two more.   Didn’t happen, and we must now wait for the 25 man squad to be announced in order to understand who might have a future and who might be going out on loan.

Squad:

Schwarzer;Stockdale
Paintsil; Kelly; Stoor
Hughes; Baird (whose versatility is handy with the defined squad size)
Hangeland; Halliche; (Senderos)
Salcido; Briggs
Davies; Riise
Murphy; Greening
Etuhu; Dikgacoi
Duff; Dempsey
Dembele; Gera
Zamora; Elm; E. Johnson; (A. Johnson)

Which feels okay.  Baird probably ought to be working more in Murphy’s role just to be safe, but we’ve seen no indication from Hughes that this will happen.   There’s no real ‘bombing on’ full-back now, but as previously discussed, we attack in other ways under Hughes, so that’s okay.    Generally everything seems fine, although if we are missing Zamora for a time then this changes things somewhat.  Nevertheless, Hughes seems to have bought well and interestingly, so let’s see what happens between now and January, at which point any holes can be fixed.

And with that we say goodbye to Paul Konchesky, and my friend Jon (who has a little Bro-mance for him) will shed a little tear.

Don't panic! It's just PK and his serial killer-esque eyes who have departed for Liverpool.

One of the few signings by Lawrie Sanchez to be regarded as decent, Paul signed for the Whites in Summer 2007 from West Ham for £3.25m. His time at the Boleyn was cut short with the arrival of Alan Curbishly with whom he’d had a falling out with at Charlton. But their loss was our gain. After muffing up on his debut up at Hull, Konch went on to make 97 appearances for the club and scored two goals. His first being a thunderbolt of a goal, his first for the club, against his old team West Ham in January 2009.

Paul has moved to join up with Roy up at Liverpool for a fee of between £3-4million pounds on a four year deal.  Joining Fulham from Liverpool as part of the deal are youngsters Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic.

Well, as I was promised it’s already been a fantastically exciting on Transfer Deadline Day!

According to The Telegraph this morning Liverpool are, not content with taking Konch off our hands, putting in a cheeky bid for our Bobby. And many of the other papers saying Sparkys doing similar to his old club and wants to bring Given and Santa Cruz to SW6. Though The Guardian reports Givens decided he’d prefer to warm the bench and collect his hefty pay packet up at The City of Manchester Stadium instead.

Though according to The Times, Sparky is popping off to Villa some five weeks after becoming Roys replacement at the cottage. Which, if true, would seem quite strange considerin g Hughes stance on Schwarzer not being allowed to move on this summer. Speaking of which, Arsenal have slapped a final bid of £4m down on the table for our ‘keeper, but surely that wouldn’t go through until we get a stopper in due to Stockdales injury last weekend.

A more odd link, considering our signing of Salcido last week, Sky Sports News HD are reporting we’re in the market for Tiene Siaka. A left back currently playing Valenciennes in Spain, he appears well up for a move to England and said “I am a bit nervous but if everything can be put in place, I could fulfil my dream of joining my Ivorian colleagues in England.” Though him coming in would give the left back position far more cover than we’ve had in a long while.

It’s all shaping up to be a VERY exciting nine hours!

Due to popular demand, I’ve reprinted the latest Fulham Review.   I got a good deal from the printer so it’s still £5 a go.

www.godsfoot.com tobuy.

If in doubt, please do get one!  You know it makes sense.   Easily the biggest and best version yet.   If you haven’t got one, why not?

That’s me being an aggressive salesman.   (previous editions are also available – if you want to combine postage drop me an email and we’ll sort something out).

Will be selling them on Stevenage Road before the Wolves game, up by the club shop/Hammersmith End gates.

It’s not just Zamora and Stockdale missing out on international fun next week – the BBC is reporting that Damien Duff picked up a calf injury against Blackpool on Saturday and will therefore miss the Republic of Ireland’s opening qualifier against Armenia. It’s hoped he’ll return for Ireland’s following game against Andorra though, so hopefully he won’t be a long-term absentee from the Fulham side.

If you believe the hype which started on 1st July on Sky Sports News HD (as I believe it’s now compulsory to call it) Transfer Deadline Day is the most exciting day in the world. Oh yes, even more so than your birthday. And Christmas! If you are unable to be in front of either a computer or their excellent news service all day tomorrow you may as well not bother being alive, because boy o boy, it’s going to be exciting!

They’ve recently refreshed all their graphics with all the bells and whistles and as if Sky Sports ever need an excuse to wheel them out the next 48 hours will be it. If you love text flying across the screen, yellow tickers and graphics showing how many games players have played against goals scored, you my friend are in for a treat!

Charlotte Jackson can barely contain her excitement in HD. And who could blame her?

The news that some squad player from a mid tabled Premiership side joining Rangers or Celtic will receive all the bells and whistles of flashy montages and tables showing their playing history. When the yellow bar pops up on the bottom of the screen and Millie Clode’s face is blocked out by a banner exclaiming BREAKING NEWS (in HD I expect, Sky do love to remind us of it), we’ll all take a sharp intake of breath. Who is it? IS it the Schwarzer to Arsenal/Given to Fulham move happening at last? Is it City spunking another £30million on a mediocre quality player? No. All it’ll be is the ‘amazing’ news that Stoke City’s academy player Zack Foster has joined Northampton Town on a month’s loan. And somehow they’ll spin this out for until Wednesday lunchtime too.

Will Konch depart for Liverpool? We'll find out either way tomorrow! And in HD too!

Every time the window is swinging its way shut it is built up in the press and on telly. And every time it’s a massive let down. When was the last time something amazing happened on transfer deadline day? We’ve traditionally been quiet with perhaps a loan signing going one way or the other at Motspur Park. But elsewhere it’s usually just as underwhelming. And why should this one be any different? This has been one of the quietest transfer periods since the window system started operating, although the papers were expectant over the weekend that we’re in for a real last minute burst of activity. They’ve suggested, Schwarzer and Paul CanJetSki are off from us with Given coming in, and amongst the less interesting clubs they reccon Rodwell, Carlton Cole, Robbie Keane, N-Zogbia and Asamoah Gyan could all have moved before tea time tomorrow.

Well, they’ve certainly hooked me in. Nobody expect a reply to any texts or emails tomorrow. I’ve booked the day off work and I’m looking forward to not moving from the telly all day long, after all Sky have promised me fireworks…

As was feared, last night two familiar names were left off the England squad sheets for the forthcoming European qualifiers. Dan reported over the weekend, it was likely that the injuries sustained by Bobby Zamora, called up earlier this month for the friendly against Hungary, and David Stockdale at Blackpool on Saturday would force Capello to name alternatives. And indeed he did.

Patrick Barclay, in his column in The Times today (behind the paywall I’m afraid), suggests that Bobby’s injury is a big blow to the England squad and praises his recent form;

The Fulham centre forward has been in such consistently marvellous form for so long that it hardly seemed to matter that he was 29. To me, Zamora looked the key to an invigorated England, one that might start to rebuild confidence damaged by a dismal World Cup with vibrant performances in the opening qualifying matches for the European Championship against Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday and Switzerland in Basle tomorrow week.

Bobby’s been quite unlucky with injuries holding him back from making a real impact internationally, first the Achilles injury reportedly preventing him from joining the squad in South Africa over the summer, and now a thigh strain, but hopefully he’ll get the chance to pull on the white shirt again and show how far he’s come. It certainly doesn’t sound too serious an injury and there’s no indication that he’ll not be able to join his Fulham colleagues when Craven Cottage hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers in two weeks’ time. At least the international break affords Zamora an extra week to overcome this setback.

The news for Stockdale doesn’t sound quite so good with The Guardian reporting that he could be out for two months after damaging his ankle ligaments on Saturday;

Ankle ligament damage has already denied Stockdale his first involvement with the national side – the Fulham goalkeeper fears he could be absent for up to two months having only just broken into the first team at Craven Cottage – and allowed Carson a return to the fold.

So not only does he miss out on his first cap, but Stockdale misses the opportunity to continue proving himself worthy of a regular first team spot. Stockdale shouldn’t be too concerned about his international debut – he’s still young and Capello has few goalkeeping options, so a future call-up could well be a reality. The question is whether he’ll continue to be a regular on the pitch, rather than on the bench, once he recovers from his injury. With rumours about Shay Given coming to the Cottage on loan, in order to allow Schwarzer his longed-for move across London, and Mark Hughes having already set about managing Stockdale’s expectations, the likelihood seems quite remote.

For now, the England squad is without its “lucky” Fulham contingent but it says a lot that the media is even considering our players for international recognition, not least that perhaps the domination of the Big Four may well be nearing its end. Long may it continue.

The goals on Saturday were down to individual mistakes, no doubt about it, but under Hodgson they probably wouldn’t have happened.

By committing men forward Hughes is making life much more interesting for supporters, but is leaving his defence a bit exposed.

For the first goal we can see that Stephen Kelly’s been caught well upfield.  Fine, these things happen, but surely someone should have been filling in for him?   If not the wide player, then one of Etuhu or Murphy should have been guarding the back door, ready to slide over as required.  Granted, we had the ball until Paintsil mislaid it, but that never stopped Roy from building that solid base, even in possession.    Any single midfielder along that black line would have given John a better pass, and also been able to slow down the subsequent attack.

Next, for the second goal, we see much the same thing.   There’s a massive gap between defence and midfield.  Here we see the early stages of the move, Blackpool attacking all that green with no Fulham midfielder in place to slow them down.

On he goes, and eventually Hughes and Hangeland, missing the protection they’re used to, get caught in no-man’s land, playing an off-side trap that Paintsil’s not going along with, but still miles from the player in possession (and the player on the end of the through-ball).  Frankly it’s a mess, and the sort of thing Roy worked hard to stamp out when he was in charge.   It came at the expense of attacking gumption, of course, so it’s not necessarily a bad thing that this is happening (more a by-product of opening up), but nevertheless, it does showcase how much harder life is going to be for our defenders this season.   Perhaps, though, it’s a transitional thing, while the players get used to their new freedom.

But it does pose an obvious question:  are our defenders good enough to play without Roy’s team defence setup?    Too early to tell.  We’d assume that Hangeland and Hughes will do fine, but Paintsil’s issues could be just a bad day at the office, or the signs of a player whose life-jacket (two banks of four at all times) has been taken away.

Too harsh, I know, but it bears watching.

The gap between defence and midfield seems to have been there all game.  I have, I’m afraid, no idea who David Vaughan andElliott Grandin might be, but it looks like they got a lot of time and space out there yesterday:

These chalkboards don’t necessarily mean anything, and against better teams Hughes will surely tighten up here, but that’s a lot of passing going on in an area where we never used to allow much passing to happen.

On the plus-side, lovely to see Dembele influential again.  He looks some player, and win, lose or draw, will brighten many games between now and whenever Arsenal try to buy him.

Well how about that eh, the first game at Blackpool’s ‘new’ ground and it was a pretty entertaining one too. Injuries, four disallowed goals and two sides that wanted to attack meant a good watch. Sort of. For us Fulham fans it would have been uncomfortable viewing because we played poorly today. Passing went astray, Pantsil had his worst game for us and whilst the Blackpool players and crowd would have been buzzing it was the sort of game I’d expect to get a better result at despite the performance. Blackpool certainly have more spirit about them and a better manager than Derby a couple of seasons back but like them anything above 20th will be an achievement. I hope they stay up, as a club I really like them and they do  have a couple of decent players but the general lack of quality really sticks out. Best of luck to them anyway.

As for us, well I thought a few things backed up what I said in my last article. I don’t think Hughes trusts Briggs at left back just yet seeing as he only started on the bench today and Kelly certainly showed today that he’s not comfortable with the ball on his left foot at all although his defending was decent and there wasn’t much threat down our left hand side. The left footed crosses weren’t great, every time he did use the ball well he had to cut back on to his right foot which slows the play down as well as meaning he can’t whip in decent first time crosses and for the icing on the cake the first goal came from a break after Kelly gave the ball away. Salcido will be good enough first choice, he’ll be a match for Konchesky and although like Kelly he’s predominantly right footed his left isn’t bad either. But we need a good back up, unless Hughes reckons Briggs can do a job, though as I say I have my doubts.

Another point I made was that we needed a back up to Zamora, someone who can play a similar target man role to him. We weren’t great before he went off, at least not playing as well Blackpool although we were reasonably comfortable, but as soon as he did thanks to an injury that makes him a big doubt for England and possibly Wolves too we lost almost all attacking force and found it much more difficult to maintain possession, infact Hughes himself said that we lost the focal point of our team. Not only this but the get out clause of the long ball to Zamora was no longer on because as much as I love Clint, Zamora’s replacement, he can’t play that role. The only one we have at the club that can is Elm and in the four games we’ve had this season he’s appeared on the bench once (against Bolton) and hasn’t played a second so you’d have to think that Hughes doesn’t have confidence in him. Let’s hope in the next 2 or 3 days he can get something done.

Someone who did make me eat my words however was Etuhu, when I said I don’t think he has the ‘necessary technique to score alot of goals’. Well he went some way to changing my opinion of that, with a great burst of pace forward which has become his signature move this season matched by a first touch and a delicate clip over Gilks. A very, very good goal, made even sweeter that it was in the 87th minute of a game that we barely deserved a point from. They’re always the best aren’t they? Other than that I thought his general play was good. He made some good tackles and decent passes, as his emergence as a good all round box to box midfielder is becoming more obvious, let’s hope he keeps it up.

Murphy alongside him was poor however, only making 20 passes all game of which 4 went astray, being caught in possession a few times, missing tackles and in general not being able to cope with the lack of time he was getting in the ball. I’m still not really sure what his role is in Hughes’ team, he’s not spreading the play, he’s not making tackles and he’s not bombing forward. He’s just there, which is fine if you’re making alot of intelligent little passes to keep the ball moving into space and clever movements, but Murphy didn’t do that either. I won’t say he’s past it based off one game though considering he’s done well in the other three, although I will be interested to see what would happen if we sign another box to box midfielder to play alongside Etuhu. A partnership like that could work, with one player staying back as the other runs forward. Tuttomercato who if I recall correctly were pretty on the ball with the Okaka deal say that we’re lining up a deal for Antonio Nocerino, a Palermo midfielder, although it won’t be cheap considering he cost them 7 and a half million euroes just a couple of years ago.

I mentioned the pressure on Murphy and pressing us was something Blackpool did really well in. We found it tough in possession, Holloway’s 4-3-3/4-5-1 full of energetic players giving us very little time on the ball. It resulted with a poor passing display from us, we gave the ball away in dangerous areas so many times that a better team would have punished us much more ruthlessly than Blackpool. Fulham on the other hand did this poorly which was suprising. Something Hughes wants us to do, especially away from home, is play higher and apply pressure further up the pitch, so for us to give Blackpool so much time on the ball came as a real suprised and it resulted in them being able to play some really attractive stuff, their second goal would grace any Premier League team, although they were lacking a cutting edge in the most part. Maybe it’s just a case of adapting to a different system.

I’ve talked about Murphy and Kelly’s relatively poor performances but they didn’t come close to Pantsil who probably had the worst game of his Fulham career. The amount of times he made clearances straight to a Blackpool player 10 yards away, or the amount of times he made poor passes was almost unbelievable and compeltely unrecognisable to the consistent, if not eccentric, talented player of last season. Both the goals were his fault; with the own goal his first mistake was to give the ball away with a shocking pass I think to Etuhu which Blackpool pounced on, found Varney free with Kelly still upfield who made a short which was well saved by Stockdale only for Pantsil to commit his second mistake and miskick it into the net when all it needed was a left footed clearance into the stand; with the Varney goal he let his runner go completely unmarked to score although Hughes was playing him onside as well as Pantsil. When he came to Fulham Hodgson said that he had to work with his composure to bring the best out of him and he’s a very good defender, good in the tackle, quick, strong, does well in the air, but based on his first few performances this year you have to ask whether Hodgson’s system covered up his deficiences. However like with Murphy I’m hesitant to make too many conclusions this early on.

Dembele was one Fulham player that really shined today and at 5.5 points replaces Rooney in my fantasy team. Looks like a very talented dribbler, strong, quick, quick feet, good balance, the type of player we haven’t seen at Fulham for ages and today he built on a good half an hour against United and an impressive performance against Port Vale to put in a superb display. His passing was good and precise and the work for our two goals shouldnt go unmissed, an excellent cross with his weaker foot for Zamora followed by some good work on the ball and a defence splitting pass for Etuhu. He also had one dazzling run into the box, only a last ditch tackle stopped what would have surely been a goal. A very impressive performance from him today who looks like a bargain at 4 million quid and raises questions about Gera’s and Dempsey’s roles in the team, I didn’t expect him to slot in and become a first team player this early, I assumed Gera would play instead. One of those so called ‘nice’ problems managers have.

A quick word on the two potential England lads too. Zamora did what Zamora does, he was strong, held the ball up well and was a nuisance all game, capped it off with a nice goal too. He’s so far showing that he’s not just a one season wonder and we can only hope he keeps this up. At 29 I think his time for a move to a ‘big club’ has passed, I think he’s found his perfect club and perfect level with us so I’d say he’s ours until we decide we don’t want him. Let’s hope we can sort him out with a contract extension. Stockdale again was faultless apart from one dodgy moment when Blackpool scored as he failed to claim a cross. The ref ruled it out for a foul but I think it was a fair challenge for the ball, it seems as if there’s an unwritten rule that if a goalie’s touched then there’s a foul which I don’t agree with at all. We profited from the decision this time, and other than that he dealt with everything well, with a few good goalkeeping moments including saves from Adam when he tipped it over despite shifting his weight to a different direction, Varney which wasn’t a good save in terms of reflex but to put such a strong hand to it that it went out for a through in on the opposite side of the pitch was fairly impressive, and I think Ormerod whose shot Stockdale did well to claim after it rebounded off him.

Capello watched the game today and there’s exciting reports about Zamora and Stockdale getting England call ups for the games this week. They deserve it too, Zamora carrying on with the form that got him into the squad for the game earlier this month and Stockdale, when you take into account who’s available, is an obvious choice behind Hart and Foster. Unfortunately Zamora’s got a thigh injury which could be quite worrying if it’s a recurrence of the same injury that kept him out of the world cup, training in the last month of last season and eventually half of the final, and if that wasn’t bad enough Stockdale picked up an ankle knock which could rule both out, although what a confidence boost it’d be for him if he got a call anyway. From being too fat for York to international football in 4 years! Incredible stuff. Like Smalling he’s improving so quickly that I’d be suprised if he’s near his potential yet. As for their chances of being available, well according to Hughes Zamora is ‘very doubtful’ but on Stockdale he’s hopeful. Who knows, there’s still a chance of two Fulham players in the same squad for 50 years.

I also wanted to add a note of caution. We shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from just 3 games in. Mark Hughes’ more attacking approach is refreshing but who can say if it’s better than Hodgson’s until the end of the season when we can judge it on results. In the same way drawing with United doesn’t mean we’re going to go every home game undefeated, just because we couldn’t beat Blackpool doesn’t mean we’re going to go a whole season without an away win or few. Pantsil’s started off the season poorly and yesterday he was shocking but it doesn’t mean he needs to be sold or replaced (infact with the superb performances he has put in for us since he joined I think he deserves a bit more respect that some Fulham fans are showing him), Stockdale’s started the season well but it doesn’t mean that he’s the next David Seaman. The only conclusion that we can make is that it’s going to be an exciting season for Fulham and a pivotal one in our history, but I could have told you that 10 minutes after Forlan scored in Hamburg!

You can watch the goals here if you want, thanks again to Bilet off Friends Of Fulham

It’s rotten luck but it looks as though both Bobby Zamora and David Stockdale could miss out on being involved with England next week due to injuries picked up in today’s draw at Blackpool.

Zamora, who put Fulham ahead at Bloomfield Road, is a big doubt according to manager Mark Hughes after picking up a thigh strain. He was a certainty to be included in Fabio Capello’s squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland after impressing on his debut against Hungary a fortnight ago, but limped out of today’s game midway through the second period.

Hughes’ post-match comments revealed just how much of a team man Zamora, who must be relishing the chance to make his mark in international, really is.

Bobby went really stiff at half time. He thought it was just a bang on the muscle and went out again. But he could not shake it off.

I think he must be a doubt unfortunately. He was really looking forward to getting a chance. I will imagine he will go and be assessed by the England medical team and we will receive the information as quickly as we can. But at the moment he looks doubtful.

David Stockdale’s call-up to Capello’s squad, widely trailed in the weekend papers, is also in jeopardy after the 24-year-old goalkeeper sustained an ankle injury in a collision with Luke Varney. Stockdale, who made a number of fine saves this afternoon, has enjoyed a fine start to the season in the Fulham goal but Hughes is just as pessimistic about his chances of staying with the national squad should be included.

David has come in and done really well. But he has gone over on his ankle. He has got to be a doubt. It will be a real shame if he cannot stay with the group if he is picked.

Blackpool 2 Fulham 2

A strange and entertaining match which we could have won, but nearly lost. In the end we had to settle for our third draw out of three – perhaps a disappointment after the week’s previous results had raised our expectations so high. But this wasn’t your average Fulham away point. It appears Mark Hughes is already transforming us into quite a different team.

Blackpool started eagerly, throwing balls and men into the area as they looked to capitalise on early season optimism. But Fulham were quietly impressive and the more assured of the two sides. Moussa Dembele was making his first league start and after 35 minutes he made an impact: sent down the right by Duff, he steadied himself before planting a powerful cross onto the head of Bobby Zamora, who made no mistake. So far, so good.

The other selection change was Stephen Kelly at left back, ahead of the departing Konchesky and the up-and-coming Briggs. Kelly spent the second half making wonderfully daring raids down the  wing, right in front of the assembled 1300 Fulham fans and reminiscent of his finest hour, in Basel, December 2009. But he was crippled by a mixture of his inability and reluctance to use his left foot, and was involved in perhaps the turning point of the match when, during one such raid, a simple pass across the area which should have gifted Dempsey a certain goal never materialised. Instead he scuffed a weak effort with the outside of his right and, from the interception, Blackpool went up the other end and scored – Dean Varney making full use of the space left by Kelly’s run.

Varney’s shot, initially heading for the bottom corner, was deflected away from goal by Hangeland  but then into the net by the unfortunate Paintsil. It capped a difficult day for our favourite Ghanaian, who seems to be struggling for form since the World Cup. I wonder if a solution doesn’t therefore fall neatly into place: Salcido (assuming he signs) slotting in at left back, the lively Kelly switching to the right and Paintsil gaining a well-earned rest?

By this point in the game we had also suffered two injuries: firstly to Zamora, who was replaced by the desperately glum and disinterested looking Dempsey, and then to David Stockdale, who for some reason wasn’t replaced by Pascal Zubherbuhler despite clearly hobbling throughout the last half an hour. It had also started pouring with rain, and amongst it all we had fallen apart completely. Blackpool soon had a second from a lovely flowing move, finished by Varney who found the same bottom corner, this time without any assistance.

The sense of disappointment was familiar for Fulham’s travelling fans but the remainder of the game certainly wasn’t. Hughes acted fast, hauling off Murphy (after another iffy performance from our captain) for recent goal-hero Zoltan Gera and replacing the quiet Duff with Greening. Refreshed, we came storming back, with Dembele taking the game by the scruff of the neck in startling fashion – first almost scoring himself after a fantastic weaving run, and then playing the exquisite through ball that set up our equaliser.

The goalscorer? Dickson Etuhu, who showed no little pace and skill to gallop majestically onto Dembele’s pass, take a touch and lift the ball expertly over the advancing goalkeeper into the net. Fulham’s travelling contingent exploded with relief and delight as Etuhu ran down the touchline towards Hughes – the man who has let him off the leash and in doing to might possibly have transformed his career.

Exciting, frustrating, wonderful and woeful stuff, all in one day – this is how football is meant to be, isn’t it? The Fulham fans’ cheer at the final whistle felt as is if wasn’t so much for the result as for a game that had got the blood flowing so much more than the normal 0-0 shut out. It’s too early to tell how successful Mark Hughes will prove to be, or whether we’ll come even close to matching the achievements of the previous two seasons under his leadership. The good news is that on current evidence, it looks like it’ll be exciting either way.

Mark Hughes was disappointed with the mistakes that allowed Blackpool into a winning position at Bloomfield Road this afternoon, but hailed the character of his Fulham side as they stole a late point.

Fulham led through Bobby Zamora’s first half header until two goals in five minutes – the first an own goal from John Pantsil and then a debut strike from Luke Varney – gave Ian Holloway’s side a 2-1 lead with ten minutes to play. The visitors were indebted to a late equaliser from Dickson Etuhu and Hughes said that was the result of an attempt to get the Nigerian midfielder making more forward runs.

It was good to see Dickson Etuhu get on the score sheet. It’s a part of his game and he hasn’t scored many goals in his Fulham career.

We’re trying to get him forward more and that was an example of him timing his run from midfield. As a kid that’s what he always used to do so we’re trying to encourage more of that this year.

Hughes couldn’t hide his frustration at Fulham’s second half display.

We got in a position today where we were in the lead and in the second half we didn’t play as well as we can. That has a lot to do with Blackpool and the pressure they put us under.

We made a couple of mistakes and let them back into the game and that’s a disappointment, but we showed great character to get back on level terms. We had to regroup and we’ve earned another away point which we need to build on. We can play better than we did to today but credit to Blackpool they caused us problems.

It’s probably to much of a cliche to use the word rollercoaster in connection with Blackpool’s first top flight home game in 39 years but an absorbing encounter at Bloomfield Road had more twists and turns than any ferris wheel you’ll find down at the Pleasure Beach. Three disallowed goals were just the early appetiser as Fulham folded in the face of a superb second half showing from Ian Holloway’s side only for Dickson Etuhu to salvage a point with a magnificent chip three minutes from time.

The ease with which Fulham lost both their shape and conviction once first-half goalscorer Bobby Zamora limped off with a thigh strain will have alarmed Mark Hughes. Fabio Capello, watching on from the stands, might have had cause for concern too as he prepares to name his squad for the first couple of Euro 2012 qualifiers, especially after Zamora had headed the Whites in front ten minutes before half-time. Moussa Dembele, who looked virtually unplayable on his full league debut, sped away down the right and produced the perfect cross for Zamora to head home the opener.

Once Fulham’s talisman had departed, however, the visitors lost any semblance of control. Their defence had already been pulled apart by Holloway’s bold ploy of starting with three strikers. Veteran Brett Ormerod thought he’d given the home side a dream start with an early header, but the ex-Southampton striker, included in place of the injured Marlon Harewood, was correctly flagged offside. Luke Varney, handed a debut just a day after joining on loan from Derby, posed plenty of problems for the haplessly inept John Pantsil and immediately tested David Stockdale with a fierce volley.

Holloway was furious with referee Michael Oliver’s decision to disallow a Blackpool equaliser after Varney had collided with David Stockdale, who is tipped to make Capello’s squad tomorrow, and Elliot Grandin rolled in the loose ball. But, in a mad five minutes, all that was forgotten. Pantsil inexplicably surrended possession with a sloppy square ball across his own penalty area and, just as the danger seemed to have abated following Varney’s speculative cross-shot, he then contrived to slice a clearance into his own net.

That might have passed for cheap comedy, but worse was to follow. Blackpool, who commendably never let their heads drop whilst Fulham were in front, sensed an opportunity to snare a historic victory. Urged forward by Holloway and most of the 15,529 crowd, Blackpool went in search of a second. Charlie Adam drew a fine save from Stockdale and Hughes’ side looked rattled. They certainly had cause to be. Moments later, Ormered slipped an inviting pass through a horribly square defence and Varney, played onside by Pantsil, found the far corner with a cool finish.

Just as it seemed as though Blackpool might hold on, up popped Dembele. The Belgian, who seems a snip at £5m from AZ Alkmaar, spotted Etuhu darting forward as he had done to great effect against Manchester United last week. If Dembele’s through ball was good, the Nigerian’s finish was even better – a sublime chip over Michael Gilks that seasoned strikers would have been proud of. Both sides had chances to win it during stoppage time but ultimately had to settle for a point that probably won’t satisfy either manager.

One thing’s for sure – life under Hughes will be far from dull.

BLACKPOOL (4-3-3): Gilks; Crainey, Evatt (Eardley 65), Baptiste, Cathcart; Vaughan, Grandin, Adam; Taylor-Fletcher, Ormerod, Varney. Subs (not used): Halstead, Keinan, Basham, Euell, Sylvestre, Demontagnac.

BOOKED: Vaughan.

GOALS: Pantsil (og 71), Varney (76).

FULHAM (4-4-1-1): Stockdale; Pantsil, Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland; Etuhu, Murphy (Gera 80), Duff (Greening 85), Davies; Dembele; Zamora (Dempsey 59). Subs: Zuberbuhler, Baird, Briggs, Riise.

GOALS: Zamora (35), Etuhu (87).

REFEREE: Michael Oliver (Newcastle-upon-Tyne).

ATTENDANCE: 15,529

Mark Hughes has handed Moussa Dembele a first league start as he searches for an end to Fulham’s away-day woes at Bloomfield Road this afternoon.

Dembele, who scored his first goal for Fulham in the League Cup on Wednesday night against Port Vale, replaces Clint Dempsey in one of two changes from the side that drew with Manchester United last Sunday. The other sees Stephen Kelly come in for Paul Konchesky, who is on Merseyside for a medical with Liverpool.

Ian Holloway has handed new signing Luke Varney an immediate debut as part of a front three. Varney, signed from Derby County this week, will be joined up front by veteran Brett Ormerod, who replaces the injured Marlon Harewood, and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who got the Seasiders’ Premier League campaign off to a dream start up at Wigan two weeks ago.

BLACKPOOL (4-3-3): Gilks; Baptiste, Crainey, Cathcart, Evatt; Adam, Vaughan, Grandin; Taylor-Fletcher, Varney, Ormerod. Subs: Halstead, Eardley, Keinan, Euell, Sylvestre, Basham, Demontagnac.

FULHAM (4-4-1-1): Stockdale; Pantsil, Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland; Etuhu, Murphy, Davies, Duff; Dembele; Zamora. Subs: Zuberbuhler, Briggs, Baird, Greening, Riise, Gera, Dempsey.

Fulham face a tricky trip to Stoke City in the third round of the League Cup.

The Whites, who lost 3-2 in the snow at the Britannia Stadium in January’s league fixture, reached the third round with a thumping win over Port Vale on Wednesday. Stoke also beat League Two opposition with new signing Jon Walters scoring his first goal since signing from Ipswich in a 2-1 win over Shrewsbury Town.

The tie will be played during the week commencing Monday 20 September.

FULL THIRD ROUND DRAW
Brentford v Everton
Portsmouth v Leicester City
Stoke City v Fulham
Chelsea v Newcastle United
Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal
Millwall v Ipswich Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Notts County
Burnley v Bolton Wanderers
Birmingham City v Milton Keynes Dons
Liverpool v Northampton Town
Scunthorpe United v Manchester United
West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City
Sunderland v West Ham United
Peterborough United v Swansea City
Wigan Athletic v Preston North End