Cottagers Confidential - All Posts

Should Fulham Say "NO" To Offers For Sascha Riether?

2013-06-17T16:26:48Z

According to Kicker, Schalke could be making an offer to Fulham for 30 year old right back Sascha Riether. Fulham signed Riether from FC Koln, after he spent last season with the club, and they picked up his option to buy for 1.4 million Euros reportedly.

Riether had an exceptional season with Fulham at right back, and many like myself felt he should have been player of the season, even though the award went to Dimitar Berbatov. His ability to to be solid in the back, but also be an asset to push up front when needed was so valuable last season. His crosses in the box set up scoring opportunities, and goals for the team.

He also re-connected with his former Wolfsburg teammate, right winger Ashkan Dejagah to establish a great partnership with him that paid dividends for Fulham. Their chemistry was very evident, and especially noticeable when one of them could not play because of an injury, and the overall play of Fulham suffered.

There is no question that Riether has proved his worth to Fulham, so what should the club do when others come knocking on the door? Last week, I wrote an article that Fulham should say "NO" to offers for Alex Kacaniklic. He is a young player that Fulham should build around, and I am against Fulham selling him at this point.

The situation with Riether is much more complicated I feel in regards to what Fulham should do if teams put in transfer requests for the Fulham right back. First, he is 30 years old, and you have to weigh how many more quality seasons you can get out of the player.

Second, according to Transfermarkt.com, he is under contract with Fulham for one more season that ends next June 30th. The contract length could be an issue if you want him to stay more than just one season. The contract length also makes it attractive to other clubs to try to buy him.

Third, does the player want to stay at Fulham or would he want to go back to Germany? This factor is completely in the hands of the player.

So, there is no question that he is a valuable player right now for Fulham. These three factors I just mentioned could come into play when making a decision on Riether, if an actual offer does come from another club.

If it was my decision, I would make it as difficult as possible for another club to take him away from Fulham. I would be working on a new long term deal as I think he is worth it. Unless the offer was extremely substantial, I think Fulham should hold onto Riether as he could be an important member of the 2013-2014 Fulham squad.

I do hope Riether wants to stay at Fulham as he has quickly become a fan favorite. I interviewed him two months ago for Cottage Talk, and asked him to talk about his desire to stay at Fulham that he talked about in the magazine Fultime, and also share his overall thoughts of being at the club. Here are the comments below from the Sascha Riether interview on Cottage Talk two months ago.

"I have enjoyed this year in the Premier League at Fulham. It's a great club and a great honor to play in this club. We will have talks in the next weeks and then we hope to have a positive result."

I am lucky that I had the privilege of interviewing Riether this year, and last year I talked to Aaron Hughes for Cottage Talk. If you would like to hear the entire Riether interivew please feel free to listen below.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on BlogTalkRadio

My hope is that we see Riether playing for Fulham this upcoming season, but I wouldn't be surprised if a club tries to take him away. Unfortunately, when you have good players, other clubs are probably going to want them.

Transfer speculation surrounding Riether could continue, and if an actual offer comes for this player, Martin Jol and the management at Fulham will need to do what is best for the club. As I have mentioned, it is not an easy decision one way or another because there are several factors involved.

International round-up - Fulham's Ruiz pelted by Mexico fans

2013-06-12T11:03:00Z

Bryan Ruiz was pelted with objects thrown from the stands as he lined up to take a corner in his Costa Rica side's 0-0 draw with Mexico.

Bottles and rubbish were thrown at Ruiz, the Costa Rican captain, while fans also tried to put the 27 year-old off with a laser pen.

Fans Bad Behavior - Azteca stadium - 11.06.2013 (via FootballManiaChannel)

The Fulham midfielder eventually persevered and helped his side to another respectable point in a so-far successful World Cup qualifying campaign.

Ruiz played the whole 90 minutes with Costa Rica setting the pace early on. Arsenal's Joel Campbell had two good chances in the first half while Ruiz himself fired over from long distance.

Mexico returned fire later in the game but couldn't break down their visitors, much to the anger of their home support. The result leaves Costa Rica sitting happily in 2nd place in the CONCACAF standings.

Mark Schwarzer, meanwhile, has warned his Australia team mates that the hard work has still to be done as the Socceroos moved one step closer to their third successive World Cup finals.

Australia beat Jordan 4-0, displaying their lesser-known attacking panache, and need only beat Iraq to complete their qualification. But the experienced Schwarzer, who was on Fulham's release list unveiled earlier in the month, knows that this is no time to have fun.

"We've had quite a few discussions in the change-room afterwards," the goalkeeper said.

"We've won the game, we've done half the job.

"Nothing else matters unless we win next week [against Iraq]. If we don't win next week, then it could all end in tears, and we don't want that to happen."

Alex Kacaniklic has also been busy, helping Sweden to a richly-required 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands. The Swedes had to put in a good performance after a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Austria last Friday and Kacaniklic was his usual creative and tricky self.

The Swedes now sit in third place in Group C of the European World Cup qualifying section, and are part of an intense, three way battle for second place. The Republic of Ireland and Austria sit on the same number of points as Sweden, with eleven apiece.

Fulham Should Just Say "NO" To Offers for Alex Kacaniklic

2013-06-10T15:41:28Z

The Daily Mail had a story five days ago that Spurs were scouting Kacaniklic during his match playing for Sweden against Macedonia. As a Fulham supporter, this story obviously was unsettling to read, but not shocking as these types of story always seem to happen after the season ends.

Also, Kacaniklic is a young player with a huge upside so it comes as no surprise that Kacaniklic was being scouted by Spurs. The only surprise for me is that I expected links to Kacaniklic to happen after next season because he is still maturing and growing as a player.

Well, if another club comes knocking on the door for Kacaniklic, I hope Fulham closes the door on them, because he is the type of young player someday you might be able to build around. I understand that bigger clubs will always try to take the best players from smaller clubs, but there are certain players right now that are untouchable I feel, and Kacaniklic is one of them.

Kacaniklic will not turn twenty two years old until mid August, and according to Transfermarkt.com is under contract for one more season plus an option for one further year. It makes no sense for Fulham to sell a player that is really at the beginning of his career.

Now, there would be two reasons that could force Fulham to sell Kacaniklic at some point. First, if a club came in with an extreme offer, Fulham might have to weigh the financial benefits of a transfer compared to the loss of this young talent. If the deal was so in favor of Fulham, than it is something they would have to think about.

The other reason would be a desire of the player to leave Fulham. I have seen no indication that Kacaniklic is looking to move away from the club. If Kacaniklic started acting similar to Clint Dempsey from last summer, the club would have to consider a deal.

But, Fulham needs to put the club first, and they need to stay strong to keep this young player. If I were in charge of the club, I would certainly be talking to the agent of Kacaniklic about a new deal. This is a player you want to lock up for a longer period of time so you can strengthen your position against other clubs that come knocking.

There are also a few good reasons why Kacaniklic should stay at Fulham for his benefit. First, he has improved as a player under Fulham manager Martin Jol, and something tells me he will only get better under his leadership.

Second, he has the ability to improve by playing with teammates like Dimitar Berbatov and Bryan Ruiz. You can already see the partnership building with Kacaniklic and Berbatov last season so it is not a stretch to see it getting even stronger this upcoming season.

Third, he should have the opportunity to play regularly with Fulham next season, and if he goes to larger club, he might not see as much playing time. Say he was to go with Spurs, he might not see regular action, as Dempsey found out for himself last season. For his development as a player, I think it is crucial that he plays on a consistent basis as much as possible.

Hopefully as you read this article you can see how the working relationship between Kacaniklic and Fulham benefits both sides moving forward. Dempsey improved as a player considerably over his years with the club, and I could see that same type of growth with Kacaniklic, if he continues to play for Fulham in the future.

Last summer Fulham lost their two best players to Spurs, and if they were seriously interested in buying Kacaniklic, I think it would be a very bad idea to sell him to that club. Nothing against Spurs, but Fulham do not want to be a feeder system for another club. I think they would really get that reputation which is something they do not want.

Fulham have a huge summer ahead of them to build an improved club for the 2013-2014 season. So far they have added three players that should significantly help the club, but they would take a step backwards if they were to sell Kacaniklic this summer. Again, Fulham just need to say "NO" to offers for Kacaniklic.

Cottage Talk: Fulham Offseason 2013

2013-06-07T20:18:53Z

In this episode, we discussed the latest in Fulham news and speculation. We also spent time breaking down all of the positions for the upcoming 2013 -2014 season for Fulham. Please take a listen.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on BlogTalkRadio

Cottage Talk Today At 7PM UK Time / 2PM ET

2013-06-07T17:00:05Z

In this episode, we will discuss the latest news and speculation surrounding Fulham. Next, we will do a positional breakdown looking forward to the 2013-2014 Fulham season. Lastly, we will discuss your topics that you sent to us via social media. Please take a listen by clicking here.

Schwarzer to quit Fulham

2013-06-07T14:04:28Z

After the signing of Maarten Stekelenburg was finalised on Wednesday, it comes as no great surprise to report that Mark Schwarzer intends to quit Fulham Football Club this summer.

Making 170 appearances for Fulham over the course of 5 years, Schwarzer offered defensive stability and assured composure - something rare to find in a goalkeeper.

Although getting on in age, Schwarzer’s athletic ability over the last few seasons helped Fulham both domestically – his penalty saves away at Arsenal and at home to Queens Park Rangers – as well as his contribution in our Europa League campaign.

As a club, it’s not very often that we as fans experience the departure of a player in this manner, but as fans it is important to acknowledge that the somewhat ruthless side of the football business, can at times, ultimately benefit the team.

Mark Schwarzer certainly leaves big gloves to fill, and I am hopeful that Maarten Stekelenburg will respect this fact and produce much of the same quality we are used to seeing in between the sticks.

Here at Cottagers Confidential we wish Mark Schwarzer the best for the future, and thank him for his services to Fulham FC.

Stekelenburg signs four-year deal

2013-06-05T17:24:58Z

Maarten Stekelenburg's arrival looks set to pave the way for Mark Schwarzer’s departure.

So who is this new boy between the sticks?

Starting his youth career at Zandvoort '75, Stekelenburg had a brief stint at VV Schote, before being picked up by Ajax at 15.

In 2002, he made his club debut, and featured in cameo appearances until being made the official club number one in 2005.

Making steady progress in Holland, Stekelenburg was named ‘Player of the Year’ in the 2007/2008 season, before temporarily losing his place the following year to injury.

With the introduction of Martin Jol in 2009, Stekelenburg was reintroduced as first team keeper, and a series of strong performances over the next few seasons saw the Dutchman win the Eredivisie in 2011.

The following year Stekelenburg completed a move to A.S. Roma, where he made 48 appearances. Despite some consistent performances, he had some trouble maintaining his number one status with the Italian outfit.

Signing for Fulham, the 6ft 5in shot-stopper is to be reunited with the man who brought the best out of him in 2010.

And Fulham can be confident that his commanding presence is adequate in filling the gloves of Schwarzer, a player who has done the team proud over the last few years.

So hang on one second. A talented Dutch goalkeeper who came through the Ajax youth system, before transferring to an Italian club, losing his way, and then being rescued by The Whites, you say?

Anyone else got déjà vu?

Stekelenburg was once dubbed the new Edwin van der Sar, and in some ways has mirrored his career, to this point. He was even made the official Dutch number one, when the great man himself stepped down.

So here’s hoping for some assured performances, and, of course, for Manchester United to remain ignorant.

International Duty

2013-06-03T19:11:42Z

With a busy schedule of World Cup Qualifiers, Fulham’s finest are out to earn some international caps.

40-year-old goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who is yet to decide his future for The Whites, will be in action for Australia tomorrow in their World Cup Qualifier against Japan.

Defensive rock and club captain Brede Hangeland, will no doubt be adding to his cap collection when Norway take on Albania in Group E, this Friday.

Currently on 83 caps, Hangeland still has some way to go to catch fellow White and countryman, John Arne Riise, who retired recently from international duty, with a record 110 caps.

Bryan Ruiz will make his 53^rd cap for Costa Rica when they host Honduras in a CONCAFCAF Qualifier this Friday.

Veteran midfielder Giorgos Karagounis will once again break Greece’s caps record of 124, if he is to feature in their Group G match against Lithuania.

On the other side of the scale, club youngster Kerim Frei came on in the 62^nd minute for Turkey, in Tuesday’s thrilling 3-3 friendly with Latvia. Frei was also an unused substitute in Turkey’s friendly against Slovenia on Friday.

Alexander Kacaniklic made his 5^th appearance for Sweden this evening in a friendly against Macedonia. Scoring in the 39^th minute of their 1-0 win, the youngster will be brimming with confidence, and looks set to start in Sweden’s World Cup Group C Qualifier against Austria, this coming Friday.

Elsewhere, other friendly matches are to be staged this week. Phillippe Senderos, a player who has arguably broken into Fulham’s first eleven this year, will feature for Switzerland when they play Cyprus.

And reserve keeper, Neil Etheridge will also be in action for the Philippines when they play Hong Kong tomorrow.