Cottagers Confidential: FanPosts

Embarrassing, Disgusting, Pathetic

2013-01-26T19:04:34Z

What has happened to our side? It's not just a play-maker we are lacking. There is no passion, cohesion, or leadership. Giving the ball away so cheaply shows a desperate lack of confidence. Look at our team-sheet - we've got quality. They are not being led or inspired. Is it time to cash in on Brede? Is Berba's demeanor and body language hurting more than he helps? We are staring a proper relegation fight in the face on this form that shows no sign of abating. It's time for a change. Jol out. Adkins in.

Heroes: Dimitar Berbatov

2012-11-21T12:18:50Z

Thought people might be interested in this article on our website celebrating Mr Berbatov.

"While Ibrahimovic snarls at his team mates for misplacing a pass, like a cruel landowner whipping one of his peasants for not working hard enough at the end of a twenty hour shift, Berbatov strolls around the pitch like a kindly factory owner during the industrial revolution, nodding hello to his staff, popping a few farthings in to the hands of a lowly machine operator."

Enjoy! http://soccermaxpodcast.com/2012/11/18/heroes-dimitar-berbatov/

Thought people might be interested in this article on our website celebrating Mr Berbatov.

Enjoy! http://soccermaxpodcast.com/2012/11/18/heroes-dimitar-berbatov/

2014 World Cup Futures Odds and Betting Predictions

2012-11-06T00:43:01Z

The next World Cup doesn’t start in Brazil until June 12, 2014, but thanks to Bovada we don’t have to wait nearly that long to bet on the tournament. In fact, we can bet on World Cup futures odds right now. Here’s a look at some of the highlights of the very early numbers along with some betting predictions:

Brazil (7/2)

Brazil is the first team qualified for the tournament as the host, so t doesn’t have to endure the stress of qualifying. The downside is that that means that it won’t be as tested as others, and we won’t have as much of a sense of its strength as others. Still, the Brazilians are obviously a very talented team that is going to be a real threat. They are also the most public of teams, and will be particularly heavily bet because they are at home. Therefore, value is going to be in short supply. I am not very fond of this price, but I’m really going to hate it when the public unleashes on it and it falls closer to the tournament, so I guess there is value now relative to the future.

Argentina (9/2)

The Argentinians weren’t sharp early in qualifying, and they lost a game against Venezuela that never should have been close. They have gotten their act together recently, though, and are looking as strong as they can. Three guys in CONMEBOL qualifying have scored seven goals in nine games, and two of them are from Argentina. Therefore, this team is obviously explosive. I really like this team, and playing close to home should be an advantage. However, they have made a bad habit of underperforming in the last five World Cups, so I don’t see any value in this price.

Spain (9/2)

After winning the last three major tournaments they have played in, the Spaniards are obviously a major threat. They have been solid in qualifying play to date, though they are clearly playing like they aren’t worried about it and will only do what they need. Their group allows them that luxury - France is the only legitimate test. The first Euro win was in back 2008, so there are some concerns about age and depth. What is so remarkable about this team right now, though, is that the next generation that is coming along is potentially even better than the current one. Compared to Argentina this is an attractive price.

Germany (8/1)

Compared to what we have seen, I love this price. The Germans were semifinalists at the last World Cup and Euro 2012, and they seem to be built to peak for 2014. They are consistently solid at the World Cup, and they will again be a factor here.

Netherlands (16/1)

The Dutch burned mountains of bettors’ money at Euro 2012 with their horrific play. That makes them hard to trust, and I believe their issues there were systemic and not a fluke. No chance I’d bet on them at this or any price.

England (18/1)

I like England right now. The problem, though, is that the English are a very public team that is always overbet because people can’t be honest about what they really are. At 25/1 or 30/1 I’d be interested, but this price is too low.

Mexico (28/1)

If you’re looking for a longshot, I’d end the search at the Mexicans. Though it’s a different team, their Olympic gold medal is a good sign of where the program is going. They are deep and talented, and they have looked almost flawless in qualifying. They have been knocking on the door of an international breakthrough for years, and this could be their time. The price is right — especially compared to lower prices.

All the odds

Beware of what you are betting on here because some teams just aren’t going to win. Canada, for example, is actively listed at 1500/1 despite the fact that they are already eliminated from contention.

Brazil - 7/2

Argentina - 9/2

Spain - 9/2

Germany - 8/1

Holland - 16/1

Italy - 16/1

England - 18/1

Uruguay - 22/1

France - 25/1

Mexico - 28/1

Portugal - 28/1

Chile - 40/1

USA - 40/1

Belgium - 40/1

Paraguay - 66/1

Russia - 66/1

Colombia - 100/1

Croatia - 100/1

Ghana - 100/1

Ivory Coast - 100/1

Serbia - 100/1

Denmark - 125/1

Turkey - 125/1

Cameroon - 150/1

Czech Republic - 150/1

Ecuador - 150/1

Japan - 150/1

Nigeria - 150/1

Norway - 150/1

South Korea - 150/1

Sweden - 150/1

Australia -200/1

Bulgaria - 200/1

Poland - 200/1

Slovenia - 200/1

Switzerland - 200/1

Ukraine - 200/1

Egypt - 250/1

Hungary - 250/1

Peru - 250/1

Republic of Ireland - 250/1

Scotland - 250/1

Slovakia - 250/1

Venezuela - 250/1

Algeria - 300/1

Austria - 300/1

Israel - 300/1

Montenegro - 300/1

Morocco - 300/1

Tunisia - 300/1

Greece - 500/1

Honduras - 500/1

Romania - 500/1

China - 1000/1

Jamaica - 1000/1

New Zealand - 1000/1

Northern Ireland - 1000/1

Wales - 1000/1

Canada - 1500/1

North Korea - 1500/1

T.O. Whenham of Doc’s Sports

Brazil (7/2)

Argentina (9/2)

Spain (9/2)

Germany (8/1)

Netherlands (16/1)

England (18/1)

Mexico (28/1)

All the odds

Brazil - 7/2

Argentina - 9/2

Spain - 9/2

Germany - 8/1

Holland - 16/1

Italy - 16/1

England - 18/1

Uruguay - 22/1

France - 25/1

Mexico - 28/1

Portugal - 28/1

Chile - 40/1

USA - 40/1

Belgium - 40/1

Paraguay - 66/1

Russia - 66/1

Colombia - 100/1

Croatia - 100/1

Ghana - 100/1

Ivory Coast - 100/1

Serbia - 100/1

Denmark - 125/1

Turkey - 125/1

Cameroon - 150/1

Czech Republic - 150/1

Ecuador - 150/1

Japan - 150/1

Nigeria - 150/1

Norway - 150/1

South Korea - 150/1

Sweden - 150/1

Australia -200/1

Bulgaria - 200/1

Poland - 200/1

Slovenia - 200/1

Switzerland - 200/1

Ukraine - 200/1

Egypt - 250/1

Hungary - 250/1

Peru - 250/1

Republic of Ireland - 250/1

Scotland - 250/1

Slovakia - 250/1

Venezuela - 250/1

Algeria - 300/1

Austria - 300/1

Israel - 300/1

Montenegro - 300/1

Morocco - 300/1

Tunisia - 300/1

Greece - 500/1

Honduras - 500/1

Romania - 500/1

China - 1000/1

Jamaica - 1000/1

New Zealand - 1000/1

Northern Ireland - 1000/1

Wales - 1000/1

Canada - 1500/1

North Korea - 1500/1

T.O. Whenham of Doc’s Sports

Cottagers Seek Payback, Two Years Removed

2012-09-01T05:01:53Z

The last time the Fulham took the pitch against West Ham, Eddie Johnson was still on the roster. That gives you an idea of where Fulham was and how much time has transpired since these two teams took the pitch. Coming off a transfer deadline there are a lot of shiny new toys and it's going to be exciting to see them come into the team and see where they fit.

Looking back at the 2010/11 season, the last time the Whites and Hammers clashed during the season, they took only 1 point out of two meetings and had a 2-5 goals for/against differential. This in a season where the West Ham was relegated and Fulham took 8th in an upper half table finish. It was disappointing to say the least and today as we visit them on their pitch there has to be a little bit of revenge in the minds of those returning players. No more likely than with those members of the back line that were beat and surrendered 3 goals at home in a extremely disappointing loss. Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes, Chris Baird

Eddie Johnson

(though it's far more likely that Jol goes with Riether out on the right side) and certainly most of all, keeper Mark Schwarzer.

West Ham's attack, unfortunately for us, has also become more dangerous with the recent addition of Liverpool's Andy Carroll on a season long loan. Say what you will about Carroll he's still a dangerous player. He has a great ability to find proper positioning and with his size and athletic ability he turns that position into opportunities for goals with his head.

Sam Allardyc and his club looks ready to have Carroll in the starting XI tomorrow and it'll be interesting to see how Allardyc's love of the 4-5-1 formation works with long time striker Carlton Cole--whose pace is rather ridiculous at times and did serious work on Hughes and Baird last time around--affects his line-up selections.

Cole stuck around despite the clubs demotion last year and even allowed the club to reduced his wages in a measure of good faith having struggled to find a proper transfer. I'm not sure if they plan to use him as a super sub at this point, which is where he really belongs at this point in his career. However, I'd almost anticipate a 4-4-2 showing, if nothing else just to start the match.

With Carroll likely to do battle in the air against Hangeland the real wild card for the defence is how the Whites handle control of the midfield. A rested Diarra and Sidwell are likely to tangle themselves with some combination of Mark Noble, Mohamed Diame and Kevin Nolan. Diarra's showing last week was impressive at times. As he

I'm expecting Jol to possibly throw out a defensive formation (where is a healthy Dickerson Etuhu when you need him?) similar to what we saw against Sheffield, Tuesday night. The obvious question right now is "can Fulham be creative enough to create scoring opportunities". Considering they will be without Ruiz, and the added loss of Dembele this past week. Petric is a great finisher and can create some chances with his feet but Damien Duff is going to need to supply some great service and Kacaniklic is going to need to continue to step up out on the wing.

The west London wild card could be Hugo Rodallega.Who showed great energy against the Manchester United last week and had a couple of good looks that, with luck on his side, could have given the Whites a point leaving Old Trafford. Alas, it wasn't meant to be but he's had moments early this season that lead one to think that he could make an impact on today's game.

The Whites are going to have their work cut out for them and are going into what can be hostile environment. The midfield is going to have to keep from turning the ball over and work on transition as West Ham likes to strike quickly. It's important that attackers capitalize on what looks they get, chances are they won't get many. Hopefully Brede can shut down Carroll and we'll be looking at an easy win. But, I'm expecting a fight and a fun game to watch,

Eddie Johnson

(though it's far more likely that Jol goes with Riether out on the right side) and certainly most of all, keeper Mark Schwarzer.

Fulham's Transfer Deadline Day Growing Ever Busier

2012-08-31T05:00:30Z

According to multiple news sources, Fulham is moving closer towards acquiring Wolfsburg winger Ashkan Dejagah. The German-Iranian is believed to be worth roughly £5 million on the open market, however the current transfer fee is rumored only to be £2 million. There are potentially multiple reasons for the price knock down. It could potentially be attributed to the fact he tore his right thigh muscle during training this past week or it could be the falling out that he had with Manager Felix Magath, maybe both. Either way Fulham is getting a valued attacking piece at half the cost.

Dejagah was previously a member of the Germany's Under-21 national team in 2009, which won the European Football Championships and has made 50 appearances and even dawned the coveted #10 jersey. When FIFA changed the age restrictions on players, back in 2009, and allowed individuals to change their national affiliations Dejagah moved from Germany to Iran. Since declaring his eligibility for Iran he's earned 3 caps and in his inaugural start he went on to produce a brace versus Qatar during the group stage finale. There is actually some good youtube videos of his performance, if anyone cares to take a look.

Looking forward to what Ashkan Dejagah will bring to Fulham, he likes the ball at his feet and thought it's not where he makes all of his plays he's got great pace on the ball. He is ambitious and enjoys going right at the sticks. You can tell he's not afraid to take the shot when he has one and generally he seems like he has the ability to finish plays off. The 26-year-old has a lot of talent and should help bring even more options for Jol once healthy.

The biggest question at this point is when will he be able to get back to training considering his new injury. I've yet to find much on how badly he was hurt and how it will affect his transition with the club at this point. It'll be interesting to see how long he's out.

Considering the slew of attacking options right now for Fulham, having Dejagah fit isn't necessarily a priority but he could be yet another "buy low", "sell high" guy. He's shown some incredible skills in the past and it'll be interesting to see how he gets paired in the future.

You have to love how Fulham hasn't just sat around and sold off their "talent" but has gone out to procure replacement assets while still working towards for the future of the club and still building upon on their top-10 finish. This year is going to be a lot of fun.

Cottage Talk Today At 2PM BST

2012-08-10T12:44:30Z

n this episode of Cottage Talk, we will get you ready for the new season for Fulham as we are a little more than a week away from the first match. We will also discuss the latest speculation linked to the club.

Chris Gilbertson of Hammyend.com will be a co-host, and joining us during the show will be Dean Jones who is a football writer for The People. Please do listen to Cottage Talk by clicking here.

Cottage Talk: The Silly Season Never Stops

2012-08-03T14:53:34Z

In this episode we dicsussed the latest speculation involving Fulham, and started the process of getting you ready for the new season which begins in a few weeks.

We were joined during the show by Allen Ramsey of Goal.com USA. Later on in the show we had on Stephen Brandt who is a contributor for the radio show Vuvuzela: The World Soccer Show on Blogtalkradio.com. Please do take a listen.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

In this episode we dicsussed the latest speculation involving Fulham, and started the process of getting you ready for the new season which begins in a few weeks. We were joined during the show by Allen Ramsey of Goal.com USA. Later on in the show we had on Stephen Brandt who is a contributor for the radio show Vuvuzela: The World Soccer Show on Blogtalkradio.com. Please do take a listen. Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

Cottage Talk Today At 2PM BST

2012-08-03T12:25:47Z

In this episode we will dicsuss the latest speculation involving Fulham, and start the process of getting you ready for the new season which begins in a few weeks.

We will be joined during the show by Allen Ramsey of Goal.com USA. Later on in the show we will have on Stephen Brandt who is a contributor for the radio show Vuvuzela: The World Soccer Show on Blogtalkradio.com.

Please do join us to hear talk about Fulham by clicking here at the time of the show.

In this episode we will dicsuss the latest speculation involving Fulham, and start the process of getting you ready for the new season which begins in a few weeks.

Please do join us to hear talk about Fulham by clicking here at the time of the show.

Cottage Talk: The Silly Season Gets Worse

2012-07-27T16:03:44Z

In this episode we discussed the latest developments with Fulham, including extensions for a few players, their trip to Germany, redevelopment of Craven Cottage, and the latest speculation of players coming and going.

Chris Gilbertson and Will Paul of Hammyend.com were co-hosts of this episode. Also, joining us for an interview during the show was Simon Peach who covers Fulham for the Press Association.

Please do take a listen.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

Please do take a listen.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

Cottage Talk Today At 3PM BST

2012-07-27T13:04:00Z

In this episode we will discuss the latest developments with Fulham, including extensions for a few players, their trip to Germany, redevelopment of Craven Cottage, and the latest speculation of players coming and going.

Chris Gilbertson and Will Paul of Hammyend.com will be co-hosts of this episode. Also, joining us for an interview during the show will be Simon Peach who covers Fulham for the Press Association.

Please do take a listen by clicking here at the time of the show.

Cottage Talk: The Silly Season Goes Crazy

2012-07-13T15:16:14Z

In this episode we continued our discussion with the latest Fulham transfer speculation that honestly has gone crazy. Also, we discussed the recent signing of striker Hugo Rodallega.

We were also be joined by Richard Buxton who is a freelance football journalist, and he covers Liverpool and Everton. We asked him several questions that I think you will find interesting. Please do take a listen.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

In this episode we continued our discussion with the latest Fulham transfer speculation that honestly has gone crazy. Also, we discussed the recent signing of striker Hugo Rodallega. We were also be joined by Richard Buxton who is a freelance football journalist, and he covers Liverpool and Everton. We asked him several questions that I think you will find interesting. Please do take a listen. Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

Cottage Talk Today At 2PM BST

2012-07-13T12:05:30Z

In this episode we will continue our discussion with the latest Fulham transfer speculation that honestly has gone crazy. Also, we will discuss the recent signing of striker Hugo Rodallega. We will also be joined by Richard Buxton who is a freelance football journalist, and he covers Liverpool and Everton.

It should be a very interesting show. Please do take a listen by clicking here when the show begins.

Cottage Talk: The Silly Season And Another Fulham Signing

2012-07-06T15:12:34Z

On this episode we discussed in length "The Silly Season", which is the transfer speculation during the Summer Transfer Window.

We were also joined by Simon Peach of the Press Association who hinted that there could be some very interesting news breaking about Fulham coming up.

Mr. Peach turned out to be right as a little later we had the breaking news of Fulham signing Sascha Riether courtesy of Mr. Peach's twitter account.

This was an interesting episode as we talked about transfer speculation, and also another Fulham signing.

Please do take a listen.

Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

On this episode we discussed in length "The Silly Season", which is the transfer speculation during the Summer Transfer Window. We were also joined by Simon Peach of the Press Association who hinted that there could be some very interesting news breaking about Fulham coming up. Mr. Peach turned out to be right as a little later we had the breaking news of Fulham signing Sascha Riether courtesy of Mr. Peach's twitter account. This was an interesting episode as we talked about transfer speculation, and also another Fulham signing. Please do take a listen. Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio

Cottage Talk Today At 2PM GMT

2012-07-06T12:20:20Z

In this episode we will have fun by focusing on the latest transfer speculation circling around Fulham. We will also be joined during the show by Simon Peach of the Press Association.

Please do join us for the show that just talks Fulham by clicking here.

Cottage Talk: Fulham Signing And The Fixtures

2012-06-29T15:39:05Z

In this episode of Cottage Talk, we discussed the signing of Mladen Petric for Fulham. We also talked about latest in transfer gossip. Finally, we had a discussion about the Fulham Fixtures for the upcoming season. Please do take a listen. Listen to internet radio with cottagetalk on Blog Talk Radio