Schalke confirm interest in Sascha Riether – still a longshot

Posted: June 18, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Player/Manager, Transfer
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Sascha Riether could be heading back to Germany.

Schalke manager Horst Heldt has confirmed the club’s interest in Fulham right-back sensation Sascha Riether, but warned “if the demand is too high, it will not materialize.”

The Bundesliga club wants the former Koln defender as cover for current right-back Atsuto Uchida.

Just because he’s on their wish-list doesn’t mean this is going to happen, and it seems Schalke have a very strict evaluation of the 30-year-old, but it’s a possibility.

He has just signed a new 2-year deal with Fulham, turning his season-long loan deal permanent with a €1.4 million transfer fee to Koln.

That makes this even more unlikely, but word is the two teams are already in discussions.  How serious those discussions are remains to be seen.

I believe this move is relatively a longshot, because of how cautious Schalke are per Heldt’s quote, and I would assume Fulham would wish to make a decent profit on the defender before the rid themselves of last year’s Player’s player of the year.

Therefore, I would imagine the two clubs would have very different valuations of Riether, and I can’t imagine the two come to an agreement.

However, if they do, it will be incredibly hard to replace Riether, and Fulham will have a tough time finding someone who can fill his shoes.  Let’s hope this doesn’t come off, because I can’t imagine the club will profit that greatly from his sale.

This isn’t the first time Schalke have tried to pull off a deal for a player who just signed a contract with their club.  In 2011 they purchased Austrian left-back Christian Fuchs just after he had signed a permanent deal with FSV Mainz following a season-long loan there.

Amorebieta says leaving Athletic Bilbao was hard, but Premier League came calling

Posted: June 15, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Player/Manager
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Fernando Amorebieta joined Fulham on a free transfer this summer.  Before making the move to London, he’d spent his entire career with Athletic Bilbao.

When asked about leaving La Liga to come to the Premier League, the 28-year-old said it was tough and a bit emotional to leave his first and only team.

“I appreciated Athletic’s offer, which was very good, but in the end I thought I would be fooling myself. I was very excited about the Premier League and was eager to go there, even though my dream was to triumph with Athletic.”

He even said the money he was offered in London wasn’t the deciding factor. “Money did not make the difference. I’d still have accepted less to sample a new league.”

The fact he speaks of less money in the fictional sense suggests he’s getting more with Fulham than what Athletic offered him.

The Venezuelan has a few regrets about how he parted ways with his old club, but he’s moved on to greener pastures, and more playing time.

“It wasn’t easy to make this decision. It’s true that I would have liked to say goodbye on the pitch after helping the team, but the coach decided that others were in a better condition to play rather than myself and that must be respected. On one hand I’m grateful that we got to two finals [under Marcelo Bielsa] and that is something hard to forget. But the end of last season was very difficult to take because I was deprived of game time.”

It will be extremely exciting to watch the Venezuelan in action, most likely alongside Brede Hangeland.  With so much experience and yet still young enough to be in his prime, it’s a perfect combination to add to the Fulham squad.

Our buddy John Pantsil endorses Derek Boateng

Posted: June 4, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Player/Manager
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John Pantsil and Derek Boateng play together on the Ghana national squad. (Image credit: Reuters)

White-for-life John Pantsil and fellow Ghana international has given Fulham the thumbs-up for signing Derek Boateng.

Pantsil told Ghanasoccernet.com, “It is a great move and Fulham is a good team and especially when an African player moves there, they really take good care of the player. There he will get much playing time which will help him and the national team, with the exposure and experience he will succeed.”

While I’m sure Pantsil is a tad biased, it’s good to hear from someone who plays with him that he believes the player will help

It’s also really good to hear that the club welcomes not just African players but foreign players in general with open arms and former players felt comfortable in the environment.

Boateng signed for Fulham on a free transfer May 22 of this year, and will help boost a weakened Fulham midfield that was exposed in the final third of the Premier League season.

Boateng has been capped 32 times for Ghana since 1999, while Pantsil has seen the national squad 62 times since his first cap in 2001.

The two most recently helped Ghana to the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations before losing to Burkina Faso on penalties.

Report: Fulham brand 34th most valuable brand in the sport

Posted: June 3, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Club
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According to a fascinating and well-written report, Fulham are the 34th most valuable brand in soccer.

The report, done by UK-based brand valuation company BrandFinance, values the Fulham brand at $75 million (£49 million) which is increased from $65 million (£42.5 million) at this time last year.

BrandFinance also gave Fulham an A+ brand rating, which falls on a scale from AAA+ to D. They describe “brand rating” as similar to credit rating.

The report also discusses the growing importance of sponsorship and kit deals, a financial comparison between the Premier League and Bundesliga, and the Glazer family who owns Manchester United.

BrandFinance gave Bayern Munich the top ranking, valuating their brand at $860 million (£562 million), which allowed them to jump Manchester United who led last year.  The report valued United at $837 million (£547 million), which dropped 2% from last season due to the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and their failures in the Champions League.

Rounding out the top 10 in order are Real Madrid ($621/£406 million), Barcelona ($572/£374 million), Chelsea ($418/£273 million), Arsenal ($410/£268 million), Liverpool ($361/£236 million), Manchester City ($332/£217 million), AC Milan ($263/£172 million), and Borussia Dortmund ($260/£170 million).

I highly suggest taking 15 minutes of your time and glossing over this report, it’s extremely factual and gives a very comprehensive overview of what makes a brand in the sport of soccer.

Perfect Timing for Maarten Stekelenburg to Join Fulham

Posted: June 3, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Opinion, Transfer
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Maarten Stekelenburg is expected to be unveiled by Fulham in the next few days (image © Getty Images)

Earlier today, Roma sporting director Franco Baldini confirmed, “I went to London to sell Stekelenburg to Fulham. There were many issues to be resolved. I reached an agreement subject to a number of conditions, like the player’s personal demands and the medical.”

While the deal isn’t DONE, it’s pretty darn close.  Roma still need to tie up a replacement, which if you remember is the same issue they had in January that ultimately killed the deal at the transfer window closure (while Stek was in flight to London).  They’re looking at young Santos goalkeeper Rafael Cabral, but nothing’s finalized on that front either.

Either way, it looks like this is about a 95% chance to complete, at a price range that speculation has anywhere between £3-£5 million, a bargain either way.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time for Fulham.

There have been mixed reactions by fans on Twitter and on story comments, but it’s a wonderful move by Martin Jol with the present and future in mind.

Stekelenburg is 30 years of age, which by goalkeeper standards is right around the peak.  He struggled at Roma, but more due to the manager’s personal preference (a la Casillas and Mourinho) than the keeper himself performing poorly.  This means he’s still at the top of his game while also being cheap.

If you remember, Fulham captured Mark Schwarzer himself at the ripe age of 35 and he gave the club five fantastic seasons that showed no signs of his age until the final one.

Speaking of Schwarzer, despite looking slowed by age in the first half of the season, he appeared reinvigorated in the second half and proved to the world he still has some left in the tank.  However, would you rather see the Australian, who’s given nothing but his all to the club in the last five years, finish his Fulham career on a high note? Or would you rather Jol ride him out until he falls apart on the pitch? I think the former is much more preferable.  Why make him prove to everyone he’s done before making a move for another goalkeeper?

Then there’s the curious case of David Stockdale.  Stocko is 27, young in goalkeeper terms but at the age where he should indeed be seeking first team action. He impressed many at Hull in his loan spell and may choose the newly promoted side over the bench at Fulham, and rightly so.

Many fans have pointed to giving Stockdale the first team role as a cheaper and effective option.  While this is true, Stockdale is still young and makes mistakes, as we saw in his limited time this season.  It would be unfortunate to lose a promising young English player, but people must realize at this club you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

I certainly can’t blame Jol for splashing a little cash towards a keeper who has been the number one option at the world’s number 9-ranked team in the Netherlands?

Stekelenburg is a top option at Fulham for a bargain price at a time that allows our current beloved keeper to leave Craven Cottage on a high rather than peter out at an even older age.  What more could we as fans ask for? It’s a perfect chance.

Kia Joorabchian continues to be a huge pain in the ass

Posted: May 31, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Opinion
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Kia Joorabchian, Mark Hughes’ agent, has spoken out in the media. Again. And nobody cares.

Behind every strong man there’s an even stronger woman.

Behind every Mark Hughes there’s a Kia Joorabchian.

There is nothing worse in sports – I repeat, nothing worse – than an agent who won’t shut their mouth and needs their quota of the limelight to make it through the day.

Kia Joorabchian is that type of person.

The agents don’t play on the field, they don’t make difficult personnel decisions, they don’t call plays or pick a formation, and they don’t build teams. Their sole job in the world of sports is to make sure players and managers they represent receive the maximum compensation they possibly can. No sports fan wants to hear about any of that. Everyone understands it’s a necessary evil, but no one wants to know what goes on. When an agent pipes up, it’s like nails on a chalkboard.

Joorabchian yesterday felt the need to defend himself when pundits began pointing fingers at him saying he’s behind some of the poor signings Mark Hughes made during his stint at Queens Park Rangers. The man’s brought all this on himself, really, considering the media wouldn’t even think to shake a finger at Hughes’ agent if Joorabchian wasn’t such an outspoken, arrogant, self-absorbed attention-seeker.

Look no further than what he said yesterday while defending his actions at QPR. “I am always interested to read or hear that I was responsible for so many players signed by QPR last season.”

Of course you are.

The man is attempting to defend his actions, and instead all he does is tell people how much he loves to see himself spoken about in the media! I realize he’s trying to make a point here, but aren’t there about 2,000 other ways to say the same thing without discussing how interested he is in seeing him own name in the papers?

American sports fans can relate Joorabchian to another arrogant person in the States with the same job, one Drew Rosenhaus. However, it seems over the years Rosenhaus has actually listened to much of the criticism of his attention-seeking strategies of the past, and has reformed his public persona to one of strictly business. Joorabchian could take a lesson from Rosenhaus, who is rarely seen in the media these days, and instead is rolling in piles of cash while his public image repairs itself over time.

Please, Kia, spare us. Shut up, and leave Mark Hughes to burn on his own. He doesn’t need any help, and he certainly doesn’t need someone to join him in the fire.

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