Fulham Echo

Good morning a press confrence has been called at Fulham FC this morning to announce the appointment of former Reggina and Leeds manager Dave Davies-Evans.

Dave welcome back into football.

"Many thanks guys, i would like to thank you all for turning up this morning and i would like to thank the powers to be for giving me this oppurtunity to return."

You have taken charge of Fulham when they are in a very sorry state what is your first objective?

"This club has been hit by some pretty bad times of late and i am here to steady the ship and put some confidence and morale back into the team and staff."

You had a very succesfull time at Leeds utd before steeping down there, are you pleased with there success since you have left.

"I do not relly want to speak about Leeds Utd they have a manger in there and i am the Fulham Manager."

Would you like to say anything to your fellow managers?

"Iwould like to start by apologising to anyone i may have upset in the past and i hope we can all work closely again like we did in the past."

Will there be any players coming in Dave?

"I am working hard to strengthen the squad. But im not going to panic buy. I need to start from the bottom up and bring the age of the squad down. I will be signing loan players and players that i feel will strenghthen the squad."

Many thanks for your time this morning Dave and good luck for the future.

"Thanks guys and i would like to say something to the fans.The good days will return"

 

 

-- Edited by bigwave1927 on Saturday 5th of September 2009 10:02:35 AM

Third generation of Baggies

West Brom are hailing the 'third generation' of the Midlands club after a fantastic 0-0 draw with title challengers Liverpool. West Brom have enjoyed success from day one since Simon Jenkins was appointed taking over in League One. Promotions and a move away to sunny Spain brought the second era of success at the club with Paul Harrington being appointed from Southampton. Harrington changed the style of play on the pitch without losing out on the results and left the club as an established 'little club in the big league' in the Premiership.

Bucking the trend of managers moving from West Brom to Spain, Gareth Gardner replaced Harrington as he moved to Atletico Madrid. Gardner moved in the opposite direction from Celta Vigo and has already begun removing and rebuilding the corner stones of the Harrington era but recent results have hinted at an even brighter future.

"Many consider us to be a Championship club at heart" chairman Jeremy Peace stated. "We enjoy every game that we can punch well above what other people expect of us."

West Brom fans have a tentative eye on breaking into the top half of the Premiership now with recent form so good and being just 5 points behind West Ham. Football pundits commented that Gardner has brought a more defensive game to the West Brom team following Harrington's free flowing attacking football, but this weeks deadlock with Liverpool has also hinted at a bright future for Gardner, be it in the Midlands or back in Spain with his fellow ex-West Brom managers.

Chelsea Manager speaks to the Press

Are you pleased at going 8 points clear at the top of the table?

"Naturally I am delighted the team are at the top of the table. It has been a difficult few weeks in terms of fixtures in both the league and cup but the team have performed excellently. West Ham certainly gave us something to think about this week but once again Arjen (Robben) came up with a vital goal. There are still 6 games to go so there are plenty of points to be won and lost. I am looking forward to pitting my wits against Stuart at Man City. He is a top manager and an asset to the Premier League and will push Man City in the right direction. It is my job to make sure that Chelsea remain in front of them.  "

Yes, Robben has been on top form. Do you think he should be player of the season?

"It is early days yet as there is a lot of football still to be played. There is no doubt that he is a candidate for it though. Since the sale of Kaka, Arjen has taken full advantage of that and become one of the most important players in the team."

Why did you spend £10 million on another Left sided midfielder then?

"Unfortunately Arjen can't go on forever so I see Sanchez as an eventual replacement for him. That is a good number of years down the line though as Sanchez needs first team experience. That is the main reason for loaning him to Parma. Chris is an excellent manager who will coach Sanchez in such a way that will benefit all parties."

What are your thoughts on your other youngsters?

"Marcelo and Forcada have been immense since breaking into the first team. There were a lot of people questionning my decision to sell Kaka but I really wanted to sign Marcelo when the opportunity arose. Since then though we won the league, are on top at the moment so hopefully my decision has been vindicated. Forcada has also done well in filling Joe Cole's boots and will only get better."

Are you looking forward to the European Cup?

"I am looking forward to the game against Man Utd. Craig has done very well and I know that the game will be tough. Man Utd have struggled a bit over the last few weeks but will be dangerous. They rested some of their top players at theweekend so they will be raring to go. If we play to our full potential I am hopeful for a good result."

"That's all for now, thanks"

Ascoli 2-0 Reggina

4 Wins on the trot leaves Jonny Sinclair's team in 3rd

Jonny your side have won again that makes it four wins on the trot in the league and its moved into 3rd you must be pleased?

'Yes im pleased of course what's the most pleasing is that we're beaten another play-off rival in Reggina who beat us 2-0 early on the season and we've got our revenge today we were always the better side and we are now in the highest position we have been in all season and we're catching up with Udinese who are stalling as well, only points four points off second place now i wouldn't have we could catch up after a pretty poor first half to the season but credit to my players they're digging in and with a little extra quality we're starting to get results we need'


Who pleased you the most out of this performance?

'Well the whole team did well again Michele (De Bellis) had a great debut and John will be hoping he can keeping do that while he is down here he said he wants to help us get promoted and edged a little closer to maybe doing that Freddie (Kanoute) also scored his first goal for the club and he caused Reggina endless amounts of problem and James (Vaughan) also set up both the goals and he has really impressed me with his quality'

Now that Ascoli have some money in the bank do plan on making any big signings in the next few weeks?

'We have one coming in this week Adriano Pereira from Real Mallorca he isn't a big money signing but he is a decent enough right back that has La Liga experience and I'm sure will be able to adapt to Italian football easily we've had talks also with Inter Milan about a couple of players but nothing is happening on that front at the moment I don't plan on spending all of the money on players alone a plan on at least improving the stadium at the end of the season we're getting full capacity week in and week out as some fans are left disappointed they can't get to a game because we're sold out'

You have Torino next week that should be other easy and 5th win in a row shouldn't it?

No of course it won't you'd be naive to think so, it wasn't to long ago this season were expected to beat them this season and we drew 0-0 and were reduced to 10 men you can never make assumptions in football and much credit go to manager Ashley Davies for sticking by the struggling team unlike managers before him it's known that Torino have little money to buy decent players but Ashley is making them tougher to beat they are only losing by the one goal and im sure soon he will chalk up his first win of the season its only a matter of time we will have to make sure that we are playing our best football to beat them because i know we can beat most teams if we do this'

That's all we have time for thanks for speaking to us today Jonny

No problem, cheers guys.

-- Edited by Sinky2707 on Monday 7th of September 2009 03:23:24 PM

Arsenal down to one

Dreams of a trophy this season have taken a severe blow for Arsenal fans as the team went out of the European Cup tonight. Arsenal put up a brave fight drawing 4-4 after extra time with a favoured Real Madrid team that is heavily tipped to win the competition but went down dismally 4-1 on penalties. Fans coming away from the ground commented that the lack of belief from some of the youngsters was plain to see with only Kaka scoring in the shoot out. A selection of pictures from Downing in tears, Fabrigas with his head in his hands, or a solitary Newcombe with his hands in his pockets are no doubt going to be the pick of the shots for tomorrows back pages.

Newcombe has been under pressure for a few seasons now, with last years relative success being an island in the otherwise difficult waters in the London club. The Gunners have failed to sustain any challenge on the top few positions in the Premiership and after a dreadful start to this season many believe his days are numbered, despite a decent recovery of late.

News of a board meeting was leaked last week but the club have failed to comment on the decisions made behind closed doors adding to the speculation that confidence is dwindling in the manager, an Arsenal fan himself.

Fans had hoped Newcombe would force the issue on the board and regain the backing of his managerial skills by claiming victory in one of the two Cup competitions but with Chelsea in the English Cup semi-finals you have to wonder how manager John Brady feels with the potential to arguably put the final nail in one of his rivals coffins.


Quinn feeling pressure

Sheffield United winger Stephen Quinn has admitted he is feeling the pressure of his first full season in professional football. The product of the Sheffield United youth academy, Quinn has done well in the early stages of his career with 5 goals and an assist to his name having featured in most of the teams matches this season. However manager Andy Fletcher recently stated he was looking toward Quinn to improve recent form and the young winger admits he is feeling the pressure.

"A few of us have come through the academy together. I know (Luton) Shelton and James (Ashmore) well but both of them have had an easier transition. I love playing for the club but the young boys are carrying a lot of expectation."

Sheffield United currently occupy 4th place and are 5 points behind the automatic places.


Roma hold crisis talks

Rumours in Italy suggest manager Glenn Whitter is on the brink of being sacked following a dismal run of form that has seen the club slip to 3 points off relegation in 9th place in Serie A. Whitter has struggled to rebuild the aging squad he took over despite rivals Inter Milan being rebuilt in the same time and currently sitting at the top of the division.

11th placed Palermo are reportedly monitoring the situation with a view to taking Whitter back to the club he left in favour of Roma. Whitter was a success at Palermo guiding the Serie B club into a stable Serie A team that was safe from relegation for a season and a half prior to his move away. However Palermo have struggled without leadership and look to be reverting back to the club they were prior to his appointment, which could add urgency to their interest in his re-appointment.