Soccer: Fulham have completed the signing of Roma defender John Arne Riise for an undisclosed fee, while Liverpool have sold defender Paul Konchesky to Championship side Leicester.
Former Liverpool left-back Riise has penned a three-year deal at Craven Cottage and will link up with his brother Bjorn Helge in west London.
Riise has spent the past three seasons plying his trade in Serie A with Roma, having departed from Anfield in 2008.
The 30-year-old clocked up more than 230 appearances for the Merseysiders after joining them from Monaco in 2001 and the full-back admits it is great to be back in England.
"I'm delighted to have completed my transfer to Fulham this morning and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League once again," he told fulhamfc.com.
"Fulham is a club that I have been following as my brother, Bjorn, plays here and he speaks very highly of the club and the staff. Obviously I also played against the club in the Europa League group stage when they went on to reach the final of the competition.
"I know that the club is ambitious and continues to make good progress each year, under the guidance of the chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed. I am looking forward to working with Martin Jol and the rest of the squad when I report to training next week."
The Norway international is recently-appointed manager Martin Jol's second signing of the summer, following the arrival of Hungarian goalkeeper Csaba Somogyi earlier this week.
"John Arne Riise is an experienced international left-back, who will bring a number of qualities to our squad and provide more options for me," said Jol.
"He is used to performing at the very highest level for both club and country and is an accomplished player defensively, who can also contribute to our attacking play.
"I am extremely happy that we've been able to add him to our squad, and believe that he will prove a valuable addition as we progress."
Elsewhere Konchesky will leave Merseyside to join up with Leicester. The 30-year-old, signed for €5million last August by then manager Roy Hodgson, played just 18 matches for the Reds after struggling to settle after his move from Fulham.
Hodgson's departure and Kenny Dalglish's arrival in early January effectively signalled the end of the left-back's Anfield career as he was immediately loaned out to Championship side Nottingham Forest.
He returned to pre-season training with the Reds but was told he was surplus to requirements and has now been moved on, for a reported fee of €2million.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Veteran soccer manager Roy Hodgson has found a home with West Bromwich Albion
Something astounding happened last spring at West Bromwich Albion.
After Roy Hodgson's arrival as manager in February, the club's fortunes veered from battling relegation to battling giants.
If there was some secret to that dramatic turnaround, Hodgson, who was at Oxnard College Monday as the English Premier League soccer club opened a weeklong local training camp, isn't ready to disclose it.
Or even take credit for it.
"I wouldn't want to make comments because it could be seen as something special that I had done and something wrong that someone else had done," said Hodgson. "I don't want to do that."
Conversely, midfielder and team captain Chris Brunt leapt at the chance to credit Hodgson for the Baggies finish, which included 20 points and just two losses in their final 12 matches.
"I think obviously the reason for us doing well at the end of the season was the new manager coming in," said Brunt. "Obviously, his experience and his success all over Europe and obviously in the Premier League with different clubs, as well, helped us to no ends.
"That was probably the biggest difference. He got us a lot more organized. We were hard to beat."
The veteran manager has seen so much over a 35-year career that not only has brought him around his native England, but multiple clubs in adopted homelands in Scandinavia (Malmo, Copenhagen, Viking), Switzerland (Grasshopper, Neuchatel Xamax) and Italy (Inter Milan, Udinese), as well as stints with the Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Finland national teams.
But the 2010-11 season most go down as one of his most memorable.
After guiding Fulham to its first European final in the London-based clubs' 130-year history, an achievement that saw him named Manager of the Year by his peers, Hodgson was hired at Liverpool, one of the most successful clubs in European history.
"I think about it mainly in terms of highs," said Hodgson. "What we did at Fulham in the 3 years I had there, culminating in a (Europa League) final with a team like Fulham, that was certainly an unbelievable high, as was being selected as the next Liverpool coach."
Things went sour at Anfield, where Liverpool, limited during the ill-fated ownership of Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks, limped to its slowest start in generations and Hodgson left after just 31 games.
"The fact that that didn't work out for me is disappointing, but I don't regard it as an enormous low because so much was happening at the club at the time," explained Hodgson. "It was the right club at the wrong time for me."
After only a matter of weeks, Hodgson was snapped up by West Brom, who was destined for the drop after losing 13 of its last 18 matches.
Barely three months later, the Baggies' 11th-place finish was its best in nearly 30 years.
PHOTO BY JUAN CARLO
Roy Hodgson, 63, head manager of West Bromwich Albion talks to his player during practice at Oxnard College soccer field. The English soccer club practice for about two hours this morning.
"We were very close to getting into that Top 10," said Hodgson. "That was a great way to finish considering our one and only goal coming in, because we were sliding very quickly toward relegation, was to make sure we would stay in the league.
"To do it with some aplomb was a real bonus, but it doesn't alter the fact that next year, once again, we'll be in that group of maybe as many of 10 teams that will have to be very careful and very aware that if things don't go well that could be sucked down into the teams getting relegated."
After so many years in the game, Hodgson remains realistic. But the man who speaks five different languages and has coached 21 different teams in eight different countries also isn't afraid to soak up the sights. Upon his arrival Sunday, Hodgson chose the scenic Pacific Coast Highway route north from the airport.
Of course, this isn't his first trip to the United States. When he guided the Swiss national team to the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., its first major finals in three decades, Westlake High graduate Eric Wynalda's free kick goal kept him from taking all three points in the Group A opener.
That team also played the U.S. and Mexico in pre-tournament friendlies in Southern California.
"In actual fact, I have an enormous amount of association with America," said Hodgson, who has a son who lives in Miami.
Hodgson has spent much of his career outside his homeland, building a reputation that perhaps resonates across Europe more so than England.
But Hodgson, 63, seems determined to continue his career at home.
"It has been a very interesting career, a very interesting life," said Hodgson. "There are people who have spent longer time in their own country, and as a result, of course, have become perhaps bigger names within their own country. But I certainly don't regret the fact that I had the chance to establish a reputation as a football coach not only as in England but in other countries."
"That's very pleasing for me. It's also exceptionally pleasing to come back toward the end of one's career and have a good spell in England.
It's been a very good four years. It'll be nice if I can keep that going a bit longer."
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jul/12/Hodgson/?partner=yahoo_feeds#ixzz1Rx5hA27g
- vcstar.com
After Roy Hodgson's arrival as manager in February, the club's fortunes veered from battling relegation to battling giants.
If there was some secret to that dramatic turnaround, Hodgson, who was at Oxnard College Monday as the English Premier League soccer club opened a weeklong local training camp, isn't ready to disclose it.
Or even take credit for it.
"I wouldn't want to make comments because it could be seen as something special that I had done and something wrong that someone else had done," said Hodgson. "I don't want to do that."
Conversely, midfielder and team captain Chris Brunt leapt at the chance to credit Hodgson for the Baggies finish, which included 20 points and just two losses in their final 12 matches.
"I think obviously the reason for us doing well at the end of the season was the new manager coming in," said Brunt. "Obviously, his experience and his success all over Europe and obviously in the Premier League with different clubs, as well, helped us to no ends.
"That was probably the biggest difference. He got us a lot more organized. We were hard to beat."
The veteran manager has seen so much over a 35-year career that not only has brought him around his native England, but multiple clubs in adopted homelands in Scandinavia (Malmo, Copenhagen, Viking), Switzerland (Grasshopper, Neuchatel Xamax) and Italy (Inter Milan, Udinese), as well as stints with the Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Finland national teams.
But the 2010-11 season most go down as one of his most memorable.
After guiding Fulham to its first European final in the London-based clubs' 130-year history, an achievement that saw him named Manager of the Year by his peers, Hodgson was hired at Liverpool, one of the most successful clubs in European history.
"I think about it mainly in terms of highs," said Hodgson. "What we did at Fulham in the 3 years I had there, culminating in a (Europa League) final with a team like Fulham, that was certainly an unbelievable high, as was being selected as the next Liverpool coach."
Things went sour at Anfield, where Liverpool, limited during the ill-fated ownership of Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks, limped to its slowest start in generations and Hodgson left after just 31 games.
"The fact that that didn't work out for me is disappointing, but I don't regard it as an enormous low because so much was happening at the club at the time," explained Hodgson. "It was the right club at the wrong time for me."
After only a matter of weeks, Hodgson was snapped up by West Brom, who was destined for the drop after losing 13 of its last 18 matches.
Barely three months later, the Baggies' 11th-place finish was its best in nearly 30 years.
PHOTO BY JUAN CARLO
Roy Hodgson, 63, head manager of West Bromwich Albion talks to his player during practice at Oxnard College soccer field. The English soccer club practice for about two hours this morning.
"We were very close to getting into that Top 10," said Hodgson. "That was a great way to finish considering our one and only goal coming in, because we were sliding very quickly toward relegation, was to make sure we would stay in the league.
"To do it with some aplomb was a real bonus, but it doesn't alter the fact that next year, once again, we'll be in that group of maybe as many of 10 teams that will have to be very careful and very aware that if things don't go well that could be sucked down into the teams getting relegated."
After so many years in the game, Hodgson remains realistic. But the man who speaks five different languages and has coached 21 different teams in eight different countries also isn't afraid to soak up the sights. Upon his arrival Sunday, Hodgson chose the scenic Pacific Coast Highway route north from the airport.
Of course, this isn't his first trip to the United States. When he guided the Swiss national team to the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., its first major finals in three decades, Westlake High graduate Eric Wynalda's free kick goal kept him from taking all three points in the Group A opener.
That team also played the U.S. and Mexico in pre-tournament friendlies in Southern California.
"In actual fact, I have an enormous amount of association with America," said Hodgson, who has a son who lives in Miami.
Hodgson has spent much of his career outside his homeland, building a reputation that perhaps resonates across Europe more so than England.
But Hodgson, 63, seems determined to continue his career at home.
"It has been a very interesting career, a very interesting life," said Hodgson. "There are people who have spent longer time in their own country, and as a result, of course, have become perhaps bigger names within their own country. But I certainly don't regret the fact that I had the chance to establish a reputation as a football coach not only as in England but in other countries."
"That's very pleasing for me. It's also exceptionally pleasing to come back toward the end of one's career and have a good spell in England.
It's been a very good four years. It'll be nice if I can keep that going a bit longer."
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jul/12/Hodgson/?partner=yahoo_feeds#ixzz1Rx5hA27g
- vcstar.com
Schwarzer talks up Fulham
Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says the Cottagers are looking to make their mark in Europe after a strong domestic campaign last season.
The Australia international has been a key presence in Fulham's blossoming in the English Premier League after joining at the end of their disastrous 2007/08 campaign.
Since then, the Cottagers have gone on to record two top-10 finishes in the past three years, as well as taking Atletico Madrid to extra time in the final of the 2009/10 Europa League.
Fulham are on the long road back to Europe, having been granted a berth in the first qualifying round of the 2011/12 Europa League through UEFA's Fair Play rankings.
The club has already cleared the first hurdle - Faroese club NSI Runavik - with a 3-0 aggregate, and locked in a tie with Irish League side Crusaders in the second qualifying round.
Schwarzer says Fulham are determined to prove they belong in Europe just as they do in the Premier League.
"We’ve just got to keep backing up what we’ve been doing over the last few years," he told Fulham's official website.
"The last three seasons have been, for Fulham Football Club and a lot of us personally, fantastic. It’s possibly been the best three years in a lot of our careers. We need to continue that run."
"We believe that we belong in the top half of the Premier League and we like to think that we can mix it in Europe every couple of seasons."
Those expectations are not limited to the players. Schwarzer acknowledges Fulham fans are also anticipating improvement under new manager Martin Jol.
"The expectation levels are always higher," Schwarzer said.
"When I first came here, the club had just avoided relegation with 15 minutes to spare so anything above that was a bonus."
"To then finish seventh, then have such a great run in Europe and finish eighth last year means the expectations are there."
"We, as players, acknowledge that and we know that we need to live up to them. So far it’s been a great challenge."
"If you look at the history of the club and how much has been accomplished, particularly in the last three years – it’s been outstanding."
The Australia international has been a key presence in Fulham's blossoming in the English Premier League after joining at the end of their disastrous 2007/08 campaign.
Since then, the Cottagers have gone on to record two top-10 finishes in the past three years, as well as taking Atletico Madrid to extra time in the final of the 2009/10 Europa League.
Fulham are on the long road back to Europe, having been granted a berth in the first qualifying round of the 2011/12 Europa League through UEFA's Fair Play rankings.
The club has already cleared the first hurdle - Faroese club NSI Runavik - with a 3-0 aggregate, and locked in a tie with Irish League side Crusaders in the second qualifying round.
Schwarzer says Fulham are determined to prove they belong in Europe just as they do in the Premier League.
"We’ve just got to keep backing up what we’ve been doing over the last few years," he told Fulham's official website.
"The last three seasons have been, for Fulham Football Club and a lot of us personally, fantastic. It’s possibly been the best three years in a lot of our careers. We need to continue that run."
"We believe that we belong in the top half of the Premier League and we like to think that we can mix it in Europe every couple of seasons."
Those expectations are not limited to the players. Schwarzer acknowledges Fulham fans are also anticipating improvement under new manager Martin Jol.
"The expectation levels are always higher," Schwarzer said.
"When I first came here, the club had just avoided relegation with 15 minutes to spare so anything above that was a bonus."
"To then finish seventh, then have such a great run in Europe and finish eighth last year means the expectations are there."
"We, as players, acknowledge that and we know that we need to live up to them. So far it’s been a great challenge."
"If you look at the history of the club and how much has been accomplished, particularly in the last three years – it’s been outstanding."
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Fulham's Kamara joins Turkey's Eskisehirspor
Fulham's Diomansy Kamara celebrates after scoring against AS Roma during their UEFA Europa League soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Rome November 5, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
Senegalese striker Diomansy Kamara has joined Turkish football club Eskisehirspor, the club confirmed on Friday.
Kamara, who was recently playing for British Premier League team Fulham, signed a 3-year contract with Eskisehirspor, the club said.
Kamara, born in Paris, France in 1980, began his professional football career with Red Star 93 in 1998.
The striker later joined Italy's Catanzaro and Modena, and then transferred to Premier League's Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion respectively. Having signed with Fulham in 2007, Kamara also played for Celtic and Leicester City teams on loan.
Source: Xinhua
Senegalese striker Diomansy Kamara has joined Turkish football club Eskisehirspor, the club confirmed on Friday.
Kamara, who was recently playing for British Premier League team Fulham, signed a 3-year contract with Eskisehirspor, the club said.
Kamara, born in Paris, France in 1980, began his professional football career with Red Star 93 in 1998.
The striker later joined Italy's Catanzaro and Modena, and then transferred to Premier League's Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion respectively. Having signed with Fulham in 2007, Kamara also played for Celtic and Leicester City teams on loan.
Source: Xinhua
Fulham already serving up soccer before Wimbledon ends
By Mike Collett
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Fulham kicked off their season with a Europa League qualifier on Thursday at a time of year usually reserved for late drama in the tennis, a leisurely pint in a pub on the banks of the River Thames or a casual stroll on Wimbledon Common.
But the match at Craven Cottage, less than 6 km from where Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were enjoying a different kind of summer success by reaching the Wimbledon final, left no doubt European club soccer is almost a never-ending year-round affair.
With Pimms and strawberries and cream still being served up among the aces at Wimbledon, Fulham’s first qualifying round, first-leg match against NSI Runavik of the Faroe Islands, which they won 3-0, took place at a time when football used to be in summer hibernation.
But now, just six weeks after Porto beat Braga in last season’s Europa League final in Dublin, barely a month since Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League final at Wembley, and six weeks before the start of the Premier League season, European club soccer has sneaked back into the schedule.
Fulham’s new manager Martin Jol, who only took over last week, had no complaints about his side’s first game taking place now, but had one eye on what was going on at Wimbledon.
“I hope to get there in the next couple of days and would love to see Andy Murray win the men’s title, but I think he has an almost impossible task,” said the Dutchman referring to the Briton’s semi-final against top-seeded Spaniard Rafa Nadal.
“I was going to go the other day but it was raining.”
Coming back to the task at hand, Jol felt he needed a bigger squad if Fulham were to negotiate their way through 23 matches and win the Europa League final in Bucharest next year.
“At least 20 very good players,” he smiled, although he refused to complain about the early start to the campaign.
“Most of the other clubs will be playing their first friendlies in the next few days, so it makes no difference,” he said.
TWENTY FANS
Runavik, from the village of Nes on the southern tip of the island of Eysturoy, are fourth in the Faroese first division and about 20 fans from the local population of 3,800 came to see what the club’s chairwoman Ragnhild Knudsen described as a “great, fun match for the club”.
They gave a good account of themselves too with Runavik’s shaven-headed Hungarian goalkeeper Andras Gango their man of the match and, although they will almost certainly be eliminated after next week’s second leg, they were not disgraced.
Reflecting trends across the continent, Runavik have a multi-national squad with players from Ghana, Georgia, Cameroon and Hungary, but while they never stopping buzzing around in their yellow and black striped shirts, they rarely stung goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer into action.
In reality it was not much more than a pre-season warm-up for a full-strength Fulham side in front of an impressive crowd of 14,910.
To underline the fact that European club soccer is back — less than a week after the Under-21 championships ended in Denmark—the game was one of 25 being played across Europe by the game’s lesser lights such as FC Honka of Finland, Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan and Tre Penne of San Marino.
Fulham, who lost the 2010 Europa League final to Atletico Madrid, qualified for this season’s competition as one of three Fair Play winners meaning they began their campaign so early.
Fulham dominated from the start but only took a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to a well-taken 32nd minute curler from Damien Duff.
Gango produced the other real show of quality in the first half with a brilliant tip over the bar to deny Bobby Zamora and in the second half did well to save again from Zamora and Duff.
However, he had no chance with Danny Murphy’s penalty on the hour or Andy Johnson’s third for Fulham nine minutes later.
The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday in the Faroes with Fulham already looking towards a meeting with Crusaders of Northern Ireland in the second qualifying round next month.
It will still be summer but by then the novelty for the fans, if not their holiday tans, will have already worn off. (Editing by Ken Ferris; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Fulham kicked off their season with a Europa League qualifier on Thursday at a time of year usually reserved for late drama in the tennis, a leisurely pint in a pub on the banks of the River Thames or a casual stroll on Wimbledon Common.
But the match at Craven Cottage, less than 6 km from where Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were enjoying a different kind of summer success by reaching the Wimbledon final, left no doubt European club soccer is almost a never-ending year-round affair.
With Pimms and strawberries and cream still being served up among the aces at Wimbledon, Fulham’s first qualifying round, first-leg match against NSI Runavik of the Faroe Islands, which they won 3-0, took place at a time when football used to be in summer hibernation.
But now, just six weeks after Porto beat Braga in last season’s Europa League final in Dublin, barely a month since Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League final at Wembley, and six weeks before the start of the Premier League season, European club soccer has sneaked back into the schedule.
Fulham’s new manager Martin Jol, who only took over last week, had no complaints about his side’s first game taking place now, but had one eye on what was going on at Wimbledon.
“I hope to get there in the next couple of days and would love to see Andy Murray win the men’s title, but I think he has an almost impossible task,” said the Dutchman referring to the Briton’s semi-final against top-seeded Spaniard Rafa Nadal.
“I was going to go the other day but it was raining.”
Coming back to the task at hand, Jol felt he needed a bigger squad if Fulham were to negotiate their way through 23 matches and win the Europa League final in Bucharest next year.
“At least 20 very good players,” he smiled, although he refused to complain about the early start to the campaign.
“Most of the other clubs will be playing their first friendlies in the next few days, so it makes no difference,” he said.
TWENTY FANS
Runavik, from the village of Nes on the southern tip of the island of Eysturoy, are fourth in the Faroese first division and about 20 fans from the local population of 3,800 came to see what the club’s chairwoman Ragnhild Knudsen described as a “great, fun match for the club”.
They gave a good account of themselves too with Runavik’s shaven-headed Hungarian goalkeeper Andras Gango their man of the match and, although they will almost certainly be eliminated after next week’s second leg, they were not disgraced.
Reflecting trends across the continent, Runavik have a multi-national squad with players from Ghana, Georgia, Cameroon and Hungary, but while they never stopping buzzing around in their yellow and black striped shirts, they rarely stung goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer into action.
In reality it was not much more than a pre-season warm-up for a full-strength Fulham side in front of an impressive crowd of 14,910.
To underline the fact that European club soccer is back — less than a week after the Under-21 championships ended in Denmark—the game was one of 25 being played across Europe by the game’s lesser lights such as FC Honka of Finland, Qarabag FK of Azerbaijan and Tre Penne of San Marino.
Fulham, who lost the 2010 Europa League final to Atletico Madrid, qualified for this season’s competition as one of three Fair Play winners meaning they began their campaign so early.
Fulham dominated from the start but only took a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to a well-taken 32nd minute curler from Damien Duff.
Gango produced the other real show of quality in the first half with a brilliant tip over the bar to deny Bobby Zamora and in the second half did well to save again from Zamora and Duff.
However, he had no chance with Danny Murphy’s penalty on the hour or Andy Johnson’s third for Fulham nine minutes later.
The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday in the Faroes with Fulham already looking towards a meeting with Crusaders of Northern Ireland in the second qualifying round next month.
It will still be summer but by then the novelty for the fans, if not their holiday tans, will have already worn off. (Editing by Ken Ferris; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Soccer Star to Appear in Carthage Wednesday
he Moore County Public Library will host famous soccer player Clint Dempsey Wednesday as part of its summer reading program, One World, Many Stories.
Dempsey will share his story and talk about how he became a player on the United States men’s national soccer team and the Fulham Football Club in the English Premier League. The event takes place at 10 a.m. in the amphitheater near Carthage Elementary School. If it rains, it will move to the Carthage Agricultural Center.
Dempsey holds the record for having the highest number of goals in a single season for an American in the English Premier League and is Fulham’s career Premier League scoring leader. He is the second American to score in two different FIFA World Cup final tournaments.
Catie Roche, director of Moore County Public Library, said that the session will be a great opportunity for children and players of all ages. She added that Dempsey will accept children’s questions at the end of the event. It is open to the public and free.
Dempsey is married to former High Falls and Union Pines graduate Bethany Keegan.
Dempsey will share his story and talk about how he became a player on the United States men’s national soccer team and the Fulham Football Club in the English Premier League. The event takes place at 10 a.m. in the amphitheater near Carthage Elementary School. If it rains, it will move to the Carthage Agricultural Center.
Dempsey holds the record for having the highest number of goals in a single season for an American in the English Premier League and is Fulham’s career Premier League scoring leader. He is the second American to score in two different FIFA World Cup final tournaments.
Catie Roche, director of Moore County Public Library, said that the session will be a great opportunity for children and players of all ages. She added that Dempsey will accept children’s questions at the end of the event. It is open to the public and free.
Dempsey is married to former High Falls and Union Pines graduate Bethany Keegan.
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