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Speaking ahead of Saturday’s home match against Middlesbrough, Roy Hodgson fielded questions from the assembled members of the media on a variety of topics.
Injury News
“Bobby Zamora has recovered from the hip injury which kept him out last week. He’s back in training today [Friday], so that’s a piece of good news. Apart from that we have the usual long-term injuries of Diomansy Kamara and Andranik.”
On Mark Schwarzer’s impact since joining the Club
“He’s been a remarkable signing, in terms of his ability, presence and enthusiasm. I’d say the same goes for Pascal Zuberbuhler, who is his understudy. They’re roughly the same age and have great experience but the two of them bring so much to the training sessions.
“Mark’s been well protected by the whole team in front of him but when he’s been called upon, he’s done a great job.”
On the transfer window
“I would be very pleased if the transfer window came and went without too much activity. I’m happy with the group of players we have here, I think this group of players is capable of achieving our goal of having a good Premiership season. It’s still early days and I know that the transfer mill is grinding – as far as we’re concerned there is nothing to report and that’s a healthy situation for us.”
On Jimmy Bullard’s contract talks
“We’re still waiting to see what happens because he [Bullard] has his own ambitions. I’m not a party to those discussions when Jimmy sits down with this agent and Alistair Mackintosh [Fulham Chief Executive].
“He hasn’t been told he can leave in January. We’re not trying to get rid of Jimmy Bullard, but Jimmy Bullard is trying to get a contract which suits him. He’s not sure that we can provide that contract and, as a result, we must be realistic and there might be other clubs out there who can offer him that, and can pay the transfer fee we think he’s worth. If that happens, it happens.
“Certainly Jimmy’s wage demands and where he sees himself are at a very high level and it’s not certain that Fulham Football Club will be the Club that can match that. With the January transfer window coming up, we cannot rule out that if the Club at the moment is not satisfying him, telling him the things he really wants to hear, there might be other clubs coming in and attempting to sign him – that’s a situation that I think a lot of football clubs are going to find themselves in this transfer window.
“At the end of the day it’s the Chairman’s Club. Alistair Mackintosh and I will say what we think on the football front and we’ll certainly have plenty of advice to give about any potential deal that comes our way and I’m sure that the Chairman will listen. It will be his decision because he’s the one who pays the money, it’s his Club.
“If an offer came in which he and the Club finds very, very attractive then it wouldn’t be very easy for me to say ‘no, I don’t want it.’ It’s not quite as simple as that, I don’t think it’s like that at any football club. Every decision that is made at this high level has to be made for the good of the Club. You can’t make decisions for the good of the Club without involving the owner who puts in all the money. We wouldn’t be sitting here today with his support."
On potential midfield transfer targets
“I’ve got to say that I’m not looking because I’m so fearful that Bullard will no longer be with the Club. I’m not particularly fearful of that. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if we didn’t have other ideas and alternatives for lots of positions, because that’s why we employ so many people on the scouting front – to make sure that if something happens, we’re not taken totally by surprise – we know what is out there in the market and we know what sort of players we would like to sign.”
On Fulham’s recent goalscoring form
“The last few games haven’t exactly been against opposition where Fulham are normally expected to go and score four goals - in Liverpool and Aston Villa. More often than not, we’ve gone there and been soundly beaten – so getting points from those places is definitely a step in the right direction.
“Of course, we know that you can‘t win matches without scoring. We’re concerned about it but we’re not overly concerned at the moment because we still believe that we have the wherewithal, the passing movements, that attacking movement and the quality of players to score goals.”
On speculation linking Fulham with Tore Reginiussen of Tromso
“Tromso are anxious to sell the player and the more clubs they can link with the player, the higher they think his market value will be. I’m not prepared to play along in those games unfortunately. If the day ever comes when we’re interested in a Norwegian player – we will contact the club and make them an offer. We haven’t made an offer and we haven’t received an offer.”
