I’ve seen a few stories floating around the wires recently about some of our old boys so I thought I’d share them with you.
I really rated Darren Pratley. He looked decent during pre-season but there was obviously stiff competition for a place in the heart of our midfield. The Brentford fans that I spoke to were really impressed with him when he spent some time at Griffin Park on loan. He seems to have settled in really well at Swansea and was outstanding in the televised game I managed to catch the other week. He’s got his reward today – with a call-up to the Jamaican international squad. I hope he does really well.
Our former young Portuguese winger Lino Goncalves was once tipped as a real talent. He didn’t make the grade at Fulham and was released in the summer without much funfare. He took a trip to the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain and John Gorman, the Ipswich assistant manager, spotted his talent. I reckon he just might have gone a little overboard in comparing young Lino to Ronaldo.
It looked like the great Steve Finnan’s unhappy spell in Spain was about to come to end. He had been widely reported as near to finalising a move to Hull City. I might be alone in this but I’d be quite happy to have him back at the Cottage – indeed, I was giddy with excitement when his return was rumoured a few months back. He was a wonderful servant to the club and would have been an excellent signing for Phil Brown, but injuries have meant he couldn’t pass a medical.
Of course, we couldn’t leave our round-up without mentioning Finn’s successor at right back, Volzy. He’s had some lovely things to say about our club:
The last couple of months or even the last year at Fulham was not an easy one for me personally because I was on the fringe of things rather than being a main part of the team and obviously that’s what I wanted to be.
I had to, at times, overcome some difficult situations and it wasn’t always a nice time but I do think it’s a great club.
It’s not a standard club that you get lots of in the Premier League. It’s certainly got something special about it. The supporters, they might not always be the most vocal but they’re very friendly and approachable and respectful as well.
I’ve grown very close to Fulham and coming to Ipswich this season was for me to play regular first-team football but I’ve still kept close links to Fulham as well.
