Fulham boss Scott Parker again downplayed the prospect of bringing in new signings before the end of the January transfer window as he prepares his side for another crunch clash against relegation rivals West Bromwich Albion.
Parker, who had poured cold water on the possibility of adding another attacker in the immediate aftermath of last night’s stalemate at Brighton, told his pre-match press conference at Motspur Park:
“It’s beyond my real control on where we are as a football club in terms of transfers. It’s going to be difficult for us, for many reasons as I’ve said before.”
He was also tight-lipped about Jean-Michael Seri’s rumoured return to Nice on loan and whether the French playmaker’s departure might free up funds for a new signing:
“I’m not up to speed to that in terms of whether that’s really imminent. There’s a possibility that Mika may leave in this window but last time I knew about that it wasn’t imminent in any way.”
Parker was again reluctant to characterise Saturday’s trip to the Hawthorns as a must-win, emphasising just how much points would still be up for grabs in the remainder of the campaign.
“It is a big game for us, a massive game for us and West Brom – do I see it as a definer? Do I see as one which is going to define the season for us? No, I don’t. There’s nineteen games left and we’re five points behind with a game in hand behind Brighton. I understand the game is big, we want to win and get three points.”
The Fulham head coach is not going to underestimate the threat posed by West Brom, who pipped the Whites to automatic promotion from the Championship last season, under new manager Sam Allardyce, who ‘sold me at Newcastle without even seeing me!’.
“Looking at his teams, they have always been very competitive. We fully understand what we will face this weekend. They were two places above us last year. At times this year, both clubs have found it hard. They have invested and brought some good players in. They’ve got quality in their team.”
Parker, who confirmed that only long-term injury absentees Tom Cairney and Terence Kongolo are definitely out, knows that Fulham will need to add a greater attacking threat having shored up their defence in recent months.
“We worked hard on the defence, as a team and a unit to be more solid and the next part of the puzzle is to try and get some goals and win some games. It’s the hardest thing to do, put the ball in the net. Last night I didn’t think we deserved the three points, but we gave ourselves our chance at the end of the game. They’re the fine margins, it is a work in progress. It isn’t that the team are not creating chances. We are not a team that’s struggling in that area. We need to be more clinical.”
He heaped praise on Bobby Decordova-Reid, deployed on the south coast as a left wing-back, for the way in which he has made the step up to the top flight.
“Bobby’s been immense. When he came into the football club last year was a main driver for me in terms of getting him in. Everything you see with Bobby on the football pitch and the way he conducts himself on it and around it is nothing short of superb really. I’m pleased he’s taken to the Premier League the way he has. He’s been pivotal for us and our success so far this year and our turnaround and there’s still more to come from him.”
Parker also had warms words for Aleksandar Mitrovic, who brightened up Fulham’s attack off the bench at Brighton.
“I think it’s fair to say that Aleks at the start of the season struggled a little bit, internationally as well, he missed a penalty. Sometimes getting some air and oxygen can help. I thought he was superb when he came on yesterday. I have no doubt he will have a big impact.”
Scotty says Mitro was superb when he came on last night. Lets hope that means he will play on Saturday. One other pint why did we sign Kongolo with his injury history which I see as an ongoing feature for the future. We could have spent that money on a striker. Maybe Jay Stansfield will get fit quickly as he is a natural goal scorer and would be very useful to have on the bench,
TK did really well (but bit late) in recruiting the back 5 and keeper. That’s been beyond expectations.
The midfield was pretty much here
Lookman has been a good loan
On paper RLC was a good loan too, so can’t blame anyone for that being very mediocre in reality
TK has obviously mucked up in not getting a striker. That was a must in the summer so he needs to defend that decision.
But…So…if we are here then Richard is right. Give Mitro a go. Is he perfect…no. But it has to be worth a shot. If that fails then we gave it our best shot. Let’s not go down without giving something else a go. We can’t carry on like this.
Kingston a total waste of time and I thought Mason was injury prone
Richard kongolo’s stats probably looked good on football manager probably. I said back in August that we should have signed Ivan Toney-unfortunately he was snapped up by that other lot-who to be fair get there money ball approach right!
Is not Glen Murray worth a shot . He would cost nothing and could come off the bench. He is old but a proven goal scorer. I agree about Kongolo but then Fulham have a history of signing players with ongoing injury problems. Recent one was Mawson.
I concur Jay Stansfield has potential but not this season
To be fair, it looks like we arent going to bring players in until a good few leave the club to balance the books. Stef Jo has gone but we still have players like Seri and KMac, who are both on huge wages, still on the wage bill as well as a second back 4 usually where at least 1, if not 2, could leave.
The lack of activity should fall at TK’s door yet again with a lack of squad management. Scott clearly didnt want to let anyone leave unless we got players in, so with the players joining late into the window in the summer, we couldnt get rid of players by the looks of it.
We need a DoF who is in Fulham on a full time basis. I completely understand TK wanting to make his wrestling show big but he cant combine both.
OMG!, Cav, Glen Murray are you kidding? Just play Mitro, he hasn’t really had time in the side as we are now and healthy! Give him a run of games and he will score.
When Slav was manager we had Mitro playing to his optimum. Sess and Fredericks as attacking full backs playing the ball into Mitro who appeared to thrive on the service he was getting. Maybe it’s worth another try using Robinson and Tete because what we are doing playing through the middle doesn’t seem to be working.