Jol: Job not done yet

1 July 2011 04:26

Martin Jol insists the job is not done yet despite watching his side take a 3-0 over NSI Runavik in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier.

Goals from Damien Duff, Danny Murphy and Andrew Johnson on Thursday gave the English Premier League side a comfortable buffer ahead of the second leg in the Faroe Island next week.

It was the perfect way to start Jol's tenure at Craven Cottage after succeeding Mark Hughes in the top job in June, but he said there was still work to be done.

"If I say (it is job done), you will tell everyone I said the job was done so I will say it's a good score," Jol said.

"We started off brightly the first five minutes and then it was difficult to find the spare man up front."

"The second half was better. If there was no possibility to play it up to Andy (Johnson) or Bobby (Zamora) you have to play down the flanks and the second half was better."

"That is the only disappointing thing, that we only scored three goals. I'll forgive them because they were a bit tired because we had a good week and we trained hard. They worked hard."

Many were surprised to see Jol send out a near-full strength line up against the minnows, bu the Dutchman said it was important to approach the match in the right way.

"Yes (it is early) but on the other hand all the other teams will play their first friendly game soon," he said.

"You have to approach it as a serious game, but if you play a friendly game you do that after six or seven days and that's exactly what we did today so I don't think it has a big difference."

He also praised his strike pairing of Johnson and Zamora, who he believes can become a dangerous combination in the season ahead.

"I think they are both terrific players and it's something we've tried to work upon, working them together as a pair," Jol said. "One the target man and one stretching the defence."

"And if we got a bit more space, because there wasn't a lot of space, you will see that they can play together."

Europa League qualifying wrap: First up victory for Fulham

1 July 2011 00:16

Fulham were made to work for their 3-0 Europa League first-leg qualifier win against NSI Runavik on Thursday.

Martin Jol's side were expected to have little trouble from their first round opponents, but the Faroe Islands side mounted a good fight and the contest was not settled until after the hour-mark.

Irish winger Damien Duff netted the opener after 33 minutes to hand the Cottagers a slender lead heading into half-time.

But it was not until a 10-minute period in the second half before the contest was really decided.

NSI continued to battle away and they made things difficult for Fulham until Helgi Petersen conceded a penalty on 61 minutes.

Danny Murphy stepped up to the spot and buried the opportunity from 12 yards before Andy Johnson sealed the result with Fulham's third goal, 20 minutes from time.

In other matches, Norwegian giants Tromso thumped Latvia's FC Daugava Daugavpils 5-0 away from home.

Magnus Andersen bagged a double for Tromso who are now certainties to progress to the second round.

Hungarian club Ferencvaros cruised to a 3-0 win over Armenian club Ulisses while Metalurgi Rustavi, Qarabag, Rad, Rabotnicki, Elfsborg, Aalesund, Dinamo Tbilisi, Varazdin, Spartak Trnava, Paksi SE, IBV, KR, Renova, Jagiellonia Bialystok, Vllaznia Shkoder and Flamurtari Viore all recorded first-leg wins.

Draws were played out between Olimpik-Suvelan and Minsk, Honka and Kalju, The New Saints and Cliftonville, UN Kaerjeng and Hacken, Koper and Shakhter Karagandy and Siroki Brijeg and Olimpija, with all the second legs to be played on July 7.

Jol prepares for David and Goliath clash

30 June 2011 02:12

New Fulham manager Martin Jol will not be taking minnows NSI Runavik lightly when the two sides meet in the Europa League on Thursday.

The abnormally early start to the season comes due to Fulham's participation in the first round of qualifying for the Europa League, after they topped the 2010/11 English Premier League Fair Play standings.

And while the club from Faroe Islands will be living the dream as they face Premier League opposition at Craven Cottage, Jol is not assuming that things will be easy.

"You can't take it (Thursday's match) lightly," Jol told Fulham's official website.

"It's a European game and I think all the lads want to prove themselves. It's a bit early in the season but I don't see it being a problem. You play football to play in Europe and test yourself at that level."

"We've got a couple of scouts in the Faroe Islands and they've provided us with some good footage."

NSI Runavik finished third in the Faroe Islands Premier League last season and their team is made of largely of semi-professional players.

Jol, who only recently succeeded Mark Hughes as Fulham boss, also sang the praises of the club's playing group for their attitude towards training and revealed that he may look to some of the Cottagers' younger players to make a mark in Thursday's first leg.

"I have to say they're (the players) a fine bunch of lads," he said.

"They work hard every day with smiles on their faces. The boys are quite fit and they've been very professional. They did their fitness programmes over the summer and we've tested them over the last four or five days. Bobby Zamora, who came in two days ago, looks really fit."

"I can involve them all (on Thursday night) and there will be one or two younger players involved, even in the line-up."

Fulham face Faroe Islands side in Europe

20 June 2011 16:37

Fulham have been drawn to face Faroe Islands outfit NSI Runavik in the first round of Europa League qualifying.

Monday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland, revealed Martin Jol will lead Fulham for the first time in the first leg at Craven Cottage on June 30, before heading to the Runavik Stadium a week later.

Fulham were handed a European place courtesy of UEFA's Fair Play League.

Fellow English Premier League outfit Stoke City, who were FA Cup runners-up, will enter the tournament in the third round.

English Championship side Birmingham City and Premier League club Tottenham, who finished fifth in the league, enter at the play-off stage.

Elsewhere, Welsh side TNS will face Northern Irish club Cliftonville, while St Patrick's Athletic take on Icelandic outfit IBV.

The winners will need to progress through two more qualifying rounds before the playoff stage, which will decide who reaches the group stage.

In Champions League second round qualifying, Belarusian side BATE Borisov will play Northern Ireland's Linfield.

League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers take on Estonia's FC Flora Tallinn, while Welsh champions Bangor City meet HJK Helsinki.

The first legs will be played on either June 28 or 29 before following up on July 5 or 6.