"I
am not a number, I'm a free man," bellowed the
Prisoner. Greedy sod, he should have been grateful,
because Coventry City striker Paul Williams is remembered
in the tomes of football folly by just a solitary letter.
Yes, one blessed letter.
Now
I'm no expert at DIY, as the 5ft high
dining table I assembled safely confirms,
but I know well enough that you don't
need a sledgehammer to put a tack through
a bit of wood.
Likewise, if I decided
the dog needed a walk, I wouldn't embark
on a three-day cartographic expedition
around the Malverns.
But it
seems Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is looking
at gung-ho solutions to his squad's recent
failings. Maybe the tense nature of their
late-season escape from the relegation
to the Championship has caused Big H to
go a bit doolally, or perhaps he has been
spending evenings with David Icke. I mention
the turquoise tracksuited one because,
as a former keeper, he can probably relate
to Hodgson's current fascinations.
For sure, conceding goals could be surmised
as having been a largely contributory
factor to the Cottagers' woeful 07/08
campaign, but two shotstoppers of the
class of Kasey Keller and Antti Niemi
should be ample quality at the back. Maybe
a couple of centre-backs wouldn't go amiss?
Add to that list young Portuguese shotstopper
Ricardo Batista, and it makes it all the
more peculiar that Hodgson then went out
last month and signed Mark Schwarzer.
So that's four men between the sticks.
But it doesn't end there. Yesterday the
club picked up Darlington man David Stockdale,
a prolific youngster who kept 20 clean
sheets last term. Barking.
At the start of last term Lawrie Sanchez
was famously criticised after it was revealed
he only had three men over 6ft in his
entire squad.
Seems that Hodgson is protecting against
that by signing an entire first eleven
of keepers.
