FULHAM MANAGER Martin Jol yesterday played down talk of a rift with Bobby Zamora. The 30-year-old’s relationship with the Fulham boss has been a hot topic of debate in recent months and was fuelled further by the striker’s omission from Saturday’s match at Swansea.
Zamora will return to the Fulham squad for tonight’s vital Europa League encounter against Odense but there is speculation that the England international could leave Craven Cottage in January, with Sunderland and QPR mooted as potential destinations.
Jol yesterday brushed off such talk ahead of tonight’s Europa League Group K tie, which the west Londoners need to win to ensure progression to the knockout stage.
“I said to him a few weeks ago ‘do you love this club?’ and he said ‘yeah, I love this club, I love this team’,” Jol said. “I don’t think there is any problem. I think the grass is always greener but it is not only for him.
“There is not one player that has told me he does not want to play for this squad. I feel if you look at the media, they started this Bobby thing in August.
“There are a few youngsters that tell me they should be playing and are not playing all the time, but Bobby is totally different.
“I wanted a good atmosphere and a good team that pushes each other so I though last weekend it was time for Andy Johnson to play because he has scored goals. He had good games and worked hard in training so that was the motivation.”
Zamora’s return would likely see him replace Johnson in attack. The 30-year-old misses the game through suspension and will be joined on the sidelines by Bryan Ruiz, Danny Murphy and Steve Sidwell. Fulham are boosted by the return of Damien Duff and Chris Baird, although goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer faces a fitness test.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)