N.Irish obsession at Craven Cottage?

Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez has recently signed center and right defender Chris Baird from The Saints joining the previous 3 signings at Fulham; having a total of 3 Northern Irish players in their shopping bags. Thing is, will the Northern Irish players fit in nicely? Or is it just favoritism, with Lawrie being their ex-coach?. I wish that they would fit, but having Baird and Hughes versatile, but both playing same positions (center %26amp; right back, defensive midfield); how would they fit in?. Also, having Diop, Bullard, Brown, Smertin, %26amp; Elliot as central midfield roles, it would be interesting to see if Davis is going to be an important player of the team, or a bench warmer.

N.Irish obsession at Craven Cottage?
Firstly, i can't see Steven Davis going to fulham to warm the bench - thats the reason he left Villa. And he will fit in perfectly alongside Jimmy bullard in the middle of the park. As for a Northern Irish obsession, well have a look at Northern Irelands qualifying group. Right there with Sweden and Spain - so these players must be doing something right!!! And so what if Lawrie Sanchez does favour them - It worked well for Northern Ireland, so whats to say it won't with Fulham as well. Now all you need is Healy to join!!
Reply:3 players out of a total squad of about 30 is hardly an "obsession", now is it ? And its far from unusual for a new manager to target players he is already very familiar with. So its no big deal in my opinion, and Baird in particular is a very good buy..very useful player.





Theres no reason to assume the new signings wont fit in at the Cottage nicely, and just because players normally play in the same position doesn't mean they will both necessarily start in the same side...the one thing we lacked last season was strength in depth, and with a few injuries we were really struggling, so its good to have cover for important positions at last! Plus, having Jimmy Bullard back fit again is almost like a new signing!