Soccer: Elliott ready to debut for Fulham

All Whites midfielder Simon Elliott could make his English premiership debut as early as Monday after signing for London club Fulham.

After weeks of speculation the 31-year-old has joined the club on a free transfer from United States franchise Columbus Crew.

However, the official announcement of Elliott's move has been delayed as he is still awaiting his international clearance from Columbus via US Soccer after Fulham's transfer request was wrongly sent to New Zealand Soccer last week.

Providing the paperwork is cleared as expected, Elliott will join Fulham reserve team New Zealander Chris James at Craven Cottage.

Elliott brought himself to Fulham manager Chris Coleman's attention during Columbus' 2-1 win over Fulham in a pre-season friendly in the United States in July.

"He's a solid midfield player and is experienced," Coleman said. "He'll add strength and depth to the squad".

He is also poised to become the second New Zealander to play in the premiership this season following Ryan Nelsen who captained Blackburn Rovers to a 2-1 win over visiting Portsmouth on Tuesday.

On Monday NZ time Fulham play a third round FA Cup game against visiting League Two (old third division) high-flyers Leyton Orient.

Fulham lifted themselves to 14th place on the premiership table with their victory over bottom-placed Sunderland on Tuesday but are still only six-points clear of the relegation zone.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert said Elliott had worked hard over a number of years and that for New Zealand to now have two players in the top English league was fantastic.

Herbert this morning told Newstalk ZB that he was not surprised at Elliott's elevation, despite the highly competitive pool of players vying for such contracts.


However, Elliott will need a good start to his new soccer career at Fulham if he is to silence the arm-chair critics on the US Bigsoccer website.


"Simon friggin' Elliott? Fulham ... the soccer team? Or is this for some NFL Europe team in need of a field goal kicker?". This was the response from one contributor to the website.


" ... Good riddance! I won't miss that turtle along with that horrid hair piece he sported," said another. "He will be like a rabbit in headlights".


Some might put the remarks down to sour grapes , but critics haven't held back.


"Well unless the crisp Columbus air caused him to change, he was probably the second most inaccurate shooter of all time," was another remark.


The Columbus supporter went on to say: "The worst thing was, whenever we had a free kick near the area we knew he was going to take it, and we knew he was going to miss it."


Elliott's signing was defended, however, by a Fulham fan: "Fulham have very little money, and we need a defensive midfielder ... if Elliott can provide the sort of grit that Ryan Nelsen gives Blackburn, it's a good signing."


One loyal fan said Elliott was Columbus Crew's best player and put in consistent and quality performances each week.


"No he wasn't, no he didn't," was the immediate reply.


- NZPA