Americans Abroad

Fulham is looking to extend McBride's tenure with team.

Brian McBride closes 2005 is strong fashion and could be rewarded with a new multi-year contract, -- Fulham web site photo --

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
SoccerTimes

(Monday, January 2, 2006) -- Brian McBride ended 2005 with a flourish and the New Year began with Fulham expressing interest in retaining the American striker beyond his current contract which runs through the end of this season.

With three goals in the last three games of 2005, McBride now has eight tallies, placing him in a three-way tie for eighth place on the English Premier League scoring race. With Fulham languishing in the bottom half of the standings, several clubs reportedly contacted the London club about obtaining McBride during the January transfer window.

However, Cottagers manager Chris Coleman apparently has other ideas, calling McBride a "manager's dream" and saying he would like to soon have a conversation with the 33-year-old U.S. World Cup veteran and get his signature on a new long-term contract."

"Brian has been fantastic," Coleman told Fulham's web site. "We'll be sitting down with him in the first week of January to make sure we keep him. He wants to stay and we want to keep him. He's a terrific, terrific player. The fans absolutely adore him for obvious reasons and he's a manager's dream. He trains like a true professional and when he's on the pitch, he gives everything. Sometimes, when he comes off the pitch, he looks like he's been in a bar brawl with cuts and bruises everywhere, but that's the way he plays.

"Brian doesn't like the limelight. He's a family man who loves his football. He's fantastic in the dressing room and the rest of the guys love him. He just gets on with his job."

McBride assisted on the first of Collins John's two goals today to give Fulham a much-needed 2-1 victory over visiting Sunderland.

With Fulham down 1-0, McBride soared in the center of the penalty area to head a cross back to John on the right side. The midfielder headed it in from 12 yards to pull the Cottagers even at 1-1 in the 43rd minute.

John's game-winner came in the 61st minute.

McBride came close to creating a goal in the 20th minute when he flicked a header that was cleared just before sliding Papa Bouba Diop could nudge it into the goal. McBride's 34th minute blast was cleared by defender Steven Caldwell.

"We've got to make sure that we keep him here for longer," Coleman said. "I remember playing against Brian when he was here on loan at Preston, when we were in the First Division (the second-tier level, now the English League Championship). I saw him a few times when he was at Everton and I always liked the way he played. I knew what he'd bring to our team and he hasn't disappointed us."

U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra did not dress, one of the growing ranks of injured Cottagers.

Fulham started the day seven points from the bottom of the standings, having a tie and two losses in the last three outings despite McBride's dynamic play. At 6-10-5 with 23 points, the Cottagers are now tied with Everton (7-12-2) for 14th place in the tightly bunched middle of the pack.

A grueling holiday schedule concluded today with most English teams playing their fourth match in eight days.

Elsewehere in the EPL, Blackburn Rovers got off to a poor start at home, but rebounded to defeat Portsmouth 2-1.

Relegation-challenged Portsmouth (4-12-5, 17 points) went ahead 1-0 when Matthew Taylor put a free kick from the right side into the near top corner just beyond Friedel's reach.

Rovers took command by getting goals from Morten Gamst Pedersen in the ninth minute and Paul Dickov in the 39th to go ahead 2-1.

Friedel ended with four saves, his best on Taylor's drive in the 81st minute that was stopped when the keeper dive and extended fully to his left.

Blackburn is in eighth place at 9-8-3 with 30 points.

U.S. defender Jonathan Spector watched from the bench in Charlton Athletics' 3-1 loss to Everton.

Six saves from U.S. goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann helped Reading down Cardiff 5-1 on a pair of goals each from Steve Sidwell and Dave Kitson.

First-place Reading moved to its biggest lead of the season in the second-division English League Championship.

The match was not as easy as the score might indicate, though Reading controlled the action for long periods. Hahnemann stopped an early drive from Cardiff midfielder Jason Koumas and made a kick save when Alan Lee came in on him alone.

U.S. midfielder Bobby Convey went for 72 minutes before being replaced and did not have a hand in the scoring.

Reading (21-1-6, 69), undefeated in 27 games, moved 10 points ahead of Sheffield United (18-4-5), which has a game in hand until it faces Hull tomorrow.

A pair of second half assists from U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis helped break open a close match as Leeds United defeated Plymouth 3-0.

With the match scoreless in the 52nd minute, Lewis controlled the ball on the left side of the penalty area crossed to Richard Cresswell who headed the ball home.

Five minutes later, Lewis centered from the left side to Robert Blake who made it 2-0./

Rob Hulse added a late penalty kick for Leeds, which is in third place at 15-6-6 with 51 points.

Sheffield Wednesday won its second match since Saturday and climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 decision over Crewe.

American defender Frank Simek went the distance for Wednesday (6-13-9, 27), which outshot Crewe 14-2 and moved into 19th place in the 24-team league.

American defender Jay DeMerit saw some action, entering in the 74th minute to help Watford hold a 2-1 lead over Luton Town.

Watford is fourth at 12-6-10 with 46 points.

American defender Danny Karbassiyoon was on the bench for Burnley which drew 1-1 with Queens Park Rangers.

American back Zak Whitbread was on Millwall's bench in a 2-1 defeat of Derby.

Burnley is 11-11-6 with 39 points, tied for seventh place with Wolverhampton (9-7-12). Millwall is 5-13-10, even with Brighton (4-11-13) at 25 points.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.