Although I don’t mean to steal his idea, his challenge got me thinking about silly transfer ideas that aren’t so silly. Or STITASS. Essentially its a realistic dream; a dream that could be real.

He started with Michael Owen. Me, I’ve got some other quickies…

Look no further than Stephen Appiah.
The captain of Ghana has had numerous trails with other Prem-sides that went nowhere because of his dodgy knee. But we’ve had players with dodgy knees before! And at 28 there’s still at least two years left in him. And if thats not enough, he owns a clothing line. So instead of Papa Bouba Diop being named the wardrobe, we’ll have a player with his OWN wardrobe. Whats not to like? Sign him up to a pay-to-play contract and there’s nothing to lose — we did it with Jari Litmanen.

What about Djibril Cissé?
Sure, he’s a maniac who occasionally commits spousal abuse. And extremely streaky. But think of this: Roy Keane convinced him to play in Sunderland. Do we not think Roy Hodgson can’t convince him to play in London? I sure don’t. Give him a six month contract that is cancelled as soon as he gets arrested. No risk, high reward deal.

Landon Donovan?
So he’s batting 0-3 in Germany. Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t work out in England? His LA Galaxy team seem more than content with drawing every single game for the rest of the season, as Bruce Arena doesn’t believe in positive football. And there has to be some level of hunger (at least, as a Nats fan I PRAY SO) to leave the friendly confines of the MLS for something with actual competition. Plus, it could be the return of FulhamUSA!

Don’t laugh, but Ricardo Quaresma?
Sure, he was a total flop at Chelsea AND Inter. So much so he was given the Golden Bin award. And, inexplicably, he’ll probably cost over 10 million quid. But he’s a left winger, and Don wants a left winger. Maybe Roy can use some his clout at Inter to get him on loan — I don’t think Jose wants him any more than Hiddink did– for pennies on the dollar. Or pences on the pound. What’s not to lose?

Maybe Rodrigo Palacio?
Okay, this lad would be WAY too expensive. And I have no clue why he isn’t in Europe yet. But we can dream can’t we?

Well, any other suggestions?

If you’re unfamiliar, my name’s Jacob and i’m currently the residing bag of hot air over at the Reading blog. I’ll be doing double duty for a while, helping out here with the blog for Team USA FC, or as it is better known, Fulham.

Now, while relegation is almost certain for Fulham this year, that man pictured above gave Cottagers fans around the globe hope with his goal today, his usual fare, a header, throwing himself in harm’s way to give Fulham three desperately needed points. The win (over Everton and fellow U.S. International Tim Howard, no less) puts Fulham on 23 points, two points behind still-sinking Bolton.

God, it’s great to see Fulham actually celebrating a win again. Now, as I said, i’m not going to stick my neck out and say this team’s going to suddenly salvage the season now. Fulham are, as they have been since time immemorial, utterly hapless on the road. Moreover, as much as I want to get behind the U.S. Internationals on the team, Clint’s been spotty at best this year, Carlos Bocanegra’s apparently been taking night classes at the Titus Bramble school of kamikaze defending (okay, that’s harsh), and thus far, Eddie Johnson has been like Aaron Lennon, but without the bad crosses (perennially running at exceptionally high speeds into cul-de-sacs).

Our defense is still pourous, our attack seems to revolve entirely around hoping that either Jimmy Bullard or McBride will somehow get the ball into the net, and i’m not sure if Danny Murphy is entirely aware of where he is sometimes.

But I believe, I do. Sure, staying up this year wouldn’t really solve anything, since Fulham have spent almost all of the past three years barely staying up. And the team really needs to get shot of Al-Fayed. Not to mention getting rid of just about anyone even loosely associated with the mistake that was Lawrie Sanchez.

But you know what? Newcastle is next week. They’re playing a six-pointer with Birmingham on Monday, and by god, if they lose, I think they’re there for the taking, even if we’re traveling to St. James’s park, which, as previously stated, is generally a death warrant for Fulham. But Newcastle have been a team with no heart, no drive, no anything since King Kevin arrived, and, god willing, Fulham will finally have gotten a fire lit under their behinds, and will play their legs off. It’s a relegation dogfight for god’s sake, so let’s start scrapping.

I believe. I may be an idiot, but I do.