FFC and Ramadan

At the weekend I read an interesting article in the Daily Mail (still the cheapest way to pick up the television schedule for the coming week) about Watford striker Nathan Ellington. I've been interested in Ellington's progress since reading in a local paper about his transfer to Bristol Rovers from local side Walton & Hersham, and had thought he might do a job for us, however, he seems to have struggled to establish himself at a club since first playing in the Premier League. Ellington is a recent convert to Islam and talks about the need for him to pray five times a day, something that Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd has been supportive of and he has been able to work around his football regime. However, he is currently observing Ramadan , considered the most venerated month on the Islamic year. As part of this observance Muslim's are expected to practice daytime fasting, which Ellington suggests will not affect his football as he eats before dawn and then again after sunset.

The Fulham interest in all this is that both Hameur Bouazza and Diomansy Kamara were mentioned amongst the names of other Muslim Premier League footballers. I wondered if they were also observing Ramadan and if so, whether that has been one of the reasons Kamara has not started much and both players ended up on the bench on Saturday. This year Ramadan runs from September 13th to October 12th, so both players have already played a big part, and done well, in the games we've played during this period. They may not be fasting but if they are then fair play to them for continuing to be able to perform at the top level whilst doing so. It all goes to show that in today's game there are so many more factors for a Manager to consider than just weather he's picked his best side.