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Anita: Fulham Boss A Jol-ly Good Fellow
Written by Newcastle Utd
Fulham manager Martin Jol has been a big influence in Vurnon Anita's career but the midfielder has no room for sentiment on Monday
By Dan King - Newcastle United Club Reporter
Vurnon Anita has admitted that he owes a huge debt of gratitude to Fulham boss Martin Jol - but he doesn't intend on repaying it when Newcastle travel to Craven Cottage on Monday night.
The former Ajax man played under Jol at the Amsterdam ArenA with the pair winning the Dutch Cup together in 2010, and the current Cottagers chief played a big role in Anita's development in Holland.
Injuries and suspensions saw Jol turn to the young Anita - who had until then been struggling to secure a regular place in the team - and within two years, the midfielder was a full international and had earned a move to the Barclays Premier League.
And with the 23-year-old now beginning to establish himself in England, he is in line to start for United at Craven Cottage as the Magpies look to build on last week's win over Wigan.
"I'm looking forward to playing against Fulham and my old manager," Anita told nufc.co.uk. "He was my coach at Ajax for one-and-a-half years and I enjoyed playing for him.
"He gave me the chance to be in the first team there as a left back, and I accomplished being called up for the national team in that position so I'm very happy he put me in that position.
"It gave me confidence so I was happy about that and he's doing a great job at Fulham. When I moved to Newcastle, he congratulated me for the move, which was nice."
But with the two sides level on points in the table, both with 17 points from 15 games, Anita knows there will be no room for sentiment in West London.
"I'm happy to be going there, but we want to win," he insisted.
"We haven't won away from home yet, so let's do it at Fulham. Let's win and show them that we are the better team."
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