The Dempsey and Dembele to Spurs thread

[Clevelandmo]

Mo, I just don't think taking to twitter against your current employer in a difficult time is ever the way to go. I don't agree with Fulham doing what they did, but there's no reason to make cryptic tweets at this moment. He'll have his opportunity to have his say soon enough.

You are right. I could say Fulham wasnt exactly taking the high road either with their "interview", but as you suggest it was done likely to bring in bidders - apparently what Dempsey wants. Can they get bids in a better way? Probably but I dont really know.

[DCHeather]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... mpsey.html

Jol launched a furious attack on Liverpool on Friday for failing to follow up their initial interest in Dempsey with a firm bid for the player.

The Dutchman said that it was 'impossible' for Dempsey to remain at Craven Cottage, but he now seems open to the possibility of the midfielder staying.

'Hopefully he will play for us again,' the Fulham boss added.

'There is one season to go (on his contract) and no one has come in for him.


Chants: Some sections of the Fulham support jeered Clint Dempsey, chanting, 'Are You Watching Clint Dempsey?'

'To say he refused to play is probably a bit harsh but he wanted to move and if you want to move, you don't want to take risks so you don't want to play in case you get an injury. So for me that was a very awkward situation and it was for him as well.

'There is nothing on the table from Liverpool. Maybe Clint knows more than us but we feel he should stay if there is no other bid.'

[DCHeather]

Most likely from this morning before the olive branch by Jol above, but an interesting interview (especially the beginning):

http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/andy-g ... kid-178935?

[AggieMatt]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2190331/Martin-Jol-criticises-fans-jeering-Clint-Dempsey.html

Jol launched a furious attack on Liverpool on Friday for failing to follow up their initial interest in Dempsey with a firm bid for the player.

The Dutchman said that it was 'impossible' for Dempsey to remain at Craven Cottage, but he now seems open to the possibility of the midfielder staying.

'Hopefully he will play for us again,' the Fulham boss added.

'There is one season to go (on his contract) and no one has come in for him.


Chants: Some sections of the Fulham support jeered Clint Dempsey, chanting, 'Are You Watching Clint Dempsey?'

'To say he refused to play is probably a bit harsh but he wanted to move and if you want to move, you don't want to take risks so you don't want to play in case you get an injury. So for me that was a very awkward situation and it was for him as well.

'There is nothing on the table from Liverpool. Maybe Clint knows more than us but we feel he should stay if there is no other bid.'

That's a quick bit of backtracking. The club also refuse to confirm or deny the "fine" rumor.

Here's more backtracking....or an olive branch....or both.

Asked whether there was any way back for Dempsey, Jol replied: "Of course.
"It's better if he stays here because there's no offer for us on the table. Hopefully we can change the situation."
Jol, who confirmed on Friday that he would not play Dempsey, added: "We all like him. Even if you don't like him, he's our top goalscorer so we're a professional club.
"I told him I almost love him as a son last year - he scored all the goals and I was always happy with him."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19298824

Fulham have a habit of saying there have been no bids quite often. When Arsenal were rumored to be in for Hangeland they said the same thing. I don't know exactly how the inner workings of these deals are done in England, but I rather doubt teams blindly submit bids. Instead I suspect they negotiate and then if you're close you might table a slightly lower bid in the hopes it's accepted or submit one for what you've agreed to in negotiation. To say there's been no "official" bid without saying how far any negotiations may have gone seems somewhat disingenuous and makes the player look bad. Then again the player may actually deserve to look bad.

The lack of consistancy on Fulham's end potentially hurts their credibility imo, but it could just as easily be an attempt to protect the player in hopes that there's a way back. I've heard and read so many different things at this point, who knows for sure. Hopefully cooler heads can prevail or we can move Dempsey in short order. Either way, like everyone I'll be glad when this is over as I'm a fan of the club and the player and want the best for both of them.

[jumpkutz]

Despite these developments, I'm sticking with my original prediction...there'll be brinksmanship on all sides, and he'll end up at the Emirates. Makes even more sense with their most recent departures.

[dtowndough]

I wish I understood more or knew why dempsey is so unhappy. I know the Champions league excuse, but Liverpool certainly isn't the answer to that. As a US fan, I sure hope he gets the best deal available, but as a Fulham fan, I'm pretty disappointed in his actions and stance.

[DCHeather]

In other news:

http://www.westlondonsport.com/paper-ta ... tar-report

Tottenham are planning to table another bid for Fulham’s Moussa Dembele, the Sunday Mirror say.

Dembele has previously been linked with a move to White Hart Lane and Spurs are again said to be pursuing him.

The same paper also suggest Luka Modric will snub a fresh approach from Chelsea to join Real Madrid from Tottenham, and that Chelsea have been tracking Newcastle midfielders Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye.

The Sun on Sunday pick up on Chelsea youngster Josh McEachran’s imminent loan move.

[DCHeather]

'To say he refused to play is probably a bit harsh but he wanted to move and if you want to move, you don't want to take risks so you don't want to play in case you get an injury. So for me that was a very awkward situation and it was for him as well.

'There is nothing on the table from Liverpool. Maybe Clint knows more than us but we feel he should stay if there is no other bid.'

That's a quick bit of backtracking. The club also refuse to confirm or deny the "fine" rumor.

Here's more backtracking....or an olive branch....or both.

Asked whether there was any way back for Dempsey, Jol replied: "Of course.
"It's better if he stays here because there's no offer for us on the table. Hopefully we can change the situation."
Jol, who confirmed on Friday that he would not play Dempsey, added: "We all like him. Even if you don't like him, he's our top goalscorer so we're a professional club.
"I told him I almost love him as a son last year - he scored all the goals and I was always happy with him."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19298824

Fulham have a habit of saying there have been no bids quite often. When Arsenal were rumored to be in for Hangeland they said the same thing. I don't know exactly how the inner workings of these deals are done in England, but I rather doubt teams blindly submit bids. Instead I suspect they negotiate and then if you're close you might table a slightly lower bid in the hopes it's accepted or submit one for what you've agreed to in negotiation. To say there's been no "official" bid without saying how far any negotiations may have gone seems somewhat disingenuous and makes the player look bad. Then again the player may actually deserve to look bad.

The lack of consistancy on Fulham's end potentially hurts their credibility imo, but it could just as easily be an attempt to protect the player in hopes that there's a way back. I've heard and read so many different things at this point, who knows for sure. Hopefully cooler heads can prevail or we can move Dempsey in short order. Either way, like everyone I'll be glad when this is over as I'm a fan of the club and the player and want the best for both of them.

I have a theory that Dempsey said to the club that he wants to move on. There's not secret to that, especially if you read his interviews in the summer while he was in the US. My theory is this, he said to Jol and the club that he doesn't want to play until transfer window closed. That way there was no risk on injury and hindering a move. And Jol's comment hints to that. And it's a bit smart for Dempsey for it to play like that; however, he's still a player under contract for the club. I think Fulham took advantage of this and were hoping to drum up some bids for him with their comments. But they went just a little too far, because I don't think they really had any intention of playing him before the window closing either. And there was probably a gentleman's agreement to this effect.

I still stand by my theory that Clint may be a bit miffed over a tentative deal being worked out with him and Liverpool only to be nixed by the fact there was never a formal bid put in with Fulham too. But he's still a Fulham player and so far we have to go with by what Fulham state, that there are no bids tabled. All we know is that there have been enquiries for the player. Fulham stated there price and are sticking to it. That's their right. It may be unrealistic and at this point they definitely have to reconsider their asking price.

[AggieMatt]

Watching football this morning I was struck with a black helicopter, tin foil hat thought. Fox is advertising "Liverpool: You'll Never Walk Alone" with "unprecedented access" blah blah blah. I wonder if it's at all possible that someone over at Anfield thought, let's gin up some controversy with us, Fulham & America's most popular player so folks will tune in in the hopes of seeing what happened. Kinda like the suspicions surrounding Miami giving Chad Johnson/Ochocino a tryout while signed up for Hard Knocks.

I'm not suggesting this has any more than a .05% chance of being likely, but it did cross my mind and it's refreshing to have some fun with this whole saga for a change.

[Clevelandmo]

Watching football this morning I was struck with a black helicopter, tin foil hat thought. Fox is advertising "Liverpool: You'll Never Walk Alone" with "unprecedented access" blah blah blah. I wonder if it's at all possible that someone over at Anfield thought, let's gin up some controversy with us, Fulham & America's most popular player so folks will tune in in the hopes of seeing what happened. Kinda like the suspicions surrounding Miami giving Chad Johnson/Ochocino a tryout while signed up for Hard Knocks.

I'm not suggesting this has any more than a .05% chance of being likely, but it did cross my mind and it's refreshing to have some fun with this whole saga for a change.

well as a minimum I bet they figured having Dempsey on the team would help the programs viewership. Annoying that in the ad it says, "the world's most prestigious football club". Really? I certainly wont watch one millisecond of the program.

On Fox's Goals on Sunday, Wynalda, McBride, and the English dude all defended Dempsey as a true professional with a great attitude. McBride was just with Demps last week and said he knows for a fact that Dempsey has cherished his time with Fulham and his relationship with their fans. He said this has been going on for a month, kind of implying that is was wrong for the club to make it sound as if something new just happened on Friday. Also implying that a month of course is way too long for this situation to have existed. Or at least that is how I interpreted it. Wynalda talked about Jol's olive branch as sort of proof that some of what the club has done was not totally in the right. While they didnt clear Dempsey of all blame, they clearly clearly were coming out in support of him. Since I trust McBride 100% and he was just with him a few days ago, I'm not going to let this lower my opinion of Demps (other than the Liverpoos part). It may or may not lower my opinion of FFC, but probably not. Just an unfortunate family argument break up likely mostly due to Mo.

[AggieMatt]

That was interesting. From McBride's comments, my take away is that Don was right when he said if Dempsey is sold it will be b/c the club want to sell Dempsey. I think both parties saw a situation where the player's market value was at an all time high and both parties agreed to try and cash in on it. As a result, it sounds like his sitting out was by mutual consent. Somewhere along the way whatever deal they were working on or thought they had went sideways and now we find ourselves where we do.

I do think Jol and Fulham have been disingenuous in their representation of the situation in the press conference as it regards Dempsey's "refusal", "unwillingness", or what have you to play. That was Sarah Brookes in the interview, so it was a Fulham employee asking questions of Fulham's manager. I'm wondering if McBride backing him is the truth coming out he was referring to or if there is an interview (likely American media) set up, or if he's referring to speaking after the Fulham situation is resolved.

We'll see. Either way, it doesn't sound like Clint is the villain that some believe him to be.

[CarolinaTim]

very insightful stuff y'all...thanks!!

[nevzter]

HD's long held prediction will come true in a week or so. Arsenal looked shite in offense - sold Van Persie and Song, flush with cash and an angry Wenger from what I took in the post-match interview. He'll be a Gooner in 10 days time. Sure, it breaks the Wenger-mold, but, Dempsey gives instant value. This will happen.

[DCHeather]

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/video?vid=8a6430c5-b13f-4492-b38d-cc189a60c1ea" target="_new" title=""></a>


Goals on Sunday's take on the Dempsey saga...about 2:40...2:22 if you want to hear Wynalda say he would fit in at Man City to fill in for Arguero.

[AggieMatt]

Weird. The video in the link Heather posted is not what aired today. At least not the one I watched today at noon central and have on my dvr.

I'll take a stab at transcribing the segment that went out over the air.

Rob Stone does a brief intro on the situation then...

Rob Stone (RS): Brian as a former Fulham player, what do you make of this club vs player confrontation.

Brian McBride (BM): It's never good, I mean stuff like this when it becomes public, you never want to see that. You know, I got a chance to talk to Clint on Friday and it's not perfect, and he knows that. And I think, things are probably not as clear as everybody probably thinks they are. Um but, the relationship he has with Fulham, Fulham fans, he's cherished that. I know that. Fulham has loved having him be a part of the teams, and you can see why they still want to see him be part of the team, because he makes a huge difference. It's just whether or not both teams, er both people, can walk away and be happy.

Eric Winalda (EW): I'm not happy with Martin Jol. I think, I think that you saw him backtrack now from he refused to play to now, well refused to play is a little harsh, because that's not what he did, he didn't refuse to play. So the hard part for me right now is, ok olive branch or not, the player wants to go, and it's because he wants bigger and better things. There was an opportunity and maybe maybe I'm not saying Martin Jol is a liar but maybe at some point along the line Clint Dempsey felt like he's been misled and that, that's why he's upset.

Warren Barton (WB): From my point, it shouldn't come public. That's where you don't want your manager, you don't want your twits, just sort it out and get it done quickly for both parties in my opinion.

MB: The day, the day before the season starts, and whether that's to try and make sure they, they try to keep the team tight and everybody on the team know he's got their backs, but it's been going on for a lot longer than...that Friday. It's been a month.

EW: And I hope he didn't use that as motivation because that would be, managers do weird stuff, but I hope that wasn't part of the equation.

RS: Well it's interesting because Liverpool have been mentioned in relationship with Clint Dempsey, they couldn't score yesterday. Maybe Arsenal in the conversation because he wants to stay with a big club in the Champions League, they couldn't score. You have an Aguero injury with Manchester City (EW points at RS) they have depth bbut stilllllll....Roma, PSG.

BM (talking over EW): Wherever he is, he will do well. I don't care what you say.

WB: No, no

MB: (To Barton) Do you disagree?

WB: No, he's a good player, he's a good player.

MB: He's a determined person, he'll fit in anywhere he can, he adapts so easily.

WB: Brian, you know as well as I do, at big clubs you want good characters. And one thing with Clint is he has good character.

EW: You know what, yesterday, his former manager Stevie Nicols really backed him up saying there's no way he refused to play, he's too much of a pro for that. So I'm in that camp. The other thing about this is, that's been consistant was Champions League football. That's what kept coming up. If that really was the goal, maybe that's where he lands (doesn't mention a specific club in that thought).

RS and EW then have a very brief back and forth about how great that would be to see an American in Champions League football before segueing into the Fulham/Norwich highlights.

Easy enough to see why they re-shot it after re-watching and transcribing the aired piece. The segment in the video above is much cleaner and a little...safer? What aired had incomplete thoughts, a lot of ums and buts and stumbling...but they say some different things so I figured I'd transcribe it here. Couldn't find the video anywhere to link it.