I'm not trying to say he can't do a good job for you, but I am saying he doesn't score enough for a striker. The way some fans are talking about him, he's going to make Fulham really push forwards, but he doesn't score enough. Setting them up, is great, but you have to have someone to score them. If you keep Zamora fit, then maybe he'll be what you need, all i'm saying is he doesn't fit in our team at all, We've got Bale, Modric, Sandro, Lennon,and Van Der Vaart as a midfield, we don't need more creativity
Rocks In the current market, Dembele is worth more than the 10 million offered. We paid 5 for him after all. If the likes of Jones and Henderson can command 20 million each then Dembele is surely worth more than 10.
They only cost that much as they're English, and Utd and Liverpool have European commitments, ie, they need a certain number of English players in their squads
Which part of "he's not a striker" did you not understand? You're right though, you guys don't need him. In fact, you could stand to ship a few players like him out, like Kranjcar and Bentley. Rocky, I'll level with you that he's been inconsistent this season, but IMO he's shown enough that he doesn't warrant flogging just yet (short of silly money). It's nice to have someone in that position who isn't 30+.
The striker part I think And yes we do, Bentley might be for keeping for another seaosn, we don't have alot of cover for Lennon at all, but Krancjar is unnecessary, as he likes the left or centre, we've got plenty for both
Covering Lennon with Bentley, cripes. Both at opposite ends of the mobility spectrum We could do with an understudy to Murphy, but I don't think Kranjcar fits, unfortunately. I've said it before, but if Steven Ireland hadn't lost his way....
Lennon's final ball isn't as good as Bentley's unfortunately. Having said that, we play quite quickly, so Bentley might need to get himself some kinda mobility scooter to help?
We have to keep Dembele. He's a player who wins balls, possesses and plays with flair. Other teams are always conscience of him on the pitch even if he isn't a D Bent style goal scorer. Especially if Dempsey leaves, we'll need every creative spark we can get especially, especially if the aging Murphy (god bless his noble soul) remains our cornerstone in midfield next season. Somebody has to take pressure off the strikers and link play up front, that's MD's speciality. We need him. I'll also bet you all a pint he scores many more than 3 goals during his second season for us.
I cannot believe that here is even a discussion on whether we should be getting rid of him. Rocky my friend you are right he has been slightly overrated at times, but on the whole he is a player with immense talent. He is NOT a striker and never will be. There are several reasons why he will only get better for us next season. He has only experienced 1 season in the premiership and is learning to adapt his game to the pace of the prem. Martin Jol will know all about him as a player and will understand better then Hughes ever did on how to get the best out of him. If we get El Hamdaoui, we can expect goals. They were supposed to be excellent when playing at AK together. As to why he has been on Spurs' wishlist is interesting. Could he potentially be a more skillful Robbie Keane, but lacks Keane's finishing ? If Van Der Vaart plays, could Dembele create space and deliver passes to him when he makes runs from midfield ? I have agree with Random that Spurs do not really need him, although to call him a mid table striker who is nothing special is out of order and shows you do not understand his qualities. He has great skill and vision that if understood by his manager could be harnessed and turned into a real asset for us.
I don't believe we should sell him on Froggie, but he's not that essential that if silly money were offered we might consider it.
I am still adament in that he is not overrated- I think he could easily be worth 25million by the end of next season. You may laugh now, but ill be laughing in a year. he is creative. That alone, in our current squad, should be enough.
I missed 4 home games last season,and managed to get to 7 away games.so not a bad average in which to see and judge our players. Although no scout, like the rest of those on this forum its ones own opinion. But in "Jol" who most of us seem to be in agreement as our new manager, should, and I hope, be able to successfully consolidate FFC into consistently becoming a top 10 prem side, requires transfer funds. So for me, my source to raise them is as follows. (The following would be a minimum sell on fee.) Dembele = 12mil AJ = 3mil Swartzer = 2mil Salcido = 1mil + another = 3mil on the other 4/5 fringe players who are never going to make it + " " " = 10mil thrown into the pot by MO and MJ will have,a sizeable sum in which to formulate a team of his making. My big fear is that Dempsey may be amongst them. So OK how would you out there raise a good transfer pot.
We don't need a transfer pot. The 15 million or so bandied about (Al Fayed doesn't really have a budget system per se) would be enough. We spent a net 0 last summer so cash is about.
RF you bring up the $64000 question. Are we a selling club or not? For me we have been guilty in the past of offloading players when we should have rewarded them with new better contracts. Saha was one of the best strikers I have ever seen in a Fulham shirt and selling him, albeit to Man U was a step in the wrong direction. I understand that we are small club with a stadium capacity that is one of the smallest in the premiership, but in order to become a top 10 team surely we should be looking to keep hold our most influential players. We have an aging team, and we all believe that bringing quality young players into the team is essential for us to progress as a club. Getting rid of some older baggage, as you mentioned AJ, Salcido, could free up some money and reduce the wage bill. Ultimately though, we are rebuilding a squad so MAF is going to dig deep to back this. I think that he wants us to buy to quality young talent and sell them on as better players, e.g, Chris Smalling. We have been active in the youth market recently, so may be long term this will be the solution. For now MAF must back his new manager if he wants the results to flow, as well as do all he can to keep hold of our quality, Dembele, Demps, Hangeland etc.
Valjing, of course every team needs a transfer pot. But our base pot without selling players is good enough to get us through this summer. If we wanted to do what Hughes wanted then a couple of players had to go. But Jol's not asking to spend as much as Sparky. I think Jol wants to use the youth that is coming through as well.
FFC4L I have been watching football at Fulham for a great number of years,and due to our size, we have always been a selling club (apart from JH & GC). To say Jol wants to use youth,"fine"but you cannot just throw them in,just because they may have had a great season in one of the youth sides,Our most rated young player last season was Briggs, in my opinion thrown in at the deep end,and lets be honest, excuse the pun out of his depth. In this division there is no real second chance, points =£,we have an excellent youth policy, the envy of many other clubs, thus we should be loaning out the best of our talent,to championship sides to hone their ability, and access their future possibility. of competative football
The term 'selling club' is relative, after all Man U had to become one when Ronaldo was determined to leave. The general facts are that Fulham are not going to get a Champions League place in the forseeable future, so if you get a cracking, ambitious player like Saha he's going to look for a top club, and will go anywhere in Europe to get into the top European competition. I think it was bad luck in his case that injury stopped this really working out. One of our best players at the moment, Dempsey has started to make those noises, and while I understand his ambition, he should heed the lesson of players like Malbranque and Sean Davis, who left little ole Fulham to join a 'big' club - one is now with Sunderland and has hardly scored a goal, the other is a Bolton fringe player. In reality, only Van der Sar has left us in recent times and gone on to glory that I remember, and we can't claim to have discovered and brought him through! Transfer pot? I don't know whether there's such a specific thing, but rf's right, you need income as well as expenditure,what a good piece of business Smalling was, and let's face it, he hasn't proved himself yet. It's all opinion with a player like Dembele, but if a big offer came in offering a large profit we'd be silly not to consider it. To me Dembele is what I'd call a MOTD player, i.e. in highlights he looks to be a genius, but those of us who watch him regularly for whole matches are frequently disappointed by his final ball, shot or pass. On the other hand, Dempsey has proved himself time and again and despite a couple of sulks this season it'd be a real blow if he moved. To answer your question froggie, 'are we a selling club?'. Yes, but we're also a buying club too, and we have to operate at the right level of business.
