Introduction I wish to postulate that all transfers can be run through a quick test for sanity. That test is the "man in the street" test. Basically you ask 10 guys off the street what do they think and if the majority have any issue with a signing then in most cases you should never make that signing. some examples Philip Degen - the day his free transfer was mentioned peopl looked him up and groaned, another josemi/kronkamp/aurelio... Andrei Vornin - Same story, even going cheap his abysmal scoring record and age indicated he was a dog. Alberto Aquilani - great excitement unitl you looked and saw he had a bad history of injury and was signed injured. a complete hopeful shot in the dark Robbie Keane - at 19.5mil the men in the street were up in arms Andy Carroll - at 35mil and not back from an injury there was not much backing for this deal Charlie Adam - some thought it a cheap price, most thought it was uninspiring. Stuart Downing - most were agahst at the fee paid. Why bring it up now? Ok so making everyone happy is impossible but at the end of the day when guys who are not experts know full well something is a blunder or worse rival fans are laughing their heads off you do have to wonder how something like say comolli who's supposedly a pro at this stuff gets it so wrong. Now that comolli got the sack (rightly) I would hope that our club never again fails the "man in the street" test and wastes the few pence we've left. It seems a most apt time to raise this theory in light of the impending Clint dempsey move. The question So you guys are average jjoes, men wandering the virtual streets just waiting to answer this question. What do you think of the clint dempsey deal? there's you basic data to work from; Age: 29 (will be 30 next march) From: USA Fee £9 to 10mil international: 87 caps 24 goals record: please log in to view this image
I think he had a good season last year. A decent player for a mid table team. Not good enough for LFC
don't have is assists here but he has also got the same issue as adam.. namely free kick and pen taker. if you sign eveyone else's pen takers then wonder why thier stats are worse when gerrard takes all ours...
If he were to be used as backup then a good signing for us, but I feel he is being bought for the starting XI and so will stop us making a better signing. my answer, no.
I'm not a fan of this transfer and would prefer us to be looking at either young players of players in their mid 20's. I've nothing against Dempsey he's seems like a good bloke and is a good but not great player but I'm down as a no.
For a fee of £10mil, I'd say no. He's a good player, looks really good and stands out in a average Fulham team. He's aging, at 29 we would get 2-3 years of him at the top and then another couple of him fading. Overall I'd say if it were a transfer of £5-6mil he'd be a good buy but that extra 5mil is difficult to justify.
For a fee of 5M (7M tops), then yes, he'd be a good addition to the squad but not first team! If Fulham want more than 7M, then I'd pass, time the LFC board played hard ball and stopped getting right royally B*gg***d in the transfer market!
He's a good player, not a quality player. Not good enought for a team aspiring to be in the top 4, £10m is stupid money to pay for a 29 year old. Would much rather use the money towards someone like Sturridge. Don't want to sign him.
Would also depend what he's asking in Wages. Don't want another aging long term contract on 70k+ a week. This limits our spending in years to come more than a silly up front fee now.
I'll do a tot up of what guys say in a few hours.... the early tally seems to be a consensus on the size of fee and his age being too much.
Hopefully we don't pay £10m but I suspect it will be close to that if not more. I'm not keen on the idea of signing a 29 (30 in March) year old but I understand it is about taking one step at a time. If Dempsey's goals can get us into fourth (I doubt it) then it enables us to attract better players. Dempsey doesn't relay on pace so I think he won't wilt too much with age. He could be our Gary Mac...
£10m for a 29 year old player on his last year of contract? No, too much. Take it down to £4m and you've got yourself a deal in my eyes.
I understand why being in the last year of a contract matters but, to me, it doesn't. I look at the quality and age of the player only. If the club can get them cheaper because of their contract situation then fair enough
Equally though, we could wait one year and save ourselves £10m. Plus, we've got rid of Maxi and Kuyt, 2 of the oldies. I can't see us buying another Oldie to replace either one of them.
If Fulham aren't prepared to cash in before it is too late then that may well be the case. Leaves us short this year if we wait so I suspect we'd turn our attention elsewhere. Dempsey would also be thirty by then and we would have bought someone else so would we still be interested in a years time?
No. Way too much - AND he's a Yank............................... ....................afternoon Bluff
2-3 years ago this would've been a good, but not great, signing. Now he's too old and the initial fee is inflated. He will add goals, assists and a Kuyt-like tenacity, but I'm sure the same could be achieved with a younger, cheaper player. He's good squad player but I would be surprised if he starts every game. His last 2-3 seasons have probably been his best so he's probably on his downswing performance-wise. However, on the plus side, he once broke JT's cheekbone, so he's probably quite a nice bloke.
I feel I should point out that i am not in favour of this move, just merely playing devil's advocate. Plus, someone on here needs to try and think sensibly
