In an interview today Dempsey not unnaturally hyped Spurs. He also plays down any rancour with the Club and acknowledges the support from Fulham fans. While a nasty tell all would have been what the tabloids wanted, personally I'm pleased he's taken this approach - the last thing the Club needs right now is a public airing of the 'dirty linen'. http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15884/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=GscoFvZl
I get the impression the press have a lot to do with how he was portrayed. Big Mart was always saying how he wanted CL football (still does, presumably) and that he didn't want to play for Fulham any more, and both were true. I think "doesn't want to play" got misconstrued as "refusing to play". Anyway, he's gone and we're still here. The sooner we forget about who has left the club and concentrate on getting behind who is here, the better.
Much of the press here in the United States reported that Dempsey, in actuality, never intended to go on strike. Reports here claim that Jol tarred and feathered Dempsey in hopes of preventing Dembele from leaving and/or in order to increase Dembele's price (by showing FFC to be a hard bargain to deal with), while at the same time providing an excuse (player-strike) to sell Dempsey and avoid the wrath of FFC fans. One theory even states that there was a translation miscue or problem of context. That Jol later said what he really meant was "the player is too unsettled and not in the right frame of mind to play" rather than a player, literally, going on strike. I guess we'll never know the whole story until one of them retires and writes a biography. But it all seemed so strange to me. On face value, both men seemed to be acting so out of character. The whole unfortunate problem really took me by surprise. I am so glad that Deuce is understating the conflict and letting it die. Same with Jol. Good luck to all. I feel FFC has an encouraging year ahead of them -- as long as Berbatov scores goals. I feel Dempsey, too, has an encouraging year ahead of him. He also plays best when he has something to prove: he'll have to fight again to become a starter at a new club.
Yeah, I think the American press was twisting the story a bit. There was no way Martin Jol was able to prevent Dembele from leaving and/or increase the asking fee by keeping Dempsey. Dembele had a release clause in his contract and if he wanted to leave and a club offers that money, there is nothing that Jol can do. Fair play to Dempsey for not making any fuss about the way he was potrayed.
I'm sure someone has posted the following quote (at bottom) by Jol on this forum at one time or another. But if this is in truth what Jol did say, he certainly recanted his stance regarding Dempsey. Of course the recantation came too late. News had already spread that Dempsey had "refused to play" amongst the press and Fulham supporters. If you ask me -- and no one has, heh heh -- someone in Jol's position should be very sure about making a statement like that about one of his players, a player who has clearly stated their intention to leave. And within the context of Brendan Rogers' comments following the Arsenal loss, BR had fully expected for Liverpool to buy Dempsey. I believe everyone thought, including Rogers and Dempsey, that the business would be done. As we all know, Liverpool's eventual bid proved too low for FFC. Nevertheless, whatever his reasons, and the American press has stated a few possible reasons that do sound like conspiracy theories, Big Mart's original comments did make Dempsey look very bad in the eyes of many. Dempsey supported FFC throughout the sordid affair. If anyone follows Dempsey's twitter, "COYW" has been much more consistently said than things like "there are two sides to every story." Personally, I continue to support FFC as I have for several years, but I do find it hard to believe that Jol is completely blameless. But, I do like what Jol does on the pitch. I hope he continues to work his magic. "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," Jol said Saturday. "So for me that was a very awkward situation and it was for him as well." --http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1136922/martin-jol:-saying-clint-dempsey-refused-to-play-'a-bit-harsh'?cc=5901
“I want to thank the fans of Fulham. It's been 5½ great years. Some of my best memories in football have been there. I want to thank the chairman for taking a chance on me from MLS and I wish them well in the future." This is standard lines any footballer comes out with when they move on… Dempsey is without doubt a great footballer, in my opinion our best players (including Dembele in that) over the last two seasons. I think the way he behaved over the last few months was a disgrace. If you want to leave then that’s fair enough… you go to the Manager or the Chairman, no one will want to keep a play who wants out with a year on his contract so they would without doubt let him go. You don’t go to the press and start stating you intention to play Champions League football and saying that you want to leave the club. He got paid a lot of money at Fulham and should have remained professional and played. If it is lies and he didn’t want to play or refused to play then why not say that directly. From what I can see he hasn’t denied that. From him saying he wants to leave and refusing to play put us in an extremely poor position and as a result Spurs got a bargain. Nothing against Spurs they done what any club would do and good luck to them. Had Dempsey handled himself like Dembele we would have got at least an extra Million for him possibly two. He was a great player for us but I as a result of the way he left I for one don’t wish him well. I hope he fails at Spurs.
So, he didn't 'refuse' to play per se, but didn't 'want' to. For me, that's exactly the same thing. Jol obviously didn't want to field a player who didn't want to be out there so I understand his stance, but 'refuse' is not a million miles away from 'not wanting' to play. And for the record, he did refuse to join the boys for pre season in Switzerland.
Absolutely. Jol said Dempsey was like a son to him last season, and I fully know what he means. This is why I can never wish him well at Spurs, Dembele's exit upset me, but Dempsey's angered me. I reluctantly can wish Moussa well despite the fact I don't really like Spurs (anymore) because of the way he handled himself. He was linked to Real Madrid, Utd, Chelsea etc but kept his head down, performed brilliantly when called upon and eventually got his move. This is the way a true professional should act. All it took for Dempsey to tarnish his golden reputation here that he had taken five years to build was 'slight' interest from Liverpool, a side that finished ONE place above us last season.
I had a feeling that Dempsey wouldn't choose to start lobbing hand grenades in our direction once he left. It sounds to me like the press are bigger culprits than either Dempsey or Jol in all this. Reading between the lines, Dempsey had a reluctance to play rather than a refusal. Did he refuse to go to Switzerland, or just ask Jol if he could stay at home. If the latter, and Jol took (not unreasonably) the line that he didn't want someone around who wasn't committed, that's a different state of affairs to Dempsey refusing to play, train, etc. As for wanting a move to Liverpool, yes last season they only finished a whisker above us, but they ARE a bigger club than us, albeit one going through prolonged difficult times. He probably dodged a bullet by not going there, though. Dempsey didn't cover himself in glory with his attitude this summer, but neither did he (I think) disgrace himself. It's a shame that it all ended this way, but I don't think either side (Clint and the club) did anything unforgiveable. Thanks for all the memories, Clint. Best of luck at Spurs. My boy is still happy to wear his 'Dempsey 23' black away shirt. Mind you, for his birthday he's asking for a Berbatov 9 white pin-stripe.
I have too many fantastic memories of Clint Dempsey in a Fulham shirt for them to be tarnished by the manner of his departure. It's been a pleasure to watch him develop from the raw talent that arrived from the MLS in 2007 to one of the most prolific and sought after attacking midfielders in the Premier League. I'll be interested to see how both he and Dembele do at Spurs. Moussa looks to have been someone they wanted as soon as they sold Modric. With Clint there was nothing that I saw to suggest they wanted him until the Liverpool deal fell through, so does AVB see him as an integral part of his future planning or a squad player who can provide cover for several positions? I suspect that Dempsey's Fulham bridges are now well and truly burned, but I can't help but remember that Stephen Pienaar joined Spurs last Summer only to head straight back to Everton a few months later. Stranger things have happened . . . . Captain, maybe your lad is right to hang onto his Dempsey 23 shirt for a while yet!
I'm not too surprised by Dempsey's version of events. I'm glad he didn't take a flame thrower (verbally speaking) to The Cottage, Jol or Fulham fans. Both he and Fulham benefited from the relationship, and I don't badly toward him for wanting to move on. He's been Fulham's best player for years. It was ambition that brought him to Fulham, and it was ambition that caused him to leave. We, as Fulham fans, can't have it both ways. Bandit - you said "American press defending their prized asset. Shocking." This is a case of you reading the situation through UK-coloured glasses. Any US reporter, even a sports reporter, seen deliberately spinning a half-truth as if it were fact would not only get you fired, but you'd likely find it impossible to ever get a job again in the industry. And that holds true from the largest paper (The New York Times) down to the smallest weekly rag. Even in cities with just one major sport, the local paper's sport section will take an adversarial role with the team, certaily not one of spokesman or advocate. Telling lies and reporting pure, unadulturated gossip as if it were fact is the pursuit of the UK press, and I can safely say that as a former newspaper reporter (5 years) and as a person who's lived on both sides of the Atlantic. Besides, Dempsey is no "prized asset". He could walk down any street in American (outside his home town) and hardly anyone recognizing him. He's far more likely to recognized in the UK since football is America's fifth-ranked sport behind baseball, basketball, hockey, American football and college sports.
Jol was sure about his statement. Dempsey said himself to the press he wanted CL football, so we all know he didn't want to play for us anymore. That is, he wanted to play at a higher level. When Liverpool showed (very public) interest he obviously had a word with Big Mart, then Jol took the decision to leave him out of his preparations. Dempsey was always available for selection, but when he's told the manager he wants to go to Liverpool, what would the point be in including him in the squad? Nobody at the club said Dempsey was going on strike - believe me, I was one who was outraged at him supposedly going on strike - but there were no quotes in the press saying as much. The finger-pointing is all coming from the press (US and UK), and I have little doubt that either side is blameless. But this is all neither here nor there. Clint is gone, some wish him well, some would rather forget he exists, but he gave us some of the best memories in the club's history. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let's draw a line under this.
Well said Bidley. And my abiding memory of Dempsey will be his goal against Juventus and for that I will be forever thankful.
Football is so tribal and I do understand the passion that we as fans feel at times, but personally I don't get the whole hatred thing. Players have moved on and things are sometimes going to get complicated. Clint was sensational for us and a player I paid good money to watch - gladly. He was extremely loyal to the club and the fans and as Bidley said got a whiff of another clubs interest and wanted to go. I think the whole agent thing didn't help either oh and FSN putting on their website they have signed Clint! FFS! Onwards and upwards. In Jol We Trust!
Clint Dempsey for me will always be a Fulham ledgend,and he gave us great service over the 5 years he was here, and who knows if all goes arse up at Spurs,I for one would welcome his return.
If he ever came back, lets see... He cost Spurs £6m... So it would cost us at least £12m to buy him back One thing that never got cleared up with me - if Dempsey wasn't refusing to play, as it certainly is being portrayed by both parties, why was he fined? I assume that was for not going to the Swiss camp in pre-season?
I guess we will never know but from what I can see he did refuse to play and/or so to the Swiss camp and that’s why he was fined. I don’t buy into the “he wasn’t selected to play because he wanted to leave/move on” thing. At the end of last season it was clear AJ was going to move and not going sign a new contract, Big Maart must have realised Murphy was going to move on too but neither of were pulled from the squad. They (like Dembele) handled themselves in a professional way showing the club and the fans respect. I’m not bitter at all as I realise players move on and can only talk from a personal point of view. But if Dempsey fails at Spurs (which I hope he does) I wouldn’t want him back. I don’t care about what he has done in the past. There is a way conduct yourself in life, not just football, and how Dempsey conducted himself over the summer showed a lack of respect to the club and to the Fans who pay a lot of money to see him play week in week out. I hope he fails and I wouldn’t want him back.
Personally I think Cheetahyz presented a decent picture in his two posts. However, as Oscar Wilde said, âThe pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.â Clint Dempsey will always be a Fulham legend for me. Not just for the rash of goals last year or the Juventus goal, but just as much for the earlier years. I can well remember sounding off at Roy for having him on the bench and not bringing him on, then when he did the game changed almost immediately. That was why I've always liked him - he could and indeed did, change so many games in our favour. That said, I'm annoyed that events took the turn they did and that the Club didn't get his true value. And what I would really like to know is why there were so few firm bids for him.
