Well it's been a bad 18 or so hours- woke up to bad news and it just got worse. Time to snap out of it! 15 years ago we were in Division 2, now we are an established PL team with a growing and recognised academy- able to attract young talent and develop them suitably. When Jol first came I hoped he would turn us into the Spurs he left, young players, fluid system and entertaining football. What I forgot is that Spurs were still pretty much a 'feeder' club then, it looks as though this is the next stage of our evolution. My thinking is, Dembele's transfer indicates to young players what we can do for their careers. They get to develop in a professional atmosphere with pressure from fans, but not to the level of it being debilitating. Over the next couple years we need to keep flipping players Dembele style- building cash reserves so that we can develop further. Our next goal is to get to the level Spurs are at now and be considered one of the top teams. As much as it hurts, this is progress. He was never going to stay for life, he was clear about that when he joined. Life will go on, Jol will re-invest, Fulham will prevail!
Precisely. Things have been much, much worse for us. Whining about losing Dembele (as painful as it may be) makes us sound like deluded Liverpool fans. I still remember us almost dropping out of the football league, it really wasn't that long ago. It's hard sometimes, but we'll move forward. COYW.
Love the optimism of the aforementioned items,but the fact is dont look back to when we were floundering in the lower divisions. If we should loose our "prem status,thing could easily spiral out of control.
If this deal has taught us anything, it is that future clauses in players contracts will now be scrutinized.
Well said Silky. We still have lots of promising young players in the senior squad (Frei, Kaca, Kasami) and in the development team (Minkowitz, Mesca) too.
We all know that losing both Ds has been on the cards for a while - But we will get over it the first of these 2 losses [depending on Clint's next move]. Good luck to DemPele; he was real class over the last year. He was good at OT, but was only part of the team that punished Norwich 5-0. But I recollect 12-18 months ago when a number of us (including me) were whinging that he held the ball too much and rarely shot. Remembering where we have come from 15-20 years ago is important, it's why many of us savour where we are today. We will not spriral down to 91st, well hopefully not in my lifetime. Roll on the window closing, but some FFC money spent by then. "Glass Half Full", as ever! C O Y W
I think the contracts were and are scrutinised. When we signed Dembele - even a year ago - most of us (me, certainly) would have bitten the buyers hand off at the thought of £15m for Dembele. There were rumours last summer that Spurs were going to offer £10m, and some of us were saying it was a good deal. When we agreed that contract, the release fee was set so high that we couldn't imagine anyone offering it, and if they did we expected that we'd be mad to turn such a high offer down.
Why wasn't it re-negotiated after last season then? Once it became clear that Dembele was attracting interest from CL, that clause should have either have been removed or increased.
I was thinking the same thing. I almost forgot I supported Fulham. Aaah the roller coaster of a ride that is FFC! Maybe a trip up to Bury again is not on the cards. Must remember to keep positive. In Jol We Trust!
In Jol we trust and board we trust. Fulham's plan is to be a top-10 club... I am pretty sure there is a plan and will conduct some business the last 36-48 hrs. We need strengthening up front and in central midfield, potentially wings as well with experienced players. Unless as many have said the youngsters are ready to step up and take the opportunity. Come on Fulham. PS. As for the fans morale, Saturday's game will be critical to stop any early voices raising doubts.
That's the thing with contracts, both sides have to agree to them. We can't independently remove a clause or change a release fee, the player has to be willing to sign the amended contract. He'd only do that if he was getting something in return too - longer contract length if that's what he's looking for, increased wages, etc. If Dembele was saying he was happy to let the contract run down and see what happened, there's nothing the club can do to force him to change the terms that were originally agreed. Yes, in an ideal world we would have got Dembele to sign a new contract, preferably with longer duration and a higher release fee (or not release fee at all, better yet), but we don't live in an ideal world and Moussa was happy with what he had. You can't blame the club for this, or Moussa, or even Spurs. That's just the way the modern game is.
I agree with Captain. I don't think anybody in here would like their contract changed if another employer had come sniffing offering a better salary!!
I've recently been negotiating my change of contract from full-time to part-time casual, and I've been a right niggardly so and so on some of the details. Sadly, on others - like the fact of making the switch at all - it's been take it or leave altogether. Tomorrow's my last day under the old regime. Don't talk to me about contracts!
Unrelated to Fulham- apparently if you have been performing a task for a certain amount of time but it's not written in your contract your compliance in doing the task means that it is still part of it- or something along those lines. I didn't get a great deal where I am, pushed for more money- got it and a letter from HR to confirm, then found out my job description had been double in its points of responsibilities- never signed anything to agree; not worth making an issue of now, but essentially they saved employing another person at the cost of a couple extra £k for me. Went from joy to upset very quickly.
