A team who you narrowly managed to scrape a draw against at home. Is there no end to the comments that come back to haunt you ?
Dempsey's a good player but just doesn't suit our system. Despite being a panic buy I thought he'd be a decent replacement for Rafa (goal wise) but he just hasn't managed to re-produce his Fulham form. I reckon he'll be off in the Summer anyway.
I know this is a Dempsey thread but there are a lot of comments about EL vs PL/CL. Playing a strong squad in the EL has undoubtebly cost us the odd point, but i've said all along i would rather win the EL than qualify for the CL. Its not really panned out over the season with the mess Chelsea have been but at the beginning of the season i would have said there was 1 CL spot up for grabs (i thought Mancs and Chelsea would be long gone) and, obviously, 1 EL winners spot. I can see why AVB went for the EL and i support that. To a degree i think we have overperformed in the league considering our transfer business (mod + vdv out and no NEW STRIKER). There was a poll at the beginning of the season, which i can't be arsed to look for, and i think i predicted us for 6th. So to still be 4th, just, is actually quite good. What is galling is imagining just how good it could well have with a bit of investment. We might end up going out the EL this week (i expect we will tbh) and we might end up 5th/6th in the league. I would consider both a failure despite my preseason predictions but "it is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low".
totally agree Spurm. I want us to qualify for the CL obviously, but I still want us to be part of another competition where we can potentially win something. Our squad depth doesn't allow us to be in anymore than 1 cup, IMO. Next season we might be in the CL. but we're not going to win it, nor are we going to win the prem. - so next season is likely to be a season of nothingness once again (in terms of trophies), should we qualify. It's just nice to have some sort of realistic hope of getting a trophy, which is why i support AVB's stance on the competition. I don't think 5th/6th will be a failure either. Not when we consider what we're up against financially, the fact that we've just got a new manager in, and 2 of our best players left in the summer. The real issue, like you say, is not investing enough to give ourselves the best chance of a top 4 spot. - once again we may come up short and history will repeat itself. If this is all we can do, as it's all that's within our budgets, then fine. But top 4 is not something we can expect, that's all. Not when every team around us has an abundance of goalscorers in terms of strikers and midfielders. - we stand very little chance.
Demspey claims that he's noticed tension amongst the supporters Some mixed comments at the bottom. "His technique is about as good as a giraffe" is my personal favourite
You lost to Bradford. Does that mean that they should be looking for a higher quality bunch of signings than you should?
'If you really want to contribute something to this team.......cheer from the bench.' - that's a good one too!!
"play cuobally .where is he. ? give him a chance he his well physically like demba ba" - Levy, give this man a job, he knows his stuff!
Thanks for the link, notso! I notice that, in that article, Holtby falls into the trap of declaring that we "deserve" Top 4. Why do players do that? We only deserve it if we finish there. To say that we deserve it because we've put in a lot of effort is utterly ridiculous! So, does he believe that Arsenal, Everton, or even 'Pool are not trying hard enough?
PESKIE, you do realise that no one on this board takes either you or your wummery seriously, don't you? I wouldn't mind if, even occasionally, it was funny, but it just isn't.
Dempsey was a class act at Fulham but doesn't seem to have adapted to Spurs' style of play. Liverpool would have been the better choice for him as I'm sure he'd get in the squad above Henderson/Downing and all of a sudden, Dempsey/Gerrard/Suarez/Couttinho looks rather dangerous and intimidating.
Candy, I dont think you could ever say he was Class. It's just not his game. Berbs is class, or Van der vaart is class. Not Dempsey. Team player maybe, a tryer who can get some goals.
Good comment. I appreciate the positive thinking. It's easy to blame Levy. I do as well, but much more for not getting Moutinho than a new striker. Get Moutinho (early!), and you start your new manager out with his key player. There's a real chance he can get out of the blocks fast. That deal falling through at the last moment had to have sent AVB back to the drawing board trying to figure out what to do, and (combined with getting everybody late, late, late) did a lot to cause our poor start. Dempsey like almost every other athlete has risen to a level where he can't quite succeed, and doesn't deserve blame for it. I thought he was neither a Spurs-type nor Spurs-level player and unfortunately it looks like I was right. But: scoring to get both the win and draw against Man U, not to mention his other contributions, make him not such a bad buy at all, even if he does leave this summer. My guess is that he helped the squad get organized early on as well; I have the feeling he's a bit of a drill sergeant, who can be useful to a new manager trying to install a new system...
Dempseys exceptional season for Fulham looks exactly that, one flash in the pan season, one of those where everything you connect with flies in somehow.
You havent been watching Henderson this year then? He's really stepped up. Think Dempsey may be a spent force now.
