Dempsey's departure was about money, pure and simple. He says it was not about the fans, but "other situations", reflects the fact that he was turning 29 and knew he only had a few years left on those legs. Liverpool and Tottenham have double (or more) the salary range that Fulham have, so he left for the money. As I've said before for people like Bobby Zamora, Andy Johnson and even Jimmy Bullard - I think that when a player's looking at the end of their career and his current team won't offer another long-term contract, the player would be a fool not to take the money and run. Beckham went off the the MLS, as did Freddy Lumberg and Thierry Henry. It's what happens.
I'm fairly sure Demps was offered a 3 year contract with fat wages DR, Demps wanted to go on to pastures new and the CL, now he's rolling out the excuses. I seriously doubt contract length was the problem, it was probably money, like you say. Bless his heart - undervalued! He wanted more and more after Rodgers publically tapped him up and then his head was turned. From then on it was an uphill battle to not look the villain after refusing to train with his teammates. Does anyone know if there's an outcome to the Liverpool tapping up complaint?
Bidley, what's the top salary anyone gets at Fulham? It's something like 40k a week, right? And (correct me if I'm wrong) aren't contracts for the principal players structured at Fulham so that if some new player gets a contract at 60k a week, all the big players suddenly get a pay raise. Hence, Berbatov (bless his heart!) had to take to take a huge pay cut to join Fulham, otherwise half the players on the team would suddenly be making 120K a week. Wanna know how much Dempsey's making now? According to the Business Insider, his new contract will pay him £13.9 million over three years; that's £4.6 million/year, or 89K per week. Does anyone who uses this website honestly think that FFC was going to pay Clint Dempsey 89K/week for the next three years? Get over yourselves. It wasn't a betrayal; it wasn't personal. It was about money. Dempsey, Zamora, Johnson, Van der Sar, Saha, Malbranque, Boa Morte and Bullard left because they understood that their careers are short-lived and they need to make as much money as they can while they can. It's as simple as that. http://www.businessinsider.com/clin...ghest-paid-american-soccer-player-ever-2012-9
Blimey! A few points regarding your last paragraph. It was a betrayal and personal as well as being about money. Without Fulham, who is to say that Dempsey would be the player he is right now? I don't exactly remember Fulham having to fight off a host of teams for his signature. The other players you mentioned all left to further their careers and possibly money played its part, but none of them refused to play for the club and train with the team in pre-season. Dembele joined Spurs in order to further his career which could partially have been motivated by money, but there is a reason FFC fans fail to hold Dempsey in the same light as Dembele. Dempsey knows he was in the wrong by demanding a move, and refusing to play when it looked to be on the verge of collapse, and has proven it now by attempting to justify his actions by claiming he felt 'unwanted' or 'undervalued' by Fulham which is absolute nonsense. He was our best player and Jol did everything he could to keep him here. If Dempsey had kept his mouth shut and got on with life at FFC as usual, patiently waiting for his move ala Dembele, he would be given a heroes welcome at the weekend. FFC fans understand we can't pay top wages and every now and then we will have players who are enticed by other clubs wage structures, what isn't understandable however, is refusing to play for the club that gave you your opportunity to play in the best league in the world and claim that you weren't needed by them.
The players who had that clause were, I believe, were AJ and Murphy - both had gone before Dempsey threw a strop. Our wage cap is a bit more than £40k a week, too, and it was reported that our contract offer had broken that cap. Berbs could've gone to Fiorentina or Juve and made the big bucks, but he did the opposite. Bless his heart indeed. I don't tend to follow our ex-players' subsequent wage takings, so this is all news (and irrelevant) to me. All you've succeeded in doing with your post is prove yourself wrong. Not a betrayal? Why did he say all along he wanted CL football, only to move to a club not playing CL football for (as you kindly pointed out) more money? Of course it wasn't personal, it was explicitly impersonal, that's the issue. As soon as a sniff of 'greener pastures' presented itsself he didn't want anything to do with Fulham. As a Fulham fan, that grates a little. But you being more of a Dempsey fan would soften that blow. It's ok that you're fine with Demps being a mercenary (I'm fine with it too), but don't tell me I need to "get over myself" and accept poor old Clint's treatment of our club and think of him just as fondly. It doesn't work like that.
I would like to think that he does not get booed at The Cottage - I will not take part in such negative activity. However, to say that he was not appreciated here does not do justice. C O Y W
I don't think DR meant the whole 'get overyourselves' in the way it might have been construed guys. More of a let's move on turn of phrase. However, I'm surprised by the comment he made. He knew the clubs financial limits and wanted to earn more for the next 3 to 4 years. It's the way he did it that upset me really.
Due to the fact that Dempsey said he wanted to leave Fulham to play in the Champions League then Leaves for a club without Champions league football leave a bad taste. Additionally he acted unprofessionally making it clear he did not wanted to play for us again which had a negative impact on the transfer free we received for him. I think he’ll get a poor reception tomorrow and think a fair amount of fans will boo. I will…. I think Dembele will get a good reception and he deserves one.
How convenient, Bidley, that this little tid bit of information, that Dempsey is making 90K/week instead of 45K, escaped your attention and somehow means nothing in this discussion. Bandito, I agree with you that Dempsey owes Fulham a debt or gratitude for taking a chance with him. He also owes a debt to the New England Revolution, which gave him his first professional contract. And he owes Furman University, which educated him for free while he played soccer for its team. And he owes the Nacogdoches High School in Texas for showcasing the talent that got him noticed by the university. He probably owes the greatest debt to his family, which on weekends drove 6 hours round trip so he could play against decent players in Dallas. Point is, it's not like Dempsey crawled out of the primordial ooze of the Thames estuary; his career had many contributors. On this point, you and I are in complete agreement. Dempsey didn't explain himself very well, before or after he left the team, that's for certain. And the reception he gets at Craven Cottage will be quite negative and intense, I suspect, and he will have brought that upon himself. Dembele probably has the same contract that Dempsey has (90K week), but he'll probably be greeted warmly by the crowd simply because he kept his mouth shut. Dempsey could have been a legend amongst Fulham's players and fans if he'd have just kept his mouth close - the loss is on him.
Escaped my attention? Why on Earth would I be researching Dempsey's salary? And how is it meaningless to this discussion? I said it was irrelevant to me. The most convenient thing for me is that was the only thing you could take issue with in my post. I agree with the last thing you posted in response to Bandit, and that was all I was trying to say in the first place! Never mind, we (Fulham and it's fans) don't need him and he undoubtably doesn't give two ****s either.
Blimey, strongly argued disagreement - it's like Jol's first few months all over again! For what it's worth, despite the fact Dempsey is now on much higher wages and playing for a non-Champions League team, I don't think he went for the money. He knew it was now or never for a big move so he pushed for one, burning his bridges with Fulham in the process. On deadline day, he went for the best available option and a club who are (let's be honest) much more likely to give him a chance to play in the Champions League than we are. As for his comment about not feeling appreciated, I suspect that's more about his whole time at Fulham. Apart from last season, he has spent at least part of most seasons as a fringe player, one who isn't an automatic starter. When all our wingers were fit, Roy favoured Duff and Davies, with Gera behind Zamora and Dempsey on the bench. Despite his wonder-goal against Juventus, Dempsey started the Europa final on the bench. When Hughes arrived he had to fight his way into the team again having started off as a back up to Gera (who quickly fell from favour) and Duff. I recall interviews being posted on here from American media outlets where he made some remark about always feeling he had to win over reluctant managers. Perhaps his sense of not being appreciated is more about that than the money or contract length Fulham were offering. For what it's worth, I agree with DR that we shouldn't expect unwavering loyalty from players. The way Clint conducted himself when he left was disappointing and a bit shabby to say the least, but that's water under the bridge. I prefer to remember what he did on the pitch for us and the pleasure he brought. He is a Fulham legend in my book - the Juventus goal alone earns that, never mind everything else - albeit one with feet of clay.
Before I add my ten pennerth (again), a declaration of interest - both the Ds were firm favourites of mine and I can't forget the enjoyment they gave me. So, Dempsey first. I don't know the guy nor his real reasons for wanting to leave - probably it was a mixture of all of the above - but he made some bad judgement calls and has undoubtedly been disrespectful of the Club. Dembele I think is getting off a tad lightly in all this. He apparently told Jol he'd hang on to the end of the year but in the event left us in the lurch by going in the last few days of the transfer window. Yes there was the release clause but he was the one with the choice - he didn't have to allow it to be invoked. The only diffference in my book is that one went public and the other didn't. However, when the teams come out I won't boo either but neither will I cheer. During the game I'll view them as, I think it was Bidley who said it, like any other oppposition player. And I'll enjoy it if they have 'mares', curse them if it's the opposite. Whatever the outcome it won't diminish the memories. On a lighter note. Assuming they both play, who would you put 5p on to fall over more often - Dempsey or Kara ?
But why bring all this up after the season he became our number 1 man? You don't hear Ryan Giggs saying Man United underappreciate him because he didn't play every game 20 years ago! (massively exaggerated, but you get my point)
This is exactly it. Dembele got his head down, trained with his teammates, played games and was professional about it.
Fair point. I don't think it was a smart thing for him to say at this point. I suspect that in his head, he thought (wrongly) we'd hear it as 'I never had a problem with the fans, just with the club'. It would have been a lot better if he'd just kept his mouth shut about it, really. Or even held his hands up and say, 'I made some mistakes, I could have managed it a lot better, but I had a great time at Fulham, etc, etc.'
I don’t suppose he cares. It he got a 50K/week raise going to Spurs so it’s been a good move for him. I think part of the issue with Dempsey is his ego… In the US he is regarded as their number 1 soccer export. Dempsey and Donavan are both held in high regards but I think Dempsey is thought of more as he is playing in the EPL. I was in the US a last month and you go into a Nike store and they have giant posters of Nike sponsored “soccer” stars… Iniesta, Ronaldo, Neymar but the most wall space was dedicated to Dempsey. I think he thought we should have broken the bank to keep him and we didn’t…
