fox soccer in usa.....clint

[MOR :]

Strangly quiet from the Dempsey camp don't you think...someone there has made a right balls-up...

[TonyGilroy]

The only thing that makes sense is Clint either refusing to play or being in no physical and/or mental state to do so.

Why should the club make this up and seek to antagonise him.

They haven't done that with Dembele.

Let's just throw a what if out there Tony.  Reports have come in that Dempsey refused a move to West Ham and what if the thing that happened on Friday that McBride referred to is that West Ham met Fulham's asking price and Clint said he would not come to terms with them.  Could it be possible that the club just want to move Dempsey this year so they don't lose him on a free next?  Would we really blame Dempsey if he preferred playing out the final year of his contract here over moving to a club he didn't care to go to?

The problem with contract situations is there could be motivations on either side that we don't know anything about.  It is entirely possible the club have decided they want to sell Clint and offer Moussa a big contract.  Who knows.

Obviously none of us knows but Dempsey clearly wasn't part of any pre season friendly so it wasn't just yesterday's game that he was unavailable for.

[BarryP]

The only thing that makes sense is Clint either refusing to play or being in no physical and/or mental state to do so.

Why should the club make this up and seek to antagonise him.

They haven't done that with Dembele.

Let's just throw a what if out there Tony.  Reports have come in that Dempsey refused a move to West Ham and what if the thing that happened on Friday that McBride referred to is that West Ham met Fulham's asking price and Clint said he would not come to terms with them.  Could it be possible that the club just want to move Dempsey this year so they don't lose him on a free next?  Would we really blame Dempsey if he preferred playing out the final year of his contract here over moving to a club he didn't care to go to?

The problem with contract situations is there could be motivations on either side that we don't know anything about.  It is entirely possible the club have decided they want to sell Clint and offer Moussa a big contract.  Who knows.

Obviously none of us knows but Dempsey clearly wasn't part of any pre season friendly so it wasn't just yesterday's game that he was unavailable for.

True. The big question is why?

[bill taylors apprentice]

Has Dempsey stood up on the table and shouted to all and sundry " I am never going to play for this club ever again and i want out of here asap". No of course not, but we all know that there are ways and means of letting others know what you want without having to spell it out.
Maybe he started out trying to be decent by being upfront about leaving but has been left high and dry when things didn't go to plan.
He has put himself and the club in a difficult situation and football is a business at the end of the day and no club are going to roll over and lose out when Millions are at stake.
Lets not lose sight of the fact he was unavailable to play due to his own actions of asking to be excused from important pre season training.  

[b+w geezer]

I really don't need Brian McBride to tell me that Clint has not in a literal sense refused to play for Fulham. He'd have been insane to have done that and there is no reason to doubt Clint's sanity. It's however a matter of record that Clint has taken part in no pre-season matches and missed out the Swiss training camp. His job was to prepare for the season and he has spent a month failing to do so. Did the club encourage his non-participation or was Clint the prime mover by reason of attitude? The answer to that (which I don't know) determines where economy with the truth most lies.

[NogoodBoyo]

The whole saga's getting a bit tedious, but some fine folk took transcripts of the Sarah Brookes/Martin Jol interview from last Friday.  I can't be bothered to plough back through them but, as I recall, it was Sarah Brookes who lead the witness by stating or asking "So, Clint is refusing to play for the club." 
I don't think Jol used those exact words in responding, "He doesn't want to play for the club; he doesn't want to commit to the club."
Oh cachi, I think I might have to go back through all those infernal posts to get the exact words now.
Nogood "precision is a dangerous thing, itis" Boyo

[Berserker]

Ah well another day another dollar ay Mr Nogood isn't it ;-)

[NogoodBoyo]

Short of a dollar today, so I found the quotations fully researched and transcribed by Barry P and his Black & White Army.  Can we just post this every time somebody says Jol stated Dempsey refused to play.  Gird your loins, boys and girls:

"0.15 - MJ: "Clint told us that he wanted to leave and that he was not ready to play for this club anymore"

0.55
MJ referring to Clint: "He's not committed to the club."

SB: "So, to be clear, Clint has told the club that he does not want to play for the first team again?"

MJ: "Yes, he told me in Leipzig he said you know what I want to happen which was at that time to go to Liverpool."

1.34
SB: "So what happens, there is no offer Clint refuses to play how will this play out if no offer comes before the end of this season what will the situation be?"

MJ: "You know it's been four weeks ago now and every week I thought maybe we can change the situation if there is no other club maybe change maybe Clint wants to change his mind and play for us because he is so important but no (1.57) he doesn't want to play and he told Alistair McIntosh as well and we are waiting hopefully for him to change his mind.  He probably won't so hopefully there will be an offer for him because our chairman is quite strong."

Nogood "Sarah Brookes done the woopsie - can't argue with facts even if they are clouded by opinions inside large baggy underwears, isit" Boyo

[cottagecornerreject]

Posted in another thread but here is another pundit interview with the Steve Nicole comments. I do find the part about everton interesting. When it was clints' dream to play in the PL and everton came for him and his mls club shot it down even though Clint didn't like it he still played so with that in mind I do see it hard to believe him refusing to play now. What sense does it make? Only makes him look bad and make other clubs question his character. Doing so would be a lose lose for him so I have to think there is something else in play we don't know. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/video/espnfc/video?id=1136183&cc=5901&espnfc=true

[Logicalman]

It's all a conspiracy, nothing more. That was actually clint playing yesterday in Haynes' old shirt, didn't you spot the similarities? Nose, eyes, ears, two legs and footie boots with great finishing - see? Exactly.   

[Berserker]

I love a good conspiracy theory, maybe the true Dempsey has been abducted by space aliens and it is just an android in his place. Sorry got day off and the freedom has affected me!

[BlaWhiArmyyyyyy]

Jol was sort of angling at that Dempsey didnt want to play incase he got injured and it prevented him from moving. I held dempsey in high regard but im with Jol on this. If Dempsey made himself available then no doubt Jol would have played him or had him on the bench, clearly Dempsey didn't want to play incase he got injured or because he was trying to force our hand. All Jol claimed was Dempsey wasnt committed, which he isnt as he wants to leave. I see no lies to be honest.

I will stand by Jol on this sit regardless. Hes doing whats best for FFC and i trust him.

[SKSW6]

Jol was sort of angling at that Dempsey didnt want to play incase he got injured and it prevented him from moving. I held dempsey in high regard but im with Jol on this. If Dempsey made himself available then no doubt Jol would have played him or had him on the bench, clearly Dempsey didn't want to play incase he got injured or because he was trying to force our hand. All Jol claimed was Dempsey wasnt committed, which he isnt as he wants to leave. I see no lies to be honest.

I will stand by Jol on this sit regardless. Hes doing whats best for FFC and i trust him.

I'm inclined to believe this is true too, hence the fact Jol didn't come right out with "Dempsey is refusing to play" in his interview, more implying he didn't want to, with Liverpool interested in him, and was unlikely to ever again. Although, as ever, we still don't know the facts. That's just what I'm leaning towards as the most likely answer.

[General]

The way it seems to have been is Jol has decided that Dempsey wanted to move (Dempsey said as much), wasn't in the right frame of mind and therefore didn't want him to play whilst his future is still up in the air and he didn't want Dempsey interferring with what the team are doing in the build up to the season.

Dempsey obviously enjoys his time at Fulham and loves the club and the fans, but he was naively childish if we're to believe what's been said when he went around saying he was off to Liverpool. From what I've seen and heard it sounds like Fulham thought there was something but it never mateiralised and Dempsey got too excited and his agent and brother not only over-exaggerated the situation, which pissed off Fulham etc, it got Dempsey into a false state of mind.

The club it seems haven't recieved a single offer for him and my reckoning is that we will see him play this season if he stays, i wouldn't be suprised though if he moves to Arsenal. They've just lost Song and it's champions league football, which is better than moving to a LIverpool on a 3-0 downward spiral.

It's all a bit of a mess admittedly but no single party are innocent and to act in any other way would be stupid, I just hope everyone realises this and comes to an amicable conclusion.

[Nightwind15]

I will choose Fulham of course but this ranks up there with the Tevez affair.  A decision needs to be made now.