Berbatov article on ESPN.com

[NJFulham]

ESPN FC: Did you want to leave United later in that summer of 2012 when you moved to Fulham?

Nobody wants to leave United. But footballers want to play and I was not getting enough chances to play anymore. I told Sir Alex and he said that he could not guarantee me this as they had bought Robin van Persie. Competition is good but my ambition to play more meant I left. I don't want to sit down and do nothing, even though I could have won another champions' medal.

I had offers from Fiorentina and Juventus, but after so many years in England I wanted to stay in England and not learn a new language, new training methods and style of football. I'd already learned English from movies and talking to myself and I wanted to use that. I tell my daughter to speak English when she plays with her dolls. She speaks better English than me now.

ESPN FC: You reunited with Jol at Fulham, for a £5 million fee.

'Berba!' he shouted like a big bear when he called me: 'I want you in my team.' I could not say no to him. London, England, Premier League, Martin Jol. Lovely.

ESPN FC: And a traditional old English ground at Craven Cottage...

Yes, it gives you a romantic feeling of how football used to be and that feeling could keep your feet on the ground. They need to expand the dressing room, but it's not possible because the building is listed.

ESPN FC: What was the story with your 'Keep calm and pass me the ball' T-shirt?

Before the game as I warmed up I went to the toilet. There, I decided to put that message on my shirt. All good ideas come in the toilet. I got a pen from the kit man and I always play with a T-shirt underneath. The message was spontaneous and I didn't tell anyone.

ESPN FC: Your manager said it wasn't the brightest thing to do.

He said that publicly. But to me he said: 'Berba, well done.' He understood my humour. But anyway, if people did pass me the ball it would benefit the team. I scored 15 league goals in my first season at Fulham. It was a great season for a good team. I was feeling good again, especially when I scored a goal from the volley against Stoke.

I felt confident and I hate playing against Stoke; they always f---ing kick you. But I liked that goal so much. I went to the boss to celebrate and I could see his eyes getting wet. He hugged me so strong I thought he was going to break my back. I love that guy.

[Woolly Mammoth]

It's interesting to read these articles, and this was a nice read and shows their human side.

[hovewhite]

Loved watching berba a genius with a football,and before anyone jumps down my throat about f;;;:n work rate i want to watch skilful players and thats it.

[Keynsham]

Heady days. I wish so hard that it had worked out differently with Berbatov.

[MJG]

I'll get stick for this, but getting Berbatov is exactly the kind of deal that led us partly into the situation we are in.
A two year expense fee and wages with zero sell on value. We had too many oldies in the team and all it did really was give Jol's ego a massage.

[RaySmith]

Nice piece , thanks.
Berba was a success, though there was some criticism of the way the team  was built around him, in his first year at Fulham, with some brilliant goals that it was a privilege to witness, and  that helped keep us up.

[Keynsham]

I'll get stick for this, but getting Berbatov is exactly the kind of deal that led us partly into the situation we are in.
A two year expense fee and wages with zero sell on value. We had too many oldies in the team and all it did really was give Jol's ego a massage.

I won't disagree with that at all.

[gang]

Similar to the Marsh & Best situation, nice on the eye but couldn't last.

[RaySmith]

I'll get stick for this, but getting Berbatov is exactly the kind of deal that led us partly into the situation we are in.
A two year expense fee and wages with zero sell on value. We had too many oldies in the team and all it did really was give Jol's ego a massage.

I won't disagree with that at all.

A lot of truth in this I'm sad to say. But I'm still glad to have seen Berbatov in a Fulham shirt scoring those goals.

[MJG]

I'll get stick for this, but getting Berbatov is exactly the kind of deal that led us partly into the situation we are in.
A two year expense fee and wages with zero sell on value. We had too many oldies in the team and all it did really was give Jol's ego a massage.

I won't disagree with that at all.

A lot of truth in this I'm sad to say. But I'm still glad to have seen Berbatov in a Fulham shirt scoring those goals.

I dont want anyone to think I didnt enjoy him playing for us. At times it was great and there was a spell where we/He were unplayable. Also he made Kaca play at a different level.

[Burt]

Love some of his comments, especially "the best ideas come on the toilet" (I can relate to that) and his comments about Stoke.

[VicHalomsLovechild]

Anytime I watched him and he pulled the ball out of the air and put it on the pitch without a roll or a bounce. I used to think that was worth the price of a ticket.

[Twig]

I'll get stick for this, but getting Berbatov is exactly the kind of deal that led us partly into the situation we are in.
A two year expense fee and wages with zero sell on value. We had too many oldies in the team and all it did really was give Jol's ego a massage.

I have to agree but with some regrets. When he was on song (and not just demonstrating his unique walking football) Berba was a joy to watch.  Plus I have some sympathy with the point that MAF was not interested in the cost of buying younger talent so great oldies were better than jobbing pros.

[Milo]

Glad to have seen him play for us.

It's like family holidays... you remember the good times when you see the photos at the bottom of the cupboard ten years later but don't remember how much it cost at the time...

[Keynsham]

It's true.  He was absolutely despised on here by the end of his time (or so I remember) but now look at us all.  :005:

[Carborundum]

The reference to the Stoke goal reminded me of Jol's rather splendid response when a post-match interviewer asked him to wax lyrical about the volley.  Something along the lines of "He's a striker, we pay him to do that".

"Keep calm and give me the ball" was dreadful.  It typified his behaviour that season where he dropped off to get the ball and mucked up the shape of the team.  If the rest of the team had T-shirts saying "stay up top and stick to your job", I wouldn't have blamed them.

[aaronmcguigan]

He thought he was better than the whole team put together. This may have been true but holds no weight in a struggling team.  his incredible control and fancy footwork was great to watch in season one when relegation wasn't a direct threat and we had the buffer zone to enjoy that carry on.
But when the football deteriorated, and either he lost it or lost interest, the only way was out.
Crying shame that we decided to replace him with someone only used to success and a completely different style of football. It's great to see real icons of the game in a fulham shirt but not at the detriment of our progress. Too many things went wrong, self inflicted (from a club point) that season to affect the morale, motivation and mindset of players like Berba.

[filham]

Perhaps the biggest talent we signed in those wonderful Premiership years but of curse not the best team player.
However 15 goals in his first season with us is not bad going, how many other players can boast a better premiership score for us.

[cottage expat]

Love some of his comments, especially "the best ideas come on the toilet" (I can relate to that) and his comments about Stoke.

+1. He certainly nailed it on Stoke (The Pulis school of savagery)

[Jims Dentist]

The reference to the Stoke goal reminded me of Jol's rather splendid response when a post-match interviewer asked him to wax lyrical about the volley.  Something along the lines of "He's a striker, we pay him to do that".

"Keep calm and give me the ball" was dreadful.  It typified his behaviour that season where he dropped off to get the ball and mucked up the shape of the team.  If the rest of the team had T-shirts saying "stay up top and stick to your job", I wouldn't have blamed them.

Like it, and your spot on.