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Davies blasts FC Sochaux president

Charlie Davies (JohnDortonISI)

Photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

  

Charlie Davies isn't happy about having missed out on the U.S. national team preliminary World Cup roster and he's placing the blame for missing the team's pre-World Cup training camp squarely on his club team's handling of his situation.

Davies spoke with a national French radio program on Wednesday and slammed FC Sochaux president Alexandre Lacombe for his actions, saying Sochaux kept him from joining the U.S. national team.

"I'm very hurt, I'm very sad, but I'm very angry because I feel FC Sochaux has denied me a chance at playing in the World Cup," Davies said. "Of course I'm not at 100 percent now, but I feel that by the time World Cup camp starts next week I will be at a level where I can compete for one of the forward spots, and I feel by June 1st, June 12th by the first game against England I feel I will able to be at 100 percent and really contribute to the national team.

"For me not being able to get a chance is very painful."

Davies stated that U.S. coach Bob Bradley informed him that Lacombe wrote a letter to the U.S. national team stating they would not release Davies, which led, at least in part, to Bradley's decision to leave Davies off the 30-man provisional roster.

"Bob Bradley called me the night before the selection was put out to the press," Davies said. "He explained to me that Sochaux sent a letter saying they were not going to clear me medically and wouldn't release me to go with the national team. And that this had a big part to play in not being able to select me."

Lacombe made news a month ago when he stated publicly that Davies would not play for Sochaux again this season, a statement that came on the same day Davies resumed full training with the club. A second story was leaked in the French media two weeks later with team sources stating that Davies would not be able to recover in time for the World Cup.

Davies made no mistake about his anger being directed at Lacombe, who he has not spoken to since the fatal car accident that nearly took his life last October.

"Since the accident I have not spoken with the president of FC Sochaux," Davies said. "He has not spoken with me. He has not given me any explanation. He hasn't given me a reason why he has not said I can play.

"He has not given me a reason why he sent the U.S. national team a letter saying he didn't understand why they put me on the provisional roster and he didnt' understand why they would call me and that I can't play and that they would not release me."

Davies stopped short of saying he wanted to leave Sochaux, with his anger directed mainly at the club president. He has every intention of returning to the French club for next season.

"I still feel I owe my teammates and I owe the fans of Sochaux to do well and contribute in the way that I can, which is to score many goals and create many opportunities for the team to win," Davies said. "Of course I just need to continue to perform and do the things that I've always done. Continue with my goals and move on to the clubs that I've dreamed of playing for. For me it's just continue the hard work and never forget this. I'll always have a chip on my shoulder, but I will not take anything for granted."

As for the World Cup, Davies does not plan on attending the tournament.

"I don't plan on going to South Africa because it would be very painful to be there knowing that my club never gave me a chance and that maybe I could be there. Maybe I couldn't play, but maybe I could. I' will never know.

"I'll train even harder during the World Cup, it will give me more motivation."

Comments

  1. You love to put words in other people’s mouths don’t you? When did I criticize Bradley or call him a moron? The point of my post was not to slam Bradley for not calling CD in, as should have been obvious.

    I feel it was out of line for Sochaux to take that extra step and many others agree with me. Once.again…I do not think that CD should absolutely have been given a ticket to the World Cup. I merely wanted Bradley etc. to be given a thorough up-close examination of a player who can be a huge help to us. You really think that getting reports on training is as enlightening as a pre-World Cup camp?

    You said you guess that your explanation is the reasoning behind the decision but why should your perception be taken as fact? I am just curious as to how it would have all played out if Sochaux had not contacted Bradley and basically strong-armed him.

    Either way, our other forwards will perform admirably and I look forward to seeing Dempsey and Altidore tear E, S, and A a new one. GO USA

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  2. Barrieu being french means he probably had a good shot at good communcations with the French doctors. Sound reasonable to you?

    From the USSF website:

    On the process that ultimately led to the decision not to include Charlie Davies:

    “Charlie has shown incredible heart and determination to reach this point in his recovery. We have followed his progress extensively during the past several months through physical examinations and personal observation by our staff, and he remained in consideration for this training camp until yesterday. FC Sochaux notified us that at this point Charlie has not been given medical clearance, and that they would not grant his full release to join the camp. Given that status and our own evaluation of his progress, we feel it is Charlie’s best interest to continue his rehabilitation and focus on getting fully prepared to resume his professional and international career.”

    The US can fight this and ultimately they could have gotten Charlie released before June 1st. They could have just named 29 and left a slot open for Charlie. Clubs have to release players for the World Cup but not for the camp.

    However this would have meant a fight with Sochaux, leaving one other player off the list and getting Charlie into the team without the benefit of a training camp to get him re-oriented ( hasn’t played in a while you know). My guess is they figured the Charlie they would get after all that trouble ( and it would be a big deal and a huge distraction)wasn’t going to be worth it.

    That is another way of saying they probably agreed with the French. As for waiting for Sochaux’s letter, it’s a matter of respect. Charlie is their employee, they pay his

    salary and would have been, in effect, lending him to the US for the camp.

    My guess is Charlie was much more closely monitored, especially in terms of fitness, than the other camp attendees over the last few months so your comment that “These camps are to make that determination”, doesn’t apply to Charlie. The first thing they will do in camp is put the players through a very tough series of fitness tests. They already had a pretty good idea of where Charlie was physically.

    Charlie was the only person saying that he was going to the Cup. No else ever said that. It’s like all these players who tweet that “Manchester United/Chelsea/Real Madrid are interested in me”. Not credible.

    I think the US looked at Sochaux’s report and their own info, looked at the calendar and decided Charlie’s ship had sailed.

    As much as it is possible for any outsider to know, it seems clear to me that Bradley had this whole situation as closely monitored as possible and why wouldn’t he? You may think he is a moron but even a moron could see that this decision was going to be a bombshell. And that moron got it right; who knew huh?

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  3. No, the club president (or one of his representatives) is supposed to explain to him why he isn’t being released for the camp. Sochaux owes Charlie Davies what everyone owes everyone else, civility and consideration.

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  4. What does our fitness coach’s nationality have to do with anything?
    How can you say that the “US fitness team clearly, obviously doesn’t believe Charlie would make it through camp”? Bradley said that the letter from Sochaux’s president expressing his opposition to CD going to camp was a large reason for not calling him in.
    That seems to imply that without this contact, Bradley would have been much more likely to call CD in to take a look at him.
    I never claimed that CD should make the World Cup. These camps are to make that determination
    Your argument is crap

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  5. All players must be released to their national teams if called after May 16, 2010. US camp begins May 17, 2010. Only Bayern Munich and Inter Milan are exceptions to this rule because of the CL Final.

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  6. Per FIFA: All players must be released to their national teams if called after May 16, 2010. US camp begins May 17, 2010. Only Bayern Munich and Inter Milan are exceptions to this rule because of the CL Final.

    People can agree with Bob’s decision or oppose it, but let’s at least get it straight that he had it in his power to call in Charlie.

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  7. It’s clear Bradley’s fitness team thought Charlie wouldn’t get through the camp, which starts tomorrow and which Charlie has already admitted he would not be 100% ready for.

    The US has had their fitness guys over there monitoring him closely. Our fitness coach (Pierre Barrieu) is french for god’s sake. Why you think anything would be different if Barrieu looked at him in NJ is beyond me.

    The first part of the camp will be spent entirely on fitness which means they will run everybody through the ringer.

    The US fitness team clearly, obviously doesn’t believe Charlie would make it through camp. Therefore, the only reason to bring Charlie in and then have him break down would be to keep people like you from getting pissed off.

    And that isn’t a good enough reason to deny someone else a chance to prove they can contribute.

    You want to be angry, get angry at Charlie.

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  8. “Charlie has shown incredible heart and determination to reach this point in his recovery. We have followed his progress extensively during the past several months through physical examinations and personal observation by our staff, and he remained in consideration for this training camp until yesterday. FC Sochaux notified us that at this point Charlie has not been given medical clearance, and that they would not grant his full release to join the camp. Given that status and our own evaluation of his progress, we feel it is Charlie’s best interest to continue his rehabilitation and focus on getting fully prepared to resume his professional and international career.”

    Dear Moose and Dakota,

    If you care to read the quote from Bradley about why he did not include Charlie you will note that he says the decision was a joint one between Sochaux and the USSF.

    The French said he was unfit and Bradley said his evalaution team agreed with them. He could have laid it all on the French but he did not. Instead he assumed responsibility with them.

    Kindly get your facts straight.

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  9. He didn’t rely on the letter.

    Unlike everyone on this site he didn’t rely on Charlie’s tweet’s to tell him how Charlie was doing.

    Since you all think french doctors are a bunch of paid off quacks, you should know thath the US team has one of the best fitness coaches in the world in Pierre Barrieu and he and his guys were the ones evaluating Charlie all this time, along with Sochaux’ guys.

    You don’t really think Bradley would put him self in this spot without an awful lot of educated, medical opinion behind him do you?

    Clearly the US team has had a good line on Charlie for a while now. They just didn’t want to bust his bubble too soon.

    It was Charlie who has been issuing all these glowing reports on his condition, not the USSF and not Sochaux. It’s like buying a used car and believing everything the owner tells you without checking it out.

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  10. a sure sign of immaturity is almost dying and then enduring 6 months of rehab to get on the training pitch. all the while he could have been feeling sorry for himself and given up and not gone through all the pain he had to go through just to get to this point.

    you stupid tools calling him immature might want to get a clue.

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  11. “Instead, BB hides behind a letter from a club team with no authority over Davies for FIFA sanctioned events. It’s cowardly rationalizing to avoid accountability and backlash.”

    yes

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  12. charlie is immature/un proffesional and clearly acting on anger. ives i like your site, but i cann’t you were putting him in your 23 two months ago.

    there was too much unreality on charlie tweets too.

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  13. Really curious to know if Bradley didn’t call in CD because his people and Sochaux’s people said CD wasn’t fit, or because Sochaux wasn’t allowing him to call him into camp. Basically, I want to know if Bradley would have called him in if he just had the observations of his and Sochaux’s people without the letter. I think he would have. And CD would have at least had a chance to show his progress and force his way onto the roster. And I definitely think a 90% CD is more valuable than a Buddle or Kljestan–no offense to them. I would have loved to have seen CD given a chance as I trust Bradley’s judgment. So yes, I”m angry

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  14. Ohh CD…WTF are you thinking? I realize that the WC was your goal, but honestly your young, and do not want to put your career in jeopardy. I feel you pain, but honestly just relax.

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  15. There are some real idiots on this board. Political remarks? Man…

    On a side note, I think this was the best decision for Charlie, believe it or not. It is natural that he feels this way, and as a competitor he should be upset I suppose, considering all he’s gone through. However, this camp will be intense, and the risk of further injury (from Sochaux perspective) is much too high. Although we will miss what CD9 brings, I think that the US team is still very strong. I look forward to seeing what Charlie, along with Jermaine Jones, will have for us in the next Gold Cup and other competitions.

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  16. “The fact that Charlie has suffered consequences far out of proportion to what any reasonable person would have thought could happen is sad. ”

    What Charlie has suffered is not unreasonable.

    Bad car accident. Very serious injuries. No heavy sports action for some time. The fact that he is missing the World Cup 7 months later seems perfectly reasonable to me.

    On the other hand there is a family missing a beautiful young woman. She won’t ever be able to wonder if life is reasonable or unreasonable again. She won’t suffer the pain of missing the World Cup. That is what is truly sad here.

    I don’t feel sorry for Charlie. He’s alive and reasonably healthy with a bright future (if he stops burning bridges). The hell with feeling sorry for him.

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  17. Are Charlie’s tweets admissible as evidence in a court of law?

    Has it ever occurred to you that Charlie might just be a tad delusional and maybe is overestimating his own recovery?

    I see no reason to trust Charlie’s opinion in this matter.

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  18. I think (someone please verify) the 30 man roster is it. The alternates come from the 7 cuts.

    Now if you don’t name 30 in the first place,I think you can submit an in-the- event-of-injury alternate list to FIFA.

    Berhalter went in 2006 that way but I believe Arena didn’t name 30 players.

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  19. Really, he Steve Jobs now? Didn’t know Schouax had thousand’s of employees all over the world. What sotck exxhange are they on?

    Anyway, I am sure, if Rooney and Messi almost dies in a terrible car accident and they did NOTHING ILLEGAL you would see the team president trying to contact them. This wasn’t a fenderbender this was extremely serious.

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  20. “Why do all of the BB apologists on this issue keep missing the central point?? Yes, CD is not able to fully compete at this moment, I agree, but the WC doesn’t start for another month!”

    That’s your central point? Why then is there a camp at all? Why don’t they all just save everyone some time and money and meet at the airport for the first time before flying off?

    You know why they don’t do that? Because they aren’t Brazil and they haven’t played particularly well the last few times out and they need to work out a some new players and maybe some new formations and they have to spend time together to gell as a team but hey why not just sit around waiting for Charlie right? After all he is the whole damm team.

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  21. Away goals,

    This is what Bradley had to say about the training camp:

    On the beginning of training camp:

    “As has been the case in both and 2002 and 2006, we’ll put a big emphasis early in the camp on fitness. Pierre Barrieu has been involved in both those previous efforts and has done a tremendous job in terms of organizing our conditioning program. We’ve discussed how to find a good balance and still getting some regular training, but the early emphasis will be on fitness.”

    Do you understand what this means? Camp isn’t going to be like Camp Jason-ina- hockey mask, this is going to be a real training camp. That means that Charlie had to be in top shape, like everyone else, by MAY 15. The fitness stuff is run by Pierre Barrieu who is one of the best. So if he thinks Charlie won’t hold up, and the guy has been fitness coach for three World Cups, I wouldn’t question it.

    By Charlie’s own admission, he’s not in top shape today so no way he gets through camp.

    Reply

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