The Clint Dempsey saga at Fulham continues.
The U.S. national team star will not play for the Cottagers in their upcoming showdown with Manchester United, having been left out of the squad for Saturday's showdown.
The transfer rumor mill has gone very quiet on Dempsey, with a long-rumored move to Liverpool looking less and less like a possibility by the day. In fact, Fulham has lodged a formal complaint against Liverpool for unsettling their leading scorer by publicly acknowledging interest in Dempsey without ever making a formal bid.
Fulham manager Martin Jol has spoken about wanting Dempsey to stay at Fulham, and has extended an olive branch in that regard, but with Dempsey clearly wanting to leave the club it looks as though the situation remains unresolved as we stand just a week before the close of the summer transfer window.
What do you think of this development? Starting to think Dempsey will stay at Fulham? Still holding out hope that a big club makes a bid for him? Where would you like to see him wind up?
Share your thoughts below.
Is it August 31 yet? Just get this freaking thing over with already.
With Clint’s camp staying silent, no one outside of Clint, Jol and the Fulham execs really know how this has played out. Jol’s backtracked on his “Clint refused to play” comments, and now Fulham has lodged a formal complaint against Liverpool, so the whole thing is just a gigantic mess.
The one undeniable fact in this situation is that Clint has taken an absolute PR beating, so whatever the outcome turns out to be, I hope it’s worth it for him.
What a f*ckin disaster for Fulham…is his agent affiliated with Traffic or something?
He was wanting out sine last year. Why risk injury. IF that were to happen then both parties would lose out. Fulhan needs to wake up and get in touch with the real world.
Players and teams, especially in the USA, realize that the importance to the club and the player of leaving in the last year of a contract.
Clint has held the higher ground through out this process and will be the better for it.
Liverpool is waiting until the last minute to low-ball an offer to fulham. This way they dont have to pay a high transfer fee. If liverpool really wants dempsey then they are in the drivers seat. Fulham has no leverage whatsoever so why does liverpool need to rush & pay more for clint than they have to?
So glad you were able to be part of the negotiations. Please, tell us more what you KNOW has happened.
I have no doubt Clint is going to end up at a good club, if not in the Premier League then in Germany or Spain or Roma with MB. I actually would not surprised to see Man City, who still wants a couple players, sneak in and swoop him up. Not saying it is going to happen, but Clint with his versatility would be a great utility player for Man City, although might not be best move for the USMNT.
Clint Won’t Back Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wkxAmQo-Vw
This is starting to remind me of a couple years ago when Schwarzer wanted to go to Arsenal and Fulham didn’t let him go. This one is a bit more contentious. Fulham have spent all summer saying they are not going to sell and responding to every rumor by saying they would accept no bids but at the same time not playing Dempsey. He did show up for their trip to Germany. I think Fulham want to sell but there are no bids due to their public statement stating otherwise and they are pushing the blame on Dempsey.
Stop being a turd, Clint.
I think there are two sides and however this ends, I think we will find out that both Clint and the club are at fault for the situation. It’s a disagreement between a manager and a player and a more complex situation than simply: 1. Clint is acting like a spoiled brat, holding out and refusing to play. or 2. Fulham’s management are a bunch of spiteful pricks that are trying to intimidate their players. NEITHER of those is what has really happened yet it seems most posters have fallen into one of those two camps. It is simply that the relationship between management and Clint has turned sour, maybe some regrettable things were said or done. My point is that people are jumping to wild conclusions which are probably very far from the truth.
That’s pretty naive. Managers say that about their star players all the time, but there isn’t a single player in the world who isn’t for sale for the right price. Sports is a business, first and foremost.
Good point overall but, Modric is not a good name to bring up since he has already been fined this summer for refusing to train.
Yes, anyone with a different opinion is a troll.
Exactly the point I was trying to make. If Fulham are willing to bench arguably their best player in Dempsey it means he is in the wrong somehow. Since other key players like Dembele and Hangeland have still played even with contract issues unresolved.
It’s a little two faced for Jol to repremand Liverpool for not making an offer when all summer his stance has been that FFC were not going to sell Dempsey for any amount and to not even bother making an offer. I still hope he can get to a bigger club this year, but for now a deal for this year (perhaps to Sunderland) might be his best bet. Sign wherever you want next year when you are a free agent.
I try 😀
I’ve never gotten the impression that Dempsey cares about his reputation at all. He isn’t a big endorsement guy or face of US soccer like Donovan. I respect that about him, even though I think he’s handling this horribly (not from a PR standpoint, but just from a professional one).
ha! i was thinking jol, too.
That’s absurd. As a Fulham and US fan, this is all on Dempsey. Players who want transfers almost always have the professionalism to continue to play for their clubs; look at Modric last year, Ronaldo before he moved to Madrid, etc. When they don’t, they look like Carlos Tevez. Some of you are so blinded by your loyalty to Dempsey that you don’t see what he’s doing. What exactly has Fulham done wrong in this situation? Expected a player under contract to honor said contract? Not actively shopped their best player to other teams? What a shameful way for a club to behave!
And lest anyone forget, no offers have been made! What exactly is Fulham supposed to do?
I’m sad for Deuce. Hopefully things will work out though.
Id say so!! It seems like duece is on his own out there..terrible
Is it possible that we have some Fulham trolls on this board bashing Clint Dempsey and praising Fulham management? Just asking.
+1
Cuz dEmbele hasnt refused to train with fulham. End of the day your under contract you have to show up
Play out for a Free Transfer, Deuce…
Way to make your stock rise, Clint!!
By the time is all said and done Dempsey will end up in a crappier team this year or next and score 8-9 goals a season.
Fulham was a good place for someone at his level. He will not find anything better but could end up worst off.
You have quite the imagination!
How should I know. I can only speculate, and it could be that Fulham after months and months of trying to bully Clint into signing the contract extension have given up, have finally realized the Clint will not back down from his right to decline to sign and to move to a new club. So they put on their brass knuckles, bloodied up Dempsey as a warning to Moussa Dembele, along the lines of: This will be you if you don’t sign. Will it work? We will see whether or not Dembele will cave to the pressure. Hard to believe thought that he would sign for a team with such spiteful management.
As for Clint, if they don’t let him go by August 31 and in so doing miss out on a sweet 5-8 million transfer fee, then Clint no doubt will honor his contract and play until January, when he can sign a pre-contract as a free agent and Fulham will not get one penny out of him. Keep in mind, when geoff Cameron was in talks with Stoke, Houston sat him on the bench to avoid injury before the deal could be sealed. That appears to be what Fulham is doing, to avoid missing out on the transfer fee, but making it appear as if Dempsey is on strike. Two sides to every story, jack. The truth will come out–I bet is going to be a very interesting story.
Clint Won’t Back Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMzW42zZVN0
The same can be said for Brede Hangelend. Also hasn’t signed a new contract. Also has been the subject of transfer speculation from “bigger” clubs.
Hangeland is playing as CAPTAIN.
All evidence points to Dempsey being the problem, not Jol or anyone else at the club.
The complaint is actually against Rodgers himself and is not directed at the owners according to another report.
Fenway Sports Group – simultaneously trying to ruin 3 franchises… Dempsey belongs on a world class team (preferably in the EPL for USMNT’s sake), Fulham need to have this matter resolved so they can move on and the freaking Red Sox need new ownership.
Absurd.
Gonna argue this. I think he *plays* like he’s ready for a fight but leaves it out on the field.
Met him once after a USMNT game (he didn’t play that night) and he was super friendly, chill, and just seemed happy to be there. Heard similar accounts from others.
Could not agree more. We are talking about Martin jol right.
I mentioned this a few times before but, Dembele has not signed a new contract either. Why hasn’t Dembele received the same treatment from Fulham?
Excellent point. This is ridiculous in so many ways.
Like I predicted awhile back, Liverpool screwed them both.
Liverpool approached Dempsey and said they were very interested. Dempsey and his agent went to Fulham and said this is something we’d like to do and they’ve approached us with serious verbal interest. Fulham held Dempsey out of preseason events as is normal when a player is about to be traded.
Fulham and Liverpool sat down at the negotiating table and extended their hands for the deal only to have Liverpool pull their hand back, yell psyche and run out of the room saying we were kidding!
Of course Fulham is left looking completely foolish. Dempsey was going to bring some major cash for the transfer market, yet now they’ve got nothing to show for the offseason transfers and that’s simply embarrassing for the club. So what does Jol do? He flips the script and somebody has to be left holding the blame. So Jol fires angrily into the press at Dempsey and Liverpool trying to send a message to other players, most notable the Belgium bum, painting Dempsey as a holdout and what will happen if you try to strong arm the club (of course in this case it isn’t true since Dempsey didn’t strong arm anyone, Liverpool screwed the pooch).
Except club ownership steps in and says, uh don’t alienate our best player and shut up because we might be stuck with him for the season and we’ll need him. So Jol has to walk back the crap he spewed and then Fulham tries to save face by filing a complaint against Liverpool for their actions in the entire mess.
Clint is getting crushed in the p.r. battle right now. I do wonder why he doesn’t say anything.
Tyler is absolutely right. What exactly has Clint done wrong, elgringorico? Doesn’t he have right to decline to sign a contract extension without being bullied by Jol and Fulham management? And now Fulham filing a ridiculous formal complaint–Martin Jol and Fulham management are now acting like spiteful clowns and turning Fulham, which previously had decent support in the US before they started trying to destroy the reputation of America’s best player who also happens to be a USMNT fan favorite. Now Fulham is flirting with becoming the most hated team in the US, not to mention sending a warning flag to other players considering making a move to Fulham. It will now be a long, long time before another American player signs a contract with Fulham.
Count me as one USMNT fan who supports Clint Dempsey 100% and I know I am not alone.
Clint Won’t Back Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QR93m8USug
Pretty classless but I’m not surprised as he’s always seemed like a bit of a jerk. He thinks he’s better than he is. That much is obvious.
I really can’t wait until the transfer window closes. I really tired of this story and the Modric story. In the words of the late Aaliyah this needs a resolution.
He could have not held out from the beginning. “I am actively seeking a transfer but in the mean time I am fully committed to my contract and this club.
Yea. I have a hard time believing he would not play if another transfer wasn’t in the works.
Even so I wouldn’t say it’s irreparable. His actions, should he end up staying, will play into that. If he can approach or exceed his goal tally last year, especially against big clubs, then it’ll just help Fulham increase their odds of finishing higher and I suspect it would restore endearment to the Fulham Faithful.
Have you heard Deuce say ANYTHING about refusing to play? The only evidence you have of that is that the coach said he refused to play and would never play for Fulham again… only to come out a few days later and say he lied and that Deuce didn’t actually refuse to play and that he wanted him to stay.
Uh, and that’s on Deuce?
oops maybe not irreparable. Fulham have lodged a complaint against Liverpool, probably Fenway sports Group, which they deserve.
Clint’s agent better have something lined up or else he should be fired.
I’m looking forward to this being over so we can finally hear from Clint. I really don’t believe Fulham.
Dude, it’s as much on Deuce as it is Fulham. He needs to man up and accept that he’s playing for Fulham again this year.
There was no extension of olive branches, merely a removal of foot from mouth. This isn’t new from Fulham and certainly isn’t the first time they’ve tried dirty, underhanded tactics in an attempt to send a message or force a player to do something.
Irreparable damage methinks