Dempsey speaks...and he's not happy

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... d&&cc=5901

Ugh. Not good. I wonder how this will play with Roy.

 

RE: Dempsey speaks...and he

He's a competitive guy. Problem is, there really isn't anybody in the squad who deserves to be dropped.

 

RE: Dempsey speaks...and he

I hope he gets back in the line up soon. I finnaly got my Dempsey Jersey in the mail a week ago.

 

RE: Dempsey speaks...and he

Roy may not like it, but did Dempsey say anything that was untrue? Not in my opinion. Gera has been great for Fulham and he has a good amount of creativity to him, but I believe Clint could do just as well in those situations.

You can tell from the tone of the interview that Clint isn't happy at Fulham and unfortunately, if he isn't provided more playing time, he is off to another club.

 

Re: RE: Dempsey speaks...and he

I agree with you in a sense, but if none of the other players in the side are provided an opportunity to showcase their talents then how will you ever know if your starting XI is truly the best your side has to offer?

 

Look at the roster -- Dempsey is an injury away from starting in any number of positions.

 

Good point. I feel as the season continues on, Dempsey will get his chances.

Being that the Fulham midfield focuses more on passing and possesion, they will suffer the blunt of attacks from opposition with more physical and tackling midfield lineups.

Injuries will emerge as the season progresses and hopefully a hungry Dempsey emerges to seize his opportunity...

 

Dempsey is the only player Fulham has that can legitimately play in any of six positions.

He can and has played on either wing, having the ability to take on players.

He can and has played as target striker, having the ability to play with his back to goal.

He can play as second forward, working off a target player, and using his movement and creativity around the box.

He can play in the center of midfield, using his improved tackling, good holding ability and workrate, and creative passing to control the flow of the game on both ends of the pitch.

Dempsey's problem is that he's not the best player at Fulham at any one of those positions; but he's certainly not below #3 at any of them and is #2 at many.

 

Even RH has said that he's plesantly surprised at how well the team is fairing with injuries right now and that he fully expected at this point to be utilizing more people then he's had to.
As soon as an injury comes up Clint will get his next shot and if he does well then he could keep his spot. He'll have to be patient though ... on the other hand you can't blame a guy for wanting to play.
I guess we'll all see how it plays out ...

 

It is a shame to think that Dempsey's only legitimate shot at a starting XI position will come in the form of an injury from another player. He is worth a starting position in my mind and if anything it will allow rest for other players in the starting XI throughout the gruelling season.

 

Between this and Roy's comments last week (however tongue in cheek) saying that the two of them are often at "loggerheads", my guess is they don't see eye to eye. I really hope I'm wrong, but my guess is Deuce will be a prominent part of our January Transfers thread.

 

I'm very much in favor of a squad rotation system, as long as we stick to a small-ish core of players in that rotation. As important as it is to send out our best XI each week, it's almost as important to keep the backups sharp, and the starters rested. Injuries always happen, and at some point Dempsey, Baird, Andreasen, etc. will need to step in and play.

Hopefully it's more along the lines of the exchange between Rick Vaughn and Lou Brown at the beginning of Major League:

Clint: I got news for you Mr. Hodgson, you haven't heard the last of me. You may think I'm shit now, but someday you're gonna be sorry you cut me. I'm gonna catch on somewhere else and every time that I play against you I'm gonna stick it up you're fuckin' ass!
Roy: Good, I like that kind of spirit in a player. The only problem is you're starting on Saturday.

 

I understand Dempsey's frustration but taking this to the press was a boneheaded move! Not quite on the level of Runstrom's fuck up a while back but not good nonetheless. Comments like these can easily be picked up by the trash papers in England and before you know it it'll be the first thing mentioned when Fulham comes up. Whats does it accomplish?

Besides possibly irking Roy on a personal level he's now put him in a position where it may appear that his authority has been questioned and should he suddenly start Dempsey on Saturday that could send the wrong message, that he's rewarding such behavior. Only in a last resort should you go to the press in a team scenario, Dempsey is not there!

 

Spencer's correct, but I think it's foregone that he's off in January; good for him, bad for FFC.

Also, I don't believe Demps gives two shits about what Woy thinks at this point, as I said yesterday, it appears there's no love lost between the two.

And thank you to Richard for the Major League reference - a good chuckle.

 

this is the point that i was gonna hit on. I love Clint but I'm deeply upset that he would go public with this. I'm not going to argue whether or not he deserves a spot because you can debate both sides of that. But put your team first and be a professional. That's why I love Big Mac and why I love Volzy...they were first and foremost about Fulham. Clint still has an important role on our team, especially if someone goes down as mentioned by some of you. Keep it to yourself Clint and take your chance when it does come.

 

Seol made similar comments last year, and he was in the starting XI. Andreason made similar comments as well this season. i.e., let's not blow these things out of proportion.

 

Yeah, and who knows if the quotes published were taken out of context. Presumably, he said this before he started the Burnley game, so maybe the management doesn't consider it to be that big of a deal.

 

You can argue as to whether Dempsey should have said those comments to the media, but you do have to admire his determination. He feels that his back is against the wall and nobody is going to help him get a spot in the starting XI so he is going to do it himself. Respect Deuce.

 

I think this is the key statement in the article. He's not one of Roy's guys and despite him putting in the efforts (from all accounts) he doesn't appear to figure into Roy's plans. Given the recent substitution patterns, I'd imagine all of the subs feel similarly frustrated. And given the exodus of players who predate Roy's arrival at Fulham, I'd imagine there's an excusable amount of worry for those guys still on the squad but out of the starting XI.

That said, if you're wanting out in January, this is the way to do it. As a USMNT supporter, I'd rather see him moved if he's not going to feature or get 15-20 min/match off the bench (especially now that we exited Carling early again). As a Fulham supporter, I don't care. He doesn't appear to be much more than depth for Roy in case of injury so the impact should be both minimal and replaceable.