January 2009 Transfer thread

BTW, I am in no way suggesting they should have conceded to his contract demands (which I think were ridiculous).

 

I think you make some good points - till you get to this.

#1 - I was unaware that we were dealing with a foremost authority on professional sport contracts negotiation! Is there no bound to your wisdom!?!

#2 - I dont know that we have proof that this is the mind of MAF. If anything MAF is in favor of a salary cap simply so that his club can compete. I have a hard time believing it is for the purpose of enlightening the players to his plight as an owner.

 

You are dealing, oh young one, with a foremost authority in applying common sense, based on years of observation, to the big picture!
- I live in the Cincinnati sports market. Get the picture?

And I suggest you reread that second para you quoted again... if you dont like the word 'reason {for}', try 'hoped for side effect'

 

I always feel like I've been kicked in the teeth when my team lets someone I like go. That's why I dont follow sports the way I used to. I'm sorry to see Jimmy go and worry seriously about our MF now. Dont think Murphy will be as effective, but we shall see.

Jimmy Bullard - the tiger, grrrrrrrr.

BTW, didnt realize Soel is gone. Where is he?

 

I believe he signed with a Saudi team Mo.

 

You are admitting that you are at that senile point in life where we are required to smile and nod at what you say under the pretense of 'respecting your elders?'

hahahaha... I am just messing with you.

I see what you are saying - MAF probably would like it if the players could see things from his side of the table.

Also - you are right - there comes a point where you have to cut ties with a player in an effort to make sure that a cancer doesnt get going in a team. I am not sure we were there yet with Jimmy, but I am not in the dressing room.

It is funny because on WSD the other day they had the Hull owner. He was an interesting guy. He talked a lot about his learning curve as far as the players are concerned. He was not prepared for the fact that it is - for the most part - a group of young guys away from home who must have a routine and strict discipline to insure that small problems dont lead to an implosion behind the scenes.

You should listen to it - it was really good.

 

In general, I am low about this deal.

 

Think about it this way - if Fulham had just paid £5m + 4.5 years/£45k a week for, say, Louis Saha or Kieron Dyer, we would probably be very upset that the club would take such a risk.

 

On the whole, I will say that I am disappointed in seeing Jimmy go. I'll be honest and say that I have not been overly ga ga over Mr. Bullard. But one thing I will say, and this is very important for a mid level premiership team, I never doubted his effort. For us we need a good balanced mix of coaching, talent, and bad ass effort. It is unlikely in the aforementioned equation we will be 'heavy' on the talent side like the big dogs anytime soon so coaching and effort are the counter balance. Having the right mix (which was out of balance last year until Woy came in) is key.

Jimmy has had his bad games. Heck everybody has bad games, but for me, they were just that, bad games, not a lack of effort on Jimmy's part.

His leadership on the team is another X factor that will be hard to replace. Given our results this year and our position in the table, I hate to see the team lose a guy like this and upset the mix.

On a US centric selfish note, I think this will give Demps an opportunity to step up.

I like Roy and the rest of the lads. I am opptimistic and will take my chances on them. No worries.

COYW

 

Well, you gotta love the good nature of the passion from the FUSA family. This is the busiest day on the board in a long time.

 

Don, lots of good points. Everything you say makes sense, hence what I wrote before:

The bottom line is he had 18 months left on his contract. That should count for something. Call me naive, but players (and clubs for that matter) should have to honor their commitments. No one forced Jimmy to sign his last contract. And I don't remember him complaining about his wages while the club paid for his medical care after the knee injury. That also should count for something.

I always have had great affection for Jimmy and I'll always be grateful for his time at the club. But right now, I'm bummed out.

 

This is why I think 5 million is not so bad. Granted, I like everyone else would have liked 7 or more, but the fact is other than Oil City, no one is throwing around a ton of cash right now. If we turn that down and Wink stays through the end of the season, now we are getting offered 2.5 million instead of 5 million in the summer window because his contract is up in one year.

me too! Now that he's gone, he's fallen from my Fav 5 and although I hope he gets some cheers when Hull comes to the Cottage, I won't feel bad if there are any boos. This kind of situation is exactly the reason I love Brian McBride so much. Do you think McBride would have done that?


Lastly, a lot has been said about how Deuce would be a good cover in place of Jimmy but I disagree. Jimmy ran his butt off every match and was all over the field. Clint does not play that way. Where I think Clint can have a bigger impact now is to get into the attack more from his wide midfield spot. Clint himself said that with Jimmy it was tough because he had a free role to move all over the field, and because Roy was so focused on shape, Demps had to cover for Jimmy on many occasions rather than going forward. I think you'll see Roy stick with Etuhu for now just for the sake of familiarity with Roy's system over bringing in someone new to immediately insert into the equation. I would not be surprised to see Roy try to bring someone in but give them a little time to work their way in completely, if able to win Etuhu's spot that is. I think Demps may get a little more freedom to tuck in in the offensive third and with Etuhu covering for him. Of course, when all is said and done, I'm just gonna trust Roy and go with whatever he does.

 

I've posted more about this on the offal, but I'm with Roy and the Board on this.

This was about Jimmy Bullard getting one last sweet deal. Fulham wasn't in the situation to give him exactly what he wanted and someone else was. No big deal.

Gera should do just fine playing in Jimmy's former spot, I'd think. Might actually be better than Jimmy.

 

I know some people think we should have received more money for him, but I think his age and the current economy (aside from Man City, this transfer window seems somewhat calm and not that much money is being thrown around) are playing a role here.

 

Well, it sucks that Bullard's gone. But it's business, not personal; and so I'm not so much torn about that.

I just wonder who's going to fill in that central spot? Bullard isn't just a free kick machine, but he's gutsy, creative-ish midfielder. Not to mention he's (seemingly) a good guy in the locker room. There's not so many of those around so easily in soccer, I'll bet. I don't want to sound spoiled and I don't think Fulham should have agreed to keep Bullard at any cost. Yet, the pressure is really on now to fill in that gap. The team has been so good this season (road form notwithstanding), I think, as a result of the mostly the same 11 guys playing with each other. Bullard was a key part of the team and in their successes and replacing that isn't going to be easy. And so that is my concern - that this team may slowly but surely crumble without Bullard or a Bullard-esque player in the middle.

5 million plus whatever Al Fayed is willing to throw in and a week to get him - who could it be now?

 

I think Gera, not Dempsey slots into Jimmy's spot... or Murphy does and Etuhu and Andreasen play the holding role. Gera isn't a LM and apparently he won't be playing there again according to talks between him and Roy (some discussion of this was on the offal).

Alternatively, Gera plays RM and Davies plays on the left, while Dempsey goes to the middle. My feeling is Gera gets a shot at it first though.

 

http://www.fulhamweb.com/-8293-/Premier ... _jimmy.htm

"It's too easy for fans to say the club should have done more to keep Jimmy," he said.

"People at the top of the club have to make nuanced decisions.

"They have to look at the wider picture every time there are wage demands or new contract demands.

"We were very fair when it came to Jimmy and we did what we thought was right but we accepted the road he wanted to go down was not where we wanted to go.

"It wasn't just about his wage demands, it was about the length of contract as well. He wanted a long-term contract.

"I was rather hoping there wouldn't be anyone else out there who would give it to him either.

"Hull came up with the package he was looking for. It's up to us to prove we can be a good team without him."

Bullard, who suffered a career-threatening knee injury that kept him out for 16 months just four matches into his Fulham career, was a popular figure at Craven Cottage.

Fans appreciated his all-action style while team-mates often spoke of his influence in the dressing room, and he was called into the England squad, but Hodgson insisted the club would cope with his departure.

"Cult heroes tend to come and go these days. These days there are panic reactions to players," he said.

"People say clubs can't exist without certain players.

"But with all due respect to Jimmy he only played the one full year at the club because of injury.

"I understand the fans aren't happy that a player they appreciate is leaving the club.

"They'll have to understand we're not happy about it either, but for the good of the club the right decision was made.

"Had we conceded to his wage demands it would have created problems for us."

 

Seol is on loan to Al-Hilal Al-Saudi Club