Jol Laments Loss of Dempsey (and Dembele)

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... ey?cc=5901

What a clusterF of a transfer this still proves to be. And don't get me wrong, I think that beneath the sheets there's plenty of blame to go around to all parties for not working out a new deal.

 

For me, this one falls in the category of "well, duh." This is what happens when you don't follow Herman Edward's sage advice to "play to win the game." I've made my peace with it, and am going to stay with Fulham....for now.

 

And speaking of Herman Edwards....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf04zlExM8c[/youtube]

 

He's right. It wasn't the team jelling under Jol's new offensive system that saved a top 10 team from finishing in a relegation fight last year. It was a red hot scoring streak the likes of which FFC have rarely (if ever) seen in it's history by Dempsey in the 2nd half of the season that saved the day...and Jol's bacon.

Best not let the English hear you say that, they'll be right upset. He fell down too much (nevermind the inordinate amount of fk's won), he hurt our balance b/c we had no width, he sulked and pouted and had a bad attitude (even though he won over the most demanding player in the squad, Capt Dan...to the point that they're still friends off the pitch to this day).

Interesting they come away with that inferrence. Maybe I was right afterall? Hmmmm. I've yet to read anything from any of the parties involved (discounting those ridiculous "coached" Q&A sessions with Jol & Sarah Brookes) that even hints that I was given bad info. To the contrary, everything seems to support what I'd heard.

All that said, he needs to turn the page. His attitude and feelings tend to manifest themselves in our performances more often than not. Maybe he's just setting the stage for an exit (Schalke?).

 

I don't get the uproar about Jol's comments given that we have no idea what context the comment was made understand I don't think there will be any (insert your nationality here) door striking Jol's derrière any time in the near future.

 

The uproar is over the fact that he's still going on about it. Move forward already. I don't care what the context is, he doesn't have to answer. They were good players for us but they moved on, as have we. All that needs to be said.

Fwiw, Herm Edwards shouldn't coach anything anymore. He wasn't a good hc. Motivational speaker and ESPN talking head are probably his best options.

 

Jol is just a strange dude. I'm with Barry in that I dont get the uproar either. Jol seems to always say weird things and do inappropriate things (like patting Mark Hughes on the face)

 

Indeed. Just Jol being Jol? I think the context and sometimes even the tone makes a difference, so I wouldn't read too much into it. Everyone misses Clint to some degree and we may never know who was most at fault over the transfer saga fiasco, but yeah, the past is the past. If Dempsey stays, we probably don't end up with Berbatov and as much as I loved watching Dempsey play with us for 5 years- I'm not sure if I could make the choice of one over the other.

~ Steve