15 Dec 2012

'It was a lucky escape' - Molby reveals relief over £6m LFC transfer failure...

Liverpool fans were apoplectic with rage in August when the club lowballed Fulham on transfer deadline day, which allowed Tottenham Hotspur to swoop in at the eleventh hour and gazump the Reds for Clint Dempsey's signature. At the time, Reds legend Mark Lawrenson described the transfer failure as a 'fiasco', but his former team-mate Jan Molby believes that Liverpool may have dodged a bullet.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo yesterday, Molby - who played an integral role in the club's 1980s success under Kenny Dalglish - argued:

"We missed out on Clint Dempsey on deadline day and in hindsight it looks like it may have been a lucky escape. He hasn’t exactly set the Premier League alight since he joined Tottenham".

Looking at Dempsey's stats so far this season, it's hard to argue with the Dane's assessment:

* 3 goals/4 assists in 21 games.
* Only 2 goals in his last 14 games.
* Prior to scoring last weekend, went 10 games without a goal.

That's a pretty poor return from a player who scored 28 goals (for Fulham and the USA) last season, but it's still more goals/assists that some of Liverpool's regulars. Despite the underwhelming creative return, Spurs boss Andre Villas Boas is pleased that Spurs signed the American international. He said, recently:

"It [the Dempsey deal] was a masterclass from our chairman to sign him. I gave the green light to do it and I think we did extremely well".

In an interview last month, Dempsey revealed that the Spurs deal was completed with only two minutes of the transfer window remaining, and he also revealed why the London club gained the upper hand in the chase for his signature. He explained:

"There was definitely interest there [from Liverpool], but there was nothing agreed to the point that you'd be going to get a medical done. Tottenham wanted me that much that they made things happen, and that's where you want to be; somewhere that you're wanted".

It seems, then, that Liverpool just weren't as interested in Dempsey as everybody thought, and that prompted the American to ultimately choose Spurs. There may be truth to the notion that FSG refused to meet Fulham's valuation, but that notwithstanding, Dempsey seems to suggest that the club didn't take any real action to move the transfer along, which perhaps suggests that Brendan Rodgers didn't see him as a priority.

I don't agree with the decision to lowball Fulham on the transfer fee (if indeed that's what actually happened), but in the context of FSG's transfer policy, it is understandable.

To be honest, I still wish Liverpool had signed Dempsey. He undoubtedly would've enhanced the squad, and brought experience, fighting spirit and a goal threat to the club.He may not be on fire at the moment, but he get better as the season goes on, and in May, Molby et al could be saying that the Reds actually missed out on a great player.

Jaimie Kanwar


34 comments:

  1. It takes some players a bit of time to settle in you have to remember Spurs are getting used to a new manager & new system i think he will be a valuable member of the squad Molby sounds a bit of sour grapes to me

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  2. welll clint missed preseason hahaha. he has 2 goals and 3 assists in his last 4! good thing you didn't sign him. if you hadn't dodged that bullet you might be sitting 13th instead of your lofty 12th! what an imbecile.

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  3. well because he is 29 im not sure he would be a long term person to have in the team. But hey he looks a great buy for spurs but i think we should be targeting younger and more talented players. I mean we signed suarez who is head and shoulders above many CL players. And im not sure dempsey is a CL player but then again most of our squad isnt up to the CL and that is why we are where we are in the table

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  4. How can you call him Sour after his last two paragraphs, read the full article first before commenting, basic stuff!

    As a Spurs fan I hope you are right as I agree entirely he has not lived up to expectations yet, still he has done better than Siggy (who has looked better recently) but far from what he showed with the Swans.

    Still I can't complain they have always tried, what more can you ask?

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  5. wasn't a big fan of him anyway...

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  6. I'd rather have signed him and had some 35 million and 20 million quid worth of lucky escapes...

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  7. Liverpool's scouting and transfer policy has been a shambles for many a year ...and Rodgers is no better 25 million borini ,allen sell ince and try to buy him back for 6 million more ...get a player on loan sahin for 100k a week without realizing the position he plays and you can go on and on .....the reality is Liverpool are in big trouble over payed square pegs in round holes playing a system which leaks goals and they are not suited for smells of disaster

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  8. Dempsey would have been perfect for a game like yesterday against Villa a player who likes to get into the box to support the forward and Rodgers might not have to play Allen and Lucas in the same team at home and rested Gerrard more. Resale value? We are looking to get back into the CL and riches of £20 million plus £5 million for Dempsey was chicken feed and if it got us 4th it would have been money well spent.

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  9. I still would like him here. A few months of mediocre form in a team doesn't eradicate years of good PL experience. A forward that can play on the wing, behind the front man that has that amount of PL experience and for £6m....yes please. He has 3 goals and 3 assists in 11 PL starts and 2 PL sub appearances for Spurs. Not bad, not bad at all, especially compared to our lot (Suarez obviously aside).

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  10. I've never been a big fan of Dempsey. He may have scored the goals last season but he had players like Dembelle Ruiz and Duff doing unbelievable things in terms of creating. Suarez is the only player we have capable of consistently creating chances from nothing and more often than not would rather shoot from stupid angles rather than pass. Dempsey would been starved of chances to the extent of stomach bloating.

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  11. So now people start blaming Rodgers for selling Ince. Why do you hate him so much that you have to twist facts to make him look bad?

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  12. Didnt ince leave of his own accord and before BR arrived? He wanted game time, which we couldnt give him. So he refused a new contract and left for Blackpool. I realise BR is everyones cup of tea. But, if your going to slate someone do your homework first.

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  13. Im not blaming Ince on Rodgers Im blaming Ince on the Lfc Hierarchy but Borini and Allen and sahin are down to Rodgers....im sorry but bringing average midfielders in when we have an abundance of them and signing a poor mans kuyt is poor business period....obviously you feel after the outlay of the club mid table is acceptable with the playing staff we have....me i dont think it is ...i feel the cleaner or Chef can achieve mid table with the resources available....think about it

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  14. And if we pay 6 million and 50 grand a week we are going to guarantee a place for him now ....suarez ..starter...sterling starter ( or hell walk ) Borini 11million ( hell have to play him to justify expense ) ...sturridge ( supposedly ) where does ince fit in

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  15. I think common sense would dictate we need cover in all three attacking positions. Sterling wont play all season and he shouldnt hes still learning and developing.

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  16. Common sense and liverpools transfer policy should never be used in the same sentence...I guarantee we will buy a player who we don't need and he will hardly play in the coarse of the season

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  17. liverpool doesnt look attractive anymore, doesnt look promising for young talents to start they carrier and doesnt look achieving for old folks to end there. and if we dont do anything as fans . we will just be lucky to escape relegation.

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  18. There's no way of knowing how good he could have been at LFC. Sure he's not on fire for Spurs right now, but for all we know he could of struck up an understanding with Suarez (for example) and the two of them could have been feeding off each other and scoring goals for fun.

    Also, if we really didn't put much effort into signing him, then how did we end up letting Carroll go? Surely, there was no plan to replace him them? Seems like the Dempsey story was just covering up that FSG we're just trying to cut the squad to the bare minimum no matter what.

    I can see maybe a cheap loan deal or two in January and us finishing between 9th and 14th, but FSG wont care as they'll be in Boston watching baseball.

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  19. Are you a politician? You change the subject like your socks. I ignored it the first time. Im no longer interested in talking with you. Your a walking contradiction.

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  20. Ince - Suarez - Sturridge

    Borini (needs to find form) and Sterling (learning the game) on the bench. Where they belong.

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  21. Well, you wrote "...and Rodgers is no better 25 million borini, allen sell ince and try buy him back". Sorry, but if you now claim that you don't blame Rodgers for selling Ince, then you don't understand what you wrote.

    And I can't see anything in my comment that makes it obvious that I feel mid table is acceptable, unlike what you claim.

    The cleaner of chef can achieve mid table with the resources available? I don't know, but you sound like someone who has been very successfully played FM and/or CM. Think about it!

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  22. What on earth does that have to do with the point i raised? I merely challenged what you claim to be true. But, rather correct me youve changed the goalposts and moved to another theory. I said id ignore this, but thought it was worth raising if you cant see these things. Conspiracy theorists when challenged will do the same.

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  23. When we signed Suarez we had new owners who were willing to spend. We were (perceived as) a big club, investing heavily to get back into the top 4. Christ, we still had Torres, Maxi and Kuyt.

    Now however, the same owners are blatantly not investing as they got their fingers burnt and we are a mid-table club with no money, and our last few experienced players with goals in them have all been sold off and not replaced.

    Do you think Suarez would join us now?! He's had to play alongside a 17 year old with no experience all season, when he could be playing alongside the very best in Europe.

    No decent player in their right mind would join LFC now, especially as all the decent players we're linked with are also wanted by far better teams than ours.

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  24. i maybe didn't explain myself clearly when posting i didn't mean to blame selling ince on Rodgers...but i could have added letting Carroll go without having a standby....If im honest im not allotting Liverpools transfer policy on any one individual ...im just trying to point out that on a whole we are constantly paying over the odds for players who are average to say the least and dont seem to have a place suited in the team.But if you feel different i respect your opinion.

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  25. Your right common sense would dictate we cover all 3 positions ...but when have liverpool shown common sense in the transfer dept....the point i was trying to make is if ince left because he wanted more game time what has changed now....why would he come back as back up ...Suarez will start most matches ...as will sterling if he signs....that leaves 1 place ...suso,borini,shelvey, enrique ( possible ) sturridge ( possible ) gerrard ( possible ) Assadi ( God only knows why hes not getting a chance ) morgan and yesil and ince if he comes ....remember Adam set the world on fire at Blackpool in the prem and look at him ...ince is doing it in the championship but hey im a walking contradiction

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  26. You are. Youve pretty much muddled your way through this chat before finally deciding on what it is your talking about, lol. You rarely challenge my points then add extra Conspiracys to back up your mulititude of points. Lol enjoy you evening. YNWA

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  27. Not to sure what these conspiracy's are that im spouting and im not really trying to challenge your points if you have any interesting ones that is .....im merely voicing an opinion on a football forum ...but i respect your opinion and ill let you get back to watching starwars lol ...goodnight godbless

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  28. No, I don't feel different when it comes to our signing. We seem to avoid value for money on a regular basis. But then it has to be said that as soon as we get interested in a player, his price rises. Wonder what Michu would have cost us, or all the bargains Newcastle unearthed.

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  29. Jan Molby only comes up with headline statements, and sadly often speaks out against LFC managers, which piles pressure on them and the team.

    As a Spurs fan, I'm glad we signed Dempsey, and also believe that he would have been an asset to Liverpool, who have no other forward, Suarez aside.

    I don't think he'll be a 20 goal man, but he'll score the crucial ones in a tight 1-1 game or on a wet Wednesday night.

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  30. The fact is, Clint Dempsey did not want to move from one mid table team to another.

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  31. he also had 13 goals the year before before ruiz was there and with dembele only appearing in a little over half his starts. furthermore, dempsey led his team in assists last season despite being the only consistent finisher on his team. LASTLY, of Dempsey's 23 goals last season, exactly FOUR of them were created by those 3 players combined. absolute, undeniable nonsense on your part. 

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  32. so update here... in all comps Dempsey currently has more goals than everyone in a Liverpool shirt minus Suarez and more assists than everyone in except Gerrard. This is all despite missing preseason and starting the campaign in a slump. He now has 5 goals and 4 assists in his last 5 matches worth of minutes. Great dodge LFC. 

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