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The other Dembele

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posted on 15/11/16

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

posted on 15/11/16

"Admittedly I had only seen him 2-3 times when we were linked with him, but those few appearances were enough to convince me that it was worth going in for him"

I must admit that I wasn't actually convinced the few times I saw him at Fulham!

But I guessed the club / scouts must be seeing something that convinced them.

It's just weird that we were so close to signing him and then just gave up.

posted on 15/11/16

Watched him against City in the champs league and he was excellent and he scored a belter last night for the France U21's against England.

One bit of skill when he bought the ball down last night was a absolute quality. He's powerful, quick and has very good awareness too.

Think we have missed out big time with this one and we will kick ourselves for not getting the deal over the line.

comment by NNH (U10730)

posted on 15/11/16

Spurs loss has been Celtic's fantastic gain.

I've been so impressed with the boy. He's come in to a big club where the expectations are huge every week and not winning a game is a crisis.

Yes, the Scottish League isn't exactly spectacular but he's still doing it week in week out. The perfect Hat Trick in an OF game, 2 against City in the CL, away goal to Gladbach in the CL and I think that's 5 goals in 3 games for France's U21 side.

I'm sure the Spurs deal fell through at the time because Fulham decided they wanted him back on loan for another 6 months? Either way, I'm surprised Spurs didn't go back in for him in the summer.

To think we got him for £500,000 is still absolutely mindboggling

posted on 15/11/16

comment by NNH (U10730)
posted 3 minutes ago


To think we got him for £500,000 is still absolutely mindboggling

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I did not know it was that low!

posted on 15/11/16

He's playing games at Celtic. Good to see players picking the option where regular football is more likely. Griffiths has been injured (as has Kane) but he probably fancied his chances of getting ahead of Griffiths as opposed to Kane.

Smart move by he and his agent

comment by NNH (U10730)

posted on 15/11/16

Yup, cross border development fee as he was out of contract.

posted on 15/11/16

Forgot that he also scored a cracking free kick as well last night for France. He got a brace.

comment by Chronic (U3423)

posted on 15/11/16

We didn't wanna loan him back did we? I said at the time it was utterly foolish especially as that kind of deal worked so well with dele alli

We have probably now missed the boat on him. However there were lots of Spurs fans on here last January wanting us to not to the deal as everyone wanted a striker there and then to join our squad and were not interested in the loan back model. Don Tottenham is a perfect example of one such misguided character.

Shame the club didn't have more sense.

posted on 15/11/16

comment by Chronic (U3423)
posted 5 minutes ago
We didn't wanna loan him back did we? I said at the time it was utterly foolish especially as that kind of deal worked so well with dele alli

We have probably now missed the boat on him. However there were lots of Spurs fans on here last January wanting us to not to the deal as everyone wanted a striker there and then to join our squad and were not interested in the loan back model. Don Tottenham is a perfect example of one such misguided character.

Shame the club didn't have more sense.
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The club were right due to him costing five million even though he was out of contract in 6 months and could have got him for half the price. Would have been ludicrous for us to spend five million on a youth player when by the time he was available to play for us he would have already been out of contract.

The club's mistake was not doing everything to sign him up in the following months. As soon as the season ended we should have been on his agents and his heels getting a deal done. That mistake could possibly cost us 20+ million if we are ever to get his services in the future.

posted on 15/11/16

On a wider issue there does seem that something isn't quite right with our scouting and buying process.

From an outside view:

- Dembele was identified but then not quite bought

- N'Jie was bought then dumped

- Sissoko last day panic for 30m

- Paul Mitchell quitting

Maybe these are all isolated incidences and have their own individual reasons, but it seems a bit odd.

Not saying that we don't buy well on the whole

posted on 15/11/16

It is because he needs regular games with the style of football he plays.

He can hardly come in and bully a defence from the bench week in and week out like I can.

comment by Chronic (U3423)

posted on 15/11/16

comment by NotSoMagicJuande (U1913)
posted 53 seconds ago
On a wider issue there does seem that something isn't quite right with our scouting and buying process.

From an outside view:

- Dembele was identified but then not quite bought

- N'Jie was bought then dumped

- Sissoko last day panic for 30m

- Paul Mitchell quitting

Maybe these are all isolated incidences and have their own individual reasons, but it seems a bit odd.

Not saying that we don't buy well on the whole
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we have made mistakes no doubt, but tbh considering the improvement that we have made over the last ten years, with only a handful of seriously good players coming through our academy in that time (although lots of prem level quality players) then we must have bought well, or we wouldn't have had that kind of improvement.

recently we have generally bought well and recruited good management. if we hadn't then we wouldn't have been able to drag ourselves up from mid table mediocrity to consistent European football, especially considering that in that time frame both man city and Chelsea essesntially had football doping thus fixing themselves at the top end of the league for the foresseable future.

apart from Chelsea last year

posted on 15/11/16

Yeah you're right Chronic, I'm not at all saying that generally we don't have a good recruitment policy - we clearly do as reflected in our progress. Our team now is better than any other group that I've known in my lifetime and signings like Toby, Dier, Lloris, Dele, Eriksen are as good as any club have made.

There are just a few odd things going on, probably more than anything Mitchell arriving and being heralded as the future of our scouting and then quitting within two years. That suggests that not everything is rosy.

comment by Chronic (U3423)

posted on 15/11/16

agreed !

it wouldn't be spurs if it all ran smoothly though would it !

posted on 15/11/16

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

posted on 15/11/16

his stats will already look way better in scotland than in england, guess that says it all

posted on 15/11/16

comment by Vincent Janssen (U1109)
posted 54 minutes ago
It is because he needs regular games with the style of football he plays.

He can hardly come in and bully a defence from the bench week in and week out like I can.
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Hi Vincent

posted on 15/11/16

Hi

posted on 15/11/16

Dembele was certainly a good looking prospect, however to go on statistics gained in the Scottish PL is not really a good guide.

Most of the teams up there would struggle in the lower half of the Championship, let alone the top half.

His return at Fulham was reasonable, 15 goals in 56 games.

As to why we didn't sign him, who knows? Was it Fulham or us being unreasonable? Was it because Poch or Mitchell, or both were unsure about Dembele for Spurs?

It is a massive jump from the Championship to the PL, just as it is from Erie division to the PL. Yet we signed an International striker in Janssen, who is obviously taking time to adjust to England and the PL.

posted on 15/11/16

comment by Number-Eight (U9729)
posted 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
There are just a few odd things going on, probably more than anything Mitchell arriving and being heralded as the future of our scouting and then quitting within two years. That suggests that not everything is rosy
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i do wonder what happened there.. .
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Fack knows. Either he kept finding quality players we refused to pay for or he's been stealing a living and is actually a shocking scout

posted on 15/11/16

Didn't do a lot for the club and the players which Mitchell brought in were pretty shocking. Then again he could have provided Levy with plenty of quality names which Levy did not want to shell out on.

posted on 15/11/16

comment by sir super (U13280)
posted 15 minutes ago
Didn't do a lot for the club and the players which Mitchell brought in were pretty shocking. Then again he could have provided Levy with plenty of quality names which Levy did not want to shell out on.
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I don't know, I reckon these players have been signed during Mitchell's tenure:

Victor Wanyama - excellent
Vincent Janssen - too early to tell
Toby Alderweireld - excellent
Dele Alli - excellent
Son Heung-min - hit and miss
Clinton Njie - awful
Tripper - good back up
Wimmer - good back up

That's a pretty good success rate if you ask me.

I do agree with your last point though, my guess is he left as he was frustrated wit Levy.

posted on 15/11/16

comment by Dont cry for me Argentina we have pochettino and Lamela (U17539)
posted 2 hours, 43 minutes ago
Watched him against City in the champs league and he was excellent and he scored a belter last night for the France U21's against England.

One bit of skill when he bought the ball down last night was a absolute quality. He's powerful, quick and has very good awareness too.

Think we have missed out big time with this one and we will kick ourselves for not getting the deal over the line.
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This

posted on 15/11/16

comment by NotSoMagicJuande (U1913)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by sir super (U13280)
posted 15 minutes ago
Didn't do a lot for the club and the players which Mitchell brought in were pretty shocking. Then again he could have provided Levy with plenty of quality names which Levy did not want to shell out on.
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I don't know, I reckon these players have been signed during Mitchell's tenure:

Victor Wanyama - excellent
Vincent Janssen - too early to tell
Toby Alderweireld - excellent
Dele Alli - excellent
Son Heung-min - hit and miss
Clinton Njie - awful
Tripper - good back up
Wimmer - good back up

That's a pretty good success rate if you ask me.

I do agree with your last point though, my guess is he left as he was frustrated wit Levy.

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Pleat found Alli, Wanyama and Alderweireld were so obvious that any of us could have recommended them.

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