ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Pull the plug on Fulham

AJ's move to fulham is apparently stalling because he has a supposed dodgy knee so is not worth the £10M plus fee. Fulham are prepared to "do us a favour" and take him for a knock-down fee.

They're acting like a bunch of cockney used-car salesmen. If they can't conduct this tranfer with any grace then we should pull the plug. They're casting doubts over AJ's fitness that will spread through other clubs. I think EFC should show them that we can play hardball too.

How about a club statement saying that... "Contrary to recent newspaper articles, AJ's knee is up to playing in the Premier League. Unfortunately, an interested party can't put together the required funding because they are over-reaching"
John Gee, London Posted 03/08/2008 at 10:04:04

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ron leith
1 Posted 03/08/2008 at 15:11:21

We did the same with Lescott so Fulham have every write seek some changes to the structure of payments. I think EFC should get Bullard in exchange as he has a dodgy knee also.

Mike Grundy
2 Posted 03/08/2008 at 15:43:15

Well his knee's either crocked or it's not......

If they aren't going to pay the original fee then we need to fuck them off and concentrate on getting AJ fit for the start of the season.

Billy Dean
3 Posted 03/08/2008 at 15:50:47

Agreed, we need to play the "if you don’t want to pay the fee, we’re happy to have him back at Goodison" card.

Julian Sealand
4 Posted 03/08/2008 at 15:59:48

It is very, very difficult to pass a Fulham medical once a fee of over £5million pounds is arranged. Al Fayed brings out his personal doctors and they have pulled the plug on several tranfers before including that of John Carew and Jan Koller. Carew has done pretty well in the Premier League so don?t be surprised if FFC dont get AJ and you keep him. In the meantime, please be a bit more polite on your comments about our club, as I do remember a time when Everton acted ?with no grace? when trying to prise Sean Davis from a four-year contract.

Martin Cutler
5 Posted 03/08/2008 at 16:14:18

If the so-called injury to AJ is holding up the deal...and it?s an older injury.....how come EFC missed it when they signed AJ in the first place?
Either way, we all know he?s had injuries (like any player) but it doesn?t seem to stop him running 100+ miles a game at top speed.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe his knee locks and that?s why he veers towards the corner flag so much instead of the goalmouth!!!!

Keith Glazzard
6 Posted 03/08/2008 at 16:10:05

This is an interesting one when you think about what the transfer kitty might (or might not) be, and any plans DM might have for ’new faces’. The AJ money, even if restructured, could be really significant. I think we’ll go along with Fulham.

As for good grace - there’s not too much of that about these days anyway. I particularly enjoyed the comments that came from Spurs chairman regarding our neighbours from hell. Not so much a transfer as a mugging is what he meant - aren’t they nice!

Brian Waring
7 Posted 03/08/2008 at 18:24:42

God, you have to laugh! Fans slagging off the way Fulham do their transfers. I think you should look closer to home lads. When it comes to our dealings, we are a joke.

Marc Williams
8 Posted 03/08/2008 at 18:28:38

If we don?t get a good fee up front for AJ
then : WHAT IS THE POINT IN SELLING HIM ?

Don?t forget Crystal Palace get 15% of the selling on fee (as Simon Jordan knows how to negotiate a GOOD deal!) so anything less than £10.5 million & we are selling him for LESS THAN HE COST US.

Surely this is NOT the good business some on this site beleive.

Mark Pendleton
9 Posted 03/08/2008 at 18:47:55

As some of the other posters have stated, we did the same with Sean Davis, Lescott, Forssell and probably numerous more. I?m disappointed as I thought we?d done a good bit of business but can?t blame Fulham as it is indeed exactly what we?d have done and exactly the same as I bet we wish we?d done on some other deals! I?d be happy for a restructured deal that allows the full fee to be reached on appearances (as lowering the total amount is not fair as if he doesn?t get crocked then they?ve the player they were willing to pay that for) and maybe putting a sell on percentage in there.

Tony Part
10 Posted 03/08/2008 at 19:23:25

Can someone explain this one to me then? If Andy Johnson had not wanted to leave Everton this summer, does that mean that we would have had no transfer kitty at all to spend on new players??

It's just that every time I read about the sale of Johnson it is always followed by the fact that the money will buy a player, but do we not have any money outside the sale of AJ? It's looking more and more unlikely that the Moutinho deal is just pie in the sky as, if its true that Sporting want £19M all in one go then, that's dead even with the sale of AJ.

Then you have to look at what striker would we replace him with? Darren Bent is on Spurs' plans for the new season so that's a no-goer and I can't really see any other fast available and suitable options...

Roy Coyne
11 Posted 03/08/2008 at 19:44:22

Marc I think it's 15% of the fee after taking out the amount we paid, so it can't be less than we paid, although with our leader anything can happen.

Pedro Martins
12 Posted 03/08/2008 at 21:39:28

Why should Fulham have to pay £12 million on a player whose knee injury might re-surface?

They are just being sensible.

Karl Masters
13 Posted 03/08/2008 at 21:39:04

Something I can’t get my had around is why AJ would want to play for Fulham.

I’m not being condescending, but why leave a big Club who hae come in nthe Top 6 in your 2 seasons there and are playing in Europe for a Club who are the smallest Premier League club in London and are likely to be pushing against the relegation trap door?

Furthermore, he has said on countless occasions that he is happy at Everton and as recently as the trip to Switzerland 2 or 3 weeks ago told fans he did not want to leave.

If he wants to leave it can only be that he has been forced out against his will and has been forced to say he wanted to go to geta bigger payday at Fulham. After all, the Fulham fans won’t want to welcome a player who says he has signed against his will and would rather play for Everton.

Anybody else got any ideas?

Steve Pugh
14 Posted 03/08/2008 at 22:33:41

I think this will tell us a lot. If we are as skint as some people are saying we will rip Fulhams arm off.

If however we are not in a cash crisis as BK claims we will tell them where to shove it.

Lets hope it doesn’t drag.

stu green
15 Posted 03/08/2008 at 23:53:35

Some hard ball being played... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1041225/Disappointment-Everton-Fulham-cut-Johnson-bid.html

Ian McDowell
16 Posted 04/08/2008 at 00:13:02

thinking of writing a similar article myself but Fulham may have a point after all if we where to discover a problem with Moutinho?s medical surely we would do something similar like we did with Lescott and maybe we need the money for Moutinho who would probably play every game while AJ, would be mainly used as back up or as an impact player from the bench.

Steve Linden
17 Posted 04/08/2008 at 10:47:36

I think the comments about other players (Lescott, Forsell, Davies etc.) are comparing apples with pears. All of those players had their knees re-built after very serious injuries which is why Everton were cautious. As far as I’m aware AJ has never had such a serious injury to it’s a completely different situation.

Paul Chisholm
18 Posted 04/08/2008 at 14:02:00

All of this leads me to ask one question. Who the feck carried out Shandy Andy’s medical when he came to us? Was it Bullshit Bill’s grandkids playing at Dr’s and nurses? Or perhaps one of BB’s showbiz mates from Casualty?