"You play to win the game"
Herm Edwards - Former NFL Coach
Good for Tim .... F Defoe he is a London pooof home sick for more spice girls .. big baby Tim has his suitcase packed anyways so he might as well run his mouth , soon it will be back to blah blah blah from the new head the big losing 3
Doesn't anyone else find it ironic? I mean he is leaving us early too...
Sure would be interesting to hear the thing that saw it go...
… From this (Sept 1, 2014):
“We’re not interested in him going anywhere,” Leiweke stated bluntly. “People spin this stuff based on their end goals. There was spinning.”
“We got an offer that would have been the single largest fee in the history of Major League Soccer,” Leiweke said. “I went through this with (David Beckham in L.A.). We loaned him during this window.”
“I told him, ‘Look, you can help us. That’s the bottom line,’” Leiweke said of a conversation he had with Defoe.
“We had a hell of an offer from an EPL club,” Leiweke continued. “That’s a good statement about Jermain and the kind of year he’s having. This is what happens.”
Leiweke also curtailed fears that former head coach Ryan Nelsen’s sacking might have an impact on Defoe’s decision to stay in Toronto long-term.
Nelsen, a former teammate of Defoe’s, played a massive role in bringing the Englishman over.
“I consulted (Defoe),” Leiweke said of the Reds bringing aboard Greg Vanney. “I knew his opinion. He’s excited about the changes.”
He said Defoe remains “100%” committed at BMO Field.
“We are very lucky to have a world-class player like him,” Leiweke finished. “This is part of the price. We’re going to have people trying to steal our players.”
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/09/01...-at-toronto-fc
...to this (Sept 12, 2014):
“I personally don’t think Defoe will come back. I think if he doesn’t want to be here, you get rid of him,”
“My attitude if you want to be here and you want to buy into what we’re doing, let’s go,” he added. “Roll up your sleeves and we’ll fight together. And I will be there with you every day.
“If you don’t want to be here, get the hell out of our way.”
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/...ut-of-our-way/
Great post.
I said it then, I think there never was an offer of a transfer payment. I've never understood why anyone would commit 15M GBP to Defoe when Lambert to Liverpool cost quite a bit less than that in wages and transfer fees. Lambert is the better asset right now.
QPR was willing to pick up Defoe's contract, that's it.
TFC would have taken it, but the league stopped it, for all the obvious optical reasons.
Leiweke was towing the line on Sep 1, but now he's pretty obviously trying to get released/fired now, so he's telling the real story. Thought he was being cute by putting it out at a lame-o student thingy, but didn't know video would be available.
That's my guess.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
Leiweke will be missed. What is Defoe doing in England? He can't get world class treatment in Canada or the US? Nice that somebody is calling that ingrate out. If I were the TFC manager, i would suspend him or make him sit on the bench if he returns. And, I know I will take heat for this, but I advocate a freeze on all European player signings for a few years. It simply has not worked for us, and I am sick of it. No more glorified midfielders or defenders from the crappy second tier leagues. Had we simply drafted US and latin american players during these past 8 years, and kept the good ones, we would compete and win.
Defoe is scheduled to be back with the team by next weekend. And Vanney has indicated he will play before the end of the season.
I think he's gone too, as it makes more financial sense to let him go in January. But, he'll play here in the meantime.
The offer wasn't 15M GBP, it was 7 million, and it was reported in the UK press too. That's not a lot, still, for a premier league team to get a guy of his pedigree, even at 32.
I think it was genuine but he failed the medical, or the league intervened and that "we won't let a player hold us hostage by flying home." One or the other, same result.
There's a airly high degree of shit beginning to flow from Lieweke's golden tongue.
EDIT: Definitely right on the motive, though. He's trying to get MLSE to can him; I think he wants to sue, get a bigger deal. He's skirting the line of whatever deal they've got, probably.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
After yesterdays game that worries me . We found a bit of team spirit by the end and I'm really worried Defoe could affect that . There are guys with heart here playing for peanuts while he is eating cake . And I loved Dero's pinpoint passing when he did play . I haven't see that all year . I guess the hope is as a pro he'll buy into the plan .
ALL HELL'S BROKEN LOOSEhttp://gfycat.com/SharpKindArrowana
time to sue him for all the money he has. he made a deal and broke that deal mls and tfc should sue him
Ugh. Can we just stop with the bullshit around this whole Defoe thing?
First Leiweke was reassuring us Defoe is 100% committed to the club. Then TFC conceded there was interest but no offers the club was going to accept. Then we're told Defoe is here for at least the end of the season. Now Lieweke is talking about the guy like this publicly?
Make no mistake that I agree with Tim on this. If Defoe wants to go, then we should part ways; but why is this coming out after two weeks of Nelsen's firing and the first whispers of Defoe's discontent was circulating? Stunts like this is what tarnishes people's reputation. Leiweke should know better.
Last edited by Cashcleaner; 09-16-2014 at 12:04 AM.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
I say if he wants to go they he should be fined by mls and sponsors
Definitely.
And then there's the allegation that TFC had a big offer from QPC that TFC didn't accept because of the playoff hunt. If that was true and it was Leiweke's call, then "get the hell out of our way" is even more ridiculous. There are a lot of layers to the stupidity that goes into the running of TFC!
Tim L questioning loyalty, maybe he should have a look in the mirror first
I loved defoe's first tweet in forever before the first game without Nelsen.
Jermain DefoeVerified account @IAmJermainDefoe
Big game for boys tonight good luck can't wait to be back out there scoring #goals
what a weak attempt at PR management.
so anywho, seems Spurs got the best out of this deal.
The player should be fined/sued? What?
The big story here is that TL stated there was an offer (a record transfer at that!) in place that TFC declined. Defoe was 100% committed to the sinking ship. The spin was coming from somewhere else!
Now TL says that if he wants to go, he should go? Why didn't you take that "record" offer than Tim? That would have been the smarter choice, no?
Seriously... is there anything to brag about after declining a record fee for an asset and then publicly declaring that the asset is disgruntled?
I can't think of a way to mishandle this any worse.
TFC will always be in my heart, regardless whomever is with the team at any one moment , so lets support the Reds.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Defoe has never said anything like this at all, and all he did was give everything on the pitch. In my view, MLSE is now trying to trash him so we won't be upset when he goes. The only facts we know are: Defoe scores for fun, for TFC and every club he has played for; he has a bit of a nagging groin injury; QPR bid for him and we said "No". I don't think we should fall into the MLSE created trap of hating him. I will judge him on the pitch, and there he gives his all, every game.
Lambert is on GBP 2M a year for 2-3 years (there are varying reports) and the transfer was GBP 4M. So the Liverpool commitment to him is 8-10M GBP total.
If QPR really did offer $11M for Defoe, they would be commiting that plus the $20M Defoe is still owed on his deal, or $31M (17M GBP total)
Defoe is not worth 2x Lambert. I don't really see how he's worth 1x, he didn't go to Brazil, he wasn't starting at Spurs, he's injury prone.
I consider the supposed QPR bid terms poppycock. Leiweke made that up because the truth makes what he paid for defoe look ridiculous. If QPR did make an offer, the total commitment was for vastly less than has been leaked.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
You are likely right about the total commitment, but not about the fee, and that is why a deal didn't work. But bear in mind that at the end of the window Arsenal and Liverpool were looking for strikers and the price went up. Plus Harry Redknapp's history of spending is not exactly prudent, so the truth is somewhere in between.
i do find Tim's comments and the timing very odd. What is wrong with "we had an offer and said no" then in January selling saying of the offer saying "too good to turn down?" Why do you have to trash Defoe, who say what you want, produced.