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Antoine Freezman bids adieu — Column4th Jul 2019 00:06 As Luke Freeman heads to Sheff Utd after two and a half impressive seasons with QPR, LFW looks back at his exceptional service to the club, the context of the deal, how it’s been reported, and the dreaded ‘undisclosed fee’.16
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 08:42 - Jul 4 with 3010 views
“To the family that had him in digs when he was trying to make it with the Gunners, he still sends a Christmas card each year. And he travelled to QPR home games on the Central Line. QPR, a club where Patrick Agyemang used to arrive in a personalised reg Bentley.”
And before training, he could usually be found at the Card Factory in Westfield, Stratford, helping his girlfriend out with the window displays. Genuinely down to Earth bloke who was always happy to offer visual merchandising advice to neighbouring retailers. Here’s hoping the move works out for Luke and his girlfriend. Westfield’s loss is Meadowhall’s gain.
Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 09:18 - Jul 4 with 2926 views
Wonderful player and a great character who will be impossible to replace in our current financial circumstances. I’m always slightly wary of being a one man team and hopefully the collective power of youth and spirit being brought in and Warburtons positivity will be enough to see us through. A big loss.
A great piece, he's been brilliant, got better on goals, assists and yellow cards this season.
We (LES?)DID WELL to get him to sign that CONTRACT EXTENSION.
We are selling him, probably at his peak, and seem to have got decent money from the ONLY PREMIER league club reported to be interested and need the money now so that, hopefully, we can spend some of it on the striker(s) that we still need.
Thank you Luke and the very best of luck.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 11:29 - Jul 4 with 2559 views
People routinely point to the lack of a bidding war for Freeman and others, however bidding wars take place towards the end/last days of the transfer window, not in the middle. The strategy of selling our best players in the middle of a transfer window and then hiding behind the lack of bids is not good enough in my opinion. Of course had the club have waited they risked not selling him, however I doubt the player with the most assists across two seasons was ever likely to be a difficult sell.
It speaks to how desperate we are that we must sell our best assets under these circumstances, but it is more than upsetting as fans to accept this as our future indefinitely.
[Post edited 4 Jul 2019 13:47]
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 13:56 - Jul 4 with 2219 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 13:47 - Jul 4 by ridethewave
Fantastic report, Clive.
People routinely point to the lack of a bidding war for Freeman and others, however bidding wars take place towards the end/last days of the transfer window, not in the middle. The strategy of selling our best players in the middle of a transfer window and then hiding behind the lack of bids is not good enough in my opinion. Of course had the club have waited they risked not selling him, however I doubt the player with the most assists across two seasons was ever likely to be a difficult sell.
It speaks to how desperate we are that we must sell our best assets under these circumstances, but it is more than upsetting as fans to accept this as our future indefinitely.
[Post edited 4 Jul 2019 13:47]
But then we need the money not only to cover the shortfall but also to fund things we desperately need - strikers this summer. Sell him on the last day of the window and you might get more but there's no time to fund incomers. Same with Smithies last summer, we needed money to get Leistner over the line because Onuoha, Robinson and Perch had all gone.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 14:55 - Jul 4 with 2071 views
For Freeman's sake it makes sense to get the transfer done asap, so he has time to settle in, do pre-season with the Blades, etc. Last thing he would probably want is a dead-line day move and then trying to force his way into a "established" team. This should be his proper breakthrough year at the top level and getting the move done early gives him the best chance at it. Maybe not ideal for us in terms of squeezing maximum money out of his sale, but good for Luke. Best of luck to him!
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:05 - Jul 4 with 2042 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 13:47 - Jul 4 by ridethewave
Fantastic report, Clive.
People routinely point to the lack of a bidding war for Freeman and others, however bidding wars take place towards the end/last days of the transfer window, not in the middle. The strategy of selling our best players in the middle of a transfer window and then hiding behind the lack of bids is not good enough in my opinion. Of course had the club have waited they risked not selling him, however I doubt the player with the most assists across two seasons was ever likely to be a difficult sell.
It speaks to how desperate we are that we must sell our best assets under these circumstances, but it is more than upsetting as fans to accept this as our future indefinitely.
[Post edited 4 Jul 2019 13:47]
disagree for three reasons
I'm not convinced that bidding wars are more likely to occur at the end of a transfer window than in the middle. If anything, wouldn't it be the opposite, since most teams who want an attacking midfielder would have filled the hole by the end of the window (thereby reducing the number of potential bidders)?
Second, it is possible to leave it too late and effectively undermine your own negotiating position. Last year, Burnley were asking for a loan fee to loan out Wells (in addition to eating his wages). No one initially bit, and they ultimately were forced to loan him to us at the end of the window without a loan fee (or otherwise just eat the cost of his wages on their own). If you wait too long, you may be unable to reach a deal at all, thereby forcing you to sell at a discount if you're desperate to sell.
Finally, lets assume for argument sake that you are right: that players are cheaper now than later in the window b/c you're more likely to have a bidding war. Well, we still need to buy a striker. Selling Freeman now gives us immediate proceeds to buy a striker now rather than in a few weeks time. By your own admission, players are cheaper now. What would be the point of selling Freeman for an extra £500k at the end of July when we'd have to spend an extra £450k to buy a new striker?
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:31 - Jul 4 with 1993 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 13:47 - Jul 4 by ridethewave
Fantastic report, Clive.
People routinely point to the lack of a bidding war for Freeman and others, however bidding wars take place towards the end/last days of the transfer window, not in the middle. The strategy of selling our best players in the middle of a transfer window and then hiding behind the lack of bids is not good enough in my opinion. Of course had the club have waited they risked not selling him, however I doubt the player with the most assists across two seasons was ever likely to be a difficult sell.
It speaks to how desperate we are that we must sell our best assets under these circumstances, but it is more than upsetting as fans to accept this as our future indefinitely.
[Post edited 4 Jul 2019 13:47]
fans need to get used to it or really go and watch another team if it hurts that much.
I know that's mean, but we went through this in the 90s, with riots and demos because we sold a player a season. Thompson went too far and more should've been reinvested in the squad (particularly under Gerry), but the fact is, selling our best players is the *only* way we can and should compete. Sell Sinton, get Sinclair. Sell Parker, get Peacock. Sell Ferdinand, get Hateley... well, you get the point.
It's tough to take, but that's how it is. And that's how it is for pretty much every club in the country. I'm not really sure why fans still get upset about it beyond obviously not getting to see a particular player do their stuff in the style in which Freeman frequently did.
As Clive says - the biggest risk of selling late is having no time at all to use the money. That's a huge gamble. Think the club have done the right thing here.
Bare bones.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:39 - Jul 4 with 1975 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:31 - Jul 4 by Antti_Heinola
fans need to get used to it or really go and watch another team if it hurts that much.
I know that's mean, but we went through this in the 90s, with riots and demos because we sold a player a season. Thompson went too far and more should've been reinvested in the squad (particularly under Gerry), but the fact is, selling our best players is the *only* way we can and should compete. Sell Sinton, get Sinclair. Sell Parker, get Peacock. Sell Ferdinand, get Hateley... well, you get the point.
It's tough to take, but that's how it is. And that's how it is for pretty much every club in the country. I'm not really sure why fans still get upset about it beyond obviously not getting to see a particular player do their stuff in the style in which Freeman frequently did.
As Clive says - the biggest risk of selling late is having no time at all to use the money. That's a huge gamble. Think the club have done the right thing here.
It's also made worse by the fact that when we were signing mercenary after mercenary a few years back, the fanbase kicked, screamed and pleaded for a Southampton-type model of buying low, selling high and then recycling, with genuine youth products throughout the team.
Now we're working towards that and starting to do it, they're hammering the owners and management for selling our best players and not signing enough 'big names'. Abusing the young players we're bringing through as being shit and lazy. As ever, they can't do right for doing wrong.
ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:41 - Jul 4 with 1968 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 13:56 - Jul 4 by Northernr
But then we need the money not only to cover the shortfall but also to fund things we desperately need - strikers this summer. Sell him on the last day of the window and you might get more but there's no time to fund incomers. Same with Smithies last summer, we needed money to get Leistner over the line because Onuoha, Robinson and Perch had all gone.
Absolutely. As I say, just demonstrates how desperate we are that we must conduct our transfers in this way.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:41 - Jul 4 with 1967 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:39 - Jul 4 by simmo
It's also made worse by the fact that when we were signing mercenary after mercenary a few years back, the fanbase kicked, screamed and pleaded for a Southampton-type model of buying low, selling high and then recycling, with genuine youth products throughout the team.
Now we're working towards that and starting to do it, they're hammering the owners and management for selling our best players and not signing enough 'big names'. Abusing the young players we're bringing through as being shit and lazy. As ever, they can't do right for doing wrong.
And football now, particularly for the younger generation, is ALL about the transfers. Its driven by things like SSN, social media and clickbait sites, but it's almost like the actual football gets in the way of the real business of transferring players. If you're not buying and selling manically, people don't like it. We've brought in seven players already this summer and people are still hammering them - what about this, what about that.
Detestable.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:51 - Jul 4 with 1946 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 15:41 - Jul 4 by Northernr
And football now, particularly for the younger generation, is ALL about the transfers. Its driven by things like SSN, social media and clickbait sites, but it's almost like the actual football gets in the way of the real business of transferring players. If you're not buying and selling manically, people don't like it. We've brought in seven players already this summer and people are still hammering them - what about this, what about that.
Detestable.
Of course, look at FIFA as a microcosm, the most popular game mode is 'Ultimate Team' which is where you constantly trade players to get a higher rated team and there's no development/improvement in their stats, the only way to get 'better' is to buy more.
That's what most younger fans are fixated on, making your team better with new players, nobodies really interested in building something or developing over a longer period. They want players they know that are gold rated.
We may end up signing 10 brand new players this summer, which is MENTAL really and shows there is poor long term planning and strategy. Warburton himself in his initial interviews spoke about "small, tight squad" with "4 or 5 players coming in", we're gonna be double that at this rate.
ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 17:08 - Jul 4 with 1819 views
Good read that. I've given up caring what money players go for these days. Too much agg.
I get it that we have to sell, sell and sell again. Its just frustrating that we seem to be getting worse on the pitch. We've mostly been a selling club throughout the years so i dont think it comes as a surprise to most when our best players go. Hopefully with all these young players we have now and continue coming through the door this summer we can really start building a team and squad again. I mean properly build something this time, with.. you know ...some sort of plan as to how we want to play and where we want to be in 5 years time. Lets not sack the manager after one season shall we..?.. If your reading this Luke , all the best in the future. Top player.
Occasional providers of half decent House music.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 08:00 - Jul 5 with 1226 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 18:30 - Jul 4 by PunteR
Good read that. I've given up caring what money players go for these days. Too much agg.
I get it that we have to sell, sell and sell again. Its just frustrating that we seem to be getting worse on the pitch. We've mostly been a selling club throughout the years so i dont think it comes as a surprise to most when our best players go. Hopefully with all these young players we have now and continue coming through the door this summer we can really start building a team and squad again. I mean properly build something this time, with.. you know ...some sort of plan as to how we want to play and where we want to be in 5 years time. Lets not sack the manager after one season shall we..?.. If your reading this Luke , all the best in the future. Top player.
I'm not sure we are getting worse. I think we've been about the same bar the occasional up and occasional long losing run for about 3 years now. Are we worse now, for instance, than when JFH had us losing 6-0 at home to Newcastle? I don't think so.
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Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 09:47 - Jul 5 with 1141 views
Antoine Friezmann bids adieu — Column on 08:00 - Jul 5 by Northernr
I'm not sure we are getting worse. I think we've been about the same bar the occasional up and occasional long losing run for about 3 years now. Are we worse now, for instance, than when JFH had us losing 6-0 at home to Newcastle? I don't think so.
i would extend this to most years since the relegation of 1996.
Compare our current players to the relegated side of 2000/01 & the team Waddock started with in 2006/07. I know I'm far more optimistic about the visit to Stoke than I was at Burnley on the opening day of that season!
We did specalise in making January signings in those days though that kept us out of the mire!
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