Dale Stephens Summer 2016 shenanigans (Merged Thread)

[chaileyjem]

The tweet has pissed me off more than the transfer request.

1. He doesn't believe we are good enough to be promoted this season despite the fact he has an influence over this.
2. Nothing about giving 100% until his contract ends.

The club supported him admirably when he was injured - it's payback time Dale and you have some serious making up to do.

I'm not sure he does believe that, but i can see how it reads like this.
It shows what happens and how you can be misinterpreted when you write a tweet/note like that, publish it at midnight without (presumably) referring to the club first.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Dear Brighton fans,

Give Stephens a chance to do this. Don't treat him as public enemy number one, you are just shooting yourself in the foot. If he lets us down 'que sera' but there is nothing to be gained by making life difficult for him now.

SHC

He's gonna feel the full force of my boozy afternoon session,when he runs toward the north stand for his warm I'm gonna let him have it,two Bob northern monkey.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[chaileyjem]

And then it wouldn't have reflected his feelings at the time. Who cares about the wording. DS is communicating with the fans without censorship. That's a good thing. If it was sanitized by PR then it wouldn't be worth reading.

- he could have done an interview (on camera) in a couple of days with the club explaining that playing in the prem league has always been his dream, talk honestly about how upset he was that it didn't come off last season, that he's now 100% committed to getting Albion to the prem league for the rest of the season, thank the fans, thank the club for sticking by him during his injury.
- or he could have let his performances on the pitch do his talking
- or let Hughton speak for him.
etc etc.
- or he could have published a hastily written tweet at midnight at the end of a stressful day and month that has clearly been misinterpreted in many ways. and then gone to bed and all hell breaks loose.

 

[smeg]

Looks like I'm one of the only ones who has sympathy for Dale If someone wanted me to go to a bigger (better office) with more money and a chance to improve myself I'd want to go, why should footballers be any different?

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

I don't blame Date for being infuriated TBH might have just lost his chance of playing in the Premier League. I would have been kicking the cat around the living room last night.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

It'll be fine. He'll get back up to speed, him and Kayal will start dominating every game they play again, we'll win lots more than we lose, we'll draw a few that we probably should win and we'll finish somewhere in the top six. Possibly in the top two.

When we get promoted next May this will be long forgotten.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

- he could have done an interview (on camera) in a couple of days with the club explaining that playing in the prem league has always been his dream, talk honestly about how upset he was that it didn't come off last season, that he's now 100% committed to getting Albion to the prem league for the rest of the season, thank the fans, thank the club for sticking by him during his injury.
- or he could have let his performances on the pitch do his talking
- or let Hughton speak for him.
etc etc.
- or he could have published a hastily written tweet at midnight at the end of a stressful day and month that has clearly been misinterpreted in many ways. and then gone to bed and all hell breaks loose.

We will just have to agree to disagree. Sounds like you want him to release a message with your feelings rather than his. DS is unhappy about what happened. Whatever the rights and wrongs (and he isn't blameless) that's how he feels. I admire his candour and expect nothing less. As to 'all hell breaking loose'. Who cares, its just the usual internet freak show that nobody in the real world cares about.

 

[pasty]

The tweet has pissed me off more than the transfer request.

1. He doesn't believe we are good enough to be promoted this season despite the fact he has an influence over this.
2. Nothing about giving 100% until his contract ends.

The club supported him admirably when he was injured - it's payback time Dale and you have some serious making up to do.

Completely agree. DS has burnt some bridges with that tweet and it is going to take a few exceptional m.o.m. performances to get many fans back on side.

 

[Mr Banana]

The funniest thing is still Daddy Hoo implying Stephens was at Lancing having private training sessions and would be back for the Oxford game. Almost contempt for the fans.

Bloody Burnley though. Someone needs to do him a PowerPoint of all our midfielders who've gone to mediocre Prem clubs and ended up in the lower half of the Championship. Wonga ain't everything.

 

[chaileyjem]

We will just have to agree to disagree. Sounds like you want him to release a message with your feelings rather than his. DS is unhappy about what happened. Whatever the rights and wrongs (and he isn't blameless) that's how he feels. I admire his candour and expect nothing less. As to 'all hell breaking loose'. Who cares, its just the usual internet freak show that nobody in the real world cares about.

I admire his candour and honesty but that doesn't mean the right thing for him (not me, not the club) was to rush out a tweet at midnight yesterday with his brief explanation of the last month or so. There are other ways of communicating his feelings to "Brighton fans"

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

This is all very ridiculous when you consider the first basic step of a transfer.

A club needs to offer more than another club can refuse

That never happened. No matter how much Dale wanted to leave. No matter how much he THOUGHT he'd leave. No matter how much he thought we should accept the offer, No matter that he'd almost certainly agreed something in principle with Burnley/been sold the dream, he is not the accountant or board for BHA.

Best in this situation to just shut up and not try to explain it. I don't actually care if a player wants to leave. We all know we are just an employer. But I do care about the apparent belief that we ROBBED him of any sort of chance.

No mate. They didn't offer enough. The first step of a transfer. If you feel aggrieved then write an open message to Burnley and ask why they paid £8m and £10m for two other midfielders but not you.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

He's gonna feel the full force of my boozy afternoon session,when he runs toward the north stand for his warm I'm gonna let him have it,two Bob northern monkey.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Give CH some of it too, while you're at it, for picking him. FFS.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

Its the whole fan emotion v's pro player perception thing again. Dale Stephens is not a Brighton fan, he pays his bills by playing for the club. Ask yourself if another employer in your field offered you more money per week to do your job at a higher level, and that if that company was sussex based and you'd been living in your present job at the other end of the country to where you come from....what would be your reaction? Its natural..

I'm not so naive to be unable to understand that players don't care as much for the club as we do and that money doesn't buy this type of loyalty - in fact I've said so in several of my posts on this topic.

However, in terms of your hypothetical - of course I would want to move jobs and I'd no doubt ask if I could. However if I'd committed to that company for another year, and had also had the benefit of a year's sick pay from the company when I was unable to work, I'd like to think I'd be quite accepting and philosophical about them saying "no".

I also think that whilst yes, football is just a job to the players, comparisons between top-bracket footballers and everyday earners are a bit disingenuous. I work to just about pay the bills for a modest lifestyle doing something that I am happy to do, but isn't exactly a bundle of laughs. He (probably - I have no real idea) earns in 3-4 weeks what I earn in a year, playing football in front of large crowds - something that at least half of the young lads in this country would aspire to do before realising they won't be that lucky. I don't blame him for wanting to earn more and play at a higher level, but I cant really say I have any sympathy for him in any way not being totally enthusiastic about the job he has here.

 

[Bwian]

Looks like I'm one of the only ones who has sympathy for Dale If someone wanted me to go to a bigger (better office) with more money and a chance to improve myself I'd want to go, why should footballers be any different?

Does honouring a contract not mean anything? His contact was great when he was injured and getting paid in full but now he wanted it ripped up to move to Burnley? Burnley FFS. That is hardly a 'better office' is it? All he wants is a bigger pay cheque and to hell with being honourable. Can somebody explain why there are still contracts for players? They obviously mean nothing to their scummy agents.

I am beginning to understand why many people I know are abandoning their Premier and 'EFL' clubs in favour of non league clubs.

 

[Del of Albion]

I don't know why Dale is pissed off with Brighton. Why is he not pissed off with Burnley with them coming in with derisory offers in the first place. Perhaps if they had come in over a month/6 weeks ago with an £8 million plus bid he would be there and we may of had time to replace him.
Anyway time for us all to move on I think.

 

[CHAPPERS]

This is all very ridiculous when you consider the first basic step of a transfer.

A club needs to offer more than another club can refuse

That never happened. No matter how much Dale wanted to leave. No matter how much he THOUGHT he'd leave. No matter how much he thought we should accept the offer, No matter that he'd almost certainly agreed something in principle with Burnley/been sold the dream, he is not the accountant or board for BHA.

Best in this situation to just shut up and not try to explain it. I don't actually care if a player wants to leave. We all know we are just an employer. But I do care about the apparent belief that we ROBBED him of any sort of chance.

No mate. They didn't offer enough. The first step of a transfer. If you feel aggrieved then write an open message to Burnley and ask why they paid £8m and £10m for two other midfielders but not you.

And that, ladies and gents, is the best post on the matter.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Looks like I'm one of the only ones who has sympathy for Dale If someone wanted me to go to a bigger (better office) with more money and a chance to improve myself I'd want to go, why should footballers be any different?

But you wouldn't go without serving your notice period unless your employer agreed.

Dale's notice period now runs to sometime after January 1st.

He should have handed in his notice ( transfer request ) earlier.

 

[Guinness Boy]

This is all very ridiculous when you consider the first basic step of a transfer.

A club needs to offer more than another club can refuse

That never happened. No matter how much Dale wanted to leave. No matter how much he THOUGHT he'd leave. No matter how much he thought we should accept the offer, No matter that he'd almost certainly agreed something in principle with Burnley/been sold the dream, he is not the accountant or board for BHA.

Best in this situation to just shut up and not try to explain it. I don't actually care if a player wants to leave. We all know we are just an employer. But I do care about the apparent belief that we ROBBED him of any sort of chance.

No mate. They didn't offer enough. The first step of a transfer. If you feel aggrieved then write an open message to Burnley and ask why they paid £8m and £10m for two other midfielders but not you.

Absolutely this. They just didn't fancy you enough, Dale.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bwian]

oh, fair enough. puts a different slant on it. almost as if footballers aren't the sharpest tools in the box.

Or Fecking Burnley said that if he puts in a transfer request waiving his cut they would cover his losses with a nice signing bonus?

Burnely, Stephens and his agent have all acted despicably in this saga. Burnley, a club heading straight back down (hopefully) armed with pockets of Murdoch's money will no doubt feck up more clubs next season when they unsettle more players in their bid to be the latest yo-yo club.

A pox on Burnley.

 

[perseus]

Looks like I'm one of the only ones who has sympathy for Dale If someone wanted me to go to a bigger (better office) with more money and a chance to improve myself I'd want to go, why should footballers be any different?

As I said in an earlier thread, if Dale Stephens genuinely wanted to go to Burnley, I would have let him go.

The problems as far a fans were concerned is that

1) we did not know this as he did not say anything publicly (unlike Sissoko) until he made the transfer request (might have been an agent's tactic?) until he left the training session (made be untrue and irrelevant)
2) we did not consider Burnley to be a proper Premiership club playing sufficient wages* and likely to remain there only for one season (the same might apply to us if we went up)
(*signing a long term contract for a team that might get relegated. It smacks of agent wanting to get a fee.)

My intuition was if a proper Premier League club like Palace (?), Stoke, Sunderland (?), Watford came in for Stephens we might have had to let him go! Then Stephens might not have got a regular first team place.

I thought it might turn into a Naismith situation (turned down Sunderland). Not happy with Burnley's contract.

In turn we cannot deny so easily that Lualua wants to leave unless he can get more first team playing time. Its up to him now. He has the ability, just the application.

As for Dale Stephens, I think we need his physical presence in midfield, his quota of goals and set pieces. It might be worth 8 points and 8 goals this season (we will see). 8 pts might be the difference between automatic promotion and the play-offs? I'm glad we've got Poggy. Never seen him play, but in some respects the video is a bit like Stephen's without the set pieces and goal scoring.

Set pieces can be be learned. It is really just the midfield goals of Stephens that makes the difference.

What would I have done if I was Bloom. I think I would have sold him for £8 m and tried to buy Oliver Burke for £11 million or so. That's with hindsight. I probably worked out that Dale Stephens wanted to play in the Premier league but Burnley is a poor choice.

Rationally from a Dale Stephens point of view, I might have waited until January to see how Burnley and Brighton were placed in the league. Signing a long term contract with Burnley could easily be a mistake! But without a long term contract, he could get injured and be in stook.