Buddle to Fulham? Rumor? Yes. Credible? Probably not. http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/world_cup/858881/FULHAM-PLAN-MOVE-FOR-BUDDLE.html About a $600k transfer fee is the rumor. Sounds low, but he's in a contract year, so not that low.
When I said.. I wasnt teasing. Exactly the sort Fulham looks for. And I {or 100 others} could have written that NOTW blurb. So it IS 'credible' to the extent that it is a long-shot guess based on plausibility. Worth about as much as the writer {prolly an intern} got paid for it.. yet sure could happen. What is NOT plausible is that both Donovan and Buddle are in LAG 2011 pre-season camp. You seem to confuse Edson with Jeff Cunningham. He isnt like Jeff Cunningham. Don't you think I would know that?
Wouldn't really be that much of a stretch... kind of reminds me of the McBride deal. Same club same type of move. Other than the fact McBride was actually a lock starter in the '02 cup. The only problem is the writer obviously isn't that familiar with Ed if he thinks that he's an Erik Nevland type striker... he's actually more like Bobby Z just with a better scoring prowess. At this point I'd say it's a 50/50 chance. He does have Dempsey on his side I'm sure he's told the Fulham brass good things about Ed.
Oh, CRAP. You had to use 'ED'. !!!!! There's the downside of Fulham on Buddle. Buddle is no Eddie Johnson, either.. but you'd end up quarreling with 95% of the FFC fans about the possibility he might be.
Actually did some searching after that link to his deal... I'm not so sure that it's fluff as a couple of sources seem to indicate a deal is in the works. Think that it could potentially be a great deal for him because Bobby Z is injury prone and the EPL is one helluva long season. With EJ on loan and Erik Nev gone Buddle could actually find his way into a lot of playing time. Of course this is based whether the deal goes through. All you have to tell FFC fans is that Edson's touch is 100x better than Eddie Johnson's... he's also great in the air which EJ never was and when healthy can be quite the force. Buddle is in a good place right now I'd say it's the perfect time to try out Europe and I couldn't think of a better fit than Fulham. I'm not going to lie.. part of me hopes if this is true that he scores a few goals and sticks it to Bob for not giving him a start with or over Jozy.
Well thats an upside, we get to see how Bowen handles full time. Still, we don't want to completely hand him the reins considering he is 19.
No disrespect to the Galaxy... but why on earth would he pass up on a better salary and chance to play in the EPL with a decent mid-table squad?!??
To put it simply, he wouldn't. Its not disrespect to us to say that Fulham are a better club with a lot more money in a better league then us. Whether a team like Fulham is actually going to take a flyer on him is another story.
I have no idea juniorLA but if he is offered a handsome nest egg I can't see anyone turning that down... I do know he loves L.A. and wants to get the MLS Cup this year.
I dont see a team picking up Buddle. Hes really had no chance to show himself. Id say if he does get picked up he would end up in a place like Greece, Sweden, Portugal, first division in England, Belgium, or countries like that.
If Edson gets a call from a team like Fulham he has to go. There is no DP-type contract coming from MLS no matter how many goals he scores in LA, so this is his last shot at the brass ring and I wouldn't blame him for going. There is more money in the EPL and more potential glory ie. Europa League, FA cup, etc. Hope AEG and MLS get more than 600K though.
MLS wont get anything. His contract is up at the end of the season, so MLS will not have the rights to Buddle to ask for a transfer fee.
I tried pointing this out earlier... just making a WC squad is a huge deal transfer wise. He's done plenty up to this point to garner some interest from overseas... his hot start in the MLS... making the WC squad and then his Brace against Australia in the final tune-up match. On top of that you have Dempsey who has probably been contacted by Fulham about his teammate and David Becks warning the English team ahead of time that Buddle posed a threat to them he's got good word of mouth. It's not his fault Bradley rolled out Findley 3 times in this WC and then even had the balls to start Gomez -- frankly nothing but a Super-sub/poacher -- over Edson. I guarantee you if Buddlle had started 1 or 2 games for the U.S. he would have nabbed at least 1 goal in the tournament. Bob just totally mismanaged the tournament and if it wasn't for brilliant individual performances i.e. Bradley, Donovan... we never would have made it out of the group stages.
Edson's best revenge for not starting in S.A. will be his scoring totals and the MLS Cup for The Galaxy.
I support this post 100%. I have no issues with Edson taking out his World Cup frustrations on the rest of our league....