Re: bbc rumor mill: Fulham in for Jay Demerit but here you are assuming I said he was premiership quality - which wasn't in my post. Haha, that said, yes I said I thought Jay would be good enough for the Premiership - and not only because he was lucky to be on a team lucky enough to sneak into the Premier League. And yes, I said that if Jay played in the Premier League for one season only (last season) with Watford and not for another top flight team in a top league, then I would admit he wasn't Premier League quality. The good news for me is that I have until he retires to be proven wrong.
I guess you missed the two times he was on soccernet or the Premier League's team of the week. They rarely do that for players who are horrible or at best decent. You realize that Watfords problem last year was NOT defense right? They were completely outmanned all over the field, but had more problems in midfield and the attack. When you can't mount an offense, your defense gets hammered and looks bad. Yes Jay looked bad at times, but at other times he looked very solid. I've never said he's one of the best in the Premier League (he's not), but from what I've seen he's an average quality player (maybe less on the technical side but more on the tenacity side) who "could" play on a number of teams.
Re: bbc rumor mill: Fulham in for Jay Demerit Look the other poster saw the same quotes as me- Boothroyd said he wasn't buying players because he didn't know who to buy (had no experience in buying).. Who is talking out of their ass on this one? You... The quotes are there somewhere...
For all the Jay DeMerit doubters out there...watch the Watford - Chelsea game where Chelsea barely won...Jay was all over the place, giving attackers a very difficult time. Chelsea got lucky in injury time!
Ben Foster was thee man that stood between Watford and a pasting many times last season. That said, DeMerit looks far more of a Premiership player to me than Onyewu does. I can well see someone picking the former up.
retirement...sadly http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Whitecaps+skipper+DeMerit+retire+this+week/10056935/story.html
Great career for Jay, type of player that makes you proud to be a fan of (especially being a fellow Wisconsinite).
True great. I recall messaging him on myspace (when that was a thing) in like 05 when I was a kid and he was down to earth enough and nice enough to respond. His is a fantastic story about sacrifice and hard work.
DeMerit literally came out of nowhere and his name was starting to pickup stem in the US press and when he scored this massive, massive, massive goal in the Promotion Playoffs helping Watford to the Premier League. I will never, ever forget this moment. It was pure pandemonium in Wembley!
I mentioned in the media forums a day or so ago that the guy should make a pretty decent color analyst. USMNT, EPL, Championship, MLS - that's a pretty darn good background to have. Fox is hiring too.
Now that he's retired, I'd like to nominate Jay Demerit as patron saint of this forum, or more specifically, every guy on their own in a foreign country grinding away against absurdly long odds despite every external and internal voice telling them to quit. The quintessential YA. There have been better players, but I don't think there's ever been a better example. A hard act to top and a good act to follow. Also, it helps to have a Danish grandfather.