Dele interview

[Grays_1890]

That may in part be due to him not being quite ready to talk, but feeling forced into it to keep ahead of the tabloids. He is probably still processing a whole load of things.

One thing that did strike me from the interview was him saying he had spent 6 weeks in rehab. That isn't actually very long. Maybe he was already over the sleeping pills and it was more therapy than breaking an addiction, but I hope it was enough, or that he is having follow-up counselling.

And as for Everton - yes, good on them. I think Dyche could be good for Dele, although it has to be a two-way thing. Trippier speaks highly of Dyche being instrumental in turning him away from his drinking lifestyle, albeit Trippier was at a much earlier stage of his career at that point and it was more overindulgence than addiction (I believe).

Also I don't think he shut Neville down as the original post suggests, he mentioned his partying a fair bit organically and said he was partying too much but the press were also making stuff up, he also mentioned having regular house parties and how that was linked to his previous family life and a safe space for him.

With the rehab it seems from the interview like he needed access to the psychology element as much as the addiction side of things, he mentioned he was able to give the pills up for periods in the past which generally suggests that the addiction is probably at a more manageable stage. Thats purely guess work from myself, but whatever he needed its brilliant to see a different man who seemed one hell of alot better in himself.

 

[Grays_1890]

The family has started to react. This is not my opinion. I will post more if I see them.

https://ojbsport.com/2023/07/15/exc...-sent-to-africa-for-discipline-family-member/

Its clearly contrary to what Dele has said and not sure it takes away from what he has said, he clearly had s tough childhood which had a knock on to his adult life.

 

[Dicko]

So he wasn't ever officially adopted but was going to training everyday with his best mates parents and ended up just staying with them through the week etc.? Is that right?

Not that it makes a difference I'm just wondering on that part

 

[Grays_1890]

So he wasn't ever officially adopted but was going to training everyday with his best mates parents and ended up just staying with them through the week etc.? Is that right?

Not that it makes a difference I'm just wondering on that part

Only they will know 100% but whats suggested would be considered borderline kidnap and the police would have been involved and he would have been returned as a minor to his rightful parent or parents. The fact that never happened suggests there is more truth with the Dele version of events than those countering them. If he was not officially adopted I would imagine the move was done so in collaboration with social services

Not aimed at you here, I really hope this post does not go down the route of people trying to prove Dele as some kind of liar or discredit his interview.

 

[Yiddo]

One of the admin ladies at work used to live across the street from where Dele used to stay, she called it a foster home but spoke as if it was like a hostel type thing. This isn’t something new she mentioned because of the news, she mentioned it to us back when Alli had his break through season with us, didn’t think anything of it until now.

 

[thfcsteff]

I don't blame Jose to be honest. Like @Gazza Dazzla says, Dele's descent started long before he arrived. By the CL Final, he was a shadow of his former self...

Hmmm…in an injury-ravaged, Kaneless side, without Dele we don’t get to Madrid. His awareness and movement in Amsterdam to twice produce brilliant first time flicks for Lucas were actually the sort of magic only he can produce…

 

[DeanoAustin]

Hmmm…in an injury-ravaged, Kaneless side, without Dele we don’t get to Madrid. His awareness and movement in Amsterdam to twice produce brilliant first time flicks for Lucas were actually the sort of magic only he can produce…

A couple of brilliant moments don’t make a season. He’d gone from seasons where he was scoring 1 in 2, 1 in 3 to scoring 1 in 5. The descent had started and it’s too easy to blame Jose for that based on a sound bite from a documentary that he later apologised for.

I did think Jose’s treatment of him was unfair at the time. There was a game in Stoke in the LC where Dele was the best player on the pitch and Jose dug him out after the game. But that notwithstanding, he was on the way down by that stage.

I’m also not sure that first assist in Amsterdam was an intentional assist. Looked to me like he was trying to beat his man and Moura took over. The second one was quality though.

 

[billyiddo]

A couple of brilliant moments don’t make a season. He’d gone from seasons where he was scoring 1 in 2, 1 in 3 to scoring 1 in 5. The descent had started and it’s too easy to blame Jose for that based on a sound bite from a documentary that he later apologised for.

I did think Jose’s treatment of him was unfair at the time. There was a game in Stoke in the LC where Dele was the best player on the pitch and Jose dug him out after the game. But that notwithstanding, he was on the way down by that stage.

I’m also not sure that first assist in Amsterdam was an intentional assist. Looked to me like he was trying to beat his man and Moura took over. The second one was quality though.

That season we were playing the Winks & Sissoko axis of evil in CM which had a knock on effect to all of our attacking players, we got pushed further back and both Dele & Eriksen were dropping deeper to get on the ball. If you check back in his player thread around the turn of the year that season he was getting mostly glowing reviews from the posters on here about his form for the first half of the season.

 

[Dicko]

Has Dyche mentioned much about him since he's been the manager? Are they now planning on keeping him for next season and giving him another go or are they still trying to offload him? I suppose even if he fancied keeping him around there's still the issue that they are on the verge of having to pay us some hefty installments of several million if he plays another couple of games or something right?

 

[DeanoAustin]

That season we were playing the Winks & Sissoko axis of evil in CM which had a knock on effect to all of our attacking players, we got pushed further back and both Dele & Eriksen were dropping deeper to get on the ball. If you check back in his player thread around the turn of the year that season he was getting mostly glowing reviews from the posters on here about his form for the first half of the season.

Had a look from January. He got injured around that time but as you come into March and April you can see a lot of mixed reaction to his performances. A good few posters were really slating him by the time Ajax came around with Steff predominantly defending him.

 

[Grays_1890]

Has Dyche mentioned much about him since he's been the manager? Are they now planning on keeping him for next season and giving him another go or are they still trying to offload him? I suppose even if he fancied keeping him around there's still the issue that they are on the verge of having to pay us some hefty installments of several million if he plays another couple of games or something right?

He hasn't made public comment from what I can see but that's likely out of utmost respect.

I think the fee thing is a win win, if he plays the game and is finding their feet then they can lay and have themselves a fine player

 

[billyiddo]

Had a look from January. He got injured around that time but as you come into March and April you can see a lot of mixed reaction to his performances. A good few posters were really slating him by the time Ajax came around with Steff predominantly defending him.

His form, like the rest of the team fell off a cliff in the second half/final third of the season - my point was to add a little more context to your '1 in 2 / 1 in 3 to 1 in 5' comment. His goal scoring numbers went down that season but there are reasons beyond personal form for that and just using goals as a reflection of form doesn't show the full picture.

 

[DeanoAustin]

His form, like the rest of the team fell off a cliff in the second half/final third of the season - my point was to add a little more context to your '1 in 2 / 1 in 3 to 1 in 5' comment. His goal scoring numbers went down that season but there are reasons beyond personal form for that and just using goals as a reflection of form doesn't show the full picture.

Which is a fair point. The stat shouldn't be used in isolation. But I was using it to illustrate a wider point - his form fell off a cliff at that time and it never came back. Therefore, to blame Jose for his descent is unfair - the rot set in long before Jose joined the club.

 

[Dicko]

He hasn't made public comment from what I can see but that's likely out of utmost respect.

I think the fee thing is a win win, if he plays the game and is finding their feet then they can lay and have themselves a fine player

It's not win, win if they give him a fresh start
then he plays a few games and doesn't play well. It could cost them 10mill plus for that experiment. Would be really cool to see Dyche get him back to his best and playing regularly (At his best he's miles better than their other attacking players).
I just worry they might be scared off from taking that risk (due to money) and try and cut their losses and say they wanna give him a fresh start elsewhere.

 

[Grays_1890]

It's not win, win if they give him a fresh start
then he plays a few games and doesn't play well. It could cost them 10mill plus for that experiment. Would be really cool to see Dyche get him back to his best and playing regularly (At his best he's miles better than their other attacking players).
I just worry they might be scared off from taking that risk (due to money) and try and cut their losses and say they wanna give him a fresh start elsewhere.

Yeh maybe, but if they do that then maybe its not the club for him, but if he plays and plays well then as I say the money that they have agreed to pay, its cheap at half the price.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Yeh maybe, but if they do that then maybe its not the club for him, but if he plays and plays well then as I say the money that they have agreed to pay, its cheap at half the price.

There are a lot of variables though. Peak Dele would be cheap even at the 40m the fee could reach. But he plays well for a couple of months, triggers the first clause and reverts back to Dele of the last couple of years and Everton are down 10m. In their position, that's a lot of money.

I don't envy Everton here. There is massive risk around Dele for them. And if they shaft him somehow, it's gonna be a PR disaster.

I'm still hoping (forlornly) that Levy gets on the phone to Everton, cancels the deal, brings him back and we can forget the last 4 years ever happened. You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm (surely) not the only one...

 

[Grays_1890]

There are a lot of variables though. Peak Dele would be cheap even at the 40m the fee could reach. But he plays well for a couple of months, triggers the first clause and reverts back to Dele of the last couple of years and Everton are down 10m. In their position, that's a lot of money.

I don't envy Everton here. There is massive risk around Dele for them. And if they shaft him somehow, it's gonna be a PR disaster.

I'm still hoping (forlornly) that Levy gets on the phone to Everton, cancels the deal, brings him back and we can forget the last 4 years ever happened. You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm (surely) not the only one...

Of course but I am talking from the place we are today where Dele on face value seems in a better place, I don't think its unreasonable to expect a club to honour the deal they made, when probably the risks on Dele were greater, I mean there is a better feeling around Alli now than when Everton first signed him, in massive part to the last couple of weeks etc. Also from his interview he was very complimentary to them supporting him, I think they will support his journey in part because its the right thing to do, I don't even think its that hard a decision TBH.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Of course but I am talking from the place we are today where Dele on face value seems in a better place, I don't think its unreasonable to expect a club to honour the deal they made, when probably the risks on Dele were greater, I mean there is a better feeling around Alli now than when Everton first signed him, in massive part to the last couple of weeks etc. Also from his interview he was very complimentary to them supporting him, I think they will support his journey in part because its the right thing to do, I don't even think its that hard a decision TBH.

To be fair, there are still massive risks around him. He may be in a healthier place mentally. Can he recover his form? There's no evidence of it yet and he's been sub-standard for 3-4 years now. It's still a big ask for him to get back near where he was.

Everton are supporting him now. It's fairly easy to support him right now. Let's see if they still do when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is. They're in a precarious financial position by all accounts and they may not cough up 10m just coz it's the right thing to do.

I would love for him to recover his form and for Everton to prove me wrong. I've always liked them as a club so if Dele made a triumphant return to form there, I'd be happy to see it. I just have a cynicism around Premier League clubs at the moment when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

[Grays_1890]

To be fair, there are still massive risks around him. He may be in a healthier place mentally. Can he recover his form? There's no evidence of it yet and he's been sub-standard for 3-4 years now. It's still a big ask for him to get back near where he was.

Everton are supporting him now. It's fairly easy to support him right now. Let's see if they still do when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is. They're in a precarious financial position by all accounts and they may not cough up 10m just coz it's the right thing to do.

I would love for him to recover his form and for Everton to prove me wrong. I've always liked them as a club so if Dele made a triumphant return to form there, I'd be happy to see it. I just have a cynicism around Premier League clubs at the moment when it comes to this sort of thing.

.

Oh mate I agree with alot of that, I just think, equally twinged with almost cynicism that they should be honouring their obligation, I also think from the outside Dyche seems a good bloke to find your feet under

 

[thfcsteff]

That season we were playing the Winks & Sissoko axis of evil in CM which had a knock on effect to all of our attacking players, we got pushed further back and both Dele & Eriksen were dropping deeper to get on the ball. If you check back in his player thread around the turn of the year that season he was getting mostly glowing reviews from the posters on here about his form for the first half of the season.

This. ALL this.