Martin Jol: Clint Dempsey deserves respect from Fulham fans

MARTIN JOL was delighted with Fulham’s demolition of Norwich — but was less impressed with the fans who mocked Clint Dempsey.

Dempsey, 29, is effectively in exile at Craven Cottage after refusing to face the Canaries in the hope of forcing a move to Liverpool.

But Jol believes the club’s supporters were wrong to chant ‘Are you watching Clint Dempsey?‘ towards the end of the game.

The Dutchman said: “I don’t want to hear the fans were chanting against him because he was a terrific player for us.

“He was the most productive midfield player in the whole league last season and hopefully he will play for us again.

PLEASE LET ME GO ... Clint Dempsey wants out at Fulham

“There is one season to go on his contract and no one has come in for him.

“To say he refused to play is probably a bit harsh but he wanted to move. If you want to move, you don’t want to take risks so you don’t want to play in case you get an injury.

“For me that was a very awkward situation and it was for him as well.

“There is nothing on the table from Liverpool. Maybe Clint knows more than us but we feel he should stay if there is no other bid.”

JOL says gameplan worked perfectly as Londoners let the ball do the work at a sweltering Craven Cottage

Having blasted Liverpool earlier in the week for turning Dempsey’s head, Jol’s mood improved dramatically as Norwich were put to the sword.

Damien Duff opened the scoring before debutant Mladen Petric bagged a double with goals either side of half-time.

Alex Kacaniklic added a fourth and substitute Steve Sidwell rammed home a late penalty to round off the scoring — leaving Jol purring.

He added: “We did well. We let the ball do the work and we were very good to watch.”

Norwich boss Chris Hughton, who worked under Jol as a coach at Tottenham, admitted his first top-flight game in 20 months could not have gone worse.

Hughton said: “It was an awful day for us. That’s not how you want your first game of the season to go.

“Four of the goals were avoidable. In pre-season we have looked very solid in defence and I had no inkling this would happen.”

Hughton added: “The players are hurting.

“This won’t be the only defeat that we will have and it won’t be the only defeat that we will have by a few goals, but the players will want to react well.

“They know this wasn’t acceptable and they want to make amends.”