Thank you Ili

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Bladesman said:
I hope not apparently we have a good sell on clause.
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Great, that's what I go to the Lane for, to revel in our potential sell on fees. We could receive a 100M windfall for all I care because 1. Who could we find to replace him? and 2. Do you really think that money would be reinvested? More likely Princey would pocket the cash and buy someone wank on the cheap
 
From the little I’ve read, this is his dream move, which could be for all sorts of reasons.
Maybe he really wants to live back in France; maybe he wants to do the best he can for his family and the financial rewards on offer are better; maybe he wants to play in the champions league for his boyhood club; …

He leaves now and some fans say, “He’s shafted us! He could have played one more season and gone on a free!”

However, if he’d left for free in summer ‘24, I’m sure the same fans would be saying “He’s shafted us! He’s worth millions but we’ve got nothing for him and now he’s gone!”

The truth is, you sometimes only get one chance of fulfilling your lifelong dreams. Looking at JOC shows how any footballer is only ever a moment away from all your potential and ambitions just disappearing in a flash. What if he were to stay one more season and get injured? Or he struggles to make an impact against quality defences and bigger clubs change their minds? Or Marseilles look elsewhere and write him off because he didn’t take this offer up now? This opportunity really might not come around again for him.
Plus staying would mean another year of earning far less than he potentially could, in a career that is pretty short - even if you do stay fit.

I’m gutted that he won’t be playing for Sheffield United. I think he’s the best United player I’ve ever seen. I would be over the moon if he failed a medical or something and had to come back here (there must be a straw or something to clutch at here somewhere), but I can’t do anything but wish him well for the future. Playing for Sheffield United was his job, and he did that job exceptionally well with incredible skill, effort, determination, consistency, professionalism - everything you could possibly ask for as a fan.
Now he’s going to work for someone else - but that in no way lessens any of my feelings about what he did while he was here, nor does it change the respect I have for him as a man. I really don’t think he owes us anything: in the morning of his full debut in that Peterborough game, we were 23rd in the championship - by the end of that season we were the width of a post away from the play-off final; by the end of the next season we were playing the champions in an fa cup final at Wembley and had been promoted to the premier league. He was the outstanding player in virtually every game he played - I remember Coventry at home at half time saying it felt like NDIAYE versus COVENTRY and Ndiaye was winning 1-0.
By all accounts he wasn’t exceptionally well paid during these years, and the club will make millions from his sale. If you look at the work he’s done, it’s surely impossible to say he owes the club anything. He worked hard, kept his head down, and produced performance after performance that took the club into an unbelievable position. Now he’s earned the chance to fulfil a huge ambition, and - sadly - I wish him well.
 
100% part time blade said:
From the little I’ve read, this is his dream move, which could be for all sorts of reasons.
Maybe he really wants to live back in France; maybe he wants to do the best he can for his family and the financial rewards on offer are better; maybe he wants to play in the champions league for his boyhood club; …

He leaves now and some fans say, “He’s shafted us! He could have played one more season and gone on a free!”

However, if he’d left for free in summer ‘24, I’m sure the same fans would be saying “He’s shafted us! He’s worth millions but we’ve got nothing for him and now he’s gone!”

The truth is, you sometimes only get one chance of fulfilling your lifelong dreams. Looking at JOC shows how any footballer is only ever a moment away from all your potential and ambitions just disappearing in a flash. What if he were to stay one more season and get injured? Or he struggles to make an impact against quality defences and bigger clubs change their minds? Or Marseilles look elsewhere and write him off because he didn’t take this offer up now? This opportunity really might not come around again for him.
Plus staying would mean another year of earning far less than he potentially could, in a career that is pretty short - even if you do stay fit.

I’m gutted that he won’t be playing for Sheffield United. I think he’s the best United player I’ve ever seen. I would be over the moon if he failed a medical or something and had to come back here (there must be a straw or something to clutch at here somewhere), but I can’t do anything but wish him well for the future. Playing for Sheffield United was his job, and he did that job exceptionally well with incredible skill, effort, determination, consistency, professionalism - everything you could possibly ask for as a fan.
Now he’s going to work for someone else - but that in no way lessens any of my feelings about what he did while he was here, nor does it change the respect I have for him as a man. I really don’t think he owes us anything: in the morning of his full debut in that Peterborough game, we were 23rd in the championship - by the end of that season we were the width of a post away from the play-off final; by the end of the next season we were playing the champions in an fa cup final at Wembley and had been promoted to the premier league. He was the outstanding player in virtually every game he played - I remember Coventry at home at half time saying it felt like NDIAYE versus COVENTRY and Ndiaye was winning 1-0.
By all accounts he wasn’t exceptionally well paid during these years, and the club will make millions from his sale. If you look at the work he’s done, it’s surely impossible to say he owes the club anything. He worked hard, kept his head down, and produced performance after performance that took the club into an unbelievable position. Now he’s earned the chance to fulfil a huge ambition, and - sadly - I wish him well.
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Really well said, particularly with JOC. Playing for the team he supports and played for as a child at the top level is going to be one of those opportunities which I suspect would have been very hard for him to turn down. The move probably also reinforces the case for him starting in the Senegal team and having a shot at lifting the Africa Cup of Nations in January given he'll be with two Sengalese NT colleagues at OM. Equally I'm sure there would be parts of him wanting to stay at BTDBL given it's the opportunity to play in the best league in the world with a team that you played a massive role in getting to that position. Ultimately if OM was his dream, I don't begrudge him or the club for that - have to be grateful I got to enjoy seeing his quality every week and hope somehow we can find the next Iliman with some of the sale proceeds...



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100% part time blade said:
From the little I’ve read, this is his dream move, which could be for all sorts of reasons.
Maybe he really wants to live back in France; maybe he wants to do the best he can for his family and the financial rewards on offer are better; maybe he wants to play in the champions league for his boyhood club; …

He leaves now and some fans say, “He’s shafted us! He could have played one more season and gone on a free!”

However, if he’d left for free in summer ‘24, I’m sure the same fans would be saying “He’s shafted us! He’s worth millions but we’ve got nothing for him and now he’s gone!”

The truth is, you sometimes only get one chance of fulfilling your lifelong dreams. Looking at JOC shows how any footballer is only ever a moment away from all your potential and ambitions just disappearing in a flash. What if he were to stay one more season and get injured? Or he struggles to make an impact against quality defences and bigger clubs change their minds? Or Marseilles look elsewhere and write him off because he didn’t take this offer up now? This opportunity really might not come around again for him.
Plus staying would mean another year of earning far less than he potentially could, in a career that is pretty short - even if you do stay fit.

I’m gutted that he won’t be playing for Sheffield United. I think he’s the best United player I’ve ever seen. I would be over the moon if he failed a medical or something and had to come back here (there must be a straw or something to clutch at here somewhere), but I can’t do anything but wish him well for the future. Playing for Sheffield United was his job, and he did that job exceptionally well with incredible skill, effort, determination, consistency, professionalism - everything you could possibly ask for as a fan.
Now he’s going to work for someone else - but that in no way lessens any of my feelings about what he did while he was here, nor does it change the respect I have for him as a man. I really don’t think he owes us anything: in the morning of his full debut in that Peterborough game, we were 23rd in the championship - by the end of that season we were the width of a post away from the play-off final; by the end of the next season we were playing the champions in an fa cup final at Wembley and had been promoted to the premier league. He was the outstanding player in virtually every game he played - I remember Coventry at home at half time saying it felt like NDIAYE versus COVENTRY and Ndiaye was winning 1-0.
By all accounts he wasn’t exceptionally well paid during these years, and the club will make millions from his sale. If you look at the work he’s done, it’s surely impossible to say he owes the club anything. He worked hard, kept his head down, and produced performance after performance that took the club into an unbelievable position. Now he’s earned the chance to fulfil a huge ambition, and - sadly - I wish him well.
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Most sensible post I've read on here for a while (my own excluded of course!).

I wish the lad well and thank him for his efforts in a Blades shirt. He was great and was so exciting to watch. Will miss him and his skills. But I'm a SUFC fan not a Iliman Ndiaye fan. The club in whatever form, will go on. Up to the individual fan if they still want to be a part of it.

And I don't get the argument about him 'shafting' us by moving 2 weeks before the season starts either. Ok, his dad/agent may have been pulling strings in the background and advising him not to sign a new contract which weakened our negotiation position, but the lad couldn't move until OM put in a bid that was acceptable to Utd. That's only just happened. So he can hardly move earlier than he did.

IN moving on is really disappointing but it was always going to happen at some point (you can debate all day about transfer fee, whether we should have offered him a new contract earlier, and tapping up) but at the end of the day it's just a footballer moving from one club to another. That's it. There are things that happen in the world every day that upset me more than a footballer moving on ever could.
 
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Anyone who thinks Iliman has fucked us over is frankly stupid.

This is football and this is his dream move too. Can't begrudge him and we've accepted the fee in the end too.

Our downfall is still that we let the situation develop.

This time 12 months ago we should have been offering him a new deal after a good first full season playing with us.
Protecting your assets it seems is a problem we've got too when you consider how many are out of contract in 12 months too.

He refused our contract talks last November after he had started so well last season because he wanted to keep his options open. You can understand that given promotion was never a given.

As soon as we were promoted though we could have been straight in with offering him fresh terms on a cracking contract. But seems we waited quite some time into the summer after Marseille really started their talks with him. At which point as it's turned out to be, it was just always too late.

Had we got Iliman on at least 2 years left still we would have been talking a fee way over £30m and that would have probably put Marseille off for now.

Were gonna have to move on of course, we will not get anything in way of like for like replacement because they cost a fortune.
 
You accept that at some point we're going to lose our best player, even the likes of Liverpool and man United can't always keep players they want too. Its just about getting the correct fee for the player. If mgw cost 45m including all the add ons that's the amount we should have been looking for, I can see him moving back to England after this season for 60/70 million if he fulfills his potential. Anyway he's going so on we go, no point crying about it, that's the life of a football player I'm afraid.
 
Marseilles FC: Young man, We want to make you an offer:

Get paid very handsomely to play for your boyhood club in the Champions League with immediate effect. And play in the top flight of a major European League in a team showing a fair amount of ambition alongside a bunch of internationally capped players inclulding a couple of your own national team colleagues. A team that will undoubtedly win more games than it loses and push for honoours. A team that is scouted by the big guns of Europe meaning you are also in the shop window for "the big move" as your next step in the future. Come and play for the best supported team in the country (this one is for those on here who think he shouldn't go because the bottom 10 teams in France don't get 20k fans in. Last season Marseille saw the highest average attendance of 62,522 at its home stadium Orange Velodrome, with each match reaching 95% capacity during the season. Paris-Saint Germain posted an average of 47,583 fans, while Lyon averaged 47,583.) All of this in a cultural melting pot, a sun kissed city on the French Riviera. (and for those on here who have referred to Marseilles as a shit hole, have another walk down The Moor) And all ithis happens in your native language.
 
CPB said:
He refused our contract talks last November after he had started so well last season because he wanted to keep his options open
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Hi Stegosaurus here

Which means he shafted us. New contract, minimum release fee if we didn't get promotion. Sorted. He could have still moved while letting us get a more reasonable fee.
 
Best
Skiliman said:
Absolutely gutted. Best I’ve seen and by a fair distance.

What I would like to say is, thank you for getting us back to the PL when you could have taken the easy route out 6 months ago. You was a true professional throughout this entire episode and even though it’s your boyhood team I think with all saw/felt the twists and turns in your decision to stay or leave and we can see how much you loved our club.

All the best ❤️
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Best dribbler I've seen at bdtbl since 90s. (Didsy comes a close second with a few magic moments too). Gutted he's leaving, but glttl. This is the time for the young un's to step up to the mark!
 
Only Tony Currie better in my book, in the 60 years I’ve supported the Blades
You go with my good grace Illy.Thanks for getting us up last year, and all those memories, and days when you lit up the Lane.Just sad there couldn’t have been more of them.
You’ll be fantastic at Marseilles, and hope to see you running rings round the likes of City in the Champions league.There’ll always be a warm welcome for you at the Lane.
 
The lad put everything in to every game, and was the best I've seen at Bramall Lane. In fact, watching these highlight reels that the Marseille fans are currently getting excited about, makes me realise that no one has even come close in the 30 years I've been watching.

It's also his boyhood club and dream move, so he goes without an ounce of ill feeling from me.

The club however, is pathetic.
 
A classy player who sadly showed zero class as a person. It’s easier to blame the club, the Prince, agents or the dog if it makes you feel better, but the reality is Ndiaye has walked and showed questionable morals in doing so.

His departure will hurt, but we’ll dust ourselves down and it might serve to further galvanise Hecky and the lads who already knew we are up against it.

Thankfully the pandemic is over and the crowds are back. Bramall Lane needs to be rocking and we need to get behind the players who do want to stay at the club.
 

Lightsoot said:
A classy player who sadly showed zero class as a person. It’s easier to blame the club, the Prince, agents or the dog if it makes you feel better, but the reality is Ndiaye has walked and showed questionable morals in doing so.

His departure will hurt, but we’ll dust ourselves down and it might serve to further galvanise Hecky and the lads who already knew we are up against it.

Thankfully the pandemic is over and the crowds are back. Bramall Lane needs to be rocking and we need to get behind the players who do want to stay at the club.
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In the last 30ish years we have consistently sold our best players at key moments and in the last 30 years we’ve had 3 seasons in the top flight. We’ve watched on whilst similarly sized clubs have had stints at PL level, won the odd League Cup, etc. We’ve done fuck all and making bad decisions at bad moments is the reason why. This is another one.

Genuinely amazed anyone can blame the player when shitting the bed at key moments could be etched on our clubs gravestone. It’s part of our DNA and until we get, finally, some decent ownership with ambition it will be ever thus.
 
Rodley said:
In the last 30ish years we have consistently sold our best players at key moments and in the last 30 years we’ve had 3 seasons in the top flight. We’ve watched on whilst similarly sized clubs have had stints at PL level, won the odd League Cup, etc. We’ve done fuck all and making bad decisions at bad moments is the reason why.

Genuinely amazed anyone can blame the player when shitting the bed at key moments could be etched on our clubs gravestone. It’s part of our DNA and until we get, finally, some decent ownership with ambition it will be ever thus.
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It’s not what he’s done, but the manner he’s gone about it.
 
Lightsoot said:
A classy player who sadly showed zero class as a person. It’s easier to blame the club, the Prince, agents or the dog if it makes you feel better, but the reality is Ndiaye has walked and showed questionable morals in doing so.

His departure will hurt, but we’ll dust ourselves down and it might serve to further galvanise Hecky and the lads who already knew we are up against it.

Thankfully the pandemic is over and the crowds are back. Bramall Lane needs to be rocking and we need to get behind the players who do want to stay at the club.
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When you put it into the context of how previous players have left us, I don't see how Illiman is especially deserving of condemnation.

I've seen Che Adams, who we picked up from total obscurity and whose talent we nurtured slag us off and laugh at us all over social media the second he left.

I've seen Aaron Ramsdale state, without a hint of shame, that he downed tools at United so he could fuck off faster.

I've seen Lundstram act like a complete and utter arsehole the moment that not everything was going his way.

Illiman Ndiaye, put in a shift from beginning to end and acknowledged the supporters at every opportunity.
There's no reason to think he didn't care about the club whilst he was here. He clearly did.

But he isn't attached to us. In my lifetime only Dane Whitehose and Billy Sharp had any love for us that was any deeper than surface-level, and even the latter had to move more than once for the sake of his career.

Illiman's head was turned by the club he supports, just as mine or possibly yours would be in his position. The fact that this whole process dragged out for so long suggests that, if anything he was a lot more conflicted over what to do than many others who would be out of the door in a shot.
 
Ok Ndiaye has gone to Marseille for an undisclosed fee. so that should be given to Hecky a replacement will be really hard to find to replace the best forward since Deano.
I wish him well and thank Ndiaye for what he has done for us. I hope we got a sell-on clause.
 
DronnieBlade said:
That’s it.

FWIW Illi, I think you have sold yourself short going to OM. You’re better than that !!

UTB
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I think that's fine. If he went straight to a huge club he'd stay there and shine.

This way if he does well he'll go for £60 million + then we get a sell-on fee.
 
FMBlade1 said:
I think that's fine. If he went straight to a huge club he'd stay there and shine.

This way if he does well he'll go for £60 million + then we get a sell-on fee.
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Of course that’s right.

But outside of the previous personal attachment, which has clearly influenced the decision, club OM is not a move I would have suspected would have that much appeal to many.

That said, Sarr and PEA did so what do I know !

UTB
 
Tony_Kaufman said:
I agree about Berge in pre-season but I was referring to the whole of last season and after matches, not marks before.

With regards to Berge, I hope we start him ahead of Norwood in that role. He's looked very good there and far more effective defensively and on the ball than Norwood.
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Ndiaye doesn't make the top 20 for last seasons championship ratings based on all newspaper marks collated anrl and Norwood doScreenshot_20230801-114913_Chrome.jpg
So your argument has several flaws in it
 
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