CONFIRMED Clarke Official

[Blade56]

19 clubs could give Tiger Woods some advice

 

[Blade58]

He either comes or he doesn't. Either way, I won't lose any sleep

Just wish we'd get a move on and finish the squad off with the season not far away now

 

[Chali 2na]

I think it's a bit disingenuous to use the '0' goals stat when those are clubs he hasn't played frequently for, bar QPR. Indeed in 2/7 he only played one game. And also the division we are in and he played in are worth considering...

Following his stint at Kidderminster 12 years ago he has achieved a 1 in 2 ratio at every league one club he's played for (Oldham, Southend, Chesterfield, Scunthorpe, Coventry and Wigan), played 96, scored 61. Barring his league one stints with Charlton and Wolves, played 20 and scored 1. Or a total of 116 games and 62 scored.

So whilst you can never "guarantee" anything in life his stats for our current predicament are positive and lend support to an argument for him being a 20 goal a season striker, albeit only whilst we remain in league one.

I know it's a little disingenuous, that's why it was merely a side note and not the basis of my argument.

Like I say, I'm not completely against the signing, I was merely pointing out that he's not the consistent goal scorer you originally implied him to be.

 

[ThroughThinAndThinner]

Leon Clarke in League 1

Interestingly, he's got 19 goals in 31 games for SUFC already!

I know it's a little disingenuous, that's why it was merely a side note and not the basis of my argument.

Like I say, I'm not completely against the signing, I was merely pointing out that he's not the consistent goal scorer you originally implied him to be.

Cheers Dec, my quick stats were obviously out!

Not at all Chali, I imply that he is a one in two striker for the level we currently find ourselves at. The stats still prove that he has been over the course of his career to date. If he was a 1 in 2 at championship level then that is where he'd be playing.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

Looks like we are at it again. Trying for promotion on a shoestring. Sell key players for big money, reinvest sod all and expect the manager to wheel and deal. Che potentially off for £1m+, McCabe willing to spend about £25,000 or something stupid.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

Looks like we are at it again. Trying for promotion on a shoestring. Sell key players for big money, reinvest sod all and expect the manager to wheel and deal. Che potentially off for £1m+, McCabe willing to spend about £25,000 or something stupid.

You moan now, but in Wilders opening press conference is was stated by both CW and KM that he'd have to basically wheel and deal.

Why it comes as a shock now I don't know.

United - get blamed when they don't play hard ball at negotiating, get blamed when they do.

 

[EddieColquhoun]

Looks like we are at it again. Trying for promotion on a shoestring. Sell key players for big money, reinvest sod all and expect the manager to wheel and deal. Che potentially off for £1m+, McCabe willing to spend about £25,000 or something stupid.

Other moaners complain about how much we spent on Brayford, Done and Clough's 45 man-squad wage bill.

 

[sitwell]

Ive been in his flat on west Bar ,think its the Velocity building , one of those anyway. Most of them are owned by HSBC and used for employees on short term contracts in Sheffield ,really nice they are. True story that one morning the lifts had broke and Clark phoned Sheff wed asking them what to do and could they sort it out. Footballers and the real world are a totally separate concept.
I would tell Bury to do one and go for Hanson. Its only what we are doing with DCL and Adams ,there will be Everton fans saying how are nobodies like little Sheff Utd holding us to ransom ?

 

[Treeton Blade]

Other moaners complain about how much we spent on Brayford, Done and Clough's 45 man-squad wage bill.

 

[Pinchy]

Looks like we are at it again. Trying for promotion on a shoestring. Sell key players for big money, reinvest sod all and expect the manager to wheel and deal. Che potentially off for £1m+, McCabe willing to spend about £25,000 or something stupid.

McCabe has spent tens of millions on our club. Far, far more than he will ever recoup and infinitely more than all of us put together will ever do.

Do you think it's Monopoly money or some sort of computer game?

 

[Dog Blade]

Looks like we are at it again. Trying for promotion on a shoestring. Sell key players for big money, reinvest sod all and expect the manager to wheel and deal. Che potentially off for £1m+, McCabe willing to spend about £25,000 or something stupid.

Chris Wilder decides how much to bid. He could have bid a lot higher. He's chosen to go in low.

 

[Pinchy]

I don't know but we've got form for making 'derisory ' offers for players a cynic would suggest we have no intention of buying ...

We signed Sharp for 500k I'd suggest Clarke is worth 100-200k

The cynic would have to explain why we waste time, trouble and resources in going through the motions at all, when the sham is so obvious to all and sundry.

The cynic, in truth, would be talking utter bollocks.

 

[Ricky]

Flitcroft's absolutely full of it but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we offered something like 40k. It's things like this that will've made us the joke we are in football circles.

Making bids like this is just what we do. Then we throw in an extreme at the other end of the scale like £2m for Brayford to make up for it. Both justify criticism.

If the approach of bidding very low had been effective for us in the past you'd say fair enough, but for years we've consistently failed to get our transfer targets (if we even genuinely wanted them, that is).

To add to that, we're now in a situation where we're desperate for players, having waited a long time for this opportunity to overhaul the squad, the season's fast approaching, and we have a pending £2m+ coming in for one of our players (who incidentally Clarke would partially replace), so will have the funds. So that makes it even less excusable to seemingly be making such a meal of signing one of the manager's main targets who won't cost the earth. Furthermore, if we sell Adams first then we'll only be quoted more for Clarke. All the more reason to not fuck about now.

Maybe though, and hopefully things have developed since the time that article was written and we've agreed a fee or at least increased our bid.

 

[Pinchy]

You think Bury are calling it comical to have a laugh at us, and that everyone in the footballing world is joining?

To me they are simply goading us into making further bids. They want shut of him, dont let them kid you, his wages are crippling them, an extremely low offer was exactly the way to go.

Careful now. We'll have none of that common sense in here.

Flitcroft's comments are tub-thumping, posturing, populist bollocks but, as always with our fans, if it comes from another club it's the gospel truth.

As for "Leon laughed it down", what self-serving tripe. Leon doesn't give a fuck what the transfer fee is. He's concerned with his signing on fee and wages. Whatever this transparent idiot is saying, Leon Clarke wouldn't think twice about the move.

 

[David Lee's first touch]

In today's news the latest swipe at the club now appears to be that we bid low for players because we have no intention of signing them, ffs it's all falling into place.What next Kev's a pig masquerading as a blade what a conspiracy.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

we bid low for players because we have no intention of signing them

That was on the PIGS Transfer Manifesto for years.

It possibly still is.

 

[Pinchy]

In today's news the latest swipe at the club now appears to be that we bid low for players because we have no intention of signing them, ffs it's all falling into place.What next Kev's a pig masquerading as a blade what a conspiracy.

Indeed. What a cunning plan. Spreading the word that we are interested in players then actually making offers for said players so derisory that they have no chance of succeeding. That's a fascinating if time and resource consuming way of fooling the gullible SUFC fan base. They'll never notice that said players don't actually arrive and no one will make any fuss about such a clever charade.

The only way to improve on it would be not to target any players at all and make no offers whatsoever. That would be much easier than our actual Machiavellian ploy and avoid the wrath of sham-busting cynics but be far less fun...

 

[Roygbiv]

Who was that other player we went for where the opposition manager or chairman said our bid was laughable? Don't know if it was last season or the one before

 

[sitwell]

Who was that other player we went for where the opposition manager or chairman said our bid was laughable? Don't know if it was last season or the one before

Luis Suarez

 

[ThroughThinAndThinner]

Who was that other player we went for where the opposition manager or chairman said our bid was laughable? Don't know if it was last season or the one before

Callum Wilson? That Scottish bloke who went to Derby (I think)?

There have been a few to be fair. Hopefully this was just testing the water and we do land him.

 

[BushBlade]

This is the same Bury FC who have had well documented financial issues over the past 6 months and who accepted a "nominal sum" for one of their best players earlier in the season - when we signed Hussey. They're really not in a position to be "laughing off" any bids for their players but there are evidently more clubs interested in Clarke so this is a bargaining tactic, pure and simple. Clarke will move for £100-£150k max.

In negotiating terms it's called 'the flinch'. In its most basic form, it's when you pull a face and say 'fucking how much?'
Our board understand the position Bury are in, we've been there, so they know that what Flitcroft is trying to do is start a bidding war whilst rejecting our initial offer.
Clarke is a L1 striker. It's unlikely that any championship club will come in for him so you're looking at which L1 clubs want him and how much they're likely to pay.
Given his age, probably not that much.
So we wait as the close of the window draws nearer and Bury start to sweat on having to pay his wages until the JTW.

 

[Ricky]

Who was that other player we went for where the opposition manager or chairman said our bid was laughable? Don't know if it was last season or the one before

I remember us pretending we could sign Gary Mackay-Steven for 50k.

I don't think that's who you're thinking of though, there was definitely another.

 

[Chali 2na]

Cheers Dec, my quick stats were obviously out!

Not at all Chali, I imply that he is a one in two striker for the level we currently find ourselves at. The stats still prove that he has been over the course of his career to date. If he was a 1 in 2 at championship level then that is where he'd be playing.

The stats prove that he's often (not always) a 1 in 2 striker at this level.

I think we could argue in circles, but it would probably quicker for you to admit that you're cherry picking from his record, and for me to admit that I'm being pedantic.

 

[Esablade]

In negotiating terms it's called 'the flinch'. In its most basic form, it's when you pull a face and say 'fucking how much?'
Our board understand the position Bury are in, we've been there, so they know that what Flitcroft is trying to do is start a bidding war whilst rejecting our initial offer.
Clarke is a L1 striker. It's unlikely that any championship club will come in for him so you're looking at which L1 clubs want him and how much they're likely to pay.
Given his age, probably not that much.
So we wait as the close of the window draws nearer and Bury start to sweat on having to pay his wages until the JTW.

...the problem being for Bury in this game of 'hardball', is that it appears its only Coventry and us in for him...with, I'd guess from our acquisition of Fleck, us offering the better deal...maybe they don't really need to sell after all, hopefully we'll find out sooner rather than later...

 

[Grappler]

In negotiating terms it's called 'the flinch'. In its most basic form, it's when you pull a face and say 'fucking how much?'
Our board understand the position Bury are in, we've been there, so they know that what Flitcroft is trying to do is start a bidding war whilst rejecting our initial offer.
Clarke is a L1 striker. It's unlikely that any championship club will come in for him so you're looking at which L1 clubs want him and how much they're likely to pay.
Given his age, probably not that much.
So we wait as the close of the window draws nearer and Bury start to sweat on having to pay his wages until the JTW.

Basically we have made an offer, so that Clarke and his agent (and Bury) know we have interest. In other words, we have "lodged a bid". What usually happens in this situation is that we can now carry on with talks with other footballers, safe in the knowledge that at some point (depending who else has put a bid in), Bury will come back to us and ask if we want to better that last bid.

Such as "We have an offer for £150k, if you can't better that, then we need to accept it and move on".

Flicroft being as unprofessional as to go to the press and use phrases like "laughable", and "I showed Leon and he laughed", just shows (to me) that he is panicking.

 

[BushBlade]

...the problem being for Bury in this game of 'hardball', is that it appears its only Coventry and us in for him...with, I'd guess from our acquisition of Fleck, us offering the better deal...maybe they don't really need to sell after all, hopefully we'll find out sooner rather than later...

If they get a daft offer for Pope it may change things financially so I hope we're either prepared to meet their asking price, if it comes to it, or have some alternative options.

 

[Roygbiv]

Callum Wilson? That Scottish bloke who went to Derby (I think)?

There have been a few to be fair. Hopefully this was just testing the water and we do land him.

I remember us pretending we could sign Gary Mackay-Steven for 50k.

I don't think that's who you're thinking of though, there was definitely another.

I don't think it was either of these. Its driving me mad now. Some manager or chairman definitely came out not so long ago ridiculing a bid we had put in. I recall Phipps coming out defending the club saying "you bid low first"

 

[EddieColquhoun]

After coming through two winding up orders so far this year and being forced to let Hussey leave, Flitcroft came out to emphasise the incredible strength of his club:

 

[Balham]

I don't think it was either of these. Its driving me mad now. Some manager or chairman definitely came out not so long ago ridiculing a bid we had put in. I recall Phipps coming out defending the club saying "you bid low first"

Was it Johnny Russell?

 

[Enigmatic]

If they get a daft offer for Pope it may change things financially so I hope we're either prepared to meet their asking price, if it comes to it, or have some alternative options.

Pope is available for free, but I'd wager he'll be hard to shift. He has 2 years remaining on a reportedly lucrative contract, which he will want compensating for should he move. And after a distinctly poor season I hardly think clubs will be lining for him.