Got to disagree there. Got no doubt personally that in terms of "holding his own" as a top class goalscorer, Billy's right up there with Edwards & Deane. It's more a case of them both having built hero status here over a longer period.
Would you say that Deano was a better player because he achieved at a higher level, or that Keith was a "purer" goalscorer?
In Billy's case, apart from him arguably having a better record at other clubs, of course there's his Bladeyness & the natural sheer goodwill towards him. Not just that, but the narrative of him returning home & succeeding after all the trials that had gone before. And his captaincy & influentialness. Sustained goalscoring prowess over two seasons now (even during the clownish Adkins's tactical black hole last time round) & consistently high levels of performance this season.
Most important of all, & overriding all else, though is: 1982 Darlington, 1990 Leicester, 2017...
I'm happy to give my opinion on this Alfreton. I've seen all three of them play - and in Edwards case, I remember seeing him as a young 18 year old whippersnapper coming into the first team.
Billy Sharp is the least effective of all these three, by quite a long way. Don't forget, he's been here how many times now? Three isn't it? And he's done nothing in the other two times. He was a complete flop under 3 different managers. When you start to compare players with others, you can't just select a couple of seasons out of their career with United, you have to look at the total contribution, and that's what I'm looking at.
Keith Edwards, imo, was the best finisher of any player I've seen in a Sheffield United shirt. The fact he was likened to Jimmy Greaves is a fine testament to him. Edwards may have got criticism for appearing a bit "lazy" and not chasing down every ball - but I have never seen a player with a more astute killer instinct than him in front of goal. If that lad had the barest sniff of a chance he'd take it. He could score with his head or his feet. And he had attitude with it. He was supremely confident and wouldn't hesitate to lob a keeper from 40 yards, or, in one case as I remember in front of the kop, sell the keeper a complete dummy and run around him and tap it in. If the ball came to Edwards, anywhere within 30 yards of goal, it was likely to be ending up in the back of the net.
By contrast, I think Billy has done well for us, but my God, how many sitters has he missed too? I think I could count the number of sitters that Edwards missed in his entire career on one hand. I would need both hands to count Billy's missed sitters just for this one season. That's not knocking Billy - I think the lad's done fantastic for us this season - but I can tell you that Edwards would have been on 40 goals by now in this team.
Deano was a great player too. He was the perfect foil for the hardworking, creator, Tony Agana. I don't think Deane was as good in the air as he should have been, given his height, but he scored some great goals and showed terrific composure under pressure. But was he as good as Edwards? No, I honestly don't think he was - despite him being much taller and arguably more athletic. Edwards just had something about him.. A swagger. A confidence that no way was any keeper going to get the better of him. And they rarely did.
I think Sharp is a great poacher, but he doesn't do a lot outside of the box - unlike both these other two.
I wouldn't even put him 3rd best striker tbh. I'd put Billy Dearden ahead of him for various reasons. But it's all about opinions eh?
