Crisis, what crisis?

[dingledog]

This really is just taking what Paul Walkrer has just been discussing on Radio Sheffield.

We so far dont have enough players to start the season, we look like losing a goal keeper, two young players and possibly Killgalon and if rumours are true Hendo is out for a while. Coming in, well seemingly no one, it seems unbelievable that McIndoe, Smith or Otool will arrive at the moment, transfers dont usually take this long. Smith is reportedly set on joining Reading, McIndoe may not be released as Bristol failed with their bid for Lee Martin and no idea what is happening to O'tool.

So it seems with 25 days to kick off we dont really have a team and to date it doesnt seem like we are the most attractive destination for players. Mr Blackwell probably needs 5 more signings and be able to integrate them into his team plans.

I am feeling unduly pessimistic at the moment, are we in fact a club in crisis?

 

[keenzy]

IF SF replys he's gay

 

[silverfox]

Chill out, have a beer.

We've been in crisis ever since I started watching!

 

[silverfox]

IF SF replys he's gay

Ross is gay!

 

[Robbie]

Pft..... we can sign people like Spring don't worry.

 

[Bladesman]

This really is just taking what Paul Walkrer has just been discussing on Radio Sheffield.

We so far dont have enough players to start the season, we look like losing a goal keeper, two young players and possibly Killgalon and if rumours are true Hendo is out for a while. Coming in, well seemingly no one, it seems unbelievable that McIndoe, Smith or Otool will arrive at the moment, transfers dont usually take this long. Smith is reportedly set on joining Reading, McIndoe may not be released as Bristol failed with their bid for Lee Martin and no idea what is happening to O'tool.

So it seems with 25 days to kick off we dont really have a team and to date it doesnt seem like we are the most attractive destination for players. Mr Blackwell probably needs 5 more signings and be able to integrate them into his team plans.

I am feeling unduly pessimistic at the moment, are we in fact a club in crisis?

Id say regarding the team we are most certainly falling to bits abit.

Although when you fuck up in the play-offs that tends to happen.

You can no longer keep your best players and other players looking for a new club don't find you the most attractive club to go to. As it looks your going backwards rather than forwards.

but hey ho Gert is on stand by apparently.

 

[SotonBlade]

Pft..... we can sign people like Spring don't worry.

That comment is the sort of thing that makes me worry.

If we don't sign anybody soon, then i'm worried Blackie will start to panic buy! And that means we will get the likes of Spring-like players arriving.

With the see-saw goings on with the Kyle's it wouldn't suprise me if we're waiting on the outcome of that before we do anything else.

Here's hoping some movement will start happening in the next couple of days.

 

[snb69]

We're going to have to move pretty quick - £11m should give us some buying power, but we need to ensure the squad is pretty much in place by the end of next week.

Best case (for me) is we complete on McIndoe, maybe O'Toole, get Kaspar on loan, and Kyle W back for a year. The we should be able to buy 3 or 4 players of genuine quality for the CCC..

Worst case - no replacements and a pea thin squad (and one hell of a long season)..

 

[DazBlade88]

The depth in the squad worries me, and in all honest I don't think Blackwell can attract players to the club.

We *may* need a keeper.

We need a centre half, a right back and a left back.

We need a central midfielder and a left winger. Maybe a right winger too.

But... My biggest concern is upfront. We've got Henderson, Ward and Sharp. I think we may be seeing "Sheffield United 0" quite alot next season with the way it looks.

It still baffles me we've bought them 3 for nearly £5m, and we sold Stead for £750,000 (I think?). He's better than all 3 of them!

 

[dingledog]

Chill out, have a beer.

We've been in crisis ever since I started watching!

I wonder if this is the real reason, no SF no crisis, SF crisis

 

[matth]

At least season tickets shouldn't go up too much when we remain in the CCC!

 

[torridon]

With the current squad and the expected outgoings we need to start fetching people in soon who are at least equal to those departing or better than we've already got, and as regards the strikers finding someone better can,t be that difficult!! This has got one of those "it's going to be a long hard season" feelings about it!!

 

[SotonBlade]

Really would like to know what happened to the 'impending' signings of Smith, O'Toole and McIndoe. it's been well over a week now.

 

[Foxy]

Really would like to know what happened to the 'impending' signings of Smith, O'Toole and McIndoe. it's been well over a week now.

I'd imagine a number of factors effecting all of the moves have put things on hold so to speak.

Theres the outcomes of both the Paddy and Kyle's situation which could have a big impact on our plans.

If I was their agents (and had no affiliation to Sheffield United), i'd be telling them all to stall until the Kyles are sorted... We'll be known to have more money/greater need for signings, putting them in a greater position of strength.

Blackwell could also be considering more costly options, with the emergence of possible further funding.

 

[matth]

Alternatively, it could be because we're clueless when it comes to transfers! It's possible, anyway.

I think it's probably a good thing that we've sold 19,000 season tickets up to now, as I fear that there won't be too many more sold. It'll be interesting to see how many floating fans we attract next season. I doubt we'll reach an average of 26k unless we have a great season despite everything.

 

[Robbie]

oR PERHAPS THEY DON'T WANNA COME

 

[madeinsheffield]

Selling exciting players and not reducing prices, and lets be fair some of those games last season were shocking, even some of the ones we won were bad!

 

[Come from away]

Oh doom and gloom, I guess the sky has fallen, I missed it myself. Don't see any problem getting solid fullback replacements, otherwise the remaining squad for all its failings is what got us to number three. Ain't bad in my book. Mainly I'm frustrated at how slow things are moving, but like Foxy said, there is probably a hell of a lot going on in the background and much of it out of the control of our club. So we wait.

 

[Nuttyboy]

I don't want to dwell or go on about the two Kyle's, but I was hoping that Kyle Naughton wasn't going for 1 reason. Kyle is I think our only natural right back or can someone enlighten me on this. Derek Geary has been out injured for a season will need to be brought back gradually, Sun Jihai has left to go back to china so who do we have left who's good enough in that area. Serious suggestion's. Also who else is going to watch our lads tonight at Dronfield.

 

[jodman]

I am a football fan first and foremost so the decision to sell James Beattie was, for me, an aberration. My personal opinion is that with him in the side we would have been promoted and I will look back at his sale in the same way as I do with the sales of Brian Deane and Jan Aage-Fjortoft in the not too distant past.

My understanding of the situation is that we sold him as part of a strategy that would see us look to bring in younger players on salary befitting a player outside of the top flight. Fair enough said some, I simply thought that this was typical Sheffield United transfer policy (show me the money).

How exactly does selling two academy graduates with fantastic potential before they have even completed a full season at the club fit into the new “re-profiling”?

It is Sheffield United cashing in, pure and simple. It probably makes prudent financial sense and it will probably see the club survive for another decade (in the championship) but from my point of view it is bitterly disappointing that the best players involved in transfers at BDTBL during this transfer window are again those that are leaving the club.

 

[Kev Gee]

Really would like to know what happened to the 'impending' signings of Smith, O'Toole and McIndoe. it's been well over a week now.

Our Terry!

Seriously though, when you think about it. All the press malarky was of getting a fresh, young & exciting squad together. When infact, we may be loosing the two best bright young things we have!

 

[TonyAgana]

I am a football fan first and foremost so the decision to sell James Beattie was, for me, an aberration. My personal opinion is that with him in the side we would have been promoted and I will look back at his sale in the same way as I do with the sales of Brian Deane and Jan Aage-Fjortoft in the not too distant past.

Hmm. I'm not at all sure about that, mate.

There are MANY differences between the two instances but for me, the most telling one is league positions the weekend they left compared with the league positions at the end of the season.

 

[La_Blade]

I've said before and i'll say again, we NEED defenders atm. It was just a case of needing cover, but now we need at least one starting defender, and cover/options at the back. As iothers have said, it could be a looooong season.
Or we are going to have to rely on academy players to cover injuries and suspensions

 

[matth]

Oh doom and gloom, I guess the sky has fallen, I missed it myself. Don't see any problem getting solid fullback replacements, otherwise the remaining squad for all its failings is what got us to number three. Ain't bad in my book. Mainly I'm frustrated at how slow things are moving, but like Foxy said, there is probably a hell of a lot going on in the background and much of it out of the control of our club. So we wait.

I'd love it if you could point out these solid fullback replacements that are going to:

a) sign for us
b) play as well as Naughton and Walker
c) fit in with our wage and transfer budget
d) fit in to the team before we play Boro.

Also, the remaining squad isn't what got us into the top three, as we've already lost Halford, Ward is suspended, Paddy is likely to be suspended, Hendo is out with an injury and Killa is refusing to sign a new contract.

There's being positive and then there's just being naively optimistic, and I fear you've fallen into the latter category. Whichever way you look at it, things ain't too rosy for us at the moment.

 

[torridon]

My doom and gloom mood has been momentarily lifted thanks to my wednesdayite chum, just been discussing the various goings on at our respective clubs with him and he reckons that wednesday will finish above united and that they will be a real contender for automatic promotion this season, and best of all he's serious, oh the poor deluded fool, someone please tell me when i can stop laughing coz it hurts!!!

 

[derrywan]

I'm refusing to get worried yet. I can do naff all about any of it, and I'd probably get any player decisions wrong anyway as I'm not a professional footballer, manager or chairman. The season will start, we'll go through the same swamp of shite with occasional respite and if we're less shite than other people in our league we might be smiling on the other side. We're not galacticos. We're a club that will go up and down for ever amen. We'll make good decisions, bad decisions, have successes and failures and will do so hopefully long after we've all carked it. I've got better things to worry about than a quiet week in the transfer gossip.

 

[DazBlade88]

I think crisis is a bit extreme.

Although, up to now this has been a very dissappointing summer for Sheffield United.

Kilgallon refusing his new contract, Kenny's failed drugs test, young starlets (apparently) being sold, players not wanting to join the club etc. It's not a crisis, but I think people have a right to be concerned, and wonder what's going on behind the scenes at the moment. Something's not right.

 

[jodman]

Hmm. I'm not at all sure about that, mate.

There are MANY differences between the two instances but for me, the most telling one is league positions the weekend they left compared with the league positions at the end of the season.

I didn’t say that the two scenarios were the same; I said that I look back on the sale of Beattie in the same manner I do as the sale of Deane and Fjortoft.

To elaborate; selling our best goal scorers / only goal scorer whilst we are supposed to be battling to get promoted was a self inflicted and fatal blow in our failed promotion bids in both seasons.

 

[SwissBlade]

Does anyone know what happened to the "Bouncing back" campaign, I never got the TShirt but I was fully behind it. Obviously King Robbo was there at its launch but I seem to have a memory of Blackie also sat in front of a large poster.

Is it still going on or did we have a "Bouncing Back" Closing ceremony when we finished bouncing back...?

 

[Sensiblade]

I didn’t say that the two scenarios were the same; I said that I look back on the sale of Beattie in the same manner I do as the sale of Deane and Fjortoft.

To elaborate; selling our best goal scorers / only goal scorer whilst we are supposed to be battling to get promoted was a self inflicted and fatal blow in our failed promotion bids in both seasons.

We did have more individual scorers last season thatn at any point in history though, so Beattie wasn't or one and only scorer, thankfully