2013/2014 - Current Sheffield United First Team Squad Contracts

[Foxy]

10/05/2013 - In the process of updating, but should be mostly accurate.

Goalkeepers:

Mark Howard - Contracted till end of June 2014
George Long - Contracted till end of June 2016
George Willis - Contracted till end of June 2015


Defenders:

Darryl Westlake - Contracted till end of June 2014 + optional year extension
Danny Higginbotham - Contracted till end of June 2013 - Offered an extension
Harry Maguire - Contracted till end of June 2015
Matt Hill - Contracted till end of June 2014
Neill Collins - Contracted till end of June 2015 + optional year extension
Tony McMahon - Contracted till end of June 2014
Marcus Williams - Contracted till end of June 2014
Terry Kennedy - Contracted till end of June 2013 - Offered an extension
Aaron Barry - Offered an extension

Midfield:

Ryan Flynn - Contracted till end of June 2014
Michael Doyle - Contracted till end of June 2015
Kevin McDonald - Contracted till end of June 2014 + optional year extension
Callum McFadzean - Retained
Elliott Whitehouse - Retained
Erik Tønne - Contracted till end of June 2014


Strikers:

Chris Porter - Contracted till end of June 2014 + Optional Year Extension
Shaun Miller - Contracted till end of June 2014 + Optional Year Extension
Richard Cresswell - Contracted till end of June 2013 ??? - Retained
Jamie Murphy - Contracted till end of June 2016
Joe Ironside - Contracted till end of June 2015 + optional year extension
Diego DeGirolamo - Contracted till end of June 2015

Released:

Barry Robson - Contracted till end of June 2013 - Released - Signed for Aberdeen
Danny Coyne - Released
Lescinel Jean-Francois - Contracted till end of June 2013 - Released
Matty Harriot - Contracted till end of June 2013 - Released
Dave Kitson - Contracted till end of June 2013 - Released

Sold:

Jordan Chapell - Free transfer to Torquay United - Sell on clause.

** This list is not necessarily 100% accurate, please give me a shout if you think any of the details are currently incorrect! **

 

[BladeInThatcham]

When you put in the 'optional one year extension' who has the right to take this up? Is it the club or the player?

 

[mattbianco1]

Of the ones expiring this summer, I'm not really fussed on them anyway. What I mean is, at least it's not Miller, Maguire etc. I would potentially offer Higgo a year. Lecs a rolling deal to prove his fitness and let the young lads prove themselves over the summer.

Robson - not sure. If we get shut of McDonald we should keep him IMO

 

[1973_Blade]

At least the goalkeeping dept is strong!

 

[Kev Gee]

Doyle till 2015?
Deary me, who offers the contracts out? coco the clown?

 

[Beighton_Blade]

The main worry from seeing that is that the player's we would ideally like/need to shed this summer are all contracted for quite some time yet (Doyle, Westlake, Williams, Hill, Flynn, Tonne and even Murphy).

The good thing is that the youngsters are all tied down on long-ish contracts - however all that means is we'll get an extra few £'s (but not much more) for 'em, cos lets face it, if any half decent bid comes in for Harry/Long/DeGirolamo then they're off, and they will unfortunately end up leaving before the above lot, and weaken us further as a squad rather than building a stronger team around them.

The pleasing thing from Winter's interview is that he keeps referring to the major rebuild that Charlton did in their promotion year and hinted we might see a smaller scale of this at BDTBL this summer - which for me is definitely required, even though it might cost us in the short term by terminating contracts for some of the aforementioned, overpaid, "dead wood".

From the above squad my assesment would be:

GK - Fine (release Coyne and no need to replace anyone unless Long is sold).
DEF - All can go with the exception of McMahon, Collins and Harry (unless a decent £1.5m+ bid comes in).
MID - Again all can go apart from McFadzean, Whitehouse, possibly Chappel (make a final assesment this summer) and maybe Flynn & McDonald (unless any half decent bid comes in for either of them, in which case i'd let them go even if KMc is potentially our most gifted player he just doesn't offer enough).
FWD - Only one's i'd be looking to keep would be DeGirolamo, Miller, Murphy I suppose (but if he's still not done anything by Xmas I would be looking to ship him back to Scotland pronto!) and also Porter (surprisingly enough as prior to Xmas he'd have been my first one gone - but since his return from Shrewsbury he's done just enough - he's offered much more than Kitson recently to be fair to him - and will be our only recognised centre forward).

That leaves us with around 15 players, with another 10 to be brought in by the new manager to try and really build a new squad - i'd be very surprised if we managed to get rid of all the rest though, which only hampens the new mans ability to rebuild a stronger squad, my guess is that the 8 out of contract will all leave but the rest will stay and only be added to by 3 or four new faces.

#UTB

 

[mattbianco1]

The main worry from seeing that is that the player's we would ideally like/need to shed this summer are all contracted for quite some time yet (Doyle, Westlake, Williams, Hill, Flynn, Tonne and even Murphy).

Hill, Flynn & Murphy, really?

Tonne too ? He's not been given a chance but when he has he's done quite well. I do think he leave this summer however.

Westlake has done ok. He's young and learning but has some good parts to his game.

Doyle - where do we start. He takes a lot of flack from the fans. Our team at present without Doyle would be weaker.

So basically.. Good call on Williams

Then you go on to say keep Flynn & Murphy (if I knew how to roll eyes on my phone I would)

 

[Beighton_Blade]

The first list was an "ideally" release list, whereas in reality i've said its likely we'll have to retain Flynn and Murphy (only due to them being under contract and not likely to attract bidders or be able to released cheaply) - I don't think thats a difficult concept to appreciate? I don't think either of these two have shown remotely enough to suggest we should be keeping hold of them though - same with Hill who, like all our other left-backs of late, have been found wanting defensively and offers very little beyond the half way line.

Tonne is out in Norway until November, and despite us being desperate for width at times this season, has never come close to being seriously considered, thats suggests quite a lot imho, and the same applies to Westlake, who until recently has been overlooked at RB by left sided players or centre halves - if he was half decent surely we'd use our recognised "back up" for that position? I can see him staying too though and wouldn't be completely angered if so whilever its only as backup, and he does offer flexibility (RB, RM, CB).

Doyle offers the same problems and limitations as Monty did, only in a slightly different manner - he still suffers from not being truely "box-to-box", and when alongside McDonald you end up with a midfield pairing who rarley support the forward line and somehow still manage to get caught out of position and overran in midifeld by simply better athletes, not necessarily better players. He also (i imagine) gets paid far in excess of his current worth to the team.

 

[bartman]

same with Hill have been found wanting defensively .

Have you actually been watching Hill play this season ?. Defensively he has been consistently good and very rarely puts in a poor performance. We need him for next season as he can cover along the back 4 and does it well

 

[Beighton_Blade]

Consistently good against the poorer sides maybe, then as soon as we come up against one of the "better" sides with a half decent wide-man (especially pacey ones) a la Yeovil PO 2nd leg, he has been made to look distinctly average!! Distribution is also distinctly poor!! Shame our academy's great work hasn't been lucky enough to produce a left back yet in the same quality as the right backs! Although McFadzean could end playing their conceivably! UTB!

 

[bartman]

Consistently good against the poorer sides maybe, then as soon as we come up against one of the "better" sides with a half decent wide-man (especially pacey ones) a la Yeovil PO 2nd leg, he has been made to look distinctly average!! Distribution is also distinctly poor!! Shame our academy's great work hasn't been lucky enough to produce a left back yet in the same quality as the right backs! Although McFadzean could end playing their conceivably! UTB!

What about the excellant games he had at Donny,at home to Brentford,Swindon,Walsall away and so on...all with pacy wingers ? If he had decent districbution he wouldn't be playin in League 1. You selct the one game where he was poor yet Collins was also culpable that day for a lot of what happened in both goals.
McFadzean could play left midfield or left back. He grew up as a defender but his direct style could be idea for the midfield role next season

Money is tight and if Maguire stays,the defence is low on the priorites as we need a new central midfield(especially a box to box player),right winger and two forward who are strong,atheletic and pacy. If Maguire leaves we need to find a young premiership centre half form the premier league on a season long loan

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

The main worry from seeing that is that the player's we would ideally like/need to shed this summer are all contracted for quite some time yet (Doyle, Westlake, Williams, Hill, Flynn, Tonne and even Murphy).

The good thing is that the youngsters are all tied down on long-ish contracts - however all that means is we'll get an extra few £'s (but not much more) for 'em, cos lets face it, if any half decent bid comes in for Harry/Long/DeGirolamo then they're off, and they will unfortunately end up leaving before the above lot, and weaken us further as a squad rather than building a stronger team around them.

The pleasing thing from Winter's interview is that he keeps referring to the major rebuild that Charlton did in their promotion year and hinted we might see a smaller scale of this at BDTBL this summer - which for me is definitely required, even though it might cost us in the short term by terminating contracts for some of the aforementioned, overpaid, "dead wood".

From the above squad my assesment would be:

GK - Fine (release Coyne and no need to replace anyone unless Long is sold).
DEF - All can go with the exception of McMahon, Collins and Harry (unless a decent £1.5m+ bid comes in).
MID - Again all can go apart from McFadzean, Whitehouse, possibly Chappel (make a final assesment this summer) and maybe Flynn & McDonald (unless any half decent bid comes in for either of them, in which case i'd let them go even if KMc is potentially our most gifted player he just doesn't offer enough).
FWD - Only one's i'd be looking to keep would be DeGirolamo, Miller, Murphy I suppose (but if he's still not done anything by Xmas I would be looking to ship him back to Scotland pronto!) and also Porter (surprisingly enough as prior to Xmas he'd have been my first one gone - but since his return from Shrewsbury he's done just enough - he's offered much more than Kitson recently to be fair to him - and will be our only recognised centre forward).

That leaves us with around 15 players, with another 10 to be brought in by the new manager to try and really build a new squad - i'd be very surprised if we managed to get rid of all the rest though, which only hampens the new mans ability to rebuild a stronger squad, my guess is that the 8 out of contract will all leave but the rest will stay and only be added to by 3 or four new faces.

#UTB

hill, flynn and murphy?!? i stopped reading after that.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Wilson seemed reluctant to use Terry Kennedy, and it's been another disappointing season for him. I know he's played some games in holding central midfield. Has anyone seen him there?

 

[Beighton_Blade]

hill, flynn and murphy?!? i stopped reading after that.

Really!? What has murthy done so far to suggest we should not be looking to offload him ASAP? Flynn has been ok at times and poor in others and is not an effective winger - ironically tho I could see him being better suited to a central role for us!

I'm amazed at how highly people seem to rate such average players just for being less poor than others in what is an awful standard, both for united and for the league as a whole!

 

[cooperblade]

Apparently higginbotham has signed for another year. If true that shatters the tiny bit of hope I had that things might change.

 

[Foxy]

Apparently higginbotham has signed for another year. If true that shatters the tiny bit of hope I had that things might change.

It's mainly come from the radio today, I'm waiting on something a little more solid before reluctantly updating the above

 

[secretchief]

Resigning Higginbotham would be so astronomically stupid it can only mean two things:

a) We offered him some kind of optional extension in January that we couldn't get out of.

b) Maguire has already been sold.

There is no justification for signing a 35 year old under any circumstances. I screamed blue murder on here when we extended a 32-year old Doyle's contract earlier this season (look how that turned out by the way).

 

[JohnDenver]

Resigning Higginbotham would be so astronomically stupid it can only mean three things:

a) We offered him some kind of optional extension in January that we couldn't get out of.

b) Maguire has already been sold.

c) Situation normal.

 

[NDC_OPS]

Or d) Morgans got the job and wants to keep him for another year

 

[alcoblade]

Apparently higginbotham has signed for another year. If true that shatters the tiny bit of hope I had that things might change.

Why would we do that until the new manager signs?

I'm with you - Slow, old, shite, passed it, expensive.

UTB

 

[alcoblade]

There is no justification for signing a 35 year old under any circumstances. I screamed blue murder on here when we extended a 32-year old Doyle's contract earlier this season (look how that turned out by the way).

I'd put my mortgage on Doyles contract being extended on a much reduced salary - to allow us room under the FFP rules. As such, it was a needs must. The club gives us lots to criticise it for, but I don't think this one is fair.

UTB

 

[secretchief]

I'd put my mortgage on Doyles contract being extended on a much reduced salary - to allow us room under the FFP rules. As such, it was a needs must. The club gives us lots to criticise it for, but I don't think this one is fair.

UTB

Yes, and who did we bring in with the money we saved? Higgo!

 

[alcoblade]

Yes, and who did we bring in with the money we saved? Higgo!

Aha, that's another story.....



UTB

 

[bartman]

Yes, and who did we bring in with the money we saved? Higgo!

in fairness he played well at Donny and the other times he played centre half. He is certainly no left back. If he has signed i would have thought it means we are expecting Harry to leave. If the wages are low,it might not be a bad signing in terms of experience. I am more concerned about which midfielders,forwards and wingers we bring in than the defence which was one of our only strong points last season

 

[Deadbat]

Doyle signed his new contract at the end of Sept; after Quinn had left and Cresswell had re-negotiated his contract. Surely we knew the situation in regards to pay roll in the summer and thus should have acted in all instances sooner.

Seems an odd move in any instance to give him another 2 years in any situation and even if he took say 1.5K a week less over the period of 2 years it is still way more money than the final 6 or 7 months of his contract he had to serve on previous salary (imagine he was on 4K a aweek x 9 months = 36K; now 2.5K x 18 = 45KK - granted that is all guesswork of course but cannot imagine he would have seen his salary halved and remained!)

What concerns me is if we gave him a longer contract (eg renegotiated to give him less now but for a longer time - he was still under contract until the end of this season) then did we do the same for Cresswell? Not sure why he would renegotiate to just take less money - surely he had to take another year to get the less money or there would be little incentive for him. I would guess he still another year thus.

I am concerned we could be stuck with Doyle, Collins, Cresswell, Higgenbotham, Williams for another season and 2 more in the instance of the first two. Scary stuff. We may be nowhere near bottoming out yet.

Our plolicy moving forward shoould be no players signed above 30 in my opinion (if we are saddled with above) and I would go as far to say those over 27 would have to be on short term deals of no more than 2 seasons.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Doyle signed his new contract at the end of Sept; after Quinn had left and Cresswell had re-negotiated his contract. Surely we knew the situation in regards to pay roll in the summer and thus should have acted in all instances sooner.

Seems an odd move in any instance to give him another 2 years in any situation and even if he took say 1.5K a week less over the period of 2 years it is still way more money than the final 6 or 7 months of his contract he had to serve on previous salary (imagine he was on 4K a aweek x 9 months = 36K; now 2.5K x 18 = 45KK - granted that is all guesswork of course but cannot imagine he would have seen his salary halved and remained!)

What concerns me is if we gave him a longer contract (eg renegotiated to give him less now but for a longer time - he was still under contract until the end of this season) then did we do the same for Cresswell? Not sure why he would renegotiate to just take less money - surely he had to take another year to get the less money or there would be little incentive for him. I would guess he still another year thus.

I am concerned we could be stuck with Doyle, Collins, Cresswell, Higgenbotham, Williams for another season and 2 more in the instance of the first two. Scary stuff. We may be nowhere near bottoming out yet.

Our plolicy moving forward shoould be no players signed above 30 in my opinion (if we are saddled with above) and I would go as far to say those over 27 would have to be on short term deals of no more than 2 seasons.

Don't worry they will be enough clappers giving them support that they will all play like Messi next season.

 

[JohnDenver]

I'd put my mortgage on Doyles contract being extended on a much reduced salary - to allow us room under the FFP rules. As such, it was a needs must. The club gives us lots to criticise it for, but I don't think this one is fair.

UTB

Closet clapper ^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[alcoblade]

I'd make an exception for a year with Robson as I think he offers something we can't easily replace. Decent playmakers are difficult to find. Reasonable 3rd division defenders are ten a penny.

UTB

 

[Latters]

I'd make an exception for a year with Robson as I think he offers something we can't easily replace. Decent playmakers are difficult to find. Reasonable 3rd division defenders are ten a penny.

UTB

But Robson isn't a decent playmaker. To be a decent playmaker, one or two of his passes might actually have to find our players. I'm yet to see this from him. His distribution is surpassed only by his fitness levels in the shitness stakes.

 

[alcoblade]

But Robson isn't a decent playmaker. To be a decent playmaker, one or two of his passes might actually have to find our players. I'm yet to see this from him. His distribution is surpassed only by his fitness levels in the shitness stakes.

I'd have to beg to differ - but I think you'll have the majority on your side.

There's lots of his game that's not right (though basically it's trying to do too much) - and it would need managing. But he does do stuff nobody else can. Other than him, McFadzean and Murphy, I don't think we have player capable of going passed anyone.

UTB