Incoming? Erm... Jack Rodwell

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Houso

Houso

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Sheffield United are considering a shock move for ex-Manchester City and Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell, Football Insider understands.

Rodwell, 28, is a free agent after leaving Blackburn at the end of last season.

A United source has told Football Insider that manager Chris Wilder is looking to bolster his defensive ranks and has identified the versatile Goodison Park academy product as a potential target with the player available on a free transfer.

www.footballinsider247.com

Sheffield United news: Wilder plots move to sign Rodwell

In the latest Sheffield United news, Football Insider can reveal that Chris Wilder is plotting a move to sign Jack Rodwell on a free
www.footballinsider247.com www.footballinsider247.com
 

Bags of ability if it can be unlocked. Similar sort of deal to Ravel Morrison if it happens.

Adds cover at CB; better than Bryan, faster than Jags and Stears. Also offers cover for CM.

If we tell him to balls on his £70k salary, it's a risk free option. Gerrim in
 
dc_blade said:
Which is not really a very strong recommendation, is it?
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How so? Has Wilder said he was wrong about him?

Ravel, like Mousset was signed with the staff knowing that he wasn't fully fit and ready for the 1st team. He will be called upon when the time is right. There are 7 games in December, the midfield 3 can't play 90 mins in all of them.

dc_blade said:
the guy must be a million miles from full fitness. It’s a no from me.
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He was playing first team Championship football until April. He was on trial at Roma until last week and SKY Sports said the deal was expected to go through but eventually didn't. He must have something about him if they were ready to sign him.

You need a good squad of backup players in the PL. Currently we only have Besic as a real cover player for our Flat-3 CM.
 
mattbianco1 said:
How so? Has Wilder said he was wrong about him?

Ravel, like Mousset was signed with the staff knowing that he wasn't fully fit and ready for the 1st team. He will be called upon when the time is right. There are 7 games in December, the midfield 3 can't play 90 mins in all of them.



He was playing first team Championship football until April. He was on trial at Roma until last week and SKY Sports said the deal was expected to go through but eventually didn't. He must have something about him if they were ready to sign him.

You need a good squad of backup players in the PL. Currently we only have Besic as a real cover player for our Flat-3 CM.
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I agree that the December run of fixtures will demonstrate whether or not Ravel has a role to play for us. So far he's played no role whatsoever and a quarter of the season has gone by. The most interesting thing he's given us to talk about is a handful of cryptic social media posts. Mousset has made a bit more of an impact, I'd say.

Rodwell made sixteen starts for a bang-average Blackburn team last season. The season before he made one start in a rotten Sunderland team on its way to a second consecutive relegation. There were major questions about his attitude. Roma have decided not to sign him because, by all accounts, he failed to impress while on trial. He hasn't played competitive football for six months, which is a million years in terms of the level of fitness required to play in the Premier League. If Ravel and Mousset are still struggling for fitness in November, we'd be looking at early next year--at the earliest--before Rodwell is up to speed.

If Wilder thinks he's worth a look, fine. He knows better than I do. But it looks a longshot to me.
 
dc_blade said:
Rodwell made sixteen starts for a bang-average Blackburn team last season. The season before he made one start in a rotten Sunderland team on its way to a second consecutive relegation. There were major questions about his attitude.
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He wasn't playing for Sunderland due to contractual issues. He was a high earner and they wanted him off their books.

The concern about his attitude stems from this. Sunderland wanted him to turn his back on his ~£70k a week salary. It was Sunderland who gave him that salary and the length of contract.

If my employer told me to take a pay cut or leave, i know what my answer would be
 
HeCanDoMagic said:
Think he'd count as home grown talent would he not?

Not 100% on the rules though.
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He would but he's over 21 so still needs a space in the 25 man squad. We named Leon Clarke in desperation so there's no spaces left.

PL teams need to name at least 8 "home grown" players - players who were on the books of an English (including, for these purposes, Swansea and Cardiff) club for at least 3 years before their 21st birthday. We have 5 non-home grown players: Besic, Fleck, Mousset, Stevens & Verrips.

mattbianco1 said:
He wasn't playing for Sunderland due to contractual issues. He was a high earner and they wanted him off their books.

The concern about his attitude stems from this. Sunderland wanted him to turn his back on his ~£70k a week salary. It was Sunderland who gave him that salary and the length of contract and it was Sunderland who didn't include a relegation wage reduction clause.

If my employer told me to take a pay cut or leave, i know what my answer would be
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It's even more straightforward than that - Sunderland signed him on a fixed term deal; 5 years at £3.5m per year. He was entitled to £17.5m in pay plus bonuses and it was poor form for Sunderland to expect him to walk away from that. I've added a detail to your post too: adds to the view that Sunderland was not a well run club.
 
mattbianco1 said:
He wasn't playing for Sunderland due to contractual issues. He was a high earner and they wanted him off their books.

The concern about his attitude stems from this. Sunderland wanted him to turn his back on his ~£70k a week salary. It was Sunderland who gave him that salary and the length of contract.

If my employer told me to take a pay cut or leave, i know what my answer would be
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I'm aware of the issues with his contract and agree that he couldn't be expected to walk away from it on Sunderland's say-so, but I think he was also widely considered to be pretty rubbish at the football. I still can't see any evidence that he's good enough to improve us, even as a squad player.
 
dc_blade said:
I'm aware of the issues with his contract and agree that he couldn't be expected to walk away from it on Sunderland's say-so, but I think he was also widely considered to be pretty rubbish at the football. I still can't see any evidence that he's good enough to improve us, even as a squad player.
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Got to be a better option than Kean Bryan, surely?
 

He's not been very impressive in recent years has he?

But he was a player back in the day, there's a reason he played for Man City and got put on a 70k salary in the first place.
 
I'd be open to this. Finding competition for Basham is a very risky proposition for us. I could be showing a lack of knowledge here but off the top of my head I can't think of any realistic central defenders I'd feel comfortable spending a sizeable fee on for that RCB position. Anyone we sign to play there will need time to adapt, as the way we utilise that position is so unique.

With Rodwell, if you break down the basic strengths of his game he should fit that RCB role well. He's mobile, strong in the tackle and had a good motor from what I remember. He could carry the ball & wasn't bad technically either. Granted I'm basing this off a number of years ago as I didn't see much of his Blackburn spell, but I'd trust Wilder to be able to evaluate where he's at physically.

If we do sign him, all I'll say is remember Basham's performances before Wilder came in. No-one would've thought he'd make this position his own back then, and in the Premier League at that.

This has the potential to be another Rav type situation where he signs and is rarely seen again, but I'd say it's worth the risk if Wilder and the staff have been watching his recent tapes and have positively assessed his suitability for RCB in our system. I can definitely see the thinking behind it.
 
I may be wrong but I think you can sign free agents but you cannot add them to your Premier League squad until January (unless they are homegrown under 23 etc).
 
Why is everyone obsessed with midfielders being the cover for the wide centre back positions. There was the myth that Ryan Leonard was signed to play there just because he was a failure in his own position, now people are trying to crowbar Rodwell in as cover for one side or the other. He's a midfielder and not a very good one.
 
if he’s willing to come now and train until January to earn a contract why not. I am pretty sure wilder is now giving it the “they have to be better than we have got” to the board. I am not sure if Rodwell is
 
Ginger Gnome said:
Why is everyone obsessed with midfielders being the cover for the wide centre back positions. There was the myth that Ryan Leonard was signed to play there just because he was a failure in his own position, now people are trying to crowbar Rodwell in as cover for one side or the other. He's a midfielder and not a very good one.
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I still remember Basham being a midfielder (and not a very good one) before Clough's stubbornness saw him playing him at CB after freezing Neill Collins out. 😁
 
Ginger Gnome said:
Why is everyone obsessed with midfielders being the cover for the wide centre back positions. There was the myth that Ryan Leonard was signed to play there just because he was a failure in his own position, now people are trying to crowbar Rodwell in as cover for one side or the other. He's a midfielder and not a very good one.
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Our (wide) centre backs aren't like most centre backs, considerable attacking attributes are required. Rodwell appeared mostly at centre half for Blackburn last season.

Leonard never looked comfortable on the ball for us and that's why he had to go, but originally I think it was the plan for him to be cover for Basham as well as midfield.
 
Just not sure on this.

Why did Blackburn not offer him a longer deal, you'd have thought if he still had something they'd tried to sign him for longer?

How come other clubs haven't signed him up sooner, unfit, bad attitude or just not got it anymore?
 

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