6 Reasons Why The Blades Shouldn’t Sell David Brooks…………Yet!

[Woodwardfan]

I may be wrong. I may misinterpret this situation. I may be completely out of it with my expectations. However, how I will interpret our intention and ability to deliver this season depends upon Brooks staring in our first team in the first week of September 2017. That is all. NN x

Our manager has a poor record for playing our own youngsters and he hardly played the two on loan Prem lads even when they were fit. He trusts experience.

Our club is under pressure to achieve short term results and the manager is under that pressure each week. There has been zero 'Pathway for Youth' since Clough left. Under Adkins Whiteman had an odd game, Reed hardly any playing time, George Long abandoned( rightly). Clough played youth as an investment in their own futures and the future of the club and it comes at a cost as young lads are inconsistent. Every young lad on our books will observe the 'Pathway' over the months and make their own judgement whether we are serious. Brooks is a big test for our manager and it comes at precisely the wrong time in our first season back after years in the wilderness.

I'd be amazed if Brooks starts any game in the first six weeks of the new season.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Our manager has a poor record for playing our own youngsters and he hardly played the two on loan Prem lads even when they were fit. He trusts experience.

Our club is under pressure to achieve short term results and the manager is under that pressure each week. There has been zero 'Pathway for Youth' since Clough left. Under Adkins Whiteman had an odd game, Reed hardly any playing time, George Long abandoned( rightly). Clough played youth as an investment in their own futures and the future of the club and it comes at a cost as young lads are inconsistent. Every young lad on our books will observe the 'Pathway' over the months and make their own judgement whether we are serious. Brooks is a big test for our manager and it comes at precisely the wrong time in our first season back after years in the wilderness.

I'd be amazed if Brooks starts any game in the first six weeks of the new season.

In amongst all this are the expectations of Carruthers and Duffy in particular re Brooks best position plus Coutts, Fleck and Lundstram, all of whom have high hopes for a regular game this season. Each one has the skill, ability and experience we need. There are only 3 positions in central midfield but might we play a lone front striker? Probably not, but it could be an idea with Brooks tucked just behind Sharp.

Most of our recruitment this past few months has strengthened midfield. Brooks' development has taken Wilder by surprise but in any case he is a young lad who will be best developed in short bursts for a while. Hopefully the player will understand that but he will expect a pay rise very soon in any case.

 

[grafikhaus]

Walker being sold at the price he was is a bigger mystery than the cup ticket money that went missing from Woolhouses desk.

Maguire however, was referred to as " Leadboots" by quite a few of our fans. Let's not rewrite history as if he looked anywhere near as good how he looks now.

Agree. Maguire failing to stop the pigs' equaliser at the kop end in 2011 was pathetic and my granny could have done better. But the players who have left are bound to look better, because they are playing with better players!

On Saturday I was with a mate who was moaning that his club 'always sold their better players' and 'couldn't compete with the big boys'. His club? Spurs.

 

[CHRISSY BLADE]

He has what all clubs crave – the ability to run passed opponents. He can also see and execute that ‘killer pass.’


In 118 minutes of pre-season football, spread across 4 games, against professional opposition, he has scored two goals and made two assists. This after being named ‘Player of the {2017 Toulon} Tournament.’


He has huge – possibly, ‘once in a generation’ - potential. His real value is unlikely to be achieved by selling too soon, as we did with Walker and Maguire.


We were told, promotion to The Championship would mean we would not be under the same pressure to sell our best young players. McCabe says, “We do not sell {our best} players unless {our best} players wish to go.” Brooks says, “I love it here at Sheffield United and, the same as all the other lads, my aim is to play as often as possible and help the club do well.” So don’t sell, Kev.


We have proven, beyond doubt that selling our best players and replacing them with inferior ones is no guarantee of success. So why not hold our nerve and build something special for the longer term?
Just as Southampton did when keeping hold of their best young players (Lallana, Schneiderlin, Oxlade-Chamberlain etc.) and winning back-to-back promotions between 2010-2012. OK, Oxlade-Chamberlain was sold to Arsenal for £15m in August 2011 aged just 18 but, by then, he’d played 36 games in their League One promotion season and scored 9 goals. Doesn’t this prove the point, that keeping hold of your best players for as long as is reasonably possible not only improves your chances of success but also means you get a ‘game-changing’ fee when you do eventually sell? As Southampton, again, proved in selling Schneiderlin and Lallana for £25m each?


Finally, Blades fans live off memories of ‘great’ players (Hagan, Gillespie, Shaw, Currie, Woodward, Deane et al), or even ‘very good’ ones (Hodgkinson, Badger, Edwards, Morris, Brown, McCall, Jagielka et al). It helps sustain us through the dark times. Brooks shows signs of providing us with many more great memories, given the chance.

He's scored 4 goals mate... 2 against stocky one against chez and one against stoke

 

[8lade]

I don't believe they want to sell them cheap I just don't think they actually understand the market we are in.

Fine we have had to get rid of them to finance our stay in league one I understand than but £1m is literally nothing these days.

Players that show even a glimps can be snapped up for 5 times that when they actually play.

There's no real upside to getting rid of players before they have played if you think they are going to make it.

Trust wilder to sell them the club, sell them the vision and think long term about playing football and why would they want to leave and sit on a premier league under 23 squad

Again the point about how much we get has been done to death, the standard million quid we seem to get for our youngsters is when they have expressed a desire to leave so won't renew their contracts. Once the fee goes to tribunal it is based on achievements of the player but the only player who got a fee in excess of a million pounds at tribunal (of those in the examples quoted on the internet) was that of Danny Ings who had already been transferred for a million quid and was an established Premier League striker. The players we have sold have barely started a handful of games, compensation at tribunal would be nowhere near a million.

 

[snootyfenooty]

He's a rare talent and we have brought him along carefully.To rush him now would be stupid,he came here as a talented boy he is showing his ability now but he still needs careful handling and his talent will flourish.

I don't get it why anyone with a bit of talent has to be wrapped in cotton wool. Why would playing be classed as rushing him? If the kid is good enough he should play, simple as that. He's 20 now, not wet behind the ears. Compare with Currie who debuted at 18, Walker 18, Rooney 16. Howard Kendall played in a Cup Final at 17, what's the big deal? I really hope this is not the beginning of another Diego saga and we are just believing our own hype.

 

[finlaytheblade]

I don't get it why anyone with a bit of talent has to be wrapped in cotton wool. Why would playing be classed as rushing him? If the kid is good enough he should play, simple as that. He's 20 now, not wet behind the ears. Compare with Currie who debuted at 18, Walker 18, Rooney 16. Howard Kendall played in a Cup Final at 17, what's the big deal? I really hope this is not the beginning of another Diego saga and we are just believing our own hype.

It's a lot to do with maturity some people (players ) grow up earlier than others it's a matter for the coaches and managers to know when it's time to give players there head.
Rooney and you get the occasional player who can cope with the physicality of the game at a very young age 16with Rooney.
Brooks is a late developer and has to be looked after accordingly.
The time might be right for Brooks to play more often but Wilder & Knill will know obviously.Young players can be spoiled if not brought through carefully.

 

[BushBlade]

I don't believe they want to sell them cheap I just don't think they actually understand the market we are in.

Fine we have had to get rid of them to finance our stay in league one I understand than but £1m is literally nothing these days.

Players that show even a glimps can be snapped up for 5 times that when they actually play.

There's no real upside to getting rid of players before they have played if you think they are going to make it.

Trust wilder to sell them the club, sell them the vision and think long term about playing football and why would they want to leave and sit on a premier league under 23 squad

So what you're saying is that posters on a message board, who've never bought or sold a player in their lives have a better understanding of the transfer market than people who do this for a living?

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

I presume this was not a serious comment - although sadly there are some idiots on here who believe this!
There's only one circumstance where we may have to sell him and that's if a PL club comes in and is prepared to offer him say £20k pw and the lad's head is turned and he decides (or probably his agent decides) that he wants to leave. However if the article in the Star reports him correctly that he loves being here, and the fact he has been ditched once by a PL club (Man City's academy) hopefully he will see that his best interests lie in staying with us at least until the end of this season and hopefully (if he develops as we hope) beyond that. After that no one can predict but I do not believe there is any supporter (including KM) who would want to sell him.

Tell him he can fuck off anywhere, even the pigs.......





......after 650 games.

 

[The Crab]

Paul Woolhouse?

If Interpol are still after him, a more apt picture would be a Benny Hill chase

 

[Slim Man]

The only reason needed is that he is about to become scarily good and will be worth much more than what we are going to get this summer if we sell.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

Walker being sold at the price he was is a bigger mystery than the cup ticket money that went missing from Woolhouses desk.

Maguire however, was referred to as " Leadboots" by quite a few of our fans. Let's not rewrite history as if he looked anywhere near as good how he looks now.

He looked every bit as good as he is now. Very fine player, always destined for the big time and our best young-un since the Kyles by some distance.
As per a few other comments, be interesting to see if Brooks does get significant game time as we haven't generally seen our youth players much in the first team for a good while now.

 

[Maidenhead]

Could be a great piece of business selling him now for a million with add ons we could guarantee us another windfall in 4 years to help keep us going.

Ah, the Chelsea model.

Many a true word spoken in jest

 

[snootyfenooty]

It's a lot to do with maturity some people (players ) grow up earlier than others it's a matter for the coaches and managers to know when it's time to give players there head.
Rooney and you get the occasional player who can cope with the physicality of the game at a very young age 16with Rooney.
Brooks is a late developer and has to be looked after accordingly.
The time might be right for Brooks to play more often but Wilder & Knill will know obviously.Young players can be spoiled if not brought through carefully.

He's 20, he's not a boy, he's an adult. There's no way any other club would have a supposed talent akin to that of Brooks on their books and not play him. What worries me is that Wilder is hoovering up players from Leagues 1 & 2 and Brooks is not considered good enough to play ahead of them. There's only one way to determine whether he's a diamond or a dud and that's to play him.

 

[Maidenhead]

He's 20, he's not a boy, he's an adult. There's no way any other club would have a supposed talent akin to that of Brooks on their books and not play him. What worries me is that Wilder is hoovering up players from Leagues 1 & 2 and Brooks is not considered good enough to play ahead of them. There's only one way to determine whether he's a diamond or a dud and that's to play him.

Or for an expert manager to see him every day in training, continually assess his skills, personality and attitude and make an informed decision?

I don't get this chuck em and see how they do.

It's the Sheffield United Academy not the David Brooks Academy

 

[Sean Thornton]

He looked every bit as good as he is now. Very fine player, always destined for the big time and our best young-un since the Kyles by some distance.
As per a few other comments, be interesting to see if Brooks does get significant game time as we haven't generally seen our youth players much in the first team for a good while now.

Harry's not improved then?

 

[snootyfenooty]

Or for an expert manager to see him every day in training, continually assess his skills, personality and attitude and make an informed decision?

Yep, agree with that, like Koeman made a decision to deem DCL good enough for the Prem when 6 months earlier we were dithering on whether to play him in League 1.

 

[Slim Man]

Yep, agree with that, like Koeman made a decision to deem DCL good enough for the Prem when 6 months earlier we were dithering on whether to play him in League 1.

Yet some of our fans still don't rate DCL. Unreal. He scored the goal to win the U19 world cup, he's a talent.

 

[TONY_TONY_AGANA]

He's scored 4 goals mate... 2 against stocky one against chez and one against stoke

 

[BushBlade]

Yep, agree with that, like Koeman made a decision to deem DCL good enough for the Prem when 6 months earlier we were dithering on whether to play him in League 1.

We? So which one are you, Wilder or Knill?

 

[snootyfenooty]

We? So which one are you, Wilder or Knill?

I'm the one who saw Mick Jones make his debut at 17, Birchenall at 18, Currie at 18, Naughton at 19, Walker at 18 and Maguire at 18. The jist of my argument is that at 20 Brooks has either got it or he hasn't. If it's the former then he should be in the team. If we sell him without blooding him in the 1st team then he will never realise his value in the transfer market.

 

[BushBlade]

I'm the one who saw Mick Jones make his debut at 17, Birchenall at 18, Currie at 18, Naughton at 19, Walker at 18 and Maguire at 18. The jist of my argument is that at 20 Brooks has either got it or he hasn't. If it's the former then he should be in the team. If we sell him without blooding him in the 1st team then he will never realise his value in the transfer market.

Well you're entitled to your opinion, same as anyone else.

 

[Maidenhead]

Yep, agree with that, like Koeman made a decision to deem DCL good enough for the Prem when 6 months earlier we were dithering on whether to play him in League 1.

Yet some of our fans still don't rate DCL. Unreal. He scored the goal to win the U19 world cup, he's a talent.

Let's revisit this in three years shall we?

Nothing is yet proven either way.

I will add that I am not convinced by DCL and neither is my best mate who is an Evertonian.

His quote " I can't understand what the hell he's doing here, never mind why he gets a game"

I'm happy to trust the professionals that see a lot more of him than me.

 

[Maidenhead]

I'm the one who saw Mick Jones make his debut at 17, Birchenall at 18, Currie at 18, Naughton at 19, Walker at 18 and Maguire at 18. The jist of my argument is that at 20 Brooks has either got it or he hasn't. If it's the former then he should be in the team. If we sell him without blooding him in the 1st team then he will never realise his value in the transfer market.

And if he's not judged to be good enough to get in the first team then he's only worth a fraction of the fee that some on here are suggesting.

It's down to the management to make that judgement, not the fans

 

[snootyfenooty]

Let's revisit this in three years shall we?

I'll let you do the reminding

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Yet some of our fans still don't rate DCL. Unreal. He scored the goal to win the U19 world cup, he's a talent.

Go on any Everton forum, they can't believe he is anywhere near the first team. They think he is only in the team as Koeman is trying to make a point to the owners about needing more funds.

Never a premiership player and looks totally out of depth, good luck to the lad but he will be back in lower championship/league one before too long.

 

[snootyfenooty]

And if he's not judged to be good enough to get in the first team then he's only worth a fraction of the fee that some on here are suggesting.

It's down to the management to make that judgement, not the fans

But herein lies the problem. If we don't play him then sell him for the regulatory £1.5m plus add-ons and he's playing in the Prem 6 months later then we're left with egg on our faces. Again.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Agree with Finchley,

It's quite funny when you think about it.
DCL was our 5th choice striker and even now wouldn't get in our team.
So on that basis it was a great deal for us at the time and arguably his sale helped us gain promotion.

The club was dying in league 1, so planning for the future was very low on the priorities, it was all about urgent and immediate promotion, so youngsters with potential had less value to the club because we couldn't afford to be patient.

Now we're in the Championship the landscape changes, now we can and will plan for the future.
People need to relax....,there's no way Brooks will be sold on the cheap.

The problem occurs if we get a bid for, say £4 million with him offered £15 a week wages for 5 years, setting him up for life?
That's my main concern but I can't imagine us getting any bids close to this until he's played a few matches.

So I'm 99% confident we've got him until at least Xmas but if he impresses and we get a bid around £5 million with a loan back until the end of the season clause

then I do worry that we'll accept a large bid in the JTW with McCabe saying his usual blurb of it's a great piece of business and shows how fantastic our Academy is at producing players.

 

[davidpinder]

With Brooks starting off at Man City before he came to our academy do you think they get first refusal ??

 

[Slim Man]

Go on any Everton forum, they can't believe he is anywhere near the first team. They think he is only in the team as Koeman is trying to make a point to the owners about needing more funds.

Never a premiership player and looks totally out of depth, good luck to the lad but he will be back in lower championship/league one before too long.

He played for the Under 19's and scored a world cup winning goal and has featured heavily upfront in pre season ahead of new signing Sandro and infront of Wayne Rooney... It's a bit more than making a point.