A bit disappointed in yesterdays business.

[highpeakblade]

As we all know the fixtures around Christmas come thick and fast, in the 2 weeks from the 21st December alone we have 5 league games which to be fair can be considered testing even for fit professionals.

We do have a good few players in the squad however I still think we definitely needed some strengthening in key areas if only to bolster options should we have injuries or at least to allow for a squad rotation when these fixtures do come in quickly.

We all know we would have liked some natural wingers or some luxury players to improve the standard of the football but putting things into context I think at least we needed an emergency CB and Striker for numbers alone.

 

[Bladesway]

Don't agree with "strengthening" via the loan system, it has left us crippled in the past with players who were sub standard and don't give a shit. Seeing as we have enough of them already it is better to wait until January to strengthen with permenant appointments as I see it.

My bigger concern is that in our position players won't want to move full stop. Unless it is the Marlon Kings of this world who we could do well without.

 

[broomhillblade]

I think it shows a pragmatic approach. Trim the squad a little and give the present incumbents a chance to prove themselves, one way or another. Then go for some permanent moves in January.

 

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

We can still sign players that are free agents. I don't know who is available and matches our requirements, but it's still an option available to us.

 

[Fiery Blade]

I would have thought with a squad of 28 professionals the last thing we need to do is bring more in 'On Loan'
Shipping out Williams and Westlake was a start - we can only hope that Williams plays half decent in the next couple of weeks and lands a permanent transfer (he hoodwinked Wilson perhaps he can do the same at Scunthorpe) Westlake is probably at his level with Mansfield and may do a job !
We have a squad of poor quality, lets face it there's not a lot on offer that would fancy coming to Sheffield United
As regards giving players a chance to prove themselves the present bunch of no hopers have done little in the way of shine since Clough has been here, perhaps the much maligned Porter has probably done the best !
Cuvelier, McGinty, Johns, & Co must be sh!te of the highest order if they cannot break into this side and really our loanees White, Lappin, Coady are not really match winners are they ?
No I think that Clough needs to soldier on grinding results out with this bunch and get rid of the dross any which way he can - once they've gone then start to build
It's no good loading your barrel with nice new shiny apples when the rotton ones are still at the bottom of the barrel!

 

[grafikhaus]

We can still sign players that are free agents. I don't know who is available and matches our requirements, but it's still an option available to us.

Yes, Deadly. But if they were any good, they wouldn't be 'free agents' would they?

At least Dave Moans is coming out with the usual 'we will only add players if they're better than what we've already got' bollox. This provoked a good response on The Stir website:

'So all efforts to "land men" who were affordable proved "fruitless"

Oh really?

Well Yeovil managed "to land" 3 players from Forest, Everton and Liverpool, and the following Championship clubs all "landed " additional players yesterday-

Huddersfield, Middlesborough, Ipswich, Derby, Doncaster, Barnsley, Bournemouth and Watford.

So how much effort, if any was made?? More garbage for us all to swallow'

Applies to us as well. If there's nobody out there better than the players who've got United and Wendy scuffling about in the relegation zone, I give up.

 

[sheffielder]

Yes, Deadly. But if they were any good, they wouldn't be 'free agents' would they?

At least Dave Moans is coming out with the usual 'we will only add players if they're better than what we've already got' bollox. This provoked a good response on The Stir website:

'So all efforts to "land men" who were affordable proved "fruitless"

Oh really?

Well Yeovil managed "to land" 3 players from Forest, Everton and Liverpool, and the following Championship clubs all "landed " additional players yesterday-

Huddersfield, Middlesborough, Ipswich, Derby, Doncaster, Barnsley, Bournemouth and Watford.

So how much effort, if any was made?? More garbage for us all to swallow'
Applies to us as well. If there's nobody out there better than the players who've got United and Wendy scuffling about in the relegation zone, I give up.

Why would players want to come and join us on loan. We are still in the shit and there is a lot to sort out. If I was a player or agent I would tell people to stay well clear of us until this squad is sorted out. It's not always as simple as us wanting players or not

 

[JohnDenver]

Do people really get disappointed these days? Isn't expectation a prerequisite for disappointment?

I just try to maintain a steady level of resignation which occasionally flares up into a short spells of grumpiness.

 

[OllyBlade]

Not disappointed, pleased with the outgoings. Even if a loanee comes in with a good reputation doesn't guarantee much (see Coady, White). I'd rather we made a better first of maximising what little we have at the moment.

 

[Eskimo]

I seem to recall in the old days there was much less loan/ transfer activity generally. Managers like Harris had to work on gelling players together and improving those who were'nt good enough through practise and working together. A major part of the trouble we are in is I believe because there has been too much change. We don't need more players. We need to improve the performance of what we already have.



I don't disagree with getting shut of Westlake for a bit but I don't think Westlake is a bad player. He can bomb down the wing and get crosses in, but his defending is poor. If you know that you can do something about it and hopefully this will happen at Mansfield.

 

[Kev Gee]

I agree Westlake certainly fitted the potential 'bracket'. But he didnt prove himself. We cannot afford to carry players anymore. Same goes for the scots players. They just javent worked out. I would also look to get shut of Flynn, Collins & Murphy either in Jan or certainly at the end of the season.

 

[GRENO]

Clough stated on the radio last week that he wanted to assess the squad of players into January
before freshening the team up, hopefully bringing 2 in, if he could get at least 4 out.
Which i agree with.

Just hope we have enough about us to stay up, and then begin a clear out in the summer.

 

[true99blade]

No more free agents. The lack of fitness is already a problem with the team as it is!

 

[brownie4583]

I think i would have taken my chance on a couple of loanees,got to be better than some of these players.
Get them on loan now,have a look at them until January and then sign permanently if suitable,a kind of try before you buy?
I was a bit disappointed we didn't bring anyone in because i reckon this squad doesn't need to be assessed any longer(January),we know now that the majority need to be replaced as soon as.
2 players have gone out so we could have maybe taken a chance on 2 if available.
Rotherham have loaned Taverner(Newcastle) and Dicko(Wigan) to further strengthen their squad and they are on verge of playoffs so surely our squad which lies 4th from bottom needs bolstering?

 

[Fiery Blade]

Not disappointed, pleased with the outgoings. Even if a loanee comes in with a good reputation doesn't guarantee much (see Coady, White). I'd rather we made a better first of maximising what little we have at the moment.

If anyone can maximise anything from the shower of sh!te both Wilson and Weir have assembled they shouldn't be managing in Division Three
The majority of the squad lack the basic skills of being a professional footballer, they are unfit, lack the passion and drive of winners and cannot think more than one move ahead - everyone to a man is overpaid commensurate with their ability and effort !
In short most of them would not cut it it any higher division, in fact they struggle to compete in this league and show little signs of getting better - but then again in match play most of them look like they couldn't give a sh!t !!

 

[Grecian2000]

Rotherham have loaned Taverner(Newcastle) and Dicko(Wigan) to further strengthen their squad and they are on verge of playoffs so surely our squad which lies 4th from bottom needs bolstering?

There's the rub though. Everyone wants to join a promotion push (and clubs are happy for their players to do so), but who wants to come and scrap for their lives in a relegation tussle (see our inglorious exit from Div 2 with our defence of loanees).
A battle isn't everyones cup of tea, and in my view, when your back is to the wall you want players whose careers depend on the outcome rather than those that can just walk away at the end of the season and see no comebacks for their failure.

I would like to see us sign two/three or even four permanents in Jan, fuck the loanees off, and take it from there.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

No problem for me. Don't want sub standard loan players. Let's save the money for January and shift a couple more out if we can.

I will be happy with 2 out and 2 or 3 in. Hopefully one will be a wide man, another will be a striker.

 

[Silent Blade]

Well Yeovil managed "to land" 3 players from Forest, Everton and Liverpool, and the following Championship clubs all "landed " additional players yesterday-

Yeovil have ditched their Academy due to the PL forcing the EPPP into the Academy. Wycome and hereford are the others. It looks like that they would rather sign up and coming players whose Academies are Level one or two

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Yeo...tory-18608779-detail/story.html#axzz2m42qH69l

 

[Bladesway]

We can still sign players that are free agents. I don't know who is available and matches our requirements, but it's still an option available to us.

Back to my comment about Marlon King I'm afraid.

 

[highpeakblade]

Don't get me wrong..... I didn't expect wholesale loanees to come in through the door and I agree that loans aren't exactly a long term solution to our problems and lack of form / quality, however I look at our squad and despite some people above saying that we have 28 players and so on and so forth, the truth is we lack options in certain areas and a couple of injuries in a period that will be physically testing on players could cause us a couple of selection dilemmas.......and we don't need this in the biggest part of the season. Christmas as we all know is the a time where we could come out either 6 points adrift from safety or equally mid table.....I hope the latter.

28 Day loans as cover for me were needed, a CB and a Striker as cover!

 

[Bladesway]

No problem for me. Don't want sub standard loan players. Let's save the money for January and shift a couple more out if we can.

I will be happy with 2 out and 2 or 3 in. Hopefully one will be a wide man, another will be a striker.

I could fill the wide man part of that equation and I only want a couple of grand a week, or perhaps a free Greggs.

 

[Silent Blade]

Don't agree with "strengthening" via the loan system, it has left us crippled in the past with players who were sub standard and don't give a shit. Seeing as we have enough of them already it is better to wait until January to strengthen with permenant appointments as I see it.

Even Crewe who were supposed to have an excellent Academy (but it is now downgraded to level two because of the EPPP) are now signing youngsters from clubs in higher divisions (yesterday they signed one from Fulham and one from QPR). We are still signing one or two players every season that supposedly have done well in level one Academies but they seem to lack character when playing in our 1st team. Treacy, Kyel Reid, Cofie and Coady are examples.

I have been asking Wendy fans to name a few Wendy players in the last few years who have comr through the ranks and have played more than 5 1st team appearances for them but they could only think of Liam Palmer. I find that a few Wendy Academy players are hoping that Lee Bullen will replace Jones as Wendy boss if Jones gets the push as they feel that Bullen will show a lot more faith in the Academy than Jones. Many Wendy fans love Bullen but they are not keen on him to be the 1st team manager as it would be seen as a "cheap option".

It does look like NC is keen on making our Academy work well but we will have to wait and see if our academy players are good enough (fingers crossed that Diego will still be a brilliant player despite the long lay off)

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

I could fill the wide man part of that equation and I only want a couple of grand a week, or perhaps a free Greggs.

You're in. I don't even need to see you play.....you can't possibly be any worse than what we have. Really I should rephrase that to.....you can't be worse than nothing.

 

[raul]

flares up .

Moron.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Don't get me wrong..... I didn't expect wholesale loanees to come in through the door and I agree that loans aren't exactly a long term solution to our problems and lack of form / quality, however I look at our squad and despite some people above saying that we have 28 players and so on and so forth, the truth is we lack options in certain areas and a couple of injuries in a period that will be physically testing on players could cause us a couple of selection dilemmas.......and we don't need this in the biggest part of the season. Christmas as we all know is the a time where we could come out either 6 points adrift from safety or equally mid table.....I hope the latter.

28 Day loans as cover for me were needed, a CB and a Striker as cover!

This was my problem with not bringing anyone in this time. I hope Nigel can inspire us to a few surprise results before January (by that I mean home wins). I think personally that come the transfer window we will be well adrift, the transfer window will be the usual anti-climax, but even if we do sign one or two, will they be enough to turn us around; Baxter, Cuvelier etc were supposed to have done that and look what happened. As I say I will keep my fingers crossed and faith in NC.

 

[Sirius]

If anyone can maximise anything from the shower of sh!te both Wilson and Weir have assembled they shouldn't be managing in Division Three
The majority of the squad lack the basic skills of being a professional footballer, they are unfit, lack the passion and drive of winners and cannot think more than one move ahead - everyone to a man is overpaid commensurate with their ability and effort !
In short most of them would not cut it it any higher division, in fact they struggle to compete in this league and show little signs of getting better - but then again in match play most of them look like they couldn't give a sh!t !!

If you're right F.B. and to me, much of your post rings true, it would be a better system if a player was taken on probation, for a number of games, to see how he worked and fitted in with the manager's system .If not up to snuff after a certain time,he could be, sacked or returned to the club from whence he came. This would at least stop the sick, lame and lazy and encourage effort..