CONFIRMED Andre Brooks sold to Norwich

[Danetheblade]

Twisting is calling us tinpot for selling our best players but calling Norwich progressive for doing the same. You just keep wearing your negativity like a badge of honour.

I’m calling us tinpot for selling our players for peanuts. I appreciate our position, and our position in the pecking order, but selling one of our best players, who’s still under contract for two years is laughable, even more so when it’s to a team in the same league, for pittance.

They sold Sargent for £25M.. I’m not saying Brooks is worth this, but he’s worth a fuck tonne more than 8M rising to 9M. Tinpot as fuck.

 

[Zeblades34]

Anyway happy friday

 

[ChapmanBlade]

Norwich are not on a £ par with us.

For a start , they haven't pissed away money on shite like we have in recent years.

Money which has now run out so we've finished our "7 years of plenty" with barely a pot to piss in.

3 years of PL money and 4 years of parachutes
What have we got ?
A bang average half-baked squad and a field at Dore. A recruitment team that needs shooting.
And distant half-baked owners who gambled on a quick-flip and lost.
But according to Wilder , his pal Bettis is a great CEO.
The whole shebang is probably the most unprofessional outfit that's ever chewed it's way though £500m.
And no one at the Lane can think beyond the Bettis Wilder combo.
Inspiring eh ?

Other than that, things are looking good

 

[Snowflake]

I didn’t say “no desire “either. Everyone knew Wilder had not a great relationship with Brooks and Seriki,or are you not wanting to see that as well.

In any business there are those in management who don’t have good relationships with staff and vice versa. I prefer not to make assumptions about relationships based on the public face and media.
What does seem clear to me is that United need to sell to keep financially sound and that Brookes would not move on if he really wanted to stay.
My views on Wilder as a person and/or a manager have nothing to do with my views on United selling Brookes, but if it helps I am not a wholehearted supporter of Wilder whilst acknowledging the job he has done in the past.

 

[MartBlade]

Thanks mate. I know through a good friend of mine that Knilly is a very honest a principled man, so I could see this being the case (although I’m not saying it is).

Just to present an alternative scenario… if Knilly is indeed an honourable and principled man ( which I’d guess he is), I’d be gobsmacked if he spoke so negatively about his previous employers / boss to a prospective new employer. That’s never a good look for a job applicant. This titbit of “information” seems a highly unlikely but incredibly convenient addition to the Brooks debate by those wanting to crucify Wilder ( again).
Personally I think that having run out of parachute payments, we have to generate money and unfortunately that means selling players that other clubs want… not necessarily the ones we want to get rid of.
I really enjoyed watching Brooksy and it’s a shame we’ll not get to see him develop further but he also frustrated the life out of me in many games.

 

[SwitchBLADE Smiles]

I’m not mad about Brooks leaving. He was the obvious one to cash in on now the parachute payments are done and we need to cut our cloth accordingly.

What irks me is that we’ve flogged him to a league rival for significantly less than what I reckon he’s worth. I’m dumbfounded that one of the 3 promoted sides haven’t had a look as I reckon he and Seriki are probably the only 2 players in the squad who I reckon are premier league ‘ready’. Even if it was West Ham, Wolves or Burnley that came in, I could accept that. Norwich ended the season 5 points better off than us, in a season we all considered a bit of a disaster.

We’ve sold arguably our most saleable asset for a sum that isn’t really going to change our outlook for next season and improved a direct rival in the process. It’s appalling business all round.

 

[SufcBilly]

I’m calling us tinpot for selling our players for peanuts. I appreciate our position, and our position in the pecking order, but selling one of our best players, who’s still under contract for two years is laughable, even more so when it’s to a team in the same league, for pittance.

They sold Sargent for £25M.. I’m not saying Brooks is worth this, but he’s worth a fuck tonne more than 8M rising to 9M. Tinpot as fuck.

Based on? As someone else said earlier to a different message if United were spending the same figure on a player with Brooks output it wouldn’t go down well

 

[Sean Thornton]

So we got a 2 point deduction 2 years ago just because the EFL felt like it?

They were paid in full eventually.

 

[Maidenhead]

The idea that Gage lends cred....lost for words.

First time for everything

 

[Gavlar]

I’m pissed off about this. But I fear worse is to come.

 

[Kona]

Just to present an alternative scenario… if Knilly is indeed an honourable and principled man ( which I’d guess he is), I’d be gobsmacked if he spoke so negatively about his previous employers / boss to a prospective new employer. That’s never a good look for a job applicant. This titbit of “information” seems a highly unlikely but incredibly convenient addition to the Brooks debate by those wanting to crucify Wilder ( again).
Personally I think that having run out of parachute payments, we have to generate money and unfortunately that means selling players that other clubs want… not necessarily the ones we want to get rid of.
I really enjoyed watching Brooksy and it’s a shame we’ll not get to see him develop further but he also frustrated the life out of me in many games.

You may well be right, Mart. I guess we’ll never know… unless there’s an autobiography in a few years

As I understand it the professional football community is quite small and people do talk. I agree that it would disappointing if Knilly was critical of us but he could have put more more tactfully (i.e.: “we have different way of dealing with players and I was ready for a change”). Still not great, but hopefully you get my point.

I’m not trying to bash Wilder here, as it may not be the case, but something didn’t feel right in the manner Knilly left and the reports of him being shocked and disappointed. Again, whether that’s true or not, we don’t know, but the comms around it didn’t help.

 

[Houso]

I'm fuming about the circumstances behind Brooks going and more the point that there was one big reason why we were never going to be able to get him to sign another contract with us.

That said, the figure is pretty solid unfortunately. Last year of his contract, only one season of performing and in that time has had a couple of poor games too. It's really quite a reasonable sum.

Still doesn't soften the blow much caused by one bloke.

 

[jt64]

I hate this selling of Brooks - but like it or not - we HAVE to balance the books and fill the void of no parachute money

Parachute money is intended to allow you to give it a go in the Premier League and give you a 2 year buffer to then reduce your costs back to Championship levels. Of course, we didn't give it a go and waved the white flag before the opening whistle, but the only players that are still at the club that we did bring in that season are Hamer, who most expect to leave soon, and Grbic, who didn't cost the earth anyway and much of the expense has been covered by loaning him out anyway. As such, what void? We're just back to normal Championship operations (where, granted, every team loses money).

 

[Hillsboro Blade]

The acid test for Wilder now is the first game against Birmingham. They will have spent a bit and improved their squad, will we have improved ours? Highly unlikely. He has to hit the ground running. If it’s like last seasons dross, unfit players, slow build up, injured has beens etc then I can see it turning nasty, To me it’s obvious that Brooks had gone due to a clash of personalities with Wilder. Pick on a player for so long in public and they will fuck off eventually. It’s not rocket science. Seriki will be next and I don’t blame the lad.

 

[Danetheblade]

Based on? As someone else said earlier to a different message if United were spending the same figure on a player with Brooks output it wouldn’t go down well

https://www.fotmob.com/en-GB/players/1396784/andre-brooks

"Andre Brooks scores highly on Minutes, Goals, and Started compared to right wingers in the Championship"

 

[Maidenhead]

Selling Brooks to Norwich suggests a club on the ‘bones of it’s arse’…….of course it does, it’s SUFC.Unfortunately,we may not avoid the drop this year.

About on a par with Salmons to Stoke, and look what happened next.

New South Stand still standing though.

 

[Maidenhead]

Unfortunately wilder didn’t really like him either!

I’m sure I’d read somewhere that Stoke had an obligation to buy him if promoted and an option if they weren’t at around 6-7m but can’t find it anywhere now and their official site just talks about a loan.

Finally, a Wilder opinion that I can actually get on board with.

 

[MartBlade]

You may well be right, Mart. I guess we’ll never know… unless there’s an autobiography in a few years

As I understand it the professional football community is quite small and people do talk. I agree that it would disappointing if Knilly was critical of us but he could have put more more tactfully (i.e.: “we have different way of dealing with players and I was ready for a change”). Still not great, but hopefully you get my point.

I’m not trying to bash Wilder here, as it may not be the case, but something didn’t feel right in the manner Knilly left and the reports of him being shocked and disappointed. Again, whether that’s true or not, we don’t know, but the comms around it didn’t help.

Agreed (I may be way off the mark) …and we all keep coming back to how better comms from the club would help with so many issues for fans. It always amazes me how poor we are at communicating with the only people who are absolutely essential to the clubs future.

 

[CPB]

The more I think about this.... the less I'm annoyed.
Yesterday I was surprised and disappointed to see him leave to not just another championship rival. And not parachute team either. And for the 8m too.
Whilst I think his consistency and form was much improved last year I do think that can be improved upon. And that his composure and decision making leaves alot to be desired SOMETIMES. Not always.

But thinking about it. Norwich won't have had exclusivity. Them initially bidding will have alerted other clubs. Including PL clubs if they were keeping tabs on him.
We may even have touted Brooks to PL clubs if we wanted to get a bigger fee. Clearly no one else saw fit to bid what Norwich have.

This perhaps shows where he's at. A good potentially rising championship player. One I'd rather have for sure.
But is it right to cash in for that fee? Maybe it actually is?

I'd like to think we have replacements lined up and that we re-invest at least some back in the transfer budget. But that will remain to be seen right now.
Wouldn't mind that Cozier-Duberry that was on loan at Bolton last year. But sounds like West Ham are interested too.

 

[Shadota]

We paid the bills in full. Not on time, but they were all paid.

They were paid in full eventually.

Yeah, we did, but the original comment was not "all bills paid eventually since 1889".

Of all the stances to take, the option of "Who cares that we sold Brooks to a Championship also-ran? At least we pay our debts, unlike Wednesday", when we got in trouble in recent years for the exact issue of failing to pay our debts (regardless of whether or not they got paid later on) is just feeble.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Yeah, we did, but the original comment was not "all bills paid eventually since 1889".

Of all the stances to take, the option of "Who cares that we sold Brooks to a Championship also-ran? At least we pay our debts, unlike Wednesday", when we got in trouble in recent years for the exact issue of failing to pay our debts (regardless of whether or not they got paid later on) is just feeble.

I didnt take a stance. Just posted a fact.

I’ll take one now though. Administration as opposed to our situation isn’t an exact issue.

I see selling Brooks as a negative move for what it’s worth. I’d like to know who made that particular call. And l know we need to sell but why him more or less straight away?

 

[YES Blade]

There is also the consideration here that it’s days like this that makes me proud to be a Blade.

Fact is this is how we are Sheffield United; all bills paid since 1889.

It’s what sets us apart from the other lot.

This is the medicine you take to meet your obligations.

We won’t be posting a worst in history of football season because of it.

Is that how low we’ve sunk? Proud to be a blade because the bills get paid?

Let’s get out the open top bus shall we? How about filling the trophy cabinet with a pile of paid invoices?

 

[jt64]

But thinking about it. Norwich won't have had exclusivity. Them initially bidding will have alerted other clubs. Including PL clubs if they were keeping tabs on him.

What on earth does this even mean? Literally every other club that could reasonably be in for him will know of his existence. Do you think there's a club somewhere that might have gone "ooh, who is this Brooks guy, never heard of him but if Norwich have put a bid in that I've just seen through my ultra secret bid notification computer, we should take notice"?

 

[Jim Mcdonald]

I’m calling us tinpot for selling our players for peanuts. I appreciate our position, and our position in the pecking order, but selling one of our best players, who’s still under contract for two years is laughable, even more so when it’s to a team in the same league, for pittance.

They sold Sargent for £25M.. I’m not saying Brooks is worth this, but he’s worth a fuck tonne more than 8M rising to 9M. Tinpot as fuck.

Exactly, it’s the selling to Norwich so it is. You don’t sell your best players to direct rivals so you don’t. Do we even know for sure we are getting that kind of fee, how do Norwich have that kind of cash to spend?

 

[jt64]

Exactly, it’s the selling to Norwich so it is. You don’t sell your best players to direct rivals so you don’t. Do we even know for sure we are getting that kind of fee, how do Norwich have that kind of cash to spend?

Norwich have that cash to spend because they have a competently run recruitment setup that sold several players for much more than they have bought Brooks for.

 

[KMC-1889]

I’m not mad about Brooks leaving. He was the obvious one to cash in on now the parachute payments are done and we need to cut our cloth accordingly.

What irks me is that we’ve flogged him to a league rival for significantly less than what I reckon he’s worth. I’m dumbfounded that one of the 3 promoted sides haven’t had a look as I reckon he and Seriki are probably the only 2 players in the squad who I reckon are premier league ‘ready’. Even if it was West Ham, Wolves or Burnley that came in, I could accept that. Norwich ended the season 5 points better off than us, in a season we all considered a bit of a disaster.

We’ve sold arguably our most saleable asset for a sum that isn’t really going to change our outlook for next season and improved a direct rival in the process. It’s appalling business all round.

Reading between the lines from various social media posts I'm fairly confident we made him a contract offer that was pretty derisory (see Brooks' post a week ago about 'appreciation' ), he was clearly still in the first team plans earlier this week as the social media team were posting content from him in their 'who do you want to play first' fixture list release bits (his reply has now been deleted), and we've accepted whatever bid was currently on the table from Norwich, who have been chasing him for a while. Or even worse we've actively tried to flog him to the first bidder because he wouldn't sign the offered contract.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Based on? As someone else said earlier to a different message if United were spending the same figure on a player with Brooks output it wouldn’t go down well

Which is a big part of United's problem, club and fans. Players have to be fully formed before they're seen as worth it.

Brooks carried the attack for big periods. His ability to win 1v1 was often the only way to create space to attack from such slow possession. Plus, he was excellent defensively and was actually willing to run in behind from deep.

Norwich have seen his attributes, his level of improvement and the fact he's already a very good Championship player and invested in it. United see "he hasn't scored enough yet"

 

[Carlton Blade]

Reading between the lines from various social media posts I'm fairly confident we made him a contract offer that was pretty derisory (see Brooks' post a week ago about 'appreciation' ), he was clearly still in the first team plans earlier this week as the social media team were posting content from him in their 'who do you want to play first' fixture list release bits (his reply has now been deleted), and we've accepted whatever bid was currently on the table from Norwich, who have been chasing him for a while. Or even worse we've actively tried to flog him to the first bidder because he wouldn't sign the offered contract.

The first pro contract negotiations were extremely fraught. (Directly from an ex-academy player) United initially offered him less than 20% of what he eventually signed for.

 

[blades_95]

State of this absolute, full weight, weapons grade bell end. View attachment 239295

It’s worth getting rid of wilder just to get rid of the fucking cunts that follow him around.

Bloke’s a complete weapon. Still blaming Selles for the mess we’re in rather than his mate who’s been in charge for all but 3 months of the last 2.5 years.

 

[Pandev]

I hear this as an excuse why we have to sell.....no more parachute money...do Norwich have parachute money ? Al this money will be doing is covering the shit A Eye signings wages from last season.

I thought this initially.. how are Norwich spending like this when they aren’t a parachute club?

This explains it: