Billy's contract

[Grizzly blade]

I have a bit of intel on this also.

"Where u erd dis pal" ? Can't say but this is what I heard.

Billy (and also Coutts and Basham) had a "gentleman's" agreement that wages would go up on promotion to the Championship. They would go up to the level they where previously on at their respective Championship clubs prior to joining the Blades. Substantial increases in all cases.

The club have not kept their "gentlemans" agreement and they are all about £2k per week light.

So I suspect SunJi ain't bullshitting in this case.

UTB

Well if this is true then it really is an issue.
I don't like gentlemans agreements being broken, if that's what was said then it should be agreed to. I suspect that the issue will be when others who should be on parity with them start asking for the same.

So it's simple. Give them the pay rise they agreed, but shorten the terms. So 1 year rolling deal in CLUBS favour only....in other words we can release with less than a year and they are always tied to at least 2 years.

Or, have a three year deal on the lower wages with incentives built in.

 

[nopigfansintown]

I have a bit of intel on this also.

"Where u erd dis pal" ? Can't say but this is what I heard.

Billy (and also Coutts and Basham) had a "gentleman's" agreement that wages would go up on promotion to the Championship. They would go up to the level they where previously on at their respective Championship clubs prior to joining the Blades. Substantial increases in all cases.

The club have not kept their "gentlemans" agreement and they are all about £2k per week light.

So I suspect SunJi ain't bullshitting in this case.

UTB

Coutts, Basham and Brayford are the three lads left on decent and very good Championship money from the Clough era. Negotiations with these three were always likely to be protracted. I imagine Wilder may think there's better value for money out there. He did well to keep the cart on wheels and get excellent performances from Coutts and Bash last season.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Billy (and also Coutts and Basham) had a "gentleman's" agreement that wages would go up on promotion to the Championship. They would go up to the level they where previously on at their respective Championship clubs prior to joining the Blades. Substantial increases in all cases.

Can't for the life of me see anything in this. Players don't even honour written contracts let alone gentleman's agreements. If any player, Billy included, is going to get arsey or hold the club to ransom then the club should tell them to do one.

 

[zablade]

Sun unfortunately is almost 99% correct in his ITK. Last thing we need is to have an unhappy pissed off captain, especially when he also happens to be our major goal threat.

I thought this would be an enjoyable and exciting pre season for once, but the club seem to be doing their best to make a Balls of it.

 

[TJB.]

No player is bigger than the club of course, but if there was indeed a gentleman's agreement made then we should honour it. Why on earth would we want to risk upsetting the momentum and feelgood factor built last season for the sake of a few bob, which we agreed in principle to pay them anyway?

All hearsay and Chinese whispers innit, but I'd be extremely disappointed with the club if this was true. I'm hoping and praying that we've turned a corner, we're doing things differently these days and we're on the up. It'd only take something like this to bring us all back down to earth saying 'Same owd' again.

 

[I should coco]

It didn't though, did it? There was hardly a murmur.

That's not quite right as you will see if you check out these boards in the run up to the Chessie game. It was also splashed all over the national media ("ex-rapist Ched Evans.....") and did look like it might derail things.

In the end it was over in a couple of days and the team got on with the job of winning the next game and then drinking copious amounts of beer.

Ched's home and all's good but I can understand that star striker Billy might be a little bit put out. If the competition helps him work even harder than last year, we will be in for a cracking season.

 

[Treeton Blade]

Not heard owt, but wouldn`t be surprised if there was something in this.

Billy was signed by Adkins when high wages were the norm, I would think the new contract offered could be less or the same as he is on now.

Pure conjecture of course, might be bollocks.

 

[wizadry]

Gentlemans agreements aren't worth the hand they're shaking on in football, there's some sly cunts out there. What they should've done is have it written into their contract then there would've been no problem if indeed there is one.

 

[BushBlade]

Didn't we do this to Jamie Ward? Promised him a better contract if he established himself in the championship, then wouldn't give him one? I seem to recall hearing it at the time.

 

[Bladesman]

Billy is crap anyway we don't need him.

Back in the championship and back being cheap as chips despite the statements of further investment once in this league. Surely that wasn't a lie and we can stretch to an extra 100k a year or so for our captain.

 

[DifferentClass]

Bill and Ched (providing Ched remains fit) could be our best front two in ages.

C'mon McCabe, get yer wallet out.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

In football.
There are NO gentlemen.

 

[DronnieBlade]

I have a bit of intel on this also.

"Where u erd dis pal" ? Can't say but this is what I heard.

Billy (and also Coutts and Basham) had a "gentleman's" agreement that wages would go up on promotion to the Championship. They would go up to the level they where previously on at their respective Championship clubs prior to joining the Blades. Substantial increases in all cases.

The club have not kept their "gentlemans" agreement and they are all about £2k per week light.

So I suspect SunJi ain't bullshitting in this case.

UTB

Oh and Wilder is far from impressed with the overall budget. Which may further explain the above.

UTB

 

[lawlessdan]

Was there not a rumour around this time last season that Billy was going because Wilder didn't rate him and he wouldn't fit in with his style of play?

 

[McGrath]

In football.
There are NO gentlemen.

If they were gentlemen then to maintain their honour they would settle it in the most manly, dignified way with a Duel. Weapons chosen by the challenger.

The modern world is so awful.

 

[BushBlade]

I hope I'm way out on this.

This time last season I posted on a couple of threads that I felt our priorities had changed. That we weren't chasing promotion at any cost and had prioritised balancing the books. I thought that perhaps the owners had become tired of putting in money each season and had come to the conclusion that even if we stopped running at a loss, we would still have a big enough budget to compete.
I don't think they expected immediate promotion. I suspected their plan was to cut the budget over a couple of years, as the big earners' contracts expired and look to go up in a position where we were more or less breaking even.
Instead, we've gone up with some of our biggest earners being key players. And we've sold off most of our valuable kids to fund it.

So where now? If the owners, won't or can't put significant amounts into the club each year how do we progress? We could be reasonably successful in L1 without much investment. I don't think that's the case in the championship.

I wouldn't normally comment so negatively on rumours but the information is coming from some fairly reliable posters, ones not known for making things up. Hopefully, it's just been blown out of proportion and we soon announce new contracts for the players and the signing of a couple of decent players.

 

[Bladesman]

If they were gentlemen then to maintain their honour they would settle it in the most manly, dignified way with a Duel. Weapons chosen by the challenger.

The modern world is so awful.

 

[Bladeinleeds]

I suspect the comments re the budget could be true.

We shouldn't be wasting money but we are clearly keeping a very tight reign on spending (despite sell on monies) which is why we are not getting the signings we want over the line.

3 players x £2k p/w on a 2 year contracts would be over £600k. So has McCabe tightened the purse strings or does he just think we can get by on the same squad as last year?

 

[Grizzly blade]

Simples...we are following the Barnsley blueprint....buy low...sell high. thanks very much and repeat.

Owners aren't gambling their inheritance on the football club they are putting in what they can afford to lose. That's where we are, no point crying over it.

We are looking for new investors, we will see if they can find any

 

[Roygbiv]

Be a superb way to lower our biggest qualities, morale and team spirit, by not following up on promises. A very United thing to do too.

We are banking on Wilder pulling rabbits out of the hat to a huge degree it seems. Can see the outlook from fans changing quite quickly if we have a poor start.

 

[bladesmanluke]

On McCabe and the Prince's head be it if we fuck this up. Not Chris Wilder's

 

[Ricky]

No player is bigger than the club. Billy Sharp is nowhere near it. So if he wants to start acting up, he can do one. The same obviously goes for Basham and Coutts.

At his age, wouldn't it be fair to see if he can still score 15+ in the Championship before offering any significantly improved contract? Because there are huge question marks over whether he can do that. Or should we make an exception for him and offer him more than he's likely to be worth?

Billy does strike me as selfish with a high opinion of himself so it wouldn't shock me if he was unhappy with another striker being brought in. But does he expect to be top dog forever? Does he not want the team to be improved? If this bit is true it'll really piss me off.

They can't just be happy to be part of something quite special at a good club on very good, fair contracts can they? Unsavoury bollocks like this is never far away. Isn't football great.

 

[EddieColquhoun]

I have a bit of intel on this also.

"Where u erd dis pal" ? Can't say but this is what I heard.

Billy (and also Coutts and Basham) had a "gentleman's" agreement that wages would go up on promotion to the Championship. They would go up to the level they where previously on at their respective Championship clubs prior to joining the Blades. Substantial increases in all cases.

The club have not kept their "gentlemans" agreement and they are all about £2k per week light.

So I suspect SunJi ain't bullshitting in this case.

UTB

Transfer deals take a long time to work out. So 3 different players, in different transfer deals, perhaps with three different agents were all offered the same "gentleman's agreement"? And not one of the high-powered agents thought that it would be worth putting into the contract?

Doesn't sound believable to me.

 

[Grappler]

I think it is fair to say that none of us really know what is going on behind the scenes. Does anyone really believe that a gentleman's agreement was done on a hand shake?, their Agents simply said "yes, go ahead and shake hands, I am sure the club will honour it and I will get my percentage, I trust them".

Really?

And if anything was verbally agreed, do any of us think it was Chris Wilder who said it?, he seems far too level headed and loyal to his players to put himself in a position he could not follow through on.

 

[sitwell]

Billy is apparently upset that Ched has come in as he is used to being top dog in terms of goal scoring.
Billy also wants to remain top earner but his value to the team is not seen to be as big in the championship and we know we will have to bring in better players at subsequently more money to enable us to move forward.
Also v upset that cheds transfer was leaked before end of season as it took shine off the teams successful campaign but little or nothing we could do as the leak was from the chesterfield end, by a guy who in his position should know better.

I bet you watch Hollyoaks.

 

[Grappler]

Transfer deals take a long time to work out. So 3 different players, in different transfer deals, perhaps with three different agents were all offered the same "gentleman's agreement"? And not one of the high-powered agents thought that it would be worth putting into the contract?

Doesn't sound believable to me.

We must have been typing at the same time pal........

 

[Ricky]

On McCabe and the Prince's head be it if we fuck this up. Not Chris Wilder's

I'm not so sure. I think WIlder would be very hesitant to cave in to the demands of players like those 3 and give them big contracts.

But if he has to scrape around in the transfer market and we're struggling early on, then I can see the fans turning on the owners before Wilder. And rightly so.

 

[Slim Man]

I have a bit of intel on this also.

"Where u erd dis pal" ? Can't say but this is what I heard.

Billy (and also Coutts and Basham) had a "gentleman's" agreement that wages would go up on promotion to the Championship. They would go up to the level they where previously on at their respective Championship clubs prior to joining the Blades. Substantial increases in all cases.

The club have not kept their "gentlemans" agreement and they are all about £2k per week light.

So I suspect SunJi ain't bullshitting in this case.

UTB

If that's true the club can get fucked. Penny pinching over a record breaking team? Bang out of order

 

[bartman]

Transfer deals take a long time to work out. So 3 different players, in different transfer deals, perhaps with three different agents were all offered the same "gentleman's agreement"? And not one of the high-powered agents thought that it would be worth putting into the contract?

Doesn't sound believable to me.

According to a club secretary I know,player's contracts have clauses as standard for promotion including bonuses and pay rises. So the 3 players will have had pay rises in accordance with their contracts as well the contracts being extended. I would have thought that if Sharp was unhappy, it might be because we have offered him a new two year deal and he wants a longer term one

As for gentleman's agreements ? Totally agree. Doesn't sound believable as either side could deny one was made to suit their agenda

 

[Slim Man]

No player is bigger than the club. Billy Sharp is nowhere near it. So if he wants to start acting up, he can do one. The same obviously goes for Basham and Coutts.

At his age, wouldn't it be fair to see if he can still score 15+ in the Championship before offering any significantly improved contract? Because there are huge question marks over whether he can do that. Or should we make an exception for him and offer him more than he's likely to be worth?

Billy does strike me as selfish with a high opinion of himself so it wouldn't shock me if he was unhappy with another striker being brought in. But does he expect to be top dog forever? Does he not want the team to be improved? If this bit is true it'll really piss me off.

They can't just be happy to be part of something quite special at a good club on very good, fair contracts can they? Unsavoury bollocks like this is never far away. Isn't football great.

If the club have gone back on a gentleman's agreement it's on their head.