Calverton -Lewin

[Slim Man]

The only player we sold who we shouldn't have in the last couple of years is Brayford. He would have given us cover and a tactical option for any position in the back three or mid five. It would have also averted the need for Sean Thornton to explain to everyone what "impairment" meant.

When fit... which is very very rare.

 

[nopigfansintown]

I was a big, vocal fan on here at the time he got sold.That was a lonely position.The threads at the time could be brought up for some delicious schadenfreude, but I'm better than that. Having said that, do I think he's particularly improved since leaving United. Not really. His strengths are still his control, his aerial prowess, and his ability to run the channels effectively. At times he still looks like the converted winger he is: not understanding the movements a natural striker should make, particularly when Everton are counter attacking. Physically he still has a way to go.I think he has 7 goals and a number of assists, including winning a few pens, so the kid is obviously doing really well this season.He has just signed his third Everton contract so they obviously think a lot of him.The dearth of good young English strikers also reflects really well on him.I think big Sam will help him by simplifying both his and Everton's game.

 

[Woodwardfan]

When fit... which is very very rare.

Whiteman and Reed would be useful right now.

If ever a player could play the Coutts role it's Reed.

 

[snootyfenooty]

When fit... which is very very rare.

He would have been fit though if we'd held on to him as cover and not flogged him to death week in week out. He would have slotted into RWB better than Basham, is a better option than Lundstram and Carruthers and would shore the defence up better than the sorry state it's in at the moment. It would also have averted the necessity of paying a fortune just to get rid of him.

 

[finlaytheblade]

I was a big, vocal fan on here at the time he got sold.That was a lonely position.The threads at the time could be brought up for some delicious schadenfreude, but I'm better than that. Having said that, do I think he's particularly improved since leaving United. Not really. His strengths are still his control, his aerial prowess, and his ability to run the channels effectively. At times he still looks like the converted winger he is: not understanding the movements a natural striker should make, particularly when Everton are counter attacking. Physically he still has a way to go.I think he has 7 goals and a number of assists, including winning a few pens, so the kid is obviously doing really well this season.He has just signed his third Everton contract so they obviously think a lot of him.The dearth of good young English strikers also reflects really well on him.I think big Sam will help him by simplifying both his and Everton's game.

DCL is contracted till 2023 they must think he has a lot more to offer as I do!

 

[Woodwardfan]

He would have been fit though if we'd held on to him as cover and not flogged him to death week in week out. He would have slotted into RWB better than Basham, is a better option than Lundstram and Carruthers and would shore the defence up better than the sorry state it's in at the moment. It would also have averted the necessity of paying a fortune just to get rid of him.

Brayford had the opportunity to impress Wilder like Coutts and Freeman had.

Wages cannot have been the issue as we wrote them off for no return anyway.

Brayford was the talisman of Clough. Wilder wanted a symbolic change perhaps.

 

[Slim Man]

Whiteman and Reed would be useful right now.

If ever a player could play the Coutts role it's Reed.

That the same Reed who's struggling in a bad League 2 side?
Whiteman I agree with you.

 

[I should coco]

If ever a player could play the Coutts role it's Reed.

Cue Pinchy anytime soon.

Sadly I don't think Reed is good enough for the Championship. In theory he is capable of doing the Coutts 'playmaker' role but he is not fast enough either with his feet or brain. He might be ok in L2 but not in this division.

 

[Slim Man]

He would have been fit though if we'd held on to him as cover and not flogged him to death week in week out. He would have slotted into RWB better than Basham, is a better option than Lundstram and Carruthers and would shore the defence up better than the sorry state it's in at the moment. It would also have averted the necessity of paying a fortune just to get rid of him.

He had a bad injury, he's never got over it and never will. He can't train through the week. He is as good as useless to us the way we play.

Well rid.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Brayford had the opportunity to impress Wilder like Coutts and Freeman had.

Wages cannot have been the issue as we wrote them off for no return anyway.

Brayford was the talisman of Clough. Wilder wanted a symbolic change perhaps.

You still can't deny he would have come in useful at the moment. Regarding his wages, that's precisely what I said. if you're paying him off for no return then it's surely better to get some return at no extra cost. As for the Clough bit, he's a pro, I've never bought into that bollocks.

 

[finlaytheblade]

We seem to have picked up a few seriouse injures at academy level recently Ollie Greaves being the latest anyone got any information on those ?

 

[Jesus_was_a_Blade]

I'd love to see Whiteman given a run out, especially now with Coutts injured.
He's done okay at Donny by all accounts, although hopefully like DCL he might be able to step up his game when he's got better players around him.

 

[BushBlade]

He would have been fit though if we'd held on to him as cover and not flogged him to death week in week out. He would have slotted into RWB better than Basham, is a better option than Lundstram and Carruthers and would shore the defence up better than the sorry state it's in at the moment. It would also have averted the necessity of paying a fortune just to get rid of him.

Who says we paid a fortune to get rid of him? And how much?

 

[Grappler]

I thought he looked a really good prospect with all the obvious attributes but weak, young and inexperienced. I'm not at all surprised that he's doing really well as he's matured. In fairness his transfer fee brought Lafferty, Moore and EEL to the club which was just what we needed so we can't really have any complaints. Many on here can't see past the outcome for young players. He gets knocked off the ball or makes poor decisions then he must be shit. It's like house hunting, just because the hall is painted in bright yellow gloss on the walls doesn't mean the house is a shit hole, it just means there is a bargain to be had

Might be interested, how much back garden does it have?

 

[Woodwardfan]

You still can't deny he would have come in useful at the moment. Regarding his wages, that's precisely what I said. if you're paying him off for no return then it's surely better to get some return at no extra cost. As for the Clough bit, he's a pro, I've never bought into that bollocks.

I agree with that but Wilder must have had his reasons. I seem to remember Brayford's poor body language in training shots on the website.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Cue Pinchy anytime soon.

Sadly I don't think Reed is good enough for the Championship. In theory he is capable of doing the Coutts 'playmaker' role but he is not fast enough either with his feet or brain. He might be ok in L2 but not in this division.

Much worse than that was said on here about DCL when he was with us.

 

[I should coco]

Might be interested, how much back garden does it have?

I'm probably bidding too. Is it in a good school catchment area and what are the rates like?

 

[grafikhaus]

Don't forget that we have at last got a good manager who has lifted the club to a point where players might just want to stay e.g. Brooks. The transformation had not begun when Adams and Lewin left.

Maybe, maybe not. I doubt if there's anybody on here who loves United more than me. If I was a young footballer who'd come through the ranks at BDTBL (highly gifted and talented, natch) and a PL team came in offering to match what I was earning with United, I'd be off. Be mad not to.

 

[BushBlade]

Maybe, maybe not. I doubt if there's anybody on here who loves United more than me. If I was a young footballer who'd come through the ranks at BDTBL (highly gifted and talented, natch) and a PL team came in offering to match what I was earning with United, I'd be off. Be mad not to.

If it was immediately after the Adkins season I'd have taken a pay cut to leave.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Who says we paid a fortune to get rid of him? And how much?

There's a hefty impairment figure on the accounts and speculation is it's to cover his, Hammond's or probably both of their departures. It's a reasonable assumption. If it wasn't to account for Brayford's departure last season then it will certainly be in next year's accounts. The amortisation of his transfer fee cannot be hidden and it has to show as a loss at some time. How much is paid to him additionally in paying up his contract is anyone's guess.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Maybe, maybe not. I doubt if there's anybody on here who loves United more than me. If I was a young footballer who'd come through the ranks at BDTBL (highly gifted and talented, natch) and a PL team came in offering to match what I was earning with United, I'd be off. Be mad not to.

Quadruple more like.

 

[BushBlade]

There's a hefty impairment figure on the accounts and speculation is it's to cover his, Hammond's or probably both of their departures. It's a reasonable assumption. If it wasn't to account for Brayford's departure last season then it will certainly be in next year's accounts. The amortisation of his transfer fee cannot be hidden and it has to show as a loss at some time. How much is paid to him additionally in paying up his contract is anyone's guess.

I gave up accounts thirty years ago when I realised it was boring and I didn't have the attention span for it but my understanding is the impairment is related to writing off his asset value, rather than paying him actual money.

I think it's like depreciation. If I buy a car, I write down its value over four years, so each year I charge a quarter of its cost as a 'business expense' ie I offset it against my income for tax purposes. As I understand it, when a club signs a player, they write off the cost of that over the length of their contract. I could be wrong and my attention is fading....

 

[Woodwardfan]

That the same Reed who's struggling in a bad League 2 side?
Whiteman I agree with you.

He's not struggling, plays week in weeek out and never substitited. Team doing much better under Lester. Previous manager called Reed 'a leader'

 

[snootyfenooty]

I gave up accounts thirty years ago when I realised it was boring and I didn't have the attention span for it but my understanding is the impairment is related to writing off his asset value, rather than paying him actual money.

I think it's like depreciation. If I buy a car, I write down its value over four years, so each year I charge a quarter of its cost as a 'business expense' ie I offset it against my income for tax purposes. As I understand it, when a club signs a player, they write off the cost of that over the length of their contract. I could be wrong and my attention is fading....

That sounds about right as I'm no expert either. The thing is though, if we paid for example £2m for a four year contract and he only works for three of them, then that's £0.5m up the spout where we've paid for something we no longer possess. The other alternative is of course the fabled money tree...

Anyway, back to my main point, he would still have been a useful asset for the predicament we are in.

 

[Booker4]

Is there really a need each time DCL scores that we re-open the debate on him, and whether we got value for money?! Anyway, since I'm here my view remains unchanged that although DCL is undoubtedly athletic and has many qualities to be a top player, he still remains unproven and his goals are generally tap ins that I would expect any decent forward to score. I think when he starts to score more goals than I'll change my view, but for now I think Everton could do much better than DCL but are presumably willing to persist because of his potential and work effort which can't be disputed. He is outstanding in the air though and that is an obvious asset and I'm sure with more games he'll score more headers too. I think he has one that I recall.

 

[Sean Thornton]

There's a hefty impairment figure on the accounts and speculation is it's to cover his, Hammond's or probably both of their departures. It's a reasonable assumption. If it wasn't to account for Brayford's departure last season then it will certainly be in next year's accounts. The amortisation of his transfer fee cannot be hidden and it has to show as a loss at some time. How much is paid to him additionally in paying up his contract is anyone's guess.

The impairment fee is highly unlikely to include Hammond as we didn't pay a fee for him.

 

[BushBlade]

That sounds about right as I'm no expert either. The thing is though, if we paid for example £2m for a four year contract and he only works for three of them, then that's £0.5m up the spout where we've paid for something we no longer possess. The other alternative is of course the fabled money tree...

Anyway, back to my main point, he would still have been a useful asset for the predicament we are in.

Maybe but perhaps we wouldn't have signed Baldock if we'd kept Brayford.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Is there really a need each time DCL scores that we re-open the debate on him, and whether we got value for money?! Anyway, since I'm here my view remains unchanged that although DCL is undoubtedly athletic and has many qualities to be a top player, he still remains unproven and his goals are generally tap ins that I would expect any decent forward to score. I think when he starts to score more goals than I'll change my view, but for now I think Everton could do much better than DCL but are presumably willing to persist because of his potential and work effort which can't be disputed. He is outstanding in the air though and that is an obvious asset and I'm sure with more games he'll score more headers too. I think he has one that I recall.

Seems like he's already an established premier league player and is producing the goods to prove it. The following stats are straight off the BBC website:

• Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been directly involved in 11 goals for Everton this season in all competitions (seven goals, four assists), a figure only Wayne Rooney can better (14).

GLTTL

 

[Sean Thornton]

Didn't Wilder say that despite Brayford not being in his plans he had been a model professional or words to that effect?

On top of the "bad influence" rumour we now have photo stills of him showing negative body language. Jesus.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Maybe but perhaps we wouldn't have signed Baldock if we'd kept Brayford.

Both would be ideal, one could fill in when the other is crocked.