vorpal blade I think that's more to do with Naughton being the more natural defender. If my memory serves me right then Walker played as a centre forward until the age of 16. He's also more one-footed than Naughton.
It's a bit like Brayford and Freeman. Both competent right backs but Freeman can play left back but I don't think I'd put the Beard on the left.
As for the point above: I don't really understand why we actively seemed to "sell" Walker to Spurs. However, I think the view was expressed on here at the time that Walker's head had been turned by the approach and he asked to go. It might have worked out better for all concerned had Naughton gone to Everton as rumoured with Walker staying at the Lane but that wasn't to be.
I've just been reading a bit more of the transcript from McCabe Q&A Jun 2009.
Might as well stick the relevant section about Walker and Naughton up here:-
<< SB: Hulse. Stead. Beattie. All big wage earners have been moved on to give more freedom to Kevin Blackwell. It's not quite so true then when you look at the younger end of the spectrum and you see Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker. We've got emails here galore on that and the point that most of them make is, if we understand the policy of getting rid of the big wages, but why get rid of the young talent as well?
KMc: I mean, you tell me, and the audience can tell me if they like, how do you stop a Premier League club buying your players?
Audience: Just say no
SB: Say no is the suggestion.
KMc: Let me say, with every player, you get an agent. It's not just the club and your player that's involved in this negotiation scenario. Now an agent who acts for players, the way the agent makes money is by moving players, getting new contracts for players. Clubs in the Premiership also employ agents to scout to get new talent for their challenges, and with respect this is the problem we've got because we're not in the top league. The Premiership TV revenues are so huge compared to the Championship, they have a buying power that we do not have. So if you get the good players, we're not an exception here, you want to keep talent.
The two lads I refer to are friends as well as Sheffield United players, or ex-Sheffield United players now, but what happened when the season ends, of course it's the agent acting for the player who looks to place the player, it's not Sheffield United because in many respects you're right, the players to us are relatively cheap and affordable because they're on contracts with us that have been negotiated. So you get an agent, acting for the lads, who then looks to place them at a club, to get, for the player at the club, the best possible deal that we cannot match. We simply cannot match.
Audience: But if they're still on contract with us we don't have to let them go.
KMc: I'm sorry, the answer is yes we do because players regrettably, and let's talk beyond Sheffield United, whether you're John Terry earning £100,000 a week, if you can go for £120,000 a week, you go. Right? Why? Because you want to earn that sort of money. Now you may be on a contract, in the case of the two Kyles with Sheffield United, a legal contract, but you cannot keep those players happy. If you've got that magic to do it, come and sit here. You can't do it, honestly.
SB: Let's bring in this gentleman over here.
Audience: Yeah, we're talking about the two Kyles and I think the majority of the people would probably agree that Kyle Naughton, whatever we got for him, whether it was £5 million or £6 million, would be a good deal for a lad who hadn't played a full season of football, I don't know if you agree or not. But Walker's a different kettle of fish. He's played five games, he couldn't have been on fantastic wages, you might have tripled his value in a year's time. So why the hell have you sold Kyle Walker?
KMc: Because you can't keep him because of the wages the Premier League club will pay him. You must understand this yeah? It's no good shaking your head. I'd love to have kept them but you can't keep them if a club will pay them so much more than we can afford to pay them, the player wants to go. Our players are no exception. I mean, if you were offered a job that was going to pay you another £15,000 a week, what would you do? Would you leave your current job?
Audience: I agree in that case, but I cannot understand that we could not have afforded Walker's wages. I can't believe that...
KMc: Well I can honestly say that is the truth. I mean, we're competing there with Tottenham Hotspur. If we're in the Premiership, it's a different matter. If we're in the Premiership, the vast majority of our squad would be on new contracts, not the existing ones that legally they have to adhere to. Because the club has to accept that you adapt to the changing circumstance of the league you've gone up in where all the players and their agents know that there's more income. And they want most of that income. Honestly, it's the proverbial rules of the jungle. If you could keep them, you'd keep them. Your comments are right, they're on contracts but do not believe, please do not believe that they will adhere to those contracts. Their agent will begin to look to move them on and the agent does very well out of every deal.
SB: Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker have the same agent, just so you know and he's a former Sheffield United player ironically. We'll speak to the lady in yellow over there in a moment but first the gentleman in the back.
Audience: How do Kevin. Were the moves initiated by the players themselves or by the club?
KMc: Ooo now, the moves were initiated by the players' agent. Now you can say that that's the self-same thing. Free enterprise says that in any industry, you have agents. Agents in football tend to be better profiled because they can be controversial but agents happen in any industry whether you're making and selling knives and forks. The agent fraternity in football... they're round watching our kids at the Academy, you can't really stop them coming to watch, can you?
Audience: Ban 'em!
KMc: Most of them come to games whether it's at Bramall Lane or Hillsborough or anywhere else in the country, watching kids. If they see talent, they'll go round to the family of the youngster, to talk to family. Because how does the agent make his living? He makes his living by earning fees, by moving players on and negotiating new player contracts. It is part of the football industry that over the last, I suppose, twenty five years has got stronger and stronger. If there was a way of stopping it, fine, but this is free enterprise.
Audience: Did Walker want to leave?
KMc: I don't think either of them wanted to leave, until, and the until bit is that a club comes along and the terms that they start to talk about to the players make their eyes water. As it would to yourself, yourself and myself, If somebody ends up offering you another, and don't quote me on the figures, £10,000 a week, what would we all say?
Audience: Were you happy, Kevin, with what we got for him?
KMc: I'd say very clearly I think for Sheffield United's viewpoint, the amounts we got for both of those lads must be some sort of record given the ages of those lads.
Audience: So you were happy?
KMc: No, I didn't say happy. I'm explaining to you. They were very well negotiated deals at the end of the day for the club. Not happy because...
SB: Can you just clarify what the two deals were? It's another big question I hear. A lot of fees are undisclosed. What the heck does that mean?
KMc: Well the overall package for the two lads is a £10 million package. Of which £8 million is guaranteed. Now, for me, that's a starting deal that for two youngsters, one of whom has played five league games. I think it was very well negotiated. And the rest is on appearances, there's also sell-on conditions if the two lads are sold by Tottenham for more than they've paid for them. I think it's been very well negotiated and tell me a better one. >>