Chris Hughton pleased with our former best player

[itsinyerblood]

well lets start with my first eg agana , your saying murphy was better than agana and sharp
heres one webber or murphy
pesch ndlovu brown hes better than them too ?
you think murphy is better than anything micheal brown did here

Your post #6 mentioned 300 players, no mention of this relating to a decade or two back to select from. Why you consider harking back that far proves anything at all is plainly stupid. Surely the only relevant point is who's available today? So now that we've cleared up that nonsense, who is available today, and I'll let you off the figure you quoted, that could be viewed as worth enquiring about? I'll give you 20 names to suggest, so off you hop, but you'd better know what you're talking about.

 

[metalblade]

so we didnt buy billy sharp
and sammon
we are only 8 games in

take a brayford and a done out of any league one club wouldnt they feel it

what if Baldock had got injured and their key defender

What if my auntie had bollocks maybe she be my uncle.
Where did we play Murphy for 99% of his games for us was it up front or left wing/midfield ? Saying Sharpe or Sammon is his replacement is stretching things just a tad me thinks.
Sorry but what has Brayford and Done got to do with the price of coffee ?
I think you have been out in the sun too long and had a few too many San Miguel's

 

[LoughboroBlade]

It depends on your perception of best players
I thought Murphy was a very good squad player for us , but our best player, not really
He seemed better than some that have yet to get to his level which he took over 2 years to get to and that was not good enough to turn a play off semi with his brilliance

He was a player on an upward trend, and unlike our other better players wasn't constantly on the treatment table. When you say it's taken him two years to get to this level, what you surely mean is he's been steadily improving the last two years. He'll probably continue to improve too.

 

[blade too long]

Your post #6 mentioned 300 players, no mention of this relating to a decade or two back to select from. Why you consider harking back that far proves anything at all is plainly stupid. Surely the only relevant point is who's available today? So now that we've cleared up that nonsense, who is available today, and I'll let you off the figure you quoted, that could be viewed as worth enquiring about? I'll give you 20 names to suggest, so off you hop, but you'd better know what you're talking about.

meant around all the divisions not just us , you make out hes a Ronaldo of league one

theres loads of players hit more than 17 goals in what is now 100 games

 

[metalblade]

I thought we were talking about the sale of best players, and how everyone that does it fails – I wasn't aware I had to cover the reinvestment point too. Apologies for that.

They did indeed spend about half the cash on Agard. Presumably their fans were posting on a weekly basis after deadline day demanding why they hadn't spent the rest of the cash.

Lets not forget Bristol bought about half a team and run away with League one last season all from a relegation battle the season before much like our starting point if we are being honest, still you only seem to see what suits your argument.

 

[blade too long]

He was a player on an upward trend, and unlike our other better players wasn't constantly on the treatment table. When you say it's taken him two years to get to this level, what you surely mean is he's been steadily improving the last two years. He'll probably continue to improve too.

again abuse , cant argue using football
depends , hes yet to prove himself at the next level
if his auntie was a psychic might find out
his elevation to super player that will see us fold as a club as weve sold him is the one that must include the use of crack never mind a san miguel

 

[blade too long]

Lets not forget Bristol bought about half a team and run away with League one last season all from a relegation battle the season before much like our starting point if we are being honest, still you only seem to see what suits your argument.

well weve brought in 8 so far and havent finished , unless your in the we never spend the money camp
funny how our accounts show us spending 4 million so far in 2015

 

[itsinyerblood]

meant around all the divisions not just us , you make out hes a Ronaldo of league one

theres loads of players hit more than 17 goals in what is now 100 games

Have you got a degree in being evasive? Please provide a quote in this thread where I've said Murphy is anything other than a good player? Why do you have to resort to hyperbole to try and prove you're right? It doesn't work let alone impress, so why do it?

As for the players to replace Murphy, who exactly? You said you could name them, so go on, name them. They should be able to provide a supply of decent crosses for our forwards to capitalise on, there, I've made it easy for you.....I'll settle for 30 names, get busy.

 

[Barney]

blade too long, Murphy had 1 or 2 good games for us did he? and that warrants a £1.5m price tag does it?

 

[The Bohemian]

I would be extremely disappointed if the club kept hold of a player if he genuinely wanted away from the club. If the rumours are correct Strachan told Murphy that he needs to be playing in the Championship to force his way into the national team set up. This obviously means a great deal Jamie Murphy because he's just had a nipper and he has moved to the opposite end of the country to his family in order to better himself and pul on a national shirt.

Yes we could have played hard ball and done everything within out power to keep the player but for what? His heart isn't in it and this means we would most probably get substandard performance from him. He would be stealing a wage and not giving his all therefore what would be the point?

I have no issue in the club letting Jamie Murphy go because effectively our hands were tied as the player simply didn't want to be playing for us. I have issue with the money being sat in the bank account however and I hope that they do something about this as promised.

As you point out, there are risks in keeping an unsettled player, including the possibility of his performance dipping. Clearly, clubs faced with this situation need to weigh up the risks, including said player leaving on a Bosman.

Our problem is twofold: firstly, we seem to accept the inevitability of a player leaving once he's made his preference clear. We then fail consistently to mitigate the risk by signing a decent replacement.

On Point One, some other clubs do not feel the need to feebly acquiesce to every transfer request, if they perceive it not to be in their best interest. Messrs De Gea, Stones, Grabban and Berahino have all been made to honour their contract recently. Stones has played well subsequently, including against his suitors, and Berahino who was never going to play for Jeremy Peace again, scored the winner last weekend.

Selling Maguire for £2m was a disastrous move for the club and very likely cost us promotion. 13 months on and our central defence is still a car crash waiting to happen.

Murphy had recently signed a new 3 year contract. His sudden awakening to the fact that any self-respecting national team does not pick players from Div 3 was, frankly, his problem. The emergence of Adams makes the Murphy deal look slightly less depressing than Maguire's departure but if we are really serious about getting up and staying up - we needed both of them!

 

[sitwell]

Whats up wi everyone ,weve got Martyn Woolford haven't we ?

 

[itsinyerblood]

As you point out, there are risks in keeping an unsettled player, including the possibility of his performance dipping. Clearly, clubs faced with this situation need to weigh up the risks, including said player leaving on a Bosman.

Our problem is twofold: firstly, we seem to accept the inevitability of a player leaving once he's made his preference clear. We then fail consistently to mitigate the risk by signing a decent replacement.

On Point One, some other clubs do not feel the need to feebly acquiesce to every transfer request, if they perceive it not to be in their best interest. Messrs De Gea, Stones, Grabban and Berahino have all been made to honour their contract recently. Stones has played well subsequently, including against his suitors, and Berahino who was never going to play for Jeremy Peace again, scored the winner last weekend.

Selling Maguire for £2m was a disastrous move for the club and very likely cost us promotion. 13 months on and our central defence is still a car crash waiting to happen.

Murphy had recently signed a new 3 year contract. His sudden awakening to the fact that any self-respecting national team does not pick players from Div 3 was, frankly, his problem. The emergence of Adams makes the Murphy deal look slightly less depressing than Maguire's departure but if we are really serious about getting up and staying up - we needed both of them!

Fair and reasonable post The Bohemian. Swings and roundabouts is how I view this, except a club that claims to have promotion wishes shouldn't continue to shoot itself in the foot when it comes to selling clearly better than average players.

Berahino is the perfect example of how a club like WBA (a premiership version of SUFC?) have managed to take a grip on a situation that had the potential to implode in their face. Berahino obviously has his eyes fixed on a major pay rise, and you can bet that Spurs have let Berahino's agent know what awaits him if he moves to Tottenham, but credit WBA with taking a position that says it's possible to adopt a stance that favours the club. No doubt Tony Pulis will know the exact time to let him go, and with WBA being in a position where they are still able to compete in the prem.

So, returning to the main point, if possible, United shouldn't make noises that they're not willing to support. In doing so it sends a message that for once we might just mean what we say, but again we begin a season with another good playing vanishing into the distance. Just don't suggest we're serious about promotion, that way should the club exceed our hopes it's win-win for everyone.

I think the club needs to take a good hard look at itself and construct some kind of charter/strategy that makes sense, begins at the top and feeds through every level of this club, so that our aspirations are clear and unambiguous.

 

[Revolution]

Some sales are really poor. Blackman's was a disaster. Many justify it by his lack of success since, I damned it because he was doing it, at that time, with no prospect of replacement. We probably got his market worth - but not his worth to us at the time. Why we couldn't;t have waited until summer was beyond me.

But you're right. It's poor reinvestment that gets really my back up. Jury's still out on that in this case, but the signs aren't great.

UTB

There was no plan B except stick Che in the side and cross your fingers.

When United don't need to sell a good player under a long contract, they basically shouldn't, because given the way the club is run he just won't be replaced properly.

The sale and the replacements are so inextricably linked as to make it essential to identify your replacement ASAP. We never do this. Hence my anger every time we sell, as when the dust settles we will be a weaker side.

 

[boo radley]

Forgot who he manages so I had to go through about 10 clubs we have former player at!

 

[Blade56]

Once we signed N#2 the board must have thought we have pleased the fans so much we can get away with anything!

That said I have 100% faith said manager will use the cash to change us from a cheap average injury ridden squad to a promotion team

 

[alcoblade]

There was no plan B except stick Che in the side and cross your fingers.

When United don't need to sell a good player under a long contract, they basically shouldn't, because given the way the club is run he just won't be replaced properly.

The sale and the replacements are so inextricably linked as to make it essential to identify your replacement ASAP. We never do this. Hence my anger every time we sell, as when the dust settles we will be a weaker side.

My point my on this one was that we already had the replacements for Murphy (though we are being exposed more through injury and illness). I doubt Adkins will buy another winger.

Given that, it becomes about using the money to strengthen elsewhere. Murphy was part of the team that finished as near to relegation as automatic promotion, and the one hammered at Gillingham. We stil need to strengthen elsewhere, and it's that that I'd judge this sale on. So far, I'd judge it as a failure.

UTB

 

[Jan Age]

The more pressing matter here is we sell our players and don't replace them.

McDonald - A ball playing CM real quality and consistent - replaced with 5,000,000 MDs none of which are anywhere near his level.

Maguire - A CB who was commanding, read the game well and could bring the ball out of defence. Replaced with Brayford a RB.

Murphy -A winger for me, comfortable with the ball at his feet, ran at players, could cross and scored a few. Doesn't look like being replaced.

You can't build a successful team in any work place by selling your best employees and either:

A) Employing loads of crap resulting in an inflated wage bill.
B) Spending loads of money on a non- priority area
C) Not replacing the employee at all

 

[dingledog]

Brayford next to go then? Don't see anyone wanting what remains. Bad decision making from the board is unfortunately their most consistent attribute.

 

[Revolution]

My point my on this one was that we already had the replacements for Murphy (though we are being exposed more through injury and illness). I doubt Adkins will buy another winger.

Given that, it becomes about using the money to strengthen elsewhere. Murphy was part of the team that finished as near to relegation as automatic promotion, and the one hammered at Gillingham. We stil need to strengthen elsewhere, and it's that that I'd judge this sale on. So far, I'd judge it as a failure.

UTB

The difference between us is usually:

You: we don't need to sell, but we can strengthen/replace with the money.

Me: we don't need to sell, and we won't strengthen/replace with the money.

Essentially, I have no faith that they know what they are doing in terms of purchases. At the moment Woolford is proving me right re the Murphy sale (granted Adams would be in the side if fit, but he is not a winger)

 

[raul]

The difference between us is usually:

You: we don't need to sell, but we can strengthen/replace with the money.

Me: we don't need to sell, and we won't strengthen/replace with the money.

Essentially, I have no faith that they know what they are doing in terms of purchases. At the moment Woolford is proving me right re the Murphy sale (granted Adams would be in the side if fit, but he is not a winger)

I'd argue that, until we change our method of selling - "He's going nowhere, he's going nowhere, trust us, he's going nowhere" from July 1 to around August 25th" we're never actually in a position to see who's right.

 

[Smirth]

Murphy was our player of the season last season, therefore he was our best player.

Some people are also overly exaggerating his inconsistency. More often than not last season he was a threat to the opposition and was our main threat in a lot of games.

I get the impression that the club have taken a risk by letting him go and not replacing him properly, rather hoping a promising 19 year old striker will be his replacement, whilst sharing out the attacking responsibilities throughout the team. The second part of that I agree with as it stops us becoming a one man team, the first part I wholly disagree with and suggests those in charge at the club still aren't learning from the mistakes of the previous 3 seasons.

 

[mattbianco1]

Start of season two.. Sold Quinn, didn't go up

Start of season three.. Sold Macdonald, didn't go up

Start of season four... Sold Maguire, didn't go up.

Start of Season five... Sold Murphy. ...... ( fill in the blanks )

Start of season one... Kept a championship squad with many players earning £15k plus... Didn't go up.

 

[BushBlade]

Start of season one... Kept a championship squad with many players earning £15k plus... Didn't go up.

Championship first team with many players being vastly overpaid.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I don’t think I’ve seen so many straw men and untruths/ half-truths in one thread from a single poster and I’ve been on blades mad for years reading lendegoey’s rambings!

“Took 2 years to get to the level”- I’d say a year or just over is more accurate. We bought him in Jan 13 and in Jan 14 he put in that display at Villa and never really looked back finishing that season on fire. Given that the year saw him play under 4 managers (including the Weir debacle) and he was coming from Scotland, that’s understandable.

“best player ever” Who actually said this? People have said he was our best player at the time and we always sell our best players. Nobody would think anyone representing us in this awful era for the club is our best player ever. Even our young fans will have seen Jagielka for example. This seems to be just completely made up.

“We’ve brought 8 in”- Really? Sammon, Sharp, Woolford, Edgar. Do you mena 8 legs?

Comparing his scoring record to Porter’s is ridiculous. He is a winger. Why not look at his assists as well as his goals? As far as goalscoring goes, I would say 12 goals for a winger over a season is quite impressive to be honest.

“6 key players out”- Really? Honestly? Harris, Alcock, Cuvelier, Wallace, Kennedy, Flynn cannot be amongst those 8 as you categorically stated that if a player has been with the club for a season or more and they didn’t win anything or get promoted, they will not be missed over on the Doyle/Murphy thread. I think that leaves Done, Brayford and Coutts. Maybe you included the fit again Adams as well in that. That’s 4 players. If Coutts is a key player I’m Marilyn Monroe. Adams and Done are key players but that’s partly because we sold Murphy which has made us over-reliant on an out of position 19 year old prospect. Brayford I agree with. So that is 3 at a push, not 6 as stated.

“what if they get injured?”- Good point, let’s just not have any decent players in case they get injured. Just stick with crap ones so we won’t miss them.

“funny how our accounts show us spending £4million in 2015”. Do they? I didn’t think the 2015 accounts were out yet? Could you post a link? I think our relevant accounting period is the 12 months from June to June so I suspect the accounts won’t say anything about what has been spent in 2015.

“He didn’t do much in the playoffs v Swindon”- No but he tore Forest a new one in the FA cup, caused Spurs problems in a league cup semi, scored v Hull in an FA cup semi, scored at Villa Park etc”

“He hasn’t scored for Brighton”- No but again, he’s a winger who set up both of their goals in their last win and is earning rave reviews from the manager and fans alike.

“Sharp and Sammon are replacements”- No they are not, they are strikers. Murphy is a winger. Woolford is his replacement and so far, he looks woeful (hope he improves but don’t think he will ever hit Murphy’s level).

“when people put we are the only league one club that sells its players”- Don’t think anyone has said that? I stand to be corrected

“you think murphy is better than anything micheal brown did here”- Nope, nobody said this. You just made it up.

“blueprint only norwich got out straight away”- Leicester, Forest, Leeds, Pigs, Charlton, Southampton, Norwich etc (all the biggish clubs) got out considerably quicker than us.

“hes gone to Brighton not Barcelona”- Not sure what you’re point is? Surely a player who is proving to be an asset for a team competing for promotion to the Prem is an even bigger asset to a team conceding to get out of League 1?

But your own stated logic on the Murphy/Doyle thread undermines anything you have to say here more than any of the above ridiculous quotes. By your reasoning, we didn’t miss Fjortoft, Borbokis, Brown, Devlin, Bent, Blake, Beattie, Ward, Lowton, Quinn, McDonald, Williamson, Holdsworth, Stuart, Marcelo, Kilgallon, Kazim Richards etc. all on the grounds that we didn’t get promoted or win anything with them in the team. How can you take anyone seriously when that is their stated position? You will argue black is white to try to prevent anything negative or critical being said about the club. Where is the balance? WHF seems keen to defend the club and promote positivity but he doesn't go round building straw men and making up nonsense to do so.

 

[Grecian2000]

What a corker of a thread.

What a bastard coming to it so late, so many points to reply to but most of them long gone.

First couple of pages had me in stitches though so I can't let it go totally. Was btl so pissed that he really didn't understand iiyb was talking about our best player from last season? Who are the magic 300 who are better than him and available now? Did btl really complain that this is in the wrong forum because we're talking about Brighton, what's happening at Barcelona/Chelsea/Bayern this week?
Absolute class.

As it's on this page though, this is worthy of replying to:

Start of season one... Kept a championship squad with many players earning £15k plus... Didn't go up.

We lost our "best player" (OK, not as good as Alan Woodward but pretty much more useful in that particular season) with a handful of games to go and look how it unraveled. Only his impending trial meant he wasn't sacrificed in August, where would that actually have left us?

This thread should be pinned now for further reference in years to come!

 

[Slim Man]

why do I care what Chris Hughton thinks
Ill say it again we arent Brighton name any league one strinker in the past 30 seasons thats scored more than 12 its around 360

What a strange thing to say. Do you want us to go back in time nad re-sign Luke Beckett, or maybe Steve Bull?

We can only sign players that are playing right now. We won't find many better than Murphy that a) want to play league one footballer or b) we can afford.
It'd be silly to say otherwise.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Start of season one... Kept a championship squad with many players earning £15k plus... Didn't go up.

We got enough points that season that we would have been promoted in any of the last 3 seasons. As Grecian mentions, the Ched courtcase was also a big factor in both our failure and our not selling our best player.

Let's not forget we aslo sold or moved on Ward, Yeates and Henderson that summer. If we'd had them, we might have gotten over the line when Ched went down.

 

[BushBlade]

I don’t think I’ve seen so many straw men and untruths/ half-truths in one thread from a single poster and I’ve been on blades mad for years reading lendegoey’s rambings!

“Took 2 years to get to the level”- I’d say a year or just over is more accurate. We bought him in Jan 13 and in Jan 14 he put in that display at Villa and never really looked back finishing that season on fire. Given that the year saw him play under 4 managers (including the Weir debacle) and he was coming from Scotland, that’s understandable.

“best player ever” Who actually said this? People have said he was our best player at the time and we always sell our best players. Nobody would think anyone representing us in this awful era for the club is our best player ever. Even our young fans will have seen Jagielka for example. This seems to be just completely made up.

“We’ve brought 8 in”- Really? Sammon, Sharp, Woolford, Edgar. Do you mena 8 legs?

Comparing his scoring record to Porter’s is ridiculous. He is a winger. Why not look at his assists as well as his goals? As far as goalscoring goes, I would say 12 goals for a winger over a season is quite impressive to be honest.

“6 key players out”- Really? Honestly? Harris, Alcock, Cuvelier, Wallace, Kennedy, Flynn cannot be amongst those 8 as you categorically stated that if a player has been with the club for a season or more and they didn’t win anything or get promoted, they will not be missed over on the Doyle/Murphy thread. I think that leaves Done, Brayford and Coutts. Maybe you included the fit again Adams as well in that. That’s 4 players. If Coutts is a key player I’m Marilyn Monroe. Adams and Done are key players but that’s partly because we sold Murphy which has made us over-reliant on an out of position 19 year old prospect. Brayford I agree with. So that is 3 at a push, not 6 as stated.

“what if they get injured?”- Good point, let’s just not have any decent players in case they get injured. Just stick with crap ones so we won’t miss them.

“funny how our accounts show us spending £4million in 2015”. Do they? I didn’t think the 2015 accounts were out yet? Could you post a link? I think our relevant accounting period is the 12 months from June to June so I suspect the accounts won’t say anything about what has been spent in 2015.

“He didn’t do much in the playoffs v Swindon”- No but he tore Forest a new one in the FA cup, caused Spurs problems in a league cup semi, scored v Hull in an FA cup semi, scored at Villa Park etc”

“He hasn’t scored for Brighton”- No but again, he’s a winger who set up both of their goals in their last win and is earning rave reviews from the manager and fans alike.

“Sharp and Sammon are replacements”- No they are not, they are strikers. Murphy is a winger. Woolford is his replacement and so far, he looks woeful (hope he improves but don’t think he will ever hit Murphy’s level).

“when people put we are the only league one club that sells its players”- Don’t think anyone has said that? I stand to be corrected

“you think murphy is better than anything micheal brown did here”- Nope, nobody said this. You just made it up.

“blueprint only norwich got out straight away”- Leicester, Forest, Leeds, Pigs, Charlton, Southampton, Norwich etc (all the biggish clubs) got out considerably quicker than us.

“hes gone to Brighton not Barcelona”- Not sure what you’re point is? Surely a player who is proving to be an asset for a team competing for promotion to the Prem is an even bigger asset to a team conceding to get out of League 1?

But your own stated logic on the Murphy/Doyle thread undermines anything you have to say here more than any of the above ridiculous quotes. By your reasoning, we didn’t miss Fjortoft, Borbokis, Brown, Devlin, Bent, Blake, Beattie, Ward, Lowton, Quinn, McDonald, Williamson, Holdsworth, Stuart, Marcelo, Kilgallon, Kazim Richards etc. all on the grounds that we didn’t get promoted or win anything with them in the team. How can you take anyone seriously when that is their stated position? You will argue black is white to try to prevent anything negative or critical being said about the club. Where is the balance? WHF seems keen to defend the club and promote positivity but he doesn't go round building straw men and making up nonsense to do so.

Dane. I tend to take the view that some posters, Len being a very good example, aren't really interested in facts and certainly not in other people's opinion. They just want to type shit all day. I'm approaching 50 and when I'm on my death bed, I don't want to be thinking about how much time I spent pandering to these fucking idiots and gobshites.

 

[BushBlade]

We got enough points that season that we would have been promoted in any of the last 3 seasons. As Grecian mentions, the Ched courtcase was also a big factor in both our failure and our not selling our best player.

Let's not forget we aslo sold or moved on Ward, Yeates and Henderson that summer. If we'd had them, we might have gotten over the line when Ched went down.

That's my point about Championship first team. We had no genuine cover for the striker, no cover for the Scottish Mercenary, our CH cover was a midget who could jump quite high, etc.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Apart from a golden period under John Harris we have been poor in the transfer market.

Dave Bassett didn't do so badly in the transfer market when he signed the likes of Tracey, Kelly, Rees, Gage, Beesley, Barnes, Bradshaw, Wood, Booker, Webster, Gannon, Rogers, Todd, Lake, Bryson, Littlejohn, Agana and Deane.

Two consecutive promotions. FA Cup Semi Finalists. Four years in the top flight and finished 9th after seven straight wins.
Total expenditure on the above = less than £1M?