Dean Hammond: The Truth Video

[bladesmanluke]

Will never blame him for chasing the money, unless you have a chance to go to the club you support you would be an idiot not to, even if you think deep down that maybe your legs have gone and you can’t hack it you still give it a shot

Especially when you know it may well be your last contract in professional football

He sounds like a decent bloke. I wish him all the best with his fitness endeavours

 

[Working Class Hero]

It does seem players that commute and stay in hotels away from their family all the time seem to struggle a fair bit. I gather that from other podcasts I have heard with footballers when they had to travel a distance to play for their club. Essentially home games are away games in terms of travel and being away from your family.

Some people love it and some hate it, same as being away from home in any job. I did it myself (admittedly not on thousands of pounds per week) and it definitely affects your work.

I don't want to make excuses for Dean Hammond though. I still have nightmares.

 

[Bladesman]

Some people love it and some hate it, same as being away from home in any job. I did it myself (admittedly not on thousands of pounds per week) and it definitely affects your work.

I don't want to make excuses for Dean Hammond though. I still have nightmares.

He admits himself he has no excuses for his performances.

 

[Zipwire]

I’ve tried to steer away from the Nick Ingood stuff, as his early stuff wasn’t particularly interesting but I saw who it was with, and thought I’d give his stuff another try and really enjoyed it. It ended up being an excellent interview with some really questions and answers.

Dean Hammond was an excellent guest and it was good to hear his side of the story and his thoughts on where it all went wrong. As fans we actually know very little about what goes off behind the scenes. The upshot is that the point he makes about mentally tired is a very valid point, well presented. Admitting he had lost his speed of thought explains a lot, as does the living away from his family as well.

It probably doesn’t change much that he will always rank amongst the worst players to play for United but at least we can understand why it went wrong, and I can sympathise with him a bit, especially as he has been brave enough to do this interview where plenty of other players who didn’t want exactly cover themselves in glory wouldn’t have done the same.

A huge well done to all concerned

 

[YorkBlade]

I’ve tried to steer away from the Nick Ingood stuff, as his early stuff wasn’t particularly interesting but I saw who it was with, and thought I’d give his stuff another try and really enjoyed it. It ended up being an excellent interview with some really questions and answers.

Dean Hammond was an excellent guest and it was good to hear his side of the story and his thoughts on where it all went wrong. As fans we actually know very little about what goes off behind the scenes. The upshot is that the point he makes about mentally tired is a very valid point, well presented. Admitting he had lost his speed of thought explains a lot, as does the living away from his family as well.

It probably doesn’t change much that he will always rank amongst the worst players to play for United but at least we can understand why it went wrong, and I can sympathise with him a bit, especially as he has been brave enough to do this interview where plenty of other players who didn’t want exactly cover themselves in glory wouldn’t have done the same.

A huge well done to all concerned

Nick invited me onboard 6 months ago and we have worked incredibly hard (it's like a full time job) on new ideas for the channel, player interviews, fan opinions, quizzes, watchalongs etc...so I'd be delighted if you would continue to give it another shot.

 

[I should coco]

I praised the signing at the time and really though his experience would be the key to getting promotion, but by the end of the season I hated him for his complete inability to get into the game.

Absolute top credit to him though, for fronting up and doing this. He could just have sat on his cash, doing the odd interview with Leicester and Saints fans blowing smoke up his arse.

Crap times and by no means entirely his fault. As other have said, if the season hadn't been so abysmally bad, Adkins would have had another go and we may never have got CW/AK.

 

[PokerBlade]

I don't blame him for the contract extension (who wouldn't take the money?), I blame Adkins for the stupid decision to put that clause in, in the first place.

Same. I blamed the club for offering a ridiculous deal where the player had the option to extend rather than the club. It made no sense at the time and became more absurd as things went on, but ultimately he's a person with a job and I don't think it's fair to look on someone poorly for making the choice they did. It'd take a lot more moral fortitude than the majority of people would have to choose unemployment when there's good money on the table. The club offered a contract and all he did was have them honour it.

I think the big problem, at least as I remember it, was it was at a time where I really felt we were just one or two players short, and in comes Hammond fitting the bill of what we needed, having a track record of success, and there was that hope that he was the missing cog that suddenly kicked the machine into life. As it happened, his performances were really poor. And I don't think Adkins helped him. Instead of saying he'd had a rough start but his record spoke for itself, or just be patient, or offer any other excuse to pacify us, Adkins more or less implied that we as fans just didn't understand that his performances were actually good. I remember Hammond not picking up a runner for a goal and shouting "Tell me I don't see that".

Hammond was a major disappointment and a lot of my outrage at him and McEveley and others were more indirect digs at the manager looking back on it. It's harder to be angry when a video like this puts a person to the name. He seems like a reasonable guy and I feel bad for him that he'll go down as one of our worst ever signings, but in a purely footballing sense, that's what he is.

 

[PaulHalfway]

Really enjoyed that interview, from a different perspective of footballers lives, actually came over as a very decent person.
Such a shame he was so poor for us and looked like his legs had gone and his confidence.
It was the final bad feeling when we actually thought he had left at the end of that poor season to then find out he had accepted his one year contract extension.
Think everyone was in total shock that the club had offered him a contract with an extension when he had been so awful in most of the matches he was involved in.

 

[FlamingLip]

Great interview YorkBlade and full credit and respect to DH for being so open and balanced.

Not many of us can relate to being a footballer etc but many of us can relate to professional periods where multiple factors detrimentally coincide resulting in self doubt/regression. And it's no little achievement in climbing out of it.

Sounds a top bloke. Genuinely wish him well.

 

[Yoonited]

NEW YOUTUBE PODCAST: DEAN HAMMOND 'The Truth'

We discuss:

• Why the 2015/16 squad weren't successful
• Why he underperformed
• The contract / Chris Wilder
• Nigel Adkins
• The Blades fans

Watch:

Great watch guys, you manage to create a safe space for your subjects to speak openly, in stark contrast to some highly paid media professionals where we learn very little because the manager/player becomes guarded.

As you said an extremely open,honest and humble individual. It puts fresh perspective on what we fans see without thinking too deeply about the person rather than the footballer.

Makes me wonder if some of todays group are suffering similar thoughts about how they look different players this season,compared to most of last. Also those individual mental challenges must then affect the collective.

Tremendous. Thanks for sharing. UTB

 

[YorkBlade]

Great watch guys, you manage to create a safe space for your subjects to speak openly, in stark contrast to some highly paid media professionals where we learn very little because the manager/player becomes guarded.

As you said an extremely open,honest and humble individual. It puts fresh perspective on what we fans see without thinking too deeply about the person rather than the footballer.

Makes me wonder if some of todays group are suffering similar thoughts about how they look different players this season,compared to most of last. Also those individual mental challenges must then affect the collective.

Tremendous. Thanks for sharing. UTB

This has genuinely made my night, thank you for these kind comments. The 'safe space' remark is EXACTLY what I was aiming for and I'm so glad you recognised that.

 

[Deadbat]

Fantastic interview. Really enjoyed it. Thought Hammond was very honest over things too - he did not have to come on or say the things he did - he could have made excuses.

Thought the questions erred on the right side of questioning, probing but not too much to p**s the subject off!

Keep 'em coming!

There is some great Blades content at the moment, whether it be Art stuff, merchandise or podcasts (ours really is a shambles in comparison to others!) /vlogs.

More the merrier for me!

 

[Zipwire]

Nick invited me onboard 6 months ago and we have worked incredibly hard (it's like a full time job) on new ideas for the channel, player interviews, fan opinions, quizzes, watchalongs etc...so I'd be delighted if you would continue to give it another shot.

You can tell there has been a lot of work gone in to what you are doing. I enjoying listening to a lot of podcasts, especially the ones where people are interviewed, but what makes an interview is the person subject being interviewed, and with the Hammond interview you got it spot on. I've listened to the Monty one as well this afternoon

 

[Zipwire]

Fantastic interview. Really enjoyed it. Thought Hammond was very honest over things too - he did not have to come on or say the things he did - he could have made excuses.

Thought the questions erred on the right side of questioning, probing but not too much to p**s the subject off!

Keep 'em coming!

There is some great Blades content at the moment, whether it be Art stuff, merchandise or podcasts (ours really is a shambles in comparison to others!) /vlogs.

More the merrier for me!

I think you was one of the trendsetters with the match reports. I'd sooner read one of yours than any in the press, and have done for quite a while.

The sheer amount of quality content is one of huge benefits of the internet age. I've got some artwork by Arty Bianco, clobber by Shoreham St, a subscription to Dem Blades, listen to the Blades Pod every week, and read your match reports, and of course Roys View From.

It's all good, original stuff, produced with care and attention for the wider Blades community.

 

[Pompey_Blade]

Brilliant content. Any chance you could make your content available as an audio podcast? I would certainly subscribe.

 

[YorkBlade]

Brilliant content. Any chance you could make your content available as an audio podcast? I would certainly subscribe.

It is something we are looking into. Thank you, we have a host of podcasts and (I think) great content (I'm particularly proud of the watchalongs) on the channel so worth subscribing.

 

[diplomat]

Really good that YorkBlade well done sir. I look forward to watching the others.

 

[Bartleby]

He tried at Worthing but it wasn't a very interesting story so it is not covered in the interview.

According to his wikipedia page he had one at Coventry in 2017 but didn't get an offer.

As others above have said, great stuff, I enjoyed watching it and look forward to more.

 

[Roygbiv]

It's a great interview. Hammond has been portrayed for so long as a baddie that you sort of forget he's a real person. In my head he's always been like Skeletor but now I see another side to him. More like a Prince Adam maybe. We didn't see him turn into He Man but he's still a nice bloke.

Something like that anyway.

 

[ShockingBadBuy]

It's a great interview. Hammond has been portrayed for so long as a baddie that you sort of forget he's a real person. In my head he's always been like Skeletor but now I see another side to him. More like a Prince Adam maybe. We didn't see him turn into He Man but he's still a nice bloke.

Something like that anyway.

You’ve got the wrong man.

 

[robbiez666]

The mental tiredness problem is something I think has been afflicting many in the team at the moment. Specifically Norwood, Stevens and Baldock. They seem to struggle with concentration much more than other players.

 

[ShefRedandWhite]

Is it available as a podcast rather than just YouTube? I only ask as I do most of my listening while in the car and you’re not supposed to watch YouTube videos while doing 85mph on the motorway.

When on YouTube in your phone browser, set it to open the desktop site and play the video from there. This will then play in the background when your phones display is off. Just hook your phone up to car via Bluetooth if you're fancy, or aux The video will still be playing in the background (using your data! Be sure you've got enough) but you'll have the audio.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

Great watch guys, you manage to create a safe space for your subjects to speak openly, in stark contrast to some highly paid media professionals where we learn very little because the manager/player becomes guarded.

As you said an extremely open,honest and humble individual. It puts fresh perspective on what we fans see without thinking too deeply about the person rather than the footballer.

Makes me wonder if some of todays group are suffering similar thoughts about how they look different players this season,compared to most of last. Also those individual mental challenges must then affect the collective.

Tremendous. Thanks for sharing. UTB

safe space

 

[coaxingstar71]

I think it's all been covered but fair play to him for having the cohones to be interviewed and talk very frankly about what must have been the most difficult and frustrating part of his career. Very humble. I hope the interview was a cathartic experience for him.

My view is that the main reason we were so poor that season is that we didn't address the problem at centre back that was evident in pre-season to everyone it seemed apart from Adkins. Later in the season we got Baptiste in loan and that was a small improvement but it was far too late by then.

Who did Wilder sign when he arrived.... JOC, Jake Wright, James Wilson (initially), and later EEL on loan, and also, the masterstroke, moving Basham permanantly to RCB.

That and Adkins changing the formation every 5 minutes, leading to Coutts 'bored' comment because he was continually asked to play in different positions.

 

[Yoonited]

safe space

?

 

[Yoonited]

This has genuinely made my night, thank you for these kind comments. The 'safe space' remark is EXACTLY what I was aiming for and I'm so glad you recognised that.

Your welcome York. Refereshing to hear the person inside the footballer.

Look forward to more

 

[Worksop II]

I reckon he put more effort into that, than on the pitch when he wore a Blades shirt.

Always, will be remembered for unseen work

 

[Bartleby]

Was thinking of suggesting Jamie Murphy as a future one for YorkBlade but just been done - this popped up on Youtube when I watched CW's interview.

Wasn't sure I'd get through 44 minutes with his quiet voice being a bit hard to pick up at times, but I enjoyed it and was good to hear his account of the cup run, the impact Nigel Clough made on him etc

 

[YorkBlade]

As several of you have messaged me about other interviews we have done I thought it easier to put the list on here and not clog up the forum with a new thread....I'm good like that Foxy

Blade on a Bike Podcast #1



Paul Devlin Podcast #2



Favourite Blades XI #3



Nick Montgomery #4



Wayne Quinn #5





Coming soon: Pesch, Goooooooooose, Suffo and Asaba

 

[oldblade]

NEW YOUTUBE PODCAST: DEAN HAMMOND 'The Truth'

We discuss:

• Why the 2015/16 squad weren't successful
• Why he underperformed
• The contract / Chris Wilder
• Nigel Adkins
• The Blades fans

Watch:

Thanks very much for posting this.
[/QUOTE]

NEW YOUTUBE PODCAST: DEAN HAMMOND 'The Truth'

We discuss:

• Why the 2015/16 squad weren't successful
• Why he underperformed
• The contract / Chris Wilder
• Nigel Adkins
• The Blades fans

Watch:

Thanks for posting this.

Very interesting and as others have said it gives a different (and probably more accurate) take on what we thought was happening at the time.

The only time I really took any exception to Hammond was when he gave away that (93rd minute) penalty against Manchester United in the FA Cup. As I remember it, it was a needless challenge that not only cost the club a huge amount of revenue from the replay, but also deprived us of a high spot in an otherwise dismal season. And a draw at Old Trafford for a third division club would have been a very high spot.

I know he didn't intend to give away that penalty and I suppose we have all dropped a few clangers at work and perhaps (me in particular) should be a bit more forgiving!

A very good listen that has given me food for thought and definitely lifted my opinion of him.

His comments about mental fatigue seemed quite relevant to our current squad. Possibly an explanation for Norwood's dip in form. I also think it shows how much a crowd is disproportionately more important to us than a lot of other sides in our division. Since the disappearance of crowds our performances have fallen off a cliff. We have lost .8 of a point per game. Only Liverpool have done worse in terms of points per game lost since crowds disappeared. Other than Liverpool, no other team in our league is anywhere close to us in that respect.

We have good players (you don't get to the premier league by being useless) , but if we are honest, man for man most of our competitors have more talent, skill (however you want to describe it) than us. I think a major contributor to our success last season was that adrenalin rush that a crowd gives you. And even a hostile crowd can help in that respect. At the end of the day we are only talking about fine margins between success and failure and I think that crowds gave us that extra little bit that turned draws into wins and losses into draws.