Good business....bad business...

[Grizzly blade]

I have often been critical (rightly so in occasion) of United selling players well below their present and future value....Kyle Walker the most obvious as he was clearly going to be a super player and so selling when we did and for so little was madness.

Harry Maguire....well at least we got some use from him before selling him for I think a fair price given his experience and level at the time. Most recently he has shown improvement in the main due to the level he was training at and playing.

However....I really have to say this.
We REALLY had Blackburns pants down with Jordan Slew.....good god. Whoever managed to gain a million pounds for him did an impressive piece of work. Poor touch...struggles to run with the ball under control, headless chicken and poor football brain.
I know he's playing against Liverpool...but dear me. He's offered zero....nothing in 45 minutes other than to switch off from his defensive duties a few times (and luckily get away with it)
Sorry to say, his deal with Plymouth will be his last in pro football IMHO.

 

[Rodley]

Bad business = Desso surely?!?!?!

 

[zablade]

He moved up way too soon, a couple of seasons in League one when he was 18 would have done him some good, I reckon he would have scored double figures that season if he had stopped with us.

 

[Grizzly blade]

Nope....we wouldn't be seeing the football we are now if we had the ploughed field of seasons past at this time of year.

Get over it....it's gone. I agree with it, you can please yersen.

 

[JJBlade]

There will always be players that do not live up to expectation and there will always be players who for some reason just click at a certain point in their career and exceed initial expectations.

A club buying a young player is taking a gamble. They are buying potential, nothing else.
It is them taking on the risk, based on what they have seen if they want to buy him.

United seem quite content with their usual platitudes "Ahhh he's only a young player, totally unproven" or the other excuse "You can't keep a player because he might become unhappy"

Any player at our level throwing a sulk because he gets a transfer turned down is committing professional suicide

Sod players feelings, if somebody has seen enough of a player to want to buy him then take them to the cleaners.

First thing a proper club does when somebody comes sniffing around their players is put a ridiculous price tag on them to scare them away

United just don't do this preferring the usual aforementioned platitudes

 

[Foxy]

I reckon he would have scored double figures that season if he had stopped with us.

I'd have been astounded if he had.

 

[zablade]

I'd have been astounded if he had.

He was brimming with confidence after his youth spell looking raw but quick and was scoring. Two years in a poor Blackburn reserve side did him no goods and effectively killed his career.

He will never now play above League 2 bottom of League one.

 

[Grizzly blade]

Hmmm....class is permanent granted.
So is pace.....for me, Slew had some success at youth level because he was quick at his age group. He has looked poor in the most part. He might still be quick, but he hasn't any quality at all. I doubt he ever actually had any either.

 

[Sean Thornton]

There will always be players that do not live up to expectation and there will always be players who for some reason just click at a certain point in their career and exceed initial expectations.

A club buying a young player is taking a gamble. They are buying potential, nothing else.
It is them taking on the risk, based on what they have seen if they want to buy him.

United seem quite content with their usual platitudes "Ahhh he's only a young player, totally unproven" or the other excuse "You can't keep a player because he might become unhappy"

Any player at our level throwing a sulk because he gets a transfer turned down is committing professional suicide

Sod players feelings, if somebody has seen enough of a player to want to buy him then take them to the cleaners.

First thing a proper club does when somebody comes sniffing around their players is put a ridiculous price tag on them to scare them away

United just don't do this preferring the usual aforementioned platitudes

Barnsley not proper either then?

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The worst business for a long time was hiring the current yoofs working behind the Kop bar, you have to set off at 15:05 to get in the queue for a half time pint.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

He moved up way too soon, a couple of seasons in League one when he was 18 would have done him some good, I reckon he would have scored double figures that season if he had stopped with us.

I'd have been astounded if he had.

3 goals in 8 starts for us (2 of them at Championship level).
Extrapolates to about 15-17 goals for a full season.

 

[Grizzly blade]

Not a snowballs chance in hell Slew would have got any number of goals for United. He's showing what he has now....and that's nowt. Did nothing for 70 minutes

 

[BladeInIreland]

Hmmm....class is permanent granted.
So is pace.....for me, Slew had some success at youth level because he was quick at his age group. He has looked poor in the most part. He might still be quick, but he hasn't any quality at all. I doubt he ever actually had any either.

From what I remember even his "successful" spell with us he didn't show much football ability. He was fast, but he would just shoot from anywhere. Think chance played a part, one or two of those hit n hopes don't go in and he doesn't move to Blackburn.

This story is an example of why so.e players move for the money. There's every chance you won't reach the heights your told you will. Slew in hindsight was smart and made his big bucks before dropping down to his level.

 

[JJBlade]

Barnsley not proper either then?

No

 

[Sean Thornton]

No

I'm still awaiting an explanation of why a club with an outside chance of a play off spot would sell a player, not to a higher division but to a promotion rival , especially after banking the Stones money. Left field I know but maybe clubs at this level actually can't keep players.

 

[Grizzly blade]

I'm still awaiting an explanation of why a club with an outside chance of a play off spot would sell a player, not to a higher division but to a promotion rival , especially after banking the Stones money. Left field I know but maybe clubs at this level actually can't keep players.

I had the same question.
Pure and simple....Barnsley are happy where they are and have little intention of going further. Can be the only explanation.
I faile to accept they are just stupid.

 

[Keen Blade]

The worst business for a long time was hiring the current yoofs working behind the Kop bar, you have to set off at 15:05 to get in the queue for a half time pint.

Tut tut , according to WWF you should be singing , not sloping off for a pint.

 

[Foxy]

3 goals in 8 starts for us (2 of them at Championship level).
Extrapolates to about 15-17 goals for a full season.

It might well do, but having watched him plenty in the academy and every first team minute... I just don't think he'd have done it.

We will of course never know, but as I said at the time (not just with the benefit of hindsight) my opinion was it was good business.

I get the point made above that the move ruined things for him, but I bet hes only just (if he even is) at that number of *career* goals, never mind season.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

It might well do, but having watched him plenty in the academy and every first team minute... I just don't think he'd have done it.

We will of course never know, but as I said at the time (not just with the benefit of hindsight) my opinion was it was good business.

I get the point made above that the move ruined things for him, but I bet hes only just (if he even is) at that number of *career* goals, never mind season.

Breaking his back while at Oldham probably didn't do him any favours either.

No doubt we got a good fee for him. I just think he would have been able to contribute more that season than O'Halloran, Hoskins and Beattie did between them.

If he could score 2 goals in 5 starts for a very poor Championship side. Why should he not get goals for a very good League One side that created loads of chances?

Just one or two extra goals (even off the bench) could have helped take us up 5 seasons ago and ultimately earned us a lot more than £1M. We will never know.

 

[Tyler Durden]

He paid the price for being a big-time Charlie scumbag with ideas above his station. There will be a similar thread about Che Adams in a couple of seasons.

 

[Blade82]

The worst bit of business in my time was selling deane and fjortoft. What were we thinking ! Promotion was on a plate and we sold out

 

[pommpey]

The worst bit of business in my time was selling deane and fjortoft. What were we thinking ! Promotion was on a plate and we sold out

Yeah. We learned a lot of lessons selling players and still expecting promotion.

Oh, hang on ...

pommpey

 

[Blade82]

Yeah. We learned a lot of lessons selling players and still expecting promotion.

Oh, hang on ...

pommpey

Bad luck pommpey that's all.

 

[Pinchy]

Breaking his back while at Oldham probably didn't do him any favours either.

No doubt we got a good fee for him. I just think he would have been able to contribute more that season than O'Halloran, Hoskins and Beattie did between them.

If he could score 2 goals in 5 starts for a very poor Championship side. Why should he not get goals for a very good League One side that created loads of chances?

Just one or two extra goals (even off the bench) could have helped take us up 5 seasons ago and ultimately earned us a lot more than £1M. We will never know.

That might convince those people who didn't see him play. Fortunately most of us did. We know all we need to know.

Now then, about Ironside and De Juve...

 

[Deleted member 1486]

Yeah. We learned a lot of lessons selling players and still expecting promotion.

Oh, hang on ...

pommpey

Nothing since has been as bad.

The Fjortoft/Deane transfer happened mid season when everything looked rosey. Nothing is certain, but if I was a gambling man I'd have bet my mortgage on us going up that year.

It was pretty much the equivalent of us selling Sharp and Duffy on the last day of this transfer window in terms of impact (more so, given the higher stakes). It really took a special kind of stupid to make that decision!

Something that also gets lost in the passage of time; we also shipped out Walker, Tiler and Hutchinson either side of those transfers. Followed by Borbokis, Holdsworth, Stuart, Saunders, Taylor a few months after.

Looking at that period, it's little surprise we went from hanging around the top of the league to being rock bottom.

Have we ever had a fire sale of that magnitude before or since? (yes, we probably leaked more talent 2007-2010, but completely different circumstances!).

Colour me cynical, but I do wonder how much the PLC shareholders made out of that whole period (and I don't mean in dividends!).

 

[Sothall_Blade]

That might convince those people who didn't see him play. Fortunately most of us did. We know all we need to know.

Now then, about Ironside and De Juve...

I saw him play several times.
I never mentioned the other two.
Anyway you can shoehorn your usual rant about Bassett and "hoofnall" into this?

 

[Jan Age]

Nothing since has been as bad.

The Fjortoft/Deane transfer happened mid season when everything looked rosey. Nothing is certain, but if I was a gambling man I'd have bet my mortgage on us going up that year.

It was pretty much the equivalent of us selling Sharp and Duffy on the last day of this transfer window in terms of impact (more so, given the higher stakes). It really took a special kind of stupid to make that decision!

Something that also gets lost in the passage of time; we also shipped out Walker, Tiler and Hutchinson either side of those transfers. Followed by Borbokis, Holdsworth, Stuart, Saunders, Taylor a few months after.

Looking at that period, it's little surprise we went from hanging around the top of the league to being rock bottom.

Have we ever had a fire sale of that magnitude before or since? (yes, we probably leaked more talent 2007-2010, but completely different circumstances!).

Colour me cynical, but I do wonder how much the PLC shareholders made out of that whole period (and I don't mean in dividends!).

Was this not the Mike McDonald era - where nothing seemed to add up (literally)

 

[pommpey]

It was pretty much the equivalent of us selling Sharp and Duffy on the last day of this transfer window ...

pommpey

 

[Bert]

View attachment 22259

pommpey

It's not happening though is it pommpers? We are buying not selling.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

He moved up way too soon, a couple of seasons in League one when he was 18 would have done him some good, I reckon he would have scored double figures that season if he had stopped with us.

I liked him. I agree entirely with your post, though. Too much too young but at least his mum got a nice new house.