January Transfer Window

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Bergen Blade

Bergen Blade

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What would you like us to do? Finances will restrict us, but what type of players would you like to see added to the squad? Who would you try to let go?

Has there been an opponent you've seen this season who would be exactly right for us?
 



Has to be another central midfielder. We're lost without McDonald (and I'd hazard lost without Doyle). Despite being one of only two fit Central Midfielders today McAllister couldn't get a start today such is the sum of his usual contributions. Wilson preferred to play a fairly lightweight winger in his stead there.

In fact all season the only proper midfielder we've had on the bench has been Danny Wilson.
 
Nothing new to report here. From the beginning of the season we've known midfield is the weakness.

If we can somehow replicate Wendy's signing of Antonio (quick winger), plus cover for KMac, we'll be fine. If that means a loan or two then so be it.

Going in the other direction I reckon the only players we could do without will be attractive to no-one. While those in demand we simply cannot afford to sell (from a football point of view).
 
I don't think there will be any arrivals or departures. We cannot afford either. Budget wise, we have what amounts to less than a jar of 2 pence pieces.
 
Ideally, a couple of quick tricky wingers and a creative central midfielder.
 
We need a central midfielder of quality. And a winger with pace.

What we will get, more than likely will be nothing cos we have a board who don't give a rats arse about the team. They know they can just wait til we fail again, then let the fans blame the piggy scapegoat manager.

Then say nonsense like "failure to achieve our goal of promotion is a big disappointment for a club of our stature. we remain committed to taking this club forward. our aim next season is to build a promotion winning team, whilst keeping within our financial budget" then sack wilson, hire some other muppet. let one of (or all of) blackman, mcdonald, maguire leave for a crate of cheap champagne. and not sign any replacements. then we can start this bullshit ride all over again.
 
Bergen Blade said:
What would you like us to do? Finances will restrict us, but what type of players would you like to see added to the squad? Who would you try to let go?

Has there been an opponent you've seen this season who would be exactly right for us?
Click to expand...

The entire Crewe midfield and Luke Freeman. The chuff who took ages to come off yesterday.
There are plenty of midfielders in this league who would walk into our side and improve it massively.

The Pompey winger who tore us apart for 3o mins until Doyle stamped on his heel.
 
Micalijo said:
The chuff who took ages to come off yesterday.
The Pompey winger who tore us apart for 3o mins until Doyle stamped on his heel.
Click to expand...

These two would get us promoted. If only we had some money.

UTB
 
Don't think there's an awful lot wrong with our first choice 11, we have no meaningful back up whatsoever in midfield though. That means we're probably looking for a player who is on a free, is happy to take low wages, will be satisfied with a place on the bench and can ideally cover central midfield and the wide positions!

Don't think we could even get close to affording Freeman but it's interesting nonetheless that he can't get a game at Stevenage. Toys out of pram because he didn't get a move or just not replicated his performances from last season?

The players I'd be happy to let go and who would be a realistic option for moving out (the likes of Philliskirk, Chappell, Tonne etc) wouldn't make any real difference financially.

I think the big question is, would we be happy to sacrifice a Long or a Maguire to strengthen the squad to 2 or 3 other areas?
 
Saturday showed we absolutely need new personnel if we're not going blow it big time. I can understand the failure to go up last season. The well-documented reasons as well as most teams needing a season 'to get acclimatised'. But it is imperative we do it this year. The amazing crowds will begin to dwindle and surely even a business duffer like McCabe must know a bit of investment is needed.

Talking of which, decent piece in the Mail today:

Blunted Blades must get sharper: Why Sheffield United must avoid the play-offs

By Michael Walker
In the past two-and-a-half years the following are some of the clubs to have happily waved farewell to League One: Southampton, Norwich City, Leeds United, Brighton, Charlton, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday.
They are all of a significant size and in 2009-10 the first six were in the third division of English football together. It was a bumper edition.
Meanwhile, in May 2009, Sheffield United were at Wembley to face Burnley in the Championship play-off final. Undoubtedly it will have been dubbed the richest game in the world given the prize. Burnley won 1-0.
article-2249159-1687C38D000005DC-962_468x330.jpg
Stalemate: Sheffield United and Tranmere Rovers played out a goalless draw at Bramall Lane on Saturday in a result that favoured the away side, who lead the League One table
Among others, Sheffield United sold Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker to Spurs for £10million and went back to the Championship to give it another go under Kevin Blackwell.
They finished eighth, missing out on the play-offs. That was May 2010. After that, Paddy Kenny moved on; Leon Britton arrived from Swansea but soon went back.
By May 2011 Blackwell was gone too, Gary Speed had left for Wales and Micky Adams could not prevent his beloved club from relegation to League One. It was United’s first taste of this level since 1989.​
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Outlook: Sheffield United's Danny Wilson (left) and Tranmere's Ronnie Moore couldn't inspire their sides to score the winner​
​
Amid all the downward news was an FA Youth Cup final against Manchester United. Jordan Slew did well in that — he was sold to Blackburn.
Danny Wilson had been appointed. It was a tough posting for a former Wednesday midfielder and manager and, this May, United came third, a place below Wednesday, a place below automatic promotion.
That meant more play-offs. United got back to Wembley where this time the opposition were Huddersfield. It ended 0-0. After extra-time it was still 0-0. United lost 8-7 on penalties. There were four clubs with outsize attendances in the third division and three of them — Wednesday, Charlton, and Huddersfield — went up.

article-2249159-1687C3B7000005DC-808_468x436.jpg​
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Head-to-head: Tranmere's Jake Cassidy tries to get the better of Neill Collins​
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Sheffield United didn’t. They sold Matthew Lowton to Aston Villa for £3.3m, Stephen Quinn left for Hull and Lee Williamson left on a free for Portsmouth. Ched Evans was imprisoned.
So United started again in League One, in a division in which they are the biggest club — though Portsmouth and Coventry might dispute that. But Pompey have their own story and Coventry are bottoming out having sacked Andy Thorn.
Yet the Blades are third again.
They failed to score against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday and rarely suggested the contrary.
article-2249159-1687C3CA000005DC-792_468x426.jpg
Tussle: Andy Robinson (left) and Ryan Flynn battle for possession

Tranmere and Brentford are the two teams above United now. Both have scored more than the Blades, but then every other team in a top 10 separated by just six points has scored more than Wilson’s new XI.
And it is new. Last season United were League One top scorers with 92 goals in 46 matches. Evans got 29, Williamson 13, Lowton six and Quinn four. That’s 52 goals to find from that quartet alone.
Nick Blackman has been signed from Blackburn and has seven in the league but you can touch the austerity at Bramall Lane. The closest anyone in red-and-white stripes was to scoring on Saturday was a shot from right-back Tony McMahon. That was palmed away by Tranmere keeper Owain Fon Williams, who has had busier days.
It was third v first at kick-off and it stayed that way. On the final whistle there was no outpouring of frustration. ‘We’re Tranmere Rovers, we’re top of the league,’ sang the Wirral thousand.
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Eyes on the prize: Andy Robinson was key as Tranmere retained their lead at the top of the League One standings

That meant there were over 18,000 locals here.
The attendance was bigger than at Loftus Road, bigger than at nine grounds in the Championship. For Tranmere, Brentford, Swindon and others, promotion is an ambition. For Sheffield United it is a need.
A jolt of January investment would surely ensure that, but a key factor in League One is the introduction of the wages-to-income ceiling. No club can spend more than 65 per cent of their income on wages.
Theoretically, that should give United an advantage still, but as Wilson noted dryly, expectations at United have yet to be cut to 65 per cent. He said his squad ‘must believe’ they will be in the top two in May.
They must if they are to swerve Wembley.

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cooperblade said:
I think the big question is, would we be happy to sacrifice a Long or a Maguire to strengthen the squad to 2 or 3 other areas?
Click to expand...

If we'd not given new contracts to Doyle, Collins and Cresswell, but transfer listed them instead, would it have freed up more money than a sale of Maguire?
 
The key word in there is "strengthen" Rev. I would say we have done the selling several times before but we haven't added the strngthening bit to the equation.
As I doubt we would do so, yet again, then I too would NOT sell our best players this window.
 
Bergen Blade said:
If we'd not given new contracts to Doyle, Collins and Cresswell, but transfer listed them instead, would it have freed up more money than a sale of Maguire?
Click to expand...

Probably. However, we'd need another central midfielder and a central defender in addition to what we need now. Obviously we need one of those if we sacrifice Maguire.

Selling Long would seem to offer the best balance in terms of what he would bring in financially against how much his departure would affect the team (assuming Howard was fit). I hope we don't go down this route but could understand it if we did in a world where getting promoted as quickly as possible is of huge importance.

As well as the older players you mention, I think we also have to question some of the contracts we've handed out to some of the younger / fringe players. It's a gamble granted and a fairly low risk one but would the current squad be any weaker if the likes of Philliskirk, Tonne and Chappell hadn't been given deals?

We are in a difficult spot in that there are holes in the squad that, unless we get very lucky, will need addressing but we have very little wriggle room with our budget and don't have any obvious/easy cuts to make to the squad.
 
Bergen Blade said:
If we'd not given new contracts to Doyle, Collins and Cresswell, but transfer listed them instead, would it have freed up more money than a sale of Maguire?
Click to expand...

Cresswell's new contract was a cost cutting exercise. There wasn't a hope in hell of selling him. Best of a bad job.

The other two are surely on reduced terms, and I have to say that we need their experience. I'll support the decision to keep them on, only if we don't sell Maguire for a modest fee while claiming necessity. History will write that story in the next month.
 
If we sell someone on decent wages in the JTW then that will allow us to get worthwhile loans in ?

I can't see it myself - I can't imagine Long is on big wedge, and the only decent earners are either the one's we have to keep (McDonald, Collins, Maguire) or the one's we'd never sell (Doyle, Cresswell).
 
JohnDenver said:
Cresswell's new contract was a cost cutting exercise. There wasn't a hope in hell of selling him. Best of a bad job.

The other two are surely on reduced terms, and I have to say that we need their experience. I'll support the decision to keep them on, only if we don't sell Maguire for a modest fee while claiming it's all the fault of his Pesky. History will write that story in the next month.
Click to expand...

No charge JD, though there'd surely be a grain of truth in it this time. How much better is he going to get playing in League 1 for eons?
 
raul said:
No charge JD, though there'd surely be a grain of truth in it this time. How much better is he going to get playing in League 1 for eons?
Click to expand...

Well aye. Reading the chapter on agents in the Secret Footballer showed just how much bobbins is spoken about the pesky ones.

Oh, and Maguire will be in the Championship next season anyway. :)
 
From what I saw on Saturday it's not new players we need but a box of bangers, each banger firmly inserted where the sun don't shine and then light starting with the manager.
 
If we haven't learned that selling players and spending the proceeds on loanees is a recipe for disaster then what hope is there? :)
Click to expand...

Makes you wonder if we'd be better off doing nowt :)
 
Bergen Blade said:
If we'd not given new contracts to Doyle, Collins and Cresswell, but transfer listed them instead, would it have freed up more money than a sale of Maguire?
Click to expand...

My guess is that those renegotiated contracts lowered our wage bill to below 65%, and made the sale of anybody less likely.

UTB
 



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