John Lundstram 'set to leave Sheffield United in January'

[Killamarshblades]

Because he’s acting like he’s better than us, which on recent form he isn’t. Sure, if he was Ronaldo then it’d be obvious that he deserved a bigger and better stage on which to perform, but he isn’t is he?

And people are saying he looks like a cunt because he has the facial features of a cunt.

How is he acting like he's better than us?? He's turned down a contract, that's all. He's clearly training well and doing enough to justify a place in the squad.

Ever thought he might want, after 4 years a change of scenery (much like many of us do after a while at work)? Live in a different city?? Be closer to home?? Less of a commute? He might have had enough of being a scapegoat which he's pretty much been since he came, apart from Aug - Dec last season when everyone was creaming themselves over him.

There could be loads of reasons why he want to move on. I personally dont give a shit either way but some of the bollocks written about him is crazy.

Dont forget, Wilder was as good as through the door at the end of the 1st season in the Championship as the club wouldnt give him the money he wanted. Did everyone go on about him acting better than us??!

Id also add that there's only one person who's at risk in all of this and that is Lundstram himself. Hes not got a contract from 30 June 2021...if he does his cruciate, or does a Coutts (god forbid for the lad) he's fucked. No one is going to sign him. So that bares some consideration as he runs himself into the ground each week

 

[Carlton Blade]

You sure you aren't just being a bit precious? He's decided not to sign a contract, he's not wiping his bollocks across your forehead while you sleep.


That would be a concern, which is why I'm sure if Rangers were interested we'd like a pre-contract agreement in place in January with them.
However, I'd think Lunny would rather wait to see what's on the table in the summer, which would mean there is the risk of the above which is why I guess Wilder would rather sell. Personally I don't think they'll be any interest from the PL though on the wages he wants.

We genuinely don't know if it's purely the wage he's leaving for though? It might be he really needs/wants the signing on fee (which you'd expect to be sizable). He could really, really hate Sheffield? Maybe his Missus wants to move house?

I listened to the Wilder interview and he never actually said "John doesn't think we've offered him enough money". He just said "He and his agent want to test the market/see what's out there".

I hold no resentment towards him. We didn't pay much for him and he's made some massive contributions. I just think to go into these first 16 games with your (at worst) first midfielder off the bench refusing to sign a contract and not make more effort to bring competition in is very, very poor use of resources

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I hold no resentment towards him. We didn't pay much for him and he's made some massive contributions. I just think to go into these first 16 games with your (at worst) first midfielder off the bench refusing to sign a contract and not make more effort to bring competition in is very, very poor use of resources

I think it would be fair to suggest difference in wages is a key factor here. If his wife hated Sheffield but we'd pay clearly the most, he'd stay as he's already in the team.
Problem is, in an ideal world we'd have £150 million to spend on the squad last summer, but we didn't.
We needed a new keeper, cover at centre half, long term replacement for Bash, cover/replacements at both wingbacks, at least 2 new midfielders, and replacements for Clarke, Billy and Dids up top. It's the age old problem of limited resources and infinite wants.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Problem is, in an ideal world we'd have £150 million to spend on the squad last summer, but we didn't.
We needed a new keeper, cover at centre half, long term replacement for Bash, cover/replacements at both wingbacks, at least 2 new midfielders, and replacements for Clarke, Billy and Dids up top. It's the age old problem of limited resources and infinite wants.

We had lots of needs. But competition in midfield was way above wingbacks imo. We had RND for the left and to be honest we could have cobbled something together for the right. I would say the only midfielders we currently have who aren't worryingly injury prone and that Wilder seems to 100% trust are Berge and Ampadu.

 

[The Crab]

I would imagine he pays good money to that agent to get him a better deal and maybe that agent has got him a better deal, who knows

Simple as that really, any player would be the same. Anyone expecting "loyalty" in football is going to end up disappointed.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

We had lots of needs. But competition in midfield was way above wingbacks imo. We had RND for the left and to be honest we could have cobbled something together for the right. I would say the only midfielders we currently have who aren't worryingly injury prone and that Wilder seems to 100% trust are Berge and Ampadu.

We had literally no RWB cover, and on the other side RND was unproven above L1, and getting the extra LWB cover was designed to free Osborn from those responsibilities to focus on midfield. I’d say the need for wingback cover was in the summer greater than the need for more midfielders. And given the need to move Stevens, the decision to bring in Lowe seems doubly sensible frankly.

 

[SouthportBlade]

Loyalty doesn't exist anymore, the pursuit of money is pretty all encompassing - in all walks of life, not just football. And that's fine.

The telling thing for me, is he has a first team slot in one of the best leagues in the world. Whilst a move will clearly benefit his bank balance, i just don't see how this betters his career? He can get a decent pay rise and continue to play / improve at the lane, but seemingly is after a massive payrise elsewhere.

Likely locations are Scottish Prem? Squad player for Burnley / Newcastle or West Ham? Maybe even back down to the Championship (Bournemouth?)

Maybe he has genuine belief in his own ability and thinks he can nail down a starting place elsewhere, but I've said it before and I'll say it again ability wise hes a middling Championship player. Doesnt get close to the starting 11 of any other club in this league

 

[Carlton Blade]

We had literally no RWB cover, and on the other side RND was unproven above L1, and getting the extra LWB cover was designed to free Osborn from those responsibilities to focus on midfield. I’d say the need for wingback cover was in the summer greater than the need for more midfielders. And given the need to move Stevens, the decision to bring in Lowe seems doubly sensible frankly.

Is Lowe more proven than RND? I wouldn't particularly say so. He's also played full back more than wing back. He couldn't get in the Derby team last year either way so I think it's a stretch to say he was proven.

I like the Bogle signing but if we are talking about where resources would have been better placed this summer I think we could have found a way to cover RWB if we had to whereas the internal options for midfield are either thought to not be good enough, are injury prone or leaving on a free in the summer.

If Baldock gets injured we could move things around and fill in the gaps for maybe a month? If Berge gets injured on Saturday, then what?

 

[Brownieblade]

Loyalty doesn't exist anymore, the pursuit of money is pretty all encompassing - in all walks of life, not just football. And that's fine.

The telling thing for me, is he has a first team slot in one of the best leagues in the world. Whilst a move will clearly benefit his bank balance, i just don't see how this betters his career? He can get a decent pay rise and continue to play / improve at the lane, but seemingly is after a massive payrise elsewhere.

Likely locations are Scottish Prem? Squad player for Burnley / Newcastle or West Ham? Maybe even back down to the Championship (Bournemouth?)

Maybe he has genuine belief in his own ability and thinks he can nail down a starting place elsewhere, but I've said it before and I'll say it again ability wise hes a middling Championship player. Doesnt get close to the starting 11 of any other club in this league

That’s a great post imo, he has faith in his ability to be a starter and the vast majority of us don’t agree with that

 

[The Crab]

Loyalty doesn't exist anymore, the pursuit of money is pretty all encompassing - in all walks of life, not just football. And that's fine.

The telling thing for me, is he has a first team slot in one of the best leagues in the world. Whilst a move will clearly benefit his bank balance, i just don't see how this betters his career? He can get a decent pay rise and continue to play / improve at the lane, but seemingly is after a massive payrise elsewhere.

Likely locations are Scottish Prem? Squad player for Burnley / Newcastle or West Ham? Maybe even back down to the Championship (Bournemouth?)

Maybe he has genuine belief in his own ability and thinks he can nail down a starting place elsewhere, but I've said it before and I'll say it again ability wise hes a middling Championship player. Doesnt get close to the starting 11 of any other club in this league

I think some players are more driven by the money, not all but some. Look at Westwood at the Pigs. best keeper at the club, and probably one of the better keepers in the champ. Yet he never plays (I'm assuming it's contract related). He's quite happy to not play, potentially spannering his career, to see out his contract rather than taking a lesser deal elsewhere

 

[8lade]

This thread has taken a bizarre turn we can all postulate about Lundstram (and that's fair enough) suffice to say he's going now but it's the accusations against United's transfer business that is a bit left field. I'm going to put forward that United got the transfers completed that they could within the parameters of what we could afford, what we needed and what others were willing to allow. To suggest that the transfer policy has failed because we didn't move to bolster a certain position is nonsense, in this thread it's midfield but ironically across the forum all positions have been called out for not being strengthened enough.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Is Lowe more proven than RND? I wouldn't particularly say so. He's also played full back more than wing back. He couldn't get in the Derby team last year either way so I think it's a stretch to say he was proven.

I like the Bogle signing but if we are talking about where resources would have been better placed this summer I think we could have found a way to cover RWB if we had to whereas the internal options for midfield are either thought to not be good enough, are injury prone or leaving on a free in the summer.

If Baldock gets injured we could move things around and fill in the gaps for maybe a month? If Berge gets injured on Saturday, then what?

I would probably put myself as one of the posters shouting about RND the longest, and even I would have been hesitant about putting him in over an established Championship player for that covering position – particularly at a point where for his development it made no sense for RND to stay to be not even on the bench. Of course Lowe in the summer was more proven than RND – RND hadn’t kicked a ball above L1 level, I don’t think there is any debate to be had there at all.

As for the other two paragraphs – if you accept that we’d have scrambled around for a solution to RWB (without naming any) then presumably you’re open to us simply playing players where they can actually play. We actually do have a some options available even if you remove Lundstram from the mix. Fleck, Ampadu, Berge would be my preference – but you could feasibly have Ampadu at RCM, with Norwood coming in. Or, indeed, Rodwell as the deep CM (as he played for a few mins at the end of last season). But the point is, there are options there to play players in their actual positions – rather than having to switch players to something they will do a shift in but aren’t particularly good at (eg Bash) or something completely new.

 

[Carlton Blade]

I would probably put myself as one of the posters shouting about RND the longest, and even I would have been hesitant about putting him in over an established Championship player for that covering position – particularly at a point where for his development it made no sense for RND to stay to be not even on the bench. Of course Lowe in the summer was more proven than RND – RND hadn’t kicked a ball above L1 level, I don’t think there is any debate to be had there at all.

As for the other two paragraphs – if you accept that we’d have scrambled around for a solution to RWB (without naming any) then presumably you’re open to us simply playing players where they can actually play. We actually do have a some options available even if you remove Lundstram from the mix. Fleck, Ampadu, Berge would be my preference – but you could feasibly have Ampadu at RCM, with Norwood coming in. Or, indeed, Rodwell as the deep CM (as he played for a few mins at the end of last season). But the point is, there are options there to play players in their actual positions – rather than having to switch players to something they will do a shift in but aren’t particularly good at (eg Bash) or something completely new.

There's no way that Max Lowe was an established Championship player. He just wasn't. He made 29 appearances last season and by the end of the year was out of the team. He's played more games out on loan than he has for Derby. I don't think the difference between the two is large if it exists at all.

We would be in the same position at RWB if Baldock got injured now as we are with Fleck being injured and Lundstram leaving. Scrambling around and playing players out of position. I just think midfield is a more important area to the team and how we play than wing back. Wilder obviously doesn't have full faith in any of the options he had on the books last season because he brought Ampadu in. He knew the Lundstram contract issue was likely to be a problem and Fleck has struggled with fitness for a while. We are extremely weak in midfield and we didn't address it

Ampadu (RCM) and Rodwell (DCM) have never played those positions for United. Rodwell is basically a footballer in theory only tbh.

 

[247Blade]

Can't he go now?!!

 

[LoughboroBlade]

I don't think the difference between the two is large if it exists at all.

Right. So you’ve determined that a player with 8 Championship appearances to his name is basically the same. Fair enough, no further questions on that.

Fleck being injured and Lundstram leaving. Scrambling around and playing players out of position.

Like who exactly? Who would we be playing out of position from the permutations I just mentioned?

Ampadu (RCM) and Rodwell (DCM) have never played those positions for United. Rodwell is basically a footballer in theory only tbh.

I’ve seen enough of Ampadu over the years to comfortably say he would be fine there, but I accept he has not yet done so for us. Presumably then before Liverpool you’d have viewed us playing him at DCM as similarly scrambling given we’d never played him there before...

Rodwell while never starting in DCM for us (or indeed, anywhere) did play a few mins as DCM in a three after we went to a back 4 at Burnley. But there are other options we have available before we even need to think about that, even if he was name-checked as a DCM option by Wilder yesterday.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Right. So you’ve determined that a player with 8 Championship appearances to his name is basically the same. Fair enough, no further questions on that.


Like who exactly? Who would we be playing out of position from the permutations I just mentioned?



I’ve seen enough of Ampadu over the years to comfortably say he would be fine there, but I accept he has not yet done so for us. Presumably then before Liverpool you’d have viewed us playing him at DCM as similarly scrambling given we’d never played him there before...

Rodwell while never starting in DCM for us (or indeed, anywhere) did play a few mins as DCM in a three after we went to a back 4 at Burnley. But there are other options we have available before we even need to think about that, even if he was name-checked as a DCM option by Wilder yesterday.

You can't do the "I've seen Ampadu enough over the years" line and then say RND isn't as good as Lowe because Lowe happened to be playing games for a lower mid table Championship team!

Also, who's better? Callum Patterson or Ivan Toney?

 

[LoughboroBlade]

You can't do the "I've seen Ampadu enough over the years" line and then say RND isn't as good as Lowe because Lowe happened to be playing games for a lower mid table Championship team!

Also, who's better? Callum Patterson or Ivan Toney?

I can, and I have. FWIW I actually think RND will turn out to be a much better player than Lowe. Of course this will only happen if he plays regularly – which, not to keep banging on about this, he wouldn’t have done had he stayed.

It’s Toney. Of course in the summer, when the window was open, I’d have said “it could be Toney, but I’ve not seen enough of him to really comment.”

 

[Carlton Blade]

I can, and I have. FWIW I actually think RND will turn out to be a much better player than Lowe. Of course this will only happen if he plays regularly – which, not to keep banging on about this, he wouldn’t have done had he stayed.

It’s Toney. Of course in the summer, when the window was open, I’d have said “it could be Toney, but I’ve not seen enough of him to really comment.”

The Toney point was just to show that L1 starts don't make players worse than those who've even played a fair few Premier League games. I just don't think Lowe has proven much more than RND. At least not enough to warrant blocking his way to the team (unless the plan is either to get rid of RND because he isn't good enough or for there to be a 3 way battle for LWB - which seems like overkill).

And I still stand by the fact that not signing anyone to play in the non-DCM roles this summer was a poor use of resources. I understand that resources are finite and that Bogle could be an excellent signing for the future. It just looks like it was a gamble that hasn't paid off

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Is Lowe more proven than RND? I wouldn't particularly say so. He's also played full back more than wing back. He couldn't get in the Derby team last year either way so I think it's a stretch to say he was proven.



If Baldock gets injured we could move things around and fill in the gaps for maybe a month? If Berge gets injured on Saturday, then what?

One had played 33 Scottish Premiership games (league one level), and 29 Championship games when you're saying he couldn't get in the team.
RND had played 27 at league one level and hopefully rips up the Championship this year.

Suggesting we didn't need to get Lowe in for very little outlay, because he isn't proven, while supporting this with the point that we have RND who's played less games at a level lower, doesn't hold water for me. RND's path isn't now blocked, he's just got competition at a similar level that he's going to have to fight through.
I also think we were desperate for serious competition with Baldock as our creativity from wide diminished over the season and it was an obvious area for improvement.
Given it was for £10M or less, that deal was much more critical than replacing Lunny who was going to be staying till at least January.

Right. So you’ve determined that a player with 8 Championship appearances to his name is basically the same. Fair enough, no further questions on that.

RND had zero championship appearances when the decision was being made.

 

[Carlton Blade]

One had played 33 Scottish Premiership games (league one level), and 29 Championship games when you're saying he couldn't get in the team.
RND had played 27 at league one level and hopefully rips up the Championship this year.

Suggesting we didn't need to get Lowe in for very little outlay, because he isn't proven, while supporting this with the point that we have RND who's played less games at a level lower, doesn't hold water for me.
I also think we were desperate for serious competition with Baldock as our creativity from wide diminished over the season and it was an obvious area for improvement.
Given it was for £10M or less, that deal was much more critical than replacing Lunny who was going to be staying till at least January.

I'm genuinely not doubting that, based on the monetary and future gains the deal from Derby could be great value.

I am doubting that £10m spent on wingbacks wasn't the best use of resources in a team that lacks reliable midfield options. Yes it would have been shit if RND wasn't good enough but Osborn can fill in. RWB is a problem and I haven't got a great solution but as it stands Baldock is the starter there and I don't see that changing unless he gets injured (There's a fair argument he's been our best player so far).

I'd rather see a drop in wing back play than a complete lack of midfield options (which is where we currently are)

 

[LJBlade]

Loyalty doesn't exist anymore, the pursuit of money is pretty all encompassing - in all walks of life, not just football. And that's fine.

The telling thing for me, is he has a first team slot in one of the best leagues in the world. Whilst a move will clearly benefit his bank balance, i just don't see how this betters his career? He can get a decent pay rise and continue to play / improve at the lane, but seemingly is after a massive payrise elsewhere.

Likely locations are Scottish Prem? Squad player for Burnley / Newcastle or West Ham? Maybe even back down to the Championship (Bournemouth?)

Maybe he has genuine belief in his own ability and thinks he can nail down a starting place elsewhere, but I've said it before and I'll say it again ability wise hes a middling Championship player. Doesnt get close to the starting 11 of any other club in this league

There’s a lot of assumptions being made that he’s just chasing the money when in reality nobody on here knows the truth. The fact he’s turned down a contract that would make him one of our highest paid players suggests it might not just be about that.

I also think it’s quite funny that a fan base who have largely slagged him off over the past 3 or so years are now demanding that he shows some loyalty. As you say, loyalty doesn’t really exist any more.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I'm genuinely not doubting that, based on the monetary and future gains the deal from Derby could be great value.

I am doubting that £10m spent on wingbacks wasn't the best use of resources in a team that lacks reliable midfield options. Yes it would have been shit if RND wasn't good enough but Osborn can fill in. RWB is a problem and I haven't got a great solution but as it stands Baldock is the starter there and I don't see that changing unless he gets injured (There's a fair argument he's been our best player so far).

I'd rather see a drop in wing back play than a complete lack of midfield options (which is where we currently are)

..and you think you could have gotten one for £10M?

We'll disagree on the wing back thing, I think it was critical, certainly more critical than bringing someone in just to bench a player who won't sign a contract.
We still have Lunny, and until Christmas he's got to show he's worth the significant investment of another club.
In January, I'd strongly suggest we'll use our final loan position or our transfer budget to target midfield and until then we have a player deemed good enough to make nearly 40 PL appearances for us. I'd be very surprised if he makes too many starts post Christmas.

 

[RecordBreakers]

He was good for a quarter of last season the rest of his time with us hes been absolute shite we will not miss him.

 

[HammerInPeace]

Please stop trying to flog him to us...I do know what you lot think about him..
He certainly doesn't seem to be a happy chappy.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Let him go to Rangers where he will be a superstar of the Scots Prem,running rings around the likes of Hamilton Accies,Ross Couny and St Mirren four times a year.
He'll enjoy that.
Job satisfaction, maybe not so much .

The way Rangers play he'll have to up his work rate, poor opposition or not.

 

[Carlton Blade]

..and you think you could have gotten one for £10M?

We'll disagree on the wing back thing, I think it was critical, certainly more critical than bringing someone in just to bench a player who won't sign a contract.
We still have Lunny, and until Christmas he's got to show he's worth the significant investment of another club.
In January, I'd strongly suggest we'll use our final loan position or our transfer budget to target midfield and until then we have a player deemed good enough to make nearly 40 PL appearances for us.

I probably couldn't have gotten one but the club might have been able to

I didn't think Bogle alone would have been available for that fee so I have no idea who we could have gotten.

I'm not sure Lunny's performances between now and then will make any difference to his destination. He's in strange circumstances and his new club will be making their decision based on the information they have on him already. Any performances post the initial contract rejection can be put down to that if a club wants to be able to justify an investment

The WB investment being critical is a wait and see thing. I don't believe for a second that Stevens place was under any threat at all - he was genuinely poor post lockdown and yet was the only player who played every single minute (Osborn was available to at least do 30 minute cameo's before the midfield injuries, never got a look in). And replacing Baldock is very much a poisoned chalice. He's as good a wide defender as there is in the league. The drop off from him to Bogle on that side of the pitch will likely be large. Is Bogle really that good going forward to make up for it? If he started 30 games what kind of output would he need to be considered a better all round player? 3 goals and 6 assists?

 

[BushBlade]

The Toney point was just to show that L1 starts don't make players worse than those who've even played a fair few Premier League games. I just don't think Lowe has proven much more than RND. At least not enough to warrant blocking his way to the team (unless the plan is either to get rid of RND because he isn't good enough or for there to be a 3 way battle for LWB - which seems like overkill).

And I still stand by the fact that not signing anyone to play in the non-DCM roles this summer was a poor use of resources. I understand that resources are finite and that Bogle could be an excellent signing for the future. It just looks like it was a gamble that hasn't paid off

We needed to replace K Freeman. So we needed a right wing back. I think the crux of the problem is that we, long term, need to replace a lot of players, or add players that will properly compete with the first teamers. We just don’t have enough money to do that.
Whatever positions we’d have filled, there would have been gaps, or kicking the can down the road by signing some old player with maybe only a year or so left in them. We’re having to kick the can down the road again with Ampadu, we’ll have to find a replacement for him next season.
I’d have liked to have seen better cover for JOC than Robinson but it may be there was just no one available at a price we could afford, there’s no point bringing in Robinson Mark 2.

We went up with quite an ageing team and with players who were able to play at 110% and that got us results but it wasn’t sustainable. We achieved against the odds and that was because a lot of things went right for us. Now, nothing is going right for us and it’s really exposing the weaknesses we managed to get round last season, like Baldock and Basham’s poor deliveries, Enda’s erratic form, our lack of squad depth, McBurnie’s erratic form, Didsy’s crap finishing, Norwood’s inability to deal with being closed down. Even the sequence of games is more difficult this season.

I think that with the restraints we’ve got financially, we were always going to be at risk from injuries, we just weren’t able to cover every risk. Hopefully we’ve held a bit of money back for the JTW (we’ve also got a loan spot available) when we can see where we are with the new signings and injuries and try to fill the remaining gaps. It’s painful at the moment, I don’t even want to watch us tomorrow, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to go into every game thinking we’ll lose.

 

[Carlton Blade]

We needed to replace K Freeman. So we needed a right wing back. I think the crux of the problem is that we, long term, need to replace a lot of players, or add players that will properly compete with the first teamers. We just don’t have enough money to do that.
Whatever positions we’d have filled, there would have been gaps, or kicking the can down the road by signing some old player with maybe only a year or so left in them. We’re having to kick the can down the road again with Ampadu, we’ll have to find a replacement for him next season.
I’d have liked to have seen better cover for JOC than Robinson but it may be there was just no one available at a price we could afford, there’s no point bringing in Robinson Mark 2.

We went up with quite an ageing team and with players who were able to play at 110% and that got us results but it wasn’t sustainable. We achieved against the odds and that was because a lot of things went right for us. Now, nothing is going right for us and it’s really exposing the weaknesses we managed to get round last season, like Baldock and Basham’s poor deliveries, Enda’s erratic form, our lack of squad depth, McBurnie’s erratic form, Didsy’s crap finishing, Norwood’s inability to deal with being closed down. Even the sequence of games is more difficult this season.

I think that with the restraints we’ve got financially, we were always going to be at risk from injuries, we just weren’t able to cover every risk. Hopefully we’ve held a bit of money back for the JTW (we’ve also got a loan spot available) when we can see where we are with the new signings and injuries and try to fill the remaining gaps. It’s painful at the moment, I don’t even want to watch us tomorrow, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to go into every game thinking we’ll lose.

I'm not sure it's quite that bad but I agree with the sentiment!

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

The WB investment being critical is a wait and see thing. I don't believe for a second that Stevens place was under any threat at all - he was genuinely poor post lockdown and yet was the only player who played every single minute (Osborn was available to at least do 30 minute cameo's before the midfield injuries, never got a look in). And replacing Baldock is very much a poisoned chalice. He's as good a wide defender as there is in the league. The drop off from him to Bogle on that side of the pitch will likely be large. Is Bogle really that good going forward to make up for it? If he started 30 games what kind of output would he need to be considered a better all round player? 3 goals and 6 assists?

Steven's certainly wasn't under threat from anyone at the club, that appears to be clear, Lowe changes that.
As for Bogle, he puts pressure on Furious George to continue to improve, particularly offensively specifically with his distribution into the box, because that's what Bogle is a threat. If signing Bogle helps George step up in these areas, then he's still worth the price paid even if he doesn't take the shirt.

 

[BushBlade]

I'm not sure it's quite that bad but I agree with the sentiment!

I hate watching us lose on TV. I can take it when I’ve gone to the match because it’s a day out with your mates, watching us on TV is like watching a shit film with an even shitter ending, when you just think ‘why did I bother?’