Ndiaye 2024

[Kizmet]

We were as dead as a Dodo as soon as Ndiah and Berge left and probably would still have been relegated if they had stayed.
I've mentioned before the princes reaction at the final whistle after the WBA game! running on to the pitch yes running on to the pitch ! Just! giving Hecki a bear hug.I reckon even then Hecki knew his time was limited.
Princes get out of jail card ! as I think the worst could have happened ! administration the lot ! if we had failed in the run in.
The budget he gave Hecki told the full story and he would have known it was a relegation budget.
In other words he just accepted our demise (prince) before a ball was kicked.
We have a real chance to build something if the takeover happens and the owners can support the manager CW or someone else.
Fingers crossed.!!

Don't Know who this ndiah is you keep talking about bout

 

[ekke287]

The ironic thing for me is that had he stayed last season he’d probably now be in a position of having a season in the prem behind him, likely still relegated but probably more suitors and higher fee potential. He’d have been our best player by a country mile last season.

Instead he’s let his heart rule his head, been played out of position and been forced out after a year.

I understood it was his dream move, and boyhood club, but this takes all the spin off it for me and proves he was never going to stay, regardless of what we threw his way.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Know who this ndiah is you keep talking about bout

Come on ! youer not that thick are ya !! Only kidding

 

[Exeter_Gently]

We are opposite ends to the same spectrum as you.

Your owner(s) have/had loads of money and squandered it.

Our owner has next to no money and squandered it!

In his slight defence he only became sole owner because his 50/50 partner tried to cut him out once promotion was assured.

But with the needs and requirements of the top level, he has no right to be an owner of a Premier League team. He’s simply not got the substance. We spent last year ensuring we could meet the obligations we were already committed to and even now the first thing we’ll be looking to do is sell Ahmedhodzic or Souza to ensure we can recruit properly.

You’d think a relegated team would be going all out to put things right but we have all the urgency of a sloth.

For those reasons and the lack of money to improve the team, I would imagine they weighed on N’Diaye’s mind too.

Hopefully this takeover gets ironed out and you lot can kick on.

 

[MadDad38]

The ironic thing for me is that had he stayed last season he’d probably now be in a position of having a season in the prem behind him, likely still relegated but probably more suitors and higher fee potential. He’d have been our best player by a country mile last season.

Instead he’s let his heart rule his head, been played out of position and been forced out after a year.

I understood it was his dream move, and boyhood club, but this takes all the spin off it for me and proves he was never going to stay, regardless of what we threw his way.

Not so sure about that. He’s played in Europe, a major team now on his CV. Compare with James McAtee - arguably as impressive towards the end of the promotion run-in but has his reputation been enhanced by last season?

 

[Sean Thornton]

We are opposite ends to the same spectrum as you.

Your owner(s) have/had loads of money and squandered it.

Our owner has next to no money and squandered it!

In his slight defence he only became sole owner because his 50/50 partner tried to cut him out once promotion was assured.

But with the needs and requirements of the top level, he has no right to be an owner of a Premier League team. He’s simply not got the substance. We spent last year ensuring we could meet the obligations we were already committed to and even now the first thing we’ll be looking to do is sell Ahmedhodzic or Souza to ensure we can recruit properly.

You’d think a relegated team would be going all out to put things right but we have all the urgency of a sloth.

For those reasons and the lack of money to improve the team, I would imagine they weighed on N’Diaye’s mind too.

McCabe issued the call option 29th December 2017. Promotion was not decided at that point. 17/18 we finished 10th.

 

[BouncinBlade]

I hope he does well but I’m not convinced he’ll do much in the premier league. Especially after not making an impact in the French league

 

[Champagneblade]

McCabe issued the call option 29th December 2017. Promotion was not decided at that point. 17/18 we finished 10th.

You are right Sean. Though we did show promise that season.

Had Coutts not got injured we were in 2nd and looking good.

Ironically Lundstram couldn’t do that job and eventually went on to have a far more remarkable career than Coutts who it can be argued was the better player.

 

[essexblade]

You are right Sean. Though we did show promise that season.

Had Coutts not got injured we were in 2nd and looking good.

Ironically Lundstram couldn’t do that job and eventually went on to have a far more remarkable career than Coutts who it can be argued was the better player.

Bit of an understatement there I'd say!

 

[Revolution]

You are right Sean. Though we did show promise that season.

Had Coutts not got injured we were in 2nd and looking good.

Ironically Lundstram couldn’t do that job and eventually went on to have a far more remarkable career than Coutts who it can be argued was the better player.

Lundstram is 6 years younger than Coutts. He's now in the Turkish league whilst Coutts is winding down in the Highland League.

Coutts has no appearances in top tier football. Lundstram has 62 PL appearances and 94 SPL appearances. Coutts played a lot in the Championship.

Both had one good season for us, Lundstram in the top tier, Coutts in the third. Both had seasons where they were less effective and could fairly be accused of not trying their hardest.

Lundstram could not do what Coutts did in the Championship for us. Coutts could not do what Lundstram did in the first PL season for us.

I'd say at the moment it's an open question who is better.

 

[S5Blade]

Lundstram is 6 years younger than Coutts. He's now in the Turkish league whilst Coutts is winding down in the Highland League.

Coutts has no appearances in top tier football. Lundstram has 62 PL appearances and 94 SPL appearances. Coutts played a lot in the Championship.

Both had one good season for us, Lundstram in the top tier, Coutts in the third. Both had seasons where they were less effective and could fairly be accused of not trying their hardest.

Lundstram could not do what Coutts did in the Championship for us. Coutts could not do what Lundstram did in the first PL season for us.

I'd say at the moment it's an open question who is better.

Coutts had an injury that nearly ended his career though....

 

[Sean Thornton]

Coutts had an injury that nearly ended his career though....

Whatever level, when Wilder moved Coutts into central midfield he was a joy to watch. Magical at times ( yes I’m a proper fanboy).

With the exception of Lundcunt smashing Grealish l don’t recall ever being as excited as when Couttsy was never giving the ball away. 1,2,3,4……..

Short lived but in my Blades top ten.

 

[ben1987]

Whatever level, when Wilder moved Coutts into central midfield he was a joy to watch. Magical at times ( yes I’m a proper fanboy).

With the exception of Lundcunt smashing Grealish l don’t recall ever being as excited as when Couttsy was never giving the ball away. 1,2,3,4……..

Short lived but in my Blades top ten.

Lunny had a good habit of arriving late into the box in time to side foot in a cut back.

He was not particularly influential in normal play.

His reputation was enhanced by the fact he was down as a defender in fantasy football. Meaning he got loads of points for our decent defensive record as well being one of the top goal scoring “defenders” that season. Pound per point he was the best fantasy pick that whole season so the random neutrals all thought he was some sort of newly promoted demon.

I’ve got a really vivid memory of that second season where he gave the ball away with a shite, sloppy pass then proceeded to walk back as we conceded.

Coutts is one of my all time favourites too, ability wise a class above Lunny. If I came home and he was in bed with the missus I’d tuck him in and offer him a hot chocolate

 

[Revolution]

Coutts had an injury that nearly ended his career though....

Yes, but I'm judging him on what he has done, rather than what he might have done.

And when Coutts came back, he was clearly inferior to Norwood, of course.

As an aside, I have never understood why Lundstram mailing it in for a season gets universal condemnation but people seem to have forgotten about Coutts doing it for two seasons pre-Wilder.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Yes, but I'm judging him on what he has done, rather than what he might have done.

And when Coutts came back, he was clearly inferior to Norwood, of course.

As an aside, I have never understood why Lundstram mailing it in for a season gets universal condemnation but people seem to have forgotten about Coutts doing it for two seasons pre-Wilder.

Wasn’t Coutts played down the right in those two seasons? Wilder decided there was a player there and he was right. I’m making no claims for Coutts playing at a higher level because it didn’t happen.

The condemnation for JL arises from him downing tools. Which was clear he had. Quite a few Rangers fans came round the the view that he was going through the motions. IIRC Rangers had injury and loss of form issues in midfield with not much competition. That’s not to say he didn’t have some very good games for them, he did, but Turkey? Chasing the money again. Can’t see it working out if l’m honest.

 

[Revolution]

Wasn’t Coutts played down the right in those two seasons? Wilder decided there was a player there and he was right. I’m making no claims for Coutts playing at a higher level because it didn’t happen.

The condemnation for JL arises from him downing tools. Which was clear he had. Quite a few Rangers fans came round the the view that he was going through the motions. IIRC Rangers had injury and loss of form issues in midfield with not much competition. That’s not to say he didn’t have some very good games for them, he did, but Turkey? Chasing the money again. Can’t see it working out if l’m honest.

Coutts has said in a number of interviews that he did not try his hardest pre Wilder due to fear of getting injured again. Wilder put a stop to that, to their mutual benefit.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Coutts has said in a number of interviews that he did not try his hardest pre Wilder due to fear of getting injured again. Wilder put a stop to that, to their mutual benefit.

That fear went in CM then and with Wilders astute backing. Can’t see why that improvement and his performances at his peak can’t be enjoyed. In years to come, by people who watched him, he’ll be thought more highly of than Lundstram.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Lundstram is 6 years younger than Coutts. He's now in the Turkish league whilst Coutts is winding down in the Highland League.

Coutts has no appearances in top tier football. Lundstram has 62 PL appearances and 94 SPL appearances. Coutts played a lot in the Championship.

Both had one good season for us, Lundstram in the top tier, Coutts in the third. Both had seasons where they were less effective and could fairly be accused of not trying their hardest.

Lundstram could not do what Coutts did in the Championship for us. Coutts could not do what Lundstram did in the first PL season for us.

I'd say at the moment it's an open question who is better.

It’s all relative to where we happen to be at the time, though. Billy Sharp was never a PL quality player at any point and was certainly never close to an England cap. Brian Deane was therefore vastly superior on both counts. Both are equally revered by the fanbase, Sharp probably more so than Deane. The measure isn’t who is the “better player”, it’s far more nuanced than that & based on a variety of factors, attitude & commitment amongst them.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Coutts a far better football player than Lundstram, but Lundstram had a better engine and athleticism for the premier league.

The Coutts-Fleck-Duffy trifecta is the best football i've ever seen a Sheffield United team play. Total dominance.

 

[Nedski]

Quality journalism as always

 

[SwissBlade]

Maybe if we’d offered him that when it was clear we’d got promoted he’d have signed it and not fucked us around. What I suspect happened is that we took advantage of the £4k a week he was reportedly on and offered him a much lower multiple of that to renew. He realised he could get much more elsewhere and then his agent did the rest.

I very much doubt we offered him £85k a week though.

He’d accepted the deal we offered. He then just took the deal that Marseille offered after he’d agreed everything with us and we’d prepared the media announcement

 

[Houston_Blade]

He’d accepted the deal we offered. He then just took the deal that Marseille offered after he’d agreed everything with us and we’d prepared the media announcement

I know, it’s been said a lot of times.

My point all along has been that it should have been done and dusted months and months earlier. At that point the only way Marseille get him is by paying silly money.

Then the counter argument to my point is that his evil agent and Ndiaye wouldn’t sign earlier.

Then I say that we should have made a compelling offer earlier.

Then the counter is that we were offering him contracts all season.

Then I say they obviously weren’t good enough for him to sign.

Then there’s a counter to say that we couldn’t offer PL money when we still in the Championship.

The I say we should structure the deal so he’s looked after upon promotion.

It’s a bit boring now, I know all reasons that have been given on both sides of the argument, I still maintain that we could and should have done a lot more, a lot sooner.

In the end I think he saw the writing on the wall with the shite we signed and took the opportunity to ditch us.

We always seem to act after the horse has bolted and never seem to learn as a club. Hopefully a new owner brings some new thinking and a shift in how we operate.

The fact that the owner openly stated that running contracts down is a good idea because it works in the NFL tells me all I need to know about our decision making at the top level.

 

[Bladesman]

View attachment 186318

Quality journalism as always

Bloody hell, is that how crap the Star have got? You have to fill in the blanks in their articles now.

 

[Keen Blade]

I know, it’s been said a lot of times.

My point all along has been that it should have been done and dusted months and months earlier. At that point the only way Marseille get him is by paying silly money.

Then the counter argument to my point is that his evil agent and Ndiaye wouldn’t sign earlier.

Then I say that we should have made a compelling offer earlier.

Then the counter is that we were offering him contracts all season.

Then I say they obviously weren’t good enough for him to sign.

Then there’s a counter to say that we couldn’t offer PL money when we still in the Championship.

The I say we should structure the deal so he’s looked after upon promotion.

It’s a bit boring now, I know all reasons that have been given on both sides of the argument, I still maintain that we could and should have done a lot more, a lot sooner.

In the end I think he saw the writing on the wall with the shite we signed and took the opportunity to ditch us.

We always seem to act after the horse has bolted and never seem to learn as a club. Hopefully a new owner brings some new thinking and a shift in how we operate.

The fact that the owner openly stated that running contracts down is a good idea because it works in the NFL tells me all I need to know about our decision making at the top level.

He looked at the recruitment and knew we were going to be whipping boys - can't blame him for ditching us - Hamer will be thinking the same with the current situation - agents aren't daft , they can see when a club is in a shit state financially and squad wise and advise their clients accordingly - if you were a player , how much confidence would you have in the way SUFC is run ?

 

[knowsnowt]

Why are we still fawning over this twat? He jumped ship. He's not a Blade. Fuck him.

 

[Balham]

Wasn’t Coutts played down the right in those two seasons? Wilder decided there was a player there and he was right. I’m making no claims for Coutts playing at a higher level because it didn’t happen.

The condemnation for JL arises from him downing tools. Which was clear he had. Quite a few Rangers fans came round the the view that he was going through the motions. IIRC Rangers had injury and loss of form issues in midfield with not much competition. That’s not to say he didn’t have some very good games for them, he did, but Turkey? Chasing the money again. Can’t see it working out if l’m honest.

Coutts was played as an RM in a midfield four by both Clough and Adkins, both of whom seemingly mistrusted his off the ball workrate.

I've espoused it elsewhere but in my opinion, pre-Burton Coutts was a better player for United than Norwood. He dovetailed brilliantly with both Fleck and Duffy and we were able to rotate up the pitch with those little triangles. Obviously Norwood's range opened up the pitch and changed the approach but I wonder whether we'd have had more chance of staying in the top flight for longer with peak Coutts.

Lundstram, obviously, did a decent job in that first PL season but lost his place to Berge and his lack of effort, aside from padding his stats with bounce passes, in that second season was unforgivable.

 

[ben1987]

I know, it’s been said a lot of times.

My point all along has been that it should have been done and dusted months and months earlier. At that point the only way Marseille get him is by paying silly money.

Then the counter argument to my point is that his evil agent and Ndiaye wouldn’t sign earlier.

Then I say that we should have made a compelling offer earlier.

Then the counter is that we were offering him contracts all season.

Then I say they obviously weren’t good enough for him to sign.

Then there’s a counter to say that we couldn’t offer PL money when we still in the Championship.

The I say we should structure the deal so he’s looked after upon promotion.

It’s a bit boring now, I know all reasons that have been given on both sides of the argument, I still maintain that we could and should have done a lot more, a lot sooner.

In the end I think he saw the writing on the wall with the shite we signed and took the opportunity to ditch us.

We always seem to act after the horse has bolted and never seem to learn as a club. Hopefully a new owner brings some new thinking and a shift in how we operate.

The fact that the owner openly stated that running contracts down is a good idea because it works in the NFL tells me all I need to know about our decision making at the top level.

He and his advisors refused point blank to enter into any negotiations before our league position was confirmed.

United tried to offer him a new deal as early as October which is what 7 or 8 months before he eventually walked away.

If a player doesn’t want to negotiate then he doesn’t want to negotiate and there’s not much the club can do about that

You could then argue he was worth a look at the end of his breakthrough season after the Forest defeat. At that point he certainly wasn’t worth the biggest contract in the clubs history but he might have taken an increase and a longer deal then however he could have still forced a move through last summer if he’d been inclined to do so as the players hold all the power these days.

I don’t think the club did much wrong tbh. They tried and tried early

 

[Davalon]

One thing I could agree with the absent Pinchy on.....Couttsy was a Rolls Royce

 

[Houston_Blade]

He and his advisors refused point blank to enter into any negotiations before our league position was confirmed.

United tried to offer him a new deal as early as October which is what 7 or 8 months before he eventually walked away.

If a player doesn’t want to negotiate then he doesn’t want to negotiate and there’s not much the club can do about that

You could then argue he was worth a look at the end of his breakthrough season after the Forest defeat. At that point he certainly wasn’t worth the biggest contract in the clubs history but he might have taken an increase and a longer deal then however he could have still forced a move through last summer if he’d been inclined to do so as the players hold all the power these days.

I don’t think the club did much wrong tbh. They tried and tried early

According to Bettis and Abdullah this is what happened.

I’m not sure either of them are great with the truth.

 

[ben1987]

According to Bettis and Abdullah this is what happened.

I’m not sure either of them are great with the truth.

Hecky also confirmed it at the time - before Christmas.

I’m not in anyway ITK but someone I know also corroborated the story so all in I reckon it did happen.

If it didn’t then that’s some major bull shit laying the ground work months in advance conspiracy kinda shite