Patience Needed

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Champagneblade .. very good post & most will agree on the points you make .. I suppose the nagging doubt in the background is that a protracted takeover would lead to another shit show of a pre season like last year where games were passing by us while we were still recruiting due to the poor management of the Ndiaye / Berge situations. Or that the takeover falls through and we’re left with a threadbare squad with possibly little to invest ?
Hopefully things will progress in the next week or two & we can get on with the rebuild ASAP.. but I 100% get ppls frustrations with the little/ no comms ⚔️
 
I can see the worry about getting players in for a proper pre season and while I am sceptical whether the 22 players in training yesterday are good enough for a top half finish. There is a team there that could be prepared to face the first matches. The key for a lot of Championship teams is Premier league loans and nobody really gets these until towards the end of the transfer window anyway.
As/when/if we sign players they need to do a proper pre season even if it means they are not available immediately.
 
I definitely trend to the clapper end of the spectrum and I still think there’s plenty of time to rebuild. But we need to get started yesterday. If we’re still light on players three weeks from now we’ll have thrown the season away.
 
It’s not the loss of these players that bothers me, it’s the fact that we appear rudderless and history tells me we don’t do things in a logical and sensible manner.

We’re like a cartoon where the character keeps getting up and running into a brick wall, then doing the same again and again….

We have a manager who was very bullish a few years ago, asking for new contracts and flexing for a move, he’s come back scolded and seems to be meek and mild and accepting of the mess we’re in and I have little confidence in the newly formed recruitment team plucking decent players from EFL teams on a modest budget.

We needed a rebuild but Wilder isn’t the man to do it.

Hopefully whatever is happening in the background signals a step change in approach and mentality because the club needs to move away from the perennial ‘we need a Blade’ and ‘upandatem’ mindset.
 
Baldock is possibly the only one of that lot who we parted with at the correct time. This is an area we need to improve in
 
Nicesheffielder said:
Not far to Page hall
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I mean. For the record. Do you feel Page Hall has a large population of Georgians (ie from the former Soviet Union). Or a large population of Slovenians (ie from the former Yugoslavia). Or have you got a little bit mixed up.
 
Ball_Sup (Phil) said:
I mean. For the record. Do you feel Page Hall has a large population of Georgians (ie from the former Soviet Union). Or a large population of Slovenians (ie from the former Yugoslavia). Or have you got a little bit mixed up.
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Georgians live on Georgian houses which is how they got thier name and Slovenian family's live in Dolls houses ......or is that the sylvanians ... I'll check 😮
 

Ball_Sup (Phil) said:
I mean. For the record. Do you feel Page Hall has a large population of Georgians (ie from the former Soviet Union). Or a large population of Slovenians (ie from the former Yugoslavia). Or have you got a little bit mixed up.
Click to expand...
1 stop shop for the lot owt tha wants
 
Champagneblade said:
The light is darkest before the dawn.

It feels we are at that point now.

We are witnessing the end of an era.

Perhaps the reaction is because of the melancholy that induces, the sense of loss of our heroes.

Is it not better to have greater memories of them in their prime than have them diminished by hanging on to them too long?

We look at Fleck and Stevens. Both probably had a year that did little to endure their legacy, more to confirm their better years were behind them.

And so you can make a case of this for many of the departed players:

Egan - look, I would have happily given him 3 more years. Another promotion, a relegation and then a year handing over the mantle. But let’s not kid ourselves. We won’t be seeing peak Egan of 18/19 and 19/20. That player is long gone. I’ll miss him, but a bad injury already in the bank and waning powers, you can understand that now is a good time to preserve his legacy.

Norwood - for Norwood, read Egan’s comments though I’m more convinced it is time for him to move on. Fantastic for 2 seasons and then a gradual slide to the point people were worried when he entered the fray with only minutes to play. Better we remember him as the King of Ping, not the player being shrugged off for opposition to score.

Baldock - it seems a while since he has gone! I would have kept him. But a great opportunity for him. He would have been on high wages and again, sad we are not getting a useful fee, but 13 league games played out of 38 shows a worrying trend. A hard one, but heart aside, it is probably the right decision.

Basham - a truly great servant but after that horrendous injury, and his age, contemplating playing once more at the highest level just seems one step too far. A logical decision, though sad to see him go out that way and clearly he loves the club and holds no ill-will.

Osborn - a game trier who was probably a manager’s dream. Made the best of what he had even if it times that was shown to have limits, especially physically. But the last couple of years have seen injuries and you do wonder if a player like Shackleton, 5 years his junior might be a better squad refresh, even if ostensibly they feel similar.

McBurnie - I’d still be looking to keep McBurnie. I feel he has matured into a natural leader, potential next captain and is immediately of use at this level and can contribute above if surrounded by better players and deployed correctly. That being said, he needs to be available. You can understand the niggling doubts when he is potentially unselectable almost half the time. If we keep him, hopefully it is with improved availability.

Wes - he exceeded expectations really but he also showed his limits and I don’t think a refresh in this position, especially as he too is 33 now, is a bad thing.

Max Lowe - a makeweight in the Bogle deal. I don’t think he ever got beyond ‘ok’ and it always felt there was someone capable of taking his place when fit. His fitness record was poor in recent years and his ability can’t justify the gamble on his fitness. Right to let go.

Jebbison - he’s the athletic forward so many teams crave to uncover. 1.90m with some pace. But that merely confirms he’s an athlete. Had he not scored a tap in against Everton, there wouldn’t be half the aura around him. He largely skipped the U23s, where Osula has been banging in braces, threes and fours on a regular basis and where Marsh has been slowly building up his skills. He’s missed a year of development. Hopefully compensation figure is useful.

Just like when you get rid of a manager, it only truly makes sense if the incoming one is a good one.

So whilst players of waning powers and diminished availability are moving on, it is now up to the club and hopefully new regime, to provide a new set of heroes.

We’ll know that by August / September so let’s sit tight and watch either the signings roll in or the car crash unfold!

Never dull being a Blade!
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Whilst I largely agree with you Champers, my worry is how much we need to do and the time we have to do it. Then of those you are able to sign, presumably not every one will be a hit. Some will flop. We're basically asking United to work faster and more successfully in the transfer market, than perhaps most of us have ever known. It's a massive ask.

We were long, long overdue an overhaul though. In centre mid in particular and you had players who stayed on too long because we lacked the resource to improve the squad - Norwood, Fleck, Stevens.

So it's needed, but gradual changing on the guard would've been preferable over the last 2-3 windows.

Now, we have no choice but to get on with it but I have zero faith in Prince and Bettis to orchestrate it successfully.
 
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