Player Departure That's Most Upset You

[Darren]

You are only re-iterating what I stated Selly Oak. We had Saunders, Marcelo, Deane, Fjortoft and Taylor, i.e. an abundance of strikers. Taylor and Fjortoft were very similar (in terms of style of play not ability). It seemed fairly logical that we would keep one and ship out the other.

The fans made their choice by getting behind Taylor. That is why I am a little mythed that people are stating Fjortoft going as heartbreaking. I know there was the element of Deane going as well.

Don't get me wrong I am not condoning what United did. In fact I'm condeming it. Selling Deane and Fjortoft was tragic. Then to let Dean Saunders go in the same season was the icing on the cake.

My dad's mate is Charles Greens half brother. He reckons Green was the fall guy and he was helpless and it was McDonald pulling all the strings. I told my dad's mate never to introduce me as I might have a tendancy to knock him!?

Saunders actually went the following season, in December if memory serves.

 

[Ollessendro]

Yeah personally I was gutted to see Fjortfot go. He could be lazy, but he could be fantastic. Boy did he have a left peg on him.

I can remember some of the goals he scored. Not the teams mind. There was one where he was running away from goal towards the corner flag. I was o the kop and it was facing the Bramall Lane end. It look like he was literally a yard or 2 from the touchline. He just smashed it and it dipped over the keeper and into the net.

Another was where he was clean through (again facing the Bramall Lane end) and he appear to fluff it. He had acres of space as he and the keeper was in no mans land. Several people stood up and started berrating him as the ball appear to be balooning over the bar. Next thing he's doing his trademark celebration and the ball is in the net. he'd played a cheeky chip over the keeper.

I can remember game after game there used to be a bunch of blokes in their 50's stood up doing the Jan Aage celebration. Row CC/DD, seat number 130 (ish). They stood and danced doing the airplane celebration for most of the match. The usual shouts of 'si darn' where held back becuase it was so funny!

 

[SwissBlade]

Jags leaving as he'd stuck by us and for me he's just a genuine bloke that loves his football and loves the club he plays for.

 

[travellingblade]

Without a doubt Mick Jones to Leeds. First time, I realised we were a "selling" club.

"Michael Jones, Michael Jones is it true what Wraggy said, you won't come back, oh no, no".

Years later, I moved "next door" / bottom of the garden to Mick, but I could never bring myself to talk to him about it. I even skipped that section of his book.

It still hurts!

 

[LSF]

Yep, Mick Jones for me too TravellingBlade! Me and my mates went down to the Lane when he was sold and stood outside the players entrance on John Street chanting anti Dick Wragg stuff (Dick Wragg, Jam rag was one i particularly remember A big bloke came out and ran us!
Then I grew up and realised all players are simply mercenary and leave us eventually when someone offers more cash. I never lament a passing these days...

 

[JJ Sefton]

Yep, Mick Jones for me too TravellingBlade! Me and my mates went down to the Lane when he was sold and stood outside the players entrance on John Street chanting anti Dick Wragg stuff (Dick Wragg, Jam rag was one i particularly remember A big bloke came out and ran us!
Then I grew up and realised all players are simply mercenary and leave us eventually when someone offers more cash. I never lament a passing these days...

In fairness to Jones I think the United board were more than eager for the sale to go through.

 

[Mad Mick]

Yeh same for me was Mick and also TC. Was gutted when both went. What made it worse is they went to Leeds.

 

[Rodders]

A friend of mine is absolutely gutted about the Leigh Bromby sale. He's practically inconsolable.

This got me thinking to the player sale that most upset me. I'd probably go for Deane the first time. I was still young and naive enough to think the players loved the club as much as me and him leaving near broke my heart, just like Bromby going has done to my friend.

Which player sale upset you the most?

Is your mate a spaz?

 

[tenerifeblade]

Mick Jones and Alan Birchenall. They were only 19 and we sold them at the same time! What a future we could have had with those 2.

 

[LSF]

Hence the Dick Wragg obscentities Walthy

Though I'm sure MJ never regretted the move and earned far more than what SUFC would have ever paid him!

 

[Revolution]

The fans made their choice by getting behind Taylor. That is why I am a little mythed that people are stating Fjortoft going as heartbreaking. I know there was the element of Deane going as well.

this is where I disagree with you. Nobody knew we were making a "choice" at that point. Nobody knew that any sale other than that of taylor was in the pipeline.

the big sell off had begun (Ward and Tiler and Patterson had gone) but there was no reason, at that point, to believe it would continue in such dramatic fashion.

 

[grafikhaus]

Yup, among a long, long line of betrayals by the club - Jones, Hamson, Birchenall, Currie, Edwards, Agana, Deane etc. it's got to be the day Deano & Fjortoft went.
Like Beattie in January, it was as if some bright spark had thought "I know, we're doing well. Let's fuck it all up!"
When D & F went, I chucked my season ticket away and didn't go for 4 years.
No probs with the 2 Kyles - very good money and I suspect they'll really struggle to make the breakthrough. Also, in this day and age I think it's largely out of the club's hands. Agents get involved and just going away on international duty is bound to turn heads when they get talking about what the others are earning.
But going back to earlier times, Jones, Agana and the bewildering attempt to offload the great Jimmy Hagan to the pigs, and you've got to wonder if backhanders weren't involved.

 

[Rodders]

There was no demo to keep Taylor at the Lane, both he and the crowd thought the Charlton game was his last one, and the crowd were just giving him a send-off when he chucked his shirt in the crowd.

 

[Bramley]

The club made the natural option of keeping the player that the fans seemed to like the most.

They even said this, and it was absurd. It was a fig leaf to cover their own incompetence. There was chanting at games urging Taylor not to leave (notably at the Charlton game) but if you'd asked those people "One striker has to be sold - should it be Fjortoft or Taylor?" I bet those choosing Fjortoft would be in a minority.

Sales that have made my blood boil:

1. Way out in Front, Black Thursday, 15 January 1998
2. Deano the 1st time
3. Beattie
4. Edwards the 2nd time
5. Both Kyles at once
6. Brown
7. Agana

Agree with the bit about Taylor, I remember chanting his name as there were rumours we were going to sell him, nothing to do with Jan-Aage. That was a nightmare morning when Deano and Fjortoft went, although Marcelo did ok to be fair.

 

[super_pig]

i must be an old fart but tc to leeds (of all people) seemed like the end of civilisation as we knew it.. i remember him going for 333,333 or something and me and my schoolmates were like 'is that all!'
we seem to have turned the leeds connection around for the time being.. heh.

 

[Guesty]

Holdsworth upset me a lot, as did Alan Kelly especially as he said publically he was being forced out! Holdsworth is forever cemented in by heart for choosing Scarborough over Wednesday saying "Once a blade, always a blade!"

Beattie I didn't mind so much because first off it was decent business and secondly I always knew he wouldn't be around long so it didn't jar.

 

[Ollessendro]

The fans made their choice by getting behind Taylor. That is why I am a little mythed that people are stating Fjortoft going as heartbreaking. I know there was the element of Deane going as well.

this is where I disagree with you. Nobody knew we were making a "choice" at that point. Nobody knew that any sale other than that of taylor was in the pipeline.

the big sell off had begun (Ward and Tiler and Patterson had gone) but there was no reason, at that point, to believe it would continue in such dramatic fashion.

We'll just have to agree to disagree then.

There was no demo to keep Taylor at the Lane, both he and the crowd thought the Charlton game was his last one, and the crowd were just giving him a send-off when he chucked his shirt in the crowd.

Of course there was no demo to keep a player at the Lane. But I can't remember there ever being one.

Let's put it another way Rodders. If United fans hadn't worked so hard to show that they wanted Taylor to stay at the club then Fjortoft would probably not have been sold.

I remember the scene at the time and people wanted Taylor to stay. The word on the kop and round BTDBL was that we wanted him to stay. I dispute that the kop was giving him a farewell. I saw it amuch more of a way of signalling to keep him.

Revolution of course there was no 'choice' said by the board, club, manager or anyone. But wasn't it plain to see??? I certainly saw it coming. It was like having Tevez and Rooney in the same team (on a lesser scale of course). Something would have given, it doesn't make sense to have 2 players very similar in the team etc. At the time I remember distinctly thinking that we should have had one or the other playing for SUFC.

Again I stress I am condoning what the board did. But the fans who stood up and chanted 'one Gareth Taylor' (the vast majority of the crowd) with the intention of keeping him at the Lane cannot complain that selling Jan Aage Fjortoft was a travisty. It reeks of hipocrisy!

 

[shorehamview]

Holdsworth is forever cemented in by heart for choosing Scarborough over Wednesday saying "Once a blade, always a blade!"
.

A few years ago I went to watch Gretna, along with Tonyblade and three other mates. I emailed Gretna asking about prices and tickets, and mentioned that four of the five of us were Blades. I got a reply back saying that Holdsworth, who was coaching there had somehow seen the email, and he'd said that they'd better sort us out for tickets as we were Blades. The buggers still made us pay though!

 

[Revolution]

Let's put it another way Rodders. If United fans hadn't worked so hard to show that they wanted Taylor to stay at the club then Fjortoft would probably not have been sold.

No one can know, but I think that's unlikely for 2 reasons:

1. Barnsley were looking for someone to keep them in the PL. Taylor had his uses, but he wasn't the man for that job.

2. By then, United were selling anything that moved, and they still had Marcelo and Saunders on the books at that point. I reckon they'd have pulled the trigger anyway.

Your wider point is that the fans are somehow to blame for transfer policy. Mike McDonald (who I would guess was telling Green what to do - I agree with you there) was the last person to bow to public opinion. The sale of Deano alone proves that.

 

[Kenilworth]

Curran - from them to us. TWAT!

 

[Selly]

Again I stress I am condoning what the board did. But the fans who stood up and chanted 'one Gareth Taylor' (the vast majority of the crowd) with the intention of keeping him at the Lane cannot complain that selling Jan Aage Fjortoft was a travisty. It reeks of hipocrisy!

Disagree, not hypocritical at all, why shouldn`t we want to have 3 quality strikers at the club.

Remember Saunders had only just joined, and Marcelo was only just settling in as well.

 

[BrixtonBlade]

Is your mate a spaz?

There's no need for that.
I'll admit Bromby's never been my favourite but everyone's entitled to their opinion.

 

[Ollessendro]

Your wider point is that the fans are somehow to blame for transfer policy.

No no no no! That is not what I am implying at all!

Do not twist my words.

However I can say that my opinion is that the fans influenced Fjortoft leaving the Lane by backing Taylor.

Disagree, not hypocritical at all, why shouldn`t we want to have 3 quality strikers at the club.

Remember Saunders had only just joined, and Marcelo was only just settling in as well.

So that's 5 quality strikers then.

(correct me if I'm wrong but) We signed Saunders and Marcelo in the summer of 97 and let Deane/Fjortoft go in January. Do you call 6 months a settling in period/just joined?

Taylor and Fjortoft were too similar. There was not room for them both in the same team. You know how this works. They both want first team football. Taylor looked like he was going to leave. He took his finger from out of his arse and started majking the effort and scoring goals. The fans backed him and we decided to keep him. This left Fjortoft on the bench, wanting first team football. A team in a higher division came in and offered him first team football. Additionally Fjortoft was looking to get/stay in the Norway team and wanted to be playing first team football, not warming the bench behind Gareth Taylor.

 

[Revolution]

(correct me if I'm wrong but) We signed Saunders and Marcelo in the summer of 97 and let Deane/Fjortoft go in January. Do you call 6 months a settling in period/just joined?

Saunders was signed in early December, Marcelo in October.

No one understood why we needed Saunders. We soon found out.

 

[Ollessendro]

Ok my apologies on getting dates confused.

Still stick by my judgements mind.

 

[Large Mendonca]

Deane to Leeds; relegated us just like Bassett said it would.

 

[TAMUS]

Tudor was a poor swap for Ford and Hope,as he was a real Blades Hero at the time, but the departure i really hated as a kid was Colin Addison [forgot were he went].

 

[Silent Blade]

Tudor was a poor swap for Ford and Hope,as he was a real Blades Hero at the time, but the departure i really hated as a kid was Colin Addison [forgot were he went].

Hodgy had lost form in the 1970-71 and was too frightened to come out for crosses also let in soft goals. Other teams became aware of that. Graeme Crawford was an adequate reserve keeper so harris signed Hope. Hope came out for crosses and had a long throw that made everyone gasp. He made a flying save against a piledriver from the right against Sunderland when we were winning 1-0 and hanging on to our lead. He was superb against Norwich in the 0-0 home draw (we were easily second best throughout the match and it was no surprise Norwich finished as champions in the following season) and got selected into the England u23s squad a few days later. Yes, Ford was a poor signing but Hope was great for the rest of the 1970-71 season. He did well in the following season but had a nightmare in the 5-0 defeat at West Ham in the League Cup in Nov. He bounced back and played well in the 2-1 win at Newcastle just after Xmas and a fine display in the 1-1 home draw against Leicester on New Years day 1972 earned him a recall to the England u23s squad. He was awful in the 5-0 defeat at home to Arsenal at the end of Jan and after that struggled to regain his form and the 4-0 home defeat to Derby in April was the final straw for Harris who then gave McAlister his debut in the 0-0 draw at Ipswich. On the dame day Hope suffered a bad knee injury playing for the reserves. He didnt return to the 1st team until Jan 1974 (won 2-1 at Burnley). He was dropped after the 3-0 home defeat against Ipswich in March and Furphy signed Jim Brown.

Why did you hate Addo? Because he was wearing the number 9 shirt instead of Tudor (who was my hero too)? He was quite useful up front and played in midfield (wearing number 6 shirt)after the start of the 1970-71 season until he got injured in the 2-1 defeat at Luton in December and never played for us again before moving to Hereford as the player manager in the 1971 close season (Hereford had a famous FA Cup tie against Newcastle and replaced Barrow in the league in 1972). John Barnwell replaced Addo but was clearly "past it" and Frank Barlow was a "slow and weak" alternative (he was quite clever with the ball though) so Harris made an inspired signing in Trevor Hockey

 

[Revolution]

before moving to Hereford as the player manager in the 1971 close season (Hereford had a famous FA Cup tie against Newcastle and replaced Barrow in the league in 1972).

Addison was so revered for what he did at Hereford he supposedly has a street named after him there...

 

[TAMUS]

Hodgy had lost form in the 1970-71 and was too frightened to come out for crosses also let in soft goals. Other teams became aware of that. Graeme Crawford was an adequate reserve keeper so harris signed Hope. Hope came out for crosses and had a long throw that made everyone gasp. He made a flying save against a piledriver from the right against Sunderland when we were winning 1-0 and hanging on to our lead. He was superb against Norwich in the 0-0 home draw (we were easily second best throughout the match and it was no surprise Norwich finished as champions in the following season) and got selected into the England u23s squad a few days later. Yes, Ford was a poor signing but Hope was great for the rest of the 1970-71 season. He did well in the following season but had a nightmare in the 5-0 defeat at West Ham in the League Cup in Nov. He bounced back and played well in the 2-1 win at Newcastle just after Xmas and a fine display in the 1-1 home draw against Leicester on New Years day 1972 earned him a recall to the England u23s squad. He was awful in the 5-0 defeat at home to Arsenal at the end of Jan and after that struggled to regain his form and the 4-0 home defeat to Derby in April was the final straw for Harris who then gave McAlister his debut in the 0-0 draw at Ipswich. On the dame day Hope suffered a bad knee injury playing for the reserves. He didnt return to the 1st team until Jan 1974 (won 2-1 at Burnley). He was dropped after the 3-0 home defeat against Ipswich in March and Furphy signed Jim Brown.

Why did you hate Addo? Because he was wearing the number 9 shirt instead of Tudor (who was my hero too)? He was quite useful up front and played in midfield (wearing number 6 shirt)after the start of the 1970-71 season until he got injured in the 2-1 defeat at Luton in December and never played for us again before moving to Hereford as the player manager in the 1971 close season (Hereford had a famous FA Cup tie against Newcastle and replaced Barrow in the league in 1972). John Barnwell replaced Addo but was clearly "past it" and Frank Barlow was a "slow and weak" alternative (he was quite clever with the ball though) so Harris made an inspired signing in Trevor Hockey

.......Silent [not like you thought ,but i wrote i hated the departure of Addison] as a kid i could not get that tune , ADDY ADDY ADDY ADDY ADDISON out of my developing head , thou the Kop song ........united 1 piggys 2 we were feeling sad and blue.......until John Tudor came on the football pitch hurrah hurrah, Tudor came on the football pitch hurrah hurrah....... Tudor scored and that was it shoreham street was in a fit and we all went mad when Tudor scored that goal. A kop song about him coming on as a sub in the derby 1970?