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http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/20130618-retained-list-871843.aspx


Danny Higginbotham is one of four players to sign new deals with the Blades this summer, new boss David Weir has confirmed.

Higginbotham, who joined United at the beginning of 2013, activated a clause in his contract based on making a certain number of appearances. The Club has also taken up the option to extend the contracts of Callum McFadzean, Aaron Barry and Jordan Chapell.

Four other youngsters have signed new deals; the quartet is Jordan Hodder, Terry Kennedy, Jahmal Smith and Elliott Whitehouse.

Meanwhile, five players will head for pastures new this summer, including Dave Kitson and Barry Robson.

The experienced duo will officially leave the club at the end of the month after being told their contracts will not be renewed.

Lecsinel Jean-Francois, Matty Harriott and Danny Coyne will also depart Bramall Lane after the Blades informed them they will not be offered new deals.
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By the wording it seems Higginbotham was the active part in extending his contract.

United either had to put it that way, or make a specific statement that he'd signed on really, really low wages (for a player of his experience) to avoid Julian Winter being perceived as a fool, given his comments about the need for reducing the budget and looking for different type of players (i.e. cheaper and younger).

I think he could do well as a back up centre half, but I worry that his wages will still be very, very high.
 
I am not sure his wages will be so high and could be lower with extra cash for performances. As he would be backup this might not seem a bad deal.

Jordan Chappell is the interesting one. Morgan must see something in his as he recalled him from Torquay when he took over last year, but strangely didn't give him a game. I would imagine this is his last chance saloon.

I wish they gave Matty Harriott another chance because in a team which likes to play football I think he could be effective. We haven't really given him the same crack as Chappell and bumped him off to non league teams who don't play football
 
Seems like we are stuck with Higginbotham and nothing we could do if he had played requisite amount of games....but completely confuses me why we have kept Barry, Chappel and to a lesser extent Kennedy. None of these have even looked close to becoming first team regulars with us and unsure how they will suddenly be ready next season as none are what I would class as kids anymore.

Seems nonsensical to me keeping them around (same as we did with Tonne and Philliskirk etc) when I will be astonished if they are anywhere near the first eleven. Hope they prove me wrong but when I have seen them at the Academy/u21's and odds and sods in the first team they have looked nowhere near first team players at football league level. It sounds harsh but we are shedding money every week and should have culled some more that sadly are clearly not good enough.

Kennedy may have a chance if Maguire moves on but is now 4th choice centre back at best (prob 5th if Hill is included in mix) and thus cant see how he will play. Barry is a right back and is behind McMahon and Westlake. Chappel is behind Flynn, Murphy, McFadzean too.

Thoughts anyone? Anyone seriously think any of these 3 will make it?
 
Deadbat said:
Seems like we are stuck with Higginbotham and nothing we could do if he had played requisite amount of games....but completely confuses me why we have kept Barry, Chappel and to a lesser extent Kennedy. None of these have even looked close to becoming first team regulars with us and unsure how they will suddenly be ready next season as none are what I would class as kids anymore.

Seems nonsensical to me keeping them around (same as we did with Tonne and Philliskirk etc) when I will be astonished if they are anywhere near the first eleven. Hope they prove me wrong but when I have seen them at the Academy/u21's and odds and sods in the first team they have looked nowhere near first team players at football league level. It sounds harsh but we are shedding money every week and should have culled some more that sadly are clearly not good enough.

Kennedy may have a chance if Maguire moves on but is now 4th choice centre back at best (prob 5th if Hill is included in mix) and thus cant see how he will play. Barry is a right back and is behind McMahon and Westlake. Chappel is behind Flynn, Murphy, McFadzean too.

Thoughts anyone? Anyone seriously think any of these 3 will make it?
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I thought Aaron Barry was a left back/Centre Half?

What you have to remember is this year there will be no emergency loans or pickups like Kitson, Higginbotham and Robson etc; and if we have 1st team players Weir will have to use the academy/u21's so you can't just go and ditch players (who haven't been given a proper chance at league level).

Everyone might think these players are not good enough and they might not be, but they are needed. We have to fill our squad and unfortunately there is no money to be picky. It's not like we are going to replace them with better players so let's just get over it.
 
With the contacts Weir has I think he will have the access to some decent loan players hopefully of the younger end combined with the progression of the home gowns and the likes of Murphy,Westlake and the return of Miller things could be on the up.
 
Just when you think the contracts we dish out couldn't be more boneheaded or shortsighted, some Einstein at the club finds a way...
 
Deadbat said:
Seems like we are stuck with Higginbotham and nothing we could do if he had played requisite amount of games....but completely confuses me why we have kept Barry, Chappel and to a lesser extent Kennedy. None of these have even looked close to becoming first team regulars with us and unsure how they will suddenly be ready next season as none are what I would class as kids anymore.

Seems nonsensical to me keeping them around (same as we did with Tonne and Philliskirk etc) when I will be astonished if they are anywhere near the first eleven. Hope they prove me wrong but when I have seen them at the Academy/u21's and odds and sods in the first team they have looked nowhere near first team players at football league level. It sounds harsh but we are shedding money every week and should have culled some more that sadly are clearly not good enough.

Kennedy may have a chance if Maguire moves on but is now 4th choice centre back at best (prob 5th if Hill is included in mix) and thus cant see how he will play. Barry is a right back and is behind McMahon and Westlake. Chappel is behind Flynn, Murphy, McFadzean too.

Thoughts anyone? Anyone seriously think any of these 3 will make it?
Click to expand...

There may be a fair few of our players last season that wouldn't have dominated at academy/U21 level....

Barry is probably most at home at centre half. He's a clever and tidy player who reads the game well and makes fair challenges while also showing a bit of leadership, trying to organise the rest of the back four. At 6'0-ish he lacks the physical stature of Chris Salt (who we released), but is a more accomplished footballer/defender. Difficult to say how he'll do against physical senior opponents though.

Terry Kennedy - if he's too small to play centre half, could we try him as an anchor man in midfield? I reckon he could be a quicker, fitter, stronger, better header and tackler than Doyle.
 
Deadbat said:
Seems like we are stuck with Higginbotham and nothing we could do if he had played requisite amount of games....but completely confuses me why we have kept Barry, Chappel and to a lesser extent Kennedy. None of these have even looked close to becoming first team regulars with us and unsure how they will suddenly be ready next season as none are what I would class as kids anymore.

Seems nonsensical to me keeping them around (same as we did with Tonne and Philliskirk etc) when I will be astonished if they are anywhere near the first eleven. Hope they prove me wrong but when I have seen them at the Academy/u21's and odds and sods in the first team they have looked nowhere near first team players at football league level. It sounds harsh but we are shedding money every week and should have culled some more that sadly are clearly not good enough.

Kennedy may have a chance if Maguire moves on but is now 4th choice centre back at best (prob 5th if Hill is included in mix) and thus cant see how he will play. Barry is a right back and is behind McMahon and Westlake. Chappel is behind Flynn, Murphy, McFadzean too.

Thoughts anyone? Anyone seriously think any of these 3 will make it?
Click to expand...

Kennedy isn't big enough to play centre back in L1 (or actually good enough). I reckon he could do an effective switch as cover for right back.

Left back is still a problem position for us, I would like us to offload Williams somehow but I'm not sure Aaron Barry is good enough cover. His early season last year was disrupted as I think he broke his leg the season before that.

I've seen quite a bit of Chapell in the U 21s and he certainly has ability to beat a man but his crossing is a bit hit and miss. I can see why they've given him another year. But in my opinion neither Flynn nor Murphy are good enough, we desperately need to acquire a decent winger. Tonne as well has loads of ability but drifts out of U21 games too often. I'm hoping he comes back in November with a bit more desire.

They were right to release Harriott, he isn't good enough to play central midfield.

Rightly, Callum has emerged from this pack and will cement his place next season. He has the ability and the desire.

Whitehouse's season was wrecked by the metatarsal injury. If he has a good pre-season, he could be very welcome cover in central midfield. Doyle isn't good enough but again I'm hoping we can acquire a good defensive midfielder.

With the exception of McFadzean, I think they are bench fillers and cover for injury. However, they'll all start with a clean slate, let's hope one or two more emerge as good enough.

We also need to start thinking about whether Jahmal Smith has what it takes to step up. Neat little player that can score - can he do it at first team level ?
 
What a great idea the "development squad" turned out to be - players brought in to bolster the Academy lads for U21 games?
Philliskirk, Tonne, Warren, Aksalu, Conneely, Parrino, Lokberg, etc.
None of them anywhere near first team regulars.
 
I still have hopes for Kennedy as he's actually a very good footballer and reader of the game. The holding role would be well suited to him I think as he's quick over the ground and always seems to know where to be. Whether they can integrate him into a new role at this stage is another matter, this is probably something we should have done 2 years ago in hindsight as I think we all knew he was never really going to be big enough.

There's certainly a lot of potential with him but it may be that he becomes a bit of a late developer once he finds a suitable position - the same way it took Lowton a few years.

Chappell and Barry have no chance with us IMO.
 
New season with a new manager so its a new start. Hopefully many of the kids will shine given the chance. If they don't then its no massive loss. They won't be on big wages. Sometimes another pre-season to develop can have a massive effect.

Having let Kitson and Robson rightly go I am happy that Higginbotham is there. My feeling is we will have a younger squad next season and he will provide some much needed experience at the heart of defence.
 

I think Kennedy should still be given a chance. I don't mind the height thing; we've seen Hill do very well in central defence and of course history is littered with excellent short central defenders.

I agree on Chappell having his day and needing to start again elsewhere.

Success will depend on which contracted players are retained, released, loaned or sold. I'm looking at you Mr Doyle. Please do one.
 
Not far off what we all thought; that leaves us with a sizable squad perhaps a little short of experience but that, in turn, is a huge opportunity for some of the 18-21 year olds to shine.

Bold indicates first choice
* I don't expect these players to be with us on September 1st
** long term injured, will miss the start of the season.

GKs:
Long, Howard, Willis (u21)

RB:
McMahon, Westlake, Hodder (u21)

LB:
Hill, Williams*, Grainger (?)

CB:
Collins, Maguire, Kennedy, Higginbotham, Barry (u21)

RM:
Flynn, Chappell

CM:
Doyle*, McDonald, Whitehouse

LM:
McFadzean (u21)

CF:
Miller**, Murphy, Porter, Cresswell*, Ironside (u21), Smith (u21), De Girolamo** (u21)

Bit light on the midfield front; I'd be amazed if fewer than two new midfielders arrive; at least one winger (Gueye?) and one CM.
 
I'm not going to quote anyone but I'll cover most of the things that people have said so far...

I'm a bit annoyed by the Higginbotham deal being extended to be honest, he was poor last year and we have plenty of experience with McMahon, Collins and Hill to help the young defenders. I'd have rather signed a more experienced midfielder.

On that note, we need a couple of central midfielders and we're still crying out for wingers for what feels like the 10th season in a row. I've seen Britt Assombalonga linked to a loan move from Watford and I think he'd be a really good addition.

Aaron Barry is predominantly a centre half, and his progression was delayed courtesy of an unfortunate leg break last year. He was really good for the U18s and has an excellent reading of the game, I hope he gets a chance to show what he can do in pre-season and maybe a cup game to see how close/far away he is to being able to make it.

Kennedy would be better used as a right back rather than a centre half as UnitedBlade said. The holding midfielder role is a good idea too Wards, I'd be interested to see how he got on there because it does suit him.

I fully expected Jordan Chappel to be released. I think League Two is his level but I'm hoping to be proven wrong.

I reckon Jahmal Smith will be integrated into the side this year. He's got the physical stature and he is a decent player, he should probably score more than he actually does but I'd like to see him given a chance. I'd be shipping Creswell as far away as possible and be looking to bring a striker in (I think we'll end up with Hallam Hope from Everton, just got a feeling).
 
I can never understand all this talk of a need for experience. Experience of what exactly, being shit at football, getting relegated, robbing a living a la Doyle, Williams, Cresswell. If you're good enough, you're good enough and that's it.
 
I really don't see doyle going anywhere, just extended his contract and no one will want to pay a fee for him surely?

As for Hallam Hope are you sure you don't mean hitan hope?
 
S6Blade said:
I can never understand all this talk of a need for experience. Experience of what exactly, being shit at football, getting relegated, robbing a living a la Doyle, Williams, Cresswell. If you're good enough, you're good enough and that's it.
Click to expand...

I agree in terms of footballing ability, but if you find the right experienced players then they can help younger players' development massively. Replace Doyle with a real leader in midfield and it could really help the likes of Whitehouse, McFadzean etc. and maybe give McDonald a bit of a kick up the arse. It's a mental thing more than anything.

I look at last season and even though we didn't see him play for us, I think working with Danny Coyne will have really helped George Long.
 
S6Blade said:
I can never understand all this talk of a need for experience. Experience of what exactly, being shit at football, getting relegated, robbing a living a la Doyle, Williams, Cresswell. If you're good enough, you're good enough and that's it.
Click to expand...
my sentiments exactly if you're shit anyway then the experience counts for nothing
 
blade too long said:
what is this , hes not tall enough , hes as tall as Iniesta and Messi , Maradona Liam Brady ,etc etc
Click to expand...


If you're talking about Kennedy then a better example would have been Cannavaro or Puyol, neither of whom reaches 6' but both are World Cup winners.

Obviously in the rough and tumble English league it's widely thought that centre halves have to be 6' minimum at the moment but that will change.
 
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