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I'd heard the Bradford rumour from the same source as my other semi-successful sources, so it may or may not be true 😂
 

blade67 said:
I think you've just made the perfect case for why he should stay.

He won't play 30 games in a season but he can cover in 4 or 5 roles and as a number 24/25 in a squad that is very useful.

His 86 league games in 4 seasons gives you a sense of his usefulness. Aged 28, he's probably at his peak.
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Unfortunately B67, even though Osborn could in theory cover several different positions, I and others don't feel he could cover any of them to the required standard to play in the Prem. I shudder to think of him playing LWB or LCM next season, up against top quality opponents - and they're meant to be his strongest positions, given we don't play with wide midfielders. The thought of him playing RWB or running around trying to play as a #10 would be even worse.

Unless his motivation is money over playing football, I'd expect that, at his age, he'll want to play as much as possible, rather than be 3rd or 4th choice for a position and only make the matchday 18 by exception. That said, I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if he was offered extended terms by the club as it would mean that no better options have been identified by the club - he's by no means cheap!
 
steve26272 said:
Whys everyone getting their knickers in a twist about the retained list FFS?

I guess this is an example of why its not ready to disclose yet

We offer Billy a coaching role on a much reduced salary. He wants to carry on playing, and explores his options with our offer on the table

Finds a playing role at a local club where he will score goals and play in front of decent crowds for another year or 2.

in that time we cant say hes released as he may accept our offer, neither can we says he retained as he may go - so best thing to do is say nowt until its all sorted - simple.

Recent transfer dealings have done pretty decent of late, apart from falling for Wilders bully boy tactics - he wanted Brewster and wasnt bothered about Berge o_O

MGW (hit), Anel (hit), Doyle (hit), McAtee (hit), Clark (ish), Khedra (miss)

Keeping Berge & Illy in Jan (hit)

Norwood seemingly triggered his own extension by hitting set appearances, the delay there may have been that his contract stated an additional year on £xxpw money, however he may have been angling for increase as we got promoted?

Surely we have to let the club do what it needs to do in the correct timeframe, long as its in by Saturday who cares
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because they're bored and some demand to know what's going off when there's no value in telling them.

If you think this is bad, wait until we get to the end of June and we have hardly spent any money. It happens every year without fail, including the PL seasons when we were throwing daft money around.
 
Mouth of the South said:
Unfortunately B67, even though Osborn could in theory cover several different positions, I and others don't feel he could cover any of them to the required standard to play in the Prem. I shudder to think of him playing LWB or LCM next season, up against top quality opponents - and they're meant to be his strongest positions, given we don't play with wide midfielders. The thought of him playing RWB or running around trying to play as a #10 would be even worse.

Unless his motivation is money over playing football, I'd expect that, at his age, he'll want to play as much as possible, rather than be 3rd or 4th choice for a position and only make the matchday 18 by exception. That said, I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if he was offered extended terms by the club as it would mean that no better options have been identified by the club - he's by no means cheap!
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By no means cheap? He'd be cheaper than most and cheaper than buying a new 3rd choice LWB and LCM.

Brooks is our other option... Who's made about 3 professional appearances. So who is more likely to turn in a half decent performance when called upon next season?
 
brownblade said:
By no means cheap? He'd be cheaper than most and cheaper than buying a new 3rd choice LWB and LCM.

Brooks is our other option... Who's made about 3 professional appearances. So who is more likely to turn in a half decent performance when called upon next season?
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IMHO neither are good enough (possibly not yet in Brooks' case).

What makes you think he'd be cheaper than other options being considered? He's been on a very generous salary at Utd, even whilst playing in the Champ.

Even if he was affordable, why sign a player that's simply not good enough? I struggle to understand the logic of doing so. Would you really be happy for him to play games as required in the Prem knowing that he's an obvious weak link (both physically and in terms of capability)? Hopefully it will be a moot point unless PH agrees with you and wants to use a chunk of next season's budget to keep him around for another 12 months.
 
Mouth of the South said:
IMHO neither are good enough (possibly not yet in Brooks' case).

What makes you think he'd be cheaper than other options being considered? He's been on a very generous salary at Utd, even whilst playing in the Champ.
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What is he being paid, and why do you think it is generous?
 
Mouth of the South said:
IMHO neither are good enough (possibly not yet in Brooks' case).

What makes you think he'd be cheaper than other options being considered? He's been on a very generous salary at Utd, even whilst playing in the Champ.

Even if he was affordable, why sign a player that's simply not good enough? I struggle to understand the logic of doing so. Would you really be happy for him to play games as required in the Prem knowing that he's an obvious weak link (both physically and in terms of capability)? Hopefully it will be a moot point unless PH agrees with you and wants to use a chunk of next season's budget to keep him around for another 12 months.
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I don't know his wage, or what it would be next season. Hard to believe it's particularly high, but there is a line I'd draw in the sand with it RE a new contract.

However, who are you planning to play if we get some injuries? Not Osborn or Brooks... We need somebody around as backup.
 

brownblade said:
I don't know his wage, or what it would be next season. Hard to believe it's particularly high, but there is a line I'd draw in the sand with it RE a new contract.

However, who are you planning to play if we get some injuries? Not Osborn or Brooks... We need somebody around as backup.
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I see recruiting a new LWB and LCM as top priorities during the close-season. Lowe may still be around unless he's sold but I'd be almost as nervous with him playing in the Prem as I would be Osborn.
 
Mouth of the South said:
I see recruiting a new LWB and LCM as top priorities during the close-season. Lowe may still be around unless he's sold but I'd be almost as nervous with him playing in the Prem as I would be Osborn.
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What specifically in Lowe's game (i.e. don't just say "not good enough") concerns you at a higher level?
 
Harry's Game said:
I believe we will release Sharp and Stevens.

I think we will give Fleck another year just cos we need numbers and are skint.
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I hope we don't give Fleck another season, his best days in a Blades shirt are long behind him.

If we need people to simply make up the numbers then give some young lads a boost up the pecking order rather than making lads like Arblaster, Brooks et al wait behind a decrepit John Fleck
 
Mouth of the South said:
I see recruiting a new LWB and LCM as top priorities during the close-season. Lowe may still be around unless he's sold but I'd be almost as nervous with him playing in the Prem as I would be Osborn.
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Completely agree they're 2 of the priority positions. Currently we have nobody to play LCM assuming Fleck is released (unless I'm forgetting someone!).

There are ways to have backup without Osborn. But it's great to have professionals around the squad that aren't throwing toys out of pram when playing second or third fiddle.

Time will tell how we accomplish the squad build. I had personally imagined Osborn would be a straight forward way to have appropriate numbers and a known quantity.
 
Mouth of the South said:
Unfortunately B67, even though Osborn could in theory cover several different positions, I and others don't feel he could cover any of them to the required standard to play in the Prem. I shudder to think of him playing LWB or LCM next season, up against top quality opponents - and they're meant to be his strongest positions, given we don't play with wide midfielders. The thought of him playing RWB or running around trying to play as a #10 would be even worse.

Unless his motivation is money over playing football, I'd expect that, at his age, he'll want to play as much as possible, rather than be 3rd or 4th choice for a position and only make the matchday 18 by exception. That said, I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if he was offered extended terms by the club as it would mean that no better options have been identified by the club - he's by no means cheap!
Click to expand...
You and others don't feel he can cover any of them to the required standard but

He looked half decent in the 19/20 season covering for Stevens in a team that finished 9th. He played a lot under Hecky in 20/21, in a variety of positions.

I'd condition yourself to accepting he'll be in our 25 man squad, certainly under the existing ownership. However, if we get purchased by Aramco in the next fortnight, I'll be expecting an influx of higher quality
 
blade67 said:
You and others don't feel he can cover any of them to the required standard but

He looked half decent in the 19/20 season covering for Stevens in a team that finished 9th. He played a lot under Hecky in 20/21, in a variety of positions.

I'd condition yourself to accepting he'll be in our 25 man squad, certainly under the existing ownership. However, if we get purchased by Aramco in the next fortnight, I'll be expecting an influx of higher quality
Click to expand...

Probably best we agree to disagree over Osborn's ability - I'm not sure we'd ever align! :)

Haha - a takeover by Aramco would be good if very unlikely. They are however a very interesting company who seem to keep a relatively low profile for such a behemoth - they made ~ $30bn in Q1 23 so I'm sure could stretch to investing in a Prem Club should it fit within their strategy for any reason. That said, they do like to KSA everything so I'm sure you'd see a few top end local players being added to the ranks. I can't think of any obvious links with Sheffield though unfortunately.

I even visited their HQ in Dhahran about five years ago and know a couple of people who moved out to work there - a good option if you take to the ex-pat lifestyle. They certainly pay v v well!
 

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