CONFIRMED Ryan Leonard

[Grizzly blade]

I Coutts...

I loved him first.

Rolls Royce footballer.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

Doesn't Mr Fleck blow that argument out of the water?

Not really, Flecks not proved himself in the Championship yet.

I do think some of our fans are getting carried away with Fleck and Coutts. Fleck could play in the premiership being one.
Watching the pigs v Huddersfield showed the speed at which both teams moved the ball, it was far quicker than league one.
Don't get me wrong both players deserve the chance to prove they are up to it.
Just have my doubts, but I am a glass half empty guy.

 

[Yewsman]

What is refreshing is that we're after players who seem to be rated by more than just a managerial clique.

After looking at the players that Wilder signed last season I'm completely enthused by the quality of player we now seem to want to bring to United. A time came when the expectation was that we sign journeymen, plodders, those whose legs were about to drop off......but now, well we have real quality throughout the team, not to say competition for places, which in itself will help raise the overall standard as expectations will rise, and so they should. It's taken a long, long time, but the Blades are looking like a team who can compete at a higher level than we've become used to. Wilder has lifted the supporters in ways I can't even begin to describe (but it's never stopped me trying!), the fact that we took hold of Division 1 and played consistently good to excellent football is testament to the management and players. There's a real desire, a real hunger, about the Blades that I thought I'd never see again. We deservedly won promotion and did so with a quality that was down to one man, Chris Wilder.

Wilder's approach to who he wants to bring to United is spot on. Things will change, that's inevitable, but as they are we're in great shape with far more to come. Next season will see the Blades competing at a level that will tell everyone just what our expectations for the future should be. Wilder will do whatever's necessary to make those changes happen, so we'll see better players arrive, our transfer policy will begin to change, maybe not dramatically this season, but leave it to Wilder to assess what we need to do and when. Great times ahead.....hope you agree UTB

I really like the policy of buying younger good players from L1 and L2 but don't forget these players are untried at Championship level as indeed are most of our present squad. There is clearly the risk that some of these players will not be able to "step up". Let's also not forget that Most of CWs best signings last year - Moore, JOC, Lafferty, Lavery EEL Chapman - all came from Championship clubs (PL in respect of Chapman) rather than L1 & 2 although we're not regular first teamers . Coutts and Freeman had both come from a championship club. Having said all that I am pretty confident that CW and his team have a good eye for a player. Time will tell.

UTB

 

[Treeton Blade]

I really like the policy of buying younger good players from L1 and L2 but don't forget these players are untried at Championship level as indeed are most of our present squad. There is clearly the risk that some of these players will not be able to "step up". Let's also not forget that Most of CWs best signings last year - Moore, JOC, Lafferty, Lavery EEL Chapman - all came from Championship clubs (PL in respect of Chapman) rather than L1 & 2 although we're not regular first teamers . Coutts and Freeman had both come from a championship club. Having said all that I am pretty confident that CW and his team have a good eye for a player. Time will tell.

UTB

Has a great eye, and one of the games best scouts in Paul Mitchell.

Also, full due diligence done on every target, talking to as many ex managers, players, coaches, who have worked with the player, as possible to find out what sort of lad he is.

Leonard is interested in a move to the Lane, just a case of agreeing a fee, and terms.

 

[Norderner]

No bid is made without having spoken to the target first to see if he's interested in the move. Just makes you look stupid if you bid, only to be turned down? He's insurance in case Coutts rejects a longer contract, and also, as stated in another thread, I think he plays with Coutts and Fleck in the tough away games.

 

[Grizzly blade]

Not really, Flecks not proved himself in the Championship yet.

I do think some of our fans are getting carried away with Fleck and Coutts. Fleck could play in the premiership being one.
Watching the pigs v Huddersfield showed the speed at which both teams moved the ball, it was far quicker than league one.
Don't get me wrong both players deserve the chance to prove they are up to it.
Just have my doubts, but I am a glass half empty guy.

I take your point, however I think you have missed how quickly we moved the ball last season. That is one of the reasons we won the league at a canter in the end, and from September got better and better as the players became more accustomed to it. We played like a higher league team.

As for individuals, Fleck and Coutts were the instruments in the way we played. They moved the ball forwards backwards and side to side with ease. And what allows them to do that is their ability to be available for the ball at all times, it mattered not if they were in acres of space or with someone tight. They dealt with the situation and rarely lost the ball due to a majestic first touch and an appreciation of where their space was to turn into.

Allied to that, Coutts put to bed questions over his fitness and willingness to work hard, and Fleck got stronger and stronger as he got games under his belt. Both also showed a turn of pace.

So it's for all of those reasons I have come to the conclusion that both of them will be more 5han up to the championship, and more than likely the premier league.

 

[Bladezz]

If you are comparing Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield's Central midfield partnership to ours, where do you think they signed those players from?

Keiran Lee came from Oldham and Mooy came from the A-League so it shows if you do look down the leagues the players are there.

 

[SteveBlade]

If you are comparing Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield's Central midfield partnership to ours, where do you think they signed those players from?

Keiran Lee came from Oldham and Mooy came from the A-League so it shows if you do look down the leagues the players are there.

Also, I Googled Keiran Lee and the first Wikipedia page that popped up I clicked...

Keiran Lee (born January 15, 1984) is apornographic actor, director, and producer who works for production companyBrazzers.[1]

Lee is the only man in the world with a penis that is reportedly insured for $1 million.[4]

 

[RMBlade]

If you are comparing Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield's Central midfield partnership to ours, where do you think they signed those players from?

Keiran Lee came from Oldham and Mooy came from the A-League so it shows if you do look down the leagues the players are there.

Wednesdays midfield may as well have not been there. They bypassed it both games.

 

[MobileBlade]

If you are comparing Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield's Central midfield partnership to ours, where do you think they signed those players from?

Keiran Lee came from Oldham and Mooy came from the A-League so it shows if you do look down the leagues the players are there.

Just to be pedantic Mooy is on loan from Man City.....

 

[EddieColquhoun]

Watching the pigs v Huddersfield showed the speed at which both teams moved the ball, it was far quicker than league one.

I watched the first leg and Wendy never strung 3 passes together.

 

[Norderner]

Just to be pedantic Mooy is on loan from Man City.....

Correct. And where did city sign him from? Melbourne City! The A league is the equivalent to division 4 or non league, as well.

 

[Th!stledo]

Correct. And where did city sign him from? Melbourne City! The A league is the equivalent to division 4 or non league, as well.

Aren't City and Melbourne own by the same people ... City Football Group (CFG) ?

 

[Bladezz]

Seems a revised offer will go in. CW says they have a figure and we have a figure and it's just about getting them too match.

 

[Bladeinleeds]

Sounds like they arnt a million miles away

Wilder speaks his mind enough to have said if Southend were asking for silly money for him.

So hopefully this could be one that gets concluded! I don't know too much about him but a turn of pace, right age and on the up.

Nothing not to like really is there?

Also note that he's won their player of the year 3 times in a row. And also scooped players player of the year and goal of the season this year.

 

[Norderner]

Aren't City and Melbourne own by the same people ... City Football Group (CFG) ?

Yup. Franchise cunts.

 

[Blade58]

Seems a revised offer will go in. CW says they have a figure and we have a figure and it's just about getting them too match.

The fact CW says talks are ongoing must mean both Holmes and Leonard are receptive to the move

 

[Bladezz]

The fact CW says talks are ongoing must mean both Holmes and Leonard are receptive to the move

More money, bigger club, better stadium, cheaper up north and higher division.

It's quite an easy sell.

One good year in the championship financially is life changing for your entire family.

 

[Pinchy]

More money, bigger club, better stadium, cheaper up north and higher division.

It's quite an easy sell.

One good year in the championship financially is life changing for your entire family.

Including the Blades family.

 

[Rootshallbloke]

More money, bigger club, better stadium, cheaper up north and higher division.

It's quite an easy sell.

One good year in the championship financially is life changing for your entire family.

Bramall Lane better than Roots Hall...........you're having a laugh

 

[South Bucks]

Bramall Lane better than Roots Hall...........you're having a laugh

Its moved on a bit from the last time you visited.

 

[Tunstall Fred]

Bramall Lane better than Roots Hall...........you're having a laugh

What if this Leonard's wife is a rock climbing enthusiast,sign for them Ryan,while you're kicking your silly ball about,I can be on Stanage/Froggatt Edge

 

[Lower Drop Blade]

Sometimes you can try too hard.

 

[Rootshallbloke]

What if this Leonard's wife is a rock climbing enthusiast,sign for them Ryan,while you're kicking your silly ball about,I can be on Stanage/Froggatt Edge

Nah, she's an Essex girl mate, not too keen to rock climb in stilettos .

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Doesn't Mr Fleck blow that argument out of the water?

Yes, it's the same argument with Fleck. He spent 3 years with Cov and we prised him away at end of contract. Now rumours had it that we paid 8K per week. I don't know if that was true, but if true was a lot for a L1 footballer and perhaps too much of a gamble for others. Fleck was exceptional last season once he got over early season form and injury problems. I don't see many clubs banging the door down at Southend or United for either player. If Fleck is on 8K, to move him away under contract would take a fee and big increase in wages. There is still time for clubs to make bids for our players - we just seem to be doing a lot of work early.

UTB

 

[Bladeinleeds]

Yes, it's the same argument with Fleck. He spent 3 years with Cov and we prised him away at end of contract. Now rumours had it that we paid 8K per week. I don't know if that was true, but if true was a lot for a L1 footballer and perhaps too much of a gamble for others. Fleck was exceptional last season once he got over early season form and injury problems. I don't see many clubs banging the door down at Southend or United for either player. If Fleck is on 8K, to move him away under contract would take a fee and big increase in wages. There is still time for clubs to make bids for our players - we just seem to be doing a lot of work early.

UTB

One way to look at this is £8k or week and no fee is roughly the same over a three year contract as a half million fee and £5k per week.

In retrospect it's an absolute steel. We'd been looking at well over a million. Ow if someone came in for him.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

One way to look at this is £8k or week and no fee is roughly the same over a three year contract as a half million fee and £5k per week.

In retrospect it's an absolute steel. We'd been looking at well over a million. Ow if someone came in for him.

Indeed it was good business and I am sure this is what CW works on with out of contract players. If Fleck was a good purchase, Enda Stevens could end up being an even better purchase.

UTB

 

[ShockingBadBuy]

Its moved on a bit from the last time you visited.

Always love seeing this photo. The clock in the middle of the pavilion roof is the same one that's now on the Bramall Lane end, I believe, to the right of the scoreboard. It went missing for several years after they pulled the pavilion down, before it turned up in a garage belonging to one of the demolition team (?). I've been told that the same demolition team threw all the old SUCC scorebooks, club minutes, correspondence and memorabilia--going back into the 19th century--in a skip, days before they were due to be collected by the CC, and they now seem lost forever. In 1952, in the Championship game against Middlesex, Brian Close hit a six right over the clock and into Cherry St. My old SUCC friend, Eric Burgin (RIP), who played in that game for Yorkshire, always said it was the biggest six he ever saw during his days as a player.

Where we sit in the South must be more or less bang over where the square was. In some of the ultra-shit performances we've sat through over the last few years, when my mind has wandered I swear I've seen the ghosts of Hutton, Trueman, George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes, the Sutcliffes, Hedley Verity, Wardle, Bowes, Appleyard .... the whole damn lot of em, prowling the touchline in front of us.

Does anyone have a version of this photo with max pixels ? I love the blow-up versions they have around the Lane today, but have never come across one that could be magnified much beyond the size of a postcard ...

 

[Norderner]

Yes, it's the same argument with Fleck. He spent 3 years with Cov and we prised him away at end of contract. Now rumours had it that we paid 8K per week. I don't know if that was true, but if true was a lot for a L1 footballer and perhaps too much of a gamble for others. Fleck was exceptional last season once he got over early season form and injury problems. I don't see many clubs banging the door down at Southend or United for either player. If Fleck is on 8K, to move him away under contract would take a fee and big increase in wages. There is still time for clubs to make bids for our players - we just seem to be doing a lot of work early.

UTB

Fleck was an absolute gift. He'd been their stand out player every time I saw Coventry. Unbelievably skilful, maybe temperamental, but just needed the right manager to take a chance on him. Luckily for us, it was our manager. Could play in the premier league at a breeze.

 

[davidblade]

One way to look at this is £8k or week and no fee is roughly the same over a three year contract as a half million fee and £5k per week.

In retrospect it's an absolute steel. We'd been looking at well over a million. Ow if someone came in for him.

Disagree with that if you give one player a higher way than the others it disrupts that stability and togetherness of the squad.