The current Blades squad.

[beightonblade]

This squad has some of the most over paid rubbish ever to wear the shirt.
Would you agree?

 

[Kopped]

Ours:
1. Simonsen........... No
2. Jordan............... No
3. Montgomery....... No
4. Morgan............. No
5. Ertl................... Yes
6. Henderson.......... No
7. Britton............... No
8. Evans................ Yes
9. Bogdanovic......... Yes
10. Yeates............. No
11. Aksalu.............. No
12. Williamson......... Yes
13. France............. Yes
14. Taylor.............. Yes
15. Cresswell.......... No
16. Ward............... No
17. Kozluk.............. Yes
18. Quinn.............. Yes
19. James............. ??
20. Chapell........... ??
21. Roe................ ??
22. Parrino............ ??
23. Lowton........... No
24. Slew.............. ??

Loans:
Nosworthy............ Yes
Calve................... No
Bartley................. No
Reid..................... No
Wright.................. ??

 

[MunXy]

tbh i look at that squad, the majority of which almost took us into the playoffs last term, won a fair few games and to be fair one of the meanest home defences in our league, i personally think beighton the question should be "what has gone wrong with the players and considering on paper the few signings we made should have made us better, why the hell are we playing shit, scoring less than any other team and have a defence even dingles look forward to playing against" the loans alone should, on paper at least have made us a stronger side
im baffled to explain why we are playing so bloody god awful.

MunXy

 

[SteelCity Blade]

If we had the time and resources to make wholesale changes tomorrow, I would keep the following:-

Kyle Bartley
Chris Morgan
Matt Lowton
Leon Britton
Andy Reid
Jamie Ward
Mark Yeates
Lee Williamson
Darius Henderson

Apart from that, the rest (of those that we've seen) I would move on. The thing that worries me the most is that out of the above list, only four are fit and available and two of those are on loan.

Worrying times

 

[Rattly Noise]

Seen better. Seen worse. Seen our current squad play well, seen them play so bad that I'd look good (okay maybe that's taking it a bit far).

Think the freakish level of injuries last year are as much to blame as the Manager/McCabe et al, as is the long term absence of Henderson and Williamson (we'll never know if they would have made a difference though).

Think every club in the country and I do mean every, will think exactly the same at various points of the season. It's what being a supporter is all about, but somewhere amongst all the years of rubbish will be a couple of hours of pure joy.

 

[Deadbat]

If we had the time and resources to make wholesale changes tomorrow, I would keep the following:-

Kyle Bartley
Chris Morgan
Matt Lowton
Leon Britton
Andy Reid
Jamie Ward
Mark Yeates
Lee Williamson
Darius Henderson

Apart from that, the rest (of those that we've seen) I would move on. The thing that worries me the most is that out of the above list, only four are fit and available and two of those are on loan.

Worrying times

Totally agree with you in this post and with your list but as you say Bartley and Reid wont be here by January/end of the season; think Henderson is out of contract and Williamson we dont know whether he will ever play a long run of games for the Blades as he has been a crock ever since we signed him which is unfortunate for him and the Blades as aI rate him. With Morgan also having a serious injury and not exactly a spring chicken that leaves Yeates, Britton, Ward (isn;t he out of contract too at the end of this season) and Lowton. Not exactly a massive base to build a side from when the club has no money whatsover.

The rest I would shift on too but we can;t as noone wants them. To think we are stuck with the likes of Monty, Quinn, Cresswell, Evans, Bognanovic, Simonsen for another 2/3 seasons is frightening. That is not even mentioning dross like Taylor, Ertl, Calve etc.

I do think we need to be spendign what few funds we have trying to plunder young players from the lower leagues/abroad (like the deal with the Irish kid - may come off may not). We need to build something and not keep plugging gaps with loans or veterans. Surely there are 2 or 3 players in league one/two we could find better than some of the current squad. I see millwall signed that striker from Bournemouth, Josh McQoid this week on loan and will sign him for around £200,000 in January? I think we should be looking at players like that.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

Totally agree with you in this post and with your list but as you say Bartley and Reid wont be here by January/end of the season; think Henderson is out of contract and Williamson we dont know whether he will ever play a long run of games for the Blades as he has been a crock ever since we signed him which is unfortunate for him and the Blades as aI rate him. With Morgan also having a serious injury and not exactly a spring chicken that leaves Yeates, Britton, Ward (isn;t he out of contract too at the end of this season) and Lowton. Not exactly a massive base to build a side from when the club has no money whatsover.

The rest I would shift on too but we can;t as noone wants them. To think we are stuck with the likes of Monty, Quinn, Cresswell, Evans, Bognanovic, Simonsen for another 2/3 seasons is frightening. That is not even mentioning dross like Taylor, Ertl, Calve etc.

I do think we need to be spendign what few funds we have trying to plunder young players from the lower leagues/abroad (like the deal with the Irish kid - may come off may not). We need to build something and not keep plugging gaps with loans or veterans. Surely there are 2 or 3 players in league one/two we could find better than some of the current squad. I see millwall signed that striker from Bournemouth, Josh McQoid this week on loan and will sign him for around £200,000 in January? I think we should be looking at players like that.

The strategy you suggest is a sensible one to me as well Db but the problem is we dont have £200,000 to spend (or so it would seem). I think the fact that we're signing two lads from the irish league (no disrespect to them as they may be very good), is a strong indication that we cant afford to dip into the domestic market at the moment. We're looking for a cheap miracle basically.

Our biggest problem money wise is having a top heavy salary structure. The likes of Evans, Henderson, Montgomery and Morgan are rumoured to be on very good salaries by Championship standards whilst the majority of the rest are likely on more modest pay. I have no proof of that clearly, but that is the indication by popular belief. Essentially the problem seems to be that we have a handful of players taking up 25-30% of our annual wage budget. That has got to be strangling us and our flexibility in the transfer market.

 

[Pinchy]

I am told The Maestro is on a truly staggering £14,000 a week. If so, the question 'What price mediocrity?' is answered at last!

 

[Worksop II]

I am told The Maestro is on a truly staggering £14,000 a week. If so, the question 'What price mediocrity?' is answered at last!

Just to get this quite clear, are you saying that Nick Montgomery is being paid £14,000 a week ?

 

[shorehamview]

I am told The Maestro is on a truly staggering £14,000 a week. If so, the question 'What price mediocrity?' is answered at last!

Who told you that? Names and pack drill please. "A bloke in the pub" doesn't count.

 

[Pinchy]

I can't say I'm afraid. Just treat it as an uninformed rumour. Personally I really wouldn't pay him a tenth of that figure per year.

 

[Highbury_Blade]

I can't say I'm afraid. Just treat it as possibly utter bollocks. Personally I really wouldn't pay him a tenth of that figure per year.

Fixed that for you

 

[Ballinpigpubs13]

This squad has some of the most over paid rubbish ever to wear the shirt.
Would you agree?

Yes. On a par with some of the cack Billy McEwan served us. :nono:

 

[Pinchy]

Fixed that for you

Agreed Highbury. I'm perfectly happy to transfer the post to Rumour Mill. The proposition that the player himself is utter shite, however, has been confirmed, ratified and audited.

He is paid much more than his worth.

How we all celebrated when Blacko secured the 'spine of the team' on long term contracts. Where would we be without their sublime skills?

One or two of us were wise before the event, were we not?

 

[Wards]

Nick Montgomery is not on 14k a week.

As for the current squad I'm pretty much in agreement with SCB. I think it's imperative that we get permanent signings in, whether this be in January or more likely the summer. I honestly cannot believe we've admitted to making mistakes last year and gone and done exactly the same this season. Words fail me on this point.

To be relying on one or two loans in forward positions is one thing but I've never known a club that has it's first choice and reserve centre backs on loan. This spells disaster IMO. If there's one position in the team that needs to be solid & dependable then it's got to be at the back.

In addition to this I don't think the board are going to be able to get away with not spending a penny if they want to stay up. One or two injuries plus a suspension will show that the squad is well short of what is required and that disaster could be just around the corner with the busy schedules that await in the coming months. I just can't understand how we've let the squad shape itself. And for me, that's more a measure of some of the shite Blackwell signed rather than a reflection of Gary Speed.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

Nick Montgomery is not on 14k a week.

As for the current squad I'm pretty much in agreement with SCB. I think it's imperative that we get permanent signings in, whether this be in January or more likely the summer. I honestly cannot believe we've admitted to making mistakes last year and gone and done exactly the same this season. Words fail me on this point.

To be relying on one or two loans in forward positions is one thing but I've never known a club that has it's first choice and reserve centre backs on loan. This spells disaster IMO. If there's one position in the team that needs to be solid & dependable then it's got to be at the back.

In addition to this I don't think the board are going to be able to get away with not spending a penny if they want to stay up. One or two injuries plus a suspension will show that the squad is well short of what is required and that disaster could be just around the corner with the busy schedules that await in the coming months. I just can't understand how we've let the squad shape itself. And for me, that's more a measure of some of the shite Blackwell signed rather than a reflection of Gary Speed.

Some good points Wards. Picking up on the point you made about the defence, its certainly a worry that three of the centre halves are on loan and so is the first choice right back. It leaves us in a very poor long term position and due to the likelihood that they're on good contracts, we are now left a thin squad (both in terms of size and quality) that is paid very close to maximum budget.

At a glance, it would appear that the club gambled on bringing in a couple of expensive PL fringe players and giving very good contracts to old boys that we desperately wanted to keep. All the eggs went into those baskets.....and it goes back to what I said earlier about being way too top heavy in how our playing staff are paid. Of course I dont know this as fact but it looks a safe assumption.

If their hope was that we might be able to make the top 6 with that, then that was very naive. Perhaps with everyone fit and in form it was perceivable at the time. After last seasons injury woes you would think that such gambles wouldnt even be considered. Now we find ourselves with a skeletal squad lacking quality. Bravo!

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Nick Montgomery is not on 14k a week.

As for the current squad I'm pretty much in agreement with SCB. I think it's imperative that we get permanent signings in, whether this be in January or more likely the summer. I honestly cannot believe we've admitted to making mistakes last year and gone and done exactly the same this season. Words fail me on this point.

To be relying on one or two loans in forward positions is one thing but I've never known a club that has it's first choice and reserve centre backs on loan. This spells disaster IMO. If there's one position in the team that needs to be solid & dependable then it's got to be at the back.

In addition to this I don't think the board are going to be able to get away with not spending a penny if they want to stay up. One or two injuries plus a suspension will show that the squad is well short of what is required and that disaster could be just around the corner with the busy schedules that await in the coming months. I just can't understand how we've let the squad shape itself. And for me, that's more a measure of some of the shite Blackwell signed rather than a reflection of Gary Speed.

Monty isn't far short, and I don't think the board have an option but to accept relegation if it is on the cards.
The wage bill is causing a real problem because players like Nos on loan eat up a hell of a lot of it (nearly a tenth), and I don't think Speed would have picked him.
But we can't throw more money at it unless we get rid of dead wood or highly paid player considered not worth their wages. The problem is finding people to take these off our hands, I mean who is going to take Ryan France?

I think £3-4 Million needs to come off the wage bill in the next 12 months if we are to trade in the black.

 

[super_pig]

>To think we are stuck with the likes of Monty, Quinn, Cresswell, Evans, Bognanovic, Simonsen for another 2/3 seasons is frightening
you're dead right .. if monty is on 14 pence a week i think it is dead frightening

>I think £3-4 Million needs to come off the wage bill in the next 12 months if we are to trade in the black
M and Q out.. then we can at least have 11 players on the field

it's starting to remind me of the heath years.. or the haslam years.. a team in obvious decline on and off the field.. a chairman who has lost interest, fans who are losing interest 'cos they've nowt to watch or cheer.. a squad of journeymen players, has beens, never beens and loans.. if he isn't careful GS could turn out to be the next Adrian Heath or Martin Peters.. good luck Gary mate cos you're going to need it..