Transfer targets

[adiosmiamigo]

When people were kicking off at the start of June about no signings, In said it was far too early to worry, and I'd only be concerned if the case was the same in July.

It is a now July.

What an absolute shambles this club is. Seemingly making the same mistakes over and over and over again.

This myopic and snail-paced recruitment policy has to change or we'll be down before we're up again.

We seemingly spend weeks chasing one or two targets and let those drag on for far too long.

If there is no one in before we go to Portugal then heads need to roll. Whether that's the recruitment team or the Board, I don't know.

There seems to be nothing happening on the transfer front or anything else Blades-wise,just old news regurgitated made to look like new.

 

[Yogi]

I do wonder whether the issue is at the top and in the hoops the team need to jump through to be able to go after a player. It's clearly not the manager. If it takes 2 weeks to get agreement to bid for a player then it's no wonder we just always seem to have one target.

Something is certainly causing us to have a degree of tunnel vision.

 

[GrunkyPeep]

If ever there was a great example on how to run a club and be successful with limited funds and fans Brentford has to be the one. Plus they are always selling players making big bucks but they always seem to be replacing them with even better players. Wish we could nick their chief scout he always seems to come up with the goods. If they had our following and gates they would be up there with the big boys. They would certainly not be looking for freebies or any waif or strays .

I don't think our fanbase is ready to see our best players being sold year after year after year.

 

[adiosmiamigo]

Something is certainly causing us to have a degree of tunnel vision.

It used to be said years ago that the Blades were a first division club with a third division mentality.

 

[MagnifiqueShorehamStreet]

The owners spent a huge chunk of money on Berge, Mousset, McBurnie, Brewster, Freeman, Robinson etc.

I can completely understand why they are tight with their money right now.

And they got a huge chunk of money for getting in the Prem, on a shoestring,and are still receiving a huge chunk of parachute payments, which more than evens it out.

 

[GrunkyPeep]

And they got a huge chunk of money for getting in the Prem, on a shoestring,and are still receiving a huge chunk of parachute payments, which more than evens it out.

I understand that, we all want to get to the Prem and the riches that come with it, but if you look back at Brentford's transfers they have sold their best players year on year since at least 2014/2015.

That's 7 seasons repeatedly selling their best players every year until finally getting to the prem.

Do you think our fans who cry about 'ambition' will be able to handle 7 seasons selling our best players every year with no success?

 

[bertieblade]

And they got a huge chunk of money for getting in the Prem, on a shoestring,and are still receiving a huge chunk of parachute payments, which more than evens it out.

Look at the accounts and you will find details of all the other costs involved in running a business, most noticeable of which was using £50m of the clubs money for the club to buy the ground so that we own it.
Covid also had an effect
But ignore the facts if it makes you feel better

 

[Yogi]

It used to be said years ago that the Blades were a first division club with a third division mentality.

I’m not sure it’s a mentality issue as of late our targets have been ambitious sometimes excessively so it’s just that we seem to lock in on a player a pursue that deal to the bitter end

 

[blades78]

Look at the accounts and you will find details of all the other costs involved in running a business, most noticeable of which was using £50m of the clubs money for the club to buy the ground so that we own it.
Covid also had an effect
But ignore the facts if it makes you feel better

The Prince owns the ground as he owns the club. He is using the clubs money to pay for the loan he took out to buy the ground, hotel etc.

 

[bertieblade]

He did not take the loan out the club did.
Agreed he owns the club and subsequently the ground but it is in the clubs name unlike Hillsboro which is owned by Chansiri

 

[adiosmiamigo]

I’m not sure it’s a mentality issue as of late our targets have been ambitious sometimes excessively so it’s just that we seem to lock in on a player a pursue that deal to the bitter end

Maybe we don't have a plan B or C or D e.tc.

 

[Yogi]

Maybe we don't have a plan B or C or D e.tc.

That’s my point I’m not sure we do. I think the scouting team go and identify the best player to fit the requirement and we pursue that player. I’m not saying that there aren’t other players that are on the potentials list that have been looked at in the process but we don’t seem to move off that primary target until it’s impossible to get them

 

[Maidenhead]

When people were kicking off at the start of June about no signings, In said it was far too early to worry, and I'd only be concerned if the case was the same in July.

It is a now July.

What an absolute shambles this club is. Seemingly making the same mistakes over and over and over again.

This myopic and snail-paced recruitment policy has to change or we'll be down before we're up again.

We seemingly spend weeks chasing one or two targets and let those drag on for far too long.

If there is no one in before we go to Portugal then heads need to roll. Whether that's the recruitment team or the Board, I don't know.

So you want to encourage the recruitment team to get any old players in to save their heads?

We don't need numbers, we need quality, and we're not in a position to dictate when that quality becomes available.

The better quality players will have many options and will have no need to make early decisions on their future, and may even believe that they have a future at their present club if they are still under contract.

Likewise better quality loans. Premier League clubs will want to wait and see what business they do before deciding which of their fringe players will be made available for loan.

I know that it's difficult in this society that demands instant gratification for all but patience is required.

I'll judge the success or failure of this window based on our league position at Christmas.

 

[nopigfansintown]

The transfer committee is still the same as it was under Wilder, bar Prestridge, Wilder and Knill's removal and the addition of Hecky and McCall. On the administrative side I don't think that any members have left or have been removed from the committee? Thus there has been no price for failure, only on the football side. That in itself is interesting given the criticism of the Premier League recruitment, and the almost wholly terrible and expensive recruitment of the last window (MGW apart). How many windows do these guys get? It's a part of the mythology on here that the manager makes the decision on signings. Or even the final decision. It was revealed, lest we forget, by the committee members themselves in a YouTube fans forum that Wilder had to persuade some members to change their votes in favour of signing Lowe and Bogle who they were initially vetoing.

 

[robbiez666]

So you want to encourage the recruitment team to get any old players in to save their heads?

We don't need numbers, we need quality, and we're not in a position to dictate when that quality becomes available.

The better quality players will have many options and will have no need to make early decisions on their future, and may even believe that they have a future at their present club if they are still under contract.

Likewise better quality loans. Premier League clubs will want to wait and see what business they do before deciding which of their fringe players will be made available for loan.

I know that it's difficult in this society that demands instant gratification for all but patience is required.

I'll judge the success or failure of this window based on our league position at Christmas.

Some. Some

Most of the better quality frees have already gone. Sure, if you want a borderline EPL squad member, you have to wait.

society demands nonsense. Signing players as early as possible is preferable, is it not. Or does your instant gratification society demand no pre-season?

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

What an absolute shambles this club is. Seemingly making the same mistakes over and over and over again

Its almost as if all the same people are running the show who've been fucking things up for 3 years !

 

[adiosmiamigo]

We're going to be one of the favourites for promotion, offering a better salary than 80-90% of the league.

Laughable to suggest we wouldn't be attractive to a Championship-bound player. Certainly the right TYPE of player.

Depends on how the club is presented to any prospective signing,as in any industry,you have to "sell" the product.

 

[Varkanoid]

Depends on how the club is presented to any prospective signing,as in any industry,you have to "sell" the product.

Also depends on how long the stigma of being one of the worst PL clubs ever still lingers in Agents minds after our recent 2nd season diabolical. Also they can see what we can see no player transfer movement shows no current investment in the team. On paper and in the media we dont look like a good prospect at the moment so we need some really good selling on the recruitment side.

 

[adiosmiamigo]

Also depends on how long the stigma of being one of the worst PL clubs ever still lingers in Agents minds after our recent 2nd season diabolical. Also they can see what we can see no player transfer movement shows no current investment in the team.

They are two valid points, i guess it's the agents you have to sell the club to and yes ,the P.L. second season fiasco will take a lot of living down.

 

[Addison]

Paul Mitchell Head of Recruitment I believe has a support team of 5. I'm sure they have identified a number of targets and passed them up the line. PH will presumably get involved and agree targets at this stage. This is then referred to Bettis who is spinning numerous plates trying to manage all aspects of the Club at Executive level on the ground at BDTBL.

All transfer recommendations we are now told by Alghamdi the CEO of UW are signed off by UW. We do not know what that approval process has currently evolved into. Previously when the Prince was active at the Club his son in law as Chairman based in Sheffield was part of a transfer committee that included PA, the lawyer Yusef G, Van Winckel and possibly PA's son on occasions. That was before UW began to expand. PA was visible communicating with supporters and clearly actively involved in decision making. Decisions were passed down to a hands on Manager in CW and Bettis with less responsibilities than he has now, the Chairman and to a lesser extent Schieber the football administrator were tasked with getting deals over the line.

Fast forward to now and we don't even know if PA is involved in decision making anymore. Alghamdi probably is. He has no affinity with SUFC unlike PA who spent 7 years on the Board. Every statement he makes refers to UW not SUFC, the plan is all about UW growing. He states there is a leadership group in UW of 35. As a club we have never been quick with recruitment but is it any wonder with this convoluted structure that progress with transfers is slow. In the event approval is passed down its back to Bettis to negotiate with agents, players and Clubs to get deals over the line. Where top deal outgoings are concerned, as shown by Ramsdale, we will incur additional costs of consultants to negotiate the price.

The top Championship Clubs we are competing against have Sporting Directors or their equivalents in situ dealing with this daily not having to manage all aspects of a Club. Our structure puts us at a disadvantage in addition to a historical reluctance to progress transfer activity speedily.

The present structure and approach to recruitment IMO is inflexible, encourages tunnel vision, slow decision making and does not have the capacity to quickly adapt to rapidly changing situations. The usual strap lines of waiting for the good EPL loans to the end of the window are already appearing yet Stoke, Boro and the Wall have already secured similar loans. Birmingham got Chong early from Man U last season and he was MOM in our loss to them in the first game. There are deals to be done now if you have the decision making capacity available, sadly we don't as they are off on other projects.

I genuinely feel sorry for Bettis. He was rolled out to give positive vibes that we were looking to get deals done early to support the manager for the start of pre season, we had money to spend on loans and didn't have to sell players. 2 out of 3 haven't happened yet. The narrative is now changing suggesting no deals before Portugal and fans frustrations are increasing. Its still early but the signs are not encouraging.

 

[mancunianblade]

Paul Mitchell Head of Recruitment I believe has a support team of 5. I'm sure they have identified a number of targets and passed them up the line. PH will presumably get involved and agree targets at this stage. This is then referred to Bettis who is spinning numerous plates trying to manage all aspects of the Club at Executive level on the ground at BDTBL.

All transfer recommendations we are now told by Alghamdi the CEO of UW are signed off by UW. We do not know what that approval process has currently evolved into. Previously when the Prince was active at the Club his son in law as Chairman based in Sheffield was part of a transfer committee that included PA, the lawyer Yusef G, Van Winckel and possibly PA's son on occasions. That was before UW began to expand. PA was visible communicating with supporters and clearly actively involved in decision making. Decisions were passed down to a hands on Manager in CW and Bettis with less responsibilities than he has now, the Chairman and to a lesser extent Schieber the football administrator were tasked with getting deals over the line.

Fast forward to now and we don't even know if PA is involved in decision making anymore. Alghamdi probably is. He has no affinity with SUFC unlike PA who spent 7 years on the Board. Every statement he makes refers to UW not SUFC, the plan is all about UW growing. He states there is a leadership group in UW of 35. As a club we have never been quick with recruitment but is it any wonder with this convoluted structure that progress with transfers is slow. In the event approval is passed down its back to Bettis to negotiate with agents, players and Clubs to get deals over the line. Where top deal outgoings are concerned, as shown by Ramsdale, we will incur additional costs of consultants to negotiate the price.

The top Championship Clubs we are competing against have Sporting Directors or their equivalents in situ dealing with this daily not having to manage all aspects of a Club. Our structure puts us at a disadvantage in addition to a historical reluctance to progress transfer activity speedily.

The present structure and approach to recruitment IMO is inflexible, encourages tunnel vision, slow decision making and does not have the capacity to quickly adapt to rapidly changing situations. The usual strap lines of waiting for the good EPL loans to the end of the window are already appearing yet Stoke, Boro and the Wall have already secured similar loans. Birmingham got Chong early from Man U last season and he was MOM in our loss to them in the first game. There are deals to be done now if you have the decision making capacity available, sadly we don't as they are off on other projects.

I genuinely feel sorry for Bettis. He was rolled out to give positive vibes that we were looking to get deals done early to support the manager for the start of pre season, we had money to spend on loans and didn't have to sell players. 2 out of 3 haven't happened yet. The narrative is now changing suggesting no deals before Portugal and fans frustrations are increasing. Its still early but the signs are not encouraging.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-vanharen-54a2895b/

 

[Addison]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-vanharen-54a2895b/

Interesting statement that he's responsible for the recruitment at SUFC. I doubt it very much on a day to day basis. He's probably one of the 35 leaders where decisions are referred up. I'm not sure any of his 14 scouts are actively involved in looking at prospects in league 1 or could cover the attributes of Ben Wiles at Rotherham so Paul Mitchells job is safe for the moment.

 

[BushBlade]

Interesting statement that he's responsible for the recruitment at SUFC. I doubt it very much on a day to day basis. He's probably one of the 35 leaders where decisions are referred up. I'm not sure any of his 14 scouts are actively involved in looking at prospects in league 1 or could cover the attributes of Ben Wiles at Rotherham so Paul Mitchells job is safe for the moment.

I don’t think who watches L1 games is the issue. It’s more about who has the final say and how qualified/experienced in recruitment they are. I’d be more concerned about a bloke who’s mainly been a fitness coach at various clubs, the majority of which I’d not heard of, having the power of veto over who we signed.

 

[Blacksea]

Another thing is,the number of new players
Hecky said he wanted in the squad this season were supposed to be new recruits and kids stepping up.Who are these kids because names are being mentioned,but I would like to hear direct from Hecky the kids he believes are good enough to supplement the squad and have a good chance of holding down a first team place,this has also been as vague as the transfers in situation.

 

[MagnifiqueShorehamStreet]

He did not take the loan out the club did.
Agreed he owns the club and subsequently the ground but it is in the clubs name unlike Hillsboro which is owned by Chansiri

When he sells,the money goes straight into his bank account, not the club’s, my friend.

 

[petcharlie]

Have you noticed the season is starting earlier by any chance?

And by heads will roll, there is clearly an issue with either the recruitment team and/or the approval process at the top

Can someone tell me when we last signed our number 1 target ? I said signed not loaned .

 

[petcharlie]

I understand that, we all want to get to the Prem and the riches that come with it, but if you look back at Brentford's transfers they have sold their best players year on year since at least 2014/2015.

That's 7 seasons repeatedly selling their best players every year until finally getting to the prem.

Do you think our fans who cry about 'ambition' will be able to handle 7 seasons selling our best players every year with no success?

Are you serious? We have had decades of selling our best players but unlike Brentford we never replaced them with quality like they do.

 

[bertieblade]

Can someone tell me when we last signed our number 1 target ? I said signed not loaned .

Brewster who superseded Berge when he became our record signing.

 

[GrunkyPeep]

Are you serious? We have had decades of selling our best players but unlike Brentford we never replaced them with quality like they do.

Looking at recently:

16/17
Sell: Che Adams, DCL, Ramsdale
Replace: Moore, Fleck, Duffy, Wright, Clarke, O'Connell,
Got us promoted

18/19
Sell: Brooks, Leanard, Evans
Replace: Egan Norwood, Didzy
Got us promoted

 

[petcharlie]

Looking at recently:

16/17
Sell: Che Adams, DCL, Ramsdale
Replace: Moore, Fleck, Duffy, Wright, Clarke, O'Connell,
Got us promoted

18/19
Sell: Brooks, Leanard, Evans
Replace: Egan Norwood, Didzy
Got us promoted

Well if we are good at selling our best players and replacing them with quality why is it we were perhaps the worst team ever to get relegated from the prem and now we do not have a halfpenny to scartch our arse with despite parachute payments record season ticket sales also the best gates in the Championship . Without the Wolves loanee we would have been no where near the play offs last year ,we were very mediocre .