January Transfer Window 2016
As the clock ticked down to the end of the January transfer window 2016, it was becoming clearer and clearer that for Sheffield United this window would be one of more outs than ins.
After the deadline had passed, and with no incoming signings, Jim Phipps took to social media as usual to give us his thoughts on “SUFC’s JTW 2016”.
Jim says:
We accomplished some, but not all, of our goals for JTW 2016
The not all - i.e. bringing some new players in - will be the most upsetting to blades fans. Jim posted one of his flash votes to help him understand collective view - you don’t even need to vote to know what the top answer will be.
So no new signings, but a bloated squad trimmed to free up wages. Players moving on either permanently or on loan included Wallace - undoubted ability but always injured, Higdon - worse than Porter?, Alcock - decent player but unnecessary signing, and Freeman - the “did well but Brayford cost more so we will pick him instead”. A few other younger prospects were also moved on but new quality players were desperately needed; hard-working and honest only get’s you so far.
I had previously tweeted towards the end of January who I thought were our best players good enough for the first team; 6 in all with others good enough for the bench, leaving 5 new signings required for the staring 11 in my eyes. This obviously wasn’t going to happen but I was expecting at least a CB, attacking central midfielder and an attacking right winger.
Responding to Jims post
I decided to respond to Jim’s post on Linked in, focusing on the 5 points he raises. There are a number of good responses so I suggest you read them. Jim says “while I cannot respond to every message I’ve received individually, I can share my thoughts on JTW 2016 in one take and review your responses.” - so hopefully he will read and digest the thoughts of the fans.
Right-sizing
Having a squad that is too big is unhealthy. During JTW 2016, we have begun the process of right-sizing the squad. More work on this front will need to wait until the close season, when contracts expire.
The squad was obviously too big, due to uncontrolled and often unnecessary signings by previous managers. Could the squad have been trimmed sooner? Player injuries at the time possibly hindered this, but more should have been done to “right-size” the squad in the summer.
“Clean slate” is a term the manager used at the start of the season which really bugged me. There are players still in the squad, given clean slates at the start of the season who are not good enough and should have been moved on.
Inward transfers
We have not brought in new players during JTW 2016, apart from extending inward loans to the end of the season. This is not for lack of resources, but rather because we did not get any of the footballers with respect to whom the football professionals had: (1) conducted due diligence; and (2) determined would make an improvement. It might have been tempting in the final hours of JTW 2016 to do something just for the sake of being seen to do something. The better choice, however, was to avoid both panic buying and purchasing for cosmetic reasons.
In preparation for this window, given the time and resources we have for scouting, I would hope that your “club-owned recruiting processes and procedures” would ultimately result in the list of players under category (2) “determined would make an improvement” to be substantial and brimming with quality players that would be the envy of the league.
It is then a case of ranking the likely hood of success, i.e. 1. Would the club sell, 2. would the player come, 3. can we afford wages, 4. can we afford the fee. All this would bring us to January 1st with a clear list of targets to work through.
If we are to believe that Dan Burn was a target, I would suggest he would fail in points 1&2 above (given he is now in the Fulham first team) and pass the others - therefore he is off the list and we move on.
There are a number of players bought by L1 clubs this window who would have ticked all boxes. As a management team you should review where they were on our list.
Last JTW we bought Brayford, Freeman, Done and Coutts. I was especially pleased with Done, although he has gone off the boil. Coutts is one of the better of the many, many midfielders we have. I did think it was unnecessary to have both Freeman and Brayford.
This window was crucial to drive our promotion push forward. To give everyone a lift, players and fans. To send a message that we are here to challenge for promotion. To make people fear us.
To make a point on general recruitment overall. Week after week I see teams play great football against us; with good movement, pace, attack minded, more “honesty”, and good footballing ability. And I’m always thinking why cant we play like that, how has a club like this been able to get these players? When I look at our team I see defensive players, with limited ability who are slow and not attack minded - and are probably on wages that are not worth thinking about.
Of the transfers we have made this season; it doesn’t take a scouting genius to know Sharp is a good player. Edgar is a good player but let down by his defensive colleagues. Woolford, Hammond, Sammon all fall in the slow and limited ability category.
Keeping top talent
During JTW 2016, we have not traded away top talent. While the financial realities and economics of the modern game make essentially every club a trading club, we have managed to preserve strength for the future in this window.
You have sold all of our top talent so I would suggest this item wasn’t very hard. The club has a reputation for selling our best players and I get that clubs need to do this at times. Murphy was such a big loss, you could give him the ball and he would drive forward and make things happen - took the pressure off the others
In past windows the fans fear which of our best players the club will sell. I think it brings the lack of quality in our team to sharp focus that there wasn’t much to fear this window.
Of our “top” players - Sharp wouldn’t leave and probably wouldn’t be on anyone’s list due to his age and wages. Brayford wouldn’t leave and would be too expensive for a RB. Adams is probably the only player who has any real appeal to other clubs.
So if you have turned down bids for players then fair play - but I think the most likely situation is that no-one has placed a bid.
Recruiting process:
By my reckoning, counting JTW 2016, it will take at least three transfer windows to complete the work of addressing past recruiting errors and excesses. The key to getting this right going forward is the work we are doing now to reclaim, to strengthen and to implement club-owned recruiting processes and procedures. This imperative is and will remain a major focus. The resolve shown during JTW 2016 in not making panic or cosmetic acquisitions is an early victory in this process. More progress on this front should begin to evidence itself in the close season and transfers windows thereafter.
The key to this has to be the type of player we bring in - no more journey men, no more best mates from the managers previous clubs, no more players who “only drop to L1 because it’s Sheffield United”.
We need players on the up, the best players in the league; good young talent with pace, desire and attacking ability. Players who it is the pinnacle of their career so far to play for us, players who would die for the club.
Promotion imperative
We continue to seek promotion this year. We have 18 matches left to play this season. That’s 54 points for which to play. We are currently two points off the playoff places and 12 points off the automatic promotion places. By way of reality check, we are also only 14 points above the drop zone. The league table doesn’t lie. The competition remains tight. While going up this season remains feasible, doing so will require the Mighty to pull it together, to work together in a sustained fashion to make this happen. Lungs will need to be burnt out. Passion will need to be on display … lots of it.
Same story different season:
#BladesStats #Game28 This Season vs Last Season - Points: 42/45, Position: 7th/5th, Points Behind 2nd: 12/12 #twitterblades
I think we lost out on automatic promotion this season between games 15 and 20 where we didn’t win a game. If you have been following my #BladesStats on Twitter you will see I’ve been keeping a close eye on results, comparing this season to last, and we are virtually the same given another win. It is so frustrating to see missed opportunities that would have us higher up the table. Either bad luck, poor defending, missed chances or just a general lack of quality. Better players would have us higher in the table.
We have just missed out on 2 chances to get into the playoffs. We somehow need to scrape ourselves into the playoffs and just pray that we can win them. There are much better teams above us, with better players and on form so my confidence is not that high.
See you on Saturday and always remember - UTB
You can read more of my thoughts on Sheffield United on Twitter @sufc