Sheff Utd More Sheff Utd >
The dreaded transfer window
Well, that time of year is upon us again. Us older fans will remember a time before transfer windows. Was football better then? Like so many rhetorical questions, that’s not a simple answer.
It could well be argued that the lack of a transfer window was beneficial for smaller clubs, as it meant that if they had to sell a player to make ends meet, they could do so when they needed to rather than waiting until the transfer window to do so.
On the other hand, it’s given us the double-edged sword of panic buying – where a club might have scalped a selling club in the past because they knew that the sellers needed the money, they might now be tempted to pay at least the asking price because they only have a brief time in which to bring a player in.
On the plus side, it’s more exciting, certainly. I can’t be the only person who stays up until midnight on transfer deadline day, hoping against hope that my club will sign someone marvellous (or at least not sell our prize asset with no time to replace him). Perhaps I’ve been brainwashed by Sky TV, but I do find the transfer window exciting - and really enjoy seeing the field reporters hanging around outside clubs that I usually couldn’t care less about. Stoke City are always good for a deadline day scoop.
For the Blades, this window will be telling – will our chairman take the risk of not cashing in on our better players in the hope that we can get promotion back to the Championship? Ched Evans, for instance, is out of contract in the summer. Court case notwithstanding, we could probably cash in on him – or at least get him off the wage bill.
A number of players who looked frankly out of their depth last season are really finding their feet this term. Whether this is a result of playing in a lower league, or of Danny Wilson’s management, is open to debate, but players like Neill Collins and Michael Doyle are proving to be a revelation, and have played a big part in our league position.
Former Premier League players like the aforementioned Evans, along with Stephen Quinn and Lee Williamson are showing their pedigree, and the younger players – Harry Maguire in particular – are attracting higher-league suitors with their performances.
For me, this is a gamble we have to take. Selling our crown jewels is a short-sighted stratagem that will inevitably lead to a weaker squad. If we don’t go up, we can look at clearing out some of the players in the summer – Maguire and Lowton aren’t suddenly going to see their value crash, and their wages would be on the low side anyway.
History is against us taking the risk and holding on to our squad, but I really hope that this season is the one where the chairman finally shows what he’s made of and gambles on a bounce back to the second tier.
Posted by Sheffield United fan Matt Hindle
Follow Matt on Twitter at @matt_hindle
Featured ContributorsMore >
-
Jason Burt
The Telegraph's football correspondent Learn more >
-
Luke Moore
Co-founder of The Football Ramble podcast Learn more >
Watch it on BT Vision
-
Championship
-
Sat 19 May
- West Ham v Blackpool Live 2pm, Sky Sports 1
-
Champions League
-
Sat 19 May
- Bayern Munich v Chelsea Live 6pm, Sky Sports 1
NewsMore news >
-
Yates looking forward to Wembley date
Cheltenham boss Mark Yates is relishing next Sunday’s npower League Two play-off final showdown with Crewe after his side secured a 4-1 aggregate win over Torquay. Read more >
57 mins ago -
Gill: United can compete on transfers
David Gill is confident Manchester United will be able to challenge their big-spending noisy neighbours in the transfer market this summer. Read more >
57 mins ago
Most popular
4 weeks ago
5 hours ago
Comments
Please leave your comments using the box below. Learn more
BT is not responsible for any external content or links uploaded by users of the site. Nor does the presence of information or links about other parties' products or services confer any form of endorsement of another party's products or services by BT. Please show respect to other users and avoid bad language when posting