Hamer (41 Viewers)

pipkin73

Well-Known Member
The way i look at it, Gus is backIng himself to learn and then improve in the second half of the season.

When Sheff go down he will have been good enough in the second part of the season that other teams will want him, resulting (possibly) in another wage increase to go to a better team and play in a better team.

He is backing his ability, as if he stinks the season out he will prob not get another chance at his age (almost 27) unless he goes up with a team.

He has taken a gamble but backed himself to be good enough.

You can't blame someone for that.

If he stayed with us, he would be almost 28 if we went up next season, a good season hoping for the big money move then would see the new team thinking he will be 29 during the season, would they pay the money for him?

This could have been his last chance lost at his age if he had stayed with us and we did not go up.

I guess this all went through his head, he loves it here but also want's to improve his career (even if he has a poor season) he can still say he played in the premier league and earned good money for it.
 
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Yorkshire SB

Well-Known Member
The way i look at it, Gus is backIng himself to learn and then improve in the second half of the season.

When Sheff go down he will have been good enough in the second part of the season that other teams will want him, resulting (possibly) in another wage increase to go to a better team and play in a better team.

He is backing his ability, as if he stinks the season out he will prob not get another chance at his age (almost 27) unless he goes up with a team.

He has taken a gamble but backed himself to be good enough.

You can't blame someone for that.

If he stayed with us, he would be almost 28 if we went up next season, a good season hoping for the big money move then would see the new team thinking he will be 29 during the season, would they pay the money for him?

This could have been his last chance lost at his age if he had stayed with us and we did not go up.

I guess this all went through his head, he loves it here but also want's to improve his career (even if he has a poor season) he can still say he played in the premier league and earned good money for it.
Surely there’s a significant risk that he ends up back in the championship with three years left on his deal?
If it’s the only offer he had, then it’s the right one - PL opportunity and more money, but he could definitely find himself marooned back in the championship in 12 months.
 

Boicey

Well-Known Member
I would suggest the complete opposite if I’m honest .Gus has gone to a team who will go down , so expectations will be low . Vik is playing for an established top European side in the Champions league , it could be a huge stepping stone for him and his future
I'm talking about their development as football players. Vik will be playing 90% of games against league 1 level teams for a few years, and he can't just move quickly if he fancies.
Gus probably had few other options to step up tbh, this was the best he could do, financially and to make something personally out of the success last season. He basically has a year in the premiership spotlight to make a lasting name for himself.
 

Sky Blue Harry H

Well-Known Member
Surely there’s a significant risk that he ends up back in the championship with three years left on his deal?
If it’s the only offer he had, then it’s the right one - PL opportunity and more money, but he could definitely find himself marooned back in the championship in 12 months.

They may well get relegated, but if Gus plays well in the PL, he may suddenly become wanted by other PL teams, like a few of the Southampton players have, and we could benefit from a sell on fee.
 

pipkin73

Well-Known Member
Surely there’s a significant risk that he ends up back in the championship with three years left on his deal?
If it’s the only offer he had, then it’s the right one - PL opportunity and more money, but he could definitely find himself marooned back in the championship in 12 months.
That is why i said he is backing his ability. If it goes wrong he goes back to where he was but on higher wages but haven gave it a go, if they go down but he plays well he gets a move to a more established team and kicks on.

If we had gone up he would have done that with us but he can't wait much longer at his age to establish himself in the top flight.
 

Yorkshire SB

Well-Known Member
They may well get relegated, but if Gus plays well in the PL, he may suddenly become wanted by other PL teams, like a few of the Southampton players have, and we could benefit from a sell on fee.
Don’t think it’s that common, especially if you’ve only had a year playing in the PL. Lot of pressure to quickly adapt to the level and stand out, all in a side that gets relegated.
 

Sky Blue Harry H

Well-Known Member
Don’t think it’s that common, especially if you’ve only had a year playing in the PL. Lot of pressure to quickly adapt to the level and stand out, all in a side that gets relegated.

If you don't think Gus will stand out in that Sheff Utd team, you need to get to Specsavers ;):cool:
 

David O'Day

Well-Known Member
They may well get relegated, but if Gus plays well in the PL, he may suddenly become wanted by other PL teams, like a few of the Southampton players have, and we could benefit from a sell on fee.
Apart from JWP the players Southampton have sold for big money are a lot younger than Gus and have a lot more upside.
 

skybluestub

Well-Known Member
The way I look at it, would I have loved to keep Gus? Yes a million times over. However, if he and Vik had gone one after each other at the start of this transfer window, this place and our fanbase would have been unbearable. Couple that with clubs well aware of our windfall, and likely to inflate prices. In the time between the two sales, look at who we've brought in.

We've managed to spend, and spend significantly with players on 3/4 year contracts, this is something that we haven't done for YEARS. The squad has strength in depth, and options to change games from the bench...again something MR hasn't had in recent times.

Gus himself still feels an affinity to the club, he said himself he'll be at the Sunderland game supporting the boys, Eccles even said 'that was for Gussy' in the City Unseen. MR couldn't speak highly enough of him, but I think deep down, we all knew this was coming. We can criticise his timing, his decision, his choice of club but we still have 2 full weeks of the window and time to add bums to seats :)
 

shepardo01

Well-Known Member
Will he get the chance in a team that is unlikely to see much ball at all?
If they play him in the right position, he'll see more of the ball than most of their side, so it is likely he'll get a chance to stand out.
(He topped the Champ stats of ball turnovers/regaining possession last year - just what Sheff Utd will need!)
 

David O'Day

Well-Known Member
If they play him in the right position, he'll see more of the ball than most of their side, so it is likely he'll get a chance to stand out.
(He topped the Champ stats of ball turnovers/regaining possession last year - just what Sheff Utd will need!)
They let those tika taka genius Crystal Palace have almost 70% of the ball.

He's going to see very little of the ball
 

Sky Blue Harry H

Well-Known Member
If he stayed with us, he would be almost 28 if we went up next season
D.O.B. 24.6.97 (he's only just 26, so next season he'd have just turned 27 - not being pedantic, but he's really a year younger than you're insinuating)
 

napolimp

Well-Known Member
Just boo all the Sheff Utd players and you can't go wrong (that is if we even play them)

You should always applaud and cheer all Sheffield United players and fans, as they always offered their most sincere of support to us as a club. They certainly didn't aim grotty little chants at us, or wish us out of existence.
 

SkyBlueSoul

Well-Known Member
Seem to remember the same thing happened when Robbie Keane scored against us in the FA Cup for Spurs at HR
 

Happy_Martian

Well-Known Member
Remember when our fans applauded him scoring against us

We applauded Dave Bennett coming on for Sheff Wednesday at his first game at Highfield Road after he'd signed for them. Or Speedie coming on for Liverpool when we played them up at Anfield in the same situation. It's only a sign of respect and support for a player we didn't want to lose and for for the service they gave our club. Applauding a goalscorer who had served his time with us and then doing his job for someone else, especially if it was the first game after we had sold them, is just that. Now, going ape over the goal would have been poor taste.

Applaud Hamer in his first game against us. Next game, he's just another footballer.
 

Legia Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
If an ex player bad mouths us then they are fair game for stick. When Dublin refused to play for us or so it seemed, then he appeared to deserve some stick too. However, Dublin is a good example of why we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Booing him for going to Villa was one thing but some of the stick he took touched on the vile, which is a terrible memory for someone considered one of our legends, and that has led to a bit of a distant relationship since his career finished.

Personally I prefer to ignore an ex player's existence before or during a game (unless they do something to wind us up), and leave the applause until they are subbed off or the game has finished, but I do remember seeing Whelan playing against us at HR and Eustace at the Arena, who were both mildly booed, but when subbed were applauded by our crowd, which seemed to pleasantly take both by surprise. Was good that they went away knowing that their service had been appreciated.
 

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