SIGNED - Nick Blackman

[St. Brynjar]

Anyone who expected Blackman to keep us up is an idiot. He'll be a reasonable Championship striker next year. Plenty of time to 'come good'.

[Wycombe Royal]

The Jan window was a poor one for RFC but we have no idea who was to blame for that.

Brian - lack of targets?
Hammond - failing to do deals?
Anton failing to stump up serious cash? - yes we made a few bids that were never going to happen but there seemed no serious intent to splash the cash - which makes me think the decision to sack Brian had already been made then.

Brian always had final say on targets. Do you not think that spending 1.2m on Blackman that could have gone elsewhere was a bad piece of management?

Blackman in League 1 this season: 28 games, 11 goals. Woahhhhhh this is amazing for a young player, he's only 23!!!! I see potential, bargain for £1.2 million etc.

Er, no. Who's top scorer in League 1?: Yeovil's Paddy Madden 34 games, 23 goals. And the kicker, he's 4 months younger than Blackman.

Joint second top scorer in League 1?: Walsall's Will Grigg 36 games, 19 goals. Age: 21.

Conclusions: Blackman was signed on the basis of one decent season. A quick glance at League 1 top scorers table shows there are at least two strikers in League 1 who are A: much more prolific. and B: younger. I would also imagine they would be much cheaper than £1.2 million.

Blackman was a terrible buy.

Wasn't he used quite a lot on the wing for the Blades, in which case it is unfair to compare his scoring stats to out and out strikers.

[RoyalBlue]

Anyone who expected Blackman to keep us up is an idiot. He'll be a reasonable Championship striker next year. Plenty of time to 'come good'.

Well you've outed McDermott with the first part of that!

He should have been signing players to keep us up!

[Ian Royal]

My thoughts on Blackman.

He's not a winger: He's got ok control, but his crossing isn't great and doesn't seem to know how to beat a man.
He's not striker: He's not even shown the barest hint he might score a goal.
He's not an attacking midfielder: His passing and awareness isn't good enough.

He's had the odd decent moment in matches, but has generally been a massive lump of underwhelming mediocrity. I have never seen a professional footballer conceed a foul throw by stepping onto the pitch whilst throwing it. It's not like it was just his toe. If the ball had been as far over the line against Liverpool as his foot was today we'd have two extra points.

Southampton, and 0 more points.

Ah yes, mixed it up with Reina's tip over.

[Ian Royal]

Anyone who expected Blackman to keep us up is an idiot. He'll be a reasonable Championship striker next year. Plenty of time to 'come good'.

Who's said they did?

At £1.2m though he certainly seems very overpriced for what he is so far. And given in January we needed to buy players who would make a difference this season, that's doubly a waste of money.

I'm worried he's a player who's quite good technically but doesn't really have a position and doesn't really work well anywhere.

[Maguire]

LOL@writing off Blackman already

You utter morons/racists.

[Arnie_Pie]

LOL@writing off Blackman already

You utter morons/racists.

+1

This forum is so full of feckin idiots nowadays it is embarrassing.

[St. Brynjar]

Anyone who expected Blackman to keep us up is an idiot. He'll be a reasonable Championship striker next year. Plenty of time to 'come good'.

Who's said they did?

At £1.2m though he certainly seems very overpriced for what he is so far. And given in January we needed to buy players who would make a difference this season, that's doubly a waste of money.

I'm worried he's a player who's quite good technically but doesn't really have a position and doesn't really work well anywhere.

Well I feel he's shouldering an unfair portion of the blame for today's defeat and others before this.

£1.2 million is a lot but bear in mind he's A) A striker, B) Relatively young, and C) English. All those things hike up the price tag. Give him a chance and I think he'll do great next year, fairly strong pacey striker. He should decide if he's a striker or a winger though, I don't like players who are jack of all trades, master of none.

[winchester_royal]

FTR I rate Blackman and think he'll prove to be a decent signing. I was just testing Andrew's commitment to BMc.

[sandman]

Showed some nice touches whenever I've seen him could be a very useful player in the Championship.

[grey_squirrel]

Can't believe he's being written off already. He's played what five games for a team that's got one of the worst points totals in Premier League history, one that's been constantly changing teams, formations, strategy etc.

He's got potential and age on his side. It took Longy until he was about 23/24 to really start putting it together so don't be too quick to dismiss him.

Of course he could turn out to be a bust but I don't think you can blame our relegation on £1.2m going to Blackman, who else was it going to go on to keep us up.

I don't see any potential.

I didn't see/hear SheffU rioting over his departure.

I haven't seen him do anything in his minutes on the pitch where I thought 'that's good!' . You could see Long had something even during his development years.

And yes - of course - let's blame Blackman for our relegation. It is of course all, totally his fault isn't it?!

[Ian Royal]

Anyone who expected Blackman to keep us up is an idiot. He'll be a reasonable Championship striker next year. Plenty of time to 'come good'.

Who's said they did?

At £1.2m though he certainly seems very overpriced for what he is so far. And given in January we needed to buy players who would make a difference this season, that's doubly a waste of money.

I'm worried he's a player who's quite good technically but doesn't really have a position and doesn't really work well anywhere.

Well I feel he's shouldering an unfair portion of the blame for today's defeat and others before this.

£1.2 million is a lot but bear in mind he's A) A striker, B) Relatively young, and C) English. All those things hike up the price tag. Give him a chance and I think he'll do great next year, fairly strong pacey striker. He should decide if he's a striker or a winger though, I don't like players who are jack of all trades, master of none.

Is anyone blaming him for the loss? I see people seeing he didn't impress them and could have done better. Personally I'd have said that the ones responsible for our defeat were the defensive unit that stood and watched as Bennett pounced on the rebound from McCarthy's first good save, McCarthy making a weak punch under pressure and the defenders failing to get to it first for Bennett's second. Mariappa (I think) also lost Holt a couple of times on set plays, giving him free headers.

I don't see anything to suggest Blackman should be first choice upfront or on the wing next season, but it's early days in his career and I don't see why he couldn't do a job as third or fourth choice at least.

[RoyallyFcuked]

We are such a LOL in the transfer market really aren't we? It is clear the club didnt really have any transfer targets in January, as we just signed League 1 players off the back of FA Cup games. Hope Akpan fair enough, he is potentially going to a be a good player, but Blackman? Really? Its not like he was even prolific in League 1, and he isnt actualyly that young either. He has looked well out of his depth since he joined in all honesty.

And when you consider the price, well... 1.2m for an unproven player who hasnt really done anything in his career yet.

And 350k for Le Fondre who scored 60 goals in 110 games for Rotherham and has scored goals where ever he has been before that. I think the prices would be fairer if they were reversed. I think it was because we could rip off Rotherham and Sheffield United could demand a higher fee that we should not have paid.

[The Royal]

Nick Crapman is shit, like playing with 10 men

[Royal Ginger]

He's suffered from being a bit part player in a time of massive upheaval. A run in the team at Championship level and i'm sure we'll all be singing his name. He's got 11 goals from 28 appearances for the Blades, with a bunch of those appearances coming on the wing, he's clearly got something about him.

[Royal Ginger]

Nick Crapman is shit, like playing with 10 men

Thanks for your well constructed and thought out argument. I'm off to contemplate it's nuances.

[sandman]

Nick Crapman is shit, like playing with 10 men

How very erudite.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Nick Crapman is shit, like playing with 10 men

Nick "Crapman" is not "shit"

He has been thrown in at the deep end, coming from league one, to the best league in the world is obviously going to be tough. He has shown some encouraging signs... He has a great touch, he can hold of a man and he has decent pace.

If you had any clue about football, you will see he has potential. Especially in the championship next season, and he was also not playing in his preferred position

Oh, and Happy 9th Birthday

[The Royal]

Nick Crapman is shit, like playing with 10 men

Nick "Crapman" is not "shit"

He has been thrown in at the deep end, coming from league one, to the best league in the world is obviously going to be tough. He has shown some encouraging signs... He has a great touch, he can hold of a man and he has decent pace.

If you had any clue about football, you will see he has potential. Especially in the championship next season, and he was also not playing in his preferred position

Oh, and Happy 9th Birthday

1. The prem is not the best league in the world anymore
2. If he ain't ready for the prem, don't oxf*rd buy him
3. If you watched any of his games for his previous club, he played on the wing or just behind the striker with most colas coming from the wing, so no he was not playing out of position
4. He has the touch of a rapist

[MeMeMe]

Nick Crapman is shit, like playing with 10 men

Nick "Crapman" is not "shit"

He has been thrown in at the deep end, coming from league one, to the best league in the world is obviously going to be tough. He has shown some encouraging signs... He has a great touch, he can hold of a man and he has decent pace.

If you had any clue about football, you will see he has potential. Especially in the championship next season, and he was also not playing in his preferred position

Oh, and Happy 9th Birthday

1. The prem is not the best league in the world anymore
2. If he ain't ready for the prem, don't oxf*rd buy him
3. If you watched any of his games for his previous club, he played on the wing or just behind the striker with most colas coming from the wing, so no he was not playing out of position
4. He has the touch of a rapist

Point 2: But hey he was cheap.... and he 'might' have been good in the Prem !.... "We move on" as they say