I believe Hughton when he says Stephens is not refusing to play. I suspect the club knows there is serious interest and, given his contract situation, is content to make sure he remains injury-free just in case Burnley or someone else in the PL comes back in with a big offer that's too good to be refused. In the meantime, we have signed Norwood and no doubt have other options on the back-burner just in case, such as the guy at Toulouse. Hopefully, Stephens will stay.
Dale Stephens Summer 2016 shenanigans (Merged Thread)
- Thread starter Mellotron
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He isn't.
Possibly being economical.
Most good Championship players would love to play in the PL, so if he's been offered the chance you'd expect him to be excited at the prospect. That will affect some people's focus, so maybe that's happened. Or maybe Chris thinks it's likely we'll lose him and doesn't want him to get injured (as he needs the cash for incoming players). And maybe Dale is getting over his knee injury and shouldn't be facing hard tackles too. Maybe it's a combination of some of those things.
Dale refusing to play (or asking not to) is not the only realistic possibility.
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 72,353
Seven pages and not a so much as a PEEP out of NSC's Junior Minister Of Club Information denying it. Must be a DONE DEAL!
This is disappointing as I was hoping that they were chipped, like my cat.
E
Eric Youngs Contact Lense
Guest
I agree with what I think the majority of the sentiments on here say.. CH has decided not to select Stephens in recent games because for whatever reason, and many of think that is because of the transfer speculation, he is not ready/able. That doesn't mean that Stephens isn't willing to play. CH is right too.. If there is any doubt in his mind that Stephens performance could be less than what he accepts, then he is right to leave him out as he has done. That no deal has been done yet means that the possibility of DS staying for now remains, and he needs to be careful not to damage his relationship woith the player, or indeed do what he can to ensure that the environment that DS would be staying in is as positive as possible. Again, I think CH is right to do that. The fact that DS and his representatives have been quiet say to me that they respect and recognize the same things. These ultimately are the things that separates CH (and the Club) from many other managers.. the easy thing to do would be to tell us where things are, hang DS out to dry, divert blame and focus to the player etc, in the name of "honest, straight talking", and then try and deal with the fall-out if you end up keeping the player.. We have no right to know, and being economical with truth without lying is what is needed in some man-management situations..
- Jun 27, 2012
- 14,621
Good grief.
Speculation aside, your points about management of this type of situation are spot on. Whatever is happening I trust CH and the rest involved at the club to do the right thing.
grubbyhands
Well-known member
Think we will find out at 445 Saturday. It's a strange one, no real talk of a move being closer for him, his wife tweeting she has got the school uniform, and he could of benefitted from extra training last week but this week if he was fit i would have him in the 1st 11. If he's not in the squad then maybe he is offI would hate him to leave personally. If he's here in September then great as long as we don t have the same issues in January.
Just as an aside, what does Mrs. Stevens look like in a school uniform.......?
martin tyler
Well-known member
- Jan 25, 2013
- 5,968
���� I'm sure. She is yet to show us on Twitter though
sir albion
New member
Well if he's leaving then the sooner the better as we need a adequate replacement and the thought of sidwell being next best isn't good at all and even worse if kayal got crocked as we lack strong attacking midfielders.
Couple of points, IF he's not match fit and needs extra training you would 100% of played him against Oxford. Tin Pot Cup and doesn't matter, you'd want one of your best assets to gain some match practice.
Second point, buying school uniform, I'm guessing about £300 worth, if you get transferred for £4-5m I don't think you worry about sticking this on eBay?
Plays tomorrow or 100% he's off.
Plays tomorrow or there's definitely a chance he's off.
I say that because ultimately, it sounds like the club is playing hardball. Either we get what we want or he stays here. If that wasn't the case, we'd have taken one of Burnley's recent offers I think.
Sheebo
Well-known member
- Jul 13, 2003
- 29,319
Don't get me wrong, I think it's more likely we'll lose him but you can't be sure of anything '100%'! Sweeping statements like that are the sort of thing [MENTION=267]TSB[/MENTION] will thrive on bouncing in a few weeks - be careful
Which is pretty much exactly how the AMEX era Albion has approached all it's transfer dealings.
Quite how that becomes 100's of pages on NSC is anybodies guess.
BBassic
I changed this.
- Jul 28, 2011
- 13,057
I disagree with that bit where it pertains to Stephens. I absolutely believe he can hold his own in the Premier League, indeed that's a big part of why I'm hoping beyond hope that we manage to keep hold of him.
But I do agree with you that it does reek of Bridcutt / Buckley and their shenanigans to get the moves they wanted.
- Jun 27, 2012
- 14,621
Moving /selling house, uprooting family from one end of the country to another, potentially being away from family for long periods, changing schools , disrupting family life is the point here and might perhaps be weighing on his mind as he mulls over his future. Probably not the cost of a blazer.
Agreed, but say he's on say £12k here and he's offered £15, or even £18k, that's £6k per week, or nearly a £1m over three yeas, I might uproot the kids for that?
Brightonfan1983
Well-known member
I watched the opening half an hour of the '83 Cup Final again recently - it's impossible to compare then to now as the tackles flying in then would have resulted in Match Abandoned now, due to all the sendings off. It's an absolutely cracking watch though.
Mo Gosfield
Well-known member
- Aug 11, 2010
- 6,362
How was it different.....was it played underwater or on horseback? I thought the whole idea of the sport, since its inception, was to kick the ball between the goalposts more times than the opposition. I agree with your earlier point re fitness but you state that the game is now far more advanced technically. There are certain basic skillsets in football......
1) Close control.
I see no evidence that control of the ball is any better, generally, than in previous times. I still see top players failing to keep control and using a ' heavy ' first touch. Dribbling is almost a lost art apart from rare exceptions like Messi. The art of heading has definitely declined. Players used to be able to ' hang ' in the air before heading the ball. Present football is riddled with poor heading. Use of the chest to control the ball is much less prevalent these days and crossing, generally, is woeful.
2) Shooting.
No better, no worse than its ever been. Good exponents, bad exponents.
3) Passing.
Most of the great passers of the ball...Haynes, Hoddle etc have long since hung up their boots. How many players do we talk about today as being great passers?
4) Running off the ball.
No better, no worse. Down to innate footballing intelligence.
5) Goalkeeping.
Difficult to compare. Keepers are, on average, much bigger now, which should give them an advantage. But does it make them more agile, more supple, or more quicker?
Your comments re 1966 are laughable and naive. You denigrate some of the greats of English football and state that, compared to today, its a poor standard. Did you actually watch England in the Euro's? How can you compare Moore, Charlton, Banks, Peters and Wilson with Cahill, Rooney, Sterling, Hart and Kane. These were world class players. Have you watched Brazil play in the 1970 World Cup? The single greatest and most exciting international side of all time. Watch their game with England ( played in 100 degree heat ) Watch how comfortable all the players are on the ball. Watch the first touch. See how easily they beat players. Top quality football, played by top quality footballers. A million light years away from the sort of garbage we watch England produce now at international level.
You obviously didn't watch football 30/40/50/60 years ago and your informed opinion is based on grainy black and white pictures, heresay, and an obsession with post PL football. In the pursuit of all things scientific, football is in danger of overcomplicating itself and losing sight of the basics. Players from yesteryear, with todays fitness regimes, better pitches, lighter kit and ball, would have thrived. By disregarding and disrespecting the past you are failing to understand the development of the game. Don't get seduced into thinking that no-one thought deeply about the game before 1992. From the 1920's onwards there have been brilliant and innovative tacticians all over the world.
Football, years ago, demanded more skill ,not less. A heavy, sodden leather ball. Heavy energy sapping pitches. Brutal tackling. Less protection. Yet artists still flourished...Puskas, Di Stefano, Schiaffino, Matthews, Finney, Best, Johnstone, Greaves, Baxter, Garrincha, Pele, Cruyff, Maradona and Platini. If you want to talk about technically gifted, you don't have to look any further than this.
Ernest
Stupid IDIOT
If he is not in the 16 tomorrow then he is GONE and good riddance