Fitness tests

[The Red Baron]

https://twitter.com/Walkerpw

Neill, Husband and Wellens all having tests today.

Looks like Paul Walker has done an interview with Billy. Should be on Football Heaven later.

[Lipsy]

This? https://audioboo.fm/boos/2100563-doncaster-rovers-striker-billy-sharp-in-limbo-over-his-future

[Filo]

This? https://audioboo.fm/boos/2100563-doncaster-rovers-striker-billy-sharp-in-limbo-over-his-future

I've just listened to that and to me it sounds like Billy's confidence is shot, not helped by the fact he hasn't a clue where he is regarding his future

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

He may have a more positive future if he'd have performed this season - he hasn't and that makes a good move for him next season difficult to see.

He's no problems having a move though, he just might have to cut his wages alot.

[Lipsy]

He does sound shot to bits, tbh - quite a depressing listen. It seems unlikely that he'll be here next season, if my ears and brain are connected properly. We need him (and others) to step up for the next couple of games - that interview didn't do much for my twitching backside, that's for certain.

Anyways, I am not at home to Mr. Negativity, so I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that interview and cross everything that Billy's fired up for the weekend and - if nothing else - he's of the mindset that he needs to show Adkins what he's missing.

[Dare to dream!]

Seems like he just wants security of first team football and a club that wants him. I'd throw him back in for the Reading game, think dropping him could give him a bit of motivation

[Not Now Kato]

Sounds like he doesn't want to be here, plays like he doesn't want to be here! 

[GazLaz]

He's played with better players at bigger clubs and he now realises he's not as good as he thought he was. Still like us to sign him tho.

[graingrover]

Well his state of mind is no surprise to me . When you have no idea where your future lies and little or no leverage with your employer .... Personally I believe Billy has all the talent to be a great asset goalscorer at Champioship level .. but he needs a manager who also believes and gives him the understanding he needs .PD listened to all of us and considered Billy was better than Macheda and others . I trust PD and   DRFC are  not so fickle as to abandon  faith in him and therefore pass up on the guy who we need next season.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Agree with all that. He's got to help us to help him though. Just give all for 2 games

[River Don]

Confidence.

Billy lad, it's just a game of football, when all is said and done it's only entertainment.

If ever a player needs an arm around the shoulder, it sounds like he does.

Listening to that. If we stay up, Rovers could be in a position where we could get him for a more reasonable wage.

[GazLaz]

Not knowing where his future lies is no reason to be worrying or out of form. It's not as if  he's out of contract, he will still be on 20k a week next year at Saints unless they sell him. He needs to get a grip.

[River Don]

Not knowing where his future lies is no reason to be worrying or out of form. It's not as if  he's out of contract, he will still be on 20k a week next year at Saints unless they sell him. He needs to get a grip.

It doesn't make any difference, you can hear the anxiety in every utterance in that clip.

[GazLaz]

I know, I agree you can. He should start thinking about his future in the summer though. Like I said he won't be without a club next season. It's all part and parcel of being a footballer a bit of uncertainty. If all else fails he will have to go out on loan for the season while collecting his million pounds from Southampton for the year.

[pib]

I don't think he's ever interviewed very well, even when he was on top of his game. He always sounds anxious and uncomfortable when speaking to the press.

I think it probably is troubling him a bit that his future is up in the air though. He wants to play, and if he doesn't impress now, he could end up sitting in the reserves at Southampton for a year... then what after that? He's not going to walk into a big club and be first choice when his contract finishes if he hasn't played for a year. Even if he is on £20k p/w or whatever, that hardly makes him set for life. He knows he's got to earn a contract at some point somewhere.

I understand why he's frustrated. He needs to be playing and scoring goals, and I think he expected to tick both of those boxes here... for whatever reason, it hasn't quite gone as well as everyone anticipated. A hat-trick on Saturday would go a long way to correcting that though! 

[River Don]

I reckon he needs someone to sit down and explain that to him Gaz, and to tell him he is the best player on the pitch.

[GazLaz]

Why should he be set for life at 28? He will have plenty of offers should he want to take a "pay cut". I have no doubt Southampton would terminate his contract if he asked them. If we stay up we will try and sign him I'm sure.

He's out of form and he doesn't know how to deal with it. He thinks that he just has to be on the pitch to score goals, it doesn't work like that. You have to work even harder in times like this not sulk and look for excuses. The reason he was dropped was because he has been playing rubbish, he had chance to say that but didn't want to admit it. He blamed the team for not creating chances, which is very true, but that doesn't account for his poor contribution when he does get on the ball.

[River Don]

I don't think it's so much about the money Gaz, it's about his desire to play football and succeed at the highest level he can. To me it sounds like he feels unwanted.

Excuses? Well maybe but it is true there haven't been as many chances in the last few games, in no small part because we're missing Wellens.

Perhaps dropping him was a good move? It's an opportunity to give him a boost now.

[pib]

I'm not saying he should be set for life at 28. Just that he's obviously worried he's going to have to drop down the divisions (and the pay ladder) massively if things don't start going well for him (on the pitch) soon.

It's easy to say he should be happy to play wherever and take a pay cut, but this sort of situation was probably unimaginable to him a couple of years ago when it looked like he'd have a part to play in a Premiership side.

By no means do I feel sorry for him in this regard. He's a footballer, and we'd all give anything to have a career playing for mediocre Championship clubs I'm sure! But from his point of view, he's probably having to face up to the idea that he's going back to the stage he was at a few years ago before he came here to revive his career. Whilst that may be nothing to us, it's probably a big shock for him.

[BillyStubbsTears]

pib

If he's not set for life financially after 3 seasons on £15-20k per week and perhaps another 10 in his career on £5-10k, then I'm not going to shed many tears for him.

If you reckon that earning perhaps £5million in a decade is not life-setting-up, then I wouldn't mind being a couple of quid behind you.

So b*llocks to it. I'm not having that as an excuse for underperforming.

[pib]

Jesus. Talk about taking things too literally.

I didn't say we should 'shed tears for him' because he's not set for life.

It was more a way of saying - he's on £20k p/w at Southampton for another year. Fine. But after that, he's still got to find a club to play football somewhere. He can't just sit on his arse after that... and he obviously fears he'll end up that way if he's pissing about training with the kids at Saints for a year.

He obviously wants to play football, and for him, doing nothing at Southampton for a year isn't a satisfactory situation because it won't get him to where he wants to be after that (i.e. first choice striker at a Championship club, and obviously he'll want to be earning decent money - we can't pretend that any footballer would be motivated solely by football if they earned £100 a week.)

[BigColSutherland]

...we should 'shed tears for him' because he's not set for life.

I don't think we should.

[pib]

...we should 'shed tears for him' because he's not set for life.

I don't think we should.

 

[The Red Baron]

Jesus. Talk about taking things too literally.

I didn't say we should 'shed tears for him' because he's not set for life.

It was more a way of saying - he's on £20k p/w at Southampton for another year. Fine. But after that, he's still got to find a club to play football somewhere. He can't just sit on his arse after that... and he obviously fears he'll end up that way if he's pissing about training with the kids at Saints for a year.

He obviously wants to play football, and for him, doing nothing at Southampton for a year isn't a satisfactory situation because it won't get him to where he wants to be after that (i.e. first choice striker at a Championship club, and obviously he'll want to be earning decent money - we can't pretend that any footballer would be motivated solely by football if they earned £100 a week.)

I don't know- I think he's in rather a good position. If he really wants to play first team football he can settle up his contract at Southampton and still earn a decent whack at any one of a number of Championship clubs (including TLOD).

He's certainly not happy- which was something I commented on here after my visit to training- but I'm not sure that his employment situation is the whole reason for his unhappiness.

[GazLaz]

You may have a point, what's happening in players personal lives does have a massive impact on how they play. Usually women trouble if it's not money trouble!

[steve@dcfd]

Looking at fitness tests we need Richie fit if we are going to win the game. If he is fit and plays I would play Billy, if he is not fit then play Robinson.

[PDX_Rover]

The best way it improve his options is to do the business on the pitch.

[Sammy Chung was King]

I'm a massive admirer of Billy's ability,but he's not too good to be dropped,what you've done in other years doesn't count for much.
No disrespect intended to Brown and Robinson,but a few years ago there wouldn't have been a choice to make,if he gets picked,stop blaming others,when you were here before you made chances for yourself Billy
That spark seems to be missing from him,if there's one club where he is wanted it's here,keep us up and that will add to what you've done before.

[Metalmicky]

Billy's not performed recently which has surprised a few of his devotees.  I'm not just talking about scoring goals - but actually contributing to the team and putting in a shift.  He deserved to be dropped and Rovers deserve better from him.  He keeps banging on about how Rovers have a special place in his heart etc etc - well it's time to show us Billy boy.  Words are cheap - I want to see all that heart on the pitch.

Time to grow a pair Mr Sharp and put in a display that shows us your committment to the cause............ who knows, you may even get a contract offer out of it.