Sponsored by
No Tonge but Blackwell pleased with French date
SHEFFIELD United manager Kevin Blackwell has appeared to rule out the possibility of bringing Stoke City midfielder Michael Tonge back to Bramall Lane, but still has "two or three" offers on the table for players.
Blackwell, whose side complete their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Estudiantes on Sunday, fielded trialists Jean Calve and Kerrea Gilbert in Tuesday's 1-0 win at Notts County. The United manager spoke to Ipswich Town defender Alex Bruce last week, amid reports of a 200,000 transfer and Tonge, who made 238 league starts in eight years at United, continues to be linked with a move back after an unhappy spell at Stoke City.
However, when asked about the possibility of Tonge returning to his first professional club, Blackwell said: "The problem we've got is the wages players now accrue in the Premier - they kill you. But there are offers out there on the table, and we'll see how it goes."
Calve, a defender from French top flight outfit AS Nancy, played 75 minutes at right back and former Arsenal man Gilbert replaced the impressive Mark Yeates on the hour mark. "I thought Calve did very well - he looked a class act; he is a decent player," Blackwell said, after watching Ched Evans' first goal of pre-season seal a victory.
"If we can get the full-back positions right then it gives us so many more options, not just defensively but going forward, too. I want offensive full-backs as much as I can."
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
Follow The Star on Twitter and Facebook:
For breaking news and sport follow The Star on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sheffieldstar and Facebook at www.facebook.com/sheffieldstar.
JOIN THE STAR READER PANEL: The Star is YOUR newspaper, so tell us what you think about it and what you want to see - CLICK HERE.
Don't miss our daily pull-outs - only in the The Star: Monday Star Sport, Tuesday Class Act; Wednesday Business; Thursday Grassroots; Friday Time Out; Saturday Retro. Subscribe to The Star - CLICK HERE
READ MORE
Subscribe to The Star or Green 'Un
Visit our Matchday Centre for free live coverage of every match
Football headlines. Football gossip. Blades news Owls news Reds news. Millers news. More rugby. More boxing. Sports columnists.
All sport categories
Watch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much more - click here
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -2 C to -0 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
