Evans out as Blades release 11 to reduce wages bill

DISGRACED Welsh striker Ched Evans was finally shown the door by Sheffield United yesterday – six weeks after being convicted for rape.

Evans was one of 11 players released by the Blades in the wake of the League One play-off final defeat by Huddersfield Town.

Former England striker James Beattie, goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, and defenders Johnny Ertl and Andy Taylor are also leaving the club.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Lee Williamson, Kevin McDonald and Chris Porter, meanwhile, have been offered new deals.

Striker Evans was jailed for five years in April after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman at a Premier Inn near Rhyl.

The striker has maintained his innocence, however, and lawyers are drawing up an appeal against the verdict.

Evans scored 35 goals this season but his absence in the final weeks proved costly as the Blades dropped out of the automatic promotion zone and then suffered play-off heartbreak at Wembley.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Manager Danny Wilson is now under orders to reduce the club’s wage bill as the Blades prepare for a second consecutive season in League One.

Evans, 23, was one of the highest paid players on the books at Bramall Lane with a salary in the region of £20,000-a-week.

He arrived at the club three years ago, in a £3m deal from Manchester City, but scored only 13 goals in his first two campaigns.

If Evans should win his appeal, the door will still be open to resume his career with the Blades.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, with pressure mounting on the club financially, that is unlikely to happen and a host of clubs in the Championship would also be chasing his signature.

Beattie’s departure, meanwhile, brings an end to the former Everton striker’s second spell at the club.

The 34-year-old returned in November, nearly three years after leaving for Stoke City in a £3.5m deal, but was short of match fitness and started only two games.

He failed to score and was sent off on his final appearance for the club against Exeter City – bringing a four match ban which further reduced Wilson’s attacking options in the play-offs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Simonsen’s exit, as reported in the Yorkshire Post yesterday, came just days after his crucial penalty miss in the play-off final.

The former Stoke and Everton goalkeeper, 33, wanted to stay and ‘put things right’ but has become another victim of the cutbacks.

Austrian international Ertl found his first-team opportunities limited this season after returning from an eight-month spell on the sidelines due to a knee injury.

Left-back Taylor, 25, also missed the majority of the campaign with knee trouble but figured as a substitute in the play-off final – hitting the post during the penalty shoot-out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Blades manager Wilson will now have to wait and see whether Williamson, McDonald and Porter are willing to stay at the club.

Burnley have been linked with a move for midfielder Williamson and are also showing interest in Stephen Quinn while McDonald has won many admirers with his performances this season.

Striker Porter, meanwhile, enjoyed his best season for several years in terms of staying fit and scored the goal that beat Stevenage in the play-off semi-final.

It is unclear at this stage whether loanees Michael O’Halloran and Matt Hill have a future at Bramall Lane.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Both have now returned to parent clubs Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool, respectively.

The six youngsters released are Jack Adams, Connor Brown, Seamus Conneely, Corey Gregory, Shane Murray and Marc Warren.

Only Conneely and Warren got as far as the bench for the first team and Gregory was a member of the side that reached the final of last season’s FA Youth Cup.

Full-back Brown was recently suspended after making comments on Twitter about Evans’s prison sentence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The release of the 11 players yesterday leaves the Blades with a squad of 24 professionals and eight of those players are under the age of 20.

It is understood that talks have also been planned for next month with several other players about the possibility of moving on.

Chairman Kevin McCabe has stated that the Blades will need to rely more on younger players next season. He also admitted that it may be a fight to hold onto prize assets such as Quinn, Matt Lowton and Harry Maguire who have caught the eyes of clubs in the Championship and beyond.