It's a conspiracy I tell you, a conspiracy.

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stringjunior

stringjunior

A Stringer original
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I quite like transfer deadline day. I quite like the drama and rumours and all that nonsense. I quite like reading the meltdown on here from posters quoting, or sometimes misquoting JP, NA and others. I chuckle at the assumptions based on few facts. Two and two being put together to make 65,391 and so on.


But what never ceases to astound me, and what I enjoy the most, is the rather odd belief some fans seem to hold that that there is a conspiracy at work at Bramall Lane designed to screw the fans over time and again. I accept that we’ve had our fair share of bad chairmen and boards over the years who wanted to line their own pockets more than see a successful team, but can anybody really paint this board with the same brush?


When we were told NA had the Murphy money available for the first team, why would that not be the truth? Is it because it wasn’t all used this transfer window to bring in the CB we needed? Or is it something else? I believe it was a true statement.


When we were told we tried until the last minute yesterday to bring in the quality cover we needed, why would that not be the truth? What would be the benefit of lying to the fans? Surely that would only damage the relationship between club and fans. I believe we tried until the last minute to bring in the right players.


Why would anybody at the club quote anything other than the truth, knowing that it will be heard and read by thousands within a few minutes? What would be the benefit? Why would a respected lawyer and respected football manager lie? What would it achieve? It would damage their own reputations, that’s for sure.


Any financial transaction, and especially a large one for hundreds of thousands of pounds, is complex. Ever bought or sold a house? It’s complex and that’s for ‘only’ a couple of hundred grand probably. Imagine how complex it must be when you’re dealing with a player who can get, and has likely been, injured. Add in their agent. Add in the chairman of the selling club, the manager of the selling club. It’s complicated and I’m glad I’m not doing it.


So perhaps somebody could explain to me a bit more about the conspiracy they feel is at work at Bramall Lane. I’d quite like to understand.
 

On a conciliatory note, Sheffield Star reports today that we'll be going after our targets when the loan window reopens. Let's see where we end up.

For me, Adkins has managed successfully at much more high profile jobs than us. Why on earth people think he would lie is beyond me. He could walk into a job at Championship level.
 
For the first time ever, several times during the final hour, I flicked over to Sky to see what, if anything was happening.

The most impressive (not!) thing that I saw was the LCFC landing......

the rest was made us my reporters trying, somehow to fill their slot of time, which I bet they were hoping that they wouldn't be chosen next.

I'd rather watch grass grow!
 
There's no conspiracy. There's just people not doing their jobs as well as they should.
 
sheffielder said:
Jesus wept, get a grip. People are just saying we think we could have done more, whether we could or not is another matter. It's just an opinion.
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When all transfer dealings are done behind closed doors, I don't understand how anyone can form the opinion that we could have done more, without knowing exactly what has been done...
 
stringjunior said:
... what he said ...
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It's not as much "there's a conspiricy" its more like "its as if there's a conspiricy".

Obviously, no one in the club is going to answer to cheap shots on a crappy internet forum. They don't have to and why should they?

But to me (and it is only my opinion) the ongoing and continuing propensity for the club to grow propsperous talent and sell it as soon as a bid comes in seems to suggest that once we have any glimmer of hope in a player, he is flogged and the much vaunted and celebrated replacement either doesn't materialise (see yesterday) or does arrive but is some Barry Oddnob from Ecclesfield United 2nd XI. Now anyone outside the club would possibly stroke their chin and wonder at the club's ambition if they sell their good players and bring in shit players - and we have done exactly that over the past five seasons, anchoring us in the third division. And of course, if we were to be promoted we would definitely need a better stamp of player to sustain our position in the league above ... us pesky, demanding supporters (some of whom buy hundreds of pounds of tickets a year) wuldn't be satisfied with watching our Div One cloggers being dickwiped by teams like Derby County or even Sheffield fucking Wednesday, would we? It would cost us to go up, and stay up.

pommpey
 
stringjunior said:
I quite like transfer deadline day. I quite like the drama and rumours and all that nonsense. I quite like reading the meltdown on here from posters quoting, or sometimes misquoting JP, NA and others. I chuckle at the assumptions based on few facts. Two and two being put together to make 65,391 and so on.


But what never ceases to astound me, and what I enjoy the most, is the rather odd belief some fans seem to hold that that there is a conspiracy at work at Bramall Lane designed to screw the fans over time and again. I accept that we’ve had our fair share of bad chairmen and boards over the years who wanted to line their own pockets more than see a successful team, but can anybody really paint this board with the same brush?


When we were told NA had the Murphy money available for the first team, why would that not be the truth? Is it because it wasn’t all used this transfer window to bring in the CB we needed? Or is it something else? I believe it was a true statement.


When we were told we tried until the last minute yesterday to bring in the quality cover we needed, why would that not be the truth? What would be the benefit of lying to the fans? Surely that would only damage the relationship between club and fans. I believe we tried until the last minute to bring in the right players.


Why would anybody at the club quote anything other than the truth, knowing that it will be heard and read by thousands within a few minutes? What would be the benefit? Why would a respected lawyer and respected football manager lie? What would it achieve? It would damage their own reputations, that’s for sure.


Any financial transaction, and especially a large one for hundreds of thousands of pounds, is complex. Ever bought or sold a house? It’s complex and that’s for ‘only’ a couple of hundred grand probably. Imagine how complex it must be when you’re dealing with a player who can get, and has likely been, injured. Add in their agent. Add in the chairman of the selling club, the manager of the selling club. It’s complicated and I’m glad I’m not doing it.


So perhaps somebody could explain to me a bit more about the conspiracy they feel is at work at Bramall Lane. I’d quite like to understand.
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From what I can see, this new board have done almost everything right since they arrived.

They realised Weir wasn't working out so replaced him with the right man at that time. They gave Clough a fair amount of time, realised he wasn't the right man and replaced him with the best man anyone in this league could hope to get.

They've made excellent signings possible and are doing everything required to get us out of this league. Ok, we would prefer a few more quality players but they have to be a fair price and want to come to a division 3 club.

They communicate with the fans and have improved the whole set up from the youth teams to the first team pitch.

What's not to like?
 
No conspiracy theories, just a situation in which trust continues to be built (against a backdrop of many previous years of mismanagement/lack of trust).

There has been at least one (pretty large) "lie", which hasn't helped - the statement that we "no longer need to sell our best players" - a statement disproven in the cases of Harry Maguire & Jamie Murphy, both coincidentally sold right at the start of the last two seasons, respectively (deliberate: get the bad news out of the way early).

But, we live in the real world - being (over) generous, maybe in reality it was a promise that just couldn't be kept? It still shouldn't have been made. And it really hasn't helped with the overall trust building exercise IMO.
The board can hardly complain if, having "generated funds" via the Murphy sale & having stoked expectations that transfer activity would take place prior to the window closing via Jim on twatter, they continue to face a bit of cynicism - they have played a large part in inducing it here.

But... overall, things are looking very good (quality manager, results & league position, new strike partnership, David Edgar, prospect of quality being brought in over the longer term a la Brayford, improved interation, etc) - for which the board deserve great credit.
Just that, if the board hit choppy waters at times, it can hardly be called a "conspiracy theory" - more evidence of their continuing failings. Happily, their failings are being heavily outweighed by their many successes & many good points right now.
 
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Alfreton14Blade said:
There has been at least one (pretty large) "lie", which hasn't helped - the statement that we "no longer need to sell our best players"
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I'm not sure this is a lie. If I have plenty of money in the bank and don't need to sell my new Mercedes AMG bad boy thingymajig, but if I'm offered good money for it and it's not quite what I want anymore I might take the money.

Ps. If only.....
 

stringjunior said:
Can you show me the facts on which you base this opinion?
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1. The squad is weaker than it was before the Murphy sale, which the club say was not financially necessary.

2. A club official made a public statement about what the proceeds would be used for. They haven't been.
 
stringjunior said:
I'm not sure this is a lie. If I have plenty of money in the bank and don't need to sell my new Mercedes AMG bad boy thingymajig, but if I'm offered good money for it and it's not quite what I want anymore I might take the money.

Ps. If only.....
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You've got a Porsche. I remember you saying.
 
Revolution said:
1. The squad is weaker than it was before the Murphy sale, which the club say was not financially necessary.

2. A club official made a public statement about what the proceeds would be used for. They haven't been.
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1. The squad is stronger now, despite the Murphy sale, than it was at the end of last season
2. I suspect the money is still available. There was no caveat about the money needing to be spent in this window or not at all
 
Revolution said:
1. The squad is weaker than it was before the Murphy sale, which the club say was not financially necessary.

2. A club official made a public statement about what the proceeds would be used for. They haven't been.
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1. I still think it's adequate with the manager and other players we have. And we've got a couple of million to go at when it's possible to use it.

2. I don't think it was through lack of effort. The players were identified, we couldn't sign them for one reason or another.
 
stringjunior said:
I'm not sure this is a lie. If I have plenty of money in the bank and don't need to sell my new Mercedes AMG bad boy thingymajig, but if I'm offered good money for it and it's not quite what I want anymore I might take the money.

Ps. If only.....
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If you have money in the Bank, and you dont need to sell the Merc, keep it, and buy another Car

You know it makes sense
 
stringjunior said:
1. The squad is stronger now, despite the Murphy sale, than it was at the end of last season
2. I suspect the money is still available. There was no caveat about the money needing to be spent in this window or not at all
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The squad is stronger than last season but weaker than it was before Murphy was sold. That's a step back we didn't need to make. That's poor.

As for the second point, if they were going to keep it for loans Phipps was definitely not doing his job properly by suggesting otherwise.
 
Im afraid there is no whiffy David Icke conspiracy to get your teeth into down at Bramall Lane. No reptilian plan to subjicate the throng of angry men and women in red & white shirts. No Richard the 3rd esque 'plot' to put down the fat old blokes stood in Bramall Lane car park with their shoes off.

Yes we did try for a few.... And in this case im inclined to believe we did............
 
Revolution said:
1. The squad is weaker than it was before the Murphy sale, which the club say was not financially necessary.
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It wasn't financially necessary. Murphy wanted the move. It's given Che a chance to nail down a place in the starting XI with Done still to return. Slightly weaker, but not disastrously so as shown by our points return in the last 4 games.

Revolution said:
2. A club official made a public statement about what the proceeds would be used for. They haven't been.
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Yet. If the right deal for the club isn't on the table then I'm happy for the Murphy money to remain in the bank for the time being and have it spent on loanee wages or in January.
 
TomJonesBlade said:
It wasn't financially necessary. Murphy wanted the move. It's given Che a chance to nail down a place in the starting XI with Done still to return. Slightly weaker, but not disastrously so as shown by our points return in the last 4 games.



Yet. If the right deal for the club isn't on the table then I'm happy for the Murphy money to remain in the bank for the time being and have it spent on loanee wages or in January.
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Horses for courses. I'd prefer a better player on the left.
 
stringjunior said:
I'm not sure this is a lie. If I have plenty of money in the bank and don't need to sell my new Mercedes AMG bad boy thingymajig, but if I'm offered good money for it and it's not quite what I want anymore I might take the money.

Ps. If only.....
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but you also couple this with the "we dont want to sell anyone" which was stated by several club officials and that removes the latter part of your "and it's not quite what I want anymore"

I suppose when you have been left reeling by Beattie Flu and Maguire Sunstroke... maybe you are programmed to believe that this was another Murphy Measles...
 
Revolution said:
1. The squad is weaker than it was before the Murphy sale, which the club say was not financially necessary.

2. A club official made a public statement about what the proceeds would be used for. They haven't been.
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On point 1, I'd say it's significantly stronger than before the summer transfer window opened though isn't it?

On point 2, that statement wasn't time limited though was it? The money could be invested in JTW or on loans and that wouldn't conflict with that statement.
 
AlienBlade said:
but you also couple this with the "we dont want to sell anyone" which was stated by several club officials and that removes the latter part of your "and it's not quite what I want anymore"

I suppose when you have been left reeling by Beattie Flu and Maguire Sunstroke... maybe you are programmed to believe that this was another Murphy Measles...
Click to expand...

I think people are more sanguine, with the exception of a notable few, given the signings we have made over the last 12-18 months which have been indicative of significant investment in the context of an L1 club, albeit with lofty ambitions.

I'd also suspect people are viewing this in the context that we look a decent contender for automatic and we're playing well.

For me, the way we're playing I cannot wait for the next league game. We're bang in form with loads of firepower.
 

Rodley said:
On point 2, that statement wasn't time limited though was it? The money could be invested in JTW or on loans and that wouldn't conflict with that statement.
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Absolutely, it could be loaned out to one of McCabes sons, no interest charged, reversed into another Company, shares issued, shares bought, and then folded back into SUFC at some time in the future ............ at a time time to suit the Owners
 
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