Does 'how' United are relegated matter?

[Carlton Blade]

Before the season began, the general consensus was that United would face relegation. Personally, I believed we had a 10% chance of reaching 35 points, giving us an opportunity to be somewhat competitive in most matches.

Currently, it seems that the most probable scenario is a season that's challenging to watch, filled with predominantly disheartening games akin to witnessing a slow-motion car crash. This brings me to my question: does the method of relegation hold significance, or is finishing of 18th or worse the sole cause for concern?

 

[FMBlade1]

Yes it does matter. Derby County fans will tell you that.

I don't have the stats but I think there's a tendency that teams that get smashed in a PL season rarely go straight back up.

Getting 12 points this season is essential, I'd bite your hand off for that now.

 

[Grecian2000]

I don't have the stats but I think there's a tendency that teams that get smashed in a PL season rarely go straight back up.

As we've NEVER bounced straight back from a top flight relegation this is very probably a moot point!

 

[Roygbiv]

I think it definitely matters. I think Hecky has to go now but I'm concerned that the new manager will have lost so many games by the time next season kicks off that he will have already have lost a lot of the fanbase.

 

[S64 Blade]

As others have said; yes as the hangover from consistently losing and playing poorly, could have more long-lasting consequences.

 

[DeanLearner'sCat]

As long as it's not a record low points total, it probably won't matter.

Last time people said that our terrible relegation season would have long lasting effects, that everything needed tearing down, the system was broken, sell everybody etc etc. But we bounced back pretty quickly and would've probably bounced back straight away if Serbian Adkins hadn't spent 6 months shitting the bed.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

It can do. I think there was a element of that under the slow start with slav although him not getting the squad quick enough played a part. That said when Hecky came in all the damage of the COVID relegation lifted so if that season can be easily fixed pretty much any one can

 

[Gaini Blade]

I can only speak for one fan but it matters to me. If we are being ejected from this league next year then I want us to at least put up a fight, something we haven't seen in too many of our games this season.

 

[HillmortonBlade]

I can only speak for one fan but it matters to me. If we are being ejected from this league next year then I want us to at least put up a fight, something we haven't seen in too many of our games this season.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

I think it definitely matters. I think Hecky has to go now but I'm concerned that the new manager will have lost so many games by the time next season kicks off that he will have already have lost a lot of the fanbase.

That for me is why we should bring in someone temporary now and permanent at the end of the season.

 

[Stretch]

100% matters.

We have all seen a few relegations following this club, but we normally see a team put up a bit of a fight, at the bare minimum.

If your best isn't good enough in life, it still hurts, but not trying your best in the first place is much much worse.

Saturday was completely unacceptable, as have been other 'performances' this season. Miraculously though we are still in touch of safety, but a couple more weeks of this and we won't be.

Time for change.

 

[PokerBlade]

Any way you square it your performance in the Premier League is still a reflection of the quality your team has.

There's no shame in losing to any Prem side. I don't care about that. But not having so much as a shot on target until the 90th minute is a genuine reflection of how our side has gone backwards since last season. We got promoted and somehow we're worse.

If (should probably be when) we go down we'll lose McAtee. Lose Archer. Egan and Norwood will be another year older. We'll be worse still. Of course all those considerations now are a sign of how we'll be next season. Unless we get serious investment.

 

[PaddysMad]

Where would this side be in Championship right now I don’t think near top 6 like 12th or 14th.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

... but I'm concerned that the new manager will have lost so many games by the time next season kicks off that he will have already have lost a lot of the fanbase.

Which is why I'd genuinely have no issue with (and even endorse) someone like Warnock coming in until the end of the season.

Give us some identity, some fight and let's plan our next appointment properly in time for the Spring.
This season is gone already. Let's just go down swinging a bit.

 

[skyjam]

I feel like I've seen more relegations than promotions in my 59 years.Can't be reyt can it ?

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Which is why I'd genuinely have no issue with (and even endorse) someone like Warnock coming in until the end of the season.

Give us some identity, some fight and let's plan our next appointment properly in time for the Spring.
This season is gone already. Let's just go down swinging a bit.

It's a damning indictment of how the season's gone but I agree with this. Hecky out, get in a glorified caretaker on a fixed short-term contract and start the recruitment for the next permanent boss right now, to take over in the summer having avoided the stench of this season but able to hit the ground running with a plan already in mind.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

IMO the key factor of this season has been the Prince's failure to sell the club in the summer, despite squirrelling away the promotion funds to make club/business a more appealing buy.

Looking forwards, the manner of our relegation will affect the prospects for any sale at a price the Prince is likely to accept - and we need a new owner if we're to get out of this hole. (Not particularly a swing at the Prince who's been open that he doesn't have the money to take us further)

To have any hope of moving forwards, we need to signal to any prospective buyer that we're not a sporting basket case - we can't afford to tank.

 

[Selly]

That said when Hecky came in all the damage of the COVID relegation lifted so if that season can be easily fixed pretty much any one can

Disagree with this - there were still some shocking performances that showed the lasting damage of the COVID season even after Hecky came in - Coventry/Stoke Away???

I think we masked a lot of the cracks that year post Slav with quality players in a system they understood. But there was still a brittleness about us.

We seemed to eliminate that last year - to an extent (Blackburn away - Coventry and Stoke again) - but again the quality we had proved too much for the rest of the league.

 

[Rodley]

Of course it does for a myriad of reasons. The issue as I see it is that it seems to matter more to the fans, than other stakeholders or the club hierarchy / ownership.

I know there’s a few still clinging onto the notion that “There’s a player in there” lifebuoy, but the reality is our summer transfer window was us throwing the towel in. The only thing the club should be lauded for is its PR campaign this summer, which genuinely had some fans and media outlets saying this was one of the best transfer windows ever. Probably pushed it too far with the claim about players playing harder in the last year of their contract, but they were on a roll so who can blame them?

Sadly, the window to sell us at our maximum value has already shut of course. We’re already on a downward trajectory in every regard as a club. Experience tells me as a Blade that the peaks are seldom and the troughs are long, painful and depressing. Changing the manager is akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic etc.

To bring it back to original question - anything apart from ownership change won’t materially change matters but at least better performances might give the players (and us) some pride in the shirt again.

 

[Mumbo]

Voted Yes because if I had to watch performances like V Bournemouth week after week I wouldn’t be renewing my season ticket.
We should at least match teams for effort and that’s not what I saw.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Disagree with this - there were still some shocking performances that showed the lasting damage of the COVID season even after Hecky came in - Coventry/Stoke Away???

I think we masked a lot of the cracks that year post Slav with quality players in a system they understood. But there was still a brittleness about us.

We seemed to eliminate that last year - to an extent (Blackburn away - Coventry and Stoke again) - but again the quality we had proved too much for the rest of the league.

We had stinkers under Wilder in the championship too. It's that kind of league!

 

[cooperblade]

Depends what's left of this season's squad. It's not difficult to envisage a scenario where there's a huge turnover of players.

 

[alcoblade]

I think it definitely matters. I think Hecky has to go now but I'm concerned that the new manager will have lost so many games by the time next season kicks off that he will have already have lost a lot of the fanbase.

That’s my fear. I’d go for a temporary appointment.

 

[Badger Blade]

We finished on 23 last time out and only by picking up a few results late on when we were long relegated mathematically. If we can beat that then it's marginally less depressing and makes it look like we've had a go. Not finishing bottom would also make things slightly more palatable.

Losing feels a bit different this time around because when we lose, we're getting thrashed rather than losing by ones and twos. Even when we were at our absolute worst under Wilder, there were only a handful of occasions where we were royally hammered but the fact we failed to score in over half our games that season meant that the opposition didn't need to score more than one to feel pretty safe about the result.

It's not the defeat, it's the manner of defeat. Too many late goals and players who stand about feeling sorry for themselves and chucking the towel in like they did against Newcastle and at the weekend. Losing to Man United like we did is one that's easier to take - the lads had a good go and were unlucky. Losing 1-0 to Palace with a team we'd have thought would get us relegated from the Championship never mind the Premier League as another example.

If we'd hung on to beat Spurs who at that point were the next big thing, fortunes could have been so much different but that was the big turning point where heads dropped and then got compounded by the 8-0 shitshow and we are where we are.

The Wolves result should have been the catalyst for getting the season up and running but losing like that to a key relegation rival shows the players and the coaching staff up for what they are - not up to the job. We might pick up the odd result, cup tie style but week to week, we just don't have enough skill, intelligence, concentration, discipline, creativity or will to win.

The signings we've made haven't improved the squad - other than Archer and Hamer, there's nobody who is an automatic starter or we'd be excited about signing. Same issue as we've had under Wilder where we can't seem to sign people who consign players like Norwood, Egan, Robinson and various others to the dustbin because we either just don't recruit well enough, can't afford to sign the finished article and end up signing a load of cheap, random foreigners in the the hope that we can find a wedding ring whilst digging around in the dogshit.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

To be perfectly honest, I really hope Luton succeed in their fight to stay in the Premier league. They’ve shown the guts and courage required to claw themselves away from the bottom. Yes they might ultimately fail, but at least they’re giving it a go…Unlike the blatant cowardice shown by my team and it’s coaching staff.

 

[Gaini Blade]

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Yeah, that's what I meant to say.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I think it definitely matters. I think Hecky has to go now but I'm concerned that the new manager will have lost so many games by the time next season kicks off that he will have already have lost a lot of the fanbase.

It’s very hard to know whether it’s better to just let PH take us down and then fire him, or whether we should get someone in now to assess the team in readiness for next season.

The cynic in me says we’ll do the former, leave it late, have a shit preseason, poor summer transfer window and then wonder why.

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

"Does how you're relegated matter if your owner doesn't give a shit?" could be a better question. As honestly even if we go down with fire, grit and determination, they'll be out of contract in the Summer anyway, so it wont really impact next season, and we all know the Prince ain't going to spending what's required to rebuild an new team to get us competing well in the Championship.

 

[Roygbiv]

"Does how you're relegated matter if your owner doesn't give a shit?" could be a better question. As honestly even if we go down with fire, grit and determination, they'll be out of contract next season anyway, so it wont really impact next season, and we all know the Prince ain't going to spending what's required to rebuild an new team to get us competing well in the Championship.

Defeats hurt him more than any one

 

[Sean Thornton]

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

I never cared for Justin Biebers work…..