League One..Time well spent?

[mancunianblade]

Been thinking about our time in League one, been some great away days and some days that were nothing short of depressing but can't help but feel if we had gone up any other season we wouldnt do much up in the Championship and may have even come back down.

I can't help but feel that come the end of the 2017/18 season we will be in a better position with Wilder than if any of our other league 1 Managers had gotten us promoted and had a number of seasons up there to work with.

We've seen some terrible players over the league One years but now we have a great manager,probably the most sought after one in the football league, we have a good squad on reasonable wages and good contract that weigh in our favour..it's as if the club has been cleansed.

Promotion is Looooong Over due but I am wondering if people think it was worth the wait?

Would anyone trade what we have now in this moment for promotion under Clough,Adkins or Wilson?

I get Wilson had a good squad to compete in the Championship but does anyone think we actually would have competed?

 

[Grizzly blade]

We never made the most of the opportunity to start again, and for the first season were more or less the side that went down, with the majority of same players that had got us relegated.
After that we rebuilt with players that didn't have a direction of what we were trying to do, did we want to change the style, just get up, reduce costs....it was a mish mash of all sorts.

What we should have done was clear the decks and set a clear plan that we were going to get players to suit the style of play of most successful sides. Quick, attacking, possession football! Accepted it was going to take 2/3 seasons to get right and got on with it.
What happened in the end was we found a bloke who could clear out and replace in one season, though you could say some of the most influential players had arrived over the last three seasons for him.

Still, 2 years wasted with rank poor appointments...Weir and Adkins. Though Adkins at least brought in Sharp.
Clough didn't work out, but at least brought in some of the players who were big parts in the team this season, namely Coutts, Freeman, and Bash so at least some of his signings were good...one of which (Adams) was sold for a huge profit to help fund arrivals like Fleck, O'Connell and Moore.

Anyway, we got there in the end. Team cleared out, football quality excellent and finally rid of the hoof tag that hung over us. Also well prepared for the league above. Can't wait

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

I'd agree to a certain extent. The Wilson side would have had additions made to it in the summer so would have competed.

But you're right in every other regard. But Clough has shown with Burton that he can manage it with a bang average side. So who knows?

I'm confident we can compete next season. I'm looking forward to the summer and the transfers.

 

[Blade56]

I'm living for the moment and it's our time. Anything is possible starting today

 

[grafikhaus]

I see where you're coming from and you're right. Promotion under any other manager but CW would have seen us struggle. Also, dropping down a division can revitalise a club (Newcastle, maybe Sunderland/Middlesbrough?) but only if the stay at a lower level doesn't drag on. Fans lose interest at looking at the fixture list and seeing shite like Port Vale, Oldham, Rochdale etc.

And this is where our fantastic supporters come in. Most fans would have drifted away or gone to a bigger local team, but we didn't.

 

[Grizzly blade]

And this is where our fantastic supporters come in. Most fans would have drifted away or gone to a bigger local team, but we didn't.

Surely a mistake...there is no BIGGER local team than us.
Pigs are same...and no ex blade ever switched to that lot. Those that give up just stop going until it's sorted and have a break from it...the pain of watching their beloved club being so shit hurts so much it cannot be done so rather not go than see it.

 

[McGrath]

I see where you're coming from too. I.e. we had to serve our penance to get Wilder.

But I'd rather have not suffered the 5 previous seasons if truth be known.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Been thinking about our time in League one, been some great away days and some days that were nothing short of depressing but can't help but feel if we had gone up any other season we wouldnt do much up in the Championship and may have even come back down.

I can't help but feel that come the end of the 2017/18 season we will be in a better position with Wilder than if any of our other league 1 Managers had gotten us promoted and had a number of seasons up there to work with.

We've seen some terrible players over the league One years but now we have a great manager,probably the most sought after one in the football league, we have a good squad on reasonable wages and good contract that weigh in our favour..it's as if the club has been cleansed.

Promotion is Looooong Over due but I am wondering if people think it was worth the wait?

Would anyone trade what we have now in this moment for promotion under Clough,Adkins or Wilson?

I get Wilson had a good squad to compete in the Championship but does anyone think we actually would have competed?

Time well spent? - I hope it taught a few in the board room a few lessons, but we spent 3 or 4 years longer down here than we should. Six years was shocking.

Thanks CW & AK for sorting it.

UTB

 

[Jon P]

Time well spent? - I hope it taught a few in the beard room a few lessons, but we spent 3 or 4 years longer down here than we should. Six years was shocking.

Thanks CW & AK for sorting it.

UTB

Couldn't agree more. Board to blame for the length of our stay. They should be thankful for the fans sticking by the club; maintaining incredible attendances throughout the 6 years.

 

[sufc323]

I reckon the Wilson side would have probably come straight back down.

Lowton would still have gone to Villa, we didn't have Ched and at the time it was pre Prince so I can't imagine we'd have been splashing the cash either despite being in a higher league. I'll always admire the job Wilson did and he was very unlucky but I doubt he'd have lasted long in the Championship which again leads me to think it would have been a struggle.

We saw with Clough that he'd have probably spent money in the wrong area just to turn us into Derby mk II and although he's kept Burton up with a tight budget we wouldn't have been top half. Adkins was a joke and we were no where near promotion so no point talking about that.

I agree that 6 years in this league is ridiculous but to answer the OP this is the best shot that we've had. We've got the management, the squad, the backing, the fans on board and a togetherness that I've never seen in a United squad.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Couldn't agree more. Board to blame for the length of our stay. They should be thankful for the fans sticking by the club; maintaining incredible attendances throughout the 6 years.

In the end, I think the Prince and his advisors added to the turmoil of our stay. It may have hindered our progress as against helping.

In the end CW & AK got more experience and we have benefited big time - we just need to build on this AND stay resolute if/when the going gets tough.

UTB

 

[mancunianblade]

Time well spent? - I hope it taught a few in the board room a few lessons, but we spent 3 or 4 years longer down here than we should. Six years was shocking.

Thanks CW & AK for sorting it.

UTB

I totally agree it's too long. My point being any of the previous regimes would have come back down IMO Where as this one in the words of Yazz the only way is up

 

[blade too long]

we spent 6 seasons in league one as its how good we were at that time
no matter where you finish its due to the results you achieve
and we were only good enough to be where we were

on the bright side
we deserved to be champions and win the league, by a mile
and it augers well for next season our immediate future looks far more positive

 

[I should coco]

Promotion is Looooong Over due but I am wondering if people think it was worth the wait?

NO!

Five years of my life I won't get back and it has set back our first Champions League Trophy until 2020.

 

[BushBlade]

I'd say more time wasted than has been beneficial. I think there's a good chance DW1 would have taken us straight back down, given the chance, but he'd probably be sacked before he did. So Morgan would have probably taken us down instead.

The Prince's arrival was both a blessing and a curse. We couldn't attract a decent manager with the money KM was offering to rebuild the team compared with his expectations and ended up with Weir. Without the Prince's money Clough would have struggled to turn us around. Would he have done so? We'll never know but I think he'd have scraped it, and with no cup run.

Then, we again changed our policy; from spending very little to throwing money around and doing loudly, raising everyone's expectations. Given Clough's record it would have suited him to have two or three years re-building us slowly and cheaply. He wasn't really the type to buy us out of the league.

Sacking Clough was a poorly timed decision. We'd just allowed him to spend a lot of money bringing in his own players, who were fiercely loyal to him and responsive to his personality and management style. No consideration was given to this. There was a mistaken belief that the squad was good enough but badly managed and that a 'better' manager would be able to get them up with few additions. There was some financial fence sitting; giving Adkins a bit of cash to spend but not enough to turn round a squad that still wanted to be managed by a blunt speaking, no bullshit type.

It's been a clusterfuck of mistakes up to appointing Wilder. And, in the main, the same mistakes that got us relegated; poor managerial appointments, poor timing of sackings, the inability to stick to a strategy and see it through, boom and bust.

Has the board learnt anything from all of this or is it just a case of Wilder covering up the weaknesses and, basically sorting all this out himself, with his team? Only time will tell. When Wilder does leave will the board have learnt enough from what he's done, showed them how a club should be run, or will we go back to stupid managerial appointments, throwing cash we haven't got at one manager then hampering the next?

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

I'd say more time wasted than has been beneficial. I think there's a good chance DW1 would have taken us straight back down, given the chance, but he'd probably be sacked before he did. So Morgan would have probably taken us down instead.

The Prince's arrival was both a blessing and a curse. We couldn't attract a decent manager with the money KM was offering to rebuild the team compared with his expectations and ended up with Weir. Without the Prince's money Clough would have struggled to turn us around. Would he have done so? We'll never know but I think he'd have scraped it, and with no cup run.

Then, we again changed our policy; from spending very little to throwing money around and doing loudly, raising everyone's expectations. Given Clough's record it would have suited him to have two or three years re-building us slowly and cheaply. He wasn't really the type to buy us out of the league.

Sacking Clough was a poorly timed decision. We'd just allowed him to spend a lot of money bringing in his own players, who were fiercely loyal to him and responsive to his personality and management style. No consideration was given to this. There was a mistaken belief that the squad was good enough but badly managed and that a 'better' manager would be able to get them up with few additions. There was some financial fence sitting; giving Adkins a bit of cash to spend but not enough to turn round a squad that still wanted to be managed by a blunt speaking, no bullshit type.

It's been a clusterfuck of mistakes up to appointing Wilder. And, in the main, the same mistakes that got us relegated; poor managerial appointments, poor timing of sackings, the inability to stick to a strategy and see it through, boom and bust.

Has the board learnt anything from all of this or is it just a case of Wilder covering up the weaknesses and, basically sorting all this out himself, with his team? Only time will tell. When Wilder does leave will the board have learnt enough from what he's done, showed them how a club should be run, or will we go back to stupid managerial appointments, throwing cash we haven't got at one manager then hampering the next?

Good post Bush . Asking this question to myself really . Although McCabe is a Blade , local bloke , good intentions etc etc , have we been mismanaged at board level , as much as Blackburn , Forest , Charlton , Bolton , Leeds , Portsmouth ,Orient and perhaps many more .

We have a local , all the others have foreign owners who appear just to lose interest or meddle too much but has McCabe been a blessing or the devil in disguise.

UTB

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

For us to have wallowed down here for 6 whole years remains a major embarrassment.

Not that it matters now, having escaped the shithole. But, FFS, even a car crash of a club like Bolton managed to get out within a year!

 

[Yewsman]

Interesting post. I think if we had gone up with DW we would have been OK in the Championship but probably like Wednesday we would have hovered around the bottom of that League unless we had got the right manager. I don't think DW is one who would have taken us to the next level. After that it was a series of really poor managerial appointments. The Board must take responsibility for those but I have some sympathy for them as the appointments of Weir, Clough and Adkins were all widely heralded by the vast majority of the fans. Let's not forget that Clough did a lot of good things - some of his signings have been very good for the club and we did have those 2 wonderful Cup runs to the semis of the FA and League Cups but he also made a lot of poor signings, tactically was boring and was unbelievably stubborn and seemed to have a blind spot to some things like refusing to sign centre halves! Adkins was an unmitigated disaster (except for signing Billy) but ironically by appointing him in 2015 and then sacking him this time last year it meant that Wilder was available which he probably wasn't in May 2015 and was not "ready" for the job. However when Adkins got the push it was a case of right man right time for CW and the rest as we know is history but more importantly we have a bright future to look forward to. The most important appointment for any club is the manager. Look at those who have "punched well above their weight" in the Premier League like Charlton, Wigan, Swansea, Bournemouth all have/had very good managers. At last we have a good manager, albeit untried at Championship level but I think the way he has gone about things there is every reason to believe he and AK will be able to do it at higher levels.

 

[Yewsman]

Good post Bush . Asking this question to myself really . Although McCabe is a Blade , local bloke , good intentions etc etc , have we been mismanaged at board level , as much as Blackburn , Forest , Charlton , Bolton , Leeds , Portsmouth ,Orient and perhaps many more .

We have a local , all the others have foreign owners who appear just to lose interest or meddle too much but has McCabe been a blessing or the devil in disguise.

UTB

Yes not great from our board but nothing like as bad as the clubs you list.

 

[BushBlade]

Good post Bush . Asking this question to myself really . Although McCabe is a Blade , local bloke , good intentions etc etc , have we been mismanaged at board level , as much as Blackburn , Forest , Charlton , Bolton , Leeds , Portsmouth ,Orient and perhaps many more .

We have a local , all the others have foreign owners who appear just to lose interest or meddle too much but has McCabe been a blessing or the devil in disguise.

UTB

No, but I could just as easily name ten clubs that are better run than us, including some with foreign ownership.

 

[TJB.]

Time well spent is the wrong phrase to use. The calamitous downfall from the Premier League to 6 seasons in the third tier will forever be a stain on this club, and a dark time in our history. We needed to sink to a low point to force us to pull our socks up and stop fannying about D) and I think our finish under Adkins was just that. Lowest finish for how many years?

It's not worth raking up the time we spent down there. It's been analysed and done to death. Let's concentrate on our ascendancy and the very interesting summer ahead!

 

[Sheffsteel]

I hear this "well run club" cliche and "badly run club" cliche all the time on Talksport radio.

It seems that virtually every club that gains promotion is a "well run club"
And virtually every club that is relegated is a "badly run club".

So that means that if every club owner was fantastic and ran their club fantastically well.
It would still mean 3 clubs are relegated at the end of the season, so by definition they can't be well run.

You hear about "badly run clubs" always selling their best and constantly chopping and changing their manager. Well isn't that what Southampton do? And they are often quoted as a well run club.

Another common trend regards "badly run clubs" are where foreign owners don't communicate, don't respect tradition, change the shirt colours, get rid of stripes, massively increase prices on everything, gamble by paying out extortionate wages the club can't afford (Portsmouth style) etc etc.

Well isn't this what's happening at S6? And their fans think their owner is fantastic.
If they fail to get promoted and struggle next season and announce big financial losses meaning they have to start down sizing paying off contracts then many Wednesdayites would say how their foreign manager ruined their club etc etc.

Just proves how fickle most fans are. Win a few and they accept anything.

 

[northsomersetblade]

About the only plus, but it's a big one, is that we finally met and fell in love with Chris Wilder

 

[Fulwood Blade]

For us to have wallowed down here for 6 whole years remains a major embarrassment.

Not that it matters now, having escaped the shithole. But, FFS, even a car crash of a club like Bolton managed to get out within a year!

True the club is a car crash - but by appointing Parkinson it proved to be a good decision and we have to say well done, even though it hurts a bit.
Big, strong players worked a dream. Some were advocating that for us and I am sure it would have worked, just glad we stumbled on CW at the right time.

Be interesting to see what Bolton and Parky do next season. Some of us didn't expect Coterill to last long at Bristol once they went up, perhaps Parky will go the same way.

UTB

 

[Revolution]

Has the board learnt anything from all of this or is it just a case of Wilder covering up the weaknesses and, basically sorting all this out himself, with his team?

This is a very good question (from a very good post).

In this regard, this season we did two things that have not served us well in recent seasons:

- cut budget
- sold our second top scorer and two other young prospects in deals that were arguably not very favourable to us financially

...but got promoted anyway. Thanks to Wilder.

 

[HVR]

I was quite annoyed when they sacked Clough – thought he would eventually get us up.

However, on reflection, having remembered this season and how exciting and upbeat it can be in Bramall Lane, I get the feeling that had we gone up in 2015 we would have been stuck 4th-8th from bottom and facing the same for 6-7 years under Clough, playing dire football, low crowds, 0-0 draws and not improving.

So I'm glad we missed out on promotion for the last 2 seasons and got Wilder, I think next season under Wilder will leap-frog any "consolidation progress" we would have made with a 2 Year Clough in the Championship stint. We may even have come back down to League One this season!

 

[elgoog44]

I think we wasted a lot of time and money on the wrong managers and players, I thought god help me we had it right with Adkins and we would kick on and get promotion, but we know how that ended and thankfully that took us to wilder and this year, long time coming but as is the united way we manage to get it wrong over and over but eventually we get it right, lets hope Chis is in charge for the foreseeable.

 

[BushBlade]

This is a very good question (from a very good post).

In this regard, this season we did two things that have not served us well in recent seasons:

- cut budget
- sold our second top scorer and two other young prospects in deals that were arguably not very favourable to us financially

...but got promoted anyway. Thanks to Wilder.

Agree, although I'm not convinced we undersold the three prospects. Not convinced enough to agree with certainty anyway.

Most managers available to us would have struggled under the circumstances and I genuinely don't believe there are many out there who could have turned it around so quickly and by playing such fantastic football. I suspect most would have gone down the Parky route and tried to kick and hoof our way out of L1.

What nags in the back of my mind is 'what would we have done if we hadn't had DCL, JEC and Ramsdale to sell to raise funds when we needed them?' If I were a manager joining a club, my ideal scenario would be plenty of contracts expiring so I can get rid of some players straight away and have the ability to raise funds without selling any players I desperately wanted to keep. As good as Chris is, he came at exactly the right time (although I think if he'd joined us a year earlier he'd have done a better job than Adkins, much better).

 

[BushBlade]

I think we wasted a lot of time and money on the wrong managers and players, I thought god help me we had it right with Adkins and we would kick on and get promotion, but we know how that ended and thankfully that took us to wilder and this year, long time coming but as is the united way we manage to get it wrong over and over but eventually we get it right, lets hope Chis is in charge for the foreseeable.

I think most of us expected Adkins to do what Wilder has done. I don't think there's anything wrong with being optimistic and with his CV there was plenty to be optimistic about. It just didn't work out.

 

[elgoog44]

I think most of us expected Adkins to do what Wilder has done. I don't think there's anything wrong with being optimistic and with his CV there was plenty to be optimistic about. It just didn't work out.

I think it was a lot to do with how he came across in the presentation as well, made you sit up and take notice after NC who had never really seemed at ease with the media, agree his CV was the right one for what we wanted to do, as you say didn't work out and looks like no other club at the moment is willing to take a punt on him either after us and the Reading debacle.