Budget

[stringer]

If they are you thoughts on the matter then fair enough but you work for them you are hardly likely to come onto a Blades forum and start saying yeah my employer is biased towards Wednesday. No offence Danny but your opinion is hardly impartial.

Off the top of my head examples of what I personally (and many other blades) thought were biased.

Reporting when we signed Samir Carruthers (instead of a report about the player we get old reports about the time he once wee'd in a glass)
Negative press when we signed Marlon King.
Negative press when we signed Evans.

I could accept all the above if it was the same for our City rivals but I did not see any negative press from the Star when Wednesday signed Nile Ranger or Gary Madine.

Haha, and as a Blades fan you're entirely unbiased yes? Point me in the direction of negative press when Evans signed, please. And King, for that matter

 

[stringer]

Recently? The one with the druggie copper who although played many first team games for a SouthYorkshire Club (77) as opposed to one league game for United was described in the headline as "ex Sheffield United". Think your defence for that one was, it's a fact, whilst totally dodging the point being made.

Thought Carlos left by mutual consent? Or is that a libel issue to reveal all?

That's a fair defence. Playing one league game for United makes you a former Blade
He did leave by mutual consent. I didn't say otherwise

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

Stating the obvious whilst ignoring the elephant in the room that the money may not be there.

Not really. The point I was answering related to Maidenhead's quote; which appeared to questioned the right of anyone who wasn't worth north of £100m, to discuss what did or did not constitute large sums of money at championship level. Whether or not we've got that level of money is a different matter. For the record we don't.

The club is involved in a sport that loses money, it is currently at a level that demands a certain level of investment to maintain it's position, a higher level of investment to increase the possibility of it reaching a high level of operation and a lower level of expendiure increases the possibility of dropping to a lower level of operation. Thems the facts. Save for a Wilder miracle, we've reached a glorious impasse at the club, haven't we? If anyone is ignoring the elephant in the room it's the owners, no?

A few years ago, I saved up and bought a sports car. It caused me no end of trouble and I eventually sold it. Lost money owning it & lost a little on the resale. But I did have fun driving it about for a while. When I told the guy who bought it off me, why it was selling it, he said "You should've worked out the running costs before you bought t, and if you couldn't afford to run it, you shouldn't have bought it". A fair point, well made.

 

[Danny_Boy]

Haha, and as a Blades fan you're entirely unbiased yes? Point me in the direction of negative press when Evans signed, please. And King, for that matter

Pointless debate, no matter what evidence or what opinions I give you will never admit on a public forum that your employer is biased so therefore I'm going to stop wasting mine and your time.

 

[stringer]

Pointless debate, no matter what evidence or what opinions I give you will never admit on a public forum that your employer is biased so therefore I'm going to stop wasting mine and your time.

I didn't think you'd find any

 

[B14Nco]

Why is everyone obsessed with spending 3/4 mill?

I’m pretty sure if we bring 3 players in and spent under 2 mill, regardless of the fact that they might be the 3 Wilder wanted people will still be kicking off that we should’ve spent 2/3 more.

It’s fucking mental.

Especially as we don’t have a clue on the actual budget.

I don’t mind the discussion that’s what the topic is but for fucks sake yet again quit with the negativity.

 

[B14Nco]

The club is involved in a sport that loses money, it is currently at a level that demands a certain level of investment to maintain it's position, a higher level of investment to increase the possibility of it reaching a high level of operation and a lower level of expendiure increases the possibility of dropping to a lower level of operation. Thems the facts. Save for a Wilder miracle, we've reached a glorious impasse at the club, haven't we? If anyone is ignoring the elephant in the room it's the owners, no?

Given our current position (not league table) thems not the facts tho.

I believe Wilder can keep us competitive and improve us transfer window after transfer window without any considerable increase in investment.

I’ve said A LOT of times I don’t think there is much difference in a 1mill League 1 player and a 5mill championship player. The next bracket, the 8-10 mill players is questionable in a lot of cases... but we’re not fishing in that pond anyway.

I think people are just impatient. I’ve seen improvements ever transfer window and have no reason to think it will be any different this time round.

 

[Pinchy]

You may feel I'm being unfair Danny but I don't think I am. The Star is the only media outlet I have seen that actually do seem to favour our City rivals in my opinion.

You have to be joking. RS devotes a great deal more air time to the Pigs than it does to us. They consistently get more and longer interviews, for example. Check it out for a few weeks on the FH website. You’ll see. Their whole approach is that we are very much secondary to the grunters, despite a higher league position and bigger crowds.

 

[Lawrence]

They've been making modest investments for as long as the Prince has been involved and in McCabe's case much longer. They will have to continue to make modest investments for as long as we remain in the championship. What you want is more 'modest' investment on top of what they've invested and will keep investing.

I understand the principle of false economy but what you're saying is that if they invest £5m now, they may not have to invest next season, etc, as we'll be in the PL and should be able to break even. That's correct but where we differ is that you see it as a reasonable probability that the money would get us up whereas I don't and see it as £5m that could be better spent next season.

Now I've just spent the last hour or so doing an expenditure analysis for my tax return so I'm done with discussing owt more to do with money.

I’m thinking that if we don’t invest now, being that we are in a good position, to make a push for the Premiere League, then when is the correct time to invest? Why would the mentality of the board suddenly change and we suddenly invest 5mil next summer?

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

Given our current position (not league table) thems not the facts tho.

I believe Wilder can keep us competitive and improve us transfer window after transfer window without any considerable increase in investment.

I’ve said A LOT of times I don’t think there is much difference in a 1mill League 1 player and a 5mill championship player. The next bracket, the 8-10 mill players is questionable in a lot of cases... but we’re not fishing in that pond anyway.

I think people are just impatient. I’ve seen improvements ever transfer window and have no reason to think it will be any different this time round.

Well, we'll soon see. £5m in the last transfer window would've bought a Ryan Woods or Conor Coady (a player we could've had in 2014 for £500k rising to £750k). It would appear that we're in the process of paying circa £1m for Ryan Leonard.

I wouldn't say that I'm impatient, in fact i've been very patient for the last 10 yrs, for the last 6 of those i've had the patience of Job. The season we got relegated from the Premier League, Swansea, Huddersfield, Brighton & Bournemouth finished 7th, 14th, 18th and 19th in League 1. My patience is beginning to wear thin.

 

[awblade]

Not really. The point I was answering related to Maidenhead's quote; which appeared to questioned the right of anyone who wasn't worth north of £100m, to discuss what did or did not constitute large sums of money at championship level. Whether or not we've got that level of money is a different matter. For the record we don't.

The club is involved in a sport that loses money, it is currently at a level that demands a certain level of investment to maintain it's position, a higher level of investment to increase the possibility of it reaching a high level of operation and a lower level of expendiure increases the possibility of dropping to a lower level of operation. Thems the facts. Save for a Wilder miracle, we've reached a glorious impasse at the club, haven't we? If anyone is ignoring the elephant in the room it's the owners, no?

A few years ago, I saved up and bought a sports car. It caused me no end of trouble and I eventually sold it. Lost money owning it & lost a little on the resale. But I did have fun driving it about for a while. When I told the guy who bought it off me, why it was selling it, he said "You should've worked out the running costs before you bought t, and if you couldn't afford to run it, you shouldn't have bought it". A fair point, well made.

Sounds like what must have been the thinking of the Portsmouth owners when they won the FA Cup...

 

[Maidenhead]

The comparative wealth of the poster and the owner of the club aren't relevant. People's view on what constitutes appropriate levels of investment/expenditure are usually based upon comparison with other Championship clubs of similar size. In the most part the figures mentioned on here are within the realms of reality. We're the 68th biggest club in Europe on attendances this season, situated in the continent's 86th largest city currently playing in the 2nd tier of the wealthiest football league structure in the world. I welcome the time that we start acting & thinking like it.

Paying upwards of £2m for a player is common place in the Championship and should be for a team of our stature.

Certain people need to crap or get off the pot at this club for it move forward.

What use is an empty pot to anyone?

The general feeling at the moment is that the owners are shitting away £4-£6m a year between them.

 

[BushBlade]

I’m thinking that if we don’t invest now, being that we are in a good position, to make a push for the Premiere League, then when is the correct time to invest? Why would the mentality of the board suddenly change and we suddenly invest 5mil next summer?

The owners have invested those type of sums every season to cover our losses. It looks like they will be investing more in the JTW. All I'm bothered about is that CW gets the players he thinks we need, not how expensive they are. As long as the accounts keep showing our owners are losing money every season I won't be digging them out for not losing enough.
This is my last comment on budgets until the window closes.

 

[Deadbat]

Given our current position (not league table) thems not the facts tho.

I believe Wilder can keep us competitive and improve us transfer window after transfer window without any considerable increase in investment.

I’ve said A LOT of times I don’t think there is much difference in a 1mill League 1 player and a 5mill championship player. The next bracket, the 8-10 mill players is questionable in a lot of cases... but we’re not fishing in that pond anyway.

I think people are just impatient. I’ve seen improvements ever transfer window and have no reason to think it will be any different this time round.

Just hope Wilder shares this patience. It was interesting to read some tweets from his best pal on twitter (wit_xx) who basically suggests that the board have told lies (Baki on Alan Biggs show promising funds and what Wilder needs) and that he was not given anything like what he was promised. He also alludes to the fact he cannot keep doing it on pittance. May be just an opinion of course but worryig all the same.

The article on View from the John St (below) sums up a lot of my feelings. I kind of agree that we do not want to go silly and of course no guarantee that spending a bit more cash gets us up but the position we are in and the manager we have; we may not have a better chance for a good few years - look at our city rivals. Be nice if we did bring in some real quality and as much as I admire signing hungry lower league players; there is a reason most are playing lower league levels.

If we trail away and finish say mid table; still be a decent season but we will face same situation in summer - need to spend to kick on. Seems we have a decent platform to do it now?

http://www.viewfromthejohnstreet.com/all-posts/2018/1/2/0pmbqrrc3qi0zjkqecvd3oktndfcfo

 

[Deadbat]

I’m thinking that if we don’t invest now, being that we are in a good position, to make a push for the Premiere League, then when is the correct time to invest? Why would the mentality of the board suddenly change and we suddenly invest 5mil next summer?

Totally agreed. If they do not put some cash in now for us to properly compete with the top sides; we have to accept they cannot/or won't ever do it. The search for more investment must begin in earnest really now if they cannot find the necessary funds for us to properly compete for promotion. If we do not invest in the quality Wilder needs now or in the summer; next season will be very difficult in my opinion with the same very underrated players having to play to their maximum every week, rely on not getting key injuries and hope teams have not worked us out.

 

[Tom Bott]

Not taking the gamble would be the bad bet!

Are you buying £10.000.00 of lottery tickets tonight ?

What could possibly go wrong ?

 

[Rodley]

Well, we'll soon see. £5m in the last transfer window would've bought a Ryan Woods or Conor Coady (a player we could've had in 2014 for £500k rising to £750k). It would appear that we're in the process of paying circa £1m for Ryan Leonard.

I wouldn't say that I'm impatient, in fact i've been very patient for the last 10 yrs, for the last 6 of those i've had the patience of Job. The season we got relegated from the Premier League, Swansea, Huddersfield, Brighton & Bournemouth finished 7th, 14th, 18th and 19th in League 1. My patience is beginning to wear thin.

So what’s your solution?

 

[Tom Bott]

I remember being in Barnsley when the first plane flew over, that was only last week.

I saw that too, managed to get this photo when it landed on the pitch.

Was it a Crab Airlines Flight ?

 

[UnitedBlade]

Just hope Wilder shares this patience. It was interesting to read some tweets from his best pal on twitter (wit_xx) who basically suggests that the board have told lies (Baki on Alan Biggs show promising funds and what Wilder needs) and that he was not given anything like what he was promised. He also alludes to the fact he cannot keep doing it on pittance. May be just an opinion of course but worryig all the same.

The article on View from the John St (below) sums up a lot of my feelings. I kind of agree that we do not want to go silly and of course no guarantee that spending a bit more cash gets us up but the position we are in and the manager we have; we may not have a better chance for a good few years - look at our city rivals. Be nice if we did bring in some real quality and as much as I admire signing hungry lower league players; there is a reason most are playing lower league levels.

If we trail away and finish say mid table; still be a decent season but we will face same situation in summer - need to spend to kick on. Seems we have a decent platform to do it now?

http://www.viewfromthejohnstreet.com/all-posts/2018/1/2/0pmbqrrc3qi0zjkqecvd3oktndfcfo

I think that misrepresents the Alan Biggs interview. It wasn't Baki, he hasn't been on the Board since August but it was Tareq Hawasli. Basically, he said they would invest in the Academy, existing player contracts (ie Brooks, Couttsy, Leon etc that we've already seen) and in new players as far as they were able. The last bit is important as he was very careful in how he handled Biggs's questions. Viewers can interpret that as giving Chris whatever he wanted but he definitely didn't say that.

No Board representative is ever going to give a figure out publicly, it would be ludicrous to do so.

For me that merely says they'll only spend what they've got between McCabe and the Prince. This interview was before the Saudi crackdown as well, so we don't know if the Prince's access to funds is controlled or not.

Maybe the Board has had to adjust what they initially said but no one knows. Unfortunately, we can wish our owners were richer but we'll get what they can afford.

UTB

 

[Tunstall Fred]

I think that misrepresents the Alan Biggs interview. It wasn't Baki, he hasn't been on the Board since August but it was Tareq Hawasli. Basically, he said they would invest in the Academy, existing player contracts (ie Brooks, Couttsy, Leon etc that we've already seen) and in new players as far as they were able. The last bit is important as he was very careful in how he handled Biggs's questions. Viewers can interpret that as giving Chris whatever he wanted but he definitely didn't say that.

No Board representative is ever going to give a figure out publicly, it would be ludicrous to do so.

For me that merely says they'll only spend what they've got between McCabe and the Prince. This interview was before the Saudi crackdown as well, so we don't know if the Prince's access to funds is controlled or not.

Maybe the Board has had to adjust what they initially said but no one knows. Unfortunately, we can wish our owners were richer but we'll get what they can afford.

UTB

Absolute rubbish,I demand our owners spend more money than they can afford,they will get it back when we are promoted

 

[Darthblade]

I'm right there with you two guys, but I have to say that ever since Wilder arrived here I've seen nothing to suggest that the board have failed to back him in any way when asked to do so.

The same goes for his two predecessors.

I've seen nothing from Clough or Adkins to suggest that they didn't get 100% backing from the board.

Dean Hammond?

I understand where you're coming from ...... but I just get the feeling that Tufty didn't quite have the financial muscle he wanted in the summer ( I know that we were pissed about by a couple of other clubs in the potential dealings)

We shall have to wait and see what this window brings ...... its pleasing to see Leonard come in as he seems to be a Tufty type player, wants to come to us and has been professional in getting on with his game for the last 6 months whilst we pursued him. We shall have to see what else happens in the next week or so as that will signpost the levels of the Board's commitment and ambition.

I hope I'm wrong ........ but you don't get to be a cynical, mistrustful old ba**ard like me without having witnessed shambolic running of the Club over a very long period ....

As for Hammond ...... well I think we all agree he goes down as a serious error of judgement along with Adkins himself. I've not been an advocate of us "spunkin" ridiculous money as I don't think its necessarily the answer ...... its the temperament, ability and quality of the player not the price that matters on the pitch.

I do trust Tufty's judgement regarding players though as he's not one to pay "silly money" for players when it doesn't need to be done, but I'm just hopeful that he actually is given the financial backing that he believes he needs to build a competitive squad.

The particularly "testing" time could be the summer as we are likely to need a striker of quality if we are to kick on and mount a serious promotion challenge ........ regrettably they don't come cheap and even expensive ones may prove to be donkeys

My fingers are crossed .......

UTB & FTP

 

[Sean Thornton]

So what’s your solution?

Someone else's munneh!

 

[Sean Thornton]

Bottom line I don't care what the board tell us about the budget as long as Wilder knows and what's promised is made available to him. And if there are any changes, he's informed immediately.

 

[Davalon]

Just hope Wilder shares this patience. It was interesting to read some tweets from his best pal on twitter (wit_xx) who basically suggests that the board have told lies (Baki on Alan Biggs show promising funds and what Wilder needs) and that he was not given anything like what he was promised. He also alludes to the fact he cannot keep doing it on pittance. May be just an opinion of course but worryig all the same.

The article on View from the John St (below) sums up a lot of my feelings. I kind of agree that we do not want to go silly and of course no guarantee that spending a bit more cash gets us up but the position we are in and the manager we have; we may not have a better chance for a good few years - look at our city rivals. Be nice if we did bring in some real quality and as much as I admire signing hungry lower league players; there is a reason most are playing lower league levels.

If we trail away and finish say mid table; still be a decent season but we will face same situation in summer - need to spend to kick on. Seems we have a decent platform to do it now?

http://www.viewfromthejohnstreet.com/all-posts/2018/1/2/0pmbqrrc3qi0zjkqecvd3oktndfcfo

Wit ought to know better than get involved in these sort of things imho.

He may want to defend his mate but if I was the manager I wouldn't want my mate posting stuff on social media alluding to what I'd told him about club transfer policy.

Having said that I've also got the impression that he likes to play games on Twitter with some of his comments. Doesn't help he's increased his following since Wilder was appointed and gets people he doesn't know asking him questions.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Wit ought to know better than get involved in these sort of things imho.

He may want to defend his mate but if I was the manager I wouldn't want my mate posting stuff on social media alluding to what I'd told him about club transfer policy.

Having said that I've also got the impression that he likes to play games on Twitter with some of his comments. Doesn't help he's increased his following since Wilder was appointed and gets people he doesn't know asking him questions.

He can get a bit "emotional" at times.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

He can get a bit "emotional" at times.

I think he's still sat in the OMRC waiting..................

 

[B14Nco]

Well, we'll soon see. £5m in the last transfer window would've bought a Ryan Woods or Conor Coady (a player we could've had in 2014 for £500k rising to £750k). It would appear that we're in the process of paying circa £1m for Ryan Leonard.

I wouldn't say that I'm impatient, in fact i've been very patient for the last 10 yrs, for the last 6 of those i've had the patience of Job. The season we got relegated from the Premier League, Swansea, Huddersfield, Brighton & Bournemouth finished 7th, 14th, 18th and 19th in League 1. My patience is beginning to wear thin.

I mean patient with where we find ourselves right now. If you want us to all of a sudden make up for 10 years of mistakes after a good 6 months in the championship you probably need to go watch Wolves.

 

[B14Nco]

Just hope Wilder shares this patience. It was interesting to read some tweets from his best pal on twitter (wit_xx) who basically suggests that the board have told lies (Baki on Alan Biggs show promising funds and what Wilder needs) and that he was not given anything like what he was promised. He also alludes to the fact he cannot keep doing it on pittance. May be just an opinion of course but worryig all the same.

The article on View from the John St (below) sums up a lot of my feelings. I kind of agree that we do not want to go silly and of course no guarantee that spending a bit more cash gets us up but the position we are in and the manager we have; we may not have a better chance for a good few years - look at our city rivals. Be nice if we did bring in some real quality and as much as I admire signing hungry lower league players; there is a reason most are playing lower league levels.

If we trail away and finish say mid table; still be a decent season but we will face same situation in summer - need to spend to kick on. Seems we have a decent platform to do it now?

http://www.viewfromthejohnstreet.com/all-posts/2018/1/2/0pmbqrrc3qi0zjkqecvd3oktndfcfo

Agree it’s potentially worrisome. However until I hear categorically that we didn’t get a player Wilder wanted because we couldn’t afford him or he wasn’t given the funds... I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.

 

[Lawrence]

Are you buying £10.000.00 of lottery tickets tonight ?

What could possibly go wrong ?

What could possibly go right!

The prize is worth a modest push.

 

[Maidenhead]

I understand where you're coming from ...... but I just get the feeling that Tufty didn't quite have the financial muscle he wanted in the summer ( I know that we were pissed about by a couple of other clubs in the potential dealings)

We shall have to wait and see what this window brings ...... its pleasing to see Leonard come in as he seems to be a Tufty type player, wants to come to us and has been professional in getting on with his game for the last 6 months whilst we pursued him. We shall have to see what else happens in the next week or so as that will signpost the levels of the Board's commitment and ambition.

I hope I'm wrong ........ but you don't get to be a cynical, mistrustful old ba**ard like me without having witnessed shambolic running of the Club over a very long period ....

As for Hammond ...... well I think we all agree he goes down as a serious error of judgement along with Adkins himself. I've not been an advocate of us "spunkin" ridiculous money as I don't think its necessarily the answer ...... its the temperament, ability and quality of the player not the price that matters on the pitch.

I do trust Tufty's judgement regarding players though as he's not one to pay "silly money" for players when it doesn't need to be done, but I'm just hopeful that he actually is given the financial backing that he believes he needs to build a competitive squad.

The particularly "testing" time could be the summer as we are likely to need a striker of quality if we are to kick on and mount a serious promotion challenge ........ regrettably they don't come cheap and even expensive ones may prove to be donkeys

My fingers are crossed .......

UTB & FTP

I only mentioned Hammond as an illustration of the ridiculous lengths the current owners have gone to in order to back their managers