The reality is - we have hit our ceiling

[stringer]

I get that but he hasn’t played all the time so don’t understand the ‘deal’. He’s highly rated so I thought he was a decent shout as an extra option. Aside from one good cross v Burton I’ve not seen much to warrant the reputation.

There isn’t a ‘deal’. Decent cross v Burton, overhead kick v Villa, hit the post at Ipswich out of nowhere and scored at Norwich. What he offers, a bit like Brooks, is the ability to make something happen from nowhere. He was millimetres away from winning the game at Portman Road with a shot from long range - could Billy, Leon, Ched or Clayton realistically do that? Same with the acrobatic effort. Fair enough, neither went in but he offers something different to the other strikers - which surely is the point of bringing him in

 

[YES Blade]

Even with money it's unlikely that CW will risk upsetting the group's togetherness by bringing in players from abroad. He has Welsh players, Scottish Player and Irish Players in the squad so your Irish analogy is already met. There is a point that any players playing in a different country are doing it for money and are therefore more mercenary than players who owe the manager something. That is way CW uses the best of the lower leagues rather than paying premium for players who think they are doing us a favour or worse just picking up a big wage,

I fail to see how a player from outside the UK & Ireland is more likely to upset the group's togetherness than a UK player, there have been plenty of English players who have been complete dickheads throughout their careers!

 

[Wooden House]

Leon & Billy have scored 27 goals between them, Leon out scoring Sessegnon, Maddison & Jota and Billy as many or more than Bonatini, Assambolonga, Watkins, Madine & Bamford. So before you clamour for a multi million pound striker to replace our “under performers” give these two a bit of credit!

 

[Newbury Blade]

One thing that has disappointed me is the way the Holmes and Leonard signings have worked out so far. There’s no doubt CW really wanted these players so don’t give me this “bargain basement” bollocks. But so far they haven’t gelled and don’t seem to fit in with our system. Compare Baldock another L1 signing who slotted straight in from day one. Really hope Holmes finds a role by next season because you can see he’s a good player. As for Lenny well maybe we saw the answer yesterday because he can certainly pass the ball better than Basham.

 

[YES Blade]

So if we did, we could be as successful as Forest? Good plan!

The point being made was that even mid table teams are spending much bigger than us, do you not think that if Wilder had Forest's budget we would be comfortably in the play-offs and in with a good chance of the top 2? Because I certainly think we would.

 

[Newbury Blade]

The point being made was that even mid table teams are spending much bigger than us, do you not think that if Wilder had Forest's budget we would be comfortably in the play-offs and in with a good chance of the top 2? Because I certainly think we would.

Maybe but it’s not a given. Have you seen Sheffield Wednesday’s “defence” recently? What did that shower of slow-moving shit cost compared with ours?

 

[YES Blade]

Maybe but it’s not a given. Have you seen Sheffield Wednesday’s “defence” recently? What did that shower of slow-moving shit cost compared with ours?

We have a special manager in my opinion, Wilder would have done a 100 times better job than Carlos did with that budget.

If there was ever a time to back the manager with money, now is the time.

 

[DaleHillBlade]

I fail to see how a player from outside the UK & Ireland is more likely to upset the group's togetherness than a UK player, there have been plenty of English players who have been complete dickheads throughout their careers!

 

[finlaytheblade]

I absolutely agree with everything you say , though it be some extent disheartening.
Another Leicester is more likely to win the Premier League than the Blades get promoted , because at least an also-ran Prem club can spend a few million and if they find themselves a good manager .....
I have no doubt that were we in that position , Chris Wilder has the potential to gain success in the Prem - but soon he will realize we won't be - hence his privately expressed Twitter disappointment at the ownership bollox and his publicly expressed realism about the limitations to team improvement placed upon him by the January transfer budget.
At least 5 of the top six Championship spenders will finish in the top six.
I am afraid that money has replaced merit.
You only have to look at the gentle slide Southwards of football success to know that the teams based in the decaying heartlands of the Victorian era Northern industrial boom have an uphill struggle.
Whereas Wet Sham move to a free mecanno set donated by the taxpayer and pick up 25, 000 new customers overnight.
And traditional minnows Bournemouth are a Prem club.
But coming back to my beloved Blades , you are correct about our strikers and the 4 points thrown away on the last two Saturdays.
The ones with quality are too old and the one with potential is too young. I don't count Wilson as the deal which makes him play for us to satisfy Manure is a terrible one , struck by a manager who is forced to clutch at straws like Ched fucking Evans.
We need a total clear-out of strikers , but who will buy their contracts from us ? Brooks is the only one worth keeping to see if he can mature into something.
We can hold our own in defence and midfield , but as CW acknowledged on RS last night , the difficult job is at what he calls "the top of the pitch" , which is why we can't finish poor teams off and why the strikers at the top six clubs are so far beyond our budget.
The best we can hope is to unearth a young Billy Sharp or Brian Deane but if we confine ourselves to UK & Ireland , that is pretty forlorn , unless we can borrow someone 10 times better than Wilson.
You know the saying "it's the hope that kills you" ? That sums up my Blades experience since 1968.
That's why I call myself a Blades supporter , not a customer like the new 22,000 that Wet Sham have suddenly acquired.
Unfortunately the future of football is more to do with the spending power of clubs and their customer bases , than it is to do with the history and romance of the game.
Which leaves financially poor areas like Sheffield in the lurch.

Spoken like a life long blade you some us up perfectly historically and possibly into the future.
I'm sure we will improve on our short comings next season and don't beleave Wilder and McCabe are totally against European players it would be very nieve to think we could overlook it completely.
We are still in the mix this year but as has been stated we are poor in the final third and that will probably cost us.
Talking to a tradesmen recently who is a life long Wed fan he made a very good point !!
He talked about Wed under Wilkinson who played with great energy but ran out of steam in the run in.
We are a team who rely on work rate to overcome superior teams ,have we lost that bit of energy which made the difference ?. Maybe some truth in that
although the team works really hard mental tiredness has an effect on decision making the last few games it has become a big problem.
In the run up to Christmas things started to go against us and we have been fighting to regain consistency.
It's been a tough period and the January window signings haven't hit the ground running. We are playing like a team who have lost beleaf and confidence having put a lot in till gradually thinks started slipping.
We do look a tired team (mentally ) can Wilder re - invigorate us during this break ? Still all to play for but must play with more beleaf.

 

[pommpey]

We're not gonna get that 'quality' at the moment. McCabe and HRH have not got the finances to fund a PL campaign and - for once and for many times I will say it - sustain PL status for as long as possible. It isn't just the 'getting there' - it's the 'staying there'. This is the key to our success over the past two seasons. We brought in a manager, fucked off the seemingly undroppable useless twats, brought in players capable of dusting Div One off and with Wilder and Knill, crafted a style of unbeatable play which got us the rewards we deserved.

We now know that firstly, the 'invest when we get into the Championship' was a bit of a fib, and we are likely not to see any input from assumed sell-ons for Harry and Kyle. We'll live with that (as long as the board are honest with us about it) but the backroom building crisis need to be sorted out because if Wilder is faced with playing the same players next season - and face it, Duffy, Sharp Clarke, Fleck, Wright, Stearman, Holmes, Donaldson are all getting on a bit in terms of timed expired - I can't see him being to appeh wi' it. People are (partially) right, we don't need to spunk cash. But we need to be shopping in the better supermarkets and taking players off the PL trapdoor clubs if we can to get the pace and finesse required to beat teams like Birmingham, Fulham, Forest, Brizzle and sustain a challenging position. People in the Championship now are regarding us as firstly a one player team (if not Coutts, then the now seldom seen mercurial talents of Brooks) and secondly, a fast filling balloon which has popped. I get that. It is exactly the case, in fact. But we need those players next season. Playoffs are definitely within our grasp. Looking at the PL, it looks like a selection from WBA, Cheats, Scummers, Potters and possibly Palace who could fall through the gaps and they will bring at least 60% of their former PL playing staff onto the pitch next season. We need to be able to compete with that if we are not to become .... Sheffield fucking Wednesday.

pommpey

 

[mattbianco1]

Leon & Billy have scored 27 goals between them, Leon out scoring Sessegnon, Maddison & Jota and Billy as many or more than Bonatini, Assambolonga, Watkins, Madine & Bamford. So before you clamour for a multi million pound striker to replace our “under performers” give these two a bit of credit!

I liked your post and I agree with your point, however, we lack a striker that can unlock the defence on his own. Clarke was doing it until November but has gone so far off the book he's not even simmering. He would've had 2, maybe 3 goals yesterday on his early season form.

We need a raw talent with pace and power to run at the CBs. Someone like Devante Cole but better. Someone like Assombalonga. Problem is, they cost North of 10m

If we had Assombalonga, he would be on 30 goals now with our style of play

 

[Punk Blade]

Some of those forwards in the OP came from League One. We can’t afford to buy their current quality as they are now in the Championship, but we can afford to buy the unfinished article at a younger age from a lower division. There will be a few young goalscorers somewhere in the three divisions below who will eventually play in the Championship or Premier League, and we need to get them in for a fee we can afford while they’re young and unproven at a higher level.

Investment in the first team could push us on sooner, but our current model is sustainable and still has room for development. Wilder has had one season in League One and walked it with 100 points. He hasn’t yet had a full season in the Championship, and only one transfer window where we could show what level the team is competing at, and sits with playoff destiny in his own hands with eight games to play. I’d like to see what he can do with summer recruitment as an established top ten side rather than a newly promoted side.

 

[SwissBlade]

This!!

I said after the Fulham game that 80% of their team matches up with ours. We've got a top 8 squad but only lack those 3 or 4 PL quality players that win you tight games (like yesterday, like Ipswich, like Hull).

Coutts coming back is one; Brooks natural development will be another. No doubt we thought Wilson might have been another... Tufty has spent 3 transfer windows on quantity, now we just need a little bit of quality through the door this Summer.

All this talk about ceilings and not being good enough is very black or white!! In my opinion we're charcoal grey and just need 1 or 2 bits of black...

I don't think the players we've bought have been bad, however, we have a squad of 15 when it really needs to be 22.

Leonard is looking better and Lundstram and Evans both fit into the midfield.

The Midfield has also had to relearn to play together, something which we have really struggled with

 

[Ricky]

Ollie Watkins is exactly the kind of player we should be looking to sign in order to progress further. Signed by Brentford from Exeter City last July for £1.8m, he is currently the subject of interest from Bournemouth in a possible £6m move.

So predictable....

And we have no excuse for not going for Sean Maguire.

 

[stringer]

So predictable....

And we have no excuse for not going for Sean Maguire.

Apart from his cost. And apparently the fact he’s not British

 

[JayGreen17]

When Chris Wilder took over at Bramall Lane at the beginning of last season, the club was in an absolute state. He inherited a fairly poor squad that was underachieving in league one.

Fast forward 18 months and he has transformed us into a top half championship club. A quite remarkable job. He deserves all the plaudits he gets, we have done it with passion, guile, quality and plenty of entertainment - it’s been superb!

However, the reality is, he (or anyone) is going to struggle to take us much beyond the point we are at.

Since time immemorial, Blades fans have been trying to convince themselves that we wouldn’t want to be a club that was ‘spunkin money’ away to try and gain success, citing our neighbours and other failures with big budgets. However, it just takes a quick glance at the championship table to know that, despite all these protestations, money simply buys you success. The current top 6 will be not far off the 6 largest spenders in the division and that is the equilibrium football has reached. It creates a glass ceiling that clubs such as ourselves would need an immense stroke of luck to get through, but still incredibly unlikely.

Now we know we will never being spenders in the championship under the current ownership, and that’s fine. We just need to accept that, unless someone on here has £150 million sat in their bank collecting dust. I also feel a dose of realism is needed about expectations of the club, and Wilder, from here on in.

Before our L1 days we were an ‘Ipswich’. A very average second tier club that sometimes flirted with the playoffs. That’s what Wilder has achieved in his time here, but it is our ‘natural’ place and one we shouldn’t take for granted.

This has stemmed from my thoughts about improving for next season. I think most would agree our first move should be up front. We need a good championship striker to get us through games like yesterday. Then I realised, well there’s no chance! Look at those top 6 sides.... striker values:

Wolves - Neves - £14 million (just an example of many to be fair)
Cardiff - Madine - £6 million
Fulham - Rui Fonte - £8 million (plus rejecting £30 million for Cairney in Jan!)
Villa - hogan - £12 million
Derby - Vydra - £7million
Boro - Assombalonga - £14 million

And all of a sudden you realise just how difficult it’s going to be to reach those heights. Wilder has done an amazing jobs, but games like yesterday are won by players of a similar ilk to those mentioned above, none of which we will be able to get.

Well done Chris, an amazing job done, but I find it difficult to see us being able to move on from here without some genuine investment.

Great post - I’ll just add we could use the loan market better and bring in the quality that we’ve lacked, as Fulham, Villa and others have to great effect.

 

[Ricky]

Apart from his cost. And apparently the fact he’s not British

He wasn't expensive. We have other Irish players. I thought we'd be looking at the Irish league to be honest.

 

[UnitedBlade]

Looking back, what might have done for our season is the impact immediately after Couttsy’s injury. We took 1 point from the next 5 games as we tried to adjust.

Our form since the beginning or end of January (depending on whether you measure from when we made signings) has actually stabilised. You could describe it as a side whose points total is just outside the play offs. I think that’s about right in describing us and where we’ll finish.

I don’t for a minute think we’ll start next season like last season and it’s incredibly difficult to compete with parachute and rich benefactor clubs.

We do need more investment but pending that we need to continue to recruit value for money players, try and get the best of the PL loan market and start on international scouting. A summer upgrade of the squad is very important or we run the risk of going backwards. There’s a big question mark over whether our strikers can deliver the same volume of goals as they have done so far. Can we improve our delivery from the flanks ?

 

[stringer]

He wasn't expensive. We have other Irish players. I thought we'd be looking at the Irish league to be honest.

Oh did you mean we had no excuse not to go for him? Thought you meant we have no excuse to not sign him now. I’m aware we have another Irish player (and a Canadian) but I was referring to the frequent posts I’ve seen about only signing British players on here

 

[grafikhaus]

So predictable....

And we have no excuse for not going for Sean Maguire.

So any player suggestion is going to be met with ridicule? We paid around £3m for Ched nine years ago. Wasn't Beattie four million? Eleven years ago. If £6m is unrealistic, we'll end up getting reeled in and end up back in Division One.

Apart from his cost. And apparently the fact he’s not British

Our budget can't keep being among the lowest at this level or all CW's work will have been in vain. My suggestion ? (tin hat on). Look to sell Brooks to fund future transfers. With us, he may turn out to be a stellar player but we've been here before with the 'next great white hope' (Reed, De Giralamo etc.) Watkins is far ahead of Brooks, DB will get better with better players around him. We can't be wasting time hoping he'll come good.

We have a special manager in my opinion, Wilder would have done a 100 times better job than Carlos did with that budget.

If there was ever a time to back the manager with money, now is the time.

Amen.

 

[Ricky]

So any player suggestion is going to be met with ridicule? We paid around £3m for Ched nine years ago. Wasn't Beattie four million? Eleven years ago. If £6m is unrealistic, we'll end up getting reeled in and end up back in Division One.

What I'm saying is predictable is Watkins trebling in value just for having his predictably half decent season.

 

[grafikhaus]

What I'm saying is predictable is Watkins trebling in value just for having his predictably half decent season.

If Watkins has had a 'predictably half decent season' we'd better watch out for Brentford in the run in. He's Brentford's top scorer.

 

[coolhandluke]

2 quality signings in the summer ...... which we'll get ....... and we'll be a serious contender next season .

 

[stringer]

Watkins is far ahead of Brooks

Genuine question, what's that based on? How much of Watkins have you seen? He might be their top scorer or whatever but Brooks is also a full international and save for picking up an unfortunate illness, would have been a key man in a team miles ahead of Brentford.

 

[grafikhaus]

Genuine question, what's that based on? How much of Watkins have you seen? He might be their top scorer or whatever but Brooks is also a full international and save for picking up an unfortunate illness, would have been a key man in a team miles ahead of Brentford.

Admittedly, just on TV highlights but OW looks a stand-out player. In no way am I criticising Brooks on his performances since his illness. I'm just looking to the future. Brooks isn't a 'full international' and the idea that DB would have been a key man is just guesswork and is - like the 'team miles ahead of Brentford' (we're six ahead at the moment which could become 3 after we play at their gaff) - pure supposition.

I'm using Brooks as an example of where we could bring some money in, as it's obvious we'll be following the 'wing it and hope we'll get away with it' transfer policy that we always do. OW could also address our soon-to-be-apparent striker problem. Clarke and Sharp have been an absolute revelation this season, but aren't getting any younger. An injury or suspension to either leaves us with Ched and/or Donaldson as replacements. We're spread far too thinly in attack.

 

[stringer]

Brooks isn't a 'full international'

Sorry?

 

[grafikhaus]

Sorry?

You're right. But it is only Wales...

 

[Agreasychipbutty]

Look at Forest. Ben Watson and Jacob Colback. Both premiership contracts.

They go and get Joe Lolley and Lee Tomlin and Guesiorla (no idea on the spelling the midfielder).l in jan.

Players that weren’t there today for them Michael Manchienne, Bridcutt , Jack Hobbs.

And they have a manager who use to play for Real Madrid.

Ignore the top 6 we don’t ever compete financially with Forrest.

And yet forest are currently 16th and we are 9th, 2 points from 6th, so is blowing shed loads of cash really going to help?

 

[Benny and the Blades]

ghee-or gripe-in Wilder'll sort it .
UTB

 

[dc_blade]

I won't give up on the play offs until we're clearly out of the running, but it is starting to seem like we're going to fall just short. We're within touching distance, though, and I think we're close to having a squad good enough to get 3rd-6th next year.

We have a style of play that allows us (at our best) to dominate possession and territory. We don't turn that domination into enough goals. People are defending Billy and Leon and rightly so. Leon had an incredible hot streak in the autumn and continues to play pretty well in the link up phase; Billy's leadership, poaching instincts, and work ethic mean he has a big role at the club going forward. But we need more next season. Does anyone really think Leon will have another patch of form like he did and sustain it over a season? Or that Billy will take the step from 15 goals a season to 25? At their ages?

Yesterday there was a moment when Duffy finally got the ball in a bit of space and ran forward and looked up...and our two strikers were essentially static or marked out of the game. People talk about the final ball and our crossing (which must improve, no doubt) but we need so much more mobility from the front two. Personally I still think that Billy and Leon are too similar to form a top strike partnership. We need variety--maybe we build around Brooks as a second striker, maybe we need a genuine target man like Madine or Mitrovic, maybe we just need genuine pace.

If we can do that, I think we'll surprise a few people again next season.