Latest Wilder interview

[JohnDenver]

To go from 'hardly touched the Brooks money' and bidding for Waghorn and Freeman to 'don't have the finances to do anything permanent' with only a £2m deal for Norwood agreed in between is textbook brilliance and I have to give the club a lot of credit for that.

How it's left so late to reveal this is particularly clever because, as is perfectly evident on here, at this stage we can barely be arsed to notice let alone muster a complaint. The goalposts gradually shift and facilitate a smooth transition from high to low expectations.

Aside from the news management you’re seeing, I don’t think we as fans can do a deal about it. The Saudi is a complete absentee and until the legal stuff is concluded we don’t know which horse to back.

But you’re right, it’s only Wilder who stops me from being angrier.

 

[bromtom]

To go from 'hardly touched the Brooks money' and bidding for Waghorn and Freeman to 'don't have the finances to do anything permanent' with only a £2m deal for Norwood agreed in between is textbook brilliance and I have to give the club a lot of credit for that.

How it's left so late to reveal this is particularly clever because, as is perfectly evident on here, at this stage we can barely be arsed to notice let alone muster a complaint. The goalposts gradually shift and facilitate a smooth transition from high to low expectations.

Or maybe we just don't have the finances for the permanent deal for the player(s) we're after because they're a bit good and it's not all a massive Brooks related conspiracy to pay for McCabes new cutting edge donkey sanctuary or whatever.

Waghorn was £5m + you'd imagine at least £20k a week and he's looking like a terrible signing. If we're trying to get better it'll probably cost more than that.

 

[LJBlade]

Tbh, a 4/5m deal for freeman, 6m deal for Waghorn is half the price Villa would want for Hogan and what Southampton allegedly want for Gallagher.

Exactly.

'We don't have the finances to do anything permanent'.....with the players that we are looking at signing so it has to be a loan.

 

[Ricky]

Or maybe we just don't have the finances for the permanent deal for the player(s) we're after

I did think about that but there's no reason Wilder shouldn't have just said that. He had the chance to.

 

[LJBlade]

I did think about that but there's no reason Wilder shouldn't have just said that. He had the chance to.

If he'd said it though it would make people think we're in for someone amazing, rather than just expensive, and people on here would start wetting themselves again.

 

[Silent Blade]

Just his obsession. Best left alone.

Clarke?

Of course he is an all rounder. Strong, fast and does the dirty work. Don't think DronnieBlade ever played football for his school or for a team in the local leagues.

 

[Addison]

As for the big signing you'd have to go back to Beattie and then Deane returning. I can't recall a signing at all that has made think 'Wow' since then. We got excited about signing Steve Kabba but he was a relative unknown to most.

United just dont do big money or signings of proven, top quality players that makes the football world think they are ambitious and mean business. I recall the commentator the other week when we lost at Boro taking the mick out of us that Ravanelli signed for Boro for 7 million in 1996 I think it was and that we have not signed anyone close to that or for more than circa 4 million back in 2007 (Beattie - dont believe Egan was 4 million - may be getting near that with add ons).

Even our rivals signed players like Waddle, Walker, Di Canio, Carbone over the years. Not that it's done them any good now but they have had some bums on seat signings.

Not sure whether we will ever in my lifetime go out and properly compete with these other clubs that are as Wilder puts it are in a different ball park or at a different stage to us. When we will be at this stage?
If anyone thinks either McCabe or the Prince when whoever gets some control will pump that money in or way off. Neither has done it so far. Notion that the Prince will suddenly inject millions if he gets control is fantasy for me. The ironic part is whoever gets control needs to do to find a new investor that is willing or able to take us to the stage Wilder says these other clubs are at.

I was reading Iain Porterfield's programme notes from an old programme. He was saying we had to sell Glenn Cockerill as we could not afford to keep him and then in another programme said we cannot spend large sums of money like the other clubs. I read the same from a Bassett article...then Warnock...then Steve Bruce...the programme notes could be taken from any time in the last 40 years and every manager says the same.

It seems like it is always this way with United and always others that for some reason can or will do it. I know crowd sizes dont matter in terms of income you can spend but gives a decent measure of club sizes....but be interesting to see say the average crowds since say 1990 of all UK clubs and their net outlay on players. I wonder where we would rank in comparison to others? Bet 40 clubs have a higher record signing than us.

Frustrating that there is always an excuse why we don't push the boat out...we dont have it, we can't threaten the future of the club, we need to be sensible, we need to build slowly...whilst ever we think like this there will be clubs like Wolves, Villa, Boro, Fulham etc who will do it and get back to the top flight.

I think this season will be an excellent season to match last year but at some point we have to push on from the likes of Donaldson or McGoldrick who are mid table champ players at best. We are essentially looking to get other Champ teams reserves as they sign better players (Hogan and Johnson). Not sure this strategy will lead to a concerted top 6 push but I don't blame Wilder.

Say we do finish 10th or even a but higher I am not sure how the board expects Wilder to get us much higher without serious investment.

All valid points DB about investment but while ever millionaires and not billionaires are at the helm at BDTBL we will struggle to compete. For the Club to move forward the best result of the owners dispute is that they both agree to put the Club up for sale and allow someone with the necessary financial backing to take over. Unfortunately that won't happen so we will be left with continual promises of jam tomorrow. It is unlikely anyone would want to go in to partnership with either owner in the future after the current Court fiasco so whatever the final result we are likely to be left in limbo.

It will be a considerable achievement if CW gets close to the play offs this season with all that is going on. Whether that will be sufficient to keep him at the Club remains to be seen but for the moment we are all behind him and hope he can pull some more rabbits out of the hat.

 

[Bladesthorpe]

To be fair, that's based on a sample size of about two. Brian Deane in 1997 and James Beattie in 2007. I'm struggling to think of any other genuinely 'big' signings* that we've made in the last 60 years. Possibly Vinnie Jones in 1990???

*Doesn't include players who later turned out to be great, and doesn't include veterans like Ian Rush, Peter Withe who were on their way down. I mean top, big-name players that even non-football fans might know about.

John Ebbrell cost a million many moons ago, a lot of money in those days.

 

[designblade]

who is Alan Nixon? what does the padlock mean next to his name?

He's a journalist apprently, the padlock icon means his tweets are only visible to approved followers.

 

[Scooter_mcgavin]

He's a journalist apprently, the padlock icon means his tweets are only visible to approved followers.

Ha ha, I know he has a reputation for blocking people that question him.

In other words, if you're a gullible clown, you're allowed to see my ITK posts.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

One comment in that interview stood out. We don’t have the finances for a permanent deal.

We’re going to have to buy at least three strikers in the next year given the ages of our front three. So I really hope the owners get their arse in gear soon...

....and an attacking central midfielder & possibly a CB, depending on the transition of Leonard.

 

[Rodley]

To go from 'hardly touched the Brooks money' and bidding for Waghorn and Freeman to 'don't have the finances to do anything permanent' with only a £2m deal for Norwood agreed in between is textbook brilliance and I have to give the club a lot of credit for that.

How it's left so late to reveal this is particularly clever because, as is perfectly evident on here, at this stage we can barely be arsed to notice let alone muster a complaint. The goalposts gradually shift and facilitate a smooth transition from high to low expectations.

It’s not anything though is it? He’s talking about the incoming players - can’t afford to sign them permanently.

From that I surmise it’s Hogan and possibly an expensive PL loan.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Clarke?

Of course he is an all rounder. Strong, fast and does the dirty work. Don't think DronnieBlade ever played football for his school or for a team in the local leagues.

Get everything off FIFA.

Doesn’t everyone ?



UTB

 

[Silent Blade]

Get everything off FIFA.

Doesn’t everyone ?



UTB

Everyone?

I have never tried FIFA

 

[Cheets]

The last signing we made that had any real impact on attendances was probably Alex Sabella. And that didn't last long because he was quality in a sea of mediocrity, and the team was soon struggling.

The signing of Sabella in the aftermath of Argentina '78 was a major factor in me becoming a Blade. My older brother supported Wednesday.

 

[super_pig]

I think prices probably are a big deal - our first four away games are all £30+ for an adult ticket.

we’re seen as cat a a fixture now

 

[DronnieBlade]

Everyone?

I have never tried FIFA

I would never have guessed

UTB

 

[Jan Age]

To go from 'hardly touched the Brooks money' and bidding for Waghorn and Freeman to 'don't have the finances to do anything permanent' with only a £2m deal for Norwood agreed in between is textbook brilliance and I have to give the club a lot of credit for that.

How it's left so late to reveal this is particularly clever because, as is perfectly evident on here, at this stage we can barely be arsed to notice let alone muster a complaint. The goalposts gradually shift and facilitate a smooth transition from high to low expectations.

None of the interviewers will ask Wilder a straight down the line question because they are scared of him.

However £4mil for Egan £2.5mil for Norwood loan fees of say £500k each for Henderson and Woodburn plus £500k for all the fines for not playing Woodburn plus signing on fees for Mgoldrick and the lad from City.I would Guess at £8-9mil spent.

Offset against £4mil for Brookes and probably £750k upfront for Evans probably gives us a net £4mil ish - which actually wouldn't be enough to complete a permanent for the strikers he wants (and probably why we only bid £4mil for Freeman)

 

[DifferentClass]

To be fair, that's based on a sample size of about two. Brian Deane in 1997 and James Beattie in 2007. I'm struggling to think of any other genuinely 'big' signings* that we've made in the last 60 years. Possibly Vinnie Jones in 1990???

*Doesn't include players who later turned out to be great, and doesn't include veterans like Ian Rush, Peter Withe who were on their way down. I mean top, big-name players that even non-football fans might know about.

Ian Rush was probably our "biggest" signing in recent times, but as you've said he was on his way down by then. Phil Thompson may also have had household name status after captaining Liverpool to a European Cup, but he hadn't played first team football for a year prior to coming to BDTBL and had been on his way out at LFC even before Paisley left after Souness got the captaincy.

Jimmy Johnstone was undeniably a household name in Scotland though, even in his twilight years. Would reckon his transfer to us would have made headlines up there.

 

[Nedski]

He's a journalist apprently, the padlock icon means his tweets are only visible to approved followers.

Ha ha, I know he has a reputation for blocking people that question him.

In other words, if you're a gullible clown, you're allowed to see my ITK posts.

His Twitter is locked to prevent retweets. He approves anyone that requests to follow but blocks anyone that argues or insults him

 

[Deadbat]

The clubs you mention all have something in common - mega-rich owners whose wealth wouldn't be affected if the gamble didn't come off. We haven't and that's it.

So why does nearly every other sizeable club that are of a similar size club wise manage to attract these mega rich owners -Leeds, Wolves, Bristol City, Boro, Villa, Derby, Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Wolves, Huddersfield, Brighton, SWFC (Mandaric and now Chansiri) off the top of my head..many more. Are we that unattractive to invest or did McCabe simply get into bed with the only non investing foreign owner around?!

 

[MobileBlade]

None of the interviewers will ask Wilder a straight down the line question because they are scared of him.

However £4mil for Egan £2.5mil for Norwood loan fees of say £500k each for Henderson and Woodburn plus £500k for all the fines for not playing Woodburn plus signing on fees for Mgoldrick and the lad from City.I would Guess at £8-9mil spent.

Offset against £4mil for Brookes and probably £750k upfront for Evans probably gives us a net £4mil ish - which actually wouldn't be enough to complete a permanent for the strikers he wants (and probably why we only bid £4mil for Freeman)

Just remind me. Where have we sold Brooks for £4 million and paid £4 million upfront for Egan. Seem to have missed that we have paid all the Egan money upfront but Brooks we are getting in instalments.

 

[mattbianco1]

He's a journalist apprently, the padlock icon means his tweets are only visible to approved followers.

Correct. It's a way of protecting your tweets from going viral. Many people do it to stop employers seeing their online views etc.. It doesn't stop a screenshot though, as proved above.

 

[Fraggle Blade]

None of the interviewers will ask Wilder a straight down the line question because they are scared of him.

However £4mil for Egan £2.5mil for Norwood loan fees of say £500k each for Henderson and Woodburn plus £500k for all the fines for not playing Woodburn plus signing on fees for Mgoldrick and the lad from City.I would Guess at £8-9mil spent.

Offset against £4mil for Brookes and probably £750k upfront for Evans probably gives us a net £4mil ish - which actually wouldn't be enough to complete a permanent for the strikers he wants (and probably why we only bid £4mil for Freeman)

Except we will probably be giving stage payments also to the clubs of our purchases.

 

[8lade]

I recall the commentator the other week when we lost at Boro taking the mick out of us that Ravanelli signed for Boro for 7 million in 1996 I think it was and that we have not signed anyone close to that or for more than circa 4 million back in 2007 (Beattie - dont believe Egan was 4 million - may be getting near that with add ons).

Well whoever that was he's a bellend.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Just remind me. Where have we sold Brooks for £4 million and paid £4 million upfront for Egan. Seem to have missed that we have paid all the Egan money upfront but Brooks we are getting in instalments.

Also remind him to subtract the fee for Norwood as he's only on loan at the moment. Some poster's have very vivid imaginations.

 

[BushBlade]

So why does nearly every other sizeable club that are of a similar size club wise manage to attract these mega rich owners -Leeds, Wolves, Bristol City, Boro, Villa, Derby, Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Wolves, Huddersfield, Brighton, SWFC (Mandaric and now Chansiri) off the top of my head..many more. Are we that unattractive to invest or did McCabe simply get into bed with the only non investing foreign owner around?!

Leeds are a bigger club than us, much bigger. In my lifetime they won the league more than once and played in the Champions League, got to the final of the European Cup. I hate having to write this but it’s true.

Wolves were chosen following in depth research and the fact they had made a profit in the previous season (good for subsequent investment without breaching FFP) and probably other factors I’m unaware of made them an attractive investment. By proper businessmen who actually know what they’re doing.

Villa - see Leeds.

Bournemouth- got lucky. Maxim Demin moved to Sandbanks, got Eddie Mitchell, the owner of Bournemouth and local builder/developer to build his house. Mitchell got him interested in Bournemouth.

Boro, Derby, Bristol, Brighton - local people made good. Like KM but much richer. More luck than anything else.

Forest - won leagues and European Cups. In my lifetime. Still getting publicity because of Clough.

Fulham - London. Same as QPR but Khan knows what he’s doing.

Huddersfield - not sure tbh.

Wednesday- Mandy did it for profit, I don’t think he threw money at them, just sorted out the clusterfuck and sold them on to bloke with money but no football knowledge. See QPR.

Then there’s the stuff we don’t know such as how does our sponsorship income compare with other clubs, our income from corporate packages? Our STs are cheap as chips and have to be because otherwise our supporters couldn’t afford them. Sheffield is low income. That’s the bottom line. No competent businessman would look at either Sheffield club and think ‘this is a good investment’ unless they’re buying it out of admin. That’s why the pigs got Chancer and we got Poundland; because only a fucking idiot would think it’s a good investment. We don’t need ‘investors’ we need a benefactor. A very rich one.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

As for the big signing you'd have to go back to Beattie and then Deane returning. I can't recall a signing at all that has made think 'Wow' since then. We got excited about signing Steve Kabba but he was a relative unknown to most.

United just dont do big money or signings of proven, top quality players that makes the football world think they are ambitious and mean business. I recall the commentator the other week when we lost at Boro taking the mick out of us that Ravanelli signed for Boro for 7 million in 1996 I think it was and that we have not signed anyone close to that or for more than circa 4 million back in 2007 (Beattie - dont believe Egan was 4 million - may be getting near that with add ons).

Even our rivals signed players like Waddle, Walker, Di Canio, Carbone over the years. Not that it's done them any good now but they have had some bums on seat signings.

Not sure whether we will ever in my lifetime go out and properly compete with these other clubs that are as Wilder puts it are in a different ball park or at a different stage to us. When we will be at this stage?
If anyone thinks either McCabe or the Prince when whoever gets some control will pump that money in or way off. Neither has done it so far. Notion that the Prince will suddenly inject millions if he gets control is fantasy for me. The ironic part is whoever gets control needs to do to find a new investor that is willing or able to take us to the stage Wilder says these other clubs are at.

I was reading Iain Porterfield's programme notes from an old programme. He was saying we had to sell Glenn Cockerill as we could not afford to keep him and then in another programme said we cannot spend large sums of money like the other clubs. I read the same from a Bassett article...then Warnock...then Steve Bruce...the programme notes could be taken from any time in the last 40 years and every manager says the same.

It seems like it is always this way with United and always others that for some reason can or will do it. I know crowd sizes dont matter in terms of income you can spend but gives a decent measure of club sizes....but be interesting to see say the average crowds since say 1990 of all UK clubs and their net outlay on players. I wonder where we would rank in comparison to others? Bet 40 clubs have a higher record signing than us.

Frustrating that there is always an excuse why we don't push the boat out...we dont have it, we can't threaten the future of the club, we need to be sensible, we need to build slowly...whilst ever we think like this there will be clubs like Wolves, Villa, Boro, Fulham etc who will do it and get back to the top flight.

I think this season will be an excellent season to match last year but at some point we have to push on from the likes of Donaldson or McGoldrick who are mid table champ players at best. We are essentially looking to get other Champ teams reserves as they sign better players (Hogan and Johnson). Not sure this strategy will lead to a concerted top 6 push but I don't blame Wilder.

Say we do finish 10th or even a but higher I am not sure how the board expects Wilder to get us much higher without serious investment.

This ^

 

[grafikhaus]

So why does nearly every other sizeable club that are of a similar size club wise manage to attract these mega rich owners -Leeds, Wolves, Bristol City, Boro, Villa, Derby, Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Wolves, Huddersfield, Brighton, SWFC (Mandaric and now Chansiri) off the top of my head..many more. Are we that unattractive to invest or did McCabe simply get into bed with the only non investing foreign owner around?!

Only guessing, Deadbat but it seems obvious to me that K Mac sees United as 'his baby' and will put obstacles in the way of any interested parties. He's financed us during six long years in Division One and probably doesn't want to relinquish control now we're close to the PL. Except we aren't. With each passing season, we'll fall further behind. The days of 't'local lad made good' as chairman are long gone.

Still, it's not my money.

 

[Chali 2na]

So why does nearly every other sizeable club that are of a similar size club wise manage to attract these mega rich owners -Leeds, Wolves, Bristol City, Boro, Villa, Derby, Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Wolves, Huddersfield, Brighton, SWFC (Mandaric and now Chansiri) off the top of my head..many more. Are we that unattractive to invest or did McCabe simply get into bed with the only non investing foreign owner around?!

Leeds are a bigger club than us, much bigger. In my lifetime they won the league more than once and played in the Champions League, got to the final of the European Cup. I hate having to write this but it’s true.

Wolves were chosen following in depth research and the fact they had made a profit in the previous season (good for subsequent investment without breaching FFP) and probably other factors I’m unaware of made them an attractive investment. By proper businessmen who actually know what they’re doing.

Villa - see Leeds.

Bournemouth- got lucky. Maxim Demin moved to Sandbanks, got Eddie Mitchell, the owner of Bournemouth and local builder/developer to build his house. Mitchell got him interested in Bournemouth.

Boro, Derby, Bristol, Brighton - local people made good. Like KM but much richer. More luck than anything else.

Forest - won leagues and European Cups. In my lifetime. Still getting publicity because of Clough.

Fulham - London. Same as QPR but Khan knows what he’s doing.

Huddersfield - not sure tbh.

Wednesday- Mandy did it for profit, I don’t think he threw money at them, just sorted out the clusterfuck and sold them on to bloke with money but no football knowledge. See QPR.

Then there’s the stuff we don’t know such as how does our sponsorship income compare with other clubs, our income from corporate packages? Our STs are cheap as chips and have to be because otherwise our supporters couldn’t afford them. Sheffield is low income. That’s the bottom line. No competent businessman would look at either Sheffield club and think ‘this is a good investment’ unless they’re buying it out of admin. That’s why the pigs got Chancer and we got Poundland; because only a fucking idiot would think it’s a good investment. We don’t need ‘investors’ we need a benefactor. A very rich one.

BushBlade has covered everything I was going to say, far more eloquently too, I might add.

The only thing I've got to add is that like Boro, Derby, Bristol and Brighton: Huddersfield's owner is a local businessman too.