Eagles at the Lane

[Ed Chevans]

Did anyone else hear this on the news this morning? Apologies if this has already been brought up on here but it's news to me.

I imagine the pitch will be getting pretty cut up - just as well we don't play it on the deck...

 

[Bristol Blade]

Has it been officially confirmed now? I'm a bit disappointed if it's true, not the end of the world though. Reading share with London Irish and they still manage to play good passing football. Apparently they have shelled out for some state of the art half-turf-half-synthetic fibre pitch though.

 

[Houso]

Aye, Star says it's to be official.

Wigan and Hull share too, so it's not the end of the world *shrug*

 

[Bath Blade]

Read the title and thought, fantastic, a bit of Hotel California. Oh well.

 

[derrywan]

i thought it was chris eagles ...

 

[Ed Chevans]

the extra income can only be a good thing, i just hope it's not a case of finance over football. if other clubs are doing it with no ill effects to their pitch etc then it can only be a good thing i suppose

 

[Dessie]

Donny manage to knock the ball around pretty well on their pitch, which they share with the rugby league team and the Belles, although it was criticised by Sean O'Driscoll at times and they had to replace it in the close season.

 

[raul]

Extra income? Have you seen their crowds? The only way this can makes us any money is for the full-on PR machine to roll out and persuade enough Blades to start watching the Eagles to bump up the gate. No bad thing in principle because the NFP has been a terrifically entertaining competition this season with 4 or 5 teams in with a shout of winning it (incl the Eagles) up to the last 2 or 3 weeks, but as someone who has tried to persuade more people to watch League I know the apathy/antagonism held in Sheffield for "egg-chasing". It's also asking the same customer base to divvy up twice.

 

[Houso]

Extra income? Have you seen their crowds? The only way this can makes us any money is for the full-on PR machine to roll out and persuade enough Blades to start watching the Eagles to bump up the gate. No bad thing in principle because the NFP has been a terrifically entertaining competition this season with 4 or 5 teams in with a shout of winning it (incl the Eagles) up to the last 2 or 3 weeks, but as someone who has tried to persuade more people to watch League I know the apathy/antagonism held in Sheffield for "egg-chasing". It's also asking the same customer base to divvy up twice.

I didn't realise this would be the case. I assumed it would be an agreement of the Eagles paying United a set fee and then them taking the gate receipts.

At least BB will be able to sell more of those tasty burgers.

 

[KPO]

Talking to an Eagles fan at work, he reckons that they do not do much damage to the pitch - in fact football creates more problems. I've no idea how true this is, but he usually knows what he is talking about.
Of course the main problem recently at Don Valley was the U2 concert as has been said previously.

 

[Ted Danson]

its a bad thing, wont bring in much cash, will ruin the pitch and egg chasing is CRAP.

on a side point though, will their fans be able to drink in the stands rather than just the concourse?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I've sussed it! The Rugby League World Cup in 2013 is in England. I reckon this is what the ground improvements are all about.


Hands up who thought it was for the 2018 world cup bid?

 

[bottletree]

Yeah, let me guess. £100,000 for a new pitch every season. Cost of renting ground out to second class rugby league team 30 to 40 grand a season.
Well done united. Another great bit of business.

 

[keenzy]

its a bad thing, wont bring in much cash, will ruin the pitch and egg chasing is CRAP.

on a side point though, will their fans be able to drink in the stands rather than just the concourse?

Good point... we want beer in our seats!!!

 

[Wards]

I'm actually a fan of Rugby League but it's ridiculous we're allowing them to use the Lane.

Good excuse for not playing passing football though.

 

[matth]

i just hope it's not a case of finance over football

That pretty much sums up our complete approach doesn't it?

 

[derrywan]

Yeah, let me guess. £100,000 for a new pitch every season. Cost of renting ground out to second class rugby league team 30 to 40 grand a season.
Well done united. Another great bit of business.

this is the kind of pitch Reading/ London Irish share. It holds up pretty well, but was installed at a cost of £350k 8 years ago (probably £500kish now?). realistically that's the kind of money you've got to spend to have a dual-sport pitch

 

[matth]

We'll do it half-arsed and on the cheap, as per - and then moan when it goes wrong.

Rapidly losing interest in Sheffield United PLC. Fed up of supporting a club that is run based on finance rather than football. Fuck everything else - it's all about the bottom line, that being wringing as much money as we possibly can out of everything.

Give it ten years and we'll be a plastic club full of plastic fans.

I'll always be a Blade - it's not something you can just stop being - but I'm seriously wondering whether I'm following the club or just contributing to the balance sheet of a business these days.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Not sure there's any difference between a club and a business these days.

Only those clubs who are the play things of the fabulously rich have an alternative IMO - and of all the clubs in England without a sugar-daddy can you name one with the stability/potential we have?

 

[raul]

Arsenal must run us close I reckon.

 

[matth]

And what good is it doing us?

All we hear about shit like selling the Kyles and buying these fucking white elephant foreign clubs is that it's going to benefit our first team.

Given that we can't afford to keep last season's player of the year, that our squad is down to the absolute bare bones, that we've got so many loanees that they can't all make the squad, and that we can't even sign free agents, how exactly has any of that contributed to benefitting our first team?

The management behind the club have pound signs for eyes. They are completely obsessed with getting to be a venue for the 2018/22 World Cup, which is a long-shot at best, and with gorwing the Blades as a business - to the detriment of the football club (which, let's not forget, that's what we support). The team is fucked. Injuries are unfortunate, yes, but where was the contingency plan? We can't attract players. Fans are turning against the club, more each day. And what does the club do? Scrape in an extra bit of fucking cash renting the Blades spiritual home out to a fucking rugby club.

Football should come first, business second. I wouldn't mind all this business nonsense if we were doing the right things on the pitch and with the team, but we're not - and that needs fixing first.

Sorry for the rant, but the rampant commercialism at the Lane is really starting to get on my tits. The management are so out of touch with the fans it's untrue.

 

[Bladesman]

Spot on Matt.

Although just think 2018 World Cup Russia!

Will it have all been worth it then? God knows what state our club will be in then.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Matt - I can understand your frustrations and I can see your reasons - - but I don't see much of an alternative.

It was disappointing to see the Kyles go - but I think time will show it was a good deal for us (personally I'm very unconvinced about Kyle W and I can't see Kyle N developing his potential fully at Spurs - so it will probably prove to be a good deal for us)

Chengdu Blades cost us about £200,000 (a first team players' salary for 10 weeks) and opens up the growing Chinese market to us, and Fradi (Hungary's most prestigious club) cost us nothing (I think) - so these aren't a financial drain and help our juniors gain first team experience. And I'm not sure that the fact that we own these clubs has any bearing on the weakness of our current squad - tho I would accept that they haven't added anything of consequence.

With recent articles pointing out the increasing number of clubs entering administration what options do the PLC have other than to ensure the finances/future of the club are a priority? (tho once again I would agree that the Back the Bid campaign is probably a red herring)

And the fact that we can't attract players seems to be largely financial - which to me reinforces the arguement that we need to bolster the finances of the club so we can afford decent players in the future.

The fact that fans are turning against the club speaks more about the fans and their (unrealistic?) expectations than it does about the club per se.

And lastly - I can't see how it's possible to separate the club from the business - without one, you don't have the other. They have to compliment each other and at the moment the financial stability issue is pressing (loss of parachute payents, economic downturn etc) - -

Unfortunate and frustrating to us all - but what alternatives are there?

Raul - Didn't KMc talk about Arsenal at his open discussion event - and say they were having to sell off some of their big names to balance the books following the building of the Emirates? Bit like us selling of BT cos we couldn't afford him

 

[keenzy]

I have come to the point where i'm not bothered about what McCabe buys, i just want blackwell out.

He isn't good enough.

 

[matth]

Sheepdip - I don't dispute that the finances of the club have to be looked after, but not at the expense of everything else, including the actual first team.

The powers that be are in very real danger of forgetting what SUFC is.

Mr McCabe - no bigger Blade than him? Chinny reckon.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Sheepdip - I don't dispute that the finances of the club have to be looked after, but not at the expense of everything else, including the actual first team.

The powers that be are in very real danger of forgetting what SUFC is.

Mr McCabe - no bigger Blade than him? Chinny reckon.

But if the first team (or anything else for that matter) is given priority over finances there will be no first team once the money runs out

You say the powers that be are in danger of forgetting what SUFC is - yet in WalthamstowBlades history of the club he shows that the club was nearly wound up in it's first years cos it had made a £800 loss. For us fans it's about the football, the passion and the experience of a match day - for the owners it's totally different. Unless they're fabulously wealthy - the club has to be run in a sustainable way - which means at times the finances take priority over even the first team.

 

[Autumn]

The groundstaff will now have triple the work, on relatively shite wages. Don't expect any miracles, as for a year or two now, Glen has requested an underground sprinkler system, he didn't get that and that was crucial for the work he needed to do.

BB says cheap as chips, working down at the lane with various people, sometimes I think this motto does actually apply.

And this crap about finance, if that finance was being used for the good of the team, the team would be healthier....people wouldn't be wanting to leave etc

 

[TonyAgana]

Mr McCabe - no bigger Blade than him? Chinny reckon.

Just got a massive mental picture of Rob Newman!! Thanks for the happy memories!

 

[SheepdipBlade]

And this crap about finance, if that finance was being used for the good of the team, the team would be healthier....people wouldn't be wanting to leave etc

Autumn - Would you have any examples of ways in which money is being wasted? I'm not so much asking about any inputs we might have in overseas clubs (unclear if this is an actual drain on the club or not - see Puppet's thread) - or about speculative schemes such as office blocks or gyms that may raise funds at some point - - but do we have goldfish costing us £10,000 a week or other riduclous wastes like that that you suspect?

 

[WhiteHawk]

And what good is it doing us?

All we hear about shit like selling the Kyles and buying these fucking white elephant foreign clubs is that it's going to benefit our first team.

Given that we can't afford to keep last season's player of the year, that our squad is down to the absolute bare bones, that we've got so many loanees that they can't all make the squad, and that we can't even sign free agents, how exactly has any of that contributed to benefitting our first team?

The management behind the club have pound signs for eyes. They are completely obsessed with getting to be a venue for the 2018/22 World Cup, which is a long-shot at best, and with gorwing the Blades as a business - to the detriment of the football club (which, let's not forget, that's what we support). The team is fucked. Injuries are unfortunate, yes, but where was the contingency plan? We can't attract players. Fans are turning against the club, more each day. And what does the club do? Scrape in an extra bit of fucking cash renting the Blades spiritual home out to a fucking rugby club.

Football should come first, business second. I wouldn't mind all this business nonsense if we were doing the right things on the pitch and with the team, but we're not - and that needs fixing first.

Sorry for the rant, but the rampant commercialism at the Lane is really starting to get on my tits. The management are so out of touch with the fans it's untrue.

Very, very well said.