Where did it all go wrong?

[cooperblade]

I suppose the obvious answer to that is the day we appointed Bryan Robson. That was the day that years of hard work and progress were instantly undone with a decision that is, still, impossible to understand.

Is it completely the drunk's fault (and those who appointed him) that our club has lost its soul though? I'm not sure. Maybe it's just the different way that you view things in your youth but we used to feel like an ultra partisan set of fans who, whilst recognising the many shortcomings, were totally United behind our club.

That's far from the case these days and hasn't been for a while. 'Blades' slagged Warnock, backed Megson over the Battle of Bramall Lane, said we were wrong to fight West Ham all the way for justice and suggested that Paddy should be locked up with the key slung in the Sheaf.

The love for the club and the fighting spirit has just disappeared. In many ways, we're more like wednesday than we've ever been.

I'm guilty myself in many ways, relegation from the Premier League after 2 incredible years hit me really hard and the appointment of the drunk was a kick in the guts I couldn't take. Although we were deeply in the doldrums, haven't we chucked away some chances since then?

We've had cash and wasted it, 18k a week on an average left back, a similar amount on an orange dwarf has-been, christ knows how much on the biggest fanny in Australia, £2m on Henderson, £2m on the rarely used Cotterill - none of which draw half the criticism of the £1.5m on Evans incidentally despite all being bigger mistakes.

I'll be honest, I can't abide Blackwell. He's an arrogant, whining, talentless prick. From what I've heard, the players can't stand him (although in fairness, James Beattie rated him). I've held back from calling for his head for 2 reasons, 1 - the results have been mainly good and 2 - he won't get sacked.

McCabe's made two major errors with Blackwell for me, one was extending his contract for no good reason and the second was not accepting his resignation after Wembley.

How have we fallen apart so spectacularly this season? After 20 minutes at Pride Park, I thought to myself 'this could be the season'. We looked as solid as he had done throughout the previous season but had more of an attacking edge about our play. From looking ultra professional then, we look like a rag bag outfit now.

For all that the logic might not be there for slinging Blackwell out, my instinct would be that it would make an incredible impact. A big of belief back in the squad and a bit of swagger and we could walk this tier. I honestly couldn't give a shit about the style of play, nothing could be duller than how we played under the drunk and that was, allegedly, football. I want to see us play at a high tempo and I want to see us get at sides and be a nightmare to play against but whether that involves 2 passes or a million passes is irrelevant to me.

With the likes of Morgan, Montgomery, Harper, Ward, Cotterill, Evans etc we've got plenty on the playing side. I don't think we've got nearly enough on the management side though.

It's so depressing that we're stuck with a charisma-free, talent-free prick in charge and that our fans are rapidly turning into the sort of spoilt brats who have leeched onto the game in recent years.

I want my club back. I want that 'fuck you, we're Sheff United' mentality back, I want a team who care and a manager who inspires devotion.

See you at Blackpool. Up the Blades

 

[Silent Blade]

Agree that our biggest mistake was appointing Robson but Warnock had been with us for too long and was stupid to moan about the lack of contract on the day of the Wigan game.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

It's not been all bad under Blackwell, in those few months towards the end of 07/08 we seemed untouchable and I still think we would have won the play-offs that season if the season had gone on another couple of games.

The problem we have now is that we are too predictable and managers seem to find it increasingly easy to nullify a Blackwell team. He sounded dumb-founded again today post match and to me, fairly close to how he sounded after Wembley. A bad result (god forbid) on Tuesday with two tough home games coming up and he might just think enough is enough again.

 

[Bergen Blade]

When he was given the contract extension the only sensible explanation I could think of was that McCabe wanted to end speculation and give Blackwell some working space. I also wonder if there was a gentleman's agreement that Blackwell himself would hold his hand up and leave if he felt he couldn't take the team any further.

 

[bricktop]

On the main i agree with a lot of what you have to say Cooperblade, i was brought up with the same mentality towards the club, and have been watching the Blades be able to see the gradual changes, and there have been some changes i have not paticularly liked.

I think this downward spiral began with Rob Hulse breaking his leg at Chelsea, with Rob Hulse in the side i really had began to fancy our chances of working our way to a decent, mid-table slot in the Premiership, and without Rob Hulse i couldn't see where the goals were coming from to keep us up. I remember being on the train back and saying this, and looking back what i thought that day was scarily accurate.

Towards the end of the Premiership season we showed a chronic lack of bottle and we looked like rabbits caught in the headlights as West Ham came back from the dead, Fulham and Wigan both managing to fight back and overtake us. The Villa game we didn't show up, and the horrible day we played Wigan it was like we had already been relegated in the first ten minutes. All i can remember from that day was the pouring rain, and the complete feeling of resignation from the support that day. It was like everyone was prepared for the drop.

Appointing Robson was another huge, huge mistake. It was clear it was time for Warnock to go after we went down. I'll never forgive him for being more concerned about his new contract rather than keeping the Blades up in his interviews before the Wigan match and it was time for him to go. We could really have had our pick of managers that summer and it was disappointing that we went for a manager who had already got a mediocre record rather than someone who could come in, and make the subtle changes that we needed as well as bringing in the big players.

For me the Robson era was a complete and unmitigated disaster from start to finish, and he crammed in more dismal and soul destroying performances in his short tenure than Blackwell has done since in his 20 months. It was my opinion then, and it still is now that if he had been allowed to continue unchecked that we would have dropped like a stone and i could really see us dropping down a division like Charlton, Norwich and Southampton all have if he had carried on.

I was instrumental in the shoes off demonstration, for those who don't know i was the idiot who started that paticular protest off. I've taken criticism for it since and looking back with the benefit of hindsight prehaps i might not have done it, but in my defence i began it when the mob mentality was in full swing and at that point it could have turned nasty, with people singing "if your not coming out, were coming in". What i did was off the cuff and something i thought might put a bit of humour in to the protest and calm things down a little. What i didn't anticipate was that something i did more tongue in cheek than anything else would become an iconic moment showing the fickleness of an element of our fans. People can slag me all they want for it, but i'm used to it, and with hindsight would i do it again, probably not!

When the Blackwell came in the chief aim was to steady the ship a bit before taking stock of things and trying to get them moving once again. The former was achieved successfully enough that we even threatened a late burst in to the play-offs, the latter was acheived in part with a superb run towards the end of the season where we nearly made automatic promotion, and then the weeks after made a play off final.

The bitterest pill we have to take, and it can't be sugared however much we might want it to be, is that we are swimming against the tide now. The money in the game now dictates that as we have nowhere near the spending power of any of the Premiership clubs. Wigan, Fulham, Stoke, Hull and any other club up there you care to mention has so, so much more spending power available to them that there is no way in the world we can compete without having a sugar daddy pumping in to the Blades in excess of £30m per year. That for me is the soul destroying thing and the money in the game is prehaps the thing i hate the most.

Since the removal of Bryan Robson, i took a step back and decided to back the next man who came in for a decent length of time to see what he could do, and try and not to get carried away by the mob mentality that can sometime permeate the Lane, and i think i have shown Blackwell the patience and tried to look at things objectively and with my head rather than letting my emotions run wild with me after a performance and result that i don't paticularly like, but i think now and looking at it sensibly that the style of football is not conducive to where we want to be and what we seriously want to be aiming for, and i don't think Blackwell can see it, or change it, and that will now be his downfall.

What we need is a complete clean sweep of the club, bring in a promising young manager from lower down the leagues with fresh ideas and different ideas of what constitutes good football and let him have a go and see what he can do.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

I think McCabe saw his 're-profiling' as a three year plan and wanted Blackwell in place for the duration. Ultimately, as hit and miss as we were last season, we should have gone up but if there was a gentleman's agreement in place, McCabe obviously wasn't serious about it !

The reason I think things may change is that Blackwell doesn't seem to have learnt from last season. OK, he's gone for more pace and wingers in his signings and whilst we have mixed the styles up at times, the comments from those who go regularly are that nothing's changed.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

I think you're right Coops in that we are still essentially recovering from the brainless decision to appoint Robson. Financially, it's left an impact obviously, but the club atmosphere hasn't completely recovered since the damage was done.

There are many things I dislike about Blackwell. That he doesn't seem a particularly nice person probably isn't that important. Plenty disliked Warnock after all, though not me personally. You did get the sense under Warnock that there was a good mentality amongst the players he managed though - I'm just not convinced the same exists under Blackwell, and I'm really not convinced he is up front with players either. Take the signings of Cotterill and Kyel Reid as examples. Both were signings that Blackwell held up as big achievements. The Cotterill saga everyone's aware of, but it was clear that when last season started he wasn't number 1 choice. I'm not convinced he'd have left Wigan had it not been implied that he would at least start the season as the first choice right-winger. Blackwell said that signing Kyel Reid was a real coup, and we'd fought off interest from other clubs to get him. Reid said the main reason why he'd signed was because it was a great chance for him to play regular first team football, and that Blackwell was looking to give him that. After what was apparently an impressive pre-season, in the same way that Halford was brought in last year, Reid finds another left-winger in Treacy is brought in and becomes an instant first-choice on the left. Whilst Treacy has played well, he hasn't been involved all the time, so you would have expected him to have been involved a fair amount. He has zero starts, and 5 sub appearances, and to my recollection hasn't been injured at any point so far this season. He finds others like Stephen Quinn playing on the left when Treacy isn't available - I cannot understand why Reid has been signed at the minute, and I imagine Reid is thinking the same thing. He could have come in today, but instead Walker was put in on the right of midfield. So from joining on the assumption that he'd be able to have a go at the first team, he finds himself behind Treacy, Jamie Ward, Stephen Quinn, and now Walker - three of these aren't even specialists in that position. The next insult will probably be the moment Jordan Stewart is handed a start there ahead of him.

I think Blackwell has a problem of giving players the impression that they will be substantially involved in the team in order to sign them, and then doing something completely different. Andy Taylor is another that will have signed on the impression that he'd be back up for Naysmith but would be involved till he returned. He's then randomly dropped for Stewart. Evans probably thought he'd be heavily involved, yet the moment we go 4-5-1 he's the first to drop out. He was also subbed in the last home match in his best spell of the game so that Cresswell (who had cracked ribs) would get a go up front - he did little, hardly a surprise given he was injured.

I don't think Blackwell knows what his best side is at all, and I don't think he gives an air of honesty within the club. For all the insistence that he won't make excuses, he does. Again a big thing is made about not being able to name a full bench of subs. Who's fault - the injuries??? We had FOURTEEN players involved in last week's reserve match. Within that bunch, we presumably have at least one player that would benefit from the experience of being involved in a matchday squad. And who knows, in the rare occasion when we're winning comfortably, they could get some first-team experience. He complains about the injuries, the lack of players available - isn't this precisely the time when you would want to use it as an opportunity to blood a few youngsters, even if it means simply sitting them on the bench. I'm fairly confident that Warnock, and even Robson, would have done this. Blackwell would, it appears, rather name a bench with fewer players so that he can spin it afterwards - "great to win, and without a full squad you know - look, we can't even name a full bench" or "it's disappointing to lose, but look! I couldn't even name a full bench!".

I'm out of the country in November, so Cardiff will be my last match for a bit. I'm concerned about where we'll be when I get back. I would say we should get rid of him, but I have no confidence in the board's ability to come up with a decent appointment to be perfectly honest. We'd probably just end up with a Peter Reid, Peter Taylor, or Glenn Roeder....

 

[cooperblade]

I think this downward spiral began with Rob Hulse breaking his leg at Chelsea, with Rob Hulse in the side i really had began to fancy our chances of working our way to a decent, mid-table slot in the Premiership, and without Rob Hulse i couldn't see where the goals were coming from to keep us up. I remember being on the train back and saying this, and looking back what i thought that day was scarily accurate.

All i can remember from that day was the pouring rain, and the complete feeling of resignation from the support that day. It was like everyone was prepared for the drop.



For me the Robson era was a complete and unmitigated disaster from start to finish, and he crammed in more dismal and soul destroying performances in his short tenure than Blackwell has done since in his 20 months. It was my opinion then, and it still is now that if he had been allowed to continue unchecked that we would have dropped like a stone and i could really see us dropping down a division like Charlton, Norwich and Southampton all have if he had carried on.


When the Blackwell came in the chief aim was to steady the ship a bit before taking stock of things and trying to get them moving once again. The former was achieved successfully enough that we even threatened a late burst in to the play-offs, the latter was acheived in part with a superb run towards the end of the season where we nearly made automatic promotion, and then the weeks after made a play off final.

Agree that Hulse's injury was a massive turning point. I opened a bottle of Jack Daniels that evening and it disappeared fairly quickly over the next week or so. I think you're a similar age to me Brownie, don't know if you agree but getting to, and then dropping out of, the Premier League just felt so important. I spent my entire 20s watching United in the 2nd tier, really big football watching years for me personally and the emotion I felt when Unsworth scored his goals (the good one and the bad one) will never be matched. Mostly because I never want to feel like I did in the months after relegation again.

When you talk about the feeling of resignation at the Wigan game, you could just as easily be talking about the Burnley game last term.

Appointing Robson was just a kick in the bollocks that I couldn't deal with. I completely agree that it was so much worse than anything under Blackwell and I'm always surprised when people suggest otherwise.

It sounds daft but I think the good run when Blackwell first came in is responsible for many of our problems now. Had he just steadied the ship and kept us up with nothing spectacular, I think McCabe might well have said 'thanks for your help, all the best getting another job'. I didn't want him to get the job at the point (based purely on my personal opinion of him) but knew that it would be incredibly brave to not give him a crack. It sounds crackers after finishing 3rd last season to say we'd have been better off without him but, despite that, I really believe we would've been.

 

[Jon Bon]

With regard to the contract extension, I imagine the conversation went something like this...

McCabe: "Well Blackie, I'm going to sell the family jewels off right in front of your nose so - you can play this two ways - You can either nod enthusiastically at anything I say and back whatever decisions the board will make, even though they are to the detriment of the club. In return, you will have a big fat contract extension and we will have a big fat bee-yatch to dance to our tune in the public eye, or.... you can take your sorry, talentless fat ass down to the job centre at the earliest opportunity to see if there may be a low-ranking Blue Square League team desperate enough to give you a shot..? What do you say..?"

Blackie: "Yes boss, I'll be a good Blackie for you boss.. how high you want me jump today boss....?"

 

[bricktop]

I'm 32 next month so i bet we are not far off each other in age. We got relegated in 1994 in the week i left school (one good thing followed by one bad) and i was 28 when we finally got back up. Like you most of the big football watching years came in the 2nd tier and there was time when it was a ballache going to the Lane week in, week out when the money could have much more easily gone against the wall getting hammered night in, night out and trying to pull.

At the moment i'm in a bit of a no-mans land. I'm fed up of the constant diet of 2nd tier football. There are teams it seems like i have seen us play year in, year out for donkey years and they are not the big appealing side but the West Broms, Ipswich's, and Crystal Palace's of the world and after a while sometimes going to the Lane feels like groundhog day nowadays. I'm just hanging on until Brownie junior is old enough to appreciate and enjoy going to Bramall Lane and finds he has the same love for it as i do. He will turn 4 in the summer of 2013 so i reckon it will be the 2013/14 season where he joins me, and i finally make the transition to the family stand, and i hope and pray that he does not have to see the same season in, season out mediocrity that people of our generation have.

My feeling after the Burnley match was one where i felt we had well and truly blown it for a few years, and i have got a feeling i might be right as much as i would love to be proved wrong. I thought it would come out that we needed to sell (and we did), and also worried that day would be the high watermark of what Blackwell could do for us (that remains to be seen but i have not seen anything to convince me otherwise).

 

[cooperblade]

There are many things I dislike about Blackwell. That he doesn't seem a particularly nice person probably isn't that important. Plenty disliked Warnock after all, though not me personally. You did get the sense under Warnock that there was a good mentality amongst the players he managed though - I'm just not convinced the same exists under Blackwell, and I'm really not convinced he is up front with players either. Take the signings of Cotterill and Kyel Reid as examples. Both were signings that Blackwell held up as big achievements. The Cotterill saga everyone's aware of, but it was clear that when last season started he wasn't number 1 choice. I'm not convinced he'd have left Wigan had it not been implied that he would at least start the season as the first choice right-winger. Blackwell said that signing Kyel Reid was a real coup, and we'd fought off interest from other clubs to get him. Reid said the main reason why he'd signed was because it was a great chance for him to play regular first team football, and that Blackwell was looking to give him that. After what was apparently an impressive pre-season, in the same way that Halford was brought in last year, Reid finds another left-winger in Treacy is brought in and becomes an instant first-choice on the left. Whilst Treacy has played well, he hasn't been involved all the time, so you would have expected him to have been involved a fair amount. He has zero starts, and 5 sub appearances, and to my recollection hasn't been injured at any point so far this season. He finds others like Stephen Quinn playing on the left when Treacy isn't available - I cannot understand why Reid has been signed at the minute, and I imagine Reid is thinking the same thing. He could have come in today, but instead Walker was put in on the right of midfield. So from joining on the assumption that he'd be able to have a go at the first team, he finds himself behind Treacy, Jamie Ward, Stephen Quinn, and now Walker - three of these aren't even specialists in that position. The next insult will probably be the moment Jordan Stewart is handed a start there ahead of him.

I think Blackwell has a problem of giving players the impression that they will be substantially involved in the team in order to sign them, and then doing something completely different. Andy Taylor is another that will have signed on the impression that he'd be back up for Naysmith but would be involved till he returned. He's then randomly dropped for Stewart. Evans probably thought he'd be heavily involved, yet the moment we go 4-5-1 he's the first to drop out. He was also subbed in the last home match in his best spell of the game so that Cresswell (who had cracked ribs) would get a go up front - he did little, hardly a surprise given he was injured.

I don't think Blackwell knows what his best side is at all, and I don't think he gives an air of honesty within the club. For all the insistence that he won't make excuses, he does. Again a big thing is made about not being able to name a full bench of subs. Who's fault - the injuries??? We had FOURTEEN players involved in last week's reserve match. Within that bunch, we presumably have at least one player that would benefit from the experience of being involved in a matchday squad. And who knows, in the rare occasion when we're winning comfortably, they could get some first-team experience. He complains about the injuries, the lack of players available - isn't this precisely the time when you would want to use it as an opportunity to blood a few youngsters, even if it means simply sitting them on the bench. I'm fairly confident that Warnock, and even Robson, would have done this. Blackwell would, it appears, rather name a bench with fewer players so that he can spin it afterwards - "great to win, and without a full squad you know - look, we can't even name a full bench" or "it's disappointing to lose, but look! I couldn't even name a full bench!".

His spin drives me crackers. Last season we were told, retrospectively, that the plan was to come from off the pace and make steady progress up the league hitting the front at the crucial moment. This season when we were in the top few, Blackwell revealed that the plan was to lead from the front. He must think we're all stupid.

His signings are so difficult to understand like you say. He signs players and then treats them like players he's inherited and doesn't want. We're short in nearly every area but have numerous options in wide positions. We sell players because we need to balance the books but spend millions on players who can't get a game.

In fairness to him, with everyone fit, I think we can put a good first XI out. We just don't see it often enough and when we do, they don't play with any freedom. The balance of the side doesn't seem to be important to him even though (some of) his pre-season signings suggested it was.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

My feeling after the Burnley match was one where i felt we had well and truly blown it for a few years.

Many people felt that way and most importantly, I think McCabe was one of them.

 

[Bergen Blade]

The reason I think things may change is that Blackwell doesn't seem to have learnt from last season. OK, he's gone for more pace and wingers in his signings and whilst we have mixed the styles up at times, the comments from those who go regularly are that nothing's changed.

With Ward and Treacy's injuries + the reluctance to play Cotterill and Reid, we have returned to being one of the slowest sides in English football. Granted we had one quick lad on the right today, but that was a half fit full back...

Up front we had no real pace against 6'3 Mirfin and 6'7 Jones...

 

[LoughboroBlade]

With Ward and Treacy's injuries + the reluctance to play Cotterill and Reid, we have returned to being one of the slowest sides in English football.

Spot on - cannot understand this. Last season it took till December and Nathan Dyer to remind Blackwell that having pace was a necessity to the team. Since then we have encouraging signed Ward (who, credit to Blackwell, has been a real find), Treacy, and Reid to boost the team's speed, but since the injuries to Ward and Treacy we have barely used Cotterill and Reid.

 

[spadge]

this must be the most interesting a best thread yet, great read and some really good and interesting points, looking back hulses injury really does look like when the train began to veir of the tracks

 

[Kev Gee]

Blackwell - Were going to play down the wings & get plenty of crosses into our strikers.

Sure kevin. Im sure you are.

 

[Currie on Radio]

I find it so frustrating that with our wages bill and (I reckon those players have the talent) we should be playing better football. Both Blackwell and Warnock believe in a "big" striker. I don't mind - provided we get the ball when it is knocked down. The fact is we don't!

We don't play hoofball because the players like it that way. They play that way because they are trained and told to play that way. I know of no championship team that plays like we do and we spend a fortune on strikers to try and play that way. So it is not accidental.

When we played it on the floor the other Saturday dind't Blackwell and McCabe notice the sarcastic "Ole's"?

 

[beightonblade]

This saga all went wrong when lack of serious football style investment in QUALITY players fasiled to materialise when we won promotion to the Premiership with Warnock.

What an oppotunity wasted... a large geographical area without a Premiership team to draw new supporters from and the £££££££ from TV etc.

Management at BDTBL from top to bottom ought to hang their heads in shame ! .......... an most of the players brought in and ££££££ wasted on them beggers belief !

Two words sum up United with or without McWobblegob for whom i blame more than cheap as chips......

SAME OWD !

 

[bladesadviser]

Whilst the injury to Hulse was certainly important in the premiership season the turning point was the appointment of Robson. At that time we had just been relegated with two years of parachute payments ahead. We surely would have had quality managers wanting to join us. Instead of which Terry Robinson seemed to have got hold of a 1999 Rothmans and was choosing between Robson and Peter Reid. Did any fan either think that was a good appointment or know any other Blade who thought it was?

Fast forward to Blackwell taking over, most of us were just glad to see a safe pair of hands and someone who wasn't Robson. The fact that we then went on such a good run probably clouded the views on whether Blackwell should get the job full time. With hindsight perhaps it would be have been better if we had just reached safety and not challenged the play offs and then perhaps more discussions would have taken place about the long term future of Blackwell.

The problem we now have is if we appoint a young manager and "start again" is it could go either way. Onwards and upwards with a Mark Robins type or we could be Reading, a shadow of the team we all used to hate playing who have a young manager trying to build from scratch.

 

[mall]

Didn't hit you that hard, did it. You cleaned up at the bookies on that last day against Wigan, I believe. You bet against us.
The mistakes we made were before Robson. We gave Warnock millions to spend and he wasted it on players "for the future". Wewere at least nine points ahead of West ham and blew it because Warnock thought the job was done. He was the "p***k".

 

[bartman]

This saga all went wrong when lack of serious football style investment in QUALITY players fasiled to materialise when we won promotion to the Premiership with Warnock.

What an oppotunity wasted... a large geographical area without a Premiership team to draw new supporters from and the £££££££ from TV etc.

Management at BDTBL from top to bottom ought to hang their heads in shame ! .......... an most of the players brought in and ££££££ wasted on them beggers belief !

Two words sum up United with or without McWobblegob for whom i blame more than cheap as chips......

SAME OWD !

Are the players a waste of money or is it the manager who cant blend them into a decent team? As usual you make tabloid style statements which,based on some of the sensible posts you make,does you an injustice.
McCabe doesn't buy the players and coach them. He probably acknowledges that a mistake with Robson which has set us back.
If McCabe was influential in player purchase and selection I would understand the critisism you have of him.

KB has changed the whole squad,this is his team. He has spent £4mill-£5mill on Cotts,Hendo,Ward,Evans. He has spent a further £1mill on Howard and Williamson plus further monies to be spent on Harper and Cresswell. Spent £350k on a back up left back yet doesnt ensure we have backup when he let Sharp go to Donny.He has spent a lot of wages on loans and freebies who don't/cant get anywhere near the first team,and failed to get a decent replacement for Kenny for this season.

McCabes fault for giving KB the money and trusting himor Blackwells fault for not carrying out the job to the highest standards ?

Do we ,as fans, except too much ?

 

[Bramley]

To be honest I would have had Peter Reid over Bryan Robson by an absolute country mile. Robson was a joke.

 

[beightonblade]

Didn't hit you that hard, did it. You cleaned up at the bookies on that last day against Wigan, I believe. You bet against us.
The mistakes we made were before Robson. We gave Warnock millions to spend and he wasted it on players "for the future". Wewere at least nine points ahead of West ham and blew it because Warnock thought the job was done. He was the "p***k".

yer reight i banged a wad on when we were 10 pionts above the bottom three.

and yer reight mistakes were made long before F!0pp0........

for years the Blades have needed sumbody who cud spot QUALITY and attract them to BDTBL and pay em what there worth !

 

[beightonblade]

Are the players a waste of money or is it the manager who cant blend them into a decent team? As usual you make tabloid style statements which,based on some of the sensible posts you make,does you an injustice.
McCabe doesn't buy the players and coach them. He probably acknowledges that a mistake with Robson which has set us back.
If McCabe was influential in player purchase and selection I would understand the critisism you have of him.

KB has changed the whole squad,this is his team. He has spent £4mill-£5mill on Cotts,Hendo,Ward,Evans. He has spent a further £1mill on Howard and Williamson plus further monies to be spent on Harper and Cresswell. Spent £350k on a back up left back yet doesnt ensure we have backup when he let Sharp go to Donny.He has spent a lot of wages on loans and freebies who don't/cant get anywhere near the first team,and failed to get a decent replacement for Kenny for this season.

McCabes fault for giving KB the money and trusting himor Blackwells fault for not carrying out the job to the highest standards ?

Do we ,as fans, except too much ?

McWobblegob is at the top of the tree ............ he makes the appointments so he can take the flak !

 

[Vistoma]

With Ward and Treacy's injuries + the reluctance to play Cotterill and Reid, we have returned to being one of the slowest sides in English football. Granted we had one quick lad on the right today, but that was a half fit full back...

Up front we had no real pace against 6'3 Mirfin and 6'7 Jones...

We have also been sussed by everyone, they just put the biggest defenders they have out against us because they know they are going to see plenty of high balls, the defenders moan like hell to the ref about Henderson and he then gets penalised for breathing on them.
They pass the ball around our slow midfield thus negating the "tough tackling" because the ball has gone before we get there and then play through balls which mean Morgan and co have to turn.

It has been said ad nauseum we have no plan B and it does seem that way, we CAN play football, look at Preston first leg last season, they couldn't handle us and we could have got 6, BUT we were back to lump and hope in the second leg.

Sorry KB I have great respect for you BUT now is the time to prove yourself as a manager to one and all.

 

[raul]

For me, and I'll post this now before Dazzler comes on tomorrow and facts my theory to death, the big problem is the huge turnover of players we seem to have now. It feels to me that over the last 3 years we get a team in August, then loads more in in Jan, then most of them out the following June when the cycle starts all over again.

You dont get to identify with the players anyone, build up a rapport and get the sens that they are here because they want to be. Tbh if the entire 1st team squad pitched up on the doorstep I bet I wouldnt be able to put names to half the faces. There's no sense of commonality with them anymore and I find it hard to muster anything like the enthusiasm I used to have for it all.

 

[Come from away]

If we can get a fit team out with our best players on and we still lose then I think you can do your Blackwell dance, but until then its just too easy and offers no real option except give up. Again not crazy about style but would like to see what we can do with our key players in place.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

What I find most frustrating is that we have the infrastructure and in many ways the players to be confidently challenging at the top. Games like the play-off semis last year tell me that we've got the quality too - we've lost Halford, but I feel we've replaced him.

Instead we revert to type, thrashing the ball forward aimlessly. If Blackwell has had the backing in terms of investment that he has had (don't forget that Killa is still here and has a whopping great contract offer put in front of him), and has now assembled a squad rather than making do with what he has inherited then he has to be judged based on where we are now. At the moment the players look uninspired and without direction - how many times have we all recognised the lack of any type of plan B?

I share Coop's and Brownie's frustration about the passion - watching the Blades has always been a distraction from real-life rather than more important than real-life for me, which is why often I'll tolerate us being pretty mediocre as long as we're up for it. What really nobs me off is players not playing for the cause and us becoming a bunch of arrogant, moaning tossers in the stand. I want to go to Blackpool on Tuesday for some beers, a laugh and the chance of a result. If I get to the game only to find that noone can be arsed on or off the pitch then what was the point?

If Blackwell cannot even deliver a team who are willing to scrap even when they are crap then he can get stuffed for me. I'd love us to get back to the Prem - I'm under no illusions that we'll storm it once we'd get there, but I'd also tolerate us not making it if we played in an exciting and inspiring way.

 

[cooperblade]

For me, and I'll post this now before Dazzler comes on tomorrow and facts my theory to death, the big problem is the huge turnover of players we seem to have now. It feels to me that over the last 3 years we get a team in August, then loads more in in Jan, then most of them out the following June when the cycle starts all over again.

You dont get to identify with the players anyone, build up a rapport and get the sens that they are here because they want to be. Tbh if the entire 1st team squad pitched up on the doorstep I bet I wouldnt be able to put names to half the faces. There's no sense of commonality with them anymore and I find it hard to muster anything like the enthusiasm I used to have for it all.

There are 24 players on last season's team photo. Only 3 of them started yesterday and the vast majority have left the club.

 

[jodman]

I dont really have the time to post my thoughts here just yet but i wanted to say thank you to those who have done so and made this a very interesting retrospective thread.