Gary Speed

[raul]

You have been a fantastic player and an absolute ambassaor for your sport. The game needs more Gary Speeds and less Ashley Coles, however,

- your contribution as a player here was negligable
- your contribution as a coach was negligable
- see where this is going?

You are far too decent a person to be subjected to the shite coming your way shortly. Do the sensible thing like Inchy did, accept the job is too much for a novice and walk away now, don't let your first job be your last if you are serious about Management. Or, just go and look good alongside Redknapp Jnr of a Sunday.

I wish you nothing but well, but can't see how anything good can come out of the current situation.

 

[beightonblade]

The man who appointed Gary should be ashamed of himself.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

As usual, all it needs is a couple of wins Raul and all will be rosy once again.

 

[raul]

Would that it were so Pitts. If I end up being out of kilter then I'll be happy, because I have genuine respect for the bloke, but if that's the reaction after he's given the squad a round of fucks then I'd say they don't. Chances of McCabe saying to the players "he's staying - you're going" a la Whelan? Nil, given it'll cost him.

They look like they need name tags on them like some sort of sales seminar, half of them have been here a number of years and the other half have been here since August, training daily, and there's absolutley no understanding/co-ordination call it what you will. With the status quo, I can only see bad things, not good.

 

[lenners]

Sad to say, it looks like Raul's right - though i thought he did ok for us as a player.
We have 10 wins and 5 draws to try to scrape from somewhere and 9 goals in 14 games says it all.
The warning signs were there in May, June, July etc as to what was to come and failing the radical action we needed then we are now desperate.
If Speed doesn't believe he can do it without proper investment, he needs to say so and probably walk.

 

[GAZBLADE]

Sad to say, it looks like Raul's right - though i thought he did ok for us as a player.
We have 10 wins and 5 draws to try to scrape from somewhere and 9 goals in 14 games says it all.
The warning signs were there in May, June, July etc as to what was to come and failing the radical action we needed then we are now desperate.
If Speed doesn't believe he can do it without proper investment, he needs to say so and probably walk.

If he was to walk Lenners, who would you like to see takeover?
I for one would like to see him stay, but, at this present time i can see why you(and others) have serious doubts.
COYRWW

 

[lenners]

If he was to walk Lenners, who would you like to see takeover?
I for one would like to see him stay, but, at this present time i can see why you(and others) have serious doubts.
COYRWW

I'd like him to stay and do a good job but there's been virtually nothing to suggest he really knows what he's doing.
The biggest culprit in all this is McCabe for his ridiculous decision to sack Blackwell and appoint Speed when he did.
He should only have done that if he could guarantee a reasonable level of investment in the team.
And Speed should only have taken the job on that basis. As mentioned before, if he didn't get some guarantees, he's a fool.

 

[broomhillblade]

In the latter days of KB, there was a chorus of "Blackwell out - give Gary Speed the job" from many on this site.

I could never understand why a totally unproven coach should be touted so enthusiastically, but football fans usually let their hearts rule their heads.

When he was appointed, I had my misgivings but my feeling was "fair enough, let's give him a decent crack at the job".

Now I don't know what to think. If it hasn't improved by Christmas, maybe Raul is right, unless Speed can pull a few rabbits out of the hat in the January transfer window.

 

[GAZBLADE]

I'd like him to stay and do a good job but there's been virtually nothing to suggest he really knows what he's doing.
The biggest culprit in all this is McCabe for his ridiculous decision to sack Blackwell and appoint Speed when he did.
He should only have done that if he could guarantee a reasonable level of investment in the team.
And Speed should only have taken the job on that basis. As mentioned before, if he didn't get some guarantees, he's a fool.

Fair points. I'd totally agree on the McCabe point. To appoint a complete novice to manage the weakest squad we've had for absolute years WAS fuckin madness. I hope Speed knows what he's doing, cause, i'd hate to see him look the fool in all this.

 

[ThatJa]

Judging the manager based on 12 games(ish), no transfer market.. thrown in at the deepend.

Yeah the teams been shit, playing crap etc but shame on you for judging Speed after the above.

 

[blades1889]

i always said not to give him a 3 year deal, but to give him a year to prove himself.
McCabe what a nob!

 

[Kev Gee]

Speed has been at the club & knows the players & knows the players he wants to ship out......

If we had taken on someone without that knowledge, would our situation be worse do you think?

Because i think it would!

 

[grafikhaus]

i always said not to give him a 3 year deal, but to give him a year to prove himself.
McCabe what a nob!

Got to agree. And, of course he wasn't the first - he did the same with Robson and Blackwell.

All 3 were unproven as sucessful managers/out of a job. Clubs were hardly queuing round the block for their services*, so why didn't Mr. McC say 'The job's yours for £20k per week on a 3-month rolling contract. If you get us promotion, there's £3/4/5m bonus coming your way'.?

*Granted Swansea appeared to be sniffing round for GS (although agents can always manufacture these rumours) but, if true, would GS have been any better off at a club in a shit-hole of a place - and that's saying something, even for Wales?

I don't want to join in the inevitable growing unrest about GS. A couple of wins will see us up the table. This division is crap and, as we proved at Derby and Hull, 3 points will come where least expected. Yesterday, we were out-bullied. Their defence were massive and continually flinging the ball up in the air is directly down to GS.

We're in for a long, hard winter but nothing we haven't seen before. It's just that Neil Warnock has raised expectations that, at the moment, our current squad can't fulfil.

 

[travellingblade]

Get off his back.

At the beginning of the season, I looked at the squad assembled by the previous Manager and I thought that we are in for a long relegation fight this season.

Speed has now changed the style of play, but brought very few of his own players in. Most that have come in under him were in the pipeline set up by Blackwell.

Wait until after the January window closes and then we shall see.

IF, and it's a big IF, we DON'T go down, then this will be a successful season for me.

 

[JohnDenver]

Get off his back.

At the beginning of the season, I looked at the squad assembled by the previous Manager and I thought that we are in for a long relegation fight this season.

Speed has now changed the style of play, but brought very few of his own players in. Most that have come in under him were in the pipeline set up by Blackwell.

Wait until after the January window closes and then we shall see.

IF, and it's a big IF, we DON'T go down, then this will be a successful season for me.

Well said sir. I also thought this season would be a relegation possibility at one point, although the signing of Britton and renewal of contracts changed my mind.

Now it seems we could be on for a scrap afterall...

Speed can only tinker with loans for the time being, which is a worry because the body language of some players wasn't acceptable yesterday. And what's more, even if we had money to spend, we'd need at least two transfer windows to revamp the squad.

We've already rolled the managerial dice and I see no choice but to tough out the bad times. They are no quick fixes on offer.

 

[gavtheblade]

Well said sir. I also thought this season would be a relegation possibility at one point, although the signing of Britton and renewal of contracts changed my mind.

Now it seems we could be on for a scrap afterall...

Speed can only tinker with loans for the time being, which is a worry because the body language of some players wasn't acceptable yesterday. And what's more, even if we had money to spend, we'd need at least two transfer windows to revamp the squad.

We've already rolled the managerial dice and I see no choice but to tough out the bad times. They are no quick fixes on offer.

Top post traveller,spot on.Speed doesnt deserve this critism at all after 13 games.We all knew how difficult the turn around would be,especially when his hands are firmly tied with a double knot.Again,i cant stress enough that the damage has already been done upstairs in the board room,there were times[opportunties]when,under blackwell we could have tied down some good players)ie,naughton,walker,halford and of course James beattie,with long term contracts to stablise the squad for promotion success and stablisation in the promised land.But thats history now,and the thoughts of promotion are a distant memory.Gary speed faces a tough challenge this season,a real probability of a relegation battle,and replacing now will change absolutley nothing.The next bloke and the next bloke after that will be faced with the same resources as speed has now.So sacking Speedo would be a good thing?methinks not.Good luck Gary.Your gunna need it.utb

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Surely he has to be given at least one transfer window before people start asking for his head.

 

[alcoblade]

Surely he has to be given at least one transfer window before people start asking for his head.

Definitely. He hasn't had any opportunity to shape the squad. As with any manager, I can pick holes after the event. But we're lacking in key areas. Reid is a step forward for a short while. Now a striker please.....

UTB

 

[Wards]

Surely he has to be given at least one transfer window before people start asking for his head.

Absolutely. He's working with a mess created by Blackwell. The players aren't fit for purpose in general. When you take the likes of Quinn, Ertl, Cresswell, Morgan, Monty etc and realise that they struggle to make a simple 10 yard pass then it's easier to understand that he's got players who can only play in one way.

From whats being banded about at the moment, there's going to be a lot of movement come January both in and out.

IMO we have to give him a season or so at the very least. Dare I say it I don't think it'd be the end of the world were the worst to happen and we got relegated. Would be the perfect opportunity to build something entirely new and what's needed to be done for the past 3 or 4 years.

 

[alcoblade]

From whats being banded about at the moment, there's going to be a lot of movement come January both in and out.

I've heard this a few times and I really hope it's so. But I'm very concerned it's a hollow threat / promise. Do we have the cash to do it? I can't see any of our players raising a fee, so investment is needed. Let us pray.

UTB

 

[Highbury_Blade]

Dare I say it I don't think it'd be the end of the world were the worst to happen and we got relegated. Would be the perfect opportunity to build something entirely new and what's needed to be done for the past 3 or 4 years.

How are we going to build something new on even less money. Who's going to swoop in and take Quinn, Monty, morgan, etc off our hands? they would be all on very decent wages for a league 1 club.

Can't disagree with your statement more i'm afraid.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Managing Sheffield United is a tremendous challenge and one that any new manager should relish. It's vital though that he learns fast and is crystal clear about what he wants to do. It's often difficult to determine a manager's preferences from interviews etc, but Speed has seemed a bit of an allrounder, saying that he doesn't have one prefered formation, refuses to say anything negative about long ball football, yet it seems obvious that he's trying to change our pattern of play from the Blackwell era.

However he's continued with extremely defensive line ups, and only recently he's made some minor adjustments to make us score more goals. This is our main problem, and we need to address it as soon as possible. I felt there were two things that made our line up yesterday look like we held back a little - picked the defensive option over the attacking one:

1 Nosworthy over Calve at right back. Maybe it was the fear of McSheffrey - maybe he felt we needed some extra height and strength - both valid and relevant points, but it may have made us a little more predictable as we lost Calve's (or Lowton's) attacking qualities at right back
2 Little creativity in central midfield. With hindsight I'm sure Speed wished he'd put Reid in right away. The original plan that had been worked on again had us use three central midfielders who all struggle to set up chances or score.​

Is Speed's football philosophy also a bit defensive? Did the years as a player/coach under Blackwell influence him in this way? Or does his current staff persuade him to go for defensive options rather than attacking?

In any case I think it's important that Speed identifies the lack of goals as the main problem and thankfully we've got one more home game coming up where it'll be natural to pick a line up that is set up to create chances. I think the following is due a try:

Simonsen
Lowton Morgan Bartley Jordan
Ertl Britton Reid
Ward - - - Bogdanovic - - - Yeates​

 

[marshy]

I expect nothing from this season (with the exception of not being relegated). Who here would have jumped at the chance of stealing Roy Hodgson from Fulham? On current evidence, do you think he'd be doing any better?

It was to be expected that the usually 'oh so patient' Blades fans wouldn't give Gary much of a chance. Maybe he's not the perfect appointment, but until the financial noose around his neck is loosened slightly I say give him a break. He's brought in Reid, give him until Jan and lets see if we see an improvement and players of the same ilk coming in. The return of Hendo & Williamson will be like having 2 new players also.

 

[Wards]

How are we going to build something new on even less money. Who's going to swoop in and take Quinn, Monty, morgan, etc off our hands? they would be all on very decent wages for a league 1 club.

Can't disagree with your statement more i'm afraid.

You're probably correct and my initial post was a little reactionary but I think the gist of it is we need that complete clearout. We need to get rid of the muck and nettles tag that's hanging around our neck and the only way we're going to do that is by moving certain players on.

Whether McCabe is willing to do that is another matter.

McCabe is the key in all of this IMO.

 

[alcoblade]

Sadly, if you're going to pay yourselved hundreds of thousand pounds a year, perform poorly, and charge a working man the best part of £30 to witness it, all logic goes in the bin. I fully agree with your point, but Unitedites are no different to other football fans. The days of people blindly backing their club are long gone.

UTB

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

From whats being banded about at the moment, there's going to be a lot of movement come January both in and out.

I believe the rumour is that agreement has been made between the manager and chairman for 5 new players. Although players will have to be moved out inorder to keep control of the wage bill.

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

Is Gary Speed doing just what Robson tried to do, though Robson did have a summer to buy his own players in and spent a lot of money doing so, and that is try to change the way the team plays football? Unfortunately we have a history of playing long ball that started with Bassett was followed on by NW and then despite a small pause with Robson continued by KB. The players were bought in to play this system and that is where their talents lie and unfortunately the core or soul of the team is based around these players, Morgs, Monty, Quinn, and the newer purchaese by KB like Cressy and Ertl. You takes these players out and the team loses its soul, the players that the fans have some affinity to. You can't suddenly rip this team apart it needs to be done gradually but although the fans will say that they will give him time GS is already over his honeymoon period and it is results that count. Is he strong enough to stand by his principles or will we see a return to the longer ball game?
It is a shame as I think that he is too much of a Mr. Nice guy. Especially as he started here as a player and had a player to player relationship I think that he finds it hard to move to the next level. Gus Poyet was my choice and he looks like we could be swapping places with him at the end of the season.

 

[beightonblade]

Hold yer breath ............... from one transfer window to another ....................fookin hell its like Christmas that never comes.

This January transfer window will be like the rest !

 

[lenners]

I beleive the rumour is that agreement has been made between the manager and chairman for 5 new players. Although players will have to be moved out inorder to keep control of the wage bill.

Sounds like a plan. A bit like not relying on loanings.
This chairman you speak of, are you sure he still exists?

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Sounds like a plan. A bit like not relying on loanings.
This chairman you speak of, are you sure he still exists?

I did say it was a rumour and not one I've heard directly.