Will there be an SUFC in 10 years?

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lenners

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Looking at the way our club is headed, is there going to be much point in continuing to fail year-on-year-on-year-on-year?
The way football is headed financially, there's becoming less and less point to our existence.
We aren't competing and won't be competing. Any good young players will be quickly sold off, we aren't going to attract a big investor and we don't believe in building a footballing platform, only endless scuffling the Blades Way.
SWFC aren't much better off and it might now be the time to consider merging.
Leeds only has one club and one club in Sheffield would attract more fans than up the M1.
As McCabe, and the many fans on here who agree with him, states we're essentially a business.
And we're a business that is failing with no likelihood of that changing.
In the business world, merging with another company would make sense.
As football becomes ever more simply about money, it's possibly time for United and Wednesday to bite the bullet.
 

And here's you telling me i live in an alternative universe. Not a chance of a merger happening, not now, not ever.
 
No investment, No young players being kept for more than 5 minutes and the club overall doing its best to turn fans away.

If we go it down it will either make us or break us but I reckon the latter is more likely.
 
lenners said:
Looking at the way our club is headed, is there going to be much point in continuing to fail year-on-year-on-year-on-year?
The way football is headed financially, there's becoming less and less point to our existence.
We aren't competing and won't be competing. Any good young players will be quickly sold off, we aren't going to attract a big investor and we don't believe in building a footballing platform, only endless scuffling the Blades Way.
SWFC aren't much better off and it might now be the time to consider merging.
Leeds only has one club and one club in Sheffield would attract more fans than up the M1.
As McCabe, and the many fans on here who agree with him, states we're essentially a business.
And we're a business that is failing with no likelihood of that changing.
In the business world, merging with another company would make sense.
As football becomes ever more simply about money, it's possibly time for United and Wednesday to bite the bullet.
Click to expand...

Yes we'll exist and we'll be stronger than today
 
Its never been the same since we sold Mick Jones to the scum up the M1.
 
A few years ago, I'd have said there would be no chance of a merger.
But now I'm less sure and I'm less sure it would really matter.
A lot of people are very disillusioned with football full stop at the moment - with us its to the nth degree.
United no longer seem a club that could compete for a regular place in the top flight, or frankly even want to be anymore.
In those circumstances, I'm seeing less and less point to the club's existence.
I'd fully expect that to be confirmed in the summer's season ticket sales - and it will be longterm fans walking away.
But also in the broader context of where football is going, a merger is making increasing sense and would allow Sheffield to compete nationally.
As attention spans become shorter, the likelihood of Sheffield being able to call on significant numbers of people to watch endless mediocrity in the years to come seems limited to me.
 
sheffielder said:
Oh this is what I am looking for, some positive spin.... Come on tell me how?
Click to expand...

Not putting positive spin on anything

The game has to change and will change and I think we'll be in a better position than many others. I'm surprised that there are still a number of foreign signings going about around us and the big money deals in the PL are surprising with the impending financial restrictions set to come in.

A fair amount of panic buying by clubs like Wednesday or Cardiff can't go on and doesn't guarantee success.

To be fair, we've brought in 5 players, 3 of which are on loan and theoretically can be signed in the summer, for perhaps less than extortionate fees (or in Bent's case nothing). Doyle and Collins, both at an experienced age are on permanent deals.

What have we lost? A high earning dwarf with no bottle for the fight and a young loanee taken back on a recall. I'm only concerned that we've lost the young loanee. We all wanted permanent signings not loanees didn't we?

Its agreed by all and sundry that we can't carry a massive wage bill, especially when we're not getting the gates of 2-3 years ago. So the squeeze comes.

But look at the teams in the top half of the table now. Where were all of them 10 years ago, most of them have a story of the last 10 years. Namely Leeds and Leicester who've been to the brink and back.

We're investing heavily in the Academy and "Development" teams, more heavily than in the first team. That says a lot to me for the future.

A transfer window like this doesn't concern me.

I'm concerned about the points and I think we'll start picking them up. We need more players and we'll HAVE to pick some up in the loanee window.

But Micky seems to be bringing the good out in many players and hopefully that will transfer into points very soon.

However looking at the movements of the teams around us, we have less to worry about than most.
 
Swiss, the game has changed and its left SUFC way, way behind.
It didn't have to be that way but bad managment at the top led us that way.
This bollocks that McCabe spun a couple of years back about how well we were going to be placed compared to other clubs - it just looks like every other bit of crap that's come from the board.
I'm sure all those other clubs above us in the Championship are thinking they wish they were Sheffield United, heading to League One and financial stability.
It's ludicrous.
But it's where we're stuck and as time moves on we're becoming more and more stuck and losing more and more credibility.
If things don't change, I'd think our continued existence will come into question - particularly if Mandaric fails at S6.
 
lenners said:
A few years ago, I'd have said there would be no chance of a merger.
But now I'm less sure and I'm less sure it would really matter.
A lot of people are very disillusioned with football full stop at the moment - with us its to the nth degree.
United no longer seem a club that could compete for a regular place in the top flight, or frankly even want to be anymore.
In those circumstances, I'm seeing less and less point to the club's existence.
I'd fully expect that to be confirmed in the summer's season ticket sales - and it will be longterm fans walking away.
But also in the broader context of where football is going, a merger is making increasing sense and would allow Sheffield to compete nationally.
As attention spans become shorter, the likelihood of Sheffield being able to call on significant numbers of people to watch endless mediocrity in the years to come seems limited to me.
Click to expand...

Supposing the clubs did merge, where would they start? which league etc. What are the rules? I'm not saying I agree with it, but stranger things have happened and we would probably have no say in any proceedings anyway,
 
muttsnuts said:
Supposing the clubs did merge, where would they start? which league etc. What are the rules? I'm not saying I agree with it, but stranger things have happened and we would probably have no say in any proceedings anyway,
Click to expand...

The leagues, particularly the Prem, would be delighted to have a single Sheffield club with crowds that would immediately be among the biggest in the country.
Finding a reasonable place for us in the pyramid - probably taking the place of the lowest placed of the two - wouldn't be a problem.
I would have thought it very unlikely a few years back, now I'm struggling to find the logic against it.
 
lenners said:
The leagues, particularly the Prem, would be delighted to have a single Sheffield club with crowds that would immediately be among the biggest in the country.
Finding a reasonable place for us in the pyramid - probably taking the place of the lowest placed of the two - wouldn't be a problem.
I would have thought it very unlikely a few years back, now I'm struggling to find the logic against it.
Click to expand...

In the spirit of PeteWatchers of old... Oh, Len!

:)
 
lenners said:
The leagues, particularly the Prem, would be delighted to have a single Sheffield club with crowds that would immediately be among the biggest in the country.
Finding a reasonable place for us in the pyramid - probably taking the place of the lowest placed of the two - wouldn't be a problem.
I would have thought it very unlikely a few years back, now I'm struggling to find the logic against it.
Click to expand...

Ok then, who would follow the new Sheffield Reborn FC?
 

No longer so far-fetched is it JD.
We're a business and I've no need to remind you of all the fans on here willing to fall over themselves to justify selling players etc on the grounds that we're a business.
Our business is failing and is going to continue to fail.
Merging makes more and more sense.
Another alternative might be selling the Lane and moving to a retail park somewhere.
It's business JD, just a business.

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------
muttsnuts said:
Ok then, who would follow the new Sheffield Reborn FC?
Click to expand...

That's the easy part.
The population of Sheffield and the surrounds is way over 1m. Get a half decent team with some star players and you'd get thousands of kids desperate to see the new club.
 
lenners said:
Swiss, the game has changed and its left SUFC way, way behind.
It didn't have to be that way but bad managment at the top led us that way.
This bollocks that McCabe spun a couple of years back about how well we were going to be placed compared to other clubs - it just looks like every other bit of crap that's come from the board.
I'm sure all those other clubs above us in the Championship are thinking they wish they were Sheffield United, heading to League One and financial stability.
It's ludicrous.
But it's where we're stuck and as time moves on we're becoming more and more stuck and losing more and more credibility.
If things don't change, I'd think our continued existence will come into question - particularly if Mandaric fails at S6.
Click to expand...

A lot of teams have teetered on the brink, some very close to us (Massive Club) were closer than most. But have been lucky and the vultures have been circling just to get the cheapest deal out there. So yes, the likes of Southampton, Wednesday, Palace, Charlton will no doubt be wishing they were where we are.

Of course for each one of those, there are Leeds, Cardiff, Leicester, Millwall, Forest, Swansea, Blackpool, Hull, Barnsley, Donny etc who right now aren't looking back at us, but given their roller coaster behaviour in the past few years, would do well to look down the league. They were all there recently All of them went through periods of on and off field instability of some sort

I never said we were aiming for financial stability in league one, but lets not chuck the baby out with the bath water just yet. I think (hope) with Micky that now we get the stability that we aimed for when we took the decision to not sack Blackwell in the summer.

For me United's biggest mistake in the past few years could ironically be the sacking of Blackwell after 2 games and defeat to the team who have been flying at the top of the division since that 0-3 victory at the lane back in August.

But that was back then. Right now, we have Micky and for me he's the man to lead us out of the mess and avoid both league one and financial instability that you talk of.

Micky's priority right now is to stabilise the onfield whilst doing his damnedest to get some creativity into this side.
 
Swiss, there is no chance either Southampton or SWFC would be wishing to be where we are.
Southampton already have a team that would beat us and nearly beat Man U on Saturday playing proper football.
SWFC have no debt, a team that would probably beat us and will almost certainly pass us in the next two seasons.
And I was being sarcastic about financial stability in League One, we'd be comically broke though the joke would be on McCabe.
There are a lot of long-time fans on here and I wonder how many, hand-on-heart, really believe in this club anymore.
 
lenners said:
No longer so far-fetched is it JD.
We're a business and I've no need to remind you of all the fans on here willing to fall over themselves to justify selling players etc on the grounds that we're a business.
Our business is failing and is going to continue to fail.
Merging makes more and more sense.
Another alternative might be selling the Lane and moving to a retail park somewhere.
It's business JD, just a business.

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------



That's the easy part.
The population of Sheffield and the surrounds is way over 1m. Get a half decent team with some star players and you'd get thousands of kids desperate to see the new club.
Click to expand...

The club has to be run like a business because there is no benefactor and the football world, especially the English model, has sold out.

But at heart football clubs are extensions of an area's social capital, not its economic wealth. We both agree that the business imperative is killing the community meaning and killing the romance which is the essence of club football. But that's not SUFC's fault. Look higher.

What you're proposing is the logical extension of everything you're against. But you know that and you're making a thread out if it.

Destroy SUFC, or any major club, and another will rise in its stead. Because its essence is the community, not the business.
 
lenners said:
Swiss, there is no chance either Southampton or SWFC would be wishing to be where we are.
Southampton already have a team that would beat us and nearly beat Man U on Saturday playing proper football.
SWFC have no debt, a team that would probably beat us and will almost certainly pass us in the next two seasons.
And I was being sarcastic about financial stability in League One, we'd be comically broke though the joke would be on McCabe.
There are a lot of long-time fans on here and I wonder how many, hand-on-heart, really believe in this club anymore.
Click to expand...

So what you're saying then is that League 1 Southampton and League 1 Wednesday are both happier than us. I guess 24th placed League 1 Dagenham and Redbridge will be laughing their cocks off at us.

Of course they'd rather be in Championship. Thats why the piggies cried their eyes out when they went down

Remind me again what debt we have? Isn't it all to McCabe now?

Come on Lenners, I expected a better come back from you, come on, work it pal, work it...

Ps what happened to your positivity of 1-3 weeks back, weren't you telling people not to be negative without good reason?
 
JD, as you acknowledge, football's business model has changed.
The bigger clubs play in the same places but no longer rely on the locality for support or even this country for support.
Even the kings of self-indulgent romance have sold their beloved number 9 tonight (and what a ridiculous sale that is on every level for an average target man).
Clubs at the top are less and less extensions of their locality in terms of support and less and less often in terms of ownership.
Whether you or I am against it makes no odds. They've sold the game and we either find a way to beat them at their own game (which would mean finding someone richer than McCabe or someone like McCabe only more willing to invest) or we take other radical courses of action like merging or selling the ground.
If we do nothing, I fail to see the point of SUFC continuing to exist and the club will just gradually wither on the vine.
 
He's always positive Swiss. Have you not been Listening?

It's the "clappers" who are the real negative ones.
 
SwissBlade said:
:)

I must say I did wonder how long the new lenners would last
Click to expand...

This is about being realistic and not being in a state of denial about the future of our club.
In some ways, I'd like the notion of someone really going for a merger or a ground sale to see if anyone still really cares about our club anymore, to see if there are Blades of means prepared to breathe life back into the club.
Football's changed and society is changing quickly. Kids growing up now on instant gratification ain't going to be coming to watch a stale, perennial Championship/League One club year after year after year.
Continue on the path we're going, very few people are going to care what happens to SUFC. When the people who run it don't care, why should anyone else?
 
lenners said:
JD, as you acknowledge, football's business model has changed.
The bigger clubs play in the same places but no longer rely on the locality for support or even this country for support.
Even the kings of self-indulgent romance have sold their beloved number 9 tonight (and what a ridiculous sale that is on every level for an average target man).
Clubs at the top are less and less extensions of their locality in terms of support and less and less often in terms of ownership.
Whether you or I am against it makes no odds. They've sold the game and we either find a way to beat them at their own game (which would mean finding someone richer than McCabe or someone like McCabe only more willing to invest) or we take other radical courses of action like merging or selling the ground.
If we do nothing, I fail to see the point of SUFC continuing to exist and the club will just gradually wither on the vine.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying we will compete at the top, although a range of clubs will continue to have a few minutes of fame now and again.

Your suggestion is to sell out. But I'd rather watch United in the football league and resist the corporatisation of the sport. Even if it means detaching from the behemoth, I say fuck 'em and cheerio.
 
lenners said:
This is about being realistic and not being in a state of denial about the future of our club.
In some ways, I'd like the notion of someone really going for a merger or a ground sale to see if anyone still really cares about our club anymore, to see if there are Blades of means prepared to breathe life back into the club.
Football's changed and society is changing quickly. Kids growing up now on instant gratification ain't going to be coming to watch a stale, perennial Championship/League One club year after year after year.
Continue on the path we're going, very few people are going to care what happens to SUFC. When the people who run it don't care, why should anyone else?
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that the majority of United fans would care enough to ensure that a merger should and could never happen.

I would never set foot in the ground of a merged club, i doubt i'd even set foot in a new ground if we moved grounds.

I support United for what we are, not for what we could be by merging or moving
 
JohnDenver said:
I'm not saying we will compete at the top, although a range of clubs will continue to have a few minutes of fame now and again.

Your suggestion is to sell out. But I'd rather watch United in the football league and resist the corporatisation of the sport. Even if it means detaching from the behemoth, I say fuck 'em and cheerio.
Click to expand...

I'm saying that's not going to be an option JD.
Younger people just aren't going to come and watch a club that put simply, goes nowhere.
In fact, plenty of older people aren't going to come and watch a club that continues to go nowhere.
 

lenners said:
I'm saying that's not going to be an option JD.
Younger people just aren't going to come and watch a club that put simply, goes nowhere.
In fact, plenty of older people aren't going to come and watch a club that continues to go nowhere.
Click to expand...

So worst case, we languish in the 4th div in front of crowds of 2000, it's still better than any merger.

Plus what makes you think that kids or adults would want to watch a merged team?

No kid of mine would be allowed to support a merged team. They'd go to chesterfield or Sheffield FC instead.

The only new club I can think of is Mk dons, not exactly premiership eh lenners!
 
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