Out of interest .........

[BlairBlade]

......... where do people think we belong?

Next season we will be in the Championship.

Maybe with a Serb, a Croat, a German, a Spanish manager - or maybe not.

However, is the Championship the proper place for us?

Does anyone think we belong in the Premiership?

Would we be struggling to stay there every season, or might we achieve a position where we could be daydreaming about Europe every season - well, at least, now and then?

Should we just accept we aren't a top team and we will only ever be in the Premier League for a season or two and then if, we are lucky, we'll yo-yo back and forth from the Championship keeping our coffers ticking over and fairly healthy. Hopefully, there will always be a good cup run to look forward to and a killing to be made in the transfer market with a sale of some home grown talent or players we have brought on with the intention of strengthening the team - yet again!

Maybe we should settle for yo-yoing between the Championship and League One or are we better than that? I would like to think so.

As I have posted this, I think it is a (fairly) interesting question, certainly for a fairly cold and boring Good Friday, anyway.

When I was much, much younger I was sold on the idea, with John Harris at the helm, that we were a solid First Division club never going to set the world alight but with the odd year or so spent in Division 2 - but things have not turned out that way.

I am intrigued as to how other posters view us and where they think our proper place is in the footballing world.

Happy Easter everyone.

 

[Speedracer]

......... where do people think we belong?

Bramall Lane.

 

[Geordie Blade]

We belong wherever we happen to be in any particular season. It’s the same for all teams.

Football fans have a weird obsession with ‘belonging’ in particular divisions. Football is a meritocracy - you end up where you deserve to be. Tell that to pig fans too.

 

[BlairBlade]

Bramall Lane.

It is a slow day - but I should have thought of that.

For some reason I was trying to avoid someone being impertinent and suggesting a bin or something else equally unhelpful - but Bramall Lane

 

[Davalon]

McCabe promised me Europe and until we get it I'll never forgive him.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

We are a championship club. We dont last in the premier league very long. Poor decisions by management and the board will always see to that.

 

[Carlton Blade]

We are a top 35 club

 

[Danny Blade]

I would say that we don't permanently belong in one league or the other i.e. Prem or the Championship.

But I do think we should have spent quite a bit more time in the top flight than we have done these last 50 years or so.

IMO we have underachieved somewhat during that period.

As for the future unless we become owned by a billionaire I just hope we can get back to the elite and establish there, if not then worst case scenario would be yo-yoing between the two. But even trying to do this will never be guaranteed of working out the way we want it to.

It's rarely rosy being a Blade but none of us support the club with expectations of glory/silverware.

 

[BlairBlade]

We belong wherever we happen to be in any particular season. It’s the same for all teams.

Football fans have a weird obsession with ‘belonging’ in particular divisions. Football is a meritocracy - you end up where you deserve to be. Tell that to pig fans too.

Sure.

But as a kid standing on the Kop I always thought we had something about us which was way back when it was not so much a business and, as it turned out, in any event United were not well endowed with people, in charge off the pitch, who had much vision.

Obviously, it should have been blindingly obvious then when we sold Jones, Birchenall, Salmons, etc., etc.

I am not suggesting we, or any team deserve anything other than what we achieve on the pitch.

I was simply wondering how supporters view us.

I don't agree it is a meritocracy. I do not think that is the case at all.

I see little merit in allowing some teams to spend millions upon millions, and at the same time being allowed to bend the rules, when other teams are facing extinction or like Bury well on their way out. It is more capitalism run riot or more likely corporatism running wild and unchecked.

 

[BlairBlade]

McCabe promised me Europe and until we get it I'll never forgive him.

I'll never forgive him full-stop.

 

[Grey Blade]

We aspire to gain promotion from whatever league we are in.

If we think we might struggle in the next highest league we shouldn't take the foot of the gas to avoid promotion.

I suppose we find our level depending on what players we have available.

 

[Harry's Game]

We are a bigger club fan base wise than Norwich, Burnley, Stoke, Palace, WBA all of whom have spent more seasons in the top flight in the last thirty years..

We have under achieved, absolutely no doubt about it.

We should really be capable of spending 5 year spells in the top flight and be out of it for no longer than 5 year spells with anything like competent ownership.

Unless you get monumentally lucky like Leicester its difficult to nigh on impossible now for a club of our size to establish itself in the top 10 of the Premier League.

 

[Blade.com]

Football has changed so much in the last 30 years and can honestly say not for the better. We made the so-called elite league and can anyone say it was enjoyable, went to most away games last season and apart from a few results and grounds found we had a fair bit to moan about. All the crap spouted about the best league I.E Talksport. Can honestly say did not see too many that had a wow what a player on the pitch.
We flirted with the Golden Egg but not sure we really belong there until we have real big owners with big long term ambitions. Until then its the championship and hopefully nothing below it. We are a bit like a Christmas Day club? We look forward to it but always disappoints you when it arrives ; you never quite get the pair of socks you want. After all that cannot wait for next Christmas; see its already got me excited.

 

[AdamSufc1997]

This club has championship ambition every time. Never want to sign any quality players for the premier league.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

The space between our ears, seems to be the problem. We are a big city club, who should have been in the Premier league much more than we have been. But we’ve been out of the top league so long, we’ve become institutionalised into thinking like a lower league club. Our mind set is so geared to being a big fish in a small pond, we simply don’t know what to do when we get to the Premier league.

 

[Jake Richard Cuthbert]

All I want to see is United qualify for Europe just once and I won't care what league we are in after that.

 

[coaxingstar71]

I was bored one day and did an average of our league positions since we first entered the Football League in 1892 and our average position is 28th which in today's money would put us 8th in the Championship.

Our record pre 1934 brings that average up as we'd spent the previous 40 years in the First Division. It's been a bit more of a rollercoaster since then.

 

[Scarebus]

We aspire to gain promotion from whatever league we are in.

If we think we might struggle in the next highest league we shouldn't take the foot of the gas to avoid promotion.

I suppose we find our level depending on what players we have available.

We're already aspiring to gain promotion to the league were currently in. It never ends.

 

[bornablade]

The first 13 years of my supporting the Blades 10 of those were in the top flight.

Since 1976 (approx 45 years) we have spent 7 years in the top division.

Sometimes it's wise to see how others view us. Comments about us are often 'league one at best...' 'going down to their rightful place in the Championship' etc. etc.

There are clubs in the Premier league who all those years ago were not even in the same bracket as us and yet now are viewed by others with far more respect.

We cannot live on records from nearly 50 years ago .

Our support however deserves far far better. There are many people who have passed through our club who should be responsible for that.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

We belong wherever we happen to be in any particular season. It’s the same for all teams.

Football fans have a weird obsession with ‘belonging’ in particular divisions. Football is a meritocracy - you end up where you deserve to be. Tell that to pig fans too.

Agree with this.

But if you go of history, ourselves & Wednesday rank between 25th & 30th in the country on average over the last 50 years. So that gives you an idea. Top half of the second tier.

 

[Espania blade]

......... where do people think we belong?

Next season we will be in the Championship.

Maybe with a Serb, a Croat, a German, a Spanish manager - or maybe not.

However, is the Championship the proper place for us?

Does anyone think we belong in the Premiership?

Would we be struggling to stay there every season, or might we achieve a position where we could be daydreaming about Europe every season - well, at least, now and then?

Should we just accept we aren't a top team and we will only ever be in the Premier League for a season or two and then if, we are lucky, we'll yo-yo back and forth from the Championship keeping our coffers ticking over and fairly healthy. Hopefully, there will always be a good cup run to look forward to and a killing to be made in the transfer market with a sale of some home grown talent or players we have brought on with the intention of strengthening the team - yet again!

Maybe we should settle for yo-yoing between the Championship and League One or are we better than that? I would like to think so.

As I have posted this, I think it is a (fairly) interesting question, certainly for a fairly cold and boring Good Friday, anyway.

When I was much, much younger I was sold on the idea, with John Harris at the helm, that we were a solid First Division club never going to set the world alight but with the odd year or so spent in Division 2 - but things have not turned out that way.

I am intrigued as to how other posters view us and where they think our proper place is in the footballing world.

Happy Easter everyone.

"As I have posted this, I think it is a (fairly) interesting question, certainly for a fairly cold and boring Good Friday, anyway."

I Live in Spain where it is a beautiful sunny day, around 20+ deg' at the mo'

"Does anyone think we belong in the Premiership?"

We absolutely belong in the Prem' - if you own a business you should have drive and ambition to be the best you can be
(every solitary person should strive for this), - to be with competing with the elite of football is where we should be.

I'm off to the beach, have a nice weekend guys

 

[Bearlie]

"As I have posted this, I think it is a (fairly) interesting question, certainly for a fairly cold and boring Good Friday, anyway."

I Live in Spain where it is a beautiful sunny day, around 20+ deg' at the mo'

"Does anyone think we belong in the Premiership?"

We absolutely belong in the Prem' - if you own a business you should have drive and ambition to be the best you can be
(every solitary person should strive for this), - to be with competing with the elite of football is where we should be.

I'm off to the beach, have a nice weekend guys

I hope you get stung of a jelly fish

 

[Rufus Smalls]

This club has championship ambition every time. Never want to sign any quality players for the premier league.

Also, add to that we are not always ruthless enough to succeed. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but in 2006 when we were promoted to the Premiership it was obvious to everyone that Warnock wasn’t a Premiership standard manager and keeping him was a big mistake. But we were in the euphoria of an open top bus ride and had set our sights on the Promised Land. Maybe if we had replaced Warnock in January 2007 it would have saved us ? No one knows the answer. This time around maybe if we had replaced Chris earlier this season we could have survived ? Leicester won the league one season and ruthlessly sacked Ranieri the following January to save their Premiership survival. All the football community were up in arms about the sacking but, as it turned out, it was exactly the right thing to do for the good of the club.

I guess my point is that the club has to come first to the detriment of supporters and managers alike, even when the relationship between the two are as close as ours with Chris this season.

UTB !

 

[Blade.com]

To be brutally honest we did not build to get into the Premier league, we dropped lucky just like most clubs who get there do. Wilder dropped on with a strange system, the players really gelled and we got away with not too many injuries plus not too many brilliant teams.
We arrived and did not lay any foundations to stay. Bad signings, no quality ,too young , no players with previous Premier league experience and definitely no back up players of note. Maybe if; and a big if we get back we may do it differently. U T B.

 

[JackSUFC]

A club of our size should've had more top-flight football in the last 20-30 years.

When you look at some recent examples who've had sustained spells; Burnley, Brighton, Bournemouth, Palace, Stoke, Swansea, Watford etc there's no reason why we shouldn't have either.

 

[FMBlade1]

We should think Leicester.

Leicester were quite lucky to find some good owners, but they were incredibly smart with their recruitment and academy and deserved their success.

 

[JJBlade]

Depends whether you're talking historically or recently.

Historically every single bit a Premier League club

Last 40 years every bit a League One club who have been luckier than most League One clubs in respect that they've spent most of it underservingly in the Championship.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Naturally I think we a 15th to 35th side with some under and over performance thrown in periodically.

We won’t be a PL team for long if we don’t start acting like one, starting with paying PL wages to players. Transfer fees mean very little, wages do.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Depends whether you're talking historically or recently.

Historically every single bit a Premier League club

Last 40 years every bit a League One club who have been luckier than most League One clubs in respect that they've spent most of it underservingly in the Championship.

You think there are 44 clubs higher than United. There aren't. That's genuinely ridiculous

In fact it's utter bollocks

 

[Nine Inch Nalis]

There's no such thing as 'belonging' anywhere.