We've Changed....

[Cheshire Cat]

... and I'm not sure that I like it.

We're shit, we know we are - but we seem resolutely unwilling to just enjoy being Blades.

Having a number of idle beers with City fans during the week after their demolition of Man Utd last Sunday I couldn't help reminding them of the days they were at Macclesfield. It was then that I remembered that when they were completely down and out, despite having a thoroughly shite team on the pitch they still loved their players - warts and all. That was why I took to City fans at that time, it's how I remember growing up watching United. Loving Bob Atkins, having a soft-spot for Brian Smith's sliced clearances, elevating Booker to god-like status and generally having a laugh.

Right now it's almost like we take offence if someone has the temerity to have a bad game for us. How dare they play for us and not be world class? A poor game - banish them from the club!

Not suggesting that we should accept shit as a long-term way of life at all. But let's at least enjoy being Blades.

 

[Highbury_Blade]

In the old days Bob booker didn't earn 10k a week though. He earned more than the average guy, but not massive amounts more.

 

[SwissBlade]

In the old days Bob booker didn't earn 10k a week though. He earned more than the average guy, but not massive amounts more.

But isn't this the price we had to pay to get the players in. Since when did the fans care about wages a player earns?

Just because a player earns 10k and another 2k it doesn't mean that we should judge them any differently IMO

 

[Bladesman]

... and I'm not sure that I like it.

We're shit, we know we are - but we seem resolutely unwilling to just enjoy being Blades.

Having a number of idle beers with City fans during the week after their demolition of Man Utd last Sunday I couldn't help reminding them of the days they were at Macclesfield. It was then that I remembered that when they were completely down and out, despite having a thoroughly shite team on the pitch they still loved their players - warts and all. That was why I took to City fans at that time, it's how I remember growing up watching United. Loving Bob Atkins, having a soft-spot for Brian Smith's sliced clearances, elevating Booker to god-like status and generally having a laugh.

Right now it's almost like we take offence if someone has the temerity to have a bad game for us. How dare they play for us and not be world class? A poor game - banish them from the club!

Not suggesting that we should accept shit as a long-term way of life at all. But let's at least enjoy being Blades.

The money players get has changed the way we think of them and fans cant relate to players as much anymore. The problem with some of our squad it looks like some are not always giving 100% and fans struggle to back any player that doesn't look that bothered. That is why a lot of hate was directed at certain players last season as many had thrown the towel in before we were even mathematically relegated.

 

[judge]

Wonder how much george long is on

 

[madeinsheffield]

Wonder how much george long is on

Well it's not as if he can spend it on beer, gambling or in strip joints, not until next week anyway!!

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Football went all hollywood and as a result has lost its basic values.

It stopped being a sport and became an entertainment business.

Attitudes towards it have evolved as a result.

Its entirely about money and image now, which has made anything less than a win unacceptable.

 

[raul]

Quality theme for a thread CC.

I actually think the fans are trying - the atmos pre-match outside the pub at Orient was superior to Wembley imo - but then, the game starts, and..........meh. Ever since I can remember, and probably before that, there's always been someone identifiable as a cult hero who gets the fans up and singing, but these past few years I can't think of anyone who has either made me quicken my step up Bramall Lane at 2 to 3 or even so much as made me smile at the thought of them. Another symptom of over-reliance on loaness I'm afraid.

 

[Kenilworth]

World class? WORLD CLASS!
I'd happily settle for standard class. Trouble is that many of them fall well below that level.

Unfortunately, me old cheesy grin, you cannot separate the money issue from the modern day footballer.
They are pretty much all mercenaries who play to the tune of the highest bidder, that's the game these days.
No longer are they working class heroes - that all went down the pan as soon as the premier league formed.
Expectations are raised to much greater heights and salaries are a measure of expectation. With that comes responsibility to perform at a certain level on a consistent basis.
When they don't the frustration rises and people, quite rightly, moan about it.

Citeh's sojourn in the third division was a one off for them - a bit like our journey to the 4th division, which so many of us actually enjoyed, tremendously.
I suspect a large dose of the derision vented these days is as a result of deja vu or more accurately for a lot of us, deja vecu.

---------- Post added at 12:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 PM ----------

Well it's not as if he can spend it on beer, gambling or in strip joints, not until next week anyway!!

Are you sure he didn't do that on Friday night last week?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Quality theme for a thread CC.

I actually think the fans are trying - the atmos pre-match outside the pub at Orient was superior to Wembley imo - but then, the game starts, and..........meh. Ever since I can remember, and probably before that, there's always been someone identifiable as a cult hero who gets the fans up and singing, but these past few years I can't think of anyone who has either made me quicken my step up Bramall Lane at 2 to 3 or even so much as made me smile at the thought of them. Another symptom of over-reliance on loaness I'm afraid.

I think that's my point - the first year I started going on my own rather than with my old man was the year we got relegated to division 3 under McEwan and Bassett. I can't remember getting excited about seeing any of the players play (I think Beagrie was as good as it got that year, and once you'd seen him beat, unbeat, beat again and then get tackled once you soon got bored) but I loved the atmosphere and the mickey-taking.

Granted, paying £20+ as opposed to £5 or £6 makes you think differently about what's on display. The feeling being part of a bunch of blokes from Sheffield out to have some fun is what went missing. It breaks out in patches, but it's far less prevalent than laying into the good for nothing crap on the pitch. I've seen good for nothing crap on the pitch at the Lane for as long as I remember, but in the last 3 seasons moaning about it has taken the place of laughing about it.

Great days and nights watching the Blades have been when the shirt is all that has mattered to those in the stand and on the pitch - Hillsborough in 92, Leicester in '90 and the games against Leeds in 02-03. Those great moments when we're all in it together. I can't see that returning whilst people are more concerned about whether those on the pitch are good enough to wear it. That makes me feel that we've lost something.

 

[Tuns]

Football and supporting football aint as enjoyable for more reasons that I can be bothered mentioning but it is not related to us being crap at the moment.

I noticed how much things had changed about being a Blade when Warnock took us up.

I know it was different circs but the celebrations and emotions were nothing like the last time we went up to the top flight. And similarly the atmosphere at away games was generally 10 times better in the Bassett season.

You can't keep chipping away at what makes the game so special and not expect things change.

Football has been over sanitised (if there is such a term) driven crazen by greed, lost its roots and even the light blue three wheelers have gone.

Little annoys me more than the mantra that any price is worth paying as we now have the best league in the world and the best players coming here.

So what? That means nothing to me in terms of enjoyment as fan.My best times as a Blade and the reason I went (and occasionally still do) have nowt to do with all that at all.

 

[puppet]

Football and supporting football aint as enjoyable for more reasons that I can be bothered mentioning but it is not related to us being crap at the moment.

I noticed how much things had changed about being a Blade when Warnock took us up.

I know it was different circs but the celebrations and emotions were nothing like the last time we went up to the top flight. And similarly the atmosphere at away games was generally 10 times better in the Bassett season.

You can't keep chipping away at what makes the game so special and not expect things change.

Football has been over sanitised (if there is such a term) driven crazen by greed, lost its roots and even the light blue three wheelers have gone.

Little annoys me more than the mantra that any price is worth paying as we now have the best league in the world and the best players coming here.

So what? That means nothing to me in terms of enjoyment as fan.My best times as a Blade and the reason I went (and occasionally still do) have nowt to do with all that at all.

People moaned in the mid 70s when we went from our scopesesque 1pt off Euro qualification to hopeless under Furphy, Sirrel... John Hassall... ad infinitum. Maybe we'd have some crowd rousers if they didnt get booed every five minutes?

 

[stannyblade]

Maybe we'd have some crowd rousers if they didnt get booed every five minutes?

I sat on the south stand on saturday and there was a bloke on there who slagged Monty from start to finish even when he did find a man he slagged him off.

 

[TopBoy]

I've been thinking about this topic recently after reading a great article in the excellent When Saturday Comes, here's the first paragraph;

There are five ages to being a football fan. In Age One, you are wide-eyed innocent in your fathers wake, awestruck at every kick, scream and swearword. In the Second Age, you are the young teenager at the game his mates, gleefully and liberally squawking those saem swearwords. In Age Three, in your late teens and early 20's, you are the detached, Iaconic observer, trying to pretend that you don't care by laughing at your teams failures, all the while hurting underneath.
In the Fourth Agre, now perhaps a family man in your 30's and 40's you prefer to sit and analyse, making frequent references to players and games from the past. You have reached peak wisdom, because in Age Five , as you hit middle age and beyond, you feel your loyality and longevity entitle you to do and say whatever the hell you want.

 

[bricktop]

When i grew up, i worshipped players like Keith Edwards, Colin Morris, Tony Agana, Brian Deane, Simon Tracey, Carl Bradshaw, Mitch Ward, Billy Whitehurst, Bob Booker and the like.

The difference is back in those days, they came across as being Blades and having a bond with the club and it's supporters and went out there with a bit of passion for the club, sad to say it but you can't really say that about any of the current crop of players, with maybe the exception of Monty and maybe Stephen Quinn.

What really got me fucking angry last season was after we got beaten at home to Middlesborough, i received a call at about half 7 from someone who was on a train going back to London, telling me Marcus Bent was sat in first class with a attractive blonde female, laughing, joking and drinking champagne. This was after a match where the final nail was almost in the coffin, and a player we had on loan, was paying in excess of £10k a week, really couldn't give a toss about what had happened that day on the pitch. Call it pride, professional dignity or whatever you want, but when the club employed players who behave like that, it ruins the bond between supporter and club.

 

[Kenilworth]

Didn't realise Olle travelled first class

By the way - met Keith Edwards and Carl Bradshaw on Satdi. Top Blades, Top Blokes. Real pleasure to talk to.

Met Simon Tracey 20 year ago, on me stag night, in Napoleons on Eccy Road. He was quiet but accommodating enough - probably concentrating on pissing his wages up the wall.

 

[ponteblade]

For me brian robson said it in that tv program the other week, he said "football stopped been a game when Sky took over" and who can argue with that?
They tell them when they can play, you used to love going home finding out how other teams around you had got on. but now it could be monday befor they play, or Friday night or early or late on a Saturday barmy, just to make there viewing figures rate.

And then with these big money men coming in, it's just a matter who has most money on who will win the title, I remember when Blackburn first did it most folk were up in arms saying they bought it, now thats all they all do who as the drrpest pockets win the trophy, thats why it's changed imo.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Everything seems better when you remember it.

In 20 years time people will be looking back and longing for the great days of football circa 2011.

 

[Darren]

Everything seems better when you remember it.

In 20 years time people will be looking back and longing for the great days of football circa 2011.

True. When I was a kid in the 70's, people were always going on about fototballers being overpaid at £100 a week and hankering for the good all days when players had short back and sides and there was none of this kissing and cuddling malrarkey.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Everything seems better when you remember it.

In 20 years time people will be looking back and longing for the great days of football circa 2011.

I agree with you to a point - my difference being that until recently Shit players were Shit players, but they were OUR Shit players. Now everyone seems to take it as a personal affront that someone has a bad game or that a new player's career doesn't take off as we'd hoped.

 

[Tuns]

Everything seems better when you remember it.

In 20 years time people will be looking back and longing for the great days of football circa 2011.

Maybe that's cos everything's getting worse.

 

[Kenilworth]

Yep CC - that's when the players felt like "OURs"
That's back in the day when we probably felt the club was kind of ours as well - when gate receipts were pretty much the measure of a clubs ability to compete in the transfer market.
Now we all know that the fans, at least for Champ clubs and Prem clubs, are less of a proportion of the turnover than before. Clubs couldn't sustain the playing staff they hold without the extra from TV revenues and benevolent board members. The market has widened, globalised and the product is so much more commercial nowadays.

Players are now beholden to their agents or just themselves. They are far more removed from the fans. In some cases they clearly think themselves bigger than the club.
As fans we have an allegiance for life - they have one for the duration of a contract or when it suits them if the carrot is dangled.

I am convinced that it is this lack of identity with the players that drives people to be more critical. It also reflects society as a whole.
We are far less tolerant across many aspects of life - in some ways this is good since standards are raised - in football it manifests itself in the frustration that boils over when expectations are not met.

I agree that there is less of an atmosphere than there used to be - less positive support - a large factor in that is seating. Standing allows people to mingle and form groups and sets the songs going much more than the static arrangement of the same seat for every game. That's where some of the soul has gone from football. It's compartmentalised, commercialised, productised, regimented, isolated and neutered - No longer spontaneous, unpredictable, creative or impulsive. We are all much poorer for it.

 

[Oreyt]

I actually think the fans are trying - the atmos pre-match outside the pub at Orient was superior to Wembley imo

I was enjoying myself. Although in the crush at the bar with half an hour to go, my compadres managed to get 3 pints of Guinness and 3 bottles of Speckled Hen. I'm still gassy now

Imagine how good a day it would have been if Simmo hadn't tried to look like he was to scoring a slam dunk -

 

[shorehamview]

When i grew up, i worshipped players like Keith Edwards, Colin Morris, Tony Agana, Brian Deane, Simon Tracey, Carl Bradshaw, Mitch Ward, Billy Whitehurst, Bob Booker and the like.

The difference is back in those days, they came across as being Blades and having a bond with the club and it's supporters and went out there with a bit of passion for the club, sad to say it but you can't really say that about any of the current crop of players, with maybe the exception of Monty and maybe Stephen Quinn.

This hits the nail squarely on the head. When was the last time anyone had a chat with a current Blades player out in normal person land, away from the lane, as one "normal" person to another?

The majority of players may choose to live away from Sheffield - that's their business - but they also seem detatched from the reality of life too. The last Player Of The Year dinner I went to showed how much they've changed - the players had their own seperate roped off VIP area, a change from when each table of fans had a player sat at it.

The majority of the players seem to view it as just a job these days. That's not just United, that seems to be the same throughout the professional ranks. They are very rich young men, many of whom confirm to the thick and rich stereotype. But can they be blamed for taking the riches on offer? No. Could they give more of a shit about it? Yes.

 

[alcoblade]

Whilst there's no doubt that football (on and off the pitch) has changed, there's something else which has fundametally altered which alters the way we view the game. Our age. Much of the analysis of the way the fan / club relationship has altered can be put down the the sad old fact about gettig older.

It's much easier, amongst othe things, to worship men twice your age than it is to worship men half your age.



---------- Post added at 06:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 PM ----------

Everything seems better when you remember it.

In 20 years time people will be looking back and longing for the great days of football circa 2011.

This.

UTB

 

[bricktop]

I can only think of a couple of players over the last few years who i have been able to have a chat with as normal human being talking to each others.

One was Leigh Bromby who i bumped in to on my stag night at Owlerton who was with the Watford team who had played the Blades that day and was staying up north, spent a good 20 minutes talking to him, and he was a top bloke.

The other was Neil Shipperley who i used to see a lot at work, and if i wasn't busy i'd sit down and have a good natter with him, absolute top bloke.

 

[tonytonycurrie]

Dear Marge

I've always been a Blade since childhood (Hodgkinson days) when my old man used to take me. Was born on Moor Street, so BDTBL was only a spit away. By the time I was a teenager, the Old man had stopped going so it was the Kop for me with my mates and the people who always stood in the same square yard of the Kop, week after week. I remember way back then having the feeling that sometimes, the club, board and Mr Laver had horribly let down the fans, but you'd be over it by the next game. I remember back then, my old man telling me that United were a selling club and had no ambition for the top flight, the board's only interest in selling top players to make the dividend a lot more profitable each year. He told me that the reason he stopped going was that he was fed up up of being let down so often.

Didn't mean much to me back then until they stabbed Harry Basset in the back after taking the club back to the top flight. Since then, it's been deja Vue. In recent times, worse than ever - hated the way they shat all over Warnock. WTF can't we have top flight football in Yorkshire? Beats the shit outta me. WTF can clubs like Bolton and Blackburn survive all these years? Norwich for fucks sake, population of nearly nowt!

Not much else I can say. I thought Mcabe was really going to make a difference but it's all ended up in the shit once again

 

[Kenilworth]

Bolton and Blackburn both have/had rich benefactors.

Norwich is well supported as it's the only club for a large catchment area so face little competition for local resources - suggest they have just been better managed than us over the years as well.

Nobody's got two beans to rub together in Sheffield. McCabe is about as wealthy as it gets - and he had to go somewhere else to earn it.
Just that his wad is not as big as Jack Walkers or Phil Gartside.

Used to be "weer thers muck, thers brass" now it's more of a case of "weer thers muck, thers more muck"

 

[Bladesway]

Its quite simple, it went from being a game to being a business first and foremost. Fans became consumers and when you are a consumer you view the "product" in a different way. When you pay a few quid for it you don't mind it being a bit shit and raggedy arsed around the sides. When you are spunking £30 out and seeing players paid more in a week than some people see in a year then it gets your goat a bit. Tack onto that we shouldn't have ever slipped down this particular slope to where we are and you add to that anger.

I actually think our fans have always said it as they saw it. Its what makes us different to that shower over in S6. We have never taken it lying down and if we see shit we point it out pretty quickly. Hence we don't get 25k for games because people vote with their feet. We never were lemmings and its only those with poor memories that forget the poisonous atmosphere at the end of the Porterfield era, McEwan era and Bassett era in particular.

Roll all that together with a chairman who has gone to play hide and seek and you quickly generate anger. Right now I don't actually think things are that bad considering how bad many predicted it would be at the start of the season. We have a few issues but nothing that can't be sorted with a couple of players back from injury and a couple of new faces in January.

 

[Darren]

Bolton and Blackburn both have/had rich benefactors.

Norwich is well supported as it's the only club for a large catchment area so face little competition for local resources - suggest they have just been better managed than us over the years as well.

Nobody's got two beans to rub together in Sheffield. McCabe is about as wealthy as it gets - and he had to go somewhere else to earn it.
Just that his wad is not as big as Jack Walkers or Phil Gartside.

Used to be "weer thers muck, thers brass" now it's more of a case of "weer thers muck, thers more muck"

And also Norwich have had a pretty similar record to us over the last 17 years

Norwich: PL 2 seasons Champ: 14 seasons L1 1 season
SUFC: PL 1 season Champ: 15 seasons L1 1 season.