Did anyone ever think...

[blade too long]

Weir has brought one thing , total embarrassment

won our first game , against 10 men then drifted from bad to worse

37 games left to salvage our pride, dont let this man hamper any chance of improvement, the teams not a team , its disjointed shapeless and has no pattern

We have gone bottom on lack of goals scored, nottts county dipped but our ineptitude up front is dragging us to the seabed of the football ocean ,someone throw us a life raft

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

...they would see the day when Sheffield United would lose 6 successive games in the 3rd Division and be bottom of that division?

This is as low as the club has been in close on 125 years. He has to go.

Do you think it's the manager's fault ?

 

[metalblade]

Do you think it's the manager's fault ?

Yes

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Do you think it's the manager's fault ?

If some other fucker is picking only one up front name them

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Yes

Did he make Brandy miss that open goal ?

 

[blade too long]

yes, he trained him to take it on like that

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

If some other fucker is picking only one up front name them

true, but given that, surely a team of 11 professional footballers should be able to score a goal regardless if whatever system they're supposed to be playing.

 

[MobileBlade]

Just checked the relevant programme. Our lowest ever league position was 12th

You were right on both counts Darren. After we lost at Stockport on 21st Sept we were 11th but then Scunthorpe beat Hartlepool 2-1 on the 22nd and went above us and we dropped to 12. Our worst ever league position:


Played
Wins
Draws
Losses
Goals For
Goals Against
Points
AFC Bournemouth 5 4 1 0 7 1 13
Bradford City 5 3 1 1 17 9 10
Colchester United 5 3 1 1 11 3 10
Blackpool 5 2 3 0 10 3 9
Stockport County 5 3 0 2 8 6 9
Torquay United 4 3 0 1 4 4 9
Peterborough United 5 2 2 1 8 6 8
Aldershot 5 2 2 1 9 8 8
Hull City 5 2 2 1 7 6 8
Scunthorpe United 5 2 2 1 6 5 8
Bury 4 2 1 1 6 4 7
Sheffield United 5 2 1 2 5 5 7
Port Vale 4 1 3 0 3 2 6
Hartlepool United 5 2 0 3 7 9 6
York City 5 2 0 3 7 10 6
Hereford United 4 1 2 1 6 4 5
Mansfield Town 5 1 2 2 5 4 5
Wigan Athletic 4 1 1 2 7 7 4
Tranmere Rovers 5 1 1 3 3 8 4
Rochdale 5 1 1 3 4 11 4
Halifax Town 5 0 3 2 3 7 3
Darlington 5 0 3 2 4 10 3
Northampton Town 5 0 2 3 5 11 2
Crewe Alexandra 4 0 0 4 2 11 0

 

[Blade59]

Really struggling with this. I don't want to sack another manager but there comes a time when you have to say it's not working. Yes by all accounts we were better today for some of the game but despite this still no goals and no points. I agree with Deadbat that although the players are not the greatest they are mid table at worst. We probably have 4 or 5 who would get into most sides in this division. Any signs of improvement are negligible at the moment. We can't even say we have had bad luck or poor refereeing decisions that has contributed to our current position. If we continue to give him more time we will either turn out to be brave or foolish. All the evidence so far suggests the latter.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Really struggling with this. I don't want to sack another manager but there comes a time when you have to say it's not working. Yes by all accounts we were better today for some of the game but despite this still no goals and no points. I agree with Deadbat that although the players are not the greatest they are mid table at worst. We probably have 4 or 5 who would get into most sides in this division. Any signs of improvement are negligible at the moment. We can't even say we have had bad luck or poor refereeing decisions that has contributed to our current position. If we continue to give him more time we will either turn out to be brave or foolish. All the evidence so far suggests the latter.

Exactly my thoughts. If we were getting battered week in week out then fair enough but we aren't.

 

[Wards]

One more game for me before we can call it a day.

I'm clinging onto the hope that one win could breed massive confidence in what he's trying to get across to the players. We have a pretty good bunch IMO (maybe except for the two fullbacks) and a standard of player that's FAR better than 24th in the 3rd Division. We could really do without chopping yet another manager and all the upheaval that brings with it.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Exactly my thoughts. If we were getting battered week in week out then fair enough but we aren't.

Understand where you're coming from but here's the thing.....

If they can't score a goal, they're never going to win a game. The biggest deficiency on display is the most fundamental requirement of a football team.

 

[Sirius]

Really struggling with this. I don't want to sack another manager but there comes a time when you have to say it's not working. Yes by all accounts we were better today for some of the game but despite this still no goals and no points. I agree with Deadbat that although the players are not the greatest they are mid table at worst. We probably have 4 or 5 who would get into most sides in this division. Any signs of improvement are negligible at the moment. We can't even say we have had bad luck or poor refereeing decisions that has contributed to our current position. If we continue to give him more time we will either turn out to be brave or foolish. All the evidence so far suggests the latter.

Four or five may be good enough,as you say, to get in any team. Would someone care to name them?
My concern is that some others are not up to playing professional football ,no matter which formation is adopted

 

[oldblade]

Crawley scored 16 goals at coventry???
Fuck me we are in trouble

We were in trouble before they did that.

 

[oldblade]

Four or five may be good enough,as you say, to get in any team. Would someone care to name them?
My concern is that some others are not up to playing professional football ,no matter which formation is adopted

Well the back four (plus goalkeeper) were the second tightest defence in this division last season. They have not changed. That's 5 for a start. I would also suggest Baxter might get into most sides. That's 6. Brandy would also probably figure in most third division sides.

 

[Blade59]

Four or five may be good enough,as you say, to get in any team. Would someone care to name them?
My concern is that some others are not up to playing professional football ,no matter which formation is adopted

Long, Maguire Baxter, Brandy, Cuvelier, possibly King

 

[Selly]

Did he make Brandy miss that open goal ?

The fact that this is pretty much the only example of a game changing "error" in the oppositions penalty area that anyone can think of is rather indicative of our problem...

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

The fact that this is pretty much the only example of a game changing "error" in the oppositions penalty area that anyone can think of is rather indicative of our problem...

But, he scores, we win, confidence improves, we may have kicked on. Small margins.

 

[gavtheblade]

Whens the cricket season start?

 

[bladesadviser]

But it all assumes that Weir is going to be a good manager. We have no idea as he has got no track record. If we had poached him from another club after he had just got promotion from league 2 or the conference and it wasn't working for us I would be tempted to give him more time as it clearly worked for him before. All we have is that he worked with Moyes who in other news is being found out at a higher level.

The other thing is that we seem to be prepared to give him more time because he is a "name". If we had promoted "David Pier" from within the club who lived at Lowedges he would have been gone 4 games ago

Finally not every decent player makes it as a manager I think we have got Bobby Charlton not Jack Charlton

 

[grafikhaus]

true, but given that, surely a team of 11 professional footballers should be able to score a goal regardless if whatever system they're supposed to be playing.

And that brings us to the crux of the problem. Do teams at our level actually need what is often laughably called a 'manager'?

The carousel keeps turning because it's always been done that way. So we have serial failures like Phil Brown and Brian Laws etc. keeping TV studio seats warm, just waiting for the next desperate club to do something/anything.

Nigel Clough is just the latest. On the Football League Show they were incredulous that a man with a win ratio of 33% could be sacked!

Dave Jones is a dead man walking, as is Dougie Freedman. But don't worry, they'll pocket the compo and jump back on the carousel in a few months.

And I never bought into the David Moyes myth. 13 years at one of the biggest clubs in the land with nothing won is a fucking disgrace but 'he achieved miracles working within a tight budget.' Utter bollocks.

So what is the 'new way'? Just a thought, a management team making collegiate decisions with no one man in overall control. Fitness/conditioning coach, tactical guru, ace spotter of available & upcoming talent etc. People say 'But who will pick the team?' For a 7-figure sum, I fucking will!

No it's not perfect, but we and others surely can't carry on with the 'manager system' when the vast majority are clueless tossers and rely on the law of averages to keep them employed.

 

[judge]

Quite a few people on here predicted a relagation battle after we capitulated last season , I thought they were overreacting but here we are

 

[Blade59]

But, he scores, we win, confidence improves, we may have kicked on. Small margins.

I keep thinking if we could just score and get in front we may build some confidence and kick on. However we did that at Rotherham and quite the opposite happened.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

But, he scores, we win, confidence improves, we may have kicked on. Small margins.

I really wish we could start doing this but I think you're clutching at straws believing it could happen. How long do we wait? I was all for giving him reasonable time but we have to pick up at least a few points in the meantime. We're getting nothing at the moment and will be cut a drift by next month if it carries on.

 

[VespaBlade]

I think that one of the problems some fans have with the 'Give him longer' school of thought is that with all the names linked with us and debated about over the summer is that Weir was a bit of a Godsend at the time and the majority of us was happy with the appointment.

I never wanted Morgan or anyone with no experience but the relief that we had not got some of the other names was felt by a lot of people and I felt like we were onto a winner with DW2.
The propaganda we got about from the club about how he nearly managed Everton and is outstanding as young coach with contacts and experience as a player was swallowed up by most of us (some against I know).
Even tho he had no experienceas a manager!!

I was personally relieved to get him as I became confident and after the first win I though maybe...just maybe..we might do well.

As an aside I never thought that we would get a manager with a worse record than Micky Adams but here we are 3 seasons later in an even worse state.

A couple of games ago I would probably of said give him another month or so to see if he can get his players to gel and get some confidence etc.

However, while I dont want UTD to be a sacking club I feel that this guy has run his course. If we had got some of the managers linked with us in the close season they would of been out cos we would of been more viciferous in trying to get shut. He has had a longer honeymoon period and some people still want him to have a chance.

If there had been signs of improvement I would of said don't pull the trigger yet. Wait a bit longer mebbe.
But there isn't, won't be, so GET RID NOW.

Problem then is who would we get next? And who would want it?

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

One more game for me before we can call it a day.

Yep, I said that last night and I genuinely feel the majority will get their wish if he doesn't win next Friday. We are bottom now and another poor result will surely give the board no alternative. Anyone in their right mind would have to react to that situation.

 

[BladeFisher]

Quite a few people on here predicted a relagation battle after we capitulated last season , I thought they were overreacting but here we are

Well we're not in a relegation battle yet, but it is clear we are in ruddy mess and above all that what is being tried now is not working. Only one poster on here thinks it is fine, but there you go.

If something isn't working there comes a point when you have to try something else. Weir is only just failing, losing games by the odd goal or sometimes two, but he is clearly not getting the team to score goals. That is most likely the problem, so why hasn't this supr guru worked that out? 20% of the way through the season and we are just 'unlucky'. Yeah we are but this is a multi-million pound bussiness Davey, sort it out, get help, change the plan and if you're clueless, resign gracefully and fuck off.

Dragging a club like Sheffield United down to League 2 when investment has been made and is available is not an option. You need to grow some balls admit you need a plan B, implement it or call it a day.