Have we been spoilt recently as a fanbase?

[robbiez666]

Yes, you read that correctly.

I've been supporting them since Porterfield and this is by far and away the most successful period I've seen at the club.

Since Wilder first took over we've had:

winning L1
Good shy and top half Championship
Automatic promotion from the Championship
Top half Premier League finish
Relegation
Play-offs after a terrible start
Promotion
relegation
play-off final

Now, compared to those clubs doing well in the EPL we've obviously failed, but relatively speaking we're in a good period to be fans.

And even before Wilder took over we had some good cup runs to celebrate, even if the league finish didn't match.

I think we need to take a step back and appreciate the change at the club. The amount of money we've spent on players. The type of players we can attract.

Also take a step back and think that if there is a change of approach/management etc then it's highly unlikely it will be successful straight away. Brentford were at it for years before they went up.

I think expectations have shifted to expect promotion when not so long ago getting to the top flight was a pipe dream.

 

[Frank the tank]

Yes

 

[Geordie Blade]

In the last 23 seasons, we’ve finished in the top half of our league 19 times.

Whatever the ups and downs of being a Blade, we definitely have a lot more good days out than bad.

 

[Gordon Freeman]

In the last 23 seasons, we’ve finished in the top half of our league 19 times.

Whatever the ups and downs of being a Blade, we definitely have a lot more good days out than bad.

That's putting somewhat of a postiive spin on things. Over the same period, we've been one of the top 20 best supported clubs in the country. We spent 6 of those 23 years in League One, and the vast majority of the rest of them in the second tier, and the story doesn't get much better if you add another 23 years on top!

We've been consistently mismanaged at board level for along as I can recall (and that's not a slight on the current lot, who are still very much in the the "too early to tell..." phase).

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Without a doubt ..particularly a lot of the newer fans that we picked up since the start of Wilder mk1 era .. Christ if they’d some of the shite we had in the 80s they’d be suicidal

 

[skegblade]

That's putting somewhat of a postiive spin on things. Over the same period, we've been one of the top 20 best supported clubs in the country. We spent 6 of those 23 years in League One, and the vast majority of the rest of them in the second tier, and the story doesn't get much better if you add another 23 years on top!

We've been consistently mismanaged at board level for along as I can recall (and that's not a slight on the current lot, who are still very much in the the "too early to tell..." phase).

Very positive spin,forgot to mrntion,lucky wins ,weve hardly been feared ,less so dominant
A club as well supported shouldnt have been in league 1 for as long as we were
Ist prem season was ok
Wont mention 2nd

 

[diode_blade]

I don't think spoilt. Just being a blade ain't it.
Ya take the highs with the lows...( Poss more lows).
At the end of the day though, I always look to the positive side of things.
Ya can go through life moaning about shit, but for me, although not been back to Lane since 2016, my own reasons for me to keep.
It's about a balance in life now.
Just one thing though

"Once a Blade, always a blade"

I blame the.midwife that lost my one and.omly braincell. Sheffield was gorgeous though.

 

[The Bohemian]

Yes, you read that correctly.

I've been supporting them since Porterfield and this is by far and away the most successful period I've seen at the club.

Since Wilder first took over we've had:

winning L1
Good shy and top half Championship
Automatic promotion from the Championship
Top half Premier League finish
Relegation
Play-offs after a terrible start
Promotion
relegation
play-off final

Now, compared to those clubs doing well in the EPL we've obviously failed, but relatively speaking we're in a good period to be fans.

And even before Wilder took over we had some good cup runs to celebrate, even if the league finish didn't match.

I think we need to take a step back and appreciate the change at the club. The amount of money we've spent on players. The type of players we can attract.

Also take a step back and think that if there is a change of approach/management etc then it's highly unlikely it will be successful straight away. Brentford were at it for years before they went up.

I think expectations have shifted to expect promotion when not so long ago getting to the top flight was a pipe dream.

In Sheffield United context we’ve had a great nine years since Wilder Mk I arrived in 2016. Four promotions, two champion play-offs, an FA Cup semi-final and unbeaten in six games v the Pigs (who haven’t scored against us since 2017!). In the 2019 promotion season we arguably played the most entertaining football since the Harris era. So many great moments and maybe my most exciting time as a Blade.

 

[Beans]

It's very rarely dull. Honestly this season has probably seen as much discussion about boredom as any and we got to a bloomin playoff final.

Can't recall it exactly but I think I saw Revolution point out before that we don't do mediocre bottom-half finishes - in the last 25 years or so we're either top half (which in our case generally means at least a tilt at making the playoffs) or relegated.

Plus there's the cup runs and all the off-field bumpf we've gone through in that timespan. Pound for pound you could make a case we're one of the most interesting teams to support.

I'd just like to win one bloody playoff final and then I'm good

 

[robbiez666]

Without a doubt ..particularly a lot of the newer fans that we picked up since the start of Wilder mk1 era .. Christ if they’d some of the shite we had in the 80s they’d be suicidal

Newer fans might give a little shudder if you mention the name David Weir but not when you say the name Adrian Heath!

 

[Geordie Blade]

It's very rarely dull. Honestly this season has probably seen as much discussion about boredom as any and we got to a bloomin playoff final.

Can't recall it exactly but I think I saw Revolution point out before that we don't do mediocre bottom-half finishes - in the last 25 years or so we're either top half (which in our case generally means at least a tilt at making the playoffs) or relegated.

Plus there's the cup runs and all the off-field bumpf we've gone through in that timespan. Pound for pound you could make a case we're one of the most interesting teams to support.

I'd just like to win one bloody playoff final and then I'm good

In the last 23 seasons:

4 promotions
7 play offs
8 top half but not play offs (including 1 in the Prem)
0 bottom half but not relegated
4 relegations

Very positive spin,forgot to mrntion,lucky wins ,weve hardly been feared ,less so dominant
A club as well supported shouldnt have been in league 1 for as long as we were
Ist prem season was ok
Wont mention 2nd

“OK”? If you think a European push until the last few weeks was ‘ok’, I’d love to know how you’d define ‘great’.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

If we had won one or more of the PL, FA Cup, CL, league cup, UEFA cup then yes. We haven’t, so no.

 

[Beans]

In the last 23 seasons:

4 promotions
7 play offs
8 top half but not play offs (including 1 in the Prem)
0 bottom half but not relegated
4 relegations




“OK”? If you think a European push until the last few weeks was ‘ok’, I’d love to know how you’d define ‘great’.

And of those 7 top half but not playoffs seasons (excluding the 9th place finish in the Prem), from memory we finished 8th a couple of times under Warnock, one under Blackwell and almost stormed to the playoffs* from lowly positions under Blackwell and Clough. There was only really the Adkins 11th place season that feels like a true dead season that I can recall. And that led to the club "bottoming out" and entering the most successful period in recent history.

* I just checked and we finished 9th the year Blackwell took over, but were in contention for a playoff spot on the final day - might even have temporarily been 6th when we took the lead at Southampton.

 

[Bladesman]

Relatively to other clubs in our division and below I'd say yes to some degree.

We needed to get out of League 1 when we did, that is what saved us to some degree. The gap between the haves and have not's is widening and forcing our way back to the PL when we did means we are better off than many clubs.

 

[loyalblade95]

In Sheffield United context we’ve had a great nine years since Wilder Mk I arrived in 2016. Four promotions, two champion play-offs, an FA Cup semi-final and unbeaten in six games v the Pigs (who haven’t scored against us since 2017!). In the 2019 promotion season we arguably played the most entertaining football since the Harris era. So many great moments and maybe my most exciting time as a Blade.

Even in the 2/3 years pre Wilder Mk I, 2 domestic cup semi finals (2014 FA Cup and 2015 League Cup).

 

[georgebernardshaw]

Even in the 2/3 years pre Wilder Mk I, 2 domestic cup semi finals (2014 FA Cup and 2015 League Cup).

FA Cup Semi Final v Leicester with 2 replays in 1961 (?), the year Spurs did the League and Cup double and didn’t sack their manager.

 

[bonobo]

Yep, starting as a blade the end of the 70s, this has defiantly been our best spell in my time. There has been a clear progression to where we are now. We have never even been a yo you team in that time, generally just a mid table champ team. I just think that the yo-yo status, is also the one that wears most on fans, even though in theory it should be a lot of fun.

 

[Stretch]

I have tried making this very point to the doom and gloom merchants recently, but some people can't see the wood for the trees.

Admittedly we have bottled a lot of big moments over the years, and most of them have been play offs, but we have also overcome a lot of challenges, often against the odds and proved a lot of doubters wrong.

Everyone has become so obsessed with becoming established in the PL nowadays that they can't look beyond that as a mark of success, but we have been reasonably successful in the grand scheme of things. Most other clubs in the football pyramid would gladly take half of what we have done in recent years.

 

[FMBlade1]

Most other clubs in the football pyramid would gladly take half of what we have done in recent years.

Respectfully any club can say this.

Sheffield United fans can say at least we are not Carlisle, Carlisle fans can say at least we're not Southend, Southend fans can say at least we're not Burry, Bury fans can say at least we're not Scarborough and so on.

 

[Stretch]

Respectfully any club can say this.

Sheffield United fans can say at least we are not Carlisle, Carlisle fans can say at least we're not Southend, Southend fans can say at least we're not Burry, Bury fans can say at least we're not Scarborough and so on.

Well yes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that we have done pretty well of late.

Admittedly it is very frustrating that we could have done even better, had we made the most of a few golden opportunities.

 

[FMBlade1]

Well yes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that we have done pretty well of late.

Admittedly it is very frustrating that we could have done even better, had we made the most of a few golden opportunities.

Using that Manchester United fans shouldn't be too upset considering they have done very well compared to most clubs over the past 20 years.

 

[Stretch]

Using that Manchester United fans shouldn't be too upset considering they have done very well compared to most clubs over the past 20 years.

Well I suppose it is all relative. Many of their fans will experienced them being the dominant team on the planet for around 2 decades. That must breed a special kind of entitlement. It probably explains the mindset of many older Liverpool fans during their "leaner" spells, pre Klopp.

 

[skegblade]

In the last 23 seasons:

4 promotions
7 play offs
8 top half but not play offs (including 1 in the Prem)
0 bottom half but not relegated
4 relegations




“OK”? If you think a European push until the last few weeks was ‘ok’, I’d love to know how you’d define ‘great’.

We were never getting near europe, the last fixtures of the season we had left to play completely showed that. Just driven hype by local media and pundits
If we were so close as you suggest it mskeswhat happened the following year even more unacceptable,that team in europe would have been demolished

 

[Chimpan-A]

Yep, starting as a blade the end of the 70s, this has defiantly been our best spell in my time. There has been a clear progression to where we are now. We have never even been a yo you team in that time, generally just a mid table champ team. I just think that the yo-yo status, is also the one that wears most on fans, even though in theory it should be a lot of fun.

I think that what has happened this season with the bottom 3 in the Prem league has contextualised last season for me. If we had gone up again, I would’ve been accepting that we would have a terrible season and come back down, and maybe the laughing-stock thing wouldn’t be hanging over us because, well, that’s what happens to promoted sides.
Worth going up for a) a win at Wembley and b) the financial stability.

 

[Davalon]

Have we over-achieved in that time? Maybe once over a two year period.

The rest we've either probably achieved par or worse.

What we've done is exactly what we should be aspiring to do as a minimum.

Spoilt? Nah.

 

[ColinHill]

personally i think we've been spoiled, yes. In addition to the on the whole positive seasons we've also had the chance to watch some really good footballers:

• Norwood
• MGW
• Iliman
• McAtee
• Berge
• Henderson
• Beattie
• Evans in that L1 season
• Speed
• McCall (for 1 season)
• Gordon Cowens 30 years back was a joy to watch
• Plus all the good academy lads

I think its been on the whole a very good enjoyable 25/30 years as a blade.

 

[Badger Blade]

Relative to being in League One, we've experienced success far beyond what we'd ever expected when John Fleck scored at Northampton and O'Connell's header against Ipswich two years later. Realistically, after Wilder's first season in charge, we'd have been happy with being a Preston-type club, bobbing about the Championship for a bit after being stuck in League One for so long.

I think since Wilder's first spell there are times where we have been spoilt, especially in 19/20 where we saw what our players were capable of and daring to believe that we could actually become Premier League mainstays and flirt with Europe, akin to someone like Brighton who have come from the brink of bankruptcy and a shitty athletics track to signing some of Europe's most exciting prospects. We've had a few of those ourselves but of course have gone on to bigger and better things without us from the likes of Walker, Maguire and Ndiaye up to Peck and Arblaster who will eventually outgrow us and fly the nest unless we can go up, stay up and have them on the journey with us.

We had our expectations and ambitions raised, only to have the rug pulled from under us due to a variety of factors like Covid, poor recruitment, Prince's lack of money and Wilder's change of demeanour to name a few. Playing Premier League football was nothing but a pipedream 10 years ago but it doesn't change the fact that getting there and being dicked every week in the last two seasons with some players who were barely Championship level definitely didn't feel like we were being spoiled.

We've had some great cup runs over the years that have punctuated some of the leaner times which have been a welcome distraction but in other ways are very frustrating when it shows what can be done if players can get their heads in the game a bit more often.

 

[Geordie Blade]

We were never getting near europe, the last fixtures of the season we had left to play completely showed that. Just driven hype by local media and pundits
If we were so close as you suggest it mskeswhat happened the following year even more unacceptable,that team in europe would have been demolished

We finished five points off a European place. We lost the last three games. If we’d won two of those three, we would have qualified. That’s pretty close, and certainly better than ‘ok’.

 

[FMBlade1]

Well I suppose it is all relative. Many of their fans will experienced them being the dominant team on the planet for around 2 decades. That must breed a special kind of entitlement. It probably explains the mindset of many older Liverpool fans during their "leaner" spells, pre Klopp.

Is entitlement really the right word, and if it is should it be used prejoritively?

Imagine if we were relegated down to League Two and spent several years there, would our fans be considered as entitled for expecting us to be doing better?

 

[Tarqs]

In this same period where we've been 'spoiled' we've had 3 seasons in the premier league in 20 ... 2 of those featured 2 of the worst premier league performances in history.

In this period Brighton, Fulham, Bournemouth, Brentford have all been league 2 small fry and are now pushing for european qualification regularly.

Spoiled - compared to the shitshow of the previous generation maybe, but in the grand scheme of things, we're perennial underachievers and this 'we've been spoiled' angle from fans doesn't help any ambition.