Are our fans a hindrance?

[Tony_Kaufman]

View attachment 213936

You daft racist!

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

Semantics. Spanish might not be a race, but if you don't want a foreigner in charge, you're probably racist.

Spanish Grand Prix is a race though.

 

[Nick Jansky]

For the last 9 years we've been lucky enough to have one of our own in charge for long spells achieving success. To have this in English football is not normal at our level, it's an international business and we are the outlier.

The second foreign manager in Blades history is one day into his reign, he's already being subjected to criticism that will ripple, if he loses his first few games, he'll have vocal opposition, he already has vocal opposition.

Blades who I respect and know well have voiced their concerns, I get being concerned about change, AI, data, all that malarkey that nobody understands.

Some are plain racist and don't want a foreigner in charge.

We seem to be trying to follow the Brentford/Brighton model. But we're hamstrung by fan resistance. Do you think Brentford and Brighton were as resistant when their new owners started to change things? Do you think it helps to vocally oppose changes in the way our fan base has so far?

Personally I think we have a problem. Half of us want a progressive club that adapts to modern football and gives us the best chance of success. Half of us want to do things in the traditional way and will only be bought over by success.

The one thing we all have in common is that we have no choice, we may agree or disagree, or be unsure, but none of us can do anything other than watch it unfold. I'm hopeful, I'll enjoy my days out at the match, I'll enjoy the ride and I'll support my club unconditionally, unless I think we're being harmed, like Chansiri harmed

But I don't get why we have so much negativity when we're in probably the best condition we've been in on a general level.

I wish my fellow Blades could be less entitled and more supportive, the negativity is a problem for me and maybe for the club.

I think we now have owners who won’t give too much of a fuck about fan resistance from certain quarters, and I applaud them for that. So no, I don’t think the fans will hinder the club.

I also haven’t seen any hint of racism, but I have seen stuff bordering on xenophobia, which is quite different. Still shit, but not racism.

Thank god he isn’t a Muslim though, with some of the pond life we have on here.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

I don't think our fans are a hindrance, but they have always had some divisions, more so now.

Some want promotion and want it tomorrow. Some are happy to wait a couple of seasons if it means going up and staying up. Some want us to play good football. Some couldn't care less so long as we win, it's not important as far as they are concerned. Some hero worship and over-sell mediocre players. Others just want to see our players improve. Soem want things to stay the same as it's always been. Some want change, modernisation and progress. Some can't handle selling players. Some can see that every club is a selling club and that teams who don't get promoted struggle to keep players who are good enough to play in the Premier League. Some don't want us to sign players from League One. Others can see the benefit of buying the best players from League One like Premier League teams do in the Championship. Some take AI recruitment literal. Some can see what the AI recruitment will actually be used for.

Good luck getting any consistent message from our fans as to what we want. The messages are all over the place.

United my arse!

 

[Davalon]

I agree with most of that.

Except, Spanish isn't a race, and if it was I don't think its racist to prefer an Englishman in charge of an English club.
I'm not overly fussed to be honest, but I don't agree its racist for those who are.

It's a mixture of xenophobia and parochialism

 

[Houston_Blade]

The "Wilder is racist" meme is overplayed and not rooted in reality.

He preferred homegrown, so what? Many of the homegrown players he signed were black!

As for "Sausage Rohl" being a racist slur towards Germans and not a funny play on words...

He certainly wasn’t racist, he was far too narrow minded in his recruitment. He signed foreign players from English clubs (Mousset, Ndiaye)

That said, he had a formula and it worked and got us from League 1 to 9th in the PL in a short time. He tried a big money foreign signing with Berge and it all started going a bit tits up from that point on. Maybe he was just once bitten, twice shy.

Our best players last season were Souza and Hamer but he didn’t sign any overseas players and openly admitted the 2 we did sign weren’t his idea.

I just think his model is one that gets you out of the championship but then you inevitably end up back where you started, all the decent local talent is hoovered up by the big clubs and you need to go overseas to find the uncut diamonds and hope they shine in the PL and you get a couple of seasons before they’re sold on.

 

[Bell4]

Bassett?

Born in Dinnington, was evacuated to East Ham during the Blitz when he was 2 months old (considered safer) .Never ever lost his roots but obviously his accent was affected - FACT

 

[Dkc]

Personally I think we have a problem. Half of us want a progressive club that adapts to modern football and gives us the best chance of success. Half of us want to do things in the traditional way and will only be bought over by success.

I want a progressive club that adapts to modern football and gives us the best chance of success. I don't believe sacking our manager five months into a three-year contract is 'progressive' - it is a kneejerk reaction to what happened in the final 20 minutes of an important game.

 

[Westran]

I want a progressive club that adapts to modern football and gives us the best chance of success. I don't believe sacking our manager five months into a three-year contract is 'progressive' - it is a kneejerk reaction to what happened in the final 20 minutes of an important game.

How do you know? My guess would be they've found it difficult to implement recruitment strategies with Wilder, they want to use data and Wilder wants McBurnie. They've realised he isn't adaptable to the way they want to do things and so have had to part ways. If it was knee jerk, it would have happened a month ago.

 

[Dkc]

How do you know? My guess would be they've found it difficult to implement recruitment strategies with Wilder, they want to use data and Wilder wants McBurnie. They've realised he isn't adaptable to the way they want to do things and so have had to part ways. If it was knee jerk, it would have happened a month ago.

So why award him a three-year contract and give him their full backing? They must have spoken to him at length before doing so, and been fully aware of his vision for the club.

There was no hint that they were considering a change before Wembley, and Wilder's contract did not require him to get us promoted in May.

 

[Westran]

So why award him a three-year contract and give him their full backing? They must have spoken to him at length before doing so, and been fully aware of his vision for the club.

Maybe they wanted continuity whilst they learned about the culture of the club and Wilder would only accept a three year contract. I don't know the inner workings of decisions made in the club. Just as you don't. But you've clearly got an agenda so I'll leave you to it.

 

[Dkc]

Maybe they wanted continuity whilst they learned about the culture of the club and Wilder would only accept a three year contract. I don't know the inner workings of decisions made in the club. Just as you don't. But you've clearly got an agenda so I'll leave you to it.

Thinking that now isn't the right time to sack Wilder isn't an 'agenda' - it's a simple viewpoint that many others share.

 

[Westran]

You call it a viewpoint, I call it an agenda. Although I'd agree with the simple bit.

 

[S64 Blade]

I agree with most of that.

Except, Spanish isn't a race, and if it was I don't think its racist to prefer an Englishman in charge of an English club.
I'm not overly fussed to be honest, but I don't agree it’s racist for those who are.

Racism is both race and ethnicity.

 

[him behind you]

Wilder has been a massive plus but also had his downside. It’s been fantastic having a blade as a manager in fact we’ve now done it at least three times with varying degrees of success. However this has come at the cost of some of the fanbase thinking that only a local lad who supports the club can ever understand us and get success.
Look around the successful clubs in this country and indeed Europe, how many have a fan as a manager? Is their success somehow lessened? Do Manchester City fans feel slighted that Guardiola isn’t from Longsights? Do Liverpool fans care that Slot is Dutch and before him a German was in charge?
Do they bollocks. I’m sad that Wilder has gone. I think I’d have probably given him another year but does that mean because we now have a non-Sheffielder in charge and even worse a Spaniard that somehow I’ll support the club less? Of course not.
Some of the stuff spouted on here has nearly made me glad that the board have done this. Little Sheffielders need to give their bloody heads a wobble. Why would you want the club you support to fail just so you can bask in some pathetic self congratulation of being right that their mate Chrissy should never have been let go. It’s that kind of small mindedness that has kept us in a state of mediocrity for longer than any living Blade can remember.
Fine don’t like the decision but if you can’t get over it and support your club can I invite you to fuck off and support Sheffield FC or Hallam or whoever else because I’m sick of listening to your whining bullshit now.
Rant over

Would give a hundred likes for that if i could

 

[I should coco]

But I don't get why we have so much negativity when we're in probably the best condition we've been in on a general level.

Best condition?

Ok, our owners have piut money in to stop us going out of business, but we have no idea about their motivations, plans or methods? Are we just a toy, to be played with and take a punt on PL football?

Were any of them interested in 'soccer', before Wrexham took off in the USA?

I don't see why a group of random billionaires, would seize upon little old Sheffield United, as the club of their dreams.

I have a horrible feeling that we will just be a plaything, to be discarded when they get bored. Disagree by all means, but nobody will be able to demonstrate that these guys are the real deal, so let's see.

 

[Nick Jansky]

There was no hint that they were considering a change before Wembley, and Wilder's contract did not require him to get us promoted in May.

There was no public hint that they were considering a change, obviously. Why would there be? It doesn’t mean they weren’t planning for all scenarios.

Do you have knowledge of all the clauses in Wilder’s contract?

This certainly won’t have been knee jerk in any way. There has been an ongoing and thorough review of all aspects of the club since they acquired it.

 

[PrestwichBlade]

Best condition?

Ok, our owners have piut money in to stop us going out of business, but we have no idea about their motivations, plans or methods? Are we just a toy, to be played with and take a punt on PL football?

Were any of them interested in 'soccer', before Wrexham took off in the USA?

I don't see why a group of random billionaires, would seize upon little old Sheffield United, as the club of their dreams.

I have a horrible feeling that we will just be a plaything, to be discarded when they get bored. Disagree by all means, but nobody will be able to demonstrate that these guys are the real deal, so let's see.

Can you tell me how many owners of football clubs in let's say, the last 40 odd years, have bought and owned football clubs for purely benevolent reasons? Of course they'd ultimately want to get something out of it... I'm still amazed people seem shocked by this notion. It doesn't mean as a football club there can't be success at the same time.

 

[S64 Blade]

Best condition?

Ok, our owners have piut money in to stop us going out of business, but we have no idea about their motivations, plans or methods? Are we just a toy, to be played with and take a punt on PL football?

Were any of them interested in 'soccer', before Wrexham took off in the USA?

I don't see why a group of random billionaires, would seize upon little old Sheffield United, as the club of their dreams.

I have a horrible feeling that we will just be a plaything, to be discarded when they get bored. Disagree by all means, but nobody will be able to demonstrate that these guys are the real deal, so let's see.

We know for a fact one of them was into “soccer” as he played it.

 

[nopigfansintown]

The racism/xenophobia viewpoint cuts both ways.You get British and Irish managers routinely overlooked because they aren't exotic enough. Routinely downplayed because they aren't seen as sexy and edgy. "Brexit football". "Have it". "No tactics". "Pashun merchant". Dyche is ironically a decent example. Could anybody in the world have done a better job at Burnley?! The man's a walking meme. Southgate is a bone of contention but he can just point to his record which is better than many high profile coaches. He's not far of a meme. If the two above weren't English?

There's also a strong regional and class bias: the South is sophisticated and innovative; the north is gruff, simple and uncultured. This isn't limited to football but the whole culture.With United it doesn't just stop with the managers, it pervades the whole image of the club. We could play any style and we'll still be big, physical, grafters; long ball, uncultured, good from set pieces blah blah blah.

I find it disappointing that our own fans at times perpetuate these unfair and inaccurate stereotypes.

 

[Working Class Hero]

Bassett?

Nope.

 

[Working Class Hero]

Born in Dinnington, was evacuated to East Ham during the Blitz when he was 2 months old (considered safer) .Never ever lost his roots but obviously his accent was affected - FACT

Or, 100% Londoner that never got us promoted to the Premier League.

 

[Loco Blade]

For me there has been an apathy about the club by the fans . It’s understandable due to the amount of false dawns we have had . A lot of supporters who I know have a distrust of the ownership after various false claims ( McCabe think Liverpool ) . Started with selling out best players for buttons or when we were on the brink of promotion. The Prince filtering money from us for United world . I guess fans are entitled to believe we will be sold down the river by more BS .
We need absolute transparency here almost on a weekly basis as to how the project is progressing. How the new training ground is coming on , the U21 s , plans to improve the ground. Otherwise speculation fills the void with negativity. We are in this together. DONT TREAT US LIKE MUGS .

 

[Dkc]

There was no public hint that they were considering a change, obviously. Why would there be? It doesn’t mean they weren’t planning for all scenarios.

Do you have knowledge of all the clauses in Wilder’s contract?

This certainly won’t have been knee jerk in any way. There has been an ongoing and thorough review of all aspects of the club since they acquired it.

I don't have knowledge of all the clauses in Wilder's contract. I know it was a three-year contract and not contingent on promotion after five months. If they were planning on sacking him if we didn't go up, they should have offered him a contract to the end of the season, not a three-year one.

Our owners have multiple business interests. How are you so sure there has been an "ongoing and thorough review of all aspects of the club"?

I suspect the "ongoing and thorough review" only happened after the loss at Wembley, and CW's sacking was due to that final 20 minutes

 

[Nesh Blade]

Nope.

Didn’t mean promotion but he was a successful manager for us. Before my time but I hear him talked about as the best manager of most people’s lifetimes before Wilder

 

[GrunkyPeep]

I don't have knowledge of all the clauses in Wilder's contract. I know it was a three-year contract and not contingent on promotion after five months. If they were planning on sacking him if we didn't go up, they should have offered him a contract to the end of the season, not a three-year one.

Our owners have multiple business interests. How are you so sure there has been an "ongoing and thorough review of all aspects of the club"?

I suspect the "ongoing and thorough review" only happened after the loss at Wembley, and CW's sacking was due to that final 20 minutes

In January we were doing well, so they gave him a contract.

Then the rest of the season happened and they changed their opinion.

His current contract was to the end of the season and it would make sense to remove any emotional "barrier" from the manager to try to get the best out of him.

Should they have given him a 3 year deal if they had concerns? Not a clue because who is to say they had concerns back in January when things were going well? Sounds a bit like Captain Hindsight.

 

[fifty shades of blade]

Are people now at the acceptance stage?

 

[Nick Jansky]

Our owners have multiple business interests. How are you so sure there has been an "ongoing and thorough review of all aspects of the club"?

Because I have worked with enough American businesses that have acquired UK businesses to know what happens. Put it this way, the likelihood that they have undertaken a full review is far, far higher than the likelihood that they haven’t. The reason that they have become successful business people is that they do this stuff.

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

I don't have knowledge of all the clauses in Wilder's contract. I know it was a three-year contract and not contingent on promotion after five months. If they were planning on sacking him if we didn't go up, they should have offered him a contract to the end of the season, not a three-year one.

Our owners have multiple business interests. How are you so sure there has been an "ongoing and thorough review of all aspects of the club"?

I suspect the "ongoing and thorough review" only happened after the loss at Wembley, and CW's sacking was due to that final 20 minutes

It wasn’t down the final 20 minutes at Wembley,they tweaked it at 35 minutes,moved up the pitch 5 metres and went with more width. We had no answer. Also look at the 3 matches we lost in a row to poor teams,we had no answer. Also luckily came out with points after getting a lesson in how to play expansive football by Pompey, Plymouth,Bristol et al . Since the new year we had the strongest squad in the division (my opinion),paid huge loan fees and still resorted to hoofing it up to Moore. Rinse and repeat.

 

[54yrblade]

Wilder has been a massive plus but also had his downside. It’s been fantastic having a blade as a manager in fact we’ve now done it at least three times with varying degrees of success. However this has come at the cost of some of the fanbase thinking that only a local lad who supports the club can ever understand us and get success.
Look around the successful clubs in this country and indeed Europe, how many have a fan as a manager? Is their success somehow lessened? Do Manchester City fans feel slighted that Guardiola isn’t from Longsights? Do Liverpool fans care that Slot is Dutch and before him a German was in charge?
Do they bollocks. I’m sad that Wilder has gone. I think I’d have probably given him another year but does that mean because we now have a non-Sheffielder in charge and even worse a Spaniard that somehow I’ll support the club less? Of course not.
Some of the stuff spouted on here has nearly made me glad that the board have done this. Little Sheffielders need to give their bloody heads a wobble. Why would you want the club you support to fail just so you can bask in some pathetic self congratulation of being right that their mate Chrissy should never have been let go. It’s that kind of small mindedness that has kept us in a state of mediocrity for longer than any living Blade can remember.
Fine don’t like the decision but if you can’t get over it and support your club can I invite you to fuck off and support Sheffield FC or Hallam or whoever else because I’m sick of listening to your whining bullshit now.
Rant over

Absolutely on the money.

Gr

So why award him a three-year contract and give him their full backing? They must have spoken to him at length before doing so, and been fully aware of his vision for the club.

There was no hint that they were considering a change before Wembley, and Wilder's contract did not require him to get us promoted in May.

Because, compared to what they spent taking over the club, a 3 yr contract is pocket change and, at that time we looked a very good bet to go up.

Wilder knew how important promotion was to his future and might just have overcome the negatives brought about by his on and off field behaviour.

We didn't have a hint of it? Read everything between the lines. His job was at risk without a Wembley win.

They did their homework, thoroughly.