If Wilder is sacked….

[sufc323]

We had Terry Robinson and Julian Winter as the "Football man" in the boardroom too. Neither were successful. Steve Bettis had more success than them.

There is no guarantee that having a DoF will improve us. Looking at the other clubs that have a DoF, a lot of them keep hiring and sacking managers.

But this was 15 - 20 years ago, look how far football has come on since. Without a DoF, there is no long term strategy or planning, and we're only as good as the current manager with no thought of what happens when they go. When we sign players on 3-4 year contracts, there surely has to be a thought that they will probably outlast the manager, so are we targeting the right kind of players and managers that will suit each other or just having a scattergun approach and hoping for the best?

I see this mentioned a lot regarding Bettis’ lack of football knowledge.

I wonder how many CEO’s of other clubs have the experiences he’s had? Off the top of my head:

It was Bettis himself who described himself as an accountant in a fans Q&A, so unless he was deflecting blame from himself for the disastrous summer we've just had, it appears he has little influence on the footballing side of things.

 

[The Fox]

There is no guarantee that having a DoF will improve us. Looking at the other clubs that have a DoF, a lot of them keep hiring and sacking managers.

All clubs hire and fire managers , sometimes the most successful, sometimes not but thats football.

Id agree there are no guarantees, no silver bullets . Then again if its such a terrible idea why do pretty much all top sides go this way, pretty much all the PL and all but half a dozen of the championship.
There's a strong argument that clubs have simply jumped on the band wagon and an argument that some find it a better structure.

Its an Intresting point about Dooley , he was almost defacto DOF , a sounding board and advisor for Basset .

COH have this new strategic advisory committee, I'd be surprised if its not a consideration at least.

 

[TJ blade]

Nick Montgomery who knows the culture of Sheffield United, was a good player for us good player for us.
Let him learn from Chris Wilder. He had a decent manager who won the Australian league. He went to Tottenham Hotspur as assistant manager, I think.
I Dont know if he is with a club now, but he could be considered.

This is so Sunday league! And another reason why some of our fans still see us operating in the 80s.... other than that this as got to be one of the biggest piss takes ever

 

[Silent Blade]

But this was 15 - 20 years ago, look how far football has come on since. Without a DoF, there is no long term strategy or planning, and we're only as good as the current manager with no thought of what happens when they go. When we sign players on 3-4 year contracts, there surely has to be a thought that they will probably outlast the manager, so are we targeting the right kind of players and managers that will suit each other or just having a scattergun approach and hoping for the best?

It seems to me that there are a lot of unsuccessful DoFs and not many successful DoFs

 

[bertieblade]

Success is judged by gaining promotion and then getting into the top six, by nature of the maths not many are successful. This combined with impatient owners is the reason why they lose their jobs on a regular basis

 

[sufc323]

It seems to me that there are a lot of unsuccessful DoFs and not many successful DoFs

We're going into a season without PL money for the first time since 2019, and need to be as efficient and smart as we can in order to compete, relying on Wilder and Hoyland to wheel and deal is not sustainable, so it's worth a try isn't it?

Our recruitment for the past 7 years has been absolutely dreadful, we've wasted hundreds of millions due to limiting our scouting pool and giving certain managers (Wilder x 3) too much control. Our prize assets have either ran down their contracts and left on a free, or had a year left and we've had to sell them on the cheap, all things that a DoF should oversee. We've had a huge turnover of players in the past 9 months, and need to do it all again because we've mainly signed dross with no apparent plan or logic going into it.

Just because it hasn't worked out for some clubs should not be a factor why we're still being ran like it's 1990.

 

[Lane Ender]

Keep him and it is the same old, same old, around we go in circles again, we need to break free at some point

Will we ever see past Wilder it’s a f….king joke

 

[KMC-1889]

Never heard of Speakman and I dont really take notice of the DoFs at other clubs but notice that a lot of them keep hiring and sacking managers!

“I don’t pay attention to them and don’t really know what they do but I can categorically confirm that Sheffield United don’t need one, despite virtually every other club above us in the pyramid having one”.

Summed up in one, most people don’t understand what they do so will oppose change for the sake of it.

 

[KMC-1889]

We do need a "football" man in the boardroom as others have said a Derek Dooley type. Looking at the board of directors none of them will have much of a clue when it comes to making a successful English football club. Along with Bettis we have Hollywood director Joe Rosen, Len Komoroski former CEO of Cleveland Cavaliers whoever the phuck they are and businessman Terry Ahern. Not a very inspiring crew with a huge knowledge of the English game you would think. We certainly need some talent at boardroom level who knows how football works to link that side of things to the money men otherwise they will continue to make mistakes like the Sellés appointment and the re-appointment of Wilder. Does such a person need the title of DOF?

DOF is a catch all term but you’re exactly right. It’s about bringing someone in with wider experience at different clubs at different levels.

All of our seniors with the exception of Hoyland have only seen success at Sheffield United and based on the evidence of our eyes have very few ideas on how to progress the club to become established at a higher level.

 

[Houston_Blade]

It was Bettis himself who described himself as an accountant in a fans Q&A, so unless he was deflecting blame from himself for the disastrous summer we've just had, it appears he has little influence on the footballing side of things.

Wilder thanks him whenever a transfer deal is done, I’m fairly sure he’s just playing his role down when he says he’s “just an accountant”. Classic deflection.

 

[blade_ben]

Didnt work well at some clubs. Dont think it would work for us. We had similar last summer. James Bord recommended some players for us, our head coach Selles managed our team badly.

Remember Jan Van Winckel... He was a waste of time and money..,,

If wilder would’ve accepted the players van Winckel recommended we’d be in a much better position now.

 

[Silent Blade]

If wilder would’ve accepted the players van Winckel recommended we’d be in a much better position now.

Who are the players he recommended then?

 

[Grappler]

If wilder would’ve accepted the players van Winckel recommended we’d be in a much better position now.

Which ones?

I only remember Michael Verrips, but seem to recall that Van Winkle suggested Sander Berge (could be wrong on that).

 

[Gavlar]

Will we ever see past Wilder it’s a f….king joke

We broke free at the start of the season and appointed Selles. It was an unmitigated disaster. We are where we are because of that. If Wilder stays last summer, we have another decent season.

That's not to say Wilder is the messiah and shouldn't be questioned. If it doesn't work after the summer and about 15-20 games into next season, he should be gone.

 

[KMC-1889]

We broke free at the start of the season and appointed Selles. It was an unmitigated disaster. We are where we are because of that. If Wilder stays last summer, we have another decent season.

That's not to say Wilder is the messiah and shouldn't be questioned. If it doesn't work after the summer and about 15-20 games into next season, he should be gone.

It’s worth repeating again that other clubs took a gamble in the summer with managers, didn’t work out, made a change and are doing better than we are.

Norwich and Southampton both went for younger head coaches, gave them time to try and make it work, replaced them and have finished the season miles ahead of us.

Just because Selles was the wrong choice, and we botched another transfer window doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking for a new manager.

 

[Brynner]

I see this mentioned a lot regarding Bettis’ lack of football knowledge.

I wonder how many CEO’s of other clubs have the experiences he’s had? Off the top of my head:

Relegations, management changes, club ownership changes, promotions, dozens of player transfers in and out, new training ground, refinancing, League 1, Championship and PL, points deductions, embargoes.

It’s a pretty decent list of experiences and I’d imagine having 8 years plus in the role he’s learned a fair bit.

How many years does he need to be ‘experienced’ in football?

I’m far from a Bettis Fan but I think he gets a lot of stick for no reason at times.

I never criticised Bettis, seems to do a decent job as far as I'm aware in dealing with administrative and financial matters. I was querying as to who was and is advising COH on football matters. Bord? Taylor? Bettis? An Other?

As an alleged close friend (?) of Chris Wilder, I cannot believe he was contributory in the sacking of Wilder after the play off defeat. Or the appointment of Selles for that matter. Regards football acumen, Bettis hasn't to my knowledge ever commented on that, either from playing the game or being involved in it. I may be doing him a disservice, but from personal experience in 40 years plus of management in engineering and construction, many accountants I knew showed little aptitude in the technical side of the business, concentrating purely on financial and administrative matters.

My gripe is with COH and the lack of foresight in formulating a clear short, medium or long term plan for the future in dealing with all aspects of the club. It seems to be the blind leading the blind at the moment. Making correct decisions and appointments at all levels is never easy, but I have no confidence in COH getting it right.

Time will tell.

 

[Sean Thornton]

I never criticised Bettis, seems to do a decent job as far as I'm aware in dealing with administrative and financial matters. I was querying as to who was and is advising COH on football matters. Bord? Taylor? Bettis? An Other?

As an alleged close friend (?) of Chris Wilder, I cannot believe he was contributory in the sacking of Wilder after the play off defeat. Or the appointment of Selles for that matter. Regards football acumen, Bettis hasn't to my knowledge ever commented on that, either from playing the game or being involved in it. I may be doing him a disservice, but from personal experience in 40 years plus of management in engineering and construction, many accountants I knew showed little aptitude in the technical side of the business, concentrating purely on financial and administrative matters.

My gripe is with COH and the lack of foresight in formulating a clear short, medium or long term plan for the future in dealing with all aspects of the club. It seems to be the blind leading the blind at the moment. Making correct decisions and appointments at all levels is never easy, but I have no confidence in COH getting it right.

Time will tell.

I’ve asked the question of those who believe Bettis is in charge of football matters where exactly is their information from.

The McCabists don’t like him because of happenings around the court battle, the Anti Abdullah mullahs don’t like him because he was close to the Prince and the Widdler outers blame him for being a mate of our manager. On top of that, some of our older members have, presumably in their dotage, imagined that he’s some kind of Dick Wragg figure. But there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that he runs the clubs football matters from top to bottom.

 

[CPB]

Seems like this chat has largely shifted to recruitment strategy and potential DOF which is fair enough.

I think alot has to be desired for our recruitment policies and strategies however it's really not as bad as some think otherwise we wouldn't have been promoted to the PL twice in the past several years. And nearly gone up last term.

We do have an issue with players running contracts down. But this issue goes two ways. Sometimes a player doesn't want to leave and we do not want them too either with 2 years remaining. Because in both parties they want to see a successful season and re-assess. (See the likes of Berge, Hamer, Bogle kind of, McBurnie) And under the Prince there was a previous strategy of thinking that a player entering their last year of contract would keep themselves on their toes. I think this even in the last year or so of his tenure had been ditched.

We have let players go for under value. McBurnie for free, N'Diaye, Berge spring to mind of course. Had some just not turn out well in the end such as Mousset, L.Freeman etc. But we've also made money on some signings. Ramsdale, Souza heck even D.Brooks.

But recruitment is largely mixed for most football clubs. The most successful one's in recent times such as your Brighton's, Brentfords, Bournemouths and even Sunderland have a pretty extensive network of scouting which most other clubs do not have. So their signings at times from afar aren't just gambles.

I'd say that we may need a DOF going forward or something of that type of role. But the bigger most valuable investment would be to build on a scouting network.
James Bord wanted to do it with AI. AI could play some part but realistically this is the area that could give any manager (Wilder or not) an advantage.

 

[sufc323]

Which ones?

I only remember Michael Verrips, but seem to recall that Van Winkle suggested Sander Berge (could be wrong on that).

From an article in the YP when Wilder MK1 left:

Yorkshire Live has been told that the names the board suggested were: Thomas Soucek before he joined West Ham; Victor Osimhen, now at Napoli; Jonathan David, now at Lille; Leandro Trossard, now at Brighton; Timothy Castagne, now at Leicester; Jhon Lucumí, Genk; Moisés Caicedo, now at Brighton.

Wilder has been approached by Yorkshire Live for a comment on the claims, but says 'he can't' respond for now.

However, it is understood he took exception to the fact that the board were recommending players, and felt that that interference reduced his role as manager to one akin to a head coach, which he often referred to in the press conferences prior to his exit.

 

[KMC-1889]

From an article in the YP when Wilder MK1 left:

Yorkshire Live has been told that the names the board suggested were: Thomas Soucek before he joined West Ham; Victor Osimhen, now at Napoli; Jonathan David, now at Lille; Leandro Trossard, now at Brighton; Timothy Castagne, now at Leicester; Jhon Lucumí, Genk; Moisés Caicedo, now at Brighton.

Wilder has been approached by Yorkshire Live for a comment on the claims, but says 'he can't' respond for now.

However, it is understood he took exception to the fact that the board were recommending players, and felt that that interference reduced his role as manager to one akin to a head coach, which he often referred to in the press conferences prior to his exit.

If that’s anywhere close to being true and you look at the players he signed instead he should have never worked in management again.

 

[Sean Thornton]

If that’s anywhere close to being true and you look at the players he signed instead he should have never worked in management again.

Best get ready……..

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Looking at the signings in the below photo, McGuinness, Matos, Chong, Tanganga, Polendakov and Zatterstrom were signed on long contracts. So far out of the 6 signings on long contracts Wilder has picked only Tanganga regularly. As for the 5 loans, only Bindon has been a regular since December.

Just two regulars out of 14 signings! A disaster under Bord and Selles recruitment!


Wilder's two signings (Bamford and Riedewald) are bigger impacts for us. His other permanent signing (Rothwell) hasnt had the chance to play more games so I am not judging him yet. Wilder has signed three players on loan but cant see Hoever and Hjelde playing for us next season.
View attachment 234631

I'm irrationally irritated by how they managed to fit POLENDAKOV, ZATTERSTROM and MCGUINNESS on one line but chose to split BINDON across two

 

[KMC-1889]

I'm irrationally irritated by how they managed to fit POLENDAKOV, ZATTERSTROM and MCGUINNESS on one line but chose to split BINDON across two

It’s not irrational at all

 

[reedy63]

The American owners dont do anything to help the club, I don't think they have been interviewed by any press or football heaven on radio Sheffield.
They made a fool of themselves by getting rid of Chris Wilder and getting Seles, who was a disaster. Then Chris Wilder got reappointed.
Because of the football knowledge they dont have. We have no plan, and it's just Chris Wilder who has to sort things out.
The owners should let it be known the want someone who knows a lot about football, who can recommend good players.
Find the and let Chris Wilder have the final say. He will be very busy when the summer transfer window opens.

 

[Bladesman]

I reckon just rotate between Wilder and Hecky then one of them will get us promoted at some point.

 

[Sean Thornton]

I reckon just rotate between Wilder and Hecky then one of them will get us promoted at some point.

There could be an official Bladey Blade period of mourning while Wilder is out for the true believers.

 

[Bladesman]

There could be an official Bladey Blade period of mourning while Wilder is out for the true believers.

All get a round in at the Banner Cross pub and stand on some tables.

 

[Carlton Blade]

We had Terry Robinson and Julian Winter as the "Football man" in the boardroom too. Neither were successful. Steve Bettis had more success than them.

There is no guarantee that having a DoF will improve us. Looking at the other clubs that have a DoF, a lot of them keep hiring and sacking managers.

But the serious ones maintain their long term strategy and don't have to sell a huge amount of players in order to fit the 'philosophy' of a new manager.

As with anything, if you play at it, it will fail. The point is not titles or descriptions of a role. The point is that a manager/head coach should only be responsible for the now, how to win the next game. There should be a strong structure in place that allows the club to see beyond that and plan for the medium and long term

 

[blade_ben]

Trossard, castagne, soucek, oshimen, fofana

 

[LBA_Blade]

ah I wasn't aware, thats a shame. if he does well he's out of our range

To be fair I wasn't aware either until I googled him as not come across him before. To be honest he looks a great prospect, I think if we were in the Premier League/going up it probably give us that edge of luring him away but then the debate of can you sack a promotion manager is always there and would we need to change things etc.