How do you actually feel about United now, and what do you want them to be in the future?

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

Isn’t that what we are now?

Yeh but that’s not my dream scenario for us.

 

[dexter101]

I am not a born and bred Blade, but for me, I love the connection between the club and the city as a whole.

I know I am biased but Sheffield United represent (for better and worse) what Sheffield is. There is a real distinct link between them and as I love Sheffield for what it is, I love the Blades for what it is too. Yes, in theory, it should be more successful and more attractive to a wider audience than it is, but it doesn't really fully appreciate how special it is and if someone starts to recognise that, it just shrugs it off.

What ever changes in the future, and I do hope we continue to develop (for example, a Cat 1 academy) but I hope we never lose that connection.

 

[JimW1889]

Winning games and playing exciting football is fun, losing games and playing boring football isn't fun. Nowadays as long as we continue existing up to a point I'm not overly bothered what league we're in. Obviously if you go up rather than down it means you've had a more entertaining season, but I don't overly care beyond individual matchdays anymore.

Fucking up someone's day is beautiful. Not sending them down or anything like that, necessarily, but halting a play-off charge, equalising with 9 men, winning with your only shot on target after being outplayed for 90 minutes, it's what I live for.

I often think, not out of bitterness, when I see away fans leaving happy and us annoyed that next week it'll be the case that they're in our position. Which is what it's mostly about, having some good days out and leaving happy on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[GeorgeDonis1889]

To me, what you describe as the things that distinguish us from 'identikit' teams are what I would call our club culture - a term that has been hijacked on this forum to infer something different and poorer

Exactly this. The stuff people say they love about us and make us unique are the very things they mock and sneer at on here.

We had the dream scenario in 2019 and now a large group on here seem to obsessively hate the manager.

I think a lot of people are very confused about what they want United to be. Far from loving what makes us unique, most of the most vocal posters just want us to be exactly like Brentford and Bournemouth when you look at what they say. I am happy that if things are going ok with the running of the club we can aspire to be top end championship/bottom end Premier league. Maybe one day we'll sustain being in top flight for a decent period but I accept maybe not.

We are very entitled on here. Much less so match going fans thankfully.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Things that I’ve really enjoyed over the last few years, that I would love to see more consistently in the future. But I suppose i’m being unrealistic and probably greedy. United are a basket case, mad club. Always have been always will be, but that’s part of the charm. Anyway…

The way we played 16/17 season. Just total domination and sexy football. It was such an enjoyable time. I think it got a lot of fans back on side, I know quite a few fucked it off. 3 seasons before we got about 15k vs Yeovil in the PL semis. I’d love to have another season like that.

Watching Iliman play. I’d love to see us field players of his talent, you know they’ll go to bigger and better things, but watching him under Hecky was immense.

Team cohesion and never say die under Wilder in 2019. I really expected us to capitulate, but when won when we needed to. I never thought that would happen with United. We’re such a pessimistic bunch.

I don’t want us to lose our soul, I think we’re too small a club for that to happen. I’d love to see an exciting, fast, youngish team. Similar to that Leeds team 25 years ago. Obviously without the bankrupting part.

 

[54yrblade]

I think we're a sad reflection of the city. Occasionally thinking big but ultimately we waste our real opportunities because those in charge don't know how to make the best of them and we get left behind as we'd rather keep it that way than move with the times.

Comfortable with sub optimal and scared to step out of it.

I'd like better but it isnt happening any time soon.

 

[Badger Blade]

It's tough because its all relative. We had a flirt in the Prem of what this club has the capability to do.

Take Stoke for example. They reached a cup final, played in Europe, signed all sorts of star players, had a real identity under Pulis, a similar "devil may care" attitude about what anyone else thinks of them and did quite a few seasons in the Prem but have wealthy backers who could spend a fortune but don't.

Had they not done all that, they'd be exactly where you'd otherwise expect them to be.

Just to get a taste of that would be great, just for a bit longer than one or two seasons. Swansea, Wigan and Portsmouth have all won cup competitions since the turn of the millennium. We've come close but typically been found wanting when it mattered.

I'd love us, on a crunch day at Wembley with it all stake to turn up for once and lift a major trophy.

 

[Super Furry Blades]

I definitely don't feel the same about United these past few years as I did for my entire life before that.

It's partly because football is much less enjoyable generally, so I'm just not into the whole sport as much as I was.

A massive part for me is that I can't shake the feeling that we had our shot at establishing ourselves in the top flight, playing in Europe and maybe even winning something, but it was robbed from us by a once in a lifetime freak event. I just can't see us getting that chance again in my lifetime, and even if we did, it wouldn't be the same. That has taken away the hope that used to get me through.

It's also clear to me that the future isn't really for me. We'll eventually be owned by rich people with no connection to the club, with mainly foreign players and coaching staff on astronomical amounts of money - making the personnel much less relatable. Some of that has already happened and the atmosphere has already died, but it's only going to get worse.

My love for Sheffield United came from my Dad taking me to the match home and away to watch players that I looked up to, and because I loved the build up (coach/train/pub) and the atmosphere, all the time convincing myself that we'd one day get our turn at some success. I'm not sure anyone of those things are there any more (except my Dad, who won't be forever).

Great post pal ( exactly how I feel )

 

[Gin&Juice]

The main issue is we’ve not improved in 50 years. Before relegation in the 70’s we spent most of our time in the first division. We haven’t been able to sustain that since. I don’t think the club has modernised to the degree it should have, we’re still always looking backwards. Think out fanbase are partly to blame, we haven’t had recent success, the last time fans can universally look fondly was under John Harris. Those who were around anyway. Nothing has overtaken that success. Our neighbours greatest ever team was 35 years ago, much more recent.

 

[Bell4]

Wrote this to someone else and was interested in how others feel as football changes

Hard to even put into words how I feel about United now. As much as I'm a huge advocate for modernising the set up, I do think United are a bit 'different'.

A club for who ruining others day is almost as important as celebrating success. Provincial, independent, thrive on dislike, obstinate, spiky, unpleasant to be around for non Blades. If we ever did become another identikit, 'polished' club I think the heart of it would die a little.

But there needs to be something more than Wilder, Bettis and a dream. I think we'll likely be fine eventually, and hopefully the current owners shuffle off forthwith.

I just don't want it to be dull. I'm here for the moments, not the troph

Wrote this to someone else and was interested in how others feel as football changes

Hard to even put into words how I feel about United now. As much as I'm a huge advocate for modernising the set up, I do think United are a bit 'different'.

A club for who ruining others day is almost as important as celebrating success. Provincial, independent, thrive on dislike, obstinate, spiky, unpleasant to be around for non Blades. If we ever did become another identikit, 'polished' club I think the heart of it would die a little.

But there needs to be something more than Wilder, Bettis and a dream. I think we'll likely be fine eventually, and hopefully the current owners shuffle off forthwith.

I just don't want it to be dull. I'm here for the moments, not the trophies

Good question

About 60 % of me wants to tell them to fk off and stop letting me down , stop screwing opportunities up , stop having such an influence on my life - since 1970

Then I wake up - hoping and wondering what they’re up to today . Seeking for the thrill of chasing an over the hill injured player who I’ve not really heard of but might help turn us into world beaters .

I walk into BL , soak up this wonderful stadium and the friendships I’ve developed over many many years . We laugh we swear we take the piss we wait and watch in anticipation rather than expectation.

I go home , read the forum , laugh at the comments - have a beer , have a meal , kiss my wife , stroke the dog , wind up my Owls supporting 5 grandchildren and thank god im a Blade rather than some plastic supporter of a soulless entity .

I know we won’t win anything - I know we will sometimes flirt with potential and screw it up again - I know im running out of runway but after all ….

The club is a nut job - but never boring

 

[SirNibletsO'Korne]

The dream I suppose is to modernise whilst keeping our spirit. It's so hard to do though. Wrexham are only heading one way but they're not the same club anymore. Man City were once renowned for their gallows humour but they've totally changed. I don't know how you balance being successful and still being the club that fans first fell in love with. Most fans probably wouldn't care as long as we were successful but as Carlton says, United are a bit "different" and that's important to me. I don't want to ever lose being disliked. I want every single person in the country to prefer Wednesday. I hate it when I see people say "I like United more than Wednesday". It's not what we're about at all.

Absolutely agree 100%. Wrexham are obviously going to end up in the Premier League sooner rather than later, but at what cost? There will be a point where the loyal, hardcore supporters will feel alienated, they will feel pushed out and they will feel they've lost 'their' club.
If thats what the price is, I'd feel like I wouldn't want it at United.
Not that I wouldn't want us to be reasonably successful (to stick it up those scruffy twats over there if nothing else) but not at the expense of losing what I love about the club.

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Wrexham are obviously going to end up in the Premier League sooner rather than later, but at what cost? There will be a point where the loyal, hardcore supporters will feel alienated, they will feel pushed out and they will feel they've lost 'their' club.

I don't think that's necessarily true, I posted in another thread yesterday that I had to stop watching the Wrexham doc because it was too frustrating seeing a club doing the business side of things so right while we're doing it so wrong.

If you leave aside the 'Hollywood FC' media circus around the club (which will eventually die down) and get down to the fans-eye level, everything they've done has kept the club's local fanbase and the community in the town at the heart of it. They're leaning into their identity (which is fairly similar to ours when you get down to it) and as much as they are building a following around the world, that's almost an incidental bonus to their main business strategy of becoming the natural 'local' club to follow for everyone in North Wales where, let's face it, they have sod-all real competition.

For what it's worth I also have a mate who's been a Brentford fan since they were propping up the League in the 80s and he's delighted with what the club's turned into, still has a season ticket at the new stadium and was mostly happy to see the back of Griffin Park.

 

[metalblade]

It is a long time since I have felt this disillusioned with Sheffield United, not just us but also the state of football too. VAR, constant rule changes trying to make the game better when referees could stamp out cheating and time wasting at a stroke by enforcing the rules that have been n place for years. Everything is geared to favour the top 10 clubs in the Premier League, clubs like ours have little chance of competing, money rules.
Like has already been said there has been times when we get a good side together but are always a couple of decent back up players short to sustain top flight football for long. At times, you could be forgiven for saying without bad luck we wouldn't have any luck, nothing seems to fall our way what we do get we have to work for. You could say we are the northern Millwall not many like us but who cares, we have our moaners and happy clappers, but we are a loyal fan base who deserve better than the usual owners with no money who couldn't give a toss for the club. One day maybe.

 

[Super Furry Blades]

I don't think that's necessarily true, I posted in another thread yesterday that I had to stop watching the Wrexham doc because it was too frustrating seeing a club doing the business side of things so right while we're doing it so wrong.

If you leave aside the 'Hollywood FC' media circus around the club (which will eventually die down) and get down to the fans-eye level, everything they've done has kept the club's local fanbase and the community in the town at the heart of it. They're leaning into their identity (which is fairly similar to ours when you get down to it) and as much as they are building a following around the world, that's almost an incidental bonus to their main business strategy of becoming the natural 'local' club to follow for everyone in North Wales where, let's face it, they have sod-all real competition.

For what it's worth I also have a mate who's been a Brentford fan since they were propping up the League in the 80s and he's delighted with what the club's turned into, still has a season ticket at the new stadium and was mostly happy to see the back of Griffin Park.

Griffin Park great old school ground
Loved the away end

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Griffin Park great old school ground
Loved the away end

Right on the Heathrow flight path too. My mate told me that the giant ad space on the roof of their stand was their main source of revenue for years - kept them afloat through hard times.

 

[JohnDenver]

Right on the Heathrow flight path too. My mate told me that the giant ad space on the roof of their stand was their main source of revenue for years - kept them afloat through hard times.

So they chose to advertise on the roof rather than draw a massive cock and balls? What a sad state of affairs.

 

[Super Furry Blades]

So they chose to advertise on the roof rather than draw a massive cock and balls? What a sad state of affairs.

It said Flush over Fulham, or so im told

 

[prescotblade]

Not saying that the owners are good. We don’t have the financial resources to be really successful. We are not much different to many clubs. Those that are spending have had to suffer to build up to this season.
In saying that I would rather a well run club with a plan to move forward which was shared. If owners said the bottom line is this is how we achieve progress, I would be happy.
Along with many we have had some good years with limited resources. The likes of Liverpool built a team over many years. They were at the right place when premier league came around. Clubs like Man City and Chelsea have fortunately found wealthy owners but these are not two a penny.
Anyway enough. I want the Blades to be a well run club across all areas, which doesn’t mean being a top 6 club.
Go to some of these top clubs and listen to their fan bases, there are many moaners.

 

[Loco Blade]

Right now we are a mess sold to venture ( vulture) capitalist.
For the future can we
Have owners who give a shit
Invest in our academy
Play progressive football
Have ground facilities as good as any
Liven the bloody place up a bit ( concourse djs )
Build a bloody atmosphere pre game
Get shut of anyone who prevents this happening

 

[TJ blade]

Well, I would have said I know what it’s like to be mediocre club again like a West Brom, Stoke, Swansea or even Portsmouth. But the gut crunching reality is all these clubs have had good sustained spells in the Premier League. WBA 13, Stoke 10, Swansea 7+1cup, Pompey 7+ 1cup…Even Wigan won a bloody cup.
But what I’m trying to say in a long winded way is the Championship is littered with clubs who have tasted success and gave it a go. If these clubs are considered mediocre…What does that make United?

Exactly pal we've done fck all! And played at it, bad owner after bad owner! Always skint and promise nothing. How the fck we get attendances like we do as got be a miracle, sad to say it but the club doesn't deserve the fans, over the years what they've served up, and thats me saying it after 60 odd years of attending home& away.