12 Months on..........

[LouTheBlade]

Blades v Ipswich (April 4th 2009) - Starting Lineup;

Kenny
Naughton
Morgan
Kilgallon
Naysmith
Halford
Montgomery
Quinn
Cotterill
Ward
Henderson

Blades v Barnsley (April 3rd 2010) - Probable Lineup;

Simonsen
Connolly
Nosworthy
Bartley
Taylor
Yeates
Montgomery
Williamson
Quinn
Cresswell
Henderson

Frightening

No offence to the current lads but on paper it makes the first team look PL quality. Such a shame we couldn't afford to keep the team togther. We had solid foundations to build on there.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Looking at that shows what Blackie has had to put up with.

Still no excuse of not playing some football though and boring the arse off me.

 

[Worksop_Blade]

Don't give me that shite, Forest could name a team on saturday with only 4 faces that played the fixture 12 months ago.


If he was any kind of half decent manager he could get the current team in the play offs.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

With that first 11 maybe he should of gotten promoted last season rather than being in this position in the first place. Just a thought.

 

[grafikhaus]

Such a shame we couldn't afford to keep the team togther. We had solid foundations to build on there.

Exactly. After the Wembley no-show I wasn't particularly fussed as I'd seen it all before (true) and I knew that Burnley and their odious fans would be facing a season of hurt (also true, but I'm sure they didn't deserve to lose their manager to be replaced by........Laws)

However, I remember thinking that I wouldn't forgive them if they broke up that back unit who played so well that day. The 2 Kyles, Monty, Killa, Naysmith and Morgs (fuck, I'm getting depressed just seeing those names together).

Break it up? They effin' demolished it. And the results of that imcompetence will be on display again this Saturday.

 

[LouTheBlade]

Don't give me that shite, Forest could name a team on saturday with only 4 faces that played the fixture 12 months ago.


If he was any kind of half decent manager he could get the current team in the play offs.

I agree with that. He should be able to get the current team into the playoffs. I consider last seasons side (on paper) good enough for a top 2 finish, which they almost achieved.

The current side, even without the injured ones should be good enough to be in or around the top 6. I look at the players Leicester, Swansea and Cardiff have throughout their squad and see no reason why we should be worse.

My original post was to further highlight the cuts we are about to see this summer. Expect the next lineup 12 months on to be comparably worse than this saturday's

 

[Cheshire Cat]

A very, very successful ex-boss of mine (so successful he's the Chief Executive of the company that's just fleeced us for the catering at the Lane) had a mantra that any manager is only as good as their ability to forecast.

McCabe's ability to forecast and profit / make the best of a collapse in global property prices?

Blackwell's ability to forecast what cost-cutting measures would be required and where he would need to back-fill to cope?

I actually think McCabe did pretty much OK on the first one - he just didn't tell us what he was going to do about it. In spite of Micalijo's attempts to show Blades Realty's accounts (or lack of) as a company in melt-down what they actually reveal is a company that saw the value of their assets about to collapse and battening down hatches until such time that they start to recover. I haven't heard reports that he's going down the swanny - but he's certainly worth a few bob less than he was a few years ago.

Blackwell - it's a joke. I can only the take the injuries excuse so far. Knowing that he had to cut the wage bill and bring in some cash he must have been able to see that he would need cover for Walker and Kilgallon - and as he was unlikely to get that type of quality then a first class keeper would have been a sensible option as well. Instead, he has brought in make-shift defensive cover and has been badly caught out. The only player he's been unlucky with has been Williamson - who for the few games he has been fit has shown that he could possibly have had the same kind of impact as Halford had he had a full season at it.

 

[Worksop_Blade]

I agree with that. He should be able to get the current team into the playoffs. I consider last seasons side (on paper) good enough for a top 2 finish, which they almost achieved.

The current side, even without the injured ones should be good enough to be in or around the top 6. I look at the players Leicester, Swansea and Cardiff have throughout their squad and see no reason why we should be worse.

My original post was to further highlight the cuts we are about to see this summer. Expect the next lineup 12 months on to be comparably worse than this saturday's

It does sometimes seem as if the style that the team are trained/talked into playing, often make the individual players' worse.

Kyle Bartley for instance is an Arsenal academy product and you have to have something about you to get an apprenticeship at one of the top 4, yet he gets sent to Hoofball United and looks like he is a product of Accrington Stanley's youth system.

Yeates, Williamson, Evans, Sharp, Quinn, Nosworthy all players that have shown in the past that they can play something resembling football.

It just proves to me that KB and SE just love a good rough and tumble and whether its working or not just hoof it!

 

[Micalijo]

Looking at that shows what Blackie has had to put up with.

Still no excuse of not playing some football though and boring the arse off me.

Ahh, poor old Blackie. Fancy having millions to spend and a huge wage bill in comparison to vast majority of his rivals. Life is tough.

 

[Bristol Blade]

Don't give me that shite, Forest could name a team on saturday with only 4 faces that played the fixture 12 months ago.

Was that tongue in cheek? It's hardly comparable, given that they've strengthened by splashing out close to £5m in the last year, whereas we've completely decimated out squad, selling our best players.
(Although I do agree he should still be able to get this team into the playoffs).

 

[DazBlade88]

With that first 11 maybe he should of gotten promoted last season rather than being in this position in the first place. Just a thought.

I was saying this most of last season. It dissappointed me that we only made the playoffs because we had the best team in the league on paper.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Blades v Ipswich (April 4th 2009) - Starting Lineup;

Kenny
Naughton
Morgan
Kilgallon
Naysmith
Halford
Montgomery
Quinn
Cotterill
Ward
Henderson

No offence to the current lads but on paper it makes the first team look PL quality. Such a shame we couldn't afford to keep the team togther. We had solid foundations to build on there.

The good news is that SEVEN of those players are still at the club. All the next or current manager needs to do is persuade Naysmith and Monty to accept a pay cut and he will have the basis of a good squad.

Bring back Naughton and Halford on loan as neither are getting regular football. Buy a good centre back, play Ward in Cotterill's position, get Camara fit to play up front and we have recreated the squad that was nearly (but not quite) good enough for promotion. Easy!

 

[Worksop_Blade]

Ahh, poor old Blackie. Fancy having millions to spend and a huge wage bill in comparison to vast majority of his rivals. Life is tough.

Yeah I'd love to know how much money KB/KMcM/TB have spunked up the wall on agents fees, loan fees, Loanee wages etc.

 

[LouTheBlade]

The good news is that SEVEN of those players are still at the club. All the next or current manager needs to do is persuade Naysmith and Monty to accept a pay cut and he will have the basis of a good squad.

Bring back Naughton and Halford on loan as neither are getting regular football. Buy a good centre back, play Ward in Cotterill's position, get Camara fit to play up front and we have recreated the squad that was nearly (but not quite) good enough for promotion. Easy!

As easy as it all sounds Sothall, you know as well as me that the club won't do this. Not a chance.

 

[Bristol Blade]

Don't know about loan fees, but last season we only spent £145,000 on agents' fees, with only five teams in the CCC spending less than us. Given that we refused to sign Pancrate and initially Camara due to their excessive demands over wages and agents' fees, I can't see it being much higher this year.

http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/a5/3c/0,,10794~146597,00.pdf

 

[Willie Carlin]

Don't give me that shite, Forest could name a team on saturday with only 4 faces that played the fixture 12 months ago.


If he was any kind of half decent manager he could get the current team in the play offs.

How much dosh have Forest spent since then ?

 

[Willie Carlin]

A very, very successful ex-boss of mine (so successful he's the Chief Executive of the company that's just fleeced us for the catering at the Lane) had a mantra that any manager is only as good as their ability to forecast.

McCabe's ability to forecast and profit / make the best of a collapse in global property prices?

Blackwell's ability to forecast what cost-cutting measures would be required and where he would need to back-fill to cope?

I actually think McCabe did pretty much OK on the first one - he just didn't tell us what he was going to do about it. In spite of Micalijo's attempts to show Blades Realty's accounts (or lack of) as a company in melt-down what they actually reveal is a company that saw the value of their assets about to collapse and battening down hatches until such time that they start to recover. I haven't heard reports that he's going down the swanny - but he's certainly worth a few bob less than he was a few years ago.

Blackwell - it's a joke. I can only the take the injuries excuse so far. Knowing that he had to cut the wage bill and bring in some cash he must have been able to see that he would need cover for Walker and Kilgallon - and as he was unlikely to get that type of quality then a first class keeper would have been a sensible option as well. Instead, he has brought in make-shift defensive cover and has been badly caught out. The only player he's been unlucky with has been Williamson - who for the few games he has been fit has shown that he could possibly have had the same kind of impact as Halford had he had a full season at it.

Don't want to be argumentative but hasn't he been unlucky with Ward, Naysmith and Kenny

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

We've done well then, should be in pigs position in reality.

Shit that’s next season?