about time

[loyalblade95]

Apologise if this has already been posted but its about time this happened
http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/foot...all-lane-vows-co-owner-kevin-mccabe-1-7925361

 

[Tyler Durden]

But the club were slated for years for trying to do it on the cheap.
The problem wasn't the expenditure, it was the lack of return on it.

 

[pommpey]

Load of bollocks. You can force your manager into shopping in the aisles where there's bags full of fresh air for a fiver, much the same as we have seen in our so-called 'expensive' acquisitions. We have simply not bought the right players, with the required skill levels and the right consistency. When was the last time we, as supporters, were universally enthused by a signing? Seriously. Tell me the last time you saw a player holding up a United shirt with his name on the back and thought, 'fuck me, that is a good signing!' Nah? Me neither. Its all Barry Oddnobs and players who you know, five games in, will make zero impact on our desired outcomes.

McCabe has himself to blame. He mentions nothing about his craven flogging of players to pay for unwanted fucking football pitches, the daft twat.

pommpey

 

[JJBlade]

Well said pommpey
"No more big earners at Bramall Lane" is a typical comment from a Chairman who doesn't give a toss and is on his way out as soon as he possibly can.

This club never succeeds at anything it does...........Except hoofball, (when it's even crap when we win)

When it tries to play even a solitary ounce of football the bigger earning players fail and end up mid table.
Lower earners fail and that means relegation

The whole attitude of the club has to change into a winning club that doesn't have limitations, and that is even more relevant in the boardroom.

 

[Bartleby]

When was the last time we, as supporters, were universally enthused by a signing? Seriously. Tell me the last time you saw a player holding up a United shirt with his name on the back and thought, 'fuck me, that is a good signing!'

Billy Sharp and before that Matty Done.

 

[pommpey]

Billy Sharp and before that Matty Done.

Really? REALLY?

I'll give you ... Billy Sharp. But face it, the shoes he was stepping into (a few loanees and crocks, Higdon, McNulty and Porter way back) weren't exactly invigorating stuff. And face it, Sharp's previous excursions in a United shirt didn't bring in the goods. He's exceeded expectations ... in a pretty piss poor league, feeding off scraps. And Matty Done? Played out of position since he joined with a passable reputation at Rochdale. Yeah. Rochdale. Little surprise the kid doesn't know his arse from his elbow these days and isn't smacking them in for fun.

pommpey

 

[Ricky]

I agree that we should stop paying certain players far more than the rest of the squad and that we should stop paying excessive wages full stop, but if we're going to try and do it on the cheap in this division then it's only going to end one way, whether the manager's previously done well on a budget or not.

Also looks like McCabe might have worked out that bonuses motivate players more. Well done Kev! Bet we've had no promotion or win bonuses for the last 5 years.

 

[Bartleby]

Really? REALLY?

I'll give you ... Billy Sharp. But face it, the shoes he was stepping into (a few loanees and crocks, Higdon, McNulty and Porter way back) weren't exactly invigorating stuff. And face it, Sharp's previous excursions in a United shirt didn't bring in the goods. He's exceeded expectations ... in a pretty piss poor league, feeding off scraps. And Matty Done? Played out of position since he joined with a passable reputation at Rochdale. Yeah. Rochdale. Little surprise the kid doesn't know his arse from his elbow these days and isn't smacking them in for fun.

pommpey

yeah really. REALLY! Watched em both a lot this season. Couldn't give a fuck about Sharp's previous excursions in a United shirt he's been an absolute asset to this club this season and proved his worth IMO. Agree Done is being played out of position but your question was about being enthused by a signing and I was when he signed - at the time he was one of the top scorers in the division. Not been transfer listed either so I'm guessing CW sees summat in him as well.

 

[boo radley]

Another example of the fact that the club is just a bit part in his life. A toy to play with. Yes an expensive one but he's not really bothered how much it costs him cause he a Blade at heart. trouble is like he said once he'd moved to Belgium he let it go. it did not matter because he was shoving money in and as long as his other incomes were greater, it did not matter because he's a Blade and the fans will see the millions going in.
Wrong Kev. The people you kept employing were toss and you did not oversee the problems because you needed to keep concentrating on your other businesses. You kept employing rubbish in the hope that they would get it right instead of actually showing a commitment. Not in money terms but the actual day to day running of the Club you claim to have full commitment to.
let us get one thing straight. Whatever you have put in in money, if you had matched it with your personal commitment in the day to day running you may well have succeeded. You decided your other interests were more important.
Question; Before you moved to Belgium did we have success. Yes we did then you trusted it to others , which by the way is your fault. It is not a part time commitment is it?
Get hold of it and run it as if your life depended on it and you may well get it back on track? Lord knows it is a huge part of so many fans lives who given half the chance would have put more time in than you. Are you finally realising you need the commitment like you had before 2006?

 

[Champagneblade]

It's the same argument for changing managers.

In their case don't appoint crap ones in the first place.

In this case, if you spend money, don't waste it on crap players.

The more money on offer the better player you can attract. Not even McCabe can try to sell against that one!

 

[Revolution]

It's the same argument for changing managers.

In their case don't appoint crap ones in the first place.

In this case, if you spend money, don't waste it on crap players.

The more money on offer the better player you can attract. Not even McCabe can try to sell against that one!

Bang on.

I can't believe people are happy that we will be spending less money. It would be better to spend the same money, but spend it on useful players, rather than frittering it away on the likes of Hammond, Wallace and Coutts.

We tried this austerity gig in 2013. It was a disaster. I hope Wilder knows what he's doing.

 

[nopigfansintown]

We have had a model of high wages and low transfer fees - the exceptions being Done and Brayford. This policy has been a catastrophic failure! We need fewer players but to pay sensible fees for the younger ones who are on the up (no more than say 300k). If you can get them when they have a year left on their contracts (see Sawyers and Morsy) that is a very prudent way to do it due to the bosman ruling. You effectively asset strip your rivals, giving them better contracts than what they're on at their L/L2 clubs. If our club has to eventually sell them on, you just repeat the cycle, by reinvesting the large fees you get from the Champ/Prem teams.. Its really that simple. The challenge for Wilder and his staff is: can he identify these players? No more phenomenal wages or fees unless the player is young and exceptional - like Callum Wilson. We'd have probably got him for a smaller fee and wages than the likes of Brayford, with the potential return being substantially higher due to his age and obvious talent. The Blades need a sensible investment model, not austerity.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Load of bollocks. You can force your manager into shopping in the aisles where there's bags full of fresh air for a fiver, much the same as we have seen in our so-called 'expensive' acquisitions. We have simply not bought the right players, with the required skill levels and the right consistency. When was the last time we, as supporters, were universally enthused by a signing? Seriously. Tell me the last time you saw a player holding up a United shirt with his name on the back and thought, 'fuck me, that is a good signing!' Nah? Me neither. Its all Barry Oddnobs and players who you know, five games in, will make zero impact on our desired outcomes.

McCabe has himself to blame. He mentions nothing about his craven flogging of players to pay for unwanted fucking football pitches, the daft twat.

pommpey

Last summer: 1. Billy sharp. 2. Connor Sammon.

Genuinely I was enthused. I didn't know about the Sammon signing until I saw him warming up before the Newcastle friendly.

I was already buzzing having Adkins as manager, Sharp back and I thought wow! at last we mean business.

Then I watched Sammon play for a few games and couldn't believe he had been a big money signing in the past and had played above our level all those years. Then I studied his C.V. and realised he had never held down a first team position throughout his career, even in Ireland non-league!! The lad has no ball sense, can't judge the pace or bounce

 

[PeteBlade]

Billy Sharp and before that Matty Done.

Matty Done was dismissed as an unwarrented panic buy from a few on here.

 

[yorkshirecoast]

Bang on.

I can't believe people are happy that we will be spending less money. It would be better to spend the same money, but spend it on useful players, rather than frittering it away on the likes of Hammond, Wallace and Coutts.

We tried this austerity gig in 2013. It was a disaster. I hope Wilder knows what he's doing.

Agreed. The answer is to spend on the right type of players - not to cut spending.

More proof that we are going nowhere under McCabe. The pigs and many others have shown the difference that ambitious owners - who are willing to spend big on the right players - can make.

What a shambles.

Our only hope is new owners.

 

[Bartyblade]

Weren't Baxter and Brandy seen as welcome additions after their performances against us for Oldham and Walsall respectively?

 

[pommpey]

yeah really. REALLY! Watched em both a lot this season. Couldn't give a fuck about Sharp's previous excursions in a United shirt he's been an absolute asset to this club this season and proved his worth IMO. Agree Done is being played out of position but your question was about being enthused by a signing and I was when he signed - at the time he was one of the top scorers in the division. Not been transfer listed either so I'm guessing CW sees summat in him as well.

Sharp IS a great signing, based on last season's performances. But let's face it, he is seemingly the only player able to find the net from over thirty of the twats, and without his goals, we would have been custard. But let's not get too giddy. I doubt very much he'll be quite so prolific against Championship defences, which has been proven time and time again with him over a series of clubs playing a variety of systems. He's much like Evans - found his purple-patch level here at BDTBL in the third division.

I would like to be confident we sign a player who can get us up and keep us up. I doubt both Done and Sharp are in that category.

pommpey

 

[Sheffsteel]

So many contradictions here.

Are we saying we want to club to use funds effectively and pay players only what they are worth? Or
do we show ambition and go all out bringing in the top targets identified by the manager and pay then what they want (like we did with Brayford, Sharp and Hammond etc).

For some fans if there are 2 options on the table
Then what ever option is chosen, then it's the boards fault.

Let's hope the negativity amongst some fans doesn't transfer itself to the players, management/ board etc
Or we may as well pack up and join the non league now.

 

[BushBlade]

So many contradictions here.

Are we saying we want to club to use funds effectively and pay players only what they are worth? Or
do we show ambition and go all out bringing in the top targets identified by the manager and pay then what they want (like we did with Brayford, Sharp and Hammond etc).

For some fans if there are 2 options on the table
Then what ever option is chosen, then it's the boards fault.

Let's hope the negativity amongst some fans doesn't transfer itself to the players, management/ board etc
Or we may as well pack up and join the non league now.

I get your point but it's one extreme to the other. We don't have to act like tramps rummaging around in bins for discarded food and we don't have to go mental signing players that we just can't afford.

The reality is, no one knows why we keep spending money and failing. We have ideas and theories but we don't really know.

And yes, the leadership will be criticised whatever they do for as long as we remain in L1. Because, ultimately the buck stops with them. KM can go on about being unlucky and blaming previous managers but he and the prince are the ultimate controlling parties and the ones who would benefit financially from the club being a success. They appoint the people whom they subsequently blame for our failures. Kev; dilly ding dilly dong, fucking wake up man.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

Load of bollocks. You can force your manager into shopping in the aisles where there's bags full of fresh air for a fiver, much the same as we have seen in our so-called 'expensive' acquisitions. We have simply not bought the right players, with the required skill levels and the right consistency. When was the last time we, as supporters, were universally enthused by a signing? Seriously. Tell me the last time you saw a player holding up a United shirt with his name on the back and thought, 'fuck me, that is a good signing!' Nah? Me neither. Its all Barry Oddnobs and players who you know, five games in, will make zero impact on our desired outcomes.

McCabe has himself to blame. He mentions nothing about his craven flogging of players to pay for unwanted fucking football pitches, the daft twat.

pommpey

I'm scratching my head about players I was genuinely excited about when they signed in recent years. I remember thinking Paul Ifill was a big statement of intent, David Unsworth too I thought would prove to be a very good signing, then James Beattie, Gary Speed, Andy Reid (on loan), Jose Baxter, Billy Sharp... there may be more, but the list isn't long to say I'm stretching my mind back 10 years. Eoin Doyle and Callum Wilson would have got me excited had we not missed out. Be nice to see us nicking some players off our rivals as McCabe eluded to, but I can't see him funding it.

 

[Revolution]

I get your point but it's one extreme to the other. We don't have to act like tramps rummaging around in bins for discarded food and we don't have to go mental signing players that we just can't afford.

The reality is, no one knows why we keep spending money and failing. We have ideas and theories but we don't really know.

And yes, the leadership will be criticised whatever they do for as long as we remain in L1. Because, ultimately the buck stops with them. KM can go on about being unlucky and blaming previous managers but he and the prince are the ultimate controlling parties and the ones who would benefit financially from the club being a success. They appoint the people whom they subsequently blame for our failures. Kev; dilly ding dilly dong, fucking wake up man.

Good post.

We are not failing because we are spending money. We are failing because of what we are spending it on. McCabe would do well to remember this.

The teams who spend more are usually the more successful. When their transfer policy is directed by idiots, or amateurs, they can still fail. Cutting budgets to the bone is not the cure. Doing things more sensibly is.

Same with the idea of the bloated squad being a bad thing. A big squad is a tremendous advantage, particularly lower down, if you use it right (we didn't) and have a good first 11 (we didn't).

 

[robbiez666]

Our toytown chairman is at it again



"Kevin McCabe has insisted Sheffield United must no longer pay over the odds after bemoaning the club’s financial largesse in the transfer market."

What a dick.

 

[Grizzly blade]

The problem as I see it lays with the intentions of the club and this putting pressure on managers to get instant success.
Yes they have been given decent budgets, but the goal of promotion means that the past managers have had no time to build, no time to scout players for a few months, no time to wait for a player to settle and also can't risk gambling on a young, cheap talent with potential from lower leagues.

As a result managers turned to players they knew, players who have often better players around them (certainly last 2 managers) in the hope they would show their ability and be the difference.
Sadly as this clearly bombed, all this has done is create divides and individuals, and held us back by the lack of all round ability in the squad....a lack of quality that has been missing from well before we were relegated here in the first place.
We have been buying expensive sticking plasters since Robson.....rather than building a lasting legacy of quality with a defined style of attacking, exciting passing football.
That should have been the goal after we left the premier league. Our inability to keep the ball in tight areas and switch play quickly is the reason we can't open up sides and resort to lumping it and playing percentages. In short we are miles behind.

The last manager who opted to gamble on cheaper talents was Clough.....McNulty, Scougall, Adams, Wallace, McGahey, J. Wallace.....and also used two or three very young lads from the Academy. We can argue if this worked or not, Adkins certainly didn't rate all but Adams from those. But all of them have talent, and in the hands of the manager who signed them might have achieved more with us last season.
But we foolishly started again and knocked ourselves backwards. Have we done this again with Wilders appointment?

Time will tell, but I would be amazed if Wilder can pull together a squad capable of promotion in one summer, and I hope we don't fall further while we wait for him to get it right....if indeed we can wait without sacking him. We have to hope he knows enough about the lower leagues to pull some rabbits out of the hat, and if he succeeds he will be the best manager in my lifetime such is the mess we are in right now.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Another example of the fact that the club is just a bit part in his life. A toy to play with. Yes an expensive one but he's not really bothered how much it costs him cause he a Blade at heart. trouble is like he said once he'd moved to Belgium he let it go. it did not matter because he was shoving money in and as long as his other incomes were greater, it did not matter because he's a Blade and the fans will see the millions going in.
Wrong Kev. The people you kept employing were toss and you did not oversee the problems because you needed to keep concentrating on your other businesses. You kept employing rubbish in the hope that they would get it right instead of actually showing a commitment. Not in money terms but the actual day to day running of the Club you claim to have full commitment to.
let us get one thing straight. Whatever you have put in in money, if you had matched it with your personal commitment in the day to day running you may well have succeeded. You decided your other interests were more important.
Question; Before you moved to Belgium did we have success. Yes we did then you trusted it to others , which by the way is your fault. It is not a part time commitment is it?
Get hold of it and run it as if your life depended on it and you may well get it back on track? Lord knows it is a huge part of so many fans lives who given half the chance would have put more time in than you. Are you finally realising you need the commitment like you had before 2006?

Yes I think McCabe has realised that now, pity he has wasted loads of money and years in this division.not too late to put it right.come on you blades

 

[Kev Gee]

It wasnt the spend that was the problem. It was what previous managers spent the money on.

Clough signed some right shite. Adkins had to make do with by and large Cloughs squad and then added to it with even more dross.

 

[Cyprus Blade]

"No more big earners at Bramall Lane" is a typical comment from a Chairman who doesn't give a toss and is on his way out as soon as he possibly can.

I think it also reveals an attitude of mind that is cash oriented and thinks everything can be fixed by money. He may be learning that isn't true, but unfortunately his knee-jerk reaction appears not to make sure the money is well spent, but to reduce the money. The club is crying out for genuine back office reform but McCabe appears to fiddle while Rome burns. His reforms in the transfer area appear to be more concerned with controlling the purse strings rather than fixing something that clearly isn't working and hasn't for a long time. Take his record on player sales and then add his answer to the question (Director of Football) at the fans forum when he went he emphasised the importance of financial administration over football knowledge and competence for example. Like my father used to say "McCabe is a money man, first and foremost". He certainly comes across that way.

 

[Jonboy60]

I think if a player, CW recognises to be an asset to the squad, km will put his hand in his pocket.
This, not paying over the odds, and using youth and lower league talent, while may well be true, it also sends a message out to other clubs that we will not be held to ransom on jumped up fees, because other clubs and players see us as a cash cow soft touch.

 

[Grizzly blade]

I think if a player, CW recognises to be an asset to the squad, km will put his hand in his pocket.
This, not paying over the odds, and using youth and lower league talent, while may well be true, it also sends a message out to other clubs that we will not be held to ransom on jumped up fees, because other clubs and players see us as a cash cow soft touch.

Is this not what has happened with Adkins, Clough, Weir etc......they will have said all the players they signed are assets to the club.
KM has put his hand in his pocket for Hammond....and that didn't really have the result Adkins said it would.
As for clubs holding teams to ransom, I do think some are being a little bit naive here.

If there is a young, quick, talented player in the lower leagues do we not think there will be numerous clubs looking at him? Course there is....and that owner of that player is going to hold out for the best bid it can. And no matter which way you dice it, we will look desperate to any club we deal with. We are gonna be 6 seasons in league one....on our 5th manager while we are at it. We have just released 10, placed most of the others on the list and so by that we are desperate for players.
If we end up in the scenario Blackpool had come the start of the season God help us!

What United need to learn is firstly where to spot these players, then offer the best package possible to beat off our rivals. We can't go on losing talent to other sides because we won't be held to ransom into paying the players value. And I know it's hard to believe, but players do look at more than the money....our owner and manager should be selling the club....the facilities, the prospects, the history, the fans.....when prospective players come they should see a club going places with a fanbase roaring them on to be the best they can.
That way, when say Bolton bid 100k more for a player the player himself can hold out to get his way and go to the club he wants to play for.

So for me....identify a load of players to get us up, and go get them. No pissing about, just get it done quickly. I don't care if they are from lower leagues, premier league or whatever....as long as they are quick, fit, good on the ball and young enough to get better and add cash value to the squad. Is that likely?

 

[BushBlade]

What's better; paying over the odds and getting promoted or not paying over the odds and not getting promoted?

 

[Jonboy60]

Paying over the odds and not getting promoted, more often than not.