Any other board in the PL

[Stef]

Does anyone else keep flip-flopping on how you feel?
Yesterday, I was genuinely bereft he'd gone. Couldnt see myself enjoying any success without him at the helm.
Today, with more I read, the more I feel a bit let down by him. He was "one of our own" but has bailed on us, at a time we need him the most.
I understand the working relationship had gone and they couldnt reconcile, but nothing is going to change between now and the end of the season; The transfer window is shut, the DoF wont be put in place yet, the training ground cant be build in the next 8 weeks and yet he's walked out now (I know he wasnt sacked). These are all his players that aren't performing and he's chucked the towel in. If we werent "his" club it would be easier to digest.

Then I feel guilty for feeling like he's let me (us) down. Football, eh?

 

[bornablade]

He may have done .Never said he has not .

'Criticising the owners in the public media instead of face to face'.

Sounds like you did say that.

 

[TCW]

'Any other manager, for any other club, wouldn't have made it past Christmas.'

Like Daniel Farke and Sean Dyche

Fair point, although they didn't have 2 from 17 or whatever it was. Should 100% still be here, perhaps I should have put 'most'.

 

[ShropsBlade]

'Criticising the owners in the public media instead of face to face'.

Sounds like you did say that.

Reading my post back you’re right .But point still stands.Soon as you criticise the owners in public its always going to turn messy.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Would have sacked Wilder after the losses we've suffered this season, the fact he has walked suggests the board arent the villains.

If this was any other manager we'd all have been calling for his head. Instead people are looking past this seasons failed signings and some how come to the conclusion the board is at fault.

It boggles my mind.

True but it’s been weird circumstances.....this season is a one-off and I don’t think it’s fair to judge the players or manager in this season.

Wilder hasn’t even had a pre season to prepare tactics or get his players up to full fitness.
He’s also lost his main player...O’Connell who is so good in that overlapping centre back role...where him and Enda attack down the left wing as a duo.
He’s also had loads of other injuries...Mousset out for most of the season.

Also playing behind closed doors had an effect.
I’ve mentioned this before......McBurnie was interviewed on Talksport in March20....when last season was about to re-start playing with no fans.
McBurnie actually said some players can play well in training behind closed doors whereas other are average in training but come alive on matchday.
He said he enjoys the banter, criticism and chants from the crowd....he said he prefers a crowd in the stadium as it makes him play better.

 

[Harrisblade]

This isn't a fact, though.

Also, I think any manager who gets a club promoted twice and then finishes 9th in the Premier League would get widespread support from his club's fanbase and understandably so.

Ranieri actually won the Premier League at Leicester, then got the sack the following season and has a better cv than CW

 

[Holmfirth Blade 1977]

And what about the inconvenient truth of the owner who has repeatedly broken his promises:

1. Personal investment in to the club.
2. New signings in the JTF.
3. Investment in to new infrastructure.

All promises made in public and all promises not delivered. Perhaps many more promises made in private that have also been broken.

As for recruitment, it was the Prince who enforced the low wage cap. (Source: Forbes)

The low wage bill is needed in my opinion, it will grow over time but we were in league 1 3 years ago FFS, can you imagine they would have to give everyone massive wage increases and risk losing their hunger OR bring in big earners and lose the squad balance and togetherness!

Point 1, maybe he has, is it his club or business?
Point 2, would you continue to throw money at him given the business he has done so far?
Point 3, I am sure this will happen, we are in the middle of a fucking crisis that is affecting everything!

I love Wilder, he is the best manager I have seen and probably will ever see, he has made this football club great again but I said that after Basset left. I personally think Wilder has taken his bat and ball home, he didn't get money in January and has been told he needs a director of football to help him out. It is Wilder that has forced this, whether he walked away or by his interviews backed the owner into the only decision he could make.

Until we know stop taking sides, they are both to blame

 

[Jonboy60]

I honestly thought knill would have gone with him,makes you wonder,hasn't knill been assistant to wilder at quite a few teams and I could be wrong but wasn't wilder number 2 to knill at Northampton at the beginning.

Perhaps Celtic only want CW.

 

[Keef Chedwyn]

I fucking hope to God we don't get another one of our own. Don't think I could go through this again.

 

[HillmortonBlade]

Be music to the boards ears this forum. Bet they can't believe how quick you've rolled over and had your bellies tickled.

I doubt the Board cares much as angry fans on a football forum doesn’t really have any impact.

 

[The Crab]

I doubt the Board cares much as angry fans on a football forum doesn’t really have any impact.

They don't care what their paid employees think. So they're really not going to give a fuck what we think

 

[HillmortonBlade]

They don't care what their paid employees think. So they're really not going to give a fuck what we think

If the company I work for made decisions that the customers didn’t like? Well, the competition would benefit.

Fans are most often held in contempt because we are bound to come back. I’m not about to follow Wilder to his next job (most especially if it’s Celtic) because the Blades board have let me down.

There’s also the issue that fans of any club are emotionally committed to it whereas the board aren’t (which is probably a good thing when it comes to business.. but football is not a business like any other.. it’s really quite awful, but we love it)

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

They don't care what their paid employees think. So they're really not going to give a fuck what we think

Prem money trump's everything else.
£100m from Sky. Even 30,000 season tickets at £300 only comes to £9m.

 

[Toronto Blade]

Would have sacked Wilder after the losses we've suffered this season, the fact he has walked suggests the board arent the villains.

If this was any other manager we'd all have been calling for his head. Instead people are looking past this seasons failed signings and some how come to the conclusion the board is at fault.

It boggles my mind.

I guess the pundits and other managers are all wrong.

 

[Hamburg Blade]

So him being a fan doesn’t go a long way really, him winning two promotions and taking us to 9th in the PL does, however. It’s unfortunate that he leaves us just one step above where he found us, rather than two.

What people tend to miss with the fan thing is that a manager who is a fan seems to put up with a lot more shit from the board than a non-fan would. They agonise a little bit more, stay a bit longer, accept worse, put up with the shit, because it's probably where they always dreamt of being. I thought the same about Warnock, who was convenient for McCabe even though I don't think McCabe ever really liked him. Warnock seemed to be able to hang on to his job longer than others would have.
(And I know people will say "Warnock wasn't a fan", but he was, it was only after he left and had "been there, done that" that he was free of it.)

 

[The Crab]

If the company I work for made decisions that the customers didn’t like? Well, the competition would benefit.

Fans are most often held in contempt because we are bound to come back. I’m not about to follow Wilder to his next job (most especially if it’s Celtic) because the Blades board have let me down.

There’s also the issue that fans of any club are emotionally committed to it whereas the board aren’t (which is probably a good thing when it comes to business.. but football is not a business like any other.. it’s really quite awful, but we love it)

Thats the thing isn't it, you can almost call it brand loyalty done to the nth degree.

It's not like deciding the recipe for Jammy Dodgers is a bit shit so you change your biscuit choice. We have an emotional investment no matter how poor the product is

 

[DeanLearner'sCat]

Ranieri actually won the Premier League at Leicester, then got the sack the following season and has a better cv than CW

And a lot of Leicester fans were unhappy about it.

 

[Harrisblade]

And a lot of Leicester fans were unhappy about it.

Very true!
But this thread isn't called "Any other fans............"

 

[MalmoBlade]

According to "close friend" Darren Moore CW "felt it was the right time to leave"

So unless CW is bullshitting his buddy, he left.

Now here's a cynics view: Mr "I've never been relegated" can still use that slogan going forward, just as Pulis can, despite the dismal results HE presided over as well.

 

[O Fletch]

Id say the board are naively looking at this thinking they can emulate what Southampton did. Double promotion in quick time, sacked Adkins, go the europeanised coaching model became an established PL team.
I think we are more likely going the route of another red and white team.

 

[guancheblade]

I think that is a very fair point.

Another fair, but intriguing, point is - why is Knilly still here?

Cos he has a mortgage to pay?

 

[true99blade]

We just don’t know what has happened and what been said ... so having a pop at either side at the moment is just stupid

I think it’s fair to criticise the board for either sacking him or letting him walk.

Either way it’s obvious the board and Prince, based on that pitiful statement and the lack of recognition on the clubs social media accounts, haven’t covered themselves in glory on face value. To me it seems even more obvious that Wilder would have stayed if he wasn’t undermined despite the job he’s done at the club over the last 5 years.

 

[nopigfansintown]

Ranieri actually won the Premier League at Leicester, then got the sack the following season and has a better cv than CW

And they've never won it since...

 

[DeanLearner'sCat]

Very true!
But this thread isn't called "Any other fans............"

The comment about the fanbase was a response to the OP's suggestion that the fan reaction "boggles the mind".

 

[BladeTillIDie]

I've been a big Chris Wilder fan and always will be, but I have to admit I've never heard CW blame himself for any of this shite season?

Yes the prince could have given more money but would you after seeing 100m+ spent on making a team no better? Norwich spent fuck all last season, went down yes but weren't as bad as us.
This summer weve spent nearly 60m in a global pandemic where other sides havent spent a penny, even the top sides are having to get loan signings in.

The players do have to take some blame in this awful season but if their not good enough it's not exactly their fault? Most are championship players apart from about 3-4, also some you can tell don't even want to be here but still get picked

Thankyou Chris, wish you did take some blame but we move on.

 

[BlairBlade]

Cos he has a mortgage to pay?

Do you go on other sites?

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

I do actually think it was kind of Mutual Agreement.
Board weren't happy and wanted him to do things different.
He wasn't happy and wanted it his way.
They wouldn't sack him.
He wouldn't walk.
Come to a mutual agreement to part ways.

 

[BlairBlade]

United fans trying to figure out what went on

View attachment 108247

Great another Belgiun!

 

[SilkyBlade]

The low wage bill is needed in my opinion, it will grow over time but we were in league 1 3 years ago FFS, can you imagine they would have to give everyone massive wage increases and risk losing their hunger OR bring in big earners and lose the squad balance and togetherness!

Point 1, maybe he has, is it his club or business?
Point 2, would you continue to throw money at him given the business he has done so far?
Point 3, I am sure this will happen, we are in the middle of a fucking crisis that is affecting everything!

I love Wilder, he is the best manager I have seen and probably will ever see, he has made this football club great again but I said that after Basset left. I personally think Wilder has taken his bat and ball home, he didn't get money in January and has been told he needs a director of football to help him out. It is Wilder that has forced this, whether he walked away or by his interviews backed the owner into the only decision he could make.

Until we know stop taking sides, they are both to blame

So low wages are needed but then you blame the recruitment? How does that actually correlate? Please advise which players you would have signed on the low wages?

The points I make are not to provide an unfair view, they are facts;

1. The court documents in the McCabe court case confirm the promised personal investment from the Prince never materialised.
2. The Prince confirmed that January ‘21 transfers would be made. Days later he confirmed the opposite to be true.
3. The Prince confirmed that investment in the infrastructure would be a ‘priority’. Again this has not happened despite the significant additional revenue generated from 2 seasons in PL and subsequent parachute payments.

I am merely pointing out, to the clowns that believe Wilder forced this outcome, the type of man he is working for and the challenges he faced.

Why else would a fairly sensible chap, being handsomely paid for his dream job, force a move away. It, of course, makes absolutely no sense at all.

 

[nopigfansintown]

Any other board would have sacked Fergie after Man Utd's various drop offs. Any other board would have sacked Clough a long time before Forest did. Any other board would have sacked Pep after Man City's continual failure to crack Europe. Pointless isn't it...