APPEAL

[Jan Age]

Examples? I ask because I've only seen his stuff copied on to here and it's been really good.

New

I do not have the time or the inclination to trawl through old messages to prove a point. I was merely stating it wasn't all idiots, I certainly wasn't one, Jims a nice bloke, just a mouthpiece for the owners can't answer real questions with any substance.

I prefer it how it is now.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

I'd be very surprised if he doesn't read this

Probably better to ascertain the situation before turning his absence into a pop at him though...

One of the problems with greater visibility and communication with folk, is that when it dries up due to ill health or other reasons, you are very quickly on the receiving end of their anger or "surprise" at your lack of presence.

We get plenty of that as simply people who choose to provide a free service, never mind as someone who is a chairman of the club

I think it's fairly obvious from this and other recent posts that there ARE health issues involved, so give the bloke a break I reckon.

No need for the conspiracy theories / abuse when he might well be out of circulation for valid reasons beyond his control.

 

[northsomersetblade]

The nail that stands out is the one that gets hammered down.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

There's not much else left down t'wicker now. Mind you it weren't that brilliant before from what I can recall.

It was great when the old Studio 7 was going strong. Heavily censored versions of Emmanuelle n'all.

 

[SwissBlade]

I feel very sorry for him because he has little involvement in the board decisions and has zero involvement in the footballing decisions, yet still gets grief for both because he dared to communicate with fans.

All of the fans who have abused and mocked him via social media are morons.

Its one thing to communicate and give fans and keep fans up to date on the business of the football club.

Its another entirely to engage in the on field and off field football matters that he clearly knew nothing about.

His initial approach of engaging, wanting to meet with fans and then being the enthusiastic new fan, loving everything about our club was great, but the sad thing was that he started chatting football and got out of his depth. I think for that, he was getting some stick.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Its one thing to communicate and give fans and keep fans up to date on the business of the football club.

Its another entirely to engage in the on field and off field football matters that he clearly knew nothing about.

His initial approach of engaging, wanting to meet with fans and then being the enthusiastic new fan, loving everything about our club was great, but the sad thing was that he started chatting football and got out of his depth. I think for that, he was getting some stick.

Good post. I think that is true and stands some examination.

I believe Phipps was naive to attempt to communicate on Social Media and I said so on here when he first started doing it. Also at the Meet the new Manager Meeting, Adkins asked the audience whether they welcomed him doing it and got resounding encouragement; I remember I shook my head at the time and I know he saw me do so ( big deal!!).

Let me say that,as far as I saw, Phipps communicated openly and honestly to fans on Facebook and with sincerity. That's the most important point IMO. I only saw what was copied onto this Forum from time to time but there was a refreshing openness and honesty. Board rationales, reasons and facts can be communicated better by personal message than official club statements, no question.

The perceived notion above that he "got out of his depth" "chatting football" is a different matter and relates more to his suitability to perform the role in the position he was appointed to i.e. Co-chairman of Blades Leisure.

Phipps' CV shows little English football experience or indeed English company director experience. Jim is an " independent strategic advisor with legal and executive background who advises various companies" - as far as I know no other companies in football and no others in England, though I'll stand corrected.

With no apparent English football experience it's no surprise that his mind was overwhelmed with so much bombarded at him from so many fans anxious to give him their advice. On this Forum we see so many posters who are so anxious to get their little crusades across that they lose all sense of proportion and become obsessed and often personal. Each of us has our own intelligence level, temper threshold and writing skills!!

Communicating on Social Media can be great when things are going well I'm sure ,with big positive strokes to needy egos. When times are hard though, passionate football fans can lose sense of perspective and rake up everything that's been wrong with the club for their whole lifetimes, not just since the prince or the manager joined the club. Blades fans in particular feel they have been abused by the club consistently since Mick Jones was sold back in the 60's and the various tragic scripts in amongst our history combine way beyond the imagination any horror story or disaster novelist could have made up!!

On Facebook Phipps will have been pulled from pillar to post by well intentioned fans. He will also have been attacked by some nasty sorts and even infitrators from the 'enemy' out to cause dissent and chaos. With his background he will not have had the basic skittles in place which can only be there with appropriate experience; not enough knowledge to filter and assess the little jewels that must have been in there amongst all the crap.

It appears he might have taken his Facebook bat home,quite right. He tried and failed, fair play.

What I'm more bothered about is his capability to be co-Chairman of our football club main Board and what his frame of mind is towards the club and the prince's position at the club, the wisdom of investing and more importantly the incentive for future investments. Between us, we fans have given Phipps and the prince a very hard ride these past months, they hardly feel welcome. It would have been better for everybody if they had surveyed the scene from the Directors' Box rather than within the reality of Facebook and all the nonsense that is spouted on there.

One final reflective point: Did Clough ever stand a chance of being given time to complete a full rebuild once results started to deteriorate. Similarly, will it help Adkins to keep his job for longer if Phipps has given up on Facebook?

 

[him behind you]

Good post. I think that is true and stands some examination.

I believe Phipps was naive to attempt to communicate on Social Media and I said so on here when he first started doing it. Also at the Meet the new Manager Meeting, Adkins asked the audience whether they welcomed him doing it and got resounding encouragement; I remember I shook my head at the time and I know he saw me do so ( big deal!!).

Let me say that,as far as I saw, Phipps communicated openly and honestly to fans on Facebook and with sincerity. That's the most important point IMO. I only saw what was copied onto this Forum from time to time but there was a refreshing openness and honesty. Board rationales, reasons and facts can be communicated better by personal message than official club statements, no question.

The perceived notion above that he "got out of his depth" "chatting football" is a different matter and relates more to his suitability to perform the role in the position he was appointed to i.e. Co-chairman of Blades Leisure.

Phipps' CV shows little English football experience or indeed English company director experience. Jim is an " independent strategic advisor with legal and executive background who advises various companies" - as far as I know no other companies in football and no others in England, though I'll stand corrected.

With no apparent English football experience it's no surprise that his mind was overwhelmed with so much bombarded at him from so many fans anxious to give him their advice. On this Forum we see so many posters who are so anxious to get their little crusades across that they lose all sense of proportion and become obsessed and often personal. Each of us has our own intelligence level, temper threshold and writing skills!!

Communicating on Social Media can be great when things are going well I'm sure ,with big positive strokes to needy egos. When times are hard though, passionate football fans can lose sense of perspective and rake up everything that's been wrong with the club for their whole lifetimes, not just since the prince or the manager joined the club. Blades fans in particular feel they have been abused by the club consistently since Mick Jones was sold back in the 60's and the various tragic scripts in amongst our history combine way beyond the imagination any horror story or disaster novelist could have made up!!

On Facebook Phipps will have been pulled from pillar to post by well intentioned fans. He will also have been attacked by some nasty sorts and even infitrators from the 'enemy' out to cause dissent and chaos. With his background he will not have had the basic skittles in place which can only be there with appropriate experience; not enough knowledge to filter and assess the little jewels that must have been in there amongst all the crap.

It appears he might have taken his Facebook bat home,quite right. He tried and failed, fair play.

What I'm more bothered about is his capability to be co-Chairman of our football club main Board and what his frame of mind is towards the club and the prince's position at the club, the wisdom of investing and more importantly the incentive for future investments. Between us, we fans have given Phipps and the prince a very hard ride these past months, they hardly feel welcome. It would have been better for everybody if they had surveyed the scene from the Directors' Box rather than within the reality of Facebook and all the nonsense that is spouted on there.

One final reflective point: Did Clough ever stand a chance of being given time to complete a full rebuild once results started to deteriorate. Similarly, will it help Adkins to keep his job for longer if Phipps has given up on Facebook?

Belting post WWF. Well thought out and very well written. You've made some very good points - the most alarming one to me is how welcome (or not) we've made Jim and the Prince feel. I said on a post a few weeks ago that if they were to back out (and with the abuse they've had from some quarters for appearing not to invest as much as we'd hoped / expected / wanted - who'd blame them) we'd be well and truly fucked for a number of years until KMc found a buyer which, IMO, he's already been trying to do for some years hence getting the Prince to invest in the first place. If HRH pulled out and we were left with KMc, how much money do we think he'd invest for the team given that he's already told us he's putting nothing else in and the club has to fund itself?

 

[Woodwardfan]

Belting post WWF. Well thought out and very well written. You've made some very good points - the most alarming one to me is how welcome (or not) we've made Jim and the Prince feel. I said on a post a few weeks ago that if they were to back out (and with the abuse they've had from some quarters for appearing not to invest as much as we'd hoped / expected / wanted - who'd blame them) we'd be well and truly fucked for a number of years until KMc found a buyer which, IMO, he's already been trying to do for some years hence getting the Prince to invest in the first place. If HRH pulled out and we were left with KMc, how much money do we think he'd invest for the team given that he's already told us he's putting nothing else in and the club has to fund itself?

Back to the Weir 'project' I suppose; club has to pay it's own way; Academy doomed I would imagine.

In simple terms that means a wage bill of £3m or less, round-figures. Not long ago Beattie and Speed earned more than that between them. That's a good measure of the potential reality. Fans have to be very careful what they wish for.

 

[pommpey]

Frankly, I couldn't give a fat rat's arse if he posts or not. He'd be best advised not, given our ridiculous situation and McCabe's recent lack of Mea Culpa. Both he, and the recent spate of fall-guy managers McCabe has employed to draw the fire from critics and fans alike (and sometimes they aren't the same) are just patsys in a wider picture of backstage ineptitude, chicanery, lies and incompetence. I'd ask WWF where he thinks Phipps was, company-wise and geographically when McCabe refused to renew Warnock's contract, when Tongy hit the post with that free kick in Cardiff, when We dropped to div four, when Deano peeled off Bright at the near post and left him to nod home, when the multiude of other setbacks and disappointments ripped the club to bits and contributed toward us being where we are today. We all rememebr that. Does he think we will be suddenly energised by a yank cheerleader issuing 'optimistic' utterances on Twatter? Does he suddenly think that a step-change in attitude will change the residual abilities of a bunch of no-hopers out there on the pitch? I can't think there has been anything I have (been arsed to) read from him that has made me wonder, consider and change my opinion of those who run the club on our behalf. If he has any explanation, for example, as to why we have sold Jamie Murphy and spent £1m+ (the final figure still isn't verified) on a new playing surface then I wanna hear it. How many games have been cancelled at Bramall Lane in the past ten years due to the weather? If the answer is 'less than five' then I'd say that that cash was misrepresented and wasted. The 'talent' playing on it is still cack. It seems that 'gained value' and 'impact statement' are something completely missing from this board's vision of the future.

A week on from McCabe's dreadful interview and I am feeling ever more convinced this ship is sinking, regardless of our stop-start movement in the league.

pommpey

 

[Woodwardfan]

Frankly, I couldn't give a fat rat's arse if he posts or not. He'd be best advised not, given our ridiculous situation and McCabe's recent lack of Mea Culpa. Both he, and the recent spate of fall-guy managers McCabe has employed to draw the fire from critics and fans alike (and sometimes they aren't the same) are just patsys in a wider picture of backstage ineptitude, chicanery, lies and incompetence. I'd ask WWF where he thinks Phipps was, company-wise and geographically when McCabe refused to renew Warnock's contract, when Tongy hit the post with that free kick in Cardiff, when We dropped to div four, when Deano peeled off Bright at the near post and left him to nod home, when the multiude of other setbacks and disappointments ripped the club to bits and contributed toward us being where we are today. We all rememebr that. Does he think we will be suddenly energised by a yank cheerleader issuing 'optimistic' utterances on Twatter? Does he suddenly think that a step-change in attitude will change the residual abilities of a bunch of no-hopers out there on the pitch? I can't think there has been anything I have (been arsed to) read from him that has made me wonder, consider and change my opinion of those who run the club on our behalf. If he has any explanation, for example, as to why we have sold Jamie Murphy and spent £1m+ (the final figure still isn't verified) on a new playing surface then I wanna hear it. How many games have been cancelled at Bramall Lane in the past ten years due to the weather? If the answer is 'less than five' then I'd say that that cash was misrepresented and wasted. The 'talent' playing on it is still cack. It seems that 'gained value' and 'impact statement' are something completely missing from this board's vision of the future.

A week on from McCabe's dreadful interview and I am feeling ever more convinced this ship is sinking, regardless of our stop-start movement in the league.

pommpey

As I said above " Each of us has our own intelligence level, temper threshold and writing skills" and also " fans can lose their sense of perspective and rake up everything that's been wrong with the club during their lifetimes" I rest my case.

One thing I would repeat though, Phipps has been honest and open. A lot of Phipps' messages have been high quality and brave e.g. the excellent statement which included reasons for Clough's sacking.

I respect Pommpey's right to repeat all his stuff above yet again and I certainly believe Phipps has the right to publish his opinions if he so chooses. It's not whether we agree with him or not. None of us agree with each other all of the time about so many aspects of football and United. Most of it is opinion after all and there are 20000 plus of us. We might even fear certain messages from Phipps and the club, but we shouldn't call a man names just because he's telling things as he sees them and with regard to factual matters, as they are.

A lot of news coming from United is hard to take. That doesn't make it wrong and all manner of histrionics by fans will not change it.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

If you do see him, please don't approach.

He is very unpredictable and will either gush with enthusiasm about how awesome everything is, or throw a big sulky strop because someone has been slightly critical of him.

Slightly critical? The exchange I read the "fan" seemed totally ignorant of the real world and was being a twat of the highest order.

 

[west_yorks_blade]

Slightly critical? The exchange I read the "fan" seemed totally ignorant of the real world and was being a twat of the highest order.

Just a bit of fun in the spirit of the wanted poster.

That said, I have seen a very mild exchange on Twitter which he seemed to completely over-react to. Maybe the straw that broke the camels back?

 

[Revolution]

I don't know a great deal about Phipps' background but he always struck me as a fixer/adviser for the Prince - essentially the man who gets the Prince's affairs sorted out while the prince does whatever he does all day.

I found this interesting as I have over the years interacted with a number of people who do a job like this. What is different in this case is that Phipps himself has taken on the public and executive role. Typically, that's not what happens when I've dealt with such people. They call the shots, and report to the boss, but they hire people (lawyers, accountants, other executives) to help them and actually to take on the public role. I would have liked that to happen here, as from my perspective Phipps looks out of his depth.

And Twitter or Facebook abuse, whilst regrettable and often reprehensible, should not exactly come as a surprise.

 

[Esablade]

Belting post WWF. Well thought out and very well written. You've made some very good points - the most alarming one to me is how welcome (or not) we've made Jim and the Prince feel. I said on a post a few weeks ago that if they were to back out (and with the abuse they've had from some quarters for appearing not to invest as much as we'd hoped / expected / wanted - who'd blame them) we'd be well and truly fucked for a number of years until KMc found a buyer which, IMO, he's already been trying to do for some years hence getting the Prince to invest in the first place. If HRH pulled out and we were left with KMc, how much money do we think he'd invest for the team given that he's already told us he's putting nothing else in and the club has to fund itself?

McCabe has implied that he's put £4 million in this year....

"In this season alone, the joint owners have, in total, put in £8 million of money."

 

[PeteBlade]

I like Phipps, he seems like a decent bloke and has really tried to buy into the passion of the Blades.

It's not his fault he's been put forward as the fall guy and doesn't deserve the level of abuse he gets online.

Some wankstains on Twitter feel the need to copy him in every time they have a bowel movement.

I'd love to see Jim as the cheerleader of a successful United team, but it's out of his hands and more down to those above him t ensure he is.

 

[Woodwardfan]

McCabe has implied that he's put £4 million in this year....

"In this season alone, the joint owners have, in total, put in £8 million of money."

In "Shield meets McCabe" KM is reported as saying £8m per owner this season.

 

[Esablade]

In "Shield meets McCabe" KM is reported as saying £8m per owner this season.

No wonder fans are confused and arguing about this then...can't both be right eh?
I took that quote from the OS!?!?!?

http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/sheffield-united-kevin-mccabe-2964012.aspx

Of course his statement on the OS does leave open the possibility that one owner has put more in than the other this year...

 

[Woodwardfan]

No wonder fans are confused and arguing about this then...can't both be right eh?
I took that quote from the OS!?!?!?

http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/sheffield-united-kevin-mccabe-2964012.aspx

Of course his statement on the OS does leave open the possibility that one owner has put more in than the other this year...

I know. Funnily enough I thought I heard him say £8m each but was labelled a "clapper" !! when I mentioned it and apologised when I checked on the club website.
Reporters need to be more careful when there are us poor souls hanging on every scrap of information!!

 

[JJ Sefton]

There's shades of Princess Di with Phipps. She loved the media when they were publishing gushing stories about her, but chucked a strop when they followed her shagging trips round the world.

 

[Sean Thornton]

I know. Funnily enough I thought I heard him say £8m each but was labelled a "clapper" !! when I mentioned it and apologised when I checked on the club website.
Reporters need to be more careful when there are us poor souls hanging on every scrap of information!!

McCabe said "we've put in £8 million this season" on audio (if I recall correctly).

Now Shield quotes as saying £8 million each. Which is it?

 

[Wapping Blade]

McCabe said "we've put in £8 million this season" on audio (if I recall correctly).

Now Shield quotes as saying £8 million each. Which is it?

On The Star site it clearly says "As owners, we have both put in £8m this season alone" though it could be bad quoting.

 

[Sean Thornton]

On The Star site it clearly says "As owners, we have both put in £8m this season alone" though it could be bad quoting.

I know. Shield said on Saturday though it was £8 million in total, presumably from Statons interview.

 

[pommpey]

As I said above " Each of us has our own intelligence level, temper threshold and writing skills" and also " fans can lose their sense of perspective and rake up everything that's been wrong with the club during their lifetimes" I rest my case.

But you are once again personalising this in a thinly-veiled ad hominem rather than sticking to subject, that of Phipps. As for 'rake(ing) up everything that's been wrong with the club during their lifetimes' where do you want to start, and where do you want to finish? In my lifetime
I have seen some fairly good times as a Sheffield United supporter ... struggling to get past counting them on both hands mind you ... but a whole sackful of shit, thanks largely to the ineptitude of the club's enduring transfer policy and misappropriation of funds in wrong areas.

One thing I would repeat though, Phipps has been honest and open.

No. Alot of Phipps's posts have been naive and seriously misinterpret the history of fans and Sheffield United.

A lot of Phipps' messages have been high quality and brave e.g. the excellent statement which included reasons for Clough's sacking.

And do you actually swallow those reasons for Clough's sacking? As an explanation they seem pretty worthless when currently there is a negative net effect of booting a manager out who got us to two cup semi finals and rescued us from oblivion withing 18 months. We are outside the playoffs and struggling, just in case you missed that.

I respect Pommpey's right to repeat all his stuff above yet again and I certainly believe Phipps has the right to publish his opinions if he so chooses. It's not whether we agree with him or not.

Yes it is. We have to find his statements trustworthy and truthful, or else it is spin and propagnda. I am asking you - do you believe everything that has come out as truthful information from the board in the past eight years? Do you think they are honest with us? Please ... please WWF don't make me think you are that deluded by saying 'yes'. Phipps has had this idea, possibly based upon some American model where fans of 'football' are easily influenced by staffers going online and 'connecting' with the fanbase. All very well and good when you have The Stars and Stripes and The Battle Hymn of the Republic being bellowed out every game in a country full of the ridiculousness of Hollywood and guns for all. Culturally and sportingly we are worlds apart, and so are the fans. We aren't in fact 'fans' as such these days but 'stakeholders' and hold our managers and board members more to account than to be drawn away from important issues with 'look at the shiny coin' bullshit. Phipps (and McCabe) has misinterpreted the mood which has been getting progresivly exasperated and sour with every failed attempt at success ... success which should be attainable with 20k coming through the doors every other weekend and a city centre venue in a big conurbation.

None of us agree with each other all of the time about so many aspects of football and United. Most of it is opinion after all and there are 20000 plus of us. We might even fear certain messages from Phipps and the club, but we shouldn't call a man names just because he's telling things as he sees them and with regard to factual matters, as they are.

I can't account for people who call him names, no more than I can for those shitheads who throw coins at players. Football has some strange sorts following it but is it perfectly understandable for fans to call for Phipps to STFU if all he is trying to do is deflect attention away from salient matters like selling our best players for no specific reason, and using some risidculous justificatoion for doing so. It is, in effect, treating us like idiots. We all feel we have some kind of idea of the mess weare in and all of us have our ideas ... however bizarre, as to how to get out of it. The last thing we need is 'Go United!' from someone who hasn't watched that David Hopkin goal fly in, our top scorer being banged up and our bitter city rivals wave bye-bye and pass us, a last minute penalty miss and Deane/Fjortoft sold apropos of fuck all.

A lot of news coming from United is hard to take. That doesn't make it wrong and all manner of histrionics by fans will not change it.

No. But what will change things is either change itself, or change in policy. McCabe being honest with us would be a start.

pommpey

 

[Sean Thornton]

He said on Saturday the Prince had put in £15 million. He put in £10 million for his initial share purchase.,that's logged at Companies House. If he's put in a further £8 million this season, that's £18 million.

It's no wonder people doubt him.

 

[pommpey]

He said on Saturday the Prince had put in £15 million. He put in £10 million for his initial share purchase.,that's logged at Companies House. If he's put in a further £8 million this season, that's £18 million.

It's no wonder people doubt him.

And again, even with the 'running costs' you mention ... where has it all gone?

pommpey

 

[Sean Thornton]

And again, even with the 'running costs' you mention ... where has it all gone?

pommpey

Oddly, it doesn't seem to add up by , err £8 million.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I'd be very surprised if he doesn't read this

Probably better to ascertain the situation before turning his absence into a pop at him though...

One of the problems with greater visibility and communication with folk, is that when it dries up due to ill health or other reasons, you are very quickly on the receiving end of their anger or "surprise" at your lack of presence.

We get plenty of that as simply people who choose to provide a free service, never mind as someone who is a chairman of the club

Well Foxy, if you were on here doing your job (protecting Barney and helping him figure out how to log on when he think’s he’s been banned) instead of travelling the country following your beloved team………………..

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Phipps has been honest and open. .

Not sure I agree with this. When we signed Sammon and Sharp, he assured us there was still money in the kitty for the defenders we still desperately needed. OK we signed Edgar on loan but then went on to sell our best player (again), were told it wasn’t for financial reasons and the money would be made available to strengthen the first team and Adkins echoed this by talking about getting to January and strengthening. Then we bring nobody in despite moving a few more on and McCabe comes out and says the Murphy money has been gone.


Let’s also not forget the naughty little piece about investment and reinvestment.

 

[Deaneandagana]

View attachment 16213

I would hazard a guess that JP is yesterday's man, ousted by KMc during the recent night of the long knives boardroom shuffle - also KMc deliberately dodged the question of JP during his interview with Staton.

 

[blade too long]

Hes gone from very visible to invisible
wonder if there was an accident in the lab