Arnold f'ks us off

[yorkshirecoast]

We tried it last season and deserved promotion.

We tried the other method this season and deserved nothing but scorn and stagnation.

We passed it a lot in the season just gone - but generally backwards and sideways and at such a slow place that it got us nowhere. The difference the season before was we had a good striker (Ched) and players who were prepared to run at the opposition (Lowton, Williamson & Quinn).

Pace, power, determination and high levels of fitness are what we need to get out of League 1 - not 30 passes to get over the halfway line.

 

[broomhillblade]

All the indications are that we shall be relying more and more on the young players who have come thought the Academy.

However, haven't the Academy players been taught to pass the ball around and not hoof it?

It's all very confusing....

 

[metalblade]

I just don't get it one one hand we have Winter blathering on about changing our ways and following the examples of Norwich and Swansea but on the other hand we have Dinosaur Dave on the interview panel ........... WTF ???
I'll always thank Basset for the good times he brought to the club in the late 80's and early 90's but by 1994 his style was even then fast becoming outdated, now it should be safely locked away in a museum maybe we should find a special place in the hall of fame under the south stand.
Basset needs to fuck right off well away from anything to do with Sheffield United, his brand of Hoofball was found out years ago, it really does say it all about the current board of directors when they employ a guy clearly still living in the 1980's who still clearly believes hoofball and thuggery are the way forward ........................ sorry Dave even in the lower leagues these days successful teams at least try to play passing football rather than the infant school tactics of kick it as far as you can and chase it.

 

[Houso]

We passed it a lot in the season just gone - but generally backwards and sideways and at such a slow place that it got us nowhere. The difference the season before was we had a good striker (Ched) and players who were prepared to run at the opposition (Lowton, Williamson & Quinn).

Pace, power, determination and high levels of fitness are what we need to get out of League 1 - not 30 passes to get over the halfway line.

I saw very little possession this season. Just aimless hoofing from back to front.

 

[alcoblade]

The pr

I'm really trying to still love my club but this whole shambolic process is just endemic of SUFC, and it makes me sick. How many of us really expected us to follow a simple process with the minimum of fuss and end up hiring a decent manager that can get the team playing attractive, winning football?

My expectations were reduced to zero when I heard we'd got Basset involved in the process. Putting aside my differences with Pinchy about how football can be played, Bassett really is yesterday's man.

UTB

 

[alcoblade]

I saw very little possession this season. Just aimless hoofing from back to front.

I think you saw what happens when you try to get players who can't pay a certain way to play a certain way. It results in lots of sideways / backwards stuff, followed by hoof. I have no doubt it was the side effect of trying to play a passing style with players who weren't capable of it.

UTB

 

[alcoblade]

I am sure Arnold has more than a point here, however unprofessional his comments have been.

Trouble is, and this is where I must agree with Rio Ferdinand's most recent comments, the footballing infrastructure in this country in terms of developing talent is, in all honesty, hopeless. It might be improving but we are miles adrift of our peers.

FAR too much emphasis on teenage lads physical attributes to the extent that genuine technical ability is often largely ignored. I can tell you, as a fact, that it has been said by a prominent member of the coaching staff of a club not very far from here that "if your lad can do the bleep test to a high level, he is in" !!

Tells its own story.

In short, the English game is now reaping the seeds that were sown 5-15 years ago. The fact that the Premier League gets its talent from anywhere bar England in the main is further evidence of this. Our nations footballing heroes of the last decade or so have been the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and a few others. Players of great quality in many ways but light years away from the very best the world has to offer.

Getting back to the OP, Bassett is a personal favourite of mine and has been for yonks. However, football has moved on and it seems neither he, nor UTD have done, if Arnold's comments are to be believed.

Desperate times for UTD and English football in general

It raises an interesting question about whether to fight the tide or swim with it. I don't pretend to now the answer.

UTB

 

[Come from away]

Seems to me that a video interview is just part of a screening process, and he was screened out. Getting the ball out from the back is easy, where we failed was in the final third so perhaps like many others he had little idea of what to do once we made it across halfway. Just a thought.

 

[SwissBlade]

Monty being a success over there tells me all I need to know.....

That he's a better footballer in a better league?

 

[LSF]

I just don't get it one one hand we have Winter blathering on about changing our ways and following the examples of Norwich and Swansea but on the other hand we have Dinosaur Dave on the interview panel ........... WTF ???
I'll always thank Basset for the good times he brought to the club in the late 80's and early 90's but by 1994 his style was even then fast becoming outdated, now it should be safely locked away in a museum maybe we should find a special place in the hall of fame under the south stand.
Basset needs to fuck right off well away from anything to do with Sheffield United, his brand of Hoofball was found out years ago, it really does say it all about the current board of directors when they employ a guy clearly still living in the 1980's who still clearly believes hoofball and thuggery are the way forward ........................ sorry Dave even in the lower leagues these days successful teams at least try to play passing football rather than the infant school tactics of kick it as far as you can and chase it.

It makes me smile at the references to Dave Bassett on here - 'dinosaur dave', 'hoofy' etc... Do you really think a bloke who has been involved in football as long as he has, hasn't moved with the times and realises that certain ways of playing are no longer viable. Dave Bassett is still a keen student of the game and will be as astute and aware as to what is vogue and what is needed as AVB, Mourinho or Guardiola etc....
It's probably his detractors who are the ones stuck in a time warp still believing Bassett favours long ball blah blah blah..

 

[Deadbat]

It makes me smile at the references to Dave Bassett on here - 'dinosaur dave', 'hoofy' etc... Do you really think a bloke who has been involved in football as long as he has, hasn't moved with the times and realises that certain ways of playing are no longer viable. Dave Bassett is still a keen student of the game and will be as astute and aware as to what is vogue and what is needed as AVB, Mourinho or Guardiola etc....
It's probably his detractors who are the ones stuck in a time warp still believing Bassett favours long ball blah blah blah..

Maybe but to me he was involved; ok maybe not directly; when Adams was here (another that favoured the direct approach) and we went down so badly with some dreadful signings, style of football and a generally abysmal period. We allegedly paid him quite well for little back at that time (although ship was sinking) and now we bring him back to help oversee a new manager? It's very odd. He has not been involved directly in the game for nearly 10 years in a coaching/managerial position and other than a few consulting roles (such as at ours) surely if he was so innovative and up with the times a club may have taken him on in some capacity (especially if he wants to be still in the game). Doubt he is doing it for the love of the club (club he now calls Sheffield and openly said a merger would be for the best) and will be paid a fair bit for his role in this farce.

 

[bartman]

If true and a big' if'; this just further confirms how embarrassing the whole process has been from start to finish.'

I will look at the other way though and say what an odd response from Hey Arnold to such a process.

Added to this I would say is surely if McCabe has any clout over there with Central Coast Mariners then the guy should be hauled up on the coals really (it says he is remaining there as manager)? Whatever we think about SUFC and this seemingly flawed process of finding a new manager, the interview processes is surely in many ways confidential (both ways) and for him to come out slate a club (of which the owner has a financial stake or his company in his current employer) is risky at best.
.

I agree with you entirely on this bit. Seems strange and he has probably ruled himself out of any lower league role in this country.

Is it an indication he thought he would get the job but we turned him down and now he is bitter ? It would possibly indicate that he didn't get to the 2nd interview stage

Whilst the process has now taken way too long,i agree with United that this process has been totally confidential. No leaks at all and only Motherwell and now Arnold have given us any indication who has been interviewed.

It would appear some of those interviewed do not like what they have heard but if they don't think they are good enough to do the job then tough. Whoever gets the job at least can't say they were lied to at the interview.

Offered the job to 4/5 people. I don't think so as they would have turned us down before the offer stage. Apparently,according the the press in Scotland,we didn't even offer McCall the job.

The longer this goes on,the more likely I think Page will get the job,in my opinion

 

[OllyBlade]

Well things don't look good but it's he had to convince the panel of his football philosophy, not the other way around. We had invited Robinson to interview which suggests we are hardly looking for a long-ball merchant. The unprofessional nature of this interview reflects very poorly on Arnold. Whilst I am quite concerned by the comments and the way this all seems to have panned out, I am definitely taking the stuff about style of play with a pinch of salt.

 

[Gibbo89]

If you get turned down for a job you either accept it or you make excuses and blame everything and everyone else. We now know Arnold's response. A lucky escape if we were ever considering him. He'd have lasted 10 mins at most with the criticism our fans give managers.

 

[judge]

The guy should come out and say exactly what he heard that was so shocking instead of leaving us hanging

 

[ponteblade]

why would he lie? McCall turned down a job, the club is becoming a joke sad to say

 

[Gibbo89]

You must be ITK to know they were both offered the job before turning it down. I'm well impressed

why would he lie? McCall turned down a job, the club is becoming a joke sad to say

 

[dingledog]

why would he lie? McCall turned down a job, the club is becoming a joke sad to say

What you mean becoming, it IS a joke.

 

[bartman]

why would he lie? McCall turned down a job, the club is becoming a joke sad to say

why is the club becoming a joke because McCall decided to not go further in the process and a bitter Aussie has an axe to grind?(because he wasn't offer a 2nd interview perhaps ??)

The club isn't a joke,but the way McCabe and his Board have managed the club is.

However,with regards to the interview process,the only thing I think they have done wrong is the length of time it is taking.

 

[Houso]

Can I just point out that McCall turned us down, Robinson by many accounts turned us down, and we're currently down to Rob Page and one other.

Now, how have we skipped on from there and another manager saying he turned us down, to "a bitter Aussie who has an axe to grind and wasn't offered a 2nd interview"?!?!?!

All evidence suggests that:
a) we're cutting back massively in wage bill
b) there's no money to spend on the manager himself
c) we're likely to insist on sales, and
d) we're even insisting that the only way to get out of this league is through set pieces and direct football.

A-League winning coach Graham Arnold claims he has turned down an offer from Sheffield United and dubbed the club's development blueprint 'prehistoric.'
The 49-year-old, who previously coached Australia, guided the Central Coast mariners to the title last season and says he was approached by United director and former manager Dave Bassett.
Arnold said: "In all honesty, I didn't have to think too long or too hard about it. It just wasn't for me.
"Forget that the financial offer in itself was quite poor, but I would have been taking three steps backwards in my development as a professional coach if I had gone.
"I walked out of that meeting with the club's board and football director Dave Bassett, and said 'Wow'. It just blew me away.
"Being one of the bigger lower league clubs, I was expecting a lot more in terms of how they wanted to develop as a club on the field.
"But they just didn't seem interested when I was talking about playing a short passing game and taking the football another level up. It was about smashing the ball long and working on set-pieces.
"It was prehistoric stuff. That's not the way to develop a football team."

 

[Deadbat]

More from Arnold now....on Sky

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11683/8754144/

Seems to suggest that an offer was made to him?

I do think United need to offer some sort of response as he is in affect slandering the football club and its personnel. It is a damning critique whether true, sour grapes or a load of bollox. Whatever way its massively embarrassing to McCabe as he/we are linked to the Mariners. This man is still the manager there too. So we have an association with an club that's main manager thinks of one of it's so called partners that we are pre historic and a joke basically.

Heard from a few people/alleged sources on other boards/twitter that Page will be named early next week.

If after 8 weeks the best we could come up with is the Port Vale youth team coach with no managerial or coaching experience at first team level then it shows what a mess we are in financially and in terms of making decisions. I feel sorry for Page in a way as he will be the next scapegoat as we sell Long and Maguire, play a team of kids mixed with the dross we are left with. I hope he comes in and is a revelation but my gut feeling is by Xmas at the latest we could be going through the same process again.

 

[OllyBlade]

Whatever the truth of all this, Arnold has come out of the affair very poorly in my opinion.

 

[Houso]

God bless Graham Arnold for being open with this and pushing things to the fore. It's all very nice of Stuart McCall to be nice about us and diplomatic, but I'd still prefer some honesty like this.

It's absolutely everywhere now so hopefully it gets the attention of the club and they realise the damage they're doing with their paying customers.

 

[Houso]

Whatever the truth of all this, Arnold has come out of the affair very poorly in my opinion.

Why? What loyalty does he owe us?

 

[LoughboroBlade]

It was prehistoric stuff.

Blimey - it's as though he's aware of the Dinosaur Dave nickname, giving the media that sort of golden quote.

 

[OllyBlade]

Why? What loyalty does he owe us?

Not an issue of loyalty more just professionalism/class. Publicly trash talking a club where you applied for a job suggests,to me, a lack of integrity. You may think, possibly quite rightly, that it's about time someone was honest about the problems at the club and open with this in the media etc. But i don't think Arnold has earned that right, nor does it sound like he earned the right to manage the Blades.

 

[ScoobBlade]

Ah, getting rid of Danny was a masterstroke, look at how rosy the future is now without the pig !

 

[Deadbat]

Not an issue of loyalty more just professionalism/class. Publicly trash talking a club where you applied for a job suggests,to me, a lack of integrity. You may think, possibly quite rightly, that it's about time someone was honest about the problems at the club and open with this in the media etc. But i don't think Arnold has earned that right, nor does it sound like he earned the right to manage the Blades.

I kind of agree. Arnold's come out of it looking like a prized cock. You don't respond to not getting a job like that whatever concerns you had. What if the club had come out and said Arnold said this and that in his interview and that is why we did not give him the job.

However, I care nothing of this guy and doubt we will ever hear of him again....but I do care about my football club and the fact is we are being dragged through the mud again and seen as a laughing stock. The club has said nothing for a week now (other than telling us the pitch is being dug up) and the more this goes on, the more I am resigned to the next manager being a cheap, yes man who has to work within constraints that means in all likelihood when it goes tits up, he will be the scapegoat they blame.

McCabe needs to get a backbone. He needs to openly say he is selling up and get out (even at a discount) or put money into get us a decent manager so we move up the leagues. This middle ground of nothingness will see him presiding over a few more years in this league and then the likely movement down rather than up as our next move.

 

[Blade58]

Whatever the truth of all this, Arnold has come out of the affair very poorly in my opinion.

Tbh, who gives a f'k about how Arnold comes put of this? I don't expect he'll give a f'k either

What bothers me is our club and we aren't exactly coming through this farce smelling of roses are we?

 

[OllyBlade]

Tbh, who gives a f'k about how Arnold comes put of this? I don't expect he'll give a f'k either

What bothers me is our club and we aren't exactly coming through this farce smelling of roses are we?

No, we aren't. But we have to be careful about saying "person x has confirmed all our worst fears" without thinking critically about what they are actually saying. He has come out saying "oh they were all about long balls and set pieces etc" but there have been suggestions elsewhere that the interviews have involved the candidates being given scenario based questions and having to justify a style of play. They could have just been asking him some hard questions and he came up short. Why would we approach managers like McCall and Robinson if there was going to be a long ball game played? Maybe it suggests a split between the different people McCabe has brought together to pick the manager, which would be a problem. I take your point though and obviously I am worried, but am more worried about people like Southgate turning us down than what some prat who manages in the Australian league thinks.