Bwian Bwian Giv us a Wave

[AlienWoodward]

How much longer has he got in the job once Dude starts to see through him :fishbowl:

 

[Kev Gee]

can they afford to sack him dude?

 

[Pinchy]

How much longer has he got in the job once Dude starts to see through him :fishbowl:

Leave Agent Laws alone. His mission is gathering momentum. I think Strap-On is the one they need to see through: a complete charlatan!:thumbup:

 

[Autumn]

Laws has done well with what he's had to put up with.

 

[grafikhaus]

He's put up with no more than a lot of managers. Look at teams like Blackpool and Barnsley. They've got no money either, but just get on with it.
A certain N. Warnock of Palace is putting up with a transfer embargo, fielding kids and triallists etc.

Laws has got away with his 'poor little me' act for long enough. Don't get me wrong, I'd hate for him to go as I think him and Strapon are doing a good job :thumbup:. Imagine if they got rid and got, say, Southgate in?

 

[DuncDisorderly]

Laws has done well with what he's had to put up with.

Agreed. He's done OK, as he did at Scunny before. He's had his squad dismantled to the point of having maybe three decent players left, Grant, Spurr and Tudgay. The rest will be much more at home in Div 1 (when they get there!). They are calling for his head now, but what resources does he have when the big capture of the summer was Darren Purse, and the chairman was telling everyone in October that they'd have to sell in January to pay for ProZone, or was it the big telly at the pie stand?

Mr Straffords long ramble on Porktalk, reported last week, which basically said, 'Look guys, I know running a football club looks easy. Thats what I thought too. But when you get under the surface its a shitty mess thats about as easy to manage as nailing a sherry trifle to the ceiling.' tells the story. Who'd have thought that something that looks easy is only made to be so by the professionals who do it really well?

Strafford is no different to us. A 'know-nowt' fan who has surfed in on the back of the Geoff Sheard debacle to a position of Chairman that he appears ill equipped to carry out. In his rush to 'save the Owls', he is in fact condeming them to a much worse fate. He might have surfed in, but will surely crash the whole sorry mess on the beach of despair.

Dave Allen and Kaven Walker might have been said to be arseholes who held the club back (I dont know the gentlemen, but many suggested it was so), but they wouldn't have allowed this situation to develop. They would have jogged along, doing nowt, finishing in 18th place and happy to do so, rather than gambling their few remaining chips on a 'push for the play-offs' (fan talk) that they couldn't possibly hope to sustain.

Its another example of the know-nowts getting the upper hand. Some of our own know-nowt supporters talk similarly of how we should 'get rid' of Mr. McCabe. I know who I'd rather have leading the club.

 

[Santos]

Agreed. He's done OK, as he did at Scunny before. He's had his squad dismantled to the point of having maybe three decent players left, Grant, Spurr and Tudgay. The rest will be much more at home in Div 1 (when they get there!). They are calling for his head now, but what resources does he have when the big capture of the summer was Darren Purse, and the chairman was telling everyone in October that they'd have to sell in January to pay for ProZone, or was it the big telly at the pie stand?

Mr Straffords long ramble on Porktalk, reported last week, which basically said, 'Look guys, I know running a football club looks easy. Thats what I thought too. But when you get under the surface its a shitty mess thats about as easy to manage as nailing a sherry trifle to the ceiling.' tells the story. Who'd have thought that something that looks easy is only made to be so by the professionals who do it really well?

Strafford is no different to us. A 'know-nowt' fan who has surfed in on the back of the Geoff Sheard debacle to a position of Chairman that he appears ill equipped to carry out. In his rush to 'save the Owls', he is in fact condeming them to a much worse fate. He might have surfed in, but will surely crash the whole sorry mess on the beach of despair.

Dave Allen and Kaven Walker might have been said to be arseholes who held the club back (I dont know the gentlemen, but many suggested it was so), but they wouldn't have allowed this situation to develop. They would have jogged along, doing nowt, finishing in 18th place and happy to do so, rather than gambling their few remaining chips on a 'push for the play-offs' (fan talk) that they couldn't possibly hope to sustain.

Its another example of the know-nowts getting the upper hand. Some of our own know-nowt supporters talk similarly of how we should 'get rid' of Mr. McCabe. I know who I'd rather have leading the club.

Spot on Duncan. When you remove all the layers (and excess skin) Strafford isn't a bad bloke, he's just a Wednesday fan who thinks/thought he could make a difference. He wouldn't look out of place posting on the Wednesday version of 'Blades Mad' under "WaddleIsGod" or "ILoveOzzieOwl". He is a fan and has absolutely no idea how to run a football club just like we don't. He speaks like a fan, acts like a fan. I know McCabe is a fan too but I think he is very good at seperating his heart from his head, I'm sure there are times when he wants to come on here and argue the toss, have a go at supporters on the Radio or slag the manager off but he resists the temptation. He also surrounds himself with people involved in the game (Clever Trevor, Robinson {for all his critics and i am one, he has been in the game a long time}, Dooley RIP, Rocket Man etc).

I can't stand Laws, he has that annoying goody two shoes look about him, little digs at us, he gets Wednesday playing brilliantly against us, waves his scarf around but deep down I have respect for him in a similiar way that I think Wednesday fans did for Warnock. If Strafford sacks him it'll be biggest bollocks of a decision ever made. They are skint to the bones and realistically only afford a League 2 manager or a poor one out of work (even the likes of Reid & Roader would be out of their price band). If I was a Wednesday fan I'd be petrified about having this plonker incharge.

Dave Allen is a lot of things but in fairness to him he didn't sack Laws around this time in the 2007/2008 season when they were perhaps struggling even more than they are now.

 

[BladesMad]

Wasn't there going to be some potential investors at yesterdays game...I wonder what the post-game comments were... :help:

 

[Santos]

Wasn't there going to be some potential investors at yesterdays game...I wonder what the post-game comments were... :help:

Aye, apparantly

"Sorry Lee, we're not investing"
"But Dad, c'mon I'll do you a deal, three tickets for the price of two for the Newcastle game"
"I'll pass son, it's on tele, c'mon lets ring your mum and tell her to get the tea on"

 

[Deleted member 1486]

Strafford isn't a bad bloke

Actually, he's a cock. I'm not just saying that because he's chairman of the pigs, I'd have said the same thing 10 years ago.

I worked for Plusnet before he was the big cheese, he was a complete knob to everyone (except, I guess, senior management). The high turnover of call-centre staff especially was directly due to the way he treated people. I could fill this forum with little incidents I witnessed (don't worry Linz - I won't), one thing I will say is this; I worked in IT for various companies for over 10 years, I've never known anyone as universally unpopular amongst colleagues as Strafford was. On any afterwork visit to the pub the topic would sooner or later (usually sooner) turn to the entire group taking turns slagging the man off.

This may be hard to believe, as I have made a few posts about him, but he never said or did anything to me personally (if he ever spoke to me like he spoke to some of the other staff I'd have quit on the spot and he'd have had a taste of his own medicine). I hold no personal grudge, I just don't like the man.

And incase you are thinking this is a personal and unique opinion check out some of the comments on The Register when he was sacked from Plusnet:

So in a nutshell, he thinks he's been treated like shit and doesn't like it.
Well, as an ex-employee, this to me is proof positive that Karma exists and is real.

what does he expect? all these so called managers ever do is have a big dump on the peons, poor, poor Lee. Finally as above, KARMA!
Suck it up you gret puff.

As an ex-Plusnet employee, I have to say that I have a lot of respect for the post- Stafford management team. They're trying hard to undo a lot of the mess and technology debt he left them, and the culture of the place is tons better.
His rants about conspiracies and stuff are just nonsense. He treated the staff and customers with contempt. The current management treat them like valued people

Yes, i think its time mr strafford makes his own list up and undoes the damage hes caused others in the past, its quite amusing that hes having a bit of a hissy fit about being treated badly, yes im another ex employee, which is fine, companies hire and fire all the time, but the things that mr strafford allegedly said about us after we had been escorted from the premises are inexcusable and i would like to congratulate the powers that be at plusnet now for getting rid of the miserable excuse for a human being, if only it had been done a lot sooner, good luck in your future ventures mr strafford, as long as they dont involve anything to do with employing people because you dont deserve the hard work that those you employ do to get you your fat paycheck at the end of the long day.

i had to laugh at the fact that ol' blimpy had the audacity to say that he held those true to himself, nothing he ever did was transparent, open, honest or in collaboration with anyone at all, i think the fact hes going to a tribunal is a joke! may his many years ahead be full of misery, not to mention visits to weight watchers.

Plusnet have a history of working "The Plusnet Way".
They were working on the edge of what can only be described as unethical treatment of a number of staff over a few years not just months. Some were off through stress and then provided with an opportunity to leave I think was how you referred to it! These were so called poor performers who were not quite up to the "Plusnet" standard. Live, eat, breathe Plusnet or you were of no use. For those who were victims of this I'm sure that today you are smiling at Lee's predicament in fact maybe even feeling a tad sorry for the man.
He was one of a number of people who BT should have booted out the door the minute they acquired Plusnet and if they have any sense they'll see through the ones that were either supportive of the "Plusnet Way" or who were too scared to stand up to it but either way they are still in this company and need to go. Distancing themselves from Lee shows their true colours.
It was before BT arrived an arrogant, egotistical, draconian and indeed a bullying environment to work at times and I do hope BT will not let that happen again. It's very lucky to have retained a large proportion of the loyal people who work here - Why do they stay if it's such a bad place? With their skills they can get jobs elsewhere I hear you say. I suspect the fact Sheffield is hardly a centre for technology jobs is one of the reasons why staff put up with them but Lee was not the only one who was responsible for the shoddy way in which this business has been managed historically and their naivity of thinking they were untouchable was laughable and now Lee appears to be on the recieving end of a monster that was created.
Those who left and had their confidence shaken didnt leave with a whopping wad of cash but they did leave with the knowledge that they werent accused of the things we have been seeing here and they will stay in this industry because they don't treat their colleagues and customers like something they have stood in.
Once a Salesman always a Salesman.
Plusnet will survive that I'm certain of but it will take a lot of work to leave behind some of the stench that surrounds it.

 

[bartman]

Actually, he's a cock. I'm not just saying that because he's chairman of the pigs, I'd have said the same thing 10 years ago.

I worked for Plusnet before he was the big cheese, he was a complete knob to everyone (except, I guess, senior management). The high turnover of call-centre staff especially was directly due to the way he treated people. I could fill this forum with little incidents I witnessed (don't worry Linz - I won't), one thing I will say is this; I worked in IT for various companies for over 10 years, I've never known anyone as universally unpopular amongst colleagues as Strafford was. On any afterwork visit to the pub the topic would sooner or later (usually sooner) turn to the entire group taking turns slagging the man off.

This may be hard to believe, as I have made a few posts about him, but he never said or did anything to me personally (if he ever spoke to me like he spoke to some of the other staff I'd have quit on the spot and he'd have had a taste of his own medicine). I hold no personal grudge, I just don't like the man.

And incase you are thinking this is a personal and unique opinion check out some of the comments on The Register when he was sacked from Plusnet:

went to watch Sheffield FC yesterday(lost 6-2,great game on a mud heap) and spoke to one of the directors who is a close friend.

Said Strappon is not well regarded by other football league chairmen. Apparantly his personal manners and language leaves something to be desired and his arrogance with other chairman has turned people against SWFC. Apparantly Mr McCabe dislikes him in particular especially due to his arrogance in the Boardroom after we beat them.

He has been advised to stay off the message boards but believes it's the best way to communicate.However it would appear he hasthe personal details of all the posters on there and hasput pressure to get some of them banned.

If they sack laws,they will have to borrow money to pay him off.

My mate (a big Wednesday fan) also knows Dave Richards and apparant he's not a fan either.

Move to Olive Grove deffo happening for SFC and apparantly,at the moment.the FA favouring Bramall Lane over Hillsborough if we get the World Cup due tpit's facilities

 

[JohnDenver]

My mate (a big Wednesday fan) also knows Dave Richards and apparant he's not a fan either.

That smug berk Richards doesn't like Strafford or Laws? Frankly his opinion is worthless on either question.

As for Olive Grove... I'm worried - that's my 5-a-side venue of choice.

 

[DuncDisorderly]

If they sack laws,they will have to borrow money to pay him off.

Can they take Prozone back for a refund?

They do say history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. They were wrong. This is farce following farce. The only thing this needs is dear old Brian Rix* appearing with his trousers round his ankles...

*You might be too young to remember Brian Rix (delighted to find he's still alive at 85, too), but he was famous for appearing on stage with his trousers down, unlike Graham Rix who appeared to the 15 year old girl next door in a similar state...

 

[bartman]

That smug berk Richards doesn't like Strafford or Laws? Frankly his opinion is worthless on either question.

As for Olive Grove... I'm worried - that's my 5-a-side venue of choice.

There are intending to make it a sports arena for the community. 6 full sized astroturf pitches and a new sports club/bar.They will also need to level the ground out.

The press reports says a 10k seater stadium is palnned but they will obviously start a little smaller with plans to grow as they go up the leagues(hopefully).Also ,they are looking to see if they can play Friday nights or Sundays as they want to capture more support from both Sheffield clubs.

They plan to develop the Coach and Horses ground into a centre for the disabled.

The club is really promoting itself in a positive way and using the 'oldest club' tag to it's full advantage.(Blatter is honourary president of the foundation they have set up).

football isn't too bad either.....and the beer in the Coach and Horses is spot on :thumbup:

 

[DazBlade88]

According to talksport he's resigning tomorrow.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Laws has shot his chuff. Announcement tomorrow.

 

[Come from away]

Lord do we really care????

 

[TonyAgana]

Interesting how many of our fans claim Laws is doing a good job with limited resources despite being bottom of the form table, yet Blackwell is "destroying our club". I agree the scale is different but Blackwell does well and truly have his hands tied in terms of budget.

 

[Darren]

Can they take Prozone back for a refund?

They do say history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. They were wrong. This is farce following farce. The only thing this needs is dear old Brian Rix* appearing with his trousers round his ankles...

*You might be too young to remember Brian Rix (delighted to find he's still alive at 85, too), but he was famous for appearing on stage with his trousers down, unlike Graham Rix who appeared to the 15 year old girl next door in a similar state...

Ooh, ooh, ooh, time for me to look clever!!

"They" didn't say that , it was actually Karl Marx who was, himself paraphrasing Hegel. The quote comes from "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" and goes something like:

"Hegel says somewhere that in history things happen, as it were, twice. He forgot to add, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce".

 

[Santos]

my money is on pinder ten or fiery to go for the first "show some ambition mccabe and get laws as manager"

 

[oldblade]

Interesting how many of our fans claim Laws is doing a good job with limited resources despite being bottom of the form table, yet Blackwell is "destroying our club". I agree the scale is different but Blackwell does well and truly have his hands tied in terms of budget.

The key part of that statement is the bit that says "the scale is different".

 

[raul]

my money is on pinder ten or fiery to go for the first "show some ambition mccabe and get laws as manager"

Isn't your first quote copyrighted by someone else though??

 

[AlienWoodward]

Ooh, ooh, ooh, time for me to look clever!!

"They" didn't say that , it was actually Karl Marx who was, himself paraphrasing Hegel. The quote comes from "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" and goes something like:

"Hegel says somewhere that in history things happen, as it were, twice. He forgot to add, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce".

Did you ever work out why no one liked you at school ?

 

[Blade]

The key part of that statement is the bit that says "the scale is different".

Agreed. Budget wise we've spent some big money under Blackwell since he arrived both in fees and wages, I'd guess that we spent more money buying Henderson and Cotterill alone than Laws has probably spent since he's been at the sty. Even at our worst period this season for injuries our side is likely to have been worth more several times over than theirs at their best again both in terms of fee and wages. We have hardly any football debts remaining where as the pigs are around £25 - 30m in debt according to most sources.

Although Blackwell has clearly been placed under some pressure to alleviate the wage bill we've not reshaped the squad to the extent that it's comparable with their squad (thankfully).

Until very recently there's not been much in it between us in terms of league placings or from what I'm aware in terms of performances and entertainment. I look at their side and their position and think they are about where they should be, perhaps a couple of places away. I look at our side and feel we should be doing better than teams like Swansea, Blackpool, Leceister and Forest. That may be wishful thinking but we've still got an expensive squad with many players that have years of experience of playing at the high end of this league or above and given these resources feel a more reasonable manager would not have closed the transfer season with only one fit left back, one right back, two centre backs, and three strikers.

Yes we've had injuries but in the last 20 years I can only think of Reading in their wonder year and Burnley last year who both seemed to get away with hardly missing anyone from week to week. Most managers, assistant managers, chairmen or fans would expect trouble at some point with this sort of situation. On the other hand it's nice to know we've been paying Little and Reid good money for a combined total of less than three games between them all season. Along with France and Stewart who have played less than 4 games in total each if you add up their appearance times.


As someone recently said Blackwell went out of his way to celebrate that we'd be signing quality above quantity after the playoffs last year.... Since then we've signed the following players on actual full contracts:

Kyel Reid - we've seen him for about 90 minutes in total this year and he hasn't looked anywhere near as good as either Cotterill, Ward or Treacy have

Leigh Bromby - signed to fill a hole at the back for a cover CB - stupid to bring him back - patently not good good enough - sold just in time to make it impossible to replace him

Andy Taylor - I'm actually fairly happy with Taylor, he's not amazing but at this level I think he can do a job.

Ryan France - not good enough for promotion hopefuls at this level to play in any position of which I've seen him so far

Ched Evans - still think he's got promise but we haven't found a way to use him to his best abilities yet and perhaps spending the money on a tried and tested striker who could have come in and done a job without needing to be "eased in" might have been more appropriate if Blackwell was deciding to go with just three strikers on the books (given he'd wrote Sharp off).

Glen Little - good player that I would have liked to see us sign 5 years ago, or even 2/3 at a push but now he's totally a quantity signing rather than quality and won't be on peanuts. He's known as Blakey in the dressing room and is said to be good for morale - would you pay a few grand a week for a Blakey impersonator to cheer up your team at work?

Jordan Stewart - not a very good defender from the looks of things but not too bad coming forward - not a quality signing.


Loans:

Keith Treacy - good signing, at this level i think he has the quality we should be aiming for, hope he can get back to earlier form though as he's not been as impressive recently

Mark Bunn - OK at this level, nothing special although I do feel he's been scapegoated a little.

Kyle Walker - the lads got amazing potential and to be fair he's as good as anything else we could get - with the potential also comes some scary moments and a lack of positional sense at times but again I'm happy with this signing given that it was probably too big an ask to get Naughton back on loan.

James Harper - scored a couple of goals which is good, not really done ANYTHING else since coming in. Doesn't Tackle, doesn't seek out the ball much, doesn't track back, rarely plays a better or further pass than Monty. I'll admit I was happy we'd signed him and I'm not sure how much we scouted him - I hadn't seen him regularly for a year or two - I just hope United had.

Andrew Davies - scares me but to be fair is okish at this level, signed at short notice to fill a gap we should have filled when we wrongly re-signed Bromby back in July.

Richard Cresswell - despite his efforts to do his job and get on the end of a cross for his goal I really hate this signing and all it means to me after doing a deal for Cotterill for the same money. I fail how anyone could see this as a quality signing as opposed to quantity.

Carl Ikeme - not seen him much but comfortable at this level from what I know. It's now more clear than ever that we're just waiting on Kenny returning now though rather than looking to find a long term replacement/that much needed challenge for him.

Toni Kallio - ? It would be unfair to judge up to now.



It's a lot more depressing when you write it all down. I might never do that again now.

 

[DuncDisorderly]

Ooh, ooh, ooh, time for me to look clever!!

"They" didn't say that , it was actually Karl Marx who was, himself paraphrasing Hegel. The quote comes from "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" and goes something like:

"Hegel says somewhere that in history things happen, as it were, twice. He forgot to add, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce".

Whilst what you say may be factually correct Darren (thats the best kind of correct, btw.), 'they' refers to my Uncle Billy and his missus Auntie Flo. They're always saying it.

Anyway, mind you dont trip over your huge intellect now...

 

[AlienWoodward]

my money is on pinder ten or fiery to go for the first "show some ambition mccabe and get laws as manager"

Almost two years ago you we had a discussion on BU and you sort of made me try to see reason as to why KB was the best choice as our new manager.
Do you think his two years in charge have been a waste or could someone else have done better with his resources.
I would have done this via pm but Linz took that facillity away from me one drunk Friday night .... She's not the 1st woman to take a facillity away from me on a drunk friday night may I add
p.s. why Santos ? Kozzy was so much better :thumbup:

 

[Santos]

Almost two years ago you we had a discussion on BU and you sort of made me try to see reason as to why KB was the best choice as our new manager.
Do you think his two years in charge have been a waste or could someone else have done better with his resources.
I would have done this via pm but Linz took that facillity away from me one drunk Friday night .... She's not the 1st woman to take a facillity away from me on a drunk friday night may I add
p.s. why Santos ? Kozzy was so much better :thumbup:

Depends which way you look at it Alien. If you are not going to accept anything other than being promoted a waste, then it must be, but when we were 17 games unbeaten away, when you were getting giddy about going to Wembley and ribbing Jon Bon Blade about not going, did you feel it was a waste then? Watching United beat Swansea in the sunshine then seeing Ross Wallace banging one in at added time at St Andrews sending Eccy Road mad? Waste? Blackwell unfortunately holds the record for failing right at the last hurdle (like Blades throughout the years) with Leeds V Watford, against Palace (although the result would have been in vain) and Burnley.

I doubt we'll agree mate, I think it is unlikely if we'd have appointed a different manager at the end of 07/08 (who for starters) we'd be in the Premiership now, whereas I guess you will say we might be. At the end of the day, in his first full season to take a team to the Play Off Final and miss out on automatic promotion by a point is gut wrenching but shows some substance, as I don't and I don't think you buy into the theory that we were lucky last season.

I know the football isn't brilliant to watch under Blackwell, and who knows when I get as old as some of you old gits I might get sick and tired of seeing the current stuff.

 

[Robbie]

miss out on automatic promotion by a point

3 points...

 

[Santos]

Cheers Robbie.

 

[oldblade]

Depends which way you look at it Alien. If you are not going to accept anything other than being promoted a waste, then it must be, but when we were 17 games unbeaten away, when you were getting giddy about going to Wembley and ribbing Jon Bon Blade about not going, did you feel it was a waste then? Watching United beat Swansea in the sunshine then seeing Ross Wallace banging one in at added time at St Andrews sending Eccy Road mad? Waste? Blackwell unfortunately holds the record for failing right at the last hurdle (like Blades throughout the years) with Leeds V Watford, against Palace (although the result would have been in vain) and Burnley.

I doubt we'll agree mate, I think it is unlikely if we'd have appointed a different manager at the end of 07/08 (who for starters) we'd be in the Premiership now, whereas I guess you will say we might be. At the end of the day, in his first full season to take a team to the Play Off Final and miss out on automatic promotion by a point is gut wrenching but shows some substance, as I don't and I don't think you buy into the theory that we were lucky last season.

I know the football isn't brilliant to watch under Blackwell, and who knows when I get as old as some of you old gits I might get sick and tired of seeing the current stuff.

I must admit that I did consider last season a bit of a waste. The football throughout (bar one or two games) was not even remotely entertaining or exciting, and reached a real low point with the two home matches against Doncaster and then Wednesday.

But I kept telling myself it would all be worth it if in the end we got promoted. However we didn't and the dreadful football did not seem worth it.

This contrasts starkly with how I felt at the end of 2002-3. At times during that season we played some fabulous stuff. In numerous games we rescued a point or got a win in the last few minutes, and in the cup competitions even premier league sides found us hard to live with.

Although the final outcome was the same, and there was still that horrible feeling of disappointment and deflation after the play off final, I did not feel the season was a wasted one. And I think that is because the way we played ensured there were many high points throughout the season which even failure in that final game could not diminish.