McCabe, mmmmm initially the saviour who has turned what was an excellent position into an absolutely shocking one. He has done this with his appointments, his in and out management (Blackwell's in one minute out the next) his fannying around with signing Bryan Robson, wanting him to stop on as Director of Football, then sacking him, taking the cheap option of Gary Speed and then taking on a man out of his depth in Micky Adams. Thats just the Managers.
Then there is the Tevez thing. Fair play to him for that, he did the right thing but then fucked it all up by pocketing the money and not spending on the team when it needed it the most.
The world cup bid. I remember some people getting a hard on when we bid for it, but those of us who knew it wasn't coming to England, let alone Sheffield United it can be seen to be a complete waste of time, money and resources. To be beaten to the punch by Lee Bastard Strafford (dude) takes some doing.
The academy. Its both good and bad. It has indeed furnished us with the Kyles to which we cashed in to the tune of £8m+. Brilliant we thought, but what has been the benefit to the first team of this now they have both gone? Where is the conveyor belt of talent we were told was coming our way? And now we are not a natural first choice for a kid in Yorkshire to sign for what is the value of the academy? I feel that we now have second rate coaches there and I'm afraid with the academy more than anywhere, you get what you pay for.
Brand building. Who gives a toss about whether we have a presence in China, Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Australia etc etc etc? What about the supposed benefits of getting non EU players via Belgium (the next Drogba etc). Who really thought that we would be getting the pick of that talent over Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea? What about the hangers on like Birch who are getting big fat pay cheques for Executive roles but who in actual fact seem to add nothing to the club other than to protect McCabe when the fans get a bit oity?
All of the above however pale into insignificance when you take into account the utter dereliction of duty that is first team squad investment. I'll just give you my own viewpoint but I am not alone in this when I say:-
Kevin McCabe. I don't want Sheffield United to be big brand. I don't want clubs all over the world, I don't care for an academy unless I see those players in our first team for a decent period of time. I don't want to see Turkey play Australia in a World Cup game, I don't want a big bulbous hotel on the corner of the ground. I don't want fancy execs protecting you when we are pissed off. I don't want to see the next Drogba (or not) come in the back door via Belgium. I don't want to see some Estonian third choice Goalkeeper on our bench just for the sake of filling the squad (can't we get one through our own academy FFS?)
I just want one thing. I want Sheffield United FC, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire to buy the best possible players it can and play to the best of its ability. I don't expect us to be in the Premiership. I do however not expect us to be in the basement of the Championship either with you stood with your hands firmly in your pockets saying "No money available for players", while you shift the deck chairs around to move money/loans/equity/shares to make yourself look better.
McCabe, right now you are 0 out of 10 as a chairman, four years ago you were pretty much 10 out of 10.
