"Careful what you wish for"

[Revolution]

The Prince left us in a much better position than the one he found us in when he came on the scene in 2013.

His tenure as sole owner (September 2019-December 2024) features our highest top flight finish in 30 years, one promotion, one losing playoff campaign, two (awful) PL relegations and a Cup Semi final. Our lowest position in that time is 5th in the Championship, and we have had PL TVC money or parachute money in every season, putting us a long way ahead of most of the competition at Championship level.

There have been some bad things about his ownership, but I think history will look on him favourably.

 

[FriethBlade]

Whilst I can understand frustration with the current ownership, this is some very selective memory in action.

We can talk about the great times having one brilliant season in the premier league- but the Prince was, for the last few years of his tenure, an absent owner who didn't want to be here anymore.

It was his ownership that saw players contracts running down and losing multiple players for nothing; or selling key players at comparatively cheap prices due to their contract status- to divisional rivals or with no time to replace them (Berge & Ndiaye).

We've been under transfer embargos and have even received points deductions due to his inability to run this club legitmately. As much as you can look at that first premier league season with fondness, as a club we've not really progressed on or off the field during his solo tenure compared to where we were after McCabe was ousted (i.e. the start of the 19/20 season).

Yes; we held out on selling players more so than we had done under McCabe- but the club was at real risk of financial ruin had Heckingbottom not gotten us promoted.

Selective memory? You say he sold Berge and Ndiaye with no time to replace them. We replaced them with Hamer and Souza. Contrast to selling Souza and Anel where we have replaced with Soumare and loans. I know which trade i prefer !

 

[Berkshire Blade]

The prince was having to limit the around of paint we used and turning off under soil heating and getting us into embargoes and points deductions.

I wouldn't wish for that again. He simply didn't have the money required for championship let alone premier league.

He did have Wilder and the money that his success brought in though.

 

[prescotblade]

Owning a football club is a toy for the rich. Clubs like us are not seen as an attractive project. Why you have to ask, look at Wrexham and Birmingham as example.
The culture we are an working class club doesn’t work in today’s game. Whilst we may like the underdog image, we are not underdogs, in this league we are seen as a big scalp. Potentially a fallen club.
To move forward the club needs a good shake up, if we are not careful that we may not be on control of this situation.

 

[Linzip]

The prince was having to limit the around of paint we used and turning off under soil heating and getting us into embargoes and points deductions.

I wouldn't wish for that again. He simply didn't have the money required for championship let alone premier league.

He did have Wilder and the money that his success brought in though.

I think the Prince got lucky for the most part. Don’t forget he ousted McCabe (who was the one who basically transformed the ground and brought in Wilder). Yes McCabe had his faults - the main one being living abroad to avoid paying tax in the U.K and bringing in Bryan Robson after Warnock went - but he laid all the foundations and was a blade through and through. I never trusted the Prince and nor do I believe that Ndiaye wanted to go - the selling of him and Berge contributed to the disastrous prem season.

 

[DaveBassettsgoneonholiday]

Firstly this is a personal opinion of where I am. Your opinion may differ, I may not agree with it but it’s your opinion and it’s not necessarily wrong, just different.

I’ve been going to The Lane for 53 years now, that’s not me Pulling “bigger Blade” or anything like that it’s just a fact of how long I’ve been around.

There’s a lot of talk of changing the culture of the club, new owners, new ideas new aims etc to achieve success. As I type, this is not going too well to say the least. Will it work, who knows ? It’s a gamble with no guarantee of success and failure could be a disaster.

In my time of watching the Blades we’ve never managed to establish ourselves in the top division, maybe we came close with Wilder mark 1 but, losing Jack O’Connell (and the collapse of half our unique overlapping CB’s threat) was a big part of eventual failure which I won’t bore you with my thoughts. It’s been done to death.

For me, we are probably a mid to upper table second tier club (briefly flirting with the top league) with seasons defined by promotion campaigns and cup runs at best.

Do I want to be an established top flight team ? Once upon a time yes, but not so much now. I don’t like what the Premier has become, as we know, it’s all about the money and survival for most teams.

Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton have all gate crashed this club in recent years. For every one of those there’s a dozen or more clubs wanting to be the next “them”.

I completely get that the younger generations of Blades (not all) who have the ambition and desire for us to be up there and established with the elite, but as I’ve said, I’m past that now. Fifty three years of it not happening have worn me down and I accept what we are and enjoy the good bits when they come along. Experiencing so much failure makes the brief moments of success more enjoyable than many fans (I’m looking at the entitled Man Utd, Arsenal etc followers here) can ever imagine. Give me a cup run, a Cup Final win before I expire, and exciting seasons battling in the upper echelons of whatever league we are in and some entertainment and excitement.

To kind of sum up, I don’t think it’s wrong for some of us to have ambition, a change in culture and approach that brings sustained success. I also don’t think it’s wrong to believe that that’s just not who we are, accept our place in the scheme of things and enjoy our current identity of plucky under dogs briefly flirting with a bit of relative success.

Apologies if this is a bit jumbled and back and forth but bloody hell, this is Utd, how are you meant to be clear and concise writing anything about our lot.

 

[I should coco]

Fifty three years of it not happening have worn me down and I accept what we are and enjoy the good bits when they come along. Experiencing so much failure makes the brief moments of success more enjoyable than many fans (I’m looking at the entitled Man Utd, Arsenal etc followers here) can ever imagine. Give me a cup run, a Cup Final win before I expire, and exciting seasons battling in the upper echelons of whatever league we are in and some entertainment and excitement.

Good post, from the heart.

Cue thge replies of 'little old Sheffielder' and 'no ambition', but I get where you are coming from.

We are not that big and not that good, but these clowns risk knocking us back much further than our current top half championship / occassional premier, status.

 

[Bell4]

Firstly this is a personal opinion of where I am. Your opinion may differ, I may not agree with it but it’s your opinion and it’s not necessarily wrong, just different.

I’ve been going to The Lane for 53 years now, that’s not me Pulling “bigger Blade” or anything like that it’s just a fact of how long I’ve been around.

There’s a lot of talk of changing the culture of the club, new owners, new ideas new aims etc to achieve success. As I type, this is not going too well to say the least. Will it work, who knows ? It’s a gamble with no guarantee of success and failure could be a disaster.

In my time of watching the Blades we’ve never managed to establish ourselves in the top division, maybe we came close with Wilder mark 1 but, losing Jack O’Connell (and the collapse of half our unique overlapping CB’s threat) was a big part of eventual failure which I won’t bore you with my thoughts. It’s been done to death.

For me, we are probably a mid to upper table second tier club (briefly flirting with the top league) with seasons defined by promotion campaigns and cup runs at best.

Do I want to be an established top flight team ? Once upon a time yes, but not so much now. I don’t like what the Premier has become, as we know, it’s all about the money and survival for most teams.

Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton have all gate crashed this club in recent years. For every one of those there’s a dozen or more clubs wanting to be the next “them”.

I completely get that the younger generations of Blades (not all) who have the ambition and desire for us to be up there and established with the elite, but as I’ve said, I’m past that now. Fifty three years of it not happening have worn me down and I accept what we are and enjoy the good bits when they come along. Experiencing so much failure makes the brief moments of success more enjoyable than many fans (I’m looking at the entitled Man Utd, Arsenal etc followers here) can ever imagine. Give me a cup run, a Cup Final win before I expire, and exciting seasons battling in the upper echelons of whatever league we are in and some entertainment and excitement.

To kind of sum up, I don’t think it’s wrong for some of us to have ambition, a change in culture and approach that brings sustained success. I also don’t think it’s wrong to believe that that’s just not who we are, accept our place in the scheme of things and enjoy our current identity of plucky under dogs briefly flirting with a bit of relative success.

Apologies if this is a bit jumbled and back and forth but bloody hell, this is Utd, how are you meant to be clear and concise writing anything about our lot.

Me entirely

I’ve been going 55 years and feel just like you have expressed.

Clam down - enjoy the ride - it’s never boring is it