Does the club match the Manager's desire to succeed?

[Espania blade]

McCabes loans became share capital of £10m matching HRH and the balance of some £27m to a share premium account which appears on the balance sheet.

From Wiki

The share premium account is an equity account found on a company's balance sheet. The amount in the accountrepresents the additional amount shareholders paid for their issuedshares that was in excess of the par value of those shares.

Sean, Is it possible the over all share allocation has been increased to accommadthe new share allocation/ investment, this would then allow who ever bought the shares to get their money back should/when the club be sold ?

 

[itsinyerblood]

I think this is massively disingenuous to the board.
I've been critical of them previously for poor decisions but you can't then put the good ones down to luck. They found and appointed the manager, they backed him at L1 level, with a level of trust too as the decks also needed clearing from contracts that with hindsight weren't good value for money.
I've also not heard a hint of frustration from Wilder so maybe it's not that he's not being backed, but more that he's onboard with the approach.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree Bob. I'll stand by my good fortune comment. I've done my best, and will continue to do so, to offer some balance in my opinions of what goes on at board level within SUFC. There certainly was a stroke of good fortune about right man-right time concerning Wilder's appointment, but well done the Blades for capitalising from Wilder's availability, at least they managed to carry this through completion.

I don't think you'll find any comments of mine that criticise the board for not backing Wilder last season.

Any silence that emanates from Wilder may be down to a number of things, possibly he's keeping his counsel close to his chest, or, as you say, maybe he's content with how things are at the moment. Time will tell.

 

[itsinyerblood]

I don't think you can look at Southampton and Stoke in the same way anymore as it was a previous era. Things have ramped up since. Perhaps look at Burnley or Bournemouth but even then, it's hard because they have had the benefit of Premier League money too.

The best model could well be Brentford. They've had a few years in the Championship to consolidate and then build and they've become a well respected side in the league

What we can expect at United is just that. Is that matching Wilder or the owners desires? Probably not. But what do we do? Gamble financially to potentially break the club and see us down to league 1 again? I definitely don't want that and I'm sure wilder or the owners don't either.

I think one thing is absolutely clear, prepare the best we can with a modest budget. Wilder is doing that and has done this summer, perhaps the so called 'unbeaten run' which apparently took on board friendlies (but only the ones we won) and went back to last season in a lower division has clouded the minds of many, but many of us said that this season would be hard. It wasn't to side with the pig fans. It's a hard league.

So what does that do for the desires? Nothing. We want to be a premier league club and have a manager to get us there on a relatively low budget. That desire won't be realised this season though. It was highly unlikely to have been the plan for this year

It has been said though, in McCabes summer briefing, that the club would make funds available this summer (which has happened already) for players. Those players may or may not have been A choices or even B choices but players that the manager selected for recruitment.

It's also been declared that if we're at either end of the table come January that funds would also be available for a push to promotion or a clamber out of the bottom end

 

[Pollingtonblade]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree Bob. I'll stand by my good fortune comment. I've done my best, and will continue to do so, to offer some balance in my opinions of what goes on at board level within SUFC. There certainly was a stroke of good fortune about right man-right time concerning Wilder's appointment, but well done the Blades for capitalising from Wilder's availability, at least they managed to carry this through completion.

I don't think you'll find any comments of mine that criticise the board for not backing Wilder last season.

Any silence that emanates from Wilder may be down to a number of things, possibly he's keeping his counsel close to his chest, or, as you say, maybe he's content with how things are at the moment. Time will tell.

He still hasn't signed his new deal as he?

 

[Barney]

McCabes loans became share capital of £10m matching HRH and the balance of some £27m to a share premium account which appears on the balance sheet.

From Wiki

The share premium account is an equity account found on a company's balance sheet. The amount in the accountrepresents the additional amount shareholders paid for their issuedshares that was in excess of the par value of those shares.

If we were to survive this season in the championship, would we be likely to be still making losses? If so how much compared to the average amount that was lost per season in league one? Rough estimate

 

[itsinyerblood]

I don't think you can look at Southampton and Stoke in the same way anymore as it was a previous era. Things have ramped up since. Perhaps look at Burnley or Bournemouth but even then, it's hard because they have had the benefit of Premier League money too.

The best model could well be Brentford. They've had a few years in the Championship to consolidate and then build and they've become a well respected side in the league

What we can expect at United is just that. Is that matching Wilder or the owners desires? Probably not. But what do we do? Gamble financially to potentially break the club and see us down to league 1 again? I definitely don't want that and I'm sure wilder or the owners don't either.

I think one thing is absolutely clear, prepare the best we can with a modest budget. Wilder is doing that and has done this summer, perhaps the so called 'unbeaten run' which apparently took on board friendlies (but only the ones we won) and went back to last season in a lower division has clouded the minds of many, but many of us said that this season would be hard. It wasn't to side with the pig fans. It's a hard league.

So what does that do for the desires? Nothing. We want to be a premier league club and have a manager to get us there on a relatively low budget. That desire won't be realised this season though. It was highly unlikely to have been the plan for this year

It has been said though, in McCabes summer briefing, that the club would make funds available this summer (which has happened already) for players. Those players may or may not have been A choices or even B choices but players that the manager selected for recruitment.

It's also been declared that if we're at either end of the table come January that funds would also be available for a push to promotion or a clamber out of the bottom end

At the risk of neglecting many of the reasonable points in your post, I'll remain with my point about Wilder and the club. I'd love to think they're a marriage made in heaven, but that might be wishful thinking.

I made the comparison with S'hampton and Stoke because they have comparable socio-economic complexions that make them and us a good fit. It could be that in footballing terms we've been left behind these 'giants' some time ago, and why this should be may have to be put down to a variety of mismanaged situations we're all too familiar with. Thing is I'm not a fatalist and won't accept that we're consigned to remain in the Championship or below. How, without significant funding, we're going to make the necessary strides to move forward in the next few years remains one of football's mysteries. Never mind the Premiership, the Championship is ever evolving, and at a pace that only clubs equipped to respond to will be able to adjust and flourish. I hope that's the direction we're going in.

 

[itsinyerblood]

He still hasn't signed his new deal as he?

No idea. There seem to be a few on here who speculate that it's not a done deal, but how anyone knows, apart from Wilder and McCabe, is beyond me.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

No idea. There seem to be a few on here who speculate that it's not a done deal, but how anyone knows, apart from Wilder and McCabe, is beyond me.

Just seems bizarre it was agreed In principle then nothing.

 

[Esablade]

Just seems bizarre it was agreed In principle then nothing.

He's a 'lucky lad'...

 

[SwissBlade]

At the risk of neglecting many of the reasonable points in your post, I'll remain with my point about Wilder and the club. I'd love to think they're a marriage made in heaven, but that might be wishful thinking.

I made the comparison with S'hampton and Stoke because they have comparable socio-economic complexions that make them and us a good fit. It could be that in footballing terms we've been left behind these 'giants' some time ago, and why this should be may have to be put down to a variety of mismanaged situations we're all too familiar with. Thing is I'm not a fatalist and won't accept that we're consigned to remain in the Championship or below. How, without significant funding, we're going to make the necessary strides to move forward in the next few years remains one of football's mysteries. Never mind the Premiership, the Championship is ever evolving, and at a pace that only clubs equipped to respond to will be able to adjust and flourish. I hope that's the direction we're going in.

But the problem with Southampton and Stoke is that both made their big step to the PL when the finances in the Championship were still relatively low. Now we see at least villa, Sunderland, Boro, Hull all having big pots of parachute cash, plus another 5-10 with rich foreign owners.

So comparing two clubs from a time long ago is pointless because our situation just doesn't come close. As I said, Brentford would be better, as would Burton, Huddersfield, Bristol City, pigs and Barnsley as they've all been down at League 1 and consolidated in the Championship or pushed to the Premier league.

 

[grafikhaus]

Anybody who thinks that success at SUFC isn't followed very quickly by disappointment hasn't been supporting us for very long.

I've also not heard a hint of frustration from Wilder so maybe it's not that he's not being backed, but more that he's onboard with the approach.

You have now...

Link

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I think we have to remember we've been stuck in League 1 for years more than most people expected and that's impacted enormously on finances, whilst at the same time, the cost of competing at the next level up has increased significantly. We're a big club with big overheads, that makes it even more difficult to manage when you're trapped in the wrong body of League 1. I'm not making any excuses for McCabe and the Board, because I think the mismanagement of the club at that level has resulted in the situation we found ourselves in. It's not just "bad luck", as McCabe would have it, but I can understand why he's keen to remind us about that.

I do think that McCabe and the Prince have put serious money into the club over the past few years. They've had to, to keep it afloat. And they've also worked to an obvious business model of ensuring we make profits on transfers every season to supplement that. The last time we actually spent more on players than made from selling them, was 2005/6 season - which resulted in promotion of course. I think that should tell us/them something. Basically, if you want to push on and get a promotion you have to invest in the playing side of things and push the envelope a bit, financially. You have to take some risks. How big a risk you're prepared to take isn't so much linked to "ambition" as financial reserves. This is where I disagree to some extent with the article, although I must say I'm a big fan of "View From The John Street" and think it's one of the best blogs out there.

McCabe has the unfortunate knack of misjudging how his words will be interpreted by most. He's always keen to deliver good news and when he spoke several years ago now about "game changing" investment and "think Liverpool" (or whatever it is exactly that he said), it set expectations racing amongst many fans. I don't think he ever set out to deliberately deceive anyone, but I think he is capable of believing his own rhetoric at times. That's fine, but when you've got 20,000 fans who believe it as well it becomes an issue when the money appears to not materialise.

When last asked about this I understand McCabe said that this money would kick-in when we reached the Championship. He'll be aware that we've reached the Championship now and if we'd just won our first three matches I doubt anyone would even be discussing it, but losing two out of the first three puts this topic into the spotlight again.

McCabe at least has shown some forethought and anticipation in raising the topic of us needing more investors and reminding us of the January transfer window before the season started. That, to me, was a clear indicator that he was trying to manage expectations amongst the fans - but it's better not to raise them in the first place.

Where do we go from here? The good news is we have a very good squad of players and an excellent manager. What we don't have are the finances to compete on a level playing field with many of the teams at this level. So I'm really not expecting any big investment of money or big fees spent on transfers. What I am expecting is the manager to recruit shrewdly, as he has done so far, and use the loan system in particular to bring in at least another 3 players of higher quality than we have now in the key areas of central defence, midfield and attack. If he can pull that off then we could be challenging at the top end of the table and I think that would be good progress for this club.

At some point though, we will need to push on that bit further. And I don't think that Wilder will be happy to stand still, or worse still, go backwards. I wouldn't worry about a mis-match between the Board's ambition and Wilder's ambition this season. But next summer could be a different matter if Wilder feels that a lack of investment will prevent him from taking the club forward again.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Anybody who thinks that success at SUFC isn't followed very quickly by disappointment hasn't been supporting us for very long.



You have now...

Link

Maybe I need to read it a few more times, he's says we need more quality and more players in, but all the digs at the board not agreeing come from the author adding his own interpretation of Wilders words.

 

[S5Blade]

Maybe I need to read it a few more times, he's says we need more quality and more players in, but all the digs at the board not agreeing come from the author adding his own interpretation of Wilders words.

Shock horror for that site.....

 

[Sean Thornton]

I think we have to remember we've been stuck in League 1 for years more than most people expected and that's impacted enormously on finances, whilst at the same time, the cost of competing at the next level up has increased significantly. We're a big club with big overheads, that makes it even more difficult to manage when you're trapped in the wrong body of League 1. I'm not making any excuses for McCabe and the Board, because I think the mismanagement of the club at that level has resulted in the situation we found ourselves in. It's not just "bad luck", as McCabe would have it, but I can understand why he's keen to remind us about that.

I do think that McCabe and the Prince have put serious money into the club over the past few years. They've had to, to keep it afloat. And they've also worked to an obvious business model of ensuring we make profits on transfers every season to supplement that. The last time we actually spent more on players than made from selling them, was 2005/6 season - which resulted in promotion of course. I think that should tell us/them something. Basically, if you want to push on and get a promotion you have to invest in the playing side of things and push the envelope a bit, financially. You have to take some risks. How big a risk you're prepared to take isn't so much linked to "ambition" as financial reserves. This is where I disagree to some extent with the article, although I must say I'm a big fan of "View From The John Street" and think it's one of the best blogs out there.

McCabe has the unfortunate knack of misjudging how his words will be interpreted by most. He's always keen to deliver good news and when he spoke several years ago now about "game changing" investment and "think Liverpool" (or whatever it is exactly that he said), it set expectations racing amongst many fans. I don't think he ever set out to deliberately deceive anyone, but I think he is capable of believing his own rhetoric at times. That's fine, but when you've got 20,000 fans who believe it as well it becomes an issue when the money appears to not materialise.

When last asked about this I understand McCabe said that this money would kick-in when we reached the Championship. He'll be aware that we've reached the Championship now and if we'd just won our first three matches I doubt anyone would even be discussing it, but losing two out of the first three puts this topic into the spotlight again.

McCabe at least has shown some forethought and anticipation in raising the topic of us needing more investors and reminding us of the January transfer window before the season started. That, to me, was a clear indicator that he was trying to manage expectations amongst the fans - but it's better not to raise them in the first place.

Where do we go from here? The good news is we have a very good squad of players and an excellent manager. What we don't have are the finances to compete on a level playing field with many of the teams at this level. So I'm really not expecting any big investment of money or big fees spent on transfers. What I am expecting is the manager to recruit shrewdly, as he has done so far, and use the loan system in particular to bring in at least another 3 players of higher quality than we have now in the key areas of central defence, midfield and attack. If he can pull that off then we could be challenging at the top end of the table and I think that would be good progress for this club.

At some point though, we will need to push on that bit further. And I don't think that Wilder will be happy to stand still, or worse still, go backwards. I wouldn't worry about a mis-match between the Board's ambition and Wilder's ambition this season. But next summer could be a different matter if Wilder feels that a lack of investment will prevent him from taking the club forward again.

McCabe never said "think Liverpool". It's about time that quote stopped being attributed to him.

You're right that we don't have the finances to compete with clubs spending millions or on parachute payment. We need to build carefully with Wilder and make sure we give him enough cash to enable him to try to do that.

 

[Deaneandagana]

I think we have to remember we've been stuck in League 1 for years more than most people expected and that's impacted enormously on finances, whilst at the same time, the cost of competing at the next level up has increased significantly. We're a big club with big overheads, that makes it even more difficult to manage when you're trapped in the wrong body of League 1. I'm not making any excuses for McCabe and the Board, because I think the mismanagement of the club at that level has resulted in the situation we found ourselves in. It's not just "bad luck", as McCabe would have it, but I can understand why he's keen to remind us about that.

I do think that McCabe and the Prince have put serious money into the club over the past few years. They've had to, to keep it afloat. And they've also worked to an obvious business model of ensuring we make profits on transfers every season to supplement that. The last time we actually spent more on players than made from selling them, was 2005/6 season - which resulted in promotion of course. I think that should tell us/them something. Basically, if you want to push on and get a promotion you have to invest in the playing side of things and push the envelope a bit, financially. You have to take some risks. How big a risk you're prepared to take isn't so much linked to "ambition" as financial reserves. This is where I disagree to some extent with the article, although I must say I'm a big fan of "View From The John Street" and think it's one of the best blogs out there.

McCabe has the unfortunate knack of misjudging how his words will be interpreted by most. He's always keen to deliver good news and when he spoke several years ago now about "game changing" investment and "think Liverpool" (or whatever it is exactly that he said), it set expectations racing amongst many fans. I don't think he ever set out to deliberately deceive anyone, but I think he is capable of believing his own rhetoric at times. That's fine, but when you've got 20,000 fans who believe it as well it becomes an issue when the money appears to not materialise.

When last asked about this I understand McCabe said that this money would kick-in when we reached the Championship. He'll be aware that we've reached the Championship now and if we'd just won our first three matches I doubt anyone would even be discussing it, but losing two out of the first three puts this topic into the spotlight again.

McCabe at least has shown some forethought and anticipation in raising the topic of us needing more investors and reminding us of the January transfer window before the season started. That, to me, was a clear indicator that he was trying to manage expectations amongst the fans - but it's better not to raise them in the first place.

Where do we go from here? The good news is we have a very good squad of players and an excellent manager. What we don't have are the finances to compete on a level playing field with many of the teams at this level. So I'm really not expecting any big investment of money or big fees spent on transfers. What I am expecting is the manager to recruit shrewdly, as he has done so far, and use the loan system in particular to bring in at least another 3 players of higher quality than we have now in the key areas of central defence, midfield and attack. If he can pull that off then we could be challenging at the top end of the table and I think that would be good progress for this club.

At some point though, we will need to push on that bit further. And I don't think that Wilder will be happy to stand still, or worse still, go backwards. I wouldn't worry about a mis-match between the Board's ambition and Wilder's ambition this season. But next summer could be a different matter if Wilder feels that a lack of investment will prevent him from taking the club forward again.

Agree with this, McCabe's ability to create expectation levels & then fail to deliver is his biggest failing & the main cause of cynicism amongst Blades fans.

As Brian Clough once said... "say nowt, win it, shout yer head off"

 

[Deaneandagana]

McCabe never said "think Liverpool". It's about time that quote stopped being attributed to him.

You're right that we don't have the finances to compete with clubs spending millions or on parachute payment. We need to build carefully with Wilder and make sure we give him enough cash to enable him to try to do that.

You're right about the Liverpool quote, but he did say "game changing investment" and "further levels of investment once we reached the Championship"

To the average guy on the number 52 Handsworth omnibus this can only be interpreted one way, the nuances of FFP & cashflow are conveniently dismissed with sweeping statements such as these.

 

[BushBlade]

Anybody who thinks that success at SUFC isn't followed very quickly by disappointment hasn't been supporting us for very long.



You have now...

Link

Insidious shit. The cunt could at least wait til the window is shut before spouting off.

 

[BushBlade]

McCabe never said "think Liverpool". It's about time that quote stopped being attributed to him.

You're right that we don't have the finances to compete with clubs spending millions or on parachute payment. We need to build carefully with Wilder and make sure we give him enough cash to enable him to try to do that.

People need to stop pretending it wasn't a fucking analogy, made by a bloke who no longer works for the club.

 

[Esablade]

Maybe I need to read it a few more times, he's says we need more quality and more players in, but all the digs at the board not agreeing come from the author adding his own interpretation of Wilders words.

“I’m an employee of the football club and I’ll do what I’m told.”

“The ambitions lie with the owners and I’m not chucking anybody under the bus there. It’s obvious.” He added: “From my point of view and what people perceive of me I’ve tried to get the maximum out of the budget but I’m ambitious as well. I want to drive this club forward. I don’t want us just to hang about the division and struggle all season.”

 

[Esablade]

McCabe never said "think Liverpool". It's about time that quote stopped being attributed to him.

Come off it.

He was happy for the club to put it out there to the fans, knowing full well what impact it would have going forwards.
He didn't refute the statement at all, and as co-chairman he should have pulled him up on it if he disagreed.

 

[Sean Thornton]

You're right about the Liverpool quote, but he did say "game changing investment" and "further levels of investment once we reached the Championship"

To the average guy on the number 52 Handsworth omnibus this can only be interpreted one way, the nuances of FFP & cashflow are conveniently dismissed with sweeping statements such as these.

The game changing investment was in relation to the Princes cash input after McCabe had said as sole owner the club had to stand on its own too feet. Not the best worded statement though.

The further investment in the championship can't have any ambiguity though. I said on another thread the sell on money and solidarity payments and increased revenue will have covered any potential loss as things stand including extra wages so it would be difficult to argue that they've put anything in this season.

 

[itsinyerblood]

But the problem with Southampton and Stoke is that both made their big step to the PL when the finances in the Championship were still relatively low. Now we see at least villa, Sunderland, Boro, Hull all having big pots of parachute cash, plus another 5-10 with rich foreign owners.

So comparing two clubs from a time long ago is pointless because our situation just doesn't come close. As I said, Brentford would be better, as would Burton, Huddersfield, Bristol City, pigs and Barnsley as they've all been down at League 1 and consolidated in the Championship or pushed to the Premier league.

Perhaps comparing United with S'hampton or Stoke may appear fanciful considering the changes that have happened in football, but if that's that's the case then we've slid down the greasy pole of insignificance faster than I'd imagined. If we genuinely compare to Barnsley or, god forbid, Burton, then we're well and truly mired alongside football's equivalent of Abkhazia, that little known state situated on the Black Sea coastline.

The thing that mystifies me is how any mismanagement the Blades have suffered is never addressed and brought to account. I can (just) forgive one or two poor decisions where management is concerned. I feel less charitable where a lack of investment has contributed to our downward slide. We're where we are for a reason, and it's a miracle that this club can still attract crowds around the 25 thousand mark. Given all this history, I still retain some optimism about the club's future. I just hope that whoever takes control of this club in future sees it as more than just their vanity project and invests over time, allowing the club and it's dedicated supporters to realise that whoever is in control shares the same drive and commitment as the supporters do.

 

[Harrisblade]

I just hope that whoever takes control of this club in future sees it as more than just their vanity project and invests over time, allowing the club and it's dedicated supporters to realise that whoever is in control shares the same drive and commitment as the supporters do.

But it has to be a vanity project unless you can guarantee promotion to the PL, so anyone who does take control will have to be prepared to pay and pay and pay god knows how much, in the hope that one of the shakes of the dice works out.
Fortunately (?) in football, money still can't guarantee success .

 

[itsinyerblood]

But it has to be a vanity project unless you can guarantee promotion to the PL, so anyone who does take control will have to be prepared to pay and pay and pay god knows how much, in the hope that one of the shakes of the dice works out.
Fortunately (?) in football, money still can't guarantee success .

I don't see that as vanity, otherwise whoever decided to take control of United would be blind to the various weaknesses that come attached to the club.

There's a difference between being committed and having a calculated approach to what to spend and where. Having a plan about what it will take to drive us forward might go some way to giving everyone the confidence that United are going in the right direction. Promotion to the Premiership guarantees a bottom line level of income, and even though we'll be confronted with higher fees, transfers, and wages, surely only a dullard would be unable to plan a financial path over and around the various hurdles that any club faces upon promotion to the Premiership?

 

[SwissBlade]

Perhaps comparing United with S'hampton or Stoke may appear fanciful considering the changes that have happened in football, but if that's that's the case then we've slid down the greasy pole of insignificance faster than I'd imagined. If we genuinely compare to Barnsley or, god forbid, Burton, then we're well and truly mired alongside football's equivalent of Abkhazia, that little known state situated on the Black Sea coastline.

The thing that mystifies me is how any mismanagement the Blades have suffered is never addressed and brought to account. I can (just) forgive one or two poor decisions where management is concerned. I feel less charitable where a lack of investment has contributed to our downward slide. We're where we are for a reason, and it's a miracle that this club can still attract crowds around the 25 thousand mark. Given all this history, I still retain some optimism about the club's future. I just hope that whoever takes control of this club in future sees it as more than just their vanity project and invests over time, allowing the club and it's dedicated supporters to realise that whoever is in control shares the same drive and commitment as the supporters do.

How long do we have to cling to those bad years at the club. I find it disrespectful to the prince et al that they are automatically associated with something that came before them

Your original point was about the desire of the manager v the owners and now it's about how we can't have a model which compares to Burton or Barnsley even though they are both at least a year ahead of us

 

[itsinyerblood]

How long do we have to cling to those bad years at the club. I find it disrespectful to the prince et al that they are automatically associated with something that came before them

Your original point was about the desire of the manager v the owners and now it's about how we can't have a model which compares to Burton or Barnsley even though they are both at least a year ahead of us

Sorry Swiss, all I've done is follow the thread of the posts that have appeared on this subject. Your statement about how long do we have to cling on to past errors seems a tad naive (even innocent!), as if we should sweep anything that had a negative impact on the club under the carpet and forget about reasons that contributed to our current plight.

You write as if it's not possible to write about more than one topic. Perhaps you can show me where this literary injunction exists?

Let me state, just so you're clear about my intentions, I no more attach blame to the Prince than I do to anyone who has the club's best interests at heart. I'll include McCabe in that, although there have been moments where his ability to think rationally needed to be questioned. What I think you need to do is not worry yourself too much about the thoughts of posters who appear to have a different approach to yourself. I doubt we're that far apart in our commitment to the club, but perhaps we just take a different path in examining how the past impacts on the present.

 

[SwissBlade]

Sorry Swiss, all I've done is follow the thread of the posts that have appeared on this subject. Your statement about how long do we have to cling on to past errors seems a tad naive (even innocent!), as if we should sweep anything that had a negative impact on the club under the carpet and forget about reasons that contributed to our current plight.

You write as if it's not possible to write about more than one topic. Perhaps you can show me where this literary injunction exists?

Let me state, just so you're clear about my intentions, I no more attach blame to the Prince than I do to anyone who has the club's best interests at heart. I'll include McCabe in that, although there have been moments where his ability to think rationally needed to be questioned. What I think you need to do is not worry yourself too much about the thoughts of posters who appear to have a different approach to yourself. I doubt we're that far apart in our commitment to the club, but perhaps we just take a different path in examining how the past impacts on the present.

If the prince owned us 100% would his desire be lesser or greater than McCabes?

 

[BushBlade]

Perhaps comparing United with S'hampton or Stoke may appear fanciful considering the changes that have happened in football, but if that's that's the case then we've slid down the greasy pole of insignificance faster than I'd imagined. If we genuinely compare to Barnsley or, god forbid, Burton, then we're well and truly mired alongside football's equivalent of Abkhazia, that little known state situated on the Black Sea coastline.

The thing that mystifies me is how any mismanagement the Blades have suffered is never addressed and brought to account. I can (just) forgive one or two poor decisions where management is concerned. I feel less charitable where a lack of investment has contributed to our downward slide. We're where we are for a reason, and it's a miracle that this club can still attract crowds around the 25 thousand mark. Given all this history, I still retain some optimism about the club's future. I just hope that whoever takes control of this club in future sees it as more than just their vanity project and invests over time, allowing the club and it's dedicated supporters to realise that whoever is in control shares the same drive and commitment as the supporters do.

Who do you expect to bring it to account?

 

[BushBlade]

I don't see that as vanity, otherwise whoever decided to take control of United would be blind to the various weaknesses that come attached to the club.

There's a difference between being committed and having a calculated approach to what to spend and where. Having a plan about what it will take to drive us forward might go some way to giving everyone the confidence that United are going in the right direction. Promotion to the Premiership guarantees a bottom line level of income, and even though we'll be confronted with higher fees, transfers, and wages, surely only a dullard would be unable to plan a financial path over and around the various hurdles that any club faces upon promotion to the Premiership?

That's just semantics. Only an idiot would buy a championship football club with the intention of making money. Therefore we need an owner who is prepared to lose money, regardless. Because almost every club in the championship loses money every year and clubs like Forest have shown that these losses can go on for years without achieving promotion.
So whether you call it a 'vanity project' or 'an expensive hobby for a generous benefactor' it's effectively the same thing.