Embarrassed.

[Micalijo]

I think what we are seeing now is absolute confirmation that any chance we had of becoming a relatively established Premiership Club has gone for a long, long time. Probably forever.

Just fleetingly in Spring 2007, we had that chance. We are now signing Creswell and other cast-offs. we look a rag-tag dispirited bunch on and off the pitch.

Wigan's perfiormance against Chelsea on Saturday was a big time reminder of what we could have achieved with the right result that day against Wigan and astute managerial appointments

 

[Bladesman]

I think what we are seeing now is absolute confirmation that any chance we had of becoming a relatively established Premiership Club has gone for a long, long time. Probably forever.

Just fleetingly in Spring 2007, we had that chance. We are now signing Creswell and other cast-offs. we look a rag-tag dispirited bunch on and off the pitch.

Wigan's perfiormance against Chelsea on Saturday was a big time reminder of what we could have achieved with the right result that day against Wigan and astute managerial appointments

The message the club is sending me not via e-mail but purely on actions is that we are happy being a top 10 championship club if we get promotion then that would be a bonus. Its more about off the field actions than on the field keeping the club secure keeping the status quo. Sod the football and the fans for now until we have ridden the storm of recession. Unfortunately that is a risky game to play in this division as it can bite you in the arse and suddenly your staring League 1 in the face.

 

[TonyAgana]

Er, no, if Bryan Robson walked back in tomorrow we would be prejudiced against him even though it would be a fresh start, clean slate etc.
The over-riding point is that players or managers previous actions create an impression.
Cresswell's create a negative impression and there is absolutely no getting away from it.
Turning us down to go to Leeds is rightly held against him - we're not a bunch of ferking wallflowers fer crying out loud.
Add in the fact he's getting on, has done nothing in the game for ages and his signing goes against every alleged principle of what our policy on signing players was meant to be and you, not surprisingly, get a reaction.
Entirely understandable, entirely reasonable, entirely logical.
Nowhere near rocket science.

That's my point! We KNOW what Robson is capable of in United colours, we DON'T KNOW what Cresswell is capable of in United colours!!

I agree that not everyone starts out on an equal footing in terms of fans' opinions but I can only say that I was disgusted that Cresswell was booed onto the pitch last night. You seem to have taken issue with SEBs point about labeling it "prejudice" and also my decision to support that point. With you now accepting that it's prejudice, where you're trying to take that now is anybody's guess. All I know is I'm beginning to understand the BU converts' inclination to write off anything you say with a whymsical "that's Len for you" and one of these: ""

 

[Micalijo]

Agree with that Bladesman, but don't overplay the recession card is my view and I think McCabe/Blackwell are more than happy to do this

I fear that McCabe's personal problems in getting cash out of the Valad deal has led to a chain of events whereby bank has put huge pressure on the football club. Obviously that is the recession affecting us indirectly, but it isn't a direct link between football club income and the recession in terms of attendances and TV income. Sponsorship might be down a bit.

We should be so strong when compared with all CCC clubs except WBA (Boro and Newcastle have huge debts) yet it seems we are in meltdown in many respects.

McCabe is 100% entitled to run things as he wants and reduce debts as much as he wants but that does not necessarily mean that the standard of football and future has to be so bleak.

 

[themaninblack]

I do.

Why pay £400+ for a season ticket not to be? Football is meant to be entertaining or is that only top flight football?

You know the answer Bladesman. You bought a season ticket because you have an emotional attachment to the club. You werent sat there with £400 looking at all the clubs in the area and trying to work out which team would give you the most entertainment were you?

 

[lenners]

Of course I accept it's prejudice, everyone's prejudiced to one degree or another - we wouldn't be able to function as human beings otherwise.
In this case, people are prejudiced because of Cresswell's track record. It really isn't a difficult concept for people to grasp.
They are additionally prejudiced because of what the signing represents, which has been underlined by today's insulting news about Vincent Pericard.
A little bit of booing about a nomark from Stoke reserves will be the least of our club's worries if it carries on taking this piss out of supporters.
The car park won't be far away with these kind of developments at the club.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I don't think I'll bother continuing to get my point across tonight, I don't think many particularly understand or want to understand what I am getting at.

I get exactly where you're at - watching United in the mid-80s and during the Bassett era I developed a deep-felt loathing for clubs like Leicester, West Brom, Newcastle, Ipswich and the like who were well-supported mediocre second-tier sides whose fans felt that they had a divine right to be in the top division because they'd been there in the past.

I loved it when we used to turn these sides over and their fans used to be calling for their managers' head and abusing the players because they'd been beaten by United (who not long before had been dredging the depths of the 3rd and 4th Division).

I'll admit I had a superiority complex because our fans used to turn up in as many (if not more) numbers and take the mickey (even when we were crap). Yes we got disillusioned and booed Porterfield, yes we stopped going in as big numbers when McEwan was in charge - but for most I felt that Saturday afternoon was about the booze, the match, having a laugh and cutting loose for a few hours. Occasionally United would turn up and give us a show to enjoy.

Now we fit into exactly the same category as the supporters of the clubs I grew up loathing. If Vancouver is who I think he is, he'll recognise exactly the traits that his Wednesday supporting brother and his mates used to display when things weren't going so well down at the Sty. He'll also remember how good it felt when I stood with him and his Dad when Bassett's underdogs turned them over at the Lane. I can imagine last year felt just like that for the pigs.

I don't miss United being crap - I do miss our supporters being loyal and happy-go-lucky nutters, always on the look-out for a beer and an opportunity to act up.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

3 points about this thread -

1- MattH says that those who are "clappers" should "get off their high horses" - In reality it seems as though the overall tone of this thread (and increasingly the entire forum as mentioned on other threads) is becoming evermore negative - and those who try to "support" the club receive evermore ridicule and hostility. It seems more appropriate to call for MattH, Lenners, Fiery Blade etc to get off their high horses and to try to understand the points that more constructive posters are trying to make. Foxy must have tried to explain his point half a dozen times and has usually just received half baked garbage as replies.

2- IMO Foxy - the fan base has changed in some ways. I think we all have fond (rose tinted?) memories of our early days at the Lane - but there were lots of knockers around then too. Cheshire Cat makes the key point though - we have become the fans we used to despise. We are now the fans who expect as a God given right to be in the top flight - If I were a Peterborough fan, I'd love to thrash those arrogant, self-centred bastards from Sheffield. All this talk of "we deserve to be entertained" is simply self justification for these attitudes. Expectations have risen beyond all levels of reality - and if allowed to influence affairs this fan base will ruin our Club in the same way that unrealistic expectations have destabilised and ruined Forest, Coventry, Piggies, Leeds etc etc etc

3- Lastly - to all those idiots who were chanting "We want football" last night. Wake up. If you want glory go to Old Trafford - if you want thrills and excitement watch World Superbikes. If you don't like what your seeing - don't come.

 

[Fiery Blade]

3 points about this thread -

1- MattH says that those who are "clappers" should "get off their high horses" - In reality it seems as though the overall tone of this thread (and increasingly the entire forum as mentioned on other threads) is becoming evermore negative - and those who try to "support" the club receive evermore ridicule and hostility. It seems more appropriate to call for MattH, Lenners, Fiery Blade etc to get off their high horses and to try to understand the points that more constructive posters are trying to make. Foxy must have tried to explain his point half a dozen times and has usually just received half baked garbage as replies.

2- IMO Foxy - the fan base has changed in some ways. I think we all have fond (rose tinted?) memories of our early days at the Lane - but there were lots of knockers around then too. Cheshire Cat makes the key point though - we have become the fans we used to despise. We are now the fans who expect as a God given right to be in the top flight - If I were a Peterborough fan, I'd love to thrash those arrogant, self-centred bastards from Sheffield. All this talk of "we deserve to be entertained" is simply self justification for these attitudes. Expectations have risen beyond all levels of reality - and if allowed to influence affairs this fan base will ruin our Club in the same way that unrealistic expectations have destabilised and ruined Forest, Coventry, Piggies, Leeds etc etc etc

3- Lastly - to all those idiots who were chanting "We want football" last night. Wake up. If you want glory go to Old Trafford - if you want thrills and excitement watch World Superbikes. If you don't like what your seeing - don't come.

I fully understand your points Sheepdip but will not blindly follow Pied Piper Blackwell if I believe it is not the route to travel! The game is full of opinions and I would bet a hefty wager if when McCabe sold James Beattie last season and publicly stated we would be replacing him with Henderson, Cresswell and Pericard all hell would have broke loose!
We all want the Blades to do well and sometimes we have to win ugly 'as they say' but when we have players that can play football why continue to hoof it 50 foot in the air every time it arrives at your feet!
Whilst I would not boo anyone at the Lane, even Robson escape that, I go to every match hoping for improvement - It just ain't happening at the moment

 

[SwissBlade]

3 points about this thread -

1- MattH says that those who are "clappers" should "get off their high horses" - In reality it seems as though the overall tone of this thread (and increasingly the entire forum as mentioned on other threads) is becoming evermore negative - and those who try to "support" the club receive evermore ridicule and hostility. It seems more appropriate to call for MattH, Lenners, Fiery Blade etc to get off their high horses and to try to understand the points that more constructive posters are trying to make. Foxy must have tried to explain his point half a dozen times and has usually just received half baked garbage as replies.

2- IMO Foxy - the fan base has changed in some ways. I think we all have fond (rose tinted?) memories of our early days at the Lane - but there were lots of knockers around then too. Cheshire Cat makes the key point though - we have become the fans we used to despise. We are now the fans who expect as a God given right to be in the top flight - If I were a Peterborough fan, I'd love to thrash those arrogant, self-centred bastards from Sheffield. All this talk of "we deserve to be entertained" is simply self justification for these attitudes. Expectations have risen beyond all levels of reality - and if allowed to influence affairs this fan base will ruin our Club in the same way that unrealistic expectations have destabilised and ruined Forest, Coventry, Piggies, Leeds etc etc etc

3- Lastly - to all those idiots who were chanting "We want football" last night. Wake up. If you want glory go to Old Trafford - if you want thrills and excitement watch World Superbikes. If you don't like what your seeing - don't come.

Fantastic post sheepdip.

I'm back for the match on sat and whilst I won't clapping away like a coked up performing Seal, I will be getting behind the Blades, no matter who plays from our current squad...

Unlike for some Football to me is not about turning up to slate the team I love. Its about supporting them

We are Sheffield UNITED, lets start getting United with the team and try to push us up this league, a league that last night opened up with a point rescued. Incidentally, we were the only team in the top 7 (before last nights game) to pick up a single point.

We are the Blades!

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Fiery - We are all frustrated by what we see, but there are different ways to express that frustration. Increasingly - both here and on the Kop - there's an acceptance that taking a negative and hostile view is the norm. Whilst this is fine to a degree, I feel it's reaching a pitch where hysteria is taking over from reasoned discussion. I for one would question your (and many others) view of "hoofball" - We saw the short passing phases of play yesterday, and Coventry (I think it was) were open in saying they didn't know how to set up against us as we changed our style of play so regularly. The facts illlustrate that we're not a bad side, are better placed than this time in last years strong season - and therefore have a good (though uncharismatic) manager.

Un-thought through statements are weakening the discussion - the norm is becoming that we should expect more than is reasonable - the result could (will?) be the same as elsewhere in that the fan's disquiet leads to the manger getting sacked, leads to unsettled squads with high player turnover - leads to poor performances - leads to financial troubles (Leeds anyone?)

A downward spiral that we bring upon ourselves through our arrogance. Our role as supporters is to support - let the others do their bit, and don't undermine their work.

Just my opinion

 

[Elsecar_Blade]

like i say i don't know why the fans are reacting like they are.. i can only speculate the elastic is breaking.. fans are fed up of being the bridesmaid all of the time.. they are running out of patience aren't they?
your question is a good one.. i can't answer it..

I think that is the root of it.

Take a look at Bramall Lane. The whole club is set up for Premier League football. If you took fanbase, ground quality, passion, tradition and history, potential and facilities into account for every club in England, we would be in the top 10/15. We have come so far in the last decade OFF THE PITCH and we are now the big fish in our city. It's a tremendous achievement if we're honest and it's why - whatever mistakes he is making or will make - McCabe will retain most of the support he has.

We're so close to completing our mission of ten years ago. Back then, it was a pipedream, a longshot. How could we overtake the massive Sheffield Wednesday and establish ourselves in the top flight? But we have overtaken them, we got in the top flight, we got cheated out of it. Our expectations are so much higher now and as a result, our fanbase - whether we like it or not - has changed.

Foxy, I know what you mean by the change of our fans but to 'go back' to the fans that you prefer, we'd need to go back to being a small club with bugger all potential and a massive chip on our shoulder about our bigger, better rivals across the city. The old Blades way of 'nothing to lose' produces a friendlier fan, a nicer atmosphere but comes at the price of success. Success brings the opposite type of fan, the fans that 10 years ago would have been Wednesday fans.

It's sad but it's the way it is.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

The old Blades way of 'nothing to lose' produces a friendlier fan, a nicer atmosphere but comes at the price of success. Success brings the opposite type of fan, the fans that 10 years ago would have been Wednesday fans.

It's sad but it's the way it is.

And there lies the problem - as it was largely the unrealistic expectations / arrogance of their fans that drove them down to Div 1.

Without the steady hand of McCabe backing Blackwell, we would be well on the way to becoming just another medium sized club with an over-inflated idea of it's own importance.

As a forum, we have a role to play in trying to make sure that the discussions we have are balanced, informed and opinions are thought through - not simple rantings of the frustrated that wind up emotions and expectations in a destructive way.

By all means have a wide spectrum of view - but for crying out loud - will people post thoughtful comments, not mindless crap.

 

[Stafford Blade]

I dont think we were second best, yes we were crap and they were crap but I feel we still edged it. We must have had more shots than them and probably more possesion. We did almost nick it a couple of times at the end too.

according to the bbc. they had more shots than us and posession was 50/50

 

[moDtheGod]

I do.

Why pay £400+ for a season ticket not to be? Football is meant to be entertaining or is that only top flight football?

I don't agree with this at all. If you only watch football to be entertained, why didn't you stay in and watch Champions League football with quality players?

We go to Bramall Lane out of an almost tribal loyalty. Entertainment is a bonus.

[Edit] Apologies, I missed a page of this discussion. themaninblack made this same point already. Ignore me

 

[yuley82]

Not by our performance (surprisingly), but our "support".

Summed up perfectly by the applauding off the pitch of Alan Quinn, who, once again, managed to make sure he left his foot in on a number of dangerous tackles.... Whilst booing our young keeper, currently playing for the Blades and the schoolkid style jeering of the lot of them.

I don't know if it's just me overreacting, but i'm coming away from matches that I should be angry about FAR more angry with our so called support than the poor performance.

I dint applaud quinn an never would little shit in my oppinion, applauded stead as i didn't want him to leave, as for booing the team and our own players i think is shit what will it ever achieve?????? BUT last night's booing was a little louder but then again the ground was full of £10 & £5 tickets so maybe that explains it a little, also it was class when walker put quinn into the boards on kop end!!!!!!

 

[silverfox]

also it was class when walker put quinn into the boards on kop end!!!!!!

Why would that be?

 

[yuley82]

Why would that be?

As foxy said, left foot in a couple of times an got it back just abit more. I myself like to see a bit of physical contact at a game be it intent or not!!!

 

[matth]

3 points about this thread -

1- MattH says that those who are "clappers" should "get off their high horses" - In reality it seems as though the overall tone of this thread (and increasingly the entire forum as mentioned on other threads) is becoming evermore negative - and those who try to "support" the club receive evermore ridicule and hostility. It seems more appropriate to call for MattH, Lenners, Fiery Blade etc to get off their high horses and to try to understand the points that more constructive posters are trying to make. Foxy must have tried to explain his point half a dozen times and has usually just received half baked garbage as replies.

2- IMO Foxy - the fan base has changed in some ways. I think we all have fond (rose tinted?) memories of our early days at the Lane - but there were lots of knockers around then too. Cheshire Cat makes the key point though - we have become the fans we used to despise. We are now the fans who expect as a God given right to be in the top flight - If I were a Peterborough fan, I'd love to thrash those arrogant, self-centred bastards from Sheffield. All this talk of "we deserve to be entertained" is simply self justification for these attitudes. Expectations have risen beyond all levels of reality - and if allowed to influence affairs this fan base will ruin our Club in the same way that unrealistic expectations have destabilised and ruined Forest, Coventry, Piggies, Leeds etc etc etc

3- Lastly - to all those idiots who were chanting "We want football" last night. Wake up. If you want glory go to Old Trafford - if you want thrills and excitement watch World Superbikes. If you don't like what your seeing - don't come.

In response:

1. Actually, I never said anything about 'clappers' getting off their high horses. What I said was that those who can do nothing other than slag their fellow fans off should get off their high horses. No one starts threads complaining that other fans aren't booing, aren't shouting at the players. The only threads complaining about other fans are those originating from those who don't like to hear others booing. Live and let live. I have my way of supporting the team, you have yours, Dave Bloggs will have his. It doesn't necessarily follow that one of those ways is the right way, just the way that each person chooses to express themselves.

2. I think that you're confusing 'entertained' with 'shown a good display of football'. I'm sure most fans would be entertained if they saw the team come out and play like they meant it. We have skilful players - as has been seen in small amounts, when the tactics suit them - but time and again we bypass their skills to simply aimlessly hoof the ball. If we could play successful hoofball, I'd be entertained by that. As we can't, and look like a shambles who can't be bothered, I'm not. Put it this way, if you paid money to go and see your favourite band and they played like they didn't want to be there, making a mess of all the songs you wanted to sing along to, would you be happy?

3. Shouting 'we want football' is not idiotic. As has been proved on the pitch, when we actually play football we're entertaining, we're more comfortable, and most importantly we're dangerously effective. The management have built a squad with some good passing footballers in it, who just get bypassed as the ball sails ineffectually over their heads. What's wrong with asking for us to play to our strengths?

Finally, 'if you don't like what you're seeing - don't come'. Well, I could turn that around - if you don't like what you're seeing in the stands, don't come. Mind you, I'd never be so arrogant as to tell other fans what they can and cannot do at the match.

 

[alcoblade]

I get exactly where you're at - watching United in the mid-80s and during the Bassett era I developed a deep-felt loathing for clubs like Leicester, West Brom, Newcastle, Ipswich and the like who were well-supported mediocre second-tier sides whose fans felt that they had a divine right to be in the top division because they'd been there in the past.

I loved it when we used to turn these sides over and their fans used to be calling for their managers' head and abusing the players because they'd been beaten by United (who not long before had been dredging the depths of the 3rd and 4th Division).

I'll admit I had a superiority complex because our fans used to turn up in as many (if not more) numbers and take the mickey (even when we were crap). Yes we got disillusioned and booed Porterfield, yes we stopped going in as big numbers when McEwan was in charge - but for most I felt that Saturday afternoon was about the booze, the match, having a laugh and cutting loose for a few hours. Occasionally United would turn up and give us a show to enjoy.

Now we fit into exactly the same category as the supporters of the clubs I grew up loathing. If Vancouver is who I think he is, he'll recognise exactly the traits that his Wednesday supporting brother and his mates used to display when things weren't going so well down at the Sty. He'll also remember how good it felt when I stood with him and his Dad when Bassett's underdogs turned them over at the Lane. I can imagine last year felt just like that for the pigs.

I don't miss United being crap - I do miss our supporters being loyal and happy-go-lucky nutters, always on the look-out for a beer and an opportunity to act up.

fantasic post and sums up my feelings 100%.

UTB

 

[SheepdipBlade]

MattH -

Having checked your original post I have to agree that you only inferred it was clappers who complain at other fans and start threads like this - you never stated it explicitly. Apologies.

However my point still remains that the tone of this forum and of the Kop is becoming evermore negative, and that more constructive (clapper?) posters like Foxy are receiving increasingly hostile and shallow responses - hence the need for Foxy to spell out his original point numerous times.

Entertained vs good display of football? It's sport - even Chelsea can play shit and get beaten by Wigan. You take the rough with the smooth - and accept that as a Blade there will be more rough than smooth, especially if you set yourselves unreasonably high expectations. Every sportsman (and musician for that matter) has on and off days. The key point here tho - is that the unreasonable levels of expectation at the Lane have changed the fan base (Foxy's original point) - we are now what we used to loathe - and that if allowed free rein such attitudes can (and have) ruined clubs.

IMO shouting "We want football" is simply a knee jerk reaction based upon frustration and overly high expectations. Dangerous and unhelpful.

And as to your point about not coming if I don't like what I see in the stands - I don't pay money to watch the stands, I pay to watch the Blades - (and perhaps like Foxy?) I'm getting to the point where after decades of going to the Lane I'm now finding the fans more frustrating than the football. With the other long-standing Blades around me - we have considered not renewing our season tickets and going to watch Sheffield Club instead - not due to Blackwell - not due to "hoofball" - simply due to the garbage (mixed with racism and occassional violence) that we see and hear on the Kop. Don't mistake our frustration at the fact that after following our club for so many years we now feel the "supporters" are driving us away - with arrogance - - they ain't the same thing.

 

[matth]

I still disagree that there's hostility towards posters such as Foxy - at least, that there's any more hostility from those who I'll for convenience call 'knockers' than there is from 'clappers' (btw, I hate those terms - they're very black and white, but they'll do as a convenient nomenclature for now).

Racism and violence are abhorrent - you won't get any argument from me, or any other right-minded football fan in the world. Someone shouting that a player is 'shit' or booing them is not abhorrent. It's an arguably reasonable response from a fan who's gone to see the match.

There's a chap who sits behind me who does nothing but slag Monty off throughout the match, although to be fair he's widened his horizons a bit this season and everyone gets a piece. I don't agree with what he says all the time, but, y'know, it's up to him. He pays his money and he has a right to say it as he sees it. He probably doesn't agree with me when I shout 'unlucky' if something goes wrong. Vive le difference, and all that.

As much as it might not seem it, I'm not siding with the 'knockers'. I am prepared to accept that booing might not help the team (although as to whether it actively hinders them to a noticable degree, the jury is still out on). I would rather sit in a stand full of people singing, getting behind the team, having a good crack and all that. But that's beside the point - the point being that people have the right - within reason - to be responsible for their own actions at the football, and shouldn't have to face the wrath of others just for not falling in with their own opinions or ways of supporting the team. No one on here has a right to tell any other supporter how they should or should not support the team. No one has the right to tell any other supporter to 'fuck off to Hillsborough' should their behaviour at a match not fit in with their own ideas. No one has a right to say another supporter is not a true Blade if they choose to support the team in a different way.

To be honest, I'd rather see us play the football that I know we're capable of too, but I don't think that's particularly realistic at the moment.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I stood for years in front of a guy just like Matth experiences. He never, ever had a good word for anything United did, everyone who played was crap, the manager was shite, the ground was crap, the bovril was manky, the pies were awful...you get the picture. We ridiculed him a time or two when things went well, but generally we looked at each other with eyes raising skyward (here he goes again!).

On the fateful day against Walsall, I turned around at the end of the game having just witness United drop to the very depths, expecting an 'I told you all this would happen, we're crap!' Instead, I saw a man in his late 50s stood there with tears streaming down his face. I realised, despite all his moans and groans and complaints, it meant as much to him as it did me.

The moaners have always been around, indeed they are almost part of that fabric of being Blades (the grumpy Yorkshireman stereotype isn't that far wide of the mark), in fact sometimes they were even funny with their comments. However, I think sheepdip and a few others are trying to say that this is changing; the moaners would moan and moan to anyone that would listen, but now there is a militant almost evangelistic attitude to go with it. They are convinced they are right and are becoming confrontational and aggressive with supporters who disagree, or even agree but wont boo the team. Whether this is due to a change in the expectations of supporters, a different type of supporter now following or is merely a relflection of the instant gratification society we now live in, I'm not sure. But sheepdip is not the only long-standing Blades supporter who feels that this 'hostile knocker recruitment drive' is pushing them at least off the kop, and in some cases away from the ground altogether.

 

[lenners]

Sheepdip, this is absolute cobblers:
Entertained vs good display of football? It's sport - even Chelsea can play shit and get beaten by Wigan. You take the rough with the smooth - and accept that as a Blade there will be more rough than smooth, especially if you set yourselves unreasonably high expectations. Every sportsman (and musician for that matter) has on and off days. The key point here tho - is that the unreasonable levels of expectation at the Lane have changed the fan base (Foxy's original point) - we are now what we used to loathe - and that if allowed free rein such attitudes can (and have) ruined clubs.

It isn't, wasn't and never will be an unreasonable expectation to see United be a strong team at home in this division.
It isn't, wasn't and never will be unreasonable to expect United to entertain us regularly at home matches in this division.
Over the last three seasons, it has been rare for us to be entertained on anything like a regular basis.
Pick out a season and try to remember entertaining games and they'll be hard to recall.
It has nothing to do with society changing, Blades fans changing, global warming or anything else.
It's about sheer frustration at United not living up to either our expectations or the club's own expectations.
It's logical, understandable and reasonable.
Laying responsibility for United being largely poor at the fans' feet is way wide of the mark.

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Lenners - I never meant to suggest that the poor performances were due to the fans. My point is that "if given free rein such attitudes can (and have) ruined clubs".

If the leadership at the club was of a lesser calibre - and was more concerned with (apparent) fanbase opinion (which seems largely based upon knee-jerk frustration, rather than upon any hard facts or logical reason) - then Blackwell would be gone - Monty would be gone, Quinny would be gone, Cotts would be gone, our entire front line would be gone - - in fact we'd just be left with Morgs and Killa. A recipe for instability and failure.

I would agree with your final point about frustration through failing to meet expectations - and for me the fans expectations are unreasonably high (and as SEB says - seem to be evermore militant). I feel that as a forum we need to be more thoughtful in our comments to ensure that what is said (in support or in opposition to the regime at the Lane) is solidly based and doesn't raise expectations/frustration even higher as, in my opinion, the dangers of this far outweigh any possible benefits.

You state that it's reasonable to expect strong home preformances and entertainment - and whilst I love to see us win, especially if we play good football whilst doing it - I have no right to expect this. I'm disappointed if we lose and frustrated if we play badly - but nowhere on the ticket does it promise victories through free-flowing total football.

I know what Sheffield United are - I know what I'm getting into when I buy my ticket and when I walk into the ground - - I have no right to expect more, and I can accept their weaknesses and failings.

 

[HoodedClaw]

I think the club has to take a large part of the responsibility for the expectancy levels of the fans now.

Pretty much all we hear is that we have a premiership ground, a premiership team and a premiership setup off the pitch and the only thing we are missing is premiership football.

If you keep pumping out that message, then it raises peoples expectations and when we play like we do its further for fans to fall (Emotionally) than if the message is we're aiming for mid table, at which point if we then finish in the playoffs its a bit of a bonus, not just something that is expected as a minimum

 

[FURPHY]

I stood for years in front of a guy just like Matth experiences. He never, ever had a good word for anything United did, everyone who played was crap, the manager was shite, the ground was crap, the bovril was manky, the pies were awful...you get the picture. We ridiculed him a time or two when things went well, but generally we looked at each other with eyes raising skyward (here he goes again!).

On the fateful day against Walsall, I turned around at the end of the game having just witness United drop to the very depths, expecting an 'I told you all this would happen, we're crap!' Instead, I saw a man in his late 50s stood there with tears streaming down his face. I realised, despite all his moans and groans and complaints, it meant as much to him as it did me.

The moaners have always been around, indeed they are almost part of that fabric of being Blades (the grumpy Yorkshireman stereotype isn't that far wide of the mark), in fact sometimes they were even funny with their comments. However, I think sheepdip and a few others are trying to say that this is changing; the moaners would moan and moan to anyone that would listen, but now there is a militant almost evangelistic attitude to go with it. They are convinced they are right and are becoming confrontational and aggressive with supporters who disagree, or even agree but wont boo the team. Whether this is due to a change in the expectations of supporters, a different type of supporter now following or is merely a relflection of the instant gratification society we now live in, I'm not sure. But sheepdip is not the only long-standing Blades supporter who feels that this 'hostile knocker recruitment drive' is pushing them at least off the kop, and in some cases away from the ground altogether.

That man could have been me or any one of a number of mates stood with me. We followed up with a symbolic throwing of season tickets on to the pitch vowing that that was our last match.
However we all renewed the following season and were rewarded with the Porterfield revival years.

 

[Meat Dagnetic]

You state that it's reasonable to expect strong home preformances and entertainment - and whilst I love to see us win, especially if we play good football whilst doing it - I have no right to expect this. I'm disappointed if we lose and frustrated if we play badly - but nowhere on the ticket does it promise victories through free-flowing total football.

I know what Sheffield United are - I know what I'm getting into when I buy my ticket and when I walk into the ground - - I have no right to expect more, and I can accept their weaknesses and failings.

What this man said - absolutely spot on. :thumbup:

People would enjoy life more if they didn't take United not playing attractive football and not winning a game as a personal insult.

 

[shorehamview]

As I've said before, I used to be in the pub trade, which meant that watching United regularly was rarer than unicorns in Rotherham. Saturday matches used up a day's holiday, or entailed much juggling swapping rotas and shifts. As I progressed up the career ladder time off became even rarer, and I had to put up with fewer matches per season. I didn't care who it was against, I was just grateful for the chance to watch my team, and yes, we were often rubbish.

Now for the last few years I've had a change of job and as a consequence I've got a season ticket. And I'm still grateful for the chance to watch United. Sure, I get pissed off when we play badly, and when we lose - the two aren't always connected though.
As SheepdipBlade says, ".....but nowhere on the ticket does it promise victories through free-flowing total football" and I don't expect us to play like Brazil all the time. Hell, I don't expect it at all. But I do expect to be able to support my team, and for me booing a new player before he's kicked a ball in anger isn't supporting the team.

I'm not a happy clapper, I've been in the car park protesting more than once, but the way the support is going these days is ridiculous. Why would we sack a manager who has reached one play-off final in his one full season in charge? If we were down at the arse-end of the division then fair enough, but we're not and I can't see any reason to sack him now.

If you want to carry on booing players for the crime of having played elsewhere before they came here, or for not choosing us when they might have had better money offer from others then fine. Boo away. But it's not supporting the team, no matter what colour you paint it.