Excellent post in a Facebook group

[GRUMPY BLADE]

The amounts invested by the two owners, up to June this year are clear for anyone to see. They're factual. The only people are guessing are the ones who won't accept this, or who quote other figures. It's there in black and white that McCabe has put over £43m into BL and SUFC companies (not repaid transferred to shares and a share premium account) without even i thinking about SU Limited.

Same with the losses. There for all to see.

Wouldn't have been as bad as that if Kev had only called me and asked me about Robson before taking him on board.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Ah didums poor rich businessmen, really deserve our sympathy. Or, if its to tough for them sell to someone who can afford a football club. Truth is they own it because they hope to to make tons of money from it on and off the pitch.

Diddums to you fellow Blade because they are the best and only owners we've got.

I would say that IMO McCabe's primary reason for getting involved with SUFC was to initially save the club and then to develop us into a force in the Premier League, regardless of cost because he could afford it. He will have thought he could be as successful in football as he has been in business and could conquer the football world. He would have fancied being a Blades legend leaving a big legacy for his family and fellow Blades supporters. He did it because he could afford it but that wore thin even for a man as rich as him and in 2012 he tried to stem the flow of wasted money.

That's my opinion and if you think what you wrote, Diddums Blade.

 

[finlaytheblade]

The amounts invested by the two owners, up to June this year are clear for anyone to see. They're factual. The only people are guessing are the ones who won't accept this, or who quote other figures. It's there in black and white that McCabe has put over £43m into BL and SUFC companies (not repaid transferred to shares and a share premium account) without even i thinking about SU Limited.

Same with the losses. There for all to see.

Wasting your time Sean these fans don't look at what's gone just what they want the owners to put in now.They forget that it might go tots up again

 

[Woodwardfan]

Wasting your time Sean these fans don't look at what's gone just what they want the owners to put in now.They forget that it might go tots up again

'Tots up' and 'tits up' Finlay, both right

 

[8lade]

Wouldn't have been as bad as that if Kev had only called me and asked me about Robson before taking him on board.

Me too but that was the only manager I called right, I thought all the others were good appointments too. (I suppose Blackwell was, he saved us from relegation).

He will have thought he could be as successful in football as he has been in business and could conquer the football world.

And just about everybody on this board thinks they too could manage United(the company) succesfully!

 

[finlaytheblade]

Wasting your time Sean these fans don't look at what's gone just what they want the owners to put in now.They forget that it might go tots up again

Sorry pressed wrong button McCabe ,I'm sure would have a laugh at these fans.
Find a suitable billionaire and he would hand over the reigns

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Me too but that was the only manager I called right, I thought all the others were good appointments too. (I suppose Blackwell was, he saved us from relegation).

And just about everybody on this board thinks they too could manage United(the company) succesfully!

What sticks with me was the fact that I was in Las Vegas at the same time as Robson got the job, if only I'd been invited to the table, so close yet so far away.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

“If it’s on Facebook it must be true”

I could offer the opposing arguments against those figures and “facts” but to be honest, there’s not much point. The arse-lickers that surround what is becoming a ‘viral post’ have it sewn up.

McCabe is the savior.

Do me a favour

 

[8lade]

What sticks with me was the fact that I was in Las Vegas at the same time as Robson got the job, if only I'd been invited to the table, so close yet so far away.

Most of the time when a manager is appointed I'm ok or don't know enough about them to comment but that was the only appointment at the club where I actually felt sick when it was made.

 

[Bladesman]

Nobody and I mean nobody would be complaining about our tiny budget this January if the board were just honest for once. Just tell us we’re potless and we’ll deal with it.

They couldn’t manage that though could they? Back in the summer it was all jam tomorrow. What was the need in McCabe saying we would invest big in January if we had a chance of promotion? This is why people are fed up

It sells season tickets.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Yes I was at the share holders meeting before he got involved Sat close to him ,he was asking questions and seemed quite clued up ,I'm sure Woody if he'd known what the future was he would not have got involved ,hind site is a marvelous thing even successful wealthy men don't always have it

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Most of the time when a manager is appointed I'm ok or don't know enough about them to comment but that was the only appointment at the club where I actually felt sick when it was made.

Still feel sick about it.

Was utter utter madness at best.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Me too but that was the only manager I called right, I thought all the others were good appointments too. (I suppose Blackwell was, he saved us from relegation).

And just about everybody on this board thinks they too could manage United(the company) succesfully!

Blackwell, Adams and Wilson were unambitious appointments when there was enough to work on to make a go of it.

Played far too safe.

I was happy with the Clough and Adkins appointments, unsure about the Speed one.

Robson just stupid.

Weir better than we could have hoped for at the time.

 

[Stretch]

Which clubs do you mean who have been through what we have in the past decade and reached the promised land I can't think of any.Apart from your Bournemouth's who somehow managed to rope in a Russian billionaire.

Fair enough on the comparison, other clubs have sunk and bounced back but there aren't many that spent 6 years marooned in the 3rd tier that's for sure. But how much of that was down to cost cutting/assett stripping on our part in the first place?
We had astonishingly bad luck with Ched but I didn't see anything happen in the subsequent years that couldn't be explained by utterly crap decisions.
Cashing in on Blackman, Maguire and Murphy all harmed our chances of promotion in the corresponding season, letting Clough spunk a whole budget on Brayford then let him get his hands on the retained list before sacking him....it beggars belief.

Look, I am no slasher when it comes to United, far from it and I appreciate the huge financial sacrifice our owners make but I am just saying that others seem to find a way to go the extra mile when it really matters. We had enough chances to make our own luck whilst in league 1 and failed to take them.

One thing I hope we can all agree in in any case is that Wilder doesn't do hard luck stories. What's done is done, but let's not pretend that at least some if it wasn't self inflicted.

 

[Esablade]

I always remember when it first came out we'd spent millions on Brayford I was deeply saddened because I knew it would mean we'd have nowt left for midfielders and forwards and would end up feeding on cheap scraps. With 3 points for a win it makes no sense to me to spunk most of your money on defenders. A team that keeps clean sheets but can't score is destined for a borderline relegation points total in many seasons. For me paying that for Brayford was the single biggest act of mis management in the decade. Even appointing Madkins wasn't as bad cos there was a chance he might have come good. Brayford was never going to make much of a difference in terms of winning games and the money would have been better spent on players that score goals.

Looking back I’m putting Brayford and a few of those signings down to Princeys mob ( they were all over it at the time)...until Princey came along we were trying to sell everyone and McCabe was talking of ‘living within our means’ and how we need to utilise the academy for the first team.

Princey arrives, halves McCabes burdon at a stroke and we start spending on players again...wage bill started rising again and paying staff up after failure rocketed.

Seems we started to cut the cloth again with Wilder...difference being he’s been successful which only highlighted the ‘game-changing investment won’t happen until we’re in the Championship’ promise.

I am left wondering whether Princey has changed his tune on this and left McCabe high and dry?

...it’s a conundrum fo sho...

 

[Woodwardfan]

Fair enough on the comparison, other clubs have sunk and bounced back but there aren't many that spent 6 years marooned in the 3rd tier that's for sure. But how much of that was down to cost cutting/assett stripping on our part in the first place?
We had astonishingly bad luck with Ched but I didn't see anything happen in the subsequent years that couldn't be explained by utterly crap decisions.
Cashing in on Blackman, Maguire and Murphy all harmed our chances of promotion in the corresponding season, letting Clough spunk a whole budget on Brayford then let him get his hands on the retained list before sacking him....it beggars belief.

Look, I am no slasher when it comes to United, far from it and I appreciate the huge financial sacrifice our owners make but I am just saying that others seem to find a way to go the extra mile when it really matters. We had enough chances to make our own luck whilst in league 1 and failed to take them.

One thing I hope we can all agree in in any case is that Wilder doesn't do hard luck stories. What's done is done, but let's not pretend that at least some if it wasn't self inflicted.

Slashers find it difficult to join a thread like this one where there is factual information. They are not to be seen or don't stay on long Or have I got them all on 'ignore'

 

[Bert]

I could offer the opposing arguments against those figures and “facts” but to be honest, there’s not much point

How disappointing that you feel unable to tell us all the real facts.

 

[BushBlade]

I've been highly critical of the McCabe tenure, he's made some shocking decisions, but I don't think anyone can seriously argue that he hasn't lost a lot of money backing a series of managers who've all failed, before Wilder. Do I have sympathy for him? No, not really, he could afford to lose it, spent it on something he loves and what's the point making as much money as he has and not spending it. He hasn't done a 'Mark Goldberg' and bankrupted himself.

But what I can't get my head round is what people think any potential buyer of the club will be like. People expect an Abramovich or s Sheik Mansour. That would be great. But very, very unlikely. Every year, several clubs seem to be under new ownership and, in most cases these owners are 'investors'. Gamblers. They don't have an unlimited pot of money. They stick money in to start with and then hope to get it back by getting promoted (or staying in the PL, like the Swansea owners who haven't put a penny into the club since they bought it).

There are far more of these than genuine benefactors. And each year, we look at the successful ones, the Wolves or Southampton or whomever and say 'we want that one'.
We ignore the other like Forest, Derby, Brum, Brentford, etc that incur huge losses and eventually get sold on by an owner who's just lost hope, or run out of money.

We ignore the horror stories like Coventry and Blackburn. We'd ignore the pigs if they weren't our neighbours. We still believe that some person is going to come in and just make it all better, just spend and spend until we're massive. Because bad things don't happen to us, right?

 

[South Bucks]

Looking back I’m putting Brayford and a few of those signings down to Princeys mob ( they were all over it at the time)...until Princey came along we were trying to sell everyone and McCabe was talking of ‘living within our means’ and how we need to utilise the academy for the first team.

Princey arrives, halves McCabes burdon at a stroke and we start spending on players again...wage bill started rising again and paying staff up after failure rocketed.

Seems we started to cut the cloth again with Wilder...difference being he’s been successful which only highlighted the ‘game-changing investment won’t happen until we’re in the Championship’ promise.

I am left wondering whether Princey has changed his tune on this and left McCabe high and dry?

...it’s a conundrum fo sho...

I'm wondering if Princey might not have much choice with the clamp down in Saudi. He might not be able to splash the cash anymore and in a 50/50 partnership if one half stops putting money in the other will be loathed to. Hard to know if Mr van winkle is to safeguard his investment by making better footy decisions (we have bought lots of squad players who can't even make the first team in a crisis) or if he is to oversee his interests while he makes a retreat.

 

[Esablade]

I'm wondering if Princey might not have much choice with the clamp down in Saudi. He might not be able to splash the cash anymore and in a 50/50 partnership if one half stops putting money in the other will be loathed to. Hard to know if Mr van winkle is to safeguard his investment by making better footy decisions (we have bought lots of squad players who can't even make the first team in a crisis) or if he is to oversee his interests while he makes a retreat.

Mebbe summat in that...time will tell.

re: current squad players, they are/were players good enough for L1...such as Lafferty, Hanson, Lavery etc...

The players we’ve bought in to the Championship have, on the whole, made the grade...we just haven’t replaced those L1 ‘sqaud’ players due to budgets.

 

[Sean Thornton]

“If it’s on Facebook it must be true”

I could offer the opposing arguments against those figures and “facts” but to be honest, there’s not much point. The arse-lickers that surround what is becoming a ‘viral post’ have it sewn up.

McCabe is the savior.

Do me a favour

Feel free.

Of course there isn't much point. The figures on money invested are correct. Unless the owners, club directors and its auditors are corrupt you're talking bollocks.

But in the interests of balance, are you saying my figure of £43m above is incorrect? Or the Prince hasn't already commited £16.6m?

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

The points in the O/P are reasonable & fair. But a justification for selling Brooks?

We're offloading at least one prized asset a season so's the poor, poor owners can recoup their losses.

In the seeming absence of another stellar youngster sellable in the next 12 months or so, who next? Fleck? O'Connell?

 

[Sean Thornton]

It sells season tickets.

I'd say up until recently, the results and playing style sold them,but instead, let's just pretend all the Blades who disagree are just sheep and fall for it time after time.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

What has surprised me most about this thread...

Silent Blade is on the Facebook.

Cold compress in a dark room...

 

[Rodley]

Do these threads ever go anywhere?

Man runs club. Man makes a lot of bad decisions. Man pays for bad decisions.

Half of the people think he's a Deity for paying for them, the rest wonder why he makes so many and more importantly when he's going to stop.

Storm January / JWTDDA approaches, already fuelled by boardroom appointments and loans being taken out. Again, half see this as more evidence of his brilliance , half that he's up to something. Again.

Question is - has anyone ever taken in the opposing point of view (and conceded it has merit ) or are we just doomed to spouting the same owd same owd for the sake of it when surely by now everyone who's a regular knows where everyone else stands?

I don’t think it’s a case of the glass half empty and glass half full brigade. I think it’s just people making stuff up, leaping on anything and stretching it wildly and complaining about stuff before it happens. This is a small but vocal minority.

I’ve got no issue with debate or opposing views, but if you’re going to throw under the bus any aspect of SUFC (players, manager, board) based on silly bollocks people will call you out on it.

 

[Sean Thornton]

The points in the O/P are reasonable & fair. But a justification for selling Brooks?

We're offloading at least one prized asset a season so's the poor, poor owners can recoup their losses.

In the seeming absence of another stellar youngster sellable in the next 12 months or so, who next? Fleck? O'Connell?

Not really recouping losses is it? More likely means saving them putting more in.

 

[Bladesman]

I'd say up until recently, the results and playing style sold them,but instead, let's just pretend all the Blades who disagree are just sheep and fall for it time after time.

Saying we haven’t got to piss in during the summer would have put some people off buying a ST. McCabe knows what he is doing.

 

[Booker4]

Nobody and I mean nobody would be complaining about our tiny budget this January if the board were just honest for once. Just tell us we’re potless and we’ll deal with it.

They couldn’t manage that though could they? Back in the summer it was all jam tomorrow. What was the need in McCabe saying we would invest big in January if we had a chance of promotion? This is why people are fed up

The frustration is more from the hope we gained when the Prince joined and the investment he talked about. I know there is reports he put £15m into the club in the first year or two and I'm not disputing that either. However, the view seems to be from many, and me included, that when we got promoted we'd see the Prince spend some of this "Liverpool" style investment. It appears from the outside that the spending is no more than what I'd have expected if McCabe had stayed in sole control. I hope the relationship between the two is still good, and the decision ti appoint Van Winckel was a joint one too.

 

[UnitedBlade]

I've been highly critical of the McCabe tenure, he's made some shocking decisions, but I don't think anyone can seriously argue that he hasn't lost a lot of money backing a series of managers who've all failed, before Wilder. Do I have sympathy for him? No, not really, he could afford to lose it, spent it on something he loves and what's the point making as much money as he has and not spending it. He hasn't done a 'Mark Goldberg' and bankrupted himself.

But what I can't get my head round is what people think any potential buyer of the club will be like. People expect an Abramovich or s Sheik Mansour. That would be great. But very, very unlikely. Every year, several clubs seem to be under new ownership and, in most cases these owners are 'investors'. Gamblers. They don't have an unlimited pot of money. They stick money in to start with and then hope to get it back by getting promoted (or staying in the PL, like the Swansea owners who haven't put a penny into the club since they bought it).

There are far more of these than genuine benefactors. And each year, we look at the successful ones, the Wolves or Southampton or whomever and say 'we want that one'.
We ignore the other like Forest, Derby, Brum, Brentford, etc that incur huge losses and eventually get sold on by an owner who's just lost hope, or run out of money.

We ignore the horror stories like Coventry and Blackburn. We'd ignore the pigs if they weren't our neighbours. We still believe that some person is going to come in and just make it all better, just spend and spend until we're massive. Because bad things don't happen to us, right?

Great post.

The only club you mention that I might challenge is Brentford. Yes he’s piling money in but he’s a genuine fan trying to do something different to potentially get Brentford promoted. They do buy young prospects and then trade them.

I had a conversation with a friend on mine who supports another club and he was saying there might only be 2 clubs yet to fulfill potential that could eventually challenge the top end of the PL.

Wolves is one and it’s pretty clear they will get promoted this year and then could spend enormous amounts I’m told.

The other is Leeds. They will get it right one day and apparently the new owner is close to the Qatar royal family. If he sold, sovereign wealth could propel Leeds.

Kevin will sell if we reach the PL and maybe the Prince but we have no idea who will take over and who will be suitable or how competitive we’ll be. Of course competing against parachute clubs and wealthy owners which covers half of the Championship gives no guarantee we’ll be successful in getting promotion.

Best to enjoy the football Chris’s team produces and stop worrying about it.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Saying we haven’t got to piss in during the summer would have put some people off buying a ST. McCabe knows what he is doing.

Aaah right. Standard football chairman speak. We're skint.

You truly believe season ticket sales are based solely on owners statements - or lack of them - rather than what happens on the pitch?

If we were bottom of the table and they said Wilder had say £10m to spend, season ticket sales would be as good as they have been?