Expectations

[Darren]

I get the Zen argument, it doesn't seem to chime with your bullish, and to my mind overly hopeful, predictions each year.

Reasonable people without any axe to grind (i.e. the bookies - I don't buy your argument about the market being so small that the odds are distorted by lots of idiots like me betting on United) tend to agree with me. Hence my predictions are based on logic and reason; life and football being what its, the predictions sometimes fail. I don't consider it a major blow to my ego when they do.

 

[Kenilworth]

No option for me to pick on there Bergers. I would if you had something like,

Flirt with Play Off Places at best

I expect we will be in a similar position to what we achieved last year only slightly worse - so we may not even make the top 6.
Why?

• Because he has to trim the wage budget further
• this will limit any room he has in the loan market
• the kids will not maintain any level of consistency required to compete at the highest level
• I expect Wolves to bounce straight back given their resources
• there are better teams than ours to take the second auto spot
• we will sell our best young talent at the next available window
• our decent, injured players (Miller and Di Girolomo) will not be fit enough until perhaps the New Year
• then they will be sold

Mid table mediocrity beckons.

 

[Guesty]

Reasonable people without any axe to grind (i.e. the bookies - I don't buy your argument about the market being so small that the odds are distorted by lots of idiots like me betting on United) tend to agree with me. Hence my predictions are based on logic and reason; life and football being what its, the predictions sometimes fail. I don't consider it a major blow to my ego when they do.

No axe here! I do think though that we're only among the bookies favourites each here because we're seen as a big club for the third division and not because of our relative merits as a team compared to the rest of the league.

What I meant about the Zen thing is that you say you'd consider it quite a failure if United don't go up, does that not irk you then when we've failed the past two years? It would me. I wouldn't maintain my calm and my famous sunny disposition if I thought we should fly up the league and instead we flail about in the Play-offs.

I consider myself fairly reasonable, tending towards the glass half empty, granted, and I can't see us getting Automatic this year.

 

[Darren]

No axe here! I do think though that we're only among the bookies favourites each here because we're seen as a big club for the third division and not because of our relative merits as a team compared to the rest of the league.

What I meant about the Zen thing is that you say you'd consider it quite a failure if United don't go up, does that not irk you then when we've failed the past two years? It would me. I wouldn't maintain my calm and my famous sunny disposition if I thought we should fly up the league and instead we flail about in the Play-offs.

I consider myself fairly reasonable, tending towards the glass half empty, granted, and I can't see us getting Automatic this year.

Roy Hatersley says somewhere that when he was a boy, if Wednesday lost he would be miserable for the entire weekend, when he was a teenager he was miserable for all Saturday night, when he was a young man he would be miserable for a couple of hours and now he gets over defeats in around 10 mins.

I am a bit like that now. I hope for the best and take what I think is a rational view. If United disappoint, well, c'est la vie, we'll all be dead in a hundred years anyway....

 

[ponteblade]

This league no harder? Wolves, peterboro, Rotherham. Bradford, After last seasons easier league, we have no chance this season sorry to say, I bet Rotherham spend more. No not a doom merchant just honest! we are skint and a div 3 team not matter how you wish to dress it up? (I know there are 6 new teams in the league)

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

This league no harder? Wolves, peterboro, Rotherham. Bradford, After last seasons easier league, we have no chance this season sorry to say, I bet Rotherham spend more. No not a doom merchant just honest! we are skint and a div 3 team not matter how you wish to dress it up? (I know there are 6 new teams in the league)

Wolves should walk the league but you never know with a club on the slide and it depends who leaves in the Summer as they may still have a major re-building job to do. Peterborough will have to cut costs and will inevitably lose one or two of their better players so no guarantee they'll be anything special. A promoted team usually does well but Rotherham, Bradford, are you sure we should fear them ?

Every year people say the division we're in will be tougher than the year before and every year it turns out to be the same. It will be there for the taking for a consistent team who have two or three players who make the difference and there's no reason why that shouldn't be us.

 

[Large Mendonca]

The simple point is that, however much in the shit we are, Sheffield United can afford to pay better wages that the vast majority of the teams in the 3rd Division; that should translate into better players and hence promotion.

That's a very "black and white" statement, because in reality we have the players budget of someone like Crewe when we take into consideration high earners who are crap that we can't move on until 2015.

 

[Darren]

That's a very "black and white" statement, because in reality we have the players budget of someone like Crewe when we take into consideration high earners who are crap that we can't move on until 2015.

I find that quite hard to believe. I would hazard a guess that we pay substantially higher wages than Crewe and that, on the whole, our playesr are better than Crewe's.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

That's a very "black and white" statement, because in reality we have the players budget of someone like Crewe when we take into consideration high earners who are crap that we can't move on until 2015.

And this is the reality that many forget/ignore. We have an annual salary budget of about £6m-ish. But with existing contracts that need to be honoured, we've probably already allocate 50-60% of it. Not alot of leeway for Tin Tin.

 

[Large Mendonca]

I find that quite hard to believe. I would hazard a guess that we pay substantially higher wages than Crewe and that, on the whole, our playesr are better than Crewe's.

Well i imagine you are correct as we have finished above Crewe for the last 2 seasons , but what i was trying to say is that we probably have very little room (money) to make the changes we all agree on, that need to be done.

To get promotion this coming season I feel that DW will have to work miracles with the likes of Doyle and Porter for example.

 

[raul]

Maybe they're the 2 or 3 players who are going to make all the difference for us c.f Fleety's 13th annual wibble above

 

[Darren]

Well i imagine you are correct as we have finished above Crewe for the last 2 seasons , but what i was trying to say is that we probably have very little room (money) to make the changes we all agree on, that need to be done.

To get promotion this coming season I feel that DW will have to work miracles with the likes of Doyle and Porter for example.

I worked out last season, that taking the salary cap into account (now second tier) Yeovil's players are probably on no more, on average, than £750 a week. I reckon the average wage for the 3rd division as a whole is probably £1000-£1500 a week. My point is it doesn't take a huge amount of extra money to pay substantially above that (say £2500-£3000) a week and, given our crowds, that sort of payment would be in accordance with the rules.

If United can pay more than double the third division average they should have the pick of the third rate players and should, therefore, always be challenging for promotion.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I worked out last season, that taking the salary cap into account (now second tier) Yeovil's players are probably on no more, on average, than £750 a week. I reckon the average wage for the 3rd division as a whole is probably £1000-£1500 a week. My point is it doesn't take a huge amount of extra money to pay substantially above that (say £2500-£3000) a week and, given our crowds, that sort of payment would be in accordance with the rules.

If United can pay more than double the third division average they should have the pick of the third rate players and should, therefore, always be challenging for promotion.

Which has been true, up to now! However the coming season it seems we are not paying double any more!

 

[Come from away]

With the fit players we currently have on contract, we are a mid-table team. If our injured players come back fit and ready, we may have a shot at the play-offs. Better than that depends on whether Weir can lift the team and who he can bring in. I have hope as always but not expecting a lot as yet.

 

[Revolution]

If United can pay more than double the third division average they should have the pick of the third rate players and should, therefore, always be challenging for promotion.

McCabe has made it abundantly clear that we will not do this. We will have the budget of a mid table side, supplemented by cheap youth teamers who will be sold if they are any good.

Lunacy.

 

[Darren]

McCabe has made it abundantly clear that we will not do this. We will have the budget of a mid table side, supplemented by cheap youth teamers who will be sold if they are any good.

Lunacy.

As you say, compelte lunacy. If we pay double the assumed 3rd Division average of £1500 a week for 15 players, thats just over a million a year. That's not quite money down the back of the sofa for McCabe, but it's pretty near. Given that he is never going to get any of his money back until we start moving up the divisions, one hopes he is not as mad as all that.

 

[chipsncake]

And this is the reality that many forget/ignore. We have an annual salary budget of about £6m-ish. But with existing contracts that need to be honoured, we've probably already allocate 50-60% of it. Not alot of leeway for Tin Tin.

And a clear indication of how poor a manager Wilson was.