How do you actually feel about United now, and what do you want them to be in the future?

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

Isn’t that what we are now?

Yeh but that’s not my dream scenario for us.

 

[dexter101]

I am not a born and bred Blade, but for me, I love the connection between the club and the city as a whole.

I know I am biased but Sheffield United represent (for better and worse) what Sheffield is. There is a real distinct link between them and as I love Sheffield for what it is, I love the Blades for what it is too. Yes, in theory, it should be more successful and more attractive to a wider audience than it is, but it doesn't really fully appreciate how special it is and if someone starts to recognise that, it just shrugs it off.

What ever changes in the future, and I do hope we continue to develop (for example, a Cat 1 academy) but I hope we never lose that connection.

 

[JimW1889]

Winning games and playing exciting football is fun, losing games and playing boring football isn't fun. Nowadays as long as we continue existing up to a point I'm not overly bothered what league we're in. Obviously if you go up rather than down it means you've had a more entertaining season, but I don't overly care beyond individual matchdays anymore.

Fucking up someone's day is beautiful. Not sending them down or anything like that, necessarily, but halting a play-off charge, equalising with 9 men, winning with your only shot on target after being outplayed for 90 minutes, it's what I live for.

I often think, not out of bitterness, when I see away fans leaving happy and us annoyed that next week it'll be the case that they're in our position. Which is what it's mostly about, having some good days out and leaving happy on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[GeorgeDonis1889]

To me, what you describe as the things that distinguish us from 'identikit' teams are what I would call our club culture - a term that has been hijacked on this forum to infer something different and poorer

Exactly this. The stuff people say they love about us and make us unique are the very things they mock and sneer at on here.

We had the dream scenario in 2019 and now a large group on here seem to obsessively hate the manager.

I think a lot of people are very confused about what they want United to be. Far from loving what makes us unique, most of the most vocal posters just want us to be exactly like Brentford and Bournemouth when you look at what they say. I am happy that if things are going ok with the running of the club we can aspire to be top end championship/bottom end Premier league. Maybe one day we'll sustain being in top flight for a decent period but I accept maybe not.

We are very entitled on here. Much less so match going fans thankfully.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Things that I’ve really enjoyed over the last few years, that I would love to see more consistently in the future. But I suppose i’m being unrealistic and probably greedy. United are a basket case, mad club. Always have been always will be, but that’s part of the charm. Anyway…

The way we played 16/17 season. Just total domination and sexy football. It was such an enjoyable time. I think it got a lot of fans back on side, I know quite a few fucked it off. 3 seasons before we got about 15k vs Yeovil in the PL semis. I’d love to have another season like that.

Watching Iliman play. I’d love to see us field players of his talent, you know they’ll go to bigger and better things, but watching him under Hecky was immense.

Team cohesion and never say die under Wilder in 2019. I really expected us to capitulate, but when won when we needed to. I never thought that would happen with United. We’re such a pessimistic bunch.

I don’t want us to lose our soul, I think we’re too small a club for that to happen. I’d love to see an exciting, fast, youngish team. Similar to that Leeds team 25 years ago. Obviously without the bankrupting part.

 

[54yrblade]

I think we're a sad reflection of the city. Occasionally thinking big but ultimately we waste our real opportunities because those in charge don't know how to make the best of them and we get left behind as we'd rather keep it that way than move with the times.

Comfortable with sub optimal and scared to step out of it.

I'd like better but it isnt happening any time soon.

 

[Badger Blade]

It's tough because its all relative. We had a flirt in the Prem of what this club has the capability to do.

Take Stoke for example. They reached a cup final, played in Europe, signed all sorts of star players, had a real identity under Pulis, a similar "devil may care" attitude about what anyone else thinks of them and did quite a few seasons in the Prem but have wealthy backers who could spend a fortune but don't.

Had they not done all that, they'd be exactly where you'd otherwise expect them to be.

Just to get a taste of that would be great, just for a bit longer than one or two seasons. Swansea, Wigan and Portsmouth have all won cup competitions since the turn of the millennium. We've come close but typically been found wanting when it mattered.

I'd love us, on a crunch day at Wembley with it all stake to turn up for once and lift a major trophy.

 

[Super Furry Blades]

I definitely don't feel the same about United these past few years as I did for my entire life before that.

It's partly because football is much less enjoyable generally, so I'm just not into the whole sport as much as I was.

A massive part for me is that I can't shake the feeling that we had our shot at establishing ourselves in the top flight, playing in Europe and maybe even winning something, but it was robbed from us by a once in a lifetime freak event. I just can't see us getting that chance again in my lifetime, and even if we did, it wouldn't be the same. That has taken away the hope that used to get me through.

It's also clear to me that the future isn't really for me. We'll eventually be owned by rich people with no connection to the club, with mainly foreign players and coaching staff on astronomical amounts of money - making the personnel much less relatable. Some of that has already happened and the atmosphere has already died, but it's only going to get worse.

My love for Sheffield United came from my Dad taking me to the match home and away to watch players that I looked up to, and because I loved the build up (coach/train/pub) and the atmosphere, all the time convincing myself that we'd one day get our turn at some success. I'm not sure anyone of those things are there any more (except my Dad, who won't be forever).

Great post pal ( exactly how I feel )

 

[Gin&Juice]

The main issue is we’ve not improved in 50 years. Before relegation in the 70’s we spent most of our time in the first division. We haven’t been able to sustain that since. I don’t think the club has modernised to the degree it should have, we’re still always looking backwards. Think out fanbase are partly to blame, we haven’t had recent success, the last time fans can universally look fondly was under John Harris. Those who were around anyway. Nothing has overtaken that success. Our neighbours greatest ever team was 35 years ago, much more recent.