How far can we go with CWAK?

[blade too long]

Ambition desire hard work and unity gets you most of the way. A smattering of quality is the icing on top.
We are 6th by right.
We were 6th 11 games ago and we have sustained that level with what are considered to be championship players. Imagine how good we will be with say just 2 recognised prem players

The future is bright the future is red and white stripes

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

It's an interesting comment you make about the Saudi's looking to buy a Prem football team. I would think in terms of what they could acquire one for we'd be the most attractive prospect in the Premier League by far - and they've already got one of their own running it! It would be a perfect fit in that sense.

I do worry though about what that might mean for the club. Financial stability - yes, no doubt it would mean that. At least until such a time as they got bored with it and wanted to move on to another project. But respect for the club's history and traditions? Putting our own fans before others- keeping it "affordable" for the same? I'm really not sure! I think they'd use the club as a huge vehicle to generate money, not just for the club, but for their country. The international profile of the club would be massive and we'd become a mega-club in that sense. But I think the club would move away from its loyal fanbase and just become another mega-club, supported by thousands of fans worldwide, by pay per view TV.

The thing is, the Saudi's, Emiratis and Qatari's aren't looking to make money off these ventures, that's not their aim. It's about diversifying their economy into other areas, namely sports and tourism and positive publicity to distracting from any of the questionable human rights stuff they may get upto.
This all sounds like wishful thinking for those that want real "game changing" investment, however I would say having the Prince in situ now, understanding the club and knowing what makes us Blades would give me a few less concerns than I may have had.

 

[itsinyerblood]

I'm being a bit of a Blade's magpie in my suggestions about what we need to do to evolve into a sustainable and progressive business model.

The longer we remain in the Premier division the more our potential increases to maximise our sponsorship deals. I believe that at the beginning of this season we did a deal worth £8 million in season 1, with reduced staggered payments over the next few seasons (if someone wishes to clarify or correct my explanation feel free).

With each season we'll strengthen our squad/first team, not perhaps with spectacular spends on established international standard players, but with recruits who Wilder believes will enhance and improve our standards. A good example seems to be Besic, the current Everton player. After a slow, arguably uneven start, we're now beginning to see what Mo brings to our team, and from what I've seen, other supporters agree that this guy would be a great addition on a permanent basis. And so it would continue, shrewd recruitment, sometimes busting our existing transfer records, would enhance our chances of remaining in this division, in much the same way that the likes of Southampton have managed over the seasons.

There is, of course, the fact that being a Premier division club makes you automatically attractive to players who wish to play at the top level. The stumbling block with this is wages and what we're prepared to offer. I think it's a given that our current wage bill will rise, and that a player currently on X will look to increase this to Y or even Z should they re-negotiate, but that's what happens when you arrive at the promised land. Naturally I'd expect us to compensate our management team with improved contracts the longer we remain at this level. Personally, I have abundant optimism for our future. We have a great management team, a pretty healthy squad with several very talented individuals, and we're getting great crowds for our home games, so to my mind this is about the best it's been in my time as a Blade.

Of course, expectations will rise, and I can see that for some of us selective amnesia will play it's part in appreciating why we're where we are and what brought this about. But such is life and football supporters, at least now we're able to contemplate this club as an authentic, top level outfit. Who'd have thought that three seasons ago?

 

[BushBlade]

There are six clubs that, if run properly, should finish in the top six every season. For as long as some of those aren’t run properly, there’s an opportunity for other clubs to take advantage of.
There are several clubs looking to take advantage; Everton, Leicester, Wolves. Two of them are well run and well financed and the other has a rich owner.
With CWAK we can be part of that second group.
It’s football and almost anything can happen but some things are more likely than others. The likelihood is that we can be a top ten club for a while. The dream is that we can be more.