I'd rather not go up this season

[SwissBlade]

For me it’s about having a half decent end to the season so we have a bit of momentum going into next as you say.

It’s been a successful season so far and we’ll pick up between 10 and 20 points between now and the end of the season so it may or may not be enough.

I personally think we’ve not performed well enough against the better sides in the league to be confident going into the play offs, we seems like a team who doesn’t believe we can win against some of the top 6.

I just want the rest of the season to point out to whoever ends up putting up the cash for players in pre season, that we need a few more of higher quality. Back Wilder and we’ll do well, piss him off and we won’t.

Agreed, first part of the season we were as strong as anyone on our day, some of the performances were excellent. We can almost forgive some of the games where we lost on fine margins.

However, in the toughest games as the season has gone on and the first 11 have tired, we've not been quite good enough.

So for me, its about the squad being stronger. We know that the first 11 is (was) strong, but we need to make sure when we lose a Coutts, Stearman, Duffy, Clarke or Sharp, that the players coming in are both good enough and ready.

Looking at the January signings, yes they have qualities which we will see, but they're not the finished product, i think thats the difference. Same for Brooks, he's developed in the first team.

Lots more positives than negatives, but perhaps a few decent signings in the summer to add to what we have will go a long way.

 

[bornablade]

To keep using the same old argument about Chris Wilder not having enough experience at managing at different levels is so disrespectful to the guy.

Eddie Howe at Bournemouth hasn't done so bad.

 

[Tommoblade66]

Saying you'd rather we not go up this season is crazy. If not a fan of "what if" games but I'd like to think we'd take it if we can. Who knows what will happen next season, regardless what division we're in.

 

[Billyblade]

If we do go up, get ready for more of the diving and anwarranted yellow card shenanigans we witnessed last night.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

I don’t agree at all. We’re a good side and far from mid table. Win our game in hand and we’re back in the mix. No way are we a mid table side. Look at some of the dross in mid table who we’ve played off the park. We’re also not a top two side either. I really fancy us to get to the play offs still and once in anything can happen.

I hope Fulham go up automatically so we wouldn’t have to face them though.

This. Very much this. We are better than mid table on our day, we're an 'in and around the playoff places' kind of team. Whether we'll make it remains to be seen, but you wouldn't have believed me before the season if I'd had told you there was a chance.

Oh and I'd definitely rather go up.

 

[Dkc]

Many think that we should have sacked Warnock after gaining promotion to the prem, as his record of top flight management wasn't exactly good. Given that thinking, if we go up should we sack Wilder and get, say, Ranieri in instead?

There is a huge temptation for a club to sack a manager if they are in the bottom three of the PL and on a bad run. If we go up, this season or next, Wilder's job may be less secure than it would have been with a couple of top ten championship finishes. Especially if we have new owners.

 

[Rusty view]

Even if we go down with a record low points total, we get so much money that it's totally worth it. We have a decent side with a good manager but you can't rely on a manager. You need structural better players and (youth) facilities. At the moment, we just don't have the money for that. Going up would be the best thing that could happen to us.

Or (and I'm playing devlils advocate and being mischievous) we do a Blackpool whereby McCabe is bought out. Our new owners then suck all the Premiership money out of us and we're left bankrupt free falling through the leagues

 

[blade too long]

Even if we get in the play offs and lose our value rockets. Players would see us as contenders and will come here . Whereas if we fizzle out to 10th we won't look as an attractive option .

 

[blade too long]

The play offs are there in sight . To not go for them would be criminal
Look how Huddersfield wisely used their tv wealth to compete up there.
Then there's the possibility of being 2 divisions above the pigs. That's worth it alone

 

[More Bladier than thou]

Go up. Mcsue pockets nearly every penny and Wilder leaves is more likely.

 

[Darthblade]

Agree that going up for the Wonga alone would benefit us and rebuild from there. Of course staying up would be nice as well.

Can you imagine how good it would be to see us play the same way and style with passion and high pressing pressure but.... with far better players in the squad? Faster and more skilful players playing the Wilder and Knill way

Now that would be tasty

Regrettably though ....... this plan relies upon us;
a) getting up
b) investing the premiership money wisely

We don't have a history of investing wisely and whilst I would back Tufty to spend any amount of money wisely ........ he has to be given the money in the first instance to do that.

UTB & FTP

 

[Houston_Blade]

Go up. Mcsue pockets nearly every penny and Wilder leaves is more likely.

0.1/10 for effort

 

[Bladesman]

Go up take the cash like Burnley and build properly with it when you come back down.

Yeah that’s what we should have done last time but instead we let Robson loose with the cheque book.

Plus we had money off West Ham.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

0.1/10 for effort

Recent history suggests otherwise.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Recent history suggests otherwise.

I'm sure you'll get a bite soon.

 

[More Bladier than thou]

I'm sure you'll get a bite soon.

Where were you 2007 ?

 

[Ricky]

You can't say it's 'too early' or 'we wouldn't be ready'. Our squad would look completely different. We'd compete. And then there's the small matter of getting rich.

 

[Northyorksblade]

I fear we'll do a Derby from a few years back and go straight down with a record low points total. We're not prepared at the moment.

We have to remember that only two seasons ago the highest Wilder had managed was the fourth tier. To be so high in the Championship in your first season (and after injuries and other fuckery that kept key players out) is therefore nothing short of miraculous.

Bassett had top flight experience prior to BDTBL and he knew what was expected at this level. It took Warnock nearly 20 years to reach the Prem from Scarborough's promotion to the old Division Four. Wilder's still getting to grips, and I can see us making a real effort next season if he gets the backing he desires and deserves.

Pigs said something similar two seasons ago. Look where they are now.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Where were you 2007 ?

I wsnt brn m8, Im ony 8 yrs old

 

[Champagneblade]

My concern would not be in going up and getting relegated, it would be how we would approach the season.

Take the end scenario - likely relegation.

Approach 1 - We give Wilder as much money as the new wealth will stretch to. He adds sensibly but taking us to another level. After a valiant fight, we end up back in the Championship, but Wilder sees us much stronger than 2017/18 season and even with a few losses, gets to retain most of his 'Premiership' squad and can then be seen to compete at the top of the Championship and not be outplayed by a select 3 or 4 teams meaning an assault on automatic promotion is well on the cards and we could potentially go up with a far better team than the one that eked through the Play-offs in 2017/18. You might also stay up with this approach, but this is a palatable approach.

Approach 2 - We give Wilder modest funds in the hope that for the most part, his band of League One Players of the Year and Championship rejects can make a reasonable fist of it. We view the funds as safeguarding the club's future and target ground improvements and a healthy bank balance as priority. Yes, he is allowed to add, but very much like a mid to high level Championship team, perceived as a big upgrade on last summer's recruitment but nowhere near what any of his Premier League contemporaries invest. We are then easily relegated with one or two players shining in what is perceived, at least on the field, as a relatively hopeless campaign. The few shining lights are plucked from us leaving Wilder with a team not much better than the one squeezed into the final Play Off place. He is then expected to motivate to over-performance the demoralised playing staff though he can make a few additions to what would feel a battle scarred squad. Other clubs see how valiantly Wilder performed in what was a hopeless cause and a top flight team offers him a chance to stay in the Premier League.

Now which of these seems most like what Sheffield United would do? The way we would go about it and the likely outcomes are my biggest fears!

 

[Sean Thornton]

0.1/10 for effort

A tad generous if you ask me....

 

[Sean Thornton]

Yeah that’s what we should have done last time but instead we let Robson loose with the cheque book.

Plus we had money off West Ham.

Which went to pay for Fat Turrys disastrous tenure.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Go up. Mcsue pockets nearly every penny and Wilder leaves is more likely.

Pray tell how he can do that.

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

Burnley are the model to follow imho. Invest wisely over time, stick with a good manager through that period allowing him time to build to get to the position where you’re established and pushing for top 10 with chances in cups and outside of Europe.

 

[itsinyerblood]

You can't say it's 'too early' or 'we wouldn't be ready'. Our squad would look completely different. We'd compete. And then there's the small matter of getting rich.

I take your point about becoming 'wealthy' Ricky, but it would be a comparative thing surely?

Yes, the money that arrives from being in the Premiership would enable us to pay wages associated with that division (well up to a point), but like every other lower to mid-table club who are scrapping for Premiership survival, we'd all be in the same boat so to speak. Wouldn't we all be seeking the same quality players? The thing that might make a difference would be the quality of scouting system we had in place. At the moment Wilder's emphasis on UK based players is admirable and has certainly done us proud, but we couldn't persist with this approach if we achieved promotion, could we? Finding a Mahrez is the ideal, but then almost every other team would love to find a player of that quality. So, returning to the premise of a more expansive scouting system, this I feel is the key to further success. I've no idea what our current geographical remit is where searching for players is concerned, but from our current crop of players, it would seem limited to home grown players, and returning to my original point, that will have to change if we're to give ourselves a chance of remaining a Premiership team.

 

[Ricky]

I take your point about becoming 'wealthy' Ricky, but it would be a comparative thing surely?

Yes, the money that arrives from being in the Premiership would enable us to pay wages associated with that division (well up to a point), but like every other lower to mid-table club who are scrapping for Premiership survival, we'd all be in the same boat so to speak. Wouldn't we all be seeking the same quality players? The thing that might make a difference would be the quality of scouting system we had in place. At the moment Wilder's emphasis on UK based players is admirable and has certainly done us proud, but we couldn't persist with this approach if we achieved promotion, could we? Finding a Mahrez is the ideal, but then almost every other team would love to find a player of that quality. So, returning to the premise of a more expansive scouting system, this I feel is the key to further success. I've no idea what our current geographical remit is where searching for players is concerned, but from our current crop of players, it would seem limited to home grown players, and returning to my original point, that will have to change if we're to give ourselves a chance of remaining a Premiership team.

Compared to where we are now, we'd be on another level entirely, and established as a top Championship contender at the very least. Certainly if we keep Wilder. Agree we'd have to expand the scouting network. We should be doing that now, let alone if we're promoted.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Compared to where we are now, we'd be on another level entirely, and established as a top Championship contender at the very least. Certainly if we keep Wilder. Agree we'd have to expand the scouting network. We should be doing that now, let alone if we're promoted.

Again, I'm not disputing that we'd be on another level. What we would be though is one of several established clubs, quite probably with advanced scouting systems. We'd be competing with the same bunch of ambitious clubs who are all searching for the same prize. Continued existence in the Premiership is the goal for every team outside of the so-called top 6. Those teams that are relegated from the Premiership come bearing gifts, or in plain English, they have wallets stuffed with readies enabling them to buy players that would enable them to return to the Prem, or at least that would be their plan. Of course it doesn't guarantee success, but every club that returns to the Championship usually has the tag of 'Big Beasts' attached to them.

I agree, we should be expanding our scouting system, mainly throughout Europe. It doesn't happen without investment of course, but whether we're imaginative enough to do this, well that's for further debate.

 

[RedandWhite]

If we went up it would be through play offs, which the final is the biggest game in world football in terms of winnings. Money.

Even if we dropped straight back down. More Money.

 

[SUFC Guy]

Go up. Mcsue pockets nearly every penny and Wilder leaves is more likely.

I do hope this is a wind up!

I simply do not get the reason why united fans consistently slate McCabe like this. Everyone makes mistakes and he has admitted his but they were all in the best intentions for the club.

Surely by employing Chris and Co and getting back to our level means something to the doom and gloomers. What is up with folk? - forgive and forget and get on with supporting the owner and the club ffs

 

[Bladesman]

Can't they just give us the cash for playing decent football?