Kevin McCabe

[blader]

Have I missed something with McCabe? Am I the only person who still has an ounce of respect for the man?

He has ploughed a lot of money into our club, maybe he hasn't invested in the wisest way, but it's still investment. He has ALWAYS strived to maintain financial stability for the club. We have the biggest wage bill in the league, (quite comfortably, I imagine) yet people feel he is to blame for what happens on the field? McCabe is a blade through and through just like you and I, and I don't see where this constant abuse comes from.

There are so many clubs that have dropped out of the top tier and had financial nightmares: Coventry, Pompey, Wednesday, QPR, Southampton and I'm sure there's more.

McCabe has provided us with such a great infrastructure at our club, I don't hear anyone whinging when our academy produces Jagielka, naughton, Walker, Lowton, Maguire, Long, Ironside, Whitehouse, Diego to name a few. This is an academy which McCabe has provided our club with, one of the best in the country.

I didn't hear people complaining when we got promoted to the premier league, or when we broke the bank for Beattie and Evans (at the time we signed him).

People talk about scapegoats at SUFC, and personally I think McCabe is the biggest one we have. I actually think it's pretty pathetic. Is it his fault the players are under performing? Is it his fault Simonsen hit his penalty into Finsbury Park?

Would you prefer a Mandaric? Do you think Wednesday will be fine when he leaves? Don't count on it....

UTB

 

[LSF]

He's made some bad decisions, I think his staunchest supporter would concede that much, but some of the shite hurled at him from some on here is actually laughable (yes, I know our current standing ain't funny by any stretch). I prefer to leave leave them to their smug abuse and get on with supporting the club as best I can.

I'm afraid Blader, you're wasting your time trying to reason or convince these folk that McCabe isn't what they see him as...

 

[super_pig]

>McCabe has provided us with such a great infrastructure at our club, I don't hear anyone whinging when our academy produces Jagielka, naughton, Walker, Lowton, Maguire, Long, Ironside, Whitehouse, Diego to name a few. This is an academy which McCabe has provided our club with, one of the best in the country.

yeah but the problem is he keeps bloody selling them !

 

[shorehamview]

yeah but the problem is he keeps bloody selling them !

Every club sells players to other clubs. There are very few sides who can either turn down a big enough offer, or who can offer players money they can't get anywhere else. Messi is probably the only player in the world who won't be sold to a bigger or richer club.

 

[Fiery Blade]

But perhaps we could get a few games out of them before they go! eg Walker, Mellis, Naughton, Slew
Also how come no-one comes in for Monty, Cresswell, Doyle, Williams, Flynn et al?

 

[Bladesway]

Have I missed something with McCabe? Am I the only person who still has an ounce of respect for the man?

He has ploughed a lot of money into our club, maybe he hasn't invested in the wisest way, but it's still investment. He has ALWAYS strived to maintain financial stability for the club. We have the biggest wage bill in the league, (quite comfortably, I imagine) yet people feel he is to blame for what happens on the field? McCabe is a blade through and through just like you and I, and I don't see where this constant abuse comes from.

There are so many clubs that have dropped out of the top tier and had financial nightmares: Coventry, Pompey, Wednesday, QPR, Southampton and I'm sure there's more.

McCabe has provided us with such a great infrastructure at our club, I don't hear anyone whinging when our academy produces Jagielka, naughton, Walker, Lowton, Maguire, Long, Ironside, Whitehouse, Diego to name a few. This is an academy which McCabe has provided our club with, one of the best in the country.

I didn't hear people complaining when we got promoted to the premier league, or when we broke the bank for Beattie and Evans (at the time we signed him).

People talk about scapegoats at SUFC, and personally I think McCabe is the biggest one we have. I actually think it's pretty pathetic. Is it his fault the players are under performing? Is it his fault Simonsen hit his penalty into Finsbury Park?

Would you prefer a Mandaric? Do you think Wednesday will be fine when he leaves? Don't count on it....

UTB

Go on I'll have some of this. You support the bloke thats great, but christ theres some wool being pulled over eyes here. HIS money that he has ploughed in. Its not his money in the sa,e way you nip off to the cash machine and whip a ton out. His money is locked away for when he decides to call it a day.

Next up, a couple of questions if I may. What division were we in when he took over? How much money did we owe when he took over? Answers are that we are now a division lower and deeper in debt. Now in any walk of business thats a fail.

Why is Manderic the best offer McCabes supporters can come up with? Also why is he a bad thing? Got promoted following a change of manager which he did against the fans wishes. What a twat eh? When it comes to it apparently you shouldn't moan about what we have because the bloke down the road isn't just bad he is foreign as well (mentioned in another thread). I can buy loyalty, but McCabe has crippled this club with his decisions recently. Hopefully he has learned but look where we are, and its 90% his fault.

 

[munich]

Have I missed something with McCabe? Am I the only person who still has an ounce of respect for the man?

He has ploughed a lot of money into our club, maybe he hasn't invested in the wisest way, but it's still investment. He has ALWAYS strived to maintain financial stability for the club. We have the biggest wage bill in the league, (quite comfortably, I imagine) yet people feel he is to blame for what happens on the field? McCabe is a blade through and through just like you and I, and I don't see where this constant abuse comes from.

There are so many clubs that have dropped out of the top tier and had financial nightmares: Coventry, Pompey, Wednesday, QPR, Southampton and I'm sure there's more.

McCabe has provided us with such a great infrastructure at our club, I don't hear anyone whinging when our academy produces Jagielka, naughton, Walker, Lowton, Maguire, Long, Ironside, Whitehouse, Diego to name a few. This is an academy which McCabe has provided our club with, one of the best in the country.

I didn't hear people complaining when we got promoted to the premier league, or when we broke the bank for Beattie and Evans (at the time we signed him).

People talk about scapegoats at SUFC, and personally I think McCabe is the biggest one we have. I actually think it's pretty pathetic. Is it his fault the players are under performing? Is it his fault Simonsen hit his penalty into Finsbury Park?

Would you prefer a Mandaric? Do you think Wednesday will be fine when he leaves? Don't count on it....

UTB

 

[munich]

fully agree with the sentiment, if not all the detail

 

[metalblade]

Ooooooooooo another I love McCabe thread..................... HEY !!!! there's no bigger Blade

How predictable when things are not going very well.

 

[Foxy]

How predictable when things are not going very well.

I take it only one opinion is allowed when things aren't going swimmingly then?

 

[alcoblade]

Great intentions, terrible outcomes.

It's a difficult one to judge, but his actions have led us to a division below when he came, with a corner of the ground filled in and a shed load of debt.

UTB

 

[metalblade]

I take it only one opinion is allowed when things aren't going swimmingly then?

Yes it would seem everyone has to take the medicine that McCabe is a hero.............................. the thing is I see us a division lower than when he started and we now have a multi million pound debt round our necks with no assets worth much more than a bag of nuts and a couple of elastic bands.

 

[alcoblade]

Yes it would seem everyone has to take the medicine that McCabe is a hero.............................. the thing is I see us a division lower than when he started and we now have a multimillion pound debt round our necks with no assets worth much more than a bag of nuts and a couple of elastic bands.

It's the inability to see anything good, once it's decided that something is bad, that sets certain types apart.

UTB

 

[TarquinDelouche]

How predictable

 

[blader]

Yes it would seem everyone has to take the medicine that McCabe is a hero.............................. the thing is I see us a division lower than when he started and we now have a multi million pound debt round our necks with no assets worth much more than a bag of nuts and a couple of elastic bands.

Not true at all. In fact the reason this thread was created is that NO ONE thinks he deserves any credit for anything he's done. Alongside the fact he seems to take most of the blame.

And no one seems to have responded to most of my key points with a valid counter argument:

1. Are you unhappy about our phenomenal academy and its products?
2. Were you complaining when we got promoted to the premier league?
3. We have the largest wage bill in the division, surely that's all the chairman can do?
4. We haven't been in administration when a lot of x-prem teams have gone down that path
5. Is it McCabe's fault the recent players (and by that I mean the last 3 seasons) have underperformed?

 

[Kev Gee]

M

Have I missed something with McCabe? Am I the only person who still has an ounce of respect for the man?

He has ploughed a lot of money into our club, maybe he hasn't invested in the wisest way, but it's still investment. He has ALWAYS strived to maintain financial stability for the club. We have the biggest wage bill in the league, (quite comfortably, I imagine) yet people feel he is to blame for what happens on the field? McCabe is a blade through and through just like you and I, and I don't see where this constant abuse comes from.

There are so many clubs that have dropped out of the top tier and had financial nightmares: Coventry, Pompey, Wednesday, QPR, Southampton and I'm sure there's more.

McCabe has provided us with such a great infrastructure at our club, I don't hear anyone whinging when our academy produces Jagielka, naughton, Walker, Lowton, Maguire, Long, Ironside, Whitehouse, Diego to name a few. This is an academy which McCabe has provided our club with, one of the best in the country.

I didn't hear people complaining when we got promoted to the premier league, or when we broke the bank for Beattie and Evans (at the time we signed him).

People talk about scapegoats at SUFC, and personally I think McCabe is the biggest one we have. I actually think it's pretty pathetic. Is it his fault the players are under performing? Is it his fault Simonsen hit his penalty into Finsbury Park?

Would you prefer a Mandaric? Do you think Wednesday will be fine when he leaves? Don't count on it....

UTB

Ultimatley McCabe is the one who signs the cheques, hires & fires & has the final decision on 99% of the things that mean something. So YES. some of the blame must lie at his door.

For example. Yes its not his place to tell wilson to make subs earlier in matches. But it was McCabe who hired him in the first place.

 

[Wobbly Blade]

If McCabe finally got tired of seeing (his) money draining away and nothing but hate threads on here and walked away, we would be in administration. Pompey but worse. You decide what you want.

A sale to an oligarch wopuld be handy all round but it ain't gonna happen. Its a long road back and you are not making it any better by wishing the money away.

WB

 

[Bergen Blade]

A chairman's main task is to provide the manager with a competetive budget. He should leave football decisions (including appointments) to football men.

McCabe's main mistake was the appointment of Robson and the ridiculous and short sighted money spending that Robson and Kevin Blackwell was allowed to carry out.

However you don't drop a player after a poor performance if you think he's still the best man for the position in the following game. Similarly you don't hound a chairman out based on previous mistakes if he's still the best man for the job in the future. I'm not aware of anyone seriously wanting to replace McCabe, and until there is, campaigning for his resignation seems pretty futile.

 

[alcoblade]

Not true at all. In fact the reason this thread was created is that NO ONE thinks he deserves any credit for anything he's done. Alongside the fact he seems to take most of the blame.

And no one seems to have responded to most of my key points with a valid counter argument:

1. Are you unhappy about our phenomenal academy and its products?
2. Were you complaining when we got promoted to the premier league?
3. We have the largest wage bill in the division, surely that's all the chairman can do?
4. We haven't been in administration when a lot of x-prem teams have gone down that path
5. Is it McCabe's fault the recent players (and by that I mean the last 3 seasons) have underperformed?

1. Its products are sold to service the debt he's run up
2. Good point. I was when we were relegated though. Twice.
3. Partly because we have gates 4 X most in the division. Partly because none of our payers had relegation clauses through bad management. Partly down to McCabe'e effort.
4. He can't take us into admin. Why would he offer himself 10p in the pound?
5. He employed the management that made it all happen.



Great intentions, inept decisions, terrible outcomes. If it weren't for the first but he would be roundly considered one of our more disastrous chairmen.

UTB

 

[StarBlade]

If McCabe finally got tired of seeing (his) money draining away and nothing but hate threads on here and walked away, we would be in administration. Pompey but worse. You decide what you want.

A sale to an oligarch wopuld be handy all round but it ain't gonna happen. Its a long road back and you are not making it any better by wishing the money away.

WB

Why would we be in administration? Is it because we have tonnes of debt, losing money left right and centre and have very few assets that actually belong to the football club? Pompey but worse? Really, because if so, the man at the top who makes the financial, staffing and asset decisions has a lot to answer for, not be praised for! Thank God for McCabe ey?

As someone has said, good intentions but it has been a disaster, did someone mention financial stability? . Warnock, Basset and Dooley built the empire we loved, McCabe funded it and then didn't know what to do next when he lost those men. So he reverted to type, umbrella company after umbrella company, property here there and everywhere and for the football, a shambles on the field. I don't know about people who go on about shares, property and the like, I find it boring. I just want to see United win games! With all sorts of financial rules in place, we should easily be the best funded in the division by default (which we are), but that's down to the fans turning up in numbers. Every penny that we put into the Club, the club needs even more because we can't break even.

With the academy, the financial rules, the turnover, we should be top (in a non-arrogant way) without needing to break the bank, because we absolutely out-do everyone else in those terms. The fact that we may be looking at the play-offs again, while losing tonnes of money, damn right people should be criticised!

UTB!

 

[mattbianco1]

Can't believe Mic hasn't posted

 

[Bladesway]

Think there are some fair comments from Alco in particular about seeing nothing positive in what McCabe has done. For what little its worth I think he did very well initially and the Academy in particular is something that he should receive credit for. I used to be a big fan of his and would argue his corner. He actually made me renew my season ticket one season when I had lost faith previously. So to his credit until we got relegated from the Premiership he was doing an excellent job. Also his chasing of West Ham for the money they owed us I give him respect for.

But thats what makes everything now so frustrating. He did it right and then shat himself when we got relegated and undid every bit of good work he previously had done.


Blader, I'll have a dip at these also.

1. Are you unhappy about our phenomenal academy and its products?
Fair point I am very happy and he should take credit that this is his biggest achievement. However, phenomenal is possibly a slight overstatement. Also, I would be happier if these players stayed just a bit longer rather than farmed out at the first opportunity.

2. Were you complaining when we got promoted to the premier league?
I was saying he should have sacked Warnock but in essence no, I was giving him the credit due to him. It is since that time that he started getting it massively wrong.

3. We have the largest wage bill in the division, surely that's all the chairman can do?
No, I never wanted Chengdu and all the other hangers on. I never wanted the hotel and I never wanted the World Cup Bid. Aren't these all things the chairman has done? If he stuck to just ploughing money generated into SUFC the team, rather than the wider PLC we probably wouldn't be in this mess.

4. We haven't been in administration when a lot of x-prem teams have gone down that path
We wouldn't be if he didn't run it like a gambling addict in a casino for three years after we got relegated. He is 90% to blame for the debt incurred by his managerial appointments and the budgets he gave them.

5. Is it McCabe's fault the recent players (and by that I mean the last 3 seasons) have underperformed?
No but ultimately it is his fault we got players who we paid too much (Hendrie et al) and bled the club dry because he appointed Robson. His appointment of Robson was possibly the most spectacular failure in our 120 or so year history.

I hope these are answers you understand even if you don't agree with them. He is a Blade, I don't doubt that and I also think his intentions are and were always good. But good intentions don't always meet with good outcomes. With the credit he took getting us to the Premiership should come the debit of taking us down to League 1. He appointed these people and gave them extended contracts. He signed Robson and he didn't fire Blackwell when many around could see it starting to come undone. Then he fired him in a fit of peak when the investors were looking and we got humped at home 3 games into a season. He took Adams on because he was a Blade and not because he was the right man (in my view).

Some of his deals have been to line his own pockets as well. I don't quite buy in at Metal and Mics level of cynisism but I totally understand their frustration that he has taken us down shit alley and still some want to give him thanks just for being here.

FWIW I have always said I want him to stay on and get us back at least to the Championship and on an even keel. If for nothing more than because he can learn the lessons that took us all down to this shithole league and almost out of business.

P.S to all those who harp on about his investment into SUFC, if we did (god forbid) go into administration you will not see McCabe with creditors taking his house away. No one will be knocking on McCabes door personally for the money back. He still has the swanky house and the cars etc. He even has all the other businesses to keep paying him a healthy whack a the end of the day. So my sympathy is somewhat tempered as someone who had to write a business off a huge personal cost not all that long ago.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

There's only 1 man that never made a mistake and he was nailed to a cross, other than that were all human xept Beights, has he made mistakes course he has , and do you think he does'nt know it you bet he does. If he had his time again would he have wasted money on Robson and his crap signings, Blackwell and his crap loan signings that got us were we are, just like donnie's did last year,[ donnie are'nt up yet either], he showed loyaltie when standing besides Blackwell after Burnley, when he should have gone then.Gave Speedie [R.I.P.]. the job too soon, gave Mucky the job cause he thought he was the new Warnock as he was a Blade, so you can bet your bottom dollar he's made huge mistake, after mistakes but has it been to better our club, he would say it was, a lot would say its for himself but he's a business man and he's in the business of making money afterall, would i say it's bettered our team, unless we get promoted no, ground, academy , then I would say it has, others would disagree, but hay opinions are like arseoles, we all have one. At the moment I'm nuetral on the guy good and bad points whoever I don't think he's the demon some would like to think he is. As always U.T.B.

 

[Micalijo]

Have I missed something with McCabe? Am I the only person who still has an ounce of respect for the man?

He has ploughed a lot of money into our club, maybe he hasn't invested in the wisest way, but it's still investment. He has ALWAYS strived to maintain financial stability for the club. We have the biggest wage bill in the league, (quite comfortably, I imagine) yet people feel he is to blame for what happens on the field? McCabe is a blade through and through just like you and I, and I don't see where this constant abuse comes from.

There are so many clubs that have dropped out of the top tier and had financial nightmares: Coventry, Pompey, Wednesday, QPR, Southampton and I'm sure there's more.

McCabe has provided us with such a great infrastructure at our club, I don't hear anyone whinging when our academy produces Jagielka, naughton, Walker, Lowton, Maguire, Long, Ironside, Whitehouse, Diego to name a few. This is an academy which McCabe has provided our club with, one of the best in the country.

I didn't hear people complaining when we got promoted to the premier league, or when we broke the bank for Beattie and Evans (at the time we signed him).

People talk about scapegoats at SUFC, and personally I think McCabe is the biggest one we have. I actually think it's pretty pathetic. Is it his fault the players are under performing? Is it his fault Simonsen hit his penalty into Finsbury Park?

Would you prefer a Mandaric? Do you think Wednesday will be fine when he leaves? Don't count on it....

UTB

The stadium looks great and atmosphere can be electric.

Other than that your OP is pure comedy gold, the likes of which I have not seen since Swiss suggested we go pre-season training in Qatar.

The other clubs you mention have all had many years in the top flight over the last 25 years or so which we haven't. The academy is meant to produce players that play for our first team - not other clubs - OK the wedge is great but it has never helped the first team as far as I can tell.

Plenty thought Beattie was not required and Evans was woeful but agreed happy when he signed.

As Raul said a while ago - why don't we have an open top bus parade where a set of accounts is held aloft as celebration of the fact we have not entered administration?

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

Not true at all. In fact the reason this thread was created is that NO ONE thinks he deserves any credit for anything he's done. Alongside the fact he seems to take most of the blame.

And no one seems to have responded to most of my key points with a valid counter argument:

1. Are you unhappy about our phenomenal academy and its products?
2. Were you complaining when we got promoted to the premier league?
3. We have the largest wage bill in the division, surely that's all the chairman can do?
4. We haven't been in administration when a lot of x-prem teams have gone down that path
5. Is it McCabe's fault the recent players (and by that I mean the last 3 seasons) have underperformed?

1.Yes. it's utterly pointless, cos as soon as we have anybody promising we sell them. its one thing selling players at the peak of their powers, when you get a fortune for them. but we sell them before theyve achieved anything, not many other supposedly vaguely big clubs do that.

2.No of course not, but what use is that now?? its like being happy when you buy a posh new house, only to then get it repossessed when you stop paying the mortgage. you expect fans to be happy about that now? seriously??

3.We also have a crap squad. So you could just as easily say thats another point against mccabe, that weve got the highest wage bill but hardly any decent players.

4.Give it time, kid.

5.It is his fault that he employs managers who dont have a clue.

 

[KenMcnaughtsNuts]

i dont know what his intentions are, but the facts are hes hopeless at running a football club. if he really wants the best for us, he should stay as far away from affairs as possible. assemble a board of actual football people. not just fat cats and yes men. then let them get on with running the club.

you could try to list a thousand things hes done for the club, but really only two things matter. hiring the right managers. and buying/selling the right players. on the correct wages. for the correct fees. and hes made a right shambles of those things. he got carried away when we got promoted, and let warnock piss away all our money, then hired robson. from there weve never really had a chance.

part of me feels sorry for him, he must sometimes wake up and think just where the hell did it go wrong. he must know hes made some almighty clangers. but the only way he can help now, is by getting people in who understand the game and the finances a lot better than he does. then in 5 years he can turn up at the lane with his head held high. and fans will respect him for having the guts to admit his failures. its not a witch hunt, and i get annoyed when people think it is. its just frustration cos were on this constant downward spiral and nothing ever changes for the better, only the worse.

 

[metalblade]

It isn't rocket science, just take a look at the top clubs in the country did any of them get where they are by selling their best talent before they got one season out of them ? Did they get to the top by buying clubs around the world or by building the largest and best stadiums ? Do they get to the top by having the highest ticket prices ? Nope none of that they all hold on to their best players for as long as possible, they keep the best from their academies or buy the best from other academies or clubs, some have been doing it for decades some get a rich investor and get to the top in a few years, all of them though have the team as the number one priority. Get success on the field and the rest will follow, crowds ground expansion bigger crowds bigger sponsors phuckin easy innit ?
It's just that not many can think more than a few years ahead make a plan and have the bollocks to stick to it. McCabe is no different as soon as we got to the premiership all his philosophy of living within our means and steady growth was thrown out of the window he tried to run before he could walk and fell flat on his face. We'd have been better of as a yo-yo club for a few years.

 

[super_pig]

Every club sells players to other clubs. There are very few sides who can either turn down a big enough offer, or who can offer players money they can't get anywhere else. Messi is probably the only player in the world who won't be sold to a bigger or richer club.

yeah but the trick is to then replace them with someone almost as good and then pocket the difference.. thing is that we replace players with players who are nowhere near the level of the player they have replaced and are usually journeymen at the end of their careers on daft contracts who end up costing MORE than the value of the player we sold in the first place

 

[blader]

There are a lot of people asking for responses, and I don't fancy writing a dissertation to reply to them all.

But here's a few general points I've picked up on, which I wish to respond to:

1. I fail to see how McCabe can be blamed fro anything which occurs on the field. He appoints the manager, from then on it's the managers choice who he picks and how they perform. The chairman is simply the money man (with the exception of Chelsea) and the manager will come to KM and ask if we can afford a certain player who he feels will improve the team. If player X ends up being sh*t, no blame can be put on the chairman surely?
2. Selling the youth players. We actually haven't been robbed on many of our products at all. If a premier league club comes in for one of our players with a fair offer (Walker, Naughton, Jagielka, Tonge, Lowton, Slew) who are we to stand in the kids way? I don't buy into this "we don't even get the benefit of their service first". Every aforementioned player has been seen for a MINIMUM of one full season in a blades shirt, except Slew, who I think we can all agree we got a good deal out of!
3. This quote from metal "just take a look at the top clubs in the country did any of them get where they are by selling their best talent before they got one season out of them ?" Well no ofcourse not, but if you're at a top club why would you leave? if you are a real prospect, why would you remain at a League 1 club??
4. "Plenty thought Beattie was not required" - Well they were wrong. We'd have probably gone down that season without his goals!

Realistically, we have a solvent club producing young, exciting talent. Many of which will leave whilst we're in League 1, but the have the facility to produce them is mainly down to him. Several first team member plus at least 5 of our weekly bench consists of our academy products, so to say we don't gain the benefit is quite frankly nonsense! I'm not saying KM is the best chairman in the history of football, but the abuse he receives is somewhat ill-founded and unfair.

UTB

 

[raul]

If he can't be held responsible for on field occurances (see point 1), how can he be lauded for the number of academy players as per conclusion?

The whole academy analogy is a bit like going home to Mrs Blader on the day you've been made redundant but all you want to tell her is about the £20 note you found on the way home.