Man Up

[bricktop]

Just been reading through a few selected threads on here, and at the moment all it seems to be doom, gloom and loads of bitching and sniping at each others.

At the moment we have lost all the Premiership Parachute money and McCabe's fortune has taken a big hit in the global recession over the last 2 or 3 year, as a result as a club Sheffield United are not in a position to maintain one of the highest wage bills in this division, are not in a position throw million upon millions of pounds around in the transfer windows. With the budget the club now have, it is more sensible for us to budget in accordance with the money that we have got available rather than spending it all willy nilly on the never never in the vain hope that we might get back to the Premiership.

Take a look at what Neil Warnock did at various points during his last couple of years at the club, play United and Pompey off against each other in order to get himself a bigger contract, this was done at a crucial point in a promotion season where had began to wobble a bit. He was given money to spend and wasted it on luminaries such as Geoff Horsfield, Ade Akinbiyi, Luton Shelton, Ahmed Fathi to name four. He followed this up by actually admitting in his book that he felt let down during the week before the relegation showdown with Wigan, and that probably had a big implication on our survival chances and is a huge reason why we didn't stay up.

Step forward the clueless twosome of Terry Robinson and Bryan Robson, with one of the biggest wagebills available in the history of the club and a handsome warchest and a mandate for promotion, we appoint Robson, a manager with a chequered history, a penchant for getting pissed who with the exceptions of Naysmith, and Beattie completely and utterly blew it. Lee Hendrie, David Carney took home huge salaries for exactly what?

We had the chance to cement a place in the premiership and i think that we completely and utterly blew it and what are we left with..........

A football club that is on a bit of a decline and bottoming out, but i have seen us decline and drop back a good 5 or 6 times during my time supporting United, but then i have seen us bottom out and then make progress yet again and push forwards again in the future.

It's doesn't do anyone any good, to spend hour upon hour slagging anyone and everyone off, having pointless little bunfights about differences of opinions. Things aren't great at the moment but i can't see for a single second how things can be improved by people constantly bitching and sniping about everything and anything about the club. I think there are quite a few people who seriously need to step back, and look at the club from the perspective of the shape we are in with a bit of realism and common sense and accept that we are not in a position to spend wildly and to man up, because as soon as the slump bottoms out then we will get moving again and at some point we will make some real progress, it might not happen today or tomorrow, but there is a good time coming, we just all need to man up a bit, be patient and it will happen......

 

[gavtheblade]

Im all for calm and serenity,but its whats happened to this club in 4 years thats worrying.decline,decline,decline,decline.It seems hard to seek a way out at this moment in time,we just seem to be going in reverse.good players just pissing off all the time,its hard to stomach sometimes pal,bringing back the good times.Im all for it.BUT WHEN.utb

 

[diplomat]

I agree that a bit of a reality check is needed. I can't think of fans of anyone in the Championship (apart from maybe QPR - but they signed Leon Clarke) sitting there thinking that they can sign anyone they want to. This league is going to be the tightest ever in my opinion. That will make it competitive and exciting. I'm looking forward to it. See who goes to Malta and then I might listen to the moaners a bit more.

I get the impression that some people are of the mind that they (for e.g.) moan when we sign Beattie, moan while he's here saying he's lazy, then moan when we sell him and that it robbed us of promotion.

We've seen worse, been skinter and had worse prospects.

 

[Linz]

Thanks for that brownie and I'll echo what I said elsewhere about bitching, sniping and general obnoxiousness towards each other. There really is no need to get nasty when there's a difference of opinion and the fact that Foxy and I will be going away in less than two weeks means we're on the lookout for it more than we normally would be in order to nip things in the bud.

So please, whether you be bloody miserable, joyously upbeat or somewhere in between, please have a little respect for your fellow posters and treat them with a little common decency.

 

[Kev Gee]

Common sense? Sheffield United? NEVER!!!

Well said mate!

 

[Oreyt]

I get the impression that some people are of the mind that they (for e.g.) moan when we sign Beattie, moan while he's here saying he's lazy, then moan when we sell him and that it robbed us of promotion.

Excellent example. For a sizable minority of people moaning about everything is something that is hardwired into their brains. Nothing gives them more pleasure than decrying the current state of affairs as 'the worst ever'.

Be thankful though. We only have to rub digital shoulders on an internet forum. Imagine being stuck next to them at work. Or being married to them

 

[cooperblade]

Cracking post Brownie

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

Be thankful though. We only have to rub digital shoulders on an internet forum. Imagine being stuck next to them at work. Or being married to them

Or sit next to them at the Lane...

 

[Bramley]

Agree with all of that. Nice one Brownie.

 

[parisblade]

Some of the most sensible stuff I've read on a forum Brownie. Thank you.

 

[lenners]

No mention of the £20m brucie bonus there Brownie.
Funny how it almost doesn't exist anymore.
A Championship football club given £20m and yet we have posters falling over themselves not to question what the bloody hell has gone on at Bramall Lane.
£20m and we can't afford to keep either Kenny or Naysmith or a host of other players, never mind buy any.
I doubt the questions will be stopping any time soon.

 

[derrywan]

No mention of the £20m brucie bonus there Brownie.
Funny how it almost doesn't exist anymore.
A Championship football club given £20m and yet we have posters falling over themselves not to question what the bloody hell has gone on at Bramall Lane.
£20m and we can't afford to keep either Kenny or Naysmith or a host of other players, never mind buy any.
I doubt the questions will be stopping any time soon.

YES!

And soon we shall all be dead and our rotting corpses decaying while maggots of despair feed and become the bluebottles of despond and how can I be anything other than misanthropic on the face of the absurd loneliness of existence? McCabe out! KB out! God is dead! God is dead!

 

[lenners]

YES!

And soon we shall all be dead and our rotting corpses decaying while maggots of despair feed and become the bluebottles of despond and how can I be anything other than misanthropic on the face of the absurd loneliness of existence? McCabe out! KB out! God is dead! God is dead!

Like I said, no mention of the £20m.
If we were looking at any other Championship club which we knew had got a £20m bonus but was selling players left, right and centre and unable to acquire any, I think we'd be asking ourselves what the hell is going off there.
I don't think any of us would be thinking what a well run club they are and how well the chairman had done to see the recession coming etc, etc.

 

[CG Blade]

Excellent post Brownie, I have seen enough ups and down in my time at the Lane, to make this one pale into insignificance. Whilst I am far from happy at the plight we are in, fighting amongst ourselves is not the answer. Yes there has been mis mangement, yes we reached the promised land off the premiership, and had it snatched away from us, whether it was all our own fault, or with the help of outside influences will be debated for ever more. However remenber it was not that many years ago that we were in the old fourth division, we are a million miles away from that position. No matter how much I moan, and like everyone I have views on the situation and views on different players, it really is not going to solve anything. The only answer is to stay away, I am not at present prepared to do that, as it harms the team I support. I want to be watching this football club play in 10 years time, and more than likely Macbe will be gone, and we might have a chairman that is worse, or he/she could be far better. Certainly Blackwell will be gone, but who knows the manager then could be far better/far worse. It is the ups and downs of watching the team that you love. I wish I was good enough to play for them I was not, I wish I could manage them, and buy my own players, but more than likely I would get them reegated, so we have to leave it to the people who pull the purse strings. I will crticise at times, some times more than others, but I just get the sense now that as fans of our club, we should pull together and support the team, support the club, and help them get to where we want to see them in the premier as a team that might one day break the top six...... How I want to see that before my time is up, I have waited 50 years for a piece of glory, I just feel that we need to back whoever is in charge, like him or loathe him, and that might just rub off on what happens on the pitch.

 

[LouTheBlade]

Thanks for that brownie and I'll echo what I said elsewhere about bitching, sniping and general obnoxiousness towards each other. There really is no need to get nasty when there's a difference of opinion and the fact that Foxy and I will be going away in less than two weeks means we're on the lookout for it more than we normally would be in order to nip things in the bud.

So please, whether you be bloody miserable, joyously upbeat or somewhere in between, please have a little respect for your fellow posters and treat them with a little common decency.

How well put. Certain posters on here seem to lack the manners and decency that some of us were born with. Having said that, most interact very well.

On the subject of calmness and patience waiting for the next good times to come at the lane; stuff that. We have this 10 year cycle where we go through a stage of struggle, then mediocrity, then diluted success. It spins round in a constant cycle, around and around in a tedious fashion. Usually the better end or top of the cycle isnt that great anyway and results in a false dawn. I am by no means a misery (possibly a pessimist) but as dower as it may be, thats the truth. I struggle to get excited anymore.

Here's to another decade in the wilderness of the second tier :beer:

 

[Linz]

How well put. Certain posters on here seem to lack the manners and decency that some of us were born with. Having said that, most interact very well.

And on that point, we don't sit and monitor the forum 24/7 but we do note and, if appropriate, take action if posts are reported. It might not be that someone is breaking the "personal abuse" rule or whatever, but perhaps they aren't subscribing to the ethos we hope to cultivate around here... we'll have a little chat via PM and just remind them of how it goes.

We don't want to treat you like babies. But if you can't play nicely, we will take your toys away for the benefit of the rest who can have a reasonable discussion without getting bolshy.

 

[secretchief]

'Cowboy up' is the correct idiom.

 

[Grecian2000]

Just one question.

How will every thread ending up being just one post and a load of "thanks, I agree" help the club one iota on the pitch?

Forums are about debate, having fun (at others peoples expense usually!), and letting off steam. If you don't like it, don't read it or have some counter argument to hand.

Man up, my arse!

 

[Linz]

How will every thread ending up being just one post and a load of "thanks, I agree" help the club one iota on the pitch?

Can I just ask how any thread on here has any direct influence over what happens on the pitch?

 

[JohnDenver]

Man up, my arse!

You wanna get that sorted, chap!

 

[Grecian2000]

Four minutes? It took four minutes for an absolute tap in like that.

Good effort though.

 

[Micalijo]

Just been reading through a few selected threads on here, and at the moment all it seems to be doom, gloom and loads of bitching and sniping at each others.

At the moment we have lost all the Premiership Parachute money and McCabe's fortune has taken a big hit in the global recession over the last 2 or 3 year, as a result as a club Sheffield United are not in a position to maintain one of the highest wage bills in this division, are not in a position throw million upon millions of pounds around in the transfer windows. With the budget the club now have, it is more sensible for us to budget in accordance with the money that we have got available rather than spending it all willy nilly on the never never in the vain hope that we might get back to the Premiership.

Take a look at what Neil Warnock did at various points during his last couple of years at the club, play United and Pompey off against each other in order to get himself a bigger contract, this was done at a crucial point in a promotion season where had began to wobble a bit. He was given money to spend and wasted it on luminaries such as Geoff Horsfield, Ade Akinbiyi, Luton Shelton, Ahmed Fathi to name four. He followed this up by actually admitting in his book that he felt let down during the week before the relegation showdown with Wigan, and that probably had a big implication on our survival chances and is a huge reason why we didn't stay up.

Step forward the clueless twosome of Terry Robinson and Bryan Robson, with one of the biggest wagebills available in the history of the club and a handsome warchest and a mandate for promotion, we appoint Robson, a manager with a chequered history, a penchant for getting pissed who with the exceptions of Naysmith, and Beattie completely and utterly blew it. Lee Hendrie, David Carney took home huge salaries for exactly what?

We had the chance to cement a place in the premiership and i think that we completely and utterly blew it and what are we left with..........

A football club that is on a bit of a decline and bottoming out, but i have seen us decline and drop back a good 5 or 6 times during my time supporting United, but then i have seen us bottom out and then make progress yet again and push forwards again in the future.

It's doesn't do anyone any good, to spend hour upon hour slagging anyone and everyone off, having pointless little bunfights about differences of opinions. Things aren't great at the moment but i can't see for a single second how things can be improved by people constantly bitching and sniping about everything and anything about the club. I think there are quite a few people who seriously need to step back, and look at the club from the perspective of the shape we are in with a bit of realism and common sense and accept that we are not in a position to spend wildly and to man up, because as soon as the slump bottoms out then we will get moving again and at some point we will make some real progress, it might not happen today or tomorrow, but there is a good time coming, we just all need to man up a bit, be patient and it will happen......

So after all that you are basically saying that we need the commercial property market to pick up before we can hope for a bit of decent football at BDTBL. Brilliant - I can hardly wait. What about Tevez money? And Akinbiyi is a Blade legend in my opinion - very surprised a loyalist like you would say such a thing about him.

Having said that, it is perfectly possible for a CCC club to be run on 20k crowds with no real fiscal input from chairman and for that club to produce decent football from a well balanced squad. Unfortunately we have McCabe withdrawing money via loan repayments (fair enough - up to him) and a pathetic manager making it impossible to steady the ship.

 

[Revolution]

Things aren't great at the moment but i can't see for a single second how things can be improved by people constantly bitching and sniping about everything and anything about the club.

Do you regard taking your shoes off in the carpark as similarly pointless or does this only apply to message boards?

 

[Oreyt]

'Cowboy up' is the correct idiom.

Like in Brokeback Mountain?

 

[derrywan]

I'm not sure anyone's having their right to criticise the club or it's players/ management/ directors etc knocked, nor having well reasoned and honestly held views knocked. I think what is happening is that a large number of people on here have got tired of what is motivating certain criticisms.

This board used to be a place where "Play the ball, not the man" was observed, and a range of views and criticisms of the club and team were always in evidence, but always respected. And I think that's because it was understood that those views originated from people caring deeply about the club as much as each other. With those on the board who constantly drip poison no matter what the club or team does (and they are a minority, but a vocal and identifiable one) it seems more like you genuinely hate the club and everything about it. It's like being corned in the pub by someone you only know in passing who is trapped in a loveless marriage, hates their wife and won't shut up about it. And I think you hate yourselves and other people for being tied to something you fell out of love with a long time ago.

I feel disappointed for you, but I'm bored by you and your bitterness. It's why I grew to hate BU, and it's why I'm coming to dislike this place. A number of interesting and well informed posters have vanished from this board in the last year or so. When I say "vanished" I mean "felt displaced" or gave up - displaced by unyielding dead-eyed soulless poison. I'm sick of it - and if it wasn't for the friendship of some of the good people I've met through this board I'd have done one months ago.

 

[lenners]

Derrywan,
It's a football forum, perhaps you're taking it a bit too seriously. You're free to be bored, disappointed, anything you like but I think perhaps you're confusing that with an inability to accept other people just see things differently and will consistently point out the inconsistencies and nonsense dripping out of the club.

 

[JohnDenver]

Four minutes? It took four minutes for an absolute tap in like that.

Good effort though.

Tap in? Tap in? That was Mike 'Zico' Lake that was!

 

[Foxy]

Derrywan,
It's a football forum, perhaps you're taking it a bit too seriously. You're free to be bored, disappointed, anything you like but I think perhaps you're confusing that with an inability to accept other people just see things differently and will consistently point out the inconsistencies and nonsense dripping out of the club.

It's a football forum with a fast eroding sense of community Lenners. People feel part of it for a number of reasons, whether they've made friends here, see it as a connection to the club or just enjoy using the place. Some have also contributed towards it's continued running/future with donations. These reasons and many others make it more than just a football forum to some.

Believe it or not it isn't just a place to slag others off, proclaim they are stupid or blatantly wind them up.

It isn't anything to do with an inability to accept that others have different views, people have always had different views and continue to do so... It's to do with the biting, slagging and personal crusades that are creeping in.

 

[derrywan]

Derrywan,
It's a football forum, perhaps you're taking it a bit too seriously. You're free to be bored, disappointed, anything you like but I think perhaps you're confusing that with an inability to accept other people just see things differently and will consistently point out the inconsistencies and nonsense dripping out of the club.

play the ball not the man and no one has a problem

 

[Bayingblade]

No mention of the £20m brucie bonus there Brownie.
Funny how it almost doesn't exist anymore.
A Championship football club given £20m and yet we have posters falling over themselves not to question what the bloody hell has gone on at Bramall Lane.
£20m and we can't afford to keep either Kenny or Naysmith or a host of other players, never mind buy any.
I doubt the questions will be stopping any time soon.

Len, you went to the AGM yet chose not to ask any of your pertinent questions, you chose to air your disappointment on here. You continue to ask questions of the club on here, for example, what's happened/happening to the Tevez money.

There are many instances of people writing to the club and getting a response, even from the likes of Kevin McCabe himself. This course of action is open to you so instead of endlessly speculating and asking people who don't know the answer on here, why don't you contact the club directly, even Kevin McCabe and ask your questions? You may get the answers.

It's not rocket science.