Manager? Questions need to be asked

[Millhousesblade1889]

Shit thread

Absolutely no input from you what so ever again. If you don’t agree give your reasons why.

It’s easy to be the person that agrees with everything and sees light at the end of the tunnel, if that’s you then I applaud the optimist in you.

But what are you seeing that’s keeping you positive? What are you seeing that’s making you feel we’re making progression? Slav took on this squad, knowing the hand he was dealt with and after a quarter of the season we’re going backwards.

We’re losing week in week out to teams that aren’t anywhere near as good as us. We’re better than Millwall, Birmingham, Huddesfield, Preston, Middlesbrough, Swansea and we’ve achieved 2 points from those games! Most of them were at home too.

‘Shit thread, log off’ etc that’s about as much input I've seen you provide.

 

[Revolution]

Its weird that he keeps selecting the failures and is ignoring Brewster, McBurnie and Mousse.

It's not weird.

Mousset has been injured and has played in every game when fit, save for last night when some individual performances and the sending off made it hard to bring him on.

Brewster is awful.

McBurnie is not as bad as Brewster but it's close.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Think Heckingbottom would have done better with this squad and he is a proven managerial failure.

Huge success at Barnsley.

Nobody succeeded at the mad house that is Leeds for decades until Bielsa came along. Didn’t necessarily make any of them bad managers.

Was doing ok at Hibs in a league he had no prior experience of and many of their fans think he shouldn’t have been sacked.

Excellent job as caretaker for us.

Hardly a “proven managerial failure”.

 

[Revolution]

Huge success at Barnsley.

Nobody succeeded at the mad house that is Leeds for decades until Bielsa came along. Didn’t necessarily make any of them bad managers.

Was doing ok at Hibs in a league he had no prior experience of and many of their fans think he shouldn’t have been sacked.

Excellent job as caretaker for us.

Hardly a “proven managerial failure”.

Excellent job? Wheeling Lundstram out every week? Really?

 

[Nick Jansky]

Excellent job? Wheeling Lundstram out every week? Really?

Yes. Excellent job. Finished a shit show of a season on a reasonably positive note. Could have very easily gone the other way.

 

[Revolution]

Yes. Excellent job. Finished a shit show of a season on a reasonably positive note. Could have very easily gone the other way.

3 wins 8 defeats is David Weir territory.

I will give him credit for playing Jebbison. That's about it.

 

[Jon P]

Shit thread

Brian Badonde is back!!

 

[Rudders]

I wasn't saying Hecky should have got the gig, but I would like to see SJ take more of a risk with trying youth. The experienced pros are letting us down.
SJ has bought Guedioura in and hardly ever selects him. Slater albeit much physically smaller could have done that job. We have to watch Fleck and Norwood give the ball away and no chances for Brunt off the bench. Looking at it last night, Brunt probably offers more than Hourihane..
Lopata has more upside than Davies to me. But again, Jack Robinson gets on the bench regularly instead. The same Jack Robinson who costs us at least one goal a game whenever he plays.
Lowe is doing well at the scabs and offering at least the same output in the division as Enda.
You can go right through the team and question just about every player he is picking except MGW and N'Diaye and probably Egan.

 

[metalblade]

I had heard this guy was all about playing youth yet here we are asking Billy Sharp at 35yr old to play up front on his own twice a week and McGoalmiss at 33yr old gets a game as soon as he is fit. £30m worth of strikers getting numb arses last night and another £30m worth laid on the settee at home watching on TV that is if they have any fucking interest. Of the summer signings only Gibbs White looks decent Olsen looks little better than league one Wes, Davies little better than Robinson. Guedioura cant even make the bench same with Freeman yet we persist with Norwood and Fleck. Hourihane I'd send him back tomorrow his only contribution is he can take a decent corner kick. Yes questions need to be asked not just of the players but the bloke picking and coaching them it is a fucking shambles.

 

[Rochdaleblade]

I think the squad needs a massive overhaul. The problem is that I have been thinking that for a year now. The fact that people are arguing Norwood vs Hourihane or Sharp vs Brewster demonstrates this perfectly. For me there are only 5 or 6 players who are worth keeping and two of those are on loan

 

[west_yorks_blade]

People can piss and moan about Wilder legacy players all they want, but that first half performance suggested a complete lack of motivation and coaching by the current manager and his team as well as lousy tactical planning.

 

[JJBlade]

Any manager can get tactics, formation or starting line up wrong.

It's sometimes not until a game kicks off that you realise you've dropped a bollock, when you see the opponents formation and tactics.

Slav saw it early and changed it.

The problem isn't the manager, it's the same old Sheffield United.

Ask Slav what he was thinking when he arrived here at a relegated Premier League team and he couldn't have imagined that the entire squad would be so lacking in ability and know how.

And if backed as a relegated Premier League club should have been, the likes of Gallagher and Sessignon and Elliott (OK he got injured) and MGW would all be tearing the League up right now.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

I think the squad needs a massive overhaul. The problem is that I have been thinking that for a year now. The fact that people are arguing Norwood vs Hourihane or Sharp vs Brewster demonstrates this perfectly. For me there are only 5 or 6 players who are worth keeping and two of those are on loan

Hindsight that Slav turns around to PA and says release what’s due to be released and I need 5/6 quality signings and I’ll get us up next season. Is he able to do this? Absolutely not from what we see and hear.

We have so much deadwood, players like Norwood who is so out of form but still our best option sums how weak we are.

 

[stringer]

SJ has a huge problem motivating these players. Defending our own box has been abysmal and yet game after game after game, closing down on the edge of our own box is not done. F@#king well shout at them/motivate fleck, Egan, Davies and Norwood etc to actually get stuck in! Bodies on the line please. If they don't want to or can't - then get Guidoura, Slater and Brunt in who might want to. He won't though and we will just carry on conceding the same type of goal in every game.
Painful.

Did you miss Fleck diving to block Cooper’s shot then?

 

[metalblade]

Did you miss Fleck diving to block Cooper’s shot then?

About 2 seconds too late

 

[Guesty]

He’s not going to stick around witnessing failure. The squad has a couple of big names in it Berge, Egan, Brewster (name not quality), Mousset (should be too good for this league). Made up with a lot of average players.

We don’t have any money, Prince isn’t rich enough to back us on a promotion charge. We’re going to have 4/5 first team & squad players leave this summer.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and the worst could be years again.

I don't get all this "he needs three transfer windows" stuff. I daresay get does, but we're going to get weaker, not stronger in each window. The squad as is isn't sustainable and we simply don't have the money to recruit, that's why we were after Serie B mediocrities in the Summer (and the recruitment team spectacularly ballsed even that up).

 

[Davalon]

If there are people out there who genuinely believe the manager needs changing, then I have no issue in politely saying fuck off.

I'm already seeing enough of the up and at 'em brigade with no patience or bottle to see the team evolve.

It's embarrassing listening to fans shit themselves when we try to keep possession or play out from the back.

Mid October and mid table. Missed sitters have already cost us a number of points this season.

Win last night and we're one result off the play offs.

Get a grip.

 

[metalblade]

A team playing 36yr olds every week is not evolving it is damage limitation. These younger players on the books should be taking a good long look at themselves and asking why they are on the bench or sat at home on matchdays.

 

[Guesty]

If there are people out there who genuinely believe the manager needs changing, then I have no issue in politely saying fuck off.

I'm already seeing enough of the up and at 'em brigade with no patience or bottle to see the team evolve.

It's embarrassing listening to fans shit themselves when we try to keep possession or play out from the back.

Mid October and mid table. Missed sitters have already cost us a number of points this season.

Win last night and we're one result off the play offs.

Get a grip.

I agree about the calls for the manager's head being ludicrous and particularly the stuff about building from the back, but the last point is a little off - "If things had gone better, they'd be better", in essence. The reason we didn't win, largely, is because players like Hourihane and McGoldrick can't hack it and yet are part of the team.

 

[Snowflake]

The team plays without heart at the moment. Doesn't seem much pride in the shirt or desire to put bodies on the line to defend.
He is an uninspiring technical coach. We get dominated by wank championship refs and shithousing away coaching teams. Yet nothing changes. Game in game out same players play in the same way.
Home form is poor and we are a soft touch. Always grabbing a defeat from a draw etc.
Not really my type of blades team.
I can see where we are trying to go but we don't have the players to do that currently. Its a long way off.
Think Heckingbottom would have done better with this squad and he is a proven managerial failure.

The stark truth is that (ignoring the loanees) we have very few players who are Premiership standard. Unlike three years ago there is no incentive for most of the squad to really push on.
I am not suggesting that they don’t try, but that the inner drive to be better has gone.
I thought we would need two windows to put things right but it will take more and promotion in 2023/24 should now be the aim if we are to survive in the league above.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

I don't get all this "he needs three transfer windows" stuff. I daresay get does, but we're going to get weaker, not stronger in each window. The squad as is isn't sustainable and we simply don't have the money to recruit, that's why we were after Serie B mediocrities in the Summer (and the recruitment team spectacularly ballsed even that up).

I have so many concerns about the ownership & the recruitment team. Possibly more than what we’re witnessing on the pitch.

Listen to PA interview onSheffield United way, he says that the board felt comfortable with the squad if we’d not managed to sign any players. He makes reference to huge budget issues, £40/50m!, hes mortgaged his bloody house and he’s looking for investment from elsewhere to help fund the club.

We will be relying on loans & free transfers all over again in the summer with a much weak budget.

 

[MJM]

In the last couple of games, he's noticed when things haven't worked and changed them accordingly - something that Fulham fans said he wasn't very good at doing.

Even with 10 men for the majority of last night, I still felt that we could've gone on to win it or at the very least get something. If Saville gets a second yellow for that stupid foul on Ndiaye, it's a level playing field again.

Masters of our own downfall in the defensive third yet again, but another game in which the officials had a negative impact on the result.

 

[Snowflake]

Absolutely no input from you what so ever again. If you don’t agree give your reasons why.

It’s easy to be the person that agrees with everything and sees light at the end of the tunnel, if that’s you then I applaud the optimist in you.

But what are you seeing that’s keeping you positive? What are you seeing that’s making you feel we’re making progression? Slav took on this squad, knowing the hand he was dealt with and after a quarter of the season we’re going backwards.

We’re losing week in week out to teams that aren’t anywhere near as good as us. We’re better than Millwall, Birmingham, Huddesfield, Preston, Middlesbrough, Swansea and we’ve achieved 2 points from those games! Most of them were at home too.

‘Shit thread, log off’ etc that’s about as much input I've seen you provide.

Why do you think that we are better than those teams that you mention ? There is nothing to suggest that we are at present.
We may have individual players who should be better than their opponents but as a team we are not showing any reason to make me think we are anything more than mid table.

 

[bartman]

The squad is mainly still Wilders. It is not technically good enough to play the way the manager wants and not athletic enough. The legacy of Wilder's poor signings will restrict us for the next two windows. Messrs Brewster,McBurnie,Burke,Berge.Mousett,Robinson,Freeman and Lowe have been expensive mistakes and it will probably need two windows to resolve. On top of that, Fleck,Egan, Sharp,McGoldrick,Basham, Stevens and Norwood need to be moved on within the same period. I hope i am wrong but i can't see JOC coming back as the player he was, if at all.
The manager has been left with a shit show from last season. It needs time and patience to complete the overhaul that is required.

 

[Revolution]

I have so many concerns about the ownership & the recruitment team. Possibly more than what we’re witnessing on the pitch.

Listen to PA interview onSheffield United way, he says that the board felt comfortable with the squad if we’d not managed to sign any players. He makes reference to huge budget issues, £40/50m!, hes mortgaged his bloody house and he’s looking for investment from elsewhere to help fund the club.

We will be relying on loans & free transfers all over again in the summer with a much weak budget.

As I have said before (and I am not the only one) the ability of the players we had at our disposal at the start of the season was massively overestimated by the club (and a lot of supporters and the media).

 

[Bladesman]

There comes a point, soon, where questions need to be asked. Approach in first half was poor. No tempo. No pace. No urgency. No aggression.

its not happening

More tempo when N’Diaye came on.

Not sure he should have started Didsy to be honest.

 

[Rudders]

The squad is mainly still Wilders. It is not technically good enough to play the way the manager wants and not athletic enough. The legacy of Wilder's poor signings will restrict us for the next two windows. Messrs Brewster,McBurnie,Burke,Berge.Mousett,Robinson,Freeman and Lowe have been expensive mistakes and it will probably need two windows to resolve. On top of that, Fleck,Egan, Sharp,McGoldrick,Basham, Stevens and Norwood need to be moved on within the same period. I hope i am wrong but i can't see JOC coming back as the player he was, if at all.
The manager has been left with a shit show from last season. It needs time and patience to complete the overhaul that is required.

I am not sure SJ (or the existing Sheff Utd scouting and transfer team) should be trusted with the overhaul. Olsen, Hourihane and Guedioura and to a lesser extent Davies are pretty poor signings. At least they are not permanent. Only MGW is a decent hit from the last window. 1.5 out of 5 signings is a crap hit rate TBH even shopping in the loan market. Our recruitment needs to get so much better.

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

Why do you think that we are better than those teams that you mention ? There is nothing to suggest that we are at present.
We may have individual players who should be better than their opponents but as a team we are not showing any reason to make me think we are anything more than mid table.

Based on squad budget, wages and comparison of players. I by no means think we have a great championship team, but I also don’t think we’re too bad on paper.

As you said good individual players, is this Slavs fault why it’s not working? We’re all looking for answers but the inconsistency of what we’re witnessing makes be feel like we’re in a relegation scrap rather than any hope of playoffs

 

[Millhousesblade1889]

It's not weird.

Mousset has been injured and has played in every game when fit, save for last night when some individual performances and the sending off made it hard to bring him on.

Brewster is awful.

McBurnie is not as bad as Brewster but it's close.

I agree with all of what you’ve said, however Sharp should have been rested last night. The more we completely avoid looking at McBurnie the more unfit he will be should he be given an opportunity.

He had a very good season for Swansea playing this system, he did fairly well in our first season in the Prem I’d really give him an opportunity. He can’t contribute any less than Sharp did last night penalty aside or miss any clearer chances than McGoldrick did

 

[blade too long]

one question that can be asked is could any manager have done better with a thoroughly deflated confidence void squad
hes now aware of what they are capable of and I expect January to be a very busy month of ins and outs

We are in rebuild mode switching from Wilder ball and the fluid system to more conventionl tactics amd a few just dont fit