Mediocre Championship team status & How things have changed?

[The_Green_Man]

It's weird how we all long so badly for it really isn't it? But the truth of the matter is we are very much a Mediocre Championship team or at least we have been for the majority of a couple of decades barring the odd flirt with success.

The truth of the matter is that when we get out of this League that we are all desperate to get out of, our destiny is that we will again become a "Mediocre Championship Team", a team that will probably do very little for several seasons before having another flirt with success, probably failing at doing so and then the circle starts again.

We hate this league so much that we would be happy with this mundane scenario because we know where we belong and it definitely isn't in this league. When we do get back up there however would it be some sort of come down? I mean in this league we are seen as a force to be reckoned with? We are expected to perform well and achieve something where as when we get promoted and things possibly level out, well we will just been seen as a mid table team with no real agenda again and as fans we will again be parting with our cash merely hoping to see us win games with no real expectancies for the season. After several seasons away I think it might be a bit of a come down for us at first BUT we will soon settle in because that is where we belong!

And then finally we have to look at that league and how it has developed in our absence. I don't know whether it is simply due to the fact that whilst being in this division we have signed some bargain basement players however the quality in the league above does look quite well at the minute. Will it have changed that much in our absence? The truth be said, when we get back up there we will have to work to cement ourselves back in that league. How equipped are we at present to deal with this who knows?

Isn't it incredibly weird how a few seasons can change your whole outlook as a football fan?

 

[Barney]

Everything is in place for us to become a solid mid-table Premier League club.

It's just a shame for a variety of reasons that it hasn't worked out yet.

 

[Yewsman]

Probably a realistic outlook but look what can be achieved with a good manager and a well run club and without having the financial support that we can hopefully rely on from the Prince. A few examples. Southampton and Norwich both went straight from League 1 and got promoted to the Premier League the next season. Look at some of the clubs who have got to the Premier League over the years: Charlton, Burnley, Wigan, Bournemouth, Swansea, Watford, Reading, Hull and QPR. None of these clubs have our support or facilities and some managed to survive in the Premier League for many seasons usually because they had a good manager. A number of the clubs currently in the Premier are no "bigger" than us e.g. Leicester, Stoke, WBA, Palace. So there is no reason why we can't emulate those clubs. Let's be optimistic! Of course I had forgotten that we need to get out of League 1 first!

 

[Dec]

If the expectation isn't there then that just makes any success we do manage to get even more sweeter (think the FA Cup run).

 

[Keef Chedwyn]

It will be fun. It's wank being a mediocre League One team.

 

[Finnieston]

It's weird how we all long so badly for it really isn't it? But the truth of the matter is we are very much a Mediocre Championship team or at least we have been for the majority of a couple of decades barring the odd flirt with success.

The truth of the matter is that when we get out of this League that we are all desperate to get out of, our destiny is that we will again become a "Mediocre Championship Team", a team that will probably do very little for several seasons before having another flirt with success, probably failing at doing so and then the circle starts again.

We hate this league so much that we would be happy with this mundane scenario because we know where we belong and it definitely isn't in this league. When we do get back up there however would it be some sort of come down? I mean in this league we are seen as a force to be reckoned with? We are expected to perform well and achieve something where as when we get promoted and things possibly level out, well we will just been seen as a mid table team with no real agenda again and as fans we will again be parting with our cash merely hoping to see us win games with no real expectancies for the season. After several seasons away I think it might be a bit of a come down for us at first BUT we will soon settle in because that is where we belong!

And then finally we have to look at that league and how it has developed in our absence. I don't know whether it is simply due to the fact that whilst being in this division we have signed some bargain basement players however the quality in the league above does look quite well at the minute. Will it have changed that much in our absence? The truth be said, when we get back up there we will have to work to cement ourselves back in that league. How equipped are we at present to deal with this who knows?

Isn't it incredibly weird how a few seasons can change your whole outlook as a football fan?

Great Post........Hope we can afford it if we do go up, because it wont be easy. I am really looking forward to this season under Adkins...Potentially the best manager for us in years.....Keep pinching myself

 

[Esablade]

Bournemouth?

 

[Tyler Durden]

There's nothing good about being a lower half Premiership team. You get fleeced to fuck with ticket prices, the atmosphere has been stifled to death and the only achievement is not getting relegated.

Maybe you'll get the odd foray into European football like Stoke or Swansea have but that doesn't last long.

At this stage I'll die a very happy man if we win a cup.

 

[Blade82]

There's nothing good about being a lower half Premiership team. You get fleeced to fuck with ticket prices, the atmosphere has been stifled to death and the only achievement is not getting relegated.

Maybe you'll get the odd foray into European football like Stoke or Swansea have but that doesn't last long.

At this stage I'll die a very happy man if we win a cup.

JPT

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

It's weird how we all long so badly for it really isn't it? But the truth of the matter is we are very much a Mediocre Championship team or at least we have been for the majority of a couple of decades barring the odd flirt with success.

The truth of the matter is that when we get out of this League that we are all desperate to get out of, our destiny is that we will again become a "Mediocre Championship Team", a team that will probably do very little for several seasons before having another flirt with success, probably failing at doing so and then the circle starts again.

We hate this league so much that we would be happy with this mundane scenario because we know where we belong and it definitely isn't in this league. When we do get back up there however would it be some sort of come down? I mean in this league we are seen as a force to be reckoned with? We are expected to perform well and achieve something where as when we get promoted and things possibly level out, well we will just been seen as a mid table team with no real agenda again and as fans we will again be parting with our cash merely hoping to see us win games with no real expectancies for the season. After several seasons away I think it might be a bit of a come down for us at first BUT we will soon settle in because that is where we belong!

And then finally we have to look at that league and how it has developed in our absence. I don't know whether it is simply due to the fact that whilst being in this division we have signed some bargain basement players however the quality in the league above does look quite well at the minute. Will it have changed that much in our absence? The truth be said, when we get back up there we will have to work to cement ourselves back in that league. How equipped are we at present to deal with this who knows?

Isn't it incredibly weird how a few seasons can change your whole outlook as a football fan?

Interesting post. My immediate thought was that when we were in the 2nd division (sticking with original names for simplicity) it didn't feel to me as if we were a 'mediocre' team in that division - it always felt as if we were one of the 'big boys' - bigger crowds than most, normally one of the team expected to challenge for promotion and, in my memory at least, usually "there or there abouts". So I decided to check whether that was my imagination or whether it was reflected in our league positions.

I've been watching United since 1986, so the vast majority of the football I've watched has been in the 2nd division. Since then, our 2nd division finishes have been:

7, 9, 21, 2, 8, 9, 5, 6, 8, 16, 10, 13, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 23.

So out of 25 division 2 seasons since 1986, we've finished in the top 10 in all but 4 seasons.

This supports my sense that in recent history, we couldn't really be described as a 'mediocre' division 2 side. We were almost always one of the better teams in the division.

It does also demonstrate, though, our tendency to fail at the final hurdle. To have 21 top 10 finishes out of those 25 seasons, and come out with 2 promotions and 2 relegations is bizarre. On 50% of the occasions that we've finished outside the top 10, we've been relegated!

 

[The_Green_Man]

Interesting post. My immediate thought was that when we were in the 2nd division (sticking with original names for simplicity) it didn't feel to me as if we were a 'mediocre' team in that division - it always felt as if we were one of the 'big boys' - bigger crowds than most, normally one of the team expected to challenge for promotion and, in my memory at least, usually "there or there abouts". So I decided to check whether that was my imagination or whether it was reflected in our league positions.

I've been watching United since 1986, so the vast majority of the football I've watched has been in the 2nd division. Since then, our 2nd division finishes have been:

7, 9, 21, 2, 8, 9, 5, 6, 8, 16, 10, 13, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 23.

So out of 25 division 2 seasons since 1986, we've finished in the top 10 in all but 4 seasons.

This supports my sense that in recent history, we couldn't really be described as a 'mediocre' division 2 side. We were almost always one of the better teams in the division.

It does also demonstrate, though, our tendency to fail at the final hurdle. To have 21 top 10 finishes out of those 25 seasons, and come out with 2 promotions and 2 relegations is bizarre. On 50% of the occasions that we've finished outside the top 10, we've been relegated!

That's the thing though Workington mate. Whilst we are an adequate team in that league, 10 ten finishes only make us better than average but never the less I feel that we could still be described at Mediocre otherwise we would have achieved a great deal more in that league.

 

[PTBlade]

It's the old question...
Big fish in a small pond.
Or
Small (mediocre ) fish in a big pond.
I feel a poll coming on...

 

[Bladesman]

The Championship has got better quality players than it used to have but when they get too good they still get plucked by the Premier League. I still think we can kick on if we get promoted.

 

[Ashtonsmashton]

I love the championship

 

[grafikhaus]

It's weird how we all long so badly for it really isn't it? But the truth of the matter is we are very much a Mediocre Championship team or at least we have been for the majority of a couple of decades barring the odd flirt with success.

The truth of the matter is that when we get out of this League that we are all desperate to get out of, our destiny is that we will again become a "Mediocre Championship Team", a team that will probably do very little for several seasons before having another flirt with success, probably failing at doing so and then the circle starts again.

We hate this league so much that we would be happy with this mundane scenario because we know where we belong and it definitely isn't in this league. When we do get back up there however would it be some sort of come down? I mean in this league we are seen as a force to be reckoned with? We are expected to perform well and achieve something where as when we get promoted and things possibly level out, well we will just been seen as a mid table team with no real agenda again and as fans we will again be parting with our cash merely hoping to see us win games with no real expectancies for the season. After several seasons away I think it might be a bit of a come down for us at first BUT we will soon settle in because that is where we belong!

And then finally we have to look at that league and how it has developed in our absence. I don't know whether it is simply due to the fact that whilst being in this division we have signed some bargain basement players however the quality in the league above does look quite well at the minute. Will it have changed that much in our absence? The truth be said, when we get back up there we will have to work to cement ourselves back in that league. How equipped are we at present to deal with this who knows?

Isn't it incredibly weird how a few seasons can change your whole outlook as a football fan?

Interesting stuff. We'd all love to be in the Championship but that would bring its own problems when we're up against the enormous wealth that's filtering down into the Championship and that's a problem for the future. Rotherham have managed to cling on for a couple of seasons but they'll probably go this season. Wendy are just stagnating despite the temporary excitement their delusional fans are gobbing off about. We're not quite ready for the step up, but not far off.

When I look at this video

​

(Charlton 6th round), it's not all been bad. That was my favourite game in many a year, but it wasn't a one-off. We've had Spurs, Southampton, Forest, Hull, Fulham etc. Wendy haven't had one day like that in ten years. At the moment, we're stuck in a little terraced house, eyeing up that detached but a bit fearful about the future...

There's nothing good about being a lower half Premiership team. You get fleeced to fuck with ticket prices, the atmosphere has been stifled to death and the only achievement is not getting relegated.

Totally agree. Teams like West Brom spend millions on players but still get swept aside by the big boys. Or, as Bournemouth found at Liverpool last week, you'll just get cheated. It's fun while it lasts(?), but there's a fucking big hangover when it's over. Just ask Hull.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

It's weird how we all long so badly for it really isn't it? But the truth of the matter is we are very much a Mediocre Championship team or at least we have been for the majority of a couple of decades barring the odd flirt with success.

The truth of the matter is that when we get out of this League that we are all desperate to get out of, our destiny is that we will again become a "Mediocre Championship Team", a team that will probably do very little for several seasons before having another flirt with success, probably failing at doing so and then the circle starts again.

We hate this league so much that we would be happy with this mundane scenario because we know where we belong and it definitely isn't in this league. When we do get back up there however would it be some sort of come down? I mean in this league we are seen as a force to be reckoned with? We are expected to perform well and achieve something where as when we get promoted and things possibly level out, well we will just been seen as a mid table team with no real agenda again and as fans we will again be parting with our cash merely hoping to see us win games with no real expectancies for the season. After several seasons away I think it might be a bit of a come down for us at first BUT we will soon settle in because that is where we belong!

And then finally we have to look at that league and how it has developed in our absence. I don't know whether it is simply due to the fact that whilst being in this division we have signed some bargain basement players however the quality in the league above does look quite well at the minute. Will it have changed that much in our absence? The truth be said, when we get back up there we will have to work to cement ourselves back in that league. How equipped are we at present to deal with this who knows?

Isn't it incredibly weird how a few seasons can change your whole outlook as a football fan?

And I thought it was meant to be the board that lacked ambition.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

Before we dropped on this league we weren't seen as a "mediocre Championship club" and I don't think we ever have been. When we've been in the Championship I think we were always seen as one of the top clubs in that division.

I don't see us as anything other than a club big enough to be mid table Premiership, there's clubs smaller than ours that have managed that over the years.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

Interesting stuff. We'd all love to be in the Championship but that would bring its own problems when we're up against the enormous wealth that's filtering down into the Championship and that's a problem for the future. Rotherham have managed to cling on for a couple of seasons but they'll probably go this season. Wendy are just stagnating despite the temporary excitement their delusional fans are gobbing off about. We're not quite ready for the step up, but not far off.

When I look at this video

​

(Charlton 6th round), it's not all been bad. That was my favourite game in many a year, but it wasn't a one-off. We've had Spurs, Southampton, Forest, Hull, Fulham etc. Wendy haven't had one day like that in ten years. At the moment, we're stuck in a little terraced house, eyeing up that detached but a bit fearful about the future...



Totally agree. Teams like West Brom spend millions on players but still get swept aside by the big boys. Or, as Bournemouth found at Liverpool last week, you'll just get cheated. It's fun while it lasts(?), but there's a fucking big hangover when it's over. Just ask Hull.

I love that video, what an atmosphere.

 

[Silent Blade]

7, 9, 21, 2, 8, 9, 5, 6, 8, 16, 10, 13, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 23.

Actually it should read

7, 9, 21, 2, 8, 9, 5, 6, 8, 16, 10, 13, 3, 8, 8, 2, 9, 3, 8, 23

 

[bladesmanluke]

We won't be a mediocre Champiobship team if we still have Nigel Adkins at the helm

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

It's just a shame for a variety of reasons that it hasn't worked out yet.

There's only one reason and that's incompetence, mainly from the managers. Step forward Misters Warnock, Robson, and Blackwell.

 

[TJB.]

Completely get what the OP is saying, but it's all about levels, and I want us competing at the highest level possible even if that means becoming a mid-table Champ side for a couple of seasons before trying to kick on and achieve summet better.

The change in the Championship since we left it has been staggering. It just makes it more depressing that we didn't go up in the season the pigs did, because I reckon that was the perfect time to go up and consolidate ourselves in that division. There's been a trickle down of cash from the Prem which has only really gone into the second tier, with very little if any reaching down to League 1.

Just means the quality of teams up there has vastly improved, and we really are going to have to spend big if we want to compete should we go up. Mediocrity might have to be acceptable for a while.

But either way, I'd rather be out of this crap division!

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

At the present moment we are a good League One team and nothing more. The future and the past is irrelevant.

Football finance has changed dramatically and it's become more and more difficult to step up a division but with regard to United I don't want to think about anything beyond the Blackpool game.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

There's nothing good about being a lower half Premiership team. You get fleeced to fuck with ticket prices, the atmosphere has been stifled to death and the only achievement is not getting relegated.

Maybe you'll get the odd foray into European football like Stoke or Swansea have but that doesn't last long.

At this stage I'll die a very happy man if we win a cup.

You know what, I don't think our prices would be hugely inflated if we were in the premiership. I just don't think there much benefit in it given the TV deals in place. Depends on how much faith you have in the board but if they're to their word and the stadium is developed then I can't see huge ticket hikes.

Just to add, and I know it's not a popular view, but I'd much prefer us to be in the Premiership. Packed stadium, honest manager with a team scrapping against the perceived ruling classes and giving them he occasional bloody nose is everything I love about the Blades.
Love to see it back at the lane every week.

 

[Tyler Durden]

You know what, I don't think our prices would be hugely inflated if we were in the premiership. I just don't think there much benefit in it given the TV deals in place. Depends on how much faith you have in the board but if they're to their word and the stadium is developed then I can't see huge ticket hikes.

Just to add, and I know it's not a popular view, but I'd much prefer us to be in the Premiership. Packed stadium, honest manager with a team scrapping against the perceived ruling classes and giving them he occasional bloody nose is everything I love about the Blades.
Love to see it back at the lane every week.

If we ended up like Stoke or Southampton I'd love to see it happen don't get me wrong, but that's very hard to achieve.
Then again, like you said it would be satisfying to ruffle a few top flight feathers and have most of the media against us again

 

[bricktop]

I would say since I've been supporting the Blades we have traditionally been one of those typical provincial clubs who generally are amongst those that scrap it out at the top of the Championship, whilst being big enough to be able to have spells in the top flight, but not too big to drop occasionally to the level we are at now.

The similar teams to us are the likes of us are the bigger provincial clubs Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town, Derby County, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Leicester City, Stoke City, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday, West Brom and Leeds.

It is all there in terms of club infrastructure, support bases and potential, but what has set us apart as been the sheer amount of times we seem to fail at the final hurdle. Of all the clubs above I can recall most of the, either winning a trophy or two, or having a trip in to Europe, we havemt

 

[Jon K]

I agree with the original post and the idea about how expectations change. When I started on this expensive, frustrating and stress filled pastime many years ago we were near the top of division 1 (sticking to the original numbering system). Been in all 4 divisions since! If we look at history, support level, academy facilities etc we are probably a top of div 2, occasional visit to div 1 club in my opinion. And after the last few years I would settle for that and a few good cup runs!

 

[Zanzibar]

Everything is in place for us to become a solid mid-table Premier League club.

It's just a shame for a variety of reasons that it hasn't worked out yet.

What is in place that 20 other clubs cannot replicate?

 

[BushBlade]

I would say since I've been supporting the Blades we have traditionally been one of those typical provincial clubs who generally are amongst those that scrap it out at the top of the Championship, whilst being big enough to be able to have spells in the top flight, but not too big to drop occasionally to the level we are at now.

The similar teams to us are the likes of us are the bigger provincial clubs Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town, Derby County, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Leicester City, Stoke City, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday, West Brom and Leeds.

It is all there in terms of club infrastructure, support bases and potential, but what has set us apart as been the sheer amount of times we seem to fail at the final hurdle. Of all the clubs above I can recall most of the, either winning a trophy or two, or having a trip in to Europe, we havemt

Was going to post similar. I'd add Brighton to that list based on recent attendances and Norwich and Wolves.
Usually there are about ten clubs of roughly the same size as us in the championship so it's not surprising that we tended to finish in the top ten.
I think the championship has actually gone downhill a bit. The teams that were only in the pl because of rich owners like Fulham, Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton are back in the championship with poor attendances and the impact of the parachute payments hasn't had the effect I thought it would have.
The top championship sides are good but there's also quite a bit of crap in there.
I think if we went up we'd be able to complete with the clubs of a similar size to us after a season of consolidation.
We've got just as much support as them, in a lot of cases, better and we have a good manager. It could be yet another false dawn but it does look like we've turned a corner.
We'll be dependent on good scouting, the academy, good management (if we lose Adkins we have to get his replacement right), a strong team spirit and some luck but we should be able to challenge for promotion from the championship.