No money.

[beightonblade]

MANAGER Kevin Blackwell has been told Sheffield United do not have the funds to buy their way out of their current injury crisis.
The squad has been hit by a catalogue of injuries and Blackwell has seen his promotion hopefuls slip from fourth in the table to 13th in the space of three weeks.

Blackwell said: "There isn't the money there so I can't just go and get players but if the lads play as well as they did against Cardiff (on Saturday) they will win more than they lose.

"We have the smallest squad in the Championship and (chairman) Kevin McCabe is well aware of what we need because you can't build a team on loans. He's a first-rate chairman and is doing all he can to see us through this economic downturn.


So there yer have it.... the Blades are skint ! ..... or is it a smokescreen?

Can yer just hear McCabe : I've taken the club as far as i cud... and now is the reight time to introduce new investors.

He's a smart cookie Mr McCabe ..... has the football £££££££ burst ?
Rangers up the creek sum say the bank are running them, Red cheating scousers look a bit dodgie .......... oh an have a look at manure,not good reading.

Exit Mr McCabe ? (with a bag full of money )

 

[Bladesman]

Well there we go then.

 

[judge]

MANAGER Kevin Blackwell has been told Sheffield United do not have the funds to buy their way out of their current injury crisis.
The squad has been hit by a catalogue of injuries and Blackwell has seen his promotion hopefuls slip from fourth in the table to 13th in the space of three weeks.

Blackwell said: "There isn't the money there so I can't just go and get players but if the lads play as well as they did against Cardiff (on Saturday) they will win more than they lose.

"We have the smallest squad in the Championship and (chairman) Kevin McCabe is well aware of what we need because you can't build a team on loans. He's a first-rate chairman and is doing all he can to see us through this economic downturn.


So there yer have it.... the Blades are skint ! ..... or is it a smokescreen?

Can yer just hear McCabe : I've taken the club as far as i cud... and now is the reight time to introduce new investors.

He's a smart cookie Mr McCabe ..... has the football £££££££ burst ?
Rangers up the creek sum say the bank are running them, Red cheating scousers look a bit dodgie .......... oh an have a look at manure,not good reading.

Exit Mr McCabe ? (with a bag full of money )

dont you ever get bored posting nothing all day ?

 

[madeinsheffield]

Or you get a situation like Portsmouth were in a couple of weeks ago, if the deal would have fallen at the last minute the club would have been trading insolvent (technically they were for a short period but PL didn't punish them, although they probably would have if it had been us!).

It frustrates the hell out of me as much as the supporter sat next to me every other saturday, but long term the club should be able to financially support itself, not have what you want which is a rich chairman stood throwing £ after £ by the million, if you were a multi millionaire would you 'give a few million to the club' in short no, and that's the thinking behind how things operate as I see it.

 

[Micalijo]

Honestly, can someone tell me if we have the smallest squad in the division? In terms of contracted players (non loans) do we have the smallest squad? I guess it must be close to that so hard to slate him in terms of accuracy of what he says. Shame!

I think there is a huge contradiction in the economic downturn quote and the 'it isn't good practice' quote he came out with yesterday when talking about re-profiling, but I aint nailed it yet!

If you 'can't build a team on loans' why has Blackwell done it? Why not Bosmans and freebies in the summer instead? Exactly same wages? Why sign Taylor for money etc?

I know sponsorhip maybe down and hospitality may be down, but how precisely does the economic downturn affect SUFC. TV revenue is pretty much stable, we average 25k and the shop seems busy. I can understand how a manufacturing company would be affected by the recession but surely relegation was our main problem not the recession?

It seems to me that McCabe is using SUFC to get himself through the downturn.

 

[matth]

in reaction to madeinsheffield's post:

But do you not think there's a middle ground? This is my main criticism of this forum: people tend to see things in black and white, and argue their corners blindly. There's room for compromise.

In my opinion, asking Mr McCabe to invest a little more money in the squad isn't too heretical. We can spend money on making the Kop nicer, on a new bigscreen TV, and if rumours are to be believed a new member of the board (Trevor Birch, who presumably won't be working for free), and yet we can't have any more money for where it matters the most - the team?

No one is realistically asking the chairman to put in millions and millions of pounds. We know that there are players who are out of our league and budget. Just a little bit more money could get us a lot, though, and could help stop the rot before it gets too late.

 

[beightonblade]

Commercial property has taken the belt ...... nobody wants to buy,rent or build. Valad went up the sh!tter ..... Bank of Scotland grabbed em ...Mr McCabe dealt wi them at the reight time (smart cookie).
Not sure how much liquidity McCabe has but he's got plenty of investments.
Mind yer he's always got the Blades to bail him out !

Mi gut feeling is new investors are about to be announced.

 

[matth]

I certainly hope so. If Mr McCabe is not willing to put money in - and let's be honest, why the hell should he?* - at least give someone else the chance who will.


*mind you, if he's not going to, I wish he'd shut up with this 'biggest Blade going' bollocks he comes out with...

 

[Sothall_Blade]

I’ve never been a “Blackwell out” man (yet) but this latest spin-doctoring statement raises more questions than answers and has left me quite angry with Blackwell, McCabe and the club in general.

‘There isn't the money there so I can't just go and get players but if the lads play as well as they did against Cardiff they will win more than they lose. We have the smallest squad in the Championship and (chairman) Kevin McCabe is well aware of what we need because you can't build a team on loans. He's a first-rate chairman and is doing all he can to see us through this economic downturn’

'We are asking young squad players to fill some big, experienced boots because of our situation and to play so many at once wasn't something we could have envisaged. When we have a full complement of players I think we have a strong first XI and a real chance but the squad is very thin and we can't carry long-term injuries, suspensions or loss of form in anybody or we will be a mediocre team.'


1) Who are the “young squad players” filling big, experienced boots he refers to? Cotterill and Davies are the only young players drafted in recently, the others are Bennett, Little, France and Stewart. Have I missed any?

2) Did we make genuine bids for Smith (£1.8M) and McIndoe (£1M) or were they a smokescreen to pacify supporters over the sale of Naughton and Walker? If we had £2.8M to spend on players in June, where is it now?

3) Why have we ended up a “very thin” squad and the smallest in the Championship? If McCabe is well aware you can’t build a team on loans, why did Blackwell try to? Whose job was it to build the squad? Should these issues not have been addressed before the transfer window closed?

4) I could have envisaged one of our three strikers getting injured, suspended or losing form? Likewise one of our two centre backs? Why couldn’t the people that matter envisage it?

 

[matth]

They're dangerous questions... and ones which will never be answered by the club.

 

[beightonblade]

Do yer think sumats up at BDTBL ?

 

[Micalijo]

Great post Sothall. Keep em coming.

I think a good chunk of the money you mention went on Taylor and Evans - 2 brilliant signings who have lit the division up this term with their pace, power and skill.

Other than that, the comment about young players coming in to fill big boots is latest in a long line of ridiculous falsehoods.

 

[beightonblade]

I have no doubt about Mr McCabe being as sharp as a Blade ( ) and his accountants i bet are 1st class, Jason Rockett is a smart man anall.

So have the burgalars visited BDTBL/McCabe ?

We go from being a 'well run' club to skint faster than a gypsies dog, or is sumbody tellin porkies?

 

[Sothall_Blade]

A few random quotes

Gary Johnson:- "Sheffield United are pleading poverty a little bit and I think they need to bring some finances in”

Kevin Blackwell:- "There isn't the money there”

Kevin Blackwell:- “Banks are not lending money to football clubs anymore”

“Trevor Birch is an insolvency practitioner. He has principally been involved with clubs undergoing financial difficulties”

“Birch's appointment has prompted much speculation about the weakness of the club's finances”

“Birch has refused to buy any new players for manager Claudio Ranieri this season. He told national newspapers: 'No one will be signed unless we have sold a player first. We've always been determined to reduce our wage bill and we are sticking to that policy”

“In the UK, only a licensed Insolvency Practitioner can be appointed in relation to formal insolvency procedures for individuals and businesses”

 

[lenners]

As regards Smith and McIndoe, I do recall one poster regularly flagging up there was a questionmark over where that earmarked money had gone.
And you know, they all chuckled at the time.
It always pays to think Lenist.

 

[Bladesman]

Gary Johnson:- "Sheffield United are pleading poverty a little bit and I think they need to bring some finances in”

Kevin Blackwell:- "There isn't the money there”

Kevin Blackwell:- “Banks are not lending money to football clubs anymore”

“Trevor Birch is an insolvency practitioner. He has principally been involved with clubs undergoing financial difficulties”

“Birch's appointment has prompted much speculation about the weakness of the club's finances”

“Birch has refused to buy any new players for manager Claudio Ranieri this season. He told national newspapers: 'No one will be signed unless we have sold a player first. We've always been determined to reduce our wage bill and we are sticking to that policy”

“In the UK, only a licensed Insolvency Practitioner can be appointed in relation to formal insolvency procedures for individuals and businesses”

I always thought that was aload of crap and just Johnson having a moan after I read it but now it seems to explain alot.

Mmm Im getting rather worried.