Our Quest for Premier League Football

[LouTheBlade]

This thread is designed to discuss a topic I have been thinking about lately and is also inspired by SwissBlade's comments in the young players thread regarding the PL not being "the wonderland it once was." To get straight to the point - I essentially agree with that opinion. To elaborate..........

As a Blade it is customary to dream of United getting to the Premier League, as apart from the rare and short lived occasions we're actually in it, we seem to be perpetually seeking this glorified "progress" that all clubs like us similarly strive for. I think that nearly all of us would agree that we want to see our club up against the best in the land and (get ready for pure fantasy) even the best in the world! I don't think anyone would argue with that and I'm not going to either. Of course we want to see United at the top table, who doesnt?!

Despite my acknowledgment of this, I have sadly lost my desire and vigour to see United in that league of late. Its not that I wouldn't take promotion if offered (of course I would) but it is more that my excitement for such an eventuality isnt what it once was. This is not because the Premier League has ceased to become 'pure theatre' - it always has been and probably will be for some time to come. It is more down to the fact that football at the top level has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth that many other football fans can relate to..........

Without even going into the England debacle:-

*We have top clubs with insurmountable debt caused by unrealistic transfer fees and an outrageous level of greed from young men who have never had to do a hard days work in their life.

*The constant scandal that surrounds these so called "men" who haven't the decency to simply conduct themselves in a professional and civilised manner when they have everything they could ever want and more.

*The constant dismissal of proposed punishment for high profile clubs and players who forever break the rules.

*The blatant lack of moral decency from the powers that be, in making our "beautiful game" (or so it once was) affordable for the people who made it what it is today - THE FANS!

*The complete and utter refusal by FIFA to look into way of improving our game in the interest of fairness - simply because it removes human error!

*The Premier League's obvious attempts to slowly pull its members further and further away from the Football League and form an elitist competition - essentially at the heart of this topic.

*Last but certainly not least - the fact that clubs who operate for years with an immoral amount of debt, can simply pay their creditors a percentage of what is owed and just walk away with at most, a points deduction!

All of these things have caused me to develop such a dim view of the game lately. I can live with four or five clubs ruling the roost (despite how boring as it has become) and I can even live with notion that United will probably always - at best - yoyo between the PL and the Championship. What I cant live with is the fact that I cant relate to it or the people that are in it anymore. It is awash with dishonest, self-vested interests and corruption. It probably has been for some time but more noticeably now!

I still love going to Bramall Lane every saturday and seeing those red and white shirts and that wont change for now, but I dont know if I want to see the club I love become part of that publicity riddled sleeze-fest of a competition that awards the wealthy and disregards the dreamers. Sheffield United Football Club is a good club, one with history and for the majority a great bunch of supporters who have seen all sorts of ups and downs. But isnt being a dreamer and a pessimist part of being a Blade? Why do we want to stagnate and become also-rans in a league that will never truly accept us as worthy of joining its little group?

Now that my rant is over, I'm going to open this out to people on here. What are your thoughts on eventually seeing United back in the Premier League? Has anyone else felt a similar way towards it? Or am I on my own with this dim view of the top flight?

 

[DuncDisorderly]

I can agree with a lot of what you've said. The PL is a club that I wouldn't want to be a member of, but then the whole game from Blatter downwards is rotten to the core. Full of old men appointed by the old boy network to jobs for life where the commercial consideration outweigh any genuine stewardship of the game itself. Unfortunately, as our neighbours in S6 are finding with their directors, they are impossible to dislodge unless they vote themselves out.

Where does this leave us? Success in the form of regularly finishing top half of the PL is not impossible but would need a substantial change in terms of the ownership and funding of the club, and that is not desirable imho. Do we want to sell out what is left of the clubs soul? Do we really want kids in Tunbridge Wells buying Blades shirts and declaring their allegience? Not me. We always have been a predominantly local club, with Northern working class values, a love of the underdog, a desire to see effort and committment over skill and none of these fit well with the PL. It is like entering the tombola at the church fete, and when you win the first prize (bath salts), you keep quiet, screw the ticket up in your pocket and let them draw it again...

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

If we make it, we make it, if we don't we don't, if we get there for a season and are out of it for ten seasons and then back in for a seaosn etc, etc, etc, I don't care. I certainly don't lookforward to the matches like I used to, whatever division we are in.

I just enjoy the day out with my mates and their families, some decent beer and good banter. Some of the best days out I had were whilst we were in the 4th Division.

Now, if we could start playing some decent football again I might even say I looked forward to the matches again. You are right, the Premier League, has since its inception, started to take our game away from us. I see an England team full of malaise and Premiership matches played by players I neither relate to nor care about.

Eventually, I'll stop going and if we have any more seasons like last season, it might be sooner rather than later.

 

[Kenilworth]

Top post Lou - Agree 100%

It's not a game for the average bloke (or bint to be politically correct) anymore. Used to be affordable, somewhere you could go every week home and away or every other week at home to follow your team regardless. STAND and shout and generally get rid of the weeks frustrations. God I miss the standing.

Now all it seems to do is wind me up every step of the way. Even going to the Lane for us exiles is becoming a stretch to afford, never mind the price of the Prem. It's getting so that you almost need another mortgage just to afford the fuel to get to Sheffield.

That new BT advert on the radio annoys me also. The one where the poem goes on about not being able to afford to go but you can watch it on the TV - well that's OK if you are a glory hunting, lame brained, prossy follower of the likes of Chelski or Man U but for real football fans that is not an option because you cannot see them live on TV every week.

I was texting a Port Vale supporting mate last night during their game at Loftus Road. He is working in London so got the the game. That's real football and real football fans - not the over paid, sleaze ridden, over inflated, glitzy, glamorised trash we get from the Prem forced down our throats.

 

[Fiery Blade]

Following the World Cup debacle, Portsmouth saga, West Ham, Leeds Utd, Leicester City, Southampton etc etc etc Yes football is rotten to the core yet we put up with it!
Why is Cappello still in a job?
How can Portsmouth operate after leaving a trail of devastation amoungst all their suppliers?
No one has the balls to change it Thats Why!
My solution - Let Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and any other team who want to lavish money that they have not earned piss off and form a European League and leave the Premier League reform on a more level playing field
Let all the Lampards, Ashley Coles and Rooneys piss off and play their football elsewhere and let players that care entertain us an a Saturday afternoon!
The England team tonight will contain six or seven players that can't even get a regular 1st team place -speaks volumes

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Best synopsis of the PL and Sheffield United I've read in ages.

We will never be invited into that elite unless we get a mega-rich benefactor like Man City, unlikely in the foreseeable future. Given that the whole thing is built in such a top heavy manner I'm not sure I'd ever be comfortable with us up there under the currrent situation. If the TV plug is ever pulled it will all fall like a pack of cards, most being in heavy debt being almost totally serviced by that TV money.

Lou is right and although it is a prize the club will seek, it is a prize that stinks to high heaven.

The whole thing can't go tits up quick enough for me!

 

[DP8789]

We do nothing but moan about united on here its alll "last season was terrible", "we havent signed enough players", "wheres all the money gone", "blackwells tactics are shite" etc etc. We do this because the championship and the leagues below it are garbage. I want nothing more than for sheffield united to become a premiership club, and i would gladly take hangning around 12th - 17th in that division for a long time. Some people would call that boring, but that division and especially staying in that division would work wonders for this club, the ground would get bigger and with it the gates, the football would improve and i would actually be excited by more than 1 fixture (blades v pigs). Who cares if the prem is full of tossers who spends loads of cash, shag loads of women and play shite for england, id have them all united in a flash and so would many other blades.

 

[Eskimo]

I agree with a lot of what you say Lou. I wish the game reflected better what we might aspire to (decency, honesty etc) and I can't stand the arrogance of the elitist clique that run and dominate the game. But I'm optimistic. Our natural league position over the years is arguably some where in the top half of the Championship and that is a good place to be. We have as good a chance as any Blackpool or Burnley or many others of going up, having a day out at Wembley (and winning for once) and are big enough to stay in the Premiership if the opportunity presented itself. I keep saying to myself, one day, one day!

We have attracted a poor image as a club through long ball football which although not entirely deserved is one I'd rather not have and Warnock (my hero) did cultivate a muck and nettles image which still sticks. But I dont regret a bit the stand we took on Tevez and am still amazed that it attracted negative press. We were the good guys and West Ham and the FA premiership wrong. Never forgive, never forget!

I do think there is the opportunity for a club to differentiate itself and attract a lot of support by being as open and transparent/ fair in all its dealings as possible , not supporting very cynical timewasting, swearing at the ref/arguing with decisions on the pitch ..... and I'd like that to be us.

So in summary I'd like to see Sheffield United in the premiership, playing attractive football and being regarded as a progressive yet decent club which stands up for itself. Maybe too much to ask?

 

[LouTheBlade]

Thanks guys. I was really interested to read the feedback on this and I'm relieved not to be the only one that feels this way!

Keep the posts comin..........

 

[SwissBlade]

Nice one Lou, totally up my street on this one... Kind of what I was talking about in the "youngsters" thread..

I'd be interested to know if us Blades are starting to grasp something here, even the (apparent) older blades like BB and Lenners who talk (bang on about?) about the likes of Curry et al may see the point of this... we want honest, young hungry players at the lane, not wasters... I wonder where the club's going, are we on track... ?

Or are we falling deeper into the pit of filth and heading towards the PL...

PS will we achieve utopia without an enforced singing section

 

[happyhippy]

I've never said anything like this in the past, of course. I'm looking forward to watching Club v Barwell, but it really isn't the same as being at the Lane.

Sheepdip came up with a good question years ago. Would you rather the FA Cup winners tag, or promotion?

 

[Revolution]

Words fail me.

 

[H. Metal Blade]

Interesting thread and one i've long thought deeply about at times.

People knock Monty (before last season at any rate) yet in my eyes, between him and morgan, you'll not find a more honest footballer who's seemingly passionate about us and playing for us and seeing us "succeed" despite having received offers to play elsewhere!

I think i'm relaistic when i see our long term future being that of a yoyo team between the bottom 5 of the PL and the top 10 of the CC. In my heart, sure i'd love to see the blades lft a european cup, feck it, even the FA cup - but at what cost. It might seem like "cutting your nose of to spite your face", but i wouldn't want united to lose it's roots like os many PL clubs clearly have. I quite like the underdog syndrome and think it's a good lesson in life. If you're an underdog, you laways strive to achieve, and sometimes it might not be pretty but you can really taste the victory, wheras if you're a top team, you forget where you've come from and forget why it tasted so sweet and start considering it your divine right to be there!

 

[grafikhaus]

Good post Lou.

Trouble is, when you support a team, they've got you by the knackers.

And you could substitute the word 'football' for 'politicians' or 'bankers' and you'd get the same dissatisfaction.

 

[Darthblade]

This thread is designed to discuss a topic I have been thinking about lately and is also inspired by SwissBlade's comments in the young players thread regarding the PL not being "the wonderland it once was." To get straight to the point - I essentially agree with that opinion. To elaborate..........

As a Blade it is customary to dream of United getting to the Premier League, as apart from the rare and short lived occasions we're actually in it, we seem to be perpetually seeking this glorified "progress" that all clubs like us similarly strive for. I think that nearly all of us would agree that we want to see our club up against the best in the land and (get ready for pure fantasy) even the best in the world! I don't think anyone would argue with that and I'm not going to either. Of course we want to see United at the top table, who doesnt?!

Despite my acknowledgment of this, I have sadly lost my desire and vigour to see United in that league of late. Its not that I wouldn't take promotion if offered (of course I would) but it is more that my excitement for such an eventuality isnt what it once was. This is not because the Premier League has ceased to become 'pure theatre' - it always has been and probably will be for some time to come. It is more down to the fact that football at the top level has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth that many other football fans can relate to..........

Without even going into the England debacle:-

*We have top clubs with insurmountable debt caused by unrealistic transfer fees and an outrageous level of greed from young men who have never had to do a hard days work in their life.

*The constant scandal that surrounds these so called "men" who haven't the decency to simply conduct themselves in a professional and civilised manner when they have everything they could ever want and more.

*The constant dismissal of proposed punishment for high profile clubs and players who forever break the rules.

*The blatant lack of moral decency from the powers that be, in making our "beautiful game" (or so it once was) affordable for the people who made it what it is today - THE FANS!

*The complete and utter refusal by FIFA to look into way of improving our game in the interest of fairness - simply because it removes human error!

*The Premier League's obvious attempts to slowly pull its members further and further away from the Football League and form an elitist competition - essentially at the heart of this topic.

*Last but certainly not least - the fact that clubs who operate for years with an immoral amount of debt, can simply pay their creditors a percentage of what is owed and just walk away with at most, a points deduction!

All of these things have caused me to develop such a dim view of the game lately. I can live with four or five clubs ruling the roost (despite how boring as it has become) and I can even live with notion that United will probably always - at best - yoyo between the PL and the Championship. What I cant live with is the fact that I cant relate to it or the people that are in it anymore. It is awash with dishonest, self-vested interests and corruption. It probably has been for some time but more noticeably now!

I still love going to Bramall Lane every saturday and seeing those red and white shirts and that wont change for now, but I dont know if I want to see the club I love become part of that publicity riddled sleeze-fest of a competition that awards the wealthy and disregards the dreamers. Sheffield United Football Club is a good club, one with history and for the majority a great bunch of supporters who have seen all sorts of ups and downs. But isnt being a dreamer and a pessimist part of being a Blade? Why do we want to stagnate and become also-rans in a league that will never truly accept us as worthy of joining its little group?

Now that my rant is over, I'm going to open this out to people on here. What are your thoughts on eventually seeing United back in the Premier League? Has anyone else felt a similar way towards it? Or am I on my own with this dim view of the top flight?

Totally agree ...... The game is riddled with corruption and the "old boys" network like to run it their way and have no intention of improving the game for spectators or the average man in the street. The heads of the PL and FA are quite happy as they are with their faces in the trough at every England game and the freebies etc they enjoy.

Money has become a cancer in the game and has largely destroyed it as a spectacle for the average supporter. I would like to see a cap on transfer fees, cap on player wages, cap on ticket prices and a cap on the number of foreign "mercenary" players at each club. Get back to the days of bringing players through your own youth system and having affordable, entertaining, competetive football that we can enjoy. Back to the days when relegation didnt mean the fear of going bankrupt.

Dream over!!
UTB

 

[frechyblade]

The PL is bent, full stop! Money has ruined the game at that level. How many times did you walk away from a game when we played in the PL thinking we had been cheated? As much as I enjoyed seeing the blades playing against the big boys, I knew it wasn't a level playing field and that ruined some of the excitement.

utb

 

[Muttley]

Absofuckinlutely Lou. Time the fans took the game back before it self destructs.

 

[Muttley]

Money has become a cancer in the game and has largely destroyed it as a spectacle for the average supporter. I would like to see a cap on transfer fees, cap on player wages, cap on ticket prices and a cap on the number of foreign "mercenary" players at each club. Get back to the days of bringing players through your own youth system and having affordable, entertaining, competetive football that we can enjoy. Back to the days when relegation didnt mean the fear of going bankrupt.




BANG ON!!!!!

 

[SoccerCynic]

Bloody Hell, I thought I was cynical...but I do agree with what has been said. The question is...what do we do about it. Whilst ever we (all football fans) continue to support our teams...paying exorbitant entrance fees and buying over priced sponsored items....it will not change. There is the dilemma...continue to support your club but at the same time you are supporting a corrupt system. One influential group who have escaped unscathed on this thread are the PFA who never fail to justify the actions of their members. Does anyone really have the power and the guts to change it...let me see.....no, cant think of anyone...so, not unlike Lou, I would rather see United in the PL but would accept perpetual Championship status with some entertainment value.

 

[Grecian2000]

Whilst ever we (all football fans) continue to support our teams...paying exorbitant entrance fees and buying over priced sponsored items....it will not change.

You've missed the biggest contributor to the whole mess, your SKY TV subscription. What you're seeing now is the football they invented in the mid 90's.

 

[SwissBlade]

You've missed the biggest contributor to the whole mess, your SKY TV subscription. What you're seeing now is the football they invented in the mid 90's.

I've always thought SKY have done a good job in bringing football into our homes... its alive and kicking you know

 

[SoccerCynic]

Agreed Grecian..wondered if someone would spot my deliberate omission

 

[Kev Gee]

You've missed the biggest contributor to the whole mess, your SKY TV subscription. What you're seeing now is the football they invented in the mid 90's.

exactly.

fans buying tickets makes up a TINY proportion of the incomme for a PL club.

The reality is they would rather have a half empty stadium & get a cut of the TV money than have a full ground.


TBH i can only see the BIG 6 clubs eventually wanting to breakaway & form a Euro League as their quest for money & power (and Debt) grows ever more.