Protect and Progress Sheffield United

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wchris62

wchris62

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Dear Blades,
Following initial discussions and feedback from a variety of Blades fans, including via this forum, please consider the following list of priorities for an independent Blades supporter group to engage with the Club on.

Building on the themes of 'Protect and Progress':

Protect

Help protect Sheffield United FC as a viable, fan-friendly football club by maintaining oversight of and engagement on:
  • Prospective new owners
  • Debt covenants
  • History and heritage (name, nickname, stadium location, club colours)
  • Ticket prices
  • Away travel
  • Engagement with the wider Blades family: past and present

- Facilities and infrastructure

Progress

  • Help Sheffield United progress as a thriving, self-sustainable football club by contributing towards: The Blades Academy, Women’s and Community programmes
  • Safe standing areas
As previously stated, any constructive input to this proposal will be greatly appreciated with the ‘goal’ of making ‘Our Club’ stronger and more sustainable. We are receiving invaluable guidance and assistance from Richard Caborn and Prof. Rob Wilson (football governance and finance expert from SHU). Ultimately, to bring this project to life we are going to need input and support from Blades fans far and wide. If you are interested in getting involved, please DM me with a view to arranging a follow up chat.



UTMB!



Chris
 

wchris62 said:
Dear Blades,
Following initial discussions and feedback from a variety of Blades fans, including via this forum, please consider the following list of priorities for an independent Blades supporter group to engage with the Club on.

Building on the themes of 'Protect and Progress':

Protect

Help protect Sheffield United FC as a viable, fan-friendly football club by maintaining oversight of and engagement on:
  • Prospective new owners
  • Debt covenants
  • History and heritage (name, nickname, stadium location, club colours)
  • Ticket prices
  • Away travel
  • Engagement with the wider Blades family: past and present

- Facilities and infrastructure

Progress

  • Help Sheffield United progress as a thriving, self-sustainable football club by contributing towards: The Blades Academy, Women’s and Community programmes
  • Safe standing areas
As previously stated, any constructive input to this proposal will be greatly appreciated with the ‘goal’ of making ‘Our Club’ stronger and more sustainable. We are receiving invaluable guidance and assistance from Richard Caborn and Prof. Rob Wilson (football governance and finance expert from SHU). Ultimately, to bring this project to life we are going to need input and support from Blades fans far and wide. If you are interested in getting involved, please DM me with a view to arranging a follow up chat.



UTMB!



Chris
Click to expand...

There's a problem though...football fans are notoriously fickle.

For most fans financial sustainability is totally irrelevant, they want owners to invest/gamble, but they really mean give their money to the club with no expectation of seeing a return, the problem is even giving the club large sums (like Chansiri) that also isn't good enough unless you have success.

Imagine what it would be like if fans were running the club...we'd see massively overspend getting into massive debt and then admin.
 
caborn ,that's that down the toilet then ,isn't he still out drinking Guinness with dozy
 
You can't have a strategy of protect and progress if your actions are bank the money and don't spend it. If your squad gets weaker every season then there's no progression.

Since we were relegated last time there has been no progression other than the arrival of Ndiaye and Anel, which then resulted in the sale of Ndiaye.

We've relied too heavily on loan players and continually given new contracts to inconsistent players who have let us down for years, i.e. Fleck, Stevens instead of getting rid when we had the chance.

We won't see progression until we clear out the deadwood and bring in replacements. We harp on about the academy providing but haven't seen anyone make the first team since League One. I don't count Brooks or Ndiaye as we signed them from other teams and they spent very little time in the academy.

How many of these players will be offered new deals in January or next summer when we should be letting them leave. I'll only be sad to see Norrington-Davies, Foderingham and Baldock leave on a free.
 
Tony_Kaufman said:
You can't have a strategy of protect and progress if your actions are bank the money and don't spend it. If your squad gets weaker every season then there's no progression.

Since we were relegated last time there has been no progression other than the arrival of Ndiaye and Anel, which then resulted in the sale of Ndiaye.

We've relied too heavily on loan players and continually given new contracts to inconsistent players who have let us down for years, i.e. Fleck, Stevens instead of getting rid when we had the chance.

We won't see progression until we clear out the deadwood and bring in replacements. We harp on about the academy providing but haven't seen anyone make the first team since League One. I don't count Brooks or Ndiaye as we signed them from other teams and they spent very little time in the academy.

How many of these players will be offered new deals in January or next summer when we should be letting them leave. I'll only be sad to see Norrington-Davies, Foderingham and Baldock leave on a free.
Click to expand...

It's all about balance and being pragmatic.
We splashed the cash the last time out and how well did they turn out? Brewster Berge, McBurnie, Burke, Bogle, Lowe, Mousset. 7 or 8 players costing a lot and delivering very little.

Ramsdale worked out fine, and after a poor start Jack Robinson can be classed as giving a return.
Osborn is a flip of a coin depending what you like in a footballer.

I think you are harsh on Fleck and Enda. They delivered early on and then dropped off and the decision to keep them longer than their sell by dates is down to having blown the money on the wasters and the injury prone.

Foderingham has done well, Baldock is committed. RND has done very little either.
And I do accept we are hyping the acadamy with little impact.
 
Nagima said:
It's all about balance and being pragmatic.
We splashed the cash the last time out and how well did they turn out? Brewster Berge, McBurnie, Burke, Bogle, Lowe, Mousset. 7 or 8 players costing a lot and delivering very little.

Ramsdale worked out fine, and after a poor start Jack Robinson can be classed as giving a return.
Osborn is a flip of a coin depending what you like in a footballer.

I think you are harsh on Fleck and Enda. They delivered early on and then dropped off and the decision to keep them longer than their sell by dates is down to having blown the money on the wasters and the injury prone.

Foderingham has done well, Baldock is committed. RND has done very little either.
And I do accept we are hyping the acadamy with little impact.
Click to expand...
I get where you're coming from but have to laugh when it comes to Fleck and Enda. You say we resigned them due to having blown money on wasters and the injury prone. Since the restart in our first too flight season both lost form, never recovered it, played a handful of good games in the ensuing three seasons when they both weren't injured all the time. I'd call them both wasters and injury prone. Neither should have been kept. They were both consistent, unreliable under performers. You can't seriously tell me that over the last three seasons both were top performers, consistent performers or key players. I struggle to remember five good games from either of them over that entire period. They should have been gone as soon as we lost to Forest in the play offs.
 
wchris62 said:
Dear Blades,
Following initial discussions and feedback from a variety of Blades fans, including via this forum, please consider the following list of priorities for an independent Blades supporter group to engage with the Club on.

Building on the themes of 'Protect and Progress':

Protect

Help protect Sheffield United FC as a viable, fan-friendly football club by maintaining oversight of and engagement on:
  • Prospective new owners
  • Debt covenants
  • History and heritage (name, nickname, stadium location, club colours)
  • Ticket prices
  • Away travel
  • Engagement with the wider Blades family: past and present

- Facilities and infrastructure

Progress

  • Help Sheffield United progress as a thriving, self-sustainable football club by contributing towards: The Blades Academy, Women’s and Community programmes
  • Safe standing areas
As previously stated, any constructive input to this proposal will be greatly appreciated with the ‘goal’ of making ‘Our Club’ stronger and more sustainable. We are receiving invaluable guidance and assistance from Richard Caborn and Prof. Rob Wilson (football governance and finance expert from SHU). Ultimately, to bring this project to life we are going to need input and support from Blades fans far and wide. If you are interested in getting involved, please DM me with a view to arranging a follow up chat.



UTMB!



Chris
Click to expand...
Whilst I’m sure your intentions are good, for the benefit of the fans etc, we’ve no idea who you are and what your agenda is.

We’ve had “independent fans groups” before to various levels and other clubs have too. But they very rarely end up being independent and tend to speak for the loudest voices.

I wish you well in your cause and as I said, I’m sure your intentions are good but with very little understanding of who you are and what you are standing for I’m not sure what you’re expecting and why fans would get behind you?
 
Tony_Kaufman said:
I get where you're coming from but have to laugh when it comes to Fleck and Enda. You say we resigned them due to having blown money on wasters and the injury prone. Since the restart in our first too flight season both lost form, never recovered it, played a handful of good games in the ensuing three seasons when they both weren't injured all the time. I'd call them both wasters and injury prone. Neither should have been kept. They were both consistent, unreliable under performers. You can't seriously tell me that over the last three seasons both were top performers, consistent performers or key players. I struggle to remember five good games from either of them over that entire period. They should have been gone as soon as we lost to Forest in the play offs.
Click to expand...

I am not telling you they were a sound investment in later years. They weren't, but the club kept them due to not having money to buy replacements. They did though play well for the early part of their career with us. The others that we bought for big money were the real problem.
Now we are in a situation that we don't have a playing identity and have limited impact from who we brought in. The players that are there shouldn't be that uncompetitive. But they are because they are not gelling and with injuries and lack of leadership we are where we are.
My fear is that we keep Hecky and end up with a demoralised team not pulling together. We need to get some pride back in the club. My second fear in the Prince could siphon money out of the club and leaving an even bigger job for who ever buys us.
 
Nagima said:
I am not telling you they were a sound investment in later years. They weren't, but the club kept them due to not having money to buy replacements. They did though play well for the early part of their career with us. The others that we bought for big money were the real problem.
Now we are in a situation that we don't have a playing identity and have limited impact from who we brought in. The players that are there shouldn't be that uncompetitive. But they are because they are not gelling and with injuries and lack of leadership we are where we are.
My fear is that we keep Hecky and end up with a demoralised team not pulling together. We need to get some pride back in the club. My second fear in the Prince could siphon money out of the club and leaving an even bigger job for who ever buys us.
Click to expand...
I'm not disputing that they weren't great players for us in the past, but in recent seasons they were botb shockingly poor. New contracts should be earned on what you are currently doing, not what you did two seasons ago and haven't done since. Fleck should never have been given a new deal this season. As soon as I saw that he had been offered a new deal along with Osborn and Basham it was obvious that we were not going to recruit well this summer as it showed no progress and no ambition retaining players who were poor for us in a promotion season. We are very much a club that lives in the past and our supporters often follow suit, accepting mediocrity in the hope that it might rekindle former glory.

I'm hoping we don't repeat this mistake next summer. We have the chance to enter the summer with a nucleus (assuming they are offered/accept new contracts) of Foderingham, A Davies, Norrington-Davies, Anel, Trusty, Robinson, Baldock, T Davies, Hamer, Souza, Slimane, Brewster, Traore, Jebbison, Osula. That's 15 players. There are bound to be some decent free signings out there that we can afford to supplement them.

We need to start fresh and clear out the remnants of Wilder's era, unless of course he returns in which case his ego will likely take over and be convinced that he can get them going again.
 
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Tony_Kaufman said:
I'm not disputing that they weren't great players for us in the past, but in recent seasons they were botb shockingly poor. New contracts should be earned on what you are currently doing, not what you did two seasons ago and haven't done since. Fleck should never have been given a new deal this season. As soon as I saw that he had been offered a new deal along with Osborn and Basham it was obvious that we were not going to recruit well this summer as it showed no progress and no ambition retaining players who were poor for us in a promotion season. We are very much a club that lives in the past.
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We both want the same thing which is quality players coming in and the non performers leaving. I think the signing that showed how fucked up the club was in terms of funds and recruitment was the signing Guiderra by Slav.
 
Nagima said:
We both want the same thing which is quality players coming in and the non performers leaving. I think the signing that showed how fucked up the club was in terms of funds and recruitment was the signing Guiderra by Slav.
Click to expand...
I don't think many of us even remember him signing.

I liked Slav and rate him as a manager but he committed a cardinal sin in management. He chose a system which he didn't have players for and as a result constantly put square pegs in round holes. In the end he picked a system that suited the players he had and ended up turning results around but it was too little, too late. Given how long we waited for him to arrive given his contract had to expire, then we had no pre-season, signed no one over the summer, only signed loan playeds on deadline day after he came out publicly slating the club for going back on their word to back him, it seemed harsh to sack him regardless of the results. That showed signs of just how incredibly naive and out of their depth our club's owners and directors are as it was the start of one bad off field decision after the other after the other.

You're right though, we all want the same thing, some decent, reliable, consistent players.
 
SwissBlade said:
Whilst I’m sure your intentions are good, for the benefit of the fans etc, we’ve no idea who you are and what your agenda is.

We’ve had “independent fans groups” before to various levels and other clubs have too. But they very rarely end up being independent and tend to speak for the loudest voices.

I wish you well in your cause and as I said, I’m sure your intentions are good but with very little understanding of who you are and what you are standing for I’m not sure what you’re expecting and why fans would get behind you?
Click to expand...
www.s24su.com

Fan engagement legislation ... Protecting SUFC

Dear Blades, Many of you will know me if you follow the Blades home and away but I am new to this forum, which a friend told me is the main Blades fan forum. I am hoping for your input to an initiative I am involved in. In November 2021 Tracy Crouch published her Fan Led Review of Football...
www.s24su.com www.s24su.com
 
PrestwichBlade said:
www.s24su.com

Fan engagement legislation ... Protecting SUFC

Dear Blades, Many of you will know me if you follow the Blades home and away but I am new to this forum, which a friend told me is the main Blades fan forum. I am hoping for your input to an initiative I am involved in. In November 2021 Tracy Crouch published her Fan Led Review of Football...
www.s24su.com www.s24su.com
Click to expand...
Exactly my point. Doesn’t say anything about the independent group
 
Tony_Kaufman said:
I don't think many of us even remember him signing.

I liked Slav and rate him as a manager but he committed a cardinal sin in management. He chose a system which he didn't have players for and as a result constantly put square pegs in round holes. In the end he picked a system that suited the players he had and ended up turning results around but it was too little, too late. Given how long we waited for him to arrive given his contract had to expire, then we had no pre-season, signed no one over the summer, only signed loan playeds on deadline day after he came out publicly slating the club for going back on their word to back him, it seemed harsh to sack him regardless of the results. That showed signs of just how incredibly naive and out of their depth our club's owners and directors are as it was the start of one bad off field decision after the other after the other.

You're right though, we all want the same thing, some decent, reliable, consistent players.
Click to expand...
That is the big problem with football today. We have lots of owners of clubs who view it as a vanity project. Then they like to tinker and interfere too much. Its fantasy football live.
Slav found out the hard way just how incompetent our club set up is. He also learned that our owner does not like to be questioned. I had to laugh at the invention of a new role called "Football Manager". Its fuck all got to do with defining the roles and responsibilities to run the organisation. It's about having someone to blame.
 
wchris62 said:
Dear Blades,
Following initial discussions and feedback from a variety of Blades fans, including via this forum, please consider the following list of priorities for an independent Blades supporter group to engage with the Club on.

Building on the themes of 'Protect and Progress':

Protect

Help protect Sheffield United FC as a viable, fan-friendly football club by maintaining oversight of and engagement on:
  • Prospective new owners
  • Debt covenants
  • History and heritage (name, nickname, stadium location, club colours)
  • Ticket prices
  • Away travel
  • Engagement with the wider Blades family: past and present

- Facilities and infrastructure

Progress

  • Help Sheffield United progress as a thriving, self-sustainable football club by contributing towards: The Blades Academy, Women’s and Community programmes
  • Safe standing areas
As previously stated, any constructive input to this proposal will be greatly appreciated with the ‘goal’ of making ‘Our Club’ stronger and more sustainable. We are receiving invaluable guidance and assistance from Richard Caborn and Prof. Rob Wilson (football governance and finance expert from SHU). Ultimately, to bring this project to life we are going to need input and support from Blades fans far and wide. If you are interested in getting involved, please DM me with a view to arranging a follow up chat.



UTMB!



Chris
Click to expand...

Good on you, particularly keen on the safe standing priority. 👍
 
SwissBlade said:
Whilst I’m sure your intentions are good, for the benefit of the fans etc, we’ve no idea who you are and what your agenda is.

We’ve had “independent fans groups” before to various levels and other clubs have too. But they very rarely end up being independent and tend to speak for the loudest voices.

I wish you well in your cause and as I said, I’m sure your intentions are good but with very little understanding of who you are and what you are standing for I’m not sure what you’re expecting and why fans would get behind you?
Click to expand...

He’s literally listed what they are standing for in his post hasn’t he? 🫤
 
Good idea very very difficult to implement properly.

Having an ethos is great until people want the ethos to change and it’s already engrained in the club.

Look a basic level we implemented a style of play with 3 at the back. The whole club was built around in top to lower end academy. 10 games into a new season it needs to go now very difficult to change.
 
biggiesablade said:
People don't want sustainable they want instant success at any cost even if it means future of the club is risked.
Click to expand...
Lots do, you're right, but plenty don't want that. And even more don't want it once they've experienced their club (recent examples Derby County, Bury, Wigan, Bolton et al) going into the death spiral of admin, points deduction and, even, liquidation.
 

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