Realism

[robbiez666]

The next 10 games and probably next season is likely to be rough. It was always going to be in one way or another.

Some fans want a Sheffield owner who is going to invest tens of millions of his own money into the club every year, a manager and captain who are both Blades and who are both at the top of their respective games. We've been lucky to have two of those but it's increasingly unusual in modern football.

Money is going to be tight next season. Not only because of relegation and all the financial burdens that comes from losing a huge amount of TV money but also the impact COVID and Brexit will have on club finances.

We're £40-60 million down on what was budgeted for due to COVID. Something has to give.

I suspect a few players will be sold. Berge seems obvious and also hinted at. I suspect a couple more might go as well. We will have a high wage bill for the Championship and we can either do a Wednesday and ignore FFP and try and buy our way back or cut our cloth accordingly. We're going to struggle to sell the poorer players due to this. But also there will be little money being spent across leagues given every club and every owner has taken a massive financial hit.

Whoever our new manager is will have a heck of a task. We have aging players who will likely be in their last season. We have players coming to the last year of their contract who we need to make a decision on. We have a system which has been ingrained in our teams from youth upwards for the last 5 years. If the manager is going to change that it is not going to be easy. It will take time and involve moving players in and out.

We have a training ground in desperate need of modernisation. An Academy team which is behind many of our peers in terms of maturity.

We have an owner who has a limited amount of money. Who appears to be trying to modernise the recruitment practices of the club and build a footballing network with the intention of running all clubs more effectively and efficiently.

There's no way we'll be able to invest in the first team, invest in the training and Academy facilities, build a European scouting system and keep all our best players.

It's going to be a rough ride but I think we need to try and be patient (I realise this is alien to football fans) whilst all this goes on. Whoever is the new manager deserves a fair crack of the whip and not merely to be compared to Chris Wilder, in the same way fans have been comparing Ramsdale to Henderson. It's not fair.

For me, I want to see that there's investment in the future of the club and see that there's a long-term plan in place which makes sense. I want to see an actual real youth pathway and the willingness to look further afield for players.

 

[Hockey'sBeard]

The next 10 games and probably next season is likely to be rough. It was always going to be in one way or another.

Some fans want a Sheffield owner who is going to invest tens of millions of his own money into the club every year, a manager and captain who are both Blades and who are both at the top of their respective games. We've been lucky to have two of those but it's increasingly unusual in modern football.

Money is going to be tight next season. Not only because of relegation and all the financial burdens that comes from losing a huge amount of TV money but also the impact COVID and Brexit will have on club finances.

We're £40-60 million down on what was budgeted for due to COVID. Something has to give.

I suspect a few players will be sold. Berge seems obvious and also hinted at. I suspect a couple more might go as well. We will have a high wage bill for the Championship and we can either do a Wednesday and ignore FFP and try and buy our way back or cut our cloth accordingly. We're going to struggle to sell the poorer players due to this. But also there will be little money being spent across leagues given every club and every owner has taken a massive financial hit.

Whoever our new manager is will have a heck of a task. We have aging players who will likely be in their last season. We have players coming to the last year of their contract who we need to make a decision on. We have a system which has been ingrained in our teams from youth upwards for the last 5 years. If the manager is going to change that it is not going to be easy. It will take time and involve moving players in and out.

We have a training ground in desperate need of modernisation. An Academy team which is behind many of our peers in terms of maturity.

We have an owner who has a limited amount of money. Who appears to be trying to modernise the recruitment practices of the club and build a footballing network with the intention of running all clubs more effectively and efficiently.

There's no way we'll be able to invest in the first team, invest in the training and Academy facilities, build a European scouting system and keep all our best players.

It's going to be a rough ride but I think we need to try and be patient (I realise this is alien to football fans) whilst all this goes on. Whoever is the new manager deserves a fair crack of the whip and not merely to be compared to Chris Wilder, in the same way fans have been comparing Ramsdale to Henderson. It's not fair.

For me, I want to see that there's investment in the future of the club and see that there's a long-term plan in place which makes sense. I want to see an actual real youth pathway and the willingness to look further afield for players.

 

[bertieblade]

Good post, must however point out that most if not all of our player contracts had relegation clauses in them. This I believe reduced them by 50% and subsequently possibly places us in the top six of the championship but by no means unmanageable especially with parachute payments.
We do however have some players who will want to revert to previous levels of pay and may subsequently seek a move.

 

[Hockey'sBeard]

Good sensible argument- I think we just need to see the progress- I look at our ex youth team academy players in the premier league that we lost due to our years in league 1 and if we could see more of that coming through it would be great

 

[Davalon]

Players wages will reduce and tbh next season is our very best chance to get back up.

Championship clubs have been hit harder by Covid as they don't have the PL money.

It's all relative to spend but with our wage bill reducing, if we're pleading poverty next season then the coming years look very bleak.

I'm by no means suggesting we go for broke but next season is likely to be our best opportunity.

Selling one or two key players may well be needed and understandable, especially if the funds are used to strengthen where needed.

Getting rid of a number of our better players is more likely to lead to mediocrity imho.

 

[JPSharpy93]

I can see a couple being sold to Premier League clubs maybe Egan and Berge but can’t imagine a massive overhaul

 

[robbiez666]

Good post, must however point out that most if not all of our player contracts had relegation clauses in them. This I believe reduced them by 50% and subsequently possibly places us in the top six of the championship but by no means unmanageable especially with parachute payments.
We do however have some players who will want to revert to previous levels of pay and may subsequently seek a move.

I've seen this 50% reduction banded around but as far as I was aware wages normally only go down by a smaller percentage (10-20%) It sounds like madness but would explain why PL players get £50k pw if so. It's no wonder players won't sign for us if that is the case.