Redefining Success

[Bladeulike]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

 

[AnglesWithDirtyFaces]

A good post Bladeulike, it is nice having that optimistic feeling again. I have going to watch Utd since 71. So I have experienced many the same things watching the Blades as yourself.

It is nice being competitive and winning more games than we loose, but for me the aim is still to get promotion to the top flight.

How it felt in that first season back up when we finished nineth, I would love to have that every year, pushing for a place in Europe.

Last season was heart breaking getting beaten week after week, hopefully that experience will only make us stronger now and in the future.

UTB

 

[Nick Jansky]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

I live in hope of a European Super League which will start the process of returning the English game to what it was. Less money but more honest & competitive.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Good post and many will tend to agree

But I think that’s because last season was such an unpredented disaster, a total embarrassment beyond anything we’re experienced before.

I’ve been a season ticket holder for years but missed 6 matches lasts season. Incredibly it felt a real chore to go, there was no excitement because I knew we’d lost before the match started. What made it worse, is that under Wilder we tended to start the first 20 minutes really well, looked a decent team but inevitably we’d concede from their first shot the know heads would drop and the match was over.

Let’s be honest, it’s no surprise we received ridicule and disrespect by pundits and opposition fans on social media. We were a disagrace to the league.

If we went up and competed we’d start receive positive feedback again like in the season we challenged for a European spot.

The bottom line is we want our club to develop and grow then as all the money is in the PL that’s where we need to be. We should have new owners so hopefully we’d be better prepared next time.

 

[gordoncharles]

I didn't hear too many complaints in 2019 when we were actually being competitive for a while in the Premier League. This hatred of all things EPL comes from our abysmal planning and execution the last two seasons we've been in it.

Why can this club not aspire to get itself promoted AND be competitive at the top level again?

 

[Bladeulike]

A good post Bladeulike, it is nice having that optimistic feeling again. I have going to watch Utd since 71. So I have experienced many the same things watching the Blades as yourself.

It is nice being competitive and winning more games than we loose, but for me the aim is still to get promotion to the top flight.

How it felt in that first season back up when we finished nineth, I would love to have that every year, pushing for a place in Europe.

Last season was heart breaking getting beaten week after week, hopefully that experience will only make us stronger now and in the future.

UTB

I agree that finishing ninth was a great feeling and achievement. I think the speed of change in the Prem is such that we would not be able to achieve those heights again without serious petro-dollar driven sponsorship. I’m honestly not sure I would want that. Maybe it’s my age - sometimes it’s ok to be ‘good enough’ if the cost of becoming elite is selling the soul and character of the club I’ve grown up with for over 60 years

 

[Sheffsteel]

I live in hope of a European Super League which will start the process of returning the English game to what it was. Less money but more honest & competitive.

Hope the new owners don’t see your post.

Their incentive for buying our club and funding players like O’Hare, Hamer etc is to return to the PL in its current form as that’s where the money is.

The EPL is easily the richest most watched league in the world with predictions it’s going to become richer. So there’s no way any clubs are leaving, what they plan to do is play in the PL and also play in a euro super league at the same time.

 

[SwissBlade]

I didn't hear too many complaints in 2019 when we were actually being competitive for a while in the Premier League. This hatred of all things EPL comes from our abysmal planning and execution the last two seasons we've been in it.

Why can this club not aspire to get itself promoted AND be competitive at the top level again?

The complaints were there, but on a lower level. The changes made since 2019 - which Wilder opposed Klopp on back then such as additional subs on the bench and additional subs coming on have made the competition less competitive.

It’s not only our club feeling this and with the added time, clubs are getting far more injuries. VAR, again makes the game slower and less competitive.

We now need a squad capable of playing longer games in higher intensity for 100-110 mins

 

[71Blade]

I didn't hear too many complaints in 2019 when we were actually being competitive for a while in the Premier League. This hatred of all things EPL comes from our abysmal planning and execution the last two seasons we've been in it.

Why can this club not aspire to get itself promoted AND be competitive at the top level again?

That season was a lightbulb moment for the club we should have kicked on looked to establish ourselves in the Premier League like a Palace or Brentford have. Appreciate the pandemic and the JOC injury and the Wilder strop but that should have been out time.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I agree that finishing ninth was a great feeling and achievement. I think the speed of change in the Prem is such that we would not be able to achieve those heights again without serious petro-dollar driven sponsorship. I’m honestly not sure I would want that. Maybe it’s my age - sometimes it’s ok to be ‘good enough’ if the cost of becoming elite is selling the soul and character of the club I’ve grown up with for over 60 years

The main change that everyone underestimated was the 5 subs from 7 rule and the adding on 10 minutes extra time for time wasting .

This meant the 1st 11 wasn’t as important as in the last. Having a bench of 7 top quality players gave teams a massive advantage and this costs that much money, it was the PL’s attempt to turn it into a closed shop.

What you’re kind of saying is that we shouldn’t be ambitious, we should forget trying to buy expensive talented players but this would lead to dwindling crowds and we’d end up in league 1 and 2 playing real clubs like Bradford, Stockport and Oldham.

 

[Need4speed]

The fault lies in the structure of English football. The Premier League are not part of the football league and the F.A. are ineffectually in governing the overall game. The clubs in the Premier League run the Premier League and amend the rules to make it almost impossible for most clubs to finish in the top six. I have no sympathy for Newcastle, given the morality of their owners but the other clubs are putting financial constraints in their way to reduce their effective competition, whilst at the same time letting Chelsea bend the rules selling property assets to other parts of the same organisation. We were rightly penalised for failing to honour payments for transfers but note how quickly that was dealt with compared to the charges against Man City. Many of which UFEA have already found them guilty of but were unable to penalise them for due to bringing them too late.

 

[Jan Age]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

Excellent post and one that a growing number of people are stating to agree with.

Unfortunately our leagues have started to slowly cease to be a competitive sport and that is solely down to the money being pumped in to to the top 7 clubs.

We have a top flight league where rules are voted through by the teams that take part in that competition?

We have a football pyramid where the top is run but a different governing body and a different set of rules?

 

[loyalblade95]

The main change that everyone underestimated was the 5 subs from 7 rule and the adding on 10 minutes extra time for time wasting .

This meant the 1st 11 wasn’t as important as in the last. Having a bench of 7 top quality players gave teams a massive advantage and this costs that much money, it was the PL’s attempt to turn it into a closed shop.

What you’re kind of saying is that we shouldn’t be ambitious, we should forget trying to buy expensive talented players but this would lead to dwindling crowds and we’d end up in league 1 and 2 playing real clubs like Bradford, Stockport and Oldham.

It's when you realise that if you don't substitute your Keeper (which doesn't happen that often), the opportunity to make five substitutions is allowing you to change half of your outfield players every game.

 

[Snowflake]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

Isn’t there a bit of you that wants to go up and compete in the PL to put those who were disrespectful in their right place ?

 

[Loco Blade]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

Could not have put it better myself

 

[Bladeulike]

The fault lies in the structure of English football. The Premier League are not part of the football league and the F.A. are ineffectually in governing the overall game. The clubs in the Premier League run the Premier League and amend the rules to make it almost impossible for most clubs to finish in the top six. I have no sympathy for Newcastle, given the morality of their owners but the other clubs are putting financial constraints in their way to reduce their effective competition, whilst at the same time letting Chelsea bend the rules selling property assets to other parts of the same organisation. We were rightly penalised for failing to honour payments for transfers but note how quickly that was dealt with compared to the charges against Man City. Many of which UFEA have already found them guilty of but were unable to penalise them for due to bringing them too late.

Completely agree with this. I understand other posters saying that we ‘weren’t complaining when we finished ninth’ but that was 5 years ago. The alarming spiralling of the EPL into an elitist mega-rich gentlemen’s club is accelerating. Our performances can change and certainly improve from the abysmal mess of last season but the EPL will still be rotten to the core and increasingly so if left in the hands of those who act solely in pursuit in their own best interests

 

[Groucho Blade]

The complaints were there, but on a lower level. The changes made since 2019 - which Wilder opposed Klopp on back then such as additional subs on the bench and additional subs coming on have made the competition less competitive.

It’s not only our club feeling this and with the added time, clubs are getting far more injuries. VAR, again makes the game slower and less competitive.

We now need a squad capable of playing longer games in higher intensity for 100-110 mins

You definitely need a full squad of 25 first teamers to compete in the PL now. No squad fillers, no ‘might-be-able-to-do-a-job’ bench warmers.
And it’s important to be ready to use all five subs in most games…keep it fresh, keep the pressure on, keep em working hard, keep the opposition honest/guessing.
We found out to our great cost last season, just how much the PL keeps moving…IF/when we get back there we’ve got to be stronger, fitter, more fluid and more flexible just to be able to keep up.
And we have to try to win games. We can’t just defend and hope to nick one on the break. That way lies disaster.

 

[bornablade]

Let's get promoted and then take on the Premier league in our own way. Let's upset the big boys making sure we have players who make it very difficult to beat.

I am sure the Premier league would be horrified with a style of football that would upset their world wide audience. We got absolutely turned over big style last season let's make sure it doesn't happen again.

We'll get criticised but so what. Let's take it on in a real Harry Bassett way. (Peck would be the first player on the team sheet under Harry).

I thought we could do it under Wilder but he got a bit soft when he went all gooey eyed when Mourinho wished him all the best after the Chelsea home game.

 

[SwissBlade]

You definitely need a full squad of 25 first teamers to compete in the PL now. No squad fillers, no ‘might-be-able-to-do-a-job’ bench warmers.
And it’s important to be ready to use all five subs in most games…keep it fresh, keep the pressure on, keep em working hard, keep the opposition honest/guessing.
We found out to our great cost last season, just how much the PL keeps moving…IF/when we get back there we’ve got to be stronger, fitter, more fluid and more flexible just to be able to keep up.
And we have to try to win games. We can’t just defend and hope to nick one on the break. That way lies disaster.

That was the big thing last season, fatigued first team and nobody to come in or players out long term and the weaker squad players unable to keep up

The issue we have is that we can’t afford to buy many of the more technical players which our opposition had, so we would traditionally match or better them for fitness - high press and intense game. But that was nullified wit the changes to subs and additional time

So you’re absolutely right, that 25 man squad is no longer a first team and subs, its starters and finishers. It’s a mindset and financial change.

 

[The Fox]

We can be so hypocritical. We call league 1 the pub league somehow below us . We call the EPL elitest and corrupt because we weren't good enough.
I don't remember standing on a muddy bank at Rochdale in Div 4 thinking this is proper football and has a soul . It was crap .
I didn't think that in beating PL teams meant I'd lost my roots and joined some bunch of PL wankers.

Like many I've done the hard yards and would love to see us competing at the top level , not for the money or to be praised on MOTD , just because it's my team and like any other fan from Rochdale to Real Madrid we like success.

 

[Ace of Blades]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

My feelings exactly.

 

[Enigmatic]

I understand where you're coming from, OP. But as painful as last season was, and 20/21 was before it, we have the potential as a football club to far exceed those levels.

Our top-half performance in 19/20 gave us a taste of this, but there's no reason we can't achieve that and more on a consistent basis providing we have the right financial backing and sound management on and off the pitch. I think most would rather see the Blades as an established Premier League club, able to regularly challenge for domestic cups and with the odd European flirt, rather than a top-end Championship club. Getting there requires patience from all parties - footballing staff, senior management, board, and supporters. There would be further ups and downs. But as a club, we should aspire to those levels.

Looking at the big picture and comparing it to where we were as a club 10 years ago, I truly believe we are already making progress towards that future. We have steadily improved our infrastructure portfolio and have plans in motion to further improve our first team training and youth facilities. Yes, we're in a position now where we need a bit more financial support to break through the next glass ceiling - but hopefully the new owners can provide this.

In the meantime, I'm just looking forward to watching what I expect will be a very entertaining season. Only 2 games in, but I haven't felt this optimistic about and engaged with a Blades team since CW's first stint.

Onwards and upwards!

 

[Need4speed]

It is ironic that we have the makings of a competitive championship squad, having spent relatively nothing by comparison to Premiership standards. The media will continue to promote the myth that promotion to the Premier League is akin to winning a pot of gold. But it isn't It costs more just to try and avoid relegation than is generated from the extra TV revenue. It is time the Football League started to represent the interest of the majority of their members To start with abandon the ridiculous academy grading that lets Premiership clubs poach talented youngsters and secondly majorly reduce the number of loan players a club can field from the Premiership.

 

[gordoncharles]

The complaints were there, but on a lower level. The changes made since 2019 - which Wilder opposed Klopp on back then such as additional subs on the bench and additional subs coming on have made the competition less competitive.

It’s not only our club feeling this and with the added time, clubs are getting far more injuries. VAR, again makes the game slower and less competitive.

We now need a squad capable of playing longer games in higher intensity for 100-110 mins

I don't seriously believe we'll ever be competitive enough to challenge Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City, but we should at least be able to aspire to give anyone below the top 6 a game - and occasionally take points off the perennial European challengers too.

But we seem to have a lot of people - and not just us - who would rather win most weeks than attempt to be one of the best dozen teams in the country.

 

[Alex Cheeseright]

Premier league clubs at the top end have at least these 4 things. Financial backing in the billions, some of the best coaches in the world, excellent recruiting teams and world wide fanbases. This has all taken time. We have none of those things to compete against the top 6 or 7 or whatever. So, to compete up in that glorified air, we may have to be a yoyo club for a few seasons, maybe a Premier League struggler for a few seasons, continue to add to the "Blades Empire" each season. Success is not an overnight prize anymore like the old days of Wimbledon and Swansea, ask you dad. But what about Ipswich you say. They have risen but are hardly going to set the Prem alight. We are in a competitive business, yes business, and we can only hope we get the right leaders to make the club as successful as possible on the pitch, where Success is really judged.
P.S. Good OP.

 

[JJBlade]

I don't seriously believe we'll ever be competitive enough to challenge Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City, but we should at least be able to aspire to give anyone below the top 6 a game - and occasionally take points off the perennial European challengers too.

But we seem to have a lot of people - and not just us - who would rather win most weeks than attempt to be one of the best dozen teams in the country.

Being amongst the best in this country is only for the likes of those giants of the game like Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Fulham etc.

We had our chance in the 60's and early 70's to make our mark. We had everything, the teams, the stadium size and the fanbase size.
In those days these were the only things that mattered before commercialisation took hold of the game. If we'd done things properly then who knows where we could have been.

Mind you another twenty clubs could say the same.

 

[Bladeulike]

We can be so hypocritical. We call league 1 the pub league somehow below us . We call the EPL elitest and corrupt because we weren't good enough.
I don't remember standing on a muddy bank at Rochdale in Div 4 thinking this is proper football and has a soul . It was crap .
I didn't think that in beating PL teams meant I'd lost my roots and joined some bunch of PL wankers.

Like many I've done the hard yards and would love to see us competing at the top level , not for the money or to be praised on MOTD , just because it's my team and like any other fan from Rochdale to Real Madrid we like success.

I respect your viewpoint but I don’t agree with the charge of hypocrisy. Personally I have never referred to League 1 as a ‘pub league’ because that would make me a tw@t! That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t strive to get out of it to achieve a better standard of football. I acknowledge that many would use that term so your point stands. However, I don’t think my view of the EPL being elitist and corrupt is based on us not being good enough and I didn’t think that when we went down in our season after finishing ninth. We were relegated because we deserved it as is always the case (well perhaps the Tevez debacle may be a notable exception). The elitist and corrupt viewpoint is based on the increasingly self governing, self seeking nature of the direction of travel of the EPL that could care less about the clubs in lower divisions in pyramid on which it sits. I will not say, for a second, that standing on the God forsaken terraces of Rochdale I was thinking ‘this has got soul’! But I did think we are where we deserved to be and didn’t for a second blame the Football League for our demise.

I agree we all want success, my point is I’m just not sure what success looks like at the moment and it may need redefining. It used to be so simple. I may be overthinking this!

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Great transfer window and, for the first time in over a year, a feeling of optimism about the Blades. I’m looking forward to the season, to watching some exciting newly acquired talent and to competing on a much more even basis against decent sides at some ‘proper grounds’. I’m actually really enjoying football again. However, as much I’m enjoying it, it’s a strange feeling because in over sixty years of watching the Blades, the notion of ‘success’ has always been very simple. Win games, avoid relegation, get as high up the league as possible and the ultimate prize at the end of the season was to gain a blissful promotion. For me, that definition of success has now, for the first time ever, fundamentally changed.

Do I want us to gain promotion? 100% yes because it would mean my team has proved itself to be the best over a season against fierce competition. Do I want play in the Premiership? Categorically ‘no’. I hated the EPL with a passion. Not just because of the dismal performances by the Blades - I’ve been around long enough to understand that bad periods come and go (I’m a veteran of standing watching us from the terraces of Hartlepool and Darlington et al). I hated the all pervasive, toxic culture of the EPL. A league that hasn’t just forgotten its roots but now has nothing but contempt for those that emerge from the lower divisions. I was sickened by the utter arrogance of so many of the other fans, the soulless stadiums, the insulting punditry of the expensively coiffured ex-players saying that we ‘stank the place out’ and the stark reality that, in what is effectively a turbo charged billionaires’ club, clubs like ours are beggars at the feast and dont have a pot to piss in. The truth is that, relatively speaking, we never will have the resources to compete with the elite clubs in the Prem and those clubs, aided and abetted by the powers that be, will continue to ensure that their snouts are the only ones allowed in the gold plated trough…and it’s getting worse each year. Jonathan Pie famously described Eton School as “…a kind of Hogwarts for wankers” and I’m drawing some parallels with wanting to become a member of the EPL community

My dilemma (and I will just have to live with this contradiction) is that I want to be top of the Championship but I genuinely don’t want to be in the Prem again. I want us to aspire to be ‘the best of the rest’ and that feels so much better than some half arsed aspiration of ‘becoming a Bournemouth’ and eking out our days in EPL mediocrity. Most of all I want to enjoy a good, competitive games with a talented squad, engage in some top banter with other like minded fans, feel some pride in my team and, of course, enjoy my bloody football again. I have missed it.

Simple answer.
Finish top. Last game players start a scrap, full pitch invasion, 10 point deduction. Another year of championship.

 

[SwissBlade]

I don't seriously believe we'll ever be competitive enough to challenge Liverpool, Arsenal or Manchester City, but we should at least be able to aspire to give anyone below the top 6 a game - and occasionally take points off the perennial European challengers too.

But we seem to have a lot of people - and not just us - who would rather win most weeks than attempt to be one of the best dozen teams in the country.

I think we’d all love to be in that world in the premier league in some ways, but I personally don’t enjoy the fans second approach which the premier league brings.

Lower prices, more sat 3pm and Tuesday 1945 games and I’m in… plus a mega backer to finish off the ground to a decent level (south stand and kop) and a top tier academy

 

[The Fox]

I respect your viewpoint but I don’t agree with the charge of hypocrisy. Personally I have never referred to League 1 as a ‘pub league’ because that would make me a tw@t! That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t strive to get out of it to achieve a better standard of football. I acknowledge that many would use that term so your point stands. However, I don’t think my view of the EPL being elitist and corrupt is based on us not being good enough and I didn’t think that when we went down in our season after finishing ninth. We were relegated because we deserved it as is always the case (well perhaps the Tevez debacle may be a notable exception). The elitist and corrupt viewpoint is based on the increasingly self governing, self seeking nature of the direction of travel of the EPL that could care less about the clubs in lower divisions in pyramid on which it sits. I will not say, for a second, that standing on the God forsaken terraces of Rochdale I was thinking ‘this has got soul’! But I did think we are where we deserved to be and didn’t for a second blame the Football League for our demise.

I agree we all want success, my point is I’m just not sure what success looks like at the moment and it may need redefining. It used to be so simple. I may be overthinking this!

Thanks for the well written response .
I was paraphrasing and taking comments from this board and general sentiment when regarding league 1 as a pub league and the EPL as being corrupt . It's a view and narrative often portrayed. I wasn't stating this was your particular opinion.
Success is relative to your peers , and your realistic ambition.
Clubs such as Bournemouth or Brentford show that it's possible to compete at that level ,as have the likes of Palace , Brighton and Wolves. So despite the direction of travel the EPL has and all it's flaws ,to me that has to be our ambition .

It'll not make much difference to me , I'll still be there as I was at Rochdale all those years ago .