Sheffield United have chosen profit over fans with a season of record-breakingly bad football

[Rodley]

Some decent points in that article but also shows ignorance. We're getting the same criticism that Norwich got from some quarters.

The attitude seems to be that we should blow everything gained from reaching the PL.

No doubt the same people would criticise the owner and club when financial ruin ensues.

But Norwich used the funds to build a new training ground. If we were sold our season tickets on the basis of something similar or upgrading Shirecliffe to Cat1 you’d probably have got behind it.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Add them into the head scratchers along with…C) How do “good intentions” equate to trying to flog us to the two last interested parties?

Football isn’t sustainable. You can probably be sustainable in League 2, but that wouldn’t be fun. It requires heavy subsidy from whomever owns you.

For all the pious nonsense about the “reset”, clutching our P&Ls as a comfort blanket as we get annihilated every week, we’ll still be looking into the abyss next year only this time with half a squad.

After relegation
Y1 - £55m PP's + £9m Commercial revenue (taken from 21/22 accounts) + player sales (£20m?) = £84m
Y2 - £45m PP's + £9m + Player sales (£5m?) = £59m
Y3 - Avg £8m + £9m + Player sales (£5m?) = £22m

If we don't go back up, that's the budget

 

[Pedro's Winger]

But Norwich used the funds to build a new training ground. If we were sold our season tickets on the basis of something similar or upgrading Shirecliffe to Cat1 you’d probably have got behind it.

Pretty criminal that we've had three out of the last five years in the Prem and spent virtually nothing on infrastructure.

 

[Richeee]

This Premier league is fast becoming a closed shop by stealth. Some years ago was it the Bolton chairman who was advocating no relegation? Well if your club is owned by a billionaire or a country your pretty much guaranteed Premier league football. Some clubs do break the glass ceiling Nottm forest had to spend 160 million to try and compete. Like it says in the article what's the point of coming back up again for more of the same.

 

[s20Blade]

It’s not about profit it’s paying off the massive investment on players and players salaries by CW which resulted in relegation and subsequent losses
Last year we couldn’t even pay bills and existing transfer fees owed to other clubs
The gamble failed unfortunately
The income this year is in part getting the club back on a sounder sustainable financial basis for the next few years

I really don't see how we are still struggling from the mistakes from wilder. We sold Ramsdale for a profit and illiman cost us nothing, lost abit on Berge and Mcburnie has turned out to be half useful. Mousett got us 10m worth of goals let's be honest, Robinson turned into Burke that turned out to be a complete waste so did brewster apart from Bogle and Lowe which could still turn out okay it wasn't really that bad IMO.

 

[tyke1889]

Can someone post the article it seems to be behind a paywall.

archive.is is your friend

 

[Bladesince59]

Don't want to play in the PL ever again thanks.

 

[sheff_blade90]

im no ITK far from it. but it should be Sheffield United have chosen survival over fans with a season of record-breakingly bad football

because the bits ive heard though journalists, bettis & hecky all year. we were finalincally screwed, beyond our worst case. we were all optimistic that it wasnt that bad. but it wouldnt surprise me if all that PL money had to be used on debt. because weve only spent what weve brought in & hecky has said this many times. that it was vital for health of the club. we wouldve been pompey 2009 with a firesale & probally osula & marsh upfront

 

[Pennblade]

The terrible injury list is going to continue in the championship if we keep Hecky as manager though. I think that what's frustrating most people. We will still be sat here next season like:
"oh when is Lowe playing, Hecky says he is back on the grass after picking up a broken arm lifting up a kebab"
"maybe the kung-fu/MMA training session was a bad idea after our 2 best players got broken legs - still Ozzy can play CB at a push"
It's really difficult to see us being competitive next year without huge changes.
The pre season this year was also really really bad.
We finished last year on a high being promoted, Hecky came out with some really good soundbites, about working really hard to make the next season a success - but then the reality was a really poor pre-season. Leaving aside the player sales which allegedly we couldnt control, in terms of the bits we could control, the pre-season friendlies didnt seem that well organised, we ended up with no team selection continuity, new players were bought in super late, the new players were all massively overweight/unfit when signed and we basically threw away the first few games of the season and the manager even then played games with the fans/owner by not picking any of the new signings and doing his usual pathetic tactical set up of a back 5/7.
Hudson has really messed up our defensive set up too.
To my mind we look a total mess on the football side of things, that will continue in the championship, and the only thing that can sort it is a new manager.

In all honesty I think you're missing a very big point. Under the current ownership we've had two saesons in the Premiership and now into our third. We have also had two Championship seasons with parachute payments. We don't make big signings and we don't pay big wages, So why were we in such a financial mess last season? It's this financial mess that is the root of many of our problems. The manager was allocated just £20m for new signings for a squad that was in significant need of reshaping to be competitive in the EPL. Then at the last minute two of his better players were sold. It's true the proceeds were made available but at the last minute. Much of the proceeds were spent on Archer, leaving relatively little to add to the £20m which now had to also stretch to pay for a replacement for Berge. This left the manager scrabbling around in the bargain basement just to make up the numbers. Ask yourself, how come Bournemouth were snapped up for arounf £115m with a small ground and a small following but no-one wants to buy SUFC?

 

[SwissBlade]

This is a good read and there are some uncomfortable truths in here, particularly in regards to the fact that no regard has been given to the fans when it coms to this so-called 'strategy' of ours.

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/...ord-breaking-bad-football-2721612?ITO=newsnow

I'm pretty happy with the approach to be fair. We needed a massive investment in the Squad to compete and we just don't have it, so build thing's slowly whilst waiting for a buyer.

 

[adiosmiamigo]

Don't want to play in the PL ever again thanks.

I think you may well get your wish.

 

[Harrisblade]

Profit is one word to use. Sustainability is another. It's not even twelve months ago where it turned out it was promotion or we're probably fucked, so I don't think it's necessarily fair to report like this has been. Where we have spent, it's been on for all intents and purposes a loan (Archer), getting younger at positions where we needed to get younger, but would probably take time to get up to PL speed (Traore, Trusty, Souza, Slimane), and an effective like for like swap which spends no money but improves the contract situation and arguably improves the side (Hamer for Berge). All these seem to me to be somewhat joined up to try and leave us in a stronger position if (now when) we did return to the Championship than when we left it.

Where the criticism can be laid, however, is the complete underestimation of how much of a lynchpin Ndiaye was, and that he shouldn't have been sold for anything apart from silly money (and what we got for him, by whatever report you want to read, is nowhere near that). This was said at the time by myself and others and isn't hindsight after one point in ten games. Dropping from having a creative option to having no creative options was a completely foreseeable consequence, and it's no surprise that the team has looked a lot worse as a result

Very briefly - don't you think Hamer was supposed to be the creative option?
And how effective a lynchpin would Ndiaye have really been if we'd turned down his (supposed) dream move?
Even with that he's hardly tearing up any trees in Ligue 1, so maybe PL would have been too much as well .

 

[jt64]

Very briefly - don't you think Hamer was supposed to be the creative option?
And how effective a lynchpin would Ndiaye have really been if we'd turned down his (supposed) dream move?

If he's remotely a professional, which I believe him to be, he would remain effective. The perception that most footballers will throw their toys out of the pram at a moment's notice is, in my eyes, bollocks. And no, I don't think Hamer was supposed to be a creative option - he can do some things, but his best position is not primarily in the final third. He's not a forward and doesn't pretend to be

 

[Houston_Blade]

So why were we in such a financial mess last season?

This has been done to death, however the short version is that we signed players in the first and second PL seasons that we had to pay for over the following seasons, plus the players (both new signings and existing players) needed wages to turn up to work.

The bit that didn’t help was that most of these players (Ramsdale aside) were poor investment decisions and we ended up offloading them on the cheap and/or letting them run their contracts down.

 

[petcharlie]

we wont be ready for the prem till we can afford 90m a year in wages ,,, sad but true

True it is a handful of clubs paying idiotic fees for average players that prohibit the other 80 clubs from ever having a chance breaking into an established prem league unless they do a Newcastle .

 

[Carlton Blade]

Pretty criminal that we've had three out of the last five years in the Prem and spent virtually nothing on infrastructure.

We spent the money we had on players instead. As has been shown by those more financially literate than myself, we have spent everything we have been given. Unfortunately, we spent about £100m and got £25m back. That £75m is the hole in the finances and it may well have been used for infrastructure

 

[Pedro's Winger]

True it is a handful of clubs paying idiotic fees for average players that prohibit the other 80 clubs from ever having a chance breaking into an established prem league unless they do a Newcastle .

Off the top, Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford currently and wouldn't be surprised if Ipswich do OK if they get up this season.
None of them have done a Newcastle.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

We spent the money we had on players instead. As has been shown by those more financially literate than myself, we have spent everything we have been given. Unfortunately, we spent about £100m and got £25m back. That £75m is the hole in the finances and it may well have been used for infrastructure

We'll have had nearly £500m from the three years in the Prem. Even with heavy spend on players it's remarkable we didn't earmark several million for the academy.

 

[Carlton Blade]

We'll have had nearly £500m from the three years in the Prem. Even with heavy spend on players it's remarkable we didn't earmark several million for the academy.

That sounds like a huge number. But it's almost all eaten up by running costs and transfer fees

 

[Balham]

Ask yourself, how come Bournemouth were snapped up for arounf £115m with a small ground and a small following but no-one wants to buy SUFC?

Because it's abundantly clear that the asking price for United is far higher than £115m and it's putting people off.

We'll have had nearly £500m from the three years in the Prem. Even with heavy spend on players it's remarkable we didn't earmark several million for the academy.

Nowhere near £500m. The PL figure is closer to £400m (£132m 19/20*; £126m 20/21*, assume £130m this season) and we'll have incurred running costs of £375m in that time.

*Both restated to 12 months

 

[Sean Thornton]

Pretty criminal that we've had three out of the last five years in the Prem and spent virtually nothing on infrastructure.

Other than buying properties off McCabe and upgrading pitches at Shirecliffe.

 

[Sean Thornton]

That sounds like a huge number. But it's almost all eaten up by running costs and transfer fees

Even if it’s exaggerated.

 

[adiosmiamigo]

Because it's abundantly clear that the asking price for United is far higher than £115m and it's putting people off.


Nowhere near £500m. The PL figure is closer to £400m (£132m 19/20; £126m 20/21, assume £130m this season) and we'll have incurred running costs of £375m in that time.

Also they wouldn't be getting V.F.M.

 

[jt64]

Nowhere near £500m

Perhaps Pedro is also factoring in the parachute payments, but only they'll know that

 

[Pintor75]

It’s not about profit it’s paying off the massive investment on players and players salaries by CW which resulted in relegation and subsequent losses
Last year we couldn’t even pay bills and existing transfer fees owed to other clubs
The gamble failed unfortunately
The income this year is in part getting the club back on a sounder sustainable financial basis for the next few years

Exactly, he shafted us with wild punts on players in a desperate bid to survive, even getting PA to take a loan out on our parachute payments for last season, we won't get half the tranfers fees back if we sold these players now. Wilder thought "I'll go and ask for more, the prince will give, if not the fans will back me to the hilt", it didn't happen and he left with his tail between his legs, and some want him back!

 

[Pedro's Winger]

Because it's abundantly clear that the asking price for United is far higher than £115m and it's putting people off.


Nowhere near £500m. The PL figure is closer to £400m (£132m 19/20*; £126m 20/21*, assume £130m this season) and we'll have incurred running costs of £375m in that time.

*Both restated to 12 months

Meant in total, including attendance and sponsorship monies.

 

[petcharlie]

Off the top, Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford currently and wouldn't be surprised if Ipswich do OK if they get up this season.
None of them have done a Newcastle.

The three you mention have very rich owners and Brentford have for years been run unlike us by people who know what they are doing .They have made loads of money selling players at huge profits but at the same time having a superb youth set up also scouting system second to none which allows them to be a selling club but always having a better player to fill the gap . Can not see Ipswich making an impact like the other three mainly because the three are established in the prem ,having said that Bournemouth are starting to wobble . Brentford are the ideal role model for small clubs but the type of owners they have are few and far between ,rich and they know what they are doing ,not many like that .

 

[Carlton Blade]

Meant in total, including attendance and sponsorship monies.

PL commercial income for United, including sponsorship and tickets is about £20m

 

[Pedro's Winger]

PL commercial income for United, including sponsorship and tickets is about £20m

Aye, so close to £500m in total. The argument would still stand if it were £400m - it's about being smarter with money and management.

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Also I've found quickly pressing the browser's reader view does the trick. Takes the article away from the website.

or stick the URL into archive.today which gets around most paywalls