Something's got to give

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ChuckyCheese

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31-year-old lifelong Blade here and admittedly I felt despondent/disillusioned before a ball was kicked this season due to our own business but also, predominantly, the workings and state of the top levels of British (and worldwide) football as a whole. I made a conscious decision to detach myself from it and honestly am glad I did. I've accompanied my dad and his friend to three home games this season - Newcastle, Liverpool and Luton - knowing it would likely prove a waste of money and time. Bar the pre-game revelry in the Cremorne and a ten-minute period during the Luton game, it mostly was. I still want to support my team but the outrageous gulf in quality, fuelled in large part by questionably accrued money, makes the whole exercise futile. It's a debilitating experience and, to me, a reflection of the grotesque corruption and inequality in our current society. That my own beloved club has been the one to demonstrate this fact so evidently this season - and never more so than in the first 15 minutes of last night's game (after which I opted to watch Silence of the Lambs instead) - was devastating but also inevitable. Something needs to change if I can stomach continuing to come back to it. This isn't the fault of the fans, nor the players. Nor the managers (in most cases). This rot has been allowed to set in over decades. It's shit and it has fucked this sport at its top level beyond recognition of the pure competitive experience and expression that it should be. In many cases anyway. And it's only getting worse. If you want to see the best players from all over the world play then you've got your wish. But with that comes an acceptance that this has come about largely by greed and unfair enterprise from the teams at the top of the pile and their owners. If, like me, you want to support Sheffield United Football Club because it's a generational privilege, it's getting increasingly harder.
 

ChuckyCheese said:
31-year-old lifelong Blade here and admittedly I felt despondent/disillusioned before a ball was kicked this season due to our own business but also, predominantly, the workings and state of the top levels of British (and worldwide) football as a whole. I made a conscious decision to detach myself from it and honestly am glad I did. I've accompanied my dad and his friend to three home games this season - Newcastle, Liverpool and Luton - knowing it would likely prove a waste of money and time. Bar the pre-game revelry in the Cremorne and a ten-minute period during the Luton game, it mostly was. I still want to support my team but the outrageous gulf in quality, fuelled in large part by questionably accrued money, makes the whole exercise futile. It's a debilitating experience and, to me, a reflection of the grotesque corruption and inequality in our current society. That my own beloved club has been the one to demonstrate this fact so evidently this season - and never more so than in the first 15 minutes of last night's game (after which I opted to watch Silence of the Lambs instead) - was devastating but also inevitable. Something needs to change if I can stomach continuing to come back to it. This isn't the fault of the fans, nor the players. Nor the managers (in most cases). This rot has been allowed to set in over decades. It's shit and it has fucked this sport at its top level beyond recognition of the pure competitive experience and expression that it should be. In many cases anyway. And it's only getting worse. If you want to see the best players from all over the world play then you've got your wish. But with that comes an acceptance that this has come about largely by greed and unfair enterprise from the teams at the top of the pile and their owners. If, like me, you want to support Sheffield United Football Club because it's a generational privilege, it's getting increasingly harder.
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I was against the top six or whoever is supposed to be the elite going there own way. Changed my mind now we can do without them . Football will be a better sport without them,.EFL is very competitive not like the prem which really looking at it logically is a closed shop .
 
finlaytheblade said:
I was against the top six or whoever is supposed to be the elite going there own way. Changed my mind now we can do without them . Football will be a better sport without them,.EFL is very competitive not like the prem which really looking at it logically is a closed shop .
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Agreed. Let the vanity project peddlers have their own game.
 
I’ve felt that way for a number of years and this season has just emphasised the fact.

What’s the point? The gap is only getting bigger, any chance of winning a cup is gone because the top clubs have reserves and under 23s far superior than the majority of the also fans’ first teams.

I hate to throw in the towel but it’s looking like the only option for me.
 
I've seen about 3 minutes of football this season, any football, and that 3 minutes has been seen accidentally if I called to someone's house and they were watching it.
 
If you’re only 31 someone will be along shortly to tell you that you’re not old enough to moan about United and that they’ve seen it worse when players had hobnail boots and they had to walk 60 miles in the snow to every game with 3 kids on their back.

You’ll probably get called ‘entitled’ as well.
 
I totally agree. However, when the talk of this ‘Super League’ was brought up in the media two or three years ago, it seemed to be it was the fans of the ‘top’ clubs who were dead against the idea and applied pressure by demonstrations that they didn’t want any part of it.
I'm now beginning to notice that these same fans are realising that the gap is now far greater and they believe they have outgrown the Prem league as it is today. They are getting board that each game they are thumping opposition teams and surely for them they are getting slightly board with it. They are searching for greater challengers and a new European league competition would offer them that.
i can see that within a very short time, this idea will come up again and this time they will jump at it.
When they do, that is the time we will begin to enjoy the beautiful game again as it used to be, where every team has a chance of winning something and we’ll all be better off for it. Just need to make sure though that there will be no returning for these clubs including cup competitions and personally I can’t wait for the day.
 
Football finance is fascinating.
Despite the horrors of this season, Sheffield United Football Club will probably be one of the few clubs to show a profit thanks to the Premier League money.
All the top PL clubs are “paying it forward” by sustaining losses supported by massive cash influx from either billionaire owners or Sovereign wealth funds.
The ROI for these people is global exposure and brand awareness which is considered a normal business expense.
The huge investment has allowed them to produce an exceptional product for worldwide consumption that keeps the revenues flowing.
Fact is, you need a billion dollar squad to take on the challenges of both domestic and European competitions but a billion dollars in book assets allows you to borrow and finance without too much worry and Premier League revenues continues to grow at 10% year so it’s still an attractive investment for the big money folk.
Even a well run club like Arsenal has lost money in the last five years. Their most recent accounts showed a £52m loss which sounds ridiculous in a normal world but is about half of a single “asset” on their books (Declan Rice).
 
Playing devil's advocate for a minute, critics will say that football is fine look at Luton went from National League to Premier League or look at Sheffield United went from third tier to Premier league. Forgot what it has done to relegated teams, but look at the shiny object and stop moaning.
 
Houston_Blade said:
If you’re only 31 someone will be along shortly to tell you that you’re not old enough to moan about United and that they’ve seen it worse when players had hobnail boots and they had to walk 60 miles in the snow to every game with 3 kids on their back.

You’ll probably get called ‘entitled’ as well.
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4 kids actually. 👀
 
But you see, everyone saying the top 6 should go their own way into a Super League as no one can compete with them is down to our own failings. When we last got promoted we gave a fantastic account of ourselves even against City and Liverpool and we enjoyed going to Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea to name a few and getting points off them. and we had wonderful games at the Lane during a memorable season.
Would you not want those day's back again and sticking it to the big boy's?
We are a million miles off that at the moment but we can't blame the big boy's because we are so dreadful.
Take it on the chin and try and get back to what we know we can be..
 
derfblade.3 said:
But you see, everyone saying the top 6 should go their own way into a Super League as no one can compete with them is down to our own failings. When we last got promoted we gave a fantastic account of ourselves even against City and Liverpool and we enjoyed going to Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea to name a few and getting points off them. and we had wonderful games at the Lane during a memorable season.
Would you not want those day's back again and sticking it to the big boy's?
We are a million miles off that at the moment but we can't blame the big boy's because we are so dreadful.
Take it on the chin and try and get back to what we know we can be..
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Mr Cholmmondly~Warner (or is it Hastings) says:

UNITED. Know your place!
 

Alex Cheeseright said:
Playing devil's advocate for a minute, critics will say that football is fine look at Luton went from National League to Premier League or look at Sheffield United went from third tier to Premier league. Forgot what it has done to relegated teams, but look at the shiny object and stop moaning.
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Exactly look at Reading, Portsmouth, Derby etc.
 
I think the start of the season summed it up.

Most of us knew going into the season it was unlikely we would get promoted but we lived with that small glimmer of hope that we could give a half decent account of ourselves.

The early games against city and tottenham let us believe we could compete but asking a football squad to keep doing that week in, week out is a very big ask.

Thats the beauty of the FA cup, the giant killing is for those who can turn up for a one off game and make magic, I saw on the BBC from last night that a national league side would have done better and I agree but they also aren't being expected to do it every week.

I am looking forward to next season being back in a league which allows teams to compete and those that perform well, move their way up the table.
 
What makes this season the worst for me, even if we were obviously worse in terms of quality in League One, is just the feeling of nothing.

At least in League One we were angry, now it’s just total apathy. It feels like the fight’s gone out the club from top to bottom.

I never thought I’d see people streaming out of Bramall Lane after 20 minutes. And the strangest thing is I can’t even blame them. What are they supposed to be getting behind?

Genuinely starting to lose interest in football for the first time in my life.
 
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