The Chris Wilder to a 'Big Club' Fallacy

[guancheblade]

If we take our Blades tinted spectacles off for a second, surely there is a club out there that could tempt the Messiah away.

I've noticed in previous interviews that CW may have a soft spot for Manchester United. If we ever get to a point where we start to plateau and the Man U job becomes available I could see him jumping at it. He wouldn't even have to relocate! After all, he's a proud man who I'm sure as well as leaving a strong legacy for Sheffield United, wants to leave behind as impressive legacy of his own in footballing history.

So I could easily see him chomping at the bit to lead a Manchester United team (that has faded in recent years) out at Old Trafford and back into the big time. He has the perfect CV for the task in hand. Either that or the England job.

 

[Yoonited]

‘Yeah, but can he do it at a big club?’
‘I don’t understand why Arsenal/Spurs/West Ham didn’t give him the job!’

Now we’re the current media darlings, I’ve started to notice these views popping up in some shape or form in a number of pundit and non-Blades supporter reviews of our season.

I think what pisses me off about this the most is it not only belittles our hard-earned status and what we’ve got going on right now, but it also suggests Chris Wilder sees United as a necessary stop on his inevitable career path to manage some bland London club or other who’ve won more trophies.

So to address those points - yes, he can do it at a big club. We are that big club, and we’re growing at a rate of knots cheers! We’ll be a bigger club - financially, in overall fanbase, worldwide status and player calibre - at the end of this season than before we started it. Imagine how big we’ll be given the current trajectory in five years’ time, especially if we do manage to snag a Champions League spot or five. Obviously we’ll never be MASSIVE, but we’ll be pretty big!

Secondly - let’s say those teams did ‘give him the job’, why would he take it? Given everything he’s built here already, the rewards he’s reaping, and barring International ambitions, isn’t he already in his dream job?

He's a childhood Blades fan, loves the city, surrounded by his friends and family, likes nipping down his local for a pint or five whenever we're not playing on a Saturday, has an established bus route for getting his haircut in Town, he's now a millionaire by all accounts, and he'll comfortably be a multi-millionaire by the time he retires. The ownership dispute is over and Prince is investing in players who've played Champions League football. We're currently pushing for Champions League football with a squad who've barely played above Championship level. What are we gonna be pushing for by the end of next season?

Why would he go to Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd even? What's the point? He doesn't need the money, he's building a legacy at the Lane, he has a chance to BURY Wednesday and their share of the available Sheffield fanbase for generations. We've got a cracking stadium already which can be expanded upon, and while the training facilities already seem good bar location, we’re apparently looking to develop those.

I guess I can see why some people who don’t ‘get us’ may think he'll have his head turned by one of their hallowed teams coming in for him, but think about this for a moment - would you? You're presented with a chance to continue the successful legacy of a club you don't support and have no connection to, versus the chance to write a historic new chapter at a club you've loved since you were a kid, and potentially leave a legacy beyond anything that’s gone before. You're literally standing at the precipice of this and decide to jack it in and start again somewhere else?

Regardless of how it works out for Sander Berge, signing him stuck a huge F-off marker in the ground to show where Wilder and the board see us being NOW and going forward. Plenty of pundits and other team’s supporters have again misread the signing as some strange anomaly. I think Sander and his people can just read the direction of travel far better than any of them.

Call me a soppy sod, but I’m struggling to spot another team in England right now who can match what’s happening at the Lane - be it authenticity, player commitment and character, connection with the fans, sporting values, feelgood factor, or sheer potential - and I reckon Wilder might be a soppy sod too!

Anyway, nice to get that off my chest - next rant will be the ‘they’ll struggle next season’ fallacy!

Chris has been heard saying he will not rest till every kid in town is wearing Red n White. Some challenge but as we all know he certainly loves one.
An incentive I imagine few of us have considered,me least of all. Makes alot of sense.

Source, a friends Son who has connections at BDTBL.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Chris has been heard saying he will not rest till every kid in town is wearing Red n White. Some challenge but as we all know he certainly loves one.
An incentive I imagine few of us have considered,me least of all. Makes alot of sense.

Source, a friends Son who has connections at BDTBL.

Does that mean some of us will have to make our kids/grandkids start wearing blue-and-White to stop him leaving?

 

[spongebobblade]

Wilder is and will always be held in the highest regard now, edging out Warnock and Bassett because he is one of us, playing a better brand of football that’s far more attractive and due to taking us to the next level but to leave your mark on a club like no other you have to do something that’s either never been done or hasn’t for sometime. European football is one but the man is a winner so if he could land a trophy in his time as our manager he is unlikely to be surpassed for generations. Us older supporters (I’m Wilders age) would just love to see us lift a major honour at some point and he’s the best hope we’ve ever had.

 

[wavy-blade]

Wilder to a big club ?? Surely he will never go to Wendy

 

[coaxingstar71]

Wilder goes to ‘big’ club, first day training brings all the superstars together... ‘Right you can get all your pots and all your pans and throw them all in the bin....’

 

[BladeByChoice]

Good point. If Lampard has a good couple of years then he ticks all the FAs boxes. CW has too much of Brian Clough about him for the FA to go for him.

Good post and I agree. As long as HRH backs him and gives him what he (reasonably) asks for then there is no reason for him to leave.

Whenever I think of CW and the England job I always think he wouldn’t be a good fit but could never put my finger on why. Your Brian Clough comment has nailed it.

 

[Charlieblade]

‘Yeah, but can he do it at a big club?’
‘I don’t understand why Arsenal/Spurs/West Ham didn’t give him the job!’

Now we’re the current media darlings, I’ve started to notice these views popping up in some shape or form in a number of pundit and non-Blades supporter reviews of our season.

I think what pisses me off about this the most is it not only belittles our hard-earned status and what we’ve got going on right now, but it also suggests Chris Wilder sees United as a necessary stop on his inevitable career path to manage some bland London club or other who’ve won more trophies.

So to address those points - yes, he can do it at a big club. We are that big club, and we’re growing at a rate of knots cheers! We’ll be a bigger club - financially, in overall fanbase, worldwide status and player calibre - at the end of this season than before we started it. Imagine how big we’ll be given the current trajectory in five years’ time, especially if we do manage to snag a Champions League spot or five. Obviously we’ll never be MASSIVE, but we’ll be pretty big!

Secondly - let’s say those teams did ‘give him the job’, why would he take it? Given everything he’s built here already, the rewards he’s reaping, and barring International ambitions, isn’t he already in his dream job?

He's a childhood Blades fan, loves the city, surrounded by his friends and family, likes nipping down his local for a pint or five whenever we're not playing on a Saturday, has an established bus route for getting his haircut in Town, he's now a millionaire by all accounts, and he'll comfortably be a multi-millionaire by the time he retires. The ownership dispute is over and Prince is investing in players who've played Champions League football. We're currently pushing for Champions League football with a squad who've barely played above Championship level. What are we gonna be pushing for by the end of next season?

Why would he go to Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd even? What's the point? He doesn't need the money, he's building a legacy at the Lane, he has a chance to BURY Wednesday and their share of the available Sheffield fanbase for generations. We've got a cracking stadium already which can be expanded upon, and while the training facilities already seem good bar location, we’re apparently looking to develop those.

I guess I can see why some people who don’t ‘get us’ may think he'll have his head turned by one of their hallowed teams coming in for him, but think about this for a moment - would you? You're presented with a chance to continue the successful legacy of a club you don't support and have no connection to, versus the chance to write a historic new chapter at a club you've loved since you were a kid, and potentially leave a legacy beyond anything that’s gone before. You're literally standing at the precipice of this and decide to jack it in and start again somewhere else?

Regardless of how it works out for Sander Berge, signing him stuck a huge F-off marker in the ground to show where Wilder and the board see us being NOW and going forward. Plenty of pundits and other team’s supporters have again misread the signing as some strange anomaly. I think Sander and his people can just read the direction of travel far better than any of them.

Call me a soppy sod, but I’m struggling to spot another team in England right now who can match what’s happening at the Lane - be it authenticity, player commitment and character, connection with the fans, sporting values, feelgood factor, or sheer potential - and I reckon Wilder might be a soppy sod too!

Anyway, nice to get that off my chest - next rant will be the ‘they’ll struggle next season’ fallacy!

We are in agreement, but I would add two points that I consider relevant.
1. Wilder is now in the position to influence the new contracts of the players he has recruited in the past. Lundstram being a prime example. Using the lad who underestimated Wilder and ended up making a quick journey to obscurity at Stoke, players like Lundstram, (same agent as Duffy apparently), Wilder is in a stronger position to sort Lundstram out, simply by reminding him who picks the team. Even playing Berge out of position to prove the point. More to come on contract renewals.
2. Wilder is at a club that grants him more autonomy, and the final say on all player related matters. He also has a finger in every other part of the club, driving the entire decision making process on footballing matters totally.

It begs the question, which of the so called top clubs would even consider giving him that kind of autonomy and authority?
He is trusted by the owner, chairman, board and his playing staff to make the right decisions, and dictate the way forward. He is trusted because he spends the clubs money like it was his own.
I can think of no other place in world football where he would enjoy such ultimate authority. Every other club he might consider has a director of football, or a chairman, dictating player recruitment.
Wilder is staying at Bramall Lane until he retires.

 

[Kanye]

Why would he go to Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd even? What's the point? He doesn't need the money, he's building a legacy at the Lane, he has a chance to BURY Wednesday and their share of the available Sheffield fanbase for generations. We've got a cracking stadium already which can be expanded upon, and while the training facilities already seem good bar location, we’re apparently looking to develop those.

Wilders ambition is to leave a legacy at Bramall Lane. I don’t think he’ll ever see his job here as complete until he retires all together.

Wilder will only leave the lane if the club

Wilders ambition is to be the Bill Shankley of SUFC.

He will be here another 10 years at least.

Not wishing to piss on anyone's bonfire, nor am I saying that Wilder will be leaving soon, but I worry that these kind of comments set you all up for a fall. It's nice to think that Wilder will be here forever, but it's not realistic.

Wilder will leave for the very same reason he's such a success: he's driven and ambitious.

We're not a tiny club, and I dont think we've reached our ceiling, however, the fact remains that we will almost certainly never be able to compete at the very top: I'm talking PL and CL titles.

If Wilder continues to pull rabbits out of hats here, he will eventually be offered a truly top job - at that point, I would be surprised if he didn't take it.

Let's enjoy the ride and appreciate Wilder while we have him.

 

[SwissBlade]

Wilder will leave for the very same reason he's such a success: he's driven and ambitious.

that was my point

 

[Kanye]

that was my point

I appreciate that, I quoted your post by mistake. Apologies.

However, after reading your post again. The one point I would contest is that it's not a matter of "if" the club fails to match his ambition, it's a matter of "when"

 

[SwissBlade]

I appreciate that, I quoted your post by mistake. Apologies.

However, after reading your post again. The one point I would contest is that it's not a matter of "if" the club fails to match his ambition, it's a matter of "when"

I’d maintain the “If”. Based on the last few months it appears that the prince is exceeding Wilders expectations.

 

[Groucho Blade]

So, Wilder himself says he’s going nowhere. Wilder himself says he’s got a legacy to build.

And yet everyone still gets their knickers in a twist about mad hypothetical situations which they just about see on the far horizon if this or that happens.

Why don’t you believe him? Take him at his word...

FFS get a grip, calm down and enjoy the ride.

It’s great to be a Blade right now. If you don’t stop panicking you’ll miss all the fun!

 

[Kanye]

I’d maintain the “If”. Based on the last few months it appears that the prince is exceeding Wilders expectations.

For now, yes.

I'd be fairly confident that Wilder's ambitions will be loftier than qualifying for the champions league and winning a domestic cup - I'm also fairly confident he'll have to leave in order to do that.

 

[BushBlade]

So, Wilder himself says he’s going nowhere. Wilder himself says he’s got a legacy to build.

And yet everyone still gets their knickers in a twist about mad hypothetical situations which they just about see on the far horizon if this or that happens.

Why don’t you believe him? Take him at his word...

FFS get a grip, calm down and enjoy the ride.

It’s great to be a Blade right now. If you don’t stop panicking you’ll miss all the fun!

There does seem to be a problem with living in the moment. Every other post is about the future; will Wilder stay? Will Hendo stay? Football is about the journey, not the destination, because it never ends. It’s not like someone turns round and say ‘OK, Liverpool have won football, let’s pack it in and do something else’.

 

[Kanye]

There does seem to be a problem with living in the moment. Every other post is about the future; will Wilder stay? Will Hendo stay? Football is about the journey, not the destination, because it never ends. It’s not like someone turns round and say ‘OK, Liverpool have won football, let’s pack it in and do something else’.

Every United fan reading that:

 

[Farnboroughblade]

Reading some of these threads and others over the last few weeks is beginning to really annoy me now. Where has this phrase 'top job' and ''top club' come from? Fans saying stupid remarks that Chris would obviously be tempted to go for this ' top job' or that ' top club'. When does a club become a 'top club'?
I still remember Denis Law after his transfer to Man City scoring a goal against his beloved Man U to get them relegated. Did they then lose that title of being a 'top club'?
I was listening to Scholes on 5Live radio this morning, when he was asked who he thought would get the last CL spot and he ran through teams of Chelsea, Spurs, Man U, Arsenal, Everton, Wolves and then he added, "there's also Sheffield United, but doubts it very much". Why? Because I'm assuming we are not a 'top club'.
If CWAK continues with the same level of progress we have witnessed over the next 3 years by achieving Champion League status and the odd piece of silverware, at what point will we be then classed as a 'top club' and for crying out loud, why the hell would Chris want to move away from that.
Rant over!!!!

 

[eastsussexblade]

Good post another point I think you were making is that ManUre and their ilk keep turning over managers in the hope that they get another Ferguson and then don't give them the time that Ferguson had to develop. They just keep buying expensive players to short cut to the championships. Chris Wilder has been able to build from ground zero with us. We were in such a shit state that he was able to do a clear out, establish a culture, a way of playing and a togetherness throughout the club. He has then moved the club along evolutionary step by step. Your point about growth is well made but if he went to another "Massive" club he wouldn't have the levers and time available to him to be able to do the job as he would want it. With us he is the king and what he says goes if he wants to change something, it's changed. The same control would not be available at the top 6. At the player of the year do a couple of years ago he said "dilly dilly" and all the players said it back, complete control.

I seen this 'Dilly Dilly' mentioned before but not sure of the context.. What have a I missed?

 

[SelbyBlade]

I seen this 'Dilly Dilly' mentioned before but not sure of the context.. What have a I missed?

You've missed nothing. He finished his speech, at the player of the year do, a couple of years ago, and then said "Dilly Dilly" as per the advert and all the players sat around the table shouted it back.

 

[SelbyBlade]

For now, yes.

I'd be fairly confident that Wilder's ambitions will be loftier than qualifying for the champions league and winning a domestic cup - I'm also fairly confident he'll have to leave in order to do that.

It depends how soon he wants it. I was really encouraged by his comments recently about not being able to keep players coveted by the bigger clubs. He stated that "we may not be able to match the demands of the massive clubs yet". It's the "yet" that is the encouraging thing because in his head and plans he sees us as a club that would be able to, in the future. He has laid the foundations in that he has a culture, a system and we are in the right division. On top of that he has a phenomenal back room team and a chief exec who he flew out to LA to get him at the lane. So he has a great working relationship above and below him. It's a lot to give up an empire you have made to go into another that doesn't want the head coach doing anything other than coaching, picking the team and having a say in transfers rather than control of them.

 

[eastsussexblade]

You've missed nothing. He finished his speech, at the player of the year do, a couple of years ago, and then said "Dilly Dilly" as per the advert and all the players sat around the table shouted it back.

Ahh thanks mate! I'm still none the wiser though as I haven't see the advert ;-)

 

[SelbyBlade]

Ahh thanks mate! I'm still none the wiser though as I haven't see the advert ;-)

 

[PokerBlade]

Wilder's problem at a "big" club would be similar to every other manager that walks into the likes of Arsenal and Man U right now. What they need is a big overhaul in attitude and recruitment but they also demand immediate results and big name signings. That essentially amounts to throwing money at the problem until you strike lucky. It'd be a huge gamble for Wilder to walk into a club like that and succeed in those conditions.

That's not really a problem with Wilder, it's a problem with the culture of football and the way clubs are run.

The question going forward with Wilder is whether can he keep up the quality of his recruitment whilst expanding his scouting network into a much broader market that he hasn't dealt with before? Signs are there that he can.

 

[Kanye]

I was really encouraged by his comments recently about not being able to keep players coveted by the bigger clubs. He stated that "we may not be able to match the demands of the massive clubs yet". It's the "yet" that is the encouraging thing because in his head and plans he sees us as a club that would be able to, in the future.

If you're talking about matching the wages of established PL clubs, then we may be able to compete with them sooner or later.

As for massive clubs, it's not going to happen. Even with years of consistent qualification for the Champions League and a massive boost in commercial and matchday income, we're not going to be able to get close to what Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs pay, let alone Man Utd, City or Liverpool.

 

[BushBlade]

If you're talking about matching the wages of established PL clubs, then we may be able to compete with them sooner or later.

As for massive clubs, it's not going to happen. Even with years of consistent qualification for the Champions League and a massive boost in commercial and matchday income, we're not going to be able to get close to what Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs pay, let alone Man Utd, City or Liverpool.

No chance. They’re clubs who can spend all our transfer budget on one player, who can spend double or three times our entire income on their wage bill.

But, and it’s a tentative but, we may be entering into another era. Football has constantly changed but because the changes have been relatively small and incremental, one doesn’t always notice how much it’s changed even during a lifetime.

The rich clubs are getting richer but they can only play 11 players, same as everyone else. Because so much has been invested in youth coaching, it’s possible that the academies will produce more ‘top’ players than the ‘top’ clubs can employ. So these surplus players will have to play for smaller clubs and earn less.
So, in simple terms, whilst a club like us can’t sign an Aguerro or a Van Dijk, they could potentially sign players who are nearly as good. Or even players that aren’t considered as good but become so. The margins will be much smaller and more susceptible to the human elements of the game.
It’s a possibility. It’s my theory and it may not happen. It may have already started.

 

[Kanye]

No chance. They’re clubs who can spend all our transfer budget on one player, who can spend double or three times our entire income on their wage bill.

But, and it’s a tentative but, we may be entering into another era. Football has constantly changed but because the changes have been relatively small and incremental, one doesn’t always notice how much it’s changed even during a lifetime.

The rich clubs are getting richer but they can only play 11 players, same as everyone else. Because so much has been invested in youth coaching, it’s possible that the academies will produce more ‘top’ players than the ‘top’ clubs can employ. So these surplus players will have to play for smaller clubs and earn less.
So, in simple terms, whilst a club like us can’t sign an Aguerro or a Van Dijk, they could potentially sign players who are nearly as good. Or even players that aren’t considered as good but become so. The margins will be much smaller and more susceptible to the human elements of the game.
It’s a possibility. It’s my theory and it may not happen. It may have already started.

Sorry for the wall of text:

I like the theory, and to an extent, you can see it happening already: not necessarily with just academy talent but just quality players in general. For example, Bournemouth, a small club fighting relegation from the PL still own Virgil Van Dijk's defensive partner for Holland, Nathan Aké, a player who would have comfortably got into a top 4 club not too long ago.

So I agree, as the big teams produce and develop more players, the trickle down effect sees them employed by the other teams in the league. Can teams keep hold of them long enough to build a squad good enough to challenge at the top though? (I'm doubtful)

Forgetting ourselves for a minute, if you look at the other clubs trying to break into the top 6, Everton, Wolves and Leicester, you see teams making all the right moves: they're all spending as much money as they're allowed, they're all fairly smart (the jury is out on Everton) when it comes to their recruitment and they all seem to have employed good managers. Is it sustainable though? Can they consistently make the right decisions regarding recruitment, and can they keep hold of their managers? It feels like they're (we're) all a managerial poaching away from being back to square one. Meanwhile, Chelsea can afford to blood an almost completely untested manager, in the midst of a transfer ban, and still keep up the chase.

The same goes for the players. Leicester's title winning team was quickly disbanded, with the big teams swooping. Everton managed to get hold of a world class striker in Lukaku, but he was poached before he could make any lasting difference. I do think that your theory that other 14 will manage to pick up the some of the surplus of top 6 level superstars rings true, and we can already see evidence of it happening. I think the problem is that they can't keep hold of them for long enough to build a settled side.

Not sure if you read Miguel Delaney's article about money ruining the game, and the super rich - it all points to the gap between the "elite" clubs and the rest of us getting wider and wider. I think our best chance of any kind of equality starts with the big boys launching the European Super League, at which point, football may have been changed forever.

 

[haich1889]

‘Yeah, but can he do it at a big club?’
‘I don’t understand why Arsenal/Spurs/West Ham didn’t give him the job!’

Now we’re the current media darlings, I’ve started to notice these views popping up in some shape or form in a number of pundit and non-Blades supporter reviews of our season.

I think what pisses me off about this the most is it not only belittles our hard-earned status and what we’ve got going on right now, but it also suggests Chris Wilder sees United as a necessary stop on his inevitable career path to manage some bland London club or other who’ve won more trophies.

So to address those points - yes, he can do it at a big club. We are that big club, and we’re growing at a rate of knots cheers! We’ll be a bigger club - financially, in overall fanbase, worldwide status and player calibre - at the end of this season than before we started it. Imagine how big we’ll be given the current trajectory in five years’ time, especially if we do manage to snag a Champions League spot or five. Obviously we’ll never be MASSIVE, but we’ll be pretty big!

Secondly - let’s say those teams did ‘give him the job’, why would he take it? Given everything he’s built here already, the rewards he’s reaping, and barring International ambitions, isn’t he already in his dream job?

He's a childhood Blades fan, loves the city, surrounded by his friends and family, likes nipping down his local for a pint or five whenever we're not playing on a Saturday, has an established bus route for getting his haircut in Town, he's now a millionaire by all accounts, and he'll comfortably be a multi-millionaire by the time he retires. The ownership dispute is over and Prince is investing in players who've played Champions League football. We're currently pushing for Champions League football with a squad who've barely played above Championship level. What are we gonna be pushing for by the end of next season?

Why would he go to Arsenal, Spurs, Man Utd even? What's the point? He doesn't need the money, he's building a legacy at the Lane, he has a chance to BURY Wednesday and their share of the available Sheffield fanbase for generations. We've got a cracking stadium already which can be expanded upon, and while the training facilities already seem good bar location, we’re apparently looking to develop those.

I guess I can see why some people who don’t ‘get us’ may think he'll have his head turned by one of their hallowed teams coming in for him, but think about this for a moment - would you? You're presented with a chance to continue the successful legacy of a club you don't support and have no connection to, versus the chance to write a historic new chapter at a club you've loved since you were a kid, and potentially leave a legacy beyond anything that’s gone before. You're literally standing at the precipice of this and decide to jack it in and start again somewhere else?

Regardless of how it works out for Sander Berge, signing him stuck a huge F-off marker in the ground to show where Wilder and the board see us being NOW and going forward. Plenty of pundits and other team’s supporters have again misread the signing as some strange anomaly. I think Sander and his people can just read the direction of travel far better than any of them.

Call me a soppy sod, but I’m struggling to spot another team in England right now who can match what’s happening at the Lane - be it authenticity, player commitment and character, connection with the fans, sporting values, feelgood factor, or sheer potential - and I reckon Wilder might be a soppy sod too!

Anyway, nice to get that off my chest - next rant will be the ‘they’ll struggle next season’ fallacy!

Well said. Pisses me off no end when even our own fans don't think we have such huge potential. We are a big City with a very substantial surrounding population. We have 2 university's with new foreign students arriving every year. A couple of years back I caught a train back from Manchestee on the same day as Man U were playing. The train back was packed with Chinese & Japanese students.

This club has always had the potential but no one ever brave enough to grasp the opportunity.

 

[Charlieblade]

Not wishing to piss on anyone's bonfire, nor am I saying that Wilder will be leaving soon, but I worry that these kind of comments set you all up for a fall. It's nice to think that Wilder will be here forever, but it's not realistic.

Wilder will leave for the very same reason he's such a success: he's driven and ambitious.

We're not a tiny club, and I dont think we've reached our ceiling, however, the fact remains that we will almost certainly never be able to compete at the very top: I'm talking PL and CL titles.

If Wilder continues to pull rabbits out of hats here, he will eventually be offered a truly top job - at that point, I would be surprised if he didn't take it.

Let's enjoy the ride and appreciate Wilder while we have him.

Sorry mate, but that all comes across as a bit defeatist. The teams who play at the top of European football have enjoyed a degree of hegemony. Why cannot Wilder, and the Blades achieve the same?
It may take a while, but I’m sure our club can now continue to grow in stature, satisfying Wilders “drive and ambition”.
You are correct that he will not be short of offers, but he recognizes that he has the time, and the control mechanisms at the Lane, that he will not get anywhere else in Europe.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Ok so we ain’t a “massive” club and we more than anybody know where we belong in the football pyramid. But we ain’t a Burnley or Bournemouth either. We are a big city club now operating in a big city league and the shock and amazement at our lofty position is starting to grate a little bit. We as a club from the city of Sheffield belong in the top flight just as much London,
Liverpool and Manchester teams.
Ok so us and the pigs have hardly set the football world alight over the last 20 years. But surely the biggest surprise of our successful first season back is....Why has it taken so long for a team from the “Steel City” to establish itself in the English Premier League?

 

[BushBlade]

Sorry for the wall of text:

I like the theory, and to an extent, you can see it happening already: not necessarily with just academy talent but just quality players in general. For example, Bournemouth, a small club fighting relegation from the PL still own Virgil Van Dijk's defensive partner for Holland, Nathan Aké, a player who would have comfortably got into a top 4 club not too long ago.

So I agree, as the big teams produce and develop more players, the trickle down effect sees them employed by the other teams in the league. Can teams keep hold of them long enough to build a squad good enough to challenge at the top though? (I'm doubtful)

Forgetting ourselves for a minute, if you look at the other clubs trying to break into the top 6, Everton, Wolves and Leicester, you see teams making all the right moves: they're all spending as much money as they're allowed, they're all fairly smart (the jury is out on Everton) when it comes to their recruitment and they all seem to have employed good managers. Is it sustainable though? Can they consistently make the right decisions regarding recruitment, and can they keep hold of their managers? It feels like they're (we're) all a managerial poaching away from being back to square one. Meanwhile, Chelsea can afford to blood an almost completely untested manager, in the midst of a transfer ban, and still keep up the chase.

The same goes for the players. Leicester's title winning team was quickly disbanded, with the big teams swooping. Everton managed to get hold of a world class striker in Lukaku, but he was poached before he could make any lasting difference. I do think that your theory that other 14 will manage to pick up the some of the surplus of top 6 level superstars rings true, and we can already see evidence of it happening. I think the problem is that they can't keep hold of them for long enough to build a settled side.

Not sure if you read Miguel Delaney's article about money ruining the game, and the super rich - it all points to the gap between the "elite" clubs and the rest of us getting wider and wider. I think our best chance of any kind of equality starts with the big boys launching the European Super League, at which point, football may have been changed forever.

I have and my thoughts on here came from discussing the article with my mate. A few years ago I posted several times about how the PL would become a closed shop, that there’d be a group of clubs that got relegated, used the parachute payments to get promoted, stayed in the PL for a couple of seasons, get relegated, use the parachute payments to get promoted etc
Whilst that has happened to a degree, clubs like us and Brighton have continued to break the trend.
So whilst his predictions may be correct in broad terms, in trends, I think they’ll still be outliers.

As you say, quality managers are hard to come by and for every Rodgers, there’s a Puel and, just as it’s inevitable that the best players go to the top clubs, Rodgers will leave Leicester for a ‘bigger challenge’. That will disrupt them and they may struggle to attract a manager who’s as good.
But at the same time, the big clubs are, in the main, so badly run, they’re not properly taking advantage of the massive financial difference they already have. Unless they can sort this out, they’ll just keep doing the same but spending more to do it.