The dreaded Premier league next season

[BettingBlade]

It’s obviously such a different story if we were competitive at this level. The 19/20 season is proof of that but the fact is we’ve stank the place out in our last 2 seasons in it. Even from a neutral perspective though, I find the Premier League a difficult watch.

Most games are either City/Liverpool vs one of the many also rans which is boring as fuck or a mid-table game which is on purely to fill sky/tnt’s quotas which is another complete borefest.

Even in the games between the top teams you run the risk of VAR completely ruining it as a spectacle. Add in the referees falling for soft as shit fouls all over the gaff and it really is a tough watch.

They make a lot of the Premier League being the best league in the world, which in terms of quality it probably is but from an entertainment point of view it really really isnt.

The Championship is a much better watch as a neutral, purely for it’s more competitive nature. Poor refereeing is obviously still an issue but on the whole they are less tolerant of the soft fouls and buying free kicks which I think makes for a better game.

From a Blades perspective, it quite clearly benefits the club to be competitive at the highest level we can be. Unfortunately, we aren’t achieving that in the Premier League under the current ownership, not for any prolonged period of time anyway. Even being in a relegation battle seems beyond our reach. Being a yo-yo club is only sustainable for so long, especially if the upper yo is getting our arses handed to us every week. We become less attractive to new players every time we come down, once the money dries up we’re back to the drawing board again.

 

[Grey Blade]

I do fear some people have suddenly decided the Championship is the land of milk & honey when the reality is it’s the land of financial catastrophe.

I fear that with increased TV coverage of Championship matches, more refereeing decisions will be questioned and this will lead to calls for VAR to be introduced - the very thing a lot of us are keen to get away from.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Sounds like you’re speaking from experience?

Yep, I’m the good looking ripped bloke with the big cock

 

[Sheffsteel]

I’d be happy for a European Super League to go ahead and for the clubs who join it to be permanently cut free by their domestic leagues with no opportunity to return. There would be a lot less money in the domestic game but it would return it to being a much more level playing field.

Why would any English club leave the richest most popular league in world football.
The projections are the English Premier will only become bigger with even more revenues in future.

All clubs are mainly interested in money, so the plan is for the biggest clubs to have their cake and eat it.
They will stay in the PL and also hope to play in an expanded Euro league.

However can't see any Euro league taking over the popularity of the Premier League.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have already seen the future, they know the Spanish and Italian leagues can't compete. The Premier league is already becoming "the super league", hence why they are desperate to form a new league and take some power away from the EPL.

 

[Sheffsteel]

The gritty and muddy stadiums where we can take 5k plus to (Oakwell, Reebok stadium)

The Passionate fanbases of many including Derby, Sunderland and dare I say it…S6

I for one do prefer championship football hands down. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be competitive to be quite honest! But what is the prize of doing well in a league like this? Promotion to the Premier League again? Is this honestly now seen as an achievement, because to me it seems like a dreaded reward of high ticket prices, non competitive games and VAR. It may seem dramatic, but I see promotion to the Premier League as a punishment for doing so well. So were does this leave everyone? Is it a punishment now? How will people react if (and it’s very possible) that next season we get the right players under CW and go straight back up? To me, shots create goals, goals win games, and winning games is something I love as do the other teams, but what is our ultimate goal? Because celebrating every victory next season will only put us more points closer to the “dreaded premier league”.

So what are we actually enjoying and achieving at this point, because by the looks of it we’re going to be stuck in this little yoyo rut for a few years to come. It can only get worse from here

UTB

Can see where you're coming from...to a degree I agree, there is something about Championship being more real/ traditional,
where as the PL seems more contrived, more like show business with loads of neutrals and not real football.

However imagine if you're a billionaire thinking about buying Sheff United.
An advisor might say most of the Sheff Utd fans have no ambition and would prefer to stay in the Championship.
He might say there's a Sheffield mentality, prefers tradition that doesn't like change, doesn't like ambition and big thinking.
Also he might say, look at Sheffield, the people there prefer cheap and cheerful and won't pay extra for quality.

Hence any owner with ambition might give Sheffield United a swerve and leave it to a provincial millionaire (like a McCabe) to take over.
Some one who is happy with an ambition for us to be a mid table Championship side for many years with the odd promotion push.

 

[bladesmanluke]

Don't know why anyone is worried about getting promoted again. We're not likely to be in the conversation at all when you think about the amount of bodies we need to bring in on peanuts

 

[Sheffsteel]

Don't know why anyone is worried about getting promoted again. We're not likely to be in the conversation at all when you think about the amount of bodies we need to bring in on peanuts

We'll have one of the biggest budgets in the league next season....so due to FFP rules we'll have the freedom to be one of the biggest spenders in the league.
Loads of large contracts will be ending this Summer, freeing up a massive treasure chest of cash.
It all depends on who we bring in but there'll be plenty of cash for decent replacements and decent salaries etc.

Will be an interesting season because anything could happen. It's virtually a total rebuild needed. I'd probably expect us to finish 7th to 12th (mid table to just missing out on the play-offs) but nothing would surprise me from promotion to being involved in relegation.

 

[Silent Blade]

We'll have one of the biggest budgets in the league next season....so due to FFP rules we'll have the freedom to be one of the biggest spenders in the league.
Loads of large contracts will be ending this Summer, freeing up a massive treasure chest of cash.
It all depends on who we bring in but there'll be plenty of cash for decent replacements and decent salaries etc.

Will be an interesting season because anything could happen. It's virtually a total rebuild needed. I'd probably expect us to finish 7th to 12th (mid table to just missing out on the play-offs) but nothing would surprise me from promotion to being involved in relegation.

I agree

 

[mattbianco1]

Yes, it's no fun getting hammered every week, but i'll be gutted when we get relegated.

I want a sustained stay in the PL.
I don't want to be a yo-yo club.

Never understood the "can't wait to get back to the Championship" mentality.
You play ANY sport to win. The aim is to play as high up the rankings as possible.

For us, the ceiling is (currently) the PL. It was for the likes of Brighton too once upon a time. Now their ceiling is European football.

I want us to come back stronger next time and compete.

The 2019/20 season was my favourite season ever - even above the L1 title win.

 

[Rodley]

I do understand that we will be close to financial collapse within 2 seasons of being in The Championship and that it will be shit trying to avoid relegation to League One but I don't think we will ever be as uncompetitive at that level as we are in The Premier League.

If we were in the Championship 5 seasons or more we'd despise the league but I don't think the weekends would feel as constantly bad as they do now.

But I don’t think our lack of competitiveness can solely attributed to the step up from Championship to Premier League, it’s an outcome of the state the club is in as much as anything else IMHO.

If we were in good shape like Luton, we’d have given it a good go and these threads just wouldn’t exist.

 

[Houston_Blade]

We'll have one of the biggest budgets in the league next season....so due to FFP rules we'll have the freedom to be one of the biggest spenders in the league.
Loads of large contracts will be ending this Summer, freeing up a massive treasure chest of cash.
It all depends on who we bring in but there'll be plenty of cash for decent replacements and decent salaries etc.

Will be an interesting season because anything could happen. It's virtually a total rebuild needed. I'd probably expect us to finish 7th to 12th (mid table to just missing out on the play-offs) but nothing would surprise me from promotion to being involved in relegation.

It has the potential to be an exciting summer. You really have to hope that lessons have been learnt when it comes to sensible and timely recruitment.

You wouldn’t think we’d be splashing the cash on transfer fees so it will be interesting to see what we can get in.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Without owner input, total income before player trading is about £30m. Doesn't leave room for a competitive player budget

Define what you mean by competitive.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Define what you mean by competitive.

I mean looking to finish somewhere between 6th and 14th and not being worried about relegation

 

[Nick Jansky]

I mean looking to finish somewhere between 6th and 14th and not being worried about relegation

And you’re saying that can’t be achieved without either parachute payments or substantial owner investment? Interesting.

 

[Carlton Blade]

And you’re saying that can’t be achieved without either parachute payments or substantial owner investment? Interesting.

I am saying that, if you aren't overachieving your financial outlay (only possible in the short term) then competing at the top end of the Championship, or even upper mid table requires owner investment or parachute payments

 

[bertieblade]

A net outlay of £10m which can be supported by parachute payments after we have jettisoned the bulk of the out of contract high earners will enable us to have a squad to get in the play offs

 

[TopBoy]

90% of Premier League games bore me shitless, whether United are in them or not. It may be the most lucrative league in the world, but it's nowhere near the best. What defines a league is that it's a group of teams of similar quality—it's a division. The Premier League isn't that and hasn't been for 10-15 years. VAR signals the end for me.

 

[Nick Jansky]

I am saying that, if you aren't overachieving your financial outlay (only possible in the short term) then competing at the top end of the Championship, or even upper mid table requires owner investment or parachute payments

Far too simplistic a view, I’m afraid. It depends on a number of factors that include player trades, scouting & the strength of the academy. Get those right and a club can certainly be competitive in the Championship. A prime example is Coventry whose owner certainly isn’t a billionaire, who has capitalised debt at a similar level to the Prince and who is relying on sound recruitment & player sales to remain competitive. Despite not owning their stadium.

There are other examples, including Norwich.

 

[bladesmanluke]

We'll have one of the biggest budgets in the league next season....so due to FFP rules we'll have the freedom to be one of the biggest spenders in the league.
Loads of large contracts will be ending this Summer, freeing up a massive treasure chest of cash.
It all depends on who we bring in but there'll be plenty of cash for decent replacements and decent salaries etc.

Will be an interesting season because anything could happen. It's virtually a total rebuild needed. I'd probably expect us to finish 7th to 12th (mid table to just missing out on the play-offs) but nothing would surprise me from promotion to being involved in relegation.

I don't disagree regarding the budgets etc, but it'll need to be massively spread across a large number of players. It'll be a success if we can just stabilise imo

 

[Carlton Blade]

Far too simplistic a view, I’m afraid. It depends on a number of factors that include player trades, scouting & the strength of the academy. Get those right and a club can certainly be competitive in the Championship. A prime example is Coventry whose owner certainly isn’t a billionaire, who has capitalised debt at a similar level to the Prince and who is relying on sound recruitment & player sales to remain competitive. Despite not owning their stadium.

There are other examples, including Norwich.

Coventry have finished higher than 12th in the Championship once in 17 seasons

Norwich have had parachute payments

 

[jt64]

Don't know why anyone is worried about getting promoted again. We're not likely to be in the conversation at all when you think about the amount of bodies we need to bring in on peanuts

I don't think we actually need to bring more than a couple in, even if you let at least half the players whose contracts are expiring walk

 

[Pintor75]

Until we get a new owner, strong manager with vision and steady the club invest in new players we won't achieve anything in the premiership, a complete new way of thinking is whats needed to build a squad capable of getting in the top flight and staying there

 

[Nick Jansky]

Coventry have finished higher than 12th in the Championship once in 17 seasons

Norwich have had parachute payments

Coventry look like becoming established.

Norwich no longer have parachute payments.

One of the main holes in your argument are the facts that:

1. A number of clubs operate without large owner & investment, and

2. Only 3 clubs get relegated from the championship each season and usually includes at least one of the clubs promoted from L1.

It’s actually quite easy to languish in the middle of the championship as long as you get the things right that I mentioned above.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Coventry look like becoming established.

Norwich no longer have parachute payments.

One of the main holes in your argument are the facts that:

1. A number of clubs operate without large owner & investment, and

2. Only 3 clubs get relegated from the championship each season and usually includes at least one of the clubs promoted from L1.

It’s actually quite easy to languish in the middle of the championship as long as you get the things right that I mentioned above.

Norwich only stopped getting PP's this season I think? They've also made a lot of money from player sales to a level that is very much an outlier.

What does "look like becoming established mean"? They had to sell their best 2 players last year. They reinvested but if they aren't promoted this year they'll be selling again.

I'm not aware of any clubs who are long term Championship clubs who are long term members who don't get money from their owners to subsidise them. Everyone in the league loses money. Millwall were at £10m+ a year, Preston at about £7m a year. Who are the clubs you know of who sit every year in the Championship and don't lose millions? I'm not being snide, I'm genuinely interested

 

[mattbianco1]

I do fear some people have suddenly decided the Championship is the land of milk & honey when the reality is it’s the land of financial catastrophe.

 

[mattbianco1]

It has the potential to be an exciting summer. You really have to hope that lessons have been learnt when it comes to sensible and timely recruitment.

You wouldn’t think we’d be splashing the cash on transfer fees so it will be interesting to see what we can get in.

The "good" thing about not spending much this season is that we haven't overspent and gambled.
We did this last time in the 2nd season - we overspent on guaranteed future income.

This time we haven't done that. We've managed the cloth accordingly and it "should" put us in a position to bully the other Championship clubs in the transfer market.

Just buy all their best players. Starting with Callum O'Hare

 

[Guesty]

The pros of the Championship are obvious: you get more games, you might win some of them, and you only need a quick glance over to the linesman before you can celebrate a goal.

As a match day experience it's far, far better.

 

[Houston_Blade]

The "good" thing about not spending much this season is that we haven't overspent and gambled.
We did this last time in the 2nd season - we overspent on guaranteed future income.

This time we haven't done that. We've managed the cloth accordingly and it "should" put us in a position to bully the other Championship clubs in the transfer market.

Just buy all their best players. Starting with Callum O'Hare

I’d like to think we can spend a bit of cash that we’ve not spent this season but I’m not sure the finances of the club are being ran in that way at the moment.

If the message from the club in the summer is that we don’t have money to spend and we’re looking at loans and free transfers then a lot of fans will be disappointed.

 

[petcharlie]

Completely agree. Thought at the time that the door should be slammed shut in their faces when they showed their hand

No aspect of the Premier League gives clubs like ours a chance.

VAR, 5 subs, FFP.

Only option is to risk financial ruin. Even then, we have to buy sub-standard players at high cost as all the teams at the bottom end are competing for the same players.

There would be enough big clubs left in England to generate a great league.

I understand what you mean mate .I would like them to piss off to BUT the problem is they will take all the TV money with them and we would just be left with a fancy championship league and skint clubs .

 

[Sheffsteel]

90% of Premier League games bore me shitless, whether United are in them or not. It may be the most lucrative league in the world, but it's nowhere near the best. What defines a league is that it's a group of teams of similar quality—it's a division. The Premier League isn't that and hasn't been for 10-15 years. VAR signals the end for me.

Kind of agree but the facts show that we're in the minority due to incredible viewing figures for the PL all around the world.
The PL is by far and away the most watched league of any sport in the world and the popularity seems to be growing (that is why people say best).

Tim Vickery (the journalist based in Rio -Brazil) was on Talksport last year saying that English people probably don't realise how big the Premier League is in Brazil. He said you see far more kids in the street wearing Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool shirts than any Brazilian club shirts.
He even said that when I really big PL match is on...then the streets are quiet and there's little traffic on the streets because so many are watching the match at home or in the bars. He said it's sad really because Brazilian domestic football is slowly dying and he wonders where it will end.

In the US the MLS is growing but it's a common complaint by the MLS that the PL is far more popular with fan groups meeting up in every US city.

You mention that what defines a league are teams of similar quality....agree but that's why the PL is so popular.

In every other league, each club can negotiate it's own TV deal so the gap is finances is huge meaning small clubs have no chance,
Across Europe it's the same 2 or 3 clubs that win the league every year....the others are so far behind that the big clubs can play their reserves.

Whereas in the England it's a collective TV deal, so every club is guaranteed at least 120 million per season.
The PL is famous because usually every match is tough...even the crap teams are given 110 million to spend making it much more of a spectacle.
Also there's always a much larger pool of clubs battling it out for a Champions league place.

You even have small clubs like Brighton, Brentford and Bournmouth building teams with high quality international players, this could never happen in any other league. Brighton are currently playing in Europe and are good enough to compete against the best the Europa Cup has to offer.