The state of Sheffield football

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FATTYFOULKE

FATTYFOULKE

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Why are the Sheffield clubs so crap?

On the face of it they’re both decent sized clubs with more than decent sized support and history, if either or both had had any sort of proper post war success they could have been established top end top flight clubs.

Yet since the war both have punched far below their weight. We’re lucky if we’re in the same division most of the time because one or the other is in the lower leagues and we keep missing each other.

From being at one time one of the countries top derby games and considered a hotbed of football we’re not thought of these days as proper top flight clubs or a hotbed of football. We don’t get mentioned in the same breath as Liverpool or Manchester or Newcastle but we once did.

Neither club seems able to attract good owners/investors and both have or have had owners who haven’t got a clue while other clubs with far less potential drop lucky.

Why do both attract the wrong kind of investor? What is it why we seem destined to forever struggle to stay in the top flight. Wednesday these days struggle to stay in the Championship, how long before we’re the same?

Why are clubs like Leicester for example who have never won owt before and with modest crowds able to drop lucky?

Brentford and Bournemouth just two more.

I think we’re screwed now to be honest. The top elite have contrived to making it impossible for an outsider to join their ranks, no matter the wealth of the owner.

The also-rans are also now far beyond our reach. Palace reinforced that point the other night when they were able to field two £50m plus players who tore us apart.

Both Sheffield clubs have missed the boat now for definite, but why has it been this way for so long?
 

FATTYFOULKE said:
Why are the Sheffield clubs so crap?

On the face of it they’re both decent sized clubs with more than decent sized support and history, if either or both had had any sort of proper post war success they could have been established top end top flight clubs.

Yet since the war both have punched far below their weight. We’re lucky if we’re in the same division most of the time because one or the other is in the lower leagues and we keep missing each other.

From being at one time one of the countries top derby games and considered a hotbed of football we’re not thought of these days as proper top flight clubs or a hotbed of football. We don’t get mentioned in the same breath as Liverpool or Manchester or Newcastle but we once did.

Neither club seems able to attract good owners/investors and both have or have had owners who haven’t got a clue while other clubs with far less potential drop lucky.

Why do both attract the wrong kind of investor? What is it why we seem destined to forever struggle to stay in the top flight. Wednesday these days struggle to stay in the Championship, how long before we’re the same?

Why are clubs like Leicester for example who have never won owt before and with modest crowds able to drop lucky?

Brentford and Bournemouth just two more.

I think we’re screwed now to be honest. The top elite have contrived to making it impossible for an outsider to join their ranks, no matter the wealth of the owner.

The also-rans are also now far beyond our reach. Palace reinforced that point the other night when they were able to field two £50m plus players who tore us apart.

Both Sheffield clubs have missed the boat now for definite, but why has it been this way for so long?
Click to expand...

There’s certainly a pattern of clubs being taken through the leagues and being successful, you’ve named a few of them. We’ve had our share and perhaps should’ve capitalised on being up last time.

Our plan wasn’t bad, we bought younger players with potential, it’s just we’ve ended up with them losing their way or getting a lot of injuries.

I think Wednesday have a bit more work to do to get anywhere near on the right track. We’re in a better position but we need to be able to bounce between the leagues and progress.

Losing players for less than their worth because contracts are running down isn’t acceptable really, but we can’t do much if they’re intent on leaving

We have to follow the likes of Brentford and Bournemouth that manage with lower attendances but progress financially.
 
wavy-blade said:
Its time for amalgamation 🙃
Click to expand...
Only ever seem to hear this about the Sheffield clubs. No idea why because both clubs are big enough to survive in the top flight at the same time.
 
Clubs like Brentford and Brighton are successful because they think outside the box, have a vision, a plan and are constantly moving forward with the times. We just plod along, just with this “up and at em” approach (even this has gone to shit). Teams that are quick on the break, young skillful players, even if one is sold, they bring more through the ranks or sign another good prospect through a brilliant scouting system. We never have or will have this approach. I was gutted when Slav was deceived by the owners. His sides were always great to watch, a totally different approach to ours. I would have settled for a two to three year project under him to change the ethos at the club. But he was shit on by an owner half way across the world who looks like he could sell sand to the Arabs. I’m of the opinion that we will now slide again into League One. We are that bad from the very top to the very bottom. Same as Wednesday, both run by disinterested owners who talk the talk but do fuck all else.
 
Hillsboro Blade said:
Clubs like Brentford and Brighton are successful because they think outside the box, have a vision, a plan and are constantly moving forward with the times. We just plod along, just with this “up at em” approach (even this has gone to shit). Teams that are quick on the break, young skillful players, even if one is sold, they bring more through the ranks or sign another good prospect through a brilliant scouting system. We never have or will have this approach. I was gutted when Slav was deceived by the owners. His sides were always great to watch, a totally different approach to ours. I would have settled for a two to three year project under him to change the ethos at the club. But he was shit on by an owner half way across the world who looks like he could sell sand to the Arabs. I’m of the opinion that we will now slide again into League One. We are that bad from the very top to the very bottom. Same as Wednesday, both run by disinterested owners who talk the talk but do fuck all else.
Click to expand...
We just need an owner who has vision and the money to sensibly grow the club I think. We’ve never had that.
 
FATTYFOULKE said:
Why are the Sheffield clubs so crap?

On the face of it they’re both decent sized clubs with more than decent sized support and history, if either or both had had any sort of proper post war success they could have been established top end top flight clubs.

Yet since the war both have punched far below their weight. We’re lucky if we’re in the same division most of the time because one or the other is in the lower leagues and we keep missing each other.

From being at one time one of the countries top derby games and considered a hotbed of football we’re not thought of these days as proper top flight clubs or a hotbed of football. We don’t get mentioned in the same breath as Liverpool or Manchester or Newcastle but we once did.

Neither club seems able to attract good owners/investors and both have or have had owners who haven’t got a clue while other clubs with far less potential drop lucky.

Why do both attract the wrong kind of investor? What is it why we seem destined to forever struggle to stay in the top flight. Wednesday these days struggle to stay in the Championship, how long before we’re the same?

Why are clubs like Leicester for example who have never won owt before and with modest crowds able to drop lucky?

Brentford and Bournemouth just two more.

I think we’re screwed now to be honest. The top elite have contrived to making it impossible for an outsider to join their ranks, no matter the wealth of the owner.

The also-rans are also now far beyond our reach. Palace reinforced that point the other night when they were able to field two £50m plus players who tore us apart.

Both Sheffield clubs have missed the boat now for definite, but why has it been this way for so long?
Click to expand...
South yorkshire is skint just like the entire area low wages no big money men around . Lost it in the 70's when thatcher was priminister ! South yorkshire Labour Party took her on and lost ! investment was withdrawn tories really went to town on us,with steel & mining industries collapsing ! Investment by the government was not forthcoming ,! The area as not recovered from that time. Remember well councillor Ironmongers plan to have local bus services free to all ! Tories put a stop to that as well.Historical but true.
 
Hillsboro Blade said:
Clubs like Brentford and Brighton are successful because they think outside the box, have a vision, a plan and are constantly moving forward with the times. We just plod along, just with this “up and at em” approach (even this has gone to shit). Teams that are quick on the break, young skillful players, even if one is sold, they bring more through the ranks or sign another good prospect through a brilliant scouting system. We never have or will have this approach. I was gutted when Slav was deceived by the owners. His sides were always great to watch, a totally different approach to ours. I would have settled for a two to three year project under him to change the ethos at the club. But he was shit on by an owner half way across the world who looks like he could sell sand to the Arabs. I’m of the opinion that we will now slide again into League One. We are that bad from the very top to the very bottom. Same as Wednesday, both run by disinterested owners who talk the talk but do fuck all else.
Click to expand...
Agree 100%. The "working class, up and at em, agricultural, it's-ok-if-we're-shit-as-long-as-we're-hard" mindset has hamstrung the club for years.

Like you said, a 2 or 3 (or more) year "project" where we bring in a manger who wants to change the entire ethos of the club from top to bottom is the only way we will ever progress on the lines of Bournemouth or Brentford. I get that a lot of fans are bonded to the "old-school" Blades mindset, but however hard we hope, and however many "Bladey" managers we appoint, that will not work in 2024 and beyond.
 
Easy answer. Both clubs have clueless owners and management. Both clubs look for a quick fix solutions rather than putting a 5 to 10 year plan going with a progressive manager and youth set up . No reserve teams . Follow the Brighton model it works .
 

Loco Blade said:
Easy answer. Both clubs have clueless owners and management. Both clubs look for a quick fix solutions rather than putting a 5 to 10 year plan going with a progressive manager and youth set up . No reserve teams . Follow the Brighton model it works .
Click to expand...
That's the 'Brighton model' that relies on Tony Bloom writing off £449m worth of debt accrued by the club, is it? ;)
I'm all in!
utb
 
FredZeppelin said:
That's the 'Brighton model' that relies on Tony Bloom writing off £449m worth of debt accrued by the club, is it? ;)
I'm all in!
utb
Click to expand...
That’s the kind of money we are taking about in the world’s most expensive league . Billions . Don’t think that registers for a Yorkshire based club
 
VLYDONIMIR said:
Sheffield football isn't crap.
Both clubs are suffering due to the inability
to compete at the levels they both play at.
Last season both clubs were promoted,
unfortunately moving to the higher level is a poisoned
chalice.
Click to expand...
If Sheffield football isn’t crap then god help the others
 
Hillsboro Blade said:
Clubs like Brentford and Brighton are successful because they think outside the box, have a vision, a plan and are constantly moving forward with the times. We just plod along, just with this “up and at em” approach (even this has gone to shit). Teams that are quick on the break, young skillful players, even if one is sold, they bring more through the ranks or sign another good prospect through a brilliant scouting system. We never have or will have this approach. I was gutted when Slav was deceived by the owners. His sides were always great to watch, a totally different approach to ours. I would have settled for a two to three year project under him to change the ethos at the club. But he was shit on by an owner half way across the world who looks like he could sell sand to the Arabs. I’m of the opinion that we will now slide again into League One. We are that bad from the very top to the very bottom. Same as Wednesday, both run by disinterested owners who talk the talk but do fuck all else.
Click to expand...
Agreed with the plan and change of ethos totally but too many fans won't allow it to happen.

Any foreign manager won't be given time. They'd have to hit the ground running.

Despite Slav getting two sides promoted playing exciting football people were moaning about him even before results disappointed. Can't understand him, he's too passive on the touchline, he doesn't clap the fans.

Look how Wilder and even Warnock got mentioned by so many even Hecky started bring under pressure.

I've no idea how much detail and research all prospective owners do before trying to buy football clubs but I could genuinely understand a foreign buyer looking at us and thinking we might not be the best club to change the ethos and build a plan based on more than a season.

It's cringeworthy how many times I hear people say stuff like we only do well under local managers or foreigners don't get the club.
 
Carlton Blade said:
The endless conversations about "big enough clubs" shows that people still don't really get it. Number of fans is irrelevant. Match day revenue makes up less than 10% of a PL teams income
Click to expand...
Has anyone actually defined what being a “big club” actually means?

Literally the sporting equivalent of my dads bigger than your dad.

A nonsensical and irrelevant cock swinging contest of epic proportions.
 
finlaytheblade said:
South yorkshire is skint just like the entire area low wages no big money men around . Lost it in the 70's when thatcher was priminister ! South yorkshire Labour Party took her on and lost ! investment was withdrawn tories really went to town on us,with steel & mining industries collapsing ! Investment by the government was not forthcoming ,! The area as not recovered from that time. Remember well councillor Ironmongers plan to have local bus services free to all ! Tories put a stop to that as well.Historical but true.
Click to expand...
Not entirely sure that's correct, there are plenty of big wages out there. But probably not in the traditional Sheffield sense
 
finlaytheblade said:
South yorkshire is skint just like the entire area low wages no big money men around . Lost it in the 70's when thatcher was priminister ! South yorkshire Labour Party took her on and lost ! investment was withdrawn tories really went to town on us,with steel & mining industries collapsing ! Investment by the government was not forthcoming ,! The area as not recovered from that time. Remember well councillor Ironmongers plan to have local bus services free to all ! Tories put a stop to that as well.Historical but true.
Click to expand...
You don't half talk some baloney, Thatcher shut nothing down....world economics and unproductivity closed all these industries that were not able to adjust and be competitive in the real world, and thought they should all be ringfenced by public money from the more efficient enterprises and threaten strike if they could not get their own mardy arse way.

A bit like both Sheffield football clubs and one particular current and one past Sheffield born manager.
 
crooked bladesman said:
You don't half talk some baloney, Thatcher shut nothing down....world economics and unproductivity closed all these industries that were not able to adjust and be competitive in the real world, and thought they should all be ringfenced by public money from the more efficient enterprises and threaten strike if they could not get their own mardy arse way.

A bit like both Sheffield football clubs and one particular current and one past Sheffield born manager.
Click to expand...
 
Basically economics. The north South divide is as evident in football as anything else. There's a few exceptions that were generally already established as global brands but even they've taken their hits. The pigs did attract a big investor (for a few years) - thank God it went tits up.
 

FATTYFOULKE said:
Why are the Sheffield clubs so crap?

On the face of it they’re both decent sized clubs with more than decent sized support and history, if either or both had had any sort of proper post war success they could have been established top end top flight clubs.

Yet since the war both have punched far below their weight. We’re lucky if we’re in the same division most of the time because one or the other is in the lower leagues and we keep missing each other.

From being at one time one of the countries top derby games and considered a hotbed of football we’re not thought of these days as proper top flight clubs or a hotbed of football. We don’t get mentioned in the same breath as Liverpool or Manchester or Newcastle but we once did.

Neither club seems able to attract good owners/investors and both have or have had owners who haven’t got a clue while other clubs with far less potential drop lucky.

Why do both attract the wrong kind of investor? What is it why we seem destined to forever struggle to stay in the top flight. Wednesday these days struggle to stay in the Championship, how long before we’re the same?

Why are clubs like Leicester for example who have never won owt before and with modest crowds able to drop lucky?

Brentford and Bournemouth just two more.

I think we’re screwed now to be honest. The top elite have contrived to making it impossible for an outsider to join their ranks, no matter the wealth of the owner.

The also-rans are also now far beyond our reach. Palace reinforced that point the other night when they were able to field two £50m plus players who tore us apart.

Both Sheffield clubs have missed the boat now for definite, but why has it been this way for so long?
Click to expand...
But those two players didn’t cost 100 million
 
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