Time to embrace the relegation concept

[bettsyblade86]

Absolutely astonished. Blades forum, apparently with most of the posters believeing relegation would be a good thing. The football has been shite, the results even worse over the past few months, but to wish relegation on your team, a team that is already cost-cutting, is absolutely amazing.
I know Blades fans are fickle, but geeze!

 

[lenners]

SE10 Blades, the last 10 years have gone.
We managed a season in the sun but it's where we are now that counts.
I don't see any progression on the pitch in that time (and for my favourite pet hate, either Smith or Bent were significantly better footballers than Evans, but I digress) and I do see suffocating mediocrity.
Worryingly, the word is we now have nothing much coming through from the much vaunted academy and the only two that have come through we've immediately sold.
There's no soul to the club at the moment and I don't see that changing in either the short or medium term.
Going down would at least shake us from the absolutely ridiculous situation we have now when the club announces planning permission for a 44,000 seat stadium when we're a handful of points from the bottom three.

 

[Deleted member 2102]

Going down would at least shake us from the absolutely ridiculous situation we have now when the club announces planning permission for a 44,000 seat stadium when we're a handful of points from the bottom three.

In very much the same way that going bust will help RBS become a top global bank? Also who has provided the word that the acadamy has no promising players. I dont recall hearing the word that we had a couple of top class right backs coming through? But back to the point you made about progressive managers. Which one would you suggest a league 2 club should approach to simultaneously lead us back to the promised land whilst resoring the clubs mojo/soul whatever?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

But back to the point you made about progressive managers. Which one would you suggest a league 2 club should approach to simultaneously lead us back to the promised land whilst resoring the clubs mojo/soul whatever?

Sounds like a job for someone special and here's the proof. New kit, new manager who will motivate the club back to it's rightful place.

 

[SE1 Blade]

"I don't see any progression on the pitch in that time".

If you haven't seen any progression on the the pitch in the last ten years then you've clearly not been going to the games. Of late our form and even recent signings have not been as good as we would have liked, agreed. But the players that have been through the door in the last 10 years have significantly improved. People say 'players won't sign for Kevin Blackwell' etc. etc. The alternative previously was Neil Warnock - not exactly from the Arsene Wenger school of football. I don't know either of them personally, but the amount of garbage that people come out with when things take a slight turn for the worse is amazing.

As for the usual dig at the ground. As things stand, if there was a game tomorrow, we wouldn't have 44,500 people in attendance. We asked for ambition, we have it. Who's to say where Sheffield football will be in 10 years from now. I haven't got the stats to hand but I'd guess at the end of the Bassett regime our average crowd had dipped to 14-15,000? Our Premiership year (about 10 years later) was 30,000 (i.e. double). Who's to say, with a successful team, that it won't at least significantly improve over the next 10 years.

 

[lenners]

In very much the same way that going bust will help RBS become a top global bank? Also who has provided the word that the acadamy has no promising players. I dont recall hearing the word that we had a couple of top class right backs coming through? But back to the point you made about progressive managers. Which one would you suggest a league 2 club should approach to simultaneously lead us back to the promised land whilst resoring the clubs mojo/soul whatever?

It's not how it works SE10, we need major change.
So what if we go bust, the club will survive - they always do.
It's the endless mediocrity that's bleeding the life out of the club and I don't see the leadership or sense or purpose that's going to change that.

 

[lenners]

"I don't see any progression on the pitch in that time".

If you haven't seen any progression on the the pitch in the last ten years then you've clearly not been going to the games. Of late our form and even recent signings have not been as good as we would have liked, agreed. But the players that have been through the door in the last 10 years have significantly improved. People say 'players won't sign for Kevin Blackwell' etc. etc. The alternative previously was Neil Warnock - not exactly from the Arsene Wenger school of football. I don't know either of them personally, but the amount of garbage that people come out with when things take a slight turn for the worse is amazing.

As for the usual dig at the ground. As things stand, if there was a game tomorrow, we wouldn't have 44,500 people in attendance. We asked for ambition, we have it. Who's to say where Sheffield football will be in 10 years from now. I haven't got the stats to hand but I'd guess at the end of the Bassett regime our average crowd had dipped to 14-15,000? Our Premiership year (about 10 years later) was 30,000 (i.e. double). Who's to say, with a successful team, that it won't at least significantly improve over the next 10 years.

It's daft cart before horse stuff and why we'd spend all that money on the ground when we can't put out a decent team is beyond me.
As for the football, we played ok for a while under Warnock in a couple of seasons but we've never stamped a progressive style of play on the club and as a consequence we're being left behind with our Blades Way when other clubs know that doesn't work - unless you're prepared to go at it 100% like Stoke.

 

[SE1 Blade]

It's not daft cart before the horse stuff - see the point about the timings of when any development would be complete. How close are you to the finances? If it's tied into a World Cup bid some funding will come from that bid, not from our finances. Tie it into other projects - i.e. other use for the community - and other resources can also be used. The same finance won't be given for players from those sources. A number of other sources of finance (i.e. any lending) may have restrictions on use - i.e. long term development generating future income, but not to be wasted on players/agents' fees.

We're not being "left behind" by other clubs in terms of football. Nobody likes losing games (although you'd question it with some on here), but we're not far off being a decent side with a full strength squad. Mistakes have been made, but to say we're being left behind is garbage. We were being left behind by Hull not long ago, but I'm not sure they're in the best of health due to the want-it-now idea. Stoke have built it up - fair play to them. I don't think they'll last in the Premiership for the next ten years, but they could easily copy the Bolton blueprint. Good luck to them.

 

[Santos]

If it means we drop all the foreign club nonsense, forget building a ground we don't need, decide to forever drop longball football, appoint a progressive manager and are forced to use more players we've developed ourselves instead of bringing in pointless garbage from elsewhere, I reckon relegation's not a bad idea.
We wasted our chance of being top dogs in Sheffield for the foreseeable future so we may as well drop all the silly pretence and fripperies surrounding the club and get back to basics.
If it takes relegation for that to happen, fair enough.

Calm down Len. You don't have to be relegated to have a change of emphasis. Relegation would be an absolute nightmare, all our players apart from those who are very poor would leave, our crowds would dwindle and I don't think some of our fans could mentally handle further upset. There is absolutely no guarentee of getting back up either, at the first, second or third attempt.

I hear this argument about playing a different set of teams to the ones we've played in the past 15 years. Looking at the table there are only eight teams who to my knowledge we've not played in the league since 1994!

 

[TonyAgana]

I genuinely reckon with just a couple of recoveries to our injured players and we'll turn it around. Peaks and troughs and all that.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

we've never stamped a progressive style of play on the club

What exactly is 'progressive style' ?

Has Ian Holloway suddenly become a great manager with Blackpool playing 'a progressive style'. I'm pretty sure you'd have been the first on here whinging if Blackwell had been replaced with Holloway in the Summer.

Didn't Robson try 'a progressive style' ?

Do you really think that if we were relegated we'd attract a top manager and football our way out of the 3rd division despite having to re-build the team on even LESS of a budget ?

 

[Worksop II]

A lot there about Blackpool Fleety, they killin yer ?

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

A lot there about Blackpool Fleety, they killin yer ?

Just a bit

 

[lenners]

What exactly is 'progressive style' ?

Has Ian Holloway suddenly become a great manager with Blackpool playing 'a progressive style'. I'm pretty sure you'd have been the first on here whinging if Blackwell had been replaced with Holloway in the Summer.

Didn't Robson try 'a progressive style' ?

Do you really think that if we were relegated we'd attract a top manager and football our way out of the 3rd division despite having to re-build the team on even LESS of a budget ?

Ok, for progressive style just think of actual football - the game played by most other teams we play.
The underlying point is we're stuck in the gloop, going nowhere and showing no signs of going anywhere.
I don't see any signs of leadership and cannot see why on earth we are spending valuable time and money on ground developments when we can't put a decent team out.
I actually don't think any of these improvements will come about in the short term in any case but it's the actual emphasis we're putting on this stuff which is both misplaced and makes us look ridiculous.
Wednesday are doing the same thing - we both look like a couple of bald men fighting over a comb.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Ok, for progressive style just think of actual football - the game played by most other teams we play.
The underlying point is we're stuck in the gloop, going nowhere and showing no signs of going anywhere.
I don't see any signs of leadership and cannot see why on earth we are spending valuable time and money on ground developments when we can't put a decent team out.
I actually don't think any of these improvements will come about in the short term in any case but it's the actual emphasis we're putting on this stuff which is both misplaced and makes us look ridiculous.
Wednesday are doing the same thing - we both look like a couple of bald men fighting over a comb.

I don't think we've played 'proper football' much in the last 30 years and in such time we've been up, down, up, down god knows how many times.

Given how the club changed say, between 9 and 2 years ago, I agree that we look as if we're going backwards again but the 'club' is still trying to improve itself, the ground etc. What is obviously also happening is that the 'team' is getting left behind and McCabe doesn't seem to realise this or if he does, he's more concerned about ensuring that we don't end up where we were financially 10 years ago.

No doubt we've missed a trick since relegation and are suffereing the consequences now but I think a period of stability is the best we can hope for this season given the changes to the 1st team squad. As with KB and his injuries, we'll see what McCabe does when the effects of the recession have subsided and it comes to future investment in the team.

It's a thin line but the right appointment when Warnock left and it could have been all so different.

 

[Deleted member 2102]

Ok, for progressive style just think of actual football - the game played by most other teams we play.
QUOTE]

Like who?

 

[grafikhaus]

You've only got to watch Forest, Cardiff, QPR etc. to see they play with a tempo and style we can only dream of.

 

[lenners]

I don't think we've played 'proper football' much in the last 30 years and in such time we've been up, down, up, down god knows how many times.

Given how the club changed say, between 9 and 2 years ago, I agree that we look as if we're going backwards again but the 'club' is still trying to improve itself, the ground etc. What is obviously also happening is that the 'team' is getting left behind and McCabe doesn't seem to realise this or if he does, he's more concerned about ensuring that we don't end up where we were financially 10 years ago.

No doubt we've missed a trick since relegation and are suffereing the consequences now but I think a period of stability is the best we can hope for this season given the changes to the 1st team squad. As with KB and his injuries, we'll see what McCabe does when the effects of the recession have subsided and it comes to future investment in the team.

It's a thin line but the right appointment when Warnock left and it could have been all so different.

Pre-Bassett we were known as a footballing club. Bassett came and did a brilliant job in virtually impossible circumstances but we've never quite shaken off the tag that came with it.
Since then, the Kendall/Spackman teams were definitely footballing sides but other than that it's generally been scrapping all the way bar a couple of spells under Warnock.
And I'm not sure it matters where we are financially when it comes to the football. Teams that have crushed us this season have barely a spare £ lying around.
Being 'well-run' has only resulted in us selling our best players anyway, so what's it matter?
And we hardly had the greatest board in the world when Bassett was working wonders.
Somehow we need to re-prioritise instead of re-profile and decide what we're about as a football team first and foremost.

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Somehow we need to re-prioritise instead of re-profile and decide what we're about as a football team first and foremost.

Can't argue with that although McCabe will argue that the business side has to come first. 3 seasons ago who would have disagreed with him.

As we've discussed before, whilever the crowds are still coming in he can get away with it and no doubt the next 6 months will be crucial from that point of view. Seems to me that he's made his mind up about the team already though, is riding out the financial storm, hoping we stay where we are (at worst) and then kick on again in a couple of years time (if he's still here). I can't see any 'big' changes in strategy until such time as he leaves.

 

[Bramley]

Absolutely astonished. Blades forum, apparently with most of the posters believeing relegation would be a good thing. The football has been shite, the results even worse over the past few months, but to wish relegation on your team, a team that is already cost-cutting, is absolutely amazing.
I know Blades fans are fickle, but geeze!

It's pretty strange, heard it all before from Len though.

 

[oldblade]

Pre-Bassett we were known as a footballing club. Bassett came and did a brilliant job in virtually impossible circumstances but we've never quite shaken off the tag that came with it.
Since then, the Kendall/Spackman teams were definitely footballing sides but other than that it's generally been scrapping all the way bar a couple of spells under Warnock.
And I'm not sure it matters where we are financially when it comes to the football. Teams that have crushed us this season have barely a spare £ lying around.
Being 'well-run' has only resulted in us selling our best players anyway, so what's it matter?
And we hardly had the greatest board in the world when Bassett was working wonders.
Somehow we need to re-prioritise instead of re-profile and decide what we're about as a football team first and foremost.

I agree with almost all of that. But I do not agree that relegation would be a good thing. I feel that would set us back even further and the football you want would be even less likely to return.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Didn't Robson try 'a progressive style' ?

No. That was just one of many excuses he trotted out to explain away shit performances.