Deadbat
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Staff report
Board / Club
Prince HRH Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his UTB group now are firmly ensconced as the owners absolute now. It seemed when he won the court case and events after in terms of investment in the playing squad and plans for the training ground and also the ground, that most fans were happy with how they were running things. After all we had finished 9th in the Premier League last season. Maybe over the summer doubts started to creep in about how much financial muscle the Prince had. It has seemed clear though that from the detailed notes on the court case that saw him wrestle control, that he maybe never had the finances that we thought when he got involved.
Indeed, a rundown of all the owners and their respective financial worth (these lists are guesswork in most cases but do carry some weight) showed him right near the bottom. Some lists had him in 20th place but most 19th at best – with the 18th and 17th place owners supposedly with net worth of 400-500 million in comparison to Abdullah’s 200 million. Granted these are guesswork but shows the reality is that in terms of expenditure he would never be able to spend stupid amounts both on transfer fees but more than that the wage bill – as that is the area that clearly, we cannot compete. I see a lot of fans and maybe even Wilder taking some stabs at this but we had been in the league one year. We were not going to smash the wage bill with money we do not have. Most of the transfer fees were based on TV money coming in (free money in essence). I am not sure what people expect of him – should we have suddenly made the likes of Cash and Robinson our two highest paid players? Then what happens to the rest, many who we have just agreed new contracts. You would have to up their wages and suddenly we are paying wages we cannot afford. It is a different argument in 2 or 3 years if we had stayed here. Maybe if we had spent more on wages, we maybe would have stayed up and then made more money. It’s hard but I cannot fault the club for the approach really and at the time I think many felt we were making the right moves. We did spend a fair bit still on players and much more than we have ever spent before or I ever felt we would spend before.
We have spent more than quite a few other clubs, even with the wage’s argument thrown in and I get the whole package means we did not spend as much as many. Still, the argument for me is how we spent it. Maybe to get the more established players we needed; we would have to spend more on the wages. I still think we could have signed more experienced players or a different type of player – look at West Ham who signed Bowen/Benrahma but also added some foreign players Soucek/Coufal. Not sure any of these would be ridiculous wages and all were attainable.
I think many were also happy with the window in bringing in two wing backs for competition, a good young goalie and also Brewster – a player many thought we could not get and an exciting young talent. There is the argument we needed another midfielder or two but then the three + Berge and Osborn and Ampadu coming in, you could say we had 6 players in this area and we had done really well last season and the players here had been fine.
As the season started there were some thinking we needed to bring in more quality but it was not the overriding voices and many were happy with the squad after what they had achieved. There was that nagging worry what was behind the first team and so it proved as a bad start coupled with a number of key men injured saw things fall apart spectacularly. After giving Wilder over 50 million to spend on 4 players and arguably none had improved the first team (Ramsdale did improve) with Bogle, Lowe and Brewster barely playing, I can see why Abdullah did not give him any more funds. He was not using the players he had brought in for very decent fees. Wilder may have not been happy but with us almost down, I am not sure even spending a bit of money at this stage would have made any difference and for me rightly the owners had to think of next season. Add in the fact that Wilder had supposedly tried to resign twice, then as he says why would he give him significant funds when he had squandered what he had been given before? There is a strong argument that for all the players brought in hardly one had improved the side that got promoted (maybe Berge) and much of the strongest eleven was the same players. Abdullah was right to question the recruitment and consider changes in terms of the structure. I think any club would do the same and allowing one man to run things only works if he is successful with the recruitment and even Wilder’s biggest fans have to admit since promotion the investment has so far been really poor (some may come good) and we have spent for United a lot of money (granted not on wages as the same argument will come up, I know). I do think some of the Prince’s words about us only going for one target and not proven players were a bit hollow and surely, he would have been questioning Wilder long before this season if this was his approach?
Abdullah rather publicly backed Wilder around Dec/Jan saying he would be here no matter what next season despite us losing every single week. You can argue he should have done it via official circles or even the local press rather than Talk sport but he may argue the local journalists had strongly affiliated themselves to previous ownership (see Biggs, A). I do think Wilder has never firmly embraced the new ownership. I could be wrong – but if I had to say I always had him down as a McCabe man in terms of the noises coming out from Wilder and his friends. I might have misread this. It was nice to see then Wilder with Abdullah in Saudi Arabia and seeing them working together and all the words from them both was they seemed aligned until everything fell apart this year. Wilder clearly did not want to work for a director of football and we do not know how much Van Winkel has been involved but the club seemed to be moving in this direction but were as the Prince put it, prepared to live with the current set up with Wilder running everything as long as we were successful. It was not really built on a plan though and if Wilder left, then what? I think the club were right to think about a more cohesive plan with some structure to scouting, development, everything rather than Wilder and his pals’ approach which had of course been incredibly successful. We would not here without this way we went about things as it fostered the unity and togetherness throughout the club.
We still do not know the events fully of what led to the eventual departure or if Wilder was pushed or walked. We have heard from Abdullah. There were some parts I agreed with although we do not know all the truth of course. I was a bit disappointed with elements of his interview (again oddly done on Sky Sports) in terms of disclosures of certain details (Wilder’s wages/pay off) and not sure it quite gave credit to what Wilder did totally. Without him we would not be here and the Prince would have probably been long gone – would he have contested the ownership if we were still in League One or struggling in the Championship? I think he needs to remember that. I think the Prince had to say something as the poor statement Bettis gave and the piffling summary of Wilder’s exit on the website was not sufficient at all.
It seems that Wilder had tried to resign on a few occasions (the mouthing of ‘I can’t do this anymore’ at the Palace game adds weight to the timeframes maybe) but we are still unsure if it was Wilder who just quit or if the owner actually finally had enough of his outbursts and supposed resignation attempts and just said, ‘Fine, you can go.’ I do agree with elements of Abdullah’s interview in that Wilder would not always take responsibility for things and also that his constant criticism of the players/club and praise for the opposition was not a good look. He was indirectly criticising his owner and boss. I think some owners would have come out and said something long before this and Wilder’s shoot from the hip approach may work at lower league football but now at the top level (where he got us to, I know!) he needs to act more professionally and keep his counsel a bit more. He was effectively throwing his own players under the bus. I think he was playing a risky game when he and the team were performing so badly. I always sensed it may end although hoped Abdullah and Wilder may just get through the season and then sit down and come up with a way forward as still feel Wilder may have been the best man to get us back up and try and build a new side and wat forward. It was not to be and it seems even Wilder’s confidante Bettis may have fallen out with him. It was not helped on social media as Wilder’s friend and Abdullah’s former right-hand man shot barbs back and forth maintain they were ‘their’ views when fans probably felt different. It was not a good luck for a club that had been so United a year ago and for the period before that.
We were then faced with the fall out and some of Wilder’s staff being moved on – it was maybe not helped by Bettis’ mate Jason Tindall coming in too, on the same weekend Wilder left. Social media saw a real storm whipped up by many fans and it became very divided with almost pro Wilder v pro Abdullah. The Prince was subject to a fair bit of over-the-top criticism and at times abuse. I do get many being so appreciative of Wilder and having that loyalty but for weeks many seemed unable to move on as shocking as it was. Some seemed to be more interested in Wilder than SUFC which I was quite surprised about but also showed what he had done for the club. Feelings were running high and the Prince was being openly questioned in terms of his decisions both nationally (the media could not believe we had allowed Wilder to leave with only a few – Simon Jordan – actually defending the decision) and locally with many really batting hard for the local hero. It was all very messy and the ownership were probably glad at this time there were no fans allowed into the Lane as the atmosphere would have been poisonous.
It seems there are a lot of questions over Abdullah now and much of it is for me is down to the fact he will be seen as the owner that oversaw allowing Wilder to leave. Whether he was going to go no matter what, we will never know? Could he have done more to keep him and forgotten the outbursts and attempts to resign and his demands for a huge pay off? Maybe. It just seemed that things had become irreconcilable between both of them.
We then had speculation over the new manager but it seemed rightly the club would take their time. The fact the candidates out there did not particularly stand out. Eddie Howe one candidate seemed to be heading to Celtic but then that stalled but he did not seem a serious candidate for the role– then Slavisa Jokanovic was linked and then apparently not one of the candidates before he was then supposedly interviewed? We had a surprise name that of German, Alexander Blessin was thrown into the mix. The Belgian Clement was mentioned and even a French guy who had been at Montpellier, Michel Der Zakarian. We announced we had 5 in the shortlist including Heckingbottom (who said he did not want the job before!) and this was a point where I thought there is no plan. Wilder had supposedly resigned or tried to resign several times and we had not done any exploratory work at all or had anyone. Some clubs sack and appoint a manager in the same day (we did this with Wilder pretty much after Adkins left). I sensed we had no such candidate or if we did, he/they turned us down or there were work permit issues but the longer it went on the more concerned I became that there was no strategy at all!
As I type this we still have new manager, rumours over Jokanovic being close continue to grow but nothing definite and now with the season done the uncertainty remains.
Off the field there is merits for discussing that we have not really build on the supposed things that Abdullah clearly had earmarked. A year ago, there was talk about possibly improvements to the ground but now other than minimal work to the visual look – any bigger work will surely now be on hold due to Covid and relegation. I am not sure it is a priority. The stadium is fine for size – we did not even fill it some weeks in the top level (granted ticketing policy did not work). The Kop is tired and the facilities here are beyond basic but it is still a better ground than most at Championship level and I think any work here is now not a priority.
You cannot say the same about the training ground / Academy. A year ago, we had rumours of a move to the Norton Aerodrome site as the current Academy is not big enough and for us to attain Category 1 status (more pitches/facilities/accommodation/changing/gym/pool/hydrotherapy etc) then we will have to move from the small and outdated Shirecliffe site which may seem new to some but we have been here for over 20 years now. Again, as with the ground these plans may now be on hold but you would think this should be a priority. Even more than the first team investment or anything else, we need a long-term plan. The days of bringing through the two Kyles, Maguire, Brooks, Calvert Lewin etc seems a long time ago now. There is raw talent there and both age groups have done well but we are playing mostly Champ/League 1 teams in terms of opponents so hard to compare. We seem to have some good lads coming through but it remains to be seen if these are of the level of those I mention above. Recently some off the academy lads have had to train at other venues across the city as we do not have the facilities to cater for everyone. It is also not great the women have to train and play elsewhere (Chesterfield ground). Surely in an ideal world all the clubs would be in the same facility.
The current first team training ground and facilities are not really fit for purpose. We have 2 pitches and then a hut/old working man’s club that has been upgraded but the behind-the-scenes videos show how poor it is. There are some clubs at National League level with better facilities. It is embarrassing how bad it is and new players will surely not be impressed. We were supposed to have a temporary facility with a new two-storey building, comprising of a gym, training area, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy zones, as well as office facilities. The structure was to sit between the two existing buildings, on the perimeter of the current first team training pitches. At the time I type this there has been no action and nothing has happened. Rumours of a leaky roof being fixed being one reason for Wilder not being happy were quashed by the owner but it seems clear that a year later and we are no further forward with the training ground improvements or the academy moving to a bigger and better site to allow us to get the much-needed Category 1 status (every other club in the top flight had it and many in the Championship).
Some cite the Prince extending the United World as being a negative of course and feel that this is funds that could be spent on us. Of course, many fans said the same about McCabe when he made forays abroad. We now have fairly small teams in India, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and now France. The Coulibaly link has been seen as one way we can get the most out of these partnerships but work permits will be an issue due to the level of the clubs Abdullah has acquired. His son-in-law then left as chairman with only ‘personal reasons’ being cited and it all seemed a bit of a mess really from an outsider looking in.
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Board / Club
Prince HRH Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his UTB group now are firmly ensconced as the owners absolute now. It seemed when he won the court case and events after in terms of investment in the playing squad and plans for the training ground and also the ground, that most fans were happy with how they were running things. After all we had finished 9th in the Premier League last season. Maybe over the summer doubts started to creep in about how much financial muscle the Prince had. It has seemed clear though that from the detailed notes on the court case that saw him wrestle control, that he maybe never had the finances that we thought when he got involved.
Indeed, a rundown of all the owners and their respective financial worth (these lists are guesswork in most cases but do carry some weight) showed him right near the bottom. Some lists had him in 20th place but most 19th at best – with the 18th and 17th place owners supposedly with net worth of 400-500 million in comparison to Abdullah’s 200 million. Granted these are guesswork but shows the reality is that in terms of expenditure he would never be able to spend stupid amounts both on transfer fees but more than that the wage bill – as that is the area that clearly, we cannot compete. I see a lot of fans and maybe even Wilder taking some stabs at this but we had been in the league one year. We were not going to smash the wage bill with money we do not have. Most of the transfer fees were based on TV money coming in (free money in essence). I am not sure what people expect of him – should we have suddenly made the likes of Cash and Robinson our two highest paid players? Then what happens to the rest, many who we have just agreed new contracts. You would have to up their wages and suddenly we are paying wages we cannot afford. It is a different argument in 2 or 3 years if we had stayed here. Maybe if we had spent more on wages, we maybe would have stayed up and then made more money. It’s hard but I cannot fault the club for the approach really and at the time I think many felt we were making the right moves. We did spend a fair bit still on players and much more than we have ever spent before or I ever felt we would spend before.
We have spent more than quite a few other clubs, even with the wage’s argument thrown in and I get the whole package means we did not spend as much as many. Still, the argument for me is how we spent it. Maybe to get the more established players we needed; we would have to spend more on the wages. I still think we could have signed more experienced players or a different type of player – look at West Ham who signed Bowen/Benrahma but also added some foreign players Soucek/Coufal. Not sure any of these would be ridiculous wages and all were attainable.
I think many were also happy with the window in bringing in two wing backs for competition, a good young goalie and also Brewster – a player many thought we could not get and an exciting young talent. There is the argument we needed another midfielder or two but then the three + Berge and Osborn and Ampadu coming in, you could say we had 6 players in this area and we had done really well last season and the players here had been fine.
As the season started there were some thinking we needed to bring in more quality but it was not the overriding voices and many were happy with the squad after what they had achieved. There was that nagging worry what was behind the first team and so it proved as a bad start coupled with a number of key men injured saw things fall apart spectacularly. After giving Wilder over 50 million to spend on 4 players and arguably none had improved the first team (Ramsdale did improve) with Bogle, Lowe and Brewster barely playing, I can see why Abdullah did not give him any more funds. He was not using the players he had brought in for very decent fees. Wilder may have not been happy but with us almost down, I am not sure even spending a bit of money at this stage would have made any difference and for me rightly the owners had to think of next season. Add in the fact that Wilder had supposedly tried to resign twice, then as he says why would he give him significant funds when he had squandered what he had been given before? There is a strong argument that for all the players brought in hardly one had improved the side that got promoted (maybe Berge) and much of the strongest eleven was the same players. Abdullah was right to question the recruitment and consider changes in terms of the structure. I think any club would do the same and allowing one man to run things only works if he is successful with the recruitment and even Wilder’s biggest fans have to admit since promotion the investment has so far been really poor (some may come good) and we have spent for United a lot of money (granted not on wages as the same argument will come up, I know). I do think some of the Prince’s words about us only going for one target and not proven players were a bit hollow and surely, he would have been questioning Wilder long before this season if this was his approach?
Abdullah rather publicly backed Wilder around Dec/Jan saying he would be here no matter what next season despite us losing every single week. You can argue he should have done it via official circles or even the local press rather than Talk sport but he may argue the local journalists had strongly affiliated themselves to previous ownership (see Biggs, A). I do think Wilder has never firmly embraced the new ownership. I could be wrong – but if I had to say I always had him down as a McCabe man in terms of the noises coming out from Wilder and his friends. I might have misread this. It was nice to see then Wilder with Abdullah in Saudi Arabia and seeing them working together and all the words from them both was they seemed aligned until everything fell apart this year. Wilder clearly did not want to work for a director of football and we do not know how much Van Winkel has been involved but the club seemed to be moving in this direction but were as the Prince put it, prepared to live with the current set up with Wilder running everything as long as we were successful. It was not really built on a plan though and if Wilder left, then what? I think the club were right to think about a more cohesive plan with some structure to scouting, development, everything rather than Wilder and his pals’ approach which had of course been incredibly successful. We would not here without this way we went about things as it fostered the unity and togetherness throughout the club.
We still do not know the events fully of what led to the eventual departure or if Wilder was pushed or walked. We have heard from Abdullah. There were some parts I agreed with although we do not know all the truth of course. I was a bit disappointed with elements of his interview (again oddly done on Sky Sports) in terms of disclosures of certain details (Wilder’s wages/pay off) and not sure it quite gave credit to what Wilder did totally. Without him we would not be here and the Prince would have probably been long gone – would he have contested the ownership if we were still in League One or struggling in the Championship? I think he needs to remember that. I think the Prince had to say something as the poor statement Bettis gave and the piffling summary of Wilder’s exit on the website was not sufficient at all.
It seems that Wilder had tried to resign on a few occasions (the mouthing of ‘I can’t do this anymore’ at the Palace game adds weight to the timeframes maybe) but we are still unsure if it was Wilder who just quit or if the owner actually finally had enough of his outbursts and supposed resignation attempts and just said, ‘Fine, you can go.’ I do agree with elements of Abdullah’s interview in that Wilder would not always take responsibility for things and also that his constant criticism of the players/club and praise for the opposition was not a good look. He was indirectly criticising his owner and boss. I think some owners would have come out and said something long before this and Wilder’s shoot from the hip approach may work at lower league football but now at the top level (where he got us to, I know!) he needs to act more professionally and keep his counsel a bit more. He was effectively throwing his own players under the bus. I think he was playing a risky game when he and the team were performing so badly. I always sensed it may end although hoped Abdullah and Wilder may just get through the season and then sit down and come up with a way forward as still feel Wilder may have been the best man to get us back up and try and build a new side and wat forward. It was not to be and it seems even Wilder’s confidante Bettis may have fallen out with him. It was not helped on social media as Wilder’s friend and Abdullah’s former right-hand man shot barbs back and forth maintain they were ‘their’ views when fans probably felt different. It was not a good luck for a club that had been so United a year ago and for the period before that.
We were then faced with the fall out and some of Wilder’s staff being moved on – it was maybe not helped by Bettis’ mate Jason Tindall coming in too, on the same weekend Wilder left. Social media saw a real storm whipped up by many fans and it became very divided with almost pro Wilder v pro Abdullah. The Prince was subject to a fair bit of over-the-top criticism and at times abuse. I do get many being so appreciative of Wilder and having that loyalty but for weeks many seemed unable to move on as shocking as it was. Some seemed to be more interested in Wilder than SUFC which I was quite surprised about but also showed what he had done for the club. Feelings were running high and the Prince was being openly questioned in terms of his decisions both nationally (the media could not believe we had allowed Wilder to leave with only a few – Simon Jordan – actually defending the decision) and locally with many really batting hard for the local hero. It was all very messy and the ownership were probably glad at this time there were no fans allowed into the Lane as the atmosphere would have been poisonous.
It seems there are a lot of questions over Abdullah now and much of it is for me is down to the fact he will be seen as the owner that oversaw allowing Wilder to leave. Whether he was going to go no matter what, we will never know? Could he have done more to keep him and forgotten the outbursts and attempts to resign and his demands for a huge pay off? Maybe. It just seemed that things had become irreconcilable between both of them.
We then had speculation over the new manager but it seemed rightly the club would take their time. The fact the candidates out there did not particularly stand out. Eddie Howe one candidate seemed to be heading to Celtic but then that stalled but he did not seem a serious candidate for the role– then Slavisa Jokanovic was linked and then apparently not one of the candidates before he was then supposedly interviewed? We had a surprise name that of German, Alexander Blessin was thrown into the mix. The Belgian Clement was mentioned and even a French guy who had been at Montpellier, Michel Der Zakarian. We announced we had 5 in the shortlist including Heckingbottom (who said he did not want the job before!) and this was a point where I thought there is no plan. Wilder had supposedly resigned or tried to resign several times and we had not done any exploratory work at all or had anyone. Some clubs sack and appoint a manager in the same day (we did this with Wilder pretty much after Adkins left). I sensed we had no such candidate or if we did, he/they turned us down or there were work permit issues but the longer it went on the more concerned I became that there was no strategy at all!
As I type this we still have new manager, rumours over Jokanovic being close continue to grow but nothing definite and now with the season done the uncertainty remains.
Off the field there is merits for discussing that we have not really build on the supposed things that Abdullah clearly had earmarked. A year ago, there was talk about possibly improvements to the ground but now other than minimal work to the visual look – any bigger work will surely now be on hold due to Covid and relegation. I am not sure it is a priority. The stadium is fine for size – we did not even fill it some weeks in the top level (granted ticketing policy did not work). The Kop is tired and the facilities here are beyond basic but it is still a better ground than most at Championship level and I think any work here is now not a priority.
You cannot say the same about the training ground / Academy. A year ago, we had rumours of a move to the Norton Aerodrome site as the current Academy is not big enough and for us to attain Category 1 status (more pitches/facilities/accommodation/changing/gym/pool/hydrotherapy etc) then we will have to move from the small and outdated Shirecliffe site which may seem new to some but we have been here for over 20 years now. Again, as with the ground these plans may now be on hold but you would think this should be a priority. Even more than the first team investment or anything else, we need a long-term plan. The days of bringing through the two Kyles, Maguire, Brooks, Calvert Lewin etc seems a long time ago now. There is raw talent there and both age groups have done well but we are playing mostly Champ/League 1 teams in terms of opponents so hard to compare. We seem to have some good lads coming through but it remains to be seen if these are of the level of those I mention above. Recently some off the academy lads have had to train at other venues across the city as we do not have the facilities to cater for everyone. It is also not great the women have to train and play elsewhere (Chesterfield ground). Surely in an ideal world all the clubs would be in the same facility.
The current first team training ground and facilities are not really fit for purpose. We have 2 pitches and then a hut/old working man’s club that has been upgraded but the behind-the-scenes videos show how poor it is. There are some clubs at National League level with better facilities. It is embarrassing how bad it is and new players will surely not be impressed. We were supposed to have a temporary facility with a new two-storey building, comprising of a gym, training area, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy zones, as well as office facilities. The structure was to sit between the two existing buildings, on the perimeter of the current first team training pitches. At the time I type this there has been no action and nothing has happened. Rumours of a leaky roof being fixed being one reason for Wilder not being happy were quashed by the owner but it seems clear that a year later and we are no further forward with the training ground improvements or the academy moving to a bigger and better site to allow us to get the much-needed Category 1 status (every other club in the top flight had it and many in the Championship).
Some cite the Prince extending the United World as being a negative of course and feel that this is funds that could be spent on us. Of course, many fans said the same about McCabe when he made forays abroad. We now have fairly small teams in India, Saudi Arabia, Belgium and now France. The Coulibaly link has been seen as one way we can get the most out of these partnerships but work permits will be an issue due to the level of the clubs Abdullah has acquired. His son-in-law then left as chairman with only ‘personal reasons’ being cited and it all seemed a bit of a mess really from an outsider looking in.
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