Was this the moment it all went wrong?

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At least Brealey didn't get to put a running track around the pitch,along with a 3 tier horse shoe shaped Kop.
 
Kingston Blade said:
Lets focus on the ground and not the team. 1970 style.

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That and not adequately replacing John Harris. What a chance to push on as a club.

Unfortunately they didn't learn from their lessons when we finally got back to the top flight in the 90's and instead of building on the 1993 team they go and sell Deane.

We then get back there again and again fail to learn from past lessons in sacking Warnock and replacing him with the muppet Robson.

Until our board and McCabe actually stop making the same mistakes over and over like the club have done since the 70's we'll be stranded in the 3rd tier or worse for a very very long time.
 
Looking back at our demise from Premier League hopefuls to League One also-rans, I can see two points in time when it went wrong:

1) Counting our chickens – the January transfer window 2007.
2) Deal or No Deal – Warnock leaving to be replaced by Bryan Robson

I see these as the two main factors in our decline.

1) We approached the JTW with all the pomp of a team whose job was already done. We’d got to 10 points clear of relegation without the creative midfielder we so obviously needed. We then spent 5m on 5 players without truly adjusting for the need still being there. What many acknowledge we should have done, was to go and get Jason Koumas for the 1.5-2m he was reportedly available for and therefore squeeze the creativity into the team we so readily needed. This was very much the Glynn Hodges Grand National Ticket Draw moment which served Bassett so well, but we didn’t take it. At best, we signed a cultured attacking fullback in Ahmed Fathi, who could have added something to the team as a Borbokis second-coming of type, but not as a midfield lynchpin, as evidenced in the 0-4 reverse at Liverpool. We added Matt Kilgallon who went on to serve us well at a lower level, but who was much regarded at the time as one for the future, costing up to 2m. In addition, Luton Shelton arrived for 1.85m, with Warnock professing we would see the best of him next season. We added Jon Stead, well known for his ability to score in spells then go off the boil and also a punt of Mamadhou Seck; one which clearly didn’t come off. In total, we had spent not much shy of 4m on future based purchases, and two lots of 750k on a steady but unspectacular center forward and a full back we were going to ask to reinvent himself. And Seck. All in all more depth but no real improvement in quality for the first XI. Rather fatally we let Unsworth go too. Had either McCabe given Warnock more significant funds or Warnock focused a little more on the here and now, then it’s not unreasonable to suggest we may have eked out that one additional goal that would see us safe.

2) Warnock had been there a long while. He’d had his detractors and he’d weakened his positon with McCabe having lost a game off bluff over his contract. Arranging meetings with Portsmouth during United’s promotion campaign was meant no doubt to show his loyalty to United in staying and force through a new deal. In the end it served the opposite, showing Warnock would compromise the club to push his own ends. This is when the seeds of doubt stated on Warnock’s long term future. Somewhat unnecessarily after having delivered promotion away at Cardiff after the low of Millwall at home the previous season. During this period McCabe got somewhat carried away with the thoughts of the Global Brand, possibly being ahead of his time in many ways, but ultimately losing focus that if the on field foundations were not right, then all else would fail. And so enter Bryan Robson, ex-England Captain, Global Brand Ambassador, Football Manager, and bloke that did such a poor job at Middleborough El Tel had to come and baby-sit them to safety. Aside from an unsuccessful stint in Thailand, a bloke who pretty much lost his vocation by being so poor with us. Tied to point 1, McCabe let the Manager loose with the checkbook 6 months too late, allowing Robson to assemble an expensive though largely ponderous and ineffective team, high on wages, low on contribution and re-sale value. Now Warnock didn’t have 100% popularity for most of the time, given his occasional potty mouth, and many could argue that after so long a fresh face could be championed, however, if offered Bryan Robson, I don’t know of any fan that would not have opted No Deal. Neil’s success with QPR sometime later only further validated he was not yet a spent force. Yes, he failed at the top level, got 1 point from the final 30 away, made some bad selections, some misplaced signings, but being not good enough for the top division by one goal was actually a relative high for Sheffield United given our status in football since.

UTB
 
Those are great points. We did start to think we were safe in 2007. I remember being very disappointed with the players we brought in then. Warnock got 0 out of 4 for that lot of dross! Lack of real strengthening together with the Carlos Tevez affair brought about our demise.

Also agree that bringing in Robson just compounded the problem and down the plug hole we went!
 
TexasBlade said:
Those are great points. We did start to think we were safe in 2007. I remember being very disappointed with the players we brought in then. Warnock got 0 out of 4 for that lot of dross! Lack of real strengthening together with the Carlos Tevez affair brought about our demise.

Also agree that bringing in Robson just compounded the problem and down the plug hole we went!
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I remember walking out of the lane after we beat Spurs 2-1, that win put us on 30 points, in 15th place with 11 games remaining. I turned to my Dad and said excitedly 'who do you think we'll sign next season now we're safe'...he said don't count your chickens. I just laughed. It was unfathomable to think we wouldn't get another 9 points in our remaining 11 games! That taught me to always expect the unexpected when United are concerned.

The day we were relegated I turned to my Dad and said we would be in League 1 within 4 years, he laughed at me and said no chance. Unfortunately I was right.

The week before ched got sent down I said he'd get sent down, the pigs would pip us to promotion and we'd lose the play off final in heartbreaking curcumstances....I wish I had put a bet on.

i wish just one day united weren't so predictably heartbreakingly predictable!
 
TexasBlade said:
You really couldn't make this stuff up! It would be dismissed as far fetched if you tried. But with United life is stranger than fiction....and depressingly predictable.
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The only sports team who compares to utter heartbreak is the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. They are the only team to get to four consecutive Super Bowl Finals and lose them all! They've still never won one!

Benfica are up there in terms of losing so many European finals, but at least they've won stuff.

When Atletico lost to Madrid in the champions league final after conceding a last minute equalizer I did think that was very united like, but at least they had won la liga a few weeks before.
 
It was the right time to get rid of Warnock. He had been here for a long time and the football was dreadful, he was an increasing embarrassment with his outbursts and it seemed like he was more interested in Neil Warnock than the actual club. Interesting point about the JTW spending, it clearly was planning for the future and not addressing our obvious weaknesses.

The major error in getting rid of Warnock was who we replaced him with.
 
We must be the only group of fans who moan like buggery about a manager who was clearly one of the top 3 in the club's history. At most clubs he's been at, many of which he was less successful than here, NW is feted as a hero. At BDTBL there's a substantial minority who can't wait to stick the knife in. You do wonder whether the miserablism / decline which has infected the club over the last 10 years is, in part, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
 
Rodley said:
We must be the only group of fans who moan like buggery about a manager who was clearly one of the top 3 in the club's history. At most clubs he's been at, many of which he was less successful than here, NW is feted as a hero. At BDTBL there's a substantial minority who can't wait to stick the knife in. You do wonder whether the miserablism / decline which has infected the club over the last 10 years is, in part, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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He'll always be well remembered by all fans as he did great things with very little. It doesn't mean he should have got a job for life. We needed (and he did as well) something different as it was getting stale. Sadly, the different we needed was definitely not Robson.
 
Borbokisfreekick said:
That and not adequately replacing John Harris. What a chance to push on as a club.

Unfortunately they didn't learn from their lessons when we finally got back to the top flight in the 90's and instead of building on the 1993 team they go and sell Deane.

We then get back there again and again fail to learn from past lessons in sacking Warnock and replacing him with the muppet Robson.

Until our board and McCabe actually stop making the same mistakes over and over like the club have done since the 70's we'll be stranded in the 3rd tier or worse for a very very long time.
Click to expand...


Never having Hagan as manager
 
Borbokisfreekick said:
I remember walking out of the lane after we beat Spurs 2-1, that win put us on 30 points, in 15th place with 11 games remaining. I turned to my Dad and said excitedly 'who do you think we'll sign next season now we're safe'...he said don't count your chickens. I just laughed. It was unfathomable to think we wouldn't get another 9 points in our remaining 11 games! That taught me to always expect the unexpected when United are concerned.

The day we were relegated I turned to my Dad and said we would be in League 1 within 4 years, he laughed at me and said no chance. Unfortunately I was right.

The week before ched got sent down I said he'd get sent down, the pigs would pip us to promotion and we'd lose the play off final in heartbreaking curcumstances....I wish I had put a bet on.

i wish just one day united weren't so predictably heartbreakingly predictable!
Click to expand...


How's about predicting we will be division three champions next season, you know it makes sense to make it public.
 

Champagneblade said:
Looking back at our demise from Premier League hopefuls to League One also-rans...
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You're right about our marked decline since the PL season. However managers, signings etc. are only part of the picture. What has remained constant is the endless sales of talent which have never been adequately replaced. After the 2009 POF defeat v Burnley, we saw fit to demolish a team which, if McCabe had kept his nerve, could well have gone up the following season.That is supposition, but what is undeniable is our remarkable slump since. The two Kyles, Kilgallon, even Paddy formed the basis of an exceptional team. Since then, we've lost Beattie, Lowton, McDonald, Blackman, Maguire, Murphy etc. Loan players like Coady have been allowed to leave. No wonder we're where we are.
 
Rodley said:
We must be the only group of fans who moan like buggery about a manager who was clearly one of the top 3 in the club's history. At most clubs he's been at, many of which he was less successful than here, NW is feted as a hero. At BDTBL there's a substantial minority who can't wait to stick the knife in. You do wonder whether the miserablism / decline which has infected the club over the last 10 years is, in part, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Well its the fans fault.

I'm only glad that only 18K turn up, imagine how far down the tree we'd be if 25K or 30K of the fuckers turned up.
 
"The day we were relegated I turned to my Dad and said we would be in League 1 within 4 years, he laughed at me and said no chance. Unfortunately I was right.

The week before ched got sent down I said he'd get sent down, the pigs would pip us to promotion and we'd lose the play off final in heartbreaking curcumstances....I wish I had put a bet on."

Chuffing eck I bet you're a barrel of laughs at parties :)

ChampagneBlade, you make some good points, especially over Warnock's transfer policy in the JTW. From what I was told at the time he had £10m to spend and choose to spend half of it on 4/5 Championship type players. I always thought we'd have been better served putting the lot on one decent Prem division standard player, Danny Murphy was another we were rumoured to be after at the time. We'd also been linked with Nicky Butt in summer 2006. Either of those two would have been excellent additions for United, right in the heart of the team quality Prem division performers that should have had a great influence on a team that lacked experience in the top tier.

I would add over the last couple of generations SUFC have never done themselves any favours whatsoever and have failed to seize the day when opportunities have cropped up, including a few post 2007. In all the play-off finals the team never showed up, even in the one in 2011 when Huddersfield missed their first 3 penalties we still blew it. The semi-finals under Clough the team did show up but failed to make the most of 2 great opportunities to make it to the final. All this failure, as the OP suggested, could well be down to the curse of Yorkshire CCC!!!
 
Borbokisfreekick said:
That and not adequately replacing John Harris. What a chance to push on as a club.

Unfortunately they didn't learn from their lessons when we finally got back to the top flight in the 90's and instead of building on the 1993 team they go and sell Deane.

We then get back there again and again fail to learn from past lessons in sacking Warnock and replacing him with the muppet Robson.

Until our board and McCabe actually stop making the same mistakes over and over like the club have done since the 70's we'll be stranded in the 3rd tier or worse for a very very long time.
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We shit on John Harris . He left us to become chief scout at SWFC . No honour amongst thief's .

UTB
 
Borbokisfreekick said:
The only sports team who compares to utter heartbreak is the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. They are the only team to get to four consecutive Super Bowl Finals and lose them all! They've still never won one!

Benfica are up there in terms of losing so many European finals, but at least they've won stuff.

When Atletico lost to Madrid in the champions league final after conceding a last minute equalizer I did think that was very united like, but at least they had won la liga a few weeks before.
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And guess where Im off to tomorrow ,my second home and the place of my second team Buffalo Bills ,no connection with Benfica though I must add :)
 
sitwell said:
And guess where Im off to tomorrow ,my second home and the place of my second team Buffalo Bills ,no connection with Benfica though I must add :)
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Ha ha, crazy world. I live in the states and just this year decided to start following the Bills based on their 4 super bowl heartbreak and as one of my mates out here is from buffalo and that's his team (couldn't help myself! They reminded me so much of united).

If you haven't already seen it, watch the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on them, it's brilliant.
 
Borbokisfreekick said:
Ha ha, crazy world. I live in the states and just this year decided to start following the Bills based on their 4 super bowl heartbreak and as one of my mates out here is from buffalo and that's his team (couldn't help myself! They reminded me so much of united).

If you haven't already seen it, watch the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on them, it's brilliant.
Click to expand...
I usually get to a couple of home games and an away game every season ,my house is literally half a mile from the Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park. Seen them probably 15 times including pre season and only seen them lose twice ,once at Wembley. Even seen them win at the Patriots away. Just thought I would add that to remind Bladepicker :) . Where are you living ?
 
Champagneblade said:
Looking back at our demise from Premier League hopefuls to League One also-rans, I can see two points in time when it went wrong:

1) Counting our chickens – the January transfer window 2007.
2) Deal or No Deal – Warnock leaving to be replaced by Bryan Robson
Click to expand...
outstanding.
 
Kingston Blade said:
Lets focus on the ground and not the team. 1970 style.

View attachment 16680
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Are we sure and I mean really really sure that isn't Allan Clarke and not dingle Parkinson?? That would explain a right lot.

And as for the ground plans, the kop double shed, john st and floodlight retention would be just so retro cool, why o why did we swop a team destined for Europe for a lump of concrete...
 
I think for me, we have more distant turning points.

But the more recent one was our loss at home to Oldham, four years ago.

We didn't seem to be doing bad, two-nowt up with Matty Lowton and Ched scoring. Second half it was 'if you can dream anything could go wrong, then keep dreaming.' Apart from Cresswell's quality og, the fat, glistening peanutty turd in between two soft white halves of Fletchers bap was Shefki Kuqi banging in the penner with Harry sent off.

From then on in, we have been bobbar.

pommpey
 

pommpey said:
I think for me, we have more distant turning points.

But the more recent one was our loss at home to Oldham, four years ago.

We didn't seem to be doing bad, two-nowt up with Matty Lowton and Ched scoring. Second half it was 'if you can dream anything could go wrong, then keep dreaming.' Apart from Cresswell's quality og, the fat, glistening peanutty turd in between two soft white halves of Fletchers bap was Shefki Kuqi banging in the penner with Harry sent off.

From then on in, we have been bobbar.

pommpey
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We could equally choose BT hitting the keeper vs Stevenage when either side of him meant promotion. Or the more obvious Ched verdict. Or the playoff pens. The true knife-edge moments that fell the wrong way.
 
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