Were in your opinion

[Kev Gee]

Did things start to go wrong?

The Robson debacle? Mccabe selling the family silver? Blackwell appt? Or maybe a certain match that showed you that the only way is down?

The only certain thing at the moment is that we as a club are a shambles.

 

[shorehamview]

We appointed Robson and gave him a huge booze fund, some of which he pissed away on players. After he went McCabe should have bitten the bullet and gone for a better manager than Blackwell, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was, like many other Blades, chuffed that Robson left and even more chuffed that Blackwell came in. I dare say that if Blackwell had been given the same financial backing that Robson had then he'd have got us promoted, but it's very hard to build a winning side when it's being sold under your nose. The worst game that showed we were a busted flush was Wembley. That side would have struggled to score in a ten-bob whorehouse, and has served as an indicator for our woes ever since.

 

[SotonBlade]

The day we didn't give Warnock the cash that Robson eventually got

 

[happyhippy]

Allowing Warnock to go was the first mistake. OK, OK, I can understand where people come from on the "he was a greedy bastard" bit, and nope, the likes of Shelton, Davis and others weren't our greatest signings. I'm not even going to try and defend them. In the case of Davis, please excuse the irony in the word 'defend'.

The second mistake was the one we all knew from the outset was one. Barny Sornob. In hindsight, given how much money was hurled at Sornob, other possibles at the time (including my choice, Chris Coleman) were very unlikely and so we were resigned to Blackwell. Speed's appointment was made in a similar vein, though with appalling timing.

Had we paid Neil more (not necessarily what he wanted), and kept the wage bill (including Sornob) down, I'm sure we'd be in a healthier position.

 

[Gingerblade]

We have made several mistakes, been in the state we are in takes a few years of poor decisions, the latest was sacking Blackwell so early in the season having given him all summer to build (I use this term loosly) a squad.

I suppose the 1st mistake was letting Warnock leave, from then on its been a precession of poor footballing decisions! Hence, the sorry state we are in now.

 

[cahill]

John Harris retiring. More recently Sean Bean allegedly walking into Warnocks office and using obscene language in front of Warnocks family thus making his decision to walk away easier. Fans chanting anti Warnock songs. Reminiscent of Charlton fans turning on Curbishley saying he'd taken them as far as he could ie regular mid table Premiership finishes. The mind boggles

 

[Bergen Blade]

Throughout Blackwell's time we kept trying to plug holes, rather than carefully building a strong team and squad. Some key players disappeared and we brought in the best short term solution we could find. Despite a large turnover of players, we've refused to take the chance of a real clear out and still find ourselves trying to plug holes in a poorly balanced squad that is lacking both in quality and quantity.

I think it was only a matter of time before things became really bad, and I doubt we would be much better off if Blackwell had stayed.

 

[gavtheblade]

The day we didn't give Warnock the cash that Robson eventually got

i couldnt agree more.If mccabe had taken a dive in his pockets the season in the premier league,then we wouldnt be here writing how crap our club is at the moment.people knocked robbo for managerial skills at the lane(i was one)but he brought some fantastic players in,but were a season too late for us.the limbo we r in will be going on for some time yet,i fear for us,i really do.utb

 

[breeny]

Robson was a joke, a clueless figure on the sidelines. Blackwell had a certain brand of football and as players were sold (or took the opportunity to move on) their replacements weren't good enough. So Speed, complete with large wage bill, inherits a poor side. I think that the current issue is a question of priorities, within Sheffield United PLC the football appears to be low down on the list.

 

[Pinchy]

John Harris retiring. More recently Sean Bean allegedly walking into Warnocks office and using obscene language in front of Warnocks family thus making his decision to walk away easier. Fans chanting anti Warnock songs. Reminiscent of Charlton fans turning on Curbishley saying he'd taken them as far as he could ie regular mid table Premiership finishes. The mind boggles

But Warnock didn't achieve mid-table! He took us down. He was out of his depth in the Premiership. Like Blacko, he was sacked a year too late. He didn't recruit a single player of Premiership quality, criminally not in midfield; and was terrified of the opposition such that we were beaten before we started in most away games.

 

[SteelCity Blade]

The day the Premier League was formed. The beginning of football being taken away from the average fan. Situations like ours are inevitable and will always roll back around no matter how well we do.....we're not the only team that has fallen from grace, some have fallen much further.

 

[shorehamview]

But Warnock didn't achieve mid-table! He took us down. He was out of his depth in the Premiership. LIke Blacko, he was sacked a year too late. He didn't recruit a single player of Premiership quality, criminally not in midfield; and was terrified of the opposition such that we were beaten before we started in most away games.

It's a bit unfair to sack a manger after he's got you promoted though, isn't it?

"Why are you sacking me Kevin?"

"You pay the price for success Neil."

 

[Fiery Blade]

But Warnock didn't achieve mid-table! He took us down. He was out of his depth in the Premiership. LIke Blacko, he was sacked a year too late. He didn't recruit a single player of Premiership quality, criminally not in midfield; and was terrified of the opposition such that we were beaten before we started in most away games.

Top Post
Warnock had much more money to spend than the likes of Holloway at Blackpool but I agree did not buy one premier league quality player!

 

[Pinchy]

It's a bit unfair to sack a manger after he's got you promoted though, isn't it?

"Why are you sacking me Kevin?"

"You pay the price for success Neil."

There's no sentiment in football SV. I believe, had a proper Premiership manager been appointed, we would be an established top flight club today. Warnock believed that commitment, rather than quality, could keep us up. He made no attempt to recruit a quality midfielder or two. He was wrong and it cost us dearly. I believe K-Mac agrees with my sentiments, harsh though they are.

 

[Large Mendonca]

The day the Premier League was formed. The beginning of football being taken away from the average fan. Situations like ours are inevitable and will always roll back around no matter how well we do.....we're not the only team that has fallen from grace, some have fallen much further.

Yep, nail on head.

 

[shorehamview]

Top Post
Warnock had much more money to spend than the likes of Holloway at Blackpool but I agree did not buy one premier league quality player!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though. How many Blades would have gone berserk if McCabe had sacked Warnock after he'd won promotion? Yes, Warnock could have kept us up but failed to do so by a very small margin, but to sack someone in case they make errors in the future is ridiculous to say the least. Looking back it's very easy to say what we should have done, but it's not very easy to peer into the future with cast-iron certainty, otherwise you'd be winning the lottery every week.

---------- Post added at 11:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 AM ----------

There's no sentiment in football SV. I believe, had a proper Premiership manager been appointed, we would be an established top flight club today. Warnock believed that commitment, rather than quality, could keep us up. He made no attempt to recruit a quality midfielder or two. He was wrong and it cost us dearly. I believe K-Mac agrees with my sentiments, harsh though they are.

You believe, but there's no way of knowing for sure. Let's assume we'd been promoted when Beattie was playing for us and scoring goals by the hatful. Would you have then sold him because he might not score loads in the Premier League? Should we have sold the entire squad when we did go up because they weren't Premier League players? Yes, Warnock failed, but to sack him without even giving him the chance he deserved after getting us promoted would have been ridiculous. I bet McCabe wished that Warnock had stayed up, just like we wish that our board had taken a punt on a young Diego Maradona. I believe that if I'd picked the right numbers the other Friday I'd have won the Euromillions, but hey, that's hindsight.

And if there's no sentiment in football then why are you bothered about Sheffield United? Why not just go and watch the most successful team or the one with the prettiest players?

 

[bricktop]

13th May 2007. 5 minutes after the match had finished.

I walked down John Street towards the Moorfoot Tavern with the rain lashing down and mixing with the tears rolling down my cheeks, and then i realised that football would never be the same for me, and we'd had our chance and it had been stolen from us.

 

[beightonblade]

When McWobblegob employed 'our terry' ...... downhill ever since.

 

[Jostein Flo]

Throughout Blackwell's time we kept trying to plug holes, rather than carefully building a strong team and squad. Some key players disappeared and we brought in the best short term solution we could find. Despite a large turnover of players, we've refused to take the chance of a real clear out and still find ourselves trying to plug holes in a poorly balanced squad that is lacking both in quality and quantity.

I think it was only a matter of time before things became really bad, and I doubt we would be much better off if Blackwell had stayed.

'Plugging holes' perfectly sums up the situation at the moment. I'm sure there is a strategy or long term plan somewhere it's just I can't see it. Everything seems to be a knee-jerk reaction that may fix one issue but brings another to light. Some sort of direction is badly needed.

 

[Guesty]

It wasn't the first thing to go wrong, and a lot of people will disagree with this, but signing James Beattie was a big mistake.

 

[Highbury_Blade]

It wasn't the first thing to go wrong, and a lot of people will disagree with this, but signing James Beattie was a big mistake.

Yup, huge mistake that. Proven 20 goal a season man. Beattie wasn't the mistake at all.

 

[Guesty]

Yup, huge mistake that. Proven 20 goal a season man. Beattie wasn't the mistake at all.

We're still dealing with the fallout of what we paid for him, and his goals didn't get us promoted, or even into the play-offs. In fact, if I recall, our form improved after we sold him.

 

[alcoblade]

It wasn't the first thing to go wrong, and a lot of people will disagree with this, but signing James Beattie was a big mistake.

Not Beattie as such, but deciding to pay £2M per year to one man in the 2nd division was stupid. Not remotely as stupid as employing the man who employed him.

There's lots of mistakes been made through the years. Not just by us. Most are only obvious with hindsight. Appointing Bryan Robson was a foretold disaster and the beginning of the end of McCabe's "glory" years.

UTB

 

[Latters]

It all went downhill for me when we bought a Chinese club called Chengdu Five Bulls and stole their identity with the sole intention of improving our commercial standing in China. It became crystal clear at that point that Sheffield United FC had well and truly taken a back seat to Sheffield United Plc.

Bad times...

 

[oldblade]

Allowing Warnock to go was the first mistake. OK, OK, I can understand where people come from on the "he was a greedy bastard" bit, and nope, the likes of Shelton, Davis and others weren't our greatest signings. I'm not even going to try and defend them. In the case of Davis, please excuse the irony in the word 'defend'.

The second mistake was the one we all knew from the outset was one. Barny Sornob. In hindsight, given how much money was hurled at Sornob, other possibles at the time (including my choice, Chris Coleman) were very unlikely and so we were resigned to Blackwell. Speed's appointment was made in a similar vein, though with appalling timing.

Had we paid Neil more (not necessarily what he wanted), and kept the wage bill (including Sornob) down, I'm sure we'd be in a healthier position.

Warnock made many mistakes. Most managers do. But there is not even an inkling of a doubt in my mind that if he was our manager we would be nowhere near the relegation zone.

However, failing to give him a new contract wasn't necessarily a mistake. Sometimes there comes a time for change. I remember at that time having very mixed feelings. I felt we would probably have been a strong force in the championship and may even have got straight back up had he remained. But I also feel that we were disliked by many, and that dislike was mainly because he was our manager.

So whether or not we should have kept him is an arguable point. But the real mistake was choosing a very poor manager to succeed him, and then compounding that mistake by allowing him to spend more money than (I think) any other manager in our history.

 

[bricktop]

It all went downhill for me when we bought a Chinese club called Chengdu Five Bulls and stole their identity with the sole intention of improving our commercial standing in China. It became crystal clear at that point that Sheffield United FC had well and truly taken a back seat to Sheffield United Plc.

Bad times...

Good Point.

I can't think of any tangible benefit that these link up's have brought the club that have made the time, effort and energy worth the hassle.

Even though we are part of the Sheffield United family like Chengdu Blades, Ferencvaros, and Central Coast Mariners, i really don't give a shit about of any of these, and my interest is solely in Sheffield United FC