Where did it all go wrong?

[Casper]

I mean where did it all go wrong since Speed left? We got a 'get out of jail free' card there, and we flushed it down the toilet!!

I'll tell you where - and i said it at the time - appointing Adams.

Carver had the team playing with a renewed belief and bit of strategy/tactical nouse (eg Swansea game).

Adams has brought in 7 players - mainly 'hard working' donkeys. All we needed to do was:

- man manage Britton - jeees, he was our player, man manage him and say if he still wants to go, then he would go with our best wishes at the end of the season.

- either sign (difficult i know) or replace Reid - another footballing midfielder playing with passion and pride.

- replace the keeper.

- keep Bartley - he was ours till the end of the season dont forget.

- sign another utility type defender (Warnock used to do it all the time).

- sign a forward with genuine pace and power.

ok, thats 4 new players - not the 7 ale house micky has signed.

With Willo coming back from injury that would have given us a team of something like:

New keeper, Parrino, Bartley, new defender, Jordon\Nos, Monty, Willo, Britton, new footballing midfielder, Evans, Boggy\new striker.

The writing was on the wall for me when the January transfer window ened - and our hoooooooooooof tactics for the Leicester game just confirmed it.

Well done Micky, YOUR team is shit.

 

[davidpinder]

Yep your bang on and the worrying thing is the 2 worst signings are permanent. a guy on rs last night was right we have to watch the likes of collins and doyle for at least the next 2 years.

 

[shorehamview]

Yes, it's all Mick Adams's fault. We were top of the league when he joined us.

If you think Sheffield United's problems are entirely down to Micky Adams then you are sorely deluded.

How was he going to sign all these players you wanted him to? Oh yes, merely wander down to the money tree and shake it, then saunter off to the job centre and sign all the unemployed but quality footballers loitering around.

Sign Reid - he made it clear that if he could stay in the Premier League then he would. Who is this other player with "passion and pride" you speak of?

Bartley wanted to leave. So did Britton. If they don't want to play for United then they can sod off. Not exactly "passion and pride", is it? When the going gets tough, the tough get going to a different club.

New keeper - who? Where from?

Sign another utility type - who, if it's that easy?

Sign a forward with pace and power - that's a piece of piss, quality players are ten a penny. Oh, sorry, they're not really.

It's very easy saying Adams should have signed new players without suggesting who these mystery players should have been or how we, a club almost without a pot to piss in, could have afforded them. I am well aware that we aren't very good, but blaming the manager for the chairman's systematic destruction of the club over a period stretching back far further than the 30th of December isn't exactly looking at the whole scenario that is Sheffield United.

The main reason, the reasons that Adams signed the players that he did were probably because that's all he could afford or that's all that would come. You can't seriously suggest that if Adams had a decent budget he wouldn't have gone for better and therefore more expensive players than he did, can you?

Our woes are not the sole fault of Micky Adams. Suggesting that they are is at best very naive.

 

[Casper]

I remember one of Adams' first observations about the team. He said they didnt know what type of team they were, long ball, short ball or what....

Well they certainly know what type of team they are now - and its certainly working isnt it!!

The guy hasnt got a clue and bringing Bassett back was embarrassing. The players' reaction to Carver showed they cared - they now look like a broken, sorry mess.

---------- Post added at 08:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ----------

Yes, it's all Mick Adams's fault. We were top of the league when he joined us.

If you think Sheffield United's problems are entirely down to Micky Adams then you are sorely deluded.

How was he going to sign all these players you wanted him to? Oh yes, merely wander down to the money tree and shake it, then saunter off to the job centre and sign all the unemployed but quality footballers loitering around.

Sign Reid - he made it clear that if he could stay in the Premier League then he would. Who is this other player with "passion and pride" you speak of?

Bartley wanted to leave. So did Britton. If they don't want to play for United then they can sod off. Not exactly "passion and pride", is it? When the going gets tough, the tough get going to a different club.

New keeper - who? Where from?

Sign another utility type - who, if it's that easy?

Sign a forward with pace and power - that's a piece of piss, quality players are ten a penny. Oh, sorry, they're not really.

It's very easy saying Adams should have signed new players without suggesting who these mystery players should have been or how we, a club almost without a pot to piss in, could have afforded them. I am well aware that we aren't very good, but blaming the manager for the chairman's systematic destruction of the club over a period stretching back far further than the 30th of December isn't exactly looking at the whole scenario that is Sheffield United.

The main reason, the reasons that Adams signed the players that he did were probably because that's all he could afford or that's all that would come. You can't seriously suggest that if Adams had a decent budget he wouldn't have gone for better and therefore more expensive players than he did, can you?

Our woes are not the sole fault of Micky Adams. Suggesting that they are is at best very naive.

You have completely missed my point, but its just what i expect. Where is the money? Where are these players? How do you motivate players who want to leave? blah blah blah.... Well its called man management - some managers have it, some dont. He signed 7 players - im suggesting he sign 4. Where do other teams seems to find these sort of players from?

 

[beightonblade]

It went wrong when Mick Jones was sold .......................... same owd ever since.

 

[shorehamview]

You have completely missed my point, but its just what i expect. Where is the money? Where are these players? How do you motivate players who want to leave? blah blah blah.... Well its called man management - some managers have it, some dont. He signed 7 players - im suggesting he sign 4. Where do other teams seems to find these sort of players from?

You missed my point about your point, but if you think that our woes are down to Micky Adams then what should anyone expect?

Man management? Who are these four players you suggest he sign, and how does he afford them? McCabe not providing decent funds is hardly down to Adams's man management, is it? And I would suggest that getting rid of two players who have made it clear that they don't want to play for Sheffield United any more is good man management rather than bad.

Other teams manage to find these players by paying them more. That's why Andy Reid wanted to stay in the Premier League and chose to take Blackpool's Sky money, rather than signing for us and taking cut-price wages. Other teams can get these players because they can afford them. We can't, because Kevin McCabe - the man controlling the purse strings, the man who appointed Robson, the man who flogged off our decent players, the man who invested Sheffield United's money in a string of property deals - won't fund decent signings, and so Micky Adams has had to wheel and deal the best he can.

But let's blame Micky, because we were bloody brilliant before he arrived. John Carver's record of one win and two losses was tremendous.

 

[Casper]

You missed my point about your point, but if you think that our woes are down to Micky Adams then what should anyone expect?

Man management? Who are these four players you suggest he sign, and how does he afford them? McCabe not providing decent funds is hardly down to Adams's man management, is it? And I would suggest that getting rid of two players who have made it clear that they don't want to play for Sheffield United any more is good man management rather than bad.

Other teams manage to find these players by paying them more. That's why Andy Reid wanted to stay in the Premier League and chose to take Blackpool's Sky money, rather than signing for us and taking cut-price wages. Other teams can get these players because they can afford them. We can't, because Kevin McCabe - the man controlling the purse strings, the man who appointed Robson, the man who flogged off our decent players, the man who invested Sheffield United's money in a string of property deals - won't fund decent signings, and so Micky Adams has had to wheel and deal the best he can.

But let's blame Micky, because we were bloody brilliant before he arrived. John Carver's record of one win and two losses was tremendous.

Absolutely agree, Carvers record of 1 win and 2 losses was tremendous (when put alongside Adams record).

McCabe has made funds available to sign 7 players - 5 of whom have come from premiership clubs. So what point are you trying to make about 'where are the funds coming from'?

I agree it was bad before Adams arrived, but it is really really bad now. At Christmas we (along with about 7 or 8 other clubs were in with a shout of going down) we are now 5 points adrift and look dead and burried.

But none of this is down to Adams is it?

 

[shorehamview]

....we are now 5 points adrift and look dead and burried.

But none of this is down to Adams is it?

Some of it is down to Adams, yes. But your thread is titled "Where did it all go wrong?" and then pins the blame squarely at the door of Micky Adams. It didn't all go wrong when he started.

It's rather like setting fire to your house and then only giving the fire brigade a water pistol to put out the fire. Sure, they could have picked any water pistol they liked, but they didn't start the fire, they are just doing the best they can with the crappy resources available. They've borrowed a leaky bucket, but they couldn't afford the shiny new buckets - too expensive, and the council won't give them any more money.

So to say "Where did it all go wrong?" and then suggest that it all went wrong from the 30th of December 2010 without attaching ANY blame to the previous few years is missing around 98% of the problems surrounding Sheffield United.

Property investment, Chengdu and other "footballing partnerships", Robson, Walker sold, Naughton sold, Beattie sold, Wembley capitulation, Wigan embarrassment, Tevez money, parachute payments, three seasons of loan fiascoes, these are not down to Adams, are they?

 

[Casper]

Some of it is down to Adams, yes. But your thread is titled "Where did it all go wrong?" and then pins the blame squarely at the door of Micky Adams. It didn't all go wrong when he started.

It's rather like setting fire to your house and then only giving the fire brigade a water pistol to put out the fire. Sure, they could have picked any water pistol they liked, but they didn't start the fire, they are just doing the best they can with the crappy resources available. They've borrowed a leaky bucket, but they couldn't afford the shiny new buckets - too expensive, and the council won't give them any more money.

So to say "Where did it all go wrong?" and then suggest that it all went wrong from the 30th of December 2010 without attaching ANY blame to the previous few years is missing around 98% of the problems surrounding Sheffield United.

Property investment, Chengdu and other "footballing partnerships", Robson, Walker sold, Naughton sold, Beattie sold, Wembley capitulation, Wigan embarrassment, Tevez money, parachute payments, three seasons of loan fiascoes, these are not down to Adams, are they?

Actually you are right! I've missed my own point, erm let me just change the title of my thread

---------- Post added at 09:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 AM ----------

Some of it is down to Adams, yes. But your thread is titled "Where did it all go wrong?" and then pins the blame squarely at the door of Micky Adams. It didn't all go wrong when he started.

It's rather like setting fire to your house and then only giving the fire brigade a water pistol to put out the fire. Sure, they could have picked any water pistol they liked, but they didn't start the fire, they are just doing the best they can with the crappy resources available. They've borrowed a leaky bucket, but they couldn't afford the shiny new buckets - too expensive, and the council won't give them any more money.

So to say "Where did it all go wrong?" and then suggest that it all went wrong from the 30th of December 2010 without attaching ANY blame to the previous few years is missing around 98% of the problems surrounding Sheffield United.

Property investment, Chengdu and other "footballing partnerships", Robson, Walker sold, Naughton sold, Beattie sold, Wembley capitulation, Wigan embarrassment, Tevez money, parachute payments, three seasons of loan fiascoes, these are not down to Adams, are they?

Done - now thats better

 

[shorehamview]

Actually you are right! I've missed my own point, erm let me just change the title of my thread
Done - now thats better

I know I am. That's why I argued the toss with you. You posed a question, then got all confused with the answer.
If you want to change the title then ask Linz or Foxy. How about "Where did it continue to go wrong?" or "Where did some of it go wrong?" or even "Fuck it, let's blame Micky for shit that happened when he was elsewhere".

Still, you've quoted me lots to help me prove my point. Thank you.

 

[Big Mart]

It went wrong when Mick Jones was sold .......................... same owd ever since.

Think this is the most relevant point on this thread, since the selling of our better players in the 60's it's never really gone right.

The Currie/Woodward team was excellent, great to watch and they could play a bit as well so what do we do, sell Currie, just as we did with Jones and Birchenall, and just what we've done ever since. When we've been on the cusp of doing something we've been true to form, we've pulled the rug from under our own feet. All the hardship over the years has been self inflicted, and so why there should be any element of suprise left in our current predicament is beyond me.

We always were, and always will be a medium sized club. A club that doesn't make waves and a club that never will. We're a selling club, and a club with little ambition. Shame really as the stadium is superb, the fans are great, and that's clappers and knockers alike, because the true fans want the club to do well no matter what gets posted on here.

The current ex chairman, or whatever he calls himself now should be ashamed, the board of directors should be looking at their feet too because they really should feel a twinge of guilt when they look the supporters in the eye. It doesn't work that way though because football's unique, you can dish any old dross out and the punter's will still buy it. Still, no worries as we have a real Blade on board now who's going to ensure that we have hand towels in the toilets, litter free gangways and a whole host of other improvements that mean f**k all in reality. We need a better team, simples!

Our current plight is tragic, we're relegated in mid February and that is truly embarrassing. The one saving grace is that the Pigs are equally as woeful and although they have enough points to avoid the drop already, at least they can't take the piss because they're no better than us, although the future does look a little brighter at the shit pit what with old Milan prepared to put his hand in his pocket.

Football??? My kind of football died years ago, this modern game just leaves me cold

 

[super_pig]

great post horace.. i was about to mention birchenall but you beat me to it.. message to board.. i don't give a fuck about toilets.. i'm prepared to come and watch a decent team in graves park.. the team should come first.. not hotels and partnerships and pies and hospitality bollocks.. it's nice to have this stuff because it can be a nice revenue earner. but at the end of the day it is a side product to the main product which is football.. you have this arse about face kevin

it all went wrong 'this' season when we didn't move to IMMEDIATELY replace morgan once he got injured.. not with loanees and trainees but a permanent proper signing.. someone like sean st ledger.. a proper tried and tested centre back at this level.. a leader..
we are doomed because most of our players are loanees.. ultimately they don't give a fuck and won't give a fuck because at the end of the season they'll just go back to their parent clubs with a shrug..
as for 'our' mickey.. some of his signings seem a bit jobs for the boys for me.. i'll say one thing .. if he hadn't been a blade there would have been shoes off by now.. mind you if he hadn't been a blade he probably wouldnt have taken the job

 

[Yossarian]

I blame Micky. I don't understand how he could sit in his office throughout January and ignore all those quality players available for a pittance who were offering their services for charity, and say "No, I'm going to sign THIS shit player instead".

It's very easy saying Adams should have signed new players without suggesting who these mystery players should have been or how we, a club almost without a pot to piss in, could have afforded them.

We do have a pot to piss in. But we're only borrowing it, and it's likely going to be taken back before the after-drips have started.

 

[alcoblade]

Absolutely agree, Carvers record of 1 win and 2 losses was tremendous (when put alongside Adams record).

When you put it like that, you really have to wonder why he isn't managing England.

UTB

---------- Post added at 11:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 AM ----------

Think this is the most relevant point on this thread, since the selling of our better players in the 60's it's never really gone right.

The Currie/Woodward team was excellent, great to watch and they could play a bit as well so what do we do, sell Currie, just as we did with Jones and Birchenall, and just what we've done ever since. When we've been on the cusp of doing something we've been true to form, we've pulled the rug from under our own feet. All the hardship over the years has been self inflicted, and so why there should be any element of suprise left in our current predicament is beyond me.

We always were, and always will be a medium sized club. A club that doesn't make waves and a club that never will. We're a selling club, and a club with little ambition. Shame really as the stadium is superb, the fans are great, and that's clappers and knockers alike, because the true fans want the club to do well no matter what gets posted on here.

The current ex chairman, or whatever he calls himself now should be ashamed, the board of directors should be looking at their feet too because they really should feel a twinge of guilt when they look the supporters in the eye. It doesn't work that way though because football's unique, you can dish any old dross out and the punter's will still buy it. Still, no worries as we have a real Blade on board now who's going to ensure that we have hand towels in the toilets, litter free gangways and a whole host of other improvements that mean f**k all in reality. We need a better team, simples!

Our current plight is tragic, we're relegated in mid February and that is truly embarrassing. The one saving grace is that the Pigs are equally as woeful and although they have enough points to avoid the drop already, at least they can't take the piss because they're no better than us, although the future does look a little brighter at the shit pit what with old Milan prepared to put his hand in his pocket.

Football??? My kind of football died years ago, this modern game just leaves me cold

^^^^^^

Now that's more like it.

UTB

---------- Post added at 11:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:00 AM ----------

great post horace.. i was about to mention birchenall but you beat me to it.. message to board.. i don't give a fuck about toilets.. i'm prepared to come and watch a decent team in graves park.. the team should come first.. not hotels and partnerships and pies and hospitality bollocks.. it's nice to have this stuff because it can be a nice revenue earner. but at the end of the day it is a side product to the main product which is football.. you have this arse about face kevin

it all went wrong 'this' season when we didn't move to IMMEDIATELY replace morgan once he got injured.. not with loanees and trainees but a permanent proper signing.. someone like sean st ledger.. a proper tried and tested centre back at this level.. a leader..
we are doomed because most of our players are loanees.. ultimately they don't give a fuck and won't give a fuck because at the end of the season they'll just go back to their parent clubs with a shrug..
as for 'our' mickey.. some of his signings seem a bit jobs for the boys for me.. i'll say one thing .. if he hadn't been a blade there would have been shoes off by now.. mind you if he hadn't been a blade he probably wouldnt have taken the job

Good post, but I don't think many really are cutting Adams slack because he's a Blade. More, to SV's point, that the seed of our shitness was sewn and has been growing for so long that Alex Ferguson couldn't have poilished the turd that grew from it.

UTB

 

[bladesadviser]

Robson wrong, Not accepting Blackwell's resignation after the play off final wrong, not getting rid of Blackwell at the end of last season wrong, getting rid of Blackwell after 3 games wrong, appointing Speed wrong, letting Ellis stay with Speed wrong. Appointing Adams maybe wrong, the jury is still out for me, but if its wrong it just joins a club

 

[super_pig]

heh.. i thought we were on about 'this' season.. i could do you a thesis on the last 40
we've been on a downward slide for quite some time.. the slide is caused by selling players and replacing them with slightly worse ones (cheaper).. after a while and a couple of cycles your team is (individually) a couple of levels below and collectively more than that.. here's a list of players, previous vs current

kenny.. simonsen
kyle w.. jordan/parrino/kozluk
kyle n.. see above plus uncle tom cobbley and all
killa.. loanees
cotterill.. yeates
howard.. ?
beattie.. cresswell
billy.. ched

see what i mean? we did the same thing in the 80s as the cost of the south stand drained the club dry (coincidence?) and ended up with a bunch of journeymen/loanees/ pastit pro's and inexperienced kids.. it took 20 years to get back a again

 

[marshy]

13th May 2007

 

[oldblade]

I mean where did it all go wrong since Speed left? We got a 'get out of jail free' card there, and we flushed it down the toilet!!

I'll tell you where - and i said it at the time - appointing Adams.

Carver had the team playing with a renewed belief and bit of strategy/tactical nouse (eg Swansea game).

Adams has brought in 7 players - mainly 'hard working' donkeys. All we needed to do was:

- man manage Britton - jeees, he was our player, man manage him and say if he still wants to go, then he would go with our best wishes at the end of the season.

- either sign (difficult i know) or replace Reid - another footballing midfielder playing with passion and pride.

- replace the keeper.

- keep Bartley - he was ours till the end of the season dont forget.

- sign another utility type defender (Warnock used to do it all the time).

- sign a forward with genuine pace and power.

ok, thats 4 new players - not the 7 ale house micky has signed.

With Willo coming back from injury that would have given us a team of something like:

New keeper, Parrino, Bartley, new defender, Jordon\Nos, Monty, Willo, Britton, new footballing midfielder, Evans, Boggy\new striker.

The writing was on the wall for me when the January transfer window ened - and our hoooooooooooof tactics for the Leicester game just confirmed it.

Well done Micky, YOUR team is shit.

I don't think we'd ever quite made it to jail when Speed was our manager. Results weren't great, but we were winning regularly enough to just about keep our heads above water.

Subsequent events have perhaps shown that Speed was doing pretty well given the poor squad we had.

 

[Deadbat]

Adams

The point about Bartley and Britton wanting to leave and if they did not want to be around then get rid is an intersting one.

When Speed/Carver was here there was nothing said or reported about these two being unhappy and then suddenly when Adams comes in they are moved on? It is the managers job aswell to keep players happy too and I dont buy this 'they did not want to be here' clap trap. They wre under contract and we have only really heard Adams take on this. Sure, Britton said things had not been quite right at the Lane but he did seem fairly happy before Adams came in and then he was dropped almost instantly as Adams went for his battling approach. They were not great (and Ward) but 2 or 3 of our more skilfull, fast and footballing type players. We have replaced these with Doyle, Collins and Bent.

Adams is certainly only a tiny part of the mess we are in but we have got worse from Blackwell-Speed and now from Speed-Adams. There is no real positives to say about his managerial tenure so far I am afraird and his post match comments suggest that he is out of ideas.

I think a change now before the end of the season is pointless but I cannot say how he can be brought back if results/performances and recrutimentcontinue for next season. We may need a clean sweep from players to management and hopefully at boardroom level.

Finally, one point on the players he has brought in. I agree he has little-to no funds and it albeit not entirely his fault but would have preferred hungry young, fast players from the lower divisions to Collins, Doyle, Bent etc and would have been on less wages so all this he has no funds is a little miselading. Those 3 players will be on decent Champ wages. Surely his knowledge of League 2/1 (he has been managing there) would see us being able to get a couple of players in (Reading- Manset for instance) that he rates? this strategy os signing ageing Prem loan reserves and Champ reserves has to stop whoever the manager is.

 

[Liaminho9]

Bartley wanted to leave. So did Britton. If they don't want to play for United then they can sod off. Not exactly "passion and pride", is it? When the going gets tough, the tough get going to a different club.

Bartley only wanted to leave because we were signing another player in his position (Collins)

 

[Robby Blade]

Where did it go wrong? Well the first game I went to was in, I think 1954, so my question would be, When did it go right?

From the age of 6 to 16 they could do no wrong in my eyes, but even then we were just a small town club in a big city, run as a businessmen’s play thing. Always almost there, but not quite. We then showed some promise, Mick Jones, Alan Birchenhall, etc made us a team worth watching. Didn’t last too long though did it? Small town mentality, receive a bid, so get ‘em sold. Later we got another team worth watching and we seemed to be going places, almost got into Europe one year. Don’t panic lads, we are Sheffield United and we don’t want our supporters getting lost in Spain or Holland so we’ll sell Currie to Leeds and let their supporters have the expense of European football. Not for the likes of us anyway.

Down we went to the 4th division , missed that season due to not being able to afford to go, but it did seem exciting. Perhaps we had turned the corner and were on the way back. Well we were, but unfortunately although the directors names had changed it was same old, same old. Incompetence ruled the day, but instead of being run by doddering old businessmen we were now run by crooks. FFS, how could lifelong pig and convicted criminal Hinchliffe be let near the boardroom? How could we have let Woolhouse have the keys to safe holding tens of thousands of pounds of cup tie money?

The Manchester Mafia came and went, Carlo had a go and we almost got Samantha back. Along came McCabe and Warnock. Didn’t like them a first, but began to warm to McCabe. At least he wasn’t a crook, was/is a Blade and had a plan to take United forward. Took a few seasons, but in reflection it gave me the best years of following the Blades. We had some great times under Warnock and were almost there, almost got to a final or two, made the Premiership, but ultimately McCabe was badly let down by Warnock and was correctly shown the door.

Déjà vu all over again. Why did we ever let Robson near the club? How could McCabe have given the pieman the free reign to sign him? We had, for the first time in my life become a club with a future, run by a man who had ambition, was wealthy beyond our wildest dreams and was certainly in it for the love of the Blades and not for what he could get out of it. And he gives us fucking Robson. At the same time we had the property downturn, McCabe though being far from skint could not afford to keep throwing money into the club and rightly so, decided he would like some of it back.

That folks is where it all went wrong. Again.

 

[Highbury_Blade]

At the end of the day, this club (Not the fans i point out), deserves relegation. Top management has blundered into bad decision after bad decision, and you'll not get far making decisions like that.

I supported the appointment of adams at the time (though he was my 3rd choice for the job), but his signings, and tactics since have made me question the sanity of that support.

The horrible thing is, that once Micky is sacked, and it's only a matter of time, his replacement is already in situ. This club will not be moving on any time soon.

WTTWY

 

[alcoblade]

I'll bet that Collins and Doyle collectively earn less than half what Monty does.

I agree on the need for pace and agility. In defence of Adams, you get one short window to agree terms with whatever is available. We were clearly rubbish, so doing nothing wasn't an option.

It's difficult to sing any praises, but I think given time and the chance to rebuild, rather than patch up a crock of shit, he'll deliver the goods. Difficult to argue that point right now mind.

UTB

---------- Post added at 11:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 AM ----------

Bartley only wanted to leave because we were signing another player in his position (Collins)

Really? You don't think winning a championship with Rangers was more appealing than being relegated to the third division?

UTB

 

[Casper]

The point about Bartley and Britton wanting to leave and if they did not want to be around then get rid is an intersting one.

When Speed/Carver was here there was nothing said or reported about these two being unhappy and then suddenly when Adams comes in they are moved on? It is the managers job aswell to keep players happy too and I dont buy this 'they did not want to be here' clap trap. They wre under contract and we have only really heard Adams take on this. Sure, Britton said things had not been quite right at the Lane but he did seem fairly happy before Adams came in and then he was dropped almost instantly as Adams went for his battling approach. They were not great (and Ward) but 2 or 3 of our more skilfull, fast and footballing type players. We have replaced these with Doyle, Collins and Bent.

Adams is certainly only a tiny part of the mess we are in but we have got worse from Blackwell-Speed and now from Speed-Adams. There is no real positives to say about his managerial tenure so far I am afraird and his post match comments suggest that he is out of ideas.

I think a change now before the end of the season is pointless but I cannot say how he can be brought back if results/performances and recrutimentcontinue for next season. We may need a clean sweep from players to management and hopefully at boardroom level.

Finally, one point on the players he has brought in. I agree he has little-to no funds and it albeit not entirely his fault but would have preferred hungry young, fast players from the lower divisions to Collins, Doyle, Bent etc and would have been on less wages so all this he has no funds is a little miselading. Those 3 players will be on decent Champ wages. Surely his knowledge of League 2/1 (he has been managing there) would see us being able to get a couple of players in (Reading- Manset for instance) that he rates? this strategy os signing ageing Prem loan reserves and Champ reserves has to stop whoever the manager is.

Excellent post mate, thats exactly what im trying to say. I've never been good at this writing\internet lark - im much better putting my point across in the pub

 

[Marland Blade]

Well said Shorehamview.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Lots of interesting and valid points made on this thread.

One factor that I feel partly explains why the team has done worse since Micky has arrived is that the belief and confidence has been steadily draining from the team since the start of the season. Managerial changes, injuries, unlucky results, conceding of late goals, lots of players out of form etc., have cumulatively built up pressure on the team until they've reached the point where they no longer believe they're going to stay up any more than we do.

The injury to Morgan was undoubtedly disastrous, but what really made the problem worse was that not only have we not replaced Killa, we haven't even replaced Bromby. Even worse, our replacement for Morgan was behind Bromby in the Leeds pecking order. Likewise, Doyle was currently 4th or 5th choice for another of our championship rivals. I therefore think that even strikers from Hereford or goalkeepers from Port Vale were probably beyond the backing the board has given Adams.

Surely the board must have faith in any managerial appointment to make intelligent decisions in the transfer market, and to spot talent that can make a profit for the club in the future. We however, seem to have made a policy decision that signing free transfers and loanees we will form a team good enough to earn us promotion.

 

[alcoblade]

The horrible thing is, that once Micky is sacked, and it's only a matter of time, his replacement is already in situ. This club will not be moving on any time soon.

WTTWY

I didn't latch onto this first time around. The horror of it just hit me. I can cope with relegation the the third division. Making Basset the manager might finish me off though.



UTB

---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:19 PM ----------

We however, seem to have made a policy decision that signing free transfers and loanees we will form a team good enough to earn us promotion.

They might have lost by 5 to Man City, but I saw enough quality in Notts County's team to confirm that without some serious investment, which isn't coming, we wont be returning the the championship very quickly.

UTB

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

The current ex chairman, or whatever he calls himself now should be ashamed, the board of directors should be looking at their feet too because they really should feel a twinge of guilt when they look the supporters in the eye. :

It's been going downhole since Derek Dooley passed, and picked up speed since Birch arrived and started his particular brand of meddling.

 

[alcoblade]

Funny how many think Dooley was a real force for good at United.

Many years ago, he agreed to meet me and a bunch of mates to do a bit of a Q an A. He came across as a lovely bloke and it was a real gesture for him to give up his time to meet us. But that's where it ended. We asked all sorts of questions that were met with the most remarkable lack of ambition you could imagine.

A couple stick in my mind;

In the days of the roof free bogs on the kop - I asked is it wasn't worth putting a roof on to save customers from having to stand it puddles of piss. Just a few returning neutrals might cover the cost. I was told that it would be expensive to put a small roof on, and in any case there was a master-plan to rebuild the whole thing many years in the future.

We asked about the lack of availability of club's merchandise throughout the city's retail outlets. The answer was along the line of "nobody wants to buy our stuff anyway".

He might have been a good figurehead - but as a driving force for change for the good - I have severe doubts.

UTB

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Letting Warnock manage in the prem.

One of the biggest mistakes we ever made, it was at the time a step too far for him. Unfortunately I think us letting him screw it up for us will have made our Neil a better manager the second time round with QPR.

Another but bigger mistake was bringing in Robbo.

Neither however are anywhere near the calamity of Turry, what the fuck was all that about.

I know its all old ground but I didn't ask the question.