Where did it all start to go wrong this season?

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

Where did it all start to go wrong this season?

1. Utter dependables from last season (Enda, Fleck, Norwood) all losing form.
2. Unexpected, stand out performers last season (Lundstram, Mousset) not making any ounce of impact this season.
3. Significant losses of key players through injury (O'Connell, Fleck, Berge, and now Egan and Basham).
4. Lacking the finances to have real, credible, broad squad depth.
5. Not having the wage structure to tie down first choice targets.
6. Throw into the mix that the confidence was soon shot, and that's a ship that's hard to turn around at the highest level.

Of course, performances like last night makes it harder to be as understanding, but the importance of all of these factors cannot be ignored.

The excellence of last season, masked the fact that the depth of infrastructure in this club simply isn't there, and it couldn't have been before now. The youth are emerging but only just, the signings of Bogle etc, were an attempt to build on that. The wage structure, budget and depth of finances aren't there. We simply do not have that yet, the club is trying to build. Last season showed how we have a first team who have to be fit, at it, and in form in order to compete and beyond that, the quality drops off - rapidly. We have a supporting cast of Bryans, Robinsons and Rodwells as the evidence of that lack of infrastructure. With that, we can't afford the previous dependables to drop off, or to carry passengers.

When you take a step back, you recognise that last season was the outlier, that we are not an established PL team, and you refocus on the idea that this is a journey, about transforming this club from top to bottom. This is a journey to rebuild from L1 away days at Rochdale and we're here ahead of time.

Have the management team made mistakes?
Has the recruitment deserved questioning?
Does the midfield and the supply lines to the forward line drastically need to improve?
Are we too inflexible tactically, currently?

Yes, to all of the above.

I'm not disputing any of that. However, I'm also not suggesting for one second that the only resolution to those issues is to sack the gaffer and start again - that could set us back years. A new man would need time, his staff, his transfer windows, and his budget in order to build his ethos. By which time, we'd be just as at risk of bottom half championship, as several on here fear anyway.

Question the manager, expect changes and ask for improvements - by all means, but stick together for the journey. Otherwise, that's how you quickly end up with Robson, Micky Adams and John Carver as caretaker in quick succession. A group of people who haven't got a clue, don't have a sense of direction, and Adams aside, don't care about our club. Stick with it, and we have one of our own giving their all at the helm. Question that bloke by all means, but back him. Much rather that that some soulless career manager in a suit, a la Marco Silva's Blades. Jesus wept.

Right now, it's crap - the last few weeks of the season are a total write off - and it makes sense to start the inquest earlier, so that the plan for the summer is in place.

 

[Superblades]

I think it started to go wrong as soon as football resumed. There were a few performances that were warning signs when you look back (Newcastle, Leicester and Man U away). The performances from those games have basically been copied and pasted straight into this season.

We are down, we need to start planning now behind the scenes (board & manager) for next season. Come up with a plan, who is staying, who can go and what our budget is and start working on identifying players we want.

Players like Brewster need to be played and just told to go and play their game and get a run out and hopefully score a goal or two to build his confidence up. I can’t see anyone coming in for him, he’s young so we are stuck with him, we need to get the most out of the young players next season.

 

[BladeTillIDie]

Recruitment. Not getting an O'Connell and Lundstram replacement was strange.

No fans.

Signing expensive players for the future instead of players who can fit straight in and perform. (Ramsdale, Brewster)

 

[FMBlade1]

For me it all fell apart after Wilder's post match press conference last season against Leicester in the away game.

 

[Bladesman]

• The lack of care taken with JOC and just assuming his injury was minor. Then following it up by not replacing him with someone on loan.
• Assuming Lundstram would sign his contract despite the saga going on for more than 6 months. In that time Baldock, Fleck, Didsy, Norwood, Sharp etc all sign new deals without too much hassle.
• Not buying more midfielders knowing the situation with Lunny.
• Allowing Freeman to go out on loan with no recall
• Investing money in the wrong areas of the team despite the loss of revenue due to COVID
• Keeping players that are no where near the first team: Verrips, Moore and Rodwell
• Playing players who are out of form when there are others who deserve to keep the shirt
• Wilder's bizarre team selections and subs

As always with disasters its usually a domino effect and it all started with JOC and COVID then went to shit from there. Our reaction as a club to everything that has happened in the last 12 months has been fucking diabolical.

 

[Nine Inch Nalis]

I don't think we can ignore the impact of the pandemic, I think it's played a huge part.

Particularly on the relatively recent arrivals. The sense of isolation must be palpable and pretty hard to shake, which also affects the bonding process off the field. In one sense you're tempted to say, "suck it up and deal with it" but it's not that straightforward.

Secondly, it's provided an insight into the degree to which the support brings to performances. Since the 3rd tier, we've been reliant on that surge from the crowd which had the effect of making lower division players perform at a league or two beyond their expected level. We marvelled in song at how Fleck was "On a free from Coventry, and cost us fucking zero". I think that effect is the case with several members of the squad and we've been exposed by the lack of it.
I simply don't see the season panning out as it has if the crowds had never disappeared.

 

[Stegosaurus]

Hi Stegosaurus here,

Recruitment when we spaffed up to 18 million on a goalie who can't dive, can't kick, can't catch and can't jump and up to 24 million of a striker who can't score and can't create. While not signing anyone to actually improve the squad and the only bit of depth being Lowe and Bogle.

 

[PokerBlade]

The rot started after the mid-season break last campaign. Racking up niggling injuries that have gone from bad to worse. Last season we must have had the most settled side in any division, this season we've barely played the same defence one game to the next.

The loss of JOC can't be understated. Not just because he's that good, but because when we can't even pay competitive wages for first team players the idea of signing Prem quality back up just isn't going to happen. We finished last night with Jags, Bryan, and Ampadu. Jags is a legend but there's a reason there's not a player older than him at this level. Ampadu will probably go on to have a decent career but it probably won't be as a defender. Bryan, I don't want to criticise because he seems like a hard working players who's had a rough time with injury, but I'd have been worried about him playing in the Championship. Simple fact is, you wouldn't be happy with that back line in the Championship and it's never going to work in the Prem.

Last night showed us the major issue with underperformers as well. Without Norwood on the pitch we're incapable of stringing three passes together, but how can you justify playing him when he's been gifting goals to opposition like he did vs. Wham? Lundstram shouldn't be in the mix with both form and contract issues but there's no one seriously contending for his shirt. You've got Ramsdale who desperately needs a boost of confidence, has played alright the last two games, but still walks away having let four goals in in that time and looks more lost as time goes on.

We were great last season but we did it with a very thin squad and got lucky with injuries. This season we've got very unlucky with injuries. A few players can make a big difference. JOC and Henderson show that. Nowt we can do about JOC and nowt we could do about Hendo. Ramsdale was most people's first choice.

Just take a look at the players we know we wanted, the likes of Watkins, Cash, Maupay. We could pay the fee but were nowhere near for wages and we've ended up with our second and third choices. We've had to gamble on potential with the likes of Ampadu and Brewster and while the gamble clearly hasn't paid off, what else could we do?

I don't like psychologising it too much but as the rots set in, as the other issues have come up, confidence has dropped further and with it the performances of previously reliable players.

Honestly, I'm done complaining, I'm done moaning about it, I'm done looking for answers, it's all been said and done at this point. This season has gone incredibly wrong and I just want it over so we can start repairing it in a division where I think we can compete.

 

[robbiez666]

It went wrong in pre-season.

We had an unbalanced squad which relied on certain players playing every game. We were incredibly fortunate with injuries last season. We were incredibly fortunate that everyone was fit and consistently playing at 110% last season.

Our recruitment strategy is to pay over the odds for Championship players. It's not too much a problem when you're dropping £10 million for two young Derby players. But when you're spending £20 million on unproven footballers, and you're Sheffield United, you should probably stop and think a little.

We knew JoC potentially had issues but we were happy to rely on Robinson to replace him if he got injured.

We played the same system, despite our form generally being poor post-lockdown. Managers had learned to combat the way we played but we carried on regardless. We still don't have a plan be which isn't chuck an extra striker on.

Despite the Bundesliga suggesting that there would be more injuries and absences with a condensed fixtures programme, and any of those lefty wiffy-waffy sport psychologists could tell you that playing twice a week will cause fatigue, wear and tear and more injuries, we did nothing to mitigate against this. We've used one loan slot. One. Spent 20 odd million on a forward (we already had 5) but had players in a 23 man squad (Rodwell, Bryan, Robinson, Fotheringham, Jag) who weren't good or able to play regular first team Premier League Football. Even when we we had 9 substitutes, so that's 20 fit players we needed every game.

We have a vastly not fit for purpose youth/development structure/pathway. This is due to bad management/planning and our rapid ascent. Unlike other clubs (Burnley and Leicester are two examples of having to utilise this at the start of the season), we hadn't got the option of bolstering our squad using youth.

Which brings me back to loans. Knowing we didn't have any youth players to come in, we needed to utilise at least 4 loans. These obviously cost, but if it takes us sacrificing signing a player in order to loan 2-3, then so be it. Staying up was the most important objective this year.

So, for me, it went wrong before we even kicked a ball. Bad planning. Awful planning tbh. We've had bad luck, but until the last couple of games, no worse than most.

 

[robbiez666]

We were great last season but we did it with a very thin squad and got lucky with injuries.

I don't think fans understand just how lucky we got with both injuries and form last season. And the promotion season. Makes a huge difference playing a settled side. Huge.

 

[Blade1959]

Hi Stegosaurus here,

Recruitment when we spaffed up to 18 million on a goalie who can't dive, can't kick, can't catch and can't jump and up to 24 million of a striker who can't score and can't create. While not signing anyone to actually improve the squad and the only bit of depth being Lowe and Bogle.

We could have spent a fortune on Jordan Rhodes & ended up in the bottom 2 of the league below, as you know!

 

[cc1]

As much as it repulsed me, that advert for the Rod Stewart concert got pulled a while back, can't help but think it swung some kind of evil force into action.
Appreciate this has no definitive, provable link with results, but...

 

[BanderSerge]

Where did it all start to go wrong this season?

1. Utter dependables from last season (Enda, Fleck, Norwood) all losing form.
2. Unexpected, stand out performers last season (Lundstram, Mousset) not making any ounce of impact this season.
3. Significant losses of key players through injury (O'Connell, Fleck, Berge, and now Egan and Basham).
4. Lacking the finances to have real, credible, broad squad depth.
5. Not having the wage structure to tie down first choice targets.
6. Throw into the mix that the confidence was soon shot, and that's a ship that's hard to turn around at the highest level.

Of course, performances like last night makes it harder to be as understanding, but the importance of all of these factors cannot be ignored.

The excellence of last season, masked the fact that the depth of infrastructure in this club simply isn't there, and it couldn't have been before now. The youth are emerging but only just, the signings of Bogle etc, were an attempt to build on that. The wage structure, budget and depth of finances aren't there. We simply do not have that yet, the club is trying to build. Last season showed how we have a first team who have to be fit, at it, and in form in order to compete and beyond that, the quality drops off - rapidly. We have a supporting cast of Bryans, Robinsons and Rodwells as the evidence of that lack of infrastructure. With that, we can't afford the previous dependables to drop off, or to carry passengers.

When you take a step back, you recognise that last season was the outlier, that we are not an established PL team, and you refocus on the idea that this is a journey, about transforming this club from top to bottom. This is a journey to rebuild from L1 away days at Rochdale and we're here ahead of time.

Have the management team made mistakes?
Has the recruitment deserved questioning?
Does the midfield and the supply lines to the forward line drastically need to improve?
Are we too inflexible tactically, currently?

Yes, to all of the above.

I'm not disputing any of that. However, I'm also not suggesting for one second that the only resolution to those issues is to sack the gaffer and start again - that could set us back years. A new man would need time, his staff, his transfer windows, and his budget in order to build his ethos. By which time, we'd be just as at risk of bottom half championship, as several on here fear anyway.

Question the manager, expect changes and ask for improvements - by all means, but stick together for the journey. Otherwise, that's how you quickly end up with Robson, Micky Adams and John Carver as caretaker in quick succession. A group of people who haven't got a clue, don't have a sense of direction, and Adams aside, don't care about our club. Stick with it, and we have one of our own giving their all at the helm. Question that bloke by all means, but back him. Much rather that that some soulless career manager in a suit, a la Marco Silva's Blades. Jesus wept.

Right now, it's crap - the last few weeks of the season are a total write off - and it makes sense to start the inquest earlier, so that the plan for the summer is in place.

You could have saved the novel by saying we haven’t got a billionaire in charge?

 

[JJBlade]

Last season it started going wrong

We were still doing ok, narrow, scraped victories over Norwich and Bournemouth where we didn't play well and the return of the hoof was starting to rear it's ugly head again.

Although we picked up some points we were nowhere near the attacking unit we were before.

After lockdown, full on hoof was restored and our performances went downhill big time.

Now, it's just a case of whether Wilder can put another team together and whether he can put himself back together as well.

 

[cc1]

Last season it started going wrong

We were still doing ok, narrow, scraped victories over Norwich and Bournemouth where we didn't play well and the return of the hoof was starting to rear it's ugly head again.

Although we picked up some points we were nowhere near the attacking unit we were before.

After lockdown, full on hoof was restored and our performances went downhill big time.

Now, it's just a case of whether Wilder can put another team together and whether he can put himself back together as well.

Like when we battered Tottenham? And Chelsea?

 

[Pedro Verde]

Hi Stegosaurus here,

Recruitment when we spaffed up to 18 million on a goalie who can't dive, can't kick, can't catch and can't jump

You should be more worried agent Hogan scored past a hopeless Westwood

 

[Davalon]

Some good and fair points so far imho.

Some moan about the use of hindsight but hindsight is obviously a learning tool.

I was pleased during lockdown last season that we seemed to be working the players hard and were very vocal about it, whilst some clubs appeared to be a bit blase letting their players look after their own fitness.

As soon as football resumed we looked knackered and lacking fitness compared to the opposition.

There's questions about how player's injuries and fitness have been handled.

I wonder if a few players started to believe their own hype during the break after getting all the praise and attention heaped on them but that's just my own consideration.

Recruitment is naturally a biggy and been done to death.

My view, as I'm sure the majority share, is that just staying in the division is success.

However, we've fallen well short of that and I hope lessons have been learned on few fronts and we aren't just looking at more simplistic reasons around finance and injuries like a few fans are.

Clearly they are factors that can't be ignored but suggesting they are the main reasons that dwarf others would worry me greatly if that was the attitude of the management and the board.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Our success has been based on having a well drilled team where everyone knows their job.
Last season we had one of the best defences in Europe....hardly conceding...but we had the same back 5 playing virtually every match.
Our main tactical weapon was O’Connell overlapping on the left wing...him and Stevens were superb.
We relied on Bashams engine to constantly rove down the right wing...joining attacks.

This season we’ve had little pre-season....no time to prepare and introduce new players to the system.
Also we’ve had no O’Connell who may well be our version of Van Dyke. Our defence just isn’t the same without O’Connell.
Then once we get off to a terrible start...confidence has gone.
This season we have similarities to Liverpool downturn in form.

 

[Yogi]

Where did it all start to go wrong this season?

1. Utter dependables from last season (Enda, Fleck, Norwood) all losing form.
2. Unexpected, stand out performers last season (Lundstram, Mousset) not making any ounce of impact this season.
3. Significant losses of key players through injury (O'Connell, Fleck, Berge, and now Egan and Basham).
4. Lacking the finances to have real, credible, broad squad depth.
5. Not having the wage structure to tie down first choice targets.
6. Throw into the mix that the confidence was soon shot, and that's a ship that's hard to turn around at the highest level.

Of course, performances like last night makes it harder to be as understanding, but the importance of all of these factors cannot be ignored.

The excellence of last season, masked the fact that the depth of infrastructure in this club simply isn't there, and it couldn't have been before now. The youth are emerging but only just, the signings of Bogle etc, were an attempt to build on that. The wage structure, budget and depth of finances aren't there. We simply do not have that yet, the club is trying to build. Last season showed how we have a first team who have to be fit, at it, and in form in order to compete and beyond that, the quality drops off - rapidly. We have a supporting cast of Bryans, Robinsons and Rodwells as the evidence of that lack of infrastructure. With that, we can't afford the previous dependables to drop off, or to carry passengers.

When you take a step back, you recognise that last season was the outlier, that we are not an established PL team, and you refocus on the idea that this is a journey, about transforming this club from top to bottom. This is a journey to rebuild from L1 away days at Rochdale and we're here ahead of time.

Have the management team made mistakes?
Has the recruitment deserved questioning?
Does the midfield and the supply lines to the forward line drastically need to improve?
Are we too inflexible tactically, currently?

Yes, to all of the above.

I'm not disputing any of that. However, I'm also not suggesting for one second that the only resolution to those issues is to sack the gaffer and start again - that could set us back years. A new man would need time, his staff, his transfer windows, and his budget in order to build his ethos. By which time, we'd be just as at risk of bottom half championship, as several on here fear anyway.

Question the manager, expect changes and ask for improvements - by all means, but stick together for the journey. Otherwise, that's how you quickly end up with Robson, Micky Adams and John Carver as caretaker in quick succession. A group of people who haven't got a clue, don't have a sense of direction, and Adams aside, don't care about our club. Stick with it, and we have one of our own giving their all at the helm. Question that bloke by all means, but back him. Much rather that that some soulless career manager in a suit, a la Marco Silva's Blades. Jesus wept.

Right now, it's crap - the last few weeks of the season are a total write off - and it makes sense to start the inquest earlier, so that the plan for the summer is in place.

The shortened pre season a lot of football in the legs of what are some quite old players over a very short period of time without any real downtime for their bodies to recover I’d be very surprised if that hasn’t had a hand in our uncharacteristic injury woes this season.

 

[JJBlade]

Like when we battered Tottenham? And Chelsea?

Yes with 30% possession that was hoofed

 

[Varkanoid]

Do we really need another depressing thread wailing in our self pity. Really ? We all know where it went wrong dont really need more discussion on it. Just my two penneth.

 

[SLB]

Where did it all start to go wrong this season?

1. Utter dependables from last season (Enda, Fleck, Norwood) all losing form.
2. Unexpected, stand out performers last season (Lundstram, Mousset) not making any ounce of impact this season.
3. Significant losses of key players through injury (O'Connell, Fleck, Berge, and now Egan and Basham).
4. Lacking the finances to have real, credible, broad squad depth.
5. Not having the wage structure to tie down first choice targets.
6. Throw into the mix that the confidence was soon shot, and that's a ship that's hard to turn around at the highest level.

Of course, performances like last night makes it harder to be as understanding, but the importance of all of these factors cannot be ignored.

The excellence of last season, masked the fact that the depth of infrastructure in this club simply isn't there, and it couldn't have been before now. The youth are emerging but only just, the signings of Bogle etc, were an attempt to build on that. The wage structure, budget and depth of finances aren't there. We simply do not have that yet, the club is trying to build. Last season showed how we have a first team who have to be fit, at it, and in form in order to compete and beyond that, the quality drops off - rapidly. We have a supporting cast of Bryans, Robinsons and Rodwells as the evidence of that lack of infrastructure. With that, we can't afford the previous dependables to drop off, or to carry passengers.

When you take a step back, you recognise that last season was the outlier, that we are not an established PL team, and you refocus on the idea that this is a journey, about transforming this club from top to bottom. This is a journey to rebuild from L1 away days at Rochdale and we're here ahead of time.

Have the management team made mistakes?
Has the recruitment deserved questioning?
Does the midfield and the supply lines to the forward line drastically need to improve?
Are we too inflexible tactically, currently?

Yes, to all of the above.

I'm not disputing any of that. However, I'm also not suggesting for one second that the only resolution to those issues is to sack the gaffer and start again - that could set us back years. A new man would need time, his staff, his transfer windows, and his budget in order to build his ethos. By which time, we'd be just as at risk of bottom half championship, as several on here fear anyway.

Question the manager, expect changes and ask for improvements - by all means, but stick together for the journey. Otherwise, that's how you quickly end up with Robson, Micky Adams and John Carver as caretaker in quick succession. A group of people who haven't got a clue, don't have a sense of direction, and Adams aside, don't care about our club. Stick with it, and we have one of our own giving their all at the helm. Question that bloke by all means, but back him. Much rather that that some soulless career manager in a suit, a la Marco Silva's Blades. Jesus wept.

Right now, it's crap - the last few weeks of the season are a total write off - and it makes sense to start the inquest earlier, so that the plan for the summer is in place.

I think it started to go wrong somewhere in the middle of this;

Other managers praising CW's tactics.

Other managers working out to nullify them.

 

[gordoncharles]

Just take a look at the players we know we wanted, the likes of Watkins, Cash, Maupay. We could pay the fee but were nowhere near for wages and we've ended up with our second and third choices. We've had to gamble on potential with the likes of Ampadu and Brewster and while the gamble clearly hasn't paid off, what else could we do?

Even if one or two of those had been brought in there's no guarantee we'd be any better. Instead this thread would just be about how Watkins, Cash, Maupay or anyone else were unproven and a waste of money.

There has been no adaptation of the way we play and now we just do it worse than last season, with key players injured or gone, and with the (better quality than us) opposition wise to it.

Added to that we have no midfield. They don't attack incisively or help whatever forward permutation is thrown up in the air on any given day, and they sure as hell don't assist the defence. We have nothing in that area and no alternatives, though if we wanted to go really old school and play five up front we could, in theory, do so.

I'm afraid to say, heretical as it may be, it's the manager's fault.

 

[bromtom]

It went tits up as soon as we went into lockdown and the fitness team played the wrong hand.

That was like when F1 went hybrid, and everyone had a different interpretation, but one was clearly better. We went for the wrong interpretation of keeping players fit when they couldn't train, and they were fucked by the time they could.

Maybe that contributed to the massive uptick in injuries we've had after having basically nothing but concussions last season.

JOC and Fleck getting injured before Villa just put everyone in an "Oh shit" mindset and we haven't recovered the swagger.

Recruitment was good if you're aiming for scraping safety in the Premier League or challenging for autos in the Championship, but we didn't have the squad to only bring in who we brought in. I think Bogle, Lowe, Brewster, Ramsdale etc are all the sort of "ones for the future" buys other Premier League teams would make, but they'd be that, for the future, they'd also sign players they needed to go straight in the team.

We needed a Lundstram replacement, a Norwood replacement, and an RCB and CB of at least lower Premier League quality. We've got nothing like that.

We have a back up back line of Rodwell, Jagielka, and Bryan, in the Premier League.

That is unforgivable.

Honestly think we'd have 10 more points with a crowd in too, probably still be down or flirting with it with some of the shambolic individual performances we've seen, but the crowd would have kept our concentration levels higher and wouldn't have let them give up or not even seem to try like they have done so many times this season.

 

[Guesty]

It went tits up as soon as we went into lockdown and the fitness team played the wrong hand.

That was like when F1 went hybrid, and everyone had a different interpretation, but one was clearly better. We went for the wrong interpretation of keeping players fit when they couldn't train, and they were fucked by the time they could.

Maybe that contributed to the massive uptick in injuries we've had after having basically nothing but concussions last season.

JOC and Fleck getting injured before Villa just put everyone in an "Oh shit" mindset and we haven't recovered the swagger.

Recruitment was good if you're aiming for scraping safety in the Premier League or challenging for autos in the Championship, but we didn't have the squad to only bring in who we brought in. I think Bogle, Lowe, Brewster, Ramsdale etc are all the sort of "ones for the future" buys other Premier League teams would make, but they'd be that, for the future, they'd also sign players they needed to go straight in the team.

We needed a Lundstram replacement, a Norwood replacement, and an RCB and CB of at least lower Premier League quality. We've got nothing like that.

We have a back up back line of Rodwell, Jagielka, and Bryan, in the Premier League.

That is unforgivable.

Honestly think we'd have 10 more points with a crowd in too, probably still be down or flirting with it with some of the shambolic individual performances we've seen, but the crowd would have kept our concentration levels higher and wouldn't have let them give up or not even seem to try like they have done so many times this season.

I have no scientific basis for this, but Wilder saying there were no injuries for the Villa game, then the line-up revealing he'd been lying through his teeth, I swear that put a curse on us or something.

I do agree that the problems this season stem from last season, both post-Lockdown, but more specifically those dreadful final three games. I know a lot of people didn't like that idea (and would shut you down if you included those games in our list of consecutive losses) but I think they caused a real hangover that carried into this season.

The disastrous start to this season, both in minutes (2-0 after 6 minutes to Wolves) and the first three games as a whole through the club into a panic from which it hasn't recovered. Personally I could see we were in a lot of trouble from the Villa game onwards, and after the Leeds game I was pretty certain what would happen.

 

[Rochdaleblade]

Recruitment. Not getting an O'Connell and Lundstram replacement was strange.

No fans.

Signing expensive players for the future instead of players who can fit straight in and perform. (Ramsdale, Brewster)

Recruitment for me. How many of our signings in the Premier league have actually made the team stronger? I would argue only bogle, and he was not really a position of great need. The resigning of Jags and Rodwell was bizarre as was not getting rid of players who didn't want to be here. The injuries to key players were crippling but the failure to get a LCB was bewildering at the time. A solid defender and a decent attacking midfielder may have kept us up. We have no option but to play Lunny Norwood or a clearly unfit fleck in midfield because their replacements are nonexistent.

 

[BladeTillIDie]

Maybe wrong here but after the first lockdown didn't CW get them in training too much? Sure I remember some comments on this.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Educated hunch based on fuck all other than that !!!

The “harmony” in the squad has been tested severely due to an overriding view by some of the “older guard” that the new recruits have come in on significantly bigger wage packets and have NOT improved the group as a whole.

Just a hunch.

.

 

[Bell4]

It went wrong in pre-season.

We had an unbalanced squad which relied on certain players playing every game. We were incredibly fortunate with injuries last season. We were incredibly fortunate that everyone was fit and consistently playing at 110% last season.

Our recruitment strategy is to pay over the odds for Championship players. It's not too much a problem when you're dropping £10 million for two young Derby players. But when you're spending £20 million on unproven footballers, and you're Sheffield United, you should probably stop and think a little.

We knew JoC potentially had issues but we were happy to rely on Robinson to replace him if he got injured.

We played the same system, despite our form generally being poor post-lockdown. Managers had learned to combat the way we played but we carried on regardless. We still don't have a plan be which isn't chuck an extra striker on.

Despite the Bundesliga suggesting that there would be more injuries and absences with a condensed fixtures programme, and any of those lefty wiffy-waffy sport psychologists could tell you that playing twice a week will cause fatigue, wear and tear and more injuries, we did nothing to mitigate against this. We've used one loan slot. One. Spent 20 odd million on a forward (we already had 5) but had players in a 23 man squad (Rodwell, Bryan, Robinson, Fotheringham, Jag) who weren't good or able to play regular first team Premier League Football. Even when we we had 9 substitutes, so that's 20 fit players we needed every game.

We have a vastly not fit for purpose youth/development structure/pathway. This is due to bad management/planning and our rapid ascent. Unlike other clubs (Burnley and Leicester are two examples of having to utilise this at the start of the season), we hadn't got the option of bolstering our squad using youth.

Which brings me back to loans. Knowing we didn't have any youth players to come in, we needed to utilise at least 4 loans. These obviously cost, but if it takes us sacrificing signing a player in order to loan 2-3, then so be it. Staying up was the most important objective this year.

So, for me, it went wrong before we even kicked a ball. Bad planning. Awful planning tbh. We've had bad luck, but until the last couple of games, no worse than most.

Spot on post

 

[Flying Duck]

It started to go wrong as Wilder started to behave like a right c*nt.