Who do you blame - KMc, KB, players, us?

[bricktop]

I'm going for none of the above.

I still think that the big fat fuckwit par excellence Terry Robinson has a lot to answer for.

 

[happyhippy]

i'm totally with railway on this.. this is not chicken and egg.. this is an entertainment industry.. hello!..the club has the responsibility to entertain first.. it is their ultimate responsibility.. something that SAF and SBR understood too well.. we've been supporting any old crap for long enough.. it would be nice to see a decent match every now and again.. we live in hope

I don't buy the "it's an entertainment industry" argument at the level we're at, and above. It's about results where we are. I didn't hear too many Arsenal fans complaining about "Boring, boring Arsenal" when they were winning consistently under George Graham.

It has become more of an entertainment industry in recent years, but would you want to see us lose 4-3 every week playing good stuff which keeps the purists happy, or grinding 1-0's out week in, week out?

Ideally, we want both. Why wouldn't we? Why shouldn't we? An unsuccessful club will ultimately lose its fans and support though. Though we played better football than many gave us credit for under St Neil, it was still mostly pretty direct, and occasionally brutal. We won though, became more successful and crowds increased.

Apologies for being off topic though

 

[mattbianco1]

McCabe for making him sell the best squad in the league instead of gambling and winning it.
Blackwell next for turning good players into statues and not seeing Billy Sharps potential but thinks spending 3m on evans is good then to put him on bench.
But then players are the ones on the pitch who cant pass 5yards to their team mate. They must take some flack.
Between blackwell and players i would say Physios and coaches for clearly not keeping players fit... Why is that? Bad diet? Bad routine?
And how come at half time they just boot ball around like theyre at school whereas last year they did little drills and games at half time instead. - coach and managements fault that

 

[scouseblade]

I blame West Ham and the Premier League, old grudges die hard

 

[happyhippy]

Do we, as fans, have to take some responsibility though?

It's a difficult one. Ultimately, we have little say over what happens on the pitch yet at times, as a collective, we haven't been as supportive as we possibly could've been.

You can pick as many options as you need to in the poll by the way...

I've gone for everyone bar us

I honestly don't think that as the paying public we can be held responsible, despite some pretty reprehensible verbal attacks in the ground, which thankfully the players and staff are very unlikely to have heard.

McCabe, much as I still fully support him, and thank him has to take a big slice of the 'blame' for our current malaise. He's made some poor decisions with money as far as United is concerned (Sornob, free spending on wages, sanctioning the signing of players who had no, or virtually no part in our first team), and it's that which leaves us scratching for pennies.

He made a catastrophic appointment in Sornob, and that I still believe is the real reason why we're in the position we're in. He also gave us the platform and belief that we could get to the top again, and but for one goal, we would have had at least one more season there, and that was due to his investment. For that he will have my enduring support, but I've said for months that there appears to be little leadership coming from the top. He can't live on 'past glories'.

On to Blackie, and part of me does feel a little sorry for him. Only in that results show that he has done well with us. Unfortunately, I think he only has the squad (as bare as it is) running at about 70%, and by that I honestly mean the lack of a 'Plan B'. We all know that we have players at the club (Squinny in particular) who are much, much better than they are allowed to show.

This surely must have a direct effect on our position. If we are to be so one-dimensional, then it has to be effective. Our away record ahows it's far from being so. He, and the coaching staff have to take major responsibility here. Blackie, by far, the most.

The players? I put them in because we have had some who haven't put their all in, according to most of us. Howard being one I'd personally single out for hiding during matches. I also put them in because ultimately they're the ones who play, and can change things. Oddly enough though, I put them at the bottom of the 'blame list', as some also may just happen to be not good enough for what is required.

Other? Our off field developments haven't seemingly done anything for us at all. We have staff here there and everywhere on gambles which haven't paid off. Has anyone from São Paulo ever phoned?

As fans we are completely reactive. We pay: we are not paid.

 

[JohnDenver]

"Other" for me. I blame the financial chasm between living life in the Prem and in the Championship.

Those clubs which fail to get promotion within two years of relegation all end up struggling for years to come. Sure enough, so are we. I just hope we stabilise quicker than most.

All the other options are also to blame, but the financial fundamentals mitigate heavily against us.

 

[dansufc]

all to blame i reckon

 

[bartman]

Not certain that Warnock would of got us back 1st time of asking and he was leathal at pissing money away on crap. Even to get promoted people seem to forget Horsfield & Akinbiyi thats over £3mil alone!

Agree...it's a myth he had no money to spend. There's the £3million you mention plus the money wasted on Shelton and Fahti when money could have been spend on a back up target man and an experienced midfielder in the January transfer window. If addition he bought Killa,Legsofwood,Hulse,Stead,Davis for a totalof approx £9million. I make that about £15million on players in about 12months

 

[Bladesman]

Agree...it's a myth he had no money to spend. There's the £3million you mention plus the money wasted on Shelton and Fahti when money could have been spend on a back up target man and an experienced midfielder in the January transfer window. If addition he bought Killa,Legsofwood,Hulse,Stead,Davis for a totalof approx £9million. I make that about £15million on players in about 12months

Exactly millions but some would still say he only had 50p and a bag of nuts to lure new players in. Out of what 15 million quids worth of playing staff only Hulse & Killa out of the ones you mentioned were worth the money.

 

[kop_blade9]

Has anyone from São Paulo ever phoned?

I heard that the guy who was the go between died and so the links are not there anymore.
so I guess this phone will never ring

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Not sacking Warnock as soon as we were promoted was the biggest mistake.

Who would have taken over is another matter cus the guy who gave Robbo a job would have been involved.

 

[happyhippy]

Not sacking Warnock as soon as we were promoted was the biggest mistake.

Who would have taken over is another matter cus the guy who gave Robbo a job would have been involved.

So you'd sack a manager with no replacement there? Just as we'd gone up? How clever is that?

 

[Grecian2000]

So you'd sack a manager with no replacement there? Just as we'd gone up? How clever is that?

That's not what he said though is it?

If we had got a proven Premiership manager in, not someone just happy to be in the limelight, then we may (and we'll never know) have still been up there now.
The point he makes in the second paragraph is that, unfortunately, we didn't realise that the next appointment would be a Turry production and thus total shite!

 

[Fiery Blade]

McCabe has a lot to answer for!
He may be a shrewd cookie in business latest balance sheets for his companiy's appear to dispute that theory !
In just over 3 years he has got a team who were certs to bounce straight back to the prem to a team incapable of fielding a five a side team without the loanees and managed by a complete tosser!

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Warnock was always out of his depth in the premier. We should have said 'thanks Neil' and got someone else in. I don't think however McC would have been successful with Neil’s successor based on McC giving those two planks Robbo and Robbo a job.

 

[chipsncake]

McCabe has a lot to answer for!
He may be a shrewd cookie in business latest balance sheets for his companiy's appear to dispute that theory !
In just over 3 years he has got a team who were certs to bounce straight back to the prem to a team incapable of fielding a five a side team without the loanees and managed by a complete tosser!

I hate Blackwell's presence at our club with a pasion but the buck stops with McCabe, he appointed him and has dithered in getting rid.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've blamed McCabe in spite of the fact that I think he has a lot to take credit for as well - not least the fact that most of us now feel some sort of entitlement to success.

I think the time was right for Warnock to go when he went - I remember some of the bitterness towards him in the run up to and just after the Wigan game. That would have been downright poison given a less than stellar start to life in the Championship.

The big mistake was the appointment of Robson - all of the progress in the last few years was staked on a busted flush. Whether that was McCabe or that fat twat Robinson we'll never know. It happened, and McCabe was in charge - since then we've lost our football common sense.

Appointing Blackwell was a direct result of the appalling mess that decision got us into within 12 months of "a Premier League force and pushing for Europe" aspirations. Right man to steady the ship - certainly, right man to take the club forward - certainly not.

Wembley last year was our chance to salvage something from the post-Robson mess. We blew it. I don't think anyone had any plans beyond that, and consequently we're putting a team out that I don't think even Blackwell understands any more.

Who's to say we wouldn't still be struggling to get back up, but without Robson we might be working with someone who has a plan beyond day-to-day survival, which is unfortunately where Blackwell seems to have got to. I'd love to know what he thinks next year will look like.

I may be wrong, but it would seem that we are in a position where a major operation within the group is in regression without a turn-around plan.

Blackwell's a tit, but it's the fact that he's here and why he's here that makes me point the finger at McCabe.

 

[Jostein Flo]

For me there are too many factors to blame to focus on any specific one - from the current global climate forcing KM to tighten his belt, to footballing factors that can be traced back to relegation from the Premiership. However comments rubbishing the view that we, as supporters of the club, are responsible for a proportion of the ill feeling are well wide of the mark.

I have been to games where the atmosphere has been totally venomous from the start, with players roundly booed for slight mistakes within the first five minutes. I know that we Blades are hardly the most optimistic of fans but I've felt for some time now that there are sections of the support for whom creating negativity (both during games and in phone ins/ on message boards) is more of a hobby than a reflection of how the club is performing.

 

[wardlowwanderer]

I have a feeling it's down to me. I follow a Catalan team called Gimnastc de Tarragona (Nastic). In the season they were promoted to Spanish league 1we were promoted to the Premiership . They were relegated at the end of the season and so were we. The following season they came close to relegation but pulled it out of the bag. We were similar until the shoes came off. They currently sit in ninth place with little chance of promotion - so do we.

I think that, in some strange way, they are affecting how SUFC performs (maybe through some kind of 4 dimensional portal). If I didn't 'support' Nastic then the Blades would probably still be in the Premiership. Therefore it's my fault.

 

[Bladesway]

McCabe utterly and totally. He lauded it up when we got promoted, he gave Warnock the chance to bugger everything up in the Premiership (and he did), he did the World Cup bollocks, he launched the hotel, he invested in 47 different clubs, he slapped his wallet shut but forgot to tell anyone, he makes Blackwell operate with his arms and his feet tied behind his head, he sanctioned the signing on of Robson, he sanctioned the wage bill that he told us all was suicide, he sits in Belgium and tells us how it hurts him as much as it hurts us, he spins his PR machine out to tell us that all is still ok and he is the boss.

The buck stops with one man, because he was so quick to take the credit when things were good so he should take the shit when things are going wrong. And boy are they going wrong. 20k at the lane next season, a load of players who aren't ours (I would prefer to play our academy lads than someone elses misfits) and general shite football.

But McCabe will come out of it a rich man in spite of all that

 

[Ollessendro]

I'm disappointed to see some of the stick Warnock is getting in this thread. I understand the whole 'he blew it in the prem', 'we were negative away from home' but the idea that McCabe should have sacked him and replaced him is sheer lunacy!

I can't believe people would seriously contemplate sacking a manager who just got us promoted. We had a great season and finished with 90 points. Oh thanks for your hard work Neil, now fook off. I don't know who I will bring in, but you are clearly not good enough for the Premiership!? sheer idiocy

 

[raul]

Depends who would have been available at the time Olly. Would it have been madness if, say, Roy Hodgson had been up for the job? Don;t think there's any suggestion of taking the decision "blind"

 

[Micalijo]

Depends who would have been available at the time Olly. Would it have been madness if, say, Roy Hodgson had been up for the job? Don;t think there's any suggestion of taking the decision "blind"

You seem a sensible bloke Raul. Am I wrong? Are you seriously suggesting that we should have sacked Warnock in May 2006? It's pure madness, as Ollie has said above. You are in the realms of fantasy football.

On a related note, I'm desperate to have an argument (withdrawal symptoms I think) with somebody about Blackwell but now that every man and his dog - including Foxy - wants Blackwell removed either now or in summer - it aint happening. I agree with virtually every post on here nowadays. Can anyone who wants Blackwell to stay on next term please identify themselves? Duncan?

 

[rachyblade]

Personally i blame, in no particular order, Rob Styles, West Ham, Liverpool FC, David Unsworth, Steven Gerrard and Kia Jorabchian.

I'm with you all the way!

 

[JohnDenver]

Can anyone who wants Blackwell to stay on next term please identify themselves? Duncan?

Hello! :wave:

I'm for a review in the summer. No prejudice.

 

[Micalijo]

Hello! :wave:

I'm for a review in the summer. No prejudice.

Nice one John! Cheers.

You know what, if Blackwell wasn't such an embarrassment, I'd have actually given him some slack on Tuesday - 3 injuries early on is not good and you can't win em all. But, we have heard it all before from him and a manager's key job for me is to build cohesion and maintain consistency when times are hard. Blackwell fails on all the important things he can control - forget McCabe's re-profiling - of the things KB can control he is failing to deliver. Media, tactics, signings, appreciation of fans, awareness that fans do actually watch games, and now results.

I'll be sorry to see him go in some respects because he is now such a laughing stock. I'm quite worried about him because I don't think he can see the wood for the trees etc and I'm pretty sure he still thinks he is doing OK and only a few lunatics think there is a problem. He's trying his best and in that respect I feel for him because I don't think he has much else outside football - nature of the job and very time consuming. But, he can always wave his bank statement at me and have the last laugh - fair play and he should answer back and defend himself. If he gets another half decent job I'd be amazed but thinking about it he possibly will at MK Dons or somat like that.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

I'm desperate to have an argument (withdrawal symptoms I think) with somebody about Blackwell but now that every man and his dog - including Foxy - wants Blackwell removed either now or in summer - it aint happening. I agree with virtually every post on here nowadays. Can anyone who wants Blackwell to stay on next term please identify themselves? Duncan?

If Cardiff go into administration as they’re expected to do so, we would be 2 points behind the 6th place team. If we get promoted via the play-offs, it would be “pure madness” to sack the manager who achieved that. I think I’ll reserve judgement until we can’t get promotion.

 

[Micalijo]

If Cardiff go into administration as they’re expected to do so, we would be 2 points behind the 6th place team. If we get promoted via the play-offs, it would be “pure madness” to sack the manager who achieved that. I think I’ll reserve judgement until we can’t get promotion.

Fair comments Sothall.

Blackwell aint fit to lace Warnock's boots but any manmager who gets us promoted deserves a crack in the big time, even Blackwell. Sack him after 5 games by all means but give em a chance.

 

[raul]

You seem a sensible bloke Raul. Am I wrong? Are you seriously suggesting that we should have sacked Warnock in May 2006? It's pure madness, as Ollie has said above. You are in the realms of fantasy football.

Yes, I am
No, you aren't
Yes I am IF a better candidate had been around. It wouldn't have done any harm to look.
No it isn't
As are all of us not currently managing a professional football club

 

[mickle-blade]

Getting rid of Warnock was the single worst decision KMc was made.

With hindsight you are probably right. I think NW would have got us promoted while we were still recieving the prachute payments and a lot of the current problems would not have happened. BUT hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Now we are in a situation were something's got to change rapidly and for me the 'buck stops with the manager' as in any industry.
So thanks for trying Blackie - you are a decent enough bloke - just not a very good manager and certainly not the worst we have had by a long way but the time has come for a change. Don't slam the door on the way out and leave with some dignity.