LouTheBlade
Active Member
This is not to be insulting or offensive to the man or go on a pointless rant as some people on this forum do. This is to make my well considered case for a change of manager. Before the ‘do-gooders’ come out and defend KB just hear me out and consider what many people are thinking. I no longer want to viciously criticise anyone at the club because I don’t have the inclination to do so any more. So here goes;
Like him or not, Kevin Blackwell has done a good job as Sheffield United manager. I would say that statement is true up to about a few games into this season. He essentially saved us from relegation in his first half season, got us to the playoff final in his first full season and for the first half a dozen games of this one had us in good form, maintaining a strong start. I wouldn’t deny that and the guy deserves credit for picking us up out of the gutter, where that shambles of a manager before him had left us. My next point is where the thread title comes in..........
We should now look to replace the manager because his time has run its course and we are no longer a good championship side under him. That is undeniable. The fact of the matter is we have a very strong group of players that, despite the sale of some bigger names should be in the frame for automatic promotion. If we consider the following list of players;
Bunn, Geary, Nosworthy, Morgan, Bartley, Kallio, Stewart, Ward, Yeates, Montgomery, Harper, Williamson, Quinn, Henderson, Evans, Camara, Cresswell
Amongst a few others that is as strong a CCC team as a we can expect to have and happens to be as good as anything outside the top 2. We then have to ask ourselves why we are currently sat outside the playoffs, well off the pace having played more games than the teams above us. The reason is simple, unlike other managers KB cannot work on a tight budget. He has had 3 or 4 key players sold and this has had a dramatic effect on his ability to coach and motivate a still very good group of players into a consistent unit.
His inability to work under these conditions was proved at Leeds when they sold a couple of key players after the playoff final. It was also proved at Luton where he had a decent group of players but no one outstanding. On the occasions where a club has had to tighten its belt, he has been found wanting. This is unfortunate for Kevin as I feel he is very good at managing quality players and often gets them playing to their optimum (James Beattie, David Healy, Richard Cresswell, Rob Hulse, Matt Kilgallon, Gary Naysmith etc etc.). Most managers don’t have this luxury and have to be resourceful under the circumstances.
I just get the feeling that KB is one of the managers that knows the basic skills of being the no.1 guy but doesn’t have that bit extra, that x-factor if you like that perhaps a Coppell or a Coyle has to make himself not just a decent manager, but a very good one. I feel that maybe he relies on the resourcefulness of good players and their ability to pull something out of the bag when his team is up against it. Without Beattie, Halford and Kilgallon last season for example, we probably wouldn’t have got anywhere near the playoffs. But I suppose we will never know that.
Further to this it would appear that our away form (the thing that KB originally built our limited success on) has taken a nose dive this season. I believe someone on this forum mentioned a quite startling recent run of defeats on the road. Our home form has admittedly improved a little this season but not to the level that would allow us to pick up so few points away from home. This IMO, is what has set us well of the pace for a playoff berth and is why we haven’t a hope of promotion this season.
Yes I know, injuries, player sales etc. blah blah blah but every manager outside the top flight has to deal with those challenges at some point. It is how they respond to it which is the measure of how good a manager they are and sadly our manager has proved he can’t cope with those challenges. This has been shown by our inability to maintain a top 6 berth, even with a core of good players still available to play. He hasn’t been without the majority of his best players at any point this season so those excuses being made on his behalf don’t wash with me. Nigel Clough has had horrendous injury problems at Derby. Far, far worse than ours but he hasn’t used them as an excuse for almost every defeat. He has got on with his job and is now turning them around.
To summarise, KB simply needs to be replaced or resign at the end of this season should our fortunes fail to improve – which is the most likely outcome. I would shake his hand, thank him for his contribution and everything he has done for SUFC but advise him his time is up and it needs a new man to rejuvenate the team. Regardless of what we think of his tactics, playing style, substitutions United are in slow decline under him and the results are there to prove it. Let’s think about a new man before we start to ‘re-profile’ once again in the summer. It makes sense and I don’t know why others can’t see it.
I don’t dislike KB as a man and have a fair amount of respect for him as a professional but I can see on the pitch that it has become stale and unimaginative. To top that, I don’t think he is truly happy in the job. It all points to one thing................
Like him or not, Kevin Blackwell has done a good job as Sheffield United manager. I would say that statement is true up to about a few games into this season. He essentially saved us from relegation in his first half season, got us to the playoff final in his first full season and for the first half a dozen games of this one had us in good form, maintaining a strong start. I wouldn’t deny that and the guy deserves credit for picking us up out of the gutter, where that shambles of a manager before him had left us. My next point is where the thread title comes in..........
We should now look to replace the manager because his time has run its course and we are no longer a good championship side under him. That is undeniable. The fact of the matter is we have a very strong group of players that, despite the sale of some bigger names should be in the frame for automatic promotion. If we consider the following list of players;
Bunn, Geary, Nosworthy, Morgan, Bartley, Kallio, Stewart, Ward, Yeates, Montgomery, Harper, Williamson, Quinn, Henderson, Evans, Camara, Cresswell
Amongst a few others that is as strong a CCC team as a we can expect to have and happens to be as good as anything outside the top 2. We then have to ask ourselves why we are currently sat outside the playoffs, well off the pace having played more games than the teams above us. The reason is simple, unlike other managers KB cannot work on a tight budget. He has had 3 or 4 key players sold and this has had a dramatic effect on his ability to coach and motivate a still very good group of players into a consistent unit.
His inability to work under these conditions was proved at Leeds when they sold a couple of key players after the playoff final. It was also proved at Luton where he had a decent group of players but no one outstanding. On the occasions where a club has had to tighten its belt, he has been found wanting. This is unfortunate for Kevin as I feel he is very good at managing quality players and often gets them playing to their optimum (James Beattie, David Healy, Richard Cresswell, Rob Hulse, Matt Kilgallon, Gary Naysmith etc etc.). Most managers don’t have this luxury and have to be resourceful under the circumstances.
I just get the feeling that KB is one of the managers that knows the basic skills of being the no.1 guy but doesn’t have that bit extra, that x-factor if you like that perhaps a Coppell or a Coyle has to make himself not just a decent manager, but a very good one. I feel that maybe he relies on the resourcefulness of good players and their ability to pull something out of the bag when his team is up against it. Without Beattie, Halford and Kilgallon last season for example, we probably wouldn’t have got anywhere near the playoffs. But I suppose we will never know that.
Further to this it would appear that our away form (the thing that KB originally built our limited success on) has taken a nose dive this season. I believe someone on this forum mentioned a quite startling recent run of defeats on the road. Our home form has admittedly improved a little this season but not to the level that would allow us to pick up so few points away from home. This IMO, is what has set us well of the pace for a playoff berth and is why we haven’t a hope of promotion this season.
Yes I know, injuries, player sales etc. blah blah blah but every manager outside the top flight has to deal with those challenges at some point. It is how they respond to it which is the measure of how good a manager they are and sadly our manager has proved he can’t cope with those challenges. This has been shown by our inability to maintain a top 6 berth, even with a core of good players still available to play. He hasn’t been without the majority of his best players at any point this season so those excuses being made on his behalf don’t wash with me. Nigel Clough has had horrendous injury problems at Derby. Far, far worse than ours but he hasn’t used them as an excuse for almost every defeat. He has got on with his job and is now turning them around.
To summarise, KB simply needs to be replaced or resign at the end of this season should our fortunes fail to improve – which is the most likely outcome. I would shake his hand, thank him for his contribution and everything he has done for SUFC but advise him his time is up and it needs a new man to rejuvenate the team. Regardless of what we think of his tactics, playing style, substitutions United are in slow decline under him and the results are there to prove it. Let’s think about a new man before we start to ‘re-profile’ once again in the summer. It makes sense and I don’t know why others can’t see it.
I don’t dislike KB as a man and have a fair amount of respect for him as a professional but I can see on the pitch that it has become stale and unimaginative. To top that, I don’t think he is truly happy in the job. It all points to one thing................
