I haven't posted much for a while, cos I've been too busy with other stuff and then the way the wheels fell off our promotion push just knocked the stuffing out of me.
I am worried about the future.
I've been a big supporter of Steve Bruce, and I still contend that he's the best manager the club has ever had, followed closely by Brownie, but something has failed this year, and failed badly. With the squad we've got, we should have ****ing walked this league, but the prospects for getting past derby in the play-offs, never mind whoever else makes it to the final, look bleak, given our current form. To be honest, I'm pinning our hopes on Derby being complacent, having beaten us home and away, 6-0 on aggregate. Sadly, I don't think they will be.
Where does that then leave us? The reason I say our squad should have walked this league is because we hung on to so many of our players after last year's relegation; we pretty much still had a Premier League squad, plus Premier League parachute payments. There should've been no excuse. If we don't go up this year, we can expect an exodus, and mid-table status at best next season. To be honest, being an established mid-table side in the second tier wouldn't be such a disaster; traditionally, it's been our natural environment, and all of those silly claims about us being a 'sleeping giant' have been made to look ridiculous by our piss-poor attendances this year. Even when we were in great form at the top of the league, we were only pulling in 15-16k, and it's clear that we are not, and never will be, as 'big' as the likes of Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, or even two League One clubs with bigger average attendances than us this year, in Sheffield United and Bradford City.
I could just about live with all of this, were it not for the fact that we are owned by complete ****ing arseholes who continue to ride roughshod over supporters, caring little about the divisions they have created; I fear that, rather than finding ourselves in steady, mid-table, tier 2 status, the uncertainty our owners have caused, and the resulting lack of faith many people have in them, will result in our decline being considerably more severe.
Is anyone else as worried as I am?
I am worried about the future.
I've been a big supporter of Steve Bruce, and I still contend that he's the best manager the club has ever had, followed closely by Brownie, but something has failed this year, and failed badly. With the squad we've got, we should have ****ing walked this league, but the prospects for getting past derby in the play-offs, never mind whoever else makes it to the final, look bleak, given our current form. To be honest, I'm pinning our hopes on Derby being complacent, having beaten us home and away, 6-0 on aggregate. Sadly, I don't think they will be.
Where does that then leave us? The reason I say our squad should have walked this league is because we hung on to so many of our players after last year's relegation; we pretty much still had a Premier League squad, plus Premier League parachute payments. There should've been no excuse. If we don't go up this year, we can expect an exodus, and mid-table status at best next season. To be honest, being an established mid-table side in the second tier wouldn't be such a disaster; traditionally, it's been our natural environment, and all of those silly claims about us being a 'sleeping giant' have been made to look ridiculous by our piss-poor attendances this year. Even when we were in great form at the top of the league, we were only pulling in 15-16k, and it's clear that we are not, and never will be, as 'big' as the likes of Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, or even two League One clubs with bigger average attendances than us this year, in Sheffield United and Bradford City.
I could just about live with all of this, were it not for the fact that we are owned by complete ****ing arseholes who continue to ride roughshod over supporters, caring little about the divisions they have created; I fear that, rather than finding ourselves in steady, mid-table, tier 2 status, the uncertainty our owners have caused, and the resulting lack of faith many people have in them, will result in our decline being considerably more severe.
Is anyone else as worried as I am?