[Albion] Massive fan in peace

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I have been to Hillsborough a couple of times. It is a fantastic location - for a retail park and some low cost housing, and the new CEO with her expertise in take-overs and cartels is the person to make it happen. There should be no pusshback from the FA since the new CEO will propose a ground share with the blunts - a perfect solution from a business perspective. The city will see all this as a great urban development opportunity. Exciting!

 

[Triggaaar]

Hi all, Hope you don’t mind me sticking my beak in. Seems after our play off encounters of 2016 a bit of bad blood has developed between us - probably mostly from the young uns on our respective forums I’m sure.

Is there? You're fans have a reputation for thinking your club is massive, that's all it is as far as I know.

Anyway, my question is regarding your 2014-15 season. Can you tell me what happened?

Wrong manager and a few wrong acquisitions. Not much else.

 

[MattBackHome]

Yeah - what Easy said.

Hyypia was tactically naive, and stuck to his system even when it consistently failed to deliver.The defence didn't looked drilled enough and midfield lacked shape.

We started the season with David Burke running scouting hence this utter shower:
Kemy Agustein
Toko Nzuzi
Gary Gardner
Leon Best

plus the flawed, misunderstood and underappreciated genius of Paddy McCourt.

Highlights were the signing of Beram Kayal who made an immediate impact, the performances of Texeira who was very good and the time Darren Bent scored against Fulham and ran the length of the pitch to 'Adebayored' their visiting fans.

Basically Hughton came in, Burke went out and everything changed.

 

[Owlinwolf]

Not sure it's bad blood. But there was a general view here that SW (and Leeds) appear to look down their noses at teams such as Brighton who have the cheek to outperform their historic expectations. So not much sympathy when you have come unstuck. I've had decent chats with Owls who've been down here for midweek games, recalling FACup SFs and other old clashes.
2014, we took a gamble on Hyppia and it failed miserably, not helped by some dodgy recruitment (eg OGrady). Fortunately, we went for Hughton, took our medicine that season and, as you kindly say, look at us now. Secret, such that it is, has been team spirit and a pragmatic approach.
I fear for you a bit because you must have a huge wage bill with older players who may struggle to dig in. But you have enough quality not to go down. If you get the appointment right, you will go again. Persuading fans to be patient is difficult in this day and age, mind.
PG

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Great post and i agree entirely. Absolutley right about the looking down the noses stuff but its just petty jealousy really. A big (not MASSIVE - 99% of us know that) club who have had nearly 2 decades of failure on and off the pitch who console ourselves with our better history and feel aggrieved that we turn up in our masses to watch crap football (granted previous 2 seasons much better) yet still languish in the second or third tier. Seeing every other small mill town of the north making the premier league is a bitter pill to swallow!

And yes, i think the right appointment could be the catalyst we need but preceded by this CEO appointment, i'm not so sure we'll get it!

 

[Guinness Boy]

Exactly what everyone else has said really. Our squad deteriorated even further after the second play off defeat but we replaced a really good coach in Oscar with a really bad one in Hyppia. Add to that Gary "barely a footballer" Gardner, Chris "Blunt" O'Grady and Kemy "FatTwat" Agustien, plus a load of youth teamers and has beens and it was no wonder we went in to freefall. Astonishingly Hughton put it right with one big signing (Kayal) and a big change in tactics.

But this is not your problem. Meire is your problem. Get yourselves organised.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

This was the start of the demise of Sheff Weds , obviously imo .

[yt]hnLQjXaVHAI[/yt]

You may well be right. The pundit was a one eyed git wasn’t he? Knocky’s winner was not a simple tap in!

 

[Brian Munich]

Our dodgy 14/15 season was mainly due to the appointment of a disaster zone of a manager and a couple of questionable transfer dealings. Once Hyppia left, we were able to pull out of the bottom three and, although it wasn't spectacular to watch, Hughton did enough to keep us comfortably safe and the new recruitment team were planning for the 15/16 season as soon as the Jan 15 winter transfer window shut. We were owned by a lifelong fan, who had just invested another £20m into the club's future in the shape of the Cat 1 status academy and training ground. We also had a highly experienced CEO running the show.

From an outsider's point of view, Sheffield Wednesday's problems seem run far deeper than ours did. This Chansiri bloke that owns you seems to think he can do what he wants with your club and doesn't understand that, although he may have bought the club, he will never own it. He also seems to have no clue about football and your club's traditions - what the F is that Harry Potter badge on your (non stripey) kit all about? The appointment of this CEO from Charlton would worry me. She seems like the sort of person to employ when you're about to make a load of very unpopular decisions.

 

[Hampster Gull]

Yeah - what Easy said.

Hyypia was tactically naive, and stuck to his system even when it consistently failed to deliver.The defence didn't looked drilled enough and midfield lacked shape.

We started the season with David Burke running scouting hence this utter shower:
Kemy Agustein
Toko Nzuzi
Gary Gardner
Leon Best

plus the flawed, misunderstood and underappreciated genius of Paddy McCourt.

Highlights were the signing of Beram Kayal who made an immediate impact, the performances of Texeira who was very good and the time Darren Bent scored against Fulham and ran the length of the pitch to 'Adebayored' their visiting fans.

Basically Hughton came in, Burke went out and everything changed.

Bless him, what should we have done differently?

 

[Brian Munich]

Just to summarise what I said above. Chansiri does not give a flying **** about Sheffield Wednesday. Stop kissing his arse and get yourselves organised and get him out of your club before it's too late. It may mean short term pain but you're Massive enough to be able come back.

 

[MattBackHome]

Bless him, what should we have done differently?

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showthread.php?356431-Paddy-McCourt

Let's keep it in here.

 

[Easy 10]

Bless him, what should we have done differently?

The very fact that Paddy McCourt was being held up as a potential saviour by some just goes to show what a catastrophic clusterfvck that season was. Great player, if you liked seeing someone with their socks rolled down weaving round 3 players in the centre circle, and then blasting the ball high into the north stand.

Utterly useless, and the LAST type of player you'd want anywhere near the squad in a relegation battle.

 

[chaileyjem]

We had a weaker team under Oscar in 2013/14 but still made the play offs and Hyppia wasn't helped as we didn't properly replace Ulloa, Barnes, Bridcutt, Ward, Andrews, Upson or Buckley who all left in 2014. Club also decided to invest or rely more on youth players like Ince, JFC and Lua Lua who in the end didn't fulfill early promise.
But don't forget we had the spine of our 15/16 play off/ promotion sides in 2014/15 though.
Stockdale, Bruno, Calde, Stevens (crucially that season he was largely injured), Dunk, Baldock, Greer, March (also injured) and Kayal after Xmas were all at the club.

But yep. it was Hughton's superior Champ experience getting us through those last few months of 14/15 without getting relegated (only just) , keeping that spine of players together, being lucky with injuries and Bloom freeing up the ££s to give players new contracts and make some key signings in summer 2015 (Hemed, Zamora, Bong, Rosenior, Murphy) and subsequently (Knockaert, Murray, Duffy especially) that made the difference.

 

[Owlinwolf]

Our dodgy 14/15 season was mainly due to the appointment of a disaster zone of a manager and a couple of questionable transfer dealings. Once Hyppia left, we were able to pull out of the bottom three and, although it wasn't spectacular to watch, Hughton did enough to keep us comfortably safe and the new recruitment team were planning for the 15/16 season as soon as the Jan 15 winter transfer window shut. We were owned by a lifelong fan, who had just invested another £20m into the club's future in the shape of the Cat 1 status academy and training ground. We also had a highly experienced CEO running the show.

From an outsider's point of view, Sheffield Wednesday's problems seem run far deeper than ours did. This Chansiri bloke that owns you seems to think he can do what he wants with your club and doesn't understand that, although he may have bought the club, he will never own it. He also seems to have no clue about football and your club's traditions - what the F is that Harry Potter badge on your (non stripey) kit all about? The appointment of this CEO from Charlton would worry me. She seems like the sort of person to employ when you're about to make a load of very unpopular decisions.

Fully aware of what Charlton fans think of Meire, but i see no need to start "organizing" now. We'll give her a chance. We've been through enough crap in recent years to know when we need to step in.

Many mistakes have been made for sure, throwing cash around isnt the answer as it seems to be the case with your revival after Hyppia. Just hoping we get the right manager in.

Chansiri, the jury's out for me, he seems pretty minted which is extremely important. He seems quite a superstitious type as is typical in Thailand i gather. The "Chansiri-ising" of the ground can handle on the grounds of getting more money through FFP as sponsorship. THe badge really couldnt care less, some people just don't like change and the retro badge i probably prefer over the 80's one.

Stripes, yes we dont look like wednesday without them and i bloody hope we go back to them next season. 150th anniversary this year "Whoopee!!!" so as long as wearing Ipswich kit just for that then i can handle it.

I think his superstition is making us try different things, he got a thai buddhist priest over to do a ritual at the away end (relating to the disaster) and swapped dugouts home/away, then no stripes. Hopefully this season will convince him these things don't really matter but don't fault him for trying.

 

[MattBackHome]

the 80's one.

I remember really loving that owl badge when I first saw it in my 87/88 (?) panini sticker book. Still think it's class.

 

[GT49er]

Yeah - what Easy said.

Hyypia was tactically naive, and stuck to his system even when it consistently failed to deliver.The defence didn't looked drilled enough and midfield lacked shape.

We started the season with David Burke running scouting hence this utter shower:
Kemy Agustein
Toko Nzuzi
Gary Gardner
Leon Best

plus the flawed, misunderstood and underappreciated genius of Paddy McCourt.

Highlights were the signing of Beram Kayal who made an immediate impact, the performances of Texeira who was very good and the time Darren Bent scored against Fulham and ran the length of the pitch to 'Adebayored' their visiting fans.

Basically Hughton came in, Burke went out and everything changed.

Thought Leon Worst came in on loan after Hughton arrived (he'd played for him before, hadn't he?)

 

[bhanutz]

Fully aware of what Charlton fans think of Meire, but i see no need to start "organizing" now. We'll give her a chance. We've been through enough crap in recent years to know when we need to step in.

Many mistakes have been made for sure, throwing cash around isnt the answer as it seems to be the case with your revival after Hyppia. Just hoping we get the right manager in.

Chansiri, the jury's out for me, he seems pretty minted which is extremely important. He seems quite a superstitious type as is typical in Thailand i gather. The "Chansiri-ising" of the ground can handle on the grounds of getting more money through FFP as sponsorship. THe badge really couldnt care less, some people just don't like change and the retro badge i probably prefer over the 80's one.

Stripes, yes we dont look like wednesday without them and i bloody hope we go back to them next season. 150th anniversary this year "Whoopee!!!" so as long as wearing Ipswich kit just for that then i can handle it.

I think his superstition is making us try different things, he got a thai buddhist priest over to do a ritual at the away end (relating to the disaster) and swapped dugouts home/away, then no stripes. Hopefully this season will convince him these things don't really matter but don't fault him for trying.

I get the feeling that if he could, he would change your name to Sheffield Chansiri. On the outside and from reading OwlsTalk, it would appear he has a massive ego and no knowledge of football whatsoever. He would also appear to being funded by his father. My worry would be, he will realise it is one massive mess and stop the funding.

Having gone through our own issues in the past, I would be very wary if I were a Wednesday fan!

 

[Brovion]

Hi all, Hope you don’t mind me sticking my beak in. Seems after our play off encounters of 2016 a bit of bad blood has developed between us - probably mostly from the young uns on our respective forums I’m sure.

I don’t think there are many of us who would genuinely say we were the better side in those play offs. You had the worst luck in the first leg with injuries then absolutely blitzed is at yours. But, well, look at you now! Congratulations on reaching the Promised Land!

Anyway, my question is regarding your 2014-15 season. Can you tell me what happened? You may be aware we havin similar crisis here. A lot stems from our beloved neighbours coming up and doing very well but also from an aging squad with little pace and a manager who seeemed to stubbornly persist with the most negative football imaginable.

Basically the whole of our first team is currently injured which is a pretty big factor but that doesn’t stop the drama queens in meltdown at not being able to manage a third season promotion push.

Cheers!

As others have mentioned these days it's not about the players and the manager, the whole back office set up is just as important - and both have to function well for a club to be successful. Hughton was undoubtedly an important appointment, but so too were Paul Barber (CEO) and Paul Winstanley (Head of Recruitment). Plus of course our chairman (Tony Bloom) is THE best chairman in football. Forget the team, I'm not sure your people in those positions are anything like as good as ours.

Rome wasn't built in a day, you might have to take a step back before you can go forward - and not just on the pitch.

 

[MattBackHome]

Thought Leon Worst came in on loan after Hughton arrived (he'd played for him before, hadn't he?)

Yeah you're right.

 

[Easy 10]

I think his superstition is making us try different things, he got a thai buddhist priest over to do a ritual at the away end (relating to the disaster) and swapped dugouts home/away, then no stripes. Hopefully this season will convince him these things don't really matter but don't fault him for trying.

See that kind of thing would TERRIFY me. If your owner honestly thinks that this type of muddle-headed mumbo jumbo bobbins could actually have the slightest influence on the fortunes of the team, then what the hell is he thinking when it comes to the IMPORTANT stuff, like appointing a manager and...uhhh...a decent CEO ?

Its been said many times, but thank god we've got Tony Bloom, and not some clueless far-east gimp with more money than sense on an ego trip.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I suppose to go back a bit further from the Hyypia season, the Poyet team from two seasons before was completely dismantled throughout the following 12 months. Garcia crept into the playoffs with Poyet's team, although I don't think anyone gave us much of a chance of promotion and we were duly hammered by Derby. We lost Ashley Barnes and Liam Bridcutt half way through that season (arguably in the mind a bit earlier) - but then after Garcia left we sold/let go Matt Upson, Will Buckley, Tomas Kuszczak, Andrea Orlandi, David Lopez and Leo Ulloa, and didn't replace key loan players Keith Andrews and Stephen Ward.

So we can blame Burke's recruitment and Hyypia's management, justifiably in both cases, but they had a lot of key players to replace.