Groundhopping Owl

YES. Cannot agree with and emphasise that first paragraph enough. For me this problem is even worse than their timing, which will always be a difficult thing to get right in a ground as cavernous as hillsborough. I appreciate this can quickly start to sound very w*nky, but the band consistently play in a key that’s convenient to play on brass instruments, but is several tones lower than the range you hear football supporters sing at. Meaning the people singing along don’t project sound as well and songs die away more quickly. In an ideal universe there’d probably be some compromise solution where the band agreed to only join certain songs where the key fits in better, and/or learn to bump their songs up a couple of tones. However, In reality the ringleaders have consistently proven themselves too egotistical to take any feedback on board, and they’re almost certainly not good enough musicians to alter the way they play in any case. They need to go - the new owners would score a million points with me if they use this to score an early quick win.

I need to get this attitude into my head sharpish, as I’m gutted after today. That first half was the best 45 minutes we’ve played in ages, against a team competing for the playoffs to boot, and we’ve come away with nothing. Undone by the inevitable fatigue of a squad stretched far too thin and the mental fragility of a team that’s become too used to losing. No coincidence that we shipped the winner within a couple of minutes of missing that spot kick. Particularly gutted for McNeill as obviously it had all the hallmarks of a true breakout game and now there’s a significant stain on the day. This season is becoming a chore and the incoming powers that be are going to have to work hard to keep spirits up, regardless of the awareness that better days are surely on the way, the last few months of this season could feel very long indeed.

Ffs

What a bloody chance that was.

Nicely timed for us as far as tonight goes, albeit we’ve got to hope they hold onto him as long as possible, any new manager would likely get them performing and climbing the table at least to some degree (though the same was probably said of our neighbours tbf). Always found Manning to be a thoroughly overrated manager.

Well this evening is going very well

We appear to have found the only way the club was ever going to be prised from the clammy hands of that mad, spiteful little dictator - so a massive well done to all involved. Chansiri was nothing but bad news and I feared as much from the get-go, certainly since I saw him in action at an early fan forum. The man is completely disconnected from reality, but as of now that’s no longer our problem. I still worry about whose hands we’ll end up in, unlike many I don’t want Yankee venture capitalists anywhere near us, but the communications from Kris Wigfield and colleagues have been incredibly reassuring thus far. Dreaming of a locally anchored takeover like Derby had that secures the identity of the club for the long term. Much as I agree with the consensus that this administration will be a huge net positive for the club in the long-term, important to remember that livelihoods remain at stake. Solidarity to all the staff in the hectic weeks ahead. We only get a clean slate once, so let’s make sure we make the most of this fresh start. Wish I could be there today to soak up just how far the mood has swung in 24 hours but will have to watch from overseas. Let’s see how this squad with all its spirit can do without a toxic atmosphere surrounding them. Play up Wednesday, sing up Wednesdayites.

Can we headhunt Kris Wigfield to be our new CEO post-sale? I’d trust the bloke with my life already

They’re both top blokes and we need Bannan now more than ever - but Hutchinson and Bannan sometimes undermined any notion of tactics by charging around the whole pitch and trying to do everything themselves. It made us too one-dimensional to ever trouble the automatic promotion spots. Steve Bruce was probably a good choice of manager on paper but I couldn’t stand him and I was very relieved to see him go so soon. Jeremy Helan could have been a top player if played at wing back.

Thanks very much for sharing this - came into this thread looking for any extra info as I wasn‘t initially sure which way to vote but this clears it up. A shame I had to wade through four and a half pages of Neil tediously shouting at people to get to this genuinely helpful post but there we are.

Well that was very, very enjoyable indeed particularly as our pub had Brugge on two screens and Grimsby-Manure on the third. Non-stop entertainment.

Yep, fully agree that’s the crux of it. The warped nature of English football in 2025 means if you’re not in the PL, you’re nowhere. So how much are you willing to sacrifice in order to get there (and once you’re there, how much more is required to stay there?)?. Much as I’m aware it’s a minority position, I’ve at the point of not being remotely interested in the PL. If Chansiri re-issued his daft loaded survey of ST holders asking if we’d prefer obscene ticket prices in exchange for a level of transfer spending necessary for promotion (well, unless you’re Huddersfield, or Brentford, or Ipswich etc…), or reasonable ticket prices and comparatively low spending, I’d happily tick the second box (as I did last time). Albeit I’d query whether that second, “sustainable” end of the spectrum would condemn us to League One, if we were run smartly I wouldn’t see that as inevitable. In fairness I’m also aware this is a completely hypothetical question - as you say we can’t go on as we are, we’re very much a beggar who isn’t in a position to be a chooser, but hey it’s a forum for discussion, including of hypothetical questions.

Best-case (and probably utopian) scenario for me is a Sheffield version of Steve Gibson. A locally anchored businessman who understands the club, keeps the fanbase onside and has sensible instincts. The guy who ended up saving Derby seems another reasonable model. Worst-case scenario would be some loud, brash chancer like Textor who wants to add us to their multi club network and spend someone else’s money like a drunk until it dries up and then expects someone else to clean it up while blaming anyone else in sight for his own failures. Tbh I fear any Yankee venture capitalist type would leave the club and its identity unrecognisable in a pretty short space of time, much as many may be swayed by the promise of mega million dollars being spent on a charge for the premier league. Actually the true best-case scenario would be a buyout by the supporters, like at Hearts, but fat chance of that ever happening. Even if we could pull together the required funding (almost certainly impossible) we’d never be organised enough to get it through, look at all the squabbling over something as simple as a boycott of a league cup game.

A quintessential display of internal squabbling from our fanbase tonight, while DC leans back in his evil mastermind chair and thinks his genius new strategy of putting in no money and playing the kids is working rather nicely. ”We mustn't fight each other! Surely we should be united against the common enemy?” ”THE JUDEAN PEOPLE’S FRONT!?!?”

Disabled enclosure opened maybe?