They say its the hope that kills you...

[Guest Grandad]

... I think its the lack of hope personally.

 

Ive been in the office since 730 and just staring into space, completely shell shocked.

 

I just can't process my thoughts and feelings. I absolutely love this club, it has such an emotional attachment as it brings back so many memories of family who I have shared highs and lows with, family no longer with us like my Dad and Grandad. It has connected us across 4 generations, my children are fans too. 

 

Right now I feel the future is more bleak than it was during the High Court dramas. Weve had nearly a whole year with no fans attending, a year of complete dross on and off the pitch. I don't remember the club ever being so badly run as it is now - the culmination being the way the club is treating our already disconnected fans with ticket refunds. That will come back and bite them. On top of that we have;

 

The points deductions for breaking the League rules.

 

The drifting from one bad manager to another - the awful football. The truly awful awful football.

 

The hawking of the stadium to secure a paltry loan from effectively a loan shark - when the Chairman supposedly has unlimited funds.

 

The expense. Like never before.

 

And the lack of any hope. It was the hope that kept the club afloat at the time of the High Court dramas - it was the hope and the fans that made the club such an investable item.

 

That hope has been removed - I can't blame the players for the performances - the majority of them just simply arent good enough to compete in the Championship. Most of the new signings weren't getting games at their old teams. The squad we have has been forced on us by our FFP misdemeanours and the need to bring things back into line.

 

By targetting the players with our anger it is self defeating - I worry about fans getting back in the ground as that will increase the nervousness.

 

How many of those fans that are now out of the habit of attending Hillsborough will return? We could well see gates back below 15k - maybe even worse than that. 

The whole situation on and off the pitch looks completely hopeless. I do think its worse than the High Court days - but probably not as bad as the mid 70s. How we need a Jack Charlton/Bert McGee right now.

 

(Sorry for the long ramble - I guess sometimes it just helps to share the thoughts and check out its not just me feeling like this)

[striker]

The last embers of hope were extinguished for me the day Pulis was appointed. 

 

It all seems very hollow and surreal now, as detached from the club as I've been for a long time just waiting for his tenure to end so I can believe again. 

[the monk]

Nowt wrong that a shot on goal or a corner that stays in play won't cure pal 

[Guest Grandad]

Just now, striker said:

The last embers of hope were extinguished for me the day Pulis was appointed. 

 

It all seems very hollow and surreal now, as detached from the club as I've been for a long time just waiting for his tenure to end so I can believe again. 

 

As Ive just said elsewhere in a different thread. I would take admin and relegation right now - if I thought it would mean the Chairman would go and we could be taken over by someone who knows how to run a football club

[matthefish2002]

We are at a low ebb and it will be touch and go to be in the Championship next season.
But I don't think all hope is lost if we can stop up. Maybe have to go through a couple of dull mid table to get back on an even keel though.
 

 

[striker]

Just now, Grandad said:

 

As Ive just said elsewhere in a different thread. I would take admin and relegation right now - if I thought it would mean the Chairman would go and we could be taken over by someone who knows how to run a football club

We might not have a choice re relegation at this rate.

 

But, yes I share the sentiment. The owner is the problem, this isn't the club I fell in love with, I've had enough of whoring my support in return for his money. 

[Rogerwyldesmullet]

I agree about the need for strong leadership but contrary to the views of many other posters, I do think we need a no  nonsense manager Pulis, who, like Big Jack, can rebuild a resilient club ethos which will pay long term dividends on the pitch. Jack did not turn things around straight away or have us playing stellar football until he had a group of “young lions” with speed and pace who five years later were flirting with promotion to Div 1 and getting as far as FA Cup semis.

 

The fanbase has been badly mishandled by the new regime who thought scattering money around on players and wages like confetti would be enough to get us promoted. This club needs a proper plan putting in place which is sustainable and makes sense to fans but also to players at the club or they will never attract the right type of player to the club. 
 

Willy nilly Pulis has to be given time - if we are as bad or worse than this in a years time then pull the trigger, but I wager if he is given as long as Monk we will be better. Stoke are gradually becoming competitive again under Michael O Neill, Boro under Warnock etc but neither were safe until quite late on last year. One thing I’d hate to see is the fans becoming part of the problem because make no mistake, fans were a big part of the solution in the late 70s and helped persuade Jack to take the job in the first place and stay in the job for as long as he did. 

[Bannofan]

14 minutes ago, Grandad said:

... I think its the lack of hope personally.

 

Ive been in the office since 730 and just staring into space, completely shell shocked.

 

I just can't process my thoughts and feelings. I absolutely love this club, it has such an emotional attachment as it brings back so many memories of family who I have shared highs and lows with, family no longer with us like my Dad and Grandad. It has connected us across 4 generations, my children are fans too. 

 

Right now I feel the future is more bleak than it was during the High Court dramas. Weve had nearly a whole year with no fans attending, a year of complete dross on and off the pitch. I don't remember the club ever being so badly run as it is now - the culmination being the way the club is treating our already disconnected fans with ticket refunds. That will come back and bite them. On top of that we have;

 

The points deductions for breaking the League rules.

 

The drifting from one bad manager to another - the awful football. The truly awful awful football.

 

The hawking of the stadium to secure a paltry loan from effectively a loan shark - when the Chairman supposedly has unlimited funds.

 

The expense. Like never before.

 

And the lack of any hope. It was the hope that kept the club afloat at the time of the High Court dramas - it was the hope and the fans that made the club such an investable item.

 

That hope has been removed - I can't blame the players for the performances - the majority of them just simply arent good enough to compete in the Championship. Most of the new signings weren't getting games at their old teams. The squad we have has been forced on us by our FFP misdemeanours and the need to bring things back into line.

 

By targetting the players with our anger it is self defeating - I worry about fans getting back in the ground as that will increase the nervousness.

 

How many of those fans that are now out of the habit of attending Hillsborough will return? We could well see gates back below 15k - maybe even worse than that. 

The whole situation on and off the pitch looks completely hopeless. I do think its worse than the High Court days - but probably not as bad as the mid 70s. How we need a Jack Charlton/Bert McGee right now.

 

(Sorry for the long ramble - I guess sometimes it just helps to share the thoughts and check out its not just me feeling like this)

 

All of this is, of course, true.

 

Then I think back to my first game...the wonder of the huge stadium and and an unfathomable amount of people in one place...the noise, the smell ..it was electric to me as a 7 and a half year old.

 

The game was  Sheffield Wednesday v Portsmouth  , 25th February 1978.  It finished 0 -0  and there was just over 10'000  in attendance.  After the game we were 7th from bottom of the league 1/Division 3. Our average home attendance was  11'403 that  season.

 

I think my point is, is that there are incredible lows and highs being a loyal supporter of our club - you know that probably more than most.

 

We are at quite a low ebb at the moment - we will probably get relegated because the players obviously don't have the heart for it - but next season?

 

We have had terrible chairman. They go eventually. 

 

The club isn't going to disappear. Clubs like Sheffield Wednesday will not be allowed to - and I say that as someone who isn't an entitled  owls fan - I just don't think it's an option.

 

I wouldn't bet against us being in or around the league 1 play offs this time next year , thinking about booking that hotel at Wembley again.

 

Chin up mate, yes it is as bad as you say it is...but it will be better soon enough. 

 

 

[FreshOwl]

You had hope in the first place?

[gurujuan]

I won’t comment on the admin side of things, but I can pin point where things started taking a new direction, and a turn for the worse. The recruitment post Wembley, has all the hallmarks of someone who is out of touch with the modern game, and you can see that influence on virtually every player and managerial appointment since. We are now completely at odds with the direction in which the game is heading. Carlos, who by and large just got on with things, pretty much suggested it after that second summer. I think that lead to him adopting a more pragmatic style. We have had a succession of ill fitting managers and players, as we adopt a more and more archaic approach to turning things around. Pulis is the nadir, in terms of tactics and his approach to modern day football, we cannot get any lower Unless DC leaves, or sees the light, and takes on board more enlightened advisors, we are done for I’m afraid

[Stripes or die]

29 minutes ago, Grandad said:

 

As Ive just said elsewhere in a different thread. I would take admin and relegation right now - if I thought it would mean the Chairman would go and we could be taken over by someone who knows how to run a football club

I've said this before, we may have to get relegated to finally(hopefully) hit the bottom of this hole we're in. Sometimes you have to let things fail before you can start to repair them.

[striker]

17 minutes ago, Rogerwyldesmullet said:

I agree about the need for strong leadership but contrary to the views of many other posters, I do think we need a no  nonsense manager Pulis, who, like Big Jack, can rebuild a resilient club ethos which will pay long term dividends on the pitch. Jack did not turn things around straight away or have us playing stellar football until he had a group of “young lions” with speed and pace who five years later were flirting with promotion to Div 1 and getting as far as FA Cup semis.

 

The fanbase has been badly mishandled by the new regime who thought scattering money around on players and wages like confetti would be enough to get us promoted. This club needs a proper plan putting in place which is sustainable and makes sense to fans but also to players at the club or they will never attract the right type of player to the club. 
 

Willy nilly Pulis has to be given time - if we are as bad or worse than this in a years time then pull the trigger, but I wager if he is given as long as Monk we will be better. Stoke are gradually becoming competitive again under Michael O Neill, Boro under Warnock etc but neither were safe until quite late on last year. One thing I’d hate to see is the fans becoming part of the problem because make no mistake, fans were a big part of the solution in the late 70s and helped persuade Jack to take the job in the first place and stay in the job for as long as he did. 

Ironically I think Pulis would have been a decent appointment had he been around in the 70s/80s. But this is 2020, we don't expect stellar football, some football will do.

 

What Pulis puts out on the pitch is so outdated, it's embarrassing. The players don't like it by the looks of it as much as the fans don't want to watch it. 

 

It's a good job fans aren't allowed in stadiums because, aside from our core support, suspect attendances would be very low. I'm not sure about a year,  another month of this and things will get very messy. 

[CircleSeven]

Things are bad for sure but isn’t it just a case of ‘normal service is resumed’. 
 

The way things are now are definitely more in keeping with the Wednesday I know and support. 
 

If the whole situation is too much for some fans to take then just take a bit off time off. No one will think bad of you. 
 

Riding this out is the only way to go. 
 

There are limited outcomes. For me the most likely three are:

1. We go down. 
Chansiri doesn’t want to own a league one club. 
He moves on.  
Someone else takes over. 
We get better. 
 

2. We go down. 
Chansiri sticks it out. 
Puts some more ££ in. 
We go up

We get better. 

 

3. We stay up. 
To stay up we will have had to get better anyway. 
Chansiri sticks it out. 
More money is found. 
We push on. 
 

I am pretty relaxed. I thought Pulis might have kept us up. I don’t think he will now. 
 

The club will remain. I will continue my support. If other want to take a bit of time off then go for it. 
 

[tomhollywood]

Chairman needs to leave, simple as that for me.

 

He threw money at it when he arrived and it didn't work. We've been staggering around like a punch drunk boxer who hasn't quite hit the canvas yet ever since.

 

If you're an owner who doesn't want to be around for the day to day running and be hands on then at least employ good people to do that for you but he can't even seem to do that.

Manager changes are all pointless until the top of the club is right.

[NorthernOwl]

47 minutes ago, Grandad said:

... I think its the lack of hope personally.

 

Ive been in the office since 730 and just staring into space, completely shell shocked.

 

I just can't process my thoughts and feelings. I absolutely love this club, it has such an emotional attachment as it brings back so many memories of family who I have shared highs and lows with, family no longer with us like my Dad and Grandad. It has connected us across 4 generations, my children are fans too. 

 

Right now I feel the future is more bleak than it was during the High Court dramas. Weve had nearly a whole year with no fans attending, a year of complete dross on and off the pitch. I don't remember the club ever being so badly run as it is now - the culmination being the way the club is treating our already disconnected fans with ticket refunds. That will come back and bite them. On top of that we have;

 

The points deductions for breaking the League rules.

 

The drifting from one bad manager to another - the awful football. The truly awful awful football.

 

The hawking of the stadium to secure a paltry loan from effectively a loan shark - when the Chairman supposedly has unlimited funds.

 

The expense. Like never before.

 

And the lack of any hope. It was the hope that kept the club afloat at the time of the High Court dramas - it was the hope and the fans that made the club such an investable item.

 

That hope has been removed - I can't blame the players for the performances - the majority of them just simply arent good enough to compete in the Championship. Most of the new signings weren't getting games at their old teams. The squad we have has been forced on us by our FFP misdemeanours and the need to bring things back into line.

 

By targetting the players with our anger it is self defeating - I worry about fans getting back in the ground as that will increase the nervousness.

 

How many of those fans that are now out of the habit of attending Hillsborough will return? We could well see gates back below 15k - maybe even worse than that. 

The whole situation on and off the pitch looks completely hopeless. I do think its worse than the High Court days - but probably not as bad as the mid 70s. How we need a Jack Charlton/Bert McGee right now.

 

(Sorry for the long ramble - I guess sometimes it just helps to share the thoughts and check out its not just me feeling like this)

 

It's a pretty dire situation isnt it.

 

I do think I fall into that group of fans that are unlikely to return to Hillsborough on any kind of regular basis. I'm so out of the habit now and I just don't miss it.  As someone who doesn't live in Sheffield the expense and the time involved attending games no longer seems appealing.

[S36 OWL]

43 minutes ago, Grandad said:

 

As Ive just said elsewhere in a different thread. I would take admin and relegation right now - if I thought it would mean the Chairman would go and we could be taken over by someone who knows how to run a football club

 

The fact a man can buy a football club, spend hundreds of millions of pounds on a mid table championship club and turn us into a league one team in waiting takes some doing. It's one disaster after another with Chansiri, his latest being lumbering us with Paxo's mate Pulis. 

 

I'm at the stage where I automatically expect us to lose every time we play. The apathy is that bad. 

[Deepcar_lights]

Starting again in league two without Dejphon Chansiri - genuinely I'd take it. 

 

He must be sat on emotions right now. Looking squarely at the progress we haven't made. 

 

Rock bottom of the league. 

 

Very unpleasant for everyone involved. Including I would imagine DC himself. 

 

 

[shezzas left peg]

49 minutes ago, matthefish2002 said:

We are at a low ebb and it will be touch and go to be in the Championship next season.
But I don't think all hope is lost if we can stop up. Maybe have to go through a couple of dull mid table to get back on an even keel though.
 

 

The problem for me is I just can't see us staying up because we just can't win at home. Even in the dolll drum years gone by we'd pick points up and home. Other teams down at the bottom will hit mini runs of form at spells before the end of the season which means the longer we're not winning and still cut adrift the harder it is to claw back up the table. We're in some serious trouble right now and a couple of battling performances helped lift a bit of optimism, but even then we still couldn't buy a win. 

 

[@owlstalk]

1 hour ago, Grandad said:

... I think its the lack of hope personally.

 

Ive been in the office since 730 and just staring into space, completely shell shocked.

 

I just can't process my thoughts and feelings. I absolutely love this club, it has such an emotional attachment as it brings back so many memories of family who I have shared highs and lows with, family no longer with us like my Dad and Grandad. It has connected us across 4 generations, my children are fans too. 

 

Right now I feel the future is more bleak than it was during the High Court dramas. Weve had nearly a whole year with no fans attending, a year of complete dross on and off the pitch. I don't remember the club ever being so badly run as it is now - the culmination being the way the club is treating our already disconnected fans with ticket refunds. That will come back and bite them. On top of that we have;

 

The points deductions for breaking the League rules.

 

The drifting from one bad manager to another - the awful football. The truly awful awful football.

 

The hawking of the stadium to secure a paltry loan from effectively a loan shark - when the Chairman supposedly has unlimited funds.

 

The expense. Like never before.

 

And the lack of any hope. It was the hope that kept the club afloat at the time of the High Court dramas - it was the hope and the fans that made the club such an investable item.

 

That hope has been removed - I can't blame the players for the performances - the majority of them just simply arent good enough to compete in the Championship. Most of the new signings weren't getting games at their old teams. The squad we have has been forced on us by our FFP misdemeanours and the need to bring things back into line.

 

By targetting the players with our anger it is self defeating - I worry about fans getting back in the ground as that will increase the nervousness.

 

How many of those fans that are now out of the habit of attending Hillsborough will return? We could well see gates back below 15k - maybe even worse than that. 

The whole situation on and off the pitch looks completely hopeless. I do think its worse than the High Court days - but probably not as bad as the mid 70s. How we need a Jack Charlton/Bert McGee right now.

 

(Sorry for the long ramble - I guess sometimes it just helps to share the thoughts and check out its not just me feeling like this)

 

 

When people raised concerns about Pulis were told that he IS our Jack Charlton

[Guest Grandad]

3 minutes ago, @owlstalk said:

 

 

When people raised concerns about Pulis were told that he IS our Jack Charlton

We get statements like that about every new manager