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The morning fog hung low over the city of Sheffield. Beautiful down town Bramall Lane stood silent, wistfully dreaming of better days and capacity crowds.
If the oldest football venue in the world had had a mind, it would have been wistful and regretful: the Blades, who had appeared on the verge of promotion to the Premiership just two years earlier, were now scrabbling for a playoff berth in League One.
Attendances - which had risen steadily when the Premiership looked imminent - were quickly dropping, and the club had been forced to take a sizeable loan from its chairman.
This is Book 2 ofSharpening a Rusty Blade. If you'd rather start at the beginning of the tale without spoilers, you might want to trySharpening a Rusty Blade - Book 1.
If you just want to jump straight in, welcome aboard! The early posts of this thread should fill in the back-story well enough.
I arrived at Bramall Lane not knowing entirely what to expect. I'd been so focused on the League Two title chase that I had a lot to learn about Sheffield United Football Club.
The chairman is Derek Dooley, an elderly gentleman with a cane and a prosthetic leg. When he speaks, its entirely about the club and its future - it was only from a fan's website that I gleaned a bit about him. He's spent over 50 years in service to sport in Sheffield City, and has the odd distinction of being well loved both at Sheffield United and their bitter rivals, Sheffield Wednesday.
He made his debut as a player at Sheffield Wednesday in March of 1950, scoring 63 goals in 59 games over the next five years before breaking his leg during a match. Infection set in, and the leg had to be amputated to save his life, cutting short a brilliant career. He went on to become Wednesday's manager from 1973 through 1975, and for a number of years has been serving as Chairman and commercial manager of Sheffield United.
Terry Robinson is the General Manager, another older man. He has had a long career as a football executive, notably spending two decades as chairman and chief executive at Bury. He resigned his post there in January of 2002, and was named Football Executive at Sheffield United less than a week later, on February 5th. He's a genial fellow, talkative and outgoing.
I had a long meeting with them on Monday morning, in which they outlined the club's structure. Mister Dooley assured me that I can rely on the full backing of the club's board. They are both quite pleased with the team's performance within League One this season, as they had expected to achieve a respectable mid-table position, and so to be battling for promotion at the end of the year is exceeding their initial projections. The fans, they warn me, expected the team to challenge for the title and have been bitterly disappointed. They divide the labor fairly equally, with Dooley responsible for the club's finances, and reporting to the board of the public company. Robinson is more involved in the day-to-day operations of the club, but put to rest any concerns I'd had about control by stating that I would be in 'full control' of transfers and contract negotiations.
Then Mr. Robinson gave me the short tale of the history of the club. They are a legendary club, with a long history and a number of historic firsts. Founded on the 22nd of March, 1889, Sheffield United joined the Football League Second Division in May of 1892. The Blades placed second that year, making them the first club in the world to be promoted. They were truly a power around the turn of the century, winning the First Division in 1898, and triumphing in the FA Cup in 1899 and 1902. They remained a part of the top flight through 1934, winning the FA Cup twice more in 1915 and 1925, and taking part in the first British radio commentary of a football match, versus Arsenal at Highbury in 1927.
From 1934 through 1978 they bounced back and forth between the First Division and the Second Division, earning the Division Two title in 1953. The 1978/79 season was an awful one, and over the next three years the side fell all the way down to Division Three, but with a new chairman, manager Ian Porterfield started the club's revival. He earned two promotions, and then Dave Bassett earned promotion back to the First Division in 1990, finishing 9th in 1991/92. The Premier League was formed the following year, and not only were United founding members, they scored the first goal when Brian Deane netted after five minutes against Manchester United.
The Blades were relegated after the 93/94 season, and despite eight top-ten finishes in Division One over the next eleven years, couldn't quite earn their way back up to the top flight. Neil Warnock took over in December of 1999, with the club deep in debt, but three seasons of mid-table finishes helped clear much of the debt, and in 2003/03 they reached the Division One playoff final. Two more respectable finishes followed in the newly named Championship, the club always seeming on the verge of promotion but unable to pull it off.
Last season, under the management of first Warnock and then former Wolverhampton manager John Gregory, the Blades just couldn't seem to buy a win, notching an incredible 19 draws from 46 games. They finished the season in 22nd place despite a goal differential of just minus-two, and were relegated to League One.
This season had started dismally, but the purchase of two central defenders in November had helped turn things around, and the club had gone on a promising run, including a trip to the LDV Vans Trophy final and a 1-0 win at bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday in mid-March. Since that game, however, the side hadn't won, losing four of six in a run that saw Gregory fired after a 0-3 drubbing by Colchester.
"We decided to look for a bright young talent," Robinson finished, "And your application suited what we're looking for only too well. Your successes at Lancaster caught Derek's eye, and your incredible F.A. Cup run with York marked you as one to watch."
Derek Dooley, as expected, named 33-year-old Ian Richards as the new manager of Sheffield United at a press conference yesterday morning.
Richards left York City after three seasons in charge, in which he secured successive promotions from the Conference to League One and has the Minstermen poised within a single result of clinching the League Two title.
The American first earned a reputation with his sterling Cup runs, and won the Conference Mananger of the Year last season. He has also carved out a name for himself as a promotion wizard with an eye for spotting and developing young talent. Those skills are exactly what the doctor ordered for the Blades.
The Bramall Lane side, in the middle of a thick fight for the four playoff berths with just two games to go, clawed their way to fifth place under the interim management of assistant manager Stuart McCall with Saturday's 2-1 victory over Oxford United, who had previously occupied that place.
"I want to thank everyone associated with York City," Richards said, "Its been a magical three years, and I hope my departure won't disrupt our rhythm: you all have a big match next weekend!
"Seriously, fans, supporters, and especially Mister Beck and the McGills, you have all treated me so wonderfully; I couldn't have asked for a better home. I hope we've built a foundation my successors can build on, ensuring York City Football Club's rightful place in the League for years to come.
"I'd have liked to see out the season before making a move, but I suspect the Blades need me more than the Minstermen do."
The reaction from York, however, has been mixed, with some vocal fans accusing their manager of "selling out", while other lament the end of an era, with Richards leaving and talismanic midfielder Tappa Whitmore retiring to take up a coaching position in Jamaica.
I've had a bit more opportunity to evaluate the club. Most of my time has been spent watching the players on the training pitch, but I've also been studying the books and trying to map out what my next steps are.
After leaving the morning press conference yesterday, and settling into my office, I gathered my new staff for a quick meeting and a round of introductions.
My Assistant Manager is Stuart McCall, a 42-year-old former Scottish international with 40 caps and one international goal. He seems very talented across the board, determined, and I'm impressed with his adaptability. He and I got along quite well in the interview process, and he's under contract through 2010. Though I'd thought of inviting Viv along, after spending a bit more time with Stuart, I expect to keep him on through the duration of his contract.
Mick Jones, at 60, is one of the oldest coaches I've worked with. Stuart assures me that Mick is an excellent coach of young players, but his contract is expiring at the end of next season. I think I'm likely to ask him to renew it, as its rare to find one so gifted with youngsters.
Scott Sellars, aged 41, is the other coach. I think I'm going to need to bring in more coaches, as even at York I'd had four. Sellars hasn't impressed me so far. I don't think the players respect him, and I've got a better tactical understanding of the game than he does. I think I'll want to replace him.
Tom Mitchell, age 45, is the head physio, and he seems excellent, very knowledgeable in the brief conversation I've had with him so far. He's one of those guys that its easy to trust right off the bat.
His assistant is an older man, Dennis Pettitt, whose quick smile and chuckle remind me a bit of my grandpa. He likewise knows his subject, and both physios are under contract through 2009.
The scouts, I am unsure about. I definitely miss Spencer Field and Dave Colley, who have been so fantastic for me in the past. In fact, Wayne Broughton and Kevin Randall inspire so little confidence, I may find myself replacing them directly.
In the short term, the club lie fifth in the League One, where the top two teams promote automatically, and third through sixth earn a playoff spot. Its mathematically possible that we could earn promotion direct, but odds are we'll find ourselves in the playoffs.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Team Pts W D L GD C 1 Leeds United 89 27 8 9 +27 Pl 2 Crewe Alexandre 76 21 13 10 +21----------------------------------------------- 3 Barnsley 73 21 10 13 +14 4 Sheffield Wednesday 73 21 10 13 + 7 5 SHEFFIELD UNITED 70 19 13 12 +12 6 Oxford United 68 19 11 14 + 8----------------------------------------------- 7 Stockport County 68 19 11 14 + 3 8 Blackpool 67 20 7 17 +11</pre>
In the long-term, there's no reason why this club couldn't earn its way back up to the Premier League. Bramall Lane is a fantastic facility, a 30,900 all-seater with under-soil heating. The training ground are top facilities, and there is a youth academy across the street.
The financial status is also very strong: the club have a positive balance of £11.0M, of which £4.2M is being made available to me for summer transfers. There is a £6.75M debt owed to the Chairman, which the club are repaying at the rate of £90,000/month. This month they've turned a profit of £0.2M, and are up £4.8M for the season, of which only £2.0M came from a positive player-sale balance. The total wage budget is £6.5M per annum, of which the current spending is only £3.0M p/a. Reviewing the books, I noticed that I had commanded a transfer fee of £220,000!
I got a rude welcome to Sheffield, which I'd heard was a hard-knock city, in today's morning paper, which I found sitting upon my new desk when I arrived for work.
Quote:
Dooley's Folly?
Sheffield United on Monday revealed their new manager, Ian Richards, whom they signed away from York City after three seasons in charge.
The team's press releases prematurely annoint chairman Derek Dooley as a genius for discovering the untried American, but Blades supporters have serious doubts about the 33-year-old.
The American has only been a football managemer for three years, and though he has been widely touted as the 'next great thing' in English management after guiding the Minstermen to successive promotions the last two years, he's hardly the next José Mourinho. The only silver in his trophy cabinet is a solitary Nationwide Conference title.
The first question is, is will his players respect him? While the young players at York may have had an instant respect for him as the gaffer, at Bramall Lane a number of his players are his age or older. Richards never played professionally, and took his university degree in Computer Science; the veterans on his lineup must surely have as much or more football knowledge as their new boss.
Will they find that he is qualified?
A Star investigative reporter has discovered that Richards has not yet achieved any of the UEFA coaching badges, which prompted us to ask the F.A. how he had been managing a club, any club, at all.
The answer, that his American coaching certifications qualified him for Conference management, is hardly satisfactory, though it is hard to argue with his track record. Still, he will be required to qualify for his UEFA "B" license this summer, and his UEFA "A" license by the end of the next season, hardly a vote of confidence.
The final question is how he'll handle the pressure: the 30,000-seat Bramall Lane is a far cry from the cozy confines of Bootham Crescent, and the new manager will find himself under far more media scrutiny than he has been used to. When things go poorly, the Sheffield supporters will surely let him know, and that, more than management acumen, is what unmanned predecessor John Gregory.
For supporters of the Blades, who had expected the side to promote to the Premiership last year, the fact that they couldn't even challenge for the title in League One, and lost in the F.A. Trophy final to a League Two side has been extremely disheartening. To rub salt in the wound, United find themselves trailing both Yorkshire rivals Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday in the league table.
Anything less than promotion via the playoffs will make the season an abject failure, and though all the blame cannot be laid at the feet of the new manager, its clear that he has his work cut out for him if he plans to sharpen the rusty Blades.
Harsh words!
I glanced to the byline: Rupert Wormwood, whom I'd not heard of before.
Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book II 
KUTGW!
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