Sponsored by
Martin Smith: Pressure mounts on Sheffield clubs
HAPPY New Year?
With Sheffield's big two in the bottom half of the Championship, one with a chairman standing in the car park trying to assuage angry fans - the other without a chairman to assuage anyone?
On the face of it the protest at Bramall Lane after the horribly ironic 1-0 defeat by Neil Warnock's Crystal Palace seems the worse of the two predicaments.
Bryan Robson is not a popular man right now.
When 200 fans stay behind to protest it probably means at least 10,000 are very unhappy with the way things are going.
The fact that chairman Kevin McCabe went out there to talk to Blades' fans speaks volumes for his dedication to the cause - and to Bryan Robson.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
He sees the fruits of Robson's work from within the club and knows how things are progressing under the immediate surface of results.
When a team is struggling through changes it's always hard to see where the manager is trying to take them and how they'll ever get there.
Obviously what happens on the pitch is paramount but if the other aspects of running the club are gong in the right direction there's a chance that performances and results will eventually follow.
That's the theory anyway.
McCabe knows a thing or two about running football clubs and big businesses.
United are on a sound financial footing and if the chairman wants to stick with Robbo then it's probably the right thing to do. For now.
Over at Hillsborough the situation is reversed. The fans love the manager but can't believe the mess the club appears to be in at board level.
Since the largely unpopular Dave Allen decided he'd had enough there has been a vacuum at the centre of the club where the chairman should be - "a rudderless ship" according to manager Brian Laws.
It's almost exactly a year since Dave Allen told this newspaper of a Chinese businessman the club were in takeover talks with. Today we are told again that the club is talking to secret would-be investors.
In between time the club has not shifted any of its 26 million debt, has sold its best two players (Bougherra and Brunt), has made little progress in the Championship and is losing fans.
Happy New Year? Not round here it's not.
READ MORE
O'Donnell a shining Star to rest of football - read Les Payne's views on tragic former Owl
Where's your favourite non-league ground?
Football headlines.
Football gossip.
More Blades
More Owls.
More Spireites.
More Rovers.
More Reds.
More Millers.
More rugby.
More boxing.
Sports columnists.
All sport categories
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
