Are the Blades the unluckiest club in the League?

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Just read this thread for the first time and had no idea I was mentioned in the O.P. Actually my quoted post on another thread was only adding to Blade too long's post which started this theme - see below


blade too long said:
I think weve had some awful bad luck along the way , west ham getting to play man utd reserves on the last day had man utd needed a point wed still have been in the prem
Getting 90 points and not getting promoted , very very rare
think its only occurred twice
relegation from the prem twice on 38 points
when hulls stayed up twice on 34
appointing robson , how unlucky was that
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My luck changed in the 1930's when my father fell in love with the Blades as a 20 year old lad even though he lived in Wadsley Bridge. He is responsible for my DNA which contains loyalty and devotion regardless of misfortune and betrayal even. As he often said " We've never won a sausage" and we didn't in his lifetime. We are not likely to do so in my lifetime either. No, between us we don't count promotion from the Championship. In a way that reflects a state of mind which belies the DNA of the club and it's perceived status. If we actually think we are a bigger club than we are then we will be "unlucky" for ever. I'm on here to learn and that is maybe a big lesson.
 
Silent Blade said:
We had completed our fixtures a week before Wendy played that match against Spurs. If it had been a 1-1 draw then a play-off between us and Wendy would have been probable. If it was a 2-2 draw then we would have got up
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United won their last 5 games. It was not enough.

The situations were reversed in 1939, when we had to beat Tottenham to leapfrog Wednesday into 2nd and we won 6-1.
 
Mustela Putorius Furo said:
Thanks fellas... another false memory.... created as a composite of other "real" memories...

so what's the connection with Moshe Dayan....?

I think I'm conflating a number of fixtures and crowds into one event....?????
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You are thinking about the photo on the front cover of the programme against Man city. We were playing in a friendly at Israel on the same weekend as the FA Cup 4th round matches (Cardiff knocked us out in the 3rd round). Moshe was the guest of honour for the friendly match and in the photo you can see him shaking hands with our players

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knockoffnigel said:
'luck' wont even come into it this year. the board have got it right with adkins and the rest will take care of itself. (thats put the mockers on it eh)
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Agree with the fact that we have for once bettered ourselves in the managers seat.
If our c/h's stay fit and available we will go up.

If however suspension and injuries coincide will that be bad luck or piss poor planning?
 
COME BACK CHED said:
Watney cup final , lost 7-6 on pens 1972 on a hot day in Bristol , another luckless club with a Bird for a neighbor. .
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Wasn't this a competition between the four teams, one from each division, which had scored the most goals the previous season? And didn't that final finish 0-0?
 
throughout history weve fell foul of the fickle finger of fate

back pass rule
ours was the first keeper to get completely flustered and gift a goal through lack of understanding
4 second rule for goalies
again we get clobbered

gd
think its 5 times weve either missed promotion or relegated on gd as its changed from percentage to goalas scored when if it had been the other way of doing gd wed have been higher

wednesdays last promotion to the top flight was the last time 3rd was automatic, luckily they didnt have to through a play off

weve been denied 3 more years at least in the top flight due to the change
 
GRUMPY BLADE said:
Agree with the fact that we have for once bettered ourselves in the managers seat.
If our c/h's stay fit and available we will go up.

If however suspension and injuries coincide will that be bad luck or piss poor planning?
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We can still add to the squad if needed. You talk like we're stuck with what we have. It's been done to death since deadline day but I believe we're in a strong position.

The good thing about momentum is that players come in and the team is unaffected, take the Blackpool game when Collins was out jay slotted in at CB and Wallace at left back. We have tel who can come in too. Brayford can do a very good job there as can basham and play Wallace/another in his place. If we get a long term injury we have the funds and the opportunity to replace whether it be a loan or permanent in January.
 
GRUMPY BLADE said:
Agree with the fact that we have for once bettered ourselves in the managers seat.
If our c/h's stay fit and available we will go up.

If however suspension and injuries coincide will that be bad luck or piss poor planning?
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cant help but think people think we arent trying to get cover, we are desperately seeking bringing in the " right" players
Adkins knows what we need the fact we failed to complete last week only means we loan them next week when it re opens
its not like we cant get anyone in till may 3rd next year its hours away
 
'Bad luck', 'failing to turn up', 'selling the best players', probably a combination of all three. What I do know is that a number of situations over the years could be filed under 'It could only happen to United.'

Take 2011-12. Not only was 'Ched-gate' a massive kick in the nuts, being pipped for second place by the pigs made it much worse. Worse still, we finished with 90 points that season - the highest points total of any third-placed club in the history of Football League One. Ever.

Last season, the two-leg playoff game with Swindon was the highest scoring play-off aggregate in the history of playoffs ever. And still we lost.

However, and I've been present at every 'disaster day' since 1968, you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world! It's what makes us totally unique fans. Almost every season, we seem to be embroiled in some league or cup drama. Far better than mid-table obscurity. Like Wednesday.
 

William Henry Foulkes said:
Much of the above post uses the common, literal interpretation of the word luck. This discussion was played out in a thread about one of Deadbat's reports about whether Blackpool were unlucky to hit the post with a free kick. I'd say literally No they were not but idiomatically Yes they were.

This idiomatic sense is a (mis)use of the word luck which is common throughout football, sport, and sometimes with enormous disastrous consequences, life.

So if you agree Blackpool were unlucky to hit the post that day, then United are an incredibly unlucky team.

Otoh, if your use of the word luck is more usual of one of pure chance then I think it's fair to say that the free kick was not unlucky, and that United are not an unlucky team. If for no other reason than luck is blind - in the long run no team is (significantly) more unlucky than any other.

Essentially it's possible to both agree and disagree with the OP; it depends on which definition of the word luck you are using.
  • Using luck in the idiomatic sense then you can make a strong case that Yes United are the unluckiest team in the League.
  • Using luck in the toss of a coin, random events in a pitiless universe sense then No, United are not the unluckiest team in the League.



(Fwiw, for me this idea of luck evening itself out is a useful one, and it would save a lot of wasted energy if in many circumstances we stopped trying to micro-manage fairness and let events play out.)
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Perhaps then as Mustelo suggests, we are just the biggest chokers in big games?

It's obviously not a serious thread, suggesting we are the unluckiest team, it's just to get a light hearted debate going and stir a few memories, which I prefer to the singling out of any of the current squad for negative criticism.

I think like many other blades I've spoken to, I was so proud of the team when we lost to Hull at Wembley, just because we turned up and put in a performance for a change (and scored!). The other times I've been including 93 v pigs, we just haven't turned up. Even the most ardent fan would have to agree that the pigs could have beaten us 8-1 that day and it wouldn't have flattered them.
 
coaxingstar71 said:
Inspired by Woodwardfan....

"Poll and Dean refereeing key games
Ched
Jags pen, Webber's miss.
Scudamore/ Richards stitch-up
23 penalties
No strikers in starting eleven at Wembley time and again -not all a matter of luck I suppose
Blackwell doing well as caretaker
scoring 5 away and losing on aggregate - no defence this time!"

They say that you make your own luck, but over the years, we blades, seem to have been dealt a crap hand when it comes to luck. Some may argue it isn't luck, but here are some other examples I can think of....

The penalties v Walsall 1981
FA Cup Semi 1993
FA Cup Semi 1998
FA Cup Semi 2003
League Cup Semi 2003
Play off finals - all of them? Certainly Huddersfield is the one that stands out.
Relegation 1987 including Hetherston's borderline supernatural ability to hit the woodwork (would have been brill at "crossbar challenge").
Relegation 1994 - Segers, corruption.
Relegation 2007 - Tevez, Jags, Unsworth penalties, Webber miss.
Going a lot further back you might also include...
Missing out on Europe 1975
Missing out on promotion to pigs on goal average 1950

Do all clubs have this luck or do we seem to have more bad luck than others?
The only "good luck" (if you can call it that) I can think of was when we got promoted in 1984 by virtue of scoring more goals than Hull when they could only win 2-0 in their final game.
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I do not go with this unluckiest club in the league bollocks. The common thread is that we actually feel we deserve better. Under Adkins i think reality has kicked in , that we have never assembled a collection of players who can move us forward , and at certain points in history , bought at the wrong time with poor quality , and sold at the wrong time with good quality, or not even brought replacements in.

Certain games we should have won , and bottled it . The demise is of our own creation , nothing to do with being unlucky.

You could say the same for Leeds , Fulham , SWFC . This time we do seem to be in control of our own destiny , which changes things for the good.


UTB
 
Silent Blade said:
You are thinking about the photo on the front cover of the programme against Man city. We were playing in a friendly at Israel on the same weekend as the FA Cup 4th round matches (Cardiff knocked us out in the 3rd round). Moshe was the guest of honour for the friendly match and in the photo you can see him shaking hands with our players

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Caption Competition : "So, Mr Woodward, we finally meet".
 
The OP mentions our 1 piece of good luck when Hull needed to beat Burnley by 3 clear goals to prevent us from being promoted. I listened to the live Radio Sheffield commentary that night and I agree Hull lay siege on the Burmley goal and were really unlucky to only win 2-0.

I was celebrating like mad in my own home when we gained promotion at the expense of Hull but in a way even that was unlucky because us Blades never got the chance to celebrate en masse as we missed out of the normal last match of the season big promotion celebration.
 
Our big success was pre 1st world war when football wasn't such a big sport.

Our other big chance of success was in the last 1930's.
We were lucky to have a truly great player Jimmy Hagan.

Hagans promising team were promoted to the top flight in 1938.
As already mentioned we were unbeaten in our early games and we up near the top getting big crowds.

We were set to rule English football with Hagan threatening to be an English legend.
Then Hitler has other ideas and World War 2 breaks out stopping our team in its prime with the league season cancelled whilst we were looking so good at the top of division 1.
 
Sheffsteel said:
The OP mentions our 1 piece of good luck when Hull needed to beat Burnley by 3 clear goals to prevent us from being promoted. I listened to the live Radio Sheffield commentary that night and I agree Hull lay siege on the Burmley goal and were really unlucky to only win 2-0.

I was celebrating like mad in my own home when we gained promotion at the expense of Hull but in a way even that was unlucky because us Blades never got the chance to celebrate en masse as we missed out of the normal last match of the season big promotion celebration.
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If reports on here are to be believed it sounds like a fair few people were in attendance for that match
 
Someone has posted that we nearly always fail on our last match of the season match of the season matches when ever promotion or relegation is at stake.

However in 1990 when we needed to beat Leicester to guarantee promotion we did actually win.

However that result in the end didn't matter because Newcastle failed to win so we'd have been promoted anyway.

However a win at Leicester could have meant us being Champions of division 2.
However Leeds managed to get the points they needed to top the table.

So in retrospect the Leicester victory in 1990 made no difference as we were promoted anyway.
 
Talking about conspiracy theories.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a bigger deal made about the Jagielka hand ball against Wigan.

When Jags signed his contract extension for United his agent had it written into the contract that upon relegation he would be allowed to leave SU for the relatively low transfer fee of 4 million.

That low transfer fee would ensure Jags was guaranteed a bumper pay rise if we were relegated.
It makes you wonder if his agent and Jags were aware of Evertons interest before the game.
It was a weird hand ball under little pressure and at the time looked almost deliberate.
 
HighfieldBlade said:
Oh god, the name Don Givens is etched into my memory. Martin Peters was boss at the time (I'm pretty sure). There was a picture of Peters in the Green 'Un or Sheffield Star with a look of sheer horror on his face when Givens missed that penalty.
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Stood on the Kop that day , Unreal at the time .

You dont stick with anything unlucky . I look at it the other way , Its really nothing to do with being lucky or unlucky . Its down to how you deal with it , and SUFC have not over the years dealt with it very well .
.
Football is about ups and downs , like life , and its how you adapt .

Look at Parma, Coventry , Leeds , Fulham , Bolton , Portsmouth .

You dont change your legions , it just becomes part of your everyday life.

We are hitting a spell of good positive part of SUFC , and lets be glad we are all here to witness it . Some have gone who will miss it . Enjoy whilst we can , especially us older supporters.

UTB
 
Lord Bos of Eckington. said:
Stood on the Kop that day , Unreal at the time .

You dont stick with anything unlucky . I look at it the other way , Its really nothing to do with being lucky or unlucky . Its down to how you deal with it , and SUFC have not over the years dealt with it very well .
.
Football is about ups and downs , like life , and its how you adapt .

Look at Parma, Coventry , Leeds , Fulham , Bolton , Portsmouth .

You dont change your legions , it just becomes part of your everyday life.

We are hitting a spell of good positive part of SUFC , and lets be glad we are all here to witness it . Some have gone who will miss it . Enjoy whilst we can , especially us older supporters.

UTB
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There was certainly nothing unlucky about the fact that Peters left out one of our best players and deadly penalty taker, Kenworthy, that day - pure crap management.
 

HighfieldBlade said:
Don't forget 1993-94. Injury time goal from Mark Stein. What a sickener (starts at 4:30 if you can bear to watch it).
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Typo. I meant 1994 not 1984.

I was there, but haven't seen it since. I never will.
 
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