Comparisons to first season in League 1

[Bladeinleeds]

Just a random question that occurred to me when thinking about the season so far.

Does this season feel like the side is comparatively better or worse than Danny Wilsons first squad?

It may be the memories playing tricks on me but I just remember being so confident each game that season that we were going to win. We tended to put teams to bed fairly early and run up comfortable victories particularly at home. I know the season ended up a write off but I cant remember a time when we seemed so untroubled in the league.

To me this season reminds me more of a Warnock campaign, where the spirit and commitment are getting us the results in the second half and finally breaking teams down. Though my comparative lack of confidence may just be the dross served up on the last 2 or 3 years giving me the inate fear of sides and the fact we have been squeezing results out the last few weeks.

 

[zablade]

From that first season back down here, Lowton, Maguire, Quinn, Macdonald, Evans would get into this team.

Whether that means the current team is better than that one who knows, a mash up of the best players from both sides would get about 120 points this season.

 

[Bladeinleeds]

From that first season back down here, Lowton, Maguire, Quinn, Macdonald, Evans would get into this team.

Whether that means the current team is better than that one who knows, a mash up of the best players from both sides would get about 120 points this season.

Agree with that. Think a mash up of the sides would stand a decent chance in the championship too.

The only weak link in that side was simmonson - who imo wasn't even league 2 standard and probably cost us the points to take us to automatic promotion

 

[Bath Blade]

I think it was only the second half of that season where we steamrollered teams. Before Christmas we had some terrible performances, defeats away at Wycombe and Stevenage spring to mind. Ched couldn't even get in the team.

I still think man for man, that team was better though.

 

[8lade]

We aren't as strong as a squad as back then and we also got Phillips on loan (now at WBA) who scored a good few before Evans took over. The good thing about this season is despite how it appears at this point I don't see bolton or scunny being as strong as wednesday or charlton were back then. The team that went into the play offs in 2012 had an average of a goal a game in them and that wasn't good enough.

 

[Smoked_Sammon]

Pretty amazing team for league 1 (some real stand out talent) and a mediocre manager. This season we've got a good team for the league and a top draw manager.

 

[Boxer Blade]

On paper (I kniw nothing is won on paper) the Wilson side was better, but if we win promotion it will obviously be this one, but when you look at the players we had...........

 

[Deadbat]

That team was much better. We had players like Maguire, Quinn, Williamson, Lowton, Evans, McDonald who were real stand outs. Doyle and even Collins were solid.

The keeper, left back (Jean Francois did ok till he got injured) and also whoever partnered Evans were the issues. If we had addressed just the keeper or the better striker (Beattie was brought in but it did not work and Hoskins and O'Halloran did not really add much). It was a shame we could not have kept Clarke or Phillips a bit longer.

It is ridiculous we missed out on promotion but even taking away the poor end (MK Dons - Beattie chance and then of course if we had beat Steveange we probably would have gone to Exeter and won) we tossed away so many points. I remember the 4-4 v Exeter, the 2-3 reverse v Oldham and I recall a huge Simonsen error at Orient when he came and dropped a ball from a cross in about the 95th minute to give them a late goal.

However as others have said we tore teams to shred at times particularly post Xmas but typical United when it mattered we froze, Wednesday away, the games above and the play off final.

We have to make sure from next week we get the 3-4 players in we need to make sure we can do it this time. A centre back (hopefully EEL but if not another), a winger, a right dirty experienced so and so to give us cover in midfield (have a feeling Coutts and Fleck wont keep up their form - history of recent seasons shows that) and a top striker to partner Sharp.

We wont have to spend a fortune but if we get the above, I think we will go up.

 

[PeteBlade]

If we had THAT squad and THIS Manager we'd be all but promoted already.

 

[JohnDenver]

That team was much better. We had players like Maguire, Quinn, Williamson, Lowton, Evans, McDonald who were real stand outs. Doyle and even Collins were solid.

The keeper, left back (Jean Francois did ok till he got injured) and also whoever partnered Evans were the issues. If we had addressed just the keeper or the better striker (Beattie was brought in but it did not work and Hoskins and O'Halloran did not really add much). It was a shame we could not have kept Clarke or Phillips a bit longer.

It is ridiculous we missed out on promotion but even taking away the poor end (MK Dons - Beattie chance and then of course if we had beat Steveange we probably would have gone to Exeter and won) we tossed away so many points. I remember the 4-4 v Exeter, the 2-3 reverse v Oldham and I recall a huge Simonsen error at Orient when he came and dropped a ball from a cross in about the 95th minute to give them a late goal.

However as others have said we tore teams to shred at times particularly post Xmas but typical United when it mattered we froze, Wednesday away, the games above and the play off final.

We have to make sure from next week we get the 3-4 players in we need to make sure we can do it this time. A centre back (hopefully EEL but if not another), a winger, a right dirty experienced so and so to give us cover in midfield (have a feeling Coutts and Fleck wont keep up their form - history of recent seasons shows that) and a top striker to partner Sharp.

We wont have to spend a fortune but if we get the above, I think we will go up.

I'm convinced the only reason we didn't recruit a new keeper that January was because Simmo was on such a massive salary. In any rational world we'd have ditched him even earlier - directly after his atrocious relegation season. But we probably spent our waste disposal budget on shifting Darius Bloody Henderson.

 

[PokerBlade]

From that first season back down here, Lowton, Maguire, Quinn, Macdonald, Evans would get into this team.

Whether that means the current team is better than that one who knows, a mash up of the best players from both sides would get about 120 points this season.

Williamson too. I feel like I'm missing someone else. In my opinion though those half a dozen were so far ahead of this league at the time that it's almost an unfair comparison. All played Championship and above after leaving us, bar one who is best not discussed.

 

[Deleted member 875]

I think the two big problems we had and what we never addressed was a lack of a decent goalkeeper and in attack.

Simonsen never inspired confidence in the back line, and was particularly poor at organising his defence, and there was a few howlers from him that cost us points. At that point George Long was thrown in to the side but wasn't ready for first team action, and Mark Howard didn't come in until much later on in the season.

Up front we didn't have much firepower if you took away Ched Evans. We had Cresswell who battled away manfully, Chris Porter who was very much an average league one journeyman, and pretty much everyone else including Beattie, Hoskins and O'halloran flattered to deceive.

The one event that did cost us most I thought was the catastrophic after effect of the conviction of Ched Evans. The listless performance at MK Dons, and the shocking first half against Stevenage seemed to have a huge knock on effect and that can only be attributed to United at the time being a club in shock.

 

[S64 Blade]

We have a better team now, in my opinion. We arguably had more better individuals during the first season, but I feel we are more unified now and have a better backbone and fighting spirit.

 

[nopigfansintown]

We arguably had the best squad of players to have been down here in the last six years, although Wilson brought in one of them (Mcdonald). The teams that pipped us to promotion Charlton, Huddersfield, Pigs did so with vastly inferior squads.This is borne out by the career trajectory of our squad at the time, compared to the players in our rivals squads. Most of them ended up rising up the divisions or would have done if not for imprisonment..This team has been put together relatively cheaply and been managed extremely well. It's vastly superior in terms of character and organisation but lacks the same type of individual quality.

 

[Bladey McBladeface]

If we played an in form 2012 team now with our current team, I fear the 2012 team would win. BUT...

The 2012 team did lose about 10 games and had a bit of a soft underbelly.

I think we are more of a team now than we were then. I'm splitting hairs though because both were/are good.

 

[Ricky]

Steve fucking Simonsen did a great job of single handedly costing us promotion - he even had to miss that penalty at Wembley, which was just poetic. Great effort by him to get us relegated in the first place too. We scored that many goals that losing Ched late on should've been an irrelevance, but it wasn't because we had clowns like him gifting opponents goals and points far too often.

The 2012 team had more talent, the current team is more of a team, with a much better manager. But at least 5 of this team would get in that team, so they're not too far apart. I'd say this is the combined 11...

Moore

Lowton Maguire O'Connell Lafferty

Williamson McDonald Fleck Quinn

Evans Sharp


6 from 2012, 5 from now. But it's very hard to leave out Duffy and you could argue that EEL is better than Maguire was then, so it's not much of a stretch to have 7 of the current team in.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

I was dreading reading the memories of our post-Christmas capitulation of 1980.

 

[Rodley]

Agree with that. Think a mash up of the sides would stand a decent chance in the championship too.

The only weak link in that side was simmonson - who imo wasn't even league 2 standard and probably cost us the points to take us to automatic promotion

I'll never forget to time he went up to catch a cross and punched it into his own net.

Needless to say he carried on at the clubs he moved on to.

 

[oldblade]

Just a random question that occurred to me when thinking about the season so far.

Does this season feel like the side is comparatively better or worse than Danny Wilsons first squad?

It may be the memories playing tricks on me but I just remember being so confident each game that season that we were going to win. We tended to put teams to bed fairly early and run up comfortable victories particularly at home. I know the season ended up a write off but I cant remember a time when we seemed so untroubled in the league.

To me this season reminds me more of a Warnock campaign, where the spirit and commitment are getting us the results in the second half and finally breaking teams down. Though my comparative lack of confidence may just be the dross served up on the last 2 or 3 years giving me the inate fear of sides and the fact we have been squeezing results out the last few weeks.

Think we started off okay that season, going half a dozen games or so without defeat until we lost 0-3 at home to Huddersfield. Results then became quite patchy. We lost to Charlton and Wycombe, threw points away from winning positions against Wednesday, Orient and Exeter and lost to Stevenage.

After that I think we became much more of a force, but periodically continued to lose stupid matches like Carlisle, Wednesday, Oldham and Walsall. Draws against Tranmere and Colchester weren't helpful either.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

That team had some players who were clearly too good for the league and who you felt could always win us games. It was often just a case of Evans, Williamson, McDonald, Quinn and Lowton just being far too good for the opposition.This squad has more strength in depth I think and can vary the play a bit more. I probably shared the OP's higher level of confidence in the other team, especially during the 2nd half of the season where Evans was simply unplayable.

 

[Jehovah]

The 2012 team was better. We blitzed teams into dust. I went to Notts County away one week and we were 0-4 up at HT. They were in good form too. I then went to Rochdale where we went behind after about two minutes to then win the game 5-2. A few things screwed us over (ignoring the obvious conviction of Ched)

We scored a perfectly good goal at Charlton away when from a corner, their keeper dropped it into the net. Absolutely no appeal from Charlton and the ref gives a foul for no reason.

Wednesday away. Unreal luck when Williamson hits the underside of the bar from a free kick at 0-0. We then should have had at least two absolute blatant penalties which were not given.

Not only the Oldham game when we lost two players but the following game at Walsall which we also lost due to a virtually new backline following Maguire and Lowton's suspensions.

Despite what people think of Simmo, I will always look back feeling sorry for him missing that pen after he made an incredible save to push their effort in normal time onto the bar. You could feel how devestated he was. Yes he made some errors that season, but people seem to forget the quality of some saves he made. Dropping him for Long in the 4-4 George Long circus show is memorable.

 

[boo radley]

Williamson 14 goals from midfield. What would we give now to add that to the squad?

 

[Razor1967]

Pretty amazing team for league 1 (some real stand out talent) and a mediocre manager. This season we've got a good team for the league and a top draw manager.

I think we have a top "win" manager not top draw (drawer)

 

[bornablade]

Macdonald in my opinion wouldn't get anywhere near the current team. Firstly he was over rated and secondly he doesn't possess the attitude Chris Wilder looks for in a player.

 

[Punk Blade]

you could argue that EEL is better than Maguire was then

Go on then, have a go.

Wednesday away. Unreal luck when Williamson hits the underside of the bar from a free kick at 0-0. We then should have had at least two absolute blatant penalties which were not given.

My memory is about five penalties. That's where I believe promotion was lost.

 

[northsomersetblade]

I'll never forget to time he went up to catch a cross and punched it into his own net.

Needless to say he carried on at the clubs he moved on to.

Dodgy keeper, always a bad thing. I don't like pointing fingers but if I did it would be at him.

Everybody take note that CW got a good one in as a priority. I'm sure you already have

 

[Blade82]

I believe we have a set of players who have more desire to win promotion this time around. Most of the players previously knew they we're off regardless of whether we went up.

We also have more strength in depth, I can't see us faultering just down to one individual becoming unavailable for selection for the run in.

Credit goes to wilder for that. Wilson had it on a plate but made poor signings and didn't breed the winning and ruthless mentality needed to get over the line.

 

[Smoked_Sammon]

I think we have a top "win" manager not top draw (drawer)

Impressed and appalled by that all at the same time.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Still too early to compare.

The 2011-12 team was solid but eventually showed themselves to be bottlers.

There'll come a time in the next four months when Wilder and his men will HAVE to perform in a big game. Only then will we see what they're made of.

 

[Ollessendro]

Good question this and sumert I av extensively discussed wi mi muckers.

In 11/12 we were nowt special in the first few months but got nuch stronger later on. We struggled initially and Clarke and Philips came in and made an impact but left after a month. Ched was not fit, Mcdonald poor and Simmo all over the shop. The turning point for me was Stevenage away in November when Monty and Doyle played together in centre mid. A woeful match and a defeat but Simmonsen was reinstated and was excellent. Wilson brought in Mcdonald afterwards and we never looked back.

We showed some real indiscipline that season though. Chucking away a 2 goal lead against Wednesday, drawing 4-4 at home with Exeter and a costly loss at home to Oldham. The latter was fatal. We were 2 nowt up in that match before Oldham got obe back and Lowton was rashly sent off. Oldham got another and we were headed for a draw. With a few minutes to go Maguire made a rash and unecessary foul and was sent off and gave away a penalty. We lost 3-2 but worst of all had 2 key defenders suspended. Collins had missed tge Oldham gane as his baby was ill and misses the next match too. We conceded 3 at Walsall and lost.

Towards the end of the season we were in fantastic form and would probably have finished 2nd on 95 or so points was it not for the Ched incident.

This season feels different to me. We seem much more ruthless and have lost the soft underbelly we had. Plus we are 4 points clear and were never 1st at any point in 2011/12. HOWEVER we will see. We have all the top teams to play again and have fared poorly against them so far. February is a key month and we will know more after that. So to date I think the 2016/17 campaign is edging the 2011/12 campaign but there is a long way to go!