Not happy one bit

[ben1987]

I thought the officials were a set of limp little tossers that called everything! God awful. Our whole game is to build momentum and possession and increase the pressure. They wouldn't let us get anything going in the second half.

I thought united were very good first half, without scoring. Scunny were crap. They came out a bit better and managed to bag a goal early on from a deflected cross...why do our deflected crosses end up harmless and out the way somewhere?

Once we bagged the equaliser I thought our momentum would return and we would go on to win 2/3-1.

The sending off ruined the game for me. Sucked the life out of it. Flat. Dead. Bar the odd spell second half we were poor and didn't look like winning it.

Although how does a shot curling inwards. Hit the inside of the post and stay out! Fuck me

 

[Rodley]

A tinge of annoyance we didnt get the winner. A tinge. Thats all.

We played with swagger, sophistication, desire and no shortage of fight and as long as thats there then I can take a draw - or even a loss - on the chin.

The football at times in the first half was nothing short of sensational. We absolutely destroyed the 2nd place and for the width of the post would have won it. Replicate that performance for the remainder of the season and I reckon will won the league.

It was marvellous stuff at times. Bravo Wilder, bravo!

 

[Lawrence]

The reaction on the radio seems to be that we have to be happy because we played well (one of the best performances in years apparently!) and haven't lost any ground.

But for me that's utter bollocks. We were always going to dominate this game. We didn't win. That's what counts. We've wasted a great opportunity to create a big gap between both Scunny and Bolton (who were never likely to win today). And now more pressure is on the Bolton game than there should be.

I think some people will overestimate Scunthorpe and get swept up in the once in a blue moon decent atmosphere and claim it was a great performance. It wasn't, it was good but nothing special by our standards this season.
Today just showed what we should already know, we're a much better team than Scunthorpe.

The referee was an utter, utter cunt. He needs to learn how to use his watch. He failed to add on the right amount of time in either half, and he was himself responsible for a lot of the petty stoppages. He was infuriating and played a massive part in getting Scunthorpe a point.

Scunny scored with the very first chance they had but they're always snidey little bastards so that's only to be expected really. They're a very basic team with little to offer other than kicking the opposition. They're lucky they've got Murray Wallace at the back.

Ultimately though we've once again struggled against 10 men. I'm sick of it. We generally struggle far more than we should do at home and for this reason we'll make a meal of promotion when it should be a formality.

I don't know what took Wilder so long to make a change. Worst of all taking 83 minutes to bring on somebody different out wide. We've got great subs to bring on but didn't make good use of them. He got it spot on last week but he didn't today. Should have done all he could to make sure we weren't chasing a goal in the last 5/10 minutes, but once again that was the position we found ourselves in at home.

Can't really complain too much about the performance but above anything today was yet another infuriating and typical missed opportunity due mainly to a wanker of a referee and extremely lucky opponents.

Who was the linesman with the Yellow flag - shockingly poor, the 'not offside' near the end was amazing terrible, the forward must have been 3 yards offside and they hit the post!

 

[JohnDenver]

The football at times in the first half was nothing short of sensational. We absolutely destroyed the 2nd place and for the width of the post would have won it. Replicate that performance for the remainder of the season and I reckon will won the league.

It was marvellous stuff at times. Bravo Wilder, bravo!

Yup - that first half was as good a performance as you could hope to see at this level. The quality we showed in midfield was just remarkable.

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

The pain and scars run so deep after the last several years, and obviously has distorted fans ability to think logically. We are the best team in this division (and better probably than at least half of the teams in the Championship); we have the strongest squad and by far the best manager. Team spirit is top notch. We have the biggest and the best support by miles. We will win this league. Sit back, chill out and enjoy the ride.

 

[Rodley]

FFS....... 'not happy one bit !!!' ....... IMO that is harsh.

Top of the league by 5 points, 2 points average per game, playing good football, best young manager in football, a proper future after 6 years in this shit league, nearly 28k home gate, club going forwards at last,

and still some people not happy one bit because we drew at home to our nearest rivals.

I get that we should have won, i get we didn't break down 10 men, i get we could have been further ahead in the league, a few poor performances this season, but come on....... this is the best we have had it for years and we are in a commanding position.

"Not happy one bit" is ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous. We hammered them. A year ago we were garbage.

 

[Ricky]

FFS....... 'not happy one bit !!!' ....... IMO that is harsh.

Top of the league by 5 points, 2 points average per game, playing good football, best young manager in football, a proper future after 6 years in this shit league, nearly 28k home gate, club going forwards at last,

I'm obviously talking about today's game. FFS.

You don't think Fleck, Coutts and Duffy have individual ability? They are in the starting line-up because they are our 3 most talented players. I like Jay O'Shea and have seen him play a few times but he isn't as good as those three, Carruthers looked promising but carelessly gave the ball away too frequently at Peterborough last week and I don't know about Riley because I've only seen him play for 5 minutes. We played what I considered our best XI today; not necessarily the best individuals but the best, tried and trusted formula.

Fleck and Duffy have some of that ball carrying ability, but they're not the ones I'd have been bringing off (certainly not Fleck). I would've just liked as many as possible with that sort of ability as we could fit on the pitch within the system. I would've liked to see someone in place of Lafferty who could offer a real outlet, before it was too late.

Who was the linesman with the Yellow flag - shockingly poor, the 'not offside' near the end was amazing terrible, the forward must have been 3 yards offside and they hit the post!

The lino on our right in the second half was a joke. Their player ran the ball a yard out of play right in front of him, he didn't give it, they then won a free kick, we got a yellow card and they wasted a minute or more. Little moments like that can be crucial.

 

[gavtheblade]

Still top,and looking slick.
Pipe down with the moaning,have we lost?? No,drawn against second.
Ffs.

 

[blade too long]

The OP is a very constructive criticism but will get ripped to pieces by the same crowd as always. Looking at the stats it's 2 points dropped, no one is saying that we have to win every game at home, just that in games where we play better and have a numerical advantage for large parts we should be coming away with all 3 points. To suggest just because we're top and Bolton only drew that we didn't drop points is nonsense.

surely its also 2 points dropped for scunthorpe and bolton
so it negated

or are you saying theyve gained on us


you see plenty of games where teams dominate but dont take all 3 points
weve lost no ground
neither bolton or scunny have got closer.
its a chance to catch us theyve both missed

 

[alcoblade]

their keeper didn't need to make a save.

Bizarre

 

[west_yorks_blade]

The worst thing about the sending off was that you knew they would then switch to cynical mode.

Like sooooo many games this season at the lane, the keeper took hours to take goal kicks, they pretended to be injured, kicked the ball away , stood in front of the ball for our free kicks etc etc.

It pisses me off that refs never deal with this properly. A lot of people are paying good money to watch football not time wasting.

Today, we hit back quickly and I was confident we would go on to win, the way we were playing.

But with crap officiating and gamesmanship, the game became scrappy and disjointed. The momentum went and that was that.

Overall a cracking effort from the Blades players and supporters. So let's take the positives into the next game.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Really do think that Christopher dropped a bollock here in not full on going for it when they had Toffolo sent off. They had their top scorer playing as an emergency left back, FFS.

Should have changed things immediately & just gone for it by overloading that right side.

Can't criticise the players btw - they were magnificent to a man, in what was a first class performance. But got to say I share Ricky's frustration in us not converting vast superiority into 3 points. Scunny really were fucking shit (if resilient).

 

[puppet]

Some bizarre stuff today. They should've had two players sent off before half time. As someone on P&G said, they played like a lower league team playing a top team in the cup - so many blocks en route to goal that kept the shots on target stats well down. Fleck was a whisker from a cracking 30 yarder and the width of the post cost us an injury time winner. They were dirty and cynical and we were absolutely majestic in the first three quarters of the pitch (and often all of it). Best football since Spackman. If both those teams go up, we will strengthen a little (hopefully) and adapt to the championship, they will get found out very quickly and slaughtered week in week out. Hanson was knackered, I said we should swap him for Lavery just before it happened and by the added time, everybody looked exhausted. We can't win every game and walking out of the ground with your heart still in your mouth at the sight of that shot cannoning back off the foot of the post is exactly what the agony and ecstasy of football is all about. I rarely get the chance to go these days and I went with my old matchday mate I haven't seen for twenty years, so maybe I'm being soft but there wasn't much to worry about to based on what I've seen today. UTB.

 

[blade67]

Frustrated we didn't win, but I thought it was a terrific game. We were significantly the better team as the stats show yet again.

Nothing is won yet, but we do play some really good stuff. I suppose the criticism in the OP is aimed at us not burying teams when on top but I don't think that is all that unusual at this level. The team's main weakness is that we only have one real finisher in the side.

 

[spongebobblade]

Totally agree that we really need to put these teams to bed. Today we were outstanding but once again we let them off the hook. its constructive rather than whinging. We are very well placed and look on course but if for any reason we don't make it we all know what the reason will be. A win next week might change all that. Quick word on the referee. We've had some poor ones this season and we all know it's a difficult job but today he was utterly shit. Allowing poor challenges to go unpunished and being ridiculously over fussy with the positioning of free kicks/ throw ins. Premiership in name maybe, certainly not in ability judging on today's evidence

 

[snootyfenooty]

As Benjamin Franklin once said, there are three certainties in life: death, taxes and United's inability to break down 10 men.

 

[robbiez666]

I've no idea what went on apart from the BBC stats as on holiday. However, I'm not happy to only draw at home against 10 men. I'm not particularly unhappy, just concerned. We have to get up. I've a bad feeling Wednesday will. I've also got a feeling that Fleetwood may do as well.

 

[GrayBlade]

Well I really enjoyed it, I'm proud of the lads and I'm still a happy clapper tonight. Great game.

 

[GrayBlade]

Understand your frustration as we need to make it count when playing against 10 men as I can see Bolton being physical next week too which may bring about cards (expect Madine to be desperate to score at BL again).

What perplexes me and perhaps your frustration is how we weren't able to play like that against Gillingham and Fleetwood who were there for the taking.

I'm satisfied with the point as it's as you were at the top but I'm still bemused at this perpetual decision to put Matt Done at left (wing)back. Hussey is evidently a no show but why not Riley?

Bringing Done one with just 2 to go was baffling. No doubt Chris had his reasons but right now I can't think of one.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Lafferty should've been subbed at least 20 mins before he was. He had a fucking shocker.

 

[blade too long]

let me take you back 17 days

League One table after close of play on 01 February 2017
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Scunthorpe United 28 17 7 4 56 28 28 58
2 Sheffield United 29 17 6 6 53 34 19 57
3 Bolton Wanderers 27 15 5 7 36 21 15 50
4 Fleetwood Town 29 14 8 7 43 30 13 50
5 Bradford City 29 12 13 4 36 24 12 49
6 Rochdale 27 14 3 10 41 36 5 45
7 Southend United 28 11 10 7 40 35 5 43
8 Bristol Rovers 29 12 6 11 48 50 -2 42


now are we better off or not than then

 

[Houston_Blade]

surely its also 2 points dropped for scunthorpe and bolton
so it negated

or are you saying theyve gained on us


you see plenty of games where teams dominate but dont take all 3 points
weve lost no ground
neither bolton or scunny have got closer.
its a chance to catch us theyve both missed

We were playing Scunthorpe so unless we lost they couldn't have gained ground, I don't see your point on that one. It doesn't matter what Bolton did, we didn't think "oh fuck it Bolton aren't winning so why should we". If we'd won we'd have been in a better position and statistically it appears that we should have won this game.

I'm pretty sure most fans are happy that we are top and that Bolton haven't gained ground with 1 game less to catch us. However it would be better to be 2 points further in front of them, something that by all accounts we could and should have done today.

I said the other day that I'd be happy with 2 points from today and next week, in the long run it won't harm us as much as the opposition, but if we have the opportunity to beat Bolton and fail to do so I'll be less happy than if we win.

Stick to your guns though old lad, changing the record now might be a bit hard work for you, it's probably welded to the record player.

 

[Houston_Blade]

let me take you back 17 days

League One table after close of play on 01 February 2017
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Scunthorpe United 28 17 7 4 56 28 28 58
2 Sheffield United 29 17 6 6 53 34 19 57
3 Bolton Wanderers 27 15 5 7 36 21 15 50
4 Fleetwood Town 29 14 8 7 43 30 13 50
5 Bradford City 29 12 13 4 36 24 12 49
6 Rochdale 27 14 3 10 41 36 5 45
7 Southend United 28 11 10 7 40 35 5 43
8 Bristol Rovers 29 12 6 11 48 50 -2 42


now are we better off or not than then

Yes but the OP was on about how we should have won today, not about whether we are better off now than on the 1st Feb. Would a win at home against 10 men for 40 mins with 19 shots on goal and more possession than the opposition be a better result than a draw? Yes or no?

 

[blade too long]

Yes but the OP was on about how we should have won today, not about whether we are better off now than on the 1st Feb. Would a win at home against 10 men for 40 mins with 19 shots on goal and more possession than the opposition be a better result than a draw? Yes or no?

so should scunthorpe in their eyes and bolton

but
no team has ever ever won every game
unless you know of someone who has

seen lots of teams batter other teams draw and lose games
its how football is

10 man millwall beat prem champs leicester today in the cup
mind you leicester couldnt score in a brothel just now

 

[Sean Thornton]

Give Ricky a break.. All those empty seats in the BL stand and the "when the Blades go marching in " song getting too quick too soon. I could feel his pain ......

But, there's some disappointment for me because as said we've dominated a team but haven't finished them off with the forward options we have.​

 

[larkymasher]

I'm obviously talking about today's game. FFS.




Fleck and Duffy have some of that ball carrying ability, but they're not the ones I'd have been bringing off (certainly not Fleck). I would've just liked as many as possible with that sort of ability as we could fit on the pitch within the system. I would've liked to see someone in place of Lafferty who could offer a real outlet, before it was too late.




The lino on our right in the second half was a joke. Their player ran the ball a yard out of play right in front of him, he didn't give it, they then won a free kick, we got a yellow card and they wasted a minute or more. Little moments like that can be crucial.

Obviously you are taking about todays game and thats why its obviously a total over reaction.

 

[Ricky]

Obviously you are taking about todays game and thats why its obviously a total over reaction.

If I'm obviously talking about the game then maybe you could have responded with something about the game rather than this:

"Top of the league by 5 points, 2 points average per game, playing good football, best young manager in football, a proper future after 6 years in this shit league, nearly 28k home gate, club going forwards at last"


It's not an over reaction to be unhappy after that. We've dominated a very important game but not won. We were always very likely to dominate today. We should be out of sight at the top but keep wasting chances to move clear.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

The reaction on the radio seems to be that we have to be happy because we played well (one of the best performances in years apparently!) and haven't lost any ground.

But for me that's utter bollocks. We were always going to dominate this game. We didn't win. That's what counts. We've wasted a great opportunity to create a big gap between both Scunny and Bolton (who were never likely to win today). And now more pressure is on the Bolton game than there should be.

I think some people will overestimate Scunthorpe and get swept up in the once in a blue moon decent atmosphere and claim it was a great performance. It wasn't, it was good but nothing special by our standards this season.
Today just showed what we should already know, we're a much better team than Scunthorpe.

The referee was an utter, utter cunt. He needs to learn how to use his watch. He failed to add on the right amount of time in either half, and he was himself responsible for a lot of the petty stoppages. He was infuriating and played a massive part in getting Scunthorpe a point.

Scunny scored with the very first chance they had but they're always snidey little bastards so that's only to be expected really. They're a very basic team with little to offer other than kicking the opposition. They're lucky they've got Murray Wallace at the back.

Ultimately though we've once again struggled against 10 men. I'm sick of it. We generally struggle far more than we should do at home and for this reason we'll make a meal of promotion when it should be a formality.

I don't know what took Wilder so long to make a change. Worst of all taking 83 minutes to bring on somebody different out wide. We've got great subs to bring on but didn't make good use of them. He got it spot on last week but he didn't today. Should have done all he could to make sure we weren't chasing a goal in the last 5/10 minutes, but once again that was the position we found ourselves in at home.

Can't really complain too much about the performance but above anything today was yet another infuriating and typical missed opportunity due mainly to a wanker of a referee and extremely lucky opponents.

You can't really complain too much about the performance but credit to you for trying!

 

[larkymasher]

If I'm obviously talking about the game then maybe you could have responded with something about the game rather than this:

"Top of the league by 5 points, 2 points average per game, playing good football, best young manager in football, a proper future after 6 years in this shit league, nearly 28k home gate, club going forwards at last"


It's not an over reaction to be unhappy after that. We've dominated a very important game but not won. We were always very likely to dominate today. We should be out of sight at the top but keep wasting chances to move clear.

I get it Ricky. Maybe my reply was not the best, but winning promotion will come with ups and downs.

I agree we should be miles ahead by now and that in itself is a source of frustration but from where we have been over the last 6 years when we do get promotion it will be a hard slog. We wont make it easy for ourselves and i think i am accepting of that fact.

 

[blade too long]

GP W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Fleetwood 10 7 3 0 13 4 +9 24
2 Millwall 10 6 4 0 15 5 +10 22
3 Sheffield Utd 10 5 3 2 17 12 +5 18
4 Oxford Utd 10 5 2 3 13 9 +4 17
5 Oldham 10 5 2 3 9 6 +3 17
6 Shrewsbury 10 5 2 3 11 9 +2 17
7 Southend Utd 10 4 4 2 16 11 +5 16 50%
8 Walsall 10 4 4 2 15 12 +3 16 50%
9 Milton Keynes 10 4 3 3 14 9 +5 15 30%
10 Bolton 10 4 3 3 16 13 +3 15 70%
11 Rochdale 10 4 3 3 14 13 +1 15 60%
12 Bradford 10 3 5 2 14 12 +2 14 50%
13 Charlton 10 3 5 2 14 12 +2 14 40%
14 Bury 10 3 4 3 18 16 +2 13 70%
15 Bristol Rovers 10 3 4 3 13 12 +1 13 40%
16 Scunthorpe 10 3 4 3 12 13 -1 13 50%
17 Peterborough 10 3 2 5 9 17 -8 11 40%
18 Northampton 10 3 1 6 16 21 -5 10 90%
19 Wimbledon 10 2 4 4 11 16 -5 10 60%
20 Port Vale 10 1 4 5 7 17 -10 7 40%
21 Gillingham 10 0 6 4 10 14 -4 6 40%
22 Swindon Town 10 1 3 6 7 12 -5 6 40%
23 Chesterfield 10 1 3 6 4 13 -9 6 30%
24 Coventry City 10 1 3 6 9 19 -10 6 50%

last 10 games form
bolton 10th
scunny 16th