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False promises as Sheffield United suffer first Wednesday double in 95 years
Bramall Lane's new mantra - The Blades Way - only paved the way to another disappointing defeat.
In the summer of last year, Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe was all smiles as he unveiled Kevin Blackwell as his new permanent way, under the mantra of ‘The Blades Way."
Under this ethos, the two Kevins insisted, United were focused on establishing themselves as a top 10 Premier League club on the bedrock of hard work, honesty and commitment.
True working-class attitudes that sum up the club and the city perfectly, many observed.
Fast forward eight months to February, and the clouds of discontent hovering ominously over Bramall Lane overshadow whatever optimism United fans had dared to show.
The case in point for the club’s turnaround in fortunes was undoubtedly last week’s performance and defeat to Steel City rivals Wednesday, but in truth the foundations had been set long before Blackwell’s inept charges surrendered on their own turf and allowed The Owls to complete their first league double for 95 years.
Honesty, McCabe promised long-suffering Blades fans, was top of the agenda. The wealthy property magnate was quick to promise supporters that, should the sale of star striker James Beattie go through, a replacement would already be in place to strengthen the team.
Sure enough, Beattie went to Stoke for £2.5m, and soon after Leroy Lita, the former England international’s supposed predecessor in the No. 9 shirt, publicly rejected any potential advance from United.
And who was brought to Sheffield to replace Beattie, scorer of 22 goals last term and 14 this? Jamie Ward, a £330,000 buy from League Two Chesterfield, and Arturo Lupoli, from Fiorentina on loan.
Darius Henderson, Beattie’s replacement in the target man role, did a job in the former Everton man’s place before being red-carded at Southampton and missing the Sheffield derby in the process. Blackwell was therefore forced to re-jig his attacking options, and settled on a forward three of 5ft 10ins Danny Webber, debutant Lupoli and defender Greg Halford for arguably one of the pivotal matches in United’s campaign.
Against Wednesday’s six-foot centre-half pairing of Mark Beevers and Tommy Spurr, Blackwell surely would adjust his tactics and try and play the ball on the deck? Alas, no.
The near-31,000 crowd were again treated (if that's the right word) to a show of direct football that had resulted in a 1-0 defeat against Doncaster Rovers previously, and this played right into Wednesday’s hands.
The hugely ineffectual Brian Howard, supposedly signed as the answer to United’s creative problems, hardly had a kick as the ball constantly sailed over him to the head of Webber, and when the ball was inevitably lost United simply did not have the fight to try and regain it.
Apart from Nick Montgomery, the only red-and-white man looking interested in the cause, not one of the home side could match their opposite number for hunger and desire. From the moment Spurr put Wednesday ahead after 50 seconds, United betrayed their lofty league position and couldn’t match the visitor’s enthusiasm and passion.
Direct football may have worked for Lupoli’s debut strike – a Halford long throw was headed home by the Italian to draw the sparring sides level four minutes later - but after that, it was plain for all to see that Blackwell had to do something different.
The supposed attacking 4-3-3 formation acted more like a conservative 4-5-1, with Lupoli and Halford hugging the flanks leaving Webber to contest high balls on his own against Beevers and Spurr, and with the game blatantly bypassing Howard, the smart move would have been to replace him with Jamie Ward and go three up top.
Much to the derision of the home supporters, however, Ward was introduced at the expense of Lupoli, who had looked the only United player capable of passing the football on the turf.
Whether this was what Blackwell didn’t like – the official line was that Lupoli was tired, although this was denied by the player himself after the game – is unclear, but a like-for-like swap and continuing to play hoofball to a 5ft 5in striker didn’t seem like a tactical masterstroke.
And so it proved, as Wednesday’s defenders coped with neck-ache as well as continuous aerial bombardment to take the points, the double and the pride.
United fans voiced their displeasure at the final whistle, but in reality what did they expect? If they took their seats at Bramall Lane at noon expecting to be entertained with champagne football a la Arsenal, then they should forget ever returning to S2 because it will never happen.
United, probably the biggest under-achievers in modern football, will probably never lift any silverware or qualify for Europe in the near future. What is guaranteed, however, is more direct football, unexplainable tactical decisions and further inconsistency. But further ingrained in the foundations of the football club are honesty, loyalty and the never-say-die, underdog spirit.
As the club faces one of its most testing times in its existence, these are the qualities that are required in abundance – sticking together, through thick and thin, through adversity - the epitome of "The Blades Way" mantra.
False promises as Sheffield United suffer first Wednesday double in 95 years
Bramall Lane's new mantra - The Blades Way - only paved the way to another disappointing defeat.
In the summer of last year, Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe was all smiles as he unveiled Kevin Blackwell as his new permanent way, under the mantra of ‘The Blades Way."
Under this ethos, the two Kevins insisted, United were focused on establishing themselves as a top 10 Premier League club on the bedrock of hard work, honesty and commitment.
True working-class attitudes that sum up the club and the city perfectly, many observed.
Fast forward eight months to February, and the clouds of discontent hovering ominously over Bramall Lane overshadow whatever optimism United fans had dared to show.
The case in point for the club’s turnaround in fortunes was undoubtedly last week’s performance and defeat to Steel City rivals Wednesday, but in truth the foundations had been set long before Blackwell’s inept charges surrendered on their own turf and allowed The Owls to complete their first league double for 95 years.
Honesty, McCabe promised long-suffering Blades fans, was top of the agenda. The wealthy property magnate was quick to promise supporters that, should the sale of star striker James Beattie go through, a replacement would already be in place to strengthen the team.
Sure enough, Beattie went to Stoke for £2.5m, and soon after Leroy Lita, the former England international’s supposed predecessor in the No. 9 shirt, publicly rejected any potential advance from United.
And who was brought to Sheffield to replace Beattie, scorer of 22 goals last term and 14 this? Jamie Ward, a £330,000 buy from League Two Chesterfield, and Arturo Lupoli, from Fiorentina on loan.
Darius Henderson, Beattie’s replacement in the target man role, did a job in the former Everton man’s place before being red-carded at Southampton and missing the Sheffield derby in the process. Blackwell was therefore forced to re-jig his attacking options, and settled on a forward three of 5ft 10ins Danny Webber, debutant Lupoli and defender Greg Halford for arguably one of the pivotal matches in United’s campaign.
Against Wednesday’s six-foot centre-half pairing of Mark Beevers and Tommy Spurr, Blackwell surely would adjust his tactics and try and play the ball on the deck? Alas, no.
The near-31,000 crowd were again treated (if that's the right word) to a show of direct football that had resulted in a 1-0 defeat against Doncaster Rovers previously, and this played right into Wednesday’s hands.
The hugely ineffectual Brian Howard, supposedly signed as the answer to United’s creative problems, hardly had a kick as the ball constantly sailed over him to the head of Webber, and when the ball was inevitably lost United simply did not have the fight to try and regain it.
Apart from Nick Montgomery, the only red-and-white man looking interested in the cause, not one of the home side could match their opposite number for hunger and desire. From the moment Spurr put Wednesday ahead after 50 seconds, United betrayed their lofty league position and couldn’t match the visitor’s enthusiasm and passion.
Direct football may have worked for Lupoli’s debut strike – a Halford long throw was headed home by the Italian to draw the sparring sides level four minutes later - but after that, it was plain for all to see that Blackwell had to do something different.
The supposed attacking 4-3-3 formation acted more like a conservative 4-5-1, with Lupoli and Halford hugging the flanks leaving Webber to contest high balls on his own against Beevers and Spurr, and with the game blatantly bypassing Howard, the smart move would have been to replace him with Jamie Ward and go three up top.
Much to the derision of the home supporters, however, Ward was introduced at the expense of Lupoli, who had looked the only United player capable of passing the football on the turf.
Whether this was what Blackwell didn’t like – the official line was that Lupoli was tired, although this was denied by the player himself after the game – is unclear, but a like-for-like swap and continuing to play hoofball to a 5ft 5in striker didn’t seem like a tactical masterstroke.
And so it proved, as Wednesday’s defenders coped with neck-ache as well as continuous aerial bombardment to take the points, the double and the pride.
United fans voiced their displeasure at the final whistle, but in reality what did they expect? If they took their seats at Bramall Lane at noon expecting to be entertained with champagne football a la Arsenal, then they should forget ever returning to S2 because it will never happen.
United, probably the biggest under-achievers in modern football, will probably never lift any silverware or qualify for Europe in the near future. What is guaranteed, however, is more direct football, unexplainable tactical decisions and further inconsistency. But further ingrained in the foundations of the football club are honesty, loyalty and the never-say-die, underdog spirit.
As the club faces one of its most testing times in its existence, these are the qualities that are required in abundance – sticking together, through thick and thin, through adversity - the epitome of "The Blades Way" mantra.
