End of term report

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grafikhaus

grafikhaus

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End of term report.

The Blades stormed out of Division One in the 2016-17 season under manager Chris Wilder with 100 points. We had been down at that level for six seasons, but were now back in The Championship.

So what would the 2017-18 season bring for The Blades? We were assured by Wednesdayites that ‘Wilder would be found out’, we ‘couldn’t cope with La Liga’, that we’d be ‘relegated by Christmas’ and ‘we’d go down with less points than Rotherham’ (23 points in the 2016-17 season). As ever, they were talking utter bollocks.

Wednesday had fucked up in the play-offs in the two previous season, had finished the 2016-17 season in fourth place with 81 points and – despite the heartbreak of losing to Huddersfield in the play-offs – would surely mount another serious promotion campaign, bolstered by their reckless, excessive and probably illegal spending? Thankfully, football doesn’t work like that.

Despite minimal changes to the players who performed so well in Division One, United started the season strongly and were – briefly – top of the table.

League Position:

A terrific start to the season saw The Blades ‘there or thereabouts’ for much of the season. However, an injury to Paul Coutts (game 17 in the graph below) proved pivotal and saw our play-off challenge slowly diminish as the season progressed. The Blades finally finished in 10th place in The Championship, only falling out of a possible play-off position in the penultimate game (at home to Preston).

upload_2018-5-7_0-38-6.png

Final Championship table, 2017-18

upload_2018-5-7_0-38-35.png


The Team:

Although it may seem de rigeur to slate certain players, we fans must remember where they – and the management team of Chris and Alan – have come from. Sure, Chris may have got the odd game wrong tactically, but we’re all a ‘work in progress’. Never have I come away from a Wilder game thinking ‘X didn’t try’. If nothing else, we’re a team.

upload_2018-5-7_0-38-59.png

upload_2018-5-7_0-39-19.png​

Leon Clarke, United’s top scorer with 19 League goals and named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year 2018

Leon’s 19 goals would see him finish joint third-highest scorer in The Championship over the 46 league games. (Matej Vydra (Derby) 21, Lewis Grabban (Sunderland, Aston Villa) 20, Bobby Reid (Bristol C.) 19).

League Attendances:

Exceptional home crowds during our six years in Division One increased further with our return to The Championship. 22,000 season tickets sold – at reasonable prices – meant our crowds attracted admiration.

upload_2018-5-7_0-42-38.png​
2017-18 season:

Total League Crowd: 1,097,103

Total HOME crowds: 617,533

Average Home: 26,849

Highest Home: 31,120 (v. Sheffield Wednesday – 12 January 2018)

Lowest Home: 24,409 (v. Bristol City – 8 December 2017)

Total AWAY crowds: 479,570

Average Away: 20,851

Highest Away: 35,210 (v. Aston Villa – 23 December 2017)

Lowest Away: 5,167 (v. Burton Albion – 17 November 2017)

Going back over 18 season (from the 2000-01 season), this season’s home average of 26,849 has only been beaten by our one season in the Premier League (2006-07) where we had an average of 30,512.

The Goals:

upload_2018-5-7_0-41-28.png​
Early goals/first goals:

Where we scored early (First 15 minutes) our results were P: 13 W: 9 D: 1 L: 3.

Where we have scored first, our results were P: 28 W: 19 D: 4 L: 5.

Best goal?

Always subjective, but possibly Sharp’s goal at home to Leeds?

​


Or maybe Lee Evans’ first v Middlesbrough (at 0:12 in this vid.)?

​


Also, special mention for David Brooks’ goals v Millwall away and Leeds away, two superb, left-footed cross-goal shots.

My personal favourite? The commentator said before Fleck’s strike “I hope it’s worth the wait here.” You bet it was!

​


The Manager(s):

Both Chris Wilder and Alan Knill have been vital to our first season back – a season in which we consolidated our place in The Championship.

upload_2018-5-7_0-45-2.png

Attached is the full results, scorers and crowds.​
 

Attachments




Interesting to see some of those stats. I’ve just realised that Premier League season apart, this is the highest average attendance we’ve had in my lifetime – and outright the highest at this level in that period. You have to go bad to the early 50s for a greater average than this season.
 
Millwall fans have gone away thinking they've had an amazing season. We are all slightly disappointed. There's only 3 points between us and if we can defend a long ball against them we finish equal.
 
grafikhaus said:
End of term report.

The Blades stormed out of Division One in the 2016-17 season under manager Chris Wilder with 100 points. We had been down at that level for six seasons, but were now back in The Championship.

So what would the 2017-18 season bring for The Blades? We were assured by Wednesdayites that ‘Wilder would be found out’, we ‘couldn’t cope with La Liga’, that we’d be ‘relegated by Christmas’ and ‘we’d go down with less points than Rotherham’ (23 points in the 2016-17 season). As ever, they were talking utter bollocks.

Wednesday had fucked up in the play-offs in the two previous season, had finished the 2016-17 season in fourth place with 81 points and – despite the heartbreak of losing to Huddersfield in the play-offs – would surely mount another serious promotion campaign, bolstered by their reckless, excessive and probably illegal spending? Thankfully, football doesn’t work like that.

Despite minimal changes to the players who performed so well in Division One, United started the season strongly and were – briefly – top of the table.

League Position:

A terrific start to the season saw The Blades ‘there or thereabouts’ for much of the season. However, an injury to Paul Coutts (game 17 in the graph below) proved pivotal and saw our play-off challenge slowly diminish as the season progressed. The Blades finally finished in 10th place in The Championship, only falling out of a possible play-off position in the penultimate game (at home to Preston).

View attachment 39244

Final Championship table, 2017-18

View attachment 39245


The Team:

Although it may seem de rigeur to slate certain players, we fans must remember where they – and the management team of Chris and Alan – have come from. Sure, Chris may have got the odd game wrong tactically, but we’re all a ‘work in progress’. Never have I come away from a Wilder game thinking ‘X didn’t try’. If nothing else, we’re a team.

View attachment 39246


Leon Clarke, United’s top scorer with 19 League goals and named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year 2018

Leon’s 19 goals would see him finish joint third-highest scorer in The Championship over the 46 league games. (Matej Vydra (Derby) 21, Lewis Grabban (Sunderland, Aston Villa) 20, Bobby Reid (Bristol C.) 19).

League Attendances:

Exceptional home crowds during our six years in Division One increased further with our return to The Championship. 22,000 season tickets sold – at reasonable prices – meant our crowds attracted admiration.

2017-18 season:

Total League Crowd: 1,097,103

Total HOME crowds: 617,533

Average Home: 26,849

Highest Home: 31,120 (v. Sheffield Wednesday – 12 January 2018)

Lowest Home: 24,409 (v. Bristol City – 8 December 2017)

Total AWAY crowds: 479,570

Average Away: 20,851

Highest Away: 35,210 (v. Aston Villa – 23 December 2017)

Lowest Away: 5,167 (v. Burton Albion – 17 November 2017)

Going back over 18 season (from the 2000-01 season), this season’s home average of 26,849 has only been beaten by our one season in the Premier League (2006-07) where we had an average of 30,512.

The Goals:

Early goals/first goals:

Where we scored early (First 15 minutes) our results were P: 13 W: 9 D: 1 L: 3.

Where we have scored first, our results were P: 28 W: 19 D: 4 L: 5.

Best goal?

Always subjective, but possibly Sharp’s goal at home to Leeds?

​


Or maybe Lee Evans’ first v Middlesbrough (at 0:12 in this vid.)?

​


Also, special mention for David Brooks’ goals v Millwall away and Leeds away, two superb, left-footed cross-goal shots.

My personal favourite? The commentator said before Fleck’s strike “I hope it’s worth the wait here.” You bet it was!

​


The Manager(s):

Both Chris Wilder and Alan Knill have been vital to our first season back – a season in which we consolidated our place in The Championship.

View attachment 39251

Attached is the full results, scorers and crowds.​
Click to expand...

great effort mate. ;)
what i've come away with is the sense that apart from a couple of notable exceptions, the championship 'isn't all that' and is in fact much the same as when we left it but with a lot more gamesmanship, diving and poseurs
 
Excellent report and it brings into focus the disappointment that we’ve ended up missing out in the playoffs as misguided when you look back at the the successes and quality in many performances.
The clubs with the megabucks budgets all seemed to take a while to get going but ultimately rose to the top Wolves,Fulham,Villa,Boro etc (some didn’t get going at all) and Cardiff being the notable exception. We should be very proud of our first season back in the Championship.
 
All about the margins. Firstly, great summary grafikhaus , superb effort mate.

So close yet finally we probably ended up where we deserved to be. I'm not disappointed but I do share that sense of 'what if' where the board are concerned.
Clearly there are problems where the owners are concerned, and it would seem the KM has underestimated what he imagined the Prince would deliver.

We came so close, at times we played superb football, other times we looked naive, but as was said above, we were never sold short by the players. And that has to be down to the management and the esprit de corps that has become our driving force.
 
super_pig said:
great effort mate. ;)
what i've come away with is the sense that apart from a couple of notable exceptions, the championship 'isn't all that' and is in fact much the same as when we left it but with a lot more gamesmanship, diving and poseurs
Click to expand...

Apart from the top six, The Premiership isn't 'all that', but with a lot more gamesmanship, diving and poseurs.:D As in The Championship, the difference is...money.

Here's the top six in our division and cost of squad:

1. Wolves £60.6m
2. Cardiff £18.6m
3. Fulham £37.4m
4. Aston Villa £67.8m
5. Middlesbrough £62.7m
6. Derby £40.1m


10. Lil ol' Sheffield United £5.9m.

Of course there are exceptions, Hull, Wendy, Norwich, Birmingham etc. spent far more than us but for some undefined reason (probably crap managers) didn't come close. Millwall (£0.8m) came close...but no cigar.

If we'd spent just £4-5m wisely, it's a near certainty we'd have got those extra 6-7 points to get us into the play-offs. Just 75 points would have done it this year. Last year it was 80.
 
We would’ve (IMO) got those points if we had not had injuries to Coutts and Freeman. Brooks might also have weighed in a little had he not had glandular fever. We weren’t three signings away from the play offs, more three players.
 
super_pig said:
great effort mate. ;)
what i've come away with is the sense that apart from a couple of notable exceptions, the championship 'isn't all that' and is in fact much the same as when we left it but with a lot more gamesmanship, diving and poseurs
Click to expand...
I agree, but the notable exceptions are the problem for us. We're not close enough to them.
 
Cheers man - Brilliant summary of an overall satisfying return to a La Liga that indeed wasn’t at the level some would have had us believe.

The graph of our league position is very telling & for me shows a season of thirds.
1. Brilliant first third, playing some amazing footy & scoring plenty.
2. Poor second third, where we lost our way & all the wrong things dried up.
3. Average third third, whilst others around us were on a real push.
And as they came in that order, it’s why the season feels a bit like it’s not delivered what it promised at times.

Great to see attendances up & hope that carries on next season.
Fingers crossed for a promising summer that sees the board sort out their differences & give Mr Wilder some backing to launch next season’s campaign.

I’ll be tuning in anyway.
 
grafikhaus said:
End of term report.

The Blades stormed out of Division One in the 2016-17 season under manager Chris Wilder with 100 points. We had been down at that level for six seasons, but were now back in The Championship.

So what would the 2017-18 season bring for The Blades? We were assured by Wednesdayites that ‘Wilder would be found out’, we ‘couldn’t cope with La Liga’, that we’d be ‘relegated by Christmas’ and ‘we’d go down with less points than Rotherham’ (23 points in the 2016-17 season). As ever, they were talking utter bollocks.

Wednesday had fucked up in the play-offs in the two previous season, had finished the 2016-17 season in fourth place with 81 points and – despite the heartbreak of losing to Huddersfield in the play-offs – would surely mount another serious promotion campaign, bolstered by their reckless, excessive and probably illegal spending? Thankfully, football doesn’t work like that.

Despite minimal changes to the players who performed so well in Division One, United started the season strongly and were – briefly – top of the table.

League Position:

A terrific start to the season saw The Blades ‘there or thereabouts’ for much of the season. However, an injury to Paul Coutts (game 17 in the graph below) proved pivotal and saw our play-off challenge slowly diminish as the season progressed. The Blades finally finished in 10th place in The Championship, only falling out of a possible play-off position in the penultimate game (at home to Preston).

View attachment 39244

Final Championship table, 2017-18

View attachment 39245


The Team:

Although it may seem de rigeur to slate certain players, we fans must remember where they – and the management team of Chris and Alan – have come from. Sure, Chris may have got the odd game wrong tactically, but we’re all a ‘work in progress’. Never have I come away from a Wilder game thinking ‘X didn’t try’. If nothing else, we’re a team.

View attachment 39246


Leon Clarke, United’s top scorer with 19 League goals and named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year 2018

Leon’s 19 goals would see him finish joint third-highest scorer in The Championship over the 46 league games. (Matej Vydra (Derby) 21, Lewis Grabban (Sunderland, Aston Villa) 20, Bobby Reid (Bristol C.) 19).

League Attendances:

Exceptional home crowds during our six years in Division One increased further with our return to The Championship. 22,000 season tickets sold – at reasonable prices – meant our crowds attracted admiration.

2017-18 season:

Total League Crowd: 1,097,103

Total HOME crowds: 617,533

Average Home: 26,849

Highest Home: 31,120 (v. Sheffield Wednesday – 12 January 2018)

Lowest Home: 24,409 (v. Bristol City – 8 December 2017)

Total AWAY crowds: 479,570

Average Away: 20,851

Highest Away: 35,210 (v. Aston Villa – 23 December 2017)

Lowest Away: 5,167 (v. Burton Albion – 17 November 2017)

Going back over 18 season (from the 2000-01 season), this season’s home average of 26,849 has only been beaten by our one season in the Premier League (2006-07) where we had an average of 30,512.

The Goals:

Early goals/first goals:

Where we scored early (First 15 minutes) our results were P: 13 W: 9 D: 1 L: 3.

Where we have scored first, our results were P: 28 W: 19 D: 4 L: 5.

Best goal?

Always subjective, but possibly Sharp’s goal at home to Leeds?

​


Or maybe Lee Evans’ first v Middlesbrough (at 0:12 in this vid.)?

​


Also, special mention for David Brooks’ goals v Millwall away and Leeds away, two superb, left-footed cross-goal shots.

My personal favourite? The commentator said before Fleck’s strike “I hope it’s worth the wait here.” You bet it was!

​


The Manager(s):

Both Chris Wilder and Alan Knill have been vital to our first season back – a season in which we consolidated our place in The Championship.

View attachment 39251

Attached is the full results, scorers and crowds.​
Click to expand...


Great post mate, enjoyed reading that.
 
LenTednTony said:
We would’ve (IMO) got those points if we had not had injuries to Coutts and Freeman. Brooks might also have weighed in a little had he not had glandular fever. We weren’t three signings away from the play offs, more three players.
Click to expand...

That's true but CW wanted 'two players for every position'. Unfortunately wage restraints etc. meant that the quality of backup wasn't always there.

Every team has injuries (at the last count, Wednesday had 154...) and the loss of Coutts left us horifically over-exposed. I wish me made more of the loan market - these players are playing for their futures. Olly McBurnie at Barnsley being just one example.
 
LoughboroBlade said:
Interesting to see some of those stats. I’ve just realised that Premier League season apart, this is the highest average attendance we’ve had in my lifetime – and outright the highest at this level in that period. You have to go bad to the early 50s for a greater average than this season.
Click to expand...

It's our twelfth highest average gate of all time.

We had higher ones in 1921, all the seasons from 1947 to 1954, 1972 and 2007.

The latter two seasons were the first ones after promotion to the top flight. 1947 to 1954 was part of the post war attendance boom. Why we did so well at the gate in 1921, when we narrowly escaped relegation, I have no idea.
 



grafikhaus said:
Apart from the top six, The Premiership isn't 'all that', but with a lot more gamesmanship, diving and poseurs.:D As in The Championship, the difference is...money.

Here's the top six in our division and cost of squad:

1. Wolves £60.6m
2. Cardiff £18.6m
3. Fulham £37.4m
4. Aston Villa £67.8m
5. Middlesbrough £62.7m
6. Derby £40.1m


10. Lil ol' Sheffield United £5.9m.

Of course there are exceptions, Hull, Wendy, Norwich, Birmingham etc. spent far more than us but for some undefined reason (probably crap managers) didn't come close. Millwall (£0.8m) came close...but no cigar.

If we'd spent just £4-5m wisely, it's a near certainty we'd have got those extra 6-7 points to get us into the play-offs. Just 75 points would have done it this year. Last year it was 80.
Click to expand...
Which is why CW is so understandably pissed off I guess.
Cracking report Graphy. Thanks a lot mate.
 
Cheers graf.

I too an not unhappy at this season. For the paltry amount spent on bang average players and our fabulous start with ostensibly a Div 1 team under a brilliant manager, I'd say we've done superbly. Beat the pigs and Weeds (and finished above them too. Glad we've not made the playoffs. We'd have been thrapped by any of them. Know your limitations and strive to better them.

The board fiasco is typical of united and if we lose Wilder over it I hold HRH and McCabe responsible for squandering our best chance of actually getting to the PL and staying there with the right playing staff strength. We were promised investment when we were promoted and we got fuck all. We show promise early in the season and the backing is non existent when our one-brick-thick midfield combination is fucked up. Good job we didn't lose Duffy or Fleck or we would have been in trouble. Best they sort this out, soon.

Well done Wilder and the team. Up the Blades.

pommpey
 
grafikhaus said:
That's true but CW wanted 'two players for every position'. Unfortunately wage restraints etc. meant that the quality of backup wasn't always there.

Every team has injuries (at the last count, Wednesday had 154...) and the loss of Coutts left us horifically over-exposed. I wish me made more of the loan market - these players are playing for their futures. Olly McBurnie at Barnsley being just one example.
Click to expand...
ollie mc burnie got some right stick at derby from tyke fans , hes scored some goals but offers very little according to barnsley fans
 
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