First loss

[silverfox]

Is it a slippery slope or a wake up call?

 

[Bladesman]

A wake up call that shows that some of the squad are nothing but average at times.

That game was there to be won.

 

[Sensiblade]

Hope Killa is back on Friday

 

[Toronto Blade]

If we had to lose sometime better today than friday this will give Blackwell a good excuse to give the boys a blast.Just one of those games when nothing clicked .The Blades had double the shots on but couldn't finish.
The unclean were belted today just what should happen on friday . The Blades are unbeatable if they can get that first goal.If that happens on friday the unclean could be in for a long night.

 

[SwissBlade]

I just hope its a kick up the arse.

 

[moDtheGod]

I suppose the positive is that, usually, two goals at Coventry is going to be enough to win. We created a lot and managed a couple of goals, away from home. We've just made a few silly errors, that you'd often get away with, and we seem to have been punished.

When you consider how patched up that back four was, the odd mistake was almost inevitable.

We've just had a bit of a shocker, you can't go all season without having one, you can't go all season without mistakes, hopefully that's the quota of mistakes used up for the next few weeks.

 

[iggle-theblade]

it does show our squad is weak 1 absent defender meant we had to play our best fullback at center back and put an average full back in and we leak 3 goals with 2 players out of position for 1 player out.

if rumours are true SHITTU, MCSHEFFREY(sp) AND KING would complete the squad and give us quality in all areas.

 

[Bergen Blade]

First three points dropped because of our gambling on the ever presence of Morgan and Kilgallon?

Losing Killa is one thing, but when we HAVE TO move Walker inside we're also losing our best right back.

I can't believe there's another team in the whole league who don't have a back up centre half in the squad. If it's not shocking management, it's one hell of a gamble.

 

[Bladesman]

First three points dropped because of our gambling on the ever presence of Morgan and Kilgallon?

Losing Killa is one thing, but when we HAVE TO move Walker inside we're also losing our best right back.

I can't believe there's another team in the whole league who don't have a back up centre half in the squad. If it's not shocking management, it's one hell of a gamble.

It is complete suicide really.

Which is why coventry got cheap goals tonight that normally we would be able to combat.

 

[greasychips]

ive just watched the goals on sky sports news, and the defending for the goals is absolutely dire.

France isnt the best, we need a back up centre half asap. Losing Killa tonight has shown how vunerable we are if/when something happens to him.

 

[beightonblade]

Is it a slippery slope or a wake up call?

sumwhere inbetween......... we just aint gud enuff !

 

[raul]

Whilst I wouldn't argue we are better with Killa than without, let's not deify him just yet - it's only 3 games since he was culpable in letting Bednar get 2.

And if we are cutting wage bills/re-profiling then sooner or later he'll be off anyway. I guess PNE boards are full of the same stuff too re St Ledger, but as a club can we hope to compete with WBA/Boro/Toon?

We,ve had two bites of the cherry, failed and now we're just going to have to live with being in the pack not ahead of it.

 

[theblade1957]

if im honest i dont expect killa to even be here on friday, smells like another bt flu/chest infection/cold

 

[Big Mart]

Is it a slippery slope or a wake up call?

It's proof that 90% of you are delusional. That you saw last season as some kind of success because we NEARLY won something, despite winning NOTHING as usual, and that you still think that a team that has players like Henderson and the totally clueless Nick Montgomery will ever do anything other than huff and puff and then finally kill the game of football.

You really do need to stop defending the indefensible. The manager hasn't got a clue, he has no Plan A let alone Plan B, and as to the squad? They remind me of the PG Tips chimps, sorry, most of you rose tinted kiddies won't remember them but seriously, a Friday night seeing us bullied by the Pigs is looming, another season of "we almost made it" is on the horizon. For God's sake stop defending them, get vocal on a night like tonight and stop accepting second best. Some of us have supported this club for a long long time and yes, WE DESERVE BETTER :easy::bomb::easy:

:gallop::gallop::gallop::gallop::gallop::gallop::emmy:

 

[Fiery Blade]

If we had to lose sometime better today than friday this will give Blackwell a good excuse to give the boys a blast.Just one of those games when nothing clicked .The Blades had double the shots on but couldn't finish.
The unclean were belted today just what should happen on friday . The Blades are unbeatable if they can get that first goal.If that happens on friday the unclean could be in for a long night.

Its nothing to do with getting the first goal and certainly nothing to do with Fridays match-
Tonight we have an injury (illness?) and the back four is disrupted because we have to move our on loan full back to cover centre back and draft in a less than competant right back. It was obvious that we cannot get through the season playing the same two centre halves without adequate cover yet we come on here saying better lose tonight than Friday!!!!
What if we do lose again on Friday - Coventry are no better than Wendy so if Cov can score 3 why can't Wendy
Get real people - the squad is not strong enough in depth but thats ok we will go out and loan them!
Has Blackwell made any comment yet!

 

[happyhippy]

One defeat doesn't mean a Winter Of Discontent, but I do worry about the back four without Naughton and Killa.

We also must remember that Walker is only on loan. Whilst I don't doubt that he won't be recalled to Tottenham, it is a possibility. We look desperately weak on paper at the back.

I honestly think that if we had a back four which was solid, then our midfield and frontmen could keep us right up there. They're not good enough for the top flight, but as things are, we're not there ....

Blackie wants to play from the back, and we don't appear to have a defensive line up who can cut it and make it happen, unless all four are fit and ready from what I've seen and heard.

I've always believed in the adage that "If you don't concede, you can't lose.", but I'm not sure how many clean sheets we can keep.

That said, we're not Luton, so it's not that bad.

 

[Toronto Blade]

Take a breath you can't win every match, it just doesn't happen,sure two players were playing in different positions.Walker has played as centerback before but not at this level.The other undefeated clubs will lose as well maybe against a club they don't expect to.
Preston are probably screaming for heads as well.
Surely management has seen the problem and is at work on solving it.One report has stated that Blackwell wanted Shittu in for the Coventry match but he is stalling for some reason.If he is not a Blade this week Blackwell will look elsewhere.

 

[happyhippy]

I agree with you TB, but I also think that we're a bit threadbare. I've no doubt that with a bit of luck, we could muddle through, but that's all I see us doing, on the face of it.

Like I say though, we could be Luton.

 

[DuncDisorderly]

Is it a slippery slope or a wake up call?

We play poorly, we dont take our chances, guess what? We get beaten. One away loss in 20 games, first defeat in seven this season, still in playoff spots. 'Slippery slope'? Jeez! Have a word with yourself...

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

Is it a slippery slope or a wake up call?

Hopefully the latter.

We all have our reservations about the team / squad / Blackwell / tactics but it's difficult to be over critical when they get the results and when all said and done, that was only our 2nd away defeat in almost a year. However, when a performance / result like last night comes around, all the doubts re-surface.

No doubt Killa was a loss if only for disruption but you can't legislate for basic errors which, by all accounts we made all over the pitch most of the night.

I'm sure KB is aware of the lack of back-up and hopefully that will be addressed. Will it make him change his tactics, doubt it, they've served him well since he's been here but last night should be a wake up call. We are still lacking the confidence and ability to pass the ball around in games where we should be dominating. It's not just enough to keep solid and hope we pinch it, yes, that may get us into the play-offs but as we saw last year, we're not capable of changing our tactics when it matters. I suspect he'll view last night as a one-off but don't expect many changes for Friday in both personnel or tactics.

 

[Sensiblade]

It's the first time we've let 3 goals past us since Burnley on the 6th December last year.
Make of that what you will

 

[parisblade]

Surely management has seen the problem and is at work on solving it.

Good post Toronto. Clearly we had problems at the back last night. We have to take that on board and do something about it. Not reacting is worse than losing for me.

 

[ghandi]

ive just watched the goals on sky sports news, and the defending for the goals is absolutely dire.

France isnt the best, we need a back up centre half asap. Losing Killa tonight has shown how vunerable we are if/when something happens to him.

France isn't the best but he is possibly the worst. Already challenging to be one of the worst players to play for the Blades. His performace last night was embarassing.

 

[mattbianco1]

think we definately need cover at centre half now after last night. Don't think Walker is comfortable there and France is just not good enough at right back either. I'm not a Shittu rater but he's a seasoned pro and we should snap him up as cover if nothing else... And that Fortune bloke. if King & McSheffrey come in then i'm more than happy.

 

[mattbianco1]

It's the first time we've let 3 goals past us since Burnley on the 6th December last year.
Make of that what you will

First time away since Southampton in May 2008, apparently

 

[Grecian2000]

It boils down to trying to get by with only two CB's.

Last season we, luckily, got by with THREE. When Morgan started the season poorly in stepped Ugo. When Killa got suspended (wrongly!!!), back came Morgs. Then Ugo gets suspended so back came Killa etc. etc.
When Ugo went down for good we got Bromby in and he covered when required toward the end of the season.

Last night just the one injury meant a change to both sides of the defence and this was pivotal.

It IS the start of a slippery slope if we try and muddle by without adequate cover but needn't be if we act quickly and have a full quota of defenders back quickly.
Four wide men and two CB's is not good maths.

 

[Ollessendro]

Who was at the game last night?

And if you where then how did it shape up??

I could only listen to Radio 5 and get updates at intervals. At half time Daren Fletcher (who was commentating) said that it had been a really poor game, but we had 4 clear cut chances. Quinn had missed 2 good chances and also Taylor. Even though Blades weren't playing the best football they should have been in front. At full time the Feltcher went onto say that we were very unlucky not to get something out of the game. Harper and Evans were guilty of missing good chances.

By my reeckoning we defended awfully and rued missing our chances. However the game could have easily been 3-3 or even 4(5 or 6)-3 Blades. Would everyone be kicking up so much of a fuss if we'd got something out of the game??

I'm not interested in this ridiculous negativity about us not been good enough. Correct me if I'm wrong (people who witnessed the match only please!?) but last night was a case of weakness in defense and not taking our chances.

I'm not making excuses for the lads. I'm bitterly disappointed. I don't rate Coventry and think we should have beaten them. I guess the moral of the story is we need CB cover. Providing KB brings someone in on loan then I don't think we have too much to worry about.

 

[davidpinder]

Who was at the game last night?

And if you where then how did it shape up??

I could only listen to Radio 5 and get updates at intervals. At half time Daren Fletcher (who was commentating) said that it had been a really poor game, but we had 4 clear cut chances. Quinn had missed 2 good chances and also Taylor. Even though Blades weren't playing the best football they should have been in front. At full time the Feltcher went onto say that we were very unlucky not to get something out of the game. Harper and Evans were guilty of missing good chances.

By my reeckoning we defended awfully and rued missing our chances. However the game could have easily been 3-3 or even 4(5 or 6)-3 Blades. Would everyone be kicking up so much of a fuss if we'd got something out of the game??

I'm not interested in this ridiculous negativity about us not been good enough. Correct me if I'm wrong (people who witnessed the match only please!?) but last night was a case of weakness in defense and not taking our chances.

I'm not making excuses for the lads. I'm bitterly disappointed. I don't rate Coventry and think we should have beaten them. I guess the moral of the story is we need CB cover. Providing KB brings someone in on loan then I don't think we have too much to worry about.

Good points made i am only going to comment on the cover needed i don't see why we need another striker, Clear CB cover is all we need we are scoring enough goals and creating loads of chances but conceding 7 in 7 after 3 last night is couple to many meaning i think we would have only let 1 past if killa or a recognised centre half played.

 

[HoodedClaw]

Well we've known since Bromby left that we've needed extra cover at the back so no point re-iterating that.

I also think Fridays game had a part to play. Interesting to hear Blackwell saying he had both eyes on the fixture already then said, almost as a by the by, we're also concentrating on Coventry.

With him being the first manager in 95 years to have had the double done over him by those other lot I well imagine he's feeling the pressure to make sure we win Friday.

Last night Im going to put down to one of those things that can happen when a big game is round the corner, Cov had it last year with the Chelsea cup tie, but Blackwell has really ratcheted up the pressure on himself to win it though.

 

[Bladesman]

France isn't the best but he is possibly the worst. Already challenging to be one of the worst players to play for the Blades. His performace last night was embarassing.

From what Ive seen of him he is nothing but average at best. I am prepared to give him time but to be honest I think we just snatched him from Wednesday because we had no one left to choose from.