We've got Billy Sharpe.

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All through football you get players kissing or patting the badge because it ingratiates them to the fans. You watch Billy and CW they genuinely love United both are fans, and I mean fans. When Billy was sold twice b4 I didn't agree and happy as punch he's come back and proved his detractors wrong. We have the Tony Currie stand what's to say that in years to come one could be named after Billy, it would be fitting.
 
but yet gives him the captain's armband ?
The first thing he did. He's de facto in charge of the dressing room and a major part of the togetherness / we're all Blades mentality. I think he trusts billy implicitly as a footballer, as a skipper, but thinks he has to ease the workload on his aging legs occasionally. At 33 he may be right. That's how I see it anyway. Could be miles off !
 
but yet gives him the captain's armband ?
The evidence is there.

He said something yesterday that was an identical quote from last season. When he stated Leon and Dids had done best in pre season and deserved the start in the first few games. Horseshit. Then and now.

Now competition for starts up top is as fierce as we can all probably remember. Good players will make the bench only. At best. Sharp has no right based on what he’s done previously to warrant starts. It HAS to be on merit / tactical reasons.

Now.

These 👀 don’t lie !

On top of which, a players price tag has never and will never cut the mustard with moi. To go down this line of thinking is very un Wilder like and smacks of the nonsense and mess that our S6 chums have gotten themselves in to. Paying over inflated prices for bang average players.

We shouldn’t aspire to that. PL
Status or otherwise.

Until my unbelievably reliable 👀 tell me otherwise, and all things considered Sharp retains his status as our #1 striker as things stand. That’s my view.

Categorically and unequivocally, this view is not shared by Wilder.

That’s my point.

And he isn’t captain anymore. Bit difficult when you ain’t on the pitch 😉.

UTB
 
The evidence is there.

He said something yesterday that was an identical quote from last season. When he stated Leon and Dids had done best in pre season and deserved the start in the first few games. Horseshit. Then and now.

Now competition for starts up top is as fierce as we can all probably remember. Good players will make the bench only. At best. Sharp has no right based on what he’s done previously to warrant starts. It HAS to be on merit / tactical reasons.

Now.

These 👀 don’t lie !

On top of which, a players price tag has never and will never cut the mustard with moi. To go down this line of thinking is very un Wilder like and smacks of the nonsense and mess that our S6 chums have gotten themselves in to. Paying over inflated prices for bang average players.

We shouldn’t aspire to that. PL
Status or otherwise.

Until my unbelievably reliable 👀 tell me otherwise, and all things considered Sharp retains his status as our #1 striker as things stand. That’s my view.

Categorically and unequivocally, this view is not shared by Wilder.

That’s my point.

And he isn’t captain anymore. Bit difficult when you ain’t on the pitch 😉.

UTB
Evidence...
 
Evidence...
Minutes on the pitch ?

Baffling decisions to not start ?

Consistently dragged ?

He’s not in Mark Duffy territory in this regard, but ........

Now.

If this is all very calculated, in an attempt to preserve legs, than that’s something I’m not privy to and accept that the sports science people will know how this is best managed.

Let’s face it.

Prepare a comprehensive list of ALL the attributes that a modern CF needs.

Sharp ticks most of them and more so than all of our other options. As things stand.

This could change over the course of the season.

Time will tell !!

UTB
 
Minutes on the pitch ?

Baffling decisions to not start ?

Consistently dragged ?

He’s not in Mark Duffy territory in this regard, but ........

Now.

If this is all very calculated, in an attempt to preserve legs, than that’s something I’m not privy to and accept that the sports science people will know how this is best managed.

Let’s face it.

Prepare a comprehensive list of ALL the attributes that a modern CF needs.

Sharp ticks most of them and more so than all of our other options. As things stand.

This could change over the course of the season.

Time will tell !!

UTB
Pace?
Dribbling ability?
Height?
Passing?
Holding the ball up?
Not that Billy doesn't have these attributes, but he's not the best we have for them.

Most of our fans agree we started the right two men upfront given the circumstances (playing a flat 3 in midfield, away from home, against a team that will dominate possession).
 
Pace?
Dribbling ability?
Height?
Passing?
Holding the ball up?
Not that Billy doesn't have these attributes, but he's not the best we have for them.

Most of our fans agree we started the right two men upfront given the circumstances (playing a flat 3 in midfield, away from home, against a team that will dominate possession).
And your extensive researching of fans knows this for sure ?

I have NO issue with whom ever Wilder choses to start with. The rationale and explanation given as to why, deserves closer scrutiny. IMHO. !!

UTB
 

And your extensive researching of fans knows this for sure ?

I have NO issue with whom ever Wilder choses to start with. The rationale and explanation given as to why, deserves closer scrutiny. IMHO. !!

UTB
If the reason is that Wilder' doesn't rate or trust Billy' then surely you do have an issue with it?

The explaination is that away the gap between the strikers and midfielders in a flat 3 is problematic in terms of linking play and creating chances. Therefore, rather than going with a finisher (Sharp), we went with two more creative strikers who like to drop deep and link play.

I imagine Sharp will start against Palace as we will hopefully dominate the ball.
 
If the reason is that Wilder' doesn't rate or trust Billy' then surely you do have an issue with it?

The explaination is that away the gap between the strikers and midfielders in a flat 3 is problematic in terms of linking play and creating chances. Therefore, rather than going with a finisher (Sharp), we went with two more creative strikers who like to drop deep and link play.

I imagine Sharp will start against Palace as we will hopefully dominate the ball.
Not really.

I’m challenging the perception that he does rate him highly. Personally, I’m unconvinced.

Good point you make with the flat 3 though. Although it was often a diamond for large chunks of the game. But surely McBurnie would have been favoured given this line of thinking ? Maybe he’s just too new to the fold just yet. But this could be the MO going forwards.

As is obvious, I rate Bill as an all round striker. Not just a finisher.

UTB
 
Legs have gone, never had much pace. After he scored absolutely NO #####! could catch 'im!
COYRAWW

Is it next Sunday yet?
 
From today's Mail:

'I score them in the garden when I'm with the kids': Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp reveals Bournemouth strike was tailor-made in his backyard
  • Sharp netted the equaliser for Sheffield United in 1-1 draw at Bournemouth
  • The strike was his 228th league goal and 103rd overall for the Blades
  • Nobody has scored more in English football since the turn of the 21st century
How does he do it? How does he always find himself in the right place at the right time? How on earth does Billy Sharp keep scoring so many goals?

It is a phenomenon that those who follow Sheffield United have long given up trying to explain.

There have been many theories put forward over the years from the suggestion that he was in fact a robot put together in the city's steelworks programmed to score goals to the idea his brain is a super computer that calculates the best possible way to find the net.

The latter is probably not far from the truth.

1565601825918.png
Billy Sharp had netted his 228th league goal in Sheffield United's 1-1 draw at Bournemouth

With the outside of his left boot, Sharp caresses the ball in mid-air, sending it towards the bottom left corner with the slightest of deflections from Mepham on the way in.

And that's without mentioning it came in the 88th minute, six minutes after he came off the bench and rescued a precious point after Mepham had earlier put Bournemouth ahead.

It was his 228th League goal and his 103rd in all competitions for his boyhood Blades.

Nobody has scored more goals in English football since the turn of the 21st century. Rickie Lambert is closest to him with 219 while Wayne Rooney is 20 back on 208. Not bad for 'just fat lad from Sheffield' - a description once made by his former Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll to portray the striker when he wasn't firing but one Sharp now fondly attaches himself to despite being in the best shape of his career at the age of 33.

Saturday's goal also confirmed his place in a select group of players to have scored in all four of England's top divisions.

17163966-7346963-image-a-42_1565557364732.jpg

1565601988933.png
Sharp likened the equaliser on the south coast to the goals he scores in his garden with his kids

'Maybe it was written in the stars,' Sharp said. 'All my family were down and to get the first Sheffield United goal in the Premier League after 12 years, it's something I'll never forget and I'm just glad it meant something to the club.'

So, what is the secret and was Saturday's strike the perfect example of a Sharp goal?

'It's a typical goal for me,' he said. 'I score them in the garden when I'm with the kids. I have to keep telling them 'stay as close to the goal as possible and as centrally as possible', and the ball tends to come to you and when it does you get it in the net anyhow and that's what happened. I poked it home, a scrappy goal but it won't say that in the headlines.'

Blades manager Chris Wilder labelled Sharp 'Mr Sheffield United' after the club's maiden point

Blades manager Chris Wilder labelled Sharp 'Mr Sheffield United' after the club's maiden point

For manager Chris Wilder, whose job it is to prevent his side from living up to their billing as relegation favourites, Sharp has already proved his doubters wrong.

'People talked about Billy, can he score in the Premier League?' Wilder said. 'He's had 10 minutes on the pitch and scored. Will that continue? Who knows. I don't know. We need to score goals and it's quite simplistic thing in one way but in another it isn't. We have to try.'

And what about that tag of 'Mr Sheffield United'? Surely Wilder, a fellow lifelong Blade himself, would want that title?

'He just tries to steal my thunder all the time,' Wilder added. 'I'll let him have that.'

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Totally disagree.....I watched the 1st half Billy would have hardly touched the ball.
He’s at his best when we have plenty of men forward like we did in the last 10 minutes chasing the lead.
So wouldn’t have suited most of that game.

Did you not watch Leeds away last season???
 
Convinced he’d be our top scorer if he gets the minutes.

UTB
In a post a while ago - don't post often but enjoy reading the forum - I harked back to a goal he scored at the Lane against Norwich during his second spell with us. The ball was pinging around the six-yard box and it eventually fell to Billy, who instantly hit it home with virtually no backlift. Saturday's goal was almost identical and underlined again that one of his greatest assets is probably his amazingly quick reaction time. This kind of chance will still come along even in the Premier League, and I think he'll score a few this season even if not starting as often

I think Billy has to lead the team out on Sunday - it's what our very own Roy of the Rovers hero deserves.

UTB
 
All amusing stuff, except for Sharp himself one would have to assume.

Being the current 4th choice striker and with the managers £10m summer signing yet to get his season off and running, it becomes a question of when, not if, this starts to become untenable !

Rate, not hate 😉.

UTB
 
All amusing stuff, except for Sharp himself one would have to assume.

Being the current 4th choice striker and with the managers £10m summer signing yet to get his season off and running, it becomes a question of when, not if, this starts to become untenable !

Rate, not hate 😉.

UTB

I'm sure he believes in himself to do what he's always done under Wilder - prove him wrong. He's always seemed to work his way back into the starting 11 pretty quickly each time he's been dropped to the bench. I don't doubt that it will be any different this time around.
 
I'm sure he believes in himself to do what he's always done under Wilder - prove him wrong. He's always seemed to work his way back into the starting 11 pretty quickly each time he's been dropped to the bench. I don't doubt that it will be any different this time around.
Maybe.

But with £35m of new blood coming in this season, all of which are Wilder signings (don’t dismiss the significance of Sharp not being a Wilder signing), I wouldn't be so sure !

UTB
 

Billy Sharp's "Expected Goals per 90" currently stands at 9.85 goals per game for the season as he's only played 7 minutes and scored 1 goal o_O

Well he came on in the 82nd minute and there were 5 minutes added on so he's played at least 12 minutes.
 

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