Speed Admits Relegation Form

[Kenilworth]

Five goals in ten games is relegation form according to Speed on interview on RS tonight

Britton has a problem with his medial ligament.

Speed stating that it is our finishing that is the issue BUT the opposition is still creating more chances than we are

Only option to him is to work on the training ground - no new blood coming in.

Still we are only 5 points off the play offs.

 

[alcoblade]

He seems very aware of our problems and is prepared to take his share of the blame. I don't doubt he knows what's wrong a couple of things worry me.

When asked about additions he seemed to brush it off in a "I'm always hopeful" way, but stressed the need for more work on the training ground. We don't have the right blend of players and we're well short up front. I hope he knows this and I hope he has the funds to deliver it, because otherwise we're in big trouble. Try as you might, you can't polish a turd (no need to name and shame) and it's goals that win games.

Starting to worry.......

UTB

 

[GAZBLADE]

I'm not worrying yet......
You would hope that a player of Speed's calibre can recognise the areas in which we aren't creating. I bet Speedo's sick as fuck tonight with frustration and will do whatever it takes to get us scoring and climbing the table......hopefully!

UTB

 

[bladesman3]

we are in deep, deep trouble.....it does not take brains to see and say this relegation form...5 goals in 10 games is dire and 4-0 and 3-0 defeats are also not good signs eh! we are not in trouble just up front...our defence is a mess...Nozzy is a liability, morgan is past it and can no longer last the pace and is getting injuries more frequently, bartley is out injured and i have no idea re the argentinian..and we have ertl to plug a CB gap...not good enough...oh for Jags, Cahill , Killa..
midfield is also not up to it...Britton is a lovely player but he is alone...yeates has alaways played well against us but needs to recapture that form..Monty, Cresswell, Quinn....very very average to poor and slow to boot...
up front..well what can you say..we have turned a good goalscorer into a waste of space in Evans, hendo out, wardy either injured, not doing it or being stupid, bigdanovich i dont know what to ake of him...and now we are asking jordan Slew to solve the problem? Look at watford..crap last season, some good youngsters, good ooanees and some lower league signings, a lot of pace into the team and bingo..well, it seems to be..
our club is on a downward slope and the team/squad is not strong enough...i think Speed will do his best but without the tools,.........
I would like to be positive..tell me guys what you see that is positive?

 

[yorkshirecoast]

We are definite relegation contenders - I haven't see a worse team this season.

The 1st half was a disgrace. The 2nd half was marginally better thanks to a decent 20 mins but still poor.

The sad truth is we haven't got one quality player at the moment. We've got a few who are ok and a few who are crap. That's the result of McCabe selling all our best players and only releasing enough funds to buy average or poor ones.

 

[alcoblade]

I'm not worrying yet......
You would hope that a player of Speed's calibre can recognise the areas in which we aren't creating. I bet Speedo's sick as fuck tonight with frustration and will do whatever it takes to get us scoring and climbing the table......hopefully!

UTB

I'm sure he can recognise it...I think But we've had the "the squad's good enough" line - which is probably a talk them up line. But do we have the funds to get in what's needed? The dissapointing thing is that Jonathon Forte showed more in 90 minutes aginaist us than his £3M + £20K per week oppo has done in a season - and we gave Forte away.

UTB

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------

We are definite relegation contenders - I haven't see a worse team this season.

The 1st half was a disgrace. The 2nd half was marginally better thanks to a decent 20 mins but still poor.

The sad truth is we haven't got one quality player at the moment. We've got a few who are ok and a few who are crap. That's the result of McCabe selling all our best players and only releasing enough funds to buy average or poor ones.

I don't think the players are crap. Other than Evans, Taylor and France - I think most if not all of our other players would find decent championship clubs. The trouble is Blackwell assembled a squad so devoid of pace and flair that it's unbelievable. We have the wrong blend of players for creativity and not enough quality up front, IMHO. Speed needs time / funds to address this.

UTB

 

[Kev Gee]

I must admit after today im really starting to worry.

We are totally toothless up front. no one wants to take the responsibility to shoot. Monty.... well hes monty isnt he. Evans... awful when he came on.
The only players i would keep out of the whole 1st team squad atm would be Calve & Britton.

Speed has a big task on his hands IMO.

 

[Kenilworth]

According to RS Scott Loach wasn't really troubled today.
One caller stated that he gave him his gloves after the game.
No need to wash them then, eh?

Wankers

 

[Rustyblade]

Speed needs time / funds to address this.

Well, he sure as hell ain't gonna get any funds. The time is probably dependant on gate receipts and Speed's patience, the latter being the biggest factor. As long as McCabe doesn't need another scapegoat that is.

 

[alcoblade]

According to RS Scott Loach wasn't really troubled today.
One caller stated that he gave him his gloves after the game.
No need to wash them then, eh?

Wankers

Not totally true - he pulled off a great save first half from Yeates and had a bit of standard work the second - But overall we don't create nearly enough and when we do our finishing is woeful.

UTB

---------- Post added at 06:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------

Well, he sure as hell ain't gonna get any funds. The time is probably dependant on gate receipts and Speed's patience, the latter being the biggest factor. As long as McCabe doesn't need another scapegoat that is.

The problem is we're £50M in debt. Should we go further? How much? We've tied a noose around our neck with add on businesses and until the recession is over they'll be a drain rather than a source of income.

UTB

---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:31 PM ----------

Well, he sure as hell ain't gonna get any funds. The time is probably dependant on gate receipts and Speed's patience, the latter being the biggest factor. As long as McCabe doesn't need another scapegoat that is.

The problem is we're £50M in debt. Should we go further? How much? We've tied a noose around our neck with add on businesses and until the recession is over they'll be a drain rather than a source of income.

UTB

 

[Rustyblade]

Never said we should go further. Just stated the situation as is. No money and no real team. If Speed gets us out of this, he'll just about walk into any below top 5 managerial job in the country.

 

[alcoblade]

Never said we should go further. Just stated the situation as is. No money and no real team. If Speed gets us out of this, he'll just about walk into any below top 5 managerial job in the country.

It was an open question, not aimed at you fella. I don't really know the answer myself....

UTB

 

[Ollessendro]

Ive been saying since the start that we are in big trouble. Got some stick for saying we are in a relegation dog fight. Seems many are starting to realise now ......

 

[alcoblade]

Ive been saying since the start that we are in big trouble. Got some stick for saying we are in a relegation dog fight. Seems many are starting to realise now ......

That broken clock is bang on the money for the second time each day....



UTB

 

[Kenilworth]

That broken clock is bang on the money for the second time each day....

You cannot deny that Olle told you so - and has been saying for weeks whilst getting slated for it.

It aint rocket science. It's not a question of giving Speed time and patience. The problem isn't Speed.
Having said that I am not happy with the tactics. He is playing a game that only works if you have top, top players.
Our lot cannot adapt to the basics of what he is looking for. They are one dimensional and without anyone that can provide width and creativity we will continue to get nothing in front of goal.

It appears to me that Speed has been seduced by the courses he has been on whilst gaining his UEFA A badge and believes that the only way to play football is the way Spain play it. That's ok if you have Iniesta, Villa, etc. but we have Monty and Ched-thick as a brick-Evans FFS.

Our lot can pass the ball to each other when not under pressure and that's why they spend most of the game playing with it in our own half or the areas of the pitch where the opposition lets us. They think that is what Speed has told them to do.

If it smells like shit odds are it is shit. No matter how much rubbing and elbow grease you put into it (work on the training field) you cannot polish a turd.

The Blades are serving up platefuls of turd dumplings at the moment. Home or away it's always set up as a rearguard action. The tactics are solely concentrated on the back passage but the sad truth is that we are a long way short ot being undefeated in the ring.

 

[bladesadviser]

I believe there is a problem from top to bottom, manager, staff and players. This all stems back to allowing Blackwell the summer to assemble players then sack him with no window time or money left then going for the easy or cheap option. When a manager leaves in most cases so does his assistant and coach yet they have both been kept on despite being invoved in the poor tactics that everyone has moaned about. My hope is that we can keep clear of relegation and somehow clear the dead wood out at all levels and start again in 2011/2012 with fresh faces at both staff and player level

 

[shreds1975]

According to RS Scott Loach wasn't really troubled today.
One caller stated that he gave him his gloves after the game.
No need to wash them then, eh?

Wankers

There was plenty wrong about today in terms of players, performance, tactics............ yet I am guessing that from some of your comments (I apologise in advance if I am wrong) that you weren't there today? Fine, everyone has reasons why they cannot make every match, but if that is the case I find it difficult to see how you can call them wankers on the back of listening to the match on the radio. It kind of renders your facile comment even more pointless.

 

[alcoblade]

You cannot deny that Olle told you so - and has been saying for weeks whilst getting slated for it.

Told me so? I prepared for a long hard season after seeing Hartlepool play us off the park. I don't need any advice from someone who doesn't actually turn up to support / watch the team.

UTB

 

[broomhillblade]

Only option to him is to work on the training ground - no new blood coming in.

Maybe everyone is trying too hard.

 

[Worksop II]

I don't need any advice from someone who doesn't actually turn up to support

Why round on the fans

Must be time time for your dummy to be comming out, if this were Robbo you would be barefoot
and dummyless - again

Didn`t Robbo draw 0 - 0 against Scunny, yet 0 - 4 for Speedo and you turn on the fans

 

[davidpinder]

Maybe everyone is trying too hard.

Or not hard enough

 

[alcoblade]

Why round on the fans

Must be time time for your dummy to be comming out, if this were Robbo you would be barefoot
and dummyless - again

Didn`t Robbo draw 0 - 0 against Scunny, yet 0 - 4 for Speedo and you turn on the fans

Turn of the fans? LOL - I suppose that's an attempt at a rise? Olle doesn't watch the team, I'm just stating facts.

As for turning on Robson - are you questioning that I was 100% correct along with anyone else with an ounce of common sense?

Stick your dummy back in fella, it might taste differant....

UTB

 

[super_pig]

my main worry is not being relegated .. it is going back to hoof ball.. we may do this in the short term and be successful.. then all the short sighted bastards will be on here saying how great it is to be a workmanlike side and we'll go back another five years

 

[Kenilworth]

my main worry is not being relegated .. it is going back to hoof ball.. we may do this in the short term and be successful.. then all the short sighted bastards will be on here saying how great it is to be a workmanlike side and we'll go back another five years

I reiterate what I said before.
You can have negative hoof or negative passing.
You can have positive hoof (Watford, Blades in previous years) or positive passing (Blackpool, WBA and Burnley the year before).
I want positive passing football with width and pace. I like wing play and a good cross with forwards getting on to the end of it.

At the moment, for whatever reason, the tactics are still based around negativity and stopping the opposition as opposed to optimising the play to the strengths of the players actually in the squad. The best managers adapt their tactics to suit the players they have at their disposal. When they get the chance they bring in the sort of players that make a difference and enhace the way they would like to play the game (e.g. Adams at Blackpool).

Our goal scoring record this season is pathetic (worse than I can remember in 40 years) and this is a function of the lack of chances being created (again the worst I can recall in 40 years). Negative play does not create chances. The players we have do not have enough attacking or creative qualities to improve this situation - so hoping we will improve is a false hope. Playing a system that demands the midfielders support the lone striker when the players cannot do that is a recipe for disaster unless that striker is as good as the likes of Drogba or Berbatov. Changes need to be made in the playing staff but we all know that the cupboard is bare so Speed's choices are very limited.

I guess it's all down to Pembo then.

 

[yorkshirecoast]

Whatever style you play you need to be good at it. A more direct game if you have pacey wingers and forwards can be effective - & exciting to watch. A passing game if you have good technical players who know when and how to pass can also be effective and exciting to watch. The fact is we are just as bad at passing under Speed as we were at "hoof ball" under Blackwell.

I know it's early days but Speed needs to snap out of his negative approach to games quickly. 5 goals in 10 games - just 2 in 5 home games - is disgraceful and says it all. Unfortunately he's been left with a very average set of players thanks to McCabe's "Blades Way" i.e. lets sell all our best players and show fxxx all ambition.

But we need to start winning games and to do that we need to be more positive. The result comes first - improving our style can come later. Relegation would be an absolute disaster.

 

[torridon]

Ive been saying since the start that we are in big trouble. Got some stick for saying we are in a relegation dog fight. Seems many are starting to realise now ......

I think that most people who GO to the Lane realise that we have a problem, we just don't need you ramming it down our throats every 5 minutes!!

 

[super_pig]

>I reiterate what I said before
great post kenilworth {ale}

 

[Ollessendro]

You cannot deny that Olle told you so - and has been saying for weeks whilst getting slated for it.

Absolutely Kenny old boy. I'm glad there are some appreciators out there.