"Worse CF in 60 years"

[bricktop]

Can I be the first to say your comments, directed at me as well, I assume, as others, are water off a ducks.

For what its worth I hope Henderson continues to scuff goals in off his arse, and thus plays a major role in the minor miracle of the Blades staying up, achieving legend status in the process.

One swallow does not a summer make and the simple fact is that, when he is sold in the summer at a HUGE loss, all things considered he will have been one of the very worse signings in Sheffield United's history.

I'm still not convinced that you (or the ST holder of 60 years standing you talked about) know what your on about.

---------- Post added at 04:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 AM ----------

Remarkable.
There's a fella who's cost more and who's paid more in the same squad who's quite obviously been a rather more disastrous signing.

Or the man signed from Barnsley after a rip-snorting 14 goal season who has managed a solitary goal in open play all season, or the established Premiership signing on a huge wage who came in on loan and did absolutely fuck all.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Remarkable.
There's a fella who's cost more and who's paid more in the same squad who's quite obviously been a rather more disastrous signing.

Len - there might well be and I am sure we all know who you are referring to. The same lad that will be attracting attention from a club who are at the opposite end of our division and in with a great shot of Prem League football if the rumours are right.

This thread is about Henderson and I for one fail to understand how he can go from panel beater to world beater in the space of 90 minutes at Reading.

Put another way, there might, just might be a reason why the noises from our number 7 are that he WANTS to stay !!

---------- Post added at 07:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 AM ----------

Brownie - I agree that Henderson is not the only misfiring striker we have on our books.

There has been something within our intrinsic culture as a club that has "failed" our strikers in the last few years.

I have no doubt that Evans has goals in him, in a similar way to Billy.

Hendo is different, plays a different role and, bluntly, I am not expecting him to be a 1 in 2 goal getter for any side he turns out for. Also due to lack of pace and mobility, he is just not cut out to run the channels, skin a player etc etc.

You seem to be questioning my understanding (or lack of) of the "role" he has. Let me assure you that I understand it very well.

Do yourself a favour mate. Watch the lad CLOSELY next time out. Without being anal enough to write it on paper, keep a rough check on how many times possession turns round when Hendo is involved in a phase of play and how many times it is retained.

Then YOU might begin to understand better what it is that I see.

I keep coming back to this same phrase at the moment. Football has and is evolving and, as a club we haven't and this is why we are in the situation we are in.

 

[lenners]

Dronnie, Henderson might not be to your taste but he's never shirked and when fit has been one of our more consistent performers.
As for Chedwyn, even if he goes on to bag 40 goals in the Prem next season, that won't detract from his utterly abject return for a player who's cost us £5m.
As for evolving football, I agree. But that doesn't mean you can't play a big man up front.
Liverpool have signed Carroll and let's look at the team you think will sign Chedwyn who've had Rochdale's former lummox up front for the last couple of years.
Or Bristol City who played excellent football with Adebola up front a couple of years back.

 

[sitwell]

Have a look at a strikers partners record. Henderson takes so much pressure of his partner and frees him up. Slew would not have had the impact without the physical presence of Henderson.

 

[Revolution]

Dronnie, Henderson might not be to your taste but he's never shirked and when fit has been one of our more consistent performers.

That's a pretty big caveat in the case of Henderson, Lenners.

And he is not consistent in terms of goalscoring. He has the occasional purple patch, and lengthy barren runs.

 

[lenners]

Dronnie, Henderson might not be to your taste but he's never shirked and when fit has been one of our more consistent performers.

That's a pretty big caveat in the case of Henderson, Lenners.

And he is not consistent in terms of goalscoring. He has the occasional purple patch, and lengthy barren runs.

I don't see his game as being about prolific scoring but I do agree about his fitness.
But Chedwyn's not been that fit this season and neither has Cresswell. Element of risk in all signings/players re fitness.

 

[Rudders]

Element of risk in all signings/players re fitness.

And the risk dramatically increases with age and previous injury history - so God knows why Blackwell kept signing previously injury prone 27-30 year olds.
Also, I think there is something wrong with Ched in that he is 21 years old and cannot attain or keep match fitness due to ridiculous minor injuries like groin strain.

 

[lenners]

And the risk dramatically increases with age and previous injury history - so God knows why Blackwell kept signing previously injury prone 27-30 year olds.
Also, I think there is something wrong with Ched in that he is 21 years old and cannot attain or keep match fitness due to ridiculous minor injuries like groin strain.

Or a nasty bout of clause-itis.

 

[TonyAgana]

You seem to be questioning my understanding (or lack of) of the "role" he has. Let me assure you that I understand it very well.

Do yourself a favour mate. Watch the lad CLOSELY next time out. Without being anal enough to write it on paper, keep a rough check on how many times possession turns round when Hendo is involved in a phase of play and how many times it is retained.

As far as I'm concerned, you've just proven yourself wrong. If a target man (which is what he is) won the majority of chipped balls aimed for his head, it's fair to say the opposing defenders aren't doing their jobs. Or he'd be Brian Deane circa 1989.

 

[oldblade]

Anyone who thinks Henderson is the worst centre forward that this club has ever had has clearly not watched us very often. There are some centre forwards still at the club who are far worse than him.

---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:39 AM ----------

Have a look at a strikers partners record. Henderson takes so much pressure of his partner and frees him up. Slew would not have had the impact without the physical presence of Henderson.

I agree with that and cast my mind back to the Hatton/Edwards partnership in the fourth division. Hatton scored nowhere near the number of goals that Edwards scored, but was still a key part of that partnership and gave Edwards the space and freedom to score many of his goals.

Mind you, having a winger (Morris) who could actually cross the ball helped as well!

I would be more than happy for Henderson to stay. Yes, he does stupid things sometimes (don't we all) that are detrimental to the team, but over the course of a season, when fit, Henderson is far more of a plus than a minus.

 

[Guesty]

Yep I agree.

2million quids worth of red cards rather than goals and if he sells for anywhere near a million quid then I will eat my hat.

Although despite that Id not say he was the worst CF we have had.

In my lifetime Ashley Ward is still the worst.

He's not the worst Centre Forward we've got on the books now.

Ward was dismal but gets a pass for that storming performance at home to Leeds (2-0, Ward and Harley)

 

[DronnieBlade]

Have a look at a strikers partners record. Henderson takes so much pressure of his partner and frees him up. Slew would not have had the impact without the physical presence of Henderson.

Oh obviously. I must have blinked and missed how prolific / productive ALL of Henderson's strike partners have been.

Sharp and Evans would be the two partners he has had the most in his 60 odd games in 3 years !

Need I go on ??

Nothing personal fella but THAT is a remarkably poor observation.

---------- Post added at 08:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:24 PM ----------

As far as I'm concerned, you've just proven yourself wrong. If a target man (which is what he is) won the majority of chipped balls aimed for his head, it's fair to say the opposing defenders aren't doing their jobs. Or he'd be Brian Deane circa 1989.

So I believe what you are suggesting is that Henderson does in fact "win" the majority of chipped balls coming in ??

Majority meaning > 50% ?

Count them next time fella. Its nearer 20%. And of the 20% that are won, only 33% find a UTD player.

Doing the maths therefore its a 7% success strategy.

Dont take my word for it. Count them !

 

[Stafford Blade]

Oh obviously. I must have blinked and missed how prolific / productive ALL of Henderson's strike partners have been.

Sharp and Evans would be the two partners he has had the most in his 60 odd games in 3 years !

Need I go on ??

Nothing personal fella but THAT is a remarkably poor observation.

---------- Post added at 08:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:24 PM ----------



So I believe what you are suggesting is that Henderson does in fact "win" the majority of chipped balls coming in ??

Majority meaning > 50% ?

Count them next time fella. Its nearer 20%. And of the 20% that are won, only 33% find a UTD player.

Doing the maths therefore its a 7% success strategy.

Dont take my word for it. Count them !

Put it another way, if you asked all of united's front men who they wanted to play alongside i reckon most would choose henderson. Some of the best strike partnerships have been the classic big man / little man combination where the smaller striker gets the most of the goals. Look at Niall Quinn and Kev Phillips at Sunderland a few years ago as your perfect example.

Next season IF he stays, it should be Hendo plus a.n other up top.

p.s i find it highly irritating when people use the word fella.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Put it another way, if you asked all of united's front men who they wanted to play alongside i reckon most would choose henderson. Some of the best strike partnerships have been the classic big man / little man combination where the smaller striker gets the most of the goals. Look at Niall Quinn and Kev Phillips at Sunderland a few years ago as your perfect example.

Next season IF he stays, it should be Hendo plus a.n other up top.

p.s i find it highly irritating when people use the word fella.

P.P.S - Take a deep breath and try and understand the perception of a person that actually goes to type to state that they are irritated by a forum poster using the word "fella" !!

I will try and watch my fellas and lads from here on in !

 

[Stafford Blade]

P.P.S - Take a deep breath and try and understand the perception of a person that actually goes to type to state that they are irritated by a forum poster using the word "fella" !!

I will try and watch my fellas and lads from here on in !

so no mention of the points made about henderson that show how ridiculous your opinions of him are?

nice work fella

 

[TonyAgana]

So I believe what you are suggesting is that Henderson does in fact "win" the majority of chipped balls coming in ??

Majority meaning > 50% ?

Count them next time fella. Its nearer 20%. And of the 20% that are won, only 33% find a UTD player.

Doing the maths therefore its a 7% success strategy.

Dont take my word for it. Count them !

Read my post next time, fella! I'm saying the opposite. He doesn't win the majority. Neither do the vast, vast majority of target men.

 

[oldblade]

Oh obviously. I must have blinked and missed how prolific / productive ALL of Henderson's strike partners have been.

Sharp and Evans would be the two partners he has had the most in his 60 odd games in 3 years !

Need I go on ??

Nothing personal fella but THAT is a remarkably poor observation.

Henderson has often been played as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation, and Sharp was often playing a wide role rather than a strike partner role, so I don't think that's a fair comment at all.

At the beginning of last season, Henderson started in 17 out of the first 18 league games. He scored 10 times. I would suggest that's pretty good. And the fact that Evans, Sharp and Cresswell all scored goals when Henderson was playing might be regarded by some to be a minor miracle as well!

 

[BusheyBlade]

Do yourself a favour mate. Watch the lad CLOSELY next time out. Without being anal enough to write it on paper, keep a rough check on how many times possession turns round when Hendo is involved in a phase of play and how many times it is retained.

Watch any target man around the world (Drogba, Crouch, Caroll...) and you'll probably find possession is not retained in the majority of instances where they receive the ball. As a target man there are a number of things that can happen when the ball is played in to you:

1. You score
2. You hold it up and lay it off to a team mate
3. You are challenged and lose the ball

Hardly Henderson’s fault if the ball played into him is shit (as happens most of the time). Also factor in that he will (as any other target man) always be the main focus of the other side’s defence and will most likely be challenged very physically or by multiple defenders. Essentially, a statistic of how many times play breaks down around a target man in any team in the world is hardly going to show him up in a good light.

For the record, I don’t think he’s the best player out there, but he does try hard; anyone calling him lazy isn’t watching. He’s the best we’ve got for now so we may as well give him some support

In addition to everything else I’ve written, I don’t really trust the opinions of any person who doesn’t know the difference between “worse” and “worst”.

 

[Kenilworth]

60 years of Supping Ale more like:

Here's a few for you who are much worse.

Paul Williams
Chris Guthrie
Barry Butlin
Dougie Brown
Terry F**kin Curran
Don Bloody Givens
Geoff Horsefield
Jon Newby
Ian Rush
Luton Shelton
Anthony Stokes
Ashley Ward

Shudder!

 

[bladeinspaceandtime]

Didn't Warnock sign Tommy Johnson as a coach who then went straight into the first team and was complete bobbins? I also seem to remember Tommy Mooney being shite as well (I think he played in the FA Cup against Walsall in 2003 - I think he did score in that game though but I think he messed up a load of chances). Craig Beattie was complete gash too - all in all I think Hendo is far from being the worst.

 

[BusheyBlade]

Didn't Warnock sign Tommy Johnson as a coach who then went straight into the first team and was complete bobbins? I also seem to remember Tommy Mooney being shite as well (I think he played in the FA Cup against Walsall in 2003 - I think he did score in that game though but I think he messed up a load of chances). Craig Beattie was complete gash too - all in all I think Hendo is far from being the worst.

Tommy Mooney was awful. I remember the League Cup semi final at Anfield in 2003 and we got a free kick right on the edge of the box after Kirkland handballed it (and didn't get sent off, despite also shoving the ref). Mooney ended up taking the free kick instead of Brown who was banging them in from everywhere at the time. It was an awful free kick.

 

[DronnieBlade]

Every 2nd touch today was a tackle.

Hopeless.

And many a Blade is pinning their hopes on him for next year !!

God help us.

 

[Rustyblade]

Don't worry, we'll still have Cressy.

 

[Bladesman]

Yeah even Slew was winning more in the air today than he was.