How old are the mardy bums on here?

[John Cutsbushes]

A Utd legend once told me " I love the Utd fans, but 99% of them know fuck all about football"
Always stuck with me that

 

[pommpey]

I don't disagree with a word of that, and believe me, I was among the many who were making their displeasure known yesterday, we were unequivocally shite.

The original point I was making was that, whilst the worst kind of knee-jerky, toys-out-of-the-pram exponents of bed-shittery are indeed online and very young, the most vocally miserable bastards in the actual ground are folk of more advanced years, whether we're 0-2 down or 4-0 up seemingly makes no odds.

My dearly departed dad was of that ilk. I miss him every day, but he was fucking insufferable when it came to discussing United. He acted as if he had a kind of "secret knowledge" when it came to discerning what makes a good Sheffield United team, always invoking the great names of bygone eras, who should be honoured of course, but it doesn't necessarily pertain to our current situation.
I hear his exact words coming out of the mouths of many other blokes of his generation every home match.

Sure, and in some ways we agree. However, there are many who just refuse outright to see any flaws in our team no matter what we do. We've given goals away before at the lane, even been beaten by ten men and in some cases had shots cannon off woodwork three times in a game whilst their keeper plays a fucking blinder to keep the score 0-1. But comparing apples with apples, the skillsets in players such as Curries and Woodward let alone their grit and toughness in the game, the industry of Brown and the ability of Tonge to run past players, the mastery of goalscoring and ability to be in the right place at the right time and hit the 192 square feet area of Deane, Edwards and Agana and lets not forget the willingness to run their blood to water of Cowans, Whitehouse, Stancliffe and Hockey and range that against the moderate, mediocrity on display on Saturday ... even against nine men ... and the ease in which Blackpool carved us up and went into the challenge and the header to win it and you'll see why so many moan. We were meant to have had upwards of 28k in BDTBL (was there fuck) and countless thousands watching either in Red and White or in Tangerine and White and to a man it is clear who wanted that match more than the other. See also the other three games we drew, lost and lost also since the international break had the audacity to switch off our team and topple us from a redoubtable position at the top of the league with an impressive goal difference.

pommpey

 

[brownblade]

Mate, I struggle, still, to see what novelty people see in Oliver Norwood. I tend to get entertained and excited by goals and wins, others get all pre-cum when he knocks balls out wide to marked wingbacks without any support. If we won games on that, fair point, but Norwood ain Kante, De Breyne or even Trevor Hockey. And despite his great free kick early in the season and yesterdays goal, the number of times we have seen this supposedly gifted baller have people in the crowd behind the goal catch the ball rather than the goalkeeper on the opposite side is notable as a fucking statistic too.

pommpey

Good to see you've realised Norwood isn't Kante or De Bruyne!

He's one of the best midfielders in the Championship though (and has been for years). I think everybody that broadly understands modern tactics can see and appreciate that.

 

[pommpey]

Good to see you've realised Norwood isn't Kante or De Bruyne!

Yet some act as though he is

I think everybody that broadly understands modern tactics can see and appreciate that.

Meaning 'not pommpey'. I mean, I've been watching, playing, sometimes coaching and officiating football for the best part of fifty five years now, including offering online punditry too. It's a struggle to match your rose-tinted view of what is, ostensibly a mediocre midfielder who is buoyed by flattering 'statistics' which don't really match what actually is happening down on the green stuff. Let's put it this way ... I have seen better, more prolific and more productive midfielders both in and out of our kit and some even at lower league levels, even though you come across as though he is the best and will only be the best we've even had. Micheal Brown, Dane Whitehouse, Tony Currie, Trevor Hockey and even Don Hutchinson must be either spinning in their graves or getting a low bowel cramp that someone somewhere (who 'understands modern tactics', like you) thinks they are less of a player than one Oliver Norwood.

pommpey

 

[finlaytheblade]

Sure, and in some ways we agree. However, there are many who just refuse outright to see any flaws in our team no matter what we do. We've given goals away before at the lane, even been beaten by ten men and in some cases had shots cannon off woodwork three times in a game whilst their keeper plays a fucking blinder to keep the score 0-1. But comparing apples with apples, the skillsets in players such as Curries and Woodward let alone their grit and toughness in the game, the industry of Brown and the ability of Tonge to run past players, the mastery of goalscoring and ability to be in the right place at the right time and hit the 192 square feet area of Deane, Edwards and Agana and lets not forget the willingness to run their blood to water of Cowans, Whitehouse, Stancliffe and Hockey and range that against the moderate, mediocrity on display on Saturday ... even against nine men ... and the ease in which Blackpool carved us up and went into the challenge and the header to win it and you'll see why so many moan. We were meant to have had upwards of 28k in BDTBL (was there fuck) and countless thousands watching either in Red and White or in Tangerine and White and to a man it is clear who wanted that match more than the other. See also the other three games we drew, lost and lost also since the international break had the audacity to switch off our team and topple us from a redoubtable position at the top of the league with an impressive goal difference.

pommpey

Think some are going over the

top here,we were poor in defensive situations due to the many changers having to be made as injuries just put a stop to any continuaty.
The backline is continually exposed as cover is minimal.
When fans say we didn't deserve anything from the game ! have they watched the game,we
could have won the game scoring 6 or more compared to Blackpools possible 5 at best not being a happy clapper here just stating facts although credit Blackpools attitude they gave it there all.
Injuries are playing havoc with our team selection to be where we are amongst all this is
remarkable and Hecki deserves credit for that.
As for comparing now to going back through the ages I am 6 months younger than the great Woody and had a season ticket right back to before then.
Today's team do put the effort and workrate in the caterpult vests wil see to that
We need to tough it out until players are fit and up to speed as being fit is not match fit! players need time.e to get match fit.
Come on you blades!!!

 

[Jan Age]

Mate, I struggle, still, to see what novelty people see in Oliver Norwood. I tend to get entertained and excited by goals and wins, others get all pre-cum when he knocks balls out wide to marked wingbacks without any support. If we won games on that, fair point, but Norwood ain Kante, De Breyne or even Trevor Hockey. And despite his great free kick early in the season and yesterdays goal, the number of times we have seen this supposedly gifted baller have people in the crowd behind the goal catch the ball rather than the goalkeeper on the opposite side is notable as a fucking statistic too.

pommpey

Prime example of his complete refusal to play a ball between CB and full back yesterday.

Brewster pulls off his marker and points in the channel …. NORWOOD … unmarked in the centr of the pitch sees this and chooses to completely ignore it … check sideways and ping it 20 yards to the RW.

One pass …. And Brewster would have been one on one with the GK.

For his career Brewster needs to push for a move in Jan to a team that can play the ball forward at speed.

 

[Jan Age]

Yet some act as though he is



Meaning 'not pommpey'. I mean, I've been watching, playing, sometimes coaching and officiating football for the best part of fifty five years now, including offering online punditry too. It's a struggle to match your rose-tinted view of what is, ostensibly a mediocre midfielder who is buoyed by flattering 'statistics' which don't really match what actually is happening down on the green stuff. Let's put it this way ... I have seen better, more prolific and more productive midfielders both in and out of our kit and some even at lower league levels, even though you come across as though he is the best and will only be the best we've even had. Micheal Brown, Dane Whitehouse, Tony Currie, Trevor Hockey and even Don Hutchinson must be either spinning in their graves or getting a low bowel cramp that someone somewhere (who 'understands modern tactics', like you) thinks they are less of a player than one Oliver Norwood.

pommpey

I watched Doyle run himself in to the ground doing the job of 2 MD while Norwood played as some sort of sweeper come CB.

 

[Jan Age]

Did you notice his full volley to score in the 98th?

Yep and against 9 men he’s a great option… but as MD against a team that will press you and that you have to hit quickly on the break he slows play down far too much

 

[pommpey]

Prime example of his complete refusal to play a ball between CB and full back yesterday.

Brewster pulls off his marker and points in the channel …. NORWOOD … unmarked in the centr of the pitch sees this and chooses to completely ignore it … check sideways and ping it 20 yards to the RW.

One pass …. And Brewster would have been one on one with the GK.

For his career Brewster needs to push for a move in Jan to a team that can play the ball forward at speed.

It's one of a few problems Norwood has, and has had for some time. Sometimes - Plymouth in the cup and Bristol Rovers too and others I can't be bothered to site, he does actually remove the centre-of-park blind spot he has and moves the ball into space for a runner. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. What he doesn't do is carry it forward past the centre circle and put their CM on a backpedal, or even play a wall-pass moving forward into space. It's amazing what the old one-two can do in terms of gaining ground - just ask De Bruyne, Gerrard, and Scholes about it when they are charging forward and bringing the team with them. Norwood sits, receives and sprays it wide or passes it back. That's it. That leaves the other midfielders exposed and without an inside option when on the attack either opening space because Norwood's presence draws a player or adds overload centrally. Much of the time he is in a position which suggests 'mobile auxiliary centre back' rather than regista, in the manner of say Pirlo or Nicky Butt or Matic or Kante.

pommpey

 

[Jan Age]

It's one of a few problems Norwood has, and has had for some time. Sometimes - Plymouth in the cup and Bristol Rovers too and others I can't be bothered to site, he does actually remove the centre-of-park blind spot he has and moves the ball into space for a runner. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. What he doesn't do is carry it forward past the centre circle and put their CM on a backpedal, or even play a wall-pass moving forward into space. It's amazing what the old one-two can do in terms of gaining ground - just ask De Bruyne, Gerrard, and Scholes about it when they are charging forward and bringing the team with them. Norwood sits, receives and sprays it wide or passes it back. That's it. That leaves the other midfielders exposed and without an inside option when on the attack either opening space because Norwood's presence draws a player or adds overload centrally. Much of the time he is in a position which suggests 'mobile auxiliary centre back' rather than regista, in the manner of say Pirlo or Nicky Butt or Matic or Kante.

pommpey

Better than I could put it but spot on

 

[Pollingtonblade]

I remember when we lost to Scunthorpe at home 4-0 and we absolutely outclassed them and played like Brazil and no fans at all complained. Them were the days.

 

[Snowflake]

Mate, I struggle, still, to see what novelty people see in Oliver Norwood. I tend to get entertained and excited by goals and wins, others get all pre-cum when he knocks balls out wide to marked wingbacks without any support. If we won games on that, fair point, but Norwood ain Kante, De Breyne or even Trevor Hockey. And despite his great free kick early in the season and yesterdays goal, the number of times we have seen this supposedly gifted baller have people in the crowd behind the goal catch the ball rather than the goalkeeper on the opposite side is notable as a fucking statistic too.

pommpey

Could it be that the recipients of his long cross field balls are not good enough to take advantage ? How many times does Baldock receive a ball in space but then turn back ?
I would agree with you that we rarely see an incisive through ball from him for strikers to run on to.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

I was at this game > Sheffield United v Stoke City, 09 October 1971 a tad over 50 years ago,only seems like yesterday.

It ended up being 2-3 to Stoke,it was a mad game it had a penalty and three goals right at the death.

It was the first game after that famous loss to Man U (Best) when we were storming the old div one.

Was i mardy honestly cant remember.

 

[brownblade]

Yet some act as though he is



Meaning 'not pommpey'. I mean, I've been watching, playing, sometimes coaching and officiating football for the best part of fifty five years now, including offering online punditry too. It's a struggle to match your rose-tinted view of what is, ostensibly a mediocre midfielder who is buoyed by flattering 'statistics' which don't really match what actually is happening down on the green stuff. Let's put it this way ... I have seen better, more prolific and more productive midfielders both in and out of our kit and some even at lower league levels, even though you come across as though he is the best and will only be the best we've even had. Micheal Brown, Dane Whitehouse, Tony Currie, Trevor Hockey and even Don Hutchinson must be either spinning in their graves or getting a low bowel cramp that someone somewhere (who 'understands modern tactics', like you) thinks they are less of a player than one Oliver Norwood.

pommpey

Has anybody ever said Norwood is as good as Kante or De Bruyne? I'm guessing nobody has ever done that Even his biggest fans can see he's not perfect.

I wouldn't like to speculate about why you can't/don't understand Norwood is an excellent player for us (particularly in this league). But I'm glad you're self-assured in your own expertise. Never doubt yourself.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Yep and against 9 men he’s a great option… but as MD against a team that will press you and that you have to hit quickly on the break he slows play down far too much

Yes when under a lot of pressure, he struggles. With a performing mid field around him he is invaluable at distribution.
But all that also ignores his other midfield contribution.
Anyway, plenty of other Norwood threads for that.
The general point was the focus on a negative, and ignoring a huge positive.
And that's this thread. I genuinely don't know what lots of our fans want. If it's sublime performances every single week and wins every week, they aren't going to be happy at any club, definitely not here.
Or maybe complaining gives the most pleasure to them.

 

[pommpey]

Has anybody ever said Norwood is as good as Kante or De Bruyne? I'm guessing nobody has ever done that Even his biggest fans can see he's not perfect.

I wouldn't like to speculate about why you can't/don't understand Norwood is an excellent player for us (particularly in this league). But I'm glad you're self-assured in your own expertise. Never doubt yourself.

I never doubt myself. Norwood removes that doubt every time he is on the ball.

Like it or not, he is an absolutely essential position of quarterback and midfield pivot. I have shown why I don't think he is even half as good as some make out and show direct comparisons to worthy CDMs/CMs who do that role very well. Even if he doesn't have the capacity and competency to achieve what they do, then to stop the pointless wastage of possession and push the team up the centre of the park might be a better strategy. Rare occasions he does this. Players are available in advanced positions close by. It just seems that the centre backs give it to him to play it to the WBs only for them to do nothing advantageous with

pommpey

 

[Trigger Blade]

Hecky out, pommpey in!

 

[pommpey]

Hecky out, pommpey in!

Heh. I vote no on that. Hecky is doing what he can.

We have an injury problem but more than that, we have an attitude and approach problem which forces us to reset to a lesser mode of play which makes us look distinctly mid table

pommpey

 

[Jan Age]

Yes when under a lot of pressure, he struggles. With a performing mid field around him he is invaluable at distribution.
But all that also ignores his other midfield contribution.
Anyway, plenty of other Norwood threads for that.
The general point was the focus on a negative, and ignoring a huge positive.
And that's this thread. I genuinely don't know what lots of our fans want. If it's sublime performances every single week and wins every week, they aren't going to be happy at any club, definitely not here.
Or maybe complaining gives the most pleasure to them.

I agree … it’s also tactical … to play Norwood in MD you need the right players around him.

A two man MD does not work if he is one of the two. That’s on PH to sort.

The game was a 10/10 for entertainment and the season so far has been solid but the current blip is alarming even given the injuries we have.

 

[Davalon]

I don't disagree with a word of that, and believe me, I was among the many who were making their displeasure known yesterday, we were unequivocally shite.

The original point I was making was that, whilst the worst kind of knee-jerky, toys-out-of-the-pram exponents of bed-shittery are indeed online and very young, the most vocally miserable bastards in the actual ground are folk of more advanced years, whether we're 0-2 down or 4-0 up seemingly makes no odds.

My dearly departed dad was of that ilk. I miss him every day, but he was fucking insufferable when it came to discussing United. He acted as if he had a kind of "secret knowledge" when it came to discerning what makes a good Sheffield United team, always invoking the great names of bygone eras, who should be honoured of course, but it doesn't necessarily pertain to our current situation.
I hear his exact words coming out of the mouths of many other blokes of his generation every home match.

The annoying pricks around me who are the first to get on backs are all 60ish plus

 

[Bert]

We were meant to have had upwards of 28k in BDTBL (was there fuck)

So how many were there?

 

[Dickens67]

Talking about pot calling the kettle, the OP sets up a thread about anyone complaining about Hecky etc. You have to question how old the people are that set up such a thread and complain. Certainly not mature enough to accept any argument.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

So how many were there?

I'd say between a high 25k and a low 26k.

 

[Bert]

I'd say between a high 25k and a low 26k.

Every game Bert looks round and predicts the attendance.
On Saturday he said upwards of 28,000.

Your estimate would need 6,000 empty seats.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

Every game Bert looks round and predicts the attendance.
On Saturday he said upwards of 28,000.

Your estimate would need 6,000 empty seats.

A fair point.

I've been to every home game this season so far, and if the attendance figure is correct, it would make it our 2nd highest attendance of the season. I thought it was similar to QPR, which was 26.6k. It certainly looked more than 1.5k less than Birmingham.

 

[pommpey]

So how many were there?

Pommpey agrees with NC. Possibly two thousand less than that 'official' attendance. On camera where were odd gaps in all stands (the kop looked fairly full though) and the BLLT and BLUT had larger spaces.

Pommpey assumes all season tickets, bums on seats or not and therefore 'bought' are included in these official attendances?

pommpey

 

[Gimli]

A fair point.

I've been to every home game this season so far, and if the attendance figure is correct, it would make it our 2nd highest attendance of the season. I thought it was similar to QPR, which was 26.6k. It certainly looked more than 1.5k less than Birmingham.

So if the quoted attendance was 28k odd, but visibly it looked about 26.5 - does that mean there’s c. 1.5k people who have season tickets (and therefore included in the attendance figures) but didn’t turn up on Saturday?

It’s a moot point but just trying to work out why the discrepancy

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

So if the quoted attendance was 28k odd, but visibly it looked about 26.5 - does that mean there’s c. 1.5k people who have season tickets (and therefore included in the attendance figures) but didn’t turn up on Saturday?

It’s a moot point but just trying to work out why the discrepancy

I don't know. The simple answer is that I'm wrong and Bert is correct when it comes to estimating crowd numbers. He might have the precise, cultured eye of an aesthete, and I, the unrefined eye of a ruffian.

Or it might be as Pommpey suggests that the attendance is based upon bought tickets rather than bums on seats. If my memory serves me, I think Arsenal calculate their official attendances by this method, or at least used to.

Going back 25 to 30 yrs, it always seemed to be the other way at Bramall Lane. When the attendance was read out, it always seemed visibly to be a couple of 000's light.

 

[Edinblade]

I would guess between 14 and 25/30 years old.
Can they not see that the management team are doing their utmost in extraordinary circumstances? All you hear is moan moan moan, blaming everything from Hecky down to the Physios and kit washers.
I would guess that these "fans" are rather immature and can't cope with losing a couple of games and are unable to see the bigger picture.
Get behind the Club, Hecky and the lads. When all our players are fit we are better than anything in this division, so put a sock in it and give the management a bit of a break.

Great post and very true, although I would broaden the age range.
I was speaking to a supporter of a different team who said they have exactly the same issue. So many folk on football forums just write absolute rubbish, they’re extremely negative and can’t accept when the team is not winning.
The idiots asking for a change of manager are beyond stupid. If or when there’s a serious issue, then by all means discuss it, but don’t get all stupid after one or two defeats.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Are some of you blind? No way was they around 5k seats spare away end around 1k free then others scattered around ground.