Well worth the points today - UTB!

[itsinyerblood]

Well done you Blades, not spectacular but then you didn't need to be.

Thought it was a sound performance, and again, the only thing lacking was a forward to bring that extra dimension to our play.

Collins and Maguire did well, as did Brayford and Harris. Howard was again sound as a pound, Scoogs was tidy and busy throughout, and I'm made up for the lad that he scored. McGinn did well today, impressed by the way he went about his business. Baxter also showed glimpses, and at times was class. Murphy and Flynn played quite well IMO Although he didn't play badly, there are moments when Coady looked naive to me. Is it a concentration thing? Is his awareness of what options exist poor? Not sure. But overall, against a poor Shrewsbury side, we deserved the three precious points.

Bringing Miller on for 20 minutes, then getting him to drop a little deep, wasn't enough for the lad to shine. God bless Porter, a trier if ever there was, but at least he gave his all for however long he came on for.

So a much needed three points, now onto the next game, UTB!!!

 

[gavtheblade]

`God bless porter`.
The only thing he`s bleedin blessed with!

 

[itsinyerblood]

`God bless porter`.
The only thing he`s bleedin blessed with!

Gav, don't mock the afflicted UTB

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Well done you Blades, not spectacular but then you didn't need to be.

Thought it was a sound performance, and again, the only thing lacking was a forward to bring that extra dimension to our play.

Collins and Maguire did well, as did Brayford and Harris. Howard was again sound as a pound, Scoogs was tidy and busy throughout, and I'm made up for the lad that he scored. McGinn did well today, impressed by the way he went about his business. Baxter also showed glimpses, and at times was class. Murphy and Flynn played quite well IMO Although he didn't play badly, there are moments when Coady looked naive to me. Is it a concentration thing? Is his awareness of what options exist poor? Not sure. But overall, against a poor Shrewsbury side, we deserved the three precious points.

Bringing Miller on for 20 minutes, then getting him to drop a little deep, wasn't enough for the lad to shine. God bless Porter, a trier if ever there was, but at least he gave his all for however long he came on for.

So a much needed three points, now onto the next game, UTB!!!

Agree with your post. Thought we worked hard considering we had just come off the back of the gruelling cup replay. Flynny towards the end, and Murph looked a bit jaded but still battled. We looked better with Howard in goal, Mcginn played really well, Scougall turning into our playmaker. Collins was awesome against Fulham and followed it up with another good display today, hope he's recovering a bit of form now. Whenever Porter starts or comes on as a sub. it's like playing with ten men, couldn't see any point in bringing him on, would rather have seen Paynter or Diego. Pleasing performance today, wish we had a week off now to prepare for Brentford.

 

[sitwell]

'Whenever Porter starts or comes on as a sub. it's like playing with ten men, couldn't see any point in bringing him on'
Cant believe what some people post.

 

[Bladesway]

We win and yet some still want to have a swipe. Top fans some of our boys.

 

[pommpey]

'Whenever Porter starts or comes on as a sub. it's like playing with ten men, couldn't see any point in bringing him on'
Cant believe what some people post.

Part of that is true though, is it not? We played very well (considering our players) against Fulham, but Porter spent most of the game ambling about with the play bypassing him, almost like he was reffing the game. He didn't ever make his presence felt with a pretty abject Fulham central pairing. Baxter - who is possibly five inches shorter than him and a bit heavier - got at the back two and caused them problems. We definitely looked more likely when Porter went off.

pommpey

 

[Large Mendonca]

C'mon Pomps - 3 points against a shit Shrewsbury, we should all be on the happy juice and be grateful

 

[JohnDenver]

Some of the whooping and piss-taking when Porter came on today royally pissed me off. We're 2-0 up with a short time left in a vital game for the future of the club, and that's the best some people can come up with?

Fucking shameful.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

'Whenever Porter starts or comes on as a sub. it's like playing with ten men, couldn't see any point in bringing him on'
Cant believe what some people post.

Your happy to pay to see tripe like Porter Sitwell, your welcome. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to what Porter actually brought to the table this afternoon. I like to see the best that is on offer and it certainly isn't Chris Porter.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

We win and yet some still want to have a swipe. Top fans some of our boys.

Made it perfectly clear that I was happy with the performance and win but would have been even happier with a 3-0 win, and that wasn't going to happen when Porter came on.

 

[pommpey]

C'mon Pomps - 3 points against a shit Shrewsbury, we should all be on the happy juice and be grateful

Mate - I am delighted with any win, be it against Shrewsbury or Barcelona. Three points are a wonderful bonus, considering where we have been this season. But goal difference of -10 tells its own tale, not only of defensive inconsistencies but by the fact that our regularly picked target man is a total shithouse when it comes to doing his job. He might run around a lot and show effort, but I'll trade a lazy fat fucker who smashes in at least 15-20 goals in a season (remember Micky Quinn for Pompey ... he never fucking broke into a sweat) for someone who looks like he is playing way above his ability.

pommpey

 

[Large Mendonca]

Mate - I am delighted with any win, be it against Shrewsbury or Barcelona. Three points are a wonderful bonus, considering where we have been this season. But goal difference of -10 tells its own tale, not only of defensive inconsistencies but by the fact that our regularly picked target man is a total shithouse when it comes to doing his job. He might run around a lot and show effort, but I'll trade a lazy fat fucker who smashes in at least 15-20 goals in a season (remember Micky Quinn for Pompey ... he never fucking broke into a sweat) for someone who looks like he is playing way above his ability.

pommpey

Completely agree BTW -our intrepid target man has made a very nice living for not a lot in return, but we're not allowed to say owt tonight 'cause we won one

 

[2ndtenorblade]

Can't understand all the negative vibes, we won ffs.

Also think taking off the Jack Fulton bag at half time left more room for the Morrisons bag.

 

[blader]

OP: "Well worth the points today - UTB"

Post 2: Porter's a c***

Rest of the Thread: Porter is shit

Well done Blades fans.

 

[Sirius]

OP: "Well worth the points today - UTB"

Post 2: Porter's a c***

Rest of the Thread: Porter is shit

Well done Blades fans.

Whatever ability Porter has as a team player is obviously respected and appreciated by Nigel Clough.
Would you therefore abuse him in the same way Blader?. Unfortunately I am unable to get to the Lane, and home again for tea, so until I can, I will back Clough's judgement over yours. Your abuse must enthuse the team no end NOT.

 

[blader]

Whatever ability Porter has as a team player is obviously respected and appreciated by Nigel Clough.
Would you therefore abuse him in the same way Blader?. Unfortunately I am unable to get to the Lane, and home again for tea, so until I can, I will back Clough's judgement over yours. Your abuse must enthuse the team no end NOT.

Mate, I was taking the piss out of everyone else! I, for one, can't stand the abuse Porter gets and think he is a decent player to have on the bench!

My comment was pointing out the fact that the thread had nothing to do with
Porter and was praising the team. Yet ended up slagging Porter off after the first comment! I find it pretty shameful to be honest!

 

[Sirius]

Mate, I was taking the piss out of everyone else! I, for one, can't stand the abuse Porter gets and think he is a decent player to have on the bench!

My comment was pointing out the fact that the thread had nothing to do with
Porter and was praising the team. Yet ended up slagging Porter off after the first comment! I find it pretty shameful to be honest!

s mate
Cheers Mate. My bad

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

Made it perfectly clear that I was happy with the performance and win but would have been even happier with a 3-0 win, and that wasn't going to happen when Porter came on.

Unless he'd stayed onside, then it would have happened.

 

[SwissBlade]

Sounds like we did what we needed to yesterday. Good to see three points on the board!

It'll have loosened the legs up for Wednesday night, I can see the likes of Baxter and possibly Flynn making way for miller and paynter. We need to be 100% on weds and I can see them coming to have a good go at us!

 

[Balham]

It'll have loosened the legs up for Wednesday night, I can see the likes of Baxter and possibly Flynn making way for Miller and paynter. We need to be 100% on weds and I can see them coming to have a good go at us!

I can see Brentford coming to have a go, especially after their game yesterday was called off. However, the team Clough picked yesterday is our best chance of getting three points as it's solid defensively and quick on the counter. That may not have been the best side to pick against Shrewsbury but I think Clough's looking at the bigger picture: Fulham, Brentford and Forest all call for a compact, counter-attacking side.

 

[sitwell]

Hopefully Weir might take charge of them and they will have a go at stringing 20 passes together in their own penalty area.

 

[Coily]

Had a neb at the Shrewsbury forums and it would appear that where an assessment of SUFC is concerned you get a very different view on the BLUT. Apparently, we are the worst team in the division and will go down based on yesterday. It was only because they offered little themselves - that much is true - that they didn't come away with a win. I won't claim we are a good side right now, but we were clearly the more capable side and it's probably our most comfortable win of the season. They were right to say the atmosphere was dead, but the game was won and it was freezing cold so understandable.

From my view, we did what we needed to in the first 20 minutes and rarely got out of first gear. The tactic of dropping back and giving them space to play worked well as they by and large seemed totally incapable of doing so. Giving Fyvie and the ever ineffectual McAllister time on the ball worked a treat and they really only had two opportunities all game.

The conditions in the second half helped it being the non-event it was and that will have helped us with tougher games to come as we seemed to conserve energy. The main thing was that we won, and we did. Not brilliant by any stretch but job done.

 

[Bladesway]

Made it perfectly clear that I was happy with the performance and win but would have been even happier with a 3-0 win, and that wasn't going to happen when Porter came on.

And what a shower of twats we sound when we moan about players even when we win. Porter was on the bench yesterday so what does that tell you? We all know he isn't the answer to our goalscoring issues, you, me the cleaner but Clough (the man who actually matters) sees he has a part to play. If its 15 minutes off the bench when someone is shagged then that is where we are. I'm sorry but we don't have Messi and Ronaldo or even Hulse and Beattie any longer because of where we are. I'm not a blind happy clapper by any stretch but the bloke comes on and plays in the shirt. I never see him give any less than 100% and while he isn't the best player we have ever had he is symptomatic of where we are. In spite of our apparent best attempts we still haven't found anyone to play who is better and has a better record. Marlon King anyone? Beattie Mk II or perhaps Kitson?

Too many keyboard managers who apparently know better, from what I can see most of them know jack shit actually.

 

[Northyorksblade]

Coily, Actually that does give me cause for concern. Are we focusing too much on the win? First time at home in the league this year? You look at the performance against Crewe and their fans would probably say the same. Let's see how we perform against top of the table, in form Brentford, that will give us a better idea. Not the result, the performance. If we lose, it's not the end of the world. We could lose ground at the weekend though and then it will get nervy. The atmosphere was awful though, you could feel the nervousness from the crowd, probably thinking how we threw away two points against Bradford.

 

[MBoreman]

Part of that is true though, is it not? We played very well (considering our players) against Fulham, but Porter spent most of the game ambling about with the play bypassing him, almost like he was reffing the game. He didn't ever make his presence felt with a pretty abject Fulham central pairing. Baxter - who is possibly five inches shorter than him and a bit heavier - got at the back two and caused them problems. We definitely looked more likely when Porter went off.

pommpey

'Abject Fulham central pairing' Hangeland (a very experienced PL defender) and Burn (won promotion from this league) are both huge units and he had to play against them on his own. It's a tough task and Porter did a decent job, much like against Stevenage when he played on his own against their two tank like centre backs.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

And what a shower of twats we sound when we moan about players even when we win. Porter was on the bench yesterday so what does that tell you? We all know he isn't the answer to our goalscoring issues, you, me the cleaner but Clough (the man who actually matters) sees he has a part to play. If its 15 minutes off the bench when someone is shagged then that is where we are. I'm sorry but we don't have Messi and Ronaldo or even Hulse and Beattie any longer because of where we are. I'm not a blind happy clapper by any stretch but the bloke comes on and plays in the shirt. I never see him give any less than 100% and while he isn't the best player we have ever had he is symptomatic of where we are. In spite of our apparent best attempts we still haven't found anyone to play who is better and has a better record. Marlon King anyone? Beattie Mk II or perhaps Kitson?

Too many keyboard managers who apparently know better, from what I can see most of them know jack shit actually.

Your not a blind happy clapper, doesn't sound like it from your post. When I pay my hard earned cash to watch a game and see us bring a forward on, I expect him to at least have the capability of putting the ball in the net, not to run around for 15 mins because someone's shagged. Oh yes, the old 100 % argument, that will get us out of this mess won't it. Kitson by the way was twice the player Porter is. Oh sorry, just seen your keyboard manager bit, I will bow down to your superior footballing knowledge and look forward to the day you manage the club.

 

[Coily]

Coily, Actually that does give me cause for concern. Are we focusing too much on the win? First time at home in the league this year? You look at the performance against Crewe and their fans would probably say the same. Let's see how we perform against top of the table, in form Brentford, that will give us a better idea. Not the result, the performance. If we lose, it's not the end of the world. We could lose ground at the weekend though and then it will get nervy. The atmosphere was awful though, you could feel the nervousness from the crowd, probably thinking how we threw away two points against Bradford.

The main focus has to be the win of course, but I think we showed enough in the first half hour that we have more than enough to get out of the mess we are currently in. We were a bit jaded at times but hardly a surprise when we've played 120 minutes against an (albeit poor) Premier League club away a few days before. Crewe fans might say that about us, but we could have said the same when they visited us. I just don't think we played badly yesterday so I was highlighting what i thought was sour grapes on the Shrews part.

I don't expect a win on Wednesday, but i would expect us to be able to compete with Brentford and push for a win. We'll have to play better and for the full 90 minutes, but we've shown we are capable.

I can only speak from my view on John Street, but the atmosphere was dead as we were freezing! When the rain poured in the second half, we legged it inside and watched the last 20 minutes on the TV. Plenty had the same idea, while many more went home with plenty of time left to play.

 

[itsinyerblood]

Having read this thread up until now, my thoughts about Porter especially are that the guy gets stick for reasons I think we'd all agree. I'm all for good, constructive criticism. I just wonder if sometimes a dislike of a particular player is so ingrained that no matter what he does he'll always be damned. I share the view that Chris isn't up to the standard we should be aspiring to, the term 'trier' is the best I can give the man.......BUT, there are moments when the dislike of Porter turns to something bordering on hatred, and no one deserves that. When I think of all the things that a player deserves to be slated for, actions that harm others for example, well for me Porter doesn't fit into this category. He plays for us, he's not very good, and at some point he'll be looking for another club. I just feel Chris has become demonised to the point where, whatever he does, he'll expect to be crucified.

I was a little deflated yesterday when I saw Porter emerge from the dug-out, I was hoping I'd see Diego or Paynter, but Clough chose to put Porter on and I'll support our manager as I believe that the way he's begun to assess what needs to be done to turn this club around reflects good judgement on his part, over the next year or so I hope we'll all see those benefits.

Of course the argument stands that you pays your money therefore you're entitled to criticise. Completely agree with that. I just wonder if anything we do will ever bring about a unified round of applause for our team when they win? Last night I watched Arsenal taken to the cleaners by a Liverpool side who were on fire. The flak that Wenger receives from Arsenal fans at times makes vitriol seem like a gentle outburst. I suppose his considerable salary softens his sensitive hide, but this type of over the top outburst is commonplace amongst supporter's wherever you go. As I said earlier, criticise away, make points that make sense, and when it's deserved, a player should take it on the chin just as he accepts praise when he's done well. I wonder how Flynn and Murphy now feel after taking a huge amount of criticism for so long? Yet here they are, improved, and the team is the benefactor of their improvement. Their personal strength of character must be immense as week in, week out, I recall one negative comment after another directed towards them.

Which, in summary, makes me think that Clough's judgement of a player is based on things he sees in training. He can probably recognise what a player is capable of, therefore he chooses to fulfill the one major aspect of his contract which is to make our team a success. He's also shown that he won't stand on ceremony when it comes to moving players on. I watched Cloughie yesterday. The passion he shows is at complete odds to the chap I'd come to expect. This man is passionate yet he also has a studied, considered side that reveals balance. I'm just glad he's our manager, he's not performed miracles yet, but then that was never going to be the case. Those games in hand only mean something if they're converted into points....but let's not go there. We won yesterday, admittedly against a poor side, but we still won, where previously we'd have struggled to get anything. Well done my team, two games (including Fulham) where we showed resolve and the ability to carry out a plan, that'll do for me UTB

 

[sitwell]

Your not a blind happy clapper, doesn't sound like it from your post. When I pay my hard earned cash to watch a game and see us bring a forward on, I expect him to at least have the capability of putting the ball in the net, not to run around for 15 mins because someone's shagged. Oh yes, the old 100 % argument, that will get us out of this mess won't it. Kitson by the way was twice the player Porter is. Oh sorry, just seen your keyboard manager bit, I will bow down to your superior footballing knowledge and look forward to the day you manage the club.

He did put the ball in the net.
Says everything that despite an important win against important rivals your main focus is on your dislike of a player who came on to run down the last 15 minutes.