Ipswich 5 United 0 - report/ratings

[Deadbat]

Played five, lost five. United remain absolutely rock bottom of the Championship table after yet another disastrous defeat, continuing Ruben Selles catastrophic start to his tenure at Bramall Lane. Despite additions, and changes to the side, being made, United were once again completely second best in terms of performance and result. The Blades competed well for the opening stages of the game but did not offer any goalscoring threat and after they went behind to Jaden Philogene’s individual strike, they never looked likely to get back into the game. Despite this, they only trailed by a single goal at the break but after Philogene scored another going past Ben Godfrey again with ease; the game started to unravel for the Blades. Michael Cooper’s mistake gave George Hirst a third and then Philogene completed his hat trick. Jack Clarke scored a fifth, as Cooper was nutmegged again and the rout was complete. United have not scored for 7 games; not scoring a single goal away from home and have only had 2 weak efforts on target on the road all season.



It will be an anxious wait for Selles and his staff, to see if the board give him a further game but if the decision is made to dispense with his services this weekend or early next week, then he cannot be surprised and surely the writing is on the wall now? The total abject performances and lack of any kind of plan has seem United deservedly beaten. In all their games, with players seemingly unable or unwilling to adapt to his planned approach. United have seen any promotion hopes disappear before we have even got to the Autumnal season and now will be nervously wondering if they are going to get sucked into a relegation fight at the other end of the table, so abject are their efforts currently.



Selles made changes to his team and some brave calls were made with Championship player of the season; Hamer dropped along with last season’s leading scorer Campbell. Bindon also dropped out. In came McGuiness and Matos for their debuts and Cannon got the surprise start up top. Ipswich made two changes, with two debutants of their own coming in; Furlong and Akpom. Record Championship signing Egeli began on the bench.



United started well with Matos showing his physicality but Ipswich had the first chance with McGuinness’ mistake seeing Philogene in whose low shot was saved by Cooper. United did win a corner that Tanganga headed over. Brooks then wasted a good opening as he scooped his cross badly wide. United were at least competing more in this contest and were shading possession, if creating little. Ipswich had not been able to get control but suddenly had two chances as Davis’s dangerous cross just evaded Hirst with Cooper flapping at the ball.



Philogene then got down the right again as Godfrey was struggling his pace and Cooper had to make the save low down to his right. Tanganga headed over again but it was not close to being on target. McAteer then got in at the other end and his shot was saved after O’Hare was brushed off too easily. On 20 minutes, the home side took the lead. The opportunity came fortuitously when the ball deflected off Matos and looped onto the left-hand side. PHILOGENE got on it and as Davis made the run, not spotted by Barry who had swapped sides, the winger cut in and curled a delightful effort into the corner as Godfrey failed to get close to him.



Brooks’ woeful start to the season continued as he sliced another cross horribly wide. Burrows then made a mess of a cross on the other side. McAteer took aim with a low shot saved by Cooper as the home side continued to create all the chances despite it being a relatively even game in terms of possession/territory. Just before the break Tanganga’s throw slipped out of his hands drawing cheers from the home fans and summed up United’s fortunes this season.



The second half began with O’Hare drifting inside but his shot was weak and trickled wide but on 51 minutes, Ipswich and PHILOGENE got his second goal. It was almost a carbon copy of the first goal as Davis made the decoy run and the winger came inside and hit an effort too powerful for Cooper, although this time inside his near post. McGuinness was booked for a clumsy challenge as United now started to look ragged. Cannon did actually find a shot on target, to ironic cheers as Palmer saved at his near post.



The third goal came in comical fashion. Burrows made a hash of the dropping ball and as Cooper and Hirst converged on it, it bounced the way of the striker, who did use a hand that was not spotted. HIRST turned and hit a relatively innocuous shot towards goal but it squirmed past Cooper’s legs. There has been a quadruple change readied for the Blades prior to the goal but all seemed redundant now as Hamer, Campbell, Soumare and Chong came on for Cannon, Barry, Brooks and Matos.



The horror show continued as PHILOGENE completed his hat trick. It was another excellent goal as he embarrassed the forlorn Godfrey again as he smashed the ball into the top corner. Ipswich now were able to make changes and give the hat trick hero a standing ovation as he left the field. One of the incoming substitutes, CLARKE, piled on the agony as he stole in after Soumare gave the ball away. Godfrey’s abomination of a performance continued – this time barely even trying to challenge or get back as the smaller player shrugged him off and again Cooper was embarrassed with the nutmeg. There was still 12 minutes to play but the Blades now were a sorry mess. Seriki ended Godfrey’s torture as he replaced him but Hamer then gifted another chance as Szmodics was denied at point blank range by Cooper.



O’Hare has a weak effort saved from Palmer and Peck was blocked out but the game was finished and Ipswich continued to look the more likely even in stoppage time. Referee Hallam finally ended the evening mercifully for the Blades. Selles reaction and body language at the end of the game smacked of a man who probably knows he may not see the United fans again as he walked off disconsolately.

 

[Deadbat]

United – An absolute shambles in terms of the performance, result and how we imploded so easily. The manager’s time is surely up now? 5 (6 if you count the cup) straight defeats and an absolute hammering tonight must see the board concede his appointment has not worked and make the change. His team selection was bizarre and seemed to almost say I am taking out the big games and if he goes down on my sword, then he does it spectacularly and quite stubbornly. No problem Campbell coming out if Ings was fit but Cannon done nothing to deserve a start and Hamer, as poor as he has been, is our own only real creative element. The first half we actually did ok. Matos was giving us some energy and Tanganga continued to be front foot but we still created nothing. Ipswich had not been great and we had more of the ball but they still created three chances even in this first spell and then the danger sign down our right was not plugged. Philogene gave Godfrey an absolute going over all night and the goal was so easy as he showed him inside and no one came across. The lack of cover when he comes inside was equally pathetic. After this you sensed the heads would drop but we at least stayed in the game till half time but again despite seeing more of the ball than previous games, it was all behind the Ipswich defence with the weak and ineffective Barry, Brooks, Cannon and O’Hare offering nothing of attacking note at all.



After the break, we went 2-0 down relatively early on with another easy goal as Philogene took advantage of Godfrey’s lack of pace and intelligence as he did the same thing again! Then it just fell apart. The third saw errors all over the place and Burrows slice/Cooper’s nutmeg were almost laughable. The fourth then came from more dreadful defending from Godfrey and the 5th was the same man but mistake from Hamer and Soumare in giving the ball away also contributed. The way they simply walked through us all night was embarrassing. Selles will rightly get hammered and the buck does stop with him but the players seem to have given up playing for him and for themselves. Regardless of whether the tactics are bad and he is maybe not motivating them or giving them confidence, the way they sort of walked or ambled back was shameful. They should be embarrassed at their efforts this season – they have looked completely spineless pretty much to a man (maybe Tanganga and Matos escape criticism) but the likes of Cooper, Burrows, Brooks, Peck, O’Hare, Campbell have fallen off a cliff this season and barely look competent Championship players which is incredible to write when they were part of a side that were so close to promotion. The fact they are not doing it will be pointed to the person leading them and managing them but they are going to have really improve their attitude, work rate, and play (passing and control is wretched) when the new man comes in – as if they don’t then who do they blame then? However, going back to the manager, he simply has no idea how to get us into any position to create, let alone score goals. Yet, at the other end, we look wide open. I am not sure how we have managed to be so bad going forward and never looking like scoring (7 hours of football without a goal and barely a shot!) but then looking like conceding every time the opposition with big gaps all over the field. No idea, how we seem to have players miles off each other both with and without the ball. The structure of the team is horrific but this allied to poor decisions, mistakes on the ball and not doing the basics make a perfect recipe for what is happening – us losing every single week and losing easily.



The players look on the floor and they did give up tonight and stopped even running as the final goals showed when several did not even run back. People will talk about Cooper’s poor form and his mistakes (could have been 8 or 9 actually without him – although he should have saved a few too!) or Godfrey’s nightmare performance, or Cannon’s non-existent showing, or Brooks/Barry looking completely not up to it, but when you keep going through every player you are seeing players simply not doing their job. There has to be a change as the longer this goes on, not only does it become even more toxic, but the real threat of going down becomes something that could happen despite this opinion our squad is too good to get relegated – well at the moment we are the worst team in the division by a fair distance on all the metrics and the players are showing no leadership or pride. I was amazed some clapped them at the end – it seemed like at Boro (not there tonight so maybe I misread it) but by clapping them it was as if they were with them but against Selles. I am sorry if I had paid to go down tonight I would not have been so patient with them after their complete capitulation. They should be embarrassed how bad they are playing.



So where do we go from here? If, as expected he is sacked, then I have no idea who we bring in. The talk of Nuno or Dyche is fantasy land. Neither are coming here to this mess. We will probably have to appoint another foreign coach but just hope he has more idea? I see no real outstanding candidate really. I expect they’ll go for Garry O’Neil or Carrick but neither inspire me either. However, whoever comes in, cannot do any worse. It has been an absolute shambles of a start and then the bizarre way we suddenly brought in lots of players pre deadline smacked of more appalling planning and a muddled approach. Many of the players coming in will be thinking what have they let themselves in for?





Ratings:



Cooper 2/10 – 2 seems too high weirdly for someone who let in 5 goals, got nutmegged twice and was badly at fault for the third and maybe some of the others he should have done better. However, he did make 4 or 5 other saves (most standard but a couple decent ones) and was badly exposed again. His form has been really poor. United fans were so convinced he was the best keeper in the league last year but this season he looks miles off that and is really struggling. There are bigger issues than him but is making mistakes with alarming regularity.



Godfrey 1/10 – I considered even less but my marking system normally says you would have to have a nightmare and get sent off/score an own goal. Also, he got no help as terrible as he was. He did not do that but he did little else right all game and was completely embarrassed by Philogene who made him look so poor. I am not sure he a right back at all and showed that tonight as a quick and tricky winger just did what they wanted against him. He was meant to be athletic and quite mobile but tonight looked woefully slow and cumbersome. The first he just let him drift inside but he had done this already and this happened time after time. He never even tackled him or put a body on him all game and just ambled alongside him. Surely after the 2nd or 3rd time, you would know where he was going and try and put him on his other foot? Why was he kept on the pitch? The 5th goal was as bad as it got as Clarke, a different player, brushed him off and then he just gave up. On that performance, a complete and utter waste of the sizeable loan and wages we are paying him – he had done ok in the first few games to be fair.



Burrows 2/10 – Actually, thought he started quite bright and the most far forward we have seen him since that first half v Bristol City but his passing and crossing was poor when he get into some decent positions. After the break, he faded badly and then he started making mistakes as evidenced on the third with the poor control leading to the Hirst goal. After this he started losing his man and just went into his shell like the rest. Shadow of the player from last season and for all the talk of him being a possible Premier League player – looks closer to League One currently than the next level up.



McGuiness 2/10 – He started ok and won a few headers, got to the ball first but then he made a mistake that led to a chance. For much of the rest of the game, reminded of the player I thought he was whenever I have seen him before. Slow, clumsy and easy to turn. He did not really dominate aerially for such a big lad but they played it down the sides more to be fair. Cynical booking and as the game went on, looked really leggy.



Tanganga 4/10 – Our best defender but even he got sucked into the malaise with the rest tonight. A few headers over the bar and a couple of early tackles but as the game went on, he got pulled about too and looked frustrated by the end. He was gesturing at others when goals went in and probably wonders what he has come into? Felt a bit sorry for him as he was making more effort to at least close down and tackle which barely anyone else did all night.



Matos 5/10 – Our best player merely by the fact he just ran around, won a few tackles, and got stuck in. He had a few neat touches and runs early and snapped into them and I thought that is what we need but then he sliced the clearance for the first and he could not keep his energy levels up and trailed off second half. At least some promising signs I suppose but another who was probably wondering what the plan was? Everyone did cry out for a holding midfielder alongside or being Peck. Well, we did that tonight and still got hammered so guess there are more problems than just plugging in a player there?



Peck 2.5/10 – Made captain which is telling considering he was the youngest player out there wasn’t he? He began busy enough but a lot of his efforts seem misguided and he seems a bit of a headless chicken. He does not create anything, never looks likely to be involved in goal chances/attempts of note and rarely gets his foot in and wins tackles like he did last year. Also gets run off the ball too easily. He is a young lad and many others more experienced should be doing more but he has been poor this season. As the game went on, he was throwing his arms around but he looked a forlorn figure. I think he was one of the few who did try and keep running but even he by the end just sort of gave up.



O’Hare 2/10 – Been dreadful this season. Runs around but looks like a young lad rather than an experienced pro and just falls over. Seems to have no idea of his role, what he is supposed to do. When he gets it, his control is poor, he loses it too easily and often just falls over meekly. The ref was just waving him up and I agreed. I liked him last season and though this pressing approach we were supposed to see, would be perfect for him but he looks miles off it. He does not really close down or cause them to cough the ball up but the rare time he has it, he loses it instantly. Another who surely must do better under a new manager?



Barry 2/10 – As with above, looks predictable and pitifully weak. He gets the ball and then just has one trick that defenders read. Gets shoved off the ball and lacks any kind of physicality. He is not fast either. Also, I thought he had some skills/ability to create moments/space but just looks like the league above is too much for him. A poor signing so far and surprised he keeps getting picked as he has offered nothing but that says as much about those behind him.



Brooks 1.5/10 – I thought he was nearly as bad as Godfrey and all night everything he did, he ballsed up. He looks woeful at the moment and I was one calling for him to be a regular starter. He has had a number of chances this season and has been abject in every game. He comes inside all the time, never runs at his man, is one footed and his control/passing (like the rest to be fair) is always bouncing off him. He spooned three crosses behind and then when he had it, he just came back all the time. Sadly, at the moment does not look up to this level and I am really concerned whether he will ever be able to step up. He is another that seems to have the heart of a pea and no fight at all.



Cannon 1.5/10 – I give him a mark as at least he had a shot. The rest of the game he barely moved and was outmuscled in the challenges and just stood stagnant. He had very little service but then he does not move. I watched him when we go wide and he just stood motionless. Those who keep saying he is a poacher/Billy Sharp – what are the basing that on? He never moves. The fact we supposedly nearly moved him out on loan and then end up starting him sums up what a mess Selles approach is. He has been an absolute disaster of a signing. The fact Selles started him tonight summed up his reign.



Subs – Hard to criticise too much as we were 3-0 down but none of these were great either….



Hamer 2/10 – Came on and at least got on the ball a few times but gave the ball away that led to one of their goals and then did it again on the late chance for Szmodics. Amazed he was dropped even if he has started badly- he is still our best player.



Chong 2/10 – No idea where he was even playing – was it right back with Godfrey inside or was he right wing? He seemed to be just another running around but by this time the game was done.



Campbell 2/10 – Did not really have much of the ball to be honest as by this stage it was just about how many they were going to score. He did hold it up twice which was more than Cannon did. Not shocked he was dropped, as he has been poor but if Ings is not fit, then surely he still has to keep his place? Cannot being preferred was ridiculous.



Soumare 2/10 – He was all over the place in terms of his work – he overran the ball twice and one of these moments led to another goal. Took heavy touches and this led to us turning the ball over. As I say, the damage was done. Suppose he at least tried to run forward even if he gave it away!



Seriki – Came on right at the end – should have been brought on a lot sooner.



Manager: Selles 0.5/10 – Still not given 0/10 but today was close! I am marking it for the game rather his overall reign which would be a 0/10 probably! Tonight, he made the big chances and calls and it did not work but then nothing has worked for him. We do not create, do not score, concede, do not win tackles and give up space all over the pitch. We have no organisation, no structure and no plan how we progress with the ball. We have no partnerships, players are miles apart, we look like we have less men than anyone else. I have discussed how his position is untenable. He has come in and simply looks way out of his depth. He lacks personality and seems totally uninspiring but you can live with that if he is coaching them and getting his ideas across but he is not doing anything. He has become a joke now. It is now at the point where it is uncomfortable and even he will probably be glad when they put him out of his misery. His future in the English game will be very uncertain after this you sense. May go down as the only United (permanent manager) not to win a single point before he leaves. Even David Weir, Adrian Heath and Micky Adams won the odd game! I have no idea what he is trying to achieve at all. After the game he came on and just threw out phrases and almost seemed to know his time was up. He seemed resigned to the fact that they may make a change and if they do, they do. His body language was of a man who knows he will not be here much longer. He might be a nice fella and has fronted up – never hid or made excuses but he is simply not up to it. Been a disastrous appointment. As I said before, moving on from Wilder (I would have kept him another year whilst we changed the overall structure, coaching/DOF etc) might not have been the worst idea (although looking like it was now!) but we have backed the wrong horse.





Ipswich – We’re my favourites to go up and their manager/squad seemed more settled than the other two relegated sides. They had retained most of their core albeit losing Delap and a few experienced performers like Morsy and Chaplin. However, they had spent heavily before the end of the window after a start that was nearly as poor as United’s!



I do expect them to be around the automatic places but sometimes like we found with players who came through League One to the Premier League, there can be a burn out or point where players regress to levels they were at before. However, they still possess arguably the deepest squad in the league and I cannot see them any worse than a certain playoff spot.



In terms of the game, they were maybe second best to start but still had chances and then once they led, just blew us away, ruthlessly exploiting our weaknesses and jumping on our fragile confidence. They ended up with an absolute hammering and get their season up and running.



Opponent Man of the Match – Tricky one! Philogene. Superb but made easy but scored three great goals. Rest of team did what they had to and they after the break they ran all over us.



Opponent Weak link – Won 5-0 so hard to really give anyone this mark. Thought Akpom was ineffective though.



Referee / Officials – Farrai Hallam. Thought he was excellent and I admired him more than any of our players. Think he ran about more than most of ours too! He let the game flow, did not fall for players from either side trying to buy free kicks and just thought he let the players play. Really good.

 

[Northernsoulblade]

Great report spot on

 

[BerksBlade]

You marked Godfrey too high.
A performance like that from an England international is just not acceptable. He never got within 10 yards of Philogene. Absolutely pathetic performance.

 

[Deadbat]

You marked Godfrey too high.
A performance like that from an England international is just not acceptable. He never got within 10 yards of Philogene. Absolutely pathetic performance.

I could not argue with those giving him 0.5 or even 0 but its a high bar...or should that be low bar

 

[Rudders]

United – An absolute shambles in terms of the performance, result and how we imploded so easily. The manager’s time is surely up now? 5 (6 if you count the cup) straight defeats and an absolute hammering tonight must see the board concede his appointment has not worked and make the change. His team selection was bizarre and seemed to almost say I am taking out the big games and if he goes down on my sword, then he does it spectacularly and quite stubbornly. No problem Campbell coming out if Ings was fit but Cannon done nothing to deserve a start and Hamer, as poor as he has been, is our own only real creative element. The first half we actually did ok. Matos was giving us some energy and Tanganga continued to be front foot but we still created nothing. Ipswich had not been great and we had more of the ball but they still created three chances even in this first spell and then the danger sign down our right was not plugged. Philogene gave Godfrey an absolute going over all night and the goal was so easy as he showed him inside and no one came across. The lack of cover when he comes inside was equally pathetic. After this you sensed the heads would drop but we at least stayed in the game till half time but again despite seeing more of the ball than previous games, it was all behind the Ipswich defence with the weak and ineffective Barry, Brooks, Cannon and O’Hare offering nothing of attacking note at all.



After the break, we went 2-0 down relatively early on with another easy goal as Philogene took advantage of Godfrey’s lack of pace and intelligence as he did the same thing again! Then it just fell apart. The third saw errors all over the place and Burrows slice/Cooper’s nutmeg were almost laughable. The fourth then came from more dreadful defending from Godfrey and the 5th was the same man but mistake from Hamer and Soumare in giving the ball away also contributed. The way they simply walked through us all night was embarrassing. Selles will rightly get hammered and the buck does stop with him but the players seem to have given up playing for him and for themselves. Regardless of whether the tactics are bad and he is maybe not motivating them or giving them confidence, the way they sort of walked or ambled back was shameful. They should be embarrassed at their efforts this season – they have looked completely spineless pretty much to a man (maybe Tanganga and Matos escape criticism) but the likes of Cooper, Burrows, Brooks, Peck, O’Hare, Campbell have fallen off a cliff this season and barely look competent Championship players which is incredible to write when they were part of a side that were so close to promotion. The fact they are not doing it will be pointed to the person leading them and managing them but they are going to have really improve their attitude, work rate, and play (passing and control is wretched) when the new man comes in – as if they don’t then who do they blame then? However, going back to the manager, he simply has no idea how to get us into any position to create, let alone score goals. Yet, at the other end, we look wide open. I am not sure how we have managed to be so bad going forward and never looking like scoring (7 hours of football without a goal and barely a shot!) but then looking like conceding every time the opposition with big gaps all over the field. No idea, how we seem to have players miles off each other both with and without the ball. The structure of the team is horrific but this allied to poor decisions, mistakes on the ball and not doing the basics make a perfect recipe for what is happening – us losing every single week and losing easily.



The players look on the floor and they did give up tonight and stopped even running as the final goals showed when several did not even run back. People will talk about Cooper’s poor form and his mistakes (could have been 8 or 9 actually without him – although he should have saved a few too!) or Godfrey’s nightmare performance, or Cannon’s non-existent showing, or Brooks/Barry looking completely not up to it, but when you keep going through every player you are seeing players simply not doing their job. There has to be a change as the longer this goes on, not only does it become even more toxic, but the real threat of going down becomes something that could happen despite this opinion our squad is too good to get relegated – well at the moment we are the worst team in the division by a fair distance on all the metrics and the players are showing no leadership or pride. I was amazed some clapped them at the end – it seemed like at Boro (not there tonight so maybe I misread it) but by clapping them it was as if they were with them but against Selles. I am sorry if I had paid to go down tonight I would not have been so patient with them after their complete capitulation. They should be embarrassed how bad they are playing.



So where do we go from here? If, as expected he is sacked, then I have no idea who we bring in. The talk of Nuno or Dyche is fantasy land. Neither are coming here to this mess. We will probably have to appoint another foreign coach but just hope he has more idea? I see no real outstanding candidate really. I expect they’ll go for Garry O’Neil or Carrick but neither inspire me either. However, whoever comes in, cannot do any worse. It has been an absolute shambles of a start and then the bizarre way we suddenly brought in lots of players pre deadline smacked of more appalling planning and a muddled approach. Many of the players coming in will be thinking what have they let themselves in for?





Ratings:



Cooper 2/10 – 2 seems too high weirdly for someone who let in 5 goals, got nutmegged twice and was badly at fault for the third and maybe some of the others he should have done better. However, he did make 4 or 5 other saves (most standard but a couple decent ones) and was badly exposed again. His form has been really poor. United fans were so convinced he was the best keeper in the league last year but this season he looks miles off that and is really struggling. There are bigger issues than him but is making mistakes with alarming regularity.



Godfrey 1/10 – I considered even less but my marking system normally says you would have to have a nightmare and get sent off/score an own goal. Also, he got no help as terrible as he was. He did not do that but he did little else right all game and was completely embarrassed by Philogene who made him look so poor. I am not sure he a right back at all and showed that tonight as a quick and tricky winger just did what they wanted against him. He was meant to be athletic and quite mobile but tonight looked woefully slow and cumbersome. The first he just let him drift inside but he had done this already and this happened time after time. He never even tackled him or put a body on him all game and just ambled alongside him. Surely after the 2nd or 3rd time, you would know where he was going and try and put him on his other foot? Why was he kept on the pitch? The 5th goal was as bad as it got as Clarke, a different player, brushed him off and then he just gave up. On that performance, a complete and utter waste of the sizeable loan and wages we are paying him – he had done ok in the first few games to be fair.



Burrows 2/10 – Actually, thought he started quite bright and the most far forward we have seen him since that first half v Bristol City but his passing and crossing was poor when he get into some decent positions. After the break, he faded badly and then he started making mistakes as evidenced on the third with the poor control leading to the Hirst goal. After this he started losing his man and just went into his shell like the rest. Shadow of the player from last season and for all the talk of him being a possible Premier League player – looks closer to League One currently than the next level up.



McGuiness 2/10 – He started ok and won a few headers, got to the ball first but then he made a mistake that led to a chance. For much of the rest of the game, reminded of the player I thought he was whenever I have seen him before. Slow, clumsy and easy to turn. He did not really dominate aerially for such a big lad but they played it down the sides more to be fair. Cynical booking and as the game went on, looked really leggy.



Tanganga 4/10 – Our best defender but even he got sucked into the malaise with the rest tonight. A few headers over the bar and a couple of early tackles but as the game went on, he got pulled about too and looked frustrated by the end. He was gesturing at others when goals went in and probably wonders what he has come into? Felt a bit sorry for him as he was making more effort to at least close down and tackle which barely anyone else did all night.



Matos 5/10 – Our best player merely by the fact he just ran around, won a few tackles, and got stuck in. He had a few neat touches and runs early and snapped into them and I thought that is what we need but then he sliced the clearance for the first and he could not keep his energy levels up and trailed off second half. At least some promising signs I suppose but another who was probably wondering what the plan was? Everyone did cry out for a holding midfielder alongside or being Peck. Well, we did that tonight and still got hammered so guess there are more problems than just plugging in a player there?



Peck 2.5/10 – Made captain which is telling considering he was the youngest player out there wasn’t he? He began busy enough but a lot of his efforts seem misguided and he seems a bit of a headless chicken. He does not create anything, never looks likely to be involved in goal chances/attempts of note and rarely gets his foot in and wins tackles like he did last year. Also gets run off the ball too easily. He is a young lad and many others more experienced should be doing more but he has been poor this season. As the game went on, he was throwing his arms around but he looked a forlorn figure. I think he was one of the few who did try and keep running but even he by the end just sort of gave up.



O’Hare 2/10 – Been dreadful this season. Runs around but looks like a young lad rather than an experienced pro and just falls over. Seems to have no idea of his role, what he is supposed to do. When he gets it, his control is poor, he loses it too easily and often just falls over meekly. The ref was just waving him up and I agreed. I liked him last season and though this pressing approach we were supposed to see, would be perfect for him but he looks miles off it. He does not really close down or cause them to cough the ball up but the rare time he has it, he loses it instantly. Another who surely must do better under a new manager?



Barry 2/10 – As with above, looks predictable and pitifully weak. He gets the ball and then just has one trick that defenders read. Gets shoved off the ball and lacks any kind of physicality. He is not fast either. Also, I thought he had some skills/ability to create moments/space but just looks like the league above is too much for him. A poor signing so far and surprised he keeps getting picked as he has offered nothing but that says as much about those behind him.



Brooks 1.5/10 – I thought he was nearly as bad as Godfrey and all night everything he did, he ballsed up. He looks woeful at the moment and I was one calling for him to be a regular starter. He has had a number of chances this season and has been abject in every game. He comes inside all the time, never runs at his man, is one footed and his control/passing (like the rest to be fair) is always bouncing off him. He spooned three crosses behind and then when he had it, he just came back all the time. Sadly, at the moment does not look up to this level and I am really concerned whether he will ever be able to step up. He is another that seems to have the heart of a pea and no fight at all.



Cannon 1.5/10 – I give him a mark as at least he had a shot. The rest of the game he barely moved and was outmuscled in the challenges and just stood stagnant. He had very little service but then he does not move. I watched him when we go wide and he just stood motionless. Those who keep saying he is a poacher/Billy Sharp – what are the basing that on? He never moves. The fact we supposedly nearly moved him out on loan and then end up starting him sums up what a mess Selles approach is. He has been an absolute disaster of a signing. The fact Selles started him tonight summed up his reign.



Subs – Hard to criticise too much as we were 3-0 down but none of these were great either….



Hamer 2/10 – Came on and at least got on the ball a few times but gave the ball away that led to one of their goals and then did it again on the late chance for Szmodics. Amazed he was dropped even if he has started badly- he is still our best player.



Chong 2/10 – No idea where he was even playing – was it right back with Godfrey inside or was he right wing? He seemed to be just another running around but by this time the game was done.



Campbell 2/10 – Did not really have much of the ball to be honest as by this stage it was just about how many they were going to score. He did hold it up twice which was more than Cannon did. Not shocked he was dropped, as he has been poor but if Ings is not fit, then surely he still has to keep his place? Cannot being preferred was ridiculous.



Soumare 2/10 – He was all over the place in terms of his work – he overran the ball twice and one of these moments led to another goal. Took heavy touches and this led to us turning the ball over. As I say, the damage was done. Suppose he at least tried to run forward even if he gave it away!



Seriki – Came on right at the end – should have been brought on a lot sooner.



Manager: Selles 0.5/10 – Still not given 0/10 but today was close! I am marking it for the game rather his overall reign which would be a 0/10 probably! Tonight, he made the big chances and calls and it did not work but then nothing has worked for him. We do not create, do not score, concede, do not win tackles and give up space all over the pitch. We have no organisation, no structure and no plan how we progress with the ball. We have no partnerships, players are miles apart, we look like we have less men than anyone else. I have discussed how his position is untenable. He has come in and simply looks way out of his depth. He lacks personality and seems totally uninspiring but you can live with that if he is coaching them and getting his ideas across but he is not doing anything. He has become a joke now. It is now at the point where it is uncomfortable and even he will probably be glad when they put him out of his misery. His future in the English game will be very uncertain after this you sense. May go down as the only United (permanent manager) not to win a single point before he leaves. Even David Weir, Adrian Heath and Micky Adams won the odd game! I have no idea what he is trying to achieve at all. After the game he came on and just threw out phrases and almost seemed to know his time was up. He seemed resigned to the fact that they may make a change and if they do, they do. His body language was of a man who knows he will not be here much longer. He might be a nice fella and has fronted up – never hid or made excuses but he is simply not up to it. Been a disastrous appointment. As I said before, moving on from Wilder (I would have kept him another year whilst we changed the overall structure, coaching/DOF etc) might not have been the worst idea (although looking like it was now!) but we have backed the wrong horse.





Ipswich – We’re my favourites to go up and their manager/squad seemed more settled than the other two relegated sides. They had retained most of their core albeit losing Delap and a few experienced performers like Morsy and Chaplin. However, they had spent heavily before the end of the window after a start that was nearly as poor as United’s!



I do expect them to be around the automatic places but sometimes like we found with players who came through League One to the Premier League, there can be a burn out or point where players regress to levels they were at before. However, they still possess arguably the deepest squad in the league and I cannot see them any worse than a certain playoff spot.



In terms of the game, they were maybe second best to start but still had chances and then once they led, just blew us away, ruthlessly exploiting our weaknesses and jumping on our fragile confidence. They ended up with an absolute hammering and get their season up and running.



Opponent Man of the Match – Tricky one! Philogene. Superb but made easy but scored three great goals. Rest of team did what they had to and they after the break they ran all over us.



Opponent Weak link – Won 5-0 so hard to really give anyone this mark. Thought Akpom was ineffective though.



Referee / Officials – Farrai Hallam. Thought he was excellent and I admired him more than any of our players. Think he ran about more than most of ours too! He let the game flow, did not fall for players from either side trying to buy free kicks and just thought he let the players play. Really good.

Agree ref was excellent, counter-balances the woeful Allison as a BAME ref so kudos to him

 

[Tickhill Blade]

If that performance from Godfrey is worthy of a mark, I'm confident I could turn out for United next week and not score zero.

 

[FredZeppelin]

Agree on most, pal.

Little bit generous on Godfrey and Barry marks but just about spot on.

At least that should be that now.

utb

 

[Deadbat]

If that performance from Godfrey is worthy of a mark, I'm confident I could turn out for United next week and not score zero.

As long as you dont get sent off and score an own goal, you might escape a zero

 

[dc_blade]

Brave man.

Not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it. We look like we play all season and never score another goal.

 

[Harry's Game]

I am now convinced Cooper is playing through that rumoured injury, he looks a shadow of the keeper he was a year ago. Tonight was Grbic levels bad,

I never thought I’d say it but Adam Davies now has to come into the reckoning for Saturday.

 

[Harry's Game]

My ratings

Cooper: 1. Awful, Grbic levels bad, must be carrying an injury as he seems unable to bend his knees to get down to low shots quick enough, his place in the team now has to be in question, a shadow of the keeper we saw from August to April last season.


Godfrey: 0. one of the worst performances I have ever seen in a Blades shirt, never want to see him again.
Tanganga: 4. What must he be thinking having joined this Shit show
McGuinness: 3. Wasn’t really at fault for the goals but he’s not very good, he misjudges jumps and is slow and bad on the ball
Burrows: 1 terrible again, his involvement in the third goal was Sunday league standard..week be week he’s being exposed as the new Andy Barnsley

Peck: 3 probably his best performance this season but as he only earns a 3 is more an indictment on how bad he’s been in previous games
Matos: 5. Our best player in a bad side before he gassed out.

Brooks: 1 League one Brooks my Lord, League one Brooks, oh Lord League one Brooks
O'Hare: 2 Broke up a few balls early on the press otherwise as ineffective as ever, getting fed up with him.
Barry: 1 League one Louie my Lord, League one Louie, oh Lord League one Louie

Cannon: 0 One day an empty team coach pulled up outside a football ground and Tom Cannon emerged from it.

Chong: n/a
Campbell: n/a
Hamer: n/a
Soumare: n/a
Seriki: n/a
The game was over before any subs came on unfair to mark them.

Selles: minus 10…. Should Just fuck off to Fuckoffsville… when he gets there , fuck off a bit further.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

If that performance from Godfrey is worthy of a mark, I'm confident I could turn out for United next week and not score zero.

Godfrey’s perfomance tonight was as bad as any I have seen from a Blades defender for many a long year .

Not only did he fail to even attempt to intercept the passes Philogene received , once the latter had the ball he started to back off him from some distance away and never even came close to putting in a block or a tackle , giving him all the time and space in the world to get a shot away or put in a dangerous cross .


The perfect example of that which destroys the myth that the signing of new players will automatically bring about an improvement to the team’s performance as opposed to those we already have .

 

[Blades Glory Owls Down]

I thought in the first half, we controlled the play without ever really looking to get past their defence and created very little.
Ipswich were well organised and looked to hit us on the counter and were very effective in doing so but could have been nullified if our defenders got closer to their attackers.
At half time, I was messaging family thinking we could get back into it with some changes, not expecting the second half surrender.

I thought Cooper looked a shadow of himself and should have done better with at least 2 of the goals but did make a couple of decent saves.
Burrows had a decent first half with no end product and disappeared in the second half.
McGuinness was, as has been said, slow, cumbersome, poor with his feet and average in the air. Surely Mee/Zatterstrom have more to their game to fill that position?
Tanganga was fairly solid but was being pulled out of position to cover the huge gaps left by McGuinness/Godfrey. Felt sorry for him as he didnt deserve to be so exploited.
Godfrey was atrocious positionally and created problem after problem for himself by giving Philogene 10-20 yards space every time he got the ball and then showed him inside onto his stronger right foot every time. Offered nothing going forward and should have been replaced by Seriki sooner.
Peck was the one trying to make things happen from midfield but rarely had options from players in advanced positions so had to go square/backwards a lot.
Matos did a decent amount of running and made a few good interceptions but was largely ineffective. Unlucky that his attempted interception went straight to Philogene in acres of space.
Barry looks devoid of confidence and it seems that every time he gets it, he either runs straight at a defender and loses it or plays a poor pass to no one in particular. Should not be starting at the moment.
O'Hare cant be faulted for his effort but he, again, is ineffective and creates very little with no one to link up with.
Brooks has the potential to be a fantastic player but isnt showing this and doesnt seem to want to take a player on.
Cannon looked lost up front by himself. He never got into any good positions to receive the ball into the channels to run with the exception of his near post shot and was a virtual passenger until replaced.
The subs didnt improve us any with Hamer not getting into the game and playing a fair few loose passes, Campbell spending more time tracking backwards than going forwards and Chong appearing to not have a position assigned to him.
Seriki didnt have enough time to do anything/have any impact.

Whatever Selles is trying to implement, clearly isnt working and it looks like a lot of the players have checked out/not bought in to the ideas.
I dont think he can recover from this and the owners have some big decisions to make if there is any chance of salvaging anything from the season.
If Selles is in post next weekend, it could get very toxic if we dont show anything positive from the off.

 

[Saneblade]

United – An absolute shambles in terms of the performance, result and how we imploded so easily. The manager’s time is surely up now? 5 (6 if you count the cup) straight defeats and an absolute hammering tonight must see the board concede his appointment has not worked and make the change. His team selection was bizarre and seemed to almost say I am taking out the big games and if he goes down on my sword, then he does it spectacularly and quite stubbornly. No problem Campbell coming out if Ings was fit but Cannon done nothing to deserve a start and Hamer, as poor as he has been, is our own only real creative element. The first half we actually did ok. Matos was giving us some energy and Tanganga continued to be front foot but we still created nothing. Ipswich had not been great and we had more of the ball but they still created three chances even in this first spell and then the danger sign down our right was not plugged. Philogene gave Godfrey an absolute going over all night and the goal was so easy as he showed him inside and no one came across. The lack of cover when he comes inside was equally pathetic. After this you sensed the heads would drop but we at least stayed in the game till half time but again despite seeing more of the ball than previous games, it was all behind the Ipswich defence with the weak and ineffective Barry, Brooks, Cannon and O’Hare offering nothing of attacking note at all.



After the break, we went 2-0 down relatively early on with another easy goal as Philogene took advantage of Godfrey’s lack of pace and intelligence as he did the same thing again! Then it just fell apart. The third saw errors all over the place and Burrows slice/Cooper’s nutmeg were almost laughable. The fourth then came from more dreadful defending from Godfrey and the 5th was the same man but mistake from Hamer and Soumare in giving the ball away also contributed. The way they simply walked through us all night was embarrassing. Selles will rightly get hammered and the buck does stop with him but the players seem to have given up playing for him and for themselves. Regardless of whether the tactics are bad and he is maybe not motivating them or giving them confidence, the way they sort of walked or ambled back was shameful. They should be embarrassed at their efforts this season – they have looked completely spineless pretty much to a man (maybe Tanganga and Matos escape criticism) but the likes of Cooper, Burrows, Brooks, Peck, O’Hare, Campbell have fallen off a cliff this season and barely look competent Championship players which is incredible to write when they were part of a side that were so close to promotion. The fact they are not doing it will be pointed to the person leading them and managing them but they are going to have really improve their attitude, work rate, and play (passing and control is wretched) when the new man comes in – as if they don’t then who do they blame then? However, going back to the manager, he simply has no idea how to get us into any position to create, let alone score goals. Yet, at the other end, we look wide open. I am not sure how we have managed to be so bad going forward and never looking like scoring (7 hours of football without a goal and barely a shot!) but then looking like conceding every time the opposition with big gaps all over the field. No idea, how we seem to have players miles off each other both with and without the ball. The structure of the team is horrific but this allied to poor decisions, mistakes on the ball and not doing the basics make a perfect recipe for what is happening – us losing every single week and losing easily.



The players look on the floor and they did give up tonight and stopped even running as the final goals showed when several did not even run back. People will talk about Cooper’s poor form and his mistakes (could have been 8 or 9 actually without him – although he should have saved a few too!) or Godfrey’s nightmare performance, or Cannon’s non-existent showing, or Brooks/Barry looking completely not up to it, but when you keep going through every player you are seeing players simply not doing their job. There has to be a change as the longer this goes on, not only does it become even more toxic, but the real threat of going down becomes something that could happen despite this opinion our squad is too good to get relegated – well at the moment we are the worst team in the division by a fair distance on all the metrics and the players are showing no leadership or pride. I was amazed some clapped them at the end – it seemed like at Boro (not there tonight so maybe I misread it) but by clapping them it was as if they were with them but against Selles. I am sorry if I had paid to go down tonight I would not have been so patient with them after their complete capitulation. They should be embarrassed how bad they are playing.



So where do we go from here? If, as expected he is sacked, then I have no idea who we bring in. The talk of Nuno or Dyche is fantasy land. Neither are coming here to this mess. We will probably have to appoint another foreign coach but just hope he has more idea? I see no real outstanding candidate really. I expect they’ll go for Garry O’Neil or Carrick but neither inspire me either. However, whoever comes in, cannot do any worse. It has been an absolute shambles of a start and then the bizarre way we suddenly brought in lots of players pre deadline smacked of more appalling planning and a muddled approach. Many of the players coming in will be thinking what have they let themselves in for?





Ratings:



Cooper 2/10 – 2 seems too high weirdly for someone who let in 5 goals, got nutmegged twice and was badly at fault for the third and maybe some of the others he should have done better. However, he did make 4 or 5 other saves (most standard but a couple decent ones) and was badly exposed again. His form has been really poor. United fans were so convinced he was the best keeper in the league last year but this season he looks miles off that and is really struggling. There are bigger issues than him but is making mistakes with alarming regularity.



Godfrey 1/10 – I considered even less but my marking system normally says you would have to have a nightmare and get sent off/score an own goal. Also, he got no help as terrible as he was. He did not do that but he did little else right all game and was completely embarrassed by Philogene who made him look so poor. I am not sure he a right back at all and showed that tonight as a quick and tricky winger just did what they wanted against him. He was meant to be athletic and quite mobile but tonight looked woefully slow and cumbersome. The first he just let him drift inside but he had done this already and this happened time after time. He never even tackled him or put a body on him all game and just ambled alongside him. Surely after the 2nd or 3rd time, you would know where he was going and try and put him on his other foot? Why was he kept on the pitch? The 5th goal was as bad as it got as Clarke, a different player, brushed him off and then he just gave up. On that performance, a complete and utter waste of the sizeable loan and wages we are paying him – he had done ok in the first few games to be fair.



Burrows 2/10 – Actually, thought he started quite bright and the most far forward we have seen him since that first half v Bristol City but his passing and crossing was poor when he get into some decent positions. After the break, he faded badly and then he started making mistakes as evidenced on the third with the poor control leading to the Hirst goal. After this he started losing his man and just went into his shell like the rest. Shadow of the player from last season and for all the talk of him being a possible Premier League player – looks closer to League One currently than the next level up.



McGuiness 2/10 – He started ok and won a few headers, got to the ball first but then he made a mistake that led to a chance. For much of the rest of the game, reminded of the player I thought he was whenever I have seen him before. Slow, clumsy and easy to turn. He did not really dominate aerially for such a big lad but they played it down the sides more to be fair. Cynical booking and as the game went on, looked really leggy.



Tanganga 4/10 – Our best defender but even he got sucked into the malaise with the rest tonight. A few headers over the bar and a couple of early tackles but as the game went on, he got pulled about too and looked frustrated by the end. He was gesturing at others when goals went in and probably wonders what he has come into? Felt a bit sorry for him as he was making more effort to at least close down and tackle which barely anyone else did all night.



Matos 5/10 – Our best player merely by the fact he just ran around, won a few tackles, and got stuck in. He had a few neat touches and runs early and snapped into them and I thought that is what we need but then he sliced the clearance for the first and he could not keep his energy levels up and trailed off second half. At least some promising signs I suppose but another who was probably wondering what the plan was? Everyone did cry out for a holding midfielder alongside or being Peck. Well, we did that tonight and still got hammered so guess there are more problems than just plugging in a player there?



Peck 2.5/10 – Made captain which is telling considering he was the youngest player out there wasn’t he? He began busy enough but a lot of his efforts seem misguided and he seems a bit of a headless chicken. He does not create anything, never looks likely to be involved in goal chances/attempts of note and rarely gets his foot in and wins tackles like he did last year. Also gets run off the ball too easily. He is a young lad and many others more experienced should be doing more but he has been poor this season. As the game went on, he was throwing his arms around but he looked a forlorn figure. I think he was one of the few who did try and keep running but even he by the end just sort of gave up.



O’Hare 2/10 – Been dreadful this season. Runs around but looks like a young lad rather than an experienced pro and just falls over. Seems to have no idea of his role, what he is supposed to do. When he gets it, his control is poor, he loses it too easily and often just falls over meekly. The ref was just waving him up and I agreed. I liked him last season and though this pressing approach we were supposed to see, would be perfect for him but he looks miles off it. He does not really close down or cause them to cough the ball up but the rare time he has it, he loses it instantly. Another who surely must do better under a new manager?



Barry 2/10 – As with above, looks predictable and pitifully weak. He gets the ball and then just has one trick that defenders read. Gets shoved off the ball and lacks any kind of physicality. He is not fast either. Also, I thought he had some skills/ability to create moments/space but just looks like the league above is too much for him. A poor signing so far and surprised he keeps getting picked as he has offered nothing but that says as much about those behind him.



Brooks 1.5/10 – I thought he was nearly as bad as Godfrey and all night everything he did, he ballsed up. He looks woeful at the moment and I was one calling for him to be a regular starter. He has had a number of chances this season and has been abject in every game. He comes inside all the time, never runs at his man, is one footed and his control/passing (like the rest to be fair) is always bouncing off him. He spooned three crosses behind and then when he had it, he just came back all the time. Sadly, at the moment does not look up to this level and I am really concerned whether he will ever be able to step up. He is another that seems to have the heart of a pea and no fight at all.



Cannon 1.5/10 – I give him a mark as at least he had a shot. The rest of the game he barely moved and was outmuscled in the challenges and just stood stagnant. He had very little service but then he does not move. I watched him when we go wide and he just stood motionless. Those who keep saying he is a poacher/Billy Sharp – what are the basing that on? He never moves. The fact we supposedly nearly moved him out on loan and then end up starting him sums up what a mess Selles approach is. He has been an absolute disaster of a signing. The fact Selles started him tonight summed up his reign.



Subs – Hard to criticise too much as we were 3-0 down but none of these were great either….



Hamer 2/10 – Came on and at least got on the ball a few times but gave the ball away that led to one of their goals and then did it again on the late chance for Szmodics. Amazed he was dropped even if he has started badly- he is still our best player.



Chong 2/10 – No idea where he was even playing – was it right back with Godfrey inside or was he right wing? He seemed to be just another running around but by this time the game was done.



Campbell 2/10 – Did not really have much of the ball to be honest as by this stage it was just about how many they were going to score. He did hold it up twice which was more than Cannon did. Not shocked he was dropped, as he has been poor but if Ings is not fit, then surely he still has to keep his place? Cannot being preferred was ridiculous.



Soumare 2/10 – He was all over the place in terms of his work – he overran the ball twice and one of these moments led to another goal. Took heavy touches and this led to us turning the ball over. As I say, the damage was done. Suppose he at least tried to run forward even if he gave it away!



Seriki – Came on right at the end – should have been brought on a lot sooner.



Manager: Selles 0.5/10 – Still not given 0/10 but today was close! I am marking it for the game rather his overall reign which would be a 0/10 probably! Tonight, he made the big chances and calls and it did not work but then nothing has worked for him. We do not create, do not score, concede, do not win tackles and give up space all over the pitch. We have no organisation, no structure and no plan how we progress with the ball. We have no partnerships, players are miles apart, we look like we have less men than anyone else. I have discussed how his position is untenable. He has come in and simply looks way out of his depth. He lacks personality and seems totally uninspiring but you can live with that if he is coaching them and getting his ideas across but he is not doing anything. He has become a joke now. It is now at the point where it is uncomfortable and even he will probably be glad when they put him out of his misery. His future in the English game will be very uncertain after this you sense. May go down as the only United (permanent manager) not to win a single point before he leaves. Even David Weir, Adrian Heath and Micky Adams won the odd game! I have no idea what he is trying to achieve at all. After the game he came on and just threw out phrases and almost seemed to know his time was up. He seemed resigned to the fact that they may make a change and if they do, they do. His body language was of a man who knows he will not be here much longer. He might be a nice fella and has fronted up – never hid or made excuses but he is simply not up to it. Been a disastrous appointment. As I said before, moving on from Wilder (I would have kept him another year whilst we changed the overall structure, coaching/DOF etc) might not have been the worst idea (although looking like it was now!) but we have backed the wrong horse.





Ipswich – We’re my favourites to go up and their manager/squad seemed more settled than the other two relegated sides. They had retained most of their core albeit losing Delap and a few experienced performers like Morsy and Chaplin. However, they had spent heavily before the end of the window after a start that was nearly as poor as United’s!



I do expect them to be around the automatic places but sometimes like we found with players who came through League One to the Premier League, there can be a burn out or point where players regress to levels they were at before. However, they still possess arguably the deepest squad in the league and I cannot see them any worse than a certain playoff spot.



In terms of the game, they were maybe second best to start but still had chances and then once they led, just blew us away, ruthlessly exploiting our weaknesses and jumping on our fragile confidence. They ended up with an absolute hammering and get their season up and running.



Opponent Man of the Match – Tricky one! Philogene. Superb but made easy but scored three great goals. Rest of team did what they had to and they after the break they ran all over us.



Opponent Weak link – Won 5-0 so hard to really give anyone this mark. Thought Akpom was ineffective though.



Referee / Officials – Farrai Hallam. Thought he was excellent and I admired him more than any of our players. Think he ran about more than most of ours too! He let the game flow, did not fall for players from either side trying to buy free kicks and just thought he let the players play. Really good.

Great report DB. The owners have made about as bad a fist of their first 9 months as you could possibly imagine. I have no confidence that they are about to start making good decisions, so I would not be surprised if they either stick with him for several more games or bring in another idiotic choice.

 

[Linzip]

I think they might get rid for fear of fans at home next Saturday. By all accounts Bettis was a little shaken after last home game. He’s never been in a position where fans as as unhappy as they are with a managerial appt. So I think that will force their hands. That said they are American so anything could happen given they are from the land of lying and doubling down.

 

[Champagneblade]

Let’s start calling it what it is.

It’s played 6, lost 6.

The league cup against Championship opposition shouldn’t be expunged from any reference to how abysmal this start has been.

Credit to you Deadbat for doing a report. I wouldn’t have blamed you for taking a ‘joker’ like Roygbiv has! I don’t blame Roy one bit either!

Perhaps you find it therapeutic or have some unspoken masochistic tendencies!

I saw the game. It’s better we lost heavily. It’s impossible for the manager to come back from that. It’s not just the results anymore, it’s the magnitude of them.

I’m not being churlish here either, but I haven’t been impressed with any team we’ve faced so far. I think last season’s set up beats them all or at least doesn’t lose. Ipswich were invited to win last night. They didn’t force the win. We made it so easy.

 

[Maurice Maurice]

That was a scarily bad performance. Reminded me of the Premier League shit show when we were getting absolutely arseholed every game. As soon as they scored it was game over and we were lucky to come away only conceding five. The really worrying, and even more sickening thing is, this isn't the Premier League, this is an average Championship and we haven't played a good team yet. A lot has to be said for the manager, he's clueless and he's out of his depth. He HAS TO GO!!!

As to the players well I remember seeing them shit their pants in the Prem., but I didn't think I'd see such a mardy arsed, spineless bunch of twats turning up in Blades shirts this soon after the last lot. When he goes, and he has to go soon, cheering for the bunch of cunts who look like they don't give a shit now will be hard. As Blades we've seen some shite but the modern breed of footballer makes me fucking sick. Some one, any one should get hold of these twats and make them aware of just how important it is to mugs like us.

Hate Ipswich, hate our manager, hate our players, not in a good place thanks to these wankers, they should be ashamed, but I bet they aren't.

UTBFTP

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Actually though no consolation, games without a goal are 4 in succession. Not quite 7.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Ipswich maybe 2nd best at the start? Sky were trying to say that too, but all I noticed was an almost blind panic ( Brooks pathetic 'shot', and Burrows), a frantic, school yard like rush toget the ball, and that was it. Improvement my eye.

 

[beasty]

Thanks for the report Deadbat

Agree with everything above and particularly Maurice Maurice - this bunch of players are an absolute shower, no redeeming characters or professional pride.

Selles should have gone after the last game, it’s plain as day the players can’t/wont play for him and things are slipping further. Hopefully a sensible low risk appointment follows to stabilise and avoid relegation but given the previous decision making it could well be a Rooney/Marsch/Neville type

 

[Stanthemanfan]

That was a scarily bad performance. Reminded me of the Premier League shit show when we were getting absolutely arseholed every game. As soon as they scored it was game over and we were lucky to come away only conceding five. The really worrying, and even more sickening thing is, this isn't the Premier League, this is an average Championship and we haven't played a good team yet. A lot has to be said for the manager, he's clueless and he's out of his depth. He HAS TO GO!!!

As to the players well I remember seeing them shit their pants in the Prem., but I didn't think I'd see such a mardy arsed, spineless bunch of twats turning up in Blades shirts this soon after the last lot. When he goes, and he has to go soon, cheering for the bunch of cunts who look like they don't give a shit now will be hard. As Blades we've seen some shite but the modern breed of footballer makes me fucking sick. Some one, any one should get hold of these twats and make them aware of just how important it is to mugs like us.

Hate Ipswich, hate our manager, hate our players, not in a good place thanks to these wankers, they should be ashamed, but I bet they aren't.

UTBFTP

100% this, I hate these mardy arsed modern footballers with no bollox, pampered self entitled pricks

 

[metalblade]

I'm lost for words after watching that game, good report but maybe the marks are a bit high. Chansiri levels of ownership I doubt they will acknowledge they have screwed up but this cannot carry on they must make a change this weekend

 

[54yrblade]

I've said elsewhere that RS is having a 'mare but this is on the players too.

I know many may disagree, but they are paid good money to train, work hard and put a shift in on match day. What we're seeing is what they really are. Spineless, 'phoning it in' and, this isn't an individual thing. It's a group decision that RS is incapable of turning around. They don't ALL suddenly become this bad in this short space of time.

Self pity as their mate got the sack is not a good look, in any way of life.

They sicken me right now.

My view, we need a relegation to rock some back on their heels, from the board and Bettis down. A system shock and for another rebuild to start. The arrogance on the field and what's been shown on here and other forums is astounding.

We have no right to be in either of the two top leagues, you have to care.

This lot don't, and after the long running saga since Wilders first exit, neither do I.

 

[Gimli]

Cheers Deadbat, excellent report although I really should ask which of us is the more sadistic, you for writing this or us for reading it!

 

[richblade]

Great write up as usual - absolutely spot on It's depressing and horrible to watch these games as and when the inevitable first goal goes in you just think that's it game over. When the starting line up was announced that just told us all what was going to happen ffs. UTB

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Fans - Selles get out of our club fine

Singing wilder and knill - ridiculous

 

[Blade59]

What amazes me Selles and his staff has allegedly done a detailed analysis of the first five games and concluded that the formation is perfectly fine. As you point out in your report it just leaves huge gaps throughout the team, we look like conceding every time we loose possession and create virtually nothing.

 

[Revolution]

He should have been canned after the Boro game. that's the main point. He's so far out of his depth it's not true.

Mind you - and this may not be his fault - there's been some terrible recruitment this window.

Look at that front 4;

Barry: hopelessly one footed. When he cuts inside, runs straight into the defender. Every time. Goes outside? Puts in a weak cross
Brooks: hopelessly out of form. Crossing and decision making wretched last night
O'Hare: people talk about Hamer as a luxury player. No, a luxury player is someone playing there who's scored twice in 49 league games. I like some of the things he does but they don't lead to goals or assists. With the paucity of resources, we can't start him
Cannon: just hopeless. I know Campbell has been poor but this guy should never, ever start for us again.

What possessed Selles to play that lot together? Who did he think was going to score? Moron.

I said Ings could have plenty of upside if he can stay fit. He can't stay fit.

Midfield:

Matos: Okay actually. Best display in midfield I've seen this season, in a tallest dwarf way
Peck: still overmatched. Needs better players around him to function.

Defence:

Burrows: good before HT in places. Then he quit.
Godfrey: wretched, cowardly display. A very poor signing based on what I've seen so far. Even Seriki can do better than that at RB
Tanganga: I think we have brought 14 players in and this so far looks like the best piece of transfer business by a country mile. Like the supporters, he looks like he can't believe what he is seeing.
McGuiness: what I expected. Not very good. he was awful last season, and God knows why we signed someone who has been declining year on year.

That was Cooper's worst game for us. Must do better.

I am sick of this team, of these players, this ownership, and particularly this manager. Incompetence all round. The longer he stays in charge the more likely it is we will be relegated.

 

[programmechap]

He should have been canned after the Boro game. that's the main point. He's so far out of his depth it's not true.

Mind you - and this may not be his fault - there's been some terrible recruitment this window.

Look at that front 4;

Barry: hopelessly one footed. When he cuts inside, runs straight into the defender. Every time. Goes outside? Puts in a weak cross
Brooks: hopelessly out of form. Crossing and decision making wretched last night
O'Hare: people talk about Hamer as a luxury player. No, a luxury player is someone playing there who's scored twice in 49 league games. I like some of the things he does but they don't lead to goals or assists. With the paucity of resources, we can't start him
Cannon: just hopeless. I know Campbell has been poor but this guy should never, ever start for us again.

What possessed Selles to play that lot together? Who did he think was going to score? Moron.

I said Ings could have plenty of upside if he can stay fit. He can't stay fit.

Midfield:

Matos: Okay actually. Best display in midfield I've seen this season, in a tallest dwarf way
Peck: still overmatched. Needs better players around him to function.

Defence:

Burrows: good before HT in places. Then he quit.
Godfrey: wretched, cowardly display. A very poor signing based on what I've seen so far. Even Seriki can do better than that at RB
Tanganga: I think we have brought 14 players in and this so far looks like the best piece of transfer business by a country mile. Like the supporters, he looks like he can't believe what he is seeing.
McGuiness: what I expected. Not very good. he was awful last season, and God knows why we signed someone who has been declining year on year.

That was Cooper's worst game for us. Must do better.

I am sick of this team, of these players, this ownership, and particularly this manager. Incompetence all round. The longer he stays in charge the more likely it is we will be relegated.

As I said before, if you sack your CEO and then replace him with another company's just sacked tea boy, there's only one outcone