Blades 3 Fleetwood 0 - brief report

[William Henry Foulkes]

"Forward" "Forward" "Forward" - the shouts are still ringing in my ears. 1-0 up from the first minute and yet so many fans were incensed. Fleetwood were energetic in their covering and tackling but played so deep it made it difficult to find space.

Loads of criticism on S2 but not many solutions.

Second half we were better until the game was won, but first half we were very poor. My view is that, with the exception of Sharp, not a single forward player was active enough last night, simply not enough movement. Ryce was a statue, Adams has a lot to learn, Basham hides, Hammond looked like a clone of Coutts ( even has the duck feet and waddle) and Done doesn't seem happy pushed out wide and I don't blame him. Midfielders hoping to make forward balls could only see one player making runs, the rest were inactive, it's not good enough. Second half was better.

Hammond will be a big asset no doubt but last night he was average and it was a surprise he went straight into the team, suppose it shows how worried the manager is about central midfield.

K.Wallace is coming on in leaps and bounds and was bright and sharp from the off and then involved in all three goals.; he's a good athlete and a very calm, controlled character. He gave Done a real dressing down over making himself available mid first half and that shows his confidence is growing. Harris might have a job getting his place back.

I hope we haven't got a problem with Done. He seems to get a lot of criticism from other players when you'd think his all action style would endear him. However he has different body language when out wide and looks miserable.

McGahey has had a really good week. Howard's distribution was uneasy, he seems out of tune with the team, but again lack of movement and availability doesn't help him.

Basham needs to claim a central defensive position before long otherwise he might end up on the bench if we find other solutions there.

A word for Collins. 100% trier, experienced and competitive and had another good game defensively, if not offensively.

Some insight into Done there. Didn't see Wallace talking to him.

I think he has enormous attributes but I don't see how he fits into the team. I have posted about this before and I'm aware that he scores goals but he looks (or looked, last night) out of place out wide.

Agree about Collins.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I thought Basham had his best game for ages last night. Helped by the man next to him not being invisible in the face of opposition but also because Fleetwood decided to play deep rather than try and play further up the pitch where other teams have had a lot of success against us. . . which was odd considering they should have been full of beans on the back of the weekend's game.

Basham was MoM for me - and I've just read a post saying he was hiding(!).

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

I still think that generally the atmosphere has suffered ever since it went all-seater. Even when we were shite back in the mid eighties, our fans seemed a lot more vocal, and in a positive way.

Like it or not football's been gentrified. For some of us it's a lifelong passion for others it's another entertainment or experience. The bigger the crowd the bigger the proportion of Light Users.

A lot of the crowd would no more cheer at a match than they would at a film, say.

Not sure it's related but the crowd at gigs will often just stand there and gawp.

 

[s35blade]

For me it was an acceptable enough performance, we didn't roll them over, but then again we always looked the better team and without a doubt deserved a win. Win's like that are your meat and potatoes of a promotion campaign and unfortunately it won't always be 5-0 thrillers.

 

[Grappler]

Basham was MoM for me - and I've just read a post saying he was hiding(!).

Has to depend where you are sitting mate, not my MoM choice.

 

[LSF]

Basham was MoM for me - and I've just read a post saying he was hiding(!).

Chris Basham is many things to many people ( I quite like him despite his foibles), however, one thing he definitely doesn't do is hide! I kinda winced too when I read that unfair comment.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Chris Basham is many things to many people ( I quite like him despite his foibles), however, one thing he definitely doesn't do is hide! I kinda winced too when I read that unfair comment.

I also thought he worked tremendously hard and got better and better as the game went on.

 

[Woodwardfan]

It just seems to be that his redundancy is more down to his own way of playing rather than the overall tactics. Many a time he got the ball in space and immediately passed it, sometimes to a team mate under pressure, rather than holding it and having a look for a better option. I could understand it if he didn't seem comfortable on the ball, but he's shown glimpses of real skill, his cruyff style turn for example, which shows he can play. Perhaps he lacks confidence in his own ability or it's fear of being to blame for losing the ball - I don't know.

I've always said he's a really good defender who fancies himself ( or used to) as a midfielder.

Clough told us all that he would be a "main man" in midfield when he signed him and I believe that was why he came to us. The lad needs to take stock, look at the way the wind is blowing, accept reality and fight for his place in central defence. His days are numbered in midfield, it's obvious.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Basham was MoM for me - and I've just read a post saying he was hiding(!).

That's football, a game of opinions and it's the manager who stands or falls by decisions whether Basham was one of our better players last night. The poll of 60 Blades on here suggests he was one of the worst.

 

[Woodwardfan]

For me it was an acceptable enough performance, we didn't roll them over, but then again we always looked the better team and without a doubt deserved a win. Win's like that are your meat and potatoes of a promotion campaign and unfortunately it won't always be 5-0 thrillers.

It takes two to tango to create a thriller of a football match.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

well the no center half coming in myth might go the same way as the no midfielder coming in myth

To be fair the centre half issue has gone on since last season.

 

[Bergen Blade]

To be fair the centre half issue has gone on since last season.

They've done pretty well the last few games though. The goals we've conceded haven't been primarily down to the centre halves.

 

[blade too long]

To be fair the centre half issue has gone on since last season.

Adkins has only had the start of this season to sort out who he had and the short comings
Its fair to say he has made attempts to bring one in , but hes waiting for a good one , which are thin on the ground

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Adkins has only had the start of this season to sort out who he had and the short comings
Its fair to say he has made attempts to bring one in , but hes waiting for a good one , which are thin on the ground

In addition he's brought one in from the naughty step and already signed another on a season long loan. The CB situation is nowhere near as dire as it was last season. I'd agree it's still an area that could be improved upon but we do have viable centre half options now and shouldn't find ourselves needing to put McEveley there.

 

[blade too long]

think he will get in another , think hes annoyed Fulham suffered a couple of injuries which stopped the Burn move immediately
its also alerted others to his availability , which is always an irritant