7th with a great chance of promotion

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

It's the weakest League One I've seen and we're 7th and still with a great chance of getting in the play-offs. But we all know this team isn't capable of winning at Wembley as it is. Why aren't we showing more ambition to recruit players that could get us to Wembley and win?

All this talk of waiting until next season baffles me. Jamie Murphy handed in his transfer request and the board just let him go. Are we really naive enough to think a player like Matty Done or John Brayford will just happily wait another season in League One? Their transfer requests will be in immediately after failing to go up this season, and then our team will be even worse than it is now.

Without showing ambition why on earth would we buy a season ticket next year?

 

[Ricky]

Pretty sure Done will have no choice. And at this rate neither will Brayford.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

All we are is 7th with an outside chance of the playoffs. Like any team sat in 7th. When you're in the playoffs you have on the face of it a 1 in 4 chance and that doesn't account for many other variables that fall either for you or against you.

At this moment I think we are where we deserve to be. We've been on a decent run to get ourselves back in it and couldn't beat either Wigan or Peterborough (the two teams above us). Off the top of my head the only top six team we have managed to beat is Coventry and we were very fortunate to do so.

That all points to one thing.....invest in the squad and we might have a 1/4 chance at best.

 

[PeteBlade]

Done was playing for a club lower than us now when we bought him. Before that he was at Barnsley.

There's no reason to think he'll be handing a request in. He probably won't get paid more playing for anyone else in this league.

 

[finlaytheblade]

It's the weakest League One I've seen and we're 7th and still with a great chance of getting in the play-offs. But we all know this team isn't capable of winning at Wembley as it is. Why aren't we showing more ambition to recruit players that could get us to Wembley and win?

All this talk of waiting until next season baffles me. Jamie Murphy handed in his transfer request and the board just let him go. Are we really naive enough to think a player like Matty Done or John Brayford will just happily wait another season in League One? Their transfer requests will be in immediately after failing to go up this season, and then our team will be even worse than it is now.

Without showing ambition why on earth would we buy a season ticket next year?

Where do you get :we are happy to plan for next season?: no way is the club happy to plan for next season losing money hand over fist while we are in this division. We could miss out but no way will the club be happy with this.

 

[Rodley]

Pretty sure Done will have no choice. And at this rate neither will Brayford.

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

Done was playing for a club lower than us now when we bought him. Before that he was at Barnsley.

There's no reason to think he'll be handing a request in. He probably won't get paid more playing for anyone else in this league.

He might just want to join a team that shows ambition? But yeah I can imagine a championship side taking a gamble on him.

 

[Harry's Game]

Why aren't we showing more ambition to recruit players that could get us to Wembley and win?

The FFP ceiling which we are just about staying under.

We need at least four good players coming in to the key positions of Centre Back, Centre Mid, Winger, and Centre Forward to give ourselves the best chance of winning the play offs. To do that we have to get the wages down and that means players moving out and as no one is going to take the cart horses off our hands until their contracts expire we are probably going to have to wait until summer to make the big changes.

Or..

Sell Brayford and Done in the next couple of weeks which could free up funds but then that is cutting our nose off to spite our face.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Jamie Murphy handed in his transfer request and the board just let him go

Not true...

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Done was playing for a club lower than us now when we bought him. Before that he was at Barnsley.

There's no reason to think he'll be handing a request in. He probably won't get paid more playing for anyone else in this league.

Pete , correct. Rochdale , Barnsley , Rochdale , SUFC.

Adkins doesn't love him as much as Billy , but Keith Hill loves him but cannot afford him . Done is not a high profile player who is a wanted man by a number of clubs. If we tried to sell him , I don't think they would be many takers .


UTB

 

[BushBlade]

Pete , correct. Rochdale , Barnsley , Rochdale , SUFC.

Adkins doesn't love him as much as Billy , but Keith Hill loves him but cannot afford him . Done is not a high profile player who is a wanted man by a number of clubs. If we tried to sell him , I don't think they would be many takers .


UTB

Who does love Done as much as Billy apart from his mum? And after Satdi's goal she's wavering a bit.

 

[wizadry]

Every side in this league turn up at Bramall lane thinking they have a great chance of winning and that for me is a sign of where we are at. At one point, every side shat their pants at coming to the lane and were lucky to get anything remotely cheap from our great ground. This is all down to ambition, which the OP touches upon. Matty Done could quite easily go and some of our fans actually want him to go as seen on the other thread. Maybe the ambition from the boardroom has transferred down to some of our fans? A very sad sign indeed.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

My problem with the squad is that it's unbalanced in the sense of not having enough different attributes in key areas. We have good players but for instance....Sharp and Done, both quality but it's not a partnership. For me it's doesn't work. Basham and Hammond.....again nothing wrong with them individually but they don't work together.

We need to get those partnerships right in quite a few areas. As many say a centre half is needed but I'm not convinced it's the biggest problem. A couple of ball carrying/forward thinking midfield players would take a lot of pressure off us and force the opposition to play deeper. A strong no.10 with aerial threat would create more gaps for Sharp. It's about having the right things to complement other players.

 

[Sheffsteel]

The fans and McCabe are the only constant since our demise
We need to be brave and show more ambition and not accept that failure is inevitable.

Fjortofts aeroplane has already said this team is NOT capable of winning at Wembley.
Multiply that mental attitude by 20,000 and this has a tangible negative effect on a club.

We're famous for our negativity but the problem with negativity is that it can become a self fulfilling prophesy. It's like when England go to penalties in a major tournament. The fans and players act like we've already lost because we all know "England ALWAYS lose at penalties", so it becomes much harder for our players.

But I do agree with some of the criticism.
Adkins seems to have decent players and a big squad to chose from but can't find the effective formula.
We look unbalanced and still haven't replaced Harry Maguire.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

Every side in this league turn up at Bramall lane thinking they have a great chance of winning and that for me is a sign of where we are at. At one point, every side shat their pants at coming to the lane and were lucky to get anything remotely cheap from our great ground.

Bang On!

The supporters made it that, identifying with certain players who we knew would fight to the last whistle.
We haven't had that "Leader" since Morgan.

No coincidence since his career ended that BDTBL became a nursing-home with no defence system.
Clubs and their players arrive here, aren't motivated by fear. Subdue the team and then the supporters follow suit.

Sometimes think there's a level of confusion between the players and the crowd, both requiring encouragement, but neither knowing when to start.

 

[Deleted member 875]

Bang On!

The supporters made it that, identifying with certain players who we knew would fight to the last whistle.
We haven't had that "Leader" since Morgan.

No coincidence since his career ended that BDTBL became a nursing-home with no defence system.
Clubs and their players arrive here, aren't motivated by fear. Subdue the team and then the supporters follow suit.

Sometimes think there's a level of confusion between the players and the crowd, both requiring encouragement, but neither knowing when to start.

But without sounding like the happiest clapper in the world when did the winning goal come on Saturday.

 

[Stretch]

Sod it, I am going to be the hopeless optimist.

There are 20 games left to play, such a long way to go. With a few key additions I do think we could catch any of Wigan, Cov and maybe Gillingham as we have to play them all again and have a game in hand on each of them. Of the 3, I also have a feeling that the Gills will fall away. Let's just say that happens, we could find ourselves within touching distance of 2nd with a few games left.
I realise it will take a hell of a run and would be reliant on a few teams screwing up but Adkins has the experience of auto and play off success. If anyone can, he can surely?

Keep the faith Blades, our form is much better now and we finally have some character and drive about us.

Oh and before anyone says anything, no I haven't been drinking tonight

 

[wizadry]

Sometimes think there's a level of confusion between the players and the crowd, both requiring encouragement, but neither knowing when to start.

I agree with most of the post, mate, but as for the above bit, do you think that if the fans got paid a handsome sum of money they would then know when to start?

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

But without sounding like the happiest clapper in the world when did the winning goal come on Saturday.

That was at Colchester United.

I'm referring to Wizadry's post about BDTBL and opponents coming without any fear.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

I agree with most of the post, mate, but as for the above bit, do you think that if the fans got paid a handsome sum of money they would then know when to start?

Money wouldn't work.

Education perhaps.

Maybe some stewards could run down the sides of the ground holding up placards telling the supporters when to sing, cheer, clap, sigh, oooohhhh, but NEVER boo, defeats the objectivity of being supportive.

Then onto Pyro...

 

[PeteBlade]

I fear coming to Bramall Lane more than our opponents do these days to be fair.

 

[Dkc]

you have on the face of it a 1 in 4 chance and that doesn't account for many other variables that fall either for you or against you.

....invest in the squad and we might have a 1/4 chance at best.

In theory we have a better than 1 in 4 chance in the L1 playoffs, or in the semis at least. "Big" clubs tend to beat smaller clubs more often than they lose to them. In the away leg of the semi we could well have more fans than the home side. In the home leg we'll have ten times as many fans urging us on.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

In theory we have a better than 1 in 4 chance in the L1 playoffs, or in the semis at least. "Big" clubs tend to beat smaller clubs more often than they lose to them. In the away leg of the semi we could well have more fans than the home side. In the home leg we'll have ten times as many fans urging us on.

In theory we would be in the premiership , in practice we are were we are . Size of the fan base also has nowt to do with success, as we know with experience .

 

[wizadry]

Money wouldn't work.

Education perhaps.

Maybe some stewards could run down the sides of the ground holding up placards telling the supporters when to sing, cheer, clap, sigh, oooohhhh, but NEVER boo, defeats the objectivity of being supportive.

Then onto Pyro...

My point is there should never be any confusion from the players when to start putting it in. Although it will help, they shouldn't need any encouraging. I don't need any at my place of work and i get significantly less.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

My point is there should never be any confusion from the players when to start putting it in. Although it will help, they shouldn't need any encouraging. I don't need any at my place of work and i get significantly less.

"You don't need any encouragement Mr Wizadry?

Promotion on the cards and a £5p/h deduction in wages.

A credit, we wish all our slav... sorry, employees had your ethos for the Republic"

Kim Jong-il
Boss.

 

[wizadry]

"You don't need any encouragement Mr Wizadry?

Promotion on the cards and a £5p/h deduction in wages.

A credit, we wish all our slav... sorry, employees had your ethos for the Republic"

Kim Jong-il
Boss.

Cheers gaffer

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

In theory we have a better than 1 in 4 chance in the L1 playoffs, or in the semis at least. "Big" clubs tend to beat smaller clubs more often than they lose to them. In the away leg of the semi we could well have more fans than the home side. In the home leg we'll have ten times as many fans urging us on.

It's an interesting theory but not one I really buy into if I'm honest. I imagine there are some patterns in playoff history although I don't think size of club would be that prevalent but I could be wrong.

I think it's far more likely for instance that the team with the home leg second will go through. I also think it's far more likely that the team with the best end of season form will win the playoffs.

 

[Darthblade]

The fans and McCabe are the only constant since our demise
We need to be brave and show more ambition and not accept that failure is inevitable.

Fjortofts aeroplane has already said this team is NOT capable of winning at Wembley.
Multiply that mental attitude by 20,000 and this has a tangible negative effect on a club.

We're famous for our negativity but the problem with negativity is that it can become a self fulfilling prophesy. It's like when England go to penalties in a major tournament. The fans and players act like we've already lost because we all know "England ALWAYS lose at penalties", so it becomes much harder for our players.

But I do agree with some of the criticism.
Adkins seems to have decent players and a big squad to chose from but can't find the effective formula.
We look unbalanced and still haven't replaced Harry Maguire.

Regrettably, not enough of the 40 or so players that NA currently has at his disposal are viable in this agricultural division, in fact probably only about 6 or 7 are.

Most of them are either;

a) not good enough ( worryingly )
b) not consistent enough
c) not effective / able to make an impact on this division

That; is why we have doomed ourselves to yet another season in this agricultural division ....... self-inflicted exile into the lower divisions dou to incompetence and failure to act to rectify our glaringly obvious, long term squad deficiencies !!

UTB & FTP

 

[Hunkerby]

I would feel more confident going into the playoffs if we are led by a positive manager who has actually won promotion via that route previously.

 

[Treeton Blade]

It's the weakest League One I've seen and we're 7th and still with a great chance of getting in the play-offs. But we all know this team isn't capable of winning at Wembley as it is. Why aren't we showing more ambition to recruit players that could get us to Wembley and win?

All this talk of waiting until next season baffles me. Jamie Murphy handed in his transfer request and the board just let him go. Are we really naive enough to think a player like Matty Done or John Brayford will just happily wait another season in League One? Their transfer requests will be in immediately after failing to go up this season, and then our team will be even worse than it is now.

Without showing ambition why on earth would we buy a season ticket next year?

My excuse would be because I am a Blade, and like to support the team