17th By Next Monday

[BladesOnToast]

Burnley have lost all 6 of their home games:

Man City (3-0)
Villa (3-1)
Spurs (5-2)
Man Utd (1-0)
Chelsea (4-1)
Palace (2-0)

That's honking. But the media aren't questioning it because Kompany is in charge. Has the same feel as Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney - media darlings

To be fair, all those opposition sides bar Chelsea are in top half of table, it's a pretty tough run.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Enjoy the win but try to stay level headed. It was a good result but we're far from there yet. The second half was good but first half was awful.

It's a good feeling to see Sheffield United playing well again (albeit the second half), and winning a match again. But that's one in eleven. Let's take one game at a time.

Winning at home is one thing, winning away is a totally different challenge.

Agree, altho even in that 2nd half it wasn't the quality that was so impressive, we hardly created any chances.
Thought we still looked like a relegation side but the thing that stood out was the effort, belief and sheer will to win.
It reminded of some of the Bassett and Warnock displays where the character of the players battered the opposition into submission.
Thought Baldock summed up our team, where he comes up against better opposition he just gets so angry and refuses to accept it.
Even McAtee showed so much fight and desire, it was great to see. Even if we lack quality, no complaints from me when the players give their all.

Also it was one of them matches where our players seemed to be spurred on by the crowd, maybe we were the 12 th man and the Wolves players seems to shrink in the noisy atmosphere and terrible cold and rainy conditions. We were a bit lucky with the penalty but there's no denying the win was deserved. I'm hoping it repairs some of the confidence lost against Newcastle and we start showing more quality in possession.

 

[Pedro's Winger]

Of course that's the statistics.

But pundits have written us off totally and I don't hear them saying similar about Burnley.

MOTD pundits "Can't expect to stay up conceding at the rate they are" - that's true. But Burnley and Bournemouth have only conceded 3 goals less than us. Nobody has written them off like they have us.

Of the 3 promoted clubs, Burnley are deemed the one with enough quality to pull away - based on what exactly?

Burnley have lost all 6 of their home games:

Man City (3-0)
Villa (3-1)
Spurs (5-2)
Man Utd (1-0)
Chelsea (4-1)
Palace (2-0)

That's honking. But the media aren't questioning it because Kompany is in charge. Has the same feel as Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney - media darlings

Probably because they were the best side to come out of the Championship and didn't have the kind of summer transfer chaos we did.
Not everything is some kind of conspiracy against us.

 

[Pintor75]

Luton did well, but was it not what we did against City,Spurs & Forest?, throw it away I mean

 

[Sheffsteel]

Of course that's the statistics.

But pundits have written us off totally and I don't hear them saying similar about Burnley.

MOTD pundits "Can't expect to stay up conceding at the rate they are" - that's true. But Burnley and Bournemouth have only conceded 3 goals less than us. Nobody has written them off like they have us.

Of the 3 promoted clubs, Burnley are deemed the one with enough quality to pull away - based on what exactly?

Burnley have lost all 6 of their home games:

Man City (3-0)
Villa (3-1)
Spurs (5-2)
Man Utd (1-0)
Chelsea (4-1)
Palace (2-0)

That's honking. But the media aren't questioning it because Kompany is in charge. Has the same feel as Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney - media darlings

Matt I keep repeating this but opinions are based on what they see regards performances not so much results.

I've seen a few Burnley games and they remind me abit of Wolves, play nice keep possession football, good passing, create chances but unlucky in front of goal. Many experts who have seen Burnley are reasonably impressed when they watch them, they totally dominated Crystal Palace at the weekend. Even Roy Hodgson said he was impressed with them and can't believe they are struggling, he expects them to stay up.

Where as when the same pundits have watched us, we don't create chances like Burnley do.
We don't look comfortable with the ball like Burnley do and we're generally playing aimless percentage football. So based on appearances any neutral person would surmise that sooner are later Burnley will click and start winning where as they don't see the same with us.

Also Kompany is a black guy who is respected and quite popular, so most people want him to do well.
Where as Hecky has no reputation, so the pundits feel safer to criticise.

 

[mattbianco1]

To be fair, all those opposition sides bar Chelsea are in top half of table, it's a pretty tough run.

And the 4 of them we've faced, we've lost by 1 goal.

Take away Newcastle and Arsenal and we've not been battered...

I know you can't, and we have, but, that's my point.
Nobody is looking at AFCB and Burnleys defence because its generally 3 goals so not a battering.

 

[Rodley]

And I reckon it'll be the one who is prepared to scrap to the death who will do it.

Luton look pretty scrappy but not sure burnley or Bournemouth have it in them.

It is interesting that grounds often need to be seen as intimidating for away teams but at the City Ground the most important change for us has been the feeling that the crowd can lift their team even at shit moments. How is BL for that at the moment?

If the team are going to suffer on the pitch in games (they will), the fans really do have a part to play.

I’ll be honest if the City Crowd is now seen as intimidating, we’ll be fine at Bramall Lane.

 

[Addison]

That Derby side must have been absolutely shite to only get 11 points!!

When Derby County became the worst team in Premier League history

Relegation seemed inevitable as players seemed to have given up well before the end in 2007-08

www.thenationalnews.com

They really were!

 

[Sheffsteel]

Luton did well, but was it not what we did against City,Spurs & Forest?, throw it away I mean

I watched the match, Luton gave it a go and had plenty of attacks against Liverpool.

Where as when we played Man City and Spurs we hardly even ventures in their half.
We hardly even touched the ball and had almost every player in our penalty area for long spells.
We battled brilliantly (deserve credit for defending for our lives) but how can that ever be classed "as playing well",
when we were totally outclassed, if we had gained a point it would have been seen as "day light robbery".

Put it this way, if we play every remaining match playing like we did against Man City and Spurs then we'll struggle to get 15 points.
Where as if we play like what Luton did against Liverpool then we're more open, so might let in more goals but also more chances to score.

Agree with Sheffield Red
When players are involved in a relegation scrap down at the bottom, due to lacking confidence then quality seems to melt away.
All a team has left is character, effort, desire, so this does give us and Luton an advantage over the likes of Burnley and Bournmouth.

Old Kompany must be so frustrated, Burnley keep following his instructions playing nice, decent quality football but they keep losing.

 

[sheffieldred]

I’ll be honest if the City Crowd is now seen as intimidating, we’ll be fine at Bramall Lane.

I wasn't suggesting it was intimidating, more that we now actually get behind the team when it feels like they need us (certainly not been the case for the 20 years prior to Steve Cooper), and it has seemed to have an effect even though we were pretty abject at times last season.

Not been to BL for a few years so wondered whether it feels like the fans can drag the team over the line or not?

 

[Bladesthorpe]

Before you all call me a twat, Brighton who the press are spunking over have only picked up 2 points and haven’t won in the last 5, they also play Ajax midweek.

If we can keep the second half line up from Saturday fit I fancy us for a point at least.

Having said that, if Burnley lose by 2 we are off the bottom on Saturday night (Burnley are getting fuck all from Arsenal), but the important this is, everyone else plays Saturday so we know what we need to do going into the game on Sunday. Great player motivation.

I think Luton might spoil it by getting a point at Manchester, but we could be 17th or =17th going into the break with Bournemouth at home the next game.

Keep the faith UTB.

Twat

 

[Balham]

I watched the match, Luton gave it a go and had plenty of attacks against Liverpool.

Where as when we played Man City and Spurs we hardly even ventures in their half.

I know our fanbase veers towards pessimistic but sometimes it pays to look at the stats. Luton may have "given it a go" but they should have been comprehensively beaten. They also scored on the break when Liverpool's players (who absolutely should know better) were appealing for a penalty.

Same goes for the Spurs games. Did Luton really create many clear cut chances at home against us? I can't remember any. We did a pretty good job at WHL until the officials intervened.

xG stats...
Luton v Liverpool: 0.74-3.48
Luton v Spurs: 0.80-2.27

Spurs v United: 1.68-0.61

I would also put money on Luton getting some beatings away from Kenilworth Road. They've had as easy a start as they could have wished for and have garnered 6 points.

 

[Pintor75]

I know our fanbase veers towards pessimistic but sometimes it pays to look at the stats. Luton may have "given it a go" but they should have been comprehensively beaten. They also scored on the break when Liverpool's players (who absolutely should know better) were appealing for a penalty.

Same goes for the Spurs games. Did Luton really create many clear cut chances at home against us? I can't remember any. We did a pretty good job at WHL until the officials intervened.

xG stats...
Luton v Liverpool: 0.74-3.48
Luton v Spurs: 0.80-2.27

Spurs v United: 1.68-0.61

I would also put money on Luton getting some beatings away from Kenilworth Road. They've had as easy a start as they could have wished for and have garnered 6 points.

Thank you, That was my point, I said "did well" not played well
It's points that matter in our, and Lutons situation

 

[S6Blademan]

A jammy deflection and a softer than soft penalty and all of a sudden we are prime Barca

The deludamol is strong in some of our fans

I’m still #heckyout unless unless we play like that second half every game

You have to ask why has it took 11 games

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

If Darwin had not closed his eye's.

If only.

 

[Frank the tank]

Lovely thread but we're getting fuck all out of Brighton and will still be lucky to finish the season with more than 11 points. That's the real target.

well what a fanny

 

[Frank the tank]

I wasn't suggesting it was intimidating, more that we now actually get behind the team when it feels like they need us (certainly not been the case for the 20 years prior to Steve Cooper), and it has seemed to have an effect even though we were pretty abject at times last season.

Not been to BL for a few years so wondered whether it feels like the fans can drag the team over the line or not?

Your city and football team are a shitstain on humanity and youre drug dealing match fixing chairman is a fucking scumbag

 

[Keen Blade]

Your city and football team are a shitstain on humanity and youre drug dealing match fixing chairman is a fucking scumbag

I trust you have the proof of these allegations

 

[Charlieblade]

I don’t believe anyone is suggesting a complete turn around in our performances and results. Fans are happy because we finally broke the duck, and at least in the second half, the players mostly showed what they are capable of.

The Wolves performance was based on a lesser team taking us and our league position for granted.
A few more of those sides please.

 

[Freddie]

A jammy deflection and a softer than soft penalty and all of a sudden we are prime Barca

The deludamol is strong in some of our fans

I’m still #heckyout unless unless we play like that second half every game

You have to ask why has it took 11 games

Ah get yaeself ta fuck ya defeatist b’stard. Xxx

 

[Frank the tank]

I trust you have the proof of these allegations

What a fanny

 

[S6Blademan]

Ah get yaeself ta fuck ya defeatist b’stard. Xxx

I was the one saying we could stay up last week ya weasel when no one else was

 

[JS Blade]

wOrSt pReMiEr lEaGuE tEaM eVeR!... level on points with Vincent Kompany's, Burnley - nobody talks about that though.

wOrSt pReMiEr lEaGuE tEaM eVeR!... on -21GD versus -19 of Burnley. Despite 13 of those goals coming in just 2 games. Burnley get comfortably beaten weekly - nobody talks about that though

Burnley have conceded 3+ goals on 5 occasions.
Bournemouth have conceded 3+ goals on 5 occasions.
United have conceded 3+ goals on 3 occasions.

But nobody talks about that!

I literally quoted all this at work yesterday. The best of 4 teams stays up and with players returning at christmas we are NOT the worst of the 4.

 

[8lade]

I'm sticking with the approach that worked well for us last weekend:

Not really sure why people are expecting us to get anything from Wolves, granted they don't seem to be able to finish but they'll get 2 against us I'm sure and other than that they have been enormously unlucky.

If it was a team named almost anything but 'Brighton' we would be writing this off as another free hit and we've got nothing from 'free hits' so far this season, we'll get nothing again.

 

[Chimpan-A]

I wasn't suggesting it was intimidating, more that we now actually get behind the team when it feels like they need us (certainly not been the case for the 20 years prior to Steve Cooper), and it has seemed to have an effect even though we were pretty abject at times last season.

Not been to BL for a few years so wondered whether it feels like the fans can drag the team over the line or not?

This seems fair enough, the bits I’ve seen on Sky of you lot these last two seasons, the crowd have been loud.
At the Lane, I always feel the crowd is at its best when we feel hard-done-by, which in the Premier League is most weeks, so we should be Ok if the crowd really can lift the team.

 

[SUFC Guy]

they also play Ajax midweek.

i've always loved Akpom

 

[scouseblade]

Agreed, I would put Luton above us to snatch 17th at the moment, but not because they are better than us, because they are harder to beat.

In 20/21 we ended up with 7 wins while Fulham and West Brom got 5 each, but we got 2 draws with Fulham on 13 and West Brom 11.

I honestly think the wins will even themselves out by the end of the season and the team who can shut up shop and protect a point in the last 15 minutes will get 17th.

We all know our record on that this season and how Luton can turn Kenilworth into a fortress of nil-nil frustrating tedium.

Bournemouth and Burnley don’t have the stomach for a grind, so we better crack on while we have motivation and a decent fit starting 11.

They will once they sack the fancy dan managers. Oneil got enough out Bournemouth to keep them up. I think if you remove Kompany's insane flair games, Burnley can do the same.

 

[sheffieldred]

Your city and football team are a shitstain on humanity and youre drug dealing match fixing chairman is a fucking scumbag

Your responses always do make me smile FtT. I am still super confused whether your knee jerk aggression is firmly tongue in cheek or whether it is exactly as it first appears. Either way, i like it.

For clarity my city is Sheffield.

 

[Frank the tank]

Your responses always do make me smile FtT. I am still super confused whether your knee jerk aggression is firmly tongue in cheek or whether it is exactly as it first appears. Either way, i like it.

For clarity my city is Sheffield.

Exactly

 

[Houston_Blade]

wOrSt pReMiEr lEaGuE tEaM eVeR!... level on points with Vincent Kompany's, Burnley - nobody talks about that though.

wOrSt pReMiEr lEaGuE tEaM eVeR!... on -21GD versus -19 of Burnley. Despite 13 of those goals coming in just 2 games. Burnley get comfortably beaten weekly - nobody talks about that though

Burnley have conceded 3+ goals on 5 occasions.
Bournemouth have conceded 3+ goals on 5 occasions.
United have conceded 3+ goals on 3 occasions.

But nobody talks about that!

Don’t worry, I go on their forum and call them shit at least 24 times a day.