My take on yesterday being the first Blades game I have seen stone cold sober for some time !
I agree with SEB about his feelings for the ref. As soon as I saw him leading the teams out I thought "Oh shit, its the Mike Dean show"
Wednesday started by far the brighter with 25K squealers and banging trotters behind them. They attacked with pace which is not something our back 4 are traditionally good at coping with. We then upped our game and started to look dangerous ourselves with some good interplay. But for some better delivery from Cotterill in particular we might have taken the lead. At this point I could see the Blades taking control of the match after the initial shaky period. Then up stepped Mr. Dean.
Kilgallons foot was high admittedly but not stupidly high and there was no intent he was merely trying to regain control of the ball. Never a red in a million years. It will definitely be overturned on appeal. It was at this point the ref ruined the game.
Their goal was one of those things. Paddy had come for a ball initially and punched it. We all know this is not a strong part of his game so he should have stayed put. When the ball came back in he decided to come again. Whether he shouted for Morgs to leave it we'll never know.(If you look at the Sky footage after the goal when Paddy pushed Morgs, Morgs seems to mouth "I didn't hear . . "). It was a good defensive header by Morgs, high and away, and Watson would never have tried shooting if Paddy hadn't been stranded. Also 99 times out of 100 he would not have got it on target.
Speed got booked immediately after the restart. He had obviously seen the reply of the red card incident at half-time and told Dean he was a cheat.
The penalty was definitely a pen. Personally I think it should have been re-taken because Paddy was a good yard off his line when the ball was struck. People have said the ref was trying to level things up by allowing the save to stand. I don't agree because if that was the case he wouldn't have given it in the first place. Fact of the matter is, this ref is a prick. What about Laws turning his back? "I can't watch, that'll look good on the telly". Wanker.
Johnson should have gone for the elbow on Naughton. The ref was a little unsighted but why did he give a yellow? he must have seen something. Where was the refs Arse-istant?
As for Johnson with the water bottle. If he could hit the ball like that they would have been 3 up at half-time. Anyone else notice it nearly hit Blackie? That would have been interesting if it had caught him straight in the kite. Interesting point - If a fan had thrown a full water bottle at a football match, he would have been banned for life from football grounds. Incredible show of petulance from somebody who has an attitude problem.
Positives:- Naughton(again), Stokes looked decent when he came on, he could be a solution to our left-sided problem. We had a lot more passion and commitment than the performance at the sty last season. I think a lot of people are getting carried away with negative comments because of who the opposition were and they wanted desparately to win. It wasn't that bad a performance and if the ref hadn't spoiled it, it would have been a different game altogether.
We're still in the shake-up, three points against Southampton and another three against Preston will see us pushing for the top two places. Let's get behind the lads. The pigs might be above us but I know who I'd rather be supporting.
Come on you red and white wizaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaards!!!!!
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