29/08/09 - Sheffield United v. West Brom

[Monty's_Girl]

Early team news.......


Keith Treacy (calf) in race to be fit v West Brom. David Cotterill on standby.
Brian Howard (tonsillitis) doubtful for the Blades.

 

[LSF]

I well remember the moment Big George rattled into Johnson, I exclaimed "reight tackle George!". My two sons disagreed immediately saying it was horrendous (and of course the ref agreed!). However, having played most of my football in the 60's, 70's & 80's in and around the senior leagues of Yorkshire, tackles like that were common place and nothing too extaordinary. To me it was a great tackle and he got the man as well as the ball and left him a little shook up. I suppose on reflection the game has changed for the better and tackling like that is very much frowned upon these days....
Johnson made the proverbial meal of it and looked like a sniper had got a bulls eye on him.
In my day he's have been called a Puff and told to gerrup and gerron wi'it :thumbup:

 

[Autumn]

Early team news.......


Keith Treacy (calf) in race to be fit v West Brom. David Cotterill on standby.
Brian Howard (tonsillitis) doubtful for the Blades.

Howard must have the longest bout of Tonsilitus ever....I reckon he should have the buggers out.

 

[matth]

Last time I had it I wasn't right for ages afterwards, and I lost 11lb in weight. Now a fat whammer like me can afford to do that - and look better for it - but if someone of Howard's build has had a similar drop in weight, he'll be very weak.

 

[SBSP]

Last time I had it I wasn't right for ages afterwards, and I lost 11lb in weight. Now a fat whammer like me can afford to do that - and look better for it - but if someone of Howard's build has had a similar drop in weight, he'll be very weak.

I could do with having it for a year or so on this basis!

 

[matth]

You and me both, mate. I can't find anyone who has it who's willing to give me a snog though

 

[Deleted member 1486]

Feeling confident - 2-0

 

[mall]

West Brom are a real test for us, more from our attacking play than defensively I feel. We know we can defend, even though we lose a goal now and then, but have we got enough to break them down..?

The standard answer is no.
But we are far from being at our potential best given the route Blackwell has us playing down.
If we get the ball down and pass I think that we are a match for anyone in this league, but we certainly miss the ruthlessness of some attacks.
One thing that struck me late on during the Reading match was the late runs of Ryan France from which he found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat.
To find a deep player beyond the front line was encouraging. I would definately look for that today. :thumbup:

 

[The One]

2-1 blades....BUT....depends which team turns up - the first or second half team.

 

[Paulus]

I think we've got a chance today I fancy Evans to score and apparently Brunt the Grunt is out 2 - 0 to the Red and White Wizzzzaaaaaaaards.

 

[GainsboroBlade]

2-0 the Blades!! Ward and Evans

 

[DazBlade88]

I'm 50/50 about this game today.

If we play the first half like we did against Leicester and Reading I fancy us to be 2 or 3-0 down, we'll need to make sure we turn up for both halves to win today.

I just want a win for my little nephew who was born at 9.15 this morning!

 

[BuryStEdmundsBlade]

Come on Blades!

 

[BuryStEdmundsBlade]

Ah well. Sounds like its gonna end in a draw then. Happy with that as we were behind twice!

 

[Kentblade]

Ah well. Sounds like its gonna end in a draw then. Happy with that as we were behind twice!

Sounds a good game and good to come back twice from being behind.
But if we want to go up automatically we need to get maximum points at home.
2 dropped against Leicester and now West Brom, but I knew it would be a difficult game.
Not critising the team but being factual.These points will be needed at the end of the season.
UTB

 

[Foxy]

Not a bad result considering.

Thought we were the better team again though, feels like dropped points again to me.

The officials were once again dodgy, I have no idea how Henderson keeps his calm with them. Though giving him the pen might have gone some way to make up from the number of laughable decisions the other way.

Two poor goals to conceed, both from the centre of the box, both far too much space.

Monty had a great game, was all over the place.... Thought Killa had one of the worst games I've seen him have in a Blades shirt though.

Good to go into the break having still not lost, but we need to step it up a gear and start turning the draws into wins.

 

[The One]

I thought we were the better side by far.

Conceded two very poor goals. I agree with foxy about killa, definately his worsed game in a blades shirt.

Even though i'm not Henderson's biggest fan I really do feel for the guy. It's absolutely disgusting the way referee's treat him.

Thought Taylor was the best of the defenders. Jamie Ward was his usual self.

What annoyed me was that when Cotterill came on the first thing he did was fly past a player and get brought down. After that the ball very rarely went to him.

 

[oaklandrdblade]

Have to say I agree with the two posters above in that we were the better team. More importantly perhaps I didn't see anything from them to suggest that they will set this league on fire. Bednar took his goals well but seemed like on the first Killa just switched off and lost him and then on the second he simply misjudged the flight of the ball and let Bednar get the wrong side of him.

The one thing that concerns me is a lack of pace in moving the ball, too many times we failed to pass the ball quickly enough.

Asfor the treatment of Hendo, as I have said before it seems defenders can have their srms all over him but once he uses his strength to simply stand his ground it's a foul.

 

[grafikhaus]

Happy with a draw after being behind twice, but...

Chasing a win near the end, and KB takes Ward off? And then brings Howard on?

Morgs immense - never missed a ball all afternoon.

Ref. abysmal as usual. WBA main tactic was to foul United deep in our half in order to get ten men behind the ball. Fair dos, he did book 4 or 5 of theirs, but where is the consistency? He booked one of theirs for 'simulation' but then allowed Kyle Walker to get away with a sub-Eduardo dive near the end.

Now on to Hendo. We could have Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo up front - particularly at home - and they'd struggle as our only means of 'service' is the forward hoist in the hope he'll get on the end of it.
Can we not play it through midfield, along the ground like most other teams? Probably not.

And finally, and I can't decide on this, is Hendo a victim of getting the rough end of the stick regarding referees, or is he guilty of breaking up many of our attacks with clumsy attempts at appearing to have been fouled a la Billy Sharpe?

I dunno, but I rather suspect the latter.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

"What annoyed me was that when Cotterill came on the first thing he did was fly past a player and get brought down. After that the ball very rarely went to him."

Aye and the player was booked so we never made use of the pressure that he would have felt if Cotts had been running at him.

 

[Bladesman]

The ref was awful and it felt like the penalty he eventually gave was just to appease the fans after making so many poor decisions.

We could of won the game today I think if it wasnt for the man in the middle and a certain blonde haired chap in our defence.

 

[rachyblade]

I'm happy with a draw considering the ref was a joke (again).

We were the better team though and could of won it. 'Rare' mistakes at the back cost us today, but we have to make mistakes to learn.

Can take loads of positives out of today, lots to work on too, but we are improving each game.

I feel sorry for Henderson, I thought he did well today considering he was being wrestled everytime the ball came near him. Refs need to start giving big strikers a bit of help I think.

Good game though overall and nice to see some of you again in the Lion.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Good match, one that on the balance of things we deserved something from. Their goals both came against the run of play, though they also missed a sitter that would have made it 3-1.

As for us, whilst we played well, we didn't create enough decent chances. Considering we have an abundance of decent wide players, we really don't seem to be using much width when we play.

Quick ratings:

Bunn 7/10 - steady. Don't think he had a chance with the goals
Walker 7.5/10 - was quiet in the first half, much more involved in the 2nd
Taylor 8.5/10 - thought he was superb today, with the exception of one badly overhit free-kick at 1-2. He seems to be improving week-on-week, and having been a little concerned with him at Middlesbrough he seems to be settling in really well
Morgs 8/10 - typical performance
Killa 6/10 - sloppy on the 2nd, and I suspect it was also him on the 1st. Other than that he didn't actually look too bad, but the error on the 2nd was particularly bad
Ward 7/10 - great cross for the 2nd, but I thought the game bypassed him a lot today.
Treacy 8/10 - central to all of our good work in the 1st half, and pivotal in the play leading to our 1st. Faded after that, and is probably still in need of building up his fitness
Monty 7.5/10 - typical performance
Quinn 7.5/10 - did well, tenacious whilst using the ball well today
Evans 7/10 - had one snap-shot in the 1st half from long range that seemed out of desperation, as he'd barely seen the ball. Came into it more in the 2nd, took his goal well. 2nd game I've seen him play (after Watford), and thought he was more impressive in the Watford game. I'm expecting more to come from him, and he is probably still getting warmed up.
Hendo 8/10 - thought he was excellent. After the ref had barely penalised him for anything in the first half, he seemed hell-bent in the 2nd to make up for this. Some unbelievable decisions. In light of this, I thought he used the ball well today. Deserves a goal at the minute.

Cotts 7.5/10 - looked lively when he came on. Super penalty.
Reid 6/10 - didn't really have too much of the ball, and tried too hard when he did
Howard - why??? Appeared completely negative to bring him on when pushing for a winner in injury time

 

[shorehamview]

LoughboroBlade had it about right. You can argue with the possible points, but that's just subjective. Killa was bobbins, Treacy had a good game, as did Small Quinn, and the reason to bring Howard on totally escapes me. I'd have brought Billy on for the last few minutes rather than Howard, but I'm not the manager.

 

[cooperblade]

My ratings:

Bunn 6.5 - Still got no idea whether he's any good or not. Nothing to do other than pick two out of the net.

Walker 6 - One of his weaker games, still plenty good enough though

Taylor 8 - Good display. Showed great bravery winning one first half header and generally looked a bit more aggressive and determined

Morgan 7 - Good solid display

Kilgallon 5 - Out of sorts and at fault for at least one goal

Ward 6.5 - Typically spikey display, loved seeing him shoving the 6' 5" Olsson around when play was up the other end. Would be better at centre forward.

Montgomery 7 - Didn't let WBA play too much, didn't quite push forward as much as usual

Quinn 7 - Excellent first half but faded badly. Lucky not to be replaced in the 2nd half

Treacy 7.5 - Good feet, cracking ball for goal.

Evans 7 - I assume he's been told to play a bit deeper in a role behind Henderson, can't imagine he wants to be there. Good when he was involved but not involved enough.

Henderson 7 - One of his better games but a striker who doesn't score and, for whatever reason, gets penalised all the time can only ever be so effective. I'd have him on the bench with Cotts starting. Might need a taller central midfielder to defend set pieces before that happens.


Overall a decent performance and, like with Leicester, I think it was a game we'd have lost last season. Frustrating to see Blackwell looking gutted when 5 minutes was shown and making a slightly defensive substitution. Minor criticisms though.

 

[Guesty]

Nice to see Brom had to resort to lumping it, after all the bleating I've endured off their fans about them playing football the "right" way.

Nasty, dirty niggling team too.

 

[WorkingtonBlade]

I thought they passed the ball much better than we did. Agreed about them being dirty and niggling though.

As regards bringing Howard on, although it seemed a bit pointless at that stage, all I would say is that in injury time there was only one team that looked like scoring, and it was West Brom. It's all alright chanting "attack, attack, attack" but you have to get the ball first. Putting on another striker would just have meant another striker, defending.

 

[Guesty]

I thought they passed the ball much better than we did. Agreed about them being dirty and niggling though.

As regards bringing Howard on, although it seemed a bit pointless at that stage, all I would say is that in injury time there was only one team that looked like scoring, and it was West Brom. It's all alright chanting "attack, attack, attack" but you have to get the ball first. Putting on another striker would just have meant another striker, defending.

Not for the second goal though, proof that you really do have to lump it sometimes!

 

[cooperblade]

Just seen on the BBC stats that WBA didn't have a single corner. Can't be very often you play against the top of the league side and don't concede one.

Wonder how many neutrals would be surprised which team committed 22 fouls?

 

[kelham blade]

Treacy was MoM for me, central to everything positive about today's attacking display until he ran out of energy.

Henderson was unfortunate with a few decisions but I'm afraid this will continue while he solely relies on the physical side of his game and doesn't improve his first touch.

I'd rather see Ward in attack with Evans for home games in an attempt to see us play the ball on the floor when passing from the back.

Quinn looks more composed on the ball and I hope this continues.

Killa just had one of those days. Hopefully the injury to his hand was what was on his mind rather than any contract/transfer issues.