After the first 4 matches ...........

[RammyBlade]

We were bottom of the league so if someone had said then that on 1st March 2017 we will be 7 points clear at the top of the league would you have believed them ? ............................

 

[west_yorks_blade]

No.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Yes.

 

[SteveBlade]

Maybe.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Maybe.

 

[blade too long]

some had us ear marked for relegation , so strong was their belief in us

but it was the start of something new , teething problems
never ever start to make assessments till 10 games are played

the back 5 that started the season only 1 plays regular now

 

[WhiteHawk]

Can I ask the audience?

 

[BushBlade]

We were bottom of the league so if someone had said then that on 1st March 2017 we will be 7 points clear at the top of the league would you have believed them ? ............................

Yes, football is unpredictable and it's not unusual for a new manager to get off to a slow start. I was concerned, no two ways about it, and would have been happy with just making the playoffs. But given Northampton's performance last season (and the fact several posters, not me, pointed out they also got off to a slow start) there was a little bit of hope.
He's done a great job, as much as we could have hoped for and more than we could reasonably expect.

 

[Sheffsteel]

We were bottom of the league so if someone had said then that on 1st March 2017 we will be 7 points clear at the top of the league would you have believed them ? ............................

Not at all but even after such a poor start I was still confident we'd reach the playoffs which I was dreading.

We are under so much pressure to get out of this $hit league that the playoffs would be too nerve racking, especially if we got to Wembley.

From me promotion this season would be as much about relief as well as celebration.

 

[Minty]

In all honesty no, I wouldn't have believed that for a minute. The first 4 games showed that it was a new squad, which hadn't gelled. I was optimistic that we would improve but not as quickly as we did and thought that we would be challenging for a play off spot at best and that next season would have seen a convincing promotion campaign.

 

[Ricky]

No, but if you told me after the Gillingham game then I wouldn't have been shocked. That was the start of it all. Glad I was there.

 

[Deleted member 875]

We were bottom of the league so if someone had said then that on 1st March 2017 we will be 7 points clear at the top of the league would you have believed them ? ............................

No. I thought we looked shocking in the first 4 games, and being at the bottom at that point in our 6th season in a Division we should have got out of years ago, I was totally fucked off and thought we was relegation certs this season.

More than happy to have been proved wrong now but I still personally believe that the Southend game was our biggest nadir of the last 6 years, and what has happened since has been testament to some astute and clever management from Chris Wilder, and the following 30 games has been testament to that

 

[Minty]

No. I thought we looked shocking in the first 4 games, and being at the bottom at that point in our 6th season in a Division we should have got out of years ago, I was totally fucked off and thought we was relegation certs this season.

More than happy to have been proved wrong now but I still personally believe that the Southend game was our biggest nadir of the last 6 years, and what has happened since has been testament to some astute and clever management from Chris Wilder, and the following 30 games has been testament to that

And after that Southend match he signed Moore and got Long out, which for me has to be the best decision he has made so far.

 

[Maidenhead]

Can I ask the audience?

Think a 50/50 would be more helpful in this case

 

[madeinsheffield]

After following Chris Wilders career from afar, yes I thought he'd turn it round, his previous teams have played in a similar 'team' way. We had major player problems, you think back to last season, at times it was awful and a big clear out was needed, which was always going to unsettle the remaining players. The changes were never going to happen over night

I didn't think we'd be this far in front at the start of March though!

 

[LJBlade]

Not at all but even after such a poor start I was still confident we'd reach the playoffs which I was dreading.

We are under so much pressure to get out of this $hit league that the playoffs would be too nerve racking, especially if we got to Wembley.

From me promotion this season would be as much about relief as well as celebration.

Slightly off topic but if we were guaranteed to go up in 2nd place (I've picked 2nd because going up as Champions is a different matter) or guaranteed to go up via the play-offs which would you choose?

I think i'd prefer the play-off route as it would be brilliant to finally see us win at Wembley

 

[bornablade]

Nothing comes as a surprise for those of us who witnessed the 1990/91 season when we were marooned at the foot of the table with 4 points near Christmas.

 

[Minty]

Slightly off topic but if we were guaranteed to go up in 2nd place (I've picked 2nd because going up as Champions is a different matter) or guaranteed to go up via the play-offs which would you choose?

I think i'd prefer the play-off route as it would be brilliant to finally see us win at Wembley

Well it wouldn't be a very exciting day out at Wembley knowing that we had already won! Know where you are coming from though.....and yes, a play off win at Wembley (or anywhere) would be brilliant!

 

[Grecian2000]

No. I thought the Rochdale game was as bad a game of football as one could wish to see, with both teams in complete Hoof mode. Much as results don't matter anywhere near as much as performance in the early part of the season, it was the utter ineptitude (save for Billy's finish for the goal) that had me worried about this season.
From that to the football we play now is a transformation of unprecedented magnitude. What a fine season it has turned into. Well done all concerned.

 

[GrayBlade]

Beating in-form Port Vale at the Lane 4-0 was the game I think everything seemed to fall in place. Prior to that I thought we'd probably be battling it out in the play-offs, with just an outside chance we'd make top two.

We were asking where the hell that performance and the quality of football we played came from after the game, probably thinking it was a one-off, but in actual fact it was just the beginning.

 

[AlienWoodward]

This time last year we had lost to Burton 1-0 at home last night.
Things were so desperate I wrote this on my Facebook page "I've witnessed some shite in my life following united , but come back Adrian Heath. All is forgiven !!"
After the first four games of this season I admit I was wondering if we should have kept Adkins and if we had made a huge mistake.
Now I realise what a f*ckwit I am!

 

[BushBlade]

This time last year we had lost to Burton 1-0 at home last night.
Things were so desperate I wrote this on my Facebook page "I've witnessed some shite in my life following united , but come back Adrian Heath. All is forgiven !!"
After the first four games of this season I admit I was wondering if we should have kept Adkins and if we had made a huge mistake.
Now I realise what a f*ckwit I am!

We'll never know if Adkins would have turned it around once he'd released the out of contract players etc. I doubt it but it wouldn't have been impossible. But he didn't really convince enough to be given a second chance.

Football is unpredictable so if getting predictions wrong makes you a fuckwit, we're all fuckwits including Fergie who thought Moyes could manage Man U.

 

[Iceybabey]

Yes. I could see Wilder was the man, he just needed to get into the players.

The Northampton fan who came on and told us not to worry reaffirmed what I felt about Wilder. The Northampton fans knew him better than we did but from what i'd seen and heard from Wilder, during pre-season, I could tell Wilder understood what was need for us to succeed.

 

[JPBrods]

I remember going to the Millwall game and thinking to myself afterwards "this lot could drop". Narrow defeat but they played so poorly and our goal was terrible.

The transformation since then has been nothing short of remarkable. They looked so nervous in possession back then. So controlled and domineering ever since.

 

[Ted Danson]

We were bottom of the league so if someone had said then that on 1st March 2017 we will be 7 points clear at the top of the league would you have believed them ? ............................

Yes, I even bet on us to be champs when we were bottom, shame it was only 17/1 though

 

[Sheffsteel]

Beating in-form Port Vale at the Lane 4-0 was the game I think everything seemed to fall in place. Prior to that I thought we'd probably be battling it out in the play-offs, with just an outside chance we'd make top two.

We were asking where the hell that performance and the quality of football we played came from after the game, probably thinking it was a one-off, but in actual fact it was just the beginning.

That was the game for me that changed my view.

Before that I was hoping we'd be promoted but after seeing us totally outclass Port Vale, we missed loads of chances and had 4 goals disallowed, only won 4-0 but could have been 10-0.

Coming away from BL after the Port Vale I felt a bit emotional because it was at that point
after seeing one of our best performances in years that I knew if we can play near that standard we would definately be promoted and no other team could do anything about it.

That Port Vale match blew me away and I almost felt sorry for Vale ha ha.

 

[Grecian2000]

We'll never know if Adkins would have turned it around once he'd released the out of contract players etc

I think the fact he'd gone to such lengths to make sure Dean Hammond was amongst the players he would have suggests we know very well what the outcome would be!

 

[RedandWhite]

Maybe. A good 75% of the first team squad had just met and needed time to gel.
No one can predict anything that early on.

 

[Roygbiv]

No and to be honest I don't believe it now

 

[dublin 10 blade]

Yes ,
yes I did
Chris is a Blade , knows when players are swinging the lead , and was willing to give players a chance to prove themselves , to him and us , some did , some didnt .
All we as Blades want is for the fuckers to leave everything on the pitch , we get beat , we get beat and we can say at least they tried
A seasons not won after half a dozen games , not saying this with hindsight my posts from back then are here to be read .
Lets not lose the run of ourselves enjoy this season , worry about next season ,
After being crowned champions v Chesterfield .