Are we genuine promotion contenders?

[GreasyChipBeattie]

I'm fed up of hearing this question.
Of course we are.
By definition, the fact that we are in the play-offs, equal on points to second place, means that we are, as things stand, contending promotion.
Will we be successful? No one knows for sure.
There are lots of variables that could affect other teams, heck even our team that could mean that things will change, but at this moment, as things stand, we ARE promotion contenders.
For what it's worth, I can't see anything less than a top six finish for us, even allowing for any or all the changes that might reasonably take place between now and the end of the season.
One thing is for sure though, it would be f*****g AWESOME to do it again.
Come on you red and white WIZAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRDS

 

[GaryHamsonsLeftBootLace]

Yes

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Still waiting for a so called superior team to come to the lane.

 

[1066blade]

I'll tell you by about half 9 afraid any night.

 

[DifferentClass]

We could go top on Friday. We've been without key players in most matches and you know what? We kicked arse even while losing.

So I would say yes, we are promotion contenders. I wouldn't be surprised if we were scouting the Prem as we speak.

 

[1066blade]

Should be Friday night, bleeding auto text.

 

[Jonboy60]

Are wolves and Cardiff genuine contenders, I think so. Are the teams just below us, Leeds, villa and Norwich (norwich for fuck sake), are they genuine contenders. I would say a large proportion of football people would say yes. So why not us. Apparently we've got a balloon somewhere thats going to burst. There are a few teams up there who's balloons are going to burst before ours does. You could hear the one at s6 from here in Essex. We'll be there come may, no problem.

 

[Grizzly blade]

To be fair, I watched Norwich against Ipswich other day. And Norwich looked a good side to me.

However, how much of that was down to Ipswich being quite open at home I don’t know, but Norwich looked decent up front. Wildschut was a player. They may get stronger as they get used to what their manager wants.

As for us, well the obvious answer is we are contenders at the moment. And while we maintain this type of form, belief and effort....plus as last year get lucky with injuries...then I see us being up there in May. But it’s worth noting that we haven’t seen many sides if any I would say are better than us. We might struggle to get a result at molyneux, but won’t be losing sleep over it. Other than that I believe we can win anywhere else in the league.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

To be fair, I watched Norwich against Ipswich other day. And Norwich looked a good side to me.

However, how much of that was down to Ipswich being quite open at home I don’t know, but Norwich looked decent up front. Wildschut was a player. They may get stronger as they get used to what their manager wants.

As for us, well the obvious answer is we are contenders at the moment. And while we maintain this type of form, belief and effort....plus as last year get lucky with injuries...then I see us being up there in May. But it’s worth noting that we haven’t seen many sides if any I would say are better than us. We might struggle to get a result at molyneux, but won’t be losing sleep over it. Other than that I believe we can win anywhere else in the league.

I also liked Wildschut. I think him, Jota and Swift are the best three opposition players I’ve seen this season.

 

[sufcboy95]

At the present time defiantly. But we’re still quite far away from the business end of the season, be interesting to see where we are in January.
Look at scunny last season.....still early days

 

[SwissBlade]

I'm fed up of hearing this question.
Of course we are.
By definition, the fact that we are in the play-offs, equal on points to second place, means that we are, as things stand, contending promotion.
Will we be successful? No one knows for sure.
There are lots of variables that could affect other teams, heck even our team that could mean that things will change, but at this moment, as things stand, we ARE promotion contenders.
For what it's worth, I can't see anything less than a top six finish for us, even allowing for any or all the changes that might reasonably take place between now and the end of the season.
One thing is for sure though, it would be f*****g AWESOME to do it again.
Come on you red and white WIZAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRDS

Still yes

 

[pommpey]

We are certainly a team to watch. We have proven difficult to beat when the team is organised and at full strength and have been since the beginning of the year.

Promotion? Well, if we were to reinforce and strengthen areas, have an uplift in depth and understood the real (and I mean 'real') difference in quality 'up there' then it's on. My greatest fear of promotion is relegation. If we did a 06-07-08 cycle, I don't think the club and more importantly Wilder will survive this time.

pommpey

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

We are certainly a team to watch. We have proven difficult to beat when the team is organised and at full strength and have been since the beginning of the year.

Promotion? Well, if we were to reinforce and strengthen areas, have an uplift in depth and understood the real (and I mean 'real') difference in quality 'up there' then it's on. My greatest fear of promotion is relegation. If we did a 06-07-08 cycle, I don't think the club and more importantly Wilder will survive this time.

pommpey

Can't agree with you there mate. Go up and this time use the money properly and we should be alright for a few seasons. Wilders job would be safe should we come straight back down too IMO.

Have to say though if we did go up I don’t think we’d be coming straight back down while Wilder’s in charge.

 

[bornandbred]

Yes and with CW in charge we still will be at the end of the season.Hopefully top 2.Otherwise just the playoffs which we would win.
I am that confident,early season or not.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

This might sound daft, but as much as I want us to win the league at a canter. Im not filled with joy at the prospect of us playing in the Prem. I hate everything about the fucking league.

 

[SwissBlade]

This might sound daft, but as much as I want us to win the league at a canter. Im not filled with joy at the prospect of us playing in the Prem. I hate everything about the fucking league.

Agreed.

Let’s worry about that at the end of the season.

Perhaps we can win the Championship and then forfeit our place to someone shit. But we keep the premier money.

As much as I hate the Premier League and don’t want us to be there I think it’s only fair that our club and manager get their chance in the Premier league.

 

[itsinyerblood]

This might sound daft, but as much as I want us to win the league at a canter. Im not filled with joy at the prospect of us playing in the Prem. I hate everything about the fucking league.

It's not daft Carl, almost everything that the PL seems to attract is generally opposed to the spirit of the game. That might make me sound like an old curmudgeon, but the over-commercialisation seems to distance itself from those who love the game but whose pockets are only so deep. I can recall a time when players were the puppets of clubs, then, when Haynes of Fulham broke the £100-per-week barrier it was the first step in the game going full circle, where players, and their agents, held the balance of power. Nowt wrong with employee's having more control, but as the cake has grown, so has the potential for outrageous demands.

The thing is, I want my club to be the best they can be. Apart from a few, enormously wealthy clubs, most of the 'lesser' clubs tend to get their moment in the sun, and then it's down to whether they can sustain their opportunity. In the current scheme of things I suppose I'd class the Blades as a middle rung club with the potential to go onto better things if managed well. So chin up Carl, who knows what the Blades, with Wilder at the helm, can achieve? The Premiership? Fuck 'em, we'll take the money and run!

 

[Whiston Blade]

This might sound daft, but as much as I want us to win the league at a canter. Im not filled with joy at the prospect of us playing in the Prem. I hate everything about the fucking league.

I suppose it's common to hate the PL if your team is not in it, I despise the PL but I'd take more notice of it if the Blades got back in. If Sheffield United want to be the best then the PL is our target whether we like it or not. The Championship is good, but the PL is where everyone wants to be. You don't see many fans refusing to go just because they've been promoted do you... ?

 

[Upton_Blade]

Genuine question to anyone thinking we're not or that the bubble will burst but can you really see THIS team under THIS manager having such a change in form and performances that we aren't at least in the Top 6 come the end of the season?

I know we're a pessimistic bunch and with good reason after the dross served up before CW came in but once we got into our stride last season I couldn't see anything but promotion with the way we were completely outplaying teams week in week out and so far this season is exactly the same.

Barring the 1st 45 minutes at Boro and probably Cardiff, where we were not ever really in it, we have destroyed pretty much every team we have come up against and i really can't see the drop in the level we are playing at that would see us drop out.

 

[I should coco]

Genuine question to anyone thinking we're not or that the bubble will burst but can you really see THIS team under THIS manager having such a change in form and performances that we aren't at least in the Top 6 come the end of the season?

Genuine answer.

It's not that I see us collapsing or folding but I just don't want to look ahead and put pressure on. I'm enjoying each game and the joy of going to the Lane has retuned completely. Sometimes there is a reason for the cliches, so can I just say "I'm taking each game as it comes".

I might, just might, start thinking about promotion some time in the New Year.

 

[snootyfenooty]

To be fair, I watched Norwich against Ipswich other day. And Norwich looked a good side to me.

Lets face it, Norwich did a job on us, planned and executed to perfection from their point of view. No sour grapes from me, if we did the same last match of the season needing 3 points to go up I wouldn't be complaining then either.

In reply to the OP, course we are. We were before a ball was kicked at the start of the season and I was saying it then to much ridicule.

 

[mosbolad]

Are we genuine promotion contenders?
I'm fed up of hearing this question.

Well stop asking it then.............

And only 1 like..... You must be gutted......

(Well 2 likes now, I've helped you out a bit.....)

 

[Pinchy]

This might sound daft, but as much as I want us to win the league at a canter. Im not filled with joy at the prospect of us playing in the Prem. I hate everything about the fucking league.

Then we might as well withdraw from League football and play friendlies. There are many hugely unattractive things about the Premier League but it’s the apex of English football. If you don’t want to reach the top, in professional sport, pack it in and go fishing. We don’t have the luxury of an alternative Premier League so we’ll have to strive for the one that’s available.

Fans, of course, have the prerogative of not participating should we get there. I won’t be exercising it.

 

[bladesmanluke]

Then we might as well withdraw from League football and play friendlies. There are many hugely unattractive things about the Premier League but it’s the apex of English football. If you don’t want to reach the top, in professional sport, pack it in and go fishing. We don’t have the luxury of an alternative Premier League so we’ll have to strive for the one that’s available.

Fans, of course, have the prerogative of not participating should we get there. I won’t be exercising it.

My thoughts exactly. Nobody on here is in love with the premier league, but let’s cut the nonesense about not wanting to go up. I doubt I’ll hear much booing if Fleck scuffs another ball over the goal line late this season to send us up, ala Northampton last season.

Edit: and in response to the OP, yes. We’re 100% going to finish in the top 6 minimum

 

[TTMeysh]

I still think the relative thinness of the squad might be our undoing, certainly when it comes to auto-promo. But if we are there and thereabouts at Xmas and have a good JTW, then mebbes.

Whatever happens, I think we will always look back at this calendar year as a magical time to be a Blade,

Without over-sharing, I nearly died in 2016 and my worst time, stuck in hospital surrounded by medics with increasingly long faces, coincided with the nadir that was the end of the Adkins season. I had a life saving operation in the close season, around about the time Wilder was appointed. I can't tell you how wonderful it has been to see my health revive almost in lock-step with the fortunes of the team under Wilder and Knill to the point where I'm now well enough to attend matches again and feel a part of this wonderful journey we are on.

 

[Aston max]

I love the way the little piggies are saying its just momentum not after this many games its not, anyway 50 points first and then we will see

 

[freddyp]

I'll tell you by about half 9 afraid any night.

4.5?

 

[Pinchy]

I still think the relative thinness of the squad might be our undoing, certainly when it comes to auto-promo. But if we are there and thereabouts at Xmas and have a good JTW, then mebbes.

Whatever happens, I think we will always look back at this calendar year as a magical time to be a Blade,

Without over-sharing, I nearly died in 2016 and my worst time, stuck in hospital surrounded by medics with increasingly long faces, coincided with the nadir that was the end of the Adkins season. I had a life saving operation in the close season, around about the time Wilder was appointed. I can't tell you how wonderful it has been to see my health revive almost in lock-step with the fortunes of the team under Wilder and Knill to the point where I'm now well enough to attend matches again and feel a part of this wonderful journey we are on.

Your surgeon must have visited the Lane as well...

 

[Boxer Blade]

Cannot believe some boring git hasn't said, " hold on, one game at a time, lets not get carried away" it's coming though, 1,2,3....

 

[Wandsworth Blade]

I put money on us before the start of the season to win the Championship. It just felt that with the squad playing for each other we were already top 10 material. Wednesday last season had very mixed results and performances and were play-off material. We can all look at little areas for improvement and we have certainly had more than our fair share of injuries but I always fancied us to be there or thereabouts. Only Cardiff have really genuinely beaten us fair and square. If Leeds beat us 4-0 on Friday night then I know for sure we are on our way to the Premier League.