Balance of Power

[Bladesway]

Heard a lot of talk about the balance of power shifting in Sheffield Football. Apart from the fact that being the best team in Sheffield right now is the equivalent of being the tallest dwarf, has it really shifted? They scramble a point with 2 last gasp goals and they are going round like they have won the Champions League.

Hardly the talk of a club who are the best in the city now is it? I'm enjoying greatly the way they are sounding off, 5 points clear of us and going up where we apparently are turning to shit. Couldn't be more deluded as a fanbase really.

The balance of power hasn't shifted at all. We are both shit and in the third division but 3 weeks above us in 11 years really doesn't prove anything other than they are in good form and we currently are not. Have faith Blades, it will change and they will go back in the dumper where they belong. With Wilson in charge we will be in the top 6 end of season and comfortably above them.

 

[judge]

if i was a pig fan i would be very concerned at my teams lack of passing ability ,yes they got a draw but they were very direct and reminded me of the old wimbledon team
very one dimensional a little more proffesionalism from our lads would have seen a comfortable win

they can fucking have the draw if it means that much to them but they are only papering over the cracks of a dire football side

 

[davidpinder]

if i was a pig fan i would be very concerned at my teams lack of passing ability ,yes they got a draw but they were very direct and reminded me of the old wimbledon team
very one dimensional a little more proffesionalism from our lads would have seen a comfortable win

they can fucking have the draw if it means that much to them but they are only papering over the cracks of a dire football side

Yep if only every team could do what Stevenage did it wasn't rocket science when you look how they play. Lose Madine and they have shit it IMO.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Oh power! I thought you said dour.

 

[grafikhaus]

I agree with all that. Yet the problem isn't so much how they've improved (they haven't, they've just hit on a 'style' that will win more than it loses in Division 3 - maybe that's our solution???)

More worrying is that it highlights just how far we've sank - and I think the next few weeks will see us sink further. As someone pointed out elsewhere, they have four forwards to choose from. All shite in my opinion (and if Madine is going to claim own goals, they may as well give him the Top Scorer Award now), but the key words are 'choose from'. We're down to just 2 main strikers (I don't count Porter) who know that, if fit, they'll continue to get picked. Selling Slew and, for nuisance value Henderson, has left us woefully short in this department. I knew at HT yesterday that the game was not over as, for the umpteenth time, we simply didn't put enough work in at their end.

Not a million miles from putting it right, and we've got some cracking players in there. But a new goalie and striker is essential. And so is a manager with the nous to know when to kill a game off. There was ample evidence that Phillips could do a lot towards that - holding it up in their corners etc. But for the life of me I cannot see the logic in pulling all eleven back when defending a corner/throw/free kick. Where's the outlet?

I often wonder what all these 'badges' actually mean. Two examples. Yesterday Collins (I think) twice played it back to an under-pressure Simmonsen - directly to his feet. Any pro. knows you put it to his side to give a better chance of missing the oncoming striker, and it lessens the damage a 'skew shot' might cause. And finally (promise!), I notice young Harry playing it back to an under-pressure Simmonsen, and then ambling upfield as if his job is done. No! He should peel off to his wing to give the goalie another option.

If the Wendyites are this morning celebrating their massive draw (and beating up some innocent kids on Shoreham Street), it shows what scum and delusional idiots they are. I'm fortunate in that I don't come into contact with them. But then I don't live in a council house on Southey Green or the Cross.

 

[Tuns]

I was at a different match.

I thought we were lucky to get a draw if you look at the whole 90 minutes. Their style and attitude meant they were far better equipped for a derby than we were.

Yes they were physical and direct but no more than we have been for most of the last 20 years.

They did actually pass it a bit as well at times - far more than people seem to be giving them credit for. Our reaction to them reminds me of how others saw us for the last two decades.

If we couldn't match them physically we had to out-football them. And we simply aren't good enough to do that.

Megson looks like he could be doing a Warnock just it isn't taking him 7 years to do it.

Organised, battlers, stick to their jobs, get the ball in the box early...

They're no world beaters but if we are objective they were slightly better than us yesterday - as the stats testify - and I was happy with not losing.

We knew exactly how they would play and at 2-0 it was obvious if they got one then our defence would crumble and give them at least one more.

We were not good enough to win and hopefully DW has the ability and the resources to address our obvious weaknesses.

 

[judge]

im just saying it as i saw it and to me the pigs looked very one dimensional and couldnt pass water
the only player in their team who looked to pass and move was marshall
if not for two very sloppy pieces of goalkeeping we would have easily kept them at bay
not biterness ,i expected them to be stronger than us in the air and to play a very direct style but even i am surprised at just how basic they looked

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Apparently it feels like a win to them.

They must rate us really highly if they feel like that.

Drawing 2-2 with us clearly feels like a MASSIVE result for them.

 

[TopBoy]

I was at a different match.

I thought we were lucky to get a draw if you look at the whole 90 minutes. Their style and attitude meant they were far better equipped for a derby than we were.

Yes they were physical and direct but no more than we have been for most of the last 20 years.

They did actually pass it a bit as well at times - far more than people seem to be giving them credit for. Our reaction to them reminds me of how others saw us for the last two decades.

If we couldn't match them physically we had to out-football them. And we simply aren't good enough to do that.

Megson looks like he could be doing a Warnock just it isn't taking him 7 years to do it.

Organised, battlers, stick to their jobs, get the ball in the box early...

They're no world beaters but if we are objective they were slightly better than us yesterday - as the stats testify - and I was happy with not losing.

We knew exactly how they would play and at 2-0 it was obvious if they got one then our defence would crumble and give them at least one more.

We were not good enough to win and hopefully DW has the ability and the resources to address our obvious weaknesses.

Spot on Tuns, exactly how I saw it yesterday.

 

[judge]

can anyone answer me this ? how come rob jones never got booked he must have commited about 8 fouls ,same with reda jhonson in fact there entire defence should have been on yellows in the first half alone

 

[Silent Blade]

Balance of power based on final league positions

1892-93 Wendy
1893-95 Blades
1895-96 Wendy
1896-1900 Blades
1900-04 Wendy
1904-05 Blades
1905-06 Wendy
1906-07 Blades
1907-09 Wendy
1909-10 Blades
1910-13 Wendy
1913-15 Blades
World War 1
1919-28 Blades
1928-37 Wendy
1937-39 Blades
World War 2
1946-49 Blades
1949-54 Wendy
1954-56 Blades
1956-61 Wendy
1961-62 Blades
1962-65 Wendy
1965-67 Blades
1967-70 Wendy
1970-80 Blades
1980-90 Wendy
1990-91 Blades
1991-2000 Wendy
2000- to present Blades

Wendy 56 seasons

Blades 53 seasons

 

[pommpey]

It is a massive result for them. Imagine if we'd have gone to the shit-tip, conceded two before HT and scrambled two back in the dying minutes?

We'd be pissing in their pockets in the cloakrooms.

Face it, we fucked it up. Don't wanna come over all Len about it, if we had a 1-0 lead and they scrambled a dirty goal at the end then you could possibly hold your hands up and say 'That's Football'. The fact that we were 2-0 up makes you hold your hands up and say, 'That's Sheffield United.' We talk about 'killing the game off', but what happened to possession football? What is the porblem in keeping the ball from them, playing in their half and basically building a 4-2-3-1 gainst them to stop any attacks? And getting a decent keeper who is comfortable with aerial balls?

Bad news all round say I. We need to get real, get physical and look like we want it. Okay, I only listened to it on the wireless-radio yesterday and you guys were there, but we sounded like we looked surprised to be 2 up and relieved to be 2-2 by the end.

pommpey

 

[judge]

youre wrong we totally outplayed them first half and i was amazed at how basic they looked ,second half they were constantly on the attack nbut uniteds defence looked very comfortable dealing with their predictable long ball onslaught


enter steve simonsen

 

[grafikhaus]

but we sounded like we looked surprised to be 2 up and relieved to be 2-2 by the end.

pommpey

In a nutshell.

 

[judge]

in a nutshell ,if you want to take the most extremely negative view on the game
what about the fact we dominated them first half and with a bit more nous would have been looking at avenging 79 ?

 

[grafikhaus]

in a nutshell ,if you want to take the most extremely negative view on the game
what about the fact we dominated them first half and with a bit more nous would have been looking at avenging 79 ?

Don't think it's negative, judge. I don't agree we dominated the first half. We had a good shout for a pen. and scored two. Not bad at all, but their goalie didn't have a shot to save. Could tell under the South Stand at HT, everybody was a bit stunned we were 2-0 up but knew it would only take one goal from the pigs. Thank god it didn't come earlier. The first half is when we should have put it to bed. I knew Megson would tear into them at HT.

Agreed about 'a bit more nous', but I don't think nous goes walkabout. It's either there - drummed into the players by the coaching staff - or it isn't. Compare and contrast with Megson and that old bloke on the touchline. Now they were up for it. From getting Prutton to warm up and gee their fans up to their 'shit or bust' efforts encouraging the entire team forward at the end. That's nous. Wilson, on the other hand, seems to have affected the Bryan Robson, dressed in suit, tailors dummy approach. I know which I prefer.

 

[norfolkblade]

enter steve simonsen

Valid point, but what I am amazed hasn't been debated is, why the hell did he sub Evans instead of Cresswell, and for bloody Porter as well?! I'd have understood if he took Evans off for say Lecs, so we went 5 at the back and shut up shop, but that decision really baffled me, and IMO, cost us the game almost as much as Simonsens indecision for the first, and ridiculous appeal for a foul for the second.

 

[judge]

Don't think it's negative, judge. I don't agree we dominated the first half. We had a good shout for a pen. and scored two. Not bad at all, but their goalie didn't have a shot to save.

Agreed about 'a bit more nous', but I don't think nous goes walkabout. It's either there -drummed into the players by the coaching staff - or it isn't. Compare and contrast with Megson and that old bloke on the touchline. Now they were up for it. From getting Prutton to warm up and gee their fans up to their 'shit or bust' efforts encouraging the entire team forward at the end. That's nous. Wilson, on the other hand, seems to have affected the Bryan Robson, dressed in suit, tailors dummy approach. I know which I prefer.

im surprised you have managed to find so many positives about a team which i thought looked very ordinary and but for poor goalkeeping would have been beat out of sight
maybe its just the bladesfans psyche to always downplay their own team but i thought wednesday were very one dimensional simply pumping long balls into the box hoping for the keeper to make a mistake

they got their wish and celebrated a draw like they had won the world cup but if i was a pig i wouldnt pay my money to watch that simplistic shit
ive seen enough of that over the years to know the diffewrence between a good side and an effective side

if all united could offer me was hit and hope i wouldnt go any more

 

[pommpey]

in a nutshell ,if you want to take the most extremely negative view on the game
what about the fact we dominated them first half and with a bit more nous would have been looking at avenging 79 ?

It's not negative. Look. We can come away from a game where we were two clear goals up at home and ended up drawing telling ourselves 'we done good', when really had we won 2-1 we'd be entitled to do so. It just masks the fact that the pigs knew that if they were allowed to put us under pressure in the final quarter of an hour, we'd shit our pants and allow them in. So it goes. You can whine all you want about O'Grady and this and that, and bellyache about Simonsen being 'fouled'. It doesn't matter a toss. Fact is, if we are shakey at the high ball game in the box (and quite obviously, we are) you get players out wide early and stop the cross coming in. Better still, you dump the ball in their half and hold the game in the centre third. I can't understand how we can 'dominate' (if you like) the first fifteen minutes and grab two fairly decent goals, and not see that the ginger knob-end would switch play late on and drive us back. We're not fecking Walsall or Rochdale (although sometimes I wonder) and we're playing in front of 28k fans.

I'm deeply disappointed. A win at the Lane would have been a tremendous boost. Two, maybe three more goals would have put the filth where they should be, instead they are laughing their arses off today and no doubt confident that we won't trouble them for the rest of the season. God help us if we shade the playoffs and end up at Wembley with them. 1994 all over again.

pommpey

 

[judge]

It's not negative. Look. We can come away from a game where we were two clear goals up at home and ended up drawing telling ourselves 'we done good', when really had we won 2-1 we'd be entitled to do so. It just masks the fact that the pigs knew that if they were allowed to put us under pressure in the final quarter of an hour, we'd shit our pants and allow them in. So it goes. You can whine all you want about O'Grady and this and that, and bellyache about Simonsen being 'fouled'. It doesn't matter a toss. Fact is, if we are shakey at the high ball game in the box (and quite obviously, we are) you get players out wide early and stop the cross coming in. Better still, you dump the ball in their half and hold the game in the centre third. I can't understand how we can 'dominate' (if you like) the first fifteen minutes and grab two fairly decent goals, and not see that the ginger knob-end would switch play late on and drive us back. We're not fecking Walsall or Rochdale (although sometimes I wonder) and we're playing in front of 28k fans.

I'm deeply disappointed. A win at the Lane would have been a tremendous boost. Two, maybe three more goals would have put the filth where they should be, instead they are laughing their arses off today and no doubt confident that we won't trouble them for the rest of the season. God help us if we shade the playoffs and end up at Wembley with them. 1994 all over again.

pommpey

to me your post and your attitude sums us united fans up
in the second half the fear from the fans was palpable and must have projected on the players and some of you wonder why we never win big games

 

[sitwell]

We got the same result as those wankers ,we sulk and moan and predict doom for our club ,Wendy have an open topped bus ride and civic reception.

 

[stannyblade]

Valid point, but what I am amazed hasn't been debated is, why the hell did he sub Evans instead of Cresswell, and for bloody Porter as well?! I'd have understood if he took Evans off for say Lecs, so we went 5 at the back and shut up shop, but that decision really baffled me, and IMO, cost us the game almost as much as Simonsens indecision for the first, and ridiculous appeal for a foul for the second.

Valid appeal in my view. We were behind the goal and the piggy defender just went for Simmo never even looked at the ball.
Yes he is weak, yes he needs replacing asap but we tried to shut up shop far too early. As said why take Ched off? for me the start of the end was when Willo went off. Yes bring Phillips on but for the totally inaffective Mcdonald and move Willo into the centre

 

[pommpey]

to me your post and your attitude sums us united fans up
in the second half the fear from the fans was palpable and must have projected on the players and some of you wonder why we never win big games

Aw, give over. It's all very well blaming it on the supporters, judge. They weren't my legs, or anyone lses but the playing staff running around on Bramall Lane's hallowed turf yesterday. Even listening to it on the radio, it sounded like the whole ground exploded when Squinny fired in the first. What the fuck do you expect the fans to do when the midfield fails to close down or the flanks get overrun or we give two soft goals away? Cheer? What do you expect the fans to do when Madine sneaks in at the back stick and goes close? Sing GCB? I fear too many people have watched too many games - mainly last season (Scunthorpe remind you of owt?) where we apparently played like Brazil and ended up getting buttfucked. I spoke to my mate yesterday as he was leaving BDTBL and he said if the game went on five minutes more the pigs would have won. Funny old thing because many agree. We are still aspiring for big and playing small. There's still no 'up and at em' and not to much Bradshaw, Hockey, Tightshirt, Brown these days. We seem to be hoping someone like Wilson is going to unlock the secret to battering credible opponents (not Bury, FFS) and making the division fear Sheffield United. And that isn't the fans fault. By rights we should be on 8k per game in this division. Ask any other the strugglers what it feels like to play in front of 17k at home each week and they will laugh at you. The fans deserve better. They deserve more than 2-2 against that shower of shit from S6.

pommpey

 

[yorkshirecoast]

I thought they were nothing special - & their biggest threat was the long throw. I thought we edged the 1st half - both teams had chances but our defence was better than theirs. Unfortunately we sat back in the 2nd & they got on top - although they rarely looked like scoring until the last 10 mins. One thing that did concern me though was that they seemed fitter than us. I know the 1st goal gave them impetus but we looked out on our feet for the last 10 mins and once it went to 2-2 I couldn't wait for the whistle to go.

UTB FTO

---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------

to me your post and your attitude sums us united fans up
in the second half the fear from the fans was palpable and must have projected on the players and some of you wonder why we never win big games

Disagree. In fact the support from the Blades fans in the period leading up to their 1st goal was deafening. Blaming the fans for what happened is ludicrous.

 

[Bladesway]

General feedback from the media was in the 2nd half they were burned out and going nowhere before they scored their first. Having got the first you knew the second would come.

Far from being negative, I am gobsmacked at their newfound joy at nicking a point. Neither of us should be proud of where we are, let alone having a party over getting 1 point. I think rather than showing how negative we are, it actually shows how deluded they are. There is no power shift in Sheffield. We have become worse by our relegation. We are negative as a fan base because of how far we have fallen. They were shit and still are shit. Nowts changed in their camp.

 

[sitwell]

They are over the moon at gaining a point off a team who they think are struggling with a shit keeper.
We are sick at gaining a point off the form team in the league with the best manager since clough and the 2nd massivest crowd following in the country apparently.

 

[cooperblade]

They are over the moon at gaining a point off a team who they think are struggling with a shit keeper.
We are sick at gaining a point off the form team in the league with the best manager since clough and the 2nd massivest crowd following in the country apparently.

Glad to see someone actually sticking up for the Blades. I think that, overall, our fans were very submissive in the build up and at the match. I've said it before but, as a group of fans, we've totally lost our one-eyed, biased blind devotion to our club and turned into a bunch of micalijos who are far more interested in praising other clubs and talking United down than giving any support.

Very sad.

 

[alcoblade]

Went on the piss with some pork mates after the match. Deluded doesn't nearly cover it. I couldn't even be bothered to mention their long ball game as I thought it was a given. Late on, back to discussing the game, one said "I thought you bypassed the midfield a lot". After spitting out my beer, I asked if hoiking every throw in into big men in the box wasnt long ball, they said they didn't do it enough.

So, not just bigger than Barcelona, but better at the pure football too.

UTB

 

[TarquinDelouche]

The difference is: we're annoyed about the draw. They're happy about it.

 

[Toronto Blade]

Glad to see someone actually sticking up for the Blades. I think that, overall, our fans were very submissive in the build up and at the match. I've said it before but, as a group of fans, we've totally lost our one-eyed, biased blind devotion to our club and turned into a bunch of micalijos who are far more interested in praising other clubs and talking United down than giving any support.

Very sad.

I would agree same at our Wembley appearance most Blades I talked to were expecting to lose ,it is an attitude that has you beat before the ball is even kicked.
We need to sweep this out of the club we have become more afraid of losing rather than looking to the win.