I am surprised that someone who has a good knowledge of the game and is usually spot on actually thinks this way. How do you explain our sudden surge of form after Beattie left?
Ah, my pet topic.
This is a great example of "if you repeat a myth often enough it becomes a fact". Here is what happened:
1. Beattie left, and United won the first few games thereafter. Not surprising, really, as they played Norwich (relegated) Charlton (relegated) and Watford (lower mid table), so it wasn't very difficult.
2. United then went on a bad run, losing at home to the Pigs and Doncaster and drawing at Preston. they fell out of the playoff places.
3. Blackwell then did two things that caused the team to revive:
(a) he restored Cotterill to the team. United did not lose again with him in the side until the playoff final.
(b) he dropped Billy Sharp and his 16 match non scoring run (and how Beattie gets all the flack with him in the side is beyond me) replacing him with a cast of thousands including Webber, S*** b****** Beattie and Jamie Ward. All of these people get the odd goal.
4. In addtion, the defence continued to improve as a unit, achieving our best defensive record since the sixties.
Our record with and without Beattie was about level. However, given the other changes KB made, I am firmly of the view that had he not been sold, United would have gone up with Cotterill on the wing and without that Deadweight sharp. We certainly missed him in the last few games (no striker scored in the last 8 games).
All of this is obvious from watching those games and, 3 years on, looking at the stats.
As for 20 goals getting us nowhere, if he hadn't have done that in 2007-8 United would have been in the relegation places when Robson was fired.
