Good or bad day?

[Bartyblade]

I hate that "won or lost the second half" bollocks, not least cos it was originally coined by Howard Wilkinson.

Must admit, reading all the comments about 'losing' the 2nd half brought back fantastic memories of when we won the first half of the FA cup semi at Wembley.
We will always be remembered by football fans everywhereas the almost winners of that game!

 

[Dellas Cowboys]

Just read Sheff Telegraph and the brief report reckons Duffy went off with a tight calf

Got to say, that's not the impression I got, but I hope that's all it was

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk...st-with-key-injuries-to-blades-trio-1-8248124

that's what he's tweeted himself - it's on another thread

 

[Bladesman]

Felt like a defeat (in fact we did lose the 2nd half - against 9 men). But hearing Bradford got taught a lesson by Southend makes it a lot better.

We won, which I suppose is all that matters in the end. But it was a horrible second half (with a few useless performances in there). Just shows we're a long way from the finished article.

I agree I thought the second half was poor and I would have thought that even despite the enforced changes we would have got that 3rd goal.

 

[Isar]

Three more points, a good day. Injuries will happen, CW will manage the squad accordingly.

UTB

Also just seen wetsham loose to spurs

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Why do people keep saying ' we lost the second half?' I always thought a game was won or lost over 90 minutes.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

We did lose the second half (against 9 men, FFS) within an overall win.

Same as we lost 3-0 against Southend (& were shit) within the 2/5ths of a season which has seen us rise into an automatic spot.

We can't always be as good as we might be. We just didn't handle the second half very well.

 

[Dec]

Done was the weakest link today...goodbye ...or most likely not.

Nope, he wasn't actually.

Lafferty was.

 

[super_pig]

Why do people keep saying ' we lost the second half?' I always thought a game was won or lost over 90 minutes.

nowt to moan about
.. and coming from me.. ffs

 

[spongebobblade]

I'm feeling really, really pissed off after that.

The fucking idiot Deadman ruined the game for a start. Playing against 9 men is always farcical and invites complacency and sloppiness. You're put in a no win situation straight away when the opponents are reduced to 9 or 10 because anything less than a resounding win is disappointing.

We've got three injuries to important players, and we couldn't even score a goal against 9 men - we couldn't even avoid losing the half. Not sure which of those things fucks me off more.

It should and would have been a routine win against 11 men, yet we end up narrowly beating 9 men and paying quite a heavy price. Perfect opportunity for a clean 4+ goal victory but it was just a total mess.

It almost feels like a defeat. At best it's one of the shittest wins we'll ever see.

Every team that wins promotion turns in the odd unconvincing performance but it's the three points that matter. The rest will soon be forgotten. If you need any proof how many of us are still harbouring about the shaky 1-0 win over 10 man Bristol Rovers?
The injuries are a bigger concern but as someone has said, Wilder didn't seem too concerned

 

[JJBlade]

Both good and bad

A win is good but it's the sort of day that can start a bad run off if the players let it get to them

Our inability to kill off a poor team who were two players short for a long time can put a niggling doubt in players minds.
This is how quickly things can change
We need Wilder at his motivational best over the next two or three days to dispel any negativity that any player might have about today

If we beat Bury convincingly it will be forgotten about, and that's what the players need to get today out of their system

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Got to be a good day. 16 more points and we're safe from relegation...that would be first target met.

 

[BigBed]

More importantly, 30 attempts on goal and only 2!! goals against 9 men playing in a bottom 2 side!

Forwards should be doing better if we want to finish top 2!

Happy with the win and most of the first half, but we should've opened the gap after the break and strolled away.
Shame about the injuries, hopefully just cautious with the lads, but Billy missed another pen, which was disappointing at this level, also hope Scougs returns to a starting birth ahead of Done(which is starting to look like a very apt name at the moment!).
Deep breath lads, back to top gear Tuesday night and another 3 point in the bag.

UTB.

 

[metalblade]

Bit of both really, good to win and move into the top 2 not so good about the injuries to our midfielders, oh and we need a new penalty taker as much as we all like Billy he is shit at taking pens.

 

[1973Blade]

Today reminded me of the Oldham home game in 2012, which we lost 3-2. Due to injuries and suspensions we were seriously weakened for the midweek game at Walsall which we lost.

 

[Trigger Blade]

View attachment 20747
not 2-1 stats

30 attempts at goal
When was the last time we had 30 attempts at goal

the only stat that mattered was the W on our form guide

At H/T, the BBC stats showed possession as 69/31, so for it to be 61/39 in total, the 2nd half must have been close to even, when they only got in our half twice or so and they never kept the ball for more than two passes.

 

[bornablade]

The only possession they had in that first half is when they kicked off after we'd scored.

 

[fishpie]

Good day.. So good that I'm taking positives from the negatives. I'm expecting every pass/shot/tackle to be perfect at the moment. And I'm actually surprised (and disappointed, obviously) when it isn't..That in itself is a mighty upgrade from the last few seasons.. Keep up the good work Chris Wilder, in a rediculously short time, you've been doing something very right...UTB

 

[sitwell]

The keeper had clearly been watching videos of the previous ones he never moved. A few practice sessions putting them top corner now Billy I reckon.

Maybe he should have watched videos of Billy's one on one's. Billy took the piss

 

[PokerBlade]

I honestly feel like I must have watched a different game to others. We let in a soft goal (great finish) and our finishing let us down but otherwise we absolutely ripped them apart. They sat nine behind the ball and didn't even dare push forward when losing the game with three minutes shown remaining. Good game to them for not letting four in like our last opposition but there was never a moment after the first goal went in that we weren't fully in control of the play and the win was never in doubt.

It's like when we had an okay second half against Southend. I mean, it was far better than our first half but the game was well and truly over, so who gave a shit?

 

[Slug]

Done was the weakest link today...goodbye ...or most likely not.

The stats will look fantastic but after the first 5 or 10 minutes of the second half it looked unlikely that we'd score more than 3. Even more unlikely when it became clear that Done would be staying on.

Really can not agree with these comments. Now I'm far from Done's biggest fan but for the first 30 mins today (i.e. when we put the game to bed early doors) Done was absolutely killing them down the left hand side where he kept pulling off and Coutts picked him out every time. His movement was excellent and Shrewsbury simply couldn't fathom out how to pick him up

 

[LJBlade]

Bit of both really, good to win and move into the top 2 not so good about the injuries to our midfielders, oh and we need a new penalty taker as much as we all like Billy he is shit at taking pens.

Is he? How many has he missed before today? What's his conversion rate compared to the average?

 

[Tyler Durden]

Really can not agree with these comments. Now I'm far from Done's biggest fan but for the first 30 mins today (i.e. when we put the game to bed early doors) Done was absolutely killing them down the left hand side where he kept pulling off and Coutts picked him out every time. His movement was excellent and Shrewsbury simply couldn't fathom out how to pick him up

Is the correct answer. It's just fashionable to slate Matt Done at the moment.
The hipsters will pick another target soon enough....

 

[Guesty]

He can't finish a bag of crisps, though,

Although to be fair he wasn't alone in that department today.

 

[Pinchy]

The first half performance was as good as we've seen all season. Excellent proper football. Then we lost 2/3 of the best midfield in the league and it showed. No surprise, really.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

A win and finally in the top two. But three key injuries could prove costly in the next couple of weeks.

Depends how bad the injuries are doesn't it?

 

[Cerberus Blade]

A very good day tempered by some bad injuries to 3 key players .

Hope to god they arent bad injuries .

.

but you've just told us they ARE bad injuries? Make your mind up mate!

 

[I should coco]

Today reminded me of the Oldham home game in 2012, which we lost 3-2.

Yes, almost identical...

,,,except we didn't have 2 sent off....

...and we won.

But identical apart from that.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I'm feeling really, really pissed off after that.

The fucking idiot Deadman ruined the game for a start. Playing against 9 men is always farcical and invites complacency and sloppiness. You're put in a no win situation straight away when the opponents are reduced to 9 or 10 because anything less than a resounding win is disappointing.

We've got three injuries to important players, and we couldn't even score a goal against 9 men - we couldn't even avoid losing the half. Not sure which of those things fucks me off more.

It should and would have been a routine win against 11 men, yet we end up narrowly beating 9 men and paying quite a heavy price. Perfect opportunity for a clean 4+ goal victory but it was just a total mess.

It almost feels like a defeat. At best it's one of the shittest wins we'll ever see.

I'm glad someone has the bollocks to tell it like it is. Well said Ricky. I felt just the same. Annoyed and frustrated.

The thing is, when we were on that losing streak at the start of the season, I didn't slate the team because I thought we'd played really well in the first game at Bolton and were desperately unlucky to lose and I thought we did "ok" in the next couple of games but fine margins and all that, they went away from us, but could have gone either way. (I'm not including the Southend debacle in that). I always try and look at the performance, not just the result. So I think it's fair game to apply the same criteria to the game yesterday.

The more time we had the less we knew what to do with it. That was the problem. We'd also lost 3 of our better players through injury, players who are good at unlocking situations like that, which was basically a 9 man defence camped in their own 18 yard box.

To be fair, I thought their goalkeeper had a very good game throughout and I think they'd have cracked earlier without him in goal. But it was such a frustrating 2nd half. I was going purple in the face with anger at Lafferty in particular. How many times did he just completely fuck it up? Booting the ball nowhere or just generally losing it? If you can't hold onto the ball against 9 men then there's a real problem isn't there? Hell fire!

That was a poor performance overall. Good first half, but appallingly clueless second half. Let's not hide from that fact because it's the truth.

And let's hope Bury keep 11 men on the pitch on tuesday!

 

[1973Blade]

Yes, almost identical...

,,,except we didn't have 2 sent off....

...and we won.

But identical apart from that.

That's true . Though to be fair I did say reminded me not identical!

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Nope, he wasn't actually.

Lafferty was.

It was Done. By far.

 

[finlaytheblade]

.Deadman went up in my estimation
he refereed the game well can't blame him for the sending off it ruined the game but did it to the book,got all the big decisions right