Good post by Hoppo 1978 on Bladesmad

[Silent Blade]

He was talking about what Adkins said last night. We must give a lot of backing to our team throughout the season


He also spent the full evening going on about positivity and everyone pulling together from the fans to the staff to the team. He talked about how when he used to come to Bramall Lane as a player and a manager the tactics were always "keep it tight and a clean sheet for half an hour and then the fans will get frustrated and turn on the team and then the players will be affected and we can then get on top".

In my option that is why it is important that we all remain positive at the match and even in pubs, on social media and fans forums. Negativity is like a cancer and spreads, ultimately down to the team and impacts likelihood of success. Lendegoey has been riddled with negativity cancer for years. Certain people are naturally more negative in life I suppose. Take Len again and his only comment was to pick out the biggest negative in my initial post and exploit on it (even though it was a mistake and an incorrectly overegged figure given by Adkins which he regretted immediately). Instead of looking at the good points and referencing them he looks for the stuff to moan about. He and other overly critical and negative fans are part of the problem. If we can get a few more fans thinking positively about the season we can get the momentum building that Adkins keeps referencing and who knows where it could take us.

 

[Rodley]

He was talking about what Adkins said last night. We must give a lot of backing to our team throughout the season


He also spent the full evening going on about positivity and everyone pulling together from the fans to the staff to the team. He talked about how when he used to come to Bramall Lane as a player and a manager the tactics were always "keep it tight and a clean sheet for half an hour and then the fans will get frustrated and turn on the team and then the players will be affected and we can then get on top".

In my option that is why it is important that we all remain positive at the match and even in pubs, on social media and fans forums. Negativity is like a cancer and spreads, ultimately down to the team and impacts likelihood of success. Lendegoey has been riddled with negativity cancer for years. Certain people are naturally more negative in life I suppose. Take Len again and his only comment was to pick out the biggest negative in my initial post and exploit on it (even though it was a mistake and an incorrectly overegged figure given by Adkins which he regretted immediately). Instead of looking at the good points and referencing them he looks for the stuff to moan about. He and other overly critical and negative fans are part of the problem. If we can get a few more fans thinking positively about the season we can get the momentum building that Adkins keeps referencing and who knows where it could take us.

Agree with that. Particularly on Blades Mad though there's a few people whose entire reason for being is to moan about United on the Internet, devoting hours to cultivating their web persona. I'll be honest I pity them.

For me we've got a cracking manager, a good squad packed with young talent with lots of potential, and a good, communicative board (see that shower over at S6 for the alternative). Chuck in another 2-3 signings and we're there. Adkins just wants us to play our part and I'm happy to do that.

UTB

 

[Linz]

I've long been accused of being a "clapper", but playing devil's advocate, positivity is easy at this time of year.

Slightly more difficult after a troubling run of form after Christmas and you're paying good money to travel hundreds of miles to freeze your tits off and be bored to death by your side failing to register a shot on target for the first hour of a game.

The majority of the fans will be positive if what they see on the pitch encourages them to be. It's up to the XI on the pitch to start the season the way they mean to go on and I'm sure most fans would be swept along with them.

 

[Darthblade]

He was talking about what Adkins said last night. We must give a lot of backing to our team throughout the season


He also spent the full evening going on about positivity and everyone pulling together from the fans to the staff to the team. He talked about how when he used to come to Bramall Lane as a player and a manager the tactics were always "keep it tight and a clean sheet for half an hour and then the fans will get frustrated and turn on the team and then the players will be affected and we can then get on top".

In my option that is why it is important that we all remain positive at the match and even in pubs, on social media and fans forums. Negativity is like a cancer and spreads, ultimately down to the team and impacts likelihood of success. Lendegoey has been riddled with negativity cancer for years. Certain people are naturally more negative in life I suppose. Take Len again and his only comment was to pick out the biggest negative in my initial post and exploit on it (even though it was a mistake and an incorrectly overegged figure given by Adkins which he regretted immediately). Instead of looking at the good points and referencing them he looks for the stuff to moan about. He and other overly critical and negative fans are part of the problem. If we can get a few more fans thinking positively about the season we can get the momentum building that Adkins keeps referencing and who knows where it could take us.

Its a good point that you make here and I agree with you ....... the problem is that the fans build their positivity from expectation and confidence in the team.

The issue we face is that most fans realise that our current squad ( even with Woolford signing ) will NOT be able to compete for the top two. Unlike our piggy relatives across the City, most Blades are realistic about what we are and how good we are. Last season proved, yet again, that you cannot get out of this agricultural division with a team of midgets and with no CBs and no effective strikeforce. It just will not happen!!

So regrettably, until these long-standing issues have finally been addressed by the Board / management team, there is unlikely to be a realistic expectation of promotion and that will ultimately reflect itself in frustration and negativity from the fans. Over to the board / management team ........
UTB & FTP

 

[Kenilworth]

I think that "keep it tight" tactic has benefited from us being shite for the first 30 or mins then continuing the shiteness as the opposition realises we aren't troubling their keeper and they gradually come out and stick one on us.

It's not about the crowd turning, really.
Most of us can just about tell if we have no chances on goal in the first half. Usually the oy time the keeper touches it is for a goal kick.

Must be the fans fault that we are playing our 5th consecutive season in division 3. Shame on us eh?

 

[Barney]

I echo the views of previous posts. It's up to the players and manager alike to get the ball rolling with some good performances. When fans see the effort, the favour will be returned and we will get behind them. It's in the players hands to control the crowds.

 

[BushBlade]

Len's just a caricature and it amazes me how many posters on bm rise to the bait. His real objective is to anger posters so they post stupid things and make themselves look like twats. Him and a few that are unable to let it go have spoiled what used to be a decent board. There's a few on there with good football knowledge but it's too much effort trawling through countless multiple page arguments and invasive advertising for me to bother even reading it these days.

 

[itsinyerblood]

I've long been accused of being a "clapper", but playing devil's advocate, positivity is easy at this time of year.

Slightly more difficult after a troubling run of form after Christmas and you're paying good money to travel hundreds of miles to freeze your tits off and be bored to death by your side failing to register a shot on target for the first hour of a game.

The majority of the fans will be positive if what they see on the pitch encourages them to be. It's up to the XI on the pitch to start the season the way they mean to go on and I'm sure most fans would be swept along with them.

No comment about you freezing your tits off Linz, but the NHS will probably have a surgical procedure to correct that. On a more serious note, I think the truth lies somewhere between Silent Blade's post and yours Linz. Of course the key is what people watch on the pitch. Even if the team lose, what matters is whether the team try, show endeavour, and we all realise that the players couldn't have done any more.

I'm of a generally upbeat frame of mind, but even I was drawn into the deep pit of concern that arose because the team never looked like delivering last season. I know they came close, but that was about as far as they could've expected to go. Sometimes you just know when a team has that quality about them, and we lacked it. So the finger of blame gets pointed at the manager, and thus the schism began between the pro and anti Clough supporters. It does seem that NC was a 'little' lacking in the man-management department, so whatever you can attribute to this and the results we achieved, what we all know is that we couldn't quite push over that final line and garb success from the jaws of defeat. Yes, I know we had injuries, Brayford being the outstanding example of this, but to return to quality, I don't think we had quite enough to make the difference. We all know what's needed, central defenders, one or two decent midfielders (and this means the type who can take a game by the collar), and at least one forward who has similar qualities to B'mouth's Wilson (easy to use him as an example I know, but he was clearly the one candidate for this position that we should have made an effort to sign).

Anyway, here we are, 5, I said FIVE!!!!!, dreadful seasons in a division that is designed to suck the life-force from the lungs of most supporters. I can't see how we can avoid spending to get the defenders, midfielder(s), and forward we need. If those resources are made available to Adkins I think/hope we have the man who can recognise what type of player we need for each position. Our average home support last season was about 19,800. Quite incredible when you consider we'll have spent half a decade in Division 1. That's right, half a decade! And we still manage to get near-on 20,000 at each home game, that's more than QPR managed when they were in the Premiership, or Wigan, who averaged just under 12,900 last season. I just hope the Prince backs Adkins, provides him with whatever resources they feel will make the difference, and then we can push on and see a change in some supporters, from that of red and white miserablists to being H-A-P-P-Y at what they see on the pitch. Seriously, I'm not blaming anyone for getting the hump with watching poor football, but sometimes, just sometimes, being miserable can become a cause in itself. Yes, Nigel mk2 has a huge responsibility to get us into gear, but I suspect he'll leave no stone unturned in order to make that positive change possible. UTB!!!

 

[Barney]

Talking about BladesMad in one of the other threads, I had a quick look through the forum and a poster on there absolutely sums things up for me. Often constructive criticism and/or analytical reflection and expressions of frustration and passion for the club is passed off as negativity when in reality it's far from it. I couldn't have articulated this any more to my preference:

"Got to say, maybe it's just me, but since Adkins was appointed the sounds coming out of Bramall Lane (and admittedly the papers) haven't impressed me, surprisingly. I expected a lot more to have happened by now and for things to be really taking shape. I'm not impatient, expressing one's opinions are what these forums are for, I certainly wouldn't bring negativity with me to the ground, but my feelings currently aren't of great optimism.

The signings of Sharp and Woolford should strengthen us, to an extent, but I'm not convinced either are the player they were under Adkins previously and I'm not sure either would, for instance, of gotten into Bristol City's team last year, or Wolves's before that. And if the repercussions are the sales of any of Adams, Murphy or Done (our only threats) then I'd begin to really worry, we've been down that road too many times for me to blindly believe this won't happen.

We're desperately short at the back, you'd only have to watch a few videos of our games and have a chat with Chris Morgan to see that. If we go into next season without two new centre halves at least (and if I had my way a new full back and goalkeeper) then we're giving ourselves no chance. Ideally you could do with having your back line together training and learning each other's game quite early on. I don't like this idea of patching things up in the last week of the transfer window. Oddly, it seems to be the preferred way for Adkins to do his business, he has reiterated the importance of "the last week of the transfer window" a few times in interviews. And comments about "financial fair play" and "six other teams have bigger budgets" is this excuses in early?

Maybe I'm being silly, but I remember last season thinking "Jesus this pre-season is terrible and all our rivals are signing much better players, not sure how this is going to go." Then when Bristol (who aren't as strong as I think Wigan will be) turned up and beat us at Bramall Lane it really just set the tone.

Hope I'm wrong and my early thoughts are misguided."

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Hoppo1978 also said:-

"Evening with adkins. Went tonight.

He did well apart from one error where he claimed there are 6 clubs with a bigger budget than ours. He then backt tracked slightly when challenged but still slightly concerning,.

Referenced Dom Calvert lewin as looking good but obviously lots to learn.

Said Collins and mice early had particularly impressed in attitude and seemed to say mc every is a left back. Said both are part of a 6 player leadership team who represent the whole squad to the management and attend more meetings etc.

Said done and a few others stills arguing injuries from last year so disappointed with condition of squad but not attitude.

Plans to keep done and Murphy and build and not sell.

Said he aims to sort out free kicks at both ends and always looks to have 6 players good in the air in the team at any one point.

They were the key points for me."


Who is "mice" who has impressed Adkins with his attitude? Not sure if it's a typo or a nickname. Anybody know?

Edit:- Just twigged that it's probably an auto-correction of McCeverley. Duh!

 

[SherburnBlade]

Jamal Campbell Mice?

 

[Pedro Verde]

YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Wait and see what team we put out when the tranfer window is closed

 

[Basing Blade]

Team tries. Crowd happy.
Team does not try. Crowd not happy.
Easy.

 

[SherburnBlade]

I'm guessing mice early may be McEverley.

 

[bartman]

I've long been accused of being a "clapper", but playing devil's advocate, positivity is easy at this time of year.

Slightly more difficult after a troubling run of form after Christmas and you're paying good money to travel hundreds of miles to freeze your tits off and be bored to death by your side failing to register a shot on target for the first hour of a game.

.

Can't believed you have just dragged up the horror of Gillingham away. I can assure you my man boobs were nearly frozen off as well :-(

 

[BushBlade]

I'm guessing mice early may be McEverley.

I thought he meant Scougs, McNulty, Reid etc

 

[Sothall_Blade]

I thought he meant Scougs, McNulty, Reid etc

See how they run....

 

[CG Blade]

Can't believed you have just dragged up the horror of Gillingham away. I can assure you my man boobs were nearly frozen off as well :-(

You haven't got boobs Linz, interesting

 

[Grecian2000]

All about rugby balls with Linz I've heard.

 

[sitwell]

Some people are only happy when they are negative and miserable ,don't see the point myself ,you only live once ,make the most of it and always be optimistic ,live will be so much more enjoyable.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Hoppo1978 also said:-

"Evening with adkins. Went tonight.

He did well apart from one error where he claimed there are 6 clubs with a bigger budget than ours. He then backt tracked slightly when challenged but still slightly concerning,.

Referenced Dom Calvert lewin as looking good but obviously lots to learn.

Said Collins and mice early had particularly impressed in attitude and seemed to say mc every is a left back. Said both are part of a 6 player leadership team who represent the whole squad to the management and attend more meetings etc.

Said done and a few others stills arguing injuries from last year so disappointed with condition of squad but not attitude.

Plans to keep done and Murphy and build and not sell.

Said he aims to sort out free kicks at both ends and always looks to have 6 players good in the air in the team at any one point.

They were the key points for me."


Who is "mice" who has impressed Adkins with his attitude? Not sure if it's a typo or a nickname. Anybody know?

Edit:- Just twigged that it's probably an auto-correction of McCeverley. Duh!

Good post. I've reported one or two points elsewhere before I read it.

Personally I have egg on my face because I insisted last season that Done couldn't be injured because he was on the bench some 6/7 times. Still don't understand how he was on the bench when he was unfit, but it seems we might be without him this season because of it.

 

[Bladebri]

Foresight is a great thing, we can only wait and see if the influence NA brings to the players is transferd to the pitch.

 

[Mad Mick]

There's some right Tits on here.
OK I'll get my coat.

 

[Woodwardfan]

He was talking about what Adkins said last night. We must give a lot of backing to our team throughout the season


He also spent the full evening going on about positivity and everyone pulling together from the fans to the staff to the team. He talked about how when he used to come to Bramall Lane as a player and a manager the tactics were always "keep it tight and a clean sheet for half an hour and then the fans will get frustrated and turn on the team and then the players will be affected and we can then get on top".

In my option that is why it is important that we all remain positive at the match and even in pubs, on social media and fans forums. Negativity is like a cancer and spreads, ultimately down to the team and impacts likelihood of success. Lendegoey has been riddled with negativity cancer for years. Certain people are naturally more negative in life I suppose. Take Len again and his only comment was to pick out the biggest negative in my initial post and exploit on it (even though it was a mistake and an incorrectly overegged figure given by Adkins which he regretted immediately). Instead of looking at the good points and referencing them he looks for the stuff to moan about. He and other overly critical and negative fans are part of the problem. If we can get a few more fans thinking positively about the season we can get the momentum building that Adkins keeps referencing and who knows where it could take us.

I'm 67 years old, maybe I've only another 20 years or so hoping we might come good as a club.

I'm convinced we will do that before I pop it but I must say that the pressure increases as the years go by. That's very much why I was so anti-Clough, I knew he was wasting MY TIME frankly.

I'm perfectly happy with Adkins.

Adkins has a very good C.V., indeed an excellent one until he went to Reading.
His CV is way above what we had a right to expect. We are anchored in League 1 and have a poor squad for promotion favourites, it's more like a Top 6 at best.

Last night Adkins told us how he had managed a local football team for 10 years in his spare time while he did his proper job. How that team was successful. How he had won 4 promotions, managed Oxlade-Chamberlain an Luke Shaw when they could only manage half an hour in the first team. How he led Scunny to double success, Southampton to double success. How much he respects and values Crosby and Wilkins. This is a successful unit.

He also responded to the floor and told us about his time with Paul Beasley and Carl Bradshaw in games and post-game drinks and cameraderie. This is a human being and a football man, successful yet grounded Sheffield-style.

Last night Adkins said our current squad was not good enough for promotion. That is true.

He enlarged on that by saying he and his team can improve each and every player and if they can't then the player will leave. He was not intimating that we would replace many players. He also mentioned that we would be looking to develop young players, a clear acknowledgement that we are not going to buy our way out of trouble.

Silent calls for unity and patience and nobody should be under any illusions that we are NOT favourites to win the league this season. We are a top 6 team. If Adkins achieves more than that then we'll buy him a pint or two. However if we scrape into the top 6 and have to fight it out in the play-offs then so be it - we fans shouldn't allow our own anxieties and frustrations to inhibit the team in any game, we should back them to the hilt.

Not on S24SU though, that's an area for honesty, but certainly on match days. We do not go to games assuming we will win and we should celebrate when we do, because that creates momentum.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Oh and by the way, Basham's in midfield in the first friendly Manager got good claps for that

 

[Pinchy]

I'm not sure either would, for instance, of gotten into Bristol City's team last year...

Impressive stuff, indeed..

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

I'm 67 years old, maybe I've only another 20 years or so hoping we might come good as a club.

I'm convinced we will do that before I pop it but I must say that the pressure increases as the years go by. That's very much why I was so anti-Clough, I knew he was wasting MY TIME frankly.

I'm perfectly happy with Adkins.

Adkins has a very good C.V., indeed an excellent one until he went to Reading.
His CV is way above what we had a right to expect. We are anchored in League 1 and have a poor squad for promotion favourites, it's more like a Top 6 at best.

Last night Adkins told us how he had managed a local football team for 10 years in his spare time while he did his proper job. How that team was successful. How he had won 4 promotions, managed Oxlade-Chamberlain an Luke Shaw when they could only manage half an hour in the first team. How he led Scunny to double success, Southampton to double success. How much he respects and values Crosby and Wilkins. This is a successful unit.

He also responded to the floor and told us about his time with Paul Beasley and Carl Bradshaw in games and post-game drinks and cameraderie. This is a human being and a football man, successful yet grounded Sheffield-style.

Last night Adkins said our current squad was not good enough for promotion. That is true.

He enlarged on that by saying he and his team can improve each and every player and if they can't then the player will leave. He was not intimating that we would replace many players. He also mentioned that we would be looking to develop young players, a clear acknowledgement that we are not going to buy our way out of trouble.

Silent calls for unity and patience and nobody should be under any illusions that we are NOT favourites to win the league this season. We are a top 6 team. If Adkins achieves more than that then we'll buy him a pint or two. However if we scrape into the top 6 and have to fight it out in the play-offs then so be it - we fans shouldn't allow our own anxieties and frustrations to inhibit the team in any game, we should back them to the hilt.

Not on S24SU though, that's an area for honesty, but certainly on match days. We do not go to games assuming we will win and we should celebrate when we do, because that creates momentum.

Good post Woody . Success is not a god given right . If we don't get promotion , but the manager is a open book on decisions made , and why they have been made ( even perhaps we don't agree with them ) , one thing we have to do , is stop sacking managers .

Adkins and back room staff could be the catalyst to move us forward both short and long term, and as you say , we have to back them to the hilt.

UTB

 

[Woodwardfan]

Good post Woody . Success is not a god given right . If we don't get promotion , but the manager is a open book on decisions made , and why they have been made ( even perhaps we don't agree with them ) , one thing we have to do , is stop sacking managers .

Adkins and back room staff could be the catalyst to move us forward both short and long term, and as you say , we have to back them to the hilt.

UTB

I backed Clough for a year and then I realised the emperor wore no clothes.

It takes any manager a year, let's face it, how easy it is to talk theory and intent at a "meet the manager" meeting. It takes 12 months to find a level.

 

[metalblade]

Another it's the fans fault thread deary me, when just about 100% of the fan base is quite positive with the appointment of Adkins we have to drag this shit up again. Positive thinking comes from the top at any club fans only react to what is put in front of them. For someone so knowledgeable about all things United Silent Blade really does himself a disservice posting such rubbish I really would expect so much better from him.

 

[Bladesway]

I've long been accused of being a "clapper", but playing devil's advocate, positivity is easy at this time of year.

Slightly more difficult after a troubling run of form after Christmas and you're paying good money to travel hundreds of miles to freeze your tits off and be bored to death by your side failing to register a shot on target for the first hour of a game.

The majority of the fans will be positive if what they see on the pitch encourages them to be. It's up to the XI on the pitch to start the season the way they mean to go on and I'm sure most fans would be swept along with them.

Interesting and we could go on forever about positive and negative. For me it is easy to be positive when everything is great, but to find something to cling onto when its shit separates the few from the many (and I include myself in the many). I want my criticism to be constructive because I care. Like everyone I have invested time and money and don't like seeing us where we are, but I start every season the same. "We could win this" is my first thought. Even when we were in the Premiership, that first result when we drew with Liverpool I thought we could be top 10. Lets be honest when we won away at Wigan and stopped being star struck I wasn't the only one thought we were at home in the Premiership.

Strange thing is, at work I always try and be positive, at home I am the same. Like most I have had some shit thrown at me in life and bounced back. That makes you happy and cynical in the same breathe.

What I see at SUFC right now is positive, we have the right people in charge, we have a good manager and in spite of what some will say I believe we have a good squad that just needs some fine tuning to make it into something that can top this league. I am normally one of the last to call for the Managers head because no matter who he is, I want him to succeed. If Megson was in charge I would still want him to win every game. This is my club and I want us to win no matter who is the man in charge. I wanted McCabe to prove me wrong, I wanted Robson to prove us all wrong.

Just my opinion but some of the shit thrown at managers like Wilson, Blackwell and Clough is unacceptable. The distance between success and failure is so small and these men did their best. For whatever reason it wasn't good enough but to mock them and say they were shit isn't on. Someone like Robson I feel differently about because he had everything in place to do better and I don't think SUFC got his undivided attention.

Anyhow, back to being positive. I am right now and I hope to remain so throughout the season. One thing is true, our fans do get on the teams back and can be the difference. It shouldn't be that way because whoever turns out to play and manage SUFC should be busting their balls no matter what the crowd is doing but life isn't like that. All I ask is we give this team a fair chance at success or failure. Heres hoping its the former,