Has this season renewed your faith / enthusiasm?

[William Large]

Regardless of the next few weeks, has this season renewed your enthusiasm or faith in football? Some of us have been lucky enough to see new grounds, different teams and in general lots of British born players. You can argue about the standard, which at times has been poor to say the least, but when you look at the League we dream to be in, there seems to be a great deal more honesty lower down the leagues.
I'm not suggesting that I would like to languish around the bottom two divisions for any longer than necessary, but when you look at all the diving, cheating, faking injuries and down right knobbish behaviour of the Premier League over paid nancies, it has been quite refreshing to see good old fashioned passion and endeavour.
Some of the players in our league don't get paid in a month what some of the top players earn in a day, yet don't feel the need to fling themselves over at the merest sniff of a tackle. I have really enjoyed it but naturally hope for a swift return...........

 

[dingledog]

Sound post. For me the refreshing thing has been Danny Wilson, football s a better sport because of him, a man of modesty, humour and I would suggest a depth of knowledge.. He has transformed the blades, irrespective of where we finish in the league.

 

[Foxy]

It's done neither of the words in the title for me, as they come naturally where the Blades are involved (it's a curse ).

What it has done however is allowed me to get a couple of grounds in I was missing and given me an enjoyable season, watching some fantastic stuff at times.

It's much more "real football" than the Premiership and dare I say even the Championship.

 

[Webding]

Yes, I enjoy watching United more than any time since 2003. And more than anything else, it's damped my natural (for a United fan) pessimism. Where as I'd usually be certain we'd still mess this up, I now only think it's fairly likely.

Also, I hope the Wilson Out brigade are as embarrassed now as I was at the time.

 

[TopBoy]

I've enjoyed the season immensely and like others I get more impressed by Wilson as each day passes. I even think we'll now go on and gunshot the job this season.

 

[Northyorksblade]

I've really enjoyed the season, though as someone said to me, that's probably because you're winning a lot more games. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. I think there's been, suprisingly, a lot more football from teams than I expected, a higher standard than I expected and our football has been a joy to watch. That coupled with Danny Wilson's interviews, our team being liked instead of detested, no histrionics from opposition players has made for a very enjoyable season. Not sure about the standard of refereeing in league one and the two line reports in the nationals, but all in all a great season, so the answer must be yes.

 

[Linz]

The difference for me is when we go a goal down, there's none of the defeatist attitude we had under previous managers. They rally with their heads up and can end up battering teams. Someone at work described us as playing like a Kevin Keegan side... we concede, but that just means we have to score more.

If Wilson wants to do a Fulham/Man City with us, then he can be my guest.

 

[Staffs_Blade]

Absolutely, yes. As others have said we can thank Danny Wilson for it. From not knowing what to expect at the start of the season - would it be the 'just like watching Brazil' Danny Wilson's Barnsley from over 10 years ago or one his more recent lower league strugglers?

Well, I'm of the opinion a manager will always try and get their teams to play the way they want them to play whether it's in the park on a Sunday or in the Premier League. Wherever they manage it's dictated in a lot of respects by finances - the better players will be in the higher leagues. The other constraint in any league is time - as a manager you aren't given long and if you are trying to implement an alternative style of football in which you want the team to play using the existing players then it's even more difficult.

So even though it's league one it was never going to be easy - look at our fellow relegation partners - Scunthorpe and Preston.

Personally I think whatever happens this season it's the best football we've seen for an age and the best manager we've had for an age. " It's just like watching Brazil."

UTB

 

[SBSP]

First time in a long time I've been going to the match expecting us to score goals. Even to the point of going 1-0 down, like Saturday, you've every faith we'll pull it back.
Obviously playing nice football and winning more often than not is much more fun that what was being served up before.

 

[WhiteHawk]

I've absolutely loved this season. Wilson has been a revelation, the team have been playing some excellent football, only Real Madrid & Barcelona have scored more goals than us, supporters of other teams like us and hate Wednesday. Theres a small part of me that doesn't want to go up so we can have all this again next season!

 

[Latters]

First time in a long time I've been going to the match expecting us to score goals. Even to the point of going 1-0 down, like Saturday, you've every faith we'll pull it back.
Obviously playing nice football and winning more often than not is much more fun that what was being served up before.

It's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. Because the fans no longer fear the worst if we concede first, the players aren't panicked into getting it forward at the earliest opportunity. Because we're actually clinical now, creating lots of chances and taking a good chunk of them, we can afford to be patient when we go a goal down. But what came first, the fans' confidence or the team's calmness? Either way, it's all thanks to one man who "used to be shite"!

 

[Melbourne Blade]

A resounding yes. As an expat Blade we're restricted to Bladesworld, the odd live game on Sky and of course this forum. However it's definitely been our most upbeat season in years. The main pluses for me are Danny Wilson coming in and completely changing the way we play. Perhaps it's easier to adopt a passing style in this division as opposed to changing your style in more difficult leagues like the Championship, however, we'll see next season I guess (assuming we're up!).

It will be good next season to play the likes of Leeds, (possibly) Wet Sham, Ipswich, Palace, Forest etc. I don't know what our 2-3 year plan is though, with money tight I can't see Wilson given the funds or direction to challenge immediately for promotion. Who wants to be in the premier league anyway? I remember our season under Warnock and it wasn't that enjoyable. Losing week in week out and having to witness blatant favoritism to the 'popular' teams.

 

[Bedrock Blade]

Yes! Pork boys are OK by me if they're no longer pork boys! (if ya catch my drift)

The Blades are on the up and that's all i care about.

 

[Grecian2000]

As I said in another thread after the Rochdale game, it's been a total re-birth for me (well from Christmas on when the Monty/Doyle axis was finally replaced for good).

Gone is the bollockless neagativity from Hoofy through Alehouse and we are playing football I am happy to watch again. The opposition has been, almost universally, poor, but we've not been dragged down to their level and have continued to play an expansive and controlled game.

Hopefully some of the "it only matters that we win, not how we play" attitude that has plagued us for seasons has been washed away and the appreciation that you perform first and the results will, inevitably, follow has become the mantra that can drive the club forward for a few years at least.

 

[sitwell]

Agree with all the posts above ,I would always go to home games no matter what but I have only missed a couple of away games ,as a group we have started loving the away matches again.

 

[grafikhaus]

Theres a small part of me that doesn't want to go up so we can have all this again next season!

Get back to us if we're playing Walsall on a wet Tuesday night next season!

Seriously, some good comments on this thread (unlike the 'Ched case' one where somebody in particular is getting downright bloody nasty).

Watching the Blades on Saturday and then seeing cheats like Ashley Young and borderline-corrupt officials make you wonder why people are so keen to reach the 'promised land' of the Premier League. Wolves, for one, will be better off out of it as it's no fun expecting to get thumped every match - something that never happened to us, but they found other ways to screw us.

 

[essexblade87]

Kids coming through in a very steady stream, good attacking football being played, on brink of promotion. Can't complain, the foundations are good. I just miss Captain Morgan

 

[Sirius]

The difference for me is when we go a goal down, there's none of the defeatist attitude we had under previous managers. They rally with their heads up and can end up battering teams. Someone at work described us as playing like a Kevin Keegan side... we concede, but that just means we have to score more.

If Wilson wants to do a Fulham/Man City with us, then he can be my guest.

Is Wilson getting the praise at games. Are the crowd behind him and in full voice regarding his efforts?