i will be the first to say it

[TonyAgana]

With that defence? I can't see it myself.

I thought that brand new and young(est ever?) defence did remarkably well. Limited one of the best sides to come to Bramall Lane in a long time to long range efforts and only conceding scrappy set-pieces. I reckon we'll be alright. In fact, if BB is laying, I'll take that bet!

 

[Revolution]

The same player scored twice from corners. That, my friend, is not good defending.

 

[Escafeld]

Thats the Blades way and sums up this club in a nut shell.

Indeed the Blades have a history of snatching relegation from the jaws of safety.

Saying that though I think the misery caused by relegation would be fleeting. I think that a lot of Blades would rediscover their love of the club and football in general if we were in the 3rd division. We've been at this level for all but one of the last seventeen years and it's all got a bit dull. We'd probably (hopefully) be winning a lot more games, many of the hangers-on would disappear and the Lane would be a much more positive place to visit, our away numbers would increase and there'd be a lot of grounds to visit we've not been to in some time or at all.

 

[Grecian2000]

Saying that though I think the misery caused by relegation would be fleeting. I think that a lot of Blades would rediscover their love of the club and football in general if we were in the 3rd division. We've been at this level for all but one of the last seventeen years and it's all got a bit dull. We'd probably (hopefully) be winning a lot more games, many of the hangers-on would disappear and the Lane would be a much more positive place to visit, our away numbers would increase and there'd be a lot of grounds to visit we've not been to in some time or at all.

Couldn't disagree more to be honest.

Absolutely no guarantee of bouncing straight back, and given our financial plight (whatever it is) that could be a death knell.

Smaller crowds (although who these "hangers on" that will dissappear are, God only knows) would mean less income, meaning less expenditure (i.e. poorer quality players) and possibly even worse results. Imagine a club our size going to a place like Orient and getting four put past us, unthinkable.

 

[JohnDenver]

The belief that relegation would be healthy is entirely predicated on the experiences of those clubs who bounced straight back. But what are the odds? For every Leicester or Norwich there's a Wendy or a Leeds. Or even a Bradford.

Relegation would be an utter disaster for us.

 

[beightonblade]

I thought that brand new and young(est ever?) defence did remarkably well. Limited one of the best sides to come to Bramall Lane in a long time to long range efforts and only conceding scrappy set-pieces. I reckon we'll be alright. In fact, if BB is laying, I'll take that bet!

had a £100 with PaddyPower

 

[Selly]

The belief that relegation would be healthy is entirely predicated on the experiences of those clubs who bounced straight back. But what are the odds? For every Leicester or Norwich there's a Wendy or a Leeds. Or even a Bradford.

Would that be Leeds who are currently 5th in the League?

Relegation would be an utter disaster for us.

Agreed, anyone who thinks relegation is a quick fix is a moron. Instead of patying more than we receive on a Championship budget we'll be paying more than we receive on a L1 budget.

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:51 AM ----------

had a £100 with PaddyPower

Odds?

Missed out on the 25/1 in the PL season, might be worth an insurance bet...

 

[beightonblade]

Missed out on the 25/1 in the PL season, might be worth an insurance bet...

owd bb had £100 on it but at 20-1

 

[lenners]

Indeed the Blades have a history of snatching relegation from the jaws of safety.

Saying that though I think the misery caused by relegation would be fleeting. I think that a lot of Blades would rediscover their love of the club and football in general if we were in the 3rd division. We've been at this level for all but one of the last seventeen years and it's all got a bit dull. We'd probably (hopefully) be winning a lot more games, many of the hangers-on would disappear and the Lane would be a much more positive place to visit, our away numbers would increase and there'd be a lot of grounds to visit we've not been to in some time or at all.

It's as if those comfortable Carling Cup defeats against lower league opposition never happened...
Kind of agree with a bit of the sentiment though.
As a club we've sleepwalked towards oblivion by plodding along in the same division and it does take its toll.

 

[norfolkblade]

We need to start making our own luck IMO.

We outplayed Norwich in the 1st half, and their keeper pulled off a couple of cracking saves. We really have got to learn to turn domination like that into goals, and quickly, otherwise we will slide through the trap door to join the snorters next season.

Seems like the spirit is back though, all we need to do is get fitter, so we can play like we did 1st half for at least 75 minutes of the game rather than just 45.

 

[super_pig]

>i will be the first to say it
umm.. i said it over a week ago mate.. ;-(.. probably on goal difference on the last day after being 4th bottom all season

 

[Casper]

spot on that Swollen.... I first said this (in fact i think i started a thread on here) after the Preston game back in early September. Even though we had won, that to me was still a relegation side. Another manager down the line and i see nothing to say different. As the op says, there is nobody in that team to 'make our own luck'. Micky will have the team playing their hearts out, but to me, there is nobody to make that tad of difference when it really matters.

I've been one of Evan's biggest critics since he arrived, but i have to say he has been much better recently. That just emphasises my fear though. As a team we are probably now playing as well as we can - and still losing! We are conceding far too many of the type of goals that actually we used to score! You know, the pin-ball in the box when somebody would dive in and stick it away. And with a goalkeeper who the opposition im sure realise, is very limited in certain areas, it is a recipe for disaster im afraid.

 

[oldblade]

LOL. I remember thinking "we're down this year" after going to Hartlepool. And I've thought so most of the year. The season's passing and we're still struggling so we're right to shit ourselves. But I've got more hope now than before because I see some spirit back, and a desire to win games rather than avoid defeat. And I think the manager knows what's required - time and resource being against him.

If we get to the last game of the season needing points we'll be relegated. Something all Bldes will agree on.

If McCabe feels the responsibility that he should for overseeing our demise, he'll find the cash to avoid this. Then write off his debt and move on ASAP, making way for someone who cares about football.

UTB

Bassett got us playing with more fire and spirit, but we still went down. Unless we start to win regularly pretty soon we're going down.

And looking at the fixture list it doesn't look too promising. Only 4 of our remaining home games are against teams in the bottom half of the table, and not one of those is currently below us (but then, very few sides are below us at the moment!).

The away games against Scunthorpe, Crystal Palace and Preston are absolutely vital.

We need the equivalent of 8 wins to stay up. A tall order when we've only won 7 all season.

 

[Wards]

Have you lot not noticed just how bad the bottom three are? They are awful.

We won't go down. I'd even wager we won't be bottom 5

 

[oldblade]

Have you lot not noticed just how bad the bottom three are? They are awful.

We won't go down. I'd even wager we won't be bottom 5

They might be bad, but we still managed to lose 4-0 to one of them. We may have been unfortunate in that match and we can try and dress it up however we want, but a 4-0 defeat at home against a poor side gives a few clues as to how good or bad we are.

 

[Ollessendro]

We won't go down. I'd even wager we won't be bottom 5

£20 says we do finish bottom five.

 

[JohnDenver]

£20 says we do finish bottom five.

Donated to the forum or the Olle beer fund?

 

[Bladesway]

Been saying we have real problems since middle of last season. Should have kept Blackwell until the end of last season, cleared him out immediately following Ipswich game and then got a new man in. However we have been sliding ever since we sold BT a while back. That day signalled the end of our intent to look up and as a matter of course we have slipped backwards season on season.

We are poor not just in squad but in our overall club fibre. There is no surer sign of a club in trouble than a load of loanees, 3 managers in a season and a Chairman who has already resigned himself to relegation by the fact he wont dig into his pockets to get us out the shit.

The club is rotting. It was slowly rotting but has spiralled out of control since the start of this season. Relegation may cut the cancer out of the club however, it may only continue onwards and downwards. No point in having all the expensive fancy clubs around the globe now McCabe. Doesn't really look much in League 1. I wonder how we look as a brand these days Kev?

How the hell has it got to here? I keep asking, where has the £5m per season gone? Where the fuck has the transfer money gone? And if it has all gone covering wages then what the hell has been going on at the top to let this happen? Who has managed the Wage Bill? Who sanctioned the mass spunking of wadloads of cash up the wall? After 10 years of being run carefully shouldn't there be a public hanging for the fact that this has all been allowed to go on unchecked? Suddenly its the chairmans cash and he won't let it go. Shouldn't he have been thinking that as soon as outgoings outstripped income?

---------- Post added at 10:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 PM ----------

They might be bad, but we still managed to lose 4-0 to one of them. We may have been unfortunate in that match and we can try and dress it up however we want, but a 4-0 defeat at home against a poor side gives a few clues as to how good or bad we are.

I'm a big fan of an unlucky 0-4 home reverse to Scunthorpe United. Where do I buy the drugs that make this an acceptable scoreline. Not having a pop at you OB but there were many wanking lyrical about how we were robbed. No one has ever been robbed 4-0. 4-2 you can say you were all over them and hit the post twice and their keeper pulled off some outstanding saves. 4-0 is a hammering.

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

Since relegation decisions taken by the leadership of the club, whether that be McCabe, Robinson or Birch has been totally inept.

Appointing Robson was a shocker but the way they did was even worse. No interviews, rushed Captain Marvel's appointment through, then let him spend shed loads on a team that would have taken us down if we'd carried on with Robson to the season's end.

Blackwell's appointment was at least built on the team getting good results, although giving him a year's extension to his contract was ridiculous. It was probably worth accepting his resignation after the PO final defeat but should defo have gone last summer. The timing of his sacking was daft and didn't do Speed any favours. But again the job was never interviewed for when Speed was appointed. Any organisation should really be having a proper selection process when making such an appointment.

I think making Adams manager is a good decision but if we were to go down could he do a Bassett and take us up twice. Who knows but there's certainly no guarantees. I'd rather not chance it and make sure we stay up this season.

Getting relegated to the lower leagues does nothing whatsoever for a club's standing. We've had 6 seasons down there I'd rather us keep it at that. The pigs are now on season 8 as an associate member, I'd like us to make sure we do all we can to ensure the pigs extend that particular record.

 

[alcoblade]

Bassett got us playing with more fire and spirit, but we still went down. Unless we start to win regularly pretty soon we're going down.

And looking at the fixture list it doesn't look too promising. Only 4 of our remaining home games are against teams in the bottom half of the table, and not one of those is currently below us (but then, very few sides are below us at the moment!).

The away games against Scunthorpe, Crystal Palace and Preston are absolutely vital.

We need the equivalent of 8 wins to stay up. A tall order when we've only won 7 all season.

I've seen more than just an uptick in fire and spirit, otherwise I'd agree with you. Whilst I'd accept that we are a poor side, I do think there's still a bit more in us. I think the defence has been shite all season, yet we've just changed half of it. We couldn't score goals, but now Evans has shown a bit and we've brought in a new striker. We've also, heaven forbid, shown a willingness to attack opposition. That strange phenomenon of 2 up front has returned....

We're 4th from bottom. 3 teams currently sit below us, even allowing for how shite we've been. Surely it can't be such a tall order?

UTB

---------- Post added at 11:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 PM ----------

Been saying we have real problems since middle of last season. Should have kept Blackwell until the end of last season, cleared him out immediately following Ipswich game and then got a new man in. However we have been sliding ever since we sold BT a while back. That day signalled the end of our intent to look up and as a matter of course we have slipped backwards season on season.

We are poor not just in squad but in our overall club fibre. There is no surer sign of a club in trouble than a load of loanees, 3 managers in a season and a Chairman who has already resigned himself to relegation by the fact he wont dig into his pockets to get us out the shit.

The club is rotting. It was slowly rotting but has spiralled out of control since the start of this season. Relegation may cut the cancer out of the club however, it may only continue onwards and downwards. No point in having all the expensive fancy clubs around the globe now McCabe. Doesn't really look much in League 1. I wonder how we look as a brand these days Kev?

How the hell has it got to here? I keep asking, where has the £5m per season gone? Where the fuck has the transfer money gone? And if it has all gone covering wages then what the hell has been going on at the top to let this happen? Who has managed the Wage Bill? Who sanctioned the mass spunking of wadloads of cash up the wall? After 10 years of being run carefully shouldn't there be a public hanging for the fact that this has all been allowed to go on unchecked? Suddenly its the chairmans cash and he won't let it go. Shouldn't he have been thinking that as soon as outgoings outstripped income

Spot on fella. But McCabe doesn't need an inquest. He needs a mirror. It wasn't much over a year ago (was it) that he was committing us to a further £40M of ground improvements so that we could further stroke our (his) ego by hosting 3 minor world cup matches. The plot wasn't lost. It was put on a rocket to Pluto.

I do however feel some green shoots. I think we've now employed the right man for where we're at, and if we give him time (what's the alternative now) he'll clear out the mess that he inherited and turn us around. It's time for us fans to consider ourselves supporters again, rather than customers.

UTB

 

[Kopped]

We'll be safe by end of March

 

[alcoblade]

We'll be safe by end of March

Aye, March 2012. League 1.



UTB

 

[Tuns]

Been saying we have real problems since middle of last season. Should have kept Blackwell until the end of last season, cleared him out immediately following Ipswich game and then got a new man in. However we have been sliding ever since we sold BT a while back. That day signalled the end of our intent to look up and as a matter of course we have slipped backwards season on season..

Agree with a lot of that but I think the rot actually started with Warnock on promotion to the Prem. We had a chance to kick on and invest in quality.

Even if we had come back down we should have come down as a much stronger team. We shoujld have had a string of prem quality players that other teams wanted and some excellent developing young talent and even selling one or two would have left us very strong club in the Champ destined to bounce back.

Instead we generally bought a load of shit and had nothing to show for our time in the Prem except flogging our only major asset in Jags in a cut price deal.

selling BT was the first obvious sign the club was getting ready to hoist up the white flag for a few years - though on a separate point I think he was one of the most overrated players in my time watching United.

 

[broomhillblade]

selling BT was the first obvious sign the club was getting ready to hoist up the white flag for a few years - though on a separate point I think he was one of the most overrated players in my time watching United.

... and the most overpaid by the sound of it.

 

[TheSwollengland]

Woulld it surprise anyone to know that Henderson is on £20k a week ? I know it surprised me