sportinguista
Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2013
- Messages
- 689
- Reaction score
- 1,110
My take on yesterday:
Journey there - easy on the train from Victoria with a couple of tins
Pre match vibe - excellent. Smiling faces, beers flowing, good spirit on the streets around the ground/station.
Pre match chips - took so long to fry I thought we were gonna miss kick off
Gillingham ground - great. Stewards outside waiting with our tickets in hand so no need to go to ticket office. Stewards inside really helpful and friendly, let us sit where we wanted as we arrived in a group with seats all over the place. No probs lads, sit anywhere in this section. And £15 a ticket, kids free!!! Cap doffed to Gillingham. Thanks for that.
Match - 4-0 to Gillingham was exactly the correct reflection on the game. We were well beaten in every department. The 4th goal was a stunner too.
Fans - quiet I thought throughout. I know the team offered us nothing at all but it all seemed quite deflated for a sunny season opener. The boos at half time were understandable as United had been shite and at least they were aimed at the team as a whole. However, the heckling of individual players is never going to help is it? Especially when you're the goalkeeper with the least confidence in England. I did like the applause for Gillingham's fourth goal from the Blades end and also the ovation given to Gillingham as they left the pitch at the end which was fully merited and showed that SUFC fans can and do behave decently on the road.
New away kit - looked like lemons, played like lemons (yeah, it's 'Macaw', I know, least said about it the better)
Post match - decent atmosphere outside the pub near the station. One baby Blade who was struggling with the sun/beer/temperament combination but was easily shepherded by his colleagues.
Conclusions - United have a lot to do to turn that around. Gillingham were up for it, we weren't. Our defence needs sorting out...like that's a news story. George Long may have been amazing at Motherwell (be honest, did ANYONE actually see those games?) but I was only 10 rows from the front and I never heard him say a word in the first half. And there was plenty to be said. We were soft in the middle and consequently devoid of ideas up front...but the strikers had no service. That Sammons looked like a lump up front, I hope we'll see better from him. It's a defeat...a bad 'un but in all honestly it's the kick up the arse they need to get sorting it and it certainly doesn't mean the season is over after one game. There'll be more defeats this season but I for one hope that none of them are because we are so ineffective as we were at Gillingham. If you go down , at least go down fighting Blades, don't just give it to them.
Journey there - easy on the train from Victoria with a couple of tins
Pre match vibe - excellent. Smiling faces, beers flowing, good spirit on the streets around the ground/station.
Pre match chips - took so long to fry I thought we were gonna miss kick off
Gillingham ground - great. Stewards outside waiting with our tickets in hand so no need to go to ticket office. Stewards inside really helpful and friendly, let us sit where we wanted as we arrived in a group with seats all over the place. No probs lads, sit anywhere in this section. And £15 a ticket, kids free!!! Cap doffed to Gillingham. Thanks for that.
Match - 4-0 to Gillingham was exactly the correct reflection on the game. We were well beaten in every department. The 4th goal was a stunner too.
Fans - quiet I thought throughout. I know the team offered us nothing at all but it all seemed quite deflated for a sunny season opener. The boos at half time were understandable as United had been shite and at least they were aimed at the team as a whole. However, the heckling of individual players is never going to help is it? Especially when you're the goalkeeper with the least confidence in England. I did like the applause for Gillingham's fourth goal from the Blades end and also the ovation given to Gillingham as they left the pitch at the end which was fully merited and showed that SUFC fans can and do behave decently on the road.
New away kit - looked like lemons, played like lemons (yeah, it's 'Macaw', I know, least said about it the better)
Post match - decent atmosphere outside the pub near the station. One baby Blade who was struggling with the sun/beer/temperament combination but was easily shepherded by his colleagues.
Conclusions - United have a lot to do to turn that around. Gillingham were up for it, we weren't. Our defence needs sorting out...like that's a news story. George Long may have been amazing at Motherwell (be honest, did ANYONE actually see those games?) but I was only 10 rows from the front and I never heard him say a word in the first half. And there was plenty to be said. We were soft in the middle and consequently devoid of ideas up front...but the strikers had no service. That Sammons looked like a lump up front, I hope we'll see better from him. It's a defeat...a bad 'un but in all honestly it's the kick up the arse they need to get sorting it and it certainly doesn't mean the season is over after one game. There'll be more defeats this season but I for one hope that none of them are because we are so ineffective as we were at Gillingham. If you go down , at least go down fighting Blades, don't just give it to them.
