Ipswich experience

[Ollessendro]

Just got back from a day out at Ipswich and am facing up to the hard fact that we are going to get relegated this season. As I have read reports over the last few weeks I have kidded myself that we are still capable of staying up, but witnessing what we had to offer at Portman Road today has sealed it for me. This is not another 'we are doomed' post, but any of the 427 other Blades who were there would not argue with me.

I have only been to Ipswich once before and what a different experience it was before. I went to the play off semi in 1998 and it was one of my best experiences as a United fan. Unfortunately todays performance is right up there with my worst experiences. The 2nd half was as bad as Watford away last season.

After a few beers in the station pub with some fellow United fans I was geared up for the game. The fans where really up for it and got behind the team. There were less than 500 of us, but we outsang the home fans right up until the 3rd goal went in.

The team

Adams set up with a defensive 4-4-2. Collins came straight into the team and Lowry moved to left back. Ertl remained at centre half and Boggy came in for Evans (who was apparently ill). The midfield remained the same as Leicester with Williamson out on the right, Cressy on the left and Monty and Doyle in the middle of the park.

The game

United started quite brightly and made all the early running. The Blades had all the pressure and although they did not created anything, they were in control. It was a scrappy affair, with no chances of real quality but Sheffield United dominated play. Still no real chances were created despite the Blades being on top.

United had a set piece ealry on that caused trouble. The ball fizzed across the area, but noone got a touch. United pressed but it came to nothing. Suddenly, against the run of play and out of nowhere they were 1 nil down. A soft free kick was goven when Collins was judged to have handballed. From the resulting free kick Ipswich scored. Damien Delayney headed in unmarked at the far post to give the Tractor boys the lead. It was a soft goal and a free header.

United continued to press, but the lack of quality showed and all the possession lead to nothing. The closest to a chance was a good cross from Williamson that was almost turned into his own net by an Ipswich defender. Half time arrived and a dejected Ollessendro was only infuriated more when he got to the front of the queue and was told they were not selling beer. What the fuck?? The pies were actually pretty good and the Bovril went down ok, but what century are those backward fuckers in?

The second half Ipswich came out with renewed vigour and it wasn't long before they were in front. More poor defending lead to Norris converting at the far post. The Ipswich players were queuing up to score, with at leadt 3 unmarked, and Norris shot past Simmonsen from close range.

United looked dejected and Ipswich really came into the game. Every time they came forward they looked like scoring. Conversely United could still be playing now and they would not have scored. They did not look like scoring all afternoon. United were let off when Ipwich missed a penalty late on. Simmonsen made a good save after Priskin was fouled. Many Blades around me complained, but for me it was a stone wall penalty. Priskin was sure to score and Lowry flattened him. Lukcily for United Simmonsen guessed the right way and saved Leadbitters penalty.

To compound Uniteds misery, young Connor Wickham scored a truly brilliant goal. Wickham controlled a swirling high ball in his own half and then set off down the pitch, he passed several defenders and then cooly finished. He made Monty look like a complete mug (he tried to foul him and missed) and then cut through the rest of the defence and finished with ease. I stood up and clapped what was a fantastic goal, but it was definately made too easy for him.

Kozluk and Williamson were then sent off for stupid indiscipline. I did not proprely see iether incident, but gather they were just frustrated and acted like idiots.

Tactics

Adams got this horribly wrong and some of the blame has to lay with him. Yes he has inherited a shot squad, but his choices have been poor. He played 2 sluggers (monty and Doyle) in centre mid, with Williamson (a centre mid) out right and Cressy (a striker) out left. We had absolutely no creativity whatsoever. How the fuck is that midfield going to create anything?

Set Pieces

How the fuck do professional footballers get this so wrong. It is the basics and is bread and butter. Williamson fucked up amlost every free kick and corner he took. He consistently over hit free kicks (either into the keepers arms or into the stand) and hit the first man at every corner. One corner did not even come into play. He was not eh only one with every Blade who took a set piece fucking it up.

Other gripes

Today was a fucking embarrassment. Those clowns are not fit to wear the Red and White stripes. Kozzy and Williamson acting like spoiled children only made this worse. United were awful today. I feel no affiliation with the current team. They are a bunch of talentless wankers who are getting overpaid for being rubbish. The effort was there in the first half (though the quality not) but the second half was embarrassing.

Player ratings

SS 6/10 - Saved a pen, but did not really do a lot else other than pick the ball out of the net

Parrino 5.5/10 - Looks a bit light weight lthough he tried hard.

Lowry 5/10 - Looks a half decent defender. Defended ok and tried to get forward. He was part of the back 4 that conceded 3 goals and gave away a penalty.

Ertl 6.5/10 - Had a great first half and was a rock. However he faded in the 2nd half and although not at fault for the goals he has to take responsibility for his teams defending.

Collins 4/10 - Not the answer I am afraid. Looks slowed and immobile and was easily beaten on several occassions.

Williamson 2/10 - Simply awful. Worst player on the pitch. His distributionwas terrible, he disappeared for large periods and then finally rubbed salt in the wound getting sent off for insulting the referree.

Cresswell 3.5/10 - Poor throughout. Offered nothing out left and although he put in a lot of effort he did very little. He looked slightly better when put up front with Boggy, but did nothing material.

Doyle 2.5/10 - Marginally better than Williamson, but a real candidate for worst player on the pitch. He was not involved at all. The only thing I remember him foing was a horrendous tackle. Despite being favourite to win the ball, he beat the Ipswich player to the ball but completely missed it. His sliding tackle missed the ball by a yard an he handled it on the awy through and got booked. It was embarassing and comical.

Monty 4/10 - Worked hard and was one of the better midfielders, but he is limited. He broke up opposition attacks, but also broke down a few of ours with his wayward distribution and aimless longs balls. He offered a more embarrassing moment than Doyle when he tried to kick the ball and kicked an Ipswich player. His timing was like a clows as he swung for the ball, completely missed it and smacked an Ipwich player. It was hillarious yet highly embarassing at the same time.

BOGGY 7/10 - Best United player by a mile. Worked really hard, had a great touch and linked well when given the chance. Unfortunately he had no support and was given no chances.

Bent 3/10 - May as well not have played. It was like having a black Ollessendor on the pitch.

Ipswich

Nowt special. A few decent players. Their young stiker Wickham is a handful and Bullard was everywhere in midfield. First half they offered nothing and were second best. However after the break they dominated. Leadbitter and Bullard ran though Monty and Doyle like they were not there. They were dangerous too (maybe a mix of their ability and our shocking defending) and looked like scoring every time they came forward. Reallly they barely broke a sweat and they battered us. Still they are not a good team and I think it was more of a case of us flattering them.

Support

Although there were only just over 400 Blades there I thought the support was very good. Ipwsich were quiet and right up until they finished the game (2nd goal around the hour mark) we made a lot of noise. We outsang them for most of the game. The constant 'Sheff United' chant for 15 minutes was a particular highlighted and only beaten by the 'Sheffield United .... the finest football team the world ha ever seen' slow chant

Final thoughts

I have to say that I think we are going down. It's a real shame, but that performance suggests we are. I just cannot see us turning it around. We have no quality, pace or ceativity and I cannot see where goals will come from. Nor can i see where our next win will come from. It's a real shame, but I am resigned to it. A few Ipswich fans tried to console me afterwards and wished us luck, but they were surprised how bad we were.

 

[Casper]

Thanks for the report. I said more or less the same after the Leicester game and got slagged by the know nowts. Anybody with any footballing brain whatsoever can see that we are going downhill faster than an Olympic skier. And ill tell you what, that side would at best manage mid table in league 1. I'm not just concerned about this season, im worried about the next 2 or 3, cos i think they will stick with Adams until the bitter end.

 

[chipsncake]

Thanks Olly, a truly worrying appraisal but one which will suprise no one. All in all an indication that even at this early stage it is looking like the job may be too big for Micky. Your assessment of Williamson would also indicate he is not getting anywhere near the best out of what we have. Here we have a player who at this level is above average but playing him out of position to accommodate Monty and Doyle is sinful. Maybe the manager would argue we don't have better alternatives but to me this only shows how much he has got it wrong with his signings so far.

 

[bladesadviser]

Thanks Olly, that summed up the game perfectly. In fact was I sat next to you as some of the points you made I was discussing with the blade next to me??

 

[Ollessendro]

After thoughts

Substitutions - Adams has not got a lot to work with, but talk about uninspiring. The inneffetive Doyle was quite rightly dragged off after 50odd minutes for Quinn and slmost immediately Yeates came on for Bent. I suppose Adams was looking for width, but it was too late. Kozluk then came on for Parrino in a desperate attempt by Adams to get his team something from a long throw. Kozluk was awful and an embarrassment to the shirt. At his age and with his experience he should no better than acting like a spoilt child. That might very well be his last game for United. Yeates looked pretty lively, but just had little to support him. His touch was good, he ran at defenders and he got his head up and looked for the pass. Unfortunately he had little or no options and therefore had little impact upon the game. Quinn was very poor and it was epitomised by him getting the ball in acres of space, miscontrolling it, making a massive hash and then passing it out of play. To be fair to him, he did try and play, but nothign came off for him.

Goals (or lack of) - In the pub after the game a United fan complained to me that we had no shots on target. The stats show 2 on target, but I can barely remember Fulop having to make a save. Early on Bent (or Williamson) had a tame shot that went straight into his arms and Fulop came out and commanded the air. This was helped with some wopeful set pieces. I don't remember the other effort on goal. The fact that after going one down, or even before dominating the game and not having any chances is worrying. Bogdanovic chased a through ball and was only just beaten to it by Fulop. Bogdanovic also teed up Doyle when it was one nil down and it took a fantastic tackle from an Ipswich player to deny an almost certain goal. There were half hearted appealsa round me, but it was just very good defending.

Who is going to score the goals? Where are we going to create chances? Ched and Boggy have both looked sharp over recent weeks, but neither has had much service. They both put a shift in and are surprisingly strong. Bogdanovic was tireless yesterday and (along with Ertl) was the only player fit toi wear a Red and White shirt. Still he did not have any clear cut chances. Why? Becuase we created nothing. Ched and Boggy are decent enough, but if they don't get chances they are unlikely to create soemthign out of nothing (like Connor Wickham did). Yeates looked good when he came on and he should start future games. I don't know who to put on the other wing. I'd say Ward, but apparently he has fell out with Adams and we could be seeing yet another promising, talented youngster leave the Lane. We badly need width and I would be looking for Adams to bring in at least one winger. A midfield of Yeates, Monty, Willo and AN other would not be so bad.

Are there no wingers in the youth team we can throw in? If not then we need to get into the loan market. How far away from fitness is Henderson? He could make a difference in this poor side.

Adams - Worse start ever as a United manager? Worse in the last 25 years for sure. When can you see him getting his first win? I can't see one on the horizon. Perhaps it is early to start slagging him, as he has been dealt a very poor hand. He's inherited a poor team, but you havbe to get the best out of what you have got. Playing Williamson out on the right is not that, particularly when we are playing 2 sluggers in centre mid. Cresswell is inneffective out wide and has never been a left winger. We had no width whatsoever. Playing Cressy, an aging out of form striker, on the wing - especially when Yeates was on the bench - is again not making the best out of what you have got. I could understand this once, but against leicester it was te same. I don't know what has happened between him and Ward, but now is not the time to be alienating one of our best players. Yes Ward has been poor this season, but it is up to Admas to get his players playing (like he has with Ched). Adams does not have many options, so perhaps this is unfair, but I think that someone like Warnock would be doing a much better job than he is. Is Adams up to the task? At the moment it seems no, but we'll have to wait and see (and pray) .....

---------- Post added at 10:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 AM ----------

Thanks Olly, that summed up the game perfectly. In fact was I sat next to you as some of the points you made I was discussing with the blade next to me??

Oreit pal. Maybe! Where you the bloke who I asked about Bullard? Then we had numerous chats about incidents in the game, worries about League one etc.

 

[GAZBLADE]

Just got back from a day out at Ipswich and am facing up to the hard fact that we are going to get relegated this season. As I have read reports over the last few weeks I have kidded myself that we are still capable of staying up, but witnessing what we had to offer at Portman Road today has sealed it for me. This is not another 'we are doomed' post, but any of the 427 other Blades who were there would not argue with me.

I have only been to Ipswich once before and what a different experience it was before. I went to the play off semi in 1998 and it was one of my best experiences as a United fan. Unfortunately todays performance is right up there with my worst experiences. The 2nd half was as bad as Watford away last season.

After a few beers in the station pub with some fellow United fans I was geared up for the game. The fans where really up for it and got behind the team. There were less than 500 of us, but we outsang the home fans right up until the 3rd goal went in.

The team

Adams set up with a defensive 4-4-2. Collins came straight into the team and Lowry moved to left back. Ertl remained at centre half and Boggy came in for Evans (who was apparently ill). The midfield remained the same as Leicester with Williamson out on the right, Cressy on the left and Monty and Doyle in the middle of the park.

The game

United started quite brightly and made all the early running. The Blades had all the pressure and although they did not created anything, they were in control. It was a scrappy affair, with no chances of real quality but Sheffield United dominated play. Still no real chances were created despite the Blades being on top.

United had a set piece ealry on that caused trouble. The ball fizzed across the area, but noone got a touch. United pressed but it came to nothing. Suddenly, against the run of play and out of nowhere they were 1 nil down. A soft free kick was goven when Collins was judged to have handballed. From the resulting free kick Ipswich scored. Damien Delayney headed in unmarked at the far post to give the Tractor boys the lead. It was a soft goal and a free header.

United continued to press, but the lack of quality showed and all the possession lead to nothing. The closest to a chance was a good cross from Williamson that was almost turned into his own net by an Ipswich defender. Half time arrived and a dejected Ollessendro was only infuriated more when he got to the front of the queue and was told they were not selling beer. What the fuck?? The pies were actually pretty good and the Bovril went down ok, but what century are those backward fuckers in?

The second half Ipswich came out with renewed vigour and it wasn't long before they were in front. More poor defending lead to Norris converting at the far post. The Ipswich players were queuing up to score, with at leadt 3 unmarked, and Norris shot past Simmonsen from close range.

United looked dejected and Ipswich really came into the game. Every time they came forward they looked like scoring. Conversely United could still be playing now and they would not have scored. They did not look like scoring all afternoon. United were let off when Ipwich missed a penalty late on. Simmonsen made a good save after Priskin was fouled. Many Blades around me complained, but for me it was a stone wall penalty. Priskin was sure to score and Lowry flattened him. Lukcily for United Simmonsen guessed the right way and saved Leadbitters penalty.

To compound Uniteds misery, young Connor Wickham scored a truly brilliant goal. Wickham controlled a swirling high ball in his own half and then set off down the pitch, he passed several defenders and then cooly finished. He made Monty look like a complete mug (he tried to foul him and missed) and then cut through the rest of the defence and finished with ease. I stood up and clapped what was a fantastic goal, but it was definately made too easy for him.

Kozluk and Williamson were then sent off for stupid indiscipline. I did not proprely see iether incident, but gather they were just frustrated and acted like idiots.

Tactics

Adams got this horribly wrong and some of the blame has to lay with him. Yes he has inherited a shot squad, but his choices have been poor. He played 2 sluggers (monty and Doyle) in centre mid, with Williamson (a centre mid) out right and Cressy (a striker) out left. We had absolutely no creativity whatsoever. How the fuck is that midfield going to create anything?

Set Pieces

How the fuck do professional footballers get this so wrong. It is the basics and is bread and butter. Williamson fucked up amlost every free kick and corner he took. He consistently over hit free kicks (either into the keepers arms or into the stand) and hit the first man at every corner. One corner did not even come into play. He was not eh only one with every Blade who took a set piece fucking it up.

Other gripes

Today was a fucking embarrassment. Those clowns are not fit to wear the Red and White stripes. Kozzy and Williamson acting like spoiled children only made this worse. United were awful today. I feel no affiliation with the current team. They are a bunch of talentless wankers who are getting overpaid for being rubbish. The effort was there in the first half (though the quality not) but the second half was embarrassing.

Player ratings

SS 6/10 - Saved a pen, but did not really do a lot else other than pick the ball out of the net

Parrino 5.5/10 - Looks a bit light weight lthough he tried hard.

Lowry 5/10 - Looks a half decent defender. Defended ok and tried to get forward. He was part of the back 4 that conceded 3 goals and gave away a penalty.

Ertl 6.5/10 - Had a great first half and was a rock. However he faded in the 2nd half and although not at fault for the goals he has to take responsibility for his teams defending.

Collins 4/10 - Not the answer I am afraid. Looks slowed and immobile and was easily beaten on several occassions.

Williamson 2/10 - Simply awful. Worst player on the pitch. His distributionwas terrible, he disappeared for large periods and then finally rubbed salt in the wound getting sent off for insulting the referree.

Cresswell 3.5/10 - Poor throughout. Offered nothing out left and although he put in a lot of effort he did very little. He looked slightly better when put up front with Boggy, but did nothing material.

Doyle 2.5/10 - Marginally better than Williamson, but a real candidate for worst player on the pitch. He was not involved at all. The only thing I remember him foing was a horrendous tackle. Despite being favourite to win the ball, he beat the Ipswich player to the ball but completely missed it. His sliding tackle missed the ball by a yard an he handled it on the awy through and got booked. It was embarassing and comical.

Monty 4/10 - Worked hard and was one of the better midfielders, but he is limited. He broke up opposition attacks, but also broke down a few of ours with his wayward distribution and aimless longs balls. He offered a more embarrassing moment than Doyle when he tried to kick the ball and kicked an Ipswich player. His timing was like a clows as he swung for the ball, completely missed it and smacked an Ipwich player. It was hillarious yet highly embarassing at the same time.

BOGGY 7/10 - Best United player by a mile. Worked really hard, had a great touch and linked well when given the chance. Unfortunately he had no support and was given no chances.

Bent 3/10 - May as well not have played. It was like having a black Ollessendor on the pitch.

Ipswich

Nowt special. A few decent players. Their young stiker Wickham is a handful and Bullard was everywhere in midfield. First half they offered nothing and were second best. However after the break they dominated. Leadbitter and Bullard ran though Monty and Doyle like they were not there. They were dangerous too (maybe a mix of their ability and our shocking defending) and looked like scoring every time they came forward. Reallly they barely broke a sweat and they battered us. Still they are not a good team and I think it was more of a case of us flattering them.

Support

Although there were only just over 400 Blades there I thought the support was very good. Ipwsich were quiet and right up until they finished the game (2nd goal around the hour mark) we made a lot of noise. We outsang them for most of the game. The constant 'Sheff United' chant for 15 minutes was a particular highlighted and only beaten by the 'Sheffield United .... the finest football team the world ha ever seen' slow chant

Final thoughts

I have to say that I think we are going down. It's a real shame, but that performance suggests we are. I just cannot see us turning it around. We have no quality, pace or ceativity and I cannot see where goals will come from. Nor can i see where our next win will come from. It's a real shame, but I am resigned to it. A few Ipswich fans tried to console me afterwards and wished us luck, but they were surprised how bad we were.

Great report Olle. From the heart i feel.
I hate being downhearted and pessimistic about it all, but, i hate to admit that i'm very quickly coming round to the possibility that we could go down.
There are a few bad teams around us like Preston and Scunny(who i think are doomed) but, i just can't see where we're going to pick up 2 or 3 wins on the bounce to drag ourselves up the table.
Desperately hope i'm wrong, but, finding it very hard to stay optimistic.
I'm always extremely proud to wear the badge, but, the current crock of wank make it quite frankly embarassing.
UTB FTO

 

[Muttley]

I doubt ANY manager would be able to sort out the ruin that McCabe has made of this club. I'm not going to have a go at Adams, hands tied to a large degree....he can only work with the overpaid talentless crap we have, and shop in Poundland instead of even the likes of Tesco!
This is thw worst state I have seen us in since the days of Hassall and Haslam. (the only other regime to take us to the 3rd tier)

It looks like we will be losing to bloody Chesterfield again next season.`

 

[Elsecar_Blade]

Whilst Williamson sounds like he was poor and stupid yesterday, his cause is not helped by being played out on the right wing. Blades fans turning on Willo would be a mistake IMO as he is one of the few hopes we do have of getting out of this mess. He has to play CM with Monty/Doyle, we have to play Ward/Yeates on the right (MA needs to put differences aside and get both/one of them focused on the rest of the season - neither can go anywhere until the end of the season) and we need to bring in a left winger on loan ASAP.

We have 27 points, we need at least 6 wins and 5 draws. We have to start with at least 4 points against Millwall and Reading - admittedly a tough ask but we have to - and then go and avoid defeats at both Palace and Scunthorpe. A defeat to Palace would be 'Game over' in my opinion if we don't win before that.

But we also have to back them. It's desperately difficult but the Blades fans have to back the players. If we turn on them, they've got no chance.

 

[dingledog]

Good report Ollie.

It must have been a very annoying journey back from tractor land.

 

[Jehovah]

Its over. Just seen goals on championship, the worst defending I have ever seen. Were down and out. Goodnight.

 

[anglian blade]

Although I thought we were pretty dreadful after the first 10 minutes the Ipswich paper takes a slightly less harsh view of the player ratings

IPSWICH TOWN v SHEFFIELD UNITED MATCH RATINGS

Ipswich Town: Fulop 7; Edwards 7, McAuley 7, Delaney 7, Kennedy 7; Martin 7, Norris 7, Leadbitter 7, Bullard 7, Wickham 7, Priskin 7.

Sheffield United: Simonsen 7; Parrino 6, Ertl 6, Collins 5, Lowry 5; Williamson 6, Montgomery 6, Doyle 5, Cresswell 5; Bogdanovic 6, Bent 6.

.

 

[yorkshirecoast]

Whilst Adams inherited a very poor team - thanks largely to McCabe - incredibly in Collins, Bent & Doyle he appears to have managed to sign 3 players that are even worse than what we already had. What a woeful team we have ended up with - no pace, no power, no creativity, no nothing. Only Evans (his recent form) & Lowry look good enough.

Not fit to wear the shirt has rarely been so apt.

 

[Ollessendro]

Whilst Williamson sounds like he was poor and stupid yesterday, his cause is not helped by being played out on the right wing. Blades fans turning on Willo would be a mistake IMO as he is one of the few hopes we do have of getting out of this mess. He has to play CM with Monty/Doyle, we have to play Ward/Yeates on the right (MA needs to put differences aside and get both/one of them focused on the rest of the season - neither can go anywhere until the end of the season) and we need to bring in a left winger on loan ASAP.

We have 27 points, we need at least 6 wins and 5 draws. We have to start with at least 4 points against Millwall and Reading - admittedly a tough ask but we have to - and then go and avoid defeats at both Palace and Scunthorpe. A defeat to Palace would be 'Game over' in my opinion if we don't win before that.

But we also have to back them. It's desperately difficult but the Blades fans have to back the players. If we turn on them, they've got no chance.

Agreed. Willo has to play in CM with either Monty OR Doyle. We need pace and creativity out wide. Ward and Yeates should both start the next home game. Adams and Ward have to be men and sort this out quick for the good of the team. I expect Adams to bring in a winger regardless.

It must have been a very annoying journey back from tractor land.

It was not so bad actually. The 9 or 10 beers I had in the afternoon numbed the pain. As usual at away games I had a good time. I had some banter with fellow Blades and also with Ipswich fans. It was a good day out, despite Adams and his sloggers doing their best to ruin it.

---------- Post added at 05:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:23 PM ----------

Although I thought we were pretty dreadful after the first 10 minutes the Ipswich paper takes a slightly less harsh view of the player ratings

IPSWICH TOWN v SHEFFIELD UNITED MATCH RATINGS

Ipswich Town: Fulop 7; Edwards 7, McAuley 7, Delaney 7, Kennedy 7; Martin 7, Norris 7, Leadbitter 7, Bullard 7, Wickham 7, Priskin 7.

Sheffield United: Simonsen 7; Parrino 6, Ertl 6, Collins 5, Lowry 5; Williamson 6, Montgomery 6, Doyle 5, Cresswell 5; Bogdanovic 6, Bent 6.

.

Diplomacy.

SS 6/10 - Saved a pen, but did not really do a lot else other than pick the ball out of the net

Parrino 5.5/10 - Looks a bit light weight lthough he tried hard.

Lowry 5/10 - Looks a half decent defender. Defended ok and tried to get forward. He was part of the back 4 that conceded 3 goals and gave away a penalty.

Ertl 6.5/10 - Had a great first half and was a rock. However he faded in the 2nd half and although not at fault for the goals he has to take responsibility for his teams defending.

Collins 4/10 - Not the answer I am afraid. Looks slowed and immobile and was easily beaten on several occassions.

Williamson 2/10 - Simply awful. Worst player on the pitch. His distributionwas terrible, he disappeared for large periods and then finally rubbed salt in the wound getting sent off for insulting the referree.

Cresswell 3.5/10 - Poor throughout. Offered nothing out left and although he put in a lot of effort he did very little. He looked slightly better when put up front with Boggy, but did nothing material.

Doyle 2.5/10 - Marginally better than Williamson, but a real candidate for worst player on the pitch. He was not involved at all. The only thing I remember him foing was a horrendous tackle. Despite being favourite to win the ball, he beat the Ipswich player to the ball but completely missed it. His sliding tackle missed the ball by a yard an he handled it on the awy through and got booked. It was embarassing and comical.

Monty 4/10 - Worked hard and was one of the better midfielders, but he is limited. He broke up opposition attacks, but also broke down a few of ours with his wayward distribution and aimless longs balls. He offered a more embarrassing moment than Doyle when he tried to kick the ball and kicked an Ipswich player. His timing was like a clows as he swung for the ball, completely missed it and smacked an Ipwich player. It was hillarious yet highly embarassing at the same time.

BOGGY 7/10 - Best United player by a mile. Worked really hard, had a great touch and linked well when given the chance. Unfortunately he had no support and was given no chances.

Bent 3/10 - May as well not have played. It was like having a black Ollessendor on the pitch.

The truth. Add to that a 2/10 for Kozzy, 3.5 for Quinn and 6/10 for Yeates. Perhaps my ratings are harsh, but the aboves ones flatter United and make the game seem closer. My ratings re based like this. 1=no contribution whatsoever (may as well not have played), 5 = average (decent contribution but no better than any other player) and 10 equals out of this world. I al guessing the Ipswich paper gave a mandatory 5 for anyone having a heatbeat.

Whilst Adams inherited a very poor team - thanks largely to McCabe - incredibly in Collins, Bent & Doyle he appears to have managed to sign 3 players that are even worse than what we already had. What a woeful team we have ended up with - no pace, no power, no creativity, no nothing. Only Evans (his recent form) & Lowry look good enough.

Not fit to wear the shirt has rarely been so apt.

Indeed. To be fair Ertl played quite well and Boggy looked a class above the rest of the rabble. A fron 6 of Evans and Boggy up top with Ward and Yeates on the wings and Monty and Willo in the centre would be half decent and a damn sight better than what we aw yesterday.

 

[Foxy]

We need pace and creativity out wide. Ward and Yeates should both start the next home game.

Problem is, in Ward we have someone who likes to spend his time slowly sulking around the pitch and hasn't looked like using the pace he once had for a long time.

In Yeates, we have someone who will take 10 corners, slicing 9 of them back into touch or into the first man and putting one very good ball in. He also can't be arsed to chase a ball if it means breaking a sweat and would rather bounce the ball at someones shins than get in an early ball/cross at all.

 

[beechblade]

Cheers Ollie.

 

[GlosBlade]

Cheers Olle and big respect to the 500 who made the journey. Having read your report I feel even more gloomy about our chances than I did before (I haven't seen the 'highlights' yet.

The next half a dozen games are key....I would very happily take 1 win out of the next 2 home games but hard to see that as they are both in-form (although in Millwalls case not especially good). Then we have a massive four games...Palace and Scunny both currently in the mire....and then Derby & Pompey two of the most likely teams (along with Coventry) to get sucked into the relegation battle. I think we'll have a clear idea of our fate after these games...the four after that are Forest, Watford, Leeds & QPR so god help us if we haven't found a bit of form by then.

Adams appears to have made some poor signings but I guess he is trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear, the buck stops firmly with McCabe who seems content to sit and watch the ship sink.

 

[Ollessendro]

Problem is, in Ward we have someone who likes to spend his time slowly sulking around the pitch and hasn't looked like using the pace he once had for a long time.

In Yeates, we have someone who will take 10 corners, slicing 9 of them back into touch or into the first man and putting one very good ball in. He also can't be arsed to chase a ball if it means breaking a sweat and would rather bounce the ball at someones shins than get in an early ball/cross at all.

We need width Foxy. Yeates and Ward are both talented and it is up to Adams to manage them and get the best out of them. Ward has showed flashes of brilliance and so has Yeates. I have issues with both players, but they are better options than an out of form, limited immobile striker and a central midfielder. Adams got it wrong yesterday (again).

If he cannot control Ward and get the best out of Yeates then he should bring someone else in. There must be an out of favour pacey winger, someone who is quick in the youth team who can play out wide or a free agent that can do it.

 

[Toronto Blade]

Stick with Yeates,but how can anyone have faith in Ward last goal Feb 2010 unless you count his pen that he took from Evans.
He is often out of the side due to injury,his best talent seems to be in picking up a nice collection of cards, unless you count his only way of beating a defender speed which from all accounts has gone.

 

[Foxy]

We need width Foxy. Yeates and Ward are both talented and it is up to Adams to manage them and get the best out of them. Ward has showed flashes of brilliance and so has Yeates. I have issues with both players, but they are better options than an out of form, limited immobile striker and a central midfielder.

I'm very aware of that, but that doesn't mean we should just pick players based on name. Ward is less mobile than Cresswell whilst he's sulking and I can't remember the last time he beat a man/put a good cross in. I've not really seen any flash of brilliance since his injury.

Yeates, again, is less mobile than an ageing striker when he simply can't be arsed to run for the ball.

There was one against Norwich right in front of us on John Street that symbolises it perfectly, the ball was trickling towards the touchline for a Norwich throw, closest Blades player? Yeates who was all of 5 yards away, who'd been on the field about 10 to 15 minutes. What did he do? simply stood with hands on hips watching it roll out whilst Monty (who incidently had been sprinting around flat out for the previous 75 minutes or so) ran 15 yards and past the stationary Yeates to try and keep the ball in.

If he cannot control Ward and get the best out of Yeates then he should bring someone else in. There must be an out of favour pacey winger, someone who is quick in the youth team who can play out wide or a free agent that can do it.

It's not a matter of "control", once a player steps over the line, if he can't be arsed and just sulks round the pitch there is little he can do other that firstly try and stop the player doing that or then moving on to replace the player.

I don't know what the answer is to getting the best out of Yeates, he is capable of being a good and dangerous player, but it happens all too infrequently. If he can't be arsed to run to a ball or can't consistantly strike a ball, then he's not going to get a starting place.

The sad situation is, even with "creative talents" like Ward and Yeates on the pitch, the best crossers of the ball most recently have been Ched Evans and Nick Montgomery.

I don't like us playing Cresswell on the wing and I also think Willo is better suited to central midfield, but unless there are any replacements in place, then I'd rather have them in and trying than a couple sulking with their hands on their hips.

Personally, I'd have already given Calve (though question marks over his attitude) or Lowton a go on the right wing and would probably play Quinny on the left wing in the absence of another winger.

First two loanee's I'd go for would be pacey wingers.

 

[Come from away]

Amen Foxy, two wingers it is