Just can't come to any conclusion

[Bell4]

About how i think Sunday will go.

on one hand we play great possession attacking footie but on the other we may have no forwards

on one foot they have , on paper, the best 3,000 players ever to play in the Championship and we have no forwards

on one side of the coin we have a manager who is ingrained in the Blades Way and has galvanised us beyond belief

on the other side of the coin they have a manager who has spent millions to put together a squad who are the best 3,000 players ever to play in the Championship

on one earlobe (running out of `on ones`) we have a grounded , realistic , support base who are not forwards

on the other (you get the drift) they have 500,000 supporters who are grounded , realistic and follow the best 3,000 players ever to play in the championship in a rust bucket pig farm

on one plane (there it is) we will win , on another we will draw and on another we will lose - so will they

I'm confused

 

[itsinyerblood]

You're not the only one!

 

[Westran]

Sometimes it's just better keeping it all inside

 

[Bell4]

Sometimes it's just better keeping it all inside

easy for you to say

 

[IOM Blade]

We'll be the better team and fluff numerous chances to take the lead. They'll score a lucky goal and hold on to it. That's how it usually works at Hillsborough doesn't it?

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

 

[Jehovah]

We will batter them and lose. No question.

 

[SwissBlade]

Whats this about?

 

[LenTednTony]

On one elbow Wilder and Knilly will have the Blades right up for it. On the other, not too much I hope or I really fear red cards

 

[Whiston Blade]

Both us and the pigs are doing well, I think we'll be able to hold our own and get a goal but have a feeling they'll get two and one of those via pig luck. I'd take a draw right now.

 

[Borbokisfreekick]

Anything can happen.

What is funny is that all their fans seem to think we are a long ball team of battlers. Yes we battle, and press relentlessly, but we play very good football as well. We are no way a long ball team, 600+ passes against Norwich last Saturday indicates this. Hopefully Carlos has the same arrogant misconception of us and hasn't bothered to actually watch us or prepare!

They're a good team, thats clear. They play 4-4-2, get a lot of crosses into the box, try to play out from the back, but then play forward into the strikers pretty quickly. They seem to get a lot of shots inside the box - this is the main thing that worries me, However, we defend the box well with the back 3.

One issue I see is that we don't currently convert enough chances, I find it hard to see us scoring more than 1 on Sunday, unless we had a stroke of luck with a penalty, shot from distance (maybe Coutts will show them exactly "who the fuck is coutts").

I think it will be a very close 1-1, maybe 2-1 either way, depending on a stroke of luck one way or the other....

On that note, I can't remember the last time we had any luck in one of these games. Whether thats them getting someone sent off, us scoring a deflection, us getting a soft penalty etc. Just never seems to happen. Even the games we have won i.e. 2003, 2006, 2009 we really should have hammered them by 4 but didn't. Maybe Wilder will get a nice lucky birthday gift!

 

[tomtheblade]

They have better players, we have a more unified team.

They have an effective defence and have only lost once all season, and have yet to concede more than one goal in a game in the league.
Our midfield is a well-oiled machine, consisting of players with outstanding engines, skill, and teamwork

They have a wealth of attacking prowess albeit predictable, we have some unknown quantities in Brooks, Blackman, CCV and perhaps Donaldson.

Our defence is decent but still vulnerable to goals. They have the home advantage but a coach who may not fully grasp how big an occasion the derby is. We are away and outnumbered, but have a manager, captain and top goal scorer who would die for our club and for a win at their place.

Conclusion: We will find it hard to score, and it would be hard to bet on us getting more than 1, max 2 goals, which means we will have to shut them out completely or only concede one.
A moment of madness, luck or piece of world-class skill may decide the game, we just have to hope that whatever it is favours us.

 

[S64 Blade]

Both us and the pigs are doing well, I think we'll be able to hold our own and get a goal but have a feeling they'll get two and one of those via pig luck. I'd take a draw right now.

I agree with this. They do seem to have more than their fair share of luck in these types of games.

I remember when Pressman was their keeper and saved them from losing every game we played against them, particularly the one at Hillsborough in 2002/03.

They do seem quite relentless too. Many of their games at Hillsborough has seen them trail, but for them to pull a goal or two back, so we need to be mindful of this, should it happen on Sunday. It's not going to be an easy game by any means, but I think we can come through it!

 

[PeteBlade]

Apparently the pigs have turned back into Barcelona over the last 3 games and have the best squad in the league so what hope do we have?

 

[Tunstall Fred]

Apparently the pigs have turned back into Barcelona over the last 3 games and have the best squad in the league so what hope do we have?

As Edwin Starr once remarked....absolutely nothing

 

[elgoog44]

 

[FinchleyBlade]

The level of arrogance on Owlstalk is incredible, they really do think they are going to batter us and that we're a team of long ball hoofters. They have absolutely no idea about how we play or how good any of our players are, zero clue about anyone in the football league but themselves.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Anything can happen.

What is funny is that all their fans seem to think we are a long ball team of battlers. Yes we battle, and press relentlessly, but we play very good football as well. We are no way a long ball team, 600+ passes against Norwich last Saturday indicates this. Hopefully Carlos has the same arrogant misconception of us and hasn't bothered to actually watch us or prepare!

They're a good team, thats clear. They play 4-4-2, get a lot of crosses into the box, try to play out from the back, but then play forward into the strikers pretty quickly. They seem to get a lot of shots inside the box - this is the main thing that worries me, However, we defend the box well with the back 3.

One issue I see is that we don't currently convert enough chances, I find it hard to see us scoring more than 1 on Sunday, unless we had a stroke of luck with a penalty, shot from distance (maybe Coutts will show them exactly "who the fuck is coutts").

I think it will be a very close 1-1, maybe 2-1 either way, depending on a stroke of luck one way or the other....

On that note, I can't remember the last time we had any luck in one of these games. Whether thats them getting someone sent off, us scoring a deflection, us getting a soft penalty etc. Just never seems to happen. Even the games we have won i.e. 2003, 2006, 2009 we really should have hammered them by 4 but didn't. Maybe Wilder will get a nice lucky birthday gift!

Maybe a bit of luck with Williamson’s free kick going in off the post to pretty much send them down in 08. Suppose there was the offside Shipperley in 06 (Ball hit him on the way in but the outcome would have been the same if he wasn’t there so was he interfering with play?). Other than that, I’m struggling to think of anything else to compare to their deflected equaliser at the lane in 01, Asaba’s disallowed goals in both games one season, gang rape on Simmo for their equaliser at the lane in 2011, Piggy Pressman playing out of his skin every time we played them, the game we lost 2-0 at the sty when Asaba and Ndlovu had enough chances to win the game just in injury time, Marcus Bent hitting the bar with an empty net, Killa’s ridiculous sending off, JJ getting away with kicks, elbows galore etc.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

I agree with this. They do seem to have more than their fair share of luck in these types of games.

I remember when Pressman was their keeper and saved them from losing every game we played against them, particularly the one at Hillsborough in 2002/03.

They do seem quite relentless too. Many of their games at Hillsborough has seen them trail, but for them to pull a goal or two back, so we need to be mindful of this, should it happen on Sunday. It's not going to be an easy game by any means, but I think we can come through it!

On the flip side, all of our games have been decided by who scores the opening goal.

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

It could be much, much worse...

You could be....