P
pommpey
Guest
Again, not trying to upstage Ollis and the very good Deadbat, both of whom I extend my gratitude for keeoing us up to date this season. No doubt they'll have their own take on things, as will you all.
For info (and for those who reckon infidels such as me 'don't invest in the club', my day out with wife and granddaughter (her first Blades match, and wearing my classic 1993 blue 3rd away strip her late mum wore to many a Blades game) cost me almost four hundred quid. Value for money?
We boarded the Pompey to Waterloo 0845 fast train, after seeing the heartening sight of four (count 'em) FOUR other Blades strips on the Gosport to Pompey ferry. The sun was out as well. The train journey - Waterloo to Marylebone by tube and Marylebone to Wembley Stadium station. We got there just after half eleven, after hearing about what you unlucky bastards were suffering on the M1. My mates and relatives were busy repatching their own routes via A43 and M40. Get the train next time chaps. After discovering the Wembley central pubs were stuffed with Town fans, we found ourselves in the Green Man, which was similarly stuffed with Blades, but resembled a gypsy camp. After enduring an hour of this we pissed off to find a shithouse (thanks for the privelidge to the WMC at the bottom of the hill - you may need assistance with unblocking that fucker)
We then moved on to the Sports Bar by the petrol garage, met our mates, and enjoyed a beer thence to walk up Wembley Way. United outnumbered Townies by something of the region of 5:2, both in numbers and in noise. It was fucking magical. In fact, I felt uplifted and slightly emotional hearing all the songs from various parties, all the classics including 'We Can't See You For Bladesmen'. I thought, 'Poor Huddersfield'. It's a small town in Yorkshire.
Our seats were in Block 120, but to be honest as the game kicked off, we moved across into the adjacent empty section. The view, and atmosphere, was excellent.
Straight away we looked fairly clueless. The game formed an instant frantic pattern and seemed to be locked in the midfield area with a frightening propensity to launch lofted balls at the back four, nod back, nod on, take down, foul, free kick, loft pass, nod back, nod on ... etc. No real control at all. I don't think I counted a meaningful attack on their goal, to be honest. One free kick in a dangerous area, another well-worked routine fucked up completely and it was gone.
Second half was slightly more open, thank fuck. We started to shape it down the wings but fact is we sat far to deep and the support was non-existant. One free kick in particular below us on the right wing saw three Blades players around the ball and just Porter in the box. Sez it all.
Extra time was much of the same, save for some splendid defensive and goalkeeping work when we needed it and a shit free kick straight down the goalies throat and a half chance from a tiring Quinn. Lowton hits the post with a crucial penalty (Tonge hits post with free kick/Webber hits post with shot) and Simonsen puts Montgomery's boots on for his shot. I didn't even see the ball land in the Hudds fans. I turned and walked away back to me train home, pausing just to see Simonsen on his knees on the big screen.
Out of ten:
Simonsen: 6/1 - Shakey coming off his line again, punching rather than catching but to his defence, very much the man who kept us in it with some superb close range shot stopping. Unfortunately he can fuck off now for good, knowing the last ball to leave the boot of a Sheffield United player in the 2011-12 season was his, and it condemned us to what is definately the footballing abyss.
Lowton: 6.5/10 - Fair game really. Busy day for him and he does get involved. No real penetration as he barely venture much forward but his tackling and industry was good.
Collins: 8/10 - barely a foot wrong. Strong, big and kept Rhodes and Novak quiet.
Maguire: 7/10 - similarly a good game, less keepy-uppy and more 'get it safe', although sometime this was a bit naive and rushed.
Hill: 7/10 - a better game for him. Worked hard to negate their wing play and did get worward to support at times.
Williamson - 5.5/10 - Frustrating. At rare times he looks a different class, at others he is wasteful
Doyle: 7/10 - Grafted, but in summation you have to say, 'for what'?
Montgomery: 4/10 - Think he came on about 35 minutes in, because that is the first time I saw him get involved. Otherwise the game just passed him by.
Flynn: 5/10 - He looks a real deal. Tricky, quick and good in space. But one could believe that he is actually 'in space'. Today he didn't really stay in the game long enough to do anything productive.
Quinn: 8/10 - Grafted hard and ran himself flat. Better out left where he is suited.
Cresswell: 5/10 - Carrots or hay? Ran a lot, at times slower than ever now. No support meant he was not at all in the game and when he was, lost possession.
O'Hallorhan: ?/10 - one foul, a couple of touches.
Porter: 6.5/10 - Actually looked dangerous at times, but still lacks control and skillin bucketfuls. We did get more creative with him on the pitch.
Taylor ?/10
Ref: Shit. Wrong decisions. Poor positional work. Fussy tosspot.
Hudds: Not nearly as good as they think they are.
Crowd: Them - nice clackers. Lots and lots of noise.
Us - Nervy and quiet too many times
Wembley - beautiful
Result - Told you so. Bottlers.
Next year: Same again.
pommpey
For info (and for those who reckon infidels such as me 'don't invest in the club', my day out with wife and granddaughter (her first Blades match, and wearing my classic 1993 blue 3rd away strip her late mum wore to many a Blades game) cost me almost four hundred quid. Value for money?
We boarded the Pompey to Waterloo 0845 fast train, after seeing the heartening sight of four (count 'em) FOUR other Blades strips on the Gosport to Pompey ferry. The sun was out as well. The train journey - Waterloo to Marylebone by tube and Marylebone to Wembley Stadium station. We got there just after half eleven, after hearing about what you unlucky bastards were suffering on the M1. My mates and relatives were busy repatching their own routes via A43 and M40. Get the train next time chaps. After discovering the Wembley central pubs were stuffed with Town fans, we found ourselves in the Green Man, which was similarly stuffed with Blades, but resembled a gypsy camp. After enduring an hour of this we pissed off to find a shithouse (thanks for the privelidge to the WMC at the bottom of the hill - you may need assistance with unblocking that fucker)
We then moved on to the Sports Bar by the petrol garage, met our mates, and enjoyed a beer thence to walk up Wembley Way. United outnumbered Townies by something of the region of 5:2, both in numbers and in noise. It was fucking magical. In fact, I felt uplifted and slightly emotional hearing all the songs from various parties, all the classics including 'We Can't See You For Bladesmen'. I thought, 'Poor Huddersfield'. It's a small town in Yorkshire.
Our seats were in Block 120, but to be honest as the game kicked off, we moved across into the adjacent empty section. The view, and atmosphere, was excellent.
Straight away we looked fairly clueless. The game formed an instant frantic pattern and seemed to be locked in the midfield area with a frightening propensity to launch lofted balls at the back four, nod back, nod on, take down, foul, free kick, loft pass, nod back, nod on ... etc. No real control at all. I don't think I counted a meaningful attack on their goal, to be honest. One free kick in a dangerous area, another well-worked routine fucked up completely and it was gone.
Second half was slightly more open, thank fuck. We started to shape it down the wings but fact is we sat far to deep and the support was non-existant. One free kick in particular below us on the right wing saw three Blades players around the ball and just Porter in the box. Sez it all.
Extra time was much of the same, save for some splendid defensive and goalkeeping work when we needed it and a shit free kick straight down the goalies throat and a half chance from a tiring Quinn. Lowton hits the post with a crucial penalty (Tonge hits post with free kick/Webber hits post with shot) and Simonsen puts Montgomery's boots on for his shot. I didn't even see the ball land in the Hudds fans. I turned and walked away back to me train home, pausing just to see Simonsen on his knees on the big screen.
Out of ten:
Simonsen: 6/1 - Shakey coming off his line again, punching rather than catching but to his defence, very much the man who kept us in it with some superb close range shot stopping. Unfortunately he can fuck off now for good, knowing the last ball to leave the boot of a Sheffield United player in the 2011-12 season was his, and it condemned us to what is definately the footballing abyss.
Lowton: 6.5/10 - Fair game really. Busy day for him and he does get involved. No real penetration as he barely venture much forward but his tackling and industry was good.
Collins: 8/10 - barely a foot wrong. Strong, big and kept Rhodes and Novak quiet.
Maguire: 7/10 - similarly a good game, less keepy-uppy and more 'get it safe', although sometime this was a bit naive and rushed.
Hill: 7/10 - a better game for him. Worked hard to negate their wing play and did get worward to support at times.
Williamson - 5.5/10 - Frustrating. At rare times he looks a different class, at others he is wasteful
Doyle: 7/10 - Grafted, but in summation you have to say, 'for what'?
Montgomery: 4/10 - Think he came on about 35 minutes in, because that is the first time I saw him get involved. Otherwise the game just passed him by.
Flynn: 5/10 - He looks a real deal. Tricky, quick and good in space. But one could believe that he is actually 'in space'. Today he didn't really stay in the game long enough to do anything productive.
Quinn: 8/10 - Grafted hard and ran himself flat. Better out left where he is suited.
Cresswell: 5/10 - Carrots or hay? Ran a lot, at times slower than ever now. No support meant he was not at all in the game and when he was, lost possession.
O'Hallorhan: ?/10 - one foul, a couple of touches.
Porter: 6.5/10 - Actually looked dangerous at times, but still lacks control and skillin bucketfuls. We did get more creative with him on the pitch.
Taylor ?/10
Ref: Shit. Wrong decisions. Poor positional work. Fussy tosspot.
Hudds: Not nearly as good as they think they are.
Crowd: Them - nice clackers. Lots and lots of noise.
Us - Nervy and quiet too many times
Wembley - beautiful
Result - Told you so. Bottlers.
Next year: Same again.
pommpey
.. or burn a goat or offer a virgin to the gods.. or summat
, I'll stop at home.
