My final take ...

[pommpey]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

 

[pommpey]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a gam of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best.

pommpey

Last

pommpey

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a gam of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best.

pommpey

Great sum up pal , agree with all that ..see you next season

 

[shrubbery]

Cheers pommpey - enjoyed that as always.

 

[FlamingLip]

You put a hell of a lot of time and heart into these takes pommpey . I don’t often comment by allus read (goes for off topic threads too). Top stuff. Ta for the effort!

 

[Lane Ender]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

Keep it going next season fella enjoyed your posts

 

[Sheffsteel]

Keep it going next season fella enjoyed your posts

Agree...I've enjoyed his posts too.

Initially thought he was a WUM.....the attention seeker type that loves slagging off our team....telling everyone how shit we are, some of the one liners and insults are actually hilarious but over time I admit it's pretty even balanced and fair. When we play well you also lavish praise on the team and players when it's warranted.

Basically you just say it how it is.....in your special Pompey style. Thanks for your efforts.

 

[highgreeninjapan]

A beautiful write up. Cheers, Pomps. Always appreciated. See you next season.

 

[SK10Blade]

Can't disagree with any of that. Looking forward to your comments next season. No doubt we'll agree on most but not all. there are some twats on here but also some with a real insight into humanity and the game. Shame tonight ended as it did but with a full compliment of strikers we could do well next season. Goodnight all, it's been a pleasure conversing with people I have common grounds with but just don't know.

 

[Duffy21Blade]

Excellent summary again Pompey - always enjoy reading these.

We are at a crossroads now as a Football club. The consequences (if you can call it that) of staying in the Championship will be sorted out by Hecky and the management team over the coming weeks and months, but I trust in them to do a good job. They took on a group of players which had lost identity, had gone from a winning mentality to a losing one in the space of 12 months in lockdown, a team that had lost inspiration. PH had no real January backing and despite a few hiccups in March to April, still managed to keep us 3rd in the form table since he took the job last November. This was in the midst of navigating through our worst injury crisis in many a year. Heckingbottom has earned the right to take us forwards in my view.

Who knows whether a takeover will happen or not - but for tonight, I forget all of that, and just take great pride in our players who showed they have character when the odds were stacked against them. We went and silenced a hostile environment, recovered a defecit against a team who were in the best home form, and made them sweat to the kick of penalties. We didn't get to Wembley, but from a moral standpoint, we won in our own way today.

Up the Blades.

 

[Blackheath Blade]

Thanks for the thought provoking and witty reports this season pommpey, I was so looking forward to a Wembley special from you to round off what has been a most memorable season.

Just calming down after getting back into Sheffield on the last train home. Tonight just confirms why I love Sheffield United.

Get well soon Billy and thank you to all the players and Hecky and his staff for nearly pulling off the impossible. Have a great summer pommpey and all fellow Blades.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

Spot on that reflection on the game Pommpay.
It's been a titanic season with the serb leading us into dangerous waters trying to play a style of football not suited to our squad.Just like Forest we were being led into a
Ii relegation struggle !thankfully the prince saw the light in time,a very expensive mistake here ! Don't get why the prince gave him the job it was clear without funds ! No way could the serb play his style of football with out the right ingredients.
What annoys me is it took him a 3rd of the season to realise it wouldnt work and go back to what the players were good at.
Hecki took over and did a great job turning the season round with no real support from the prince ,we were lucky to have him available to do the business from there on.
No doubt without recruitment he did a fantastic job.
What next !

 

[Gavlar]

Very much enjoyed your words this season pomps. Have a well earned rest utb

 

[Groucho Blade]

Excellent write up Pommps…as usual. Cheers.
We’re all a bit brassed off right now…but we’ll be back.
Have a great summer.

 

[Barnette]

You're a star Pompey. Brilliant summaries that make me want to laugh, and this morning, cry.

Looking forward to doing it all again next season already, with hopefully a few more points in the bag by December.

 

[cahill]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

Brilliant. Cheers pommpey

 

[lakedistblade]

Proud Blade this morning and proud of your forum contribution which suits this club perfectly - smart, earthy, done the hard yards of support. Thanks and keep it up.

 

[Blade.com]

Cheers Pommpey, have a great summer, already looking forward to next season. By the way , you don’t do MY TAKE on cricket or fishing do you.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Cheers pommpey for the laughs this season. Hopefully the manner of the performances towards the end of the season sees us go into next season on a high and we don’t lose too many key players. UTB

 

[BarcaBlade]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

Have to report that the Handel performance was superb. A 30- minute encore and then the organist did some Les Dawson comedy riffs at the end.

Bit of an unsightly incident at the end when Sir Boddingtons was arguing with the lass doing the teas about putting milk in first.

How did the game go?

 

[Rufus Smalls]

A brilliant summary, as usual. Been great reading your posts after every match.

Wishing a peaceful summer break to pommps and all Blades fans.

UTB !!

 

[GodricBlade]

By the way , you don’t do MY TAKE on cricket or fishing do you.

Can you just imagine……??

Cheers pommpey
Pathos, egos & logos - superb.

 

[Dark muffy]

Great write up, a very enjoyable read. I woke up disappointed but very proud of everyone involved last night. That was a proper Sheffield United team and performance. Glad you wrote that about Robinson Pommpey, I too have been a huge critic of his during his time at United, but the last few months he has been brilliant, he has won me over much like Lee Sandford and Paul Coutts did. On to August.....UTB

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

Cheers for your always entertaining match reports Pommpey, look forward to next seasons.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Spot on that reflection on the game Pommpay.
It's been a titanic season with the serb leading us into dangerous waters trying to play a style of football not suited to our squad.Just like Forest we were being led into a
Ii relegation struggle !thankfully the prince saw the light in time,a very expensive mistake here ! Don't get why the prince gave him the job it was clear without funds ! No way could the serb play his style of football with out the right ingredients.
What annoys me is it took him a 3rd of the season to realise it wouldnt work and go back to what the players were good at.
Hecki took over and did a great job turning the season round with no real support from the prince ,we were lucky to have him available to do the business from there on.
No doubt without recruitment he did a fantastic job.
What next !

Fell asleep on the job (knacked) yes what next?
Be it the prince or another they have to give Hecki some support! his stock will have risen dramatically,
It will have been noted by others and he could be pinched if the support is not there.
Finally finished after that quick doze.Still feeling shattered after that gruelling match
Come on you blades !!!!!

 

[Heely bottoms underpants]

Thanks for all the my takes this season.
UTB

 

[CornwallBlade]

Well, the fat lady has sung. I challenge any Blade however to say we went out with a whimper. That was some fucking football match and no one deserves any less than ten out of ten, so I'm not even gonna start marking them. It is however 'all over'. This season which started with trepidation, a new manager with pedigree and all of us crossing our fingers and toes gave us a disappointing, frustrating start, a continuation of poor form and a wonder if we'd even make the playoffs, never mind go straight back up in the autos, which is what was universally predicted and demanded. Instead, our fellow relegatee took the crown and the other one faded and died and we were left with an initially unwanted manager and a set of players who could seemingly play only one way - a losing way at that - to dig out some face saving results.

Saturday showed the worst of us under pressure. We'd seen it so many times in the past as United fail to capitalise on the big moment in front of a big crowd to get the big result. But Forest are a good side when they want to be so tonight's result should have been somewhat a formality. Hecky chose not to change things - really his hands are tied on that given the injuries - save for ditching Enda who was turned over by Spence and installing Baldock for extra grit vice Osborn.

United started well - we usually do - and the attacking was fluid and well thought out especially when MGW found Ndaiye on the break and his shot from ten yards was blocked by an outstretched Samba limb. More of that shit later. But it came as no great shock that for all our endeavour, we'd have a ball pumped forward past Basham to Surridge end Egan is dragged across leaving Johnson way ahead of Robinson to slide past Fodders. Our game began to fall apart then badly and we looked and felt thoroughly beaten. I couldn't see any way ahead as Forest started to sit back and put passes together, not really threatening, but denying us any chance of attack. Norwood and Fleck started to flag and the wingbacks were pegged behind the halfway line. We couldn't string passes together and any set play was overhit or mopped up. If the ref had blown up then and sued for peace, we should have taken it.

No idea what happened to the players in the dressing room after that. We saw it at QPR though - suddenly we are ready to eat our own fucking guts and ask for seconds. For ten minutes, the Forest goal looked like the fucking Alamo. Not only did Forest players look battered, but their shitty fans stopped clapping and they too shut the fuck up. Even more so when a neat combo ending in Berge mazing past players in their box to square for MGW to slot in another crucial goal for us. Hope in the hearts of every Blade sprung up. They brought Davis on to obviously put us on the back foot but no - two minutes later Baldock - who like RND had been a fucking nightmare in the second period for the Forest backline - breaks through and the ball is in again, this time off our centre forward John Fleck.

We still attacked and went at them. Great chances and balls across the box went unanswered of Samba again stuck limbs out to block

With the previously noisy Forest fans looking now more like our fans do with thought bubbles coming off their heads which said 'We're gonna fuck this up, aren't we?' we moved into extra time and the tie became more like two heavyweights thumping punches against the forearms of their opponents on the ropes. Then from a valley of hope came the burning hell of penalites. We all knew which way it was going, didn't we? Samba and his limbs again.

I can't criticise any player tonight. They failed to get us to the final but they got us into the playoffs and fought like fucking Ukrainian infantry when the front line was breached. Forest are lucky they got through and given their fucking despicable fans and the assault on our club captain I truly hope they get fucking whupped by Huddersfield at Wembley on Sunday. The 'fan' in question looks to be one of those typical drunkard, white trash fat cunt you habitually see on all football terraces and you loathe because they typify and qualify every criticism at our game and it's supporters. I hope he is found, tried and fucking jailed and he never sees the inside of a football stadium again. I also hope that any further police investigation finds child porn on his devices and he gets a further sentence and dealt with inside. I also hope Forest are dealt with as a club also.

Anyway:

Foderingham - there when he needed to be. No mistakes. No chance with the goal and penalties is simply a game of chance, as we have seen
Baldock - incredible game for him, especially in the second half where he was a fucking right pain int the arse for the Forest defence
Basham - another noteworthy outing with him opening his chest and baring his heart for the club
Egan - save for one solitary wobble, the performance of a lion
Robinson - our surprise package for this year and streets ahead of Goode and Davies or anyone else. Battled for the badge
RND - dealt with Spence so much better than Enda did. Again, in the second half, causing Forest a load of problems they didn't need
Norwood - great game. Involved, tackled and played some good passes in the second half. Poor penalty, but the keeper guessed right
Fleck - great to see him on the scoresheet. First half Jimmy, second half Johnny
Berge - the beating heart of the team, especially in the second half. Deserved a goal and took his pen well
Ndaiye - maybe guilty of not being clinical, but Samba just did what a goalkeeper should do and stuck out a part of his body. If that were Fodders, we'd be jizzing in our socks over it Put his pen away well
MGW - head and shoulders the reason we are in the playoffs and why we almost touched Wembley. Sad about his penalty, but again Samba guessed correctly. If we fail to get him next season, we will fucking struggle to match his brilliance

Hourihane - got into some decent positions and made the difference as Fleck was tiring and needed to be replaced. Very unlucky with his pen
Osborn - Not a true replacement for the struggling Baldock but grafted hard to make up for that

The incidents at the match - Sharp's assault I have already mentioned but Hecky's shithousing of Spence was a bit distasteful. It got him a booking (and Fleck) and didn't add to our game capability, just raised the noise level somewhat.

Ref was good to be honest, and well done the away fans - at 3-3, those fuckers were silent and you could hear us in full song.

Onwards and upwards now. gather ourselves, cull the straphangers and buy MGW and make the challenge for automatics next season.

Thanks to all for your support, kind words, unkind words and structured argument. Thanks also to those who shithouse My takes as a habit for staying away or getting yourselves banned by Foxy and Linz.

And finally a quiet thought for those who started this season who didn't finish it from these boards and the terraces and online contingent. We tried, and we failed, but we did our best all in your memory.

pommpey

Beautifully said Pomps, the time and effort people like you and Roy take to illuminate this forum makes a huge difference and is much appreciated. You provoke reasoned debate which is why (most) of us are here. Enjoy the summer and I look forward to doing it all again next season.

 

[Blade59]

You're a star Pompey. Brilliant summaries that make me want to laugh, and this morning, cry.

Looking forward to doing it all again next season already, with hopefully a few more points in the bag by December.

 

[Champagneblade]

Very enjoyable summary Pommpey, rousing in places with the reference to the Ukrainian infantry. They battled like Trojans and if N'Diaye had avoided Samba's outstretched studs on 115' it would have been no less than we deserved given the circumstances going into the game.

Thanks for your continued crafting of these..a must read addition to the Board.

UTB

 

[gordoncharles]

...They took on a group of players which had lost identity, had gone from a winning mentality to a losing one in the space of 12 months in lockdown, a team that had lost inspiration...

This is why losing is bitter-sweet. For all the heroic failure of last night (note to last night's posters, that makes us more like Scotland than England), a promotion back to the PL now, with our lack of financial resources combined with this squad shorn of Gibbs-White, would have led next year to a loss of morale so severe it would have made 2020-21 look like a happy-clapper jamboree.

In the end, we've actually had a good season and can now look forward to the next in the hope that we can emulate Bournemouth, only better and with less shithousing.