My take ...

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pommpey

THE FUTURE ... AS IT USED TO BE
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Went for a run, late afternoon. 5.4km (this on 7.5km yesterday). Decent tea. Stella on, big fuckin' telly, 5.1 surround, expected a fucking pasting.

So it came to pass.

Now, bear with me. I still have a lot of faith in Wilder, but his comments recently about Playstation managers seem a bit hollow given tonight's pretty pathetic showing. If you play FIFA, as any fule no, if you go from season to season playing the same old shit expecting to beat Liverpool with 50% of the team you won the league two levels down with, unless you seriously make all your settings at 100% you'll get held face down and bummed mercilessly, especially if you make the wrong signings and play with eight defenders. So much for us dumb fucks who come on here and kae suggestions. Do we expect him to take any notice? Nope. Again, as I have said, if he is referencing S24SU messageboard for his strategy and not working this out with his team captain and staff, then we are definitely in trouble. What do we know?

I'll tell you what we do though. We watch games like tonight's end to end. We see Sheffield United come out of the traps and play 'passable' Premier League football for 22 minutes (I marked it) until Chelsea took it off us and didn't give it us back for the rest of the match. We'd already taken a shock lead by then - just like Liverpool - but almost seemed embarrassed and shocked to have done so, right the way up until normal service was restored and Chelsea gained possession and inevitably cancelled out our lead. From then on in, it was just a case of how much we would lose by, and it was in the end by a margin unmatched for what ... three seasons? Middlesbrough 3- 0 Blades? Basically it looked from that 22 minute mark like Wilder had called off all of our players and told the Chelsea development side to get the kit on for a kick about. We were out thought, out-tacticked, outclassed in every part of the pitch. And really, Chelsea aren't THAT great a side, though the three points we meekly gave them tonight makes them look so.

My previous comments stand about changing things. If tonight hasn't told Wilder what he already knows and we already know then if he stays with the same thing next week Sheffield United - and Chris Wilder - are in deep shit. We are a Premiership side, and given our last flaccid flirtation with this majestic position, we can't afford to let Bladey-Bladeness sentimentality stand in the way of us staying up, especially as pre lockdown, this very side was actually, audaciously thinking about a place in the European competitions. We all secretly feared what lay in wait for us when we went up, and today is that. INstead, last season seems now like some charitable, sympathetic gesture to little Sheffield United, with their little players, little fans and little stadium. G'wan. Let 'em beat Everton away. G'wan. Let 'em give a three goal shock lead away against Man U at home and scrape a draw from inevitable failure. The chickens certainly came home to roost after the COVID restart and save for some chin-strokingly baffling victories, we've been fucking glistening, slippery, chunky bobbar since.

Unless Wilder starts thinking about how he is to address this - and that means 'change' - he is sacked by Christmas. Another Bladey Blade victim who failed to propel us into the trophy cabinet. It's sad, because he is a fucking outstanding bloke. But his strategy and buying policy now is patently Championship. Anyone who denies this needs to account for tonight, where once again, we played a messy five at the back, three in front (as in two metres in front) and the front two might as well have had fucking COVID themselves and socially isolated. When we did deign to break out, our passing was disgracefully shit, we don't move into space to receive and any 'plans' we seem to either have worked out on the training ground or ad hoc on the pitch end up in two places - at an opposition player's feet on the attack or in the arms of a flailing Aaron Ramsdale.

We are all scratching our heads to find reasoning for all of this. Is it the crowds (or lack of them)? Well no. All 22 players are playing in the sterile environment where all they can hear is the manager or each other. Is it 'we have been found out'? Well, they had thirty odd matches last season to do that with a myriad of technology to analyze and strategize against what we had, yet we finished way up the table. So what has gone wrong?

For me - Wilder has lost the team. Since we went up we have made some breathtakingly stupid acquisitions (we're good at this) despite spunking about a hundred million bucks. yeah - I know comparing like for like that is chicken feed. But tonight we still don't field players who are - genuinely - English Premier League standard. Your Ramsdales, your Stavenses, Your Norwoods, your Lunstrams, your Lowes, and god-dammit, even Didsy. They are nowhere near the footballing quality required to compete at this level. Were we not saying that thirteen years ago when suddenly our marque striker bust his leg at tonight's stadium and committed our remaining players to score just six goals in the remaining nine games should show you how this story has been told before. Sure, we ahve spent a fuck load more than we did back then. But to me very nearly every signing has been misplaced, wrong and a simple waste of money

Tonight from back to front we were again, fucking rubbish. Our goal was a work of unintended genius, but you just knew that all that had done was put on arm in the cage and slapped the lion on the nose. You just knew that soon, the lion would tear off your arm and eat it in front of you.

Ramsdale is fucking rubbish. He made some saves, but given the result, he might as well have let the fuckers in for all they are worth right now. I have watched him in a number of games - Wolves, Villa, Liverpool, even Man City ... and he makes elaborate, demonstrative and simply crap flailings to get to the ball (and misses) or simply palms the effort, when he should - at this level - be making clear efforts to control the ball and smother the energy. Fuck, if I can learn that in my Level 2 Coaching course, why the fuck is he not doing this? He keeps saying 'I am not Dean Henderson' and fuck me don't we know it. Henderson not only would have saved a lot he hasn't, but in my opinion was a big percentage of our success last season, giving us possibly twelve points with his stops and quite outstanding athleticism. We should have bought him. There, I have said it. £18m and £23m spent on Ramsdale and Brewster is £41m, and that would have been a big temptation for OGS to offload him. And by my reckoning with him in the net, we'd be at least five points better off this season. Disagree?

The central three need a revamp. We need a JOC replacement, and fast. Enda is now stage 4 terminal (to us and unpleasant term, apologies if anyone is offended) and is a weak point in any opposition attacking strategy. Tonight, and in past games like Arsenal, he's just not sharp enough or has the DNA to be a central defender. He's left footed. Cool. But he can't do the centre back stuff and fails to watch, move, mark, intercept and track effectively. In the Championship, tonning it up and down that left touchline and making mischief with Fleck and O'Connell he was mint. But now he is - as I have said before - way out of his depth. Egan seems lost without his wingman too. We all know what a fucking sound centreback he is. but we have Egan second guessing Stevens and also have Lowe having to come narrow and drop to cover for a clearly unhappy Stevens too. It's a fucking mess.

In front of that we have the hapless, ailing Lundstram, who is seemingly leading a charmed existence of being un-droppable. Given there are two factors in that - firstly he is playing dreadfully and secondly he doesn't want to be at Sheffield United and has his dummy cocked and loaded, I am wondering what the flying fuck Wilder is doing having him in the starting eleven, if he has no position to fight for. It must piss the rest of the player who can play in that position off, big-style. Tonight he was fucking wank. All three out on that flank were playing like they have never kicked a ball to each other in training, and it makes me wonder what the fuck Wilder and Knill do with these lot at Shirecliffe. We see some moderately impressive footage of them doing grid sprints and lifting weights. I'd like to know what the fuck they do to make these three - Stevens, Lowe and Lundstram - pass and move and shift up the wing, because at the moment, they are wank.

Over the other side, the three B's seems to have something. Basham as ever gives it his best 'Ahm ernly doin' me fukkan job, pet' act which again is pleasing, because he seems to be the only one in red and white who gets it. But there used to be a song back in the day:

"At number one, there's Jamie Ward ... at number two, is jamie Ward ... " et al until we reached eleven and finished it off with "We all play for a team of Jamie Wards, a team of Jamie Wards .. " etc.

Bash fits that description. I even think he'd be better in the sticks than Ramsdale. At least he'd give it a go and convince us he was doing his level best anyway. But tonight, he, the mercurial and fucking frustrated Berge and goold old stroppy George made a decent shift of traying at least to find each other and string more than one pass and another pass ... oh shit, we've lost it again. Berge picking up a yellow for shirting Kante was the summit of his pissed-offness. He picked the ball up in the central defending midfield role and looked up ... no one but Lundstram some twenty metres away seemed interested in receiving it. The clear signal from him was 'C'mon Lunny. Come to me closer, close the gap so I don't have to telegraph this pass.' Lunny just stayed. Berge passed it. It was cut out and Chelsea went on the attack.

We started with my mate Olive in midfield defence too. I hope tonight shows everyone how he is completely unsuitable for this side or the Premier League, in fact. four corners in the first half, two of the fuckers hit the first man on the near post. When his replacement came on and took them, Osborn sent in curving, lofted but well-placed crosses which had Chelsea actually defending. Well, two of them anyway. The next one was taken short and ended up back in Ramsdale's shakey hands. But Norwood has one role, run across the park and point behind him. When he tackles, it is Montgomeryesque. On the opposite side tonight was N'Golo Kante, a diminutive little battle warrior who mixes it up, cuts out passing lanes, dispossesses, anticipates and shows his Premier League capability. If you want passing too, they had the fucking mercurial Ziyech, finding people with passes, like Timo Werner and playing in the runners. Still think Norwood is PL class?

And now up front. Wilder tonight chose to play a freebie veteran, who'd struggled to hit the net last season and a rookie acquisition, who just happens to be our record signing yet hasn't played much Premier League football. Didsy is a smashing feller, but he's way under the standard needed to put the opposition under pressure, despite his fortuitous goal. He was just bustled off the ball tonight or spent much of the time running across the pitch trying to intercept passing lanes that three players would find hard to do so. Poor fucker. Next to him is Brewster who must be fucking kicking himself now he allowed Klopp to finally convince him 'dis vould be a grit career moof for jou". he had five (count em) touches in the fist half, which really is the story of his evening. As much as people bellyache, he's possibly got capability, if some bastard would take a chance, look up and put him through. Tonight, nothing, as ever. Nothing also for his substitute either but let's face it, buying players from Swansea area who appear to have summat about them seems to be a failing these for us. McBurnie needs also to stop the fucking Herdings Park Sheffield and Hallamshire Sunday League Division Three stuff now. It doesn't impress anyone 'leaving your foot in/mark on a player' and when you are also not scoring at all, makes you look even more of a cunt. When he came on I thought, 'watch this. He'll get a free header in front on their goal, and simply fifty-pee it wide or into the keeper's arms' Thankfully he never made it into their box, I don't think but made a desperate effort to reach Thiago once he'd bumped his marker (Stevens) off for his predictable goal. In fact, he was more active in defence than in attack. Maybe a JOC replacement? At the moment, I'll take owt.

The subs, as said, were ineffective. Where the fuck is Burke, a player who has pace, vision and raw direction? Where is Bogle? Would Freeman, bought back, make any difference? I dunno.

Anyway, marks out of ten

Ramsdale 4/10: He had a great season stopping Bournemouth shipping more goals in their desperate attempt to stay up. If we get relegated this season however, I can't seem another PL club looking to take Ramsdale off us given he was the goalkeeper to two sides, consecutively relegated. He needs to consider this. So do we. Tonight, he was piss poor.
Lowe 3/10: Rabbit in the headlights. I think it has finally hit him tonight the gulf in class between Lampard's old club and his new one. He was also shit with their second goal.
Stevens 2/10: I don't want to comment further
Egan 5/10; A passable showing, but as the man bossing te box these days, those arcing crosses need a shout and co-ordination. Tonight we were all over the fucking place, and he was on his heels for Werner's goal.
Basham 6/10: Best player for us. He is seemingly fearless, but was let down by some shit decisions around him.
Baldock 5/10: Stroppy George was largely pinned back (as usual these days) although the goal we managed to shock the world with was due to his one deft run and ball to Berge
Lundstram 3/10: An evening of effectively playing on his own. I thought he was a waste of a shirt tonight and did nothing to bring anything to the game. If he is shop windowing himself, then he looks ever more like the Oxford United player he once was, and still is
Norwood 4/10: Said all I need to
Berge 7/10: What? Seven out of ten? Are you fucking kidding pommpey? He was fucking SHIT! Comparitively, Berge was a giant amongst footballing pygmies tonight. If Lundstram was playing one game on his own, Berge was trying to play the rest of the midfield's game. He's still trying to impose but fuck me the frustration he must feel.
McGoldrick 4/10: Great, deft goal, but for the rest of the game, no service. Tried his best, but he's past it. With him we have no danger.
Brewster 3/10: Nuffsaid.

Wilder 2/10: You are seriously running out of time, games and options. Sheffield United is a Premier League club, has a large public profile, our stock is up, investments made both on and off the pitch and we have an owner who is less interested in coralling his wagons around a Bigger Blade Than Me campfire more so making us a money making, highly regarded Premier League asset, rather than a relegation liability. He's proved that my giving you cash to fulfill your vision. But that vision is failing. You need to rethink, re-energise and rebuild and get us the fuck off our knees and up that table, even if it is seventeenth. If we go on as we are, losing game after game after game, you'll be sacked by Christmas. And you know it.

We expect more. Start fucking winning.

pommpey
 
Last edited:

You forgot to mention old Ben 'wouldn't get a game for any other PL side' Osborn!!

Tufty needs to start rubbing some ralgex into some balls soon as what he's doing at the mo isn't working...
 
Went for a run, late afternoon. 5.4km (this on 7.5km yesterday). Decent tea. Stella on, big fuckin' telly, 5.1 surround, expected a fucking pasting.

So it came to pass.

Now, bear with me. I still have a lot of faith in Wilder, but his comments recently about Playstation managers seem a bit hollow given tonight's pretty pathetic showing. If you play FIFA, as any fule no, if you go from season to season playing the same old shit expecting to beat Liverpool with 50% of the team you won the league two levels down with, unless you seriously make all your settings at 100% you'll get held face down and bummed mercilessly, especially if you make the wrong signings and play with eight defenders. So much for us dumb fucks who come on here and kae suggestions. Do we expect him to take any notice? Nope. Again, as I have said, if he is referencing S24SU messageboard for his strategy and not working this out with his team captain and staff, then we are definitely in trouble. What do we know?

I'll tell you what we do though. We watch games like tonight's end to end. We see Sheffield United come out of the traps and play 'passable' Premier League football for 22 minutes (I marked it) until Chelsea took it off us and didn't give it us back for the rest of the match. We'd already taken a shock lead by then - just like Liverpool - but almost seemed embarrassed and shocked to have done so, right the way up until normal service was restored and Chelsea gained possession and inevitably cancelled out our lead. From then on in, it was just a case of how much we would lose by, and it was in the end by a margin unmatched for what ... three seasons? Middlesbrough 3- 0 Blades? Basically it looked from that 22 minute mark like Wilder had called off all of our players and told the Chelsea development side to get the kit on for a kick about. We were out thought, out-tacticked, outclassed in every part of the pitch. And really, Chelsea aren't THAT great a side, though the three points we meekly gave them tonight makes them look so.

My previous comments stand about changing things. If tonight hasn't told Wilder what he already knows and we already know then if he stays with the same thing next week Sheffield United - and Chris Wilder - are in deep shit. We are a Premiership side, and given our last flaccid flirtation with this majestic position, we can't afford to let Bladey-Bladeness sentimentality stand in the way of us staying up, especially as pre lockdown, this very side was actually, audaciously thinking about a place in the European competitions. We all secretly feared what lay in wait for us when we went up, and today is that. INstead, last season seems now like some charitable, sympathetic gesture to little Sheffield United, with their little players, little fans and little stadium. G'wan. Let 'em beat Everton away. G'wan. Let 'em give a three goal shock lead away against Man U at home and scrape a draw from inevitable failure. The chickens certainly came home to roost after the COVID restart and save for some chin-strokingly baffling victories, we've been fucking glistening, slippery, chunky bobbar since.

Unless Wilder starts thinking about how he is to address this - and that means 'change' - he is sacked by Christmas. Another Bladey Blade victim who failed to propel us into the trophy cabinet. It's sad, because he is a fucking outstanding bloke. But his strategy and buying policy now is patently Championship. Anyone who denies this needs to account for tonight, where once again, we played a messy five at the back, three in front (as in two metres in front) and the front two might as well have had fucking COVID themselves and socially isolated. When we did deign to break out, our passing was disgracefully shit, we don't move into space to receive and any 'plans' we seem to either have worked out on the training ground or ad hoc on the pitch end up in two places - at an opposition player's feet on the attack or in the arms of a flailing Aaron Ramsdale.

We are all scratching our heads to find reasoning for all of this. Is it the crowds (or lack of them)? Well no. All 22 players are playing in the sterile environment where all they can hear is the manager or each other. Is it 'we have been found out'? Well, they had thirty odd matches last season to do that with a myriad of technology to analyze and strategize against what we had, yet we finished way up the table. So what has gone wrong?

For me - Wilder has lost the team. Since we went up we have made some breathtakingly stupid acquisitions (we're good at this) despite spunking about a hundred million bucks. yeah - I know comparing like for like that is chicken feed. But tonight we still don't field players who are - genuinely - English Premier League standard. Your Ramsdales, your Stavenses, Your Norwoods, your Lunstrams, your Lowes, and god-dammit, even Didsy. They are nowhere near the footballing quality required to compete at this level. Were we not saying that thirteen years ago when suddenly our marque striker bust his leg at tonight's stadium and committed our remaining players to score just six goals in the remaining nine games should show you how this story has been told before. Sure, we ahve spent a fuck load more than we did back then. But to me very nearly every signing has been misplaced, wrong and a simple waste of money

Tonight from back to front we were again, fucking rubbish. Our goal was a work of unintended genius, but you just knew that all that had done was put on arm in the cage and slapped the lion on the nose. You just knew that soon, the lion would tear off your arm and eat it in front of you.

Ramsdale is fucking rubbish. He made some saves, but given the result, he might as well have let the fuckers in for all they are worth right now. I have watched him in a number of games - Wolves, Villa, Liverpool, even Man City ... and he makes elaborate, demonstrative and simply crap flailings to get to the ball (and misses) or simply palms the effort, when he should - at this level - be making clear efforts to control the ball and smother the energy. Fuck, if I can learn that in my Level 2 Coaching course, why the fuck is he not doing this? He keeps saying 'I am not Dean Henderson' and fuck me don't we know it. Henderson not only would have saved a lot he hasn't, but in my opinion was a big percentage of our success last season, giving us possibly twelve points with his stops and quite outstanding athleticism. We should have bought him. There, I have said it. £18m and £23m spent on Ramsdale and Brewster is £41m, and that would have been a big temptation for OGS to offload him. And by my reckoning with him in the net, we'd be at least five points better off this season. Disagree?

The central three need a revamp. We need a JOC replacement, and fast. Enda is now stage 4 terminal (to us and unpleasant term, apologies if anyone is offended) and is a weak point in any opposition attacking strategy. Tonight, and in past games like Arsenal, he's just not sharp enough or has the DNA to be a central defender. He's left footed. Cool. But he can't do the centre back stuff and fails to watch, move, mark, intercept and track effectively. In the Championship, tonning it up and down that left touchline and making mischief with Fleck and O'Connell he was mint. But now he is - as I have said before - way out of his depth. Egan seems lost without his wingman too. We all know what a fucking sound centreback he is. but we have Egan second guessing Stevens and also have Lowe having to come narrow and drop to cover for a clearly unhappy Stevens too. It's a fucking mess.

In front of that we have the hapless, ailing Lundstram, who is seemingly leading a charmed existence of being un-droppable. Given there are two factors in that - firstly he is playing dreadfully and secondly he doesn't want to be at Sheffield United and has his dummy cocked and loaded, I am wondering what the flying fuck Wilder is doing having him in the starting eleven, if he has no position to fight for. It must piss the rest of the player who can play in that position off, big-style. Tonight he was fucking wank. All three out on that flank were playing like they have never kicked a ball to each other in training, and it makes me wonder what the fuck Wilder and Knill do with these lot at Shirecliffe. We see some moderately impressive footage of them doing grid sprints and lifting weights. I'd like to know what the fuck they do to make these three - Stevens, Lowe and Lundstram - pass and move and shift up the wing, because at the moment, they are wank.

Over the other side, the three B's seems to have something. Basham as ever gives it his best 'Ahm ernly doin' me fukkan job, pet' act which again is pleasing, because he seems to be the only one in red and white who gets it. But there used to be a song back in the day:

"At number one, there's Jamie Ward ... at number two, is jamie Ward ... " et al until we reached eleven and finished it off with "We all play for a team of Jamie Wards, a team of Jamie Wards .. " etc.

Bash fits that description. I even think he'd be better in the sticks than Ramsdale. At least he'd give it a go and convince us he was doing his level best anyway. But tonight, he, the mercurial and fucking frustrated Berge and goold old stroppy George made a decent shift of traying at least to find each other and string more than one pass and another pass ... oh shit, we've lost it again. Berge picking up a yellow for shirting Kante was the summit of his pissed-offness. He picked the ball up in the central defending midfield role and looked up ... no one but Lundstram some twenty metres away seemed interested in receiving it. The clear signal from him was 'C'mon Lunny. Come to me closer, close the gap so I don't have to telegraph this pass.' Lunny just stayed. Berge passed it. It was cut out and Chelsea went on the attack.

We started with my mate Olive in midfield defence too. I hope tonight shows everyone how he is completely unsuitable for this side or the Premier League, in fact. four corners in the first half, two of the fuckers hit the first man on the near post. When his replacement came on and took them, Osborn sent in curving, lofted but well-placed crosses which had Chelsea actually defending. Well, two of them anyway. The next one was taken short and ended up back in Ramsdale's shakey hands. But Norwood has one role, run across the park and point behind him. When he tackles, it is Montgomeryesque. On the opposite side tonight was N'Golo Kante, a diminutive little battle warrior who mixes it up, cuts out passing lanes, dispossesses, anticipates and shows his Premier League capability. If you want passing too, they had the fucking mercurial Ziyech, finding people with passes, like Timo Werner and playing in the runners. Still think Norwood is PL class?

And now up front. Wilder tonight chose to play a freebie veteran, who'd struggled to hit the net last season and a rookie acquisition, who just happens to be our record signing yet hasn't played much Premier League football. Didsy is a smashing feller, but he's way under the standard needed to put the opposition under pressure, despite his fortuitous goal. He was just bustled off the ball tonight or spent much of the time running across the pitch trying to intercept passing lanes that three players would find hard to do so. Poor fucker. Next to him is Brewster who must be fucking kicking himself now he allowed Klopp to finally convince him 'dis vould be a grit career moof for jou". he had five (count em) touches in the fist half, which really is the story of his evening. As much as people bellyache, he's possibly got capability, if some bastard would take a chance, look up and put him through. Tonight, nothing, as ever. Nothing also for his substitute either but let's face it, buying players from Swansea area who appear to have summat about them seems to be a failing these for us. McBurnie needs also to stop the fucking Herdings Park Sheffield and Hallamshire Sunday League Division Three stuff now. It doesn't impress anyone 'leaving your foot in/mark on a player' and when you are also not scoring at all, makes you look even more of a cunt. When he came on I thought, 'watch this. He'll get a free header in front on their goal, and simply fifty-pee it wide or into the keeper's arms' Thankfully he never made it into their box, I don't think but made a desperate effort to reach Thiago once he'd bumped his marker (Stevens) off for his predictable goal. In fact, he was more active in defence than in attack. Maybe a JOC replacement? At the moment, I'll take owt.

The subs, as said, were ineffective. Where the fuck is Burke, a player who has pace, vision and raw direction? Where is Bogle? Would Freeman, bought back, make any difference? I dunno.

Anyway, marks out of ten

Ramsdale 4/10: He had a great season stopping Bournemouth shipping more goals in their desperate attempt to stay up. If we get relegated this season however, I can't seem another PL club looking to take Ramsdale off us given he was the goalkeeper to two sides, consecutively relegated. He needs to consider this. So do we. Tonight, he was piss poor.
Lowe 3/10: Rabbit in the headlights. I think it has finally hit him tonight the gulf in class between Lampard's old club and his new one. He was also shit with their second goal.
Stevens 2/10: I don't want to comment further
Egan 5/10; A passable showing, but as the man bossing te box these days, those arcing crosses need a shout and co-ordination. Tonight we were all over the fucking place, and he was on his heels for Werner's goal.
Basham 6/10: Best player for us. He is seemingly fearless, but was let down by some shit decisions around him.
Baldock 5/10: Stroppy George was largely pinned back (as usual these days) although the goal we managed to shock the world with was due to his one deft run and ball to Berge
Lundstram 3/10: An evening of effectively playing on his own. I thought he was a waste of a shirt tonight and did nothing to bring anything to the game. If he is shop windowing himself, then he looks ever more like the Oxford United player he once was, and still is
Norwood 4/10: Said all I need to
Berge 7/10: What? Seven out of ten? Are you fucking kidding pommpey? He was fucking SHIT! Comparitively, Berge was a giant amongst footballing pygmies tonight. If Lundstram was playing one game on his own, Berge was trying to play the rest of the midfield's game. He's still trying to impose but fuck me the frustration he must feel.
McGoldrick 4/10: Great, deft goal, but for the rest of the game, no service. Tried his best, but he's past it. With him we have no danger.
Brewster 3/10: Nuffsaid.

Wilder 2/10: You are seriously running out of time, games and options. Sheffield United is a Premier League club, has a large public profile, our stock is up, investments made both on and off the pitch and we have an owner who is less interested in coralling his wagons around a Bigger Blade Than Me campfire more so making us a money making, highly regarded Premier League asset, rather than a relegation liability. He's proved that my giving you cash to fulfill your vision. But that vision is failing. You need to rethink, re-energise and rebuild and get us the fuck off our knees and up that table, even if it is seventeenth. If we go on as we are, losing game after game after game, you'll be sacked by Christmas. And you know it.

We expect more. Start fucking winning.

pommpey
I'd have said Baldock shading Basham with a 6.5 and Norwood our MOTM. That first twenty minutes were the best we've played since our fearless blood and guts performances last season and that was in spite of Lundstram on the other side, Norwood helped us create more than we have all season. Berge has been playing there but combining it with his free spirit runs at people, I thought it was a much better tactic to give him the wandering role to itself tonight.
 

Harsh on Ramsdale but agree with a lot of the OP

Thought Ramsdale was awful today & should have done better on all 4 goals. He consistently concedes goals which I think most other PL keepers would stop. Just doesn't look athletic enough to me. Doesn't look good value for money. He was also slaughtered by almost every pundit I saw covering the game, Inc on MOTD.
 
Went for a run, late afternoon. 5.4km (this on 7.5km yesterday). Decent tea. Stella on, big fuckin' telly, 5.1 surround, expected a fucking pasting.

So it came to pass.

Now, bear with me. I still have a lot of faith in Wilder, but his comments recently about Playstation managers seem a bit hollow given tonight's pretty pathetic showing. If you play FIFA, as any fule no, if you go from season to season playing the same old shit expecting to beat Liverpool with 50% of the team you won the league two levels down with, unless you seriously make all your settings at 100% you'll get held face down and bummed mercilessly, especially if you make the wrong signings and play with eight defenders. So much for us dumb fucks who come on here and kae suggestions. Do we expect him to take any notice? Nope. Again, as I have said, if he is referencing S24SU messageboard for his strategy and not working this out with his team captain and staff, then we are definitely in trouble. What do we know?

I'll tell you what we do though. We watch games like tonight's end to end. We see Sheffield United come out of the traps and play 'passable' Premier League football for 22 minutes (I marked it) until Chelsea took it off us and didn't give it us back for the rest of the match. We'd already taken a shock lead by then - just like Liverpool - but almost seemed embarrassed and shocked to have done so, right the way up until normal service was restored and Chelsea gained possession and inevitably cancelled out our lead. From then on in, it was just a case of how much we would lose by, and it was in the end by a margin unmatched for what ... three seasons? Middlesbrough 3- 0 Blades? Basically it looked from that 22 minute mark like Wilder had called off all of our players and told the Chelsea development side to get the kit on for a kick about. We were out thought, out-tacticked, outclassed in every part of the pitch. And really, Chelsea aren't THAT great a side, though the three points we meekly gave them tonight makes them look so.

My previous comments stand about changing things. If tonight hasn't told Wilder what he already knows and we already know then if he stays with the same thing next week Sheffield United - and Chris Wilder - are in deep shit. We are a Premiership side, and given our last flaccid flirtation with this majestic position, we can't afford to let Bladey-Bladeness sentimentality stand in the way of us staying up, especially as pre lockdown, this very side was actually, audaciously thinking about a place in the European competitions. We all secretly feared what lay in wait for us when we went up, and today is that. INstead, last season seems now like some charitable, sympathetic gesture to little Sheffield United, with their little players, little fans and little stadium. G'wan. Let 'em beat Everton away. G'wan. Let 'em give a three goal shock lead away against Man U at home and scrape a draw from inevitable failure. The chickens certainly came home to roost after the COVID restart and save for some chin-strokingly baffling victories, we've been fucking glistening, slippery, chunky bobbar since.

Unless Wilder starts thinking about how he is to address this - and that means 'change' - he is sacked by Christmas. Another Bladey Blade victim who failed to propel us into the trophy cabinet. It's sad, because he is a fucking outstanding bloke. But his strategy and buying policy now is patently Championship. Anyone who denies this needs to account for tonight, where once again, we played a messy five at the back, three in front (as in two metres in front) and the front two might as well have had fucking COVID themselves and socially isolated. When we did deign to break out, our passing was disgracefully shit, we don't move into space to receive and any 'plans' we seem to either have worked out on the training ground or ad hoc on the pitch end up in two places - at an opposition player's feet on the attack or in the arms of a flailing Aaron Ramsdale.

We are all scratching our heads to find reasoning for all of this. Is it the crowds (or lack of them)? Well no. All 22 players are playing in the sterile environment where all they can hear is the manager or each other. Is it 'we have been found out'? Well, they had thirty odd matches last season to do that with a myriad of technology to analyze and strategize against what we had, yet we finished way up the table. So what has gone wrong?

For me - Wilder has lost the team. Since we went up we have made some breathtakingly stupid acquisitions (we're good at this) despite spunking about a hundred million bucks. yeah - I know comparing like for like that is chicken feed. But tonight we still don't field players who are - genuinely - English Premier League standard. Your Ramsdales, your Stavenses, Your Norwoods, your Lunstrams, your Lowes, and god-dammit, even Didsy. They are nowhere near the footballing quality required to compete at this level. Were we not saying that thirteen years ago when suddenly our marque striker bust his leg at tonight's stadium and committed our remaining players to score just six goals in the remaining nine games should show you how this story has been told before. Sure, we ahve spent a fuck load more than we did back then. But to me very nearly every signing has been misplaced, wrong and a simple waste of money

Tonight from back to front we were again, fucking rubbish. Our goal was a work of unintended genius, but you just knew that all that had done was put on arm in the cage and slapped the lion on the nose. You just knew that soon, the lion would tear off your arm and eat it in front of you.

Ramsdale is fucking rubbish. He made some saves, but given the result, he might as well have let the fuckers in for all they are worth right now. I have watched him in a number of games - Wolves, Villa, Liverpool, even Man City ... and he makes elaborate, demonstrative and simply crap flailings to get to the ball (and misses) or simply palms the effort, when he should - at this level - be making clear efforts to control the ball and smother the energy. Fuck, if I can learn that in my Level 2 Coaching course, why the fuck is he not doing this? He keeps saying 'I am not Dean Henderson' and fuck me don't we know it. Henderson not only would have saved a lot he hasn't, but in my opinion was a big percentage of our success last season, giving us possibly twelve points with his stops and quite outstanding athleticism. We should have bought him. There, I have said it. £18m and £23m spent on Ramsdale and Brewster is £41m, and that would have been a big temptation for OGS to offload him. And by my reckoning with him in the net, we'd be at least five points better off this season. Disagree?

The central three need a revamp. We need a JOC replacement, and fast. Enda is now stage 4 terminal (to us and unpleasant term, apologies if anyone is offended) and is a weak point in any opposition attacking strategy. Tonight, and in past games like Arsenal, he's just not sharp enough or has the DNA to be a central defender. He's left footed. Cool. But he can't do the centre back stuff and fails to watch, move, mark, intercept and track effectively. In the Championship, tonning it up and down that left touchline and making mischief with Fleck and O'Connell he was mint. But now he is - as I have said before - way out of his depth. Egan seems lost without his wingman too. We all know what a fucking sound centreback he is. but we have Egan second guessing Stevens and also have Lowe having to come narrow and drop to cover for a clearly unhappy Stevens too. It's a fucking mess.

In front of that we have the hapless, ailing Lundstram, who is seemingly leading a charmed existence of being un-droppable. Given there are two factors in that - firstly he is playing dreadfully and secondly he doesn't want to be at Sheffield United and has his dummy cocked and loaded, I am wondering what the flying fuck Wilder is doing having him in the starting eleven, if he has no position to fight for. It must piss the rest of the player who can play in that position off, big-style. Tonight he was fucking wank. All three out on that flank were playing like they have never kicked a ball to each other in training, and it makes me wonder what the fuck Wilder and Knill do with these lot at Shirecliffe. We see some moderately impressive footage of them doing grid sprints and lifting weights. I'd like to know what the fuck they do to make these three - Stevens, Lowe and Lundstram - pass and move and shift up the wing, because at the moment, they are wank.

Over the other side, the three B's seems to have something. Basham as ever gives it his best 'Ahm ernly doin' me fukkan job, pet' act which again is pleasing, because he seems to be the only one in red and white who gets it. But there used to be a song back in the day:

"At number one, there's Jamie Ward ... at number two, is jamie Ward ... " et al until we reached eleven and finished it off with "We all play for a team of Jamie Wards, a team of Jamie Wards .. " etc.

Bash fits that description. I even think he'd be better in the sticks than Ramsdale. At least he'd give it a go and convince us he was doing his level best anyway. But tonight, he, the mercurial and fucking frustrated Berge and goold old stroppy George made a decent shift of traying at least to find each other and string more than one pass and another pass ... oh shit, we've lost it again. Berge picking up a yellow for shirting Kante was the summit of his pissed-offness. He picked the ball up in the central defending midfield role and looked up ... no one but Lundstram some twenty metres away seemed interested in receiving it. The clear signal from him was 'C'mon Lunny. Come to me closer, close the gap so I don't have to telegraph this pass.' Lunny just stayed. Berge passed it. It was cut out and Chelsea went on the attack.

We started with my mate Olive in midfield defence too. I hope tonight shows everyone how he is completely unsuitable for this side or the Premier League, in fact. four corners in the first half, two of the fuckers hit the first man on the near post. When his replacement came on and took them, Osborn sent in curving, lofted but well-placed crosses which had Chelsea actually defending. Well, two of them anyway. The next one was taken short and ended up back in Ramsdale's shakey hands. But Norwood has one role, run across the park and point behind him. When he tackles, it is Montgomeryesque. On the opposite side tonight was N'Golo Kante, a diminutive little battle warrior who mixes it up, cuts out passing lanes, dispossesses, anticipates and shows his Premier League capability. If you want passing too, they had the fucking mercurial Ziyech, finding people with passes, like Timo Werner and playing in the runners. Still think Norwood is PL class?

And now up front. Wilder tonight chose to play a freebie veteran, who'd struggled to hit the net last season and a rookie acquisition, who just happens to be our record signing yet hasn't played much Premier League football. Didsy is a smashing feller, but he's way under the standard needed to put the opposition under pressure, despite his fortuitous goal. He was just bustled off the ball tonight or spent much of the time running across the pitch trying to intercept passing lanes that three players would find hard to do so. Poor fucker. Next to him is Brewster who must be fucking kicking himself now he allowed Klopp to finally convince him 'dis vould be a grit career moof for jou". he had five (count em) touches in the fist half, which really is the story of his evening. As much as people bellyache, he's possibly got capability, if some bastard would take a chance, look up and put him through. Tonight, nothing, as ever. Nothing also for his substitute either but let's face it, buying players from Swansea area who appear to have summat about them seems to be a failing these for us. McBurnie needs also to stop the fucking Herdings Park Sheffield and Hallamshire Sunday League Division Three stuff now. It doesn't impress anyone 'leaving your foot in/mark on a player' and when you are also not scoring at all, makes you look even more of a cunt. When he came on I thought, 'watch this. He'll get a free header in front on their goal, and simply fifty-pee it wide or into the keeper's arms' Thankfully he never made it into their box, I don't think but made a desperate effort to reach Thiago once he'd bumped his marker (Stevens) off for his predictable goal. In fact, he was more active in defence than in attack. Maybe a JOC replacement? At the moment, I'll take owt.

The subs, as said, were ineffective. Where the fuck is Burke, a player who has pace, vision and raw direction? Where is Bogle? Would Freeman, bought back, make any difference? I dunno.

Anyway, marks out of ten

Ramsdale 4/10: He had a great season stopping Bournemouth shipping more goals in their desperate attempt to stay up. If we get relegated this season however, I can't seem another PL club looking to take Ramsdale off us given he was the goalkeeper to two sides, consecutively relegated. He needs to consider this. So do we. Tonight, he was piss poor.
Lowe 3/10: Rabbit in the headlights. I think it has finally hit him tonight the gulf in class between Lampard's old club and his new one. He was also shit with their second goal.
Stevens 2/10: I don't want to comment further
Egan 5/10; A passable showing, but as the man bossing te box these days, those arcing crosses need a shout and co-ordination. Tonight we were all over the fucking place, and he was on his heels for Werner's goal.
Basham 6/10: Best player for us. He is seemingly fearless, but was let down by some shit decisions around him.
Baldock 5/10: Stroppy George was largely pinned back (as usual these days) although the goal we managed to shock the world with was due to his one deft run and ball to Berge
Lundstram 3/10: An evening of effectively playing on his own. I thought he was a waste of a shirt tonight and did nothing to bring anything to the game. If he is shop windowing himself, then he looks ever more like the Oxford United player he once was, and still is
Norwood 4/10: Said all I need to
Berge 7/10: What? Seven out of ten? Are you fucking kidding pommpey? He was fucking SHIT! Comparitively, Berge was a giant amongst footballing pygmies tonight. If Lundstram was playing one game on his own, Berge was trying to play the rest of the midfield's game. He's still trying to impose but fuck me the frustration he must feel.
McGoldrick 4/10: Great, deft goal, but for the rest of the game, no service. Tried his best, but he's past it. With him we have no danger.
Brewster 3/10: Nuffsaid.

Wilder 2/10: You are seriously running out of time, games and options. Sheffield United is a Premier League club, has a large public profile, our stock is up, investments made both on and off the pitch and we have an owner who is less interested in coralling his wagons around a Bigger Blade Than Me campfire more so making us a money making, highly regarded Premier League asset, rather than a relegation liability. He's proved that my giving you cash to fulfill your vision. But that vision is failing. You need to rethink, re-energise and rebuild and get us the fuck off our knees and up that table, even if it is seventeenth. If we go on as we are, losing game after game after game, you'll be sacked by Christmas. And you know it.

We expect more. Start fucking winning.

pommpey
Thoroughly well argued analysis Pomps. Cue, “Wilder knows better than you thanks” replies but any clear sighted fan knows that things are seriously wrong. Wilder is looking out of his depth. He’s spunked enough money to have made a difference but still plays Lundstram instead of giving Bogle a run, Ramsdale is a joke and Stevens is a liability. The squad must be in a right mess. Players who were encouraged to take the fight to the opposition last season are now expected to sit in and hope for the best. There was a passage of play shortly after half time when Chelsea must have made 20-30 passes without us getting near them. Get stuck in! I don’t care if we rack
up yellow cards but at least compete! New arrivals must be wondering what the fuck they’ve walked into. I’m an eternal optimist but we are heading for the drop unless CWAK have the balls to get some of last seasons energy and aggression back. And don’t give me the “we’re not the same without a crowd bollocks” they are professional athletes earning a shitload of money ffs.
 
Thought Ramsdale was awful today & should have done better on all 4 goals. He consistently concedes goals which I think most other PL keepers would stop. Just doesn't look athletic enough to me. Doesn't look good value for money. He was also slaughtered by almost every pundit I saw covering the game, Inc on MOTD.
Why does he throw himself at every pissing shot even when it’s clearly going wide? The guy seems to have a two second delay before he reacts to anything. It’s hardly going to give his teammates confidence.
 
Thought Ramsdale was awful today & should have done better on all 4 goals. He consistently concedes goals which I think most other PL keepers would stop. Just doesn't look athletic enough to me. Doesn't look good value for money. He was also slaughtered by almost every pundit I saw covering the game, Inc on MOTD.

I don't think he was that good for Bournemouth, to be honest. There wer other options out there and as said, if we spend £18m on him and £23m on Brewster, I'd fucking cash that in with an offer for Henderson tomorrow and break the bank for his wages. Henderson fitted Sheffield UNited like a glove. The only problem with him being here is that those two white cutlasses and the Yorkshire Rose mean no England caps.

pommpey
 
I pretty much 100% agree with all of this. Which is hard for me to do as a dyed in the wool clapper.

I’ve stuck up for the team so far this season as some of the performances haven’t been terrible and it’s been a tough start. But today was actually pathetic, it looked so far away from the ‘we’re Sheff United and don’t give a fuck who you are’ attitude we showed last season.

If it doesn’t get better in the next two games it’s going to look like a mountain too high for us to climb.

Moose, Fleck, JOC - somebody find a way to get them uninjured please...
 
The team have lost confidence. We need to change formation and start to have s right go at teams. We are too predictable in our play. Move it wide try to get an overlap and take it up to the corner flag and pass it back or lose it....it's creating fuck all. Ramsdale is playing shit and i would have no problem dropping him for a few games. Back 4 of Baldock Egan Ampadu and Stevens. Midfield of Bogle Berge Norwood and Osborn/Fleck.
McGoldrick and Brewester up front.
I am not confident that team would do any good but we need to change and try to get a grip in the middle of the park and try to give the forwards something to work with. You can substitute the forwards with who ever you want as currently it's not making any difference who plays.
 
For once I agree with you.

I'd have gone for the experienced Foster at Watford rather than Ramsdale, whose starting to look more of a problem than a solution.

I'm a massive Wilder fan, but, with the exception of Berge, his signings since we have got to the PL haven't worked. There's time yet of course, but with 1 point out of the last 33, I'm afraid that he's running out of time, as owners tend to not share the sentimentality supporters do. If we don't get 4 points out of the next 2 games I fear for him.
 
I don't think he was that good for Bournemouth, to be honest. There wer other options out there and as said, if we spend £18m on him and £23m on Brewster, I'd fucking cash that in with an offer for Henderson tomorrow and break the bank for his wages. Henderson fitted Sheffield UNited like a glove. The only problem with him being here is that those two white cutlasses and the Yorkshire Rose mean no England caps.

pommpey
I was hoping beyond hope that Ramsdale would turn out good (maybe he will, given time) but I don't like players coming in from relegated teams. There's a reason those teams got relegated.
 
Went for a run, late afternoon. 5.4km (this on 7.5km yesterday). Decent tea. Stella on, big fuckin' telly, 5.1 surround, expected a fucking pasting.

So it came to pass.

Now, bear with me. I still have a lot of faith in Wilder, but his comments recently about Playstation managers seem a bit hollow given tonight's pretty pathetic showing. If you play FIFA, as any fule no, if you go from season to season playing the same old shit expecting to beat Liverpool with 50% of the team you won the league two levels down with, unless you seriously make all your settings at 100% you'll get held face down and bummed mercilessly, especially if you make the wrong signings and play with eight defenders. So much for us dumb fucks who come on here and kae suggestions. Do we expect him to take any notice? Nope. Again, as I have said, if he is referencing S24SU messageboard for his strategy and not working this out with his team captain and staff, then we are definitely in trouble. What do we know?

I'll tell you what we do though. We watch games like tonight's end to end. We see Sheffield United come out of the traps and play 'passable' Premier League football for 22 minutes (I marked it) until Chelsea took it off us and didn't give it us back for the rest of the match. We'd already taken a shock lead by then - just like Liverpool - but almost seemed embarrassed and shocked to have done so, right the way up until normal service was restored and Chelsea gained possession and inevitably cancelled out our lead. From then on in, it was just a case of how much we would lose by, and it was in the end by a margin unmatched for what ... three seasons? Middlesbrough 3- 0 Blades? Basically it looked from that 22 minute mark like Wilder had called off all of our players and told the Chelsea development side to get the kit on for a kick about. We were out thought, out-tacticked, outclassed in every part of the pitch. And really, Chelsea aren't THAT great a side, though the three points we meekly gave them tonight makes them look so.

My previous comments stand about changing things. If tonight hasn't told Wilder what he already knows and we already know then if he stays with the same thing next week Sheffield United - and Chris Wilder - are in deep shit. We are a Premiership side, and given our last flaccid flirtation with this majestic position, we can't afford to let Bladey-Bladeness sentimentality stand in the way of us staying up, especially as pre lockdown, this very side was actually, audaciously thinking about a place in the European competitions. We all secretly feared what lay in wait for us when we went up, and today is that. INstead, last season seems now like some charitable, sympathetic gesture to little Sheffield United, with their little players, little fans and little stadium. G'wan. Let 'em beat Everton away. G'wan. Let 'em give a three goal shock lead away against Man U at home and scrape a draw from inevitable failure. The chickens certainly came home to roost after the COVID restart and save for some chin-strokingly baffling victories, we've been fucking glistening, slippery, chunky bobbar since.

Unless Wilder starts thinking about how he is to address this - and that means 'change' - he is sacked by Christmas. Another Bladey Blade victim who failed to propel us into the trophy cabinet. It's sad, because he is a fucking outstanding bloke. But his strategy and buying policy now is patently Championship. Anyone who denies this needs to account for tonight, where once again, we played a messy five at the back, three in front (as in two metres in front) and the front two might as well have had fucking COVID themselves and socially isolated. When we did deign to break out, our passing was disgracefully shit, we don't move into space to receive and any 'plans' we seem to either have worked out on the training ground or ad hoc on the pitch end up in two places - at an opposition player's feet on the attack or in the arms of a flailing Aaron Ramsdale.

We are all scratching our heads to find reasoning for all of this. Is it the crowds (or lack of them)? Well no. All 22 players are playing in the sterile environment where all they can hear is the manager or each other. Is it 'we have been found out'? Well, they had thirty odd matches last season to do that with a myriad of technology to analyze and strategize against what we had, yet we finished way up the table. So what has gone wrong?

For me - Wilder has lost the team. Since we went up we have made some breathtakingly stupid acquisitions (we're good at this) despite spunking about a hundred million bucks. yeah - I know comparing like for like that is chicken feed. But tonight we still don't field players who are - genuinely - English Premier League standard. Your Ramsdales, your Stavenses, Your Norwoods, your Lunstrams, your Lowes, and god-dammit, even Didsy. They are nowhere near the footballing quality required to compete at this level. Were we not saying that thirteen years ago when suddenly our marque striker bust his leg at tonight's stadium and committed our remaining players to score just six goals in the remaining nine games should show you how this story has been told before. Sure, we ahve spent a fuck load more than we did back then. But to me very nearly every signing has been misplaced, wrong and a simple waste of money

Tonight from back to front we were again, fucking rubbish. Our goal was a work of unintended genius, but you just knew that all that had done was put on arm in the cage and slapped the lion on the nose. You just knew that soon, the lion would tear off your arm and eat it in front of you.

Ramsdale is fucking rubbish. He made some saves, but given the result, he might as well have let the fuckers in for all they are worth right now. I have watched him in a number of games - Wolves, Villa, Liverpool, even Man City ... and he makes elaborate, demonstrative and simply crap flailings to get to the ball (and misses) or simply palms the effort, when he should - at this level - be making clear efforts to control the ball and smother the energy. Fuck, if I can learn that in my Level 2 Coaching course, why the fuck is he not doing this? He keeps saying 'I am not Dean Henderson' and fuck me don't we know it. Henderson not only would have saved a lot he hasn't, but in my opinion was a big percentage of our success last season, giving us possibly twelve points with his stops and quite outstanding athleticism. We should have bought him. There, I have said it. £18m and £23m spent on Ramsdale and Brewster is £41m, and that would have been a big temptation for OGS to offload him. And by my reckoning with him in the net, we'd be at least five points better off this season. Disagree?

The central three need a revamp. We need a JOC replacement, and fast. Enda is now stage 4 terminal (to us and unpleasant term, apologies if anyone is offended) and is a weak point in any opposition attacking strategy. Tonight, and in past games like Arsenal, he's just not sharp enough or has the DNA to be a central defender. He's left footed. Cool. But he can't do the centre back stuff and fails to watch, move, mark, intercept and track effectively. In the Championship, tonning it up and down that left touchline and making mischief with Fleck and O'Connell he was mint. But now he is - as I have said before - way out of his depth. Egan seems lost without his wingman too. We all know what a fucking sound centreback he is. but we have Egan second guessing Stevens and also have Lowe having to come narrow and drop to cover for a clearly unhappy Stevens too. It's a fucking mess.

In front of that we have the hapless, ailing Lundstram, who is seemingly leading a charmed existence of being un-droppable. Given there are two factors in that - firstly he is playing dreadfully and secondly he doesn't want to be at Sheffield United and has his dummy cocked and loaded, I am wondering what the flying fuck Wilder is doing having him in the starting eleven, if he has no position to fight for. It must piss the rest of the player who can play in that position off, big-style. Tonight he was fucking wank. All three out on that flank were playing like they have never kicked a ball to each other in training, and it makes me wonder what the fuck Wilder and Knill do with these lot at Shirecliffe. We see some moderately impressive footage of them doing grid sprints and lifting weights. I'd like to know what the fuck they do to make these three - Stevens, Lowe and Lundstram - pass and move and shift up the wing, because at the moment, they are wank.

Over the other side, the three B's seems to have something. Basham as ever gives it his best 'Ahm ernly doin' me fukkan job, pet' act which again is pleasing, because he seems to be the only one in red and white who gets it. But there used to be a song back in the day:

"At number one, there's Jamie Ward ... at number two, is jamie Ward ... " et al until we reached eleven and finished it off with "We all play for a team of Jamie Wards, a team of Jamie Wards .. " etc.

Bash fits that description. I even think he'd be better in the sticks than Ramsdale. At least he'd give it a go and convince us he was doing his level best anyway. But tonight, he, the mercurial and fucking frustrated Berge and goold old stroppy George made a decent shift of traying at least to find each other and string more than one pass and another pass ... oh shit, we've lost it again. Berge picking up a yellow for shirting Kante was the summit of his pissed-offness. He picked the ball up in the central defending midfield role and looked up ... no one but Lundstram some twenty metres away seemed interested in receiving it. The clear signal from him was 'C'mon Lunny. Come to me closer, close the gap so I don't have to telegraph this pass.' Lunny just stayed. Berge passed it. It was cut out and Chelsea went on the attack.

We started with my mate Olive in midfield defence too. I hope tonight shows everyone how he is completely unsuitable for this side or the Premier League, in fact. four corners in the first half, two of the fuckers hit the first man on the near post. When his replacement came on and took them, Osborn sent in curving, lofted but well-placed crosses which had Chelsea actually defending. Well, two of them anyway. The next one was taken short and ended up back in Ramsdale's shakey hands. But Norwood has one role, run across the park and point behind him. When he tackles, it is Montgomeryesque. On the opposite side tonight was N'Golo Kante, a diminutive little battle warrior who mixes it up, cuts out passing lanes, dispossesses, anticipates and shows his Premier League capability. If you want passing too, they had the fucking mercurial Ziyech, finding people with passes, like Timo Werner and playing in the runners. Still think Norwood is PL class?

And now up front. Wilder tonight chose to play a freebie veteran, who'd struggled to hit the net last season and a rookie acquisition, who just happens to be our record signing yet hasn't played much Premier League football. Didsy is a smashing feller, but he's way under the standard needed to put the opposition under pressure, despite his fortuitous goal. He was just bustled off the ball tonight or spent much of the time running across the pitch trying to intercept passing lanes that three players would find hard to do so. Poor fucker. Next to him is Brewster who must be fucking kicking himself now he allowed Klopp to finally convince him 'dis vould be a grit career moof for jou". he had five (count em) touches in the fist half, which really is the story of his evening. As much as people bellyache, he's possibly got capability, if some bastard would take a chance, look up and put him through. Tonight, nothing, as ever. Nothing also for his substitute either but let's face it, buying players from Swansea area who appear to have summat about them seems to be a failing these for us. McBurnie needs also to stop the fucking Herdings Park Sheffield and Hallamshire Sunday League Division Three stuff now. It doesn't impress anyone 'leaving your foot in/mark on a player' and when you are also not scoring at all, makes you look even more of a cunt. When he came on I thought, 'watch this. He'll get a free header in front on their goal, and simply fifty-pee it wide or into the keeper's arms' Thankfully he never made it into their box, I don't think but made a desperate effort to reach Thiago once he'd bumped his marker (Stevens) off for his predictable goal. In fact, he was more active in defence than in attack. Maybe a JOC replacement? At the moment, I'll take owt.

The subs, as said, were ineffective. Where the fuck is Burke, a player who has pace, vision and raw direction? Where is Bogle? Would Freeman, bought back, make any difference? I dunno.

Anyway, marks out of ten

Ramsdale 4/10: He had a great season stopping Bournemouth shipping more goals in their desperate attempt to stay up. If we get relegated this season however, I can't seem another PL club looking to take Ramsdale off us given he was the goalkeeper to two sides, consecutively relegated. He needs to consider this. So do we. Tonight, he was piss poor.
Lowe 3/10: Rabbit in the headlights. I think it has finally hit him tonight the gulf in class between Lampard's old club and his new one. He was also shit with their second goal.
Stevens 2/10: I don't want to comment further
Egan 5/10; A passable showing, but as the man bossing te box these days, those arcing crosses need a shout and co-ordination. Tonight we were all over the fucking place, and he was on his heels for Werner's goal.
Basham 6/10: Best player for us. He is seemingly fearless, but was let down by some shit decisions around him.
Baldock 5/10: Stroppy George was largely pinned back (as usual these days) although the goal we managed to shock the world with was due to his one deft run and ball to Berge
Lundstram 3/10: An evening of effectively playing on his own. I thought he was a waste of a shirt tonight and did nothing to bring anything to the game. If he is shop windowing himself, then he looks ever more like the Oxford United player he once was, and still is
Norwood 4/10: Said all I need to
Berge 7/10: What? Seven out of ten? Are you fucking kidding pommpey? He was fucking SHIT! Comparitively, Berge was a giant amongst footballing pygmies tonight. If Lundstram was playing one game on his own, Berge was trying to play the rest of the midfield's game. He's still trying to impose but fuck me the frustration he must feel.
McGoldrick 4/10: Great, deft goal, but for the rest of the game, no service. Tried his best, but he's past it. With him we have no danger.
Brewster 3/10: Nuffsaid.

Wilder 2/10: You are seriously running out of time, games and options. Sheffield United is a Premier League club, has a large public profile, our stock is up, investments made both on and off the pitch and we have an owner who is less interested in coralling his wagons around a Bigger Blade Than Me campfire more so making us a money making, highly regarded Premier League asset, rather than a relegation liability. He's proved that my giving you cash to fulfill your vision. But that vision is failing. You need to rethink, re-energise and rebuild and get us the fuck off our knees and up that table, even if it is seventeenth. If we go on as we are, losing game after game after game, you'll be sacked by Christmas. And you know it.

We expect more. Start fucking winning.

pommpey
Enjoyed that. I totally agree with you. I was also amazed Burke didn't play. He seems the obvious one in away games.
 
I pretty much 100% agree with all of this. Which is hard for me to do as a dyed in the wool clapper.

I’ve stuck up for the team so far this season as some of the performances haven’t been terrible and it’s been a tough start. But today was actually pathetic, it looked so far away from the ‘we’re Sheff United and don’t give a fuck who you are’ attitude we showed last season.

If it doesn’t get better in the next two games it’s going to look like a mountain too high for us to climb.

Moose, Fleck, JOC - somebody find a way to get them uninjured please...
I suspect none of them will be in a hurry to come back....If they are being told to play the way the rest of the team are it will only devalue them and reduce any chance of getting a move to another PL or top Championship club. The exception might be JOC who might be eyeing up a Jan transfer.
 
For once I agree with you.

I'd have gone for the experienced Foster at Watford rather than Ramsdale, whose starting to look more of a problem than a solution.

I'm a massive Wilder fan, but, with the exception of Berge, his signings since we have got to the PL haven't worked. There's time yet of course, but with 1 point out of the last 33, I'm afraid that he's running out of time, as owners tend to not share the sentimentality supporters do. If we don't get 4 points out of the next 2 games I fear for him.
Agree with you 100% on Foster. I said, last season that he should have been the replacement for Hendo. I simply can’t see the Prince spending any other cash in Jan unless there’s a major turnaround, he’ll be making plans for the Championship and, in any case, who would want to come here other than more iffy squad players?
 

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