Our support/My support

[oldblade]

I was sat at Reading earlier this season in front of these knobs who had a negative comment to say about every player, abusing some pakistani chaps in the opposite end who were sat very much minding their own business, abusing blade fans who weren't doing the same and generally being righteous cunts. I think this was at the apex of the 'BladesMad Ultras' movement, and it did make me wonder why the fuck i bother going to games.

Then cotterill dinked one in from 25 yards and i was reminded why i did.

With regards to the apathy problem a lot now feel, for me, the visible face of the problem is the manager. With warnock we didn't have beautiful football, but we had a manager who instilled the battling mentality in the team and the fans. We had a manager with a personality, that opposition fans knew about. Some people didn't like him, but at least he got people talking about us. Now we don't have attractive football and we have a kevin who? as a manager. We are in short, just another club.

People moan that we're not on telly enough. Why would we be? Where's the attraction for the media to put us on TV?

We didn't have beautiful football all the time under Warnock, but for a lot of the time it was pretty exciting and markedly more entertaining than most of the stuff I've seen since the 1970s!

 

[oldblade]

I look back on the early 70's and think to misen .............. there were even moaning foo kers then !

cheap as chips will be gone ..... but i'll still be at BDTBL an so will most of you !

People tend to look back with rose tinted glasses. For as long as I can remember people have moaned and singled players out for abuse.

Under Ian Porterfield we got two promotions and improved our league position every single season that he was in charge, and yet in one home match against Brentford (which we lost 2-1) there was a lot of unrest on the kop and some bright spark decided to set fire to the free newspaper that we used to get from the club every so often in those days.

The main difference I find is with the quietness. We are deffinitely not as loud in our support as we used to be even though there are twice as many people attending than in the 1980s. I think the introduction of all seater stadia has had something to do with that.

 

[Silent Blade]

The moaning was all on the terraces and in the pubs though.....

No keyboard warriors!

There were letters published in the Green Un from Blades fans criticising John Harris and the club for having no ambition!

 

[Chingo]

The apathy at BDTBL at the moment is caused by being promised the earth for the last 5 or so years and being served up with Ryan France and Andy Taylor etc now !

The dream is over as KM has pulled the plug and we are settling in for a decade in the CCC . nothing to sing and shout about is it really ?

 

[happyhippy]

I feel it's more of a chore than an enjoyment going to the match with Blackwell in charge. It's awful at times.

Watching United has always been a chore. Plus ça change .....

 

[happyhippy]

People tend to look back with rose tinted glasses. For as long as I can remember people have moaned and singled players out for abuse.

Under Ian Porterfield we got two promotions and improved our league position every single season that he was in charge, and yet in one home match against Brentford (which we lost 2-1) there was a lot of unrest on the kop and some bright spark decided to set fire to the free newspaper that we used to get from the club every so often in those days.

Blades News?

The main difference I find is with the quietness. We are deffinitely not as loud in our support as we used to be even though there are twice as many people attending than in the 1980s. I think the introduction of all seater stadia has had something to do with that.

How many bought season tickets after the promotion season, and have kept them on with the offers, and even (as I have done) taken advantage of the kids' season ticket scheme?

How many were around for the drought in the 80s and late 90s?

Attendances are up by a huge amount and that can only be a good thing for the club, but the demographic in the ground is very different from, say, twenty years ago.

As for the attendance and noise, short of the Bassett years, the place was always quiet really. In the McEwan years, I could hear my own snores echo at times.

 

[bricktop]

I've manned out the desperate time in the 80's and the late 90's, as well as being there for the better times.

As much as i try and analyse why Sheffield United keep on getting in week in, week out when there are loads of other leisure options for me to persue, i can't come up with any sensible and reasoned answer apart from the fact that my visits to see my Sheffield United have been a constant through my life from being a small boy right through to manhood.

 

[keenzy]

But it's been awful before and will be awful again.

You are kidding yourself if you think this isn't going to be the case

As daz says, we have been shit before it's the tactis that we play, such as having no plan B and not making the substitutions.

I go for the drinking and the banter with mates before. And the match is always shit lately. With robson and now blackwell, there seems no spark of life on the sidelines to inspire.

See you at QPR!! :thumbup:

 

[Linz]

As daz says, we have been shit before it's the tactis that we play, such as having no plan B and not making the substitutions.

Which people moaned about under Warnock did they not?

 

[keenzy]

Which people moaned about under Warnock did they not?

Ai, But it's not as bad as it is now
We always have to moan.

And warnock did it quite well.

 

[Robbie]

I tell you what I did enjoy about going to games under Robson...........

You would go to the games not knowing what to expect. Yes most of the time it was poor. But once every so often you was pleasantly pleased.

 

[alcoblade]

Which people moaned about under Warnock did they not?

they did, and there's surely a few more people who now realise what we had with Warnock?

UTB

 

[alcoblade]

I tell you what I did enjoy about going to games under Robson...........

You would go to the games not knowing what to expect. Yes most of the time it was poor. But once every so often you was pleasantly pleased.

I tell you what I enjoyed about going to games under Robson;

Absolutely nothing.

It was the only time in my 41 years that I considered packing it in. Not too seriously, but I considered having a gap year because watching such soulless, dull football was heart breaking. Witnessing the dismantling of a passionate committed side, at a humongous cost that we're paying for now, was just terrible.

The only thing good about that era was that it makes this one seem slightly better, and because it inspired some real passion from the fans who admirably ousted the clown in the quickest possible way.

UTB

 

[LouTheBlade]

OMG after reading this thread I just want to cut my wrists. So depressingly morbid. "There's no atmosphere," "The football is crap," "my money won't fit in my wallet." I can tell most of you are from Sheffield - moan, moan, moan, moan, moan.

Even though I agree, this is a weird period of 'transition/mediocrity' for the Blades but that's life folks. There are 92 clubs in the PL/FL and they are all striving to be the best they can be. Sometimes you have to be a loser when others are winning. It swings in roundabouts. OK so it doesn't seem like we ever get our turn at a bit of sustained success but im sure another 30+ clubs could say the same thing. I say it time and time again that football is not played on an even basis in this country anymore and as a result the likes of United will always struggle to hit the heights.

Football is all about momentum. When a team starts winning a few games or maybe even has a cup run it can spur on a feel good mentality around the club. If a team has an exciting group of players or a charismatic manager (leave off the Blackwell slagging because we know what's coming from some of you), it can send a team spiralling upwards for a couple of years but they will always feel the gravity again at some point because they are not in the elite 7 or 8 sides that always get looked after.

Sadly guys and girls that's life and I have given up on living the dream. I just support the club I love and see where it takes us. You have no power over it so don't let it keep you awake at night. UTB!!!

 

[Grecian2000]

Wow, a seriously interesting thread.

Plenty of people have summed up my attitude to our current situation. As Raul said many posts ago, there was a time when I was planning my week-ends weeks ahead, checking the table daily to see what possible outcome there could be from the possible result combinations. Now? I knew we were home this coming Saturday but didn’t know (or care) who we were playing.

It is not just Sheffield United, per se, but is football in general and the acceptance of mediocrity that is now rife in the game.

Someone mentioned Porterfield earlier in the thread. Sacked despite a constant increasing of league position (rightly in my view because we were shit at the time) but still in 6th place in the second division. Why? Because in those days anything below third (or was it second) was failure. The idea of finishing sixth in the table was unacceptable because it was mediocre. Now it’s celebrated and can be rewarded with a promotion through the play-offs. Money making exercise only.

At the highest level of the English game, we have teams constantly claiming a Champions League spot and yet haven’t been league champions in a generation. Mediocrity celebrated again in the name of making money.

As for the players, the level of skill displayed in the game is a joke. When I was at school the only way to make the school team was to be competent with both feet. One footed players just wouldn’t get a look in. Now? We have a plethora of players who have no idea what their “other” foot is for. Laziness on their part or a general acceptance of mediocrity on ours? Players make up for this lack of “skill” with amazing fitness levels but is that really enough to excite anyone? I can count, on one hand, the number of players who I would be willing to get of my arse and go to a match as a neutral.

To be honest the money now involved and the “winning is the only thing that matters” attitude has ruined the game. To watch us have a corner, at home to Preston, in the first minute of 5 minutes of injury time, and have not one player in their box was something I couldn’t believe. Why the hell would anyone get excited about football of that nature?

Football will eat itself!

 

[Linz]

One thing still remains constant though.

Win or lose, we're on the booze

I think once you miss a few matches, it does become easier. I never used to miss any at all. But then I used to work in a casual capacity and could get time off whenever I wanted. Now I'm in full time work and my holiday days are precious (two weeks in the sun or Tuesday nights in Blackpool? Hmmm... tough choice!)

I also used to be travelling to new places to get grounds in, whereas now, I've been to most grounds in this division 3+ times at least. It does get a little monotonous for the money you pay.

Couple that with the fact that we're trying to save up for a house deposit and we're juggling priorities.

I do still enjoy going to matches... but it was usually never about the football, it was always about the experience... congas in the rain at Stockport, amazing pies at Gillingham, fish and chips, the Leaking Boot (RIP) and Kozzy scoring at Grimsby, getting ratted after the cup draw at Highbury... But now I pick and choose to leave out a couple of matches and obviously, long away trips on Tuesday nights. It makes a big difference to the finances and I've been spared some dire performances.

As for home matches... what other excuse have I got to be in the pub before dinner time on a Saturday?

 

[oldblade]

As for the attendance and noise, short of the Bassett years, the place was always quiet really. In the McEwan years, I could hear my own snores echo at times.

During the McEwan years we were only averaging around 10,000 attendances. They may have been quiet, but no quieter than now when we have 15,000 extra people in the ground.

But, I agree it is a good thing to have higher attendances, and Bramall Lane is a much pleasanter place to be (as are most football grounds). But, I disagree about it being quiet in the 1980s and 1990s except for the Bassett years. I remember many pretty noisy games during the first few years of Porterfield's managership.

 

[Micalijo]

It really disappoints me Linz that a fanatic like you says that 'Bramall Lane has been dead for years.'

I assume that you missed 02/03, 05/06 and 06/07?

You don't always get a great atmosphere but what more do you want from football than what we got in those 3 years?

I just don't understand it at all.

So what if we don't have silly dances and congas? Seeing 30k average at Lane in 06/07 is somat I thought would never happen in my lifetime having been brough up thinking 15k was huge crowd. People couldn't wait for the games in my opinion.

The atmosphere's at those big cup games and derby/play-off in 02/03 didn't need any silly dances to get people going. It was loud and intimidating. McCabe, Robson and Blackwell have put paid to all that but no reason why it won't return - occassionally.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Just got the Fixture List in front of me Alco....

17th Jan - Nottingham Panthers (a)
23rd Jan - Nottingham Panthers (h)
27th Jan - Nottingham Panthers (a)
2nd Feb - Nottingahm Panthers (h)
5th Feb - Sudden Death Elimination Qualifying Final 1st Leg - Nottingham Panthers (a)
6th Feb - Plate Quater Final 7th Leg - Nottingham Panthers (h)


What's not to like??

Only if the match on the 5th is to be taken literally.

Sudden Death Elimination does sound more exciting than our game against Derby.

The rest of the fixtures looks likes something from the Faeroe Islands Premiership.

 

[the magic man]

Bramall Lane has been dead for years though.


Foxy tells of being called a "prick" at Blackpool because he didn't want to join in the chants of "green army" (wtf?). These tend to be the same people who go on 70 minutes if we're losing, kicking a few chairs on their way out.

Linz, its exactly this sort of thing that puts me off going to away games anymore.

I went home and away (finances permitting) for the last 5 or 6 years, but this season im just not bothered anymore, even the home games seem a drag! The reasons being the 'yoofs' at the back of the kop who seem to think we should be playing like arsenal and be destroying teams 4 or 5 nil, and anything less that this is clucking rubbish, or words to that effect. I go to games because I love the blades, and will continue to go regardless. The banter was one of the best things about going away, but even that is rare these days

Anywho, lets get behind the team and enjoy it (if possible!!) for the rest of the season. Like a few have already eluded to, the idiots will hopefully stop coming once they realise we arent great!!

COYRAWW

 

[oldblade]

Which people moaned about under Warnock did they not?

They certainly did. In fact during the 2002-3 season (one of the most entertaining seasons in the last 35 years) there were people who wanted him sacked. And in the home match against Wimbledon the side got booed.

 

[Linz]

It really disappoints me Linz that a fanatic like you says that 'Bramall Lane has been dead for years.'

I assume that you missed 02/03, 05/06 and 06/07?

No... I was there.

But big crowds doesn't equal a good and supportive atmosphere. Look at Wembley fr'instance. And those season you point to are ones of relative successes where it was easy to find something to sing about.

Can you remember the boos and jeers which United and Warnock got at the end of 04/05?

That play-off semi v. Forest was unlike nothing I've ever experienced in being a Blade. The atmosphere was electric.

The rest of the time, it is rather quiet and dull.

Linz, its exactly this sort of thing that puts me off going to away games anymore.

Get thi'sen tickets with us We know of a pub in most places and apart from Keenzy being mardy about Blackwell occasionally (), we have a good laugh and usually end up with sore throats.

 

[LouTheBlade]

To be honest the money now involved and the “winning is the only thing that matters” attitude has ruined the game.

Football will eat itself!

I don't think I have ever agreed with any post as much as I did that one. Spot on Grecian. Football has changed and it wont be the same again until it goes pop (which it will).

 

[oldblade]

It really disappoints me Linz that a fanatic like you says that 'Bramall Lane has been dead for years.'

I assume that you missed 02/03, 05/06 and 06/07?

You don't always get a great atmosphere but what more do you want from football than what we got in those 3 years?

I just don't understand it at all.

So what if we don't have silly dances and congas? Seeing 30k average at Lane in 06/07 is somat I thought would never happen in my lifetime having been brough up thinking 15k was huge crowd. People couldn't wait for the games in my opinion.

The atmosphere's at those big cup games and derby/play-off in 02/03 didn't need any silly dances to get people going. It was loud and intimidating. McCabe, Robson and Blackwell have put paid to all that but no reason why it won't return - occassionally.

In 2002-3 the atmosphere was only particularly good for the big games, namely some of the cup games (against the premier league clubs), the play off semi final against Forest, and the game against Wednesday.

For the rest of the time attendances were pretty modest - often around 16,000 and sometimes lower, and for most league games it was quite quiet. Our performances did not get the attendances or backing that they deserved.

 

[JohnDenver]

They certainly did. In fact during the 2002-3 season (one of the most entertaining seasons in the last 35 years) there were people who wanted him sacked. And in the home match against Wimbledon the side got booed.

People moan soooo much - it's tiresome. I don't remember it being as bad when I was a nipper in the Bassett era. Apart from my dad telling me it was always head tennis: "Get it down, bloody hell!".

Was it just the same then? Maybe my propensity to identify twattish behaviour has increased. Or maybe there are just more twats.

(I'll stop swearing now)

 

[oldblade]

Someone mentioned Porterfield earlier in the thread. Sacked despite a constant increasing of league position (rightly in my view because we were shit at the time) but still in 6th place in the second division. Why? Because in those days anything below third (or was it second) was failure.

Agree with a lot of what you've said. But with regard to Porterfield's sacking I think there was a bit more to that than being in 6th place in the second division at that particular time. After all we hadn't been as high as that in the league for 10 years!

 

[Ollessendro]

I'm just a bit fed up with the United experience at the minute, not the games per se (although the football is dour, almost as bad as Robbo), just the support/atmosphere/feeling amongst supporters. Used to be a decent atmosphere at the Lane - noisy, intimidating, bit of a sense of humour albeit a dark one when times were hard (WTTWY anyone?), but nonetheless we were all Blades, didn't give a stuff what other people thought and swaggered along on our own. I used to think this was quintessentially what being a "Blade" was all about. Even Irvine Walsh picked up on it!

I know we've always complained and moaned (its a Yorkshireman's prerogative), but the constant vitriolic and personal abuse on all mediums and the bile spewed out indiscriminately, trumped up people ring up P&G and demanding sackings on the back of what *they* know/heard/invented to fit their own deluded agendas, it just doesn't sit well with me - we've always been crap in my lifetime, but part of the fun was rolling with the punches and waiting for that one joyous moment - a Booker at QPR or a Peschisolido against Forest.

I was in the car park chanting for Robson to go, but perhaps that didn't herald a return to a feeling of a relationship (I felt) between the club and the fans under NW, but marked a watershed - an emergence of a "we want results, we want them now, if not it's shoes off" attitude and lack of tolerance and patience. Maybe I should redefine what I feel a supporter is and what he should be. Does paying your money give you the right to rip two shreds into all and every player? Or does it come with the promise you'll support your team fairly and try and stick behind them? I always felt the latter, but feel like I'm in the minority.

Speaking to (I hate to say this) Leeds fans about them WACCOEing through half-time when they are a couple of goals down, or Bristol City fans re: "bouncing around the ground", I feel slightly envious and think back to the great days out I've had. They seem ages away.

We might replace Blackwell, we might not. If we get a new manager in I can't see him getting anymore of a fair go than anyone else. It's football I suppose these days. Maybe I should pack it in.

(Rant over)

What started as a rant has turned into a really interesting thread Bramley, so thanks for that.

Highbury and Alco make some really good points that I agree with. Then Lou comes back and shift my emotions in another way.

I put the current situatiuon down to a few issues:

entertainment - we go to the games for enjoyment; To be entertained! It's like going to the theatre, the cinema, the pub, out for dinner etc. If what we see that's served up is shit then it spoils it. Winning slightly takes the edge of it. Under KB last season we won a lot but the football was shit. This is a bit like watching a film that has a good plot, but the acting is terrible. You kind of enjoy it, but your left with a botter taste in your mouth.

premiership hangover - as alco says. We think we are a big club and we deserve better. We've had a taste of the big time and we want it. I have another analargy. It's like when you're in your late teens/early 20's and single. You can go without a shag for months if necessary. But then if you get one you want more. If you're married/in a relationship and you go a few days without sex then it's totally unnaceptable. My point is we've tasted the forbbident fruits and want to try again.

passion - again I hike someone else idea (Highbury). Under NW we had a lot of passion. Often the football was poor, but we had that real 'South Yorkshire passion'. Warnock and his teams never say die attitude was fantastic. Also he was a charachter. Under Blackwell we have no passion at all. He is a Southener, someone who undertsands little about the passion of our club and a goal keeper devoid of any real tatical nouss. So when he serves up shite people get on his back.

As a slight aside on the atmosphere at BDBTL. I can think of several occasions in the last few years when it has been electric, but tell me something ..... how many ground have you been to where the atmosphere is electric when it is not a big game?

Also I like Lou's point about momentum. Think about the end of last season (before playoffs). We looked like catching Brum and started playing snippets of football. We were in with a genuine chance of automatic prmotion and suddenly things started to look rosey. The atmosphere away at Palace p(particularly in the streets before the game) was fantastic. The things is that if (although it seems very unlikely under Blackwell) we started playing the ball on the deck. played to our strengths, went on a run and really started to push for promotion then BDTBL would change. The crowds would be above 25k and there would be much more noise. My point here is that people sing, cheer and make noise when they have something to make noise about! There are exceptions to the rule (credit to Leeds and Man City fans for turning up and being noisy in the 3rd tier) but this tend to be the case in football.

 

[alcoblade]

If you're married/in a relationship and you go a few days without sex then it's totally unnaceptable.

A great post with one small exception. If you've been married long enough, you can go months without a shag and it still be acceptable.

UTB

 

[Linz]

entertainment - we go to the games for enjoyment; To be entertained! It's like going to the theatre, the cinema, the pub, out for dinner etc. If what we see that's served up is shit then it spoils it.

Do we really though?

If you go to a restaurant and they give you shit food, do you go back again just to complain about it a fortnight later?

It's this bit I don't understand about football fans in general. Some will spend upwards of £100 on a day out at the game. They'll hate the journey, the pubs, the food, the ground, the tactic, the manager, every single player and everyone sat around them and they'll spend all week on internet forums telling everyone about it.

And then they'll go a fortnight later and do exactly the same thing. Yet they expect us to listen to them as though they are some bastion of sense in a crazy world when frankly, when taking into account all of the above, they have shown themselves up to be absolutely starking batshit mental

 

[Ollessendro]

Do we really though?

If you go to a restaurant and they give you shit food, do you go back again just to complain about it a fortnight later?

Yes Linz I believe we do. Of course there is an emotional attachment to Sheffield united and this changes things. This makes it slightly different to the threatre, restaurants etc. I can only speak for myself (and a handful of Blades that i know well) but yes I go to be entertained. i go to support my team, to have a few beers before the game, have a chat with fellow unitedites etc, but I expect to be entertained. Even if I expect the football to be shit (like at the moment) I live in hope of being entertained. I go hoping for moments like Forrest (03), Ipswich away (97), Woleves awy (96) and Bristol away this year. Yes there is more to it than just entertainment. Otherwise we'd have season tikcets for Man U, Chealsea, Arsenal (finances and situation permitting) but I honestly believe entertainment is a big part of it.

Why else do you go to United matches?