Players that divide opinion

[Silent Blade]

Really?

Throughout his career with us , I don’t remember anyone I knew or ever spoke to having anything but good to say about him .

He was always calm , assured , strong in the tackle, good in the air and the perfect foil for Eddie Colquhoun who would often push forward to try to snuff out a dangerous attack knowing that his mate was there to back him up if he didn’t succeed .

There is no doubt in my mind that John Flynn was one of the best value for money signings we ever made and if he was with us today playing in the centre of a back four which we appear to be favouring , he would stand head and shoulders above any of our current players who are called upon to play in that role , often with disastrous consequences .

Yes, he was good in the air and strong in the tackle but he often frustrated the crowd by playing back passes to the keeper (at the time the keeper was allowed to pick up back passes) because he wasnt comfortable with the ball at his feet. Flynn was with us for 9 season and only once he made more than 24 league appearances (1973-74 season).

It was often said that the 1971-72 squad were 2 class players short of finishing in the top 4 of the league. If we had those 2 more class players then Flynn wouldnt have been in the team. Dave Powell's injury in March 1971 was a big blow. Did you realise Flynn played only 9 league appearances during the 1970-71 season and wasnt brought straight back into the team after Powell's injury?

 

[BalticBlade]

Didn't James Beattie divide opinion? Madness when you consider his goal record. One of the best strikers to have played for us in my lifetime imo.

 

[Gimli]

Players that didn't divide opinion…

Brian Deane
Michael Brown
Iliman Ndiaye
Paul McGrath
Dean Hammond (not for good reasons )

Naturally, I suspect that even these players will have some detractors…

 

[Conroy]

Ramsdale...in fact most goalkeepers except Grbic where I think everyone is in agreement...and Alan Kelly, Tracy and Paddy...and Henderson. I'm thinking Benstead, Leaning, Waugh, Conroy...
John Gannon
Bobby Ford
Brian Smith
Vinnie Jones

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Yes, he was good in the air and strong in the tackle but he often frustrated the crowd by playing back passes to the keeper (at the time the keeper was allowed to pick up back passes) because he wasnt comfortable with the ball at his feet. Flynn was with us for 9 season and only once he made more than 24 league appearances (1973-74 season).

It was often said that the 1971-72 squad were 2 class players short of finishing in the top 4 of the league. If we had those 2 more class players then Flynn wouldnt have been in the team. Dave Powell's injury in March 1971 was a big blow. Did you realise Flynn played only 9 league appearances during the 1970-71 season and wasnt brought straight back into the team after Powell's injury?

Some fair points - will respond when I get chance .

 

[Grecian2000]

Bobby Ford

What? Fetch me the head of those who thought he wasn't shite!!! Enjoyed his presence in the team for about 15 seconds whilst taking a penalty against the pork.
Michael Tonge became my favourite player since TC simply for replacing him and meaning we'd never have to endure his masquerading as a midfielder ever again (or at least until Brian Howard brought all his attributes flooding back into fashion).

 

[Balham]

Our joint 4th all time top scorer in the Premier League.

15 Deane
13 McBurnie
11 Littlejohn
10 McGoldrick
10 Whitehouse

McGoldrick is also joint third in terms of individual seasons' goalscoring. I've also pointed out elsewhere that he scored the highest proportion of any United team's league goals that season.

15 Deane (41 apps, 1992/93)
9 Flo (32+1 apps, 1993/94)
8 Littlejohn (18+9 apps, 1992/93)
8 Hulse (28+1 apps, 2006/07)
8 McGoldrick (28+7 apps, 2020/21)
6 McBurnie (15+6 apps, 2023/24)
6 Mousset (11+19 apps, 2019/20)
6 McBurnie (24+12 apps, 2019/20)

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Didn't James Beattie divide opinion? Madness when you consider his goal record. One of the best strikers to have played for us in my lifetime imo.

Really? I was only about 15 when he was here but everyone loved him surely.

 

[Loco Blade]

Jose Baxter , great conversationalist in an elevator, scorer of occasional goals , user of Colombian marching powder ( or rumour has it )

 

[crazyblade1889]

Billy Sharp. Yes he will go down as a legend but take away the period 2017-19 and for most of his time at the Lane he split opinion.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Jose Baxter , great conversationalist in an elevator, scorer of occasional goals , user of Colombian marching powder ( or rumour has it )

fucking cunt

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Yes, he was good in the air and strong in the tackle but he often frustrated the crowd by playing back passes to the keeper (at the time the keeper was allowed to pick up back passes) because he wasnt comfortable with the ball at his feet. Flynn was with us for 9 season and only once he made more than 24 league appearances (1973-74 season).

It was often said that the 1971-72 squad were 2 class players short of finishing in the top 4 of the league. If we had those 2 more class players then Flynn wouldnt have been in the team. Dave Powell's injury in March 1971 was a big blow. Did you realise Flynn played only 9 league appearances during the 1970-71 season and wasnt brought straight back into the team after Powell's injury?

As I said earlier , some fair points and I agree that Flynn was not in the same class as Dave Powell , but that in itself does not detract from his performances for us since that also applied to almost every other centre back at the time .

Having said that , I was greatly surprised that John Flynn’s name was even mentioned as being a player who divided opinions. On my list , he would be very close to the bottom in that respect and amongst the mates I went to watch us with at the time , not one of us had anything but admiration for him .

In addition to the attributes I mentioned above about his overall abilities was his consistency of performance , and I cannot recall a single match when I walked away from the ground thinking that he had had a poor game but many when I thought him to have been excellent .

 

[Silent Blade]

As I said earlier , some fair points and I agree that Flynn was not in the same class as Dave Powell , but that in itself does not detract from his performances for us since that also applied to almost every other centre back at the time .

Having said that , I was greatly surprised that John Flynn’s name was even mentioned as being a player who divided opinions. On my list , he would be very close to the bottom in that respect and amongst the mates I went to watch us with at the time , not one of us had anything but admiration for him .

In addition to the attributes I mentioned above about his overall abilities was his consistency of performance , and I cannot recall a single match when I walked away from the ground thinking that he had had a poor game but many when I thought him to have been excellent .

Not that I thought he had poor games. In the early 1970s he often wasnt confident when he had the ball at his feet and got rid of the ball as soon as he could especially playing safe back passes to the keeper that brought groans from the crowd.

 

[Bell4]

Yes, he was good in the air and strong in the tackle but he often frustrated the crowd by playing back passes to the keeper (at the time the keeper was allowed to pick up back passes) because he wasnt comfortable with the ball at his feet. Flynn was with us for 9 season and only once he made more than 24 league appearances (1973-74 season).

It was often said that the 1971-72 squad were 2 class players short of finishing in the top 4 of the league. If we had those 2 more class players then Flynn wouldnt have been in the team. Dave Powell's injury in March 1971 was a big blow. Did you realise Flynn played only 9 league appearances during the 1970-71 season and wasnt brought straight back into the team after Powell's injury?

You’ve read my mind

I was thinking about who would have been better than Flynn in that team and Powell came straight into my head .

I think your analysis of Flynn is totally spot on - a steady player in a team that was two short of real brilliance - imo too

 

[Stanthemanfan]

I think gribic divides opinion
Half the fan base think he's crap
Half the fan base think he,s shit

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

Didn't James Beattie divide opinion? Madness when you consider his goal record. One of the best strikers to have played for us in my lifetime imo.

Yep. So many people used to say he did nothing all game except score goals.

For me Beattie was the best and most complete striker I'd ever seen in a Blades shirt. Everytime we played I went to the game expecting him to score.

He could score with his right, his left, tap ins, volleys, outside the area, headers, penalties, free kicks. He was the equivalent of Alan Shearer.

I couldn't care less if all he did was score, as he did it so consistently and reliably. McBurnie might do more over 90 minutes but his goal scoring record was average at best and you could only hope that he might score. With Beattie, you'd bet your mortgage.

Beattie remains my bench mark to judge all other goal scorers on. Ched scored a boat load in League One, but he wasn't as technical as Beattie and mainly relied on his pace.

 

[Flatcap]

Stephen Quinn, Michael Tonge.

 

[Gin&Juice]

Never did that for us, Ginger Gnome.

Blackwell out. Get Mark Robbins in.