Points are the most important thing

[Barney]

Yes, it could have been more comfortable but it would've been far worse to outplay the opposition and lose.

I'm sure Wilder will have a plan to work on our weaknesses.

Points are the most important thing. That's another 3 and we're 4th in the table.

If at the start of the season you offered me 4th position after 9 games, I would have accepted very quickly

 

[blade too long]

we are being very harsh , over the 90 minutes we were the better side for 75 of the 90 minutes
they had a golden 15 minutes , but we still won after raising the standard again when needed

3 more points than last season fixture ,,, thats the improvement we need

 

[N20 Blade]

Yes, it could have been more comfortable but it would've been far worse to outplay the opposition and lose.

I'm sure Wilder will have a plan to work on our weaknesses.

Points are the most important thing. That's another 3 and we're 4th in the table.

If at the start of the season you offered me 4th position after 9 games, I would have accepted very quickly

Yep, after Boro I’d have taken this for sure!

 

[sitwell]

Yes, it could have been more comfortable but it would've been far worse to outplay the opposition and lose.

I'm sure Wilder will have a plan to work on our weaknesses.

Points are the most important thing. That's another 3 and we're 4th in the table.

If at the start of the season you offered me 4th position after 9 games, I would have accepted very quickly

THe division is very tight on points ,and I reckon it will be all season ,our followers will go from utter despair to smug faced satisfaction on a weekly basis.

 

[SteveBlade]

Weird game.

Preston were time wasting from early in the first half.

1-0 up at half time, pretty comfortable. For the first twenty of the second half I thought we were very good. We deservedly scored our second, and McGoldrick should have made it three. It was incredibly easy up until that point, I was expecting a few more.

Then what the actual fuck? Seriously. What the fuck? What were we thinking? I was ready to spit my dummy out at that point.

Then, we decide we feel like passing it to each other again, and score with our first attack after the shithouse spell.

I haven't celebrated a goal like that for a while.

 

[HVR]

What about there being 'no bad selection' or 'no good selection'. Imagine that Wilder isn't deliberately picking poor players to amger supporters - that Wilder isn't more concerned with 'winning' the selection but actually wants to win games.

Blades supporters - used to being poor in money, poor in recruitment - imagines each game as a singular sealed event. That being each event must be fought all fists flying and give the big boys a black eye. Each whistle that blows must be a call to arms.
But think Liverpool. To a team such as that, it's not the individual games that matters, but the strategy of the entire season.
Question: How do we get promoted?
By fighting every game as its own individual victory? Or as a campaign over 46 games? Man City won't call for the sacking of their manager if they lose to Watford. Why? Because they look at the long game - not each individual game.
Let's play Sharp every game. Why does Wilder get it right, the get it wrong?
Well maybe Wilder is stretching out the SQUAD over the entire season. Maybe playing Clarke and getting a point, then playing Sharp and winning, and then being fourth is Wilder's campaign plan.

Let's enjoy the season. Let's not be small minded Bassett Blades giving Man Utd a black eye. Let's be cool and cold and calculated Wilder's Blades that ruthlessly play out the whole season to get enough points to finish top 6 - and EVERY PLAYER IS A SQUAD MEMBER FITTING INTO WILDER'S PLAN.

 

[Superblades]

Yes, it could have been more comfortable but it would've been far worse to outplay the opposition and lose.

I'm sure Wilder will have a plan to work on our weaknesses.

Points are the most important thing. That's another 3 and we're 4th in the table.

If at the start of the season you offered me 4th position after 9 games, I would have accepted very quickly

Well said Barney. We could have been easily looking back on that at the end of the season and saying “that’s where we fucked up”

 

[bornablade]

Points are the most important thing but unfortunately our management team under the surface don't believe that.

To Chris and his team the most important thing is to play good football with a belief that if this is achieved then the points will naturally follow.

Unfortunatley that's not the case and until we change our mental approach we'll not reach the potential this group of players deserve.

After the game yesterday CW wanted to focus on the sublime football of the first 70 minutes and pay little attention to the sloppy 10 minutes at the end.

There are teams in this division who are not as technically skilled as us but they will possess a clinical approach to the game and kill teams off over the neat, tidy 'easy on the eye football'. Cardiff are an example from last season.

I thought and said this toward the end of last season and am disappointed that little has changed.

We have the potential to be top two but until we toughen up and put teams to bed then I predict a similar league position to last season and Chris will have to stomach a season of other managers telling him after each game that our performances deserved better.

 

[finlaytheblade]

we are being very harsh , over the 90 minutes we were the better side for 75 of the 90 minutes
they had a golden 15 minutes , but we still won after raising the standard again when needed

3 more points than last season fixture ,,, thats the improvement we need

No doubt the important thing is the 3 points but losing a two goal lead like that is a worry.We are still struggling with game management which cost us our play off spot last season.
Losing a two goal lead like we did usually means drawing or even losing in nine out of ten games .we have to sort out game management and quickly..
Our midfield totally disappears during these periods and although we deserved to win we got out of jail.I don't know the answer but Wilder has to find one as like last season it will bite us hard as the season wears on .
Over to you Chris

 

[grafikhaus]

THe division is very tight on points ,and I reckon it will be all season ,our followers will go from utter despair to smug faced satisfaction on a weekly basis.

Some do, Sitwell, not the majority. The memories of 6 years in League One are still too fresh. Ipswich aren't that terrible, but have drawn too many - 5 games out of nine. Ditto Birmingham (6), Villa and Swansea (4). That's why they're in the bottom half.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Last season we would have probably had 1 point out of the last two games instead we have 4 , sometimes you have to win ugly , grind out a draw or just be plain lucky every game isn’t gonna be champagne football . Too many times last season we had our pockets picked through either naieviity or bad luck , so yes it is progress . As said it’s gonna be a tight division where there are gonna be a lot of hard fought points , let’s enjoy the ride

 

[I should coco]

CW has to take some blame for the mad spell where we lost two quick goals, with his odd substitutions.

We finished the game with a goalie, 7 defenders, 2 midfielders and 1 striker on the pitch. Thankfully it worked today but blood hell it caused some grief!

 

[John Street West Terrace]

O

CW has to take some blame for the mad spell where we lost two quick goals, with his odd substitutions.

We finished the game with a goalie, 7 defenders, 2 midfielders and 1 striker on the pitch. Thankfully it worked today but blood hell it caused some grief!

We’re still a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to game management, sometimes ( ala yesterday) Wholesale changes make you lose your shape & momentum , other times they do the job required

 

[PaulHalfway]

Let’s just enjoy the season, we are a good team. The division is wide open and on any day looks like anyone can beat anyone
Sure there will be disappointments along the way but equally with this team will also be some great games, we are capable of having a very good season
Don’t get to down when we lose but hopefully will be lots of good weeks with fine exciting football, bring it on

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

CW has to take some blame for the mad spell where we lost two quick goals, with his odd substitutions.

We finished the game with a goalie, 7 defenders, 2 midfielders and 1 striker on the pitch. Thankfully it worked today but blood hell it caused some grief!

Some of the blame?!? All of it. Yesterday was the most explicit example of what has being coming for a while. CW has a habit of making odd substitutions and making the singularly, waiting for 10 minutes and then doing it again and disrupting the shape.

As far as I was concerned at 2 nil it was imperative to get the next goal. 3-0 game over, 2-1 game on. We scored and sat back & invited pressure. Norwood needed to be 10 yards further forward. There was nothing wrong with our formation, just that a couple of players had tired at the 60min mark. The shape change to 4-1-4-1, was bizarre and has already been mentioned on here, led to 2 if not 3 players asking where there were playing. Switching to a lone forward and slowing them to play from the back. You also had the strange spectacle of Basham, who should’ve been the deepest lying shield midfielder being passed by Norwood, creating a 4-1-1-3-1. In the midst of this uncertainty at 2-1, CW then called for Lundstrum to come on. It would’ve been like feeding donuts to a diabetic. They scored again and that plan was shelved. I honestly can’t think of a worse thing to have contemplated doing at that point. Let’s not fool ourselves we got away with one yesterday. A win is a win, but if we repeat that many more times this season, we’ll be more brutally punished.

 

[shorehamview]

 

[Cerberus Blade]

If at the start of the season you offered me 4th position after 9 games, I would have accepted very quickly

I really despair when people come out with this 'if you'd been offered this you'd have taken it' argument.

No-one could have possibly offered it because it's impossible to do that. No one knew what was going to happen. So it's just hypothetical nonsense.

But let's imagine for one moment, that it is possible to know what's going to happen in the future and that some Fairy Godmother could have appeared and offered 4th position after 9 games. I wouldn't take that, because I'd want 1st position after 9 games. I suppose it depends on how ambitious you are for the team and what you see as being an achievement?

I think what you're trying to say is we are doing well. And we are, I'm pleased with that. I think it could be even better - the performance at Bristol the other week was worth 3 points. That would make us top now, not 4th, if justice had been done. But that's football - the results don't always match the performance. Ultimately, it is all about the points of course, but I think the performances matter a lot because they are the strongest indicator of how many points you are going to pick up throughout the season.

What I'm seeing with United is a team that is capable of performing at a level above that of most other teams we've played. Now, that bodes really well to me for a successful season. If we can maintain this level of performance then I honestly expect us to be top of the league over the coming weeks.

Which is another good reason why I wouldn't take 4th from my Fairy Godmother if she offers it me.

 

[Bladezz]

So we go to Bramall Lane for a few reasons.

Some go for entertainment and some go for us to win.

We had a 5 goal game, scored 3 , played good attacking football and won.

What more do you want?

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

So we go to Bramall Lane for a few reasons.

Some go for entertainment and some go for us to win.

We had a 5 goal game, scored 3 , played good attacking football and won.

What more do you want?

The moon on a stick. Anything less just isn't good enough in my book.

 

[GreasyChipBeattie]

I really despair when people come out with this 'if you'd been offered this you'd have taken it' argument.

No-one could have possibly offered it because it's impossible to do that. No one knew what was going to happen. So it's just hypothetical nonsense.

But let's imagine for one moment, that it is possible to know what's going to happen in the future .....

Well CB, that just has to go down as the 'about turn' post of the year my friend!!

 

[blade too long]

Some still talking and implying we are the only team that ever has blown a 2 goal lead. We got hit by a consolation goal that was bolstered by their second which was an own goal from a very unlucky dedlection. . Even then we were too strong for them . We will get pegged back in future games . We will pull back from deficits in future. Football rarely follows a set pattern . Be dull if it did. It's this diversity of results that makes it watchable. We are still the under dogs in this Chase for promotion as we can't match other teams outlay. But we have strengths other teams don't have and one is playing for 90 minutes like yesterday