Premier Delusion

[manxblade]

some Blades fans
need to Have a think if we had started last season as we have this would they have been feeling the same as they do now or getting behind the team more than ever.
One season of doing well and the delusion that we should be entitled to not be in the bottom half off the table is madness. Now lets do what we all would have done last year come together and support Wilder and the team. UP THE BLADES

 

[YES Blade]

If we were on say 5 points and 17th or 18th there wouldn’t be a melt down. No one is expecting top half.

1 point from 33 with only 5 goals scored is horrendous. Calling fans entitled and deluded to expect better than that record is a piss take to be honest.

 

[Houston_Blade]

There is a lot of delusion both ways at the moment. Those who thought we would be a top 10 side this year were deluded, those that think we aren’t in a massive hole and staring down the barrel of a relegation with a very low points total are the other.

We aren’t entitled to be in any better a position than the one we’re in now because we have performed poorly for more of the season than we’ve performed well. Excuses will be made but they are just excuses.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

Even if we had finished fourth from bottom last season, I don't think it is delusion for fans to expect the team to improve, even just a little bit.

We haven't improved at all from last season.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Even if we had finished fourth from bottom last season, I don't think it is delusion for fans to expect the team to improve, even just a little bit.

We haven't improved at all from last season.

The squad is on paper) better than last season.
Although we’ve lost Henderson...he didn’t have much to do in many matches last season but he was a great shot stopper and able to pull off top saves.

The reason for our success was team structure, understanding and unity...especially in defence.
There was a spell in the. Champiomship when O’Connell was out injured and we struggled.

Bring back O’Connell into the back 4 and we’re much more defensively solid again.
We also need someone with pace and power.....like Mousett
Those 2 make a massive difference.

Another factor is we’ve just bought a talented striker but we’ve played him against 3 of the best teams in Europe.
So it’s understandable why he‘s hardly touched the ball.
We’ll have a better insight into our chances in the middle of next month.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Even if we had finished fourth from bottom last season, I don't think it is delusion for fans to expect the team to improve, even just a little bit.

We haven't improved at all from last season.

But in mitigation, our 3 best players from last season are unavailable.

You can argue about squad strength all you want but if you take your GK, best defender and best midfielder out of any mid table side and they'd be in trouble.

 

[Foody]

I don't expect is to be a top half side, or even a mid table one. I don't think I'm demanding too much to say, finishing bottom and being on track to be the worst Premier league team in history is nowhere near good enough.

We have every right to criticise this start to the season, we've been dreadful. We can bemoan tough fixtures, but we've taken 1 point from two newly promoted sides at home. Against Chelsea and City we basically declared we weren't good enough to be competitive, so went into damage limitation mode. Again that's just not good enough.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

some Blades fans
need to Have a think if we had started last season as we have this would they have been feeling the same as they do now or getting behind the team more than ever.
One season of doing well and the delusion that we should be entitled to not be in the bottom half off the table is madness. Now lets do what we all would have done last year come together and support Wilder and the team. UP THE BLADES

I really don’t think fans are delusional, we are just looking for a “chink of light” that could give us a little bit of hope. The reactions on here are maybe exaggerated because we can’t get to the games. If I said something like Wilder should be sacked, in my seat at the lane. I’d immediately get half a dozen opinions why he shouldn’t be....rant over, move on.

 

[YES Blade]

But in mitigation, our 3 best players from last season are unavailable.

You can argue about squad strength all you want but if you take your GK, best defender and best midfielder out of any mid table side and they'd be in trouble.

I agree losing O’Connell, Fleck and Henderson were big blows. However.....

• Fleck was out of form and not playing prior to his injury.
• We’ve just spent £18.5m on a replacement for Henderson, that fee should get us a decent replacement but Ramsdale looks far from good enough at the moment.
• I think O’Connell is fair enough, he’s a big blow and it’s not helping matters. But injuries happen.

 

[Guesty]

There is a lot of delusion both ways at the moment. Those who thought we would be a top 10 side this year were deluded, those that think we aren’t in a massive hole and staring down the barrel of a relegation with a very low points total are the other.

We aren’t entitled to be in any better a position than the one we’re in now because we have performed poorly for more of the season than we’ve performed well. Excuses will be made but they are just excuses.

Some people still think we're going to finish top 10. Or at least I assume they do, since they staked their reputation on that happening just a couple of weeks ago.

Some posters remind me of flat-earthers: I honestly can't see how they can look at the same evidence I'm looking at while coming to such a radically different conclusion.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

I agree losing O’Connell, Fleck and Henderson were big blows. However.....

• Fleck was out of form and not playing prior to his injury.
• We’ve just spent £18.5m on a replacement for Henderson, that fee should get us a decent replacement but Ramsdale looks far from good enough at the moment.
• I think O’Connell is fair enough, he’s a big blow and it’s not helping matters. But injuries happen.

Look, I said in mitigation not as a complete defence of our current situation!

I'd also argue that the story arc of Lundtsram mirrors our plight. Came to the PL as an unknown package, grafted and stood toe to toe with all comers - realised something to offer at this level and suddenly developed a complex where everything should fall into our lap rather than the grafting/fuck it attitude that was at the core.

Personally think us and Lundstram will be playing Championship football next season!

 

[JackSUFC]

some Blades fans
need to Have a think if we had started last season as we have this would they have been feeling the same as they do now or getting behind the team more than ever.
One season of doing well and the delusion that we should be entitled to not be in the bottom half off the table is madness. Now lets do what we all would have done last year come together and support Wilder and the team. UP THE BLADES

This reeks of little old Sheffield United inferiority complex.

No one expects us to be top-half certs.

We are allowed to be pissed off about a group of players and management that finished 9th last season performing how they currently are.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I really don’t think fans are delusional, we are just looking for a “chink of light” that could give us a little bit of hope. The reactions on here are maybe exaggerated because we can’t get to the games. If I said something like Wilder should be sacked, in my seat at the lane. I’d immediately get half a dozen opinions why he shouldn’t be....rant over, move on.

Agree....the chink of light where we actually looked exactly the same as last season.....was the 1st half against Fulham.
We looked the real deal in that 45 minutes and I was so optimistic regards our season.

Then it the 2nd half we looked knackered. Fulham took full control and even after going 1-0 down there was little reaction, we looked lost.
Appreciate we drew but it felt like we’d robbed Fulham.

I thought this was a weird match....so much optimism in that 1st half...so much pessimism in that 2nd half.

Note: We were also decent against Leeds and deserved at least a point. If Lunny has scored that easy chance we might even have won.

My concern is how we revert to “surrender mode“ when the opposition start taking a grip on the game. For the 1st 20 minutes we competed well with Chelsea causing them problems....but once they equalised we kind of gave up with the objective being to keep the score down.

It’s as though the players haven’t had a pre-season so aren’t as fit as they were last year.....
so we cant use high intensity pressing anymore otherwise we’ve knackered.

 

[Lane Ender]

Even if we had finished fourth from bottom last season, I don't think it is delusion for fans to expect the team to improve, even just a little bit.

We haven't improved at all from last season.

Too many passengers in the squad Stevens,Norwood,Lundstram,Fleck if they had the attitude of Bash we might have a chance

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Agree....the chink of light where we actually looked exactly the same as last season.....was the 1st half against Fulham.
We looked the real deal in that 45 minutes and I was so optimistic regards our season.

Then it the 2nd half we looked knackered. Fulham took full control and even after going 1-0 down there was little reaction, we looked lost.
Appreciate we drew but it felt like we’d robbed Fulham.

I thought this was a weird match....so much optimism in that 1st half...so much pessimism in that 2nd half.

Note: We were also decent against Leeds and deserved at least a point. If Lunny has scored that easy chance we might even have won.

My concern is how we revert to “surrender mode“ when the opposition start taking a grip on the game. For the 1st 20 minutes we competed well with Chelsea causing them problems....but once they equalised we kind of gave up with the objective being to keep the score down.

It’s as though the players haven’t had a pre-season so aren’t as fit as they were last year.....
so we cant use high intensity pressing anymore otherwise we’ve knackered.

It seems once the opposition score we revert to damage limitation mode. I did fear we were becoming little self satisfied with all these narrow defeats especially against Liverpool and Man City.
Maybe..... just maybe this tonking against Chelsea might give us the wake up call we need and inspire us to change our approach to games.
I know it’s not as extreme, but hopefully this could be our Southampton 9-0 moment....Look how they kicked on after that.

 

[Grumps]

some Blades fans
need to Have a think if we had started last season as we have this would they have been feeling the same as they do now or getting behind the team more than ever.
One season of doing well and the delusion that we should be entitled to not be in the bottom half off the table is madness. Now lets do what we all would have done last year come together and support Wilder and the team. UP THE BLADES

I was just about to say the same thing,totally 100% right.

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

On paper last nights result was about right, but WE have come to expect more than what it says on paper from a Wilder team. and WE expect our team to dig deep and battle no matter what it says on paper.
I know we aren't the only one's this has happened to in lockdown this season, even teams like Liverpool, last years run away Champions and giants like the Manchester clubs have had their odd dodgy game, and until the fans are back to give players ego that extra boost this is going to be a strange season.
But even without the fans this team is better than the results have been so far, so lets hope last night was the kick up the backside this team has needed........

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

But in mitigation, our 3 best players from last season are unavailable.

You can argue about squad strength all you want but if you take your GK, best defender and best midfielder out of any mid table side and they'd be in trouble.

I absolutely agree with you, 100%. If you remove three key players from any team, it has an impact. But I dont think the fans should be criticised for expecting improvement in the team (new players etc) in the second season. So far, it looks like we didnt in any player that was better than what we have got. Although this obviously can change once players settle etc.

 

[A Storm of Blades]

I was just about to say the same thing,totally 100% right.

100% opinion, you mean.

 

[BushBlade]

But in mitigation, our 3 best players from last season are unavailable.

You can argue about squad strength all you want but if you take your GK, best defender and best midfielder out of any mid table side and they'd be in trouble.

That. I’ve always expected us to have a season like this at some point, where everything that can go against you does. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen so early. Hopefully we’ve still got enough time to sort it out. It’s soul destroying at the moment.

 

[S40BLADE]

Expecting more than 1 point is deluded!?