2022/2023 Match Thread Sheffield United v. Millwall - 6th August 2022

vs.

Championship Week 2 - Saturday 6th August 2022 - 15:00 - Bramall Lane
Please keep all discussion related to the match within this thread.


Matchday Stats/Player Ratings - https://www.s24su.com/forum/match-day/match/sheffield-united-vs-millwall.605/

Officials:

Referee: David Coote
Assistant Referee: Timothy Wood
Assistant Referee: Nicholas Hopton
Fourth Official: Thomas Kirk

Coverage:

Follow via S24SU Twitter: https://twitter.com/s24su

Need a VPN? - https://www.s24su.com/forum/threads/vpn-usage.87094/

Live TV Coverage:

SUTV Live - https://live.sufc.co.uk/

 

[St Albans Blade]

A New season’s serving of humble pie for me.

Expected 0-0 at best and a more likely 0-1 Millwall smash and grab sob story.

Points on the board but how long can Hecky and this squad do much more than tread water in this division?

 

[Go with the Flo]

Bearing in mind that they claim they don't care, Millwall fans don't half bang on about not being liked.

Poor little soldiers....

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

Back from work and glad to see that we won. Fingers crossed that we replicate the performance again in the next match.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

A New season’s serving of humble pie for me.

Expected 0-0 at best and a more likely 0-1 Millwall smash and grab sob story.

Points on the board but how long can Hecky and this squad do much more than tread water in this division?

?????

If I am reading your closing comment correctly , I can only assume that you are of the opinion that a significant number of clubs in our league have much better squads than our own .

Perhaps you would care to elaborate and advise us as to who they are and on what basis you came to arrive at that conclusion .

 

[Gaini Blade]

Bearing in mind that they claim they don't care, Millwall fans don't half bang on about not being liked.

Poor little soldiers....

They were singing "we all hate Leeds scum" at the station as well which suggests some sense of decorum unless they rope us in with that lot of course!

 

[biggiesablade]

Fuming with that team

How you feeling this morning? Ya fat prick.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

From watching the highlights, in fairness to Norwood, it was a good strike for the penalty aimed right at the corner. Unfortunately it was a better save from the keeper, who arguably moved early.

 

[KOP BLADE]

i got my prediction right on my positive s2 thread and twitter i sad we would win 2.0,yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee utb ,,chow

 

[KOP BLADE]

i got my prediction right on my positive s2 thread and on twitter i said we would win the lions 2.0,,,they are crapo millwall.../utb ,,chow

 

[Panini]

From watching the highlights, in fairness to Norwood, it was a good strike for the penalty aimed right at the corner. Unfortunately it was a better save from the keeper, who arguably moved early.

I've seen a few saying the keeper moved so decided to check. Doesn't look like it to me. The ball has already been struck and the keeper's feet are still on the line and in the air, which is allowed.

It might have been a decent enough strike but it's still a comfortable height and went in the same place he put his last one. His run-up also told everyone where it was going.

You can't legalisate for a good save but you can for being predictable and lacking bottle.

 

[Foxy]

lacking bottle

In what way?

 

[WORKSOPBLADE]

I've seen a few saying the keeper moved so decided to check. Doesn't look like it to me. The ball has already been struck and the keeper's feet are still on the line and in the air, which is allowed.

It might have been a decent enough strike but it's still a comfortable height and went in the same place he put his last one. His run-up also told everyone where it was going.

You can't legalisate for a good save but you can for being predictable and lacking bottle.

View attachment 141226

The keeper was not stood in the middle but more towards the right post. That’s how he got down to it quickly. He knew where it was going!

 

[Panini]

In what way?

I think he rarely stands up to a challenge, whether mental or physical. Sure there's the odd slide tackle (I'm not calling him nesh) but whenever anyone is trying to get under his skin or marks him tightly he crumbles.

Samba was OTT throughout that shootout in May but he singled out Norwood for the most extreme delaying tactics, and that seemed to be the case yesterday too. Some composure would've meant he picked the ball up and left the keeper with no choice but to go back to his line, or he could've walked away to the other Blades on the edge of the box and let the ref sort it out in his own time. Instead both times he tried to stare the keeper down and, sorry to say, he doesn't have it in him. Perhaps he was trying to show the keeper(s) they're not getting to him, but it had the opposite effect.

He also will have known the keeper has done his research, so it was an opportunity to use a bit of nouse and courage and put it the other way. Or stutter and let the keeper move first. Anything.

Instead it seemed like he just wanted it over and done with. I'm going the same way, I've already decided and I'm going to stand here so I can take it as soon as the ref tells me. What was wrong with killing a few seconds himself, to regain a bit of the upper hand?

 

[vegleeds]

You can't legalisate for a good save but you can for being predictable and lacking bottle.

Would love to be there if you said this to his face rather than on a computer forum...

 

[Panini]

Would love to be there if you said this to his face rather than on a computer forum...

I've said it on a "computer forum" because that's the medium available to me, not because I'm waiting to spot him in the street.

I'm not slurring his character, my concern is about his performance for Sheffield United.

I meant what I said and I've backed up why I feel that way. Would you care to explain why I'm wrong? Or is just a case of shooting down a critical viewpoint?

 

[St Albans Blade]

?????

If I am reading your closing comment correctly , I can only assume that you are of the opinion that a significant number of clubs in our league have much better squads than our own .

Perhaps you would care to elaborate and advise us as to who they are and on what basis you came to arrive at that conclusion .

False assumption and conclusion. For Hecky and Co to not ‘tread water’ we have to at least reach the Play-Off Final or hopefully achieve promotion.

I’m not bothered about any other club’s perceived comparative squad quality.

I just don’t think Hecky & McCall have enough quality and depth in their squad to achieve a promotion objective. Time will tell and I’ll be delighted to eat humble pie if we improve on last year’s achievement.

UTB

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

False assumption and conclusion. For Hecky and Co to not ‘tread water’ we have to at least reach the Play-Off Final or hopefully achieve promotion.

I’m not bothered about any other club’s perceived comparative squad quality.

I just don’t think Hecky & McCall have enough quality and depth in their squad to achieve a promotion objective. Time will tell and I’ll be delighted to eat humble pie if we improve on last year’s achievement.

UTB

An interesting response but one which is clearly self contradictory .

On the one hand you say you are not bothered about the perceived quality and depth of other club’s squads , then go on to say that you believe ours is not good enough . That surely presupposes that there are others who have better in both respects .

As in my original post , I would be interested to hear your thoughts as to who these clubs are and why you believe that to be the case .

In passing , I was interested to note that your definition of ‘treading water’ in this most difficult of leagues is that of being anything less than reaching the play off finals or being promoted . I think that’s stretching it a bit far and simply a hastily cobbled together attempt to try to justify your original comments .

 

[vegleeds]

I've said it on a "computer forum" because that's the medium available to me, not because I'm waiting to spot him in the street.

I'm not slurring his character, my concern is about his performance for Sheffield United.

I meant what I said and I've backed up why I feel that way. Would you care to explain why I'm wrong? Or is just a case of shooting down a critical viewpoint?

"Lacking bottle" not slurring his character? Deary me. So would you say that to his face if given the opportunity? I suspect not as with many keyboard warriors.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I don't expect us to win today, I still think we're some way off finding our feet - so the result isn't what I'll be looking for at this stage.

I just want to see some decent patterns of play with the ball.
I want to see the CF linking with the two 10s and I want to see that Anel and Clark are close to being ready and that we're not going to be waiting 5-10 games for them to get up to speed. This would concern me.
And hopefully no more confidence damaging individual disastrous displays as at Watford (Clark, Lowe, Fleck...)
Let's just look comfortable in possession, create some opportunities and defend as a unit.
If we lose or draw by a conceded set-play, screw it. I still think there's a lot of potential in this side once it hits the ground.

Just returning to what I'd hoped to see.

The encouraging sides are there. Anel & Clark don't look like they need 5-10 games to be up to speed and formed part of a really solid defensive unit. Better still, they looked at ease on the ball and looked confident progressing us up the field.
What really impressed me was how they dealt with the aerial and physical threats that Millwall brought. They barely got a sniff.

There were no confidence-damaging individual displays, with only Norwood maybe disappointing a little (but not hideous by any means).

First half, we looked more than comfortable in possession. We were moving it around at speed and the movement off the ball was excellent. Millwall couldn't near us.

I still think there's room for improvement at CF and in DM. Brewster didn't link as effectively with the 10s as I'd have hoped for in a dominating performance and Norwood & Fleck didn't get their foot on the ball and help us see it out more easily in the 2nd half. Between missing the penalty and giving the ball away in bad areas, Norwood put us under a lot of pressure.

I feel Sharp & Doyle will go some way to resolving these two issues and improve our XI.
It's an unpopular opinion, but I'm also still intrigued to see what Berge can bring to the DM role. There were times on Saturday that he attacked from deep positions and he looked great. The upshot, of course, would be that we could get Khadra or McAtee into the XI as well. Let's see.

 

[Panini]

"Lacking bottle" not slurring his character? Deary me. So would you say that to his face if given the opportunity? I suspect not as with many keyboard warriors.

I'm not sure why you've decided my opinion is valid only if I'm prepared to harass someone outside their place of work.

If all criticisms are only valid if delivered in person then I'd better book some time off work to find Heckingbottom to tell him I disagree with some of his substitutions, Fleck to ask him if he's holding back because of health concerns, Baldock to remind himself to relax when he receives the ball and Egan to drop a couple of yards deeper so he can run onto a clearing heading rather than getting caught under it.

That doesn't mean I think the substitutions Heckingbottom makes when his online shopping arrives are poor, or that Fleck takes his time when climbing the stairs at his house, or that Baldock runs around chaotically when playing fetch with his dog, and definitely not whether Oliver Norwood struggles to get himself out of bed in a morning because it's raining.

My opinion is based on what I see, in the flesh, and my experiences of these players. I have an opinion because I'm interested in their performance. I form that opinion because one exists in context of the other.

If you're happy to perpetuate a straw man argument because you find my opinion uncomfortable I'm ok with that. I've asked to be corrected twice but instead you've called me a coward twice.

If it helps, yes I would say it to his face but I wouldn't enjoy it and it would be inappropriate.

If it doesn't help, it's worth reminding that you're registered on an open forum.

WARNING - may contain opinions that may or may not align with your own.

 

[derfblade.3]

I'm not sure why you've decided my opinion is valid only if I'm prepared to harass someone outside their place of work.

If all criticisms are only valid if delivered in person then I'd better book some time off work to find Heckingbottom to tell him I disagree with some of his substitutions, Fleck to ask him if he's holding back because of health concerns, Baldock to remind himself to relax when he receives the ball and Egan to drop a couple of yards deeper so he can run onto a clearing heading rather than getting caught under it.

That doesn't mean I think the substitutions Heckingbottom makes when his online shopping arrives are poor, or that Fleck takes his time when climbing the stairs at his house, or that Baldock runs around chaotically when playing fetch with his dog, and definitely not whether Oliver Norwood struggles to get himself out of bed in a morning because it's raining.

My opinion is based on what I see, in the flesh, and my experiences of these players. I have an opinion because I'm interested in their performance. I form that opinion because one exists in context of the other.

If you're happy to perpetuate a straw man argument because you find my opinion uncomfortable I'm ok with that. I've asked to be corrected twice but instead you've called me a coward twice.

If it helps, yes I would say it to his face but I wouldn't enjoy it and it would be inappropriate.

If it doesn't help, it's worth reminding that you're registered on an open forum.

WARNING - may contain opinions that may or may not align with your own.

I totally agree with you. I see Norwood shying tackles more than him getting stuck in. Kind of weird really as when he shows aggression he can really put one in. Keep saying it as it is Panini. No point in being a snowflake and being afraid to put your point across because someone may feel upset that you have said something about a player.

 

[St Albans Blade]

An interesting response but one which is clearly self contradictory .

On the one hand you say you are not bothered about the perceived quality and depth of other club’s squads , then go on to say that you believe ours is not good enough . That surely presupposes that there are others who have better in both respects .

As in my original post , I would be interested to hear your thoughts as to who these clubs are and why you believe that to be the case .

In passing , I was interested to note that your definition of ‘treading water’ in this most difficult of leagues is that of being anything less than reaching the play off finals or being promoted . I think that’s stretching it a bit far and simply a hastily cobbled together attempt to try to justify your original comments .

Treading water implies staying in the same position.

Our position being, beaten play-off semi-finalists 2021/22.

So, anything less than that is sinking, any improvement on that is indeed progress.

Let’s agree to disagree, but only until the end of the season, when promotion or a play-off final will provide you with full bragging rights on our squad and set-up’s ability to improve on last season’s achievement.

UTB

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Treading water implies staying in the same position.

Our position being, beaten play-off semi-finalists 2021/22.

So, anything less than that is sinking, any improvement on that is indeed progress.

Let’s agree to disagree, but only until the end of the season, when promotion or a play-off final will provide you with full bragging rights on our squad and set-up’s ability to improve on last season’s achievement.

UTB

Fine by me .

 

[Nade]

Who got man of the match on Saturday, as voted for by the fans?

 

[biggiesablade]

Who got man of the match on Saturday, as voted for by the fans?

The Bosnian Bash

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

Fine by me .

Except that you’ve still failed to provide us with any information as to the clubs who in your opinion have better squads than our own and why ...........

 

[vegleeds]

I'm not sure why you've decided my opinion is valid only if I'm prepared to harass someone outside their place of work.

You described a player as lacking bottle ie being a coward but then said this was not a slur. against him. I disagreed and still disagree.

 

[vegleeds]

"Not a slur against his character"