Simply enjoying the matches

[Champagneblade]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Your probably right as it’s the hope that kills you

 

[LondonRoad]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

Absolutely right. And all we need now is to win 12 of the last 15.............

 

[HighfieldBlade]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

Nah, bollox to all that. Gimme a win any day

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Much rather enjoyed the build up of "3 points could get us into the autos" Vs this year's of "could get us in the top half"

 

[Champagneblade]

Nah, bollox to all that. Gimme a win any day

We only play once or twice a week. No wonder you’re never happy

 

[The Fox]

I had the very same thought on the bus home . We have a decent team who in the main have been good to watch over the last few months . The playoff dream will most likely only end in disappointment which would be a sad way to reflect on the season .

Enjoy what we have and live in the moment rather than what might be .

We're building something but some way off .

 

[Badger Blade]

It was a good game for the neutral with the ups and downs throughout with us being in the ascendancy, then they were, then it flipped round again, red card, keeper coming up - it was nothing if not entertaining.

Keepers making saves, big chances, missed chances and Conway and Bamford scoring very well worked and well taken goals.

The commentators said that they'd seen more shots on target in the first few minutes than they'd seen in entire games. There's been plenty of games in the Championship that have been utterly dire from both sides, plenty of which we've been part of, especially when Wilder took things right back to basics to grind out some results.

The one thing that still grates is that if we'd assembled this squad at the start of the season with Wilder in charge, it'd be a game with a lot more riding on it than last night's was. The squad in its current guise would be one of the favourites for promotion, if not the outright favourite for promotion.

We were beaten by a more cohesive team who played front foot, entertaining football as we've been doing at home over the last few months. We weren't as cohesive because we're 2/3s of the way through the season and still trying to reassemble a squad that we needed in August.

The thing Middlesbrough have done so well, that we failed to do is that they appointed a new manager out of necessity but didn't tear everything up and start again when it didn't need it, he maintained some continuity with what was working for them then pushed it on again with a few tweaks, everything our learned Spanish friend and our dopey owners failed to do.

 

[djbaldken]

 

[Sheffsteel]

Agree….it was a wonderful game last night….highly entertaining between 2 quality teams.

 

[dexter101]

Win, lose or draw, we'll still come back for more, Its gonna be United all the way

 

[Racing Blade]

I completely agree with the sentiment. Turn up, hope for value for money and generally get it.

I can remember, during the last, desperate PL season, many a post craving the lot of a Preston or Bristol City fan. At the time, I couldn't see the attraction of mid-tabled, second tier mediocrity but you can't fault this season for entertainment.

 

[coaxingstar71]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but part of me doesn't want to get to the Premier League. I watched the highlights of the Liverpool Man City game and that farce at the end just makes me angry. To me, they're just ruining football. Give me the Championship any day. Even if we did get there, it's unlikely we'd be able to compete and I don't see the enjoyment in watching your team get stuffed 5-0 every week.

I've always said, it doesn't matter what league you're in or who you are playing, you just want to watch your team play well and win. That's what we've been getting recently which is what makes it so enjoyable. I'm really enjoying watching our young players blossom and get better too.

 

[SwissBlade]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

This season I've felt more detached from the club than in any season i can remember. Even those shite league one days with Adkins. The COH and Selles cock up was an almighty mess and its had me question what they were trying to do. Bringing Wilder back was the right move and of course he's done brilliantly yet again to sort things out. At the risk of being repetitive, the season was written off last summer with terrible decisions.

The repair job has been nothing short of exceptional and its taken a while to get interested again, especially with other things going on personally. But last night was the first game i was looking forward to for a while. I've relaxed with no expectations and I think we've got a decent side again, so i went into it knowing that we can be competitive in individual games against the best in the league. Even if we're not consistent enough to make the play offs, its actually nice to have a season where we won't actually be in a relegation or promotion battle in the last two months. We're competitive again but we can just be a disruption for the top sides like Ipswich, Boro, Coventry, Millwall and Hull C.

The performance and the quality of the game, despite the result and the strength of the oppo, all made for a fantastic game.

 

[Birdwell Blade]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

This is exactly how I approach being a Blade these days. We go to every single game and ALWAYS enjoy it. It’s something we always look forward to doing together. It’s just rather expensive and tiring!

 

[Varkanoid]

Just enjoy the fact we are not going down (probably) and anything else is a bonus.

 

[bakeblade]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

I'm enjoying the games much more this season

 

[Grey Blade]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but part of me doesn't want to get to the Premier League. I watched the highlights of the Liverpool Man City game and that farce at the end just makes me angry. To me, they're just ruining football. Give me the Championship any day. Even if we did get there, it's unlikely we'd be able to compete and I don't see the enjoyment in watching your team get stuffed 5-0 every week.

I've always said, it doesn't matter what league you're in or who you are playing, you just want to watch your team play well and win. That's what we've been getting recently which is what makes it so enjoyable. I'm really enjoying watching our young players blossom and get better too.

I go along with all of that. If we need a win in the final game to have a chance of the playoffs but the team we are hoping to catch gets a better result - so be it. If we do go up, I'll enjoy it as best I can. but hope against hope that there's some realism amongst us and we aren't subjected to endless doom and gloom when we struggle.

 

[Ned the Donkey]

If we could start every season 5 or 10 games late with a 10 or 12 or more point deficit I'd be very happy. Thanks Ruben in particular, and Slav - to a lesser extent.

For the rest of the season we could play (for the most part) high quality football, actual real football, win more than we lose and realistiically be in no danger of "promotion" to the Land of VARball and Drama Queens.

 

[bakeblade]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but part of me doesn't want to get to the Premier League. I watched the highlights of the Liverpool Man City game and that farce at the end just makes me angry. To me, they're just ruining football. Give me the Championship any day. Even if we did get there, it's unlikely we'd be able to compete and I don't see the enjoyment in watching your team get stuffed 5-0 every week.

I've always said, it doesn't matter what league you're in or who you are playing, you just want to watch your team play well and win. That's what we've been getting recently which is what makes it so enjoyable. I'm really enjoying watching our young players blossom and get better too.

The only advantage to the Premier League is the initial money and subsequent parachute payments.
Problem is you have to endure an awful season of defeats and VAR and the money is then squandered on silly wages and transfer fees.
Is it worth it?

 

[Jan Age]

I would enjoy it more if I could progress in terms of personnel or playing style but I can’t see any from the play off defeat last season… we’ve gone backwards massively

 

[coaxingstar71]

Just to reinforce the point I made at post #13, how many Blades fans still reminisce about the season in Division 4 in 1981-82? It was great winning games, often scoring for fun and even going to tinpot grounds and taking them over. One of the most enjoyable seasons in recent memory was the League 1 100 points season, doesn't matter who you're playing as long you play well, it's entertaining more often than not, and you win more often than not.

 

[Godbeblade]

I was watching last night with my pal who's a boro fan.

Even at 2-0 up he was worried about conceding, it then being 2-1, the crowd getting behind us and throwing the lead away.

Me on the other hand, I was as happy as a bloke could be given his team did OK to start with then a bit worse as the game went on... then a bit better.

It's weird but i just look for 'good football' now rather than the final result;

Brooks beating a man
Phillips-hamer-bamford for the goal
the potential peck thunderbolt from 18 yards that inevitably ends up in row Z

maybe it's sad but it seems better than online arsenal fans calling us a 'joke club' because we're not as rich as the very top teams

 

[Large Mendonca]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but part of me doesn't want to get to the Premier League. I watched the highlights of the Liverpool Man City game and that farce at the end just makes me angry. To me, they're just ruining football. Give me the Championship any day. Even if we did get there, it's unlikely we'd be able to compete and I don't see the enjoyment in watching your team get stuffed 5-0 every week.

I've always said, it doesn't matter what league you're in or who you are playing, you just want to watch your team play well and win. That's what we've been getting recently which is what makes it so enjoyable. I'm really enjoying watching our young players blossom and get better too.

It’s not unpopular with me - I much prefer the championship. I suppose one argument is, would we have seen players like Hamer at the club had we not got promoted last time?

 

[Tony Currie]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

To be fair this season is too early for promotion. If we had kept Wilder on and he had the second season to build it would have been different but we are not ready for the Premier league yet. I don't want another cricket score season in the top flight let's at least be able to make a fight of it, like Ipswich did. As good as Middlesbrough were they are not at the same level as Burnley last season and look at the struggles they now have. Only teams that spend big stay up Sunderland, Leeds and Forest but all are going to struggle in the coming seasons.

 

[Chimes]

I was sceptical about Wilder MkIII but his transformation of the team from whipping boys into a committed, hard-battling, high-scoring unit is remarkable.

A final hurdle that could make this season really enjoyable would be to make us a threat right to the end of games. It feels like so long ago (Bristol City away in 2024?) that we scored a late late goal that changed the game from a loss to a draw or a draw to a win. What better feeling is there in football than that?

Oh, and stop it with the daft red cards, lads.

 

[Silent Blade]

Just to reinforce the point I made at post #13, how many Blades fans still reminisce about the season in Division 4 in 1981-82? It was great winning games, often scoring for fun and even going to tinpot grounds and taking them over. One of the most enjoyable seasons in recent memory was the League 1 100 points season, doesn't matter who you're playing as long you play well, it's entertaining more often than not, and you win more often than not.

To me, this season is a lot better than the 1981-82 season.

 

[bornablade]

In our next home game the only thing that matters is the result.

The bigger the result the better but don't let's fool ourselves that we'll settle for a high scoring draw and be happy that we've been entertained.

 

[Snowflake]

Much rather enjoyed the build up of "3 points could get us into the autos" Vs this year's of "could get us in the top half"

….or keep us out of the bottom three ?

 

[Rufus Smalls]

I do wonder whether sometimes we get tied up with the destination and forget a little about the journey.

I’m as guilty as most looking at permutations and re-assessing what we need after each game.

In truth you can lose sight of the smaller picture. Just game by game enjoyment.

Yes, we lost yesterday. But was it exciting? Yes! Was it deamatic? Absolutely! Was it disappointing? Yes. But was it soul destroying and debilitating? Not at all.

Perhaps the way to take on the bigger picture is to adopt the cliche of simply looking at the next game. Can we go to Portsmouth and to enjoy the game? Have we anything to be scared of? CN we attack them and take the game to them?

Some complained we were results focused last year and not entertaining. Now we are getting entertainment. Ideally we want both, and perhaps had Wilder been on the recruitment he might have been able to mix the two.

So let’s just have some fun. Don’t worry about the grand scheme of it all. That will take care of itself. On a match by match basis we can better any of our incoming opponents so let’s just enjoy seeing the team have a go!

Day after the match, excellent post but not a graph in sight.

2/10 ……… must do better !