A little perspective is needed in the warm afterglow of a heavy day’s drinking. We limped past an out of form, team of 10 men with nothing to play for. A team so bad, that they’d not won an away game since November. Quite probably the worst Forest side I’ve seen in a long while.
We approached it in the very same manner as we had done a week earlier against Millwall, despite CW bitching in the press. After all the shouting & kerfuffling in the aftermath of that game, we still dropped deep after scoring, messing about with formations and attempted to see things out yesterday. The only difference being that he brought the worse midfielder currently on our books on, instead of the second worst and we got very lucky with a 2nd goal, provided by a wing back, something that his more attacking colleagues seemed impotent to provide.
Our play for the most part yesterday was disjointed and without tempo. No one prepared to take the game by the scruff of the next. It looks like the switch to a more direct style of play hasn’t meshed with everyone. Using Madine as an unfocused focal point. Nobody appears to play off of him in a traditional sense, and he doesn’t appear to know what his teammates are doing. Norwood still played too deep, as did McG, who must be the most frustrating strike partner. We still lack mobility and pace in the final 3rd, both from a front line going beyond the defence and from a midfield capable of breaking through the lines.
Then, through more luck than judgement Wigan manage to put in a defensive performance akin to Rourkes Drift and we miraculously find ourselves back in 2nd. CWAK can’t claim any credit for that. They showed a resolve that we’d been unable to show against both an inferior Bristol City and Millwall. Yesterday we stood on the shoulders of Wigan and with 3 games left, promotion is ours to toss away. Again.
We face a competent and dangerous Hull side on Monday, one with a promotion challenging quality home form. Their manager has also now found a more receptive home & group of players, to his teachings. If we don’t liven up and quickly, we could be in for a beating and be made to look very average. Hull score goals at home.
As a final point, I think it’s odd that whenever play someone, they think we’re shit. They don’t say the same about Norwich, Leeds or Villa. A word of warning; we’re Sheffield United, don’t believe the hype.