Chali 2na
The Tuna fish that descended from Lake Michigan
My earliest memories of United are from the triple assault season, in 2002/03. I had gone to games before, but this season had completely captured my heart and soul.
Looking back at that team, you might be pressed to explain why we were so dangerous: names like Rob Page and Wayne Allison don't exactly scream quality, yet we somehow made it to the semi-finals of both cups, and finished 3rd in the league.
The answer, in actual fact, lies in midfield: his name was Michael Brown. He was the complete midfielder, always a threat going forward, involved in every attack, all the while being defensively robust - little did I know, that after his sale the following season, it would be 15 years before I saw his replacement.
You may ask; 'If we never replaced Brown, how did we manage promotion to the premier league a couple of years later?'
It's a fair question, but in honesty; Phil Jagielka - though often used in central midfield - was clearly better as a centre-half. Michael Tonge on the other hand was still showing flashes of his brilliance, but never really looked the same without his midfield partner, Brown.
Our brief stint in the premier league saw us attempt to be more solid and harder to break down, players like Montgomery were often deployed in attempt to win possession back quickly. While there were some great memories from that season, few of them were born from midfield.
Our return to the championship triggered a period of gradual decline - one might have expected the arrivals of Gary Speed and Lee Hendrie to drastically improve our midfield, this unfortunately wasn't the case.
After Bryan Robson's ill-fated tenure, the club turned to Kevin Blackwell to steady the ship. While Blackwell was responsible for a fantastic change in terms of results, he was guilty of crimes against midfield: players in the middle of the park were often bypassed thanks to his direct style.
In terms of personnel, United had options in the years between Robson leaving and our eventual relegation to League 1. Brian Howard, Lee Williamson, James Harper and Leon Britton had all had success at other clubs, but failed to impress at United.... a growing trend.
For brief moments, those of us missing Michael Brown got to watch Andy Reid - the exciting Irishman, who's flair and creativity was wasted, in a side seemingly determined to get relegated.
Our first season in League 1 saw a football revolution, and the arrival of our first midfielder to challenge Brown's status for some time: Kevin McDonald. The Scot arrived on a free transfer, and immediately showed his class. His phenomenal vision and composure were invaluable and he quickly became the figure head of a well blended midfield of Williamson, him, Doyle and Quinn.
The football played this season was good as any I'd ever seen at The Lane, and this midfield was fast rivalling the efforts of 02/03.
Unfortunately, after just a year, the midfield was disbanded, as players like Quinn and Williamson moved on. McDonald continued to show his class, but he was sold too, just a year later.
Doyle was ever present in the midfield for the next few seasons, and while he was a good servant, he often lacked quality. Apart from a brief spell with Connor Coady in 2014, Doyle lacked a partner and attempts to link up with Stephen McGinn, James Wallace and co. were largely fruitless.
Doyle's exit coincided with the arrival of Nigel Adkins, a man tasked with finally getting the Blades promoted, at the 5th time of asking - unfortunately it wasn't to be.
While a midfield generally consists of 4 or 5 players, the midfield of Adkins' short reign can be summed up by one man, Dean Hammond. His arrival was greeted with optimism, and based on his CV and glowing reccomendations, this optimism wasnt unfounded: many thought he could be the answer.
As it turned out, Hammond may well be the most hated former player in United's recent history. A consistent midfield combination was never found, and with the possible exception of Ben Whiteman, no midfielder came out of that season with much credit - this was probably the lowest point for United's midfield in the time since Brown left, a sad indictment of how far we had fallen.
Then along came Chris Wilder. Few could predict what a pivotal moment this would be, particularly for our midfield.
Wilder quickly pounced on the signings of Mark Duffy and John Fleck, and after poor start, they were paired in a midfield trio with Paul Coutts.
Coutts provided an option for defenders and dictated play from deep, quickly becoming one of the classiest playmakers in United's history - A far cry from his previous seasons, where he was much maligned.
Fleck was Brown's eventual replacement: a midfielder who can do it all: fierce without the ball, composed with it: a truly awesome player.
Duffy added the much needed creativity further up the pitch. His quick feet and awareness, blended with his dribbling made him the perfect number 10 to link the midfield and attack.
I don't have to tell you that these 3 players helped us on our way to 100 points that year, or that last season, until Coutts unfortunate injury, they were arguably amongst the best midfielders in the championship.
Frighteningly, this is all before the arrival of Ollie Norwood; a player who's technique is second to none, and who's composure on the ball has drawn comparisons with Coutts already - it's early days, but on his showings so far, he's potentially better than what we already have.
Michael Brown was my favourite midfielder, these days though, it's Fleck.
I used to think the midfield from 02/03 was the best I'd seen, but as great as they were, they've finally beem eclipsed by the combination of Paul Coutts, John Fleck, Oliver Norwood and Mark Duffy.
Savour it blades, as who knows when we'll see a combination as good? I hope we don't have to wait another 15 years.
Looking back at that team, you might be pressed to explain why we were so dangerous: names like Rob Page and Wayne Allison don't exactly scream quality, yet we somehow made it to the semi-finals of both cups, and finished 3rd in the league.
The answer, in actual fact, lies in midfield: his name was Michael Brown. He was the complete midfielder, always a threat going forward, involved in every attack, all the while being defensively robust - little did I know, that after his sale the following season, it would be 15 years before I saw his replacement.
You may ask; 'If we never replaced Brown, how did we manage promotion to the premier league a couple of years later?'
It's a fair question, but in honesty; Phil Jagielka - though often used in central midfield - was clearly better as a centre-half. Michael Tonge on the other hand was still showing flashes of his brilliance, but never really looked the same without his midfield partner, Brown.
Our brief stint in the premier league saw us attempt to be more solid and harder to break down, players like Montgomery were often deployed in attempt to win possession back quickly. While there were some great memories from that season, few of them were born from midfield.
...
Our return to the championship triggered a period of gradual decline - one might have expected the arrivals of Gary Speed and Lee Hendrie to drastically improve our midfield, this unfortunately wasn't the case.
After Bryan Robson's ill-fated tenure, the club turned to Kevin Blackwell to steady the ship. While Blackwell was responsible for a fantastic change in terms of results, he was guilty of crimes against midfield: players in the middle of the park were often bypassed thanks to his direct style.
In terms of personnel, United had options in the years between Robson leaving and our eventual relegation to League 1. Brian Howard, Lee Williamson, James Harper and Leon Britton had all had success at other clubs, but failed to impress at United.... a growing trend.
For brief moments, those of us missing Michael Brown got to watch Andy Reid - the exciting Irishman, who's flair and creativity was wasted, in a side seemingly determined to get relegated.
...
Our first season in League 1 saw a football revolution, and the arrival of our first midfielder to challenge Brown's status for some time: Kevin McDonald. The Scot arrived on a free transfer, and immediately showed his class. His phenomenal vision and composure were invaluable and he quickly became the figure head of a well blended midfield of Williamson, him, Doyle and Quinn.
The football played this season was good as any I'd ever seen at The Lane, and this midfield was fast rivalling the efforts of 02/03.
Unfortunately, after just a year, the midfield was disbanded, as players like Quinn and Williamson moved on. McDonald continued to show his class, but he was sold too, just a year later.
Doyle was ever present in the midfield for the next few seasons, and while he was a good servant, he often lacked quality. Apart from a brief spell with Connor Coady in 2014, Doyle lacked a partner and attempts to link up with Stephen McGinn, James Wallace and co. were largely fruitless.
Doyle's exit coincided with the arrival of Nigel Adkins, a man tasked with finally getting the Blades promoted, at the 5th time of asking - unfortunately it wasn't to be.
While a midfield generally consists of 4 or 5 players, the midfield of Adkins' short reign can be summed up by one man, Dean Hammond. His arrival was greeted with optimism, and based on his CV and glowing reccomendations, this optimism wasnt unfounded: many thought he could be the answer.
As it turned out, Hammond may well be the most hated former player in United's recent history. A consistent midfield combination was never found, and with the possible exception of Ben Whiteman, no midfielder came out of that season with much credit - this was probably the lowest point for United's midfield in the time since Brown left, a sad indictment of how far we had fallen.
...
Then along came Chris Wilder. Few could predict what a pivotal moment this would be, particularly for our midfield.
Wilder quickly pounced on the signings of Mark Duffy and John Fleck, and after poor start, they were paired in a midfield trio with Paul Coutts.
Coutts provided an option for defenders and dictated play from deep, quickly becoming one of the classiest playmakers in United's history - A far cry from his previous seasons, where he was much maligned.
Fleck was Brown's eventual replacement: a midfielder who can do it all: fierce without the ball, composed with it: a truly awesome player.
Duffy added the much needed creativity further up the pitch. His quick feet and awareness, blended with his dribbling made him the perfect number 10 to link the midfield and attack.
I don't have to tell you that these 3 players helped us on our way to 100 points that year, or that last season, until Coutts unfortunate injury, they were arguably amongst the best midfielders in the championship.
Frighteningly, this is all before the arrival of Ollie Norwood; a player who's technique is second to none, and who's composure on the ball has drawn comparisons with Coutts already - it's early days, but on his showings so far, he's potentially better than what we already have.
Michael Brown was my favourite midfielder, these days though, it's Fleck.
I used to think the midfield from 02/03 was the best I'd seen, but as great as they were, they've finally beem eclipsed by the combination of Paul Coutts, John Fleck, Oliver Norwood and Mark Duffy.
Savour it blades, as who knows when we'll see a combination as good? I hope we don't have to wait another 15 years.
