Time for a change

[Snowflake]

Some of the comments on today's match thread are hard to believe. Some could be deliberate wind ups but not all. It's like winning away isn't enough any more.

I think that many of us enjoy the wins and the league position and so give credit to the job that CW is doing.
However I often leave the ground feeling sad that I have not seen much,if any, quality football. There is nothing I can do about that as the winning and the league position position are what carry me through the week until the next match, when I turn up expecting a win and hoping for flashes of brilliance !!

 

[Houston_Blade]

they have lost sight of context and are criticising the management team on the basis of some speculative future return to the Premiership which is by no means certain.

To pick up the comments above, if we aren’t going to end up in the PL then I really don’t see why we’re playing such boring and reserved football.

If it’s a means to an end then fair enough, but if this is indicative of how the manager wants us to play in the Championship longer term then it needs a rethink.

I’m fully behind playing whichever way gets us promoted, but I’d like us to play in a more entertaining manner if it’s a longer term project.

 

[YES Blade]

I would agree with most of that but I do think that most of the teams that have managed to escape the Championship for the promised land have had a more defined style of play. They do also have lots of money. I can't think of many teams that have managed to stay up by just being a bit steady or successfully changed their style of play to adjust to the prem once they arrived. Sometimes teams dial down a lot of their play to try to survive which wouldn't leave us with much.

We can certainly add players to the mix but that style of play will be bedded in. I feel we have the ability to play better and set good foundations/habits for a more successful future.

it's a tricky/complex situation. Charge for promotion and potentially repeat our last spell and end up back in the same position or focus on style of play and risk losing out on promotion this season for a longer term goal. In an ideal world we would focus on the style of play and get promotion whilst being more competitive next season.

It won’t happen now Wilder has signed a new contract, but I definitely wouldn’t have criticised the board if they let Wilder go if he gets us up.

First and foremost we need to get promoted, if we manage to go up, then tough decisions needed to be made and what is best for United comes first.

 

[PokerBlade]

I've been saying for a while that this team doesn't get enough credit for finding a way to win.

It was a big rebuild in the Summer and that meant a thin and unbalanced squad. Remember that we were selling players to fund incoming too. We reduced the wage bill and made a profit on transfers.

We then went into a tough run of games with an injury list that would seriously weaken any team at this level. Yet we've found a way to stay in the top two and in touching distance of first. That's with a points deduction too.

It's an incredible achievement.

That said...some of the football has to be a concern of late. It's not unfair to look at the Swansea game and think we got away with one. Defensive errors costs us against Sunderland. Hull was...let's never speak of it again.

Short term performances, long term results. That's how I look at it. It's true to say that a win is a win, however you get it, but results and performance aren't unrelated. You get long term results because your performances had a consistenct quality to them. Start of the season we had that. We had an iron-clad defence that allowed us to sit and wait for our creative players to find some magic. We've lost that of late. The new signings will hopefully bring it back, because the teams running against us are also doing extremely well.

 

[N20 Blade]

They are also checks table 19 points behind us. I know where I would rather be.

They conceded three in two games; we had two clean sheets. It’s results that count.

 

[91stMinute]

Agree... The pigs put 4 past them tho and haven't spent nearly £40m on 2 strikers

It’s all about money with you (and a few others) isn’t it? Don’t think you quite understand the “player market”. There is a going rate for certain players and positions however obscene price tag is.

 

[ChrisBlade]

I have to say that most people either over-analyze matters or worry too much.

Southampton had a very defined style of play and I am pretty sure that their fans had high hopes that they would, at the very least, easily better our last Prem performance when swatting aside most teams last year with an identity manager and recognizably modern football.

The reality is no chance. It means very little how you arrive or how well you swim if the other river shore is too far away and the water too cold for humans to survive more than five minutes.

If Southampton revert to winning passing football next year, their fans will still feel the same dread we feel now. „Didn’t work last time with tippy tappy, why aren’t we more gritty?“

The only solution to that is to enjoy every second year regardless. Live in the now. Deal with the alternating years as best as you can whenever they come to be the new now, but don’t let unlaid eggs give constipation to what might otherwise be happy chicken…

 

[Carlton Blade]

30 games should be enough time to have put together a more coherent attacking plan than the one we have. We are leaning fully into every game being a close, gritty arm wrestle. We seem to be good at that but you are always leaving yourself open to bad luck, a mistake or an opposition player doing something special costing points.

There's a world of difference between "we have enough quality to be creating a couple more chances a game without losing defensive solidity or being wholly reliable on Hamer" and "we shoukld win every game 5-0".

I'm not one of the players and I'm not employed by the club. Wanting my team that 9/10 has3 or 4 of the best 5 players on the pitch to be a better attacking team isn't 'entitlement'. It's wanting to enjoy the game, not just the result

 

[North Riding Blade]

Want v expectation are very different things ….

Yes I want us to

Do I expect it will happen as if by magic ? No

The why keep bitching when it doesn't?

 

[The Bear]

It’s time for a change of mind set and attitude of what seems to be an increasing number of suddenly self entitled Blades’ fans. It wasn’t great today, it wasn’t great against Hull or Swansea or Watford but the facts are we won today and remain second in the league and have now established a 3 point lead over third placed Burnley. 61 points after 30 games even after a 2 point deduction. All this in the context of a team that started the closed season as a virtual blank sheet of paper. On top of that, two of our key players suffered season ending injuries….and still some people are calling for Wilder’s replacement. Unbelieveable. On top of that a new set of owners, for the first time in living memory, are actually pump priming our renaissance with hard cash rather than pleading poverty (cf. Chansiri)

So you Blades who have suddenly acquired an attitude of we want to win ‘in style’ rather than ‘just win’ just get over yourselves. We are Blades and we don’t mind winning ugly when we have to. We aren’t entitled to roll over any other club in this or any other league. Leave the arrogance to the petrodollar fuelled plastics of the ‘top six’. Great win today, more great days to come as the team gells. We have some truly talented players who want to play for us and have chosen us over some tough opposition. Alternatively, stand on the wind and rain blasted terraces of Hartlepool in the old 4th division as many of us did several years ago and tell us about Wilder and his team’s ‘failures’.

Wow. You are missing the point mate. We have not looked the 'deal' this season at all yet still stand second in the league. Given the two fucking awful seasons we had under Wilder's tenure in the Prem some of us are thinking, shit we dont want this again!

Wilder has not a great a record with strikers so I hope this time it works for him, but past performance shows that in the Prem, CW only concentrates on not conceding rather than scoring and recent history of promoted clubs this leads to relegation.

I was also there in Division 4 and 3 mile walks to fucking Layer Road to see us get super stuffed by Colcester and the enduring pleasure of seeing it on MoTD too! So you are not alone. Also seeing the ignomany of relegation out of the top two divisions for the first time ever. Yeah not great.

Anyone seeking Wilder's departure now is a bit silly, but I remain unconvinced for now that If we get promoted this season that we wont come straight back down again. It is goals, fucking goals we need and hopefully the Jan editions will address that. We'll see.

 

[jono_t2000]

The OP calls it self-entitlement, there may be a few like loyalblade95 mentions who think we should batter teams. I don't it's that if it's just realism

We have a few players who are better (some much better) than their equivalents in most other teams, but we don't impress much as a team.

If anyone was being honest Leeds and Sunderland play better football than we do, and Burnley are better organised. We lean towards the latter but our results have been outshining our performances for most of the season, mainly because we have better players.

I don't think it's too much to expect more cohesive play than we generally have been producing in the last couple of months or so. If we can't do that now it doesn't bode at all well for next season if the intention is to get promoted and improve upon the lamentable showings we put up the last couple of times we were there.

Getting a good result when not playing well is a good thing but it shouldn't be the bloody default position.

Agreed mate.. me, my dad and my brother all support different teams but the one thing in common is the so-called "self entitlement"of the fan base.

I honestly don't think our fanbase is any worse than majority of other teams.

Just look at Everton for example a few months ago they were waiting at the players bus to abuse and slag off the players in person and saying all their contracts should be torn up.. now those same players last few weeks are the best thing since sliced bread.

Leeds Burnley Watford fans and all the same when things don't go according to plan.

Just footy innit

 

[ATL Recs]

Fair enough, I wonder if that's more nervousness that we're seeing games out like that, which probably turns to frustration post match (even after we've won) that we haven't put a team to the sword.

I think some of our fans seem the likes of Leeds beating Cardiff 7-0 and Burnley beating Plymouth 5-0, and then wonder why we can't do that to anyone this season.

Burnley beating Plymouth 5-0 is the only time they've scored more than 2 goals in a single game this season (I think) and even though Leeds lost 3 of their best players last summer (Rutter, Summerville and Grey), their squad is basically a championship super team, bar their goalkeeper.

Scored 4 at Luton

 

[St Annington]

I think that many of us enjoy the wins and the league position and so give credit to the job that CW is doing.
However I often leave the ground feeling sad that I have not seen much,if any, quality football. There is nothing I can do about that as the winning and the league position position are what carry me through the week until the next match, when I turn up expecting a win and hoping for flashes of brilliance !!

Been saying this all season; never (in 40 odd years) have I been so bored watching such a successful Sheffield United team!! It is such a disconcerting feeling which I suspect many fans express as frustration

 

[Rusty]

It’s time for a change of mind set and attitude of what seems to be an increasing number of suddenly self entitled Blades’ fans. It wasn’t great today, it wasn’t great against Hull or Swansea or Watford but the facts are we won today and remain second in the league and have now established a 3 point lead over third placed Burnley. 61 points after 30 games even after a 2 point deduction. All this in the context of a team that started the closed season as a virtual blank sheet of paper. On top of that, two of our key players suffered season ending injuries….and still some people are calling for Wilder’s replacement. Unbelieveable. On top of that a new set of owners, for the first time in living memory, are actually pump priming our renaissance with hard cash rather than pleading poverty (cf. Chansiri)

So you Blades who have suddenly acquired an attitude of we want to win ‘in style’ rather than ‘just win’ just get over yourselves. We are Blades and we don’t mind winning ugly when we have to. We aren’t entitled to roll over any other club in this or any other league. Leave the arrogance to the petrodollar fuelled plastics of the ‘top six’. Great win today, more great days to come as the team gells. We have some truly talented players who want to play for us and have chosen us over some tough opposition. Alternatively, stand on the wind and rain blasted terraces of Hartlepool in the old 4th division as many of us did several years ago and tell us about Wilder and his team’s ‘failures’.

Bang on... I know football has changed in many ways, more bad than good but a fair few blades are sounding a bit like our delusional neighbours. In only 8 months since last seasons nightmare, if not for 2pts deduction we're neck & neck with Leeds who everyone's starting to jizz over. Squad was always short in September, huge turnover in players in & out, suffered horrendous injuries lost Blaster and the hugely effective Souttar to season ending injuries. All this with the takeover dragging on in the background.
We've got the new owners we all wanted, who've financed 4 (so far) great signings and with injured players now returning and tired players who've battled through superbly now getting a chance of a breather. Oh, and we beat one of, if not the biggest club in world football back in November. Cmon blades appreciate what we've got and ease up on the entitlement bollocks.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Fair enough, I wonder if that's more nervousness that we're seeing games out like that, which probably turns to frustration post match (even after we've won) that we haven't put a team to the sword.

I think some of our fans seem the likes of Leeds beating Cardiff 7-0 and Burnley beating Plymouth 5-0, and then wonder why we can't do that to anyone this season.

Burnley beating Plymouth 5-0 is the only time they've scored more than 2 goals in a single game this season (I think) and even though Leeds lost 3 of their best players last summer (Rutter, Summerville and Grey), their squad is basically a championship super team, bar their goalkeeper.

I think it's alot more that our fans watch United play and see it being really disjointed attacking wise. It's not about fluking 5 or 6 goal wins. It's about consistently creating chances and being able to keep the ball in attacking areas, building pressure and having the tactical and technical set up that allows our good players to get in the positions where they can really hurt the opposition.

 

[Silent Blade]

Been saying this all season; never (in 40 odd years) have I been so bored watching such a successful Sheffield United team!! It is such a disconcerting feeling which I suspect many fans express as frustration

Fully agree but when I am watching a football match that doesnt involve us then I get disappointed if the match isnt entertaining enough.

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

I have put more on ignore this week than the previous 12 years added up. Something's got in the water. Must have.

Aye
(Nocturnal) piss