United 0 Tranmere 0 - report

[Deadbat]

Once again as has now been customary over their recent history, Sheffield United managed to turn in a complete non-performance in a crucial game as they missed the chance to overtake rivals Tranmere and go into the automatic promotion places. The visitors came to the Lane and comfortably took a point as United mustered only two attempts on goal all game. The away side did not even have one shot on goal but still could argue they were the more composed side for long spells in what was a truly diabolical game of football that would not have looked out of place on the park on a Sunday. United had too many men off their game and never got control of the game and whilst Tranmere were hardly outstanding they would be happy with their point and the measure of control they had for an away side.



United brought back Tony McMahon and Marcus Williams for Daryl Westlake and Kevin McDonald with the latter out injured. Ryan Flynn came inside and started in central midfield in preference to David McAllister who was on the bench. Dave Kitson was fit enough to take his place on the bench.



Tranmere had a number of players out through injury themselves but began with former Blade Michael O’Halloran playing wide right with on loan Jake Cassidy up top supported by veteran Andy Robinson. The game began with Rovers having the first chance with O’Halloran stretching his legs against Hill and then a free kick saw Robinson hit the wall. United had struggled to get a foothold in the game and were giving the ball away or going long too much. They tried to get Blackman into the contest but Rovers were clearly wary of his threat and closed him down at every opportunity. The winger did get away once but his shot was high and wide. Rovers were controlling midfield and showing more fluidity as they broke at speed and were pressing United making them go long.



The contest was scrappy and the officials were not helping with some bewildering decisions. United did finally awake from their slumber and after a decent move, McMahon’s shot was turned behind by Williams. However, despite this chance Tranmere would have been the happier side and with Cassidy a handful and Bagayoko showing good pace down the left. McGurk had a free kick which went narrowly wide as United continued to give away daft free kicks. The half petered to en end with both sides sloppy throughout although Tranmere would have felt they shaded it on territory and possession if not efforts.



The second half began in much the same vein with Tranmere keeping the ball better but never really looking like scoring. Cassidy had a long ranger deflected wide and indeed many of their efforts were from distance. Robinson then had a free kick clipped wide as United simply struggled to make much headway. Finally they got the ball into Blackman and he had one run that led to a spell of territory in the visitors half but no chances came about. Kitson came on to cheers from the crowd for the ineffective Porter but he struggled to get into a scrappy game. McAllister also came on for Williams with Flynn moving to his more accustomed wide positions. The game was drifting by with very little happening although Power hit a shot that befitted his name that flew just over. United had not had an effort on goal in the second half but one came when Doyle played in Miller whose shot on the turn hit a defender and fortunately for Williams flew right into his midrift.



Tranmere did start to defend more and were taking their time over substitutions as Robinson took an eternity to leave the field when he was taken off. The keeper also was using a lot of time to take goal kicks. They needn’t have delayed so long as United in truth never looked like scoring and Tranmere ought to have gone for the jugular. Blackman finally got past his man and cut in but with men in the box selfishly and wildly blasted over in front of an exasperated Kop.



There was three minutes of stoppage time played but in truth Tranmere had settled for a well-deserved point and United had in truth looked completely clueless in finding a chance of note, let alone a goal.



United – I felt we were really poor today and struggle to see how Wilson can justify such a limp performance. Tranmere easily deserved their point and we barely tested them all game. I felt we could still be playing now and still not score. In short without McDonald we looked totally clueless and played mostly long diagonal balls that were just headed away. The front two did not play well but had little to no service. Blackman was marked well and outside of this we had some total passengers with Doyle and Flynn losing the battle in midfield and then tossing the ball away routinely. Williams was awful on the left and we never kept the ball for more than 2 or 3 passes all game. It was really dire from an attacking point of view. The only positive is that we defended well and they were restricted to long range shots for most of the game. They never really got beyond us and our best 4 players were probably our 4 defenders. It is such a shame that with such a solid base we had absolutely nothing in front of them and no one got the game by the scruff of the neck. Too many simply bottled it and did not show the drive and determination to win a vitally important game. Too many seemed to let the game just bypass them which told a story about how many are capable of playing at a higher level.



I know we have lost many of the better players from last season but for most of this season we seem to have totally abandoned any attempt to play football and seem to just lump it. I don’t always blame the defence as no one comes to collect or when they play it into the midfield they toss it away. Doyle showed how poor he was without someone to pass it to and some of his passing and control was wretched. At least he did not hide from the battle which Flynn sadly as he got brushed aside like a paper bag often by players no bigger than him.



The general play was awful with no link play, no one getting ahead of the strikers and no one trying anything different. It was so predictable and with the centre backs imposing themselves on the strikers we never really had a sniff most of the game.



As I left I heard a few shout at McCabe to spend some money or we would be stuck in this division for years to come. Sadly whether McCabe has any to spend (or financial rules permit it – personally I think they are a nonsense anyway and fail to see how the punishment affects you really?) or not, they are right. If we have the same squad and side we will probably just about make the top 6 and then come up short again in the playoffs. The side this season has not shown enough to suggest they are good enough for top two. Sadly it is such a poor division and when the likes of Tranmere come and look as a good, if not better, it shows how poor we are. I feel likes of MK Dons, Brentford, Bournemouth, and Notts County will all be higher than either side by the end of the season. It is up to McCabe. It is clear that with maybe 2 or 3 attacking players (midfield mainly who can create) bought we would go up. Stick with the current set up and our defence will be good enough to keep us around top 6 and with flashes from Blackman, Miller and Kitson we will certainly win more games than we lose but probably not do enough.

 

[Deadbat]

Tranmere – I must admit I felt that before the season Tranmere would struggle to stay up. I am honest enough to admit that. With limited resources and a fairly limited (and out of touch) manager in Moore; I thought with the lack of resources they would have a poor season. How wrong have I been? Moore seems to have changed his style and for the most part Tranmere have played attractive football this season with a relatively young team aided and abetted by some quality loan players from clubs higher up the pyramid. Away from home they have been excellent and gone for it in games. Fair play to them. They have had a real go and have energy and some really exciting youngsters to boot albeit helped by the loan system. They of course will stay up comfortably and although despite the result today I do feel automatic will be a bit beyond them but would not rule out the playoffs. Of course when some of the young players such as Cassidy etc go back in January then they may fall away but I have been saying that all season and it has not happened yet? They are organised and work extremely hard and press all over the field (in the same way that Crewe did).



Today they were not scintillating and barely had any real attacks on goal but they defended well and I felt controlled the midfield area. As I say they seemed to show more desire and realised more than us what a big game it was and were determined not to get beaten. They struggled to penetrate a solid United backline but at least they moved the ball about and tried to retain possession. Often they went nowhere but at least they did try and keep it compared to our route one approach. At the back they have been leaking goals but today other than a couple of efforts they were never penetrated. They did their homework and pressed Doyle knowing he struggles with ball retention when given little time and then doubled up on Blackman and forced him down the wing onto his weaker foot. They pressed us out of the back and forced Maguire and Collins to go long most of the game. I felt Moore outcoached Wilson today and got his game plan spot on. The only negative is they never really looked like scoring themselves but of course with a budget and resources nowhere near ours would be delighted with a point. It was up to us to go at them and take the game to them and it never happened.



As for players the two centre backs may not be technically as good as ours with the ball but they defended well after a few hesitant early moments and completely nullified Porter and Miller who of course were starved of service. Worryingly a 40 year old (isn’t he) Goodison was barely tested all game. They won midfield I felt and their formation allowed the 3 min the centre to win more loose balls and they did keep it better. The lad from Wednesday Palmer was sadly better than any of our midfield and although Robinson is clearly a little overweight, he did drift in and out between midfield and attack and get on the ball. Indeed they showed flexibility in a few areas rather than having set areas. We in contract never got any midfielders ahead of the front two and were so static on set plays/throws.





Long 6/10 – He did not have a shot to save all game and made a couple of routine catches and one decent punch. However his distribution was poor with some throw outs that put us under pressure and some awful sliced clearances/kicks.



McMahon 7.5/10 – Thought that was maybe his best game of the season and for the club. He defended sensible and with intelligence, watching the ball and not the man. He made a few great tackles and interceptions and stopped the ball coming in from wide. His crosses often were flighted and not driven going the other way. He did have our best effort on goal with a shot that was saved.



Hill 6.5/10 – Defensively he did ok but even then there were a few hesitant moments not helped by the woeful Williams in front of him. A few many times he just clubbed the ball forward or it came off his shin. However for the most part like the rest of the defence he did ok and did his job. It was the others in front that were so poor.



Maguire 8/10 – Our best player in my opinion. He looked comfortably head and shoulders above many of the rest of the players on the pitch with his touch, poise and ability to play with calm and good sense. He perhaps went long a bit too much but with the balls being given away so much in front you could not really have too much of a complaint at him and Collins as they had so few options with no one going short. I do feel we may get some bids for him in January as he is comfortably better than most at this level and could easily play at a higher level.



Collins 7/10 – Like Maguire he was pretty solid from a defensive point of view and did try and come out of the back but he too played too much long stuff. Once he came out and advanced some of his passes were quite poor and floated into no man’s zone.



Flynn 3.5/10 – Thought he showed that he is not good enough today. Sure he was out of position but more than that; he simply showed he was not up for the fight and so many 50/50 or even 60/40 balls in his favour he ‘neshed’ and lost. He is not a bad little footballer but lacks the drive, pace, aggression and heart to play at a higher level and is very ordinary. Ended the game wide but did not improve even after this. We are crying out for a winger to put give him some competition for his place but he is another than knows no matter how ordinary he is; will get picked week in, week out due to lack of depth/quality in the squad.



Doyle 4/10 – A poor game that showed his limitations without a footballer alongside him. Having Flynn alongside him did not help as we looked so brittle in this area but every time the ball came to him, Tranmere pressured him and he usually tossed it away. Even when he had time he still gave the ball away with some aimless passes to no one.





Williams 3/10 – He has done ok at times this season although still showing his limitations but today he was abysmal. Every time the ball went to him he either miscontrolled it (save one amazing piece of control in the second half – he then gave it away instantly after it!) or gave it straight to them. I cannot see he even gave us defensive protection as he often gave away cheap free kicks or let his man go. Should have come off a long time before he did. Surely McFadzean or someone else from the Academy cannot do any worse. Also we are at home so how negative is it playing essentially a left back on the wing?



Blackman 6.5/10 – He still looked our main threat but had one of his quietest games for some time. They doubled up on him and forced him down the wing to stop him getting it onto his left foot. He had few very moments in the first half and then when he had chances in the second half he often had to pass it back or was forced away from goal. He did have one run where he beat his man all ends up but the selfishly blasted over with men across better placed. Without McDonald, Tranmere knew he was the only threat we had.



Miller 4.5/10 – His poorest game since he has come into the team. He got little service and Porter never really linked with him but he still was never in the game and did not show the sharpness of other games. I felt he was behind his man and let the centre back win the battle. I thought he may have come of before the end as he was tiring and against physical threats we kept lumping it; giving him little chances to do anything. Still he had one chance in the second half but his deflected shot was straight down the keeper’s throat.



Porter 4/10 – Like Miller, Porter was totally ineffective today and he did not hold the ball up or win the headers he has done in other games. The ball kept bouncing off him or when he did control it he often gave it away and the ball was not sticking. He came off second half but in truth it could have been him or Miller. The poorest our front two have been and I expect Kitson to come back in for one of them next week at Crawley.



Subs

Kitson – He came on but never really got into the game. Held the ball up a few times but in such a scrappy contest with nothing coming from midfield he was relying on flicks ons or challenges to simply get into the game. We never played it into his feet and let him win free kicks or bring others into play.



McAllister – Came on and did very little of note. He often waited too long to go for the ball and his fresh legs changed nothing as like Flynn he shied away from physical contact. He even got injured when he waited for the ball and got clouted due to delay. He is another that sadly is not good enough even for the third tier. I really would prefer a youngster (any of Whitehouse, Harriott, Chappell, Diego or McFadzean to the Joe Average we have in him, Flynn and Williams). Surely they cannot do any worse?



Officials – As bad as the two teams were; the officials were maybe even worse. The referee was fussy over pathetic things like were a set play took place or throws in but missed obvious pushes and let go blatant timewasting. The passage where they took their skipper Robinson off and he ran around high fiving his entire team and then passed his armband around three or four players before he went off summed it up. As did the keeper who took an eternity over all of his set plays. He rightly did not give a handball where the ball hit one of theirs instantly after we made contact but then gave them two hand balls for things exactly the same in the second half. He allowed them to take corners from 2 yards out of the box but then at other times wanted throws from exactly the right spot. He gave them a corner that was blatantly a goal kick and then gave us a goal kick that was blatantly a corner. He was dire. However as bad as he was, the linesman on the South Stand was perhaps the most incompetent official I maybe have ever seen. He got throws ins wrong all first half, gave it out when it was not out, waited for the crowd to react or players to appeal before he ‘guessed’ on decisions. He was embarrassingly bad. The officials were incompetent both ways. At least they did not give anything that directly affected the outcome of the game but that was down to the ineptitude of the two teams!



Crowd – Decent attendance just before Christmas with almost 20,000 inside the Lane. Tranmere brought maybe 1,000 fans and were in good voice as you would expect being top of the league. United fans were quiet in the first half and only seemed to come to life over poor decisions. The Kop tried to rally them in the second half but United were so poor that it was hard to keep singing and driving them on. A few groans came in towards the end as numerous poor decisions and misplaced passes saw the game kind of fritter away. Disappointing that in another big game United kind of did not turn up at least from an attacking point of view. Quite a few players had a chance to make a name for themselves but were found wanting and proved sadly that League One is about their level.



---

Twitter –

@Deadbat_DB

 

[ShropshireBlade]

Awesome report again Deadbat. No doubt Wilson will again be singing the praises of all the players again, i did wonder to myself when i read a report in the week of him praising McAllister & Flynn. He obviously sees the game different to the rest of us....

 

[upton blade]

good write up deadbat! we need a midfielder or three imho

 

[silverfox]

If you want us to really respect your reports you need to be more honest. Despite my frustration by the antics of their captain when he went off he only "passed" (put it on his arm....then the player took it off anyway) his armband to the one player not three or four.

I'm sure you are frustrated by the game as we all were but you do need to be fair!

(ps...I do respect the time and effort you put into your reports and you deserve thanks for what you do!)

 

[Zlatan]

No doubt Wilson will again be singing the praises of all the players again

Yep, I'm waiting for this too. There seems to be some sort of praise culture going on at BDTBL. Every time the players get mentioned it's Wilson praising them no matter what, and the opposition previews are either Wilson or a player stating 'X are a good team', when we're usually playing bottom of the league.

 

[Rodley]

I can't really see how giving them a bollocking in public will improve team morale. He'll probably do it behind closed doors.

Are we really still surprised when managers come out with the same tired old cliches to the press? Really?

 

[Zlatan]

I can't really see how giving them a bollocking in public will improve team morale.

I'm not saying that he needs to give them a bollocking on the radio. Just sometimes it would be nice to hear him say where we weren't good enough and what we're looking to improve, rather than just saying "we were brilliant" every week like he does.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Tranmere – I must admit I felt that before the season Tranmere would struggle to stay up. I am honest enough to admit that. With limited resources and a fairly limited (and out of touch) manager in Moore; I thought with the lack of resources they would have a poor season. How wrong have I been? Moore seems to have changed his style and for the most part Tranmere have played attractive football this season with a relatively young team aided and abetted by some quality loan players from clubs higher up the pyramid. Away from home they have been excellent and gone for it in games. Fair play to them. They have had a real go and have energy and some really exciting youngsters to boot albeit helped by the loan system. They of course will stay up comfortably and although despite the result today I do feel automatic will be a bit beyond them but would not rule out the playoffs. Of course when some of the young players such as Cassidy etc go back in January then they may fall away but I have been saying that all season and it has not happened yet? They are organised and work extremely hard and press all over the field (in the same way that Crewe did).



Today they were not scintillating and barely had any real attacks on goal but they defended well and I felt controlled the midfield area. As I say they seemed to show more desire and realised more than us what a big game it was and were determined not to get beaten. They struggled to penetrate a solid United backline but at least they moved the ball about and tried to retain possession. Often they went nowhere but at least they did try and keep it compared to our route one approach. At the back they have been leaking goals but today other than a couple of efforts they were never penetrated. They did their homework and pressed Doyle knowing he struggles with ball retention when given little time and then doubled up on Blackman and forced him down the wing onto his weaker foot. They pressed us out of the back and forced Maguire and Collins to go long most of the game. I felt Moore outcoached Wilson today and got his game plan spot on. The only negative is they never really looked like scoring themselves but of course with a budget and resources nowhere near ours would be delighted with a point. It was up to us to go at them and take the game to them and it never happened.



As for players the two centre backs may not be technically as good as ours with the ball but they defended well after a few hesitant early moments and completely nullified Porter and Miller who of course were starved of service. Worryingly a 40 year old (isn’t he) Goodison was barely tested all game. They won midfield I felt and their formation allowed the 3 min the centre to win more loose balls and they did keep it better. The lad from Wednesday Palmer was sadly better than any of our midfield and although Robinson is clearly a little overweight, he did drift in and out between midfield and attack and get on the ball. Indeed they showed flexibility in a few areas rather than having set areas. We in contract never got any midfielders ahead of the front two and were so static on set plays/throws.





Long 6/10 – He did not have a shot to save all game and made a couple of routine catches and one decent punch. However his distribution was poor with some throw outs that put us under pressure and some awful sliced clearances/kicks.



McMahon 7.5/10 – Thought that was maybe his best game of the season and for the club. He defended sensible and with intelligence, watching the ball and not the man. He made a few great tackles and interceptions and stopped the ball coming in from wide. His crosses often were flighted and not driven going the other way. He did have our best effort on goal with a shot that was saved.



Hill 6.5/10 – Defensively he did ok but even then there were a few hesitant moments not helped by the woeful Williams in front of him. A few many times he just clubbed the ball forward or it came off his shin. However for the most part like the rest of the defence he did ok and did his job. It was the others in front that were so poor.



Maguire 8/10 – Our best player in my opinion. He looked comfortably head and shoulders above many of the rest of the players on the pitch with his touch, poise and ability to play with calm and good sense. He perhaps went long a bit too much but with the balls being given away so much in front you could not really have too much of a complaint at him and Collins as they had so few options with no one going short. I do feel we may get some bids for him in January as he is comfortably better than most at this level and could easily play at a higher level.



Collins 7/10 – Like Maguire he was pretty solid from a defensive point of view and did try and come out of the back but he too played too much long stuff. Once he came out and advanced some of his passes were quite poor and floated into no man’s zone.



Flynn 3.5/10 – Thought he showed that he is not good enough today. Sure he was out of position but more than that; he simply showed he was not up for the fight and so many 50/50 or even 60/40 balls in his favour he ‘neshed’ and lost. He is not a bad little footballer but lacks the drive, pace, aggression and heart to play at a higher level and is very ordinary. Ended the game wide but did not improve even after this. We are crying out for a winger to put give him some competition for his place but he is another than knows no matter how ordinary he is; will get picked week in, week out due to lack of depth/quality in the squad.

Great report DB. Abysmal football today. Flynn needs to go, a fucking waste of space he is. Was he actually on the pitch. Like Bobby Ford in Warnock`s day, you would struggle to recall him even getting near the ball all game, but he will be there, shirking and being a coward, next game and the one after.
Fans at our end of south stand made a fuck of a lot of noise for 15 mins 2nd afe..it spread to westfield corner..1st time there has been any atmo at lane for about 20 yrs I reckon.

 

[Wards]

Does he?

I've heard him say we have to improve on aspects of our game most weeks.

Overall though it was dire today - 2 teams that didn't want to lose and we missed KMac badly. Very disappointed to see McMahon straight back in given how much more Westlake offers and even more frustrating to see Hill/Williams combo at home.

We've surely got to start sticking another younger lad on the bench given that Cresswell is practically finished at this level and has zero chance of getting on it seems. Would've been good to see Diego in the squad - at least it's something different.

 

[Maidenhead]

very harsh. Tranmere were well organised, worked very hard at closing us down and kept the ball well when they had it.

We had the only 2 efforts on goal that I can remember and Long didn't have a save to make all day.

I will agree that they came for a draw and that we weren't good enough to break them down. That's why they're top of the league.

Yes it was a poor game to watch but you have to credit Tranmere for being very good at what they did and move on.

Oh and I will add that I thought the decisions to bring in Williams and McMahon were bizarre but MacAllister hasn't been exactly pulling trees up so I guess Danny just wanted to try something different but unfortunately it failed.

C'est la vie

 

[yorkshirecoast]

The lack of quality from both teams was staggering. Collins and Maguire apart, not one of our team could be happy with that. Thought our fans did their best in the circumstance. We only had one decent effort on target - and Tranmere had none. Miller, Porter & Flynn in particular were woeful.

A draw isn't the end of the world but what an opportunity to go top against a very average side.

 

[yorkshirecoast]

If you want us to really respect your reports you need to be more honest. Despite my frustration by the antics of their captain when he went off he only "passed" (put it on his arm....then the player took it off anyway) his armband to the one player not three or four.

I'm sure you are frustrated by the game as we all were but you do need to be fair!

(ps...I do respect the time and effort you put into your reports and you deserve thanks for what you do!)

Rubbish. He took ages to put the armband on the other Tranny player and then spent about 30 seconds making sure it was straight after he had put it on! He then walked off as slowly as he could. He should have been booked.

 

[Maidenhead]

The lack of quality from both teams was staggering. Collins and Maguire apart, not one of our team could be happy with that. Thought our fans did their best in the circumstance. We only had one decent effort on target - and Tranmere had none. Miller, Porter & Flynn in particular were woeful.

A draw isn't the end of the world but what an opportunity to go top against a very average side.

Agree about the draw. I would have taken that at 3 o'clock.

Thought Porter did well. We never had the ball again after he went off which says a lot in my book.

As for Flynn, he is not a central midfielder in my view and as I said above I found the decision to play him there rather bizarre. Not really his fault that he never got into the game in my book.

 

[Foxy]

Rubbish. He took ages to put the armband on the other Tranny player and then spent about 30 seconds making sure it was straight after he had put it on! He then walked off as slowly as he could. He should have been booked.

Well it's not really rubbish... he passed it to the single player who dicked about with it a bit and was still dicking about with it when the game resumed.

They were good at winning free kicks and being niggly and annoying today.

 

[Patrick Suffaux]

Not winning at home will never be good enough for us at this level and rightly so. Today was down to various factors, one being the poor midfield selection and Tranmere's hard work and commitment. They're nothing special but they're competent, whole-hearted and fight for every ball. We matched them in our third but not in theirs. We need to strengthen the squad in January or I'm afraid its more playoff heart ache for us. We're OK, just not good enough.

 

[alcoblade]

As for Flynn, he is not a central midfielder in my view and as I said above I found the decision to play him there rather bizarre. Not really his fault that he never got into the game in my book.

Very true, but he is rubbish on the wing every week, so there were no suprises for me.

We really are thin on the ground, quality wise. I've defended Wilson re not blooding youngsters, but I'd like to see "Geronimo" given a go - we really don't seem to have anything to lose when McDonald is missing.

UTB

 

[silverfox]

Rubbish. He took ages to put the armband on the other Tranny player and then spent about 30 seconds making sure it was straight after he had put it on! He then walked off as slowly as he could. He should have been booked.

So can you read what I said.......did he really pass the armband to more than one player???????

Now how many did Deadbeat say???

Rubbish????

As I say it's frustrating but try to keep to facts not fiction!

 

[Jehovah]

Looked like 11 Dick heads v 11 bell ends today. The most regrettable 24 quid I have ever spent. Black man was the only hint of a threat and he was Shit today. The bastard blades.

 

[super_pig]

wandered down to watch Bradwell village last week and it was a better game than that today.. today was utterly dreadful.. i said i'd text Olle with regular updates but there was simply nothing to text.. we are nowt without KMac.. as for macmahon .. why? sends out a great message to Westlake who was coming along well.. Flynn.. nesh lightweight.. almost embarassing.. he'd get knocked around in a Primary School playground.. Harry was the only player to come out of that with any credit..
tranny play like us.. a lot of huff and puff with no end product.. no wonder it was a borefest

did i mention i nearly froze my bollocks off

ps great report DB.. agree with all you say.. making such a fuss about the armband handover shows there was nowt else worth talking about lads!

 

[cahill]

Too many draws. Wilson needs to sort it out.

 

[GAZBLADE]

Too many draws. Wilson needs to sort it out.

I would say DW's very aware of this.
UTB
COYRWW

 

[JohnDenver]

Thought Porter did well. We never had the ball again after he went off which says a lot in my book.

As for Flynn, he is not a central midfielder in my view and as I said above I found the decision to play him there rather bizarre. Not really his fault that he never got into the game in my book.

So there was someone else in the ground who thought the same about Porter. Almost everything he does is an attempt to join up play. Kitson is a far better footballer but his positioning on the pitch (often too deep and too far from Miller), wasn't helpful.

As for Flynn, I think you could get away with playing him centrally in a team whose passing game is established. But you can't expect him to dictate like McDonald. Hopefully that's a one-off gamble now discarded.

 

[shorehamview]

There are three things that once again have stood out, two that can be acted upon, and one that can't and can at the same time.

The first that struck me as odd was once again the selection of players out of position. Williams is no more a left winger than he is an astronaut, and Flynn, used to and suited to playing as a winger was stuck in central midfield. When the change eventually came it was after 74 minutes. I presume Wilson was looking in a different direction to the rest of us until then, as he must have been happy with Williams's performance for most of the match, but those sat around me on the Kop were certainly not. Flynn was woeful in the centre, and the switch after the substitution of Williams seemed to work. He posed more danger in those last 16+ minutes than Williams did for most of the previous 74.

I also wondered what was going on with the inclusion of McMahon in place of Westlake. McMahon seems to like going forward until he crosses the halfway line, then suffers a crisis of confidence, or just gets a bit frightened, and seems rather lost. It was ironically his best game yesterday, but he still doesn't impress me and I'd rather see Westlake in there.


The third thing is something that we can both do nothing and everything about, and that's the shit officials. How many times in this division have we had bizarre decisions, dithering and just generally poor displays from the match officials? Not ones that particularly seem biased either against us or in our favour, but just generally poor? At least the shitness of the officials seems to be consistent, but that's all they have going for them.

We are stuck with third rate officials in the short-term because we're in the third division, and we have to put up with whoever we are allocated by the powers that be, but there is one thing we can do about it and that's to get out of this division by getting promotion. Alas, the sometimes strange team selections may have a bearing on this too, condemning us to another year of the same.

 

[blade too long]

Too many draws. Wilson needs to sort it out.

there is the view that some of these draws we could have ended up losing, we are unbeaten at home , wed lost 2 by this time last season , , not an excuse , a fact

yes yesterdays ,nearly said match , but nothing happened, was poor but as Ive said before a lot of football is poor , our memories just leave us with the edited highlights, yesterday just needs editing completely out, the only sole positive being we didnt concede, as an entertainment it was like expecting to see Queen live and turning up to find Rylan off x factor had stood in for them

 

[Micalijo]

Well it's not really rubbish... he passed it to the single player who dicked about with it a bit and was still dicking about with it when the game resumed.

They were good at winning free kicks and being niggly and annoying today.

Unlike Doyle and Tmac who never niggle or pull, cheat etc. you really need to wake up to the limitations of the pathetic players and management that make up SUFC rather than complain yet again that opponents don't play fair

 

[Deadbat]

Yeah sums it up that that was one of the 'talking points'. Robinson walked up to his fellow midfielder after takig armband off and indicated he was going to give it to him. He then wallked to another player and did the same before finally walking towards the centre back and taking an age to put it on him. He might not have physically passed it around as I originally said but the way the referee stood there and watched this without even having a word summed up his performance. Robinson was taking the proverbial but got away with it.

Tranmere did work hard and were well organised but I would be surprised if they went up. At the end of the day it was a diabolical game of football between two very poor sides. It really is one of the poorest Blades sides in my lifetime (comparbale with some of the awful Porterfield/McEwan/Heath sides). We lack ppace, creativity and any kind of idea. Without McDonald (who himself has been under par this season) we look utterly clueless. Indeed if we lost Blackman, McDonald and Maguire this side would be nearer the bottom than top as most of the rest of the side are average-poor.

I really think he has to give one of the Academy lads a go out wide or bring a player from non league (hungry and fast in). Flynn, Williams and McCallister are woeful and seem incapable of getting any better. They lack a football brain and heart.

 

[Deadbat]

As for the comment on Doyle; sadly I agree. His gamesmanship at times is awful and he is very fortunate to not get booked every game. He is always in the refs ear, cynical with some of his late tackles and then acts like he has been reallly badly hurt on the slightest contact when he is on the receiving end. He would be a horrible player to play against. I mean that as a compliment in some ways as when he does what he can do well, he is effective. Yesterday showed his real limitations in a Monty-esque performance.

 

[JohnDenver]

Tranmere did work hard and were well organised but I would be surprised if they went up. At the end of the day it was a diabolical game of football between two very poor sides. It really is one of the poorest Blades sides in my lifetime (comparbale with some of the awful Porterfield/McEwan/Heath sides). We lack ppace, creativity and any kind of idea. Without McDonald (who himself has been under par this season) we look utterly clueless. Indeed if we lost Blackman, McDonald and Maguire this side would be nearer the bottom than top as most of the rest of the side are average-poor.

I really think he has to give one of the Academy lads a go out wide or bring a player from non league (hungry and fast in). Flynn, Williams and McCallister are woeful and seem incapable of getting any better. They lack a football brain and heart.

Two points.

1, We're in the third tier. We're relatively poor by definition and there will be awful games. Especially when both teams have their best players missing.

2, Flynn and Williams? You're overreacting. Both were out of position and both have had very good games this year.

Yes it was utterly crap to watch yesterday, but you're being reactionary.

 

[Deadbat]

Yes we are in the third tier but if I had paid to watch that (£20 and upwards) on a single game basis, I would have been furious. It was dire. As I say you would see better on a park.

We were the home team and should have been taking the game to them. We had 1 player missing but concerning we should all go to pot if one player is out?

I am unsure how I am overreacting about Flynn and Williams. Both were dire. They have had some functional games this year but neither are good enough even in the third tier. The posiiton thing baffles me too somewhat. They are footballers and should be be able to control or pass a balll regardless where they are on the pitch. When Williams has been left back he has been even worse. I am not sure he has a 'best' position. Granted he has done ok in some games wide left. Flynn also in recent games since an encouraing start to the season has been abject out wide. Today faced with a few physical tackles I saw a player that did not want to know and every time there was physical contact he lost the ball.

That is our problem aswell, other teams like MK Dons and Brentford move players about and can interchange, with midfielders swapping with wingers and get pplayers ahead of strikers etc. We seem stuck with the most basic 4-4-2 and no players outside of maybe Blackman come away from their normal areas.

Maybe I am beign reactionary but other than Stevenage and spells for Bournemouth and Notts County; we have been quite poor this season. What concenrs me is once again against the better sides we seem wanting. Both Brentford and Tranmere seemed hungrier, faster to the ball and more determined than us. They worked harder than us which is a concern; maybe even more concerning than the poor technique, passing, creativity as there is no excuse for not matcing teams workrate.