Deadbat
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Managerless Sheffield United were able to finally give their patient supporters some cheer as they beat Swansea City at a freezing Bramall Lane. In front of the lowest crowd of the season, albeit not helped by hardly any Swansea fans being able to get to Sheffield due to the weather, the Blades showed plenty of spirit and heart and were good value for the victory. United played as a team and worked hard for each other and were able to prevent high flying Swansea having few chances of note all afternoon. The goal when it came was a good one with a beautifully executed ball from Andy Reid splitting the Swans defence and giving Ched Evans time and space to cooly convert. The win was a vital one for the Blades and gives them some breathing space at the bottom of the Championship table.
United started with Steve Simonsen back in goal for the injured Richard Wright and Stephen Quinn replaced Johnny Ertl. Leon Britton lined up against his former side for the first time since his move to Bramall Lane in the summer and Lee Williamson was a welcome sight on the substitutes bench. Swansea had former Blades loanees Dyer and Beattie in their starting line up with another ex player Cotterill on the bench where he was joined by influential midfielder Darren Pratley.
United kicked off towards the Bramall Lane end and were the better side in the early stages with Britton and Reid influential in moving the Blades forward. The first effort towards goal so Evans flick on a long clearance and Yeates hit a fierce volley but it was well off target. Britton then was able to feed Reid who in turn played in Quinn but the assistant’s flag was up well before Quinn tucked the ball into the net. A neat move with flicks from Quinn and then Yeates saw Evans have a shot blocked and then the striker was bundled over giving a free kick opportunity but Reid’s effort from around 30 yards was blocked by the wall.
Swansea finally came into the game and Sinclair was looking a threat down the left hand side. He had one effort as he cut in but it was straight at Simonsen and then Williams left unmarked from a corner headed wide. United were still giving as good as they could get and were battling hard for possession in the middle of the field. Yeates chasing back picked up a booking for catching Orlandi but United were showing a resolution to stop the opponents hurting them and in turn were looking to feed Evans every opportunity when they attacked.
With half time approaching United took the lead and it came from a superb piece of vision from Reid. The midfielder played a superb ball over the top of the Swansea defence that fed EVANS who was clearly onside and in goal between the two centre backs. He took a touch, advance and then calmly slotted past the onrushing De Vries. It was a well made and executed goal and one United had deserved for their efforts.
Swansea had been poor in the first half and made two changes at the break with Easter and Pratley coming on for Beattie and Gower. They tried to go at United straight away and forced two corners in quick succession. Bartley had to clear from right on the line as a cross came in from Easter and then Simonsen had to save two low shots from Sinclair who was becoming more prominent.
Cotterill came on to a mixture of cheers and boos replacing the disappointing Dyer but with his first touch sent a cross behind the goal leading to sarcastic cheers from the Lane faithful who were of course all too used to the frustrating play from the winger. United were defending solidly with Bartley and Nosworthy both looking solid and Swansea had not really created many clear chances. At the other end Evans was continuing to work hard and chase lost causes but Ward came on to give him some assistance replacing the tiring Reid. A moment of over play from Nosworthy nearly led to Easter capitalising but United managed to scramble the ball clear to spare the defender’s blushes.
Swansea were trying to push United further back and most of the attacks were coming via the dangerous Sinclair but United managed to hold their back line together and remained organised. Indeed it was the home side that came closest to scoring again. Quinn managed to advance 40 yards from his own half to kill time but then he also found Evans. The striker cut in and beat his man but his shot from the angle was turned away from De Vries at the near post.
The referee added on four additional minutes which was a little strange as there had barely been a stoppage all game and 2 of the 5 substitutions came at half time. Batth came on for Evans and was put up front as nuisance value with United fans all looking anxiously at their watches. However, United saw off any further threats from the visitors fairly easily with the only real slight concern came when Simonsen managed to scramble a corner away under pressure. The final whistle brought a mixture of relief and happiness as the Blades managed to take the vital three points they needed.
United – It was better in the sense that we finally saw a performance full of effort, guts and heart and we have not seen that much in evidence this season. We did not play superb football, nor cut through the opponents at will. We did not create that many chances but we did not allow many chances at all and I actually felt we were the better side for long stretches. I thought we just about deserved to be ahead in the first half and in the second we limited them to no real chances of note and managed to be solid and organised.
What was most positive for me was the sheer effort and determination we showed and I felt a lot of the 50/50’s we won and looked more up for the fight. To see the likes of Yeates, Quinn and Evans chasing balls right to the 90th minute and beyond was heart warming. I felt United deserved the win just about and it would have been cruel if they had snatched something at the death. There was no one players (save for Bartley) who was outstanding but there were lots of solid-good performances where players simply did their job. I felt two of our poorer performers in recent times were very good; namely Taylor and Evans. I have not been their biggest fans but Taylor was solid and more determined in everything he did and Evans worked his socks off, took his goal well and never stopped right until he was taken off. Fair play to those two as they have had a lot of critics and today they deserved the plaudits.
The football was not great and at times we still made bad decisions with the ball in the last third but with Reid, Britton and Yeates we give ourselves more of a chance of keeping the ball. We had a few smatterings of decent link play and at times looked like we could get beyond them but with only one up front we did seem to opt for a more solid, organised look and meant we knew we could not be gung ho with wide attacking threats they possessed. The tactics and way we went about things worked perfectly as the midfield players tightly marked the likes of Gower, Allen and Pratley when he came on and stopped them having time and space to hurt us; the defence was organised and resolute and Evans toiled well on his own. We got the goal at a good time and then defended what we had; fairly comfortably in the end despite the predictable pattern of us defending deeper and deeper as the game went on which leads to some pressure even if it was just from corners or free kicks deep in our territory. Just nice to see a performance where you could say all the players put a lot of effort in and fight and scrapped for a result and you could actually genuinely say ‘Well done Blades you deserved that.’
Be interesting to see what next week brings in terms of the expected appointment I would think at some point. From all the rumours swirling around it seems to be between O’Driscoll, Adams and maybe Brown. It is a difficult one as do you go for someone who will get the passion roaring back (although there were signs it was coming back a bit today) and just get them away from the relegation zone no matter how they play which points to either of the latter but also maybe smacks of short termism? Alternately, do you carry on your supposed desire to change the ethos and way we play and look more long term even if in the short term it may take a while, see some struggles and even lead to relegation possibly which suggest O’Driscoll. We have moved between the battling, fighters like Warnock and Blackwell sandwiched in between the so called name managers who in theory wanted to change the approach and culture of the club (Robson, Speed). Do we go back to the battling mode or do Birch and McCabe have the conviction to do what they set out when they rightly in my opinion sacked Blackwell and carry out the change of style/approach. If they appoint an Adams type they may aswell have kept Blackwell in my opinion and I would like them to be bold and say sod the compensation (pun intended) and look at the long term approach. That would be my choice but of course other rated managers with local clubs went to the so called bigger club across the city (Jewell, Wilson spring to mind) and they floundered under the weight of expectation and who knows whether O’Driscoll could do what he has done at Doncaster at the Lane? I think he is the outstanding candidate for the job though and what he has done at Doncaster and at Championship level suggests he knows what he is doing. He may be dour and not exactly media friendly but who cares. If he gets us playing decent football and moving up the league then most fans I am sure would be very happy. I a fearful though that with the financial troubles the board may go down the cheaper route and look at a more short term option. We will see but I think we need to make a decision by the end of this week to give the new man time to bed in with the number of games coming up and January’s transfer window on the horizon too.
---------- Post added at 09:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 AM ----------
Swansea – Thought they were really poor. Every time they come to Bramall Lane it seems the same. They are high up in the table with a number of good individuals and a decent away record to boot this season. However, every year I seem to leave being really shocked at how poor they are. Saturday was no different. I thought they would have too much for United with their passing/control and ability to get goals and win away from home but they could have no real grumbles about leaving Bramall Lane with nothing.
I expected Dyer/Cotterill and Sinclair to cause our full backs a whole manner of problems but other than Sinclair having a few decent runs at Calve (his final ball/shot was awful though) the threats never really materialised. Dyer had one run at Taylor but then looked disinterested and was taken off. Cotterill came on and got on the ball but put 3 crosses behind the goal which was reminiscent of his performances at the lane. He is the sort of player that will always show some moments of real skill but more often completely frustrate and I feel he will move from club to club unless he can find some consistency.
Beattie was exactly how I remembered him at the Lane. Awful. He did used to get in good positions but was extremely wasteful when he played on loan for us but today he did not even do that and was completely anonymous. He barely even touched the ball and was rightly taken off. His replacement Easter did not do much better and they really do weak (as weak as us!) in the central striking position/s.
They played 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 depending how you look at it but I felt our midfield won the battle just through sheer work. The likes of Allen, Gower and Orlandi were not much of a threat and much of their passing came so deep they could not hurt us. Whenever they went into the last third other than a few moments from Sinclair down the left, they looked pretty clueless and to be honest other than set plays they never really put us under prolonged pressure. At the back Evans worked hard against Monk and Williams but it was always going to be a game of few chances and goals and fortunately we got it. It shows what a poor division it is when they are (were) third in the league and we are fifth bottom and there was really nothing between the sides. It shows how much confidence, being organised and sound defensively can take you up the league.
Simonsen 7/10 – Most of his saves were regulation shots that were straight at him. I cannot remember him having to make many really difficult saves. His actually handling was fine save for a cross he flapped at near the end. His kicking was utterly atrocious both from his hands and from the deck. I did not think we would find a keeper that could find the opposition as much as Paddy used to but we have achieved it!
Calve 5.5/10 – He is not convincing and I felt he was our main weak link today. Did ok going forward and showed a few nice touches and pieces of control but defensively he was given a bit of a torrid time by Sinclair as he was left one on one with him quite a bit. He was fortunate Sinclair’s final ball or shot after he often had beaten Calve was poor. Not strong enough physically in the challenge/tackle and positionally he is suspect too. He is not the answer at right back. I was crying out for Lowton to come on for either him or Yeates to solidify our right side for the final stages as that was the only area Swansea looked like getting anything out of the game.
Nosworthy 7/10 – Played well for the most part defending with purpose and common sense winning headers, tackles and reading the game well. He led the defence well and communicated well with others and looked a Premiership player for the most part until the inevitable moment when he made his mistake. He had maybe got away with a few extra touches and extravagant dribbles out of defence in the first half but one moment when he stood on the ball and let the striker in and almost score was painful to watch and could have cost us big time. Today’s performance summed him up as he often plays fairly well and looks sound but you just know at least one major rick is around the corner.
Bartley 8/10 – Excellent. He was commanding in all aspects of the game. He won lots of headers, won tackles and covered for others when needed. He was pretty much faultless today and looks a really good prospect. Unfortunately he will probably not be with us after this season and another side, if not Arsenal, will have the finished product.
Taylor 7.5/10 – His best performance for a long time; maybe ever in a Blades shirt. Nothing flashy but a solid Naysmith type performance in that he stopped crosses/wingers from advancing and did the basics. He was solid defensively, got in better positions and stopped his winger/s (Dyer and Cotterill) from getting beyond him most of the game. He actually was good in possession too and used the ball well.
Montgomery 7.5/10 – I thought today was more like the Monty of old in that he was all over the field making tackles, winning headers, blocks and interceptions. He was the United player I seemed to notice the most in the first half as he seemed to be popping up all over the place. Sure his distribution was once again patchy to say the least but he gave the midfield such an energy and presence that often meant Swansea’s creative players could not get any time on the ball to create anything. He ended up marking Pratley for long spells of the second half and did a good job on him.
Britton 7/10 – Put a lot of effort in even if he was not involved when we had possession as much as I would have liked. When he did get the ball he showed his composure and range of passing but all too often he was more occupied with picking up opponents. He has become far more of a defensive midfielder than any of us envisaged but he does need to get on the ball more even if it is receiving it from our defence and then carrying it forward.
Quinn 6.5/10 – Mixed bag. He worked hard at times and tried to ensure we fought for enough of the ball in the middle of the park and also had a few nice pieces of football with likes of Yeates, Reid and Evans. I felt he was unsure where he was actually playing though at times or marking and often he seemed in an area where he was neither helping the attackers nor protecting the defence. He has an annoying habit of marking space too and there were a number of times he pointed at teammates to pick up players instead of taking responsibility. He often was
Reid 7/10 – I actually thought it was not one of better games and he was not involved for long spells and was clearly flagging a lot time before he was taken off. However, he still showed his class on the ball and whenever he had it you thought something might happen. He put out the ball of the game that led to the goal; a quite superb raking ball that split the defence and the offside trap. He also showed a couple of other nice pieces of skill; one in particular in the first half when he nutmegged a player and then rounded another showing close control and quick feet.
Evans 7.5/10 – His best game for quite some time. He was not scintillating nor did he have lots of sublime moments. However, what he did today was work harder than I have ever seen him in a red and white shirt. The crowd responded to his efforts as they saw how much ground he was covering as the lone striker. He held the ball up better, won more headers than normal and fought for every loose ball. In possession he did ok too and combined well with teammates when he could. The goal was very cooly taken and he almost had another at the death. Much improved and he needs to show that level of work rate regardless of the goals or what he necessarily does on the ball every week.
Yeates 6/10 – Up and down game. A few nice touches and pieces of link play but he did not his beat his man too much and often drifted out of the game. I also thought he gave Calve little to no protection against Sinclair especially in the second half. He did have a couple of lung bursting runs at the end which showed the spirit of the team as we looked to see things out.
Subs –
Ward – Nice to see him back but it is a big few months for him to really nail down a place and show the promise we saw when he first came to the Lane. The last 12 months or so he has disappointed with a mixture of injuries and suspensions not helping but his form on the whole has been poor. Today he did not really get that involved and his touch was off the few times he had a chance to stretch his legs.
Batth – Came on right at the end and went up front just to give us an outlet. He is a very big lad both in height and physique.
Officials – Mick Russell. After the farce of the Palace game it could not get any worse and thankfully it didn’t. Russell refereed the game sensibly and there was no major moments of controversy all game. He was right to book Yeates for a cynical foul but maybe could have booked one of their players (Tate I think it was) who he did warn 3 or 4 times. However, that he only booked one players was a positive and he left the game flow and tried to play advantage whenever he could.
Crowd – On the face of it seems a poor crowd but the freezing weather, treacherous conditions around the country combined with it being the last weekend before Xmas meant it was always going to be low. Factor in that most of the Swansea fans never made it as most of the coaches had to turn around and go home due to the weather en route and it was not surprising it was around the 17,000 mark. I thought the atmosphere was quiet early on but those that did go got behind the team and saw the spirit and commitment of the side. The second half there was more noise as the fans tried to will United over the finish line.
---
United started with Steve Simonsen back in goal for the injured Richard Wright and Stephen Quinn replaced Johnny Ertl. Leon Britton lined up against his former side for the first time since his move to Bramall Lane in the summer and Lee Williamson was a welcome sight on the substitutes bench. Swansea had former Blades loanees Dyer and Beattie in their starting line up with another ex player Cotterill on the bench where he was joined by influential midfielder Darren Pratley.
United kicked off towards the Bramall Lane end and were the better side in the early stages with Britton and Reid influential in moving the Blades forward. The first effort towards goal so Evans flick on a long clearance and Yeates hit a fierce volley but it was well off target. Britton then was able to feed Reid who in turn played in Quinn but the assistant’s flag was up well before Quinn tucked the ball into the net. A neat move with flicks from Quinn and then Yeates saw Evans have a shot blocked and then the striker was bundled over giving a free kick opportunity but Reid’s effort from around 30 yards was blocked by the wall.
Swansea finally came into the game and Sinclair was looking a threat down the left hand side. He had one effort as he cut in but it was straight at Simonsen and then Williams left unmarked from a corner headed wide. United were still giving as good as they could get and were battling hard for possession in the middle of the field. Yeates chasing back picked up a booking for catching Orlandi but United were showing a resolution to stop the opponents hurting them and in turn were looking to feed Evans every opportunity when they attacked.
With half time approaching United took the lead and it came from a superb piece of vision from Reid. The midfielder played a superb ball over the top of the Swansea defence that fed EVANS who was clearly onside and in goal between the two centre backs. He took a touch, advance and then calmly slotted past the onrushing De Vries. It was a well made and executed goal and one United had deserved for their efforts.
Swansea had been poor in the first half and made two changes at the break with Easter and Pratley coming on for Beattie and Gower. They tried to go at United straight away and forced two corners in quick succession. Bartley had to clear from right on the line as a cross came in from Easter and then Simonsen had to save two low shots from Sinclair who was becoming more prominent.
Cotterill came on to a mixture of cheers and boos replacing the disappointing Dyer but with his first touch sent a cross behind the goal leading to sarcastic cheers from the Lane faithful who were of course all too used to the frustrating play from the winger. United were defending solidly with Bartley and Nosworthy both looking solid and Swansea had not really created many clear chances. At the other end Evans was continuing to work hard and chase lost causes but Ward came on to give him some assistance replacing the tiring Reid. A moment of over play from Nosworthy nearly led to Easter capitalising but United managed to scramble the ball clear to spare the defender’s blushes.
Swansea were trying to push United further back and most of the attacks were coming via the dangerous Sinclair but United managed to hold their back line together and remained organised. Indeed it was the home side that came closest to scoring again. Quinn managed to advance 40 yards from his own half to kill time but then he also found Evans. The striker cut in and beat his man but his shot from the angle was turned away from De Vries at the near post.
The referee added on four additional minutes which was a little strange as there had barely been a stoppage all game and 2 of the 5 substitutions came at half time. Batth came on for Evans and was put up front as nuisance value with United fans all looking anxiously at their watches. However, United saw off any further threats from the visitors fairly easily with the only real slight concern came when Simonsen managed to scramble a corner away under pressure. The final whistle brought a mixture of relief and happiness as the Blades managed to take the vital three points they needed.
United – It was better in the sense that we finally saw a performance full of effort, guts and heart and we have not seen that much in evidence this season. We did not play superb football, nor cut through the opponents at will. We did not create that many chances but we did not allow many chances at all and I actually felt we were the better side for long stretches. I thought we just about deserved to be ahead in the first half and in the second we limited them to no real chances of note and managed to be solid and organised.
What was most positive for me was the sheer effort and determination we showed and I felt a lot of the 50/50’s we won and looked more up for the fight. To see the likes of Yeates, Quinn and Evans chasing balls right to the 90th minute and beyond was heart warming. I felt United deserved the win just about and it would have been cruel if they had snatched something at the death. There was no one players (save for Bartley) who was outstanding but there were lots of solid-good performances where players simply did their job. I felt two of our poorer performers in recent times were very good; namely Taylor and Evans. I have not been their biggest fans but Taylor was solid and more determined in everything he did and Evans worked his socks off, took his goal well and never stopped right until he was taken off. Fair play to those two as they have had a lot of critics and today they deserved the plaudits.
The football was not great and at times we still made bad decisions with the ball in the last third but with Reid, Britton and Yeates we give ourselves more of a chance of keeping the ball. We had a few smatterings of decent link play and at times looked like we could get beyond them but with only one up front we did seem to opt for a more solid, organised look and meant we knew we could not be gung ho with wide attacking threats they possessed. The tactics and way we went about things worked perfectly as the midfield players tightly marked the likes of Gower, Allen and Pratley when he came on and stopped them having time and space to hurt us; the defence was organised and resolute and Evans toiled well on his own. We got the goal at a good time and then defended what we had; fairly comfortably in the end despite the predictable pattern of us defending deeper and deeper as the game went on which leads to some pressure even if it was just from corners or free kicks deep in our territory. Just nice to see a performance where you could say all the players put a lot of effort in and fight and scrapped for a result and you could actually genuinely say ‘Well done Blades you deserved that.’
Be interesting to see what next week brings in terms of the expected appointment I would think at some point. From all the rumours swirling around it seems to be between O’Driscoll, Adams and maybe Brown. It is a difficult one as do you go for someone who will get the passion roaring back (although there were signs it was coming back a bit today) and just get them away from the relegation zone no matter how they play which points to either of the latter but also maybe smacks of short termism? Alternately, do you carry on your supposed desire to change the ethos and way we play and look more long term even if in the short term it may take a while, see some struggles and even lead to relegation possibly which suggest O’Driscoll. We have moved between the battling, fighters like Warnock and Blackwell sandwiched in between the so called name managers who in theory wanted to change the approach and culture of the club (Robson, Speed). Do we go back to the battling mode or do Birch and McCabe have the conviction to do what they set out when they rightly in my opinion sacked Blackwell and carry out the change of style/approach. If they appoint an Adams type they may aswell have kept Blackwell in my opinion and I would like them to be bold and say sod the compensation (pun intended) and look at the long term approach. That would be my choice but of course other rated managers with local clubs went to the so called bigger club across the city (Jewell, Wilson spring to mind) and they floundered under the weight of expectation and who knows whether O’Driscoll could do what he has done at Doncaster at the Lane? I think he is the outstanding candidate for the job though and what he has done at Doncaster and at Championship level suggests he knows what he is doing. He may be dour and not exactly media friendly but who cares. If he gets us playing decent football and moving up the league then most fans I am sure would be very happy. I a fearful though that with the financial troubles the board may go down the cheaper route and look at a more short term option. We will see but I think we need to make a decision by the end of this week to give the new man time to bed in with the number of games coming up and January’s transfer window on the horizon too.
---------- Post added at 09:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 AM ----------
Swansea – Thought they were really poor. Every time they come to Bramall Lane it seems the same. They are high up in the table with a number of good individuals and a decent away record to boot this season. However, every year I seem to leave being really shocked at how poor they are. Saturday was no different. I thought they would have too much for United with their passing/control and ability to get goals and win away from home but they could have no real grumbles about leaving Bramall Lane with nothing.
I expected Dyer/Cotterill and Sinclair to cause our full backs a whole manner of problems but other than Sinclair having a few decent runs at Calve (his final ball/shot was awful though) the threats never really materialised. Dyer had one run at Taylor but then looked disinterested and was taken off. Cotterill came on and got on the ball but put 3 crosses behind the goal which was reminiscent of his performances at the lane. He is the sort of player that will always show some moments of real skill but more often completely frustrate and I feel he will move from club to club unless he can find some consistency.
Beattie was exactly how I remembered him at the Lane. Awful. He did used to get in good positions but was extremely wasteful when he played on loan for us but today he did not even do that and was completely anonymous. He barely even touched the ball and was rightly taken off. His replacement Easter did not do much better and they really do weak (as weak as us!) in the central striking position/s.
They played 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 depending how you look at it but I felt our midfield won the battle just through sheer work. The likes of Allen, Gower and Orlandi were not much of a threat and much of their passing came so deep they could not hurt us. Whenever they went into the last third other than a few moments from Sinclair down the left, they looked pretty clueless and to be honest other than set plays they never really put us under prolonged pressure. At the back Evans worked hard against Monk and Williams but it was always going to be a game of few chances and goals and fortunately we got it. It shows what a poor division it is when they are (were) third in the league and we are fifth bottom and there was really nothing between the sides. It shows how much confidence, being organised and sound defensively can take you up the league.
Simonsen 7/10 – Most of his saves were regulation shots that were straight at him. I cannot remember him having to make many really difficult saves. His actually handling was fine save for a cross he flapped at near the end. His kicking was utterly atrocious both from his hands and from the deck. I did not think we would find a keeper that could find the opposition as much as Paddy used to but we have achieved it!
Calve 5.5/10 – He is not convincing and I felt he was our main weak link today. Did ok going forward and showed a few nice touches and pieces of control but defensively he was given a bit of a torrid time by Sinclair as he was left one on one with him quite a bit. He was fortunate Sinclair’s final ball or shot after he often had beaten Calve was poor. Not strong enough physically in the challenge/tackle and positionally he is suspect too. He is not the answer at right back. I was crying out for Lowton to come on for either him or Yeates to solidify our right side for the final stages as that was the only area Swansea looked like getting anything out of the game.
Nosworthy 7/10 – Played well for the most part defending with purpose and common sense winning headers, tackles and reading the game well. He led the defence well and communicated well with others and looked a Premiership player for the most part until the inevitable moment when he made his mistake. He had maybe got away with a few extra touches and extravagant dribbles out of defence in the first half but one moment when he stood on the ball and let the striker in and almost score was painful to watch and could have cost us big time. Today’s performance summed him up as he often plays fairly well and looks sound but you just know at least one major rick is around the corner.
Bartley 8/10 – Excellent. He was commanding in all aspects of the game. He won lots of headers, won tackles and covered for others when needed. He was pretty much faultless today and looks a really good prospect. Unfortunately he will probably not be with us after this season and another side, if not Arsenal, will have the finished product.
Taylor 7.5/10 – His best performance for a long time; maybe ever in a Blades shirt. Nothing flashy but a solid Naysmith type performance in that he stopped crosses/wingers from advancing and did the basics. He was solid defensively, got in better positions and stopped his winger/s (Dyer and Cotterill) from getting beyond him most of the game. He actually was good in possession too and used the ball well.
Montgomery 7.5/10 – I thought today was more like the Monty of old in that he was all over the field making tackles, winning headers, blocks and interceptions. He was the United player I seemed to notice the most in the first half as he seemed to be popping up all over the place. Sure his distribution was once again patchy to say the least but he gave the midfield such an energy and presence that often meant Swansea’s creative players could not get any time on the ball to create anything. He ended up marking Pratley for long spells of the second half and did a good job on him.
Britton 7/10 – Put a lot of effort in even if he was not involved when we had possession as much as I would have liked. When he did get the ball he showed his composure and range of passing but all too often he was more occupied with picking up opponents. He has become far more of a defensive midfielder than any of us envisaged but he does need to get on the ball more even if it is receiving it from our defence and then carrying it forward.
Quinn 6.5/10 – Mixed bag. He worked hard at times and tried to ensure we fought for enough of the ball in the middle of the park and also had a few nice pieces of football with likes of Yeates, Reid and Evans. I felt he was unsure where he was actually playing though at times or marking and often he seemed in an area where he was neither helping the attackers nor protecting the defence. He has an annoying habit of marking space too and there were a number of times he pointed at teammates to pick up players instead of taking responsibility. He often was
Reid 7/10 – I actually thought it was not one of better games and he was not involved for long spells and was clearly flagging a lot time before he was taken off. However, he still showed his class on the ball and whenever he had it you thought something might happen. He put out the ball of the game that led to the goal; a quite superb raking ball that split the defence and the offside trap. He also showed a couple of other nice pieces of skill; one in particular in the first half when he nutmegged a player and then rounded another showing close control and quick feet.
Evans 7.5/10 – His best game for quite some time. He was not scintillating nor did he have lots of sublime moments. However, what he did today was work harder than I have ever seen him in a red and white shirt. The crowd responded to his efforts as they saw how much ground he was covering as the lone striker. He held the ball up better, won more headers than normal and fought for every loose ball. In possession he did ok too and combined well with teammates when he could. The goal was very cooly taken and he almost had another at the death. Much improved and he needs to show that level of work rate regardless of the goals or what he necessarily does on the ball every week.
Yeates 6/10 – Up and down game. A few nice touches and pieces of link play but he did not his beat his man too much and often drifted out of the game. I also thought he gave Calve little to no protection against Sinclair especially in the second half. He did have a couple of lung bursting runs at the end which showed the spirit of the team as we looked to see things out.
Subs –
Ward – Nice to see him back but it is a big few months for him to really nail down a place and show the promise we saw when he first came to the Lane. The last 12 months or so he has disappointed with a mixture of injuries and suspensions not helping but his form on the whole has been poor. Today he did not really get that involved and his touch was off the few times he had a chance to stretch his legs.
Batth – Came on right at the end and went up front just to give us an outlet. He is a very big lad both in height and physique.
Officials – Mick Russell. After the farce of the Palace game it could not get any worse and thankfully it didn’t. Russell refereed the game sensibly and there was no major moments of controversy all game. He was right to book Yeates for a cynical foul but maybe could have booked one of their players (Tate I think it was) who he did warn 3 or 4 times. However, that he only booked one players was a positive and he left the game flow and tried to play advantage whenever he could.
Crowd – On the face of it seems a poor crowd but the freezing weather, treacherous conditions around the country combined with it being the last weekend before Xmas meant it was always going to be low. Factor in that most of the Swansea fans never made it as most of the coaches had to turn around and go home due to the weather en route and it was not surprising it was around the 17,000 mark. I thought the atmosphere was quiet early on but those that did go got behind the team and saw the spirit and commitment of the side. The second half there was more noise as the fans tried to will United over the finish line.
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