PokerBlade
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2015
- Messages
- 5,342
- Reaction score
- 12,315
We're doing better than even our own fans predicted at the end of last season. We're performing on a lower budget. Our record signing was from a Championship side who'd deemed him surplus to requirements and for a fee that was less than we could afford to bid for Waghorn who went to Derby. We're playing against sides with great up and comers and seasoned pros with England caps to their name (Barry at WBA, Downing at Boro and so on).
To put it in context, we're overachieving now for the same reason that 12th in League One was underachieving. In that division we had a great budget, bigger pull when competing for players (who would you choose, playing in front of 20k a week for the Blades or living and playing in Rochdale?). We stunned that division by paying £2m for a full back that no one else could've afforded or even gained the interest of. Now we miss out on players because Derby want them too.
With all of that considered, we are doing better than could be reasonably expected. I'll call that overachieving.
What I resent is people using "overachieving" to mean we don't really deserve to be here, we aren't really as good as our position reflects, or whatever other negative they're trying to slip in. We've got a squad, and they have consistently applied the same approach to games, and consistently got results. It doesn't matter than no one in the Championship knew the name John Fleck or Jack O'Connell before we came up. Those players have done more than enough to prove that they're every bit as good as anything thrown at them in this division. Billy Sharp scoring goals is not some anomaly. He's proven season after season that if you make chances, he will finish them.
So, sorry to all the clubs that are underachieving. We've been there very recently. But we were where we were on merit and we are where we are on merit. Same goes for Wednesday. Just because they've had to make a bunch of terrible decisions to end up in the current lot doesn't mean we haven't earned ours.
To put it in context, we're overachieving now for the same reason that 12th in League One was underachieving. In that division we had a great budget, bigger pull when competing for players (who would you choose, playing in front of 20k a week for the Blades or living and playing in Rochdale?). We stunned that division by paying £2m for a full back that no one else could've afforded or even gained the interest of. Now we miss out on players because Derby want them too.
With all of that considered, we are doing better than could be reasonably expected. I'll call that overachieving.
What I resent is people using "overachieving" to mean we don't really deserve to be here, we aren't really as good as our position reflects, or whatever other negative they're trying to slip in. We've got a squad, and they have consistently applied the same approach to games, and consistently got results. It doesn't matter than no one in the Championship knew the name John Fleck or Jack O'Connell before we came up. Those players have done more than enough to prove that they're every bit as good as anything thrown at them in this division. Billy Sharp scoring goals is not some anomaly. He's proven season after season that if you make chances, he will finish them.
So, sorry to all the clubs that are underachieving. We've been there very recently. But we were where we were on merit and we are where we are on merit. Same goes for Wednesday. Just because they've had to make a bunch of terrible decisions to end up in the current lot doesn't mean we haven't earned ours.
