United! BBC series

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What I'd give to have a team like that again. Id even take the shitty board and being badly run, if only we had a team with that mentality, the pride, that heart. Something all the fans felt part of, the players and fans against the world attitude.

Does modern football even allow for that kind of ethos any more?
 
brownie4583 said:
Can you imagine the stick the present players would get from Bassett?
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Yeh that's was the immediate thing that impressed me with Bassett.

He was passionate like a fan and not frightened of ripping into the players publicly. He made it clear, it was his way or the highway.

Some of his post match interviews were classics. Saying "if I was a fan I'd demand a refund" and "I wish to apologise to the fans because that was dreadful. Can take below par performances but I'll never accept a lack of effort".

Bassett came across as passionate as the most ardent Blade, no bull$hit or spin and that gained him tremendous respect amongst the fans. He became one of us.
 
Sheffsteel said:
Yeh that's was the immediate thing that impressed me with Bassett.

He was passionate like a fan and not frightened of ripping into the players publicly. He made it clear, it was his way or the highway.

Some of his post match interviews were classics. Saying "if I was a fan I'd demand a refund" and "I wish to apologise to the fans because that was dreadful. Can take below par performances but I'll never accept a lack of effort".

Bassett came across as passionate as the most ardent Blade, no bull$hit or spin and that gained him tremendous respect amongst the fans. He became one of us.
Click to expand...

I always like how Sir Bob Booker won over the fans - he was utter shite when he first joined, but put in 100% - but even after a loss or bad performance he'd walk up to the kop at the end of the match and applaud the fans. Showed bottle and the fans appreciated it, he got less stick and more support and rest is history.
 
Sheffsteel said:
Yeh that's was the immediate thing that impressed me with Bassett.

He was passionate like a fan and not frightened of ripping into the players publicly. He made it clear, it was his way or the highway.

Some of his post match interviews were classics. Saying "if I was a fan I'd demand a refund" and "I wish to apologise to the fans because that was dreadful. Can take below par performances but I'll never accept a lack of effort".

Bassett came across as passionate as the most ardent Blade, no bull$hit or spin and that gained him tremendous respect amongst the fans. He became one of us.
Click to expand...

In 2005ish I went to see us play Plymouth away and we were on the train with Geoff Taylor who was scouting for Reading. On the way back we saw him at the station and his phone went. It was Bassett. We asked Geoff to say hi for us. He says "Dave, they say you're a cunt" then he paused and said to us "He says you're right". He went off to have a quiet chat with Bassett and as he walked away I heard him say "No Dave, we were shit today". Even after 10 years, it was still "we".
 

HeCanDoMagic said:
I always like how Sir Bob Booker won over the fans - he was utter shite when he first joined, but put in 100% - but even after a loss or bad performance he'd walk up to the kop at the end of the match and applaud the fans. Showed bottle and the fans appreciated it, he got less stick and more support and rest is history.
Click to expand...

Agree about Booker.
He's a Blades legend but it wasn't for his ability.

In general Booker wasn't that good but I remember him doing an interview and saying he's been at Brentford all his career and its a dream to play for a big club at the end of his career. He thanked Bassett for the transfer and promised the fans he would always give 100%, which he did. Booker always used to applaud the fans at the end and he played like he was a fan himself.

Agana was another one. In his first interview he said he played non league and thought he'd never become a pro but Watford gave him a chance and now he can't believe he's playing in front of 12,000 every week. Again said he feels humble and will give 100%.

Both were genuinely decent blokes and adopted Blades. I mentioned it the other say but having a manager with enormous character and bringing in characters like the Crazy Gang could go along way to bringing back the love.

Chris Morgan was good but not the greatest defender but what made him special was his influence. He was the type you want in the trenches. He was a winner, a battler. He give out hard tackles but willingly take hard tackles.

With Morgs in the team other players felt more up for the battle. We need no nonsense characters with influence.

I believe we do have talented players but when the going gets tough they don't want to know and can't handle pressure or expectation.
 
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Sheffsteel said:
Agree about Booker.
He's a Blades legend but it wasn't for his ability.

In general Booker wasn't that good but I remember him doing an interview and saying he's been at Brentford all his career and its a dream to play for a big club at the end of his career. He thanked Bassett for the transfer and promised the fans he would always give 100%, which he did. Booker always used to applaud the fans at the end and he played like he was a fan himself.

Agana was another one. In his first interview he said he played non league and thought he'd never become a pro but Watford gave him a chance and now he can't believe he's playing in front of 12,000 every week. Again said he feels humble and will give 100%.

Both were genuinely decent blokes and adopted Blades. I mentioned it the other say but having a manager with enormous character and bringing in characters like the Crazy Gang could go along way to bringing back the love.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately the trend for chasing youth players and the money they can earn without kicking a ball for the first team is ruining a generation of players.
They grow up like spoiled kids because no fucker dares discipline them in case they sulk and go to another academy.
They're not even being coached properly. In the last week or so I've heard two or three managers from the lower leagues saying they're getting kids who've been rejected from the big club academies who can't fucking defend. Their agents go on about how they can play it out from the back and are technically good but they can't challenge in the air, can't tackle properly and can't head a ball away from the goal when needed. They're all being trained to play against Messi type players and then they're having to face big fuckers (technical term) who 'old man' them.

I think we're going to see a revival of hoof because a lot of modern defenders can't deal with aerial bombardment and players like Deano, Whitehurst etc.
 
Bush,

Wouldn't surprise me at all.
It's funny how football goes into phases and fashions.

Watford of the early 80's had fast young athletic black players and clubs struggled to handle that style.

Wimbledon in the mid 80's had the physically hard and gamesmanship approach. They weren't that good but were brilliant at stopping the opposition from playing and unsettling them.

Recently Barcelona and Spain tippy tappy style was seen as the future with Swansea and Southampton (and even England) jumping in that band wagon.

Then Bayern direct (almost English style) play destroys Barca with Borussia Dortmund leading the way with high energy fast direct play and closing down.

Leicester and Watford are having success with a direct style and now all of a sudden people are saying maybe we should ditch Barca passing style and copy Bayern/ Leicester style.

That's another problem we have.
For the past 4 years SU have preached the Barca style with patient passing. We have loads of players for this style but no speed, athleticism or physicality for the Leicester style.

So if we want to adopt a fast temp direct style we need a full clear out and it will take time because the Academy has been taught the patient passing style.
 
If there's one thread that needs to be read by the Prince, Jim, McCabe, Adkins and all the players then it's this one.

This sums up what it means to be a Blade.

These guys didn't need the words 'we are all UNITED' spouted at 'em. They just did it.
 
Sheffsteel said:
Bush,

Wouldn't surprise me at all.
It's funny how football goes into phases and fashions.

Watford of the early 80's had fast young athletic black players and clubs struggled to handle that style.

Wimbledon in the mid 80's had the physically hard and gamesmanship approach. They weren't that good but were brilliant at stopping the opposition from playing and unsettling them.

Recently Barcelona and Spain tippy tappy style was seen as the future with Swansea and Southampton (and even England) jumping in that band wagon.

Then Bayern direct (almost English style) play destroys Barca with Borussia Dortmund leading the way with high energy fast direct play and closing down.

Leicester and Watford are having success with a direct style and now all of a sudden people are saying maybe we should ditch Barca passing style and copy Bayern/ Leicester style.

That's another problem we have.
For the past 4 years SU have preached the Barca style with patient passing. We have loads of players for this style but no speed, athleticism or physicality for the Leicester style.

So if we want to adopt a fast temp direct style we need a full clear out and it will take time because the Academy has been taught the patient passing style.
Click to expand...

We dont have the players to adopt any style In my opinion. Like a patch work quilt our squad.
 
WalthamstowBlade said:
Aye, too much like Barcelona, thats been our problem.
Click to expand...

I believe the quote from the board is that our ling term vision was to model ourselves on Swansea with the whole club playing tippy tappy patient possession football like Barca and Spain.

Barca style takes patience, confidence and skill of course. When's it goes well it's great and pleasing on the eye.

Whereas with the more basic Leicester style you can be playing poorly but a long punt upfield to speedy forwards and wham bam it's a goal from nothing.

Also talented players comfortable on the ball tend to cost more whereas buying athletes with only basic ability are much cheaper and can produce the goods if playing to a system.
 
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this is the programme that got me into the blades, great memories and last year i even managed to get both the home and away shirts in perfect nick from ebay. I wish the current players had that attitude....and manager. UTB
 
Cheers Walthamstow.
I can probably bin my VHS machine now - I was really only keeping it in case I wanted to watch these again!
 
I've just worked out who Walthamstow blade is... :)..

Might be wrong tho...;)
 

First season I started supporting the Blades (well been to a few matches the prior season but properly got into it 89/90).

I was a member of the Stocksbridge Supporters Club, met Bob Booker, Ian Bryson, Bradders and a few other at supporters club nights, so close to the players, none of this Billy big Bollocks, as a 12yr old it was a dream but imagine the idiots down there at the moment bonding with fans like they used to. The clubs in a mess top to bottom, at least back then Reg came out and said "we've got nowt" and Bassett was left to get on with it.

McCabe is mugging Jim off, Jim is getting nowt from the Prince and Baki has disappeared back to Turkey never to be seen again.

McCabe needs to sell up, lock stock, the Prince, Jim and Baki need to cut their losses and walk away and all players out of contract in the summer need to be released and the club needs to be run as a democracy involving the fans, there are so many things we see that are missed by the owners and manager, clean slates for piss poor players, Jose chucking Coke up his nose, players doing it week in, week out slipping through our grasp and going to lesser rivals.

A big overhaul needed!
 
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