United v Coventry: quick thoughts from the upper tier

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Balham

Balham

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We stole a point. the first 70 minutes were as bad as I've ever seen. Coventry did a job on us.

Turner: 6 did nothing wrong really, horribly exposed for both goals

Brayford 6: tried but only really linked up with Freeman
McEveley 5: got turned a couple of times and was in no man's land for their second
Basham 7: got stuck in when moved to midfield but passing was mixed
Harris 5: caught in possession on halfway twice, once ended in a yellow and the other in a goal. Also gave their winger far too much space in the build up to their second.

JCR 4: wasn't really in the game
Doyle 7: did the Doyle things well and a classy finish for the first
Coutts 3: don't think anything came off for him and his work rate was poor
Murphy 7: danger man as ever but touch wasn't as assured as normal

Baxter 2: idiot. Thought the red card looked harsh but why give the ref that option?

Done 7: never stopped running despite getting no service at all. Unlucky to not score.

Ref: twat
 



Done scored our 2nd I think. He will get credited with it by the dubious goals panel I reckon. Deflected in off him.
 
We started off poorly but we will never know what could have been as that fat muppet Baxter left us horribly exposed.

We showed guts to get back into it, but it's one of those were it look like two points dropped at kick off but looks like a point gained from twenty minutes from the end.
 
Balham Blade said:
We stole a point. the first 70 minutes were as bad as I've ever seen. Coventry did a job on us.

Turner: 6 did nothing wrong really, horribly exposed for both goals

Brayford 6: tried but only really linked up with Freeman
McEveley 5: got turned a couple of times and was in no man's land for their second
Basham 7: got stuck in when moved to midfield but passing was mixed
Harris 5: caught in possession on halfway twice, once ended in a yellow and the other in a goal. Also gave their winger far too much space in the build up to their second.

JCR 4: wasn't really in the game
Doyle 7: did the Doyle things well and a classy finish for the first
Coutts 3: don't think anything came off for him and his work rate was poor
Murphy 7: danger man as ever but touch wasn't as assured as normal

Baxter 2: idiot. Thought the red card looked harsh but why give the ref that option?

Done 7: never stopped running despite getting no service at all. Unlucky to not score.

Ref: twat
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Agree with most of that. Surprisingly Freeman changed the game with his energy and enthusiasm.
I think today showed we need a dominant centre half and that we need Basham in midfield
 
Rodley said:
Coutts was carrying a thigh strain.
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He also looked knackered very early doors. An off day for him today.

I can only say that the Baxter challenge must look a lot worse on the replay, as at my angle in real time he looked to have taken the ball and not the man... Certainly nowhere near as bad as the earlier challenge on Murphy. From my view I expected Clough to complain or appeal, not what he has said.
 
I'm giving myself a mark of 0 out of ten for leaving with fifteen minutes to go.... lol...

Freeman on and were 2-0 down and a player sent off, come on, were off... egg on face for tezza...

That's why cloughs a football manager and i'm sat on john street..
 
Some fans just could not wait for Baxter to have an shocker. The abuse is a bit much. Stupid decision to go in like he did and he deserves to be dropped for that, however what pissed me off the most was the cheating bastard Coventry players and the dickhead manager running across the pitch. That was the real reason Baxter was sent off. Despise the players involved in that. Hope they go down.
 
true99blade said:
Some fans just could not wait for Baxter to have an shocker. The abuse is a bit much. Stupid decision to go in like he did and he deserves to be dropped for that, however what pissed me off the most was the cheating bastard Coventry players and the dickhead manager running across the pitch. That was the real reason Baxter was sent off. Despise the players involved in that. Hope they go down.
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Watching their manager clapping as Jose walked was a bit much.

Do not like to see that at all.....no class!
 
I thought Doyle was excellent today, as was Basham in the 2nd half. I was surprised when Freeman came on but he was also excellent and made vital contributions to the game. It really does amaze me how biased some of our fans are though.Everyone complaining the ref sent off Baxter and then appealing for fouls that were never fouls. We've had some crap refs but I thought this one got the major decisions right.

Although it was funny when McEveley had to count out the yards for their wall in the 2nd half :p
 
We saw the best and worst of Baxter, all within a couple of minutes - killer pass out to JCR which created an opening, followed by a rash, late challenge, caused by him lacking half a yard of pace. A real shame because he seemed fired up with a point to prove today.

Despite playing with 10 men, we defended valiantly except for conceding two poor goals. Harris should have dealt with the hoof ball for the first goal and McEveley, likewise, with a fairly innocuous cross for the second. Kennedy's lack of height nearly cost us when he missed a header, which was flicked on at 2-2 but generally we kept Coventry at bay. Right now we need Basham at centre half and in midfield, which reinforces the need for a dominant centre half (I hope we don't play Preston in the play-offs without one).

Coventry had one or two decent individuals, especially 'Fax Man Fleck', who was their best player. O'Brien and Samuel also did well. They are quite capable of taking a few points off our promotion rivals.

Finally, what's going on with the small section of Brayford doubters? Every time he gets the ball he tries to be positive. Yes, a few of his crosses weren't great today but he was still bombing forward all game, creating space for others and putting a real shift in. I'm mystified why some people want to get on his case every time he makes an error. He's a confidence player who clearly thrives on feeling loved, yet some of our 'fans' seem intent on undermining him.
 
true99blade said:
Some fans just could not wait for Baxter to have an shocker. The abuse is a bit much. Stupid decision to go in like he did and he deserves to be dropped for that, however what pissed me off the most was the cheating bastard Coventry players and the dickhead manager running across the pitch. That was the real reason Baxter was sent off. Despise the players involved in that. Hope they go down.
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I cannot believe there are many, if any, fans that pay money and hope one of their own players is poor.

It is possible to not rate a player without the need to be proved right.

UTB
 



Harry's Game said:
We started off poorly but we will never know what could have been as that fat muppet Baxter left us horribly exposed.

We showed guts to get back into it, but it's one of those were it look like two points dropped at kick off but looks like a point gained from twenty minutes from the end.
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Whilst I generally agree with the points in your post, would you call Baxter a fat Muppet to his face? Always the acid test...
 
silverfox said:
Watching their manager clapping as Jose walked was a bit much.

Do not like to see that at all.....no class!
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Agree. The arguments about JB's sending off will rage on. I thought it was a clumsy, mistimed challenge but personally didn't think it merited a straight red for a first offence so early in the game. After that, the ref. rapidly lost the plot.

Coventry purely came to disrupt today, which is a pity (for them) as they asked more than enough questions of our defence to have won easily. But the way several of their players surrounded the ref. urging to have Baxter sent off was disgraceful. If I was a ref. and any player carried on like that or started waving an imaginary red card, my response would be 'So you want to see a red card, do you? Well here's one for you, you little cunt.'
 
Small Mendonca said:
It really does amaze me how biased some of our fans are though.Everyone complaining the ref sent off Baxter and then appealing for fouls that were never fouls. We've had some crap refs but I thought this one got the major decisions right.
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Agreed. Baxter flew in two footed and caught the fella. The ref took his time, asked the other officials for their views, then made the right call. Good refereeing.

He might have booked another of theirs for a collision with Murphy, but other than that he did well.
 
JohnDenver said:
Agreed. Baxter flew in two footed and caught the fella. The ref took his time, asked the other officials for their views, then made the right call. Good refereeing.

He might have booked another of theirs for a collision with Murphy, but other than that he did well.
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The Baxter decisions sounds like it is proving to be the correct one, but the ref still had a mare. McEveley actually showing him how far back the wall should be a bit embarrassing for a professional referee.
 
Balham Blade said:
We stole a point. the first 70 minutes were as bad as I've ever seen. Coventry did a job on us.
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Playing with 10 men for 70 minutes +stoppage time is going to be difficult. Judging the players on that is ridiculous. Everything they worked on through the week went straight out the window when Baxter went off.

Clough brought Kennedy on at HT to steady it a bit and make it difficult for them to break us down, that would've enabled us to try and nick the game on the counter. Unfortunately that game plan went straight out the window too when the 2nd went in.

After going 2-0 down they all dug in really well and you have to give them all big credit for that. Not only to get 1 goal back but 2 after chasing the game for an hour.

Ref = twat?? Why because he rightly sent of Baxter?
 
LSF said:
Whilst I generally agree with the points in your post, would you call Baxter a fat Muppet to his face? Always the acid test...
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Dunno but seeing as I am one of the ones who pay his wages with my season ticket money I think I can on here and he is lucky to get away with just muppet, there are some calling a lot worse over on bladesmad.
 
Deadly_D'Jaffo said:
The Baxter decisions sounds like it is proving to be the correct one, but the ref still had a mare. McEveley actually showing him how far back the wall should be a bit embarrassing for a professional referee.
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Benefit of the doubt on that one for me. The ref had yet to mark the ball and walk the yards and mark the line. He was just being too slow sorting things out. No harm done in the end.
 
Foxy said:
He was also incredibly inconsistent and at times, ridiculous (I was convinced he'd book McEveley for the wall incident, instead, he was shamed into doing his job correctly).
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I try to not get mad at the refs in this league now. They're all toss. It's like "rent a ref". Such a refreshing change when we get premiership refs in the cups, they tend to have a lot more common sense...

I was playing at goals the other night and the ref gave a free kick against us. I asked him what he'd given it for and it went like this:

"It's a free kick, that's all you need to know"
"No, i want to know what you've given"
"A free kick"
"What for?"
"you don't need to know what it's for, i'm the referee and i've given the free kick"
"yes but what for? a headbutt? a kick? an elbow?"
"As said, i'm the ref and it's a free kick. So if you don't want to walk, i suggest you shut up"

My god, he clearly gets beaten by his wife. Twat.
 
I thought the referee was terrible, from my view on the Kop the Baxter decision was the last thing he got right for about an hour.

Doyle was excellent today, delighted he got a goal. What a pity he didn't set himself better for that one at the end! It must be said that we were poor even before the red card, indeed we were rubbish from the get go up until I guess when Done nipped in on that back pass and nearly squared it for Freeman. After we scored it was clear as day we were going to get another though, so well done on that front Blades.
 



I thought Coventry were poor, over the whole of the match. They started off a bit stronger without creating a great deal. After the sending off, as we adjusted, Coventry continued in the same vain, struggling to remember the clear cut chances they created. They were better when they scored, obviously, but at 2-0 up they got caught in the headlights and didn't seem to know which to go. IMHO the Blades dominated the majority of the second half and as I watched Blades fan leaving with 15 minutes plus injury time I was incredulous. Opportunities and the balance of the match were coming the Blades way and as me and Mrs HB agreed, one goal will quickly be two if it comes. And it did. A draw that feels like a win. One point, not three, but it could be a very valuable point in time.
 
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