V. Nervy Crowd On Saturday

[5tannington Blade]

Firstly great game on Saturday and the result was the most important thing. So happy to get the double over Leeds.


I couldn’t help but feel though after the first twenty minutes our crowd was so nervous – it’s like there was a lot of pressure on the team to win and keep us in the chase for the playoffs. It seemed a long way away from the early parts of the season where were in dreamland and the Kop was almost sucking the ball in at times.


I appreciate how we play completely transcends the crowd and we didn’t quite get into our usual groove after the first 20 minutes. I do think there’s a bit too much pressure and anxiety around at the minute at Home. I think we all need to chill out and enjoy this part of the season, even if we do start to get cut adrift from the top 6. I think too many fans’ expectations have been raised from August to November. I wish we’d started poorly and we charging up the table now to bring back the feel good factor to the lane.


What does everyone else think?!

 

[wizadry]

We need to get behind them more, our numbers are great but the vocal side of our crowd at present isn’t good enough for what they’ve treated us too this season, I’ve been one to stick up for our fans in the past but we need to be a lot better now, there’s no excuses from us.

 

[FTPE]

We are the most nervy/pessimistic fans I've ever known.
Don't get me wrong I don't want any of that pig arrogance but it really works against us at times.
We can be nervous, we've had plenty of reasons to be over the years, but we can still cheer, sing and give the boys our all.
I've been guilty of it too but this current side deserves our backing and some positivity.

 

[Bartleby]

I didn't get that impression at all, thought the early goal seemed to lift the crowd if anything.

 

[Tunstall Fred]

Not me personally speaking,I was always confident of us beating them,even with them having a new manager prior to the game,even when they scored I thought we would still go on and win,I was a tad irate when both Bash and Holmes both wasted the chance to run the clock down even more.

A very enjoyable afternoon.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

I had to move to the Pukka Pies stand as had a couple of mates want to come at the last minute, so I'm not best placed to comment as it was mostly empty, but I have to disagree.

I thought the early goal settled us and the noise from the fans was constant. Even when they equalised we stayed noisy and didn't think we were nervy at all.

Why do people insist on criticising our fans? We are so self flagellating at times...

 

[Rodley]

I had to move to the Pukka Pies stand as had a couple of mates want to come at the last minute, so I'm not best placed to comment as it was mostly empty, but I have to disagree.

I thought the early goal settled us and the noise from the fans was constant. Even when they equalised we stayed noisy and didn't think we were nervy at all.

Why do people insist on criticising our fans? We are so self flagellating at times...

Because the atmosphere is the only thing we can actually affect.

 

[Davalon]

Totally agree. I sometimes think too many of our fans expect too much from our support and can't wait to criticise.

Any excuse to use an experience of good home support at one of our away games to call our fans out.

That said I did think we were a bit subdued on Saturday all things considered.

I watched back parts of the game last night that I Sky Plussed from Saturday and even Don Goodman said on commentary he was a bit surprised how quiet we were.

 

[8lade]

Perhaps after the great goal, missing 2 good chances in that first 20 minutes does start you thinking 'we're going to get sucker punched soon'.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Because the atmosphere is the only thing we can actually affect.

I'm not sure making shit up about the fans is going to have an impact on the atmosphere...

Unless of course you claim to have received a barrage of kidney punches.

 

[Ricky]

Don't worry, things will magically improve.

 

[LondonBlade89]

I did think the Kop was a little quiet on Saturday. Might have been nerves. Unsurprising considering how it was a big Yorkshire derby and at the moment a lot of our matches have a bit of a 'must-win' feel.

 

[Baaaaaaa Blades]

go to any game in any stadium in this country and i personally think BDTBL is up there for atmosphere and fans backing/ chanting etc - Wolves recently showed they are buzzing right now and was better than us but you can understand why!

You watch Match of the day and most grounds sound like library's

unfortunately in this day i think the atmospheres of all games has deminished allot , even away fans are poor in most games IMO - this i thought would be allot better this season with bigger followings but dont think it has been -prob Leeds and Villa have been the most vocal

radomly the only time i think it has been quiet was the Villa Game - seemed very flat at the start of the game for some reason..


on a side note ,i think our away following and the noise generated is fantanstic and rarely see anyone even get close to matching it at BL

generally i think our home atmosphere has been good this year and i love the noise when we are attacking /generally positive /encouraging support


you will always get the odd fans at BL and any ground , who want to slag off players, manager, desso , the Pies etc , think these people generally come to BL to winge and voice there frustartions with life not necessarily the Blades ! they almost seem to enjoy it when we are loosing /playing badly !

a bloke near me when i sat back in John street years back would whinge and whine about everything even when we were promoted to prem and the triple assult season - i moved before Robson came in , he probably would have loved the years that followed !

 

[him behind you]

We need to get behind them more, our numbers are great but the vocal side of our crowd at present isn’t good enough for what they’ve treated us too this season, I’ve been one to stick up for our fans in the past but we need to be a lot better now, there’s no excuses from us.

I would say that had it not been for G/H block on saturday, there would have been almost silence in the first half. It was almost as if the Kop had been soundproofed in the first half but it picked up in the 2nd......and I was in C block in the south stand. It also sounded as if H block was triggering some noise from the upper corner where I normally sit and where it is normally quiet - typical for it to liven up when I'm not there ,

 

[S64 Blade]

I thought that the atmosphere on H was the best it’s been in ages (other than against the pigs). Everyone was stood for the whole game and quite a few songs got going for a change.

Hoping it can continue, but with the next two home games being QPR and Burton, I doubt it.

 

[Ricky]

The 'nerves' suggestion baffles me.

Are there seriously fans who sit there shitting themselves to the point they can't think straight or sing? Thank fuck we've not got these types on the pitch, eh!

Any collective awareness from our fans about when support is needed and how it's the only way we can make a difference seems to be completely lacking.

 

[Esablade]

Hungover most of em..

 

[bromtom]

Fantastic attendances but it does feel quieter.

As above, got mentioned in Comms on Saturday, and even in the programme and pre match stuff, there are things from Wilder like "we need everyone to get behind us" whereas in the early season it was more "we have fantastic backing", now that could be just be a general call to arms but I do often feel aware of the potential for it to be better.

It's obviously quite nervy, results aren't always going our way, and we've picked up some bad habits (conceding late, conceding worldies) that makes it quite tense but it's counterintuitive to be quiet in that situation surely.

A couple of results and it should improve but I just wish we had our ~3000 away fans right up the middle of the Kop getting everyone going.

 

[bromtom]

The 'nerves' suggestion baffles me.

Are there seriously fans who sit there shitting themselves to the point they can't think straight or sing? Thank fuck we've not got these types on the pitch, eh!

Any collective awareness from our fans about when support is needed and how it's the only way we can make a difference seems to be completely lacking.

Need to get some of these with a remote for Gary Sinclair.

 

[Notts Blade 123]

Totally agree - I went with a friend who hasn't been all season and all he did was moan and complain about how bad we were. I've decided I'm not going with him anymore because it put me in such a bad mood; but I don't think he's the only one we have such a negative fanbase on the whole.

 

[Northyorksblade]

Living in the midst of mainly Leeds fans, we were particularly nervous Saturday, but we all agreed, get that game out of the way and just enjoy the rest of the season, come what may.
Now if that's how it works out, is another matter completely.

 

[sheffielder]

Booze, quite simply booze. When you have an early kick off or play Sunday people aren’t as oiled up as required.

Spurs used to blame the Euro league on them playing Thursday Sunday, but it’s not different than to them playing Wednesday Saturday in anyway apart from on a Sunday their fans don’t drink as much and the kick off was usually earlier. It’s not really that hard to work out the difference.

Do people think if we had played Leeds on a Friday night it would not be too dissimilar to when we played the pigs?

 

[Grecian2000]

Loving this thread.

When we lose we blame the players, when we win we "blame" the crowd.
Long may it continue. As the crowd actually make fuck all difference to the game I'll take them taking a battering every game.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

I really don't understand our fans this season, we're doing so well and the atmosphere has been like a mortuary all season.

Doesn't make any sense, last season it was far better and that was our 5th season in League One with smaller crowds.

Definitely think some kind of singing section is needed, like Crystal Palace have. The team deserves more than the vocal backing we're giving them.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Booze, quite simply booze. When you have an early kick off or play Sunday people aren’t as oiled up as required.

Spurs used to blame the Euro league on them playing Thursday Sunday, but it’s not different than to them playing Wednesday Saturday in anyway apart from on a Sunday their fans don’t drink as much and the kick off was usually earlier. It’s not really that hard to work out the difference.

Do people think if we had played Leeds on a Friday night it would not be too dissimilar to when we played the pigs?

If its booze then why has it been like that at every home game this season? Even the Wednesday game it was quiet for long periods.

 

[sheffielder]

If its booze then why has it been like that at every home game this season? Even the Wednesday game it was quiet for long periods.

I think it’s more noticeable at early kick offs. And Wednesday I wouldn’t say quiet for long
Periods, but you could say it was a Shite game for Longmont periods. The pig fans froze and basically did nothing because they thought they were going to have their arse handed to them

 

[nicksufc]

It'll be better when we're in the Championship, with big away foll-.........ah.

 

[blader]

Our fans really aren’t that good generally, particularly compared to many other home grounds.

I even watched the Huddersfield game with envy at the weekend as their ground was absolutely bouncing, and they made noise all the way through. Palace is another example, where these sides win much fewer games than we do but their fans are far superior!

I actually don’t really obsess over atmosphere, isn’t only interest is the football on show and we have been treated to some very enjoyable football over the last 18 months. It never bothers me, but the atmosphere is quite stale at Bramall Lane, which I think largely is down to the ‘singing’ fans being scattered aro Nd the ground. The 2 aforementioned clubs, alongside: Leeds, Villa, Stoke to name a few I can think of, have very obvious sections of the ground where all their singers are placed. We don’t seem to have that, which diluted the atmosphere somewhat.

Anyway, we’re competing at the top end of the championship, who cares?

 

[GV Blade]

United fans in my opinion have always been more vocal and created a more hostile atmosphere when our backs are against the wall.
When we are in a relegation battle or playing better and bigger teams. Think the best atmosphere so far was against Brentford, first match of the season.
We all need to take a responsibility for it. The players and management have done their bit, the footballs generally good.
Maybe we have been spoilt - and expect the players to do the business without our backing ?
Lets hope the volume notches up a bit as we try to get into a play-off spot.

 

[FlamingLip]

Since our bad run i have to admit the Kop has been really quiet. Last two home games the atmosphere on the whole has been really disappointing. Even think the derby match was comparatively poor.

The fans most likely to try and give backing are G and H in the South.