In The Hat And Back On The Road

Football is very strange at the best of times but no more so than when one alright result doubled with the prospect of a new ground and a London away day get rolled into one week,  Undoubtedly to those in loftier positions, this would look about as bleak as Brendan Rogers Liverpool 'project' at this moment in time.  But the Blades find themselves in the third round of the cup that caused much momentum and some season defining moments last term, things are looking up one could say.


It seems fitting that after a series of terrible home performances United and Clough rolled the dice in the second half of a game playing a more positive system.  I didn't feel the game last Saturday warranted a full blog post as anyone who witnessed the first half doubled with the freezing temperatures didn't need to re-live what was relatively dire.  The change to the formation and the approach in the second half though was much more positive.  Don't get me wrong lets not be negative but it was hardly exciting. 


I do feel the following points are worth mentioning though:

1. Marc McNulty.  Is he our best striker?  No.  Does he offer more than the rest of them?  Maybe.  Should he start more games?  Absolutely.  I feel sorry for McNulty as I don't feel Mr Clough has given him a fair crack of the whip.  His ability to nick the ball off of the defenders toe alone gives an extra threat.  In a two with O'Grady or Higdon would produce goals there is no arguing about it - so at least in home games I would like to see this risk taken more often than not.  He is a little bulldog and god knows we need that.
2. Switch to 442 - for a formation which we haven't played since the dark days of the end of Danny Wilson's reign - I say dark days as it was something I would compare to watching a close friend marry a basket case with the inevitability of impending disaster which you are helpless to stop - we adapted very well all be it against a team from League 2.  Start a game like that at home and we could blow someone away.
3. Cuvelier - have we turned into the pigs?  Fucking hell.  We paid decent money for this kid who was highly rated and we haven't seen anything from him yet but yes he looked alright for 5 minutes.  Obviously like any blade I am delighted to see him back fit but lets calm down.  Even the official site is publishing his every movement.  I always remember a good mate and infamous twitterblade Tyrone saying "I remember Cuvelier coming on against at Home Crawley and bottling it."  Its not everyday you remember someone remembering but my points still resonates.  Maybe you'll remember me remembering when he scores on Saturday?

What was our award for beating a League 2 side?  A trip to the big smoke to see us play QPR at Loftus Road.  The last time I was in West London I had a joyful afternoon enjoying table service in an O'Neils next to Shepherds Bush Empire.  No sooner had the Guinness been delivered we would pay and upon the change returning, a fresh pint ordered and between the 6 of us 'some r8 ale was quaffed' - efficiency personified.


I hate Harry Redknapp, I like Joey Barton, I am astonished how many professional games Clint Hill has played in the top flight, think Rob Green is a joke and think Loftus Road is a tidy little ground I especially like seeing the old BBC centre form the upper tier of the away end.  Aside from that I have no real opinion on them as a club - I am just delighted for a London game.  With Orient coming in April this game for me personally cant come soon enough.  I have drunk a significantly small amount of M&S lager this season and something needs to change before too long.  Hopefully we will take a good following down there and make a real day of it.


This weekend bring a more significant fixture in more ways that one.  A trip to Fleetwood Town to see United play them for the first time in the clubs history.  Tickets have been like rocking horse shit and I personally cannot wait to experience a new ground.  Unfortunately bollocks here has offered to drive so no ale but due to the time of year I'm sure a hot drink will go down swimmingly!


What can we expect form the blades this weekend then?  Hopefully 3 points.  I would love to see O'Grady start and bag his first goal in red and white, although on Saturday it will be yellow and black.  The fact we have had midweek off will have given us plenty of preparation time and despite Tuesdays game against Premiership opposition the 3 points on Saturday are essential.  I am happy for us to go 451 as away it works but I hope if we go behind we make positive changes to shift the game.


Regardless of the result on Saturday it has been a happier week to be a blade after last weekends result and the cup draw.  Who knows it might be Mr Cuvelier who bags a late winner and sends the blades home happy from the coast.  Either way its going to be fucking cold but lets get those 3 points.


Cannot wait to tell you all about it on Sunday.


Until then.


Up The Blades


Jon

Mk Dons Tuesday The Second Of December 2014 - Not Enough To Win, Didn't Desrve To Lose

Football is, as they often say, a funny old game.  This season much joy has occurred amongst the Blades ranks with dramatic late equalisers and winners.  Last night the shoe was very firmly on the other foot.  The Blades did not deserve to lose the game, but once again they did not do enough to secure 3 points at home in front of a relatively big crow.  Those lucky enough to be in a warm home, it has dropped and was a good 8 degrees colder than Friday"


Not one for being negative, lets start with the positives, it shouldn't take me long.

1. Chris Basham - another outstanding committed performance.  If he is injured it a massive blow as he is fast becoming one of our key players.  'Bash' wanted the ball and although hesitant in releasing it on occasion, he gave MK Dons as good as they gave us.
2. Chances created - before you all get on my driveway and start a lynch mob - we created more than we have done in the recent home games.  Yes they were not the best chances but the ball was going into the box more and that was pleasing.
3. O'Grady - looked exactly what we had been missing until he went off.  Industry, ability to win the ball in the air and a ball ache for defenders.

Negatives:

1. The officials.  Personally I hate refereeing a bunch of fourteen year old boys so wouldn't entertain the idea of refereeing at a higher level but please.  The officials were an embarrassment.  Mk Dons were in over the ball, kicking it away constantly and would appeal if someone did as much as farted.  Horrendous.  I understand all three of those things are part of football but it is the consistency by which the referee addresses them, I haven't seen a crowd at the lane that irate in a long time.  The football league need to support referees in this league more whether that is a spray or not, a top six clash like that needs to be managed with consistency and clarity.  I am sure MK Dons will be equally bemused for the inconsistent bookings they received.
2. Set Pieces - broken record.  Pick men up when the ball breaks, get out, press the loose ball and every other simple cliché we are not doing.  Attacking wise they were good when Bob was putting it in the box but the short passes are useless - get the big lads up and whack it in.
3. Substitutions - Michael Higdon scored two goals against MK Dons less than a month ago.  Instead Nigel puts on a 18 year old centre back up front.
4. Nigel Clough - not changing the system again when we could have, late substitutions, poor decision making, stubbornness and then the two biggest errors.  Firstly, charging on the pitch to shout at the ref, I don't like it and it looks desperate not passionate.  Secondly, claiming we played well and he was pleased.  Sorry Nigel but nobody else in red and white was pleased.  Don't insult us.
5. Injuries - god help us if Basham joins Wallace on the treatment table.

I don't feel the players require rating as the game should have ended 0-0 and they all did ok, but we shot ourselves in the foot.  When will the luck change?  When we start setting up games in a manner to win them and give ourselves a platform to make our own luck.


Its the magic of the FA Cup on Saturday I cannot wait.


Until next time.


Jon

Notts County Friday The 28th Of December

It is always a weird one really a game on a Friday night.  No sooner have you come down from the elation that it is the weekend you have to shovel your tea down your neck and shoot off down to the match.  Luckily with my girlfriends flat being in close proximity to the S2 area of Sheffield this task was relatively simple.  Doubled with the not too cold weather things appeared to be looking up.  As I met my friend for a few pints in the Sheaf House the news of the team filtered through and there was a somewhat positive team selection from Nigel Clough.  Personally, I was delighted to see Michael Higdon returning to the fold as I generally believe if we give him the right service he will deliver in this very average league.

Lets start with Notts County for whom Shaun Derry has done a tremendous job with this season and particularly at the end of last when they looked doomed when he took over.  A club that I am quite fond of, mainly due to a chance encounter with a massive fan of theirs during a hazy evening at a summer festival last year, County are a 'proper club' and it nice to see them do well with a former Blade at the helm.  I'd like them to go on and do well just not whilst visiting S2 or when we return to their place on the 3rd of January.

County set up in what appeared a standard 442 which soon reverted to 451 to combat the blades 5 across the middle of the park.  It became very obvious that they were very well drilled, pressed well individually and as a team.  The appeared to have the ability to break with pace which is never something we are particularly comfortable with which led to a couple of incidents in the first half.  Although relatively new to the role of a number 1 in the dugout, Derry's players showed the commitment and energy he so often showed as a player for the Blades and the other clubs he served - it was obvious that County were up for the game.  They got in United's face and we didn't cope with it very well.  They punished us from a corner where the scorer appeared to have far too much time to smash them into the first half lead.  Although they faded in the second as United smelt an equaliser and then a potential winner, County are a decent outfit and will certainly not have the relegation woes they had last season.  Wether they are any better than that though is debatable because once again at the lane it was a case of United being bad in many aspects of their play.

This United side has a number of issues but for me there are 5 startling problems:

1. The pace which the ball is moved.  So very often in games United control possession which is good but not particularly exciting when done in such a slow purposeless manner.  How often do we rely on the centre backs to make a positive movement.  When we do work it into the box it is often overplayed and the ball, which should have been delivered, is hit far too late.  We are not driving at teams like we did for the majority of last year, the play is slow and often lethargic.
2. Responsibility.  In countless games this season our forward players seem absolutely terrified of shooting.  Stefan Scougall is the biggest culprit of this by a country mile.  He will forever be remember for his terrific form last season but I don't feel he is doing enough.  Mr Campbell - Ryce appears to have an appetite for trying to beat men 4 or 5 times before delivering anything.
3. Passion.  There is no doubting this set of players 'care' but who in the side is vocal on the pitch.  Jose god bless him spends his team bemoaning others lack of intelligence on the pitch but hardly makes you, want for a lack of a better phrase, die for three points.  They seem quiet and especially on recent trips to Crewe being sat practically on the pitch, sound quiet too.  I am far from Lionel Messi but my experience of playing has always been more enjoyable and ultimately successful when there is a team of big gobs on the pitch to bullock you when you do something wrong.  There is a big advocate of this who is currently bastardised to the stands at the moment but that is a story for a different day.
4. The ability to mix things up.  Last night a large variety of morons booed the returning Higdon because he hadn't ran around chasing everything like the much loved Chris Porter and other 'triers' from yesteryear.  We played around 5 decent balls into him which he was able to hold up or layer on.  The rest of the time Baxter et al where moving balls sideways to the largely ineffective JCR.  Now I don't like route one football but I like playing to a strikers advantage.  Sometimes hitting a longer ball or a diagonal ball will create space and problems.  Trying to walk the ball in last night didn't work and when we actually whipped a cross in we scored.
5. Set pieces.  Defensively these are a shambles.  Their goal came from a nudge to the back, drop off and before we know it we are 1-0 down.  Short corners - they are and always will be for that matter shit and need to be banned.  Jay McEveley taking a free kick on the edge of the area when there are better options, appalling.  Harris has the best cross at the club, he needs to be on corners even if they are out swingers from the left only - it needs to be addressed.  The way in which set pieces are carried out is costing us points.  We don't need to move towards a Sam Allardyce model of playing the percentages but a change is needed.

The players:

Howard - very little to do but disappointing to see him spill the ball once or twice.  He has had a great season mind.

Basham - not a right back but a very good second half.  For me gets better every game and is one of the few who takes responsibility and shows resilience in his play.  Should have scored the header which he did very well to head down so strongly to be denied by an outstretched County body part.

McCarthy - not a bad game but not a particularly good one either.  Personally I feel that we are at a stage where we need to ask is the money he will undoubtedly be on worth it?  I fear not.  The fact he trains with another team until Friday afternoon cannot help with any organisation.  Call me traditional but I would want the back 5 training together throughout the week.

McCeveley - not the worst game but much like McCarthy not his best either.  Seems to have strengths to his game that doth particularly lend themselves to being a central defender.  Excellent last ditch tackle when County broke with pace in the second half.  Shame about the free kick mentioned previously.

Bob - steady as always but unfortunately didn't seem to attack with the drive and vigour he has for most of this season.  Will always show for the ball and create an angle which is something that cannot be said about some of the others.

Doyle - standard but average display from arguably the seasons most consistent player, more guilty than most for passing the ball sideways but wouldn't come in for criticism from me personally.

JCR - no.  I really like a tricky winger, growing up Ndlovu was one of my favourites, but this guy is an impact player.  Once again he was pedestrian with the ball, terrible decision making and went missing for long spells.

Scougall - lovely turns and signs of brilliance are matched with ineffectual passes doubled with poor decision making.  He is still 21 and has lots to offer but might need a drop.

Baxter - not his greatest game but still the only player on the pitch with any forward thinking flair and by far the best passer at the club.  He might be a bit on the chunky side but people screaming at him for being lazy need to point their finger at other players in the team.

Murphy - got up well for his header and is always a threat.  When he isn't at it United aren't and I think that was the case for some parts of the game.  He is undroppable as we have nobody as good as him though.

Higdon - didn't chase every ball but wasn't a shocking performance.  Could have scored from nothing, got poor service and despite making some moves to create angles didn't receive a cross all night.

Substitutions

Flynn - made the side more balanced at right back.  Confused me why he doesn't start considering how well he did for us last season.

McNulty - ran around but also got no service - glaring evidence the booing of Higdon was stupid and in spite.

Reed- what did he do that Baxter couldn't have done - pointless substitution but as always Reed wants the ball and responsibility - should start ahead of Scougall for me.

Clough - changed it when he needed but should have instilled a need for tempo, urgency and attacking more from the off.  Team selection was bold but the negativity seemed to loom large for the majority of the first half.

Overall the blades did very well to get a point as the first half was so poor.  Unfortunately the team didn't do enough for three points despite a spirited second half.  Notts County have not lost on the road since April but as with every game in this average league I expect us to win.

My team for Tuesday?  God knows but we need Wallace back as soon as possible not to mention O'Grady at least if it lifts the stale poisonous atmosphere we have at most home games it should be something positive.

Until next time.

Jon