Roy’s End Of Season Awards

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I started the idea of “The View From” back in United’s first season in League One. With the clubs continual failure to escape from the third tier I became quite familiar with forums and message boards for clubs such as Oldham, Walsall and Gillingham. Traits of clubs soon emerged and by the time of our eventual promotion I knew what to expect from each set of fans.

The championship offered a chance for me to get an impression of a whole new set of fans. Some things surprised me, other’s not so much. Here I present my findings and offer my own personal awards.

Most Arrogant Fans

Brentford

Wednesday are banned from this category as it would be unfair on the others but just for a laugh here were their views just before the first derby:

“Never been so confident ahead of a derby , lets be right there now saying there the favourites because Paul Couts ( who ? ) Billy Sharpe and Leon Clark might be fit , now fucking forgive me but I hardly thing our back four are losing any sleep worrying about that , apparently they play attractive football ! I would be more worried If the usual bunch of cloggers turned up we will batter them no problem”

“if billys not fit that means they could be depending on Leon Clarke.
panic over then……. “

“They honestly think we’re bricking it over Coutts and Fleck? In fact they probably think we’re bricking it over their entire team. Of course they can win on Sunday, it’s like any match in the championship, you have to be at it to pick up points but I genuinely believe the experience we have will give us the edge on the day and in Wallace and Fletcher in particular we have players who generally perform in the games that matter the most.”

“I think that ‘pashun’ could overspill and if the ref is on it I can see them being reduced to 10 men in the first half. I believe we have too much for them in particularly in terms of movement of the ball. If Hooper is on form I can see us smashing them 4-0 or 4-1. “

“The way CC, Lees & SWFC have conducted themselves before the game is absolutely fantastic, calm, composed with a clear message. They all seem very focussed. They know how much it means to all of us, and are not been dragged into a war of words with the tin pot brigade at the other side of the city. We haven’t look rattled at all, with the mind games & sideswipes from Wilder and the rest of their brigade. This is the reason I think we will win, our players have to much class, quality & experience, and know the end goal.  Wilder IMO will be riling up there players all week, as a do or die sort of game, to the point were I think they will lose focus, discipline and overall the game as they won’t be able to compete with quality.  Lets not forget CC has managed in some big derbies before like Besitkas, Sporting. He is keeping his cool, unlike Wilder whose lack of experience in big sell out games is starting to get to him, to me he is like a rabbit in the headlights trying to please the fans at every twist and turn, but forgetting the real goal at the end of the day . my god I hope we wipe the floor with them, just to shut the, up “

With Wednesday out of the equation the award goes to BRENTFORD who on the first day delivered us these gems:

“Sheffield U will not handle the step up in class from L1 and the boys know how important it is to get early points like Huddersfield did last season – here’s hoping anyway!”

“I feel that Brentford have too much quality in their squad for the Blades to match them, and Wilder needs to evolve his side from League One winners to Championship competitors if he is to challenge the Bees on the opening day of the season.”

“Sheff utd won’t know what hit them – bees will be 3 up by halftime”

“I think they’ll get hammered. I doubt too many Clubs will be able to cope with our passing, pressing and movement this season.
As ever our own downfalls will be caused by silly, preventable and sloppy mistakes at the back and not by anything the opposition will do. With that caveat in place and assuming we play to our potential, Sheffield are in for a nasty welcome to the Championship.”

“Sheff Utd have clearly been on an excellent run, but I do think the top half of the Championship is a way away from the top half of League One”.

Even in the return fixture when United were above them in the table their fans has little respect for The Blades

“We’re a much better side and they’re on the slide. “

“I think we’ll be bang up for this one and they’re no great shakes”

United ended up finishing on the same points and The Bees as took 4 points off them.

Most Respectful Fans

Derby County

United outplayed The Rams on both their meetings this season but that isn’t always enough to gain praise from rival fans. The phrases “They were crap but we were worse” or “They were there for the taking” are often seen after a good performance from The Blades. Derby though took their defeat at The Lane with genuine grace:

“A team with over paid and over rated players v a team that works hard and is probably under rated.”

“Same old same old,another season same problem cant do the basics against organised teams”

“ players on half the derby wages wanting the ball and win more”

“Sheff Utd: Workman like. Team performance. Determination. Desire.”

We play a half decent side and get beat. Simple. No cutting edge in front of goal. We have for a couple of seasons now.” 

“Paul Coutts ran the show, rejected him about 4 seasons ago. Going backwards.”

“Schooled by Coutts and Freeman, nice one Derby”

“Coutts named MOM ran the midfield against ours that cost us around 8 million… that’s gonna take me some time to get over”

The praise for The Blades was even greater after the 1-1 draw at Pride Park on New Years Day:

“Sheffield United looked like a good side. Based on today, I’d say they’re still a good bet to finish in the top six and I’m not really sure why or how their form has dropped off and they’ve lost to some of the teams they have. For us, we looked tired. That’s not an excuse, there’s no reason why we should have been any more tired than Sheffield United. Their style is a game we could have thrived under and not many teams come to PP and play the way they did, but for whatever reason it just didn’t work today. In wider context, it’s a very good point. We could easily have lost that. They scored from probably their only clear chance of the game but they always looked capable of creating something every time they came forward”

“Sheffield United were fantastic at times, best side I’ve watched home and away this season”

“Fair play to Sheffield United, come to a tough place, should’ve got the win and the fans were in full voice throughout the 90 minutes.”

“Sheff Utd did better than I expected. They either played out of their skins or they have had some real bad results lately.”

“Credit where it’s due. Sheffield United are a good teambeen the better team in both games against us this season. Like how they use the 3-5-2 to attack rather than sit back” “Didn’t deserve a point at all, they were a lot better than us all over the pitch.” “Sometimes certain teams just have the measure of you and the Blades are one of those teams against us right now. So, all things being considered I don’t think that’s a bad point. We weren’t good and to my mind they looked the better team.”

“Sheff Utd plays well I thought; pinned us back with power and strength and I’ve not seen our centre halves get less success in the air all season, although with the amount of set pieces they had I thought they coped well.”

“Sheff Utd looked good today tbf, had a lot more energy. Deserved to lose so a point is good”

“They were the better side. Impressed with them”

“Sheff U are a good side and we’ve managed two lucky points against them”

“Another great point gained against a good side in this division”

“they were a very good side and this will probably be looked back as a point won. We’ve come away with something after being outplayed completely”

Funniest Fans

Millwall

Millwall’s reputation goes before them and there is a section of their online community who live up to their infamous stereotype but most of the fans I have come across have seemed thoroughly decent and often hilarious. They are always good for a quote or two as proved by their musings this season:

“A to Z of Sheffield United

A is for Abdullah bin Musa’ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – son of Prince Musa’ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his mother is Princess Fatima bint Hashim bin Turki bik Alngers of Turkish descent. No, he is not one of the local taxi drivers made good, he is a rich paper merchant and 50% owner.

B is for Blades. This used to be Sheffield Wednesday’s nickname, until Wednesday moved to Owlerton & became the ‘Owls’. And in true northern style, the men from Bramall Lane nicked it the moment it was left unattended.

C is for Chengdu Wuniu, a Chinese team the Blades bought in 2006 to find talent. It obviously worked well!

D is for Diego, as in Maradona. In 1978, the United manager Harry Haslam watched the 17-year-old Maradona in action on a scouting trip to Argentina and was so impressed he immediately arranged a £200,000 deal. But the transfer fell through when the Second Division club failed to stump up extra cash on top of the fee. The biggest ‘the one that got away’ ever?

E is for equal. The record between Millwall and Sheffield United is 22 wins each & 8 draws.

F is for founded in 1889, four years after the Lions.

G is for Greasy Chip Butty song – sung to the tune of “Annie’s Song”, it celebrates Sheffield culture – such as getting fat and smoking & drinking yourself to death.

H is for Harry. One of United’s most famous recent sides is the one under Dave ‘Harry’ Basset, which kicked and rushed their way to promotion to the old First Division from the Third in 1990 and enjoyed 4 seasons of top flight football – their longest run in the last 40 years.

I is for Ifill, the Blades taking the tricky winger from us after our relegation.

J is for John Smiths Bitter – the only drink they serve in Sheffield.

K is for kit, United have played in red and white stripes for most of their history in contrast to Wednesday’s blue and white

.L is for for Lipsham. Millwall’s first-ever manager made his name as a winger for Sheffield United, where he won an FA Cup Final medal. Did a great job in building a very decent Millwall team between 1911 and the start of the first world war.

M is for missing. Bramall Lane was a three sided ground right up until the 1970s, because it hosted county cricket matches for Yorkshire CCC. It is the only ground to be home to the football league champions (United) and county cricket champions (Yorkshire) in the same year (1898).

N is for naughty. Sheffield United has a very active hooligan element still (Blades Business Crew), and has had many run-ins with Millwall’s own finest over the years. The BBC came unstuck recently in SE London, but at least they made the effort, unlike many (including Leeds).

O is for old. Not United related, but Sheffield is home to the oldest football club in the world – Sheffield FC, founded in 1857

.P is for Paul Peschisolido, former Blade married to lovely Karen Brady. Had to endure taunts of ‘You’re sh1t & your wife’s a slaaaaaag’ many a time at The Den.

Q is for queue, a famous feature of the Sheffield city landscape, especially in the 1980s outside Job Centres, and nowadays outside Greggs’

R is for roundabouts. There are a lot of them around Bramall Lane.

S is for Sheffield Wednesday. The original ‘Blades’ and also regulars at Bramall Lane. It was because Wednesday stopped using the ground that the landlords at Bramall Lane decided to start Sheffield United. United fans respect and thank Wednesday for that all the time.

T is for Tevez. Carlos Tevez scored the goals that helped keep West Ham up at the expense of Sheffield United, even though it was proven that his contract didn’t meet FA rules. Blades fans are very Zen about this now, accepting that fining a club a few million pounds, who cheated to stay in the multi-million pound PL, was completely just and fair.

U is for Unitedites – another nickname given to Sheffield United fans. No idea why!

V is for very wet. It rains in Sheffield at least once in every 24 hour period.

W is for West Ham United. Blades fans hate them nearly as much as us (see T). However, they’ve
not killed any Hammers yet, sadly.

X is for Xenodochy. Natives of Sheffield are very welcoming. It is almost impossible not to pull a northern tart in the Leadmill.

Y is for years. Sheffield United have not managed to win at The Den in just over 7 years

.Z is for zenith. Sadly, Sheffield United peaked early in their footballing career, their best years were between 1897 and 1902, when they were runners-up in the league twice, champions once; and FA Cup winners twice and runners-up once. “

“The Blades Business Crew’s top boy is Norris Ramsbottom . He led a crack unit of Sheffield’s finest into the back doubles of Bermondsey, but came unstuck – literally; his false leg fell off. Noz has always told people that he lost his leg in Afghanistan; but in fact it was in Gregg’s (so to speak). That’s because like most northerners, Nozza is addicted to a diet of sausage rolls and pasties. He lost his leg to diabetes and then to some young rascals on a SE London estate. Yet, the BBC are still the top firm in Yorkshire – unlike the famous Leeds United, they do at least forgo getting selfies with tourist at Borough Market to actually venture into Bermondsey

“Some of the Fixtures already leaked for next season. Millwall vs West Ham: Thursday morning 5am, Fiji National Stadium. Millwall vs Tottenham 2:45am Monday morning, North Korea Missile Testing Arena with Kim Jong Un in the studio”

“If Millwall gets promoted, I’m cancelling the kids’ season tickets. They can’t get a sniff of sporting glory at such a young age. It’ll ruin them. First they need to suffer decades of soul-crushing misery.”

Preston Fans also deserve a mention in this category for this comment alone:

“Lad stood in front of us today gave Clayton Donaldson stick for the whole game as he thought he was Nile Ranger. ‘When’s your next prison sentence Ranger?’ Unbelievable stuff ahaha  “

 

Mardiest Fans 

Norwich City

There was serious beef with United and Norwich this season which stemmed from The Canaries time wasting antics in their 1-0 win at The Lane back in September. With United leading in the return tie at Carrow road the Blades fans sang”take your time Sheff Utd and follow the Norwich way” whilst after the full time whistle Chris Wilder ran to the away fans comically tapping his watch. This naturally didn’t make the Blades 2-1 victory any easier to swallow for the home side:

“Ref was a complete (unt. Sheff united are a bunch of poncey (unts.”

“Wilder is in the same bracket as Warnok and Pulis. “

“that Wilder is a fat horrible ***.”

“Well played to Sheffield Utd. Deserved the win today. As for their fickle fans and absolutely pathetic manager… I really can’t believe how childish the manager is. Don’t know his name. Don’t really care. Should take a look at himself and grow up tbh. Clearly holding a grudge over a defeat for no reason. I’ve seen way worse time wasting than what we apparently did at theirr place. And theirr managers excuses for that loss were so laughable! ”

“Their fans love his passion and clear love of the club, which is understandable, but he is severing lacking in class in general. You can b
e passionate without being obnoxious – his comments after the last game were particularly grim”

“2nd win in ten ! Course he’s delighted , we saved his job”

“Bitter, bitter fans, they’re an embarrassment to their team, whom I actually thought played very well….they and the tosser Chris ‘the bus driver’ Wilder need to get over the bitterness and concentrate on your football. Banter it may be, but they celebrated like they’d won the league….and as for the over reaction from Chris Wilder & their subs warming down was embarrassing ”

Most Knowledgeable Fans

Brighton

 

  Well they did try to warn us about James Wilson…………

don’t think we saw him at his best. But maybe we actually did?”

“The bloke was useless”

“Such an average, overhyped player”

“I didn’t think he was good for us at all”

“he’s lazy and lacklustre and very weak”

“will never make a championship striker, weak, lazy and disinterested.”

“didn’t look interested at all”

“What a disappointment he was”

“James Wilson is terrible.”

 

Most Depressed Fans

Ipswich

Many clubs had worse seasons than the Suffolk outfit but I didn’t come across any set of fans with such a huge sense apathy. Most of the blame was laid squarely at the door of the now departed manager Mick McCarthy and this really came to the fore following our cup win at Portman Road:

“Another new record that Micks achieved is four home games and 0 goals. Mick OUT”

“Sadly that was typical Mick out there. Game turned into scrap, no quality on display but ultimately the result isn;t that bad. It’s utterly pointless, and certainly not a good result but it isn’t a bad result. We just bob further away in mid table, the second half was as boring as you can imagine and we were lucky to walk away with a point.”

“Yes we had a few out but Sheff Utd played virtually a reserve side and still we fail to muster even a single shot on target ? Not f**king One worthy of being called an effort on goal, I mean FFS, it’s the FA Cup and I know MM doesnt give a toss about it but 12,000 cared enough to turn up and that is what you all serve up you hopelsess pile of crap !!

“I don’t say this offensively but, does Mick McCarthy have brain diseases or is he just fully blind? Saying we played well without a shot on target is the worst thing you could possibly say. “

“You wonder if MM tries to wind the fans in every interview now.” “it’s like he had a psychotic break after Sheff U scored and was watching the great match in the sky, where we came back to win 5-1.
Everyone was happy, loud chants of “Super Mick!” could be heard reverberating round a packed Portman Road….
Then the final whistle went, he snapped out of it, and had to do an interview he wasn’t prepared for.”

“He is a narcissist in full blown denial, I mean to be happy with that you have be away with the fairies, on another plane of existance altogether.”

“McCarthy’s FA record is P-9 W-0 D-4 L-5 ”

“Mick will be delighted with holding Sheff Utd to a 1-0 loss. “Let me tell you,not many teams will achieve a 1-0 loss against that lot”

“What a complete and utter waste of time.”

 

The “We Didn’t Know You Cared So Much” Award

Hull City

During United’s spell in League One this award was usually won by Oldham Athletic who seemed to have a bizarre grudge against United and inexplicably saw us as one of their main rivals.  With no Oldham this season, Hull City gladly stepped into the breach. Following their 1-0 win at The KC Stadium many Blades fans will have been surprised to see how hated they were by followers of the of East Yorkshire side:

 

“If anyone says we haven’t under achieved they’re silly ****s. They’re a bag of **** .absolute ****ing dogger. And they’ve been in the play off places most of the season. GTF A little fat **** **** up front with a big fat **** **** alongside of him and they’re their two best players.
The rest are none entities.We completely dominated them. The only annoying thing was we stopped going after 65 minutes and decided to hold on.**** piggy ****s.”

“Started questioning my hatred of Sheffield Utd!Thank you very much for Keithy Edwards, Thank you very much, thank you very very very much… Thank you very much for Billy Whitehurst… etc… Thank you very much for Stephen Quinn… etc… Thank you very much for Wembley 2014… etc thank you very much for Harry Maguire… etc… Thank you very much for 3 points last night… etc.. can we play you every week?”

“The whistles seriously pissed the enemy ****s off. Get in.”

“Great 3 points , City 1 vermin 0 , up yours Wilder .”

“can’t stand them”

“I hate them”

“always good to get one over on the Blunts.”

 

LOAN UPDATE: Swindon Fans Views On Chris Hussey

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“Hussey should have jacked after Luton. Peak hussey”

“Will remember his goal at Luton, one of the bright spots of a disappointing season”

“Was a key player”

“Hussey was good beofe his injury. After that he wasn’t very good.”

” After the incident at Newport he should have never worn a Swindon shirt again anyway.”

“I’d like to thank Chris Hussey for the occasional half decent cross but most of all for hitting one of our fans. It was probably both merited and overdue”

“Not a great loss, under performed for a so say championship player. Let’s hope we don’t take the option up to sign him full time”

“Poor defender”

“Best of luck in the future as long as it’s not in a red shirt at SN1”

LOAN UPDATE: Bury Fans Views On James Hanson

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“Clearly wasn’t fit when he was brought in on loan.”

“Looked unfit all season”

“Didn’t score at all and didn’t look like scoring”

“Poor”

“Was like playing a weakened team with him”

“Lowe and Day said with the likes of Bunn, Hanson, Mayor and Harry Houdini, it’s only a matter of time before the goals start to poor in….. but which net I wonder? I’ve aged about 20 years in the last nine months….”

LOAN UPDATE: Chesterfield Fans Views On Louis Reed

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“Big thanks to Louis Reed this season”

“A disastrous season, but a deserved award fr Louis Reed to win Player Of The Season”

“He was our best player of the season”

“Well deserved award”

“Good player but bottled it in the crucial games.”

“Disappeared when we needed him”

“Reed should fluck off back to Rammall Lane, he has totally tossed it off when it mattered.”

LOAN UPDATE: Wimbledon Fans Views On George Long

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Thank-you to George Long for playing a key role in keeping us in League One for a third season”

“We’ve had some great keepers, but he’s up there with the best of the best (in my view). Can’t see how he would stay (bound to be a Champ team who’ll nab him), but we’ve just got to keep showing him our passion and maybe (just maybe …).”

“We take him back on the spot”

“Dream on about trying to sign him permanently. Not going to happen”

“I agree he will be beyond us”

“He applauded the Athletics End for some time as he finishes his warm up. With a heavy heart, we say that he ends it with a wave goodbye. Thank you, George”

“Time to start a go fund me to pay for his wages next season”

“We should set up a boy George fund to keep him”

“Good man George how could we not take to you any one that loves our club we will love them 10 fold back ”

“Imagine he is ready for top L1 or Championship side, whether on loan or for ££. Been a shining light (and we gave him lots to do!)”

“Sheff Utd loan us little Gem, love him to stay and join those other Dons goalkeeping legends,George you are the man”

“Sheff Utd  were pretty decent last year, and they’ve got a fab manager, but if they’ve got two keepers ahead of him I’m even more impressed!”

“Love him but he has a cylindrical head”

LOAN UPDATE: Shrewsbury Fans Views On Nathan Thomas

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“Unless there is something about Thomas happening in training etc (that we don’t know about) I really struggle to work out why we don’t see more of him ?”

“He’s a potential matchwinner but a loose cannon when he’s not.”

“When you say “loose cannon”, I take it you really mean “rubbish”?”

“no right foot whatsoever
and cant kick it into the stand quick enough once he gets the ball”

“Can’t see him featuring for us in the play offs.
Thank goodness he’s only on loan. There were rumours that PH wanted to sign him, but Sheffield United wouldn’t let him go.”

“he has not played much but in previous games has shown some fast feet with good awareness and distribution , however he does seem to drift in and out of games and gets frustrated easily”

” Remember – Hurst wanted him in 4 windows but could not get the deal done until this Jan. Clearly a player Hurst rated and chased for ages. He got in the team pretty quick (started at Bristol Rovers) and played a few but something has clearly happened. Hursts off hand comments about him the other week suggest a falling out and he looks a shadow of the player who’s shown some good glimpses at times. For me we have a team, everyone works for everyone
Hes an individual, was to selfish, hes shooting from range all the time, wants to keep running and running with the ball when a pass is on. Strikes me hes not a good team player. That and hes bang out of form.”

“Thomas was shocking at Wembley and has gone downhill since. I suspect that Hurst is telling him to be more of a team player and more controlled on the ball. But he’s having none of it. Eisa is well ahead of him in the pecking order now, and with Whalley and Rodman to return we shouldn’t need Thomas anyway. Game over, Nathan. May as well return to Sheffield.”

“Send him back where he came from he is a liability .”

“He’s been a dud.
I recall a run down the wing at astonishing pace in what I think was his first appearance and goals at Fleetwood and Rochdale that suggested he could be quite a player.
Everything else suggests he isn’t.
If he steps up at the eleventh hour and shows that he can be the match winner we all hoped he might be, I’ll gladly be made to look stupid, but Eisa looks more likely to do that.”
“Thomas has flattered to deceive. When he came on at Fleetwood I thought he’d give us something different for the rest of the season but for whatever reason he simply doesn’t look up to speed.”
“I thought Thomas would be great too, particularly after Bristol Rovers away but obviously something just isn’t right. Whether that’s him, the club, the style we play, I guess we’ll never know but he certainly doesn’t have the same enthusiasm as the rest of the team – or so it seems to me.”
“I’d stick my neck on the line and say there is definatly a player there. He has a vicious shot, can run at people and has an eye for a pass. Something has gone wrong, i’m not sure if it’s the relationship with Hurst but something is a miss. With a full pre-season under his belt he’d be a top player in this division in most sides
“He evidently isn’t happy about something, we just don’t know what.”

LOAN UPDATE: Rotherham Fans Views On Caolan Lavery

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“Lavery looks very good at free kicks in training don’t know why we don’t give him a start now cause we have got play offs and if we get a free kick he could take them”

“Lavery is better than Ball pass it on”

“He’s similar to Ball but a bit younger. Difficult to judge what Ball would have done though, if he had not been injured/ ill early season. Ball scored 14 goals for Fleetwood in 2016/7 in League 1. Would he have managed the same or better for the Millers if he had been fully fit? Just about impossible to tell which is the better of the two. Possibly worth keeping Lavery if some of the other forwards go, but it’s not a clear cut decision.”

“Very very ordinary. There’s got to be better around. Not remotely good enough for the Championship and it may be the fact that we don’t have a decent finisher at the club that just scuppers our promotion bid. ”

“works hard and hassles defenders but something seems to be lacking. Maybe he’s not fully fit.
At the moment I’d say let him go if we get promoted but try to keep him if we don’t. ”
“From what I have seen of Lavery I think he is more effective than Ball at giving defenders something to think about. He runs at them and the goalie and seems a bit more aggressive than Ball.
I would like to see us sign Lavery but if I’m honest I don’t see any of our current strikers having a big impact at Championship level.”

“Really think there’s a player there, quick and strong and decent in the air for his size. Imo I think Warne wants a full pre season to get him fully fit. I think he will be a handful next year. ”

“To me Ball is better than Lavery, when fully fit he has the experience to open a defence with his skill, I agree  regarding Yates that he should be released.
So that leaves a option to keep Lavery, if the Blades don’t want him.
Not forgetting their will be a lot of players looking for clubs in the summer. ”

“I doubt if he’ll leave the Blades.”

“I don’t see him getting in their side but if one of their strikers get an injury then Lavery may be needed but then again he might be transferred listed.”

“a total handful for any defender. He’s strong, will attack with one aim and that is to score. he was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet against Blackpool.I find him a player that is very useful and even if initially used as a last 20 minute player, then he is a great foil to have on the bench. As his match fitness improves who knows what role he could bring to our forward line.
If I was Warne, and as mentioned earlier in a post, I’d be looking to let Yates go and bring in Lavery as he is by far the stronger and better player. We will have to wait and see. “

The Pre-Season Predictions Of Sheffield Wednesday Fans

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When Sheffield United finally got out of League One at the end of the 2016/2017 season they looked forward to renewing their acquaintance with neighbours Sheffield Wednesday after a 6 year absence of Championship football. With the Owls being only a Fernando Forestieri penalty kick away from the previous seasons play off final, hopes were high from the Wednesday fans that this time they could get back to The Premiership for the first time in nearly two decades. Whilst the Owls were among the favorites for promotion their city rivals United were expected to  be at the other end of the table scrapping for survival. Nobody believed this more than Sheffield Wednesday fans who before a ball was kicked made all sorts of predictions about United’s chances in the upcoming season. Here I present just a sample of those predictions. Taken from Owlstalk, the biggest Sheffield Wednesday message board, these posts will amuse many Blades fans who with the benefit of hindsight know how badly wrong these prophets of doom turned out to be.

Enjoy!

 

“The Pigs Season in a nutshell: Initial good start as the Pashun and momentum from last season means they will start well and pick up a few points. Then the reality of the fact that they’re in a mesters league and the massive step up in quality will hit them. Their squad isn’t remotely good enough to cope with Saturday/Tuesday every week and I don’t think their world class strike force will have scored 10 goals between them by Christmas, leaving them in the bottom 3. Cue the suicidal calls to Pigs & Grumble saying Tufty has taken them as far as he can and that he isn’t a Championship Manager. Prince Bog Roll and McSue will then frantically cobble some money together and they’ll sign some more nobodies on the cheap before going down with a lower points total than the mini pigs.  It’s going to be hilarious. “

“These are the facts; Promoted with a weak team. None of which would get anywhere near our first team. Signed weak, lower league players. See above. Manager with no experience at this level. If any Utd fans can’t see this, they’re football knowledge is also weak. Maybe they do see it. Who’d have the nads to admit it though? Roll on November when their first XI are worn out, their replacements are dogger & they’re in bottom 3 & reality dawns. “

“Wilder will have them organised, they’ll play at a high tempo, they’ll have a few cheering them on at home. Nowt wrong with any of that, it might be enough to keep them up… But they are all expecting them to do better than that; I’m yet to speak to a Blade who doesn’t think they’ll finish mid table or above. There is literally no evidence to support this happening. I’d say the Blunts will be in for a shock from the off. “

“Can’t help thinking there’s going to be some harsh lessons handed out to the pigs next season, it’s going to be delicious” 

“They are in for a big big shock..  can’t wait”

“They’ve got no idea what is about to hit them this season. “

“Praise or grumble is going to be delicious next season when reality bites “

“one season of winning ,quite frankly, the poorest third division in some time and all of a sudden they are destined for great things. Absolute clowns of the highest order. It’s gunna be amazing when they are calling for tuftys head when they are flirting with relegation.”

“They’ll either languish in bottom-half-of-the-table mediocrity or get relegated, nothing else. “

“They really think that they are going to make an impact in the championship with a bunch of lower league nobodies with Billy Blunt and Ched the ripper leading the line. The only saving grace is that there will be 3 sides worse than them. “

“Dave Jones had us playing expansive football in our first few games back in the Champ. We thought we were going to kick major ass. Then everyone started scoring for fun against us like a hot knife through butter so Dave went turgid and defensive. I can see the same happening at The Sty just a hell of a lot quicker. They will go back down. “

“If I was a Blunt I’d be extremely worried.”

“They’ll certainly surprise me if they stop up. You will see the difference in class on the opening day. And Brentford are by no means a good side, but they have players who can really hurt you. They don’t “

“I’ll be surprised if United reach the 50-point mark – based on the current squad and calibre of the summer recruits/targets so far. Can only see a relegation battle for our neighbours”

“We tried to sign a bunch of “young and hungry” players and to rely on team spirit when we got promoted six years ago. We only stayed up by the skin of our teeth. We had better players than United do now. I think they’ll stay up but it’ll be a scrap all year.”

“These blunts really don’t know what’s coming this season do they .Are we taking bets on wilder getting sacked before Christmas because I’ll have a piece of that”

“The gap between L1 and Championship is an absolute chasm. Big dose of reality for dem blavdes after seeing their fixtures”

“I really really want them to be on about 3 points by the time they play us. A rude awakening awaits I reckon.”

“Penny will drop when they roll up at S6 in September, in the bottom three. Obviously robbed, cheated & very unlucky!”

“They really are in for one hell of a shock”

“I find it fuuuucking hilarious that Wilder seems to think the likes of Clarke, Sharp and Lavery wi score enough goals to keep them up next season. My word, is CW in for a shock. “

“Something that leaps out to me is the distinct lack of goals in their squad. Clarke – Absolutely useless at this level. Sharp – might get 10 but he’s way past his best and nowhere near as good as the grunters think. “

“Not a chance in hell Clarke is going to be good enough “

“Wilder is going to have to make them watertight at the back to get points, and they are far from that.   They need 10/12 wins, Bolton,  Burton,  Millwall and forest are the teams they will be looking to for 6 points – I’m struggling to see who they could legitimately get above other than that.“

“Looking at their squad it would be wrong to nail on certain relegation tag. However, if they are to stay out of trouble I would expect Dirty and agricultural style of play. A  heavy winter would be in their favour. Hoof Ball and rough stuff on the cards ! “

“Still not grasping how far the division has moved on since they were last in it. Bristol City only stayed up last season because of Tammy Abraham and they’ve had to spend £6m on a replacement, just to survive. “

“Let them have their moment. Let them give it the big un. But come the end of August when they’ll have less than 3 pts after 5 games they’ll all go quiet. When the realise the best player they’ve got in the transfer window was ched bundy they’ll shut up. “

“They might get the odd decent result, but these 46 games are alot tougher than the L1 46 games. If they can build up some decent home form they might be alright, but, all the promoted sides will struggle”

“The team they have now is worse than the one they were relegated with and missed out on promotion with the following year. Meanwhile, the quality of the Championship has improved considerably over the last 6 years. It really doesn’t bode well for them, but of course they’re far too thick to see it. At the end of the season, if they finish 21st and take 3 or 4 points off us they’ll see the season as a huge success and will be giving it large etc. Yawn. “

“Barnsley will finish above them which says it all “

“I seriously cannot wait for Barnsley to beat them at home. The sight of 20,000 Blunts plus a few more dressed up as empty seats crashing back down to reality is going to be absolutely f*cking hilarious.“

“My prediction is They’ll be in, and finish in the bottom 8 all year. “

“I think they’ll stay up. I think “PASHUN” and fight will get them more points at home than Millwall and Bolton, and I’d also expect the quality of the division to catch up with Burton. Barnsley look like they might utterly crash as well. That’s 4 teams who I wouldn’t be surprised to see finish below United. But I’m struggling to see any more.”

“They keep talking about momentum and, fair enough, they got 100 points and so yeah there may be a bit of that early on. We got 81 points in the league above and have finished in the top 6 the last two seasons; I’d muc rather have that momentum.”

“So lads, how many points are they finishing behind us? I’ll say 26.”

“I reckon they’ll be minding a gap of 30+ points.”

“I’ll go for 32 points behind us”

“How many points did ToyTown get last year? Blunts will get less. 15 points for them, If we are aiming for top two need at least 85 points so 70 point gap? We can only hope “

“As for finishing above us, they will be lucky to be in the same half of the table as us “

“Can see them finishing above Bolton Burton and Millwall, anything more than that and they’ve had a great season”

“Been funny seeing all the optimism slowly draining from the Blavdes as the big kick off approaches.Where’s all the “we’re coming for you” bullshit now? They’re in for torrid season and deep down they all know it.”

“ Some of of their comments about Wednesday are astonishing. They want to believe so badly that we’re just an expensively assembled shambles. They really want to believe that they’ve got this special “team” that somehow trumps ours, just because we’ve spent a lot. Their way of doing it (lower league gems spotted by the scouting mastermind that is Chrissy Wilder) is obviously much better than our way (signing proven players with experience of promotion from this division)”

“At the end of the day if we turn up (which we will) they might just need another ball. Even better if they turn up with their pashun and have a go at us instead of boring us to tears like Cloughs Burton then they could get a right Royal f**king pasting”

“there’s more chance of another Boxing Day for us this season than I can ever remember”

“THe best way and most fun thing to do is nod and agree with everything they say. Then in may just remind them of it. Simple but bloody fantastic “

 Isn’t it just……..

View From Bristol City

/ Roy / Leave a comment

“Tables are certainly turning on LJ. I can’t get over how bad today was. ”

“I’m starting to doubt Johnson now. This was men against boys. Clueless and sad.”

“Jesus wept that was poor. No pride and worst of all no effort whatsoever.”

“Absolute pony. We accept mediocrity to easily a good manager wouldn’t take his team from 2nd to 11th. Get out.”

“My biggest question with LJ is he too nice? Look at Wilder stood up and shouting and instructing. SU have nothing to play for but he has clearly given them reason to fight perhaps for their jobs mext season. LJ sat with arms behind his back or in his pockets.”

“Someone obviously forgot to tell Sheffield Utd that this game was a dead rubber and we weren’t bothered. ”

“Looks like those who were worried about Sheffield United, were right to be.”

“Shameful, SU looked like Bayern München.”

“Better in the second half. Even so, 23 points in the second half of the season, 2 points in ten games against the top ten. Look poor, real worry for next season.”

“Another GREAT game for the neutral.Shame there are no neutrals watching.”

“so 11th position finish then. Not going to say well done boys , it was all lost after the Wolves game and the lack of good signings in January.”

“I hope those who went did not wait for a ‘lap of disgrace’.Glad I did not follow it.I sincerely hope something is changed in the managerial and player recruitment departments in the close season. Carry on as we are and we will be relegated this time next year, stating the obvious.What a woeful 55% of the season.”

Pre-Match View From Bristol City

/ Roy / Leave a comment

“Sheff Utd is a must win. I’ve always wanted to start one of these threads. They’ve been so successful the previous ten times we had one, I think we have a 0% record in OTIB-appointed Must Win Games™. So let’s have one last one for old times sake.If we’ve learnt anything this season it is to have as few must win games as possible. I suggest that next season we either sign a few more players like Diony or play a few of our Under-12s so that we go into games as massive underdogs and City are spared the overbearing pressure of minor expectation.For added effect let’s have the players run out at Ashton Gate to the theme tune of the magic roundabout and have home fans all dressed as sunflowers throwing small balls of cotton wool onto the pitch. Anything to create a happy marshmallowy sort of environment free of the dreaded must-win.  P.S. #1 On recent respective league form our point at Burton is looking more and more impressive. P.S. #2 For the sake of Niclas Eliasson’s poor family at least tell them where you have buried the body.”

“I want to know whose turn it is to come on the website and say we are fighting to the end, despite not having done so for the last 4 months?”

“Shame as it would’ve been a great game if this would played a few months back. Unfortunately both of us have collapsed a little bit. Still a good season for both of us imo”

“what was looking like a play off decider cracker to end of season damp squid.”

“Nothing can be proved in an end of season damp squid.”

“Didn’t you hear? Johnson said that he wants us to go out with a bang and the players will be really up for it. I can’t remember him ever saying this before so we must mean business. ”

“I have a season ticket and haven’t seen a home win in the league since Cardiff in November. Literally the only home games I have missed since then have been the wins. I even went to Sunderland and Hull games haha!Sorry to say I am going to this one. Feels like we should be 24th from what I have seen!!!”

“I’m waiting for LJ to come out in the week and say “Let’s make it a party occasion at Ashton Gate for the final game of the season, just like we have done in the past”. ”

“I honestly believe that Lee Johnson doesn’t have the faintest clue on how to manage or head coach a Championship football club.I know it will be a long time in the future but I really do hope that I will still be compos mentis/alive when he leaves Ashton Gate for the final time.”

“if SL really wanted premier league football he’d have appointed a proven, successful championship manager….we haven’t had one since Steve Coppell….we ain’t going anywhere soon in terms of promotion….but being in the championship ain’t the worse thing in the world…I just wish those at the top would tell us what they really want….because appointing Millen, McInnes, SOD, Cotts and LJ is not any signal of positive intent with regards to getting out of the championship in an upwards fashion rather than a downwards one….”

“Is anyone bothering with this game?”

“I aint going. Being on a Sunday for me is not a good day, if we were pushing for promotion/play-offs I would have moved heaven and earth to be there but we are finishing on a whimper. 60 odd years of going to the Gate can drain a bloke”

“I want to win to record yet another ‘double’. We’ve had quite a few in a really good season and one tends to like more of a good thing. Just hoping the woodwork is as kind to us as it was at Bramall Lane (was it 5 times they couldnt find the net but hit the white stuff??”

“9 points from the remaining fixture will see on 76 points, and into the play-offs by the skin of our teeth, just ahead of Derby who are going to bottle it yet again. With that in mind I think a front three of Kent, Diony and Woodrow should get us over the line on Sunday. Live the dream people. ”