“We don’t have a great record against the Blades and they’re in great form at the moment but you never know.
We’re lacking in the talent that the other teams have but we use a system that makes us hard to beat and even when we fall behind we stay in games and try and pinch something late on.
This games on Sky, if you’re going to watch it don’t expect a classic. It’ll probably be like a chess match with them probing ways to break us down and us trying to snatch something on the counter attack.”“It will not be a classic but we’ll give 100% as usual & the Blades will know they’ve been in a game.”
“I’ve a feeling we will not so much be deliberately parking the bus, more not been able to get out of our own half.
That’s been the case in a lot of our games this season, but we hang in there and often pinch it late on.”“We have a worse record against them than against the pigsters. I think we may lose but would take a point now.”
“Sheff U are a proper side at this level. No big time Charlies but solid players. Win more than they lose.”
“Picking up their defenders as they come into midfield and beyond is the key. If we can do that and keep our width we could get a good result.”
“The worst thing we can do is sit back. They play a similar style to us, but clearly have more quality.
I want to see us get straight at them and play with a bit of verve and aggression like we did against Derby and Stoke. It’s important not to lose, but a win would be magic.”“They play nothing like us shef u are a pressing team who focus on frontal players like billy sharpe and the supporting midfielders where we are a counter attack team who focus on midfield to boost our defence and offence. If anything shef u are more like Blackburn. ’m gonna go 1-0 to us purely because I think we will chip away at their fitness for 70 mins and brake them in last 20 mins”
“Tough fixture this but as we all know our team are very good at home and dont give in until the whistles gone.
I worry about he midfield they have and Sharpey reminds me of Robbo always in the right place at the right time.”“must admit though we’re going to need to play really well to compete.
Saw them on sky and they look a very good footballing team.”“Will it be the coldest match so far in the way of temperature? Could be quite tasty on the pitch though.
I was listening to someone saying that the three centre halves they play like to go up into midfield and beyond. This will either over run us in the middle or leave them open at the back.”“I fancy us against anybody at home”
“The Blades are a good side and unlike some others who have come to the NYS they won’t think they just have to turn up to win. That’s not how they play and it’s not how Wilder operates. They are strong favourites to win and rightly so. But we’ve lost one in eight and we’ve shown that we are quite capable of pulling off surprises. There is no pressure on us. It should be a belter of a game.”
“I watched the sheffield derby wow what a boring game. The piggies were awful and I would be happy to play them every week, and the blunts had no idea how to break down a defensive team and created very little in terms of clear chances.”
“I’m half tempted to throw Wood if only because the Blades ex Shrewsbury keeper Henderson would have nightmares if he saw Wood coming forward for corners!”
“Spare a thought for Sheff U keeper Dean Henderson, who will be spending all week having nightmares about facing big Woody and our aerial bombardment again. Still fresh in his memory from Wembers. Think Woody must play against the blunts and get the ball on his nut for set pieces. ”
“We owe the Blades one after that Wood/McGuire penalty incident at the Lane which gave them an undeserved and very fortunate victory. “
“I personally can’t remember a classic game between the two sides, nothing really stands out.
The league 1 encounter at NYS in 2013/2014 stands out for me because it was the first time I’d seen us beat them in a league match. It is also the game which set our current highest attendance at NYS. Due to segregation it will probably remain the highest for, well, forever. Unless we ever expand the stadium.
It was part of the ‘deedar double’ that season, after we beat Wednesday in the league cup earlier in the season.
Anyway, they came here, spent most of the first half passing the ball around in their own 18 yard box to show us how superior they were. At some point they went forward and scored a goal. Clumsy Claude Davis was also very lucky not to have conceded at least one penalty.
We went in at half time a goal down having barely had a touch of the ball.
Legend has it that manager Steve Evans actually apologised to his players for getting his tactics all wrong, and sent them back out with some fire in their bellies and sure enough we were a different team in the second half, putting in a proper Rotherham United display of gritty determination coupled with a touch of class here and there. Kieren Agard, almost anonymous up to this point, smashed in an equaliser from somewhere up on Sheffield Road. Clumsy Claude almost gave away a stonewaller (again) at the other end, before we were awarded what I remember being a really soft penalty, one even I wouldn’t have given us, which was converted by Daniel Nardiello. Recent world cup hero Harry Maguire was in the Blades lineup that day too.
We didn’t know it at the time but we’d go on to win promotion that season at the first attempt while it would take Sheffield United, perennial promotion favourites and already with three seasons behind them at that level, another three years to get out of that league.”“I remember with great fondnes our win in 81, also our win in 2013/4, i’d won a free ticket in a promo at work for the west stand, near the away fans, and getting abused roundly when coming out of the ground by the blades ‘fans’….got all the usual, toytown, sheffield postcode, small town in sheffield etc, i then asked what the score was and the response was epic!!! even had middle aged men wanting to climb the barriers!! quite funny i thought!!”
