Game by Game - 15

Game 15 – Blackburn Rovers (A), Championship – 0-2

The A666. The road of the devil. The road to hell. The road to Blackburn. Driving through Darwen into Blackburn is a bit like passing over and finding yourself in Hades. We were welcomed into Blackburn by the sight of a young mum in dressing gown pushing a child in her buggy up the street, at 5:45 pm. An interesting sight, yet this wasn't the oddest moment of the night and the welcome was never really warm.

A walk down Bolton Road to McDonalds was a bizarre fusion of sights and sounds. From the gaunt, pasty faced youths guarding the entrance to Ewood Park WMC (and the membership secretary at a small table inside) with a look that just said, "Don't think about it". To the youths outside the newsagents, "I'd sooner get beat up than do prison". There was a Blackburn fan whose main form of communication appeared to be whinnying like a horse.Then to cap it all there was the 10 year old in the McDonalds queue  who, after asking JB if he supported Blackburn and JB replying that he didn't, proceeded to tell him to "f@ck off then". 

The night soon got better. United started with a bang. Quite literally, as banger exploded in the away end and 2,000 Blades fans simultaneously crapped themselves. Once the eggy smell of firework and rectal expulsion had passed, United were on the front foot from the off. Most of the first half saw the Blades camped in the opposition half. I have never seen such an unambitious home side as Blackburn. Once the excellent Egan and Basham isolated Graham and Dack (and subsequently Brereton), any counter attacks were snuffed out.

I can't imagine watching my team set up like that at home and clearly Rovers fans feel the same way. We have had some low points and rogue owners, but for a team riding high on their return to the Championship, just 12,000 home fans rattling around three sides of the stadium was a poor show. A sign of being careful what you wish for in terms of owners and recognition that the very best of times can soon turn bad. The fact those there were largely silent, apart from the youth sporadically banging his drum (which did more for Blades fans song creativity than  theirs), was equally sobering. "Is this a library?" chanted the Blades fans, more like a morgue.

As has been the case recently United didn't convert superior play and possession into goals, although this can be put down to the Blackburn keeper rather than profligate finishing. Whilst there was still a tendency for players to look for a pass when a shot was seemingly on, it was the saves that Raya made from McGoldrick, Duff and Fleck that kept the score 0-0. Well, those saves and a good headed chance put over by O'Connell. At 66-1 for the first goal and 20-1 anytime, it would have been nice if you had got your head over it Jack 😁.

After a bright five minutes or so at the start of the second half, when United had a great shout for handball in the box, Blackburn eased there way into the game, switching formation to match us and gaining some territory. For ten minutes or so we were on the back foot and failing to retain possession. Wilder and Knill responded by pushing Basham into midfield and morphing into a 4-3-3 which enabled United to regain control and we finally took the lead. 

Duffy, cut inside from the right and passed inside to Fleck, who moved the ball out wide left to McGoldrick. Rovers defenders were tracking across but nowhere near the Blades players and McGoldrick crossed for Sharp to bundle home at the second attempt. From thereon, United reverted back to the usual formation and Blackburn never looked like getting back into the game. There lack of creativity and guile exemplified by utilising sub Mulgrew as a quarterback sweeper, firing long diagonals from behind the centre halves.

The introduction of Coutts brought one of the biggest cheers of the night and from the minute he stepped on the pitch it was like he had never been away. From the off he was full blooded in the tackle and shirked nothing. Always wanting the ball, his touch was superb. A series of intricate one-twos when he was tight on the touchline showed quick feet and mind. He always seems to create more time and space than you think he has and this was no different. "Coutts's touch is arousing me", said JB.

The second goal again came from an advancing Fleck laying the ball off to his left. This time Stevens hit a wonderful curling cross and Billy somehow had more space around him than a Rovers fan, allowing him to head the ball hard into the ground, bouncing up into the roof of the net from close range. If it wasn't game over before, it was now. Scores of Rovers supporters were streaming out of the ground when sub Washington should have buried a third, but he fired too close to the impressive Raya.

Away wins are seldom more emphatic, even if the scoreline doesn't fully reflect the dominance.

Three final thoughts:

Billy Reliable: You can score all the spectacular 30 yard goals you like, but a bundled goal from 5 yards counts for as much, if not more. Especially if it gives your team the win that the flashier goals sometimes do not. That is why there will always be a role for Billy in the Blades team and why he is second top scorer in the division. At half time, you could argue he had been our least effective player. As Luke Prest messaged at the time, "Never that arsed with Billy being quiet, he often is before banging one in". Or in this case two. Unless injured or knackered, he is undroppable right now. And with McGoldrick playing so well, it's a nice problem to have.

Perspective: Following my piece on The Entitled Fans, it is worth reflecting on where we are now: 

• Joint top, third on goal difference.
• Coutts is back.
• We have seen more victories than fans of any other Championship club.
• Coutts is back.
• A point better off than at the same stage last season, when everyone said we had a great start.
• Coutts is back.
• We have a stronger matchday squad.
• Coutts is back.
• We've got Ollie Norwood....
• Coutts is back.

TalkSport Singles: The journey home was a time of warm reflection on a great away win that dissolved into hysterics, as we turned over the radio to Talksport and heard them trailing their dating site -Talksport Singles. 

Is it a same sex dating site? 

How do they recruit women from such a male oriented listenership? 

Surely, you wouldn’t find any women registering unless they are a Single White Female looking for Single White Van Man? 

And why, unlike everything else on Talksport, is it not sponsored by Screwfix, surely a missed opportunity there?

Just who would advertise themselves there?

"Barry from Willesden, Man United fan, likes shouting at passing cars and owning pitbulls"

"Nigel from Goole, Second Hand Car Salesman. Likes: His women like his cars, cheap reliable and fast"

"Karl, Postman from Kidderminster. Reads The Mail, Delivers the mail"

"Brian from Harlesden. Likes Spurs, Phil Collins and Steak and Chips"

"Tommy from Doncaster. Likes:  Benidorm - for holidays and the telly programme. Dislikes: No... proper hates Germans."

The Entitled Fans

The Internet is the centre of so many people’s lives. Anyone, should they wish to, has a public voice and a means by which to be heard (read) – forums, message boards, blogs, podcasts, twitter and Facebook. "What do you think? Tell us!". I know what you are thinking, as a blogger should you really be going down this path? But stick with me....

Old media is playing catch up, the consumers of media now create content. Phone-ins no longer need 90 minutes of callers when they can read out emails and tweets. The emails and tweets become a generator of calls and tweets and emails. Local newspapers can write articles that comprise a couple of lines of often mis-spelt text and a page of tweets. Our thoughts, hope and dreams, hates and loves shared even wider, to be rated or slated.

As society is changing, so is football. An ever expensive business that means clubs increasingly have customers rather than fans. Whether we like it or not there is an increasing number of football fans who are as much consumers and customers as supporters and fans. With ticket prices reaching, what for many people are, unsustainable levels, an increasing number of people attend expecting some semblance of value for money – a notion that very few clubs a season will ever deliver on, or on a consistent basis. Nothing exemplifies this more than the misguided notion that as a customer you are entitled to a refund if the performance is poor and the defeat is heavy.

 A sense of fan entitlement is rising in football and whilst many campaigns are worthy of wider support – Twenty’s Plenty and challenging the disregard to supporters with TV match scheduling as examples – there is a much whinier, whinging group who seek complaint at every opportunity. More prevalent amongst “supporters” of the Big 6, or those who perceive their club should be, these ungrateful, spoilt children have a sense of entitlement and severe lack of perspective that does them a bigger disservice than they are willing to acknowledge. These Veruca Salts or Violet Botts want to "scweam and scweam until they’re sick".

Sadly, you can see this starting to perpetuate United's fanbase. We all want success, we all yearn for cup runs, cup finals, promotions and titles, to bring the good times and big games back to the Lane, but this is more than that. Worse than that.  Fans sitting back waiting to be entertained - like the emperors in the Coliseum. 

There has been comment on social media and on the phone-ins recently about the atmosphere at the Lane. The fact is we have gone quiet. People sat waiting for it to happen, with impatient expectation. And when the goal doesn't come, or a mistake is made, you hear the muttering and the groans. The second, third, fourth mistakes greeted with ever louder groans. I wasn't at the Birmingham game, but those who were there commented it was like a morgue at times. The Preston game on Saturday wasn't helped by half the crowd being caught up in Freshers gridlock at kick off, but did we ever really get going once the ground filled? The usual groups at the back of the Kop made their effort, but it never really reverberated around the ground.

Even when we were all over a team for 60 minutes it felt quiet. We expect a lot of effort on the pitch and they (the players) got nothing back when they delivered. The quality of football and style of play we are trying to deliver deserves it.

Attendances are down on last season. Matchday pricing and the midweek red button will both have an impact I am sure, as will the fact that away followings are down as well. Despite these factors we still have strong numbers, so the volume should still be good.

This entitlement and passive support - until there is an issue - then breeds on social media. There is a tendency in some tweets I have seen to focus on the fact we have been on a "run" of one point from a home and away game. Since when is two games a run of games? Particularly when it includes one okay performance that we should have got at least point from - but didn't and another where initial dominance of possession wasn't translated into goal opportunities, we faded and found ourselves holding on for a point. The latter one of those games where everyone has a stinker - rare, but they do happen. But for some people this was panic stations, this was the start of "the rot". The reality is it was four wins in six and sixth in the table.

All sense of perspective is lost. The need to comment in the immediacy of the final whistle, or in this case midway through a second half with United 2-0 up, leaves little time for rationalisation. Comments that were previously kept within the privacy of friends and family are now out on public display.

There appears to be a reluctance to pause and think before hitting ‘send’ or ‘tweet’, a pause that might have more value than the words that have been typed. If this was the reaction when we went 2-0 up, I can only assume the patchy 3G coverage in the Lane thankfully deprived us of the thoughts at 2-2.

This is not a call for Ultra groups, choreographed displays, or singing sections. It isn't necessarily about singing songs. This is just a call for some perspective, for fans to get behind the team and encourage them. Bramall Lane rocking is a place few clubs would want to visit, how many times have opposition managers commented on it? We are in a much stronger position than many would have expected even after winning the League One title 16 months ago. Yes, we didn't kick on last season as we might have hoped, after a great start, but we are putting together a similar platform this season.

The table below shows the position at the same stage last season, there are many similarities with this in that we are fourth and two points off the lead, but this season is more open and the gaps are smaller. Just two points separate us in fourth and Blackburn in twelfth. The margins are small and everything points to a competitive league with a team that finds consistency pulling away from the rest.

I recently saw the graph below on twitter from a Wednesday fan, (stick with me!) Peter Loehmann. It showed that over the last 14 years the proportion of teams in the Top 6 of the Championship each week that are still there at season end. Whilst that wasn't the case for us last season and we were in the other 50%, then there must be a chance this season.

Let's not take this for granted. Let's not assume that the players can produce these kinds of performances every week. They're going to need us to get behind them and they need us to lift them when energy is flagging. Teams come to Bramall lane to contain us. Be patient, keep perspective, we can make a difference. You never know we may convert some of those results we didn't get last season into better ones this and who knows where that might take us?

He's One Of Our Own - The story behind the book

Blades fans have been lucky in recent years, with several books being published with either a strong Blades flavour, or focusing on a former Blades player. Autobiographies of Alan Hodgkinson, Keith Edwards, Tony Kenworthy and  Bob Booker look firmly to the past (and in most cases to a fondly remembered time). The latest Blades related book has a much more current focus, but the time it covers will still be looked on with great happiness for many years to come.

 

Danny Hall, journalist at The Star, has written He's One Of Our Own : The Story of Chris Wilder's Blades Revolution and he too time out to tell A United View about it.

 

 

On the book's website you say;  "I’ve always had an ambition to write a book, ever since I picked up a copy of The Star as a kid and realised that being paid to write about sport was an actual thing."

Is it the case that the Wilder story presented a nice opportunity to achieve that ambition? Have you had any other opportunities previously?

 

I pitched one book before this one, but they weren't picked up because they had broad appeal. This one was a little different, but it wasn't a case of being desperate to write a book. It's always been something in the back of my mind, because I enjoy the longer-form of journalism that there isn't always time and space for, but it wasn't like I was throwing out pitches left, right and centre. So I thought a book, over 60-90,000 words, would give me the chance to get my teeth into something. I pitched it to the publisher who called me immediately and said he wanted it, so the journey began there really.

With newspapers focusing online, increasing numbers of alternative online news outlets and traditional print media supposedly under threat, is it tough pitching an idea to publishers, or was this story an easy sell?

 

As touched on previously, a fairly easy sell. Newspapers are focusing increasingly online and on social media, but I still believe there is room for a long read.

 

As a Blades fan and journalist what are your favourite memories pre-Wilder? 

 

Pre-Wilder, there wasn't a great deal! One of my earliest memories was watching Vas Borbokis v Sunderland... I loved him from that moment, and got his name on my replica away shirt. It had to curve around the No.2 because the shirt was so small, and cost more for the printing than the top! Obviously the highlight was the Warnock promotion season and then the Premier League campaign, which ended in the most Sheffield United way possible. The FA Cup semi-final against Hull at Wembley was also brilliant, if not for the sensation of finally scoring a goal there but for the spontaneous round of applause that filtered around Wembley after Hull's fifth goal went in.

 

What are the challenges of writing a book alongside the day job?

 

It's tough. A lot of people have assumed that writing the book is a bit of a busman's holiday, as it fits quite tightly with the day job, but it couldn't be further from the truth! And coming home at night after a day of writing, to write another 4-5,000 words, or taking a week off to write was difficult. I reckon over the five-month period of the book from idea to completion, I had a week off from it - and that was spent on holiday, reading over the proofs! 

 

I think many fans might assume that for a man whose job is writing that writing and publishing a book is dead easy, but how long did it take from the first formulation of an idea to getting a physical copy of the book in your hand? 

 

The physical copy was delivered today, August 22, and the idea was formed in the week leading up to the Leicester FA Cup tie in February.

I imagine the players and management were more than happy to contribute to the book, how hard was it to edit down their input?

 

They were, and it was fairly straightforward. I wanted to get a flavour of the Wilder years from the perspective of the players, but also their careers - so Jake Wright's time in the Conference, Mark Duffy almost giving up football, Paul Coutts' difficult times under Adkins... they all spoke really well, fortunately for me, and I think the end product works quite well.

 

 

Were there any stories that you couldn't commit to print?

 

There were - invariably, in this job, there are! 

 

Fans contributions add colour and putting the Wilder era into context against the Adkins regime that preceded it must have made for some challenging edits with emotions still running strong over his reign?

 

There were, but I was careful to not censor them too much. It was an emotive time - football's an emotive game - and the biggest challenge was editing down a superb piece from one fan, Dan Atkin, who wrote brilliantly about the effect that season had on him - a few thousand words too long! So wittling that down, and still keeping the flavour, was a challenge, but one I enjoyed. What came across was that the players had similar frustrations to the fans, albeit probably not as strongly. It was a season we'd probably all rather forget, but one that I felt was so important to the Wilder story that it had to be included in full, to understand the task that faced Wilder when he took over.

 

 

With contributions from many sources how hard was it to turn it into a cohesive story?

 

Not particularly - although anyone who reads it may not agree! The book follows a linear format loosely, although some chapters do jump forwards and backwards slightly. 

 

From talking to the players, what do you think is different about this group and the way they were managed that led to United finally escaping League 1 and establishing themselves in the Championship? Are there aspects of their personalities, attitudes etc. that are different from previous squads?

 

The main difference that I picked up on was 'real world' experience - many of the players who form Wilder's side have experienced rejection or disappointment, which I touch on in the book. As I say Wright played in the Conference and Mark Duffy gave up football entirely for a period... Coutts worked on an oil rig in Scotland, Chris Basham worked in McDonald's. It's also a cliche, but the team spirit up at Shirecliffe is really good. You can see that the players are teammates and friends too, which perhaps hasn't been true in the past.

 

The biggest reason, though, is undoubtedly Wilder. He has a unique ability of being close to the players one minute, making them feel a million dollars, and the next totally distancing himself and working them to within an inch of their lives. I lost count the amount of times I have sat at Shirecliffe listening to Wilder speak and thought, 'I'd love to work under him'. And that, in any job, can't be underestimated.

As a journalist you have had a level of access to the club and events that fans can only dream of. What are your top 3 moments of the Wilder reign so far for you personally?

 

September 24, 2017. To turn the game around like that, in those circumstances, with Hillsborough bouncing was unbelievable. Afterwards, we spoke to Mark Duffy in a small room just off the Hillsborough tunnel and I don't think he could believe it himself. It was the day he wrote his name in United folklore forever, and he had no idea what he'd just done.

The open top bus. We were invited on, taking turns to go on the top deck as the bus worked its way around Sheffield town centre. Inside the Town Hall, the walls reverberated to the sounds of the Jack O'Connell song and to see so many Blades gathered from the balcony was incredible.

Not a top moment per se, but Millwall away in Wilder's first season. Afterwards a Sky journalist asked him if he feared for his job, and he wasn't too happy. Getting the beers on the bus on the way back was credited with the turnaround, but no-one could ever imagine what would follow in the coming months.

 

Everybody wants things in small, easy to read form now. Twitter also provides a great platform for promoting writing in all its forms. If you could sum up the book in 140 characters what would you say?

 

Tough one! The story of how one man picked up a club on the floor, told by those involved. This is how Chris Wilder made Sheffield United united again.

 

Any further plans for books, United based or otherwise?

 

Not just yet! It was an enjoyable experience, but not one I'd rush into repeating. I owe my fiance more than a bit of my time first, I think!

Thanks to Danny for his time in answering the questions. I look forward to getting my hands on a copy of the book (you can get your copy here ) and we will post a review of it on here in due course.

Game by Game - 8

SkyBet Championship, Norwich (H), 2-1

After the recriminations and frustrations of last season's encounter at the Lane, the visit of Norwich (just like Mel B's dresses) holds a little more spice than it used to.

The Canaries' time wasting last season was unlike anything I have seen from an opposition side in years and whilst Saturday's game didn't quite reach those levels, it wasn't far off at times. The fact that Darren Bond (whose one-way decision making made me question if he was related to John) only added 3 minutes on as the clock reached 90 astounded many in the ground. The fact that it was sufficient time for United to finally make Norwich pay, meant any of those grumbles and frustrations could be forgotten about.

After last week's win at QPR and an improved performance midweek, let down yet again by spurned chances, there was cautious optimism, if a little surprise, at the omission of Stearman in what looked a very positive and attacking Blades line up.

From the off Norwood was busy, wanting the ball, dictating play and his link up with Fleck was reminiscent of the Coutts/Fleck partnership, with each taking responsibility in turn and prompting, driving United forward. Norwood's set pieces were a joy all game. When Egan met his right wing corner (which Norwood had also won) at the far post his powerful header looked to be cleared off the line from the Kop, but the Blades players were claiming goal and a couple of seconds later the referee got the call and signalled goal. The Lane was rocking and "Take your time, take you time Sheffield United, playing football the Norwich way" rang out.

For the next 20 minutes United were on top and you thought they were most likely to score, but they suffered a real sucker punch. Basham failed to deal with Hernandez on the left side of the box, being rolled far too easily, and the winger put it on a plate for Wednesday loanee Jordan Rhodes, who doesn't miss a chance like that.......unless he is in a shirt with Chansiri written on it.  His celebration right in front of the Kop stirred anger and abuse, but that quickly subsided and the ground felt deflated as the game, from a United view, fizzled out to half time. Despite this I felt optimistic, telling friends at half time we will win this 2-1.

The second half saw United start the better side. Several crosses into the box came to nothing, Egan saw a hooked effort well saved by Krul on the post and two great Norwood corners ended with Leonard heading over and a late surging Egan could only direct  his header inches past the post. Norwich had opportunities too, spurning a great chance from a couple of yards out after the ball came back off the bar. Leitner then received the ball after a deflection off a team mate at least 8 yards offside. With no flag and two team mates in support he hared down on Henderson, only for the keeper to stand tall and make a superb stop. 

The three minutes injury time were going down as quickly as Alex Tettey with "cramp" and even I was doubting my half time optimism, when Basham played a Norwood-esque ball into McGoldrick's path on the left side of the box. He hooked his foot around it, dragging it across goal, where Sharp forced it home. Delirium. Wilder was down one touchline, Henderson ran the length of the other to join in celebrations. A deserved win and whilst there is still work to be done, both defensively and on delivering a full ninety minute performance, there was much to feel optimistic about.  

Three final thoughts:

Jordan's assets - Canaries fans could have been excused for looking like their most famous celebrity Alan Partridge at full time. After a salutary wave to the away end, off Rhodes skulked towards the tunnel, without going over to the fans. You can imagine the plaintive cries of "JorDAN, JorDAN! JorDAN! JorDAN........JorDAAAAAN...........JorDAN!..... oh he's not seen us" coming from the away end. After his goal celebration in front of the Kop was rendered meaningless he clearly didn't want to be on that pitch any longer. Having said all that, Rhodes would be an absolute dream to have at the Lane. With the way we play and the types of goals he scores, he would finish off plenty of those crosses that pass through the box without that final touch and would be a great target for Norwood at set pieces. In fact, there is a good chance he would have walked off that pitch with the match ball on Saturday if he had worn a red and white shirt.

"Comes to something" - My Dad mutters the same thing every week. In fact he has uttered the six words for the last twenty odd years. As the Kop rises to its feet in anticipation as the ball is placed for a corner to be taken, he is in no rush to get up. Partly down to his advancing years and difficulty in getting up too quickly, but also due to his long held belief that "We never bloody score from corners". Sod's Law he wasn't there with me on Saturday, but I think it will be rare that he mutters that phrase whilst ever Oliver Norwood is a Blade. 


The @S24SU twitter feed will also have to change as Foxy and Linz have to get used to not clicking in drafts and selecting the  "Comes to nothing"  after every "Corner to the Blades" tweet. We have a player who can not only dictate play in the middle of the park, wanting the ball, making himself available and then picking a pass, we have a dead ball specialist. From the corner met by Egan and for the 81 minutes that followed, each corner or free kick was met with a deep breath and a degree of anticipation from the crowd. There was good variation; short, long and out to the edge of the penalty area, and each time you felt something could happen here. Whilst overseas midweek, I caught up with the Hull Cup game via twitter and saw plenty of mention of Norwood and his corners, with his performance on Saturday it genuinely excited me…….long may it continue.

Leon's not lazy - One grumble from Saturday is directed at a section of our support that seem hell bent on making Leon Clarke the latest target for their frustrations. At times in the first half it felt much bigger than just a small section of fans and it seemed like half the Kop sighed "OhhhhhLeon" as he didn't quite react in time to cut out a loose ball. We are a fan base that likes to see effort and a trier and often in the past that has more than made up for any technical limitation a player might have, making certain players heroes over more skilful team mates who perhaps lacked application. Leon works hard for the team, but he also uses judgement about when to close down play, when to challenge for a header, when to stand off play and wait for the break down. A great example was when two Norwich defenders went up to win the same header. Fans around me clearly felt Leon should go up in a 2 v 1 challenge, instead he just pulled into the space left by the defenders, ready to exploit the gaping hole if the second ball was collected.

His work rate certainly upped a notch second half and he never gave Hanley or Krul a moment to dwell on the ball. At 33, Leon is often the striker that lasts 90 minutes and to do that you need to use your experience and know when to chase and when not to. Unfortunately for some, that is seemingly a sign of laziness. He is just missing a goal and if he had turned in the chance first half with a  crisper finish then who knows what it will do to his confidence.  

Game by Game - 7

SkyBet Championship, QPR (A), 1-2

 

We welcome Jon Bradley back to A United View, for his take on an away day in West London, having taken a slightly different route there than most Blades And a slightly drier one.

 

A London away day so early in the season was an unexpected bonus when the fixtures were released. 

 

Trains were booked, pubs were identified and the inevitable 'my train is earlier than your train' jibes between the drinkers amongst us were exchanged.  Not for me though as I was up at 5:00am to drive from St. Ives, following a family holiday, to Bristol where I would get the train in to meet up with my mates in the capital.  The train journey was smooth as were the 180 miles from Cornwall to Bristol, the bump in the road arrived when I decided to order some beer on the train.

 

“What beers do you have?” I eagerly asked the kind lady pushing the trolley.  This was greeted with a sharp draw of breath and a quite abrupt “what would you like? I don’t like to encourage it usually, at this time of the day." It was 10:10am, yes a little early, however, I had every faith my friends from Sheffield had been sipping the amber nectar at much more of a witching hour!  “Any lager” was my response, “I will fetch them you soon.”  40 minutes later and my day had really kicked into second gear when 2 cans of Kronenberg turned up.  Viva la France.

 

Once in Paddington, I made my way on the tube to Hammersmith and took up position with friends in Wetherspoons.  The app took a hammering as I made my way through some beers with mates before descending on Loftus Road.  A grand old stadium Loftus Road is and when United took to the field, after an unnecessary argument about someone being sat in my seat, I was genuinely pumped up.

 

The Blades started with a degree of energy which had been absent in the previous two outings.  Returns of three old favourites and Stearman made us instantly look like a Wilder side.  Freeman and Duffy particularly showing things which have been absent prior to this game.  Despite all the effort, United found themselves behind after some last-ditch defending. A prolonged spell of QPR dominance and the ball fell on the edge of the box to Eze who smashed it home past Henderson.

 

Groans and infighting filled the upper tier near where we were sat.  One gentleman in particular must have had a run in with Leon Clarke because the way he was going on anyone would have thought that poor Leon invaded Poland in 1939!  Nevertheless, United made the breakthrough when three of the returning players combined.  Duffy to Freeman to Sharp to 1-1.  Easy.

 

Despite the equaliser, I went down at halftime pretty angry at my fellow supporters.  You pay your money you can shout what you want, but I couldn't help but feel that the atmosphere in the stand was pretty toxic.  Considering what has happened in the last few years in and around the club it really shouldn't be.  As I exchanged pleasantries with Blades mates it became apparent they shared this view.  I mean there are two drivers here.

 

Firstly, the digital age allows us all to access information, statistics or footage to inform and base opinions on.  I mean I am sat here writing an article, as a fan, for a mate, for other fans to read.  Why?  Its a bit of fun and someone will enjoy it, I hope.  This era though also allows for nonsense throwaway comments to be tweeted or used as fact by fans.  My favourite last week was someone kicking off that we hadn't got a Man City striker on loan who had gone to Preston, I can't even remember the loanees' name.

 

Secondly, which is almost worse, is the "I am a bigger Blade than you" bollocks which goes on when things aren't going so well.  Which in its own twisted way is full of arrogance and entitlement which isn't necessary nor productive.  If you've been to every game for 20 years and seen the reserves away at Exeter on a Tuesday, stood on your own, in December, in the rain, then good for you. But it doesn't mean that you know more than @bladex4lyf4eva.

 

We are supporters and we all see the game differently.  We should, however, all be able to look at the game differently without throwing vitriolic negativity at our players, who for 24 months have made us as proud as any set fo supporter in the land.  Anyway, I had a cider, it was shite.

 

The second half started as both teams pressed to seek an advantage.  It was a nervy affair with a few good Henderson saves being the highlight from a Blades point of view.  Then, in the 65th minute, the substitute McGoldrick was flattened by two of the hosts and a penalty was awarded.  McGoldrick took it upon himself to rifle the ball home.

 

United introduced Leonard late on for McGoldrick who had a dead leg.  They managed to control the game to its conclusion by any means necessary.  Leonard went close late on, but the game finished 2-1.  Wilder led the players to the away end for an exchange of pleasantries.  Dean Henderson looked like a boy on Christmas morning as he joined in the singing with the away following.

 

Wilder pushed Sharp towards the away end for some personal recognition, something echoed in his post-match interview.  As we all made our way home, delighted that United had some points on the board, it's fair to say the gaffer was equally pleased.  Particularly me, who knew that I could have a beer on the way home without judgement and that sometimes just being a fan is pretty fun.

 

Three final thoughts:

 

Dean Henderson - the kid oozes quality and if he continues to behave like that when we win he will become a fan favourite in no time.

 

Cautious optimism - United beat a poor QPR team but a little confidence can go a long way with this bunch of players.

 

He's not the messiah... - Duffy did help United towards the victory, however, whether or not we need can pin our hope on him doing it in the remaining 42 games remains to be seen.  Along with Freeman and Sharp though on this occasion, they did make the difference.