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Sheff Utd vs Saints - Post Match Views


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Amazing what adding a couple of experienced players can do for a side.

 

For a team which will be battling relegation this season, a point up there is a very good one. I just hope the appearances of John and Skacel weren't a one off and whoever was responsible for their exclusion has seen the light.

 

Could be the fact it was publicised. Together with the sounds of revolution growing.

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so 4 clean sheets in the last 7 games for this disaster of a defence

I think we rode our luck a bit ! I wouldn't say that I was confident in the teams defensive qualities; it's a good job 'good' KD turned up tonight, not the one that played against Watford.

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Nail-chewing stuff listening to the radio - only got the second half, did Skacel play the whole game at left back with Mills at left wing(ish)? Was rather surprised at that. Whatever, as others have said, I'd have taken a point very happily before the game. They clearly had us under a great deal of pressure pretty much throughout the second half, but we didn't buckle and also created a few chances of our own on the break.

 

Well played, boys.

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Originally Posted by Arizona viewpost.gif

Amazing what adding a couple of experienced players can do for a side.

 

For a team which will be battling relegation this season, a point up there is a very good one. I just hope the appearances of John and Skacel weren't a one off and whoever was responsible for their exclusion has seen the light.

My monies on Wilde having a discrete word with Lowe;)
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Excellent stoical performance and showed they can cope with pressure unlike this much lauded new website that seems to struggle with the moaners logging in and at the ready to dip their pens in poison.

 

For the vast majority who posted on the prediction thread I suspect will have a quiet and sheepish night. Leave the 5-0 tonkings to Burley and Pearson you great bunch of 'supporters'.

 

That kind of resilience can only confirm that we will confidently survive this season without the need of other teams doing the business for us. Bootboy, No I fan and McEnemy - no thanks the new era is not without setbacks but continues to show enough unlike a lot of our fans who seem stuck in the 1980's.

Great performance and result tonight, well done to everyone involved. Just shows what can be done with a bit of experience in the team to complement the youngsters like most have been saying all season. Still need to win home games and until we do, we are still candidates for relegation. But lets enjoy tonight.

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My monies on Wilde having a discrete word with Lowe;)[/i]

 

You may well be right, I think anybody reading the threads on here should get the drift. Once it had been publicised it caused a problem. By picking Skacel and leaving McGoldrick out, could well have been done in an attempt to prove the threads wrong. As usual, obvious.

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Great performance and result tonight, well done to everyone involved. Just shows what can be done with a bit of experience in the team to complement the youngsters like most have been saying all season. Still need to win home games and until we do, we are still candidates for relegation. But lets enjoy tonight.
Great result but we still need another 3-4 experienced players to help secure our safety in this league. Where's Chris Lucketti nowadays?
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Excellent stoical performance and showed they can cope with pressure unlike this much lauded new website that seems to struggle with the moaners logging in and at the ready to dip their pens in poison.

 

For the vast majority who posted on the prediction thread I suspect will have a quiet and sheepish night. Leave the 5-0 tonkings to Burley and Pearson you great bunch of 'supporters'.

 

That kind of resilience can only confirm that we will confidently survive this season without the need of other teams doing the business for us. Bootboy, No I fan and McEnemy - no thanks the new era is not without setbacks but continues to show enough unlike a lot of our fans who seem stuck in the 1980's.

 

I predicted a draw although not the exact result :D :D

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so 4 clean sheets in the last 7 games for this disaster of a defence

 

It seems to me that we actually can defend so long as we do not concede that early goal within 20 minutes or so. Our confidence is quite fragile defensively and therefore we struggle when the opposition notch early.

 

Maybe that is this mental toughness thing that only comes when players become battle hardened. It seems that if we can avoid the early goal, we often build in confidence and consequently can see the game out without conceding more than a goal, but as soon as we do actually concede then it's a real floodgates situation. I guess its also a possibility that we keep it tighter when we are level as there is not the need to go gung ho and lose shape trying to chase the game.

 

Good result tonight though and a very unexpected point.

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Great result but we still need another 3-4 experienced players to help secure our safety in this league. Where's Chris Lucketti nowadays?

is there such a thing in ANY league??.......we got relegated with 'experienced ' players.........

not having a go, just don't think that there is any miracle cure.......we definately need at least 2 or 3 players to come in, but no-one (that we can afford,at least) can guarantee CCC football at SMS next season..

 

 

 

great point for the boys tonight, btw

am well happy with that!! :D

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Excellent stoical performance and showed they can cope with pressure unlike this much lauded new website that seems to struggle with the moaners logging in and at the ready to dip their pens in poison.

 

For the vast majority who posted on the prediction thread I suspect will have a quiet and sheepish night. Leave the 5-0 tonkings to Burley and Pearson you great bunch of 'supporters'.

 

That kind of resilience can only confirm that we will confidently survive this season without the need of other teams doing the business for us. Bootboy, No I fan and McEnemy - no thanks the new era is not without setbacks but continues to show enough unlike a lot of our fans who seem stuck in the 1980's.

 

Good to see you! Expect some decent input everytime we get a point?

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Excellent stoical performance and showed they can cope with pressure unlike this much lauded new website that seems to struggle with the moaners logging in and at the ready to dip their pens in poison.

 

For the vast majority who posted on the prediction thread I suspect will have a quiet and sheepish night. Leave the 5-0 tonkings to Burley and Pearson you great bunch of 'supporters'.

 

That kind of resilience can only confirm that we will confidently survive this season without the need of other teams doing the business for us. Bootboy, No I fan and McEnemy - no thanks the new era is not without setbacks but continues to show enough unlike a lot of our fans who seem stuck in the 1980's.

 

Sorry buddy but in case you hadn't noticed we have actually had some tonkings this season too!

 

Yes, some are very negative and focus on heavy defeats totally and some focus totally on the winning performances. When you look at things on balance it is absolutely apparent that we are right in a relegation scrap where survival will be a good result.

 

The key to our survival this season is not flogging any more players and making sure that our decent experienced players like John, Skacel, Thomas, Davis, Surman, Wotton etc are blended in with the best of the youngsters. I am optimistic if we keep an experienced spine to the team as there are only a handful of the youngsters that are genuinely good enough right now.

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is there such a thing in ANY league??.......we got relegated with 'experienced ' players.........

not having a go, just don't think that there is any miracle cure.......we definately need at least 2 or 3 players to come in, but no-one (that we can afford,at least) can guarantee CCC football at SMS next season..

 

 

 

great point for the boys tonight, btw

am well happy with that!! :D

There's less guarantees with a side made-up of mainly youngsters. It about getting the blend right. Last season was all wrong and it's been the same this season.
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Sorry buddy but in case you hadn't noticed we have actually had some tonkings this season too!

 

Yes, some are very negative and focus on heavy defeats totally and some focus totally on the winning performances. When you look at things on balance it is absolutely apparent that we are right in a relegation scrap where survival will be a good result.

 

The key to our survival this season is not flogging any more players and making sure that our decent experienced players like John, Skacel, Thomas, Davis, Surman, Wotton etc are blended in with the best of the youngsters. I am optimistic if we keep an experienced spine to the team as there are only a handful of the youngsters that are genuinely good enough right now.

This has been said by many on this board from day one of the season.
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We need to win games...despite tonights performance, which is better than losing clearly, we are still relegation candidates at the moment. JP needs to get Lowe out of the changing room and also needs to ensure there's a decent experienced backbone to the team CONSISTENTLY. No more stupid experiments with 95% of the team under 21 and play 4-4-2 at home.

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We need to win games...despite tonights performance, which is better than losing clearly, we are still relegation candidates at the moment. JP needs to get Lowe out of the changing room and also needs to ensure there's a decent experienced backbone to the team CONSISTENTLY. No more stupid experiments with 95% of the team under 21 and play 4-4-2 at home.
Let's hope Lowe steps down from his executive role before the AGM.
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We need to win games...despite tonights performance, which is better than losing clearly, we are still relegation candidates at the moment.

 

As 99% of people thought we would be before the season started, tbf.

 

JP needs to get Lowe out of the changing room...

 

Has anyone produced any hard evidence that he's been there?

 

Anyways, well done tonight boys, that's a very decent point up there.

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I'm happy with a point tonight. Feel sorry for the guys who went to see it though. goal less is never a spectacle but a point is a point as they say.

 

sounds as though they defended really well. and kelvin made three or four really good saves which kept us in the game.

 

well done lads!

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Haven't seen any comments on how Bradley Wright Philllips played. Thoughts? Obviously difficult to tell over the radio but usually when there's a gut feel he's played badly, from listening to the commentary, people have laid into him. Perhaps the lack of criticism about him tonight is a good sign?

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Well done the lads. Especially Kelvin Davies again, who kept us in it with a string of super saves. Thank God that we also had the experience of Perry back in the centre of defence and also the quality of Cork at RB. Lovely to see Scacel back to add his quality and experience too, but what was going on with playing him at LB with Mills ahead of him? Granted that he had played there before a few times, but surely it would have been better with Mills as the dedicated LB and Scacel experienced enough to have tracked back to give him cover, but also able to foray forward for added impetus.

 

We had good possession with the extra man in midfield, but as with all clever managers, they sussed us out by halftime and made the tactical changes that nullified us and from then on it was all hands to the pumps. But tonight we had lady luck smiling on us for once and also an ex-striker didn't come back to haunt us.

 

Sad that Lancashire earned himself another Red and therefore puts pressure on his colleagues when the defence will be weakened for the next three matches without him.

 

But apart from Mills ahead of Scacel and seemingly no tactical answer to gain any advantage over United's response to our midfield superiority, a clean sheet and an away point against a good strong team is creditable. But one man up front and attempt to hit them on the break is fine away, but two up front at home please.

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A much, much better team performance and one that was enjoyable to watch as well. If they keep up that sort of performance most of us will be reasonably happy I think. Rudi and Jack Cork at FB made all the difference for me and KD pulled off some great stops. The team was really buzzing first half but in the second half SU started to close us down more quickly and the passing game vanished but there was a more of a steeliness about the overall display than has been evident recently. Rudi would my pick as MoM as his confidence seemed so inspire the rest of the team.

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Sad that Lancashire earned himself another Red and therefore puts pressure on his colleagues when the defence will be weakened for the next three matches without him.

If it was two yellows then it's only a one-game ban (I think) unless the FA get annoyed with him for having a bad disciplinary record.

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We need to win games...despite tonights performance, which is better than losing clearly, we are still relegation candidates at the moment. JP needs to get Lowe out of the changing room and also needs to ensure there's a decent experienced backbone to the team CONSISTENTLY. No more stupid experiments with 95% of the team under 21 and play 4-4-2 at home.

 

I'm not a fan of Lowe but as i saw Woopert walking past me into the ground as i collected my ticket 5 minutes before kick off i doubt he could have been in the changing room before the game.

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OK - I got back from the game about an hour ago (12.15am), so just a quick report before bed..

 

Overall, pleased with the result. I think we just about deserved to hold on although they were on top for most of the second half - especially after the substitutions. That having been said, Sheffield United's retention of possession was pretty poor and their shooting abysmal! Their best player was Ehiogu, who was on the whole a colossus at the back. But for Saints...

 

Man of the match: Kelvin Davis - commanded his area well on the whole and made some brilliant saves including one or two amazing full length fingertip stops.

 

Other players worth a mention:

 

Simon Gillett - Very hard working and dependable in possession and moved the team forward well. At the centre of a lot of things.

Adam Lallana - Assured in possession, held the ball up well. Frequently a menace going forward. Good vision and passing. Possibly the classiest player on the pitch.

Rudi Skacel - excellent defensive performance. Held his position well and never lost a tackle in the first half. In fact he must have so frustrated their right winger that he was subbed at half time! He also gave great support to Joseph Mills in midfield, shouting encouragement and advice, etc. and linking with him on a number of occasions to begin forward breaks. He tired towards the end of the game, which coincided with the period in which we were under the cosh, towards the end.

Andrew Surman - Looked very assured in the first half and held the ball up well. A much more mature performance than I have previously seen from him (though I confess I do not get to many matches). Faded a little in the second half.

Bradley Wright Phillips - He is so much better as a winger than as a striker. He ran the line really well and combined well with Gillett to pose a significant threat down the wing. Faded in the second half - especially after switching to the left flank, following the substitution of Mills.

 

Other players:

 

Perry: Solid on the whole, but caught out of position a couple of times in the first half.

Lancashire: Occasionally caught out of position, especially in the first half. Nothing special but did ok. Hard to see from our end, but the foul that led to him going off was possibly a little clumsy and reckless, though may also have saved us the points (although I don't think it was as clear cut a danger as some are suggesting).

Mills: Looked dodgy in possession early on and pleased he was in midfield not in defence. However, he settled as the game wore on and did provide the occasional threat.

Cork: Caught out of position on a few occasions in the first half and appeared uncomfortable in possession. Did not have sufficient composure to hold the ball up and was quick to release it, though he was a useful support to Bradley down the wing. When he held his possession he defended ok. Plays more like a centre back than a full back. Improved as game went on and after early indiscipline maintained defensive position well while central defenders went up for corners.

John: Held the ball up well and worked hard for the team. Took a significant part in defensive and midfield duties as well as being lone striker. Hassled and harried their midfield and defence well. Unfortunately his great supporting work in midfiled meant that he was not always in position to threaten the goal as much as I would have liked. That having been said, he rose brilliantly in the box to meet the ball in the area for what was possibly the clearest chance of the game (certainly in Saints favour!) but sadly did not hit the target.

 

Subs:

McGoldrick - tried hard and did some good stuff on the wings. He was certainly a threat and continued Bradley's earlier good work on the right. Finished the game as lone striker but saw little of the ball for lst few minutes, except in a defensive capacity!

James - Was not on for long and did not have much time to show what he could do in midfield. Tried very hard with the one chance he had to do something and nearly created an opening, but sadly it came to nothing. Maybe tried a little too hard!

Wotton - was only on for about a minute so not possible to assess his contribution.

 

Portvliet - Good blend of youth and experience in starting line-up. Glad he chose to play Rudi. Disappointed with his substitutions. These did not work for us and left us on the back foot (except for the last one which was obviously a necessary chnage following the sending off - though a little staggered that it was made while we were defending the Beattie Free Kick just outside the area!) Also disappointed with lack of discipline on right hand side of defence early on. Pleased with better defensive discipline in second half.

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great result tonight,steadying of the ship before it went right off course.would have taken the draw b4 ko,as i thought we'd loose 2-0.hopefuly we can nick a point from swansea on saturday and keep another clean sheet,keep the faith,we will come good but need to be more productive up front,coyr

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Just back from the game. Personally i thought it was a very enjoyable game to watch. Especially compared to the crap i've seen in the other 11 games. The changes Jan made worked in my view as the experienced boys showed the rest what to do. There was a lot of comunication and most of the time everyone seemed on the same page. Dropping Wotten made a huge difference to the defence and even though Ollie got a red card i think he played superb. The whole defence worked very hard and even though i was ****ed to see Rudi in defence he did great. Davis was my man of the match again as he made some outstanding saves, his displays so far this year have been a joy to behold. I really hope the rumour of Lowe selling him in January is not true.

The key to this performance was effort. Lets not pretend here this was not some outstanding promotion chasing display. This was on mass defend for your lives performance. The first half Utd were fast as sleep and were just complaining to the ref all the time for giving us all the decisions. The ref was a bit of a picky one but thankfully he was on our side. The second half we were hanging on for our lives and i think i can only recall 1 shot of ours. Seeing John back in our box defending for the last 20-25mins and our keeper getting motm shows what kind of game it was. The boys did the job they needed to do and 1 point is something we would of all taken before the game. They deserve it for effort. Yes we were lucky and we did what a lot of people complain about when it happens to us (play for draw) but really i don't see how another way would of worked here. Maybe in the second half we should of put a 2nd striker up front and try and ease the pressure a bit. The only depressing thing about today is even though we have done superb and got a well deserved point (in my opinion) we have dropped points and are actually now closer to the drop zone. I really feel it is a battle for the last relegation spot already as i think Forest and Doncaster are done for. If we can keep getting points from the teams around us and we put in the effort we did today we could move away from the area we are in. I just pray we don't go to Swansea and play like we have before this game, or Jan re-vert back to before. Swansea are no mugs, they are undefeated at home. We have to put that effort in every game and try and think about ways to attack. Passing from keeper to defence then to centre midfield we are very good at that. But that is because all their players are in their own half. We have to work on the final third and more importantly the final ball. But the players should be proud they have done well.

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