Sheffield United Blog - Sheff Utd News And Comment

The right way to find a new manager

2010-12-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

If you want success on the pitch, then you need a good football manager. Credit where it is due, the board have conducted the search for a new manager in the correct way. They have taken their time and interviewed candidates instead of plucking a name out of thin air. It appears they have learned from the rushed appointments made in recent years.

From the names that were on the shortlist, Micky Adams was the sensible choice. He is experienced and has numerous promotions as a manager. He has similar attributes to Bassett and Warnock and they did not do too badly. Relegation would be a complete and utter disaster and Adams is the best candidate to ensure the club avoids dropping down to League One.

This managerial appointment should reunite the fans and get the ground rocking again. The fact Adams is a blade is a bonus and his passion for the club should rub off on the players. Looking beyond this season, promotion should be within the club’s grasp if the board can provide Adams with reasonable backing.

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Cut your coat according to your cloth

2010-02-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

Trevor Birch has confirmed what many have suspected for a while. The football club has been funding other parts of McCabe’s empire. SUFC is solvent but “The Business” is losing money. He is not prepared to invest any more money and thinks it is time the club stood on its own two feet! Well, maybe it would if it were not carrying the Hotel and Chengdu. Everyone makes mistakes but these are bloody expensive ones.

Appointing Bryan Robson as manager was McCabe’s biggest clanger and a financial catastrophe. Captain Marvel was chosen because he was a big name and would raise the profile of the club. He did not just employ a poor manager he gave him the biggest transfer budget of any manager in our history. He gambled with the parachute payments and lost spectacularly. The recession alone should not have hurt us but coupled with the Robson debacle it is a different story.

The hotel is a needless luxury. It is a folly that we did not want or need. If we were an established premiership club, you could understand it. Not many championship clubs feel the overwhelming desire to build their very own hotel. It was built because one man wanted it building. It will not win us any games nor score the winning goal in the play-off final. That is £18 million that we could have avoided shelling out.

As well as selling our better players, any chance we can offload Chengdu? After all, it is a sound investment we are led to believe so there should be no problem finding a buyer. The Ferencvaros link is the amusing one. That does have potential but our Kevin has resisted the urge to re-name them Ferencvaros Blades. Unlike the Chinese club McCabe owns Fradi, so if it does come good these proceeds go straight into his back pocket.

At least, the truth has come out and the idiots can stop hailing him as some kind of messiah who has our best interests at heart. He has used the club to increase his wealth and at the same time has saddled us with debt. He is looking for fresh investment rather than a takeover. In other words, he wants to have his cake and eat it. Fingers crossed the next chairman does not have a surname starting with Mc.

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Time For Some New Ideas

2009-10-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

After the play-off final defeat Blackwell had the balls to offer his resignation. He was astute enough to realise he had taken the club as far as he could. Credit to him for that but McCabe had other ideas and persuaded him to reconsider. We now know that was not for football reasons. Blackwell has got on with the job while the board have sold numerous quality players. When your gut instinct tells you the time has come to leave it is usually spot on. Blackwell is doing a job for the board that many other managers would complain vociferously about.

The most annoying part of this season is the financial state of affairs. If the club is skint then why not just admit it? In the summer, there was a real buzz about this season but when the season tickets were sold it was clear what the real intentions were. The loss of parachute payments, loans repaid to McCabe and the Kop redevelopment all add up to a considerable sum. The fact the club has accepted £100,000 from Sheffield Eagles for the use of our stadium demonstrates how much we need the revenue.

Of course, if the financial picture has changed then the football club needs to follow suit. It is all well and good cutting the wage bill but what happens when there is nothing left to sell? We have been here before when Charles Green sold the team and in no time we had a relegation battle on our hands. All this pretending to be a financially sound club fools no one especially when half the players in the team are not ours. If we cannot afford to buy the finished article then the alternative is up and coming talent. There is no logic in spending millions on one player when the substitute’s bench is half empty.

And then we come back to the manager and his preferred style of play. We can handle the fact we are unlikely to be promoted but watching hoof ball is no good. For whatever reasons (losing Beattie being one of them) Blackwell has failed to recreate the level of performance of two years ago when he took over from Robson. In his own words, he has taken us as far as he can. We have seen smaller clubs pass the ball and make us look silly. They have done this without hotels and links to third world clubs.

The new Kop roof should be postponed for the time being and those resources channelled into areas with a greater need. For example, another centre half to play alongside Morgan might not be a bad idea as it seems likely Killgallon’s days are numbered. The board should ensure the next manager is a marked improvement on the Robson fiasco. Advertise the vacancy and interview a shortlist instead of plucking a manager from thin air.

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Good News And Bad News

2009-09-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

Beating the snort beasts is always a thoroughly enjoyable experience even if we tried to let them back in. Losing Jamie Ward was a blow and had an adverse effect on our attacking endeavours. The final score might have been more flattering if he had not sustained the injured hamstring. Why on earth we sat back in the second half only Blackwell knows. The pigs were there for the taking and sitting back just handed them the initiative. Teams can be a dangerous proposition in the second half especially after a one sided 45 minutes.

The defence has received plenty of accolades recently from outside the club. Ironically, this has coincided with some poor defending and numerous sloppy goals. Conceding seven times in the last three games certainly shut the admirers up. The absence of Killgallon only emphasised the important role he plays in central defence.

If the playing style is going to centre solely on hoofing the ball up to Henderson at every available opportunity then there is no point in spending millions on players. Both Bassett and Warnock proved this style of play does not break the bank. And if Evans is going to sit on the bench for half of our matches then you have to question the logic of splashing out £3million to sign him.

Neil Shipperley was a good target man and a massive influence in the last promotion season. But he did not give half as many free kicks away as Henderson does. Referees do not give Hendo the benefit of the doubt although sometimes he does not help himself. United could definitely make better use of the player.

Then we come to the formation and some will say it nearly got promoted last season. It should also be remembered that playing 4-5-1 effectively got us relegated from the premiership. There are times when this formation works well however, it should be the exception rather than the rule. Using this strategy every time we play away from home is short sighted, naive and predictable.

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Decent Start To The Season

2009-09-13T04:18:00.000-07:00

There has been plenty of re-profiling of the squad in recent weeks with more outgoings than players coming in. We no longer have one of the biggest squads in the division and at some point during the season we will have injury problems. Hopefully the long term loan deal will come to our rescue with a centre half and a striker.

Keeping Killgallon was essential and not even the board of directors could ignore that. The sooner he signs a new contract the better because you can guarantee there will be clubs sniffing around once the transfer window opens. He will be crucial to any promotion challenge and losing him in January would be a massive setback.

James Harper is a great signing and adds quality to our midfield. This is always a problem position. Removing Hendrie and Carney from the wage bill is sound business. As for Howard, he is one of those midfielders that want to get forward rather than a player who wants to pull the strings.

Apart from a poor performance in the Carling Cup the season has started reasonably well. The lack of width from last season has been well and truly addressed with options on both flanks. Up front Ched Evans should get better as the season progresses and Ward continues to improve.

We should be in a position to give the pigs a tough test shortly and put right the wrongs of the recent meetings. The manager and players should approach it in the correct manner. Let us have none of this “just another game” rubbish and we will be fine.

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Multibuy Special Offer

2009-07-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

The departure of Kyle Naughton has been a distinct possibility for a while. It is not an ideal scenario but that is the reality of football. Every player has their price and if the club brings in £5 or £6 million for a young player with only a handful of games under his belt most would consider it good business.

But that is not good enough for Sheffield United. Not content with selling our first choice right back we have to insist that any interested parties must sign the understudy as well. Losing one is bad enough but forcing Kyle Walker out at the same time is a poor decision. Regardless of whether he is loaned back to us for a season the deal still stinks. It is short sighted considering his value will rocket in a few months.

The whole point of the academy was to develop our own talent for the benefit of the team. Sadly it is becoming little more than a money making operation. Who needs the hotel when you have got the academy? Blackwell talks about finding the next Kyle Naughton. What’s the point? When they find him he will only be sold after a few decent games.

And before people talk about the fact it is good business any talk of transfer fees should be taken with a huge pinch of salt. They might say it is an £8 million transfer fee for both players at the time. But a few months down the line after the dust has settled the truth will come out. There will be a good time to bury bad news and it will emerge the fee was smaller than initial reports and subject to certain conditions.

McCabe went down in many people’s eyes with the lies, half-truths and misinformation that was fed to the fans regarding the sale of James Beattie. This time we have been fed another pile of horse shite. One minute we are slapping bids in for players left, right and centre then we have to sell to fund incoming transfers. Something does not add up but you can bet your life the supporters will be the last people to know what is going on

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The New Makron Shirt

2009-07-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

The kit deal with Le Coq Sportif comes to an end in the summer with Italian sportswear company Makron due to take over. This company is somewhat of an unknown quantity and would not be many fans preferred choice of kit supplier not that we ever get a say in these matters.

The new Makron home shirt looks to be ok at least in terms of the design as they have kept the stripes and that alone will keep most people happy. There are bound to be question marks about the actual quality of the shirt. Many of these budget kit manufacturers have had complaints about faulty garments especially after use. There is not much point buying a shirt if it is going to end up in the bin after a few washes.

We never seem to get a top class kit supplier such as Nike or Adidas. Even the return of Umbro would be preferable as opposed to a cheap option. If someone wanted to buy a new tracksuit or trainers and went to their local sports store it is fair to assume the Makron range of sportswear would not be the first port of call. As far as sportswear is concerned you tend to get what you pay for so a high quality kit supplier would surely see more sales and revenue for the club.

The company originates from Italy so it would not be surprising if we suddenly develop an appetite for signing a few Italians to model the shirts in a cynical marketing ploy (Lie Tie etc). Going from Le Coq Sportif to Makron feels like a backward step regardless of how much of a forward thinking company they might be.

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New Wembley But Same Old Story

2009-05-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have now lost to Burnley three times this season and they were comfortably the better side on each occasion. If they had not been involved in long cup runs, they would have probably gone up automatically. They were the better team on the day and seemed to relish the occasion and the opportunity. In contrast, we performed our usual party trick of not doing enough to win the must-win game and scratching around for excuses afterwards.

After the Sheffield derby earlier in the season, it was obvious Mike Dean was not going to give us anything that was not completely blatant. When asked about the penalty appeals Blackwell said you need those breaks to win games. Some officials would have given them but if you need the help of the referee to score goals then you do not deserve to win. For once, it would be refreshing to actually win one of these matches by what we do on the pitch rather than relying on other factors.

The atmosphere was very disappointing by our own high standards but when the manager puts out a side with only one striker up front it is hardly surprising. In such a big game that sends the wrong message to everyone. Using the 4-5-1 formation away cost us our place in the Premiership. It is quite simple if you do not score goals you will not win many matches.

At the start of the season we had James Beattie, Rob Hulse and Jon Stead and we could have done with any one of those three yesterday. Leaving out Ward was a mistake unless he was not 100% fit but once again Lupoli was criminally underused. Craig Beattie has been a disappointing loan signing and does not look like scoring goals.

Prices at the new Wembley are still a complete rip-off starting with £25 to park in the official stadium car park. When you are inside the ground you are not going to get much change from a tenner for a pie and a pint. The stadium itself is an improvement on the old Wembley but it should be with the time and money it cost to build. The roads in the surrounding area are still a nightmare to negotiate after the match regardless of what time you leave.

We can look forward to yet another season in the Championship. The parachute payments have stopped so it will be interesting to hear from McCabe and Blackwell regarding the plans for next season. As things stand the defence is sound but midfield still needs attention and a striker who can score goals would not go amiss either.

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Championship Promotion Play-Offs

2009-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

The home form of Reading has been terrible so it was no surprise Birmingham got the win they needed to go up automatically. It did not matter anyway due to our inability to beat Palace who suddenly decided to perform for a change. Everyone says we are the form team but goals have been hard to come by in recent matches.

Most people would fancy our chances of getting the better of Preston over the two legs and reaching the final. When it comes to Burnley and Reading it is hard to see anything other than a win for Burnley. The worrying thing is Burnley has outplayed us twice already this season. This could work in our favour but complacency is unlikely with a place in the Premiership at stake.

The smart money will be on Burnley to win promotion via the play-offs although anything can happen in these matches. If the usual scenario is anything to go by, we will successfully negotiate Preston and then lose to Burnley at the new Wembley stadium. We have already lost two play-off finals and it is a horrible feeling so maybe it is our turn to win one for a change.

The play-offs are a lottery and all four teams will fancy their chances of going up. Regardless of form or any other factor it is simply a case of who handles the pressure and produces three performances that will deliver promotion.

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Promotion On The Final Day

2009-04-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

Things seem to have worked out perfectly to set up a dramatic final day of the season. After losing to Burnley in such a disappointing way along with many, I thought we had blown our chance of automatic promotion. Birmingham should have things sewn up but look very nervous and find it hard to score goals. Considering we are missing some key players it is hard to believe we still have a chance of going up via second spot.

If fourth placed Reading gets maximum points against Norwich then that will set things up nicely and ensures their match against Birmingham is not a dead rubber for them. The only downside is that would probably be enough to keep the dingles up but you can’t have everything. Reading could then get second place on goal difference assuming we do not get anything at Palace.

Birmingham City is still in the driving seat and if they win it will not matter what we do. We have had more than our fair share of final day disappointment. Relegation from the Premiership was cruel under Dave Bassett and Neil Warnock. It makes you wonder whether it will be our turn to celebrate for a change. Warnock will not want to be seen to be doing us any favours so any win against Palace will have to be earned on merit.

If things do not go our way then anything can happen in the play offs but recent history suggests otherwise. Assuming we reached the final, the concern is how we always seem to freeze on the big occasion. They do not come much bigger than a final match at the new Wembley stadium to decide promotion to the Premiership.

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Massive Win Against Reading

2009-04-11T04:01:00.000-07:00

At this stage of the season every game is vitally important but the win against Reading was a massive result. It probably ensures the automatic promotion battle is between us, Wolves and Birmingham. They may have been our bogey team for a while but Reading does not look the same outfit without Steve Sidwell in midfield.

It is highly unlikely any promotion contender will win all the remaining games so there is sure to be more twists and turns between now and the end of the season. The team is playing more like the corresponding period last season when they finished the season so strongly. If this kind of form were shown earlier in, the season and especially in the two games against the pigs we would be even better placed.

Blackwell took some stick a few months back and most of it was deserved. The style of play was one dimensional and unattractive. We seemed to be developing a habit of going missing in important games. In complete contrast, we now look more like a football team in all departments and Blackwell himself looks a more confident figure.

Like last season we may yet run out of games but we have got the momentum in our favour. Birmingham in particular will be feeling the pressure and they have to travel to Reading on the last day of the season which might make things interesting.

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End Of The Tevez Dispute

2009-03-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

The settlement between the club and West Ham has been welcomed by both sets of supporters and probably half the population who must be sick and tired of hearing about it. If a settlement were to be reached then accepting roughly half of the compensation demanded is a pretty good figure to end up with.

The money will be paid via instalments so it could be a few years before it is settled in full. One suspects that the money will not make a massive difference to the team and any potential transfer activity due to the economic downturn. Although it should allow some moderate investment in the summer assuming we do not win promotion.

Credit must go to McCabe for his pursuit of some form of justice as many club chairmen would not have gone this far or even attempted such a difficult challenge. It is not reinstatement but the compensation is a moral victory nonetheless. Hopefully this signals the end of the saga because any future action by the players involved would not be well received.

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Away Record Second To None

2009-03-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

In previous seasons, we have usually won the bulk of our points at home but this season our home form has been indifferent at times while away results have been very impressive. Where away games are concerned we are top of the league table just ahead of Wolves on goal difference. If we can win the remainder of our home games while continuing to pick up points on the road, we might even get close to automatic promotion although it would take a very good run of results.

There are definite signs that Blackwell is starting to use his head a bit more. It is pointless paying someone like Hendrie big wages every week to sit on the sidelines when he can do a job for us on the pitch. After losing BT, Ugo and Speed with no funds to replace them it is essential that Blackwell gets the best out of players like Cotterill and Hendrie. Both players have demonstrated recently that they can play an important role for the remainder of this season. Cotterill in particular has looked like recapturing the form that made us sign him in the first place.

The outstanding Championship teams namely Wolves, Birmingham and Reading have all found three points elusive recently and you can pick any two from those three for automatic promotion. As far as the play offs are concerned any team in the top twelve places could find themselves in the play off places come the end of the season. You would fancy our chances against any of them over two legs with the obvious exceptions of Reading and Cardiff.

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Goal-Line Technology Long Overdue

2009-02-27T10:28:00.000-08:00

Successfully negotiating Hull City in the FA Cup was always going to be difficult simply because of the players we were missing. But even though it was a weakened side it was a relatively close encounter. I would not be in the least bit surprised to see Hull back in the Championship next season. They were missing a few players themselves but on the strength of the two matches they do not seem to be anything special.

The officials hogged the headlines for the two clangers involving the goal that never was and the clear cut Sharp penalty that was rewarded with a yellow card for diving. Both the referee and his linesman should be embarrassed after watching that footage again. Apparently the ref has apologized which does not change the result but as a gesture it is at least an admission they got it wrong which not all officials are prepared to admit.

Penalty appeals happen all the time with some given and some declined but the ball bouncing down on to the goal line is a different matter. There seems to be a trend of giving these borderline decisions. When that happens the officials are just guessing which is guaranteed to deliver plenty of injustices.

Stopping the game to study footage would not be practical as it would interrupt the flow of the game. Although some form of technology should be in place for goal line incidents. If they can put a man on the moon then surely they can come up with sensors behind the goal posts to detect whether or not the whole of the ball has crossed the line.

As far as cost is concerned there is enough money in the top two tiers of the game to justify the introduction of sports technology. FIFA has got cold feet over the issue and are more in favour of using additional assistant referees behind each goal. In this scenario if it is a straight choice between man and a machine, the majority of football supporters would probably go for the machine.

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Let Blackwell Manage The Hotel

2009-02-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

Failing to get promoted is not the end of the world but there are two matches in a season that must be respected. Blackwell knows how important the derby match is but is unable to do anything about it. He gets compared to Neil Warnock but really there is no comparison. Love him or hate him Warnock would not have allowed a performance like that against the pigs.

The ground has gone from fortress Bramall Lane to a joke with a hotel in the car park. We seem to be more interested in buying obscure clubs from around the world than we are in buying players or appointing a decent manger. We cannot afford a decent striker but we can spend millions on pursuing a compensation claim that we will be lucky to see. There was a strong squad at the start of the season but after all the asset stripping there is not much left. We have sold quality and kept the dead wood.

After he was appointed as manager on a caretaker basis last season Blackwell did what Robson could not do and managed to get the team playing well and picking up results. He was given the job on that basis but this season has been completely different. He has made questionable signings with the funds he has been given. But more importantly the style of play and standard of football has been shocking.

We have lost the spine of the team for one reason or another in Speed, Ehiogu and Beattie. These are experienced premiership players that have not been replaced. If the season started now with the players available we would be at the other end of the table. Speed has been replaced with Monty and Ehiogu replaced with Brondby absolute genius! Then we discover they were actually trying to bring Andy Gray back to replace Beattie! If that is the best, we can come up with then abandon all hope.

Blackwell is a good coach but as a manager he is seriously out of his depth. He always fails when it comes to the big high profile matches. The fact he was given a contract extension owes more to his compliance with the asset stripping exercise than his qualities as a manager. If it were left up to McCabe then Robson would not have been sacked. As is usually the case Blackwell will remain in charge until there is a demonstration calling for his removal.

McCabe has done lots of good things for the club but since relegation football matters have not been a priority and poor decisions have been taken. If the club were serious about promotion, it would be adopting a more aggressive campaign. You do not do this by selling your best players and not replacing them. Let Blackwell manage the Hotel and appoint someone like McCall, Martinez or Ince as team manager then we might see progress on the pitch.

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Pile Of Stinking Garbage

2009-01-28T06:52:00.000-08:00

The result against Doncaster Rovers has been on the cards for a while. In the FA Cup match against Charlton, we were poor but we got away with it because they are the worst team in the division. The performance against Donny was quite frankly embarrassing you could have picked eleven pot bellied blokes from the kop instead and at least that would have been more entertaining.

Using his expert powers of deduction after the game Blackwell said we were too one dimensional. Well this is his one dimensional team and they play to his instructions. We have lost Speed who has effectively been replaced with Monty while the replacement for Beattie is apparently already here. If any potential signings were watching that pile of stinking garbage last night they would run many a mile.

The problem with our direct style of football is when teams do their homework and play a certain way we seem to have no alternative. We simply have no plan b because of the lack of creativity in midfield. Sometimes you can bombard the opposition all night to no avail because they are expecting exactly that. Our last decent midfield had Brown and McCall in it. In those days, we may have been direct at times but we could also play some football.

If they keep performing like last night attendances will drop fast. People are not going to keep forking out in return for being bored shit less for ninety minutes. These highly paid professionals are expected to entertain us. You have to wonder whether Blackwell is able to put it right or if he even wants to. Of course, he now has an excuse anyway seeing as we are re-profiling the squad (which basically means we are counting the pennies).

With the derby coming up, let us hope that Blackwell manages to coax a more suitable performance out of his players for the next home game. We are due a result against them after the more recent encounters. A couple of quality additions to the team would not go amiss either.

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Realistic Transfer Targets

2009-01-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

The much publicised move for Leroy Lita was never going to come off it just made no sense. If Reading were not prepared to meet his demands for a new contract then we had no chance of doing so. At the same time if the wages of Beattie were that much of a problem the club were hardly going to go out and bring another big name player on anything like the same sort of wages. The whole thing was probably a PR stunt designed to appease the fans.

We can forget about Nugent and Chopra as well because they fall into pretty much the same category. The only way we will see this calibre of player turning out for us would be via a loan deal. Other than that it will be a case of signing players from outside the Premiership. This may not be a bad thing and if the club needs any inspiration they should look at Wolves. They might have spent money but it has been a relatively modest outlay and spread out on a number of players.

Now there is no big name to steal the limelight the opportunity exists for players like Webber and Sharp to stake their claim and show what they can do. Early indications seem to suggest we will not be worse off despite losing our best player. The team looks like it has responded in a positive manner. It may be a good decision but the manner in which it was conducted by the club has left a sour taste reminiscent of the old Mike McDonald and Charles Green era.

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Make Or Break Time

2009-01-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

The departure of James Beattie is no surprise but the transfer fee and the manner in which it was conducted leaves a lot to be desired. There may well be an economic downturn but selling him for £2.5 million is a bargain price. Taking a hefty loss on a player of his calibre is way too much. The club will point to add-ons involved in the deal but that is not much consolation to the fans after losing the best player. This just demonstrates how keen the club must have been to get him off the wage bill.

Another aspect of the transfer that got up peoples noses was the talk coming out of the club. Nobody really believed Beattie had the flu on Saturday so it would have been a better idea to just come out with the truth instead of bullshitting people. The same goes for the wages Beattie was on. If they were considered too much for a championship club, just say so.

Beattie is a quality player but we signed him a year too late. In true Sheffield United fashion, you get relegated from the premiership and then spend £4 million pound on a proven striker. Beattie’s new club is doing precisely what we should have done in their position a couple of years back. Instead of signing players to keep us up, the club went for prospects and gambles that never came off.

Blackwell has not been very impressive in the transfer market for the most part so if he does spend the Beattie money it needs spending well. Bringing someone like Michael Chopra in would be a step in the right direction. As far as promotion this season goes this might turn out to be his last throw of the dice.

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Sign Of Things To Come

2008-12-29T16:10:00.000-08:00

It looks like Paddy Kenny is on his way after firstly making noises about a new contract and then turning up late for training. He is a good keeper at championship level but over rated and certainly not the best we have ever had. He is not in the same class as keepers like Alan Kelly, Simon Tracey and Mel Rees. When we parted company with Jagielka you always knew he would go on to bigger things but Kenny is more likely to follow the same sort of path as Tonge.

Bearing in mind the economy is in ruins and people are losing their jobs it was not the best piece of public relations you have ever seen. He could not have picked a worse time to start talking to the media about a new contract and feeling unwanted. In fairness this was guaranteed to get an adverse reaction from the club and some supporters.

Blackwell has come in for a bit of stick for falling out with players but the club has no choice but to adopt a tough stance with Kenny. When you have players from the Robson era on good wages the rest of the squad will try using that to their advantage when the time comes to re-negotiate their contracts. Bennett is a more than adequate replacement to see us through the remainder of the season at least.

McCabe has confirmed what everyone knew anyway regarding the wage bill and the need to reduce it if we do not get promoted this season. There are no prizes for guessing who they will be looking to move on. In a way it might be a good thing because it will force us to rebuild with hopefully younger and hungrier players. Paying premiership wages is one thing but if it does not deliver success then you can only pay them for so long.

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Good At Talking Rubbish

2008-12-22T03:39:00.000-08:00

It was no surprise we did not get three points against Palace and a draw was probably a fair result. If Warnock and Blackwell locked horns a hundred times then Neil would win 90% of the matches. He has got his faults but he is an experienced manager and his promotion record speaks for itself.

The only thing we seem to be good at this season is talking rubbish and Blackwell is the chief culprit. We lost to Reading, Wolves and Burnley at home and he talks about a challenge for automatic promotion. He should concentrate on football management and leave the funny stuff to the comedians. There is no doubt about his ability as a coach but good coaches do not always make good managers.

Opinion is starting to turn against Blackwell and the January transfer window will make or break his managerial career with us. He points out his overall record is promotion form but there is a world of difference between performances and results from last season and the garbage we are paying to watch this time around. We seem to be going backwards as the season progresses.

If the attendances were down there would be no argument but big crowds mean big expectations. People would prefer to see good football but they can handle a direct style if it is producing results but we are getting neither results nor performances. Our policy this season appears to be one that relies solely on James Beattie to score plenty of goals thus firing us towards promotion. If that fails there is no plan b and teams know it.

Even if he does not go into management with Swindon losing Gary Speed to injury is a massive blow. There is no replacement with his ability and experience at the club so once again our midfield will be a major weakness. There are plenty of decent midfield players out there with experience but it comes down to the usual question of whether they will come or not.

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No Time For Contract Extensions

2008-12-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

It was only a few months ago that Blackwell signed a permanent contract so giving him an extension in the middle of the season makes no sense. Apparently he has made his presence felt behind the scenes which is just as well because he is certainly not making it felt on the pitch. A longer managerial contract means paying out more compensation in the event he got the boot.

I could understand McCabe giving him an extension if we were comfortable at the top of the league but recently there are more questions than answers. In the past McCabe preferred to keep the manager on his toes for example with the Warnock contract situation both before and after promotion. But in this case he is giving Blackwell the green light to carry on regardless.

After losing the last three home games against our promotion rivals, I would not be the least bit surprised if Palace and Warnock make it number four. Blackwell usually comes off second best whenever their teams have met in the past few years. When he was managing the opposition Warnock was always a pain in the backside and he will not need any motivating for the game.

There is no doubting his ability as a coach but I have always had doubts about Blackwell the manager especially long term. I did not expect to win all of the last three home games because we were up against the best teams in the division. But three straight defeats are difficult to take. All we get from the manager and his coach is the usual sob stories about refereeing decisions going against us.

Reading, Wolves and now Burnley have beaten us convincingly. The side is not balanced and the same shortcomings are obvious week in week out. Sun Jihai is surely worth a look in midfield but the manager seems to think otherwise. A major shake up is required in the January transfer window. If players like Lee Hendrie, Dave Carney and David Cotterill are not going to feature then get them out of the club and off the wage bill and get some replacements in.

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Not The Finished Article

2008-11-26T02:57:00.000-08:00

We have now lost to Birmingham City, Reading and Wolves who will no doubt decide the automatic promotion places. We may have been unlucky against Birmingham on the opening day but the defeats against Reading and Wolves have been emphatic. There is talk about bad luck and decisions going against us but you make your own luck in this game. The first goal was always going to be crucial against Wolves and they got it.

Football is all about putting the ball in the back of the net and Wolves are clinical in that respect. In comparison, we seem to rely too heavily on James Beattie to get the goals and it is time we rectified that. Billy Sharp is fine as a replacement if Beattie is ever injured or suspended but does not seem to be the ideal partner.

Darius Henderson is more physical and not your typical goal scoring centre forward so might be a better foil. He was unlucky to get injured when he did so now he is fit let him have a run otherwise he will be yet another expensive substitute to add to the list.

Wolves are a great example of what can be achieved with modest signings. There are plenty of players that will improve the team who need not cost the earth. As for scoring goals if you have a pair of strikers who both score regularly you are more than half way there. We have seen this is in the past with Deane and Agana and that brought two successive promotions.

Blackwell has had money to spend and it is starting to look like he has not made the best use of it. We still lack pace and width in the team and the opposition know it. Playing forwards like Stokes and Webber in wide positions does not solve the problem. If Blackwell cannot get Cotterill to start firing and reproduce the form he showed whilst on loan last season then he should be looking to cut his losses and move the player on.

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Samuel And The Dingles

2008-11-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

I wondered how long it would take Martin Samuel to offer his pearls of wisdom on the Ian Hulme injury. After all West Ham has been on the backfoot in recent weeks so here was a golden opportunity to hijack an accidental football injury and use it to sling some more mud at Sheffield United.

Samuel is very good at cherry picking he highlights Morgan’s dig on Van Persie but then he conveniently fails to mention the two incidents where Morgan was on the receiving end. A deliberate elbow from Aston Villa’s Juan Pablo Angel went unpunished as did a punch in the face from Wigan’s Lee McCulloch. As far as the McCulloch incident goes, can you imagine the uproar if the roles had been reversed? Morgan would have been in strangeways within 24 hours of the end of the match.

The hilarious thing about this latest slice of anti Sheffield United propaganda is how he attempts to compare the Hulme injury with West Ham’s cheating and dishonesty over Tevez. He talks about the character of Morgan but they have a few players at West Ham with questionable character whether it is beating students up on the streets of Leeds or attacking a team mate with a golf club.

As for the dingles their fans have always worn huge chips on their shoulders where Sheffield United is concerned. It is a classic case of small man syndrome as well as an annoyance at losing your best players to your local rivals. If the incident had involved Matt Kilgallon instead of former Oakwell favourite Morgan the protest would not have been anywhere near as vociferous. They were already sulking after throwing their toys out of the pram over the Brian Howard transfer.

In the past week Graham Poll suggested the footage must make Andy D’Urso cringe and after his embarrassing World Cup display in 2006 Poll should know all about cringe worthy performances. The latest person to speak is Hulme’s brother who called for a lifetime ban and compared the incident to the Ben Thatcher attack on Pedro Mendes even though it was nothing like it. Next week we might have Hulme’s postman calling for the reintroduction of the death penalty.

No doubt the London based media led by Samuel will continue to give this smear campaign every encouragement.

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Dingles Still Got Monk On

2008-11-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

The excellent win over the dingles has been overshadowed by the injury to their striker Iain Hume who suffered a fractured skull in a challenge with Chris Morgan. Nobody likes to see any professional footballer suffer a serious injury that may put his career in jeopardy. Best wishes to the player and hopefully he will make a swift recovery.

Morgan has come in for a bit of stick over the challenge and although he may have been guilty in the past for losing his rag at times on this occasion he is not guilty. Having viewed the footage I do not believe there was any malice involved and that it was purely an accidental collision. Football is a physical game and unfortunately injuries will occur from time to time.

Regardless of whether you love him or hate him Morgan is an honest professional. It is not that long ago he took a deliberate punch in the face while defending a corner against Wigan in the premiership in full view of the television cameras an incident that he immediately shrugged off when questioned.

Sticking up for their man is perfectly understandable but the noises coming from the dingle camp are over the top with threats to sue the club or player. This over reaction may have more to do with lingering bad feeling over the Brian Howard transfer than anything else. Had the injury occurred whilst playing against another club I doubt we would have seen the same level of controversy.

It was good to see Beattie get another double after pledging his future to the club. His goals will have a major part to play in any promotion challenge and when he plays well everything else usually clicks.

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Keeping It Tight

2008-11-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

The league table is starting to look a lot better in particular the goals conceded. Keeping things tight at the back is more than half the battle and means you are always in with a chance of picking up points home or away. When you look at the individuals we have it all adds up to a pretty good defence with a fair amount of flexibility.

Kyle Naughton has also made a significant contribution to recent defensive performances and is being linked with premiership clubs who are no doubt keeping an eye on him. A transfer at this stage of his career is a non starter and would be bad for both player and club. If it comes down to playing first team football for us or spending time in another clubs reserve team there really is no contest.

Kevin Blackwell has been talking about giving someone a hammering when we find our shooting boots but this is unlikely to be against Barnsley. Like any derby the match will probably be a tight encounter such as a score draw or a single goal deciding the outcome. When you consider we lost to the pigs that were defeated by the dingles I think we are due a win in this particular local derby.

The teams above us are dropping points occasionally and the championship does not have an outstanding team that is good enough to run away with the division. If we can keep in touch with the leaders until the transfer window opens you would hope that Kevin McCabe would ensure that the manager was able to strengthen the team for the final run in.

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