Sheffield United vs Blackburn Rovers: 29th December 2018

[Mattyblue]

1400 sold.

Good effort with 3 away games in 10 days and no trains back and it’s £30.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 minutes ago, Ewood Ace said:

Bell? He's probably the player I'd least want in fight of our squad. Look at the winning goal lazily just dangling a leg out to try and stop the cross (and certainly not for the first time this season), everything that he does on the pitch looks half hearted.

That's the thing - we bring Bell in for Williams, he plays like a drain and next match it's lets bring back Williams, If you rolled them both together you wouldn't have a Billy Wilson or an Alan Wright. Same goes for the midfield, lets swap Evans for Rodwell, Rodwell doesn't play well and lets bring back Evans. Rothwell or Smallwood, Palmer or Conway, Bennett or Smallwood. The manager sees them in training, he must know who's the best.

[Gone to seed]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That's the thing - we bring Bell in for Williams, he plays like a drain and next match it's lets bring back Williams, If you rolled them both together you wouldn't have a Billy Wilson or an Alan Wright. Same goes for the midfield, lets swap Evans for Rodwell, Rodwell doesn't play well and lets bring back Evans. Rothwell or Smallwood, Palmer or Conway, Bennett or Smallwood. The manager sees them in training, he must know who's the best least worst!

Fixed that for you

[Tom Stinny]

Go for a full on defensive shut out here with experience to grind out the game.

 

Raya

Nyambe Lenihan Mulgrew Williams 

Smallwood Reed

Bennet Dack Conway

Graham

 

2-1 score to Rovers, stranger things have happened.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Lenihan, Williams and Smallwood are the main offenders

I'm in a minority of two with possibly Neal who think that where Evans and Smallwood are concerned Smallwood is by far the lesser of two evils. For me without Smallwood to back him up we saw how poor Evans is against Leeds, Jason Lowe apart he's the ultimate nothing player and he looked like a little boy lost playing with the adults the other day.

I honestly believe we'd look better with any combination of our other midfielders other than Evans . Get Reed if fit (or Travis if not) and Smallwood in the middle to give us a bit of energy and bite. Don't allow Williams anywhere near the starting eleven and bring Palmer and Rothwell in so we've half a chance of passing the ball to each other and we might stand a bit more of a chance.

Edited December 28, 2018 by RevidgeBlue

[RevidgeBlue]

25 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

1400 sold.

Good effort with 3 away games in 10 days and no trains back and it’s £30.

I committed to going a few weeks ago and dearly wish I wasn't. It's getting pretty soul destroying wasting your time and money watching anti football only to see us lose or on the occasions we do manage to crab a lead courtesy of a free kick or penalty carelessly toss it away.

[blueboy3333]

46 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

The thing keeping Armstrong around the team must be his pace (not that he knows how to utilise it), as we are otherwise a painfully slow side.

Rothwell is the quickest player Bennett has ever played with so it can't be that! 

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2018/december/a-z-elliott-bennett/   

[Tom]

The last 4 results have been poor especially considering the scenarios in each game, we need to try something new as it’s not working for us as is.

Trouble is I’m not sure what though surely Rothwell is worthy of a start 

[@roverseas]

Wont be at this one... hoping to make the West Brom match... before the FA Cup (free hit) against Newcastle United. Busy period, but hopefully we can get something on Saturday.  Yes its been a bitter few days, getting robbed against Norwich and Leeds... have we learned our lesson for this one? Or more of the same. Match build up and more. 

 

[Crimpshrine]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That's the thing - we bring Bell in for Williams, he plays like a drain and next match it's lets bring back Williams, If you rolled them both together you wouldn't have a Billy Wilson or an Alan Wright. Same goes for the midfield, lets swap Evans for Rodwell, Rodwell doesn't play well and lets bring back Evans. Rothwell or Smallwood, Palmer or Conway, Bennett or Smallwood. The manager sees them in training, he must know who's the best.

we've been quite lucky with lack of injuries and suspensions so far this season - they often have a big affect around Christmas. However, I really don't want to watch us plod along with Evans, Smallwood, Williams etc for the rest of this season but I don't think Mowbray will shuffle the pack unless he's forced to.

No point keeping a settled team if we are not winning. I am hoping we are safe from any relegation scrap so why not experiment a bit?

[skous18]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm in a minority of two with possibly Neal who think that where Evans and Smallwood are concerned Smallwood is by far the lesser of two evils. For me without Smallwood to back him up we saw how poor Evans is against Leeds, Jason Lowe apart he's the ultimate nothing player and he looked like a little boy lost playing with the adults the other day.

I honestly believe we'd look better with any combination of our other midfielders other than Evans . Get Reed if fit (or Travis if not) and Smallwood in the middle to give us a bit of energy and bite. Don't allow Williams anywhere near the starting eleven and bring Palmer and Rothwell in so we've half a chance of passing the ball to each other and we might stand a bit more of a chance.

Nah man.. How is Evans a poor player because of Rodwell not backning him up? That makes no sense. You can see that there is some quality in Corry by the way he controls the ball. He cant dribble and he has scored 3 goals in his career but he is a full time International and he is one of the players with the most interceptions in the league. Miles better than Smallwood Imo

[SBlue]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm in a minority of two with possibly Neal who think that where Evans and Smallwood are concerned Smallwood is by far the lesser of two evils. For me without Smallwood to back him up we saw how poor Evans is against Leeds, Jason Lowe apart he's the ultimate nothing player and he looked like a little boy lost playing with the adults the other day.

I honestly believe we'd look better with any combination of our other midfielders other than Evans . Get Reed if fit (or Travis if not) and Smallwood in the middle to give us a bit of energy and bite. Don't allow Williams anywhere near the starting eleven and bring Palmer and Rothwell in so we've half a chance of passing the ball to each other and we might stand a bit more of a chance.

FWIW I’m firmly in the “Can’t stand Evans, like Smallwood” camp.

I don’t mind the lineup above with Bennett and Conway - would be happy with that.

Still think we can get something, just have  to see whose names come out of Tony’s Magic Hat!

[K-Hod]

For me, Smallwood has looked out of his depth for most of this season and some of last, whereas Evans has been one of our better players. It’s   amazing how views can differ. 

The biggest frustration is our best defensive midfielder in Reed is shunted out wide to accommodate Evans and Smallwood. If there were a chance of us affording Reed, which I have my doubts about, imagine if he said he wouldn’t sign if we were to play him out of position....

Edited December 28, 2018 by K-Hod

[SBlue]

7 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

For me, Smallwood has looked out of his depth for most of this season and some of last, whereas Evans has been one of our better players. It’s   amazing how views can differ. 

The biggest frustration is our best defensive midfielder in Reed is shunted out wide to accommodate Evans and Smallwood. If there were a chance of us affording Reed, which I have my doubts about, imagine if he said he wouldn’t sign if we were to play him out of position....

 

Weird one with Evans, I just don’t seem to see what others do - I think there is an element of me making my mind up a long time ago and sub-consciously being too stubborn to change it. I’m not the only one on here who does that!

 

Good point re: Reed. I really can’t see him joining us for many reasons tbh and I think he reckons he can force his way into the Southampton picture. I’d be happy if he isn’t recalled in January for now!

 

Edited December 28, 2018 by S8 & Blue

[DE.]

1 hour ago, K-Hod said:

For me, Smallwood has looked out of his depth for most of this season and some of last, whereas Evans has been one of our better players. It’s   amazing how views can differ. 

The biggest frustration is our best defensive midfielder in Reed is shunted out wide to accommodate Evans and Smallwood. If there were a chance of us affording Reed, which I have my doubts about, imagine if he said he wouldn’t sign if we were to play him out of position....

Evans and Reed would be my preferred CM pairing. Nobody can question Smallwood's determination and commitment, but it's obvious he isn't on the same level as most of our other players in a technical sense. His passing is really bad at times. No issue with using him as a harrier to come off the bench and disturb the opposition if we're in the lead, but that's generally what I would limit his role to. 

[MCMC1875]

3 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm in a minority of two with possibly Neal who think that where Evans and Smallwood are concerned Smallwood is by far the lesser of two evils. For me without Smallwood to back him up we saw how poor Evans is against Leeds, Jason Lowe apart he's the ultimate nothing player and he looked like a little boy lost playing with the adults the other day.

I honestly believe we'd look better with any combination of our other midfielders other than Evans . Get Reed if fit (or Travis if not) and Smallwood in the middle to give us a bit of energy and bite. Don't allow Williams anywhere near the starting eleven and bring Palmer and Rothwell in so we've half a chance of passing the ball to each other and we might stand a bit more of a chance.

Three. Think our better displays and results under TM have mostly been without Evans.

Edited December 28, 2018 by MCMC1875

[RevidgeBlue]

2 hours ago, skous18 said:

Nah man.. How is Evans a poor player because of Rodwell not backning him up? That makes no sense. You can see that there is some quality in Corry by the way he controls the ball. He cant dribble and he has scored 3 goals in his career but he is a full time International and he is one of the players with the most interceptions in the league. Miles better than Smallwood Imo

For me they're both fairly limited but at least Smallwood is a battler and does his best to get stuck in.

Evans has no heart imo and it always seems to me as though his primary aim is to get through the 90 mins expending the minimum effort possible.

[rigger]

9 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

For me they're both fairly limited but at least Smallwood is a battler and does his best to get stuck in.

Evans has no heart imo and it always seems to me as though his primary aim is to get through the 90 mins expending the minimum effort possible.

That is when a confident manager would drop him 

[Bigdoggsteel]

5 hours ago, Ewood Ace said:

Bell? He's probably the player I'd least want in fight of our squad. Look at the winning goal lazily just dangling a leg out to try and stop the cross (and certainly not for the first time this season), everything that he does on the pitch looks half hearted.

Ya true. He has a specific laid back style. So does Marcelo for Madrid, but he's able to because he is world class. 

Edited December 28, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[JBiz]

48 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Evans has no heart imo and it always seems to me as though his primary aim is to get through the 90 mins expending the minimum effort possible.

As others say - incredible how I can watch and think one thing and then read the exact opposite.

I was one of Evans biggest critics, but since returning early 2018 - he’s worked as hard as anyone, and has probably covered the most grass.

He offers a lot to the team at the minute for me. I’d have to throw a spanner in the works and say I prefer Rodwell to all of them though, he has such natural technique/passing and he is far better in the air - a key prerequisite for defensive midfield.

 

[SBlue]

20 minutes ago, Biz said:

As others say - incredible how I can watch and think one thing and then read the exact opposite.

I was one of Evans biggest critics, but since returning early 2018 - he’s worked as hard as anyone, and has probably covered the most grass.

He offers a lot to the team at the minute for me. I’d have to throw a spanner in the works and say I prefer Rodwell to all of them though, he has such natural technique/passing and he is far better in the air - a key prerequisite for defensive midfield.

 

Seems like he hasn’t got a fuck in him to me, although I agree he’s got ability - but give me a Smallwood all day with our current setup.

[blueboy3333]

25 minutes ago, S8 & Blue said:

Seems like he hasn’t got a fuck in him to me, although I agree he’s got ability - but give me a Smallwood all day with our current setup.

Very niche. 

[Fraserkirky]

Raya 

Travis Lenihan Mulgrew Bell

———Evans——Reed————

Palmer——-Dack——-Rothwell

—————Graham—————-

Edit: Travis in for Nyambe 

Edited December 29, 2018 by Fraserkirky

[philipl]

Big game for Mowbray.

Looking for a performance more than a win- thankfully we have that comfort zone from our good start.

 

 1) Will we get a Sheffield Wednesday or a Wigan approach after a morale sapping beating in front of a big away following?

2) Never mind the balance of play, we conceded four stupid goals against the top two. Can we force the opposition to score their goals rather than give them away?

3) Sheffield United are in effect a superior Rovers. Core of a League 1 side that punishes lesser teams but from results so far have collapsed against sides with Premier League pretensions. Can we not cave into them today? 

[arbitro]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Big game for Mowbray.

Looking for a performance more than a win- thankfully we have that comfort zone from our good start.

 

 1) Will we get a Sheffield Wednesday or a Wigan approach after a morale sapping beating in front of a big away following?

2) Never mind the balance of play, we conceded four stupid goals against the top two. Can we force the opposition to score their goals rather than give them away?

3) Sheffield United are in effect a superior Rovers. Core of a League 1 side that punishes lesser teams but from results so far have collapsed against sides with Premier League pretensions. Can we not cave into them today? 

Quite the opposite for me Philip, I want a win and will take it under any circumstances. However if you offered me a draw now I would snatch your hand off.