Tag: sheffield united

Day 147 – Signing

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I’ve never really wondered about the size of footballers’ feet. I’ve always just assumed that they bought (or are sponsored, more likely) a suitably sized pair of boots and then they’ve just got on with the job in hand.

I think that I am probably correct in this assumption.

One of the many key components of Sheffield United’s fantastic achievements over the last couple of seasons was our goalkeeper, Dean Henderson. He has, for the last 2 years, been nothing short of incredible.

(Note: I’m aware that much of this montage doesn’t make our defence look ever so pretty. But hey, it’s a team game, and Hendo was the last line of that defence. Did the ball go in the goal? No? Then it’s all good.)

The problem is, he wasn’t ever actually ours. We were only just borrowing him: he was on loan from some other smaller club over the mountain on the A57 Snake Pass.

Now, the time has come for Dean to return to that other club, signing off with this IG post yesterday:

Once again, thank you for everything! Once a blade, always a blade!

That would have left a worrying hole between the posts for us. And this is going to be a difficult enough season to get through as it is.

Fortunately, having checked the FA rules, the club discovered that they were allowed to replace him, and they’ve done just that, bringing in £18.5 million worth of Aaron Ramsdale.

I’m not sure what size the relative keepers’ feet are, nor who sponsors them their footwear, but those are some seriously big boots he has to fill.

Still, having watched him for Bournemouth this season, I have no doubts that he’ll be able to do just that.

Welcome back to Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane, Aaron Rambo*.

 

 

* I don’t make the rules

Day 108 – Lon-done!

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Yesterday evening’s amazing 3-0 win over Chelsea…

Please enjoy the goals again here:

…was our last game against London opposition in the Premier League this season.
It’s been a good haul:

6 points from Palace.
4 points from Spurs.
4 points from Arsenal.
4 points from Chelsea.
4 points from West Ham.

6 wins, 4 draws, 0 defeats.

Lon has been well and truly Done!

Day 101 – Domestic bliss

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Today could be good. It’s certainly started well.

A bit of lie-in, ahead of the return to school tomorrow (albeit still virtual school, not real school).
A quick coffee then off into the drizzle for a decent 6km run.
Shower, patio haircut (went well).
Sun comes out.
English muffins and more coffee for brunch.
A blog post. <- YOU ARE HERE
Sheffield United on at 1pm.
A relaxing afternoon seething/basking in glory.
Making sandwiches for Ladles of Love.
Evening in front of the fire and the footy.
Bed at an unreasonable hour.

Day 99 – That was fun

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I must admit that when I sat down for Sheffield United’s match with Tottenham Hotspur yesterday evening, I wasn’t exactly brimming with positivity. We haven’t really got going since the resumption of the league (although not everything has gone our way).

But coming off the back of three straight defeats, with key man Jack O’Connell still injured and our midfield duo of Lundstrom and Fleck unavailable (shoulder injury and “physical discomfort” (??!?) respectively), we literally didn’t even have enough players to fill the subs bench.

Not that they had any choice in the matter, but the new format of one game every three days really doesn’t suit the smaller clubs in the league. Spurs have only played a couple of games since the restart, and were unbeaten, so they were well rested and looking confident.

Not. Great. Omens.

We started well, but after a bright 10 minutes, we were under the thumb. Defending well, but trapped in our own half and the commentators were just waiting for the inevitable.

I should point out here that I was watching in the living room, while Mrs 6000 went through her work emails on the couch opposite and the kids were in an online Scouts meeting. The beagle was dozing in front of the fire. An image of domestic bliss, albeit that I was watching in pretty much silence, occasionally muttering through gritted teeth, when suddenly, just after the half hour: Berge, Baldock, Basham… Berge!

It caught us all by surprise.

I exploded quite a bit.

The laptop was well caught by my wife on the second attempt after a brief – but entertaining – juggling act. The boy literally half fell off his chair, headphones dislodged, unwittingly amazed at the speed with which adrenaline can act.

The beagle has yet to recover fully.

If anything, this goal (and the instant reply, which was then disallowed) (hate the rule, not the ref) merely increased the tension in the household. It was a stressful remaining hour.

Of course, history will show that we added a second through Mousset and a third through McBurnie (which was when I began to relax), before Kane scored a consolation goal for them in the last minute.

I’ll pop the video up on here when it’s released later today DONE, because that was one of those nights I will always want to remember.

The beagle? Not so much.