Tag: sheffield united

Horrible news

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An early night last night meant that I woke up to the news of George Baldock’s death.

Former Sheffield United defender George Baldock has died at the age of 31.
The England-born Greece international was found dead in the swimming pool of his house in Glyfada, southern Athens.
Police attempted to resuscitate Baldock at the scene but he could not be revived and medical emergency units confirmed his death, Reuters news agency reported, citing a police official.

George spent seven years at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane, and was one of the team that secured three promotions in those seven seasons. One of those players that epitomised the club: determined and focused, he always gave 100% out on the pitch, but was by all accounts a really down-to-earth, genuinely nice guy.

He didn’t score many, but when he did…

Despite his move to Panathinaikos at the end of last season, he was still, and will always be, a member of the Sheffield United family. And you think of him as a bit of a veteran, because he’d been at United for several seasons.

He was just 31.

UPDATE: This video…

Here we go again. Again.

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After the disappointment of last time out, and the exhilaration of the previous campaign, it’s the start of another football season, kicking off (for us at least) at Deepdale in Preston, this evening.

And usually about now, I’d offer some sort of salient comment or knowledgeable opinion on how things are going to go for my beloved Blades this time around.

But I actually have no idea.

We’ve got rid of some great players, we’ve got some promising new players in, we’ve had a decent pre-season, but we haven’t really been tested, we have all sorts of boardroom issues hanging over us, we’re starting on -2 points, and this is the Championship: a notoriously difficult league.

In fact, I’m not even sure what a successful season looks like. Promotion? Play-offs? Avoiding relegation?
But then, if you don’t have a goal, you can never be disappointed when you don’t hit the target you never set, right?

And, with the club’s video package at an eye-watering £180, I’m not sure how many of the matches I’m going to be watching anyway.

Ah, here we go again. Again.

Bit weird

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A little rain overnight, sure, but suddenly… SUNSHINE!
And lo, literally all of the Cape Town people went out for breakfast because it was ACTUALLY NICE!

We are also Cape Town people, but we went for a wander in the Green Belt first, meaning that our breakfast was a bit more brunchie. But it was still very good.

Home, and with the weather still being weirdly pleasant, I got a couple of jobs done in the garden, including the very satisfying pressure washing the slimy paving stones by the gym. No more ice skating while trying to avoid the rain on my way over there now.
Which made for half my workout most days, but still…

The rest of the afternoon is set up for some Chesterfield v Sheffield United friendly action. 4 key players left out. Just resting them, or are we going to sell them just before the start of the season?

Again.
Again again.

This time last year, we were actually at the game. No such luck this time around, but R141 buys a link for 90 minutes in front of the TV.

And since it’s clouded over, why not?

Them again

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As Sheffield United draw media-favourites “Hollywood Wrexham” in the League Cup first round, Sky Sports has announced their new channels for the coming season:

I’m not sure how much lovey-dovey coverage Disney FC are going to get this time around, but honestly, why would it be any different this season?

Really hoping that we can ruin their party early on again.

Of course, thanks to my muting their name on all of my internet settings, I’ll only find out about it when I see who we’re playing in the second round.

I doubt that I’ll even be able to see this post.

Last day

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The last day of an absolutely terrible football season (for Sheffield United, at least). We’ve broken all the wrong records, and it’s been pretty depressing to watch since before day one.

Mismanagement from the board, tactical naivety, a plethora of individual errors, a fragile mentality, a million injuries, a decent slice of bad luck, disappointing loanees, NOT ENOUGH MONEY, and some iffy refereeing decisions… it’s just all added up.

But we are in the Premier League. The best league in the world. And that’s worth remembering.

Because at the end of it all, I have to remind myself that we’re playing teams who can spend a billion pounds or more on the best players in the world. And while that certainly isn’t an excuse for a lot of what we’ve been put through this season, it certainly is a reason for some of it.

A lot of fans are saying that they’re looking forward to being in the Championship again, without the prima donnas and the piles of cash that rules the roost. Bigger fish in smaller pond and all that.
Without VAR too, but I’m always interested to understand how people have forgotten about the pre-VAR days when we complained about the referees and not the technology. Just watching the League Two play off final right now, and the ref made a howler with a penalty decision which would have changed the direction of the match (and likely the winner), and VAR saved the day. We’ll have to accept that sort of thing again, and we’ll be happy about it, right? Right.

More personally, the return to the Championship is also going to mean that I have to spend shedloads of GBPs on a streaming package so I can watch the games. And that’s not going to be pretty in ZARs, especially after the 29th.

Anyway. Last day. Last game. Last chance for a bit of pride. Not much else to play for, nothing matters, so the pressure is off, right?

My stress levels with still be in the high nineties at 5pm. It always matters…