A narrow defeat to the best team in the world. But still a defeat.
Ok. I thought we rode our luck a bit in the first half, and then everyone knows how the story ends when Citeh score after an hour.
Didn’t happen.
And then to get a goal, and then when they scored again, to almost get another one – I actually thought that we were a bit unlucky.
Still a defeat, but who expects anything else when they’re playing a billion pound team.
We keep fighting.
Indeed. The Premier League starts tonight. Manchester City at Burnley, no less. Eww.
And so the rules (which, I will remind you, I didn’t write) say that I must put this on the blog.
I even brought this out earlier.
Further to that, the rule which I did write, says that I must remind everyone that this video was shot in Piketberg. Piketberg is also known for… er… being on the N7 between Malmesbury and Citrusdal.
That’s about it.
But onto more important matters:
Of course, this season, the Mighty Red And White Wizards from Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane are also in the Premier League.
So, some sort of prediction seems appropriate.
Well, given that we’ve known for almost 4 months that we were going to be starting in the Premier League this weekend, it’s been a pretty disastrous pre-season, and an especially chaotic last fortnight. We’ve sold several of our best players (yes, including Sander, who I foolishly referenced in that last post):
We don’t have many players, we do have a lot of injuries, and we also have at least one visa issue, thus it looks like some of our team, and even more of our much-depleted bench will be made up of academy players. Compare and contrast with the big boys spending literally hundreds of millions of pounds throughout the summer, and it feels like we’re scratching around in the dirt for whatever we can find.
It’s going to be a very long, very hard season. So I’ll absolutely bite your hand off for 17th position or above – and therefore survival – and the chance to go again next season.
On our side, we have the best fans in the country, we have a formidable stadium to visit, we have some incredible team spirit, and we have a local, down-to-earth manager who understands the club, the limitations facing him, and the importance of the team’s success to the fanbase. I can’t wait for our first win (it took a horribly long while last time), but I’ll fully understand when we struggle, and I’ll continue to support wholeheartedly as long as there is 100% effort from the players.
You can’t ask for more.
We’re a very small fish in a very big pond, but it’s quite literally the best pond in the world to be in.
We worked damn hard to get promotion last season and we had some great times getting it.
This is what we wanted*. We shouldn’t forget that at any point this time around.
Never stop supporting. Never stop believing.
* although perhaps not quite as we wanted it.
Sad news for United fans this evening.
One player doesn’t make a team (and even if it did, this wouldn’t be that player), but it’s so frustrating and disappointing to lose such an integral part of the setup a week and a half before the new season kicks off.
Thanks, Ili. All the best.
Hey. It’s been a while. But this is a live blog post written… well… now.
Wow.
We’re on a fast train on our way North to Chesterfield. Why? Because Sheffield United are playing a friendly game there today, and when in Rome (the UK), and this is your only chance to see the Mighty Red And White Wizards at work, you pull out all the stops to get there.
Our half of the journey is going well, but the other party (my dad) meeting us there has been plagued with repeated ridiculous delays. Missing passengers on his plane. Missing air traffic controllers at the airport. A man sleeping on his train. A carriage that wouldn’t couple.
He’s got the match tickets.
But we’ll be there on time and ready to go.
Despite the image above, the weather is looking rather threatening, with heavy showers – plenty of flooding out of the window already – and strong winds, but it doesn’t matter. I checked in Google and apparently the “people” of Chesterfield discovered roofing a couple of years ago, so we’ll be dry at least.
Meanwhile, Sigur Rós is providing a very decent soundtrack for our big day out.
Just one month to go before the mighty Red & White Wizards kick off their Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane.
The 2023/24 season will start on Friday 11 August 2023. The final match round will be on Sunday 19 May 2024, when all fixtures will kick off simultaneously as usual.
The season schedule returns to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic and the FIFA World Cup 2022, which has caused disruption across three consecutive seasons.
So, have we signed anyone?
Well, not at the time of writing. But hopefully something will have happened on that score by the time you’re reading this post.
I’m looking forward to the season with the usual amount of excitement and trepidation. And, along with every other Sheffield United fan, I would bite your arm off (not literally) for a guaranteed 17th place finish.
Anything more would be an absolute bonus.
