View From The Away End: Booing 'Greasy Chip Butty' & The sound of sharpening knives

12/03/2024 01:00 AM

"You do get the sense though that this wait for a win can't go on for much longer before the knives come out — and not just for the Christmas turkey."

While it would be harsh to say the Good Ship Promotion (I refuse to say HMS Piss the League on principle, but want to keep the nautical metaphor) has run aground, it's certainly encountered some choppy waters of late with this frustrating winless run.

It feels like the good fortune we enjoyed in the early stages of the season has deserted us. Back in October, that rebounded tackle off Alan Browne's shin against Coventry might have rolled safely to a Sunderland player, rather than turning into a perfect through ball for Wright. The Millwall keeper's save from Aleksic would've crept out for a corner, and their counter-attack goal would never have been. The eagle-eyed official who ruled out Isidor's finish against West Brom might have given the benefit of the doubt to the attacker, and we'd a few points better off. All ifs, buts and maybes, but couple these misfortunes with the injuries and suspensions of late and you do get the sense that fate is conspiring against us.

A trip to Bramall Lane was probably the last fixture you'd pick to arrest this slump. After stinking the gaff out in the Premier League last year, the Blades have splashed their parachute money wisely to build a squad of robust and experienced Championship operators with a sprinkling of top-flight standard talent, and their nearly faultless home record left us travelling more in hope than expectation.

As they're very keen to remind everyone, they'd be top of the league if they hadn't been deducted two points for defaulting on payments, which only says to me that they should've thought about that before defaulting on their payments.

The Friday evening kick-off might have provoked the ire of Chris Wilder, but it provided a great excuse for the winning combo of an afternoon off work followed by an overnight stay in one of England's most iconic footballing cities. There's a certain energy about Sheffield I've always liked, with its dry but warm northern humour and excellent music scene. Trips to United or Wednesday are always highlights on the football calendar.

After dropping off our bags in the Easy Hotel (away days in the pre-Christmas run require frugality) and enjoying a few Madris at the Old Queens Head, we headed out to the Rutland Arms to meet a couple of friends of a Blades persuasion.

One of them commented on how curious it was that we'd be enjoying a few friendly and affordable beers together, then spend two hours screaming and hurling four-letter insults at each other at the game, before resuming the good-natured banter and drinks afterwards. If you ask me, these contradictions are part of what makes English football brilliant.

Most pubs near Bramall Lane are home fans only on matchdays, but at least the ground is an easy walk from the station.

We took our seats just in time to boo Greasy Chip Butty, which was actually stolen from Rotherham United, and watched the lads kick off in our blue third kit attacking the far end. Hardly any neutrals seemed to give us a prayer beforehand, but the Lads put on a bold and enterprising display. A lovely move saw Watson hacked down in their box. There was some doubt over the decision to hand Roberts the spot-kick, and these doubts proved justified as Cooper palmed it away. I remember that keeper being a thorn in our side away at Plymouth last season, and the Blades' ridiculous defensive record remained intact.

Things got worse just before the break when Mepham was harshly shown a straight red on the edge of the box. Maybe that was karma catching up to him from the handball that was never given away at Hull, but there seems to be no real consistency on what constitutes a "clear goalscoring opportunity" these days. Thankfully we saw out the resulting free kick, and the sides were levelled up when Isidor brilliantly won a foul on the turn to see the teams go in with ten men each.

We battled gamely in the second half, but despite RLB making more extensive use of the bench than usual, the running trend of the Lads running out of steam caught up with us again. Their late goal was another gut punch after what was our best performance in a while. Back in the city centre to drown our sorrows, the home fans were very complimentary about our performance, and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic for this young team. You do get the sense though that this wait for a win can't go on for much longer before the knives come out, and not just for the Christmas turkey.