The Blades Train Set

Sheffield United 0 v Burton Albion 1

Tuesday 1 March 2016

League 1

Played at Bramall Lane

Twitter @ball_sup

Today’s Adkins Home Grown/Scouted from Non-League quotient was 3/11 = 27%.
Although by the end he’d put Dom Calvert-Lewin & Ben Whiteman on to give him 5/11 = 45%. And, Louis Reed was left on the bench.

Doom. Gloom. Precious few positives. But, given my mindset. A debut (from the bench) for Ben Whiteman was one of the positives. I must admit, I was surprised. He’s been a regular in the U21s. Captaining them most weeks. He didn’t feature for the U21s the day before. So, I did wonder. But, nevertheless, surprised.

Very difficult for him to impress in these circumstances. He took responsibility. Always looking for it in central midfield. Busy. Didn’t look out of place. But, that is amongst the Dross. Calvert-Lewin got nowhere. The tale of our strikers. Isolated. No service. Live on scraps. For a still quite slight guy, he is good in the air. But, that didn’t show here.

For the Play The Kids policy to work, they’ve got to step up. Be incisive. Play the killer ball. Make the killer run. Not happening.

I’ll put my tin hat on. At times, I thought United did show some attacking intent. But, didn’t show any attacking competence.

Here’s how it plays out. Think of us as a train set. The Saudi liked football. Other kids had one, so he wanted one. Like all those complete train sets in the toy shop. Track. Engines. Carriages. Stations. Pristine.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have quite enough pocket money from his paper round. His Mum & Dad wanted to do their best. But, he had to settle for a big cardboard box full of random bits of track & engines with bits missing & one red carriage, two green ‘uns, etc. From a nice man he met at a Car Boot Sale. Luckily one of his mates was a bit of an odd job man. Some sellotape. Some superglue. Bit of enamel paint. He’s up & running.

He can’t get enough. “The train now standing at Medina Junction is the 1004 to Jeddah”. He’s all over it. But, then. Oh, FFS. It’s derailed again. That curved bit & that curved bit don’t come from the same set. A lot of hammering has made ‘em join together. But, there is a bit sticking up. The motor has gone on one engine. He’s only able to run the Riyadh Express 3 times a day now.

Bit by bit, it goes back in the big cardboard box. It don’t work. It’s doing his Tits in. Even though he knows it’s not Hornby from Redgates. Even though it’s just a big box of stuff. He never thought it’d be like this. It’s not fair. What’s the point.

All back in the box. Up in the loft. Gathering dust. He’ll find it in a few years. When he moves Palaces & has a clear out. Probably stick it in a Car Boot.

The Blades Train.

Today’s drink was Exit 33, Batch #5, Club 33 on cask at 5%.

284/588