I expected 4 straight defeats from those 4 games. So despite tonight which was bound to be tough against a very good side, 9 points is a strong return. Another 10-11 more wins and a handful of draws should get us above the 50 points we'll need.
Good opportunity.to bounce back vs Stoke. We could do with a result as Watford and Sunderland will be tough.

Yes, gets boring every year with same teams up and down. Premiership parachute money just too much which makes it very difficult for any other teams to compete

Yes, gets boring every year with same teams up and down. Premiership parachute money just too much which makes it very difficult for any other teams to compete

Not sure Burnley will be top 6 come the end of the season. Don't think they are consistent enough. Sheff Utd, Norwich and Watford will be top 6 though. Norwich will walk the league now after their rocky start.

Never likely to get anything out of the game tonight, was simply one game too far for us
Don’t think Ince got his tactics right though, said before the game that you have to control their midfield, there aren’t many better midfielders in the Championship than Norwood when you let him dictate the play and that’s exactly what we did today. It’s said almost every time we lost to them but what a waste of a quality player he was, totally misused him here
Also think Joao ahead of Long was a mistake as it was essential to really press up from the front which Long does a better job of doing but ultimately not sure how much of an actual difference that would have made

Yes, gets boring every year with same teams up and down. Premiership parachute money just too much which makes it very difficult for any other teams to compete

Not sure Burnley will be top 6 come the end of the season. Don't think they are consistent enough. Sheff Utd, Norwich and Watford will be top 6 though. Norwich will walk the league now after their rocky start.

And then they’ll struggle in the Prem next year, same pattern between championship and Premier League every year. Even teams that do well initially seem to come back down after 2 or 3 years. Occasional exception as there is to every rule.

Those three had shades of the early run in Clowno's first season. Riding our luck, keeping cleansheets we couldn't maintain longer term.

I get the comparison, I don't think it's quite the same though. We were absolutely under the cosh with Pauno and always looked a whisker away from defeat. Boro threw a bit at us but Millwall and Cardiff, from recent memory, didn't actually have a great deal of clear cut chances against us. Under Pauno we were just one good finish from the opposition away from crumbling whereas our previous 3 wins, we never really looked in "that" much danger of getting beat.

Bar the Lumley save when 3-0 up against Blackburn did he make an actual save beyond the absolute routine in any of those games?

I get the comparison, I don't think it's quite the same though. We were absolutely under the cosh with Pauno and always looked a whisker away from defeat. Boro threw a bit at us but Millwall and Cardiff, from recent memory, didn't actually have a great deal of clear cut chances against us. Under Pauno we were just one good finish from the opposition away from crumbling whereas our previous 3 wins, we never really looked in "that" much danger of getting beat.

Bar the Lumley save when 3-0 up against Blackburn did he make an actual save beyond the absolute routine in any of those games?
Doesn’t matter. That level of pressure will regularly lead to goals in the long term, and that little possession will struggle to score goals regularly in the long term.
Did Lumley have many saves to make against Sheffield? He made 3 total, at least one if not more were just routine.

This, was optimistic on the build up of a good battle. Saw the team sheet and in my mind didn't make sense. But ultimately wouldn't have made a huge difference who we started.

We were chasing shadows from the off. A lot of players purely out shone by a very good and a very organised Sheff utd team. Best team we have played in a long time.

We looked exactly how Blackburn looked versus us.

It is what it is.
We just didn't get going and gave them far too much respect. As the first half went on, the pressing kicked in a little bit and produced a couple of half chances which we just didn't look like capitalising on.
The second killed us and then it was realistically damage limitation.
We simply aren't competing with the likes of Sheffield United this year, so any points we get from these games would be an absolute bonus.
Shows we need at least a couple of more bodies in who can allow us to freshen up a little. Sheffield were able to make a couple of changes from the game at Luton and still look strong - we are pretty much having to play the same side each week. No wonder the energy levels looked different.

Whilst we were totally outclassed first half, we went in at the break growing into the game still firmly in it and knowing we could carve out chances.
That early goal second half, with Fornah beaten at a defensive set piece in about his first involvement in the game killed it though.
If we are alert at the start of that half and can hold out for 10 minutes or so, it's easily a different game we could snatch an undeserved point from.
Once we let Sheff get their dander up again, we were buried.
Ince got it wrong, McIntyre can't manage a midfield slot in that sort of game and we disrupted our well balanced midfield for him. Loum wasn't prepared for that level of quality in the Championship, and Hendrick just isn't really up to that level of quality.
Once again we started too deep and got punished. Our best phases were when we pushed higher to press. Lots of niggly fouls before they got in our half to disrupt them and break their rhythm was the way to go. Too often they just ran past our players and too often they were doing it too deep in our half to risk giving away freekicks.
We worked hard, gave it a go and got some chances, sadly we snatched at them.
Better team won and did a number on us. We won't play many teams that good at this level.

Can't argue with any of that. Felt we were starting to get a toehold toward the end of the half and having got lucky by only being 1 down, there were signs that if we could stay tight, we would create something or get a chance from a set play. But 90 seconds after half-time, done - move on, focus on Stoke and hopefully have another couple of bodies available for that as well.

Bar the Lumley save when 3-0 up against Blackburn did he make an actual save beyond the absolute routine in any of those games?
Doesn’t matter. That level of pressure will regularly lead to goals in the long term, and that little possession will struggle to score goals regularly in the long term.
Did Lumley have many saves to make against Sheffield? He made 3 total, at least one if not more were just routine.

That's a fair point about possession, generally the teams that have more of the ball win more games than those that don't, obviously not the case in all scenario's though. But, as Stam proved, just "having the ball" can be seen as important because it means the opposition doesn't have it and therefore can't score. When we used to have 80% of the ball under Stam, that's essentially saying to the opposition that they have about 12-15 minutes in possession to score a goal, whereas we have 45+ minutes to score a goal (accounting for about a third of the game is taken up by set pieces, which we'd have the lions share of as we used to have most of the ball).
I think the way we play, possession we have etc is just a case of where we are as a team and a club. A bottom of the table second tier side, looking to be tough to play against, difficult to beat and scrapping for as many wins and points as we can get. If we can have sort of 22 points by game 15, I'll be pleased.

I was at the game and this a very good summary.
I travelled back to Chesterfield with a couple of Sheffield Utd fans who thought we were the worst team they’d seen at Bramall Lane for ages. I reminded them about last April and the fact that we’re down to our bare bones. It was all good banter and tbf although they were aware of our predicament they hadn’t realised how bad things had been.

Well that`s two stinkers out of the way, both in Yorkshire, we got a reaction last time when the gaffer kicked arse, let`s hope he can work the magic again.

Fair play to Sheffield they thoroughly deserved that. Our boys did try to be fair but clearly utterly shattered and just not able to compete with Sheffield.
We move on.

If we look at the wider picture, 3 points out of 6 away at two tough venues is fine.

We do have to keep the SCL stadium a fortress in the months ahead and if so the mid-table target would be achieved.
The shame is that our best player (on his day) is an enigma which doesn't really work in a team of hard-working limited triers-I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave tomorrow although his injury record might stop WBA or anybody else coming in for him.

Was he trying not to get injured last night?

I'd be pretty surprised to see him leave now considering our stance over the summer with him and what we can and can't do with any incoming fee for him.
I wouldn't read too much into last night, returning from injury and Ince himself said that he played more minutes against Blackburn than he would have liked so it might have taken it's toll a bit over the last few games. Hopefully we can get this "mystery" striker in to take a bit of pressure off Joao as well and we can get Long involved as well.

Bar the Lumley save when 3-0 up against Blackburn did he make an actual save beyond the absolute routine in any of those games?
Doesn’t matter. That level of pressure will regularly lead to goals in the long term, and that little possession will struggle to score goals regularly in the long term.
Did Lumley have many saves to make against Sheffield? He made 3 total, at least one if not more were just routine.

Yeah but he conceded 4 (theoretically all saves to make)
Not having a save but conceding 4 in one game is a lot different to 1 save in 3 matches where we don’t concede
Waffly way of saying the defensive unit has been pretty strong and weren’t really under significant pressure against the 3 teams we beat for a considerable amount of time. Boro maybe a bit more than the other 2 but still didn’t look like conceding particularly

I get the comparison, I don't think it's quite the same though. We were absolutely under the cosh with Pauno and always looked a whisker away from defeat. Boro threw a bit at us but Millwall and Cardiff, from recent memory, didn't actually have a great deal of clear cut chances against us. Under Pauno we were just one good finish from the opposition away from crumbling whereas our previous 3 wins, we never really looked in "that" much danger of getting beat.

Bar the Lumley save when 3-0 up against Blackburn did he make an actual save beyond the absolute routine in any of those games?

Just on this, the Lumley save v Blackburn was 1-0 at the time and was as important as any goal scored that night, imo.

Bar the Lumley save when 3-0 up against Blackburn did he make an actual save beyond the absolute routine in any of those games?

Just on this, the Lumley save v Blackburn was 1-0 at the time and was as important as any goal scored that night, imo.

Yes you are quite correct. My old age kicking in

I’m going with the line that I’m not going to get over-excited by the winning run and not going to lose it over some, albeit heavy, defeats
It’s going to be that sort of season IMHO

I know this is controversial but I think we should be starting Long over Joao. It makes such a difference being able to press from the start with high intensity, like Sheff did to us last night - and we just simply can’t do that with Joao up top.

Agree, I mentioned this after the Rotherham game that it will end up being a season where we do take a few battering's, simply because our team is not that good in comparison to some at this level.
But if we can keep plugging away at points and wins as the season goes on, then we should be in good shape. If by the halfway stage of the season we have 30 points, we've done pretty well. That's only 18 more points and we have another 16 games until we reach that point. People say that it's just early days and, whilst true, this buffer of points we have now might end up paying dividends come May.

Agree, I mentioned this after the Rotherham game that it will end up being a season where we do take a few battering's, simply because our team is not that good in comparison to some at this level.
But if we can keep plugging away at points and wins as the season goes on, then we should be in good shape. If by the halfway stage of the season we have 30 points, we've done pretty well. That's only 18 more points and we have another 16 games until we reach that point. People say that it's just early days and, whilst true, this buffer of points we have now might end up paying dividends come May.

Our next 4 games up to the International break, could be pretty key - there are 3 winnable games in there - if we can pick up 6 or more points from Stoke (H), Watford (A), Sunderland (H), Wigan (A), then we will be sitting fairly pretty. Key thing is getting a result on Sunday, if we can get a win then we go into Watford as another free hit - hopefully we'll actually take a swing this time.

I do think that the all action style is also likely to result in one or two blow outs when the legs get tired
Not in an individual game necessarily, but the cumulative effect

Agree, I mentioned this after the Rotherham game that it will end up being a season where we do take a few battering's, simply because our team is not that good in comparison to some at this level.
But if we can keep plugging away at points and wins as the season goes on, then we should be in good shape. If by the halfway stage of the season we have 30 points, we've done pretty well. That's only 18 more points and we have another 16 games until we reach that point. People say that it's just early days and, whilst true, this buffer of points we have now might end up paying dividends come May.

Our next 4 games up to the International break, could be pretty key - there are 3 winnable games in there - if we can pick up 6 or more points from Stoke (H), Watford (A), Sunderland (H), Wigan (A), then we will be sitting fairly pretty. Key thing is getting a result on Sunday, if we can get a win then we go into Watford as another free hit - hopefully we'll actually take a swing this time.

Definitely those 2 home fixtures are tricky, but winnable and you'd like to think we'd go to Wigan and get a result. If we lost to Wigan but won the 2 home fixtures, then it wouldn't be so much of an issue. Difficulty is, I can't see us winning both these home games, I get the feeling we will get beat in one of them. Obviously I'd rather 2 wins and 2 defeats to 1 win, 2 draws and a defeat, assuming Watford is the defeat (and Wigan being the other in the scenario given).
Agree with Franchise as well, operating with 15/16 senior players and playing in a relentless league like this where we've had so many games in a short space of time, it will take it's toll eventually. Hopefully a couple of free agents alongside the Rahman loan will help bolster numbers, it's now just about keeping players as fit as possible, a tall order granted.

We should be picking them based on the plan and expectation for the game.
If we're expecting to not see much of the ball, be pinned back and need to chase a lot - Long.
If we expect to be competing and and able to press high as a team with plenty of the ball - Joao
Long will press better, certainly on his own. I'd back Joao to score more though.

Our next 4 games up to the International break, could be pretty key - there are 3 winnable games in there - if we can pick up 6 or more points from Stoke (H), Watford (A), Sunderland (H), Wigan (A), then we will be sitting fairly pretty. Key thing is getting a result on Sunday, if we can get a win then we go into Watford as another free hit - hopefully we'll actually take a swing this time.

Definitely those 2 home fixtures are tricky, but winnable and you'd like to think we'd go to Wigan and get a result. If we lost to Wigan but won the 2 home fixtures, then it wouldn't be so much of an issue. Difficulty is, I can't see us winning both these home games, I get the feeling we will get beat in one of them. Obviously I'd rather 2 wins and 2 defeats to 1 win, 2 draws and a defeat, assuming Watford is the defeat (and Wigan being the other in the scenario given).
Agree with Franchise as well, operating with 15/16 senior players and playing in a relentless league like this where we've had so many games in a short space of time, it will take it's toll eventually. Hopefully a couple of free agents alongside the Rahman loan will help bolster numbers, it's now just about keeping players as fit as possible, a tall order granted.
At the moment, we're a bit all or nothing. Wins are obviously a lot better than draws, but I'd like to see us start picking up a few draws as well.

Lancashire I think.
Yeah, it’s Lancs

As a Blackburn fan primarily, this made me laugh. We call Burnley fans Dingles as they are very close to Yorkshire and their accent starts to get a bit more Yorkshire. We say they are a small town in Yorkshire which winds them up no end so to see people think they are in Yorkshire tickled me.

Just had to laugh at the Wokie BBC Tim Dellors commentary just before KO = " And as the players take the knee " FAKE NOBODY TOOK THE KNEE FROM EITHER TEAM!

The complaint is in, typical BBC fake news bullsh$t thank God the knee is dead.