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Sheffield United are eighth in League One - does that represent some success or are fans generally unhappy with the side?
I think 8th in League One represents our lowest regular position for ages, we finished 7th a couple of seasons ago and many fans just see this as us stagnating in the third division. When we were relegated from the Championship we had a decent squad, we hardly left the top 3 and we had a real chance of bouncing straight back. In true Blades fashion we managed to balls that up and we've been steadily declining since to where we are now. We have two or three players a season who you'd consider very good for this level, in the current squad I'd mark them out as Billy Sharp and John Brayford, but the rest never seem up to the job. When you see teams with much smaller budgets, fan bases and infrastructure managing to get promoted its incredibly frustrating but you've got to hand it to them, they get it right and we don't.
Do you remember Mark Hughes booting David Tuttle up the arse twenty years ago?
Bit too young to remember this unfortunately. My earliest FA Cup memory is a 2-0 win over Walsall about 13 years ago, Tommy Mooney and I think Peter Ndlovu scored. I can remember we were supposed to play Forest that day so I thought for ages we were going to see us play Forest and instead found out about three days before we were playing Walsall, who at that time I'd never heard. We've since lost to them quite a bit.
Manchester United fans won't know many of your players, who are the most promising and dangerous?
As mentioned earlier, Billy Sharp leads our forward line. He's got a few goals this season, I can remember looking it up and he's scored the most goals before New Years Day since the Demi God who was James Beattie signed for us. He's looked dangerous these last few games and is bang in form. John Brayford is name a few might know, we had him on loan the season we reached the FA Cup Semi Final and he reached cult status. He's alright defensively but is a Right Back who can attack well, isn't scared to take on players and will deliver a great cross. We've had a few decent Right Backs these last few seasons; Kyle Walker, Matt Lowton and now John Brayford spring to mind.
Che Adams is our 'promising player'. We signed him from non-league Ilkeston last season and he put his name in lights with a brace against Spurs in the League Cup Semi-Final. He's a raw player, has pace, power and a few tricks. With some time, coaching and his feet firmly planted in Shirecliffe I think he can go on to be a great player but right now he's what you expect from a 19 year old. I'd say that you ignore him at your peril though as this season he's proven he has the ability to change the game. With the rumours of 'noisy neighbours' sniffing round him, he may want to put himself in the shop window too and what better place to do it?
Do you think League One would be too demanding of Wayne Rooney, and if not, will you please buy him from us?
League One is a tough league, we've proven against a few Premier League sides in the last two or three seasons that we aren't pushovers and as you can see by the league tables we're hardly dominating this level. You've got shocking playing surfaces, cold exposed grounds in towns you only see on motorway signs and players who aren't afraid to hack you to bits. There's also some diamonds playing down here too. You see in players like Dele Alli (who scored against us last season) have made the step up into the Premier League and closer to home you only have to look at players like Harry Maguire, Stephen Quinn or Nick Blackman to see players who have made the step up. Would it be too demanding of Wayne Rooney? I don't think so. Whilst I don't watch him every week so my opinion of him is pretty limited, he's still a great player for me. We'll try him on loan before we commit to a fee though...
What do you think the score will be on Saturday?
My heart is holding out for a draw, or dare we dream a win. We've got a few scalps under out belt already; we held our own against Spurs not too long ago and we've seen off teams like Southampton, Villa and QPR but we've not come across a side like Man United. On the Old Trafford pitch against players like Martial, Rooney and Mata it's too tall an order, and it's a must win game for Van Gall. Though you never know, if you're in the Van Gall out camp then we could do you a favour...
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My head says you are dead certs, the team on paper is a fantastic side with some real talent in there. The fans are crying out for a trophy and the FA Cup now has to be the trophy to win so I imagine it'll all hands on deck. Hopefully we can capitalise on the pressure the manager is under and with 8,500 Blades there we can draw on that and just go for it. All in all I think it'll be a good match, good atmosphere with a Man United win though hopefully we'll be back at Old Trafford in a few years for a Premier League fixture.