The Sheffield Herald
Match22 Feb 2042
Sheffield are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings24 Feb 2042
Age has not caught Massiremba Dramé yet — 7.96
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad24 Feb 2042
Tempers go at Sheffield
Massiremba Dramé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Feb 2042
Lorenz Ferdinand falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match22 Feb 2042
Massiremba Dramé’s goal not enough for Sheffield
Massiremba Dramé scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Cardiff City, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad24 Feb 2042
The manager makes an example of Lorenz Ferdinand
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad24 Feb 2042
Luke Walker out for 23 days
The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Luke Walker, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings24 Feb 2042
Facundo Buonanotte runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Feb 2042
The Facundo Buonanotte story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Facundo Buonanotte signs something — a contract at Sheffield or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
- Player ratings The pass was always on for Lorenzo Paratici
- Market The shop window has Jonathan Murphy in it
- Market Filippo Frison runs his contract down