VENOMOUS VARDY BITES BLADES
SHEFFIELD UnITED boss Chris Wilder has likened football management to snakes and ladders. And he was bitten by a deadly frontman to keep his side on the bottom rung of the Premier League.
Jamie Vardy was the predator who dispensed his poison in the 90th minute as Leicester climbed back into the top four. The Sheffield Wednesday fan enjoyed it, smashing a corner flag in celebration as his whoop of delight echoed around empty Bramall Lane.
Sent clear by James Maddison, he slithered free of John Egan before lifting beyond Aaron Ramsdale for his 11th of the season.
Egan could — probably should — have taken Vardy out at the expense of a red card and preservation of a point. As a wise man once said: ‘If you see a snake, just kill it — don’t appoint a committee on snakes.’ Egan thought about the foul, by which point it was too late. Venomous Vardy was away. Game over.
Wilder must have felt like kicking a corner flag, too, for his winless team had been much improved after falling behind in the first half and drawing level almost immediately. But don’t try telling him that.
‘I’ve got the a**e ache with people saying it’s about fine lines,’ he said. ‘It’s not. We’re a losing team at the moment and I’m the manager of a losing team. I’m not going to sit here and say we were the better side. We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves. If you can’t win, don’t get beat.’
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers ( right) said: ‘ You just know when Jamie is away he will score. He is one of the best in Europe in that position.’
That’s true. Wilder dropped to his haunches on sight of Vardy running clear and stayed there after the inevitable finish. He says he has found solace in beer and wine in recent weeks. And so it remains that he has had far more pints than points this season. United’s one point after 11 games is the joint worst in top-flight history. It says much of his standing in these parts that there has been no talk of the sack, and so there shouldn’t be.
But it could well be that a rebuild in the Championship is the most likely scenario. This was a sixth defeat in their last seven at home, an unimaginable sequence given how formidable this place was before lockdown.
The return of supporters will not be of benefit to all clubs. We heard one or two familiar groans at West Ham’s London Stadium during their defeat by Manchester United on Saturday night.
But that would not happen here. Tier 3 restrictions in Sheffield are perhaps the biggest danger when it comes to the threat of tier-two football.
And if the boys on Monday Night Football want to capture the
Blades’ attacking woe, then scroll to events of the 21st minute.
They will not find a shot on target. In fact, they won’t even find a shot, despite Oli Burke being sprung clear by Oli McBurnie. The Scotland forward seemed to lose track of the ball before falling over.
So imagine Wilder’s fury when, three minutes later, Leicester took the lead as Ayoze Perez volleyed home from close range. Only once this season have the Blades drawn level in a game having trailed, so this felt like the end of the contest.
It was a surprise, then, when within two minutes they equalised. It was just as much of a shock to see McBurnie emerge from a crowd of bodies as the scorer. His last goal came in July, some 18 games ago. In the warm-up he had berated himself when one wild strike found the empty seats behind the goal. So McBurnie took stock and used his head. John Lundstram loaded a corner from the left and McBurnie bullied Youri Tielemans before nodding into the bottom corner. It sparked an upturn and Wilder’s men rolled the dice late on as they pushed for victory. Sadly for them, they landed on another snake. SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Ramsdale 5; Basham 6, Egan 5, Bryan 6; Baldock 6, Berge 6, Lundstram 6 (Norwood 63min, 5), Fleck 5.5, Lowe 5.5 (Osborn 46, 5); McBurnie 7, Burke 5 (Brewster 81). Subs not used: Verrips, Sharp, Jagielka, McGoldrick. Scorer: McBurnie 26. Booked: Lowe. Manager: Chris Wilder 6 LEICESTER (3-4-2-1): Schmeichel 6.5; Fofana 6.5, Evans 7, Fuchs 7; Albrighton 7, Tielemans 6.5, Mendy 6 (Ndidi 69, 6), Justin 6.5; Perez 7 (Iheanacho 69, 5), Maddison 7 (Praet 90); VARDY 7.5. Subs not used: Ward; Morgan, Barnes, Under. Scorers: Perez 24, Vardy 90. Booked: Fuchs, Vardy, Maddison. Manager: Brendan Rodgers 6.5 Referee: Stuart Attwell 5.