Sponsored by
Blackwell does double take on Canaries
AT LEAST Saturday's trip to the capital was not a complete waste of time for Kevin Blackwell.
Sheffield United's manager, having learned his team's FA Cup third round tie with Leyton Orient had fallen victim to the weather, made an impromptu dash along the A12 to watch Charlton Athletic's FA Cup meeting with Norwich City instead.
Norwich, of course, visit South Yorkshire this weekend as United look to consolidate their position in the Champion ship's top six with a second home victory in succession.
But what Blackwell wasn't to know was that he was getting a look at United's potential fourth round opponents as well because United will be at home to either Charlton or Norwich in the fourth round if they get past Orient. It finished 1-1 at the Valley.
Blackwell, last seen punching The Valley's postcode into his 4X4's satellite navigation system as it jostled for road space with a posse of redundant police horses, backed referee Iain Williamson's decision to declare the Brisbane Road surface unplayable.
But he did express concerns about its timing; not least because of the inconvenience it caused the two-and-a-half thousand travelling supporters scheduled to attend.
Only a fraction of them will probably make the long journey south when the fixture finally takes place a week tomorrow, January 13.
"It's frustrating," Blackwell said before sweeping out of the stadium. "There's no way it could have gone ahead but the temperature was only going to get colder so it's a shame it couldn't have been announced earlier.
"We're here and so are the fans. "They've dug deep into their own pockets to come down, used their valuable time and money, so I do feel desperately sorry for them.
"I'll be doing a bit of scouting though, having a look at our next opponents, so at least it's not been a total blow-out for me."
Although two third of the pitch was bathed in sunlight, it was the goalmouth in front of the Tommy Johnston stand which forced Williamson and his officials to take such a drastic course of action.
Orient, languishing in the lower reaches of League One where undersoil heating systems are rarer than Christmas card exchanges between Barnsley and Bramall Lane, had covered the offending area overnight but their efforts proved in vain.
"The difficult thing for the lads is that they were all geared-up to play football," Blackwell said. "They'd gone through all their preparation and started to get keyed-up. "Then, nothing."
No one will have felt the sense of anti-climax more though than Kyle Walker; the young centre-half who had been preparing to make his United debut after impressing on loan at Northampton Town recently.
Got a view? Add your comment below.
READ MORE
Watch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much more
Football headlines.
Football gossip.
Blades news
Blades watch 0809 - The season so far
Owls news
Owls watch 0809 - The season so far
Reds news.
Millers news.
More rugby.
More boxing.
Sports columnists.
All sport categories
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Fog
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
