Recently I was given my freedom; no longer do I have to answer to “da man” on a Saturday and it feels like I have been given a lease of life. So where would I rather spend my first Saturday of freedom, why of course Sheffield and the fabulous Bramall Lane.

Aidy Boothroyd’s Coventry City were the visitors and on a good run of form they were expected to fair well against Gary Speed’s United side. The Blades coming off the embarrassing 2-0 defeat away at Doncaster, not the score line but the manor of the performance and it was live on the BBC not the time you want to get truly outplayed. Coventry apart from the defeat against Cardiff had gone 4 games unbeaten.

The Home side set up in a positive 4-3-3; Richard Cresswell flanked by Yeates and Ward upfront, Stephen Quinn, Jonny Ertl and playmaker Leon Britton in midfield. At the back Andy Taylor on the left, Nyron Nosworthy, Chris Morgan parterned by fit again Arsenal Loanee Kyle Bartley. Steve Simonsen continued in goal.

Turns out Bartley would have his hands full, Coventry’s 4-4-2 spearheaded by Clive Platt and Lukas Jutkiewicz, Gary McSheffrey coming in from the left, Aron Gunnarsson playing on the right Sammy Clingan and Lee Carsley provided the steel in the middle. Richard Keogh and Martin Cranie played at full back, Richard Wood and Ben Turner in the middle, the impressive Kieran Westwood was between the sticks.

Overall it was a good game, Coventry in the end took away all three points but it could have easily been very different. Three times a Blades player found the woodwork instead of the back of the net. Maybe Coventry just edged it with the overall performance and better standard of football however they test Simonsen as much as they would have hoped.

Coventry started the better team, winning a succession of corners, United defended well and managed to stave off the pressure, and fashioned their own chance. Cresswell challenged Turner for the header the ball bobbled out and Quinn was onto it on a flash, a tough chance he did well the stear his shot towards goal, only to be thwarted by the crossbar. A sign of things to come.

A tough midfield battle followed, without the ball Coventry set up in a very regimented system, two banks of four getting behind the ball, not giving much space to trouble the defence, Andy Taylor did get forward down the left and put in a great cross, only to see Cresswell’s toes just to short to get on the end of it.

Leon Britton showed his qualities trying to get on the ball as much as possible however at times his creativity was killed by a few minutes of head-tennis between midfields not an environment for a deep lying playmaker and you could see it frustrated the ex-Swansea midfielder.

His frustration was to grow and United were punished, Coventry attacked down the right, Gunnarsson and Keogh combined well, Keogh bombing down the outside confused Taylor, unsure he failed to pick anyone up, Gunnarsson played in the cross, Platt knocked it down and McSheffrey was there with the diving header to beat Simonsen into the corner.

United tried to fight back. Yeates began to get on the ball more and he caused a few problems, he did fantastic to fashion out a chance for Quinn, twisting and turning past Keogh, he looked up and played a great left footed cross, Quinn was up early but he could only find the side netting, but the wrong side. In the bad run Sheffield are on you can’t afford to miss those chances.

Speed’s men ended the half well, a poor Wood header was intercepted by Jamie Ward and the busy forward raced through on goal, only the keeper to beat, unfortunately the post/crossbar junction had different idea and for the second time the crossbar was marked, it didn’t look like it was going to be United’s day. As a manager there are some times when you just can’t do anything about the luck.

Coventry had brought a huge support with them, and they were the happier of the two fans at Half Time, and whatever Speed said at the break had no effect whatsoever. Coventry came out in command and quickly won a Free-Kick. Sammy Clingan stepped up to take it, and take it he did a thunderbolt strike that stung Simonsen’s gloves, he could only parry it. Substitute Matthew Lowton did well to block the follow up shot.

Another scrappy ten minutes followed not much football to mention, Speed must have saw this too as with thirty minutes to go new arrival Andy Reid, on loan from Sunderland, made his debut, the system changed. Blades moved to a 4-4-2 Yeates on the right and Reid on the left, the new man looked good, composed on the ball and showing he still has the quality for this level although he could do with shifting a few pounds, which of us here couldn’t!

Reid’s moment came a clumsy foul conceded just outside the Coventry box, Reid stood over the free-kick and the stadium went quiet thmuffled hush of expectation, soon turned to despair as his free-kick crashed off the crossbar, count it, three times in one match.

The change in formation seemed to work, United able to get forward at will but still couldn’t create that big chance, a player like Cresswell is a great squad player but he’s not quick enough, strong enough or tall enough to ever really offer anything at a higher level, he will do a workman like job, but that’s pretty much it. It was obvious to see that they miss Darius Henderson, a target-man with an end product. They hope to have him back in December and from this performance you can see it can’t come quick enough.

Coventry’s big man Clive Platt had a good game, it was a great matchup with the young Bartley the aerial battles were very close, Bartley may have just edged it overall, where Platt used his experience was when he peeled away from Bartley and matched himself up against Morgan, although good in the air Morgan is no match height wise against Platt, this gave the big man some well needed success, including the goal itself.

Then Speed made a change that just baffled me, taking a keen look at how he set up tactically it was very strange to see Ched Evans come on for Ertl, the 4-4-2 that had worked better for ten minutes than the 4-3-3 had worked all game, but Speed had gone back to it. Cresswell, Evans and Ward the forward line again and a midfield trio of Yeates, Britton and Reid. For Andy Reid this could be his best position, not quite got the legs to be a winger but the ability in his boots to unpick defences.

Playing Yeates in the middle took away any threat he had shown and again United looked to lack ideas and the side looked very narrow, not once did they look like breaking down the stubborn Coventry defence. Speed saw sense again and pushed Yeates out wide left, dropped Jamie Ward to the right and the 4-4-2 with Reid and Britton pulling the strings started to cause problems again.

The last ten minutes saw the Blades bombard the Coventry goal, Ward down the right got a few crosses into the box, one cross found Evans in the box, he was bundled over, the fans wanted blood or at least a penalty. The referee played on like nothing had happened. Late on Andy Reid whipped in a cross and Creswell launched himself into the header however Westwood was up to the job and easily saved.

A spirited fight back from the home side but in the end be it the wrong system or bad luck, it was a bad day at the office for Gary Speed, realisation that this team needs built up from scratch, how many of the players are good enough to compete at the top of the Championship, only Ward and Britton seem up to the task.

Coventry looked good, maybe a lack of a killer instinct upfront could harm them further on in the season, however the likes of Jutkiewicz and Gunnarsson, mixed with McSheffrey and Platt could make for a great team and they should be there or there abouts when it comes to the playoffs, their manager Aidy Boothroyd has been there and done it before with Watford, the away fans will be hoping for more of the same.