Sheffield United show absolutely no sign of improving either performances or results as they struggled badly for a barely merited home point against an equally dire Preston North End team at Bramall Lane. United had fell behind when Carter's in swinging free kick had evaded everybody on the half hour and the home side had barely mustered a shot on goal until over an hour had gone. With sections of the crowd chanting for a managerial change, the game had appeared gone until the final 10 minutes when a very controversial penalty award from referee Singh spared United blushes and maybe saved Brian Robson his job.

United struggled to win individual battles and simply could not keep the ball or penetrate the North End back line to create chances. All too often United's tactic appeared to be simply predictable and speculative long balls to Stead and to Beattie. Players looked low on confidence and the lack of belief transferred onto the terraces that tried to keep faith with the home side but many were shaking their heads and wonder when this team and quad would finally find any kind of performance, let alone a winning scenario.

The game had begun with Robson ringing the changes again. Out went Morgan, Lucketti, Tonge, Carney and Hendrie with a debut for Bardsley, joined by returnees Kilgallon, Naysmith, Gillespie and Stephen Quinn. United kicked towards the Kop in the first half but it was Preston who began the brighter with three corners won in quick succession. Preston then appealed for a penalty as Carter fell to the floor. This was just after Armstrong also appeared to have used his hand but the referee ruled it was off his chest.

United finally had a spell of pressure as they too forced a couple of corners, with Cahill blocked from close range by a couple of defenders. Carter had a fierce rising drive go over after the best move of the game involving Sedgwick and Hawley. Mawene was booked after he tripped Beattie just over half way. Following the free kick, the United leading scorer had a sniff at goal but Beattie headed well over from newcomer Bardsley's cross. Preston had won the midfield battle thus far and after picking up a loose ball they sprayed the ball wide and Jones was clumsily upended by Armstrong.

CARTER took the resulting free kick and his in swinger missed everybody as a bevy of bodies challenged and nestled inside Kenny's right hand post. United were behind once again and there were clear murmurings of disappointment in the crowd. United tried to respond but Stead fired wildly over and just after another set play led to nothing, the half time whistle came.

United replaced Stead and Quinn with Shelton and Webber, as they opted to have more of a positive approach with Shelton partnering Beattie and Webber playing on the left side. However, United struggled to muster a worthwhile attempt on goal and the game became somewhat of a dour midfield battle with neither team able to put together many moves of note. Of course this suited Preston who began to professionally take their time over set plays and made a number of substitutions to try and take the heat out of the game. United finally had an effort in goal as Bardsley fired in a drive from the right hand angle that Lonergan somehow palmed away. Quinn turned and fired one at the keeper after the corner had only been partially cleared.

United's brief rally seemed to have petered out with unrest beginning to develop in the crowd. However, out of nothing United were level. Webber challenged with St Ledger and the ball struck the Preston substitute, who had replaced Chilvers earlier in the game. The United forward appealed vociferously but Singh seemed unmoved at first but then pointed to the spot after a delay of time that would not have been out of place in the world of cricket umpiring. Preston appealed long and hard but BEATTIE did not let the delays worry him and calmly dispatched the penalty, sending Lonergan the wrong way and earn United a lifeline. North End manager Simpson continued his protests too far and the fourth official called the referee over who sent the Preston manager into the stands.

The game threatened to boil over after Bardsley high tackle led to a melee and then Nicholls caught a United player with a similarly poor challenge. The booking count had now increased to six. Shelton had a low drive turned away by the keeper as United forced another corner but the delivery was once again poor. Four extra minutes were allotted to be played but despite a lot of application in the final moments, United could not break through although Webber seemed to be clearly upended by St Ledger at the death. Referee Singh waved away this appeal, even though this was perhaps a stronger case than the one he actually gave, perhaps fearing reprisals from the Preston players. He blew for full time not long after leaving most of Bramall Lane trooping away vastly disappointed once again.

United

Another spineless, passionless performance with little kind of cohesion, passing or kind of pattern of play. The players looked disinterested for long periods and could simply not muster more than one or two passes at any one time. Going forward we created nothing at all until a long range shot from Bardsley. The crossing throughout was some of the worst I have ever seen. We never got the ball in midfield, fed the strikers and then got midfield to support. Armstrong worked very hard but other than that they got no support until a little cameo from Webber after he came on and played left side.

The strikers once again fed off scraps and for me the most worrying thing is that the three units play as separate entities, the defence, midfield and attack. There is no cohesion, no link play and no one wants to get beyond the strikers. The one positive is that the defence was better although they were barely tested by an equally slow Preston side. If Agyemang had played I fear they would have been more dangerous but Cahill and Kilgallon did ok today. It is more than one, two or even three players though.

The team was changed again today but still looked a very poor side lacking in ideas. The general approach was the defence play it around for a couple of passes. Then usually it was a lump forward to Beattie or Stead who would win it but have no one to link play to/with or lose it and the ball would come back. If we did somehow force possession or a set play deep in their territory usually we crossed it to the keepers arms or behind the goal. It was hard to watch, it really was.

Kenny 6/10
Had very little to do really but his distribution and kicking was appalling. They had as few attempts on goal as we did. Unsure whether to blame him on the goal. He did react a bit late and perhaps the argument is in free kicks like them you follow the ball and not wait for a flick. However, he is in good company though as many keepers, more so recently, seem to be getting beaten by that sort of free kick that misses everyone. Paul Robinson must have got done more than most.

Bardsley 6/10
A middling debut. He did alright defensively but he looks susceptible to pace and also did not really offer too much as support going forward. He did have out first effort on goal after almost an hour when his fierce drive was palmed away by the keeper. He commited a bad tackle that was definitely worth a booking (although remarkably Singh had not given it until the Preston player's reacted and in fact had pointed the decision in our favour).

Naysmith 5.5/10
He just looks a very ordinary full back. For a million pounds I expect someone who stops most crosses and wingers and someone who will get forward and support. In reality he does neither of these things. His moment in the second half when he miskicked and then volleyed the ball out summed him and the team up. He did put one great cross in which nobody attacked in the second half.

Kilgallon 6/10
He at least did not make a bad mistake that led to a goal, a hallmark of our recent centre backs performances. He at least offers more mobility than Morgan and Lucketti and against Hawley and Gallacher, two forwards who are neither fast nor aerially dominating, he did not really have much to play against. Still let his man turn him a few too many times and still got outmuscled once that nearly led to a goal. He also fell in love with the long ball today, which is a shame as he is a decent ball player.

Cahill 7.5/10
United's best player. Looked a class above the rest of the team and did everything that was asked of him in a competent and assured way. He just keeps it simple but he had good covering ability, allied to decent pace and a good touch. He was one of the few United players who tried to spray it wide and actually keep the ball.

Armstrong 7/10
Tried very hard and did over a lot of ground but his performance was a bit 'Monty' like and he had a touch of the headless chicken about him. His positional play when he operates in centre midfield is poor and he often is behind his man leaving us vulnerable. His passing was up and down but he did win a few lost causes. I felt for effort alone, he was United's second best player but he is limited as a player when in possession.

Quinn 5/10
He never got into the game at all. I barely notice him have a kick until about 20 minutes in and faded badly as the game went on being eventually substituted. I thought he had done as well as anyone in recent games but today he did not create anything offensively and did not win many tackles either.

Gillespie 4/10
Appalling. His corners, free kicks were frankly a disgrace. I just help his chipping game at golf tomorrow is as good as he basically wasted about 8 or 9 set plays by floating them into the keeper or over everyone's head. He had played consistently rubbish this season but keeps getting picked week in, week out.

Quinn. S 6/10
Thought he was harshly substituted. He was as good as anyone in the first half and at least wanted the ball and tried to play football. He tried to make things happened and did not waste too much of the ball although once again his crossing was poor. Thought one of the other midfielders could have been taken off before him to be honest.

Beattie 6.5/10
Thought he looked disinterested at times today and worryingly this has happened for the last 3 or 4 games. He seems to be going through the motions recently. Still he scored a penalty and did look the most likely to score and had one or two headers over the bar and a fierce volley that went wide after he equalised. Even playing 50-60% he still looks better than most of the rest.

Stead 6/10
He was not brilliant but like Stephen Quinn he can feel hard done by to come off as he was no worse than anyone else. His touch at times was not great but he worked the lines well and put a lot of running into the first half performance. I cannot think he can be too happy at being made a scapegoat and substituted every time we play poorly when in reality he is usually one of our better performers at the moment. It was the same at Bristol.

Subs

Shelton 6/10
Came on and always tried to run at defenders with mixed results. He looks like a poor mans cross between Maradona and Adrian Littlejohn! The run when he just was dribbling round players but going nowhere was at least entertaining in an awful game of football. Unsure if he is the answer as for all the pace and dribbling, little seems to actually result. He also was not close enough to Beattie and seemed to be drifting to the left wing continually.

Webber 6/10
Played left wing when he came on. His touch and ball control was very good and he did link well down the left with Shelton at times. He also contributed to the penalty award and also nearly got us another at the death. Still not direct enough though.

Tonge
Came on and did very little to nothing in limited action. Telegraphed a ball to Beattie and then 'neshed' a tackle in midfield. I think he needs a long spell in the reserves or even a loan to another club to re-galvanise him. Cynics may say and I would be tempted to agree, that if a decent bid (anywhere around £500,000) that he should be moved on.

Preston

Looked a poor team for the most part and they looked sadly lacking in confidence. Fortunately for them they faced a team similarly low, if not lower, in confidence. In midfield, Nicholls and Davidson are very ordinary players but picked up most loose balls and could actually make a simple pass to get the visitors on the offensive. I felt they offered little to nothing up front with Gallacher and Hawley doing little. Carter put some good balls in, as evidence by the goal and Sedgwick is always a tricky performer but United will face few less potent attacks all season.

At the back Mawene is a player I have always rated but I feel he has gone backwards with Preston. He is a player who would be an upgrade over the defenders United have. Indeed, I always rated him higher than Davis who obviously went for a lot of money. St Ledger, who replaced Chilvers, is a poor centre back that commits daft fouls. Lonergan looked extremely dodgy from crosses but even he could catch the ones we put into him unopposed. He had one save to make all game. In short, Preston will finish near the bottom and do well to stay up. They looked a very poor side and a confident side, with pace and passion would have won the game against them at a canter. United sadly looked a side that was even worse.

Referee

An odd, odd game for Mr Singh. He did alright in the first period of the game but then booked Mawene, rather harshly. He then let Armstrong get away with a similar foul and the inconsistency started. He never knew when to play on with fouls or stop the play and also seemed unable to get free kicks taken from the right spot. The penalty looked harsh. Webber reacted straight away but the linesman gave nothing (although he was on the other side and it would have been tough to spot). What was amazing is that he did not look like he was going to give it until United appealed so much. If Preston had got it, United's fans would not have been happy.

After this Singh's game deteriorated with a few melees between both sets of players. I felt he should have penalised Bardsley for high feet but he played on and then much like the penalty, on seeing the Preston appeals and the melee, decided to act and gave a booking and a free kick. He then should have given a penalty when Webber was clearly fouled. As Paul Simpson says : 'The one at the end is an absolute definite penalty for Sheffield United - there's no debate over that - and he bottled it, simple as that, because he knew he'd messed up on the first one," added Simpson. Singh definitely lost control towards the end and would have been glad to finally get down the tunnel.

Crowd

United's fans tried to get behind the team and did not get on their back even when they went behind in the first half. The fans tried to keep singing and inject some passion into a seemingly disinterested team but it did not work. After Naysmith miskicked twice and the ball spooned out, a few of the crowd frustrations finally became audible. For a spell after this sections of the Kop shouted for 'Robson Out!' and jeers started to emanate around the four sides of Bramall Lane.

Luckily for Robson, the penalty incident happened not long after and suddenly the hypocritical nature of football fans came to the fore. United's fans now sensed a victory and began to become more positive. I felt overall for another dire performance, United's fans were very patient and supported them fairly well. At many other grounds in such circumstances, calling for the manager's head would have happened a lot earlier.