North End supporters not happy campers after opening day defeat

However the ease of which our old foes from over the Yorkshire border pocketed the three points should act as a loud wake up call of Maplins yellow coat Gladys Pugh proportions to our manager and players.

Although I managed to see this tough watch out to its bitter disappointing end in hope rather than expectation, in reality I was ready to say "Ho-de-Ho" to this match long before the referee whistled for full time.

With the Blades having been a Premier League side last season, it was probably the result I had expected when the fixtures were announced in June but after speaking to one of our visitors’ fans before the game, who said he was not confident of a win, my negative thoughts began to turn into more optimistic ones in the minutes leading up to kick-off .

He had also told me that his side had lost a lot of their star players in the summer and now had 12 new ones to bed-in so I was swayed into thinking that maybe this could be a good time to play them .

I thought we began the match too tentatively and at times looked nervous on the ball as we sat too deep and struggled to get bodies anywhere near the danger area of our opponent’s penalty box.

For me, it was no surprise when we conceded an early goal albeit one which came from a hugely deflected shot.

Towards the end of the half we at last finally had a little attacking flurry which continued into a second half which we began firmly on the front foot .

At this point our lively attacking play lifted the crowd who had been fairly subdued in the first half due to the lack of any real excitement.

However, any hopes I had that we could get something from this game soon ended when the Blades doubled their advantage after being gifted a goal following a very poor throw out from our goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

Although we huffed and puffed a bit after this and entertainment-wise, the second half was much better, the game ended up being played out to its inevitable conclusion.

With it being only the first game of the season, I thought that the audible boos which seemed mainly aimed at the manager as he left the pitch at the final whistle were maybe a tad harsh given the calibre of the opposition

However this was our sixth successive league defeat in which we have also failed to score a single goal and have now conceded 13 which is a truly dismal record and many of our fans have now lost their patience with the manager.

I feel he now has a massive task on his hands to win them around. One glimmer of hope for me was the performance of my man-of-the-match league debutant Stefan Thordarson and the second half introduction of new wing-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden.