Chris Wilder was in no mood to "rub the heads" of his Sheffield United players after their frustrating defeat to relegation rivals Luton Town hammered another nail into their survival coffin. United were 2-1 up and looking good for a morale-boosting win before two quickfire own goals saw them lose 3-2.
The result saw United remain seven points behind fourth-bottom Everton ahead of their game tonight against Manchester City, who in turn host the Blades at the Etihad this weekend. Wilder was in typically honest mood after the game with his players and said to the media: "I really don't give a monkey's how they feel. They're professional footballers, it's up to them to get themselves back.
"We had a situation when Dean Henderson let one through his legs and everyone said 'you can't be too hard on a kid'. Look at an American football linebacker, if he misses a tackle in a divisional play-off game, the coach is not going in and saying 'unlucky mate'. Everyone's got to be accountable for what's going off. Attitude is key. I'm not there to rub their head."
The game threw up a number of talking points, including an alleged racist comment aimed at Luton striker Carlton Morris after he came off the bench to spark the Hatters' turnaround. Here are eight things we learned from another frustrating afternoon for the Blades...
1. 'The Blades way'
To those who have followed this football club for a long period of time, there was something recognisably Sheffield United about being 2-1 up and completely in control of such a seismic game before going on to lose it 3-2 without the opposition having another shot on target. If it wasn't so serious you'd be tempted to laugh but this was a seismic blow to United's survival hopes - probably on par with the Bournemouth and Burnley nightmares, just for different reasons. On those occasions United were distinctly second best, to say the least, but here, they had done the hard work by getting back into the game and then going ahead. They were cruising towards a huge win before imploding defensively and, in Wilder's words, "chucking it away". What could have been six points from two mammoth games over Christmas quickly became just one because of defensive lapses and Wilder was clear afterwards when he admitted that the Blades only have themselves to blame
2. Tough love
One thing you can never accuse Wilder of is hiding the truth and he was typically honest after this one, referencing his tough-love treatment of Dean Henderson all those years ago when insisting he "didn't give a monkey's" how his players are feeling after the defeat. He is, he said, their biggest fan so they must also be able to accept the other side of the coin when they don't perform, especially with tasks so basic as defending crosses into the box. True, Wilder hasn't had a great deal of time on the training ground with his players over Christmas but that shouldn't be an excuse for dealing with the fundamental aspects of defending, such as not allowing a cross into the box. Gus Hamer was left alone for the first but didn't do enough to stop Alfie Doughty before Morris had the freedom of Bramall Lane to cross for the equaliser before beating Anel Ahmedhodzic too easy just before the winner.
3. The positives
And there were some, despite the manner of the defeat. No football game is won on statistics alone but United's numbers alone did not belong to a losing side; 80 per cent of tackles won, 50 per cent of headers won against a physical Luton side, 21 shots at goal and five clear-cut chances to Luton's none, as shared by former Blade Kevin Gage on social media. United's expected goals metric of 2.78 was vastly superior to 0.58. It ultimately counted for squat in terms of the result but the data suggests that other factors, rather than just the performance, were an issue. United certainly weren't outplayed. Is it confidence? Belief? Mentality? Individual errors? Or a combination of all the above?
4. Shape shifters
United's turnaround was largely prompted by a half-time change of formation to a back three. In the first 45 minutes Luton got a lot of joy in the spaces down their right, with Andros Townsend's clever movement dragging Auston Trusty inside and Doughty exploiting that with a few good openings. The introduction of Max Lowe at the break and the shifting of Trusty inside made Luton think again and also gave United another dimension going forward; Lowe almost equalised with one of his first touches and on the other flank Ahmedhodzic also got forward to cause problems, resulting in his poacher's finish to put the Blades ahead. It was certainly more of a front-footed, United-type performance with a back three and will have given Wilder some welcome food for thought for the rest of the season, especially for games at Bramall Lane when his side have to find a way to create more opportunities and get at the opposition more often.