On the one hand, you could see Paul Heckingbottom’s point. Seven minutes into injury time at Tottenham last week, his Sheffield United side led 1-0 and seemed about to pull off perhaps the most surprising result of the Premier League season so far. They then conceded twice and so, rather than being able to celebrate a great smash and grab, Heckingbottom was left to reflect on the fact his side have already dropped seven points with goals conceded in the 88th minute or later this season.
To make it worse, when the Sheffield United manager had protested about Peter Bankes’s attempts to get the goalkeeper Wes Foderingham to get on with the game, the referee apparently replied that if a short pass wasn’t on he should go long. It’s easy to see why that should rankle.
