Chris Wilder’s Sheff Utd still look set for an immediate Premier League return ahead of shot-shy Burnley, despite Monday’s damaging home defeat by league leaders Leeds - @BeastlyOli from The Sheff Utd Way and Jimmy from The Blades Ramble Podcast run us through it.

How's the season been for Sheff Utd?

Oli: Brilliant. For a team that came down in such a bruising and embarrassing fashion from the Premier League last summer it’s been a much quicker transition and recovery than expected. To be second in the league, with the joint most wins and the third least conceded… we can’t complain at that.

Jimmy: Two thirds of the way through now and it’s been a very good season so far. We had a huge rebuild job on here in the summer with 20 players leaving the club and some huge characters among them – John Egan, Oli McBurnie, Oli Norwood. It was definitely time for these players to leave, but they’d been huge characters for the football club and we needed to re-establish our identity. We’d had a terrible season in the Premier League as well. Turning mindsets around, becoming hard to beat, strong team was the priority. We’ve made some superb signings - £2m for Michael Cooper, £3m for Harrison Burrows, Callum O’Hare for free – and they’ve been very strong. We’re very fortunate it all gelled together. When the season kicked off nobody would have been surprised if we’d missed the play-offs, some even thought we might struggle like Luton have, but it’s gone really well and we probably need to remind ourselves how well it has gone versus what we faced in the summer.

Blades in the league…
Preston 0-2 Sheff Utd Arblaster 12, Hamer 55
Sheff Utd 2-2 QPR Hamer 6, Moore 13 – Dunne 55, Dykes 88
Norwich 1-1 Sheff Utd Sargent 22, Arblaster 31
Sheff Utd 1-0 Watford Bachmann og 2
Hull 0-2 Sheff Utd Hamer 15, McCallum 66
Sheff Utd 1-0 Derby Hamer 53
Pompey 0-0 Sheff Utd
Sheff Utd 1-0 Swansea Tymon og 44
Sheff Utd 2-0 Luton Rak-Sakyi 12, 52
Leeds 2-0 Sheff Utd Struijk 69, Joseph 90
Boro 1-0 Sheff Utd Latte Lath 80
Sheff Utd 2-0 Stoke Moore 14, Campbell 50
Blackburn 0-2 Sheff Utd Burrows 16, Campbell 64
Bristol City 1-2 Sheff Utd Mehmeti pen 75 – One 86, Burrows 90
Sheff Utd 1-0 Sheff Wed Campbell 50
Coventry 2-2 Sheff Utd Bassette 22, Thomas 80 – Campbell 13, Rak-Sakyi 34
Sheff Utd 3-0 Oxford O’Hare 10, Campbell 26, Rak-Sakyi 58
Sheff Utd 1-0 Sunderland Davies 83
West Brom 2-2 Sheff Utd Heggem 24, Fellows 62 – O’Hare 35, Campbell 37
Millwall 0-1 Sheff Utd Brewster 42
Sheff Utd 2-0 Plymouth Hamer 19, Moore pen 88
Cardiff 0-2 Sheff Utd Moore 65, 73
Sheff Utd 0-2 Burnley Brownhill 43, Flemming 53
Sheff Utd 1-1 West Brom Brooks 23 – Grant 45
Sunderland 2-1 Sheff Utd Mayenda 27, Isidor 35 – O’Nien og 32
Watford 1-2 Sheff Utd Ngakia 20 – Hamer 13, Brooks 53
Sheff Utd 2-0 Norwich Burrows 22, pen 59
Swansea 1-2 Sheff Utd Bianchini 7 – Brewster 47, Burrows pen 68
Sheff Utd 0-3 Hull Crooks 6, Jacob 63, Burrows og 88
Derby 0-1 Sheff Utd Brereton-Martinez 49
Sheff Utd 2-1 Pompey Hamer 24, Rak-Sakyi 73 – Ogilvie 27
Sheff Utd 3-1 Boro Rak-Sakyi 32, Brereton 75, Ahmedhodzic 87 – Zoidberg pen 45
Luton 0-1 Sheff Utd Ahmedhodzic 79
Sheff Utd 1-3 Leeds Meslier og 14 – Firpo 72, Tanaka 89, Piroe 90

We were worried about you in the summer, and as soon as we wrote our season preview you went out and signed loads of players, so how has your expectation changed from, say, June, to now?

Oli: 100%. On the confirmation of relegation from the Premier League predictions seemed to range from what we might now call “doing a Luton” to being competitive but likely play offs. To be sat here now, looking at be squad after the big signings both in the summer and in January, I think promotion has to be the expectation from here on in.

Jimmy: The amount of change means it’s fluctuated between fans being realistic, expecting the worst and hoping for the best, while others felt we should be having a good go at it and getting promoted at the first time of asking. We’ve also had a long, drawn out takeover of the club which brought a lot of question marks. Some fans have been sceptical while others are optimistic. Expectations have been a mixed bag and the job Chris Wilder has done has saved the fanbase from being quite fractured. Had he not brought the success on the field I think some fans would think it’s a massive under-achievement whereas in reality we’re probably overachieving given where we were. Expectations now we know we’re settled are continue to grow as a side and push for second but that wasn’t the expectation at the start of the season.

Look, we've been the team splashing daft money in this division before, so we can't talk, but I did have to laugh about Wilder talking about being down to the bare bones after a 3-0 home defeat to Hull in which he brought Brewster, Rak-Sakyi, Campbell and Souza off the bench, all of whom would be the stand out player in a QPR team trying to do a season with Celar and Frey as our strikers. Do you actually buy into this? Is it just Wilder being Wilder?

Oli: Over Christmas/January I would support the position that we were down to “the bare bones.” It’s certainly not an excuse we can offer any more though.

Making the statement after Hull was potentially awkward timing - we’d already made the January signings of Brereton-Diaz & Cannon at that stage - but starting that day in centre mid was Sydie Peck, who has been excellent but is an academy grad with less than 30 senior appearances, and Harrison Burrows, a left back stepping into midfield and not doing it well. That coupled with the loss of Harry Souttar leaving us with only two recognised centre backs in the squad and we were trudging through games as we came through early January. Youngster Ryan One had also been called on to start the previous game against Watford after a striking crisis saw Kieffer Moore, Tyrese Campbell and Brewster all ruled out with injury.

The names mentioned - particularly Rak Sakyi & Souza- would usually be guaranteed starters but were only making their returns to the team (off the bench) after around six weeks out injured. And if anyone had Brewster as a stand out player in their team in the Championship they’d be a team in big, big trouble.

Jimmy: I did get what he was saying. I understand your perspective, Brewster cost £20m, Rak-Sakyi a big investment on loan, Campbell and Souza are not bench players – Campbell’s proved himself and Souza is a Premier League player. At that stage, however, we did have ten or 11 injuries and were having to pick half a dozen youth players, Harrison Burrows into midfield from left back, we lacked midfield cover, Sydie Peck was playing 90 every week, Tom Davies had been out long term. I appreciate the optics don’t look great when you have parachute money but we are in the early stages of a complete rebuild and we were stretched. It’s all relative I appreciate that.

How are you guys with Wilder second time around? Does he have to win promotion this year? What do you make of the job he's doing?

Oli: He’s done a fantastic job - and much better than I certainly would have predicted. His return last season was lauded by fans desperate for some closure after his first period in charge ended unceremoniously behind closed doors during “covid times”. But after his work at Boro and Watford, alongside no clear improvement or “magic” at Bramall Lane last season I came into this season expecting the worse. But he’s been perfectly in tune with the fans, he’s got most of the big decisions correct on the field and he’s brought together a group of players battered by relegation and turned them into a winning machine. He only recently signed a new contract so I don’t think it’s promotion or bust this season for him but if we don’t make it the pressure will be turned on very quickly next season.

Jimmy: Wilder has done a fantastic job and fully deserves his new contract. Some will say he could get more out of this squad but I think that’s naïve. He’s successfully blended all these new players, joint most wins in the league… I know we’re just out of the Premier League and with parachute payments but we were one of the worst Premier League squads in living memory. Jack Robinson won our Player of the Year and you know all about him. I absolutely love Wilder. I don’t think he needs to win promotion this season but he’s almost stitched himself up on that because he’s put us in such a strong position that if we don’t get promoted from here it will be seen as a disappointment.

How was January? What was done? What was left un-Dunne?

Oli: January was… fun! We spent big at centre forward, bringing in Tom Cannon and hopefully bringing in a long-term number nine who will grow into the job at Bramall Lane. It’s been a challenging start for him but with that price tag it’s always going to be a challenge unless you get a hat trick on debut.

Ben Brereton-Diaz is a crowd favourite after his exploits in the Premier League so we are delighted to bring him back to the club, while Hamza Choudhury fills a big gap in terms of the depth of options in central midfield. Harry Clarke gives us an upgrade at right back, but it does feel like we left a big hole in our recruitment. We went into January desperate to replace Harry Souttar, whose leadership and the fact he’s just a very big man was the lynchpin behind an excellent defensive record in the first half of the season. We chased defender after defender - most notably your very own Jimmy Dunne - but with no luck and the clock ticking down we ended up with Rob Holding on loan. A good player, potentially someone who has a big part to play between now and the summer, but not a physical specimen who can fill the boots of Souttar. And therefore an issue on the squad that was left unresolved. 6/10.

Jimmy: You know it, Jimmy was left un-Dunne. I would have loved Jimmy Dunne here, I was a big proponent of going out and getting him, I do think we’ll get him in the summer if I’m honest. He didn’t seem happy that the wheels weren’t able to move on that deal and picked up a mystery injury around the time of our interest… You guys may be revelling in the fact he stayed at QPR but I think you can only be really happy about it if he turns round and signs a new contract. Until that happens you’re liable to lose him in the summer for free. I guess if he’s part of a squad that pushes towards the play-offs that was a gamble worth taking.

Summer Ins >>> Harrison Burrows, 22, LB, Peterborough, £3m >>> Michael Cooper, 24, GK, Plymouth, £2m >>> Kieffer Moore, 31, CF, Bournemouth, £1.5m >>> Callum O’Hare, 26, AM, Coventry, Free >>> Jamie Shackleton, 24, RB, Leeds, Free >>> Sam McCallum, 23, LB, Norwich, Free >>> Tyrese Campbell, 24, CF, Stoke, Free >>> Harry Souttar, 25, CB, Leicester, Loan >>> Alfie Gilchrist, 20, CB, Chelsea, Loan >>> Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, 21, RW, Palace, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Anis Slimane, 23, CM, Norwich, £1.2m >>> Ismaila Coulibaly, 24, CM, LASK, Free >>> Louie Marsh, 20, ST, Fleetwood, Loan

Player of the season candidates?

Oli: Four players have probably already locked down the shortlist.

Gustavo Hamer - our joint top scorer and the key creative man behind just about everything good that United do. For my money one of the very best players in the league and unstoppable on his day.

Michael Cooper - a transformative signing. Again a contender for the best player in his position outside the premier league and at a reported £2m an unbelievable steal in the summer. Capable of ridiculous saves, much more importantly a man who commands his area and brings calmness and stability to a defence that doesn’t have much of that in front of him!

Sydie Peck - thrown in the deep end with very limited senior minutes under his belt Peck has been a revelation. Oli Arblaster was the captain and the heartbeat of the team, but when he did his ACL early in the season Peck had big shoes to fill but has stepped in and made himself undroppable in this current United team. Nailed on to be YPOTY but should be hugely in contention for the main award.

The likely winner - Vinicius Souza. What a transformation from this man. Never in all my life have I disliked a Sheffield United player more than I disliked Premier League Vini Souza. Arrogant, entitled and out of his depth Vini was just completely lost last season and over the summer was told in no uncertain terms he was to leave the club. But with no one meeting the asking price he was brought back into the fold and has been outstanding from day one. He’s given his all, he’s won just about every single individual battle he’s had all season and looks a class above the championship. Should be United’s player of the season, is definitely our most important player for the way we want to play, and I’d have him a serious contender for Championship POTY never mind just for United.

Jimmy: I could make an argument for several players. For outputs it’s hard to look past Gustavo Hamer. Callum O’Hare has been most improved – he started off very slowly and has now become one of our most valuable players and integral parts of the team. Tyrese Campbell is a revelation when he’s fit. Vini Souza was one of the most vilified players in our Premier League team, constantly blaming everybody else and hiding, now he’s a true leader. Harry Souttar before his injury was a mountain at the back. I think Michael Cooper is the best keeper in the division and has proven that at Sheff Utd. Harrison Burrows has stepped up from League One and will hopefully be our left back for years. You could make a case for Sydie Peck stepping out of the youth team and becoming a first team regular after Ollie Arblaster’s injury. If you had to push me I’d go for Michael Cooper.

Weak links in the team?

Oli: Centre back and though we love him greatly Jacky Long Throw - Jack Robinson for the uninitiated. Without Harry Souttar we are very vulnerable to a big man up front and neither centre back is capable of dominating that battle. Anel is good on the ball and his pace and reading of the game makes him a really valuable partner - but he has to have that dominant leader alongside him and in Robinson that’s not what we have. Let’s be fair and he’s capable of brilliance, he’s a man who will never shirk a tackle or be caught lacking in commitment to the cause but also he’s a bit of a bomb scare and capable of the truly ridiculous. A fast press and big physical presence will ask us questions we will be struggling to answer.

Jimmy: Weak link in the team for me is Jack Robinson. I get pelters from our own fanbase for this so it’s not a universal opinion – people love his commitment to the side. I don’t think he’s a Premier League player, I don’t think he gets into any top six side in the league other than ours. We’ve got Rob Holding sitting on the bench, I don’t understand that. He always worries me. He hasn’t made as many mistakes this season but I’m always worried when he’s on the pitch and I cannot understand him being the captain. That’s a personal opinion.

We haven’t had a settled right back now Alfie Gilchrist is injured. Harry Clarke was possibly signed to play there but he’s injured now. In terms of Saturday we might struggle on that side – Hamza Choudhury may have to play there as he did against Leeds once Clarke had gone off. There’s a couple of bits in defence where you can have a look and see what you can get out of us.

Promotion or bust? How do you see this playing out?

Oli: Promotion is the target, is really the expectation at this stage - but it’s not quite bust if we can’t make the grade this season. With new owners joining just before January we have a level of financial stability we haven’t had for a number of years and that likely means we will have another good go at it next season if we can’t get ourselves over the line this year. But with Souza and Hamer likely receiving very admiring glances, and loan players playing very big roles in the squad , it would be a hell of a Championship rebuild in the summer, and next season would very much be make or break as the clubs budget is planned very much with Premier League money in mind.

If I’m a betting man I’m predicting we finish third after losing at Turf Moor in game week 44. For the real value I’d then get on us to lose to the sixth placed team in the play off semi-final. We’ll be 25+ points above them by then - but it won’t matter over two legs. Nothing like a bit of pessimism eh? I’ve been burned before…

Jimmy: Not promotion or bust, thankfully. I think we’ve got a really strong chance. If we don’t go up we’ll lose a few stars – Gustavo will go, Anel might leave – buit that will cover our losses and we’ll go strengthen again. If you look what happened with Leeds when they missed out and lost a couple of big hitters, I’m not saying we’d be as good as them next season if we don’t go up but I think there is some merit to having a settled, high calibre side in the Championship. Players like Cooper, Peck, Arblaster, Burrows, O’Hare and Cannon I think we’re well equipped. So, it’s not promotion or bust, but obviously we want to go up and build the momentum that Wilder has built second time around. I want to go up, but I don’t fear for the future if we don’t.

Links >>> Sheffield United official website >>> Bramall Lane ground guide >>> Blades Ramble — Contributor’s YouTube channel >>> The Sheff Utd Way – Contributor’s Website/Channel >>> S2 4SU — Message Board >>> Sheffield Star — Local Press

If you enjoy LoftforWords, please consider supporting the site through a subscription to our Patreon or tip us via our PayPal account loftforwords@yahoo.co.uk.

The Twitter @BeastlyOli, @SheffUtdWay @loftforwords

Pictures - Reuters Connect

Queens Park Rangers Polls