Sheffield United can dream of miraculous survival under Heckingbottom

Sheffield United embark on Premier League survival without FOUR of their five most potent creators last season – but under the management of Paul Heckingbottom fans can still dream of a miraculous escape

• Sheffield United secured automatic promotion by finishing second last season
• Blades go into the season odds-on to make an immediate Championship return
• Paul Heckingbottom’s side have lost a host crucial players in their promotion

Status Quo’s ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’ sounded over the loud-speaker system as Bramall Lane finally celebrated a Premier League promotion after their previous two were confirmed when Sheffield United were not playing a match.

‘Hecky and Stuart McCall’ were the adopted lyrics of Blades fans, a nod to their dynamic managerial duo of Paul Heckingbottom and the former Everton and Bradford star. 

Elsewhere, Blades legend Billy Sharp embraced the new talisman in the Steel City, Iliman Ndiaye.

That hug between Sharp and Ndiaye felt like a passing of the torch in Sheffield, with the boyhood fan and club legend wiping away tears as he said his goodbye from a Town Hall balcony at the promotion parade. Ndiaye was the man to lead United into a new era.

After a tough year that included a transfer embargo and a protracted takeover saga, good times were shining on Bramall Lane, with an FA Cup semi-final in the same week. 

Bramall Lane finally celebrated a Premier League promotion after their previous two were confirmed when Sheffield United were not playing a match

The Blades finished 11 points clear of third place Luton Town in the Championship’s second automatic promotion spot

Paul Heckingbottom initially took interim charge following the departure of Chris Wilder in March 2021

Not a lot of good times have followed, though, despite the club readying itself for what should be an exciting Premier League campaign.

Senegal international Ndiaye has departed to join Marseille and Sander Berge has followed out of the exit door. 

Tommy Doyle and James McAtee, the exciting Manchester City duo who were so important on loan last term, have not returned. Incomings have been an almighty struggle.

So although Blades fans will still sing ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, the Status Quo at Sheffield United has long been disrupted. They are odds-on to be relegated, while some Derby fans have even got excited that their record-low 11 Premier League points tally could be challenged.

‘The general feeling is one of pessimism but also one of concern,’ says Hal Stewart of the Sheff United Way YouTube channel, whose latest video asks the worrying question in its headline, ‘Will survival be a miracle?’.

To put it bluntly, it is extremely hard to see how United can avoid anything but an inevitable plummet back to the Championship this term. Of their top five players for chances created last season, just Oliver Norwood will remain. Ndiaye, Berge, McAtee and Doyle have departed.

In losing Ndiaye, Sheffield United have lost their top scorer of last season with 14 goals, top assist provider with 10 and also the player who won possession back the most. 

Dynamic midfielder Berge is a huge exit, too, while Sharp and Enda Stevens’ leadership will be missed.

Iliman Ndiaye joined Marseille after Sheffield United ‘reluctantly accepted’ a £20m offer

The Blades will be without Manchester City duo Tommy Doyle (left) and James McAtee (right), who both enjoyed stellar loan spells at the club last season

‘Ndiaye’s exit changes everything, he is the best player I’ve ever seen at the club in my entire life,’ adds Stewart. 

‘We had no idea he would leave, he would only go to Marseille, the club he supports. Our starting XI this season is much weaker than last year in the Championship.’

Off the pitch, there is still the dark shadow of a protracted takeover. Prince Abdullah owns the club after a public power struggle with Kevin McCabe but the Saudi investor is exploring options to sell up.

‘We are talking with many parties,’ he said last week. ‘Like every week we get an offer. But I would say there are two or three serious offers. These things take a lot of time. It is not like buying a car. Many things go into it. We are in advanced stages.’

The owner had to inject nearly £20million last summer to ease cashflow problems, while the club’s parachute payments and transfer fee of £24m received for Aaron Ramsdale have since been mortgaged.

As recently as March, chief executive Stephen Bettis had to publicly rubbish suggestions United were going into administration amid money worries. The adjourning hotel at Bramall Lane, formerly in the hands of Copthorne, has fallen into a state of disrepair.

This is because United did not have the funds of around £8m to develop the hotel as was their obligation ahead of a deal for Hilton Hotels to take over. Copthorne stripped all the fittings of the facility once used by tourists, fans and first-team squad members.

Then there was the bizarre fallout with contractors after Heckingbottom took £1.8m from the transfer and wage budget to improve the training pitches at Shirecliffe after a spate of injuries. 

A lack of funds meant the undersoil system did not work and the grass did not bind sufficiently.

Sheffield United fans are pinning much of their hopes on the ability of Heckingbottom

It is interesting to compare to those in the other half of the city, with Sheffield Wednesday also in a precarious position having just been promoted. 

Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri publicly aired his dirty laundry when talking fans through the process in which boss Darren Moore exited.

So are there any positives going into the new season at Sheffield United? ‘Every fan is confident with Hecky, we all adore him and we all back him,’ Stewart tells Mail Sport. ‘If anyone can galvanise this group it’s a man like Paul.

‘Because we said bye to Ndiaye – if I can find something positive and I’m struggling – we might see a team fight to be greater than the sum of its parts, like in 2019-20 when we finished ninth in the Premier League. It won’t be individuals or stars, it’ll be about a group coming together.’

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