'Is promotion to the Premier League all it's cracked up to be?'

Rob Staton, BBC Radio Sheffield

It’s pretty incredible how quickly things change in football. It was only a few months ago that life couldn’t be much better for Sheffield United fans. An exciting promotion race accompanied a strong FA Cup run to the semi-finals.

We were actually discussing on air the merits of going ‘all in’ to get to Wembley versus resting players for the league run-in.

Now our phone-ins are a mix of people calling for the manager to go and others passionately defending Paul Heckingbottom, noting (rightly, in my opinion) that nothing about United’s summer was conducive to starting the Premier League season on the front foot.

I think the saddest thing though is the sense of apathy from others. I’ve seen messages on X from Blades fans almost resigned to their fate. It brings up the debate as to whether promotion to the Premier League is all it’s cracked up to be? Is the journey better than the destination?

A spirited performance against Manchester United was typical of this Blades side, but the injuries continue to mount and a trip to Arsenal this weekend feels ominous.

If there’s anything to cling on to it’s perhaps the way teams like Southampton gave the Gunners a game at the Emirates last season. It’s starting to feel like United need something pretty spectacular to give the fans a needed boost and the club a spark in the top flight.

Hit 'Follow' at the top of this page and if you are using the BBC Sport app, tap the bell icon to get Blades news, analysis, podcasts and more sent to you