'Heckingbottom’s achievements last year saved the club... the board needs to hold its nerve'
- Published
Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external
Considering how good things looked after 98 minutes at Tottenham in mid-September, it’s been a bad few weeks for Sheffield United and rumours have swirled around the future of Paul Heckingbottom.
Chris Wilder has been mooted as the man to turn things around, although that conveniently overlooks how things ended for him last time.
These rumours have done a huge disservice to Heckingbottom, who has overcome so many obstacles just to get us to this position. He inherited a messy, floundering squad that was still reeling from that dreadful 2020-21 relegation, and has had barely any money to spend. Before this summer, he’d made only one permanent signing that cost a fee.
He’s dealt with an absurd injury list, two ultimately doomed takeovers and the club being placed under transfer embargo over unpaid suppliers. Oh, and he then saw Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge sold immediately before this season kicked off.
I dread to think what Sheffield United FC would currently look like had we not secured the chunk of TV money that our promotion has earned. I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that Heckingbottom’s achievements last year basically saved the club from a slide down the leagues, probable administration and who knows what else.
My hope is that the board recognises this and holds its nerve - even as national media ramps up the pressure.
It was always going to require a miracle to stay up this season, and while a change of manager may well bring short-term improvements, realistically we might be talking about the difference between finishing 20th and 19th.
The noises coming out of the club this summer were about the importance of the long-term plan: offload players with expiring contracts, and use that money to secure younger players on longer deals.
Upending that plan with the knee-jerk removal of the man who’s underpinned it all would suggest that the board have lost sight of the bigger picture – if that was ever a true picture to begin with.