Sheffield United

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Chris Wilder has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Fulham.

Here are the key lines from the Sheffield United manager:

• George Baldock picked up a calf injury on international duty and it will be "touch and go" whether the Greece right-back is available for Saturday.

• Forward Cameron Archer and midfielder Anis Slimane are "nearly ready" to return to the matchday squad.

• He said the international break was "mentally really important because of the intensity" of fighting relegation and they are now "feeling refreshed".

• On opponents Fulham: "They are a good side, we have all seen their performances. It is not like any other league where a home game is a guaranteed win. They possess quality in their ranks but hopefully after the break it is a reset for us."

• He said "they still believe they can achieve survival" but the players "have to show desire".

• On the Blades' poor home form, he added: "If we continue the way we have over the last four or five games at home then we have no chance. We have to be defensively tighter and it is something us as staff have addressed."

• He said "they have let the supporters down" more than themselves, so it is about "giving them something to shout about" in a positive way at Bramall Lane from now on.

• He said his meeting with club owner Prince Abdullah "was very positive" and they had talks about "the medium and long-term future of the club".

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences here

Image source, Getty Images

On the latest episode of BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven podcast, former Sheffield United forward Carl Asaba heaped praise on 19-year-old midfielder Ollie Arblaster, who scored for England's Elite squad during the international break.

"His performances are brilliant. The way he played against Bournemouth was great.

"To deal with all the hype of the England Elite squad and then to go and score, it's just brilliant.

"He will get a great reception from the lads. I remember when I was here and we had Phil Jagielka breaking into the youth ranks and coming through. When we saw him after international duty, we were full of praise and admiration.

"The boys will welcome him back but also another mention should go to Louie Marsh. He had a tricky period with injuries and is such a confident lad. I saw him in pre-season and loved the way he played.

"The academy, the coaches and the infrastructure we have got is bringing through these great talents. It is really exciting."

Listen to the full episode now on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Former Sheffield United striker Carl Asaba is excited by what Chris Wilder's relationship with Blades owner Prince Abdullah means for the future of the club.

Speaking on the latest episode of BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven podcast, Asaba said: "The manager and the owner are on the same page and have come back together. They have both done great and been really positive for the club.

"Chris Wilder has managed one of the best Sheffield United teams. The purple patch and the style of football was outstanding. The owner is now the sole owner and he has taken the club in a great direction.

"We own our training ground, we own our ground and we are stabilising debts. He doesn't get the acclaim he deserves. These two powerhouses on the same page for the same outcome. It's positive."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Former Sheffield United forward Carl Asaba believes the time Chris Wilder's team have had off will benefit them going into the season run-in.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Blades Heaven podcast, Asaba explained how important it was that United got a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth last time out, back on 9 March.

"If we had lost and didn't perform well, people would have seen negativity," he said.

"There's a positivity. There were positives to hold on to and to build on from that game. It could be a positive few weeks.

"The manager and the coaches will now have been able to work with the players where it is not just working game to game [during the international break].

"It's probably more beneficial than the Christmas non-break. This has been a proper break for them where they can recuperate and work. It will have been good."

BBC Radio Sheffield's Adam Oxley agreed with Asaba, explaining that the manner of the performance against the Cherries will have given Blades fans hope.

"It does feel that it has helped everyone," he said.

"[They've] seen a bit of fight and a bit of spirit after that Arsenal game.

"Nottingham Forest have had a points deduction since. They are appealing against it, so we'll see how that goes.

"It is going to be incredibly difficult. There is still a little bit of hope there, depending on your glass but these few weeks have helped these."

Listen to the latest episode of the Blades Heaven podcast on BBC Sounds

Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday's Premier League fixture between Sheffield United and Fulham.

• Sheffield United have won just one of their five Premier League games against Fulham, though are unbeaten in both at Bramall Lane.

• The Whites are looking to complete their first league double over the Blades since 2017-18 in the Championship, and they have never beaten United twice in the same top-flight campaign.

• Fulham have won four of their past six league games, as many as in their previous 15. Four of their 11 Premier League victories this season have been by a margin of at least three goals, their joint-most in a top-flight season.

• Sheffield United are just the second side in the top four tiers of English football to have conceded five or more goals in three successive home league games after Rochdale in Division 3 North in April 1932. Moreover, in a side's first 14 home games of a season in the Football League, only Aston Villa in the top flight in 1935-36 (43) have conceded more than the Blades' 42.

• Since the start of February, Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz has scored more Premier League goals than anyone else (seven).

Ben Meakin
Fan writer

Sheffield United are one of a handful of teams in the Premier League with total certainty as to what level we will be competing at next season, so my hope is that the club - manager, players and owner - act like it.

Our Premier League fate is essentially out of our hands, but there are plenty of things that we can still control.

Here are three things I would like to see in the remaining games:

Focus on young players

These last 10 games should be a proving ground for us to discover whether our top youngsters - Andre Brooks and England Under-20 international Oli Arblaster - can be considered as viable starting options in a Championship midfield.

They have both shown promising signs, especially given the wreckage around them. It could be huge for us next season given the amount of squad turnover we are set for.

Being able to pencil in Arblaster or Brooks (or in a dream situation, both) as part of a four or five-man midfield rotation would be a big bonus.

Decide who we can make profit from

Can any of the players 'do an Aaron Ramsdale' over the rest of the season? I do not mean refusing to play in order to force a move. I mean transforming his reputation as a struggling player into someone who made a top side decide to drop £30m on him just a few months later.

Being able to flip a player for maximum value would offset a large amount of the financial hit we aree about to take from relegation. There is no obvious candidate to take that step. But then the idea that Arsenal would want Ramsdale would have been genuinely laughable six months before the transfer took place.

Can Anel Ahmedhodzic rediscover last season's form? Can Vini Souza turn the occasional dominant midfield displays into the norm for the final 10 games?

Whose party can we crash?

With not much left to lose for United this season, how about drawing a line under this campaign by ruining someone else's?

Part of the fun of football is lording it over the opposition, as virtually every away fan to come to Bramall Lane this season can attest.

So how about United sign off by making someone else's supporters feel just as miserable as we have for most of this campaign?

Stopping Liverpool’s title charge in its tracks at Anfield feels fanciful, to say the least. But we do still have games against relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest and Everton, plus a final day match-up with Champions League-chasing Tottenham.

We've had our noses rubbed in it all too often this season, so getting the chance to turn the tables just for one afternoon could be a lovely morale-booster heading into the summer.

Ben Meakin can be found on BladesPod, external

BBC Sport pundit Michael Brown will be answering your questions, giving his insight and opinion around your club.

So what would you like to ask the former Premier League midfielder?

How does the rest of your season look? Who has been your best player? What does the manager's future hold?

Let us know what you want answered by sending in your questions here

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Speaking to Stephen Bettis on our show this week added some perspective to what has been a difficult season for Sheffield United. We have six clubs on our patch. Any of the other five would love to have spent three of the last five seasons in the top flight. That shouldn't be forgotten, as United fans deal with how tough things have been.

The elite level of English football is stronger than ever. When teams are capable of winning European trophies last term, placing themselves in the top-eight this season, and are still being blown away by the likes of Arsenal - it shows the magnitude of the challenge. Luton deserve credit for putting up a real fight but it might not be enough. They might be the beneficiary of the points deduction situation in the Premier League. But they also might just come back down with Burnley, who spent a fortune, and the Blades.

Nobody would suggest United have got everything right. They also haven't got everything wrong. According to Bettis, promotion has sorted the finances out. They have big plans for a new training ground. Young players continue to come into the first team. They have assets on their playing staff.

Bettis fronted up and was prepared to answer some challenging questions from fans. Few CEO's do that these days.

A rebuild and reset may be on the way. There might be more pain to come against the bigger clubs before the season ends. But this is far from a club letting anyone down.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United CEO, Stephen Bettis, spent an hour on BBC Radio Sheffield for the Blades Heaven podcast. He took questions from BBC reporters and club supporters in what proved to be an illuminating discussion.

Question: Is it worth taking the gamble of losing players for free when trying to stay up?

"Is there a guarantee that we stay up at that point? There is no guarantee is there? You look at Nottingham Forest, they have signed 42 players and spent £250m since they have been in the league and they're still looking downwards, not upwards."

Question: What are the plans for the summer and next season? Will we keep Chris Wilder if we go down and will we use the parachute payments to spend wisely if we get relegated?

"That's the plan, to use them wisely. Let's be completely honest, we have the potential to lose maybe one or two players because they won't want to play in the Championship. We have to be mindful of that but the players in my head that I'm thinking of are actually on long-term contracts so if they want to go, we want to get the right money for them.

"We'll use that money and the money we get from the parachute payments to actually strengthen the squad for next season. Chris [Wilder] is under contract and will be here and the whole point of recruiting Chris at the time, I think was that when we made the change from Hecky [Paul Heckingbottom], we knew that Chris understood the club, understood the DNA, understood the culture and understood the way to move it forward and if the worst happened and we did still go down, he's got a proven track record of getting us back out so there's no better man for the job.

"The reality of it is, there's no pressure or expectation on Chris for the rest of this season to do anything in terms of results for us so that's not going to affect whether he is here next season or not."

Listen to the Blades Heaven podcast on BBC Sounds

Sheffield United CEO, Stephen Bettis, spent an hour with BBC Radio Sheffield for the Blades Heaven podcast, talking about the club, improvements on the pitch, selling key players and more. Here are some of his answers from a fascinating discussion.

Question: How do you feel about Sheffield United's season so far?

"Obviously the results on the pitch are not what we would like at the moment and everyone agrees with that, I think we're all on the same page. But, maybe foolishly, I'm still really positive about what's going on at the football club. There's a lot of really good stuff going on. There's a lot of progress still being made off the pitch and recent announcements such as a new training pitch and the hotel being done, etc.

"All of this stuff is putting the club in a really good position going forward and giving it the right foundation to build on. So for me, even though we're not where we want to be on the pitch, and we are where we are in the league, I think there's a hell of a lot of positive things still going on around the football club."

Question: How will the the recruitment networks and system be improved and will we sell our best players again?

"I've had this thrown at me before, that we sold our two best players, Sander [Berge] and Iliman [Ndiaye] and there's also statements that we sold them right near the end of the window as well. Let's take Sander. He has one year left on his contract.

"A lot of supporters gave him a hell of a lot of stick when he was here and weren't happy with him and how he played. And then we sold him and he was our best player so it's like was he our best player or not? That's the first question. He has one year left on his contract, he made it clear to me and his agent made it clear to me that he had no desire to extend his contract with us. Sander is a really nice kid and there was no malice in it or anything of that nature but he just wanted a different challenge.

"We're then stuck with a situation where we've got a player worth a considerable sum of money that we know is not going to be here in a year's time and do we let him leave on a free or do we decide to sell him? Very early in the window, Burnley came to us and made an offer for Sander, which, I've seen reports that our manager at the time Hecky [Paul Heckingbottom] didn't know we'd sold him and that sort of thing. None of that is true. We turned down Burnley's early offer and told them what we value the player at. They made about five or six early offers in the window all of which were refused because they never met our valuation and we just moved on and forgot about it. Then they came near the end of the window and said they would pay the price and we basically agreed to sell him at that point."

Listen to the full episode of Blades Heaven on BBC Sounds

As we approach the business end, we want to know the most irritating thing at your club this season.

Has it been a player failing to deliver, injury woes, inconsistent form... or something else?

Let us know your biggest gripe here

Ben Meakin
Fan writer

The 6-0 shellacking by Arsenal seemed to stir Sheffield United’s previously dormant hierarchy into some kind of action, with the Blades' head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell, leaving his job with immediate effect after eight years in the post.

Recent transfer business has been poor, and this is undoubtedly a good moment for a refresh in how the club conducts its recruitment.

At the same time, though, Mitchell should leave with his head held high.

Chris Wilder deserves every plaudit he has received for dragging the team out of League One and into the Premier League, on that magical run between 2016 and 2020, but Mitchell has been there with him every step of the way.

For every Mason Holgate or Luke Freeman, there are examples of players who - under Mitchell's watch and no doubt recommendation - formed the bedrock of probably the best Blades team of my lifetime.

Players like Jack O'Connell, Mark Duffy, Enda Stevens and John Fleck trip off the tongue as modern United greats, delivering hundreds of outstanding performances in red and white. They were assembled for virtually nothing.

When the club did spend money in the Championship – on the likes of John Egan, George Baldock and Oliver Norwood – we got incredible value for that outlay. That trio has been at the heart of three promotions, two of which were back up to the top flight.

Counter-intuitively, Mitchell's recruitment has fallen down when we have actually had big money (for us) to spend.

Rhian Brewster, Oli McBurnie, Callum Robinson, Freeman, and plenty of our other Premier League signings, have not come close to living up to the fees spent on them. Although the jury is still out on many of this season's crop of arrivals.

However, in the lower leagues, Mitchell's knowledge and eye for an unpolished diamond was unparalleled.

If United hope to establish themselves in the Premier League in the next few years, this is a good time for a refresh and hopefully a move towards a broader, more modern scouting network.

But Mitchell deserves every Blades fan's respect for moving the club from the League One doldrums to a stage where cemeting ourselves in the top flight is a realistic aim for the club rather than sheer fantasy.

Ben Meakin can be found on BladesPod, external

Nottingham Forest have slipped into the relegation zone after being deducted four points for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules, BBC Sport understands.

The deduction leaves, which leaves Nuno Espirito Santo's side on 21 points, lifts Luton Town out of the drop zone by one point.

Burnley remain in 19th and are four points behind Forest with 10 games remaining, while Sheffield United are seven.

Everton, who were previously deducted six points, are now three points clear of Forest but the Toffees could still be deducted further points for a second breach.

Brentford remain in 15th on 26 points.

Read the full story over here

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Sheffield United go early into the international break staring the future in the face. A big rebuild is coming in the summer.

Key players who have done so much for the club are likely to depart and it will probably be a new-look team.

Manager Chris Wilder is going to meet the owner during this period and talks over the future on the pitch will take place. Changes are already happening behind the scenes, with the recent announcement of a new training ground for the first team and the departure of Paul Mitchell, the long-standing head of recruitment.

However, there's a feeling now that if you could fast forward to the summer it would be better for everyone. This hasn't been the season United hoped for.

They were arguably on a hiding to nothing after selling their best two players so close to the start of the season. I'm not even sure it's right to point the finger at the board for that, given the contract status of Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye.

A lot of things conspired to work against United putting up much of a fight.

Yet look at Burnley - no better off after spending millions. Even Luton Town, who rightly get a lot of credit for their spirited effort in the Premier League, are likely to be playing the Blades in the Championship next season.

It speaks to how difficult making the step up is. That's why getting the rebuild right is so critical.

United need to take time to build a team that can compete to return to the top flight - and then be in a position to stay there. That is likely to take major infrastructure work behind the scenes, such as the training ground and youth development, rather than just splurging millions on players and wages.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield-born Ollie Arblaster says he was "keen to commit" his future to Sheffield United after being recalled from loan club Port Vale.

The 19-year-old made his first Premier League start at Vitality Stadium, following a substitute appearance against Arsenal, after coming through the ranks as a Blades ballboy and academy graduate.

Arblaster spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield about his "mad week" after the draw against the Cherries: "Getting told I was starting, just being out there and hearing the fans chanting my name... it's obviously what I've dreamed about.

"Hopefully it's the first of many. Everyone knows I support Sheffield United but I'm a player here, and I want to play for Sheffield United - that's my commitment now."

In February, Arblaster signed a new contract that will keep him at Bramall Lane until 2028. Now he wants to "repay" manager Chris Wilder for giving him the opportunity to play in the Premier League.

"He's backed me all the way," said Arblaster. "In training, he's been helping me out. He just said to play how I trained and I tried playing with freedom. It's a big boost when the manager is backing you and you want to repay him and the fans as well.

"Obviously to commit my future was something I've been keen to get done. It's sorted and I'm just glad I'll be playing for Sheffield United. No matter what league it's in, I'll give it my all and I can't wait for many games to come."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

According to Opta's 'Supercomputer', Sheffield United are likely to be relegated this season with a 20th-place finish on 22 points (22.22 to be precise!).

We asked you for your thoughts on this prediction and here are some of your responses:

Rick: It's been a tough season for us and although we've gained a few points away from home, our home form is awful. I think that we're down but hoping for a miracle!

Neil: Yes, we were relegated before the season even started with the lack of investment. The only thing we can look forward to is not finishing bottom.

Dave: Not a cat in hell's chance of us getting 20 points, never mind 22. Going to be a massive summer clearout. Hopefully the owner will spend a bit next season or we could plummet into League One.

Peter: Really not sure we need a 'supercomputer' running multiple simulations to tell us the Blades will be relegated.

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Wales boss Rob Page has named a 28-man squad for the upcoming semi-final and possible play-off final.

Wales face Finland at Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday, 21 March, with a potential final against Poland or Estonia to follow five days later, also in Cardiff, for a place at this summer's European Championship.

Pat Nevin
Former Chelsea and Everton winger

Image source, Reuters

Watching Everton, Luton Town and Sheffield United on Saturday underlined just how competitive the Premier League is. Nobody has given up down at the bottom and no three points can ever be taken for granted.

Luton battled to the very death against Crystal Palace to win a point in the 96th minute. Everton had more possession, chances and endeavour than Manchester United at Old Trafford and although there is a distinct lack of quality in front of goal, the spirit is there in bucketfuls.

Sheffield United might have buckled after the embarrassing 6-0 home hammering by Arsenal, but no, they were back down at Bournemouth going 2-0 up before succumbing to a late equaliser.

All the bottom sides have weaknesses, most obviously up front with few natural goalscorers, though Luton's Elijah Adebayo has scored nine in the league. His return is arguably as impressive as Erling Haaland's 18 to date, simply because the Norwegian gets so many more chances.

The teams at the bottom are all fighting, and each is dangerous. They keep the entire division honest, and they deserve applause for that alone. Who knows, one of them might even decide the title in the end.

As if to underline the above, Burnley, who are very likely to be in the Championship next season, were asking West Ham the toughest of questions after going 2-0 up in east London on Sunday. Eventually, David Moyes got the message across that there are no easy games and they fought back impressively in another cracking game.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra newsletter

Ben Meakin
Fan writer

A common refrain among Sheffield United fans this season has concerned the legacy of our recent years in the Premier League.

The Blades have spent three of the past five seasons receiving the riches of the top flight - with parachute payments coming during the seasons in the second tier. But what have we got to show for it?

A team worse than the one that got promoted. A miniscule budget relative to the level we're trying to compete at. And half the first-team squad out of contract this summer.

As of last week, as it announced that they had purchased land for a new training centre, the club finally has something it can point towards and say: "This wouldn’t have been possible without those years in the Premier League."

It's still early days development-wise, but this marks the end of a three-year search for a suitable location and should see the Blades move to more modern facilities over the next few years.

Crucially for a club that has had a lot of success in finding and developing youth players, this move also strengthens United's intentions to upgrade the academy to category one status.

This season has been humiliating on a weekly basis, even if we did enjoy 24 hours off the bottom of the table this weekend.

Having something like a new, modern training centre does make the bitter pill of this campaign slightly easier to swallow.

Ben Meakin can be found on BladesPod, external

As the Premier League heads into the business end of the season, statisticians Opta have been putting the remaining fixtures through their 'supercomputer' to predict who will finish where in the table at the end of the campaign.

Sheffield United, who currently sit bottom of the table on 14 points, are among a number of teams fighting to keep their place in the Premier League.

They next face Fulham on March 30, before a tough run of games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Brentford.

According to Opta, the Blades are likely to be relegated this season with a 20th place finish on 22.22 points.

But what do you think Sheffield United fans? Do you agree with the prediction or have you got faith Chris Wilder and the team can beat the 'supercomputer' and fight the relegation threat?

Have your say here

We asked for your thoughts on Saturday's game between Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

Here are some of your responses:

Bournemouth fans

Charl: When will Iraola realise we need a leader on the pitch to rally the players who seem to have forgotten the plan. No-one seemed to know what they were supposed to be doing. Schoolboy football, afraid to shoot and hopeless when they did. Play Scott from the start, he's quality.

Carl: Poor performance by Cherries, at least until the third. Solanke obviously is not match fit, mentally and physically. Only a few times he touched the ball and one time, he missed the penalty. He should not have been risked. Enes Unal has shown his quality and got his goal. Unal and Sinisterra deserve to be starting.

Caxtonia: I see Wolves are up to eighth in the Premier League. I wonder where the Cherries would be if Gary O'Neil had not been pushed out? What excuse will be forthcoming this week from the manager who was appointed in Gary's place?

Penguin: Typical Bournemouth - always a mistake and a bit of chaos, but also always willing to put a lot of effort into the game.

Sheff Utd fans

Green: A much better performance than against Arsenal. Really disappointed to concede the two goals like we did though. When we took McBurnie off, the ball was just coming straight back because there was no-one to hold it up.

David: Yet again, failure to defend set-piece situations cost us. We should have gone away with all the points. Still, a point is better than nothing. Off the bottom, but for how long?

James: Another pitiful collapse. Not as bad as some recently, but nothing here to give any sign of hope.

David: No-one mentions the injuries we have had this season. Half the team that started weren't fit enough to last 90 minutes, hence the drop in standards for the last 20 mins after enforced subs.

BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on Monday.

Martin in Derby: Only three Premier League clubs have panic sacked their managers this season: Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace. So far, none are better off, arguably worse off in Forest's case. What do you think of this strategy versus the boards who hold their nerve - a la Burnley, Luton, Everton, Brentford with the longer term learning and stability in mind?

Phil: It's a tough choice, Martin, but it certainly has not had the desired impact at Sheffield United and Forest with Chris Wilder returning and Nuno Espirito Santo being appointed at the City Ground. Far too early to make any considered judgement on Oliver Glasner at Palace.

Vincent Kompany had credit in the bank for taking Burnley up but it's been a miserable season and they seem simply resigned to going down and maybe letting him try again next season. There is no-one at Everton to make a decision on Sean Dyche even if they wanted to, which is very unlikely. Thomas Frank has done a top-class job at Brentford despite recent struggles while if the art of good management is getting the best out of what you have then Rob Edwards is doing incredibly well at Luton Town. They could still stay up.

There are considered reasons why they are all still in their jobs.

I think the prospect of relegation can induce panic and clubs must also weigh up whether there is anyone out there who could do any better. A very hard choice and only the final league table will tell if the right decision has been taken.