Football Season Guide

The phrase "specialist in failure", which Jose Mourinho famously used to describe Arsene Wenger a few years back, can be used to perfectly describe what last five years have been like for Sheffield United as a football club. The Blades repeatedly started their seasons as favourites to win League One or at least win promotion, but are set for another season in the third tier, with their most recent attempt at promotion seeing them finish outside the play-off places. Unsurprisingly, Nigel Adkins had to go after such an underwhelming season, while the man to replace him is Chris Wilder, who signs after winning promotion to League One with Northampton. The Blades have lost no truly important players over the summer, with pretty much all of the players that left being ones that they consciously allowed to leave, while they have once again made a number of promising signings, with John Fleck, Mark Duffy, Chris Hussey and Leon Clarke being the pick of the lot. The Blades' main problem last season was their inability to break down sides that set out to defend. They generally did well taking the lead, but were not good enough against opponents that defended deep, and this is something that Wilder will be looking to address. On paper, they have one of the best squads in the division, but this has been the case in each of the last five seasons, and there is little doubt that the size of their club is working against them at this stage, with the pressure to win promotion being truly enormous. It remains to be seen if Wilder can succeed where many have failed.