Exactly a decade ago, Nigel Clough was appointed as the new manager of Sheffield United - and inherited a Blades squad facing a real struggle. United had picked up a little under the caretaker charge of club legend Chris Morgan, following the disastrous experiment of David Weir that lasted only 10 league games and brought only one win, and Clough’s arrival was the catalyst for a remarkable season that saw the Blades reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup and finish only one place adrift of the play-offs, after effectively surrendering almost a quarter of the season.
“I am very proud and honoured to be given the opportunity to manage here,” Clough said at the time. I will try and build a team and squad capable of getting promotion. We are not miracle workers, it takes time to mould and recruit a team. To be realistic, let’s get out of the bottom four and then get a squad together that can challenge.”
United certainly did that, losing in the play-offs the following season before Clough was sacked - somewhat harshly, in the view of some. Things had to get worse before they got better, with the Nigel Adkins experience followed by Chris Wilder’s era. But what happened to the first United side that Clough picked after being appointed on October 23, 2013? Some have made it to the very top of the game, while another was reduced to delivering pizzas to make ends meet after falling out of the game...
13. Darryl Westlake
Still only 32, Westlake joined United from Walsall before spells at Mansfield Town (loan) and Kilmarnock north of the border. He was last seen playing for Stourbridge in non-league | Getty
14. Conor Coady
Linked with a return to Bramall Lane this summer, 10 years after his impressive season on loan from boyhood club Liverpool, the England international instead dropped into the Championship with Leicester City when his time with Wolves came to an end – although he looks set to be back in the Premier League before long judging by Leicester’s good start to the season | Getty Images
15. Florent Cuvelier
Still only 31, the midfielder struggled with injuries during his time at Bramall Lane and after drifting out of football, found himself delivering pizzas to pay the bills before being handed a footballing lifeline at Morecambe in 2018. But after just one game he left. Companies House lists his occupation as a “fitness trainer” with one resigned position at a hair salon in Sheffield | Getty Images
16. Jose Baxter
Another case of what could have been. The mercurial Baxter arrived at Bramall Lane from Oldham, but his time at United ended after he was twice banned for failing drugs tests. He was given a second chance by Everton after his second ban and was last seen back at his boyhood club as a coach | Getty Images