Sheffield United Fan View: A departure, an arrival and a play-off prediction - third time's a charm with my optimistic outlook

The year 2020 was a strange one to be a Sheffield United supporter.
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After such a promising start, for it to go downhill so fast was disappointing but personally, I was strangely optimistic for 2021. After finally getting that first win against Newcastle, the only way was up, surely?

Well, no. Only a few months later and after some awful results, the greatest manager in my life supporting United had gone! Personally I was gutted. It was too late to make a difference in staying up, however surely too ridiculous to get rid of someone who had had one bad season in four.

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Towards end of season was very ‘meh’ – watching the kids coming through, like Daniel Jebbison, was good, but paying £35 to watch the Blades for the final game of the season against Burnley wasn’t a highlight.

Come the summer I was all in on Alexander Blessin after looking into him but when that didn’t work out, surely Slavisa Jokanović was the man! Going into Birmingham I thought, what could go wrong?

The squad in my opinion - bar an overload at the top of the pitch - was more good enough for the Championship but come the end of the window, appointing Slav didn't make sense in the slightest.

Getting a manager and signing no players to even remotely fit his system just didn't fit right with me. However my blind positively shined through, despite our defence forgetting how to defend (never highlighted more than against Huddersfield).

Paul Heckingbottom, manager of Sheffield United: Andrew Yates / SportimagePaul Heckingbottom, manager of Sheffield United: Andrew Yates / Sportimage
Paul Heckingbottom, manager of Sheffield United: Andrew Yates / Sportimage
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At the end of the day, Slav going was strange but wasn't really surprising! The appointment of Paul Heckingbottom though did make so much sense.

The idea that a manager can't improve annoys me so much! The way he plays suits the squad and he is obviously well-liked. So… I am back again to being positive, much like the start of 2020 and Slav taking over. So hopefully third time's the charm!

Player of 2021: Billy Sharp or David McGoldrick. Must do better: Jack Robinson. Prediction for 2021 – play-offs and hopefully an overpriced day at Wembley come May. UP THE BLADES!

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