Two examples that give Sheffield United some hope, if not Ruben Selles
Sheffield United’s dreadful start to the season has already sucked the joy from Blades fans but there are reasons to remain hopeful that promotion isn’t completely out of the question
Sheffield United's start to the season has rightly given fans few reasons to believe that another promotion charge is on the cards this campaign.
Indeed, a look on social media would suggest that a relegation dogfight is coming up according to some, which is perhaps taking things a little too far.
However, four defeats in the first four league matches and without showing much promise bar a decent 45 minutes on the opening day loss to Bristol City would give credence to the belief that this season isn't going to be one that will live long in the memory, for positive reasons at least.
That said, negativity was given a little slap in the face in the past week when the club's owners finally got their recruitment sorted out and gave new manager Ruben Selles something a bit more tangible to work with having struggled on that score up to the final throes of deadline day.
The arrivals of Ben Godfrey and fellow defenders Japhet Tanganga and Mark McGuinness should help shore up the leaky backline, while Ben Mee provides a very experienced extra option in there. Then came Tahith Chong and Alex Matos for the midfield, while the attack was supplemented by Danny Ings and Chiedozie Ogbene.
All in all, on paper, a fairly impressive final flourish.
But the fact is, United are yet to win this season and if the ambitions for promotion remain - you'd like to think that's what the owners were initially aiming for having sacked Chris Wilder in the summer despite taking the Blades into the Play-Off Final - United are going to have to do what only a couple of teams in their current position have done in the past 30-odd years.
Some have still gone up having at first been rubbish, but not quite this bad.
Poor starts to the Championship campaign
Back in 1995/96 Derby won promotion to the top flight after finishing in second place, despite losing two and drawing two in their opening four. An incredible 20 match unbeaten run from early November placed them right into contention.
Three years later, Bradford went up in second after a bad start. They had one point on the board at least after four games but lost the next one. It took an incredible run of form from December onwards for them to turn things around.
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In 2008/09 Burnley went up via the Play-Offs, beating Sheffield United in the final, with only two points on the board after the first four games, while in 2012/13 Crystal Palace lost their first three before they too won promotion via the Play-Offs.
Again in the Play-Offs, Fulham drew three and lost one in their opening four fixtures in 2017/18 and Luton started with two draws and two defeats on their way to a Wembley win in 2022/23.
All of those are, of course, better than the big fat zero that United have at present in the points tally, if only marginally, but there have been occasions where similar starts to the Blades’ have brought about glory by the end.
Very poor starts to the Championship campaign
In 2006/07 Sunderland had the exact same record that United have now, with four defeats in the Championship and a League Cup exit. The Black Cats would go on to win promotion as champions on 88 points.
More recently, in 2021/22 Nottingham Forest kicked off their campaign in much worse style than this year's Blades side.
Forest also lost their first four but stemmed the tide with a draw against rivals Derby County, however, they would then go on to lose the next two. By the end of the season, they were celebrating a Wembley win over Huddersfield Town in the Play-Off Final, having already seen off Paul Heckingbottom's United side in the semis on penalties.
Not quite good news for Ruben Selles
Those two latter examples have, unfortunately, got one thing in common - the upturn in fortunes came after the manager who started the respective seasons stepped down (or were pushed).
In Sunderland's case, things had already been a little messy as Niall Quinn fronted a consortium to take over the club and in turn was installed as manager. He would soon leave that particular role and it was the arrival of Roy Keane in the dugout which saw them hit the form that would eventually lead the North East side to the top of the table and promotion to the top flight.
At Forest, Chris Hughton was in charge when things kicked off but by September 16, he was out the door having presided over seven defeats and one draw in his opening eight matches.
Steve Cooper took over soon after and Forest would lose just six more times over the course of the rest of the season, breaking into the top six and eventually going up after a 1-0 win at Wembley.
As things stand, it would be silly for United to look too far ahead and picture themselves in the same position that Sunderland and Forest ended up in during those memorable seasons but it can be done.
United boss Ruben Selles will be hoping the influx of new players will mean that the drastic action those two sides took to change things, won't be necessary.