Sheffield United: 'We've got the belief back' says John Egan as The Blades prepare to enter the Slavisa Jokanovic era

A little over five weeks since taking charge of Sheffield United, Slavisa Jokanovic is preparing to oversee his first competitive fixture as the club’s new manager.

And the Serb, whose side kicks off its new season by facing Birmingham City at Bramall Lane, hopes it marks the start of another bright new era following four years, before last term’s slide out of the Premier League, of almost non-stop success.

“We’ve got big belief, we’ve always had it, even though the most recent season didn’t go the best,” John Egan, the United centre-half, said. “We’ve got that belief back strong and we’ve got lads here now who have done what we need to do before.

“We are also aware of just how tough it will be, and it starts with a tough game this weekend. I’ve got lots of belief, though, that we can do what we want to do.”

It speaks volumes about Jokanovc’s personality, and also his pedigree, that rather than shying away from the challenge of succeeding Chris Wilder he coveted the position. A lifelong supporter and former player for the team he twice led to promotion, Wilder’s name is now permanently etched into United’s history books. Jokanovic doesn’t want to replace his predecessor in United hearts. Having paid tribute to Wilder’s achievements during his official unveiling, the 52-year-old simply hopes to join him there instead.

“The (promotion) favourites tag, that comes with the territory,” Egan continued, outlining Jokanovic’s aims and ambitions and also those of the group. “I suppose you’re doing something right if you get that.

“But bookies odds, they don’t really mean anything. Everyone starts on zero points. Everyone has the same energy. You have to earn it. You have to earn everything.

“Everyone is fighting for the same thing. We’ll be fighting for it. We’ll be fighting for ourselves, for the fans and for the football club.”

With the Covid-19 pandemic restricting United to only two warm-up friendlies, clues as to how Jokanovic plans to approach the job are thin on the ground. But some do exist.

United appeared intent on playing their way out from the back during a 4-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers, which proved to be their final dress rehearsal for the meeting with City.

“The manager and his staff are top drawer, all of the lads are taking on their messages,” Egan said. “Things have been interrupted a little bit, okay. But the training has been really good.

“The manager and his staff have made sure that we’re as ready as we can be for the game we’ve got coming up.”

Jokanovic’s modus operandi is built on retaining possession. He does not want his players to surrender it lightly. Even if that means taking, as Jayden Bogle acknowledged earlier this week, some well-calculated risks.

“We’ll be looking to attack it,” said Egan. “Pre-season is always tough, and this one has been no different.

“But it's been a good pre-season and we’ve managed to get as much out of it as we can, even though we might not have played as many games as we wanted to.

“I definitely don’t feel undercooked. I feel like we’ve done the work and we’re ready to get started.”

Another of Jokanovic’s hallmarks is how he organises his strikers. David McGoldriick, United’s leading scorer last term, usually operated alongside Oli McBurnie, Billy Sharp or Oliver Burke under Chris Wilder. Jokanovic’s appointment has seen the former Republic of Ireland international deployed predominantly as a false nine. It mirrors the strategy the Serb followed during his spell in charge of Fulham, before Aleksandar Mitrovic’s arrival on loan from Newcastle proved the catalyst for a change.

Lys Mousset and maybe Burke, with Sharp and McBurnie yet to feature this summer, could be tasked with running beyond McGoldrick tonight. If so, they will be tasked with providing the pace to complement his poise.

“We’ve done a lot of work as a unit, us lads at the back too,” Egan said, reminding that a strong defence is required as a counterbalance. “It’s my job to keep the ball out of the back of our net. I’ve really enjoyed the training, the things we’ve been doing, so we’ll be looking to do that.”

Despite delivering top-flight football to Watford before doing the same at Craven Cottage, Jokanovic has made relatively slow starts to his two previous spells in charge of English clubs. He won one of his first seven with the Hertfordshire outfit and two of his first eight in west London.

After overhauling United’s tactics if not their personnel, the disruption to their summer programme could mean this is a campaign Jokanovic’s latest project grows into rather than grabs by the scruff of the neck.

What is certain, however, is the core of his brief. Attracted by his reputation for constructing teams that are as effective as they are easy on the eye, United expect Jokanovic to take them up. Preferably at the first time of asking. But, if not, then definitely the next.

“Expectation, that isn’t an issue,” Egan said. “Because we put expectation on ourselves. That’s what we've always done since I’ve been here anyway.

“We set our own expectations. We know what we want to achieve. If you start working to someone else’s expectations, then I think you’ve got a problem. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.

“We know what we want to get out of this season and we’ll be giving everything we can, everything we’ve got, to try and get that.”