Uncertainty over Sheffield United’s former undroppables amid pecking order shift, mounting question marks
Uncertainty over Sheffield United’s former undroppables amid pecking order shift, mounting question marks
There have been a number of question marks surrounding Sheffield United this season after their alarming early-campaign drop off from Premier League contenders to Championship strugglers. They have shown signs of turning things around in the months since, but some issues still clearly persist.
Towards the top of the list is the form of two of their key men last term, in Gus Hamer and Tyrese Campbell. The former was named Championship player of the year after helping United to the play-off final, the latter reached double figures for goals for the first time in his career.
Both were expected to be front and centre again this time around as United went again, but that simply has not happened. Campbell has not scored in his 10 appearances since his derby double against Wednesday back in November; Hamer has not started a Championship game for United since Boxing Day.
Put simply, neither have managed to replicate their influence on games from last season and have lost their places as a result. Callum O’Hare has stepped out of Hamer’s shadow and been United’s player of the season so far; Tom Cannon appears to have jumped ahead of Campbell in the striker’s pecking order.
Asked about Hamer’s situation ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Ipswich Town at Bramall Lane, Wilder replied bluntly: “How do you think Callum’s played off the left? He’s been our best player.”
Uncertainty over Sheffield United’s former undroppables amid pecking order shift, mounting question marks
That is undoubtedly true but it surely can’t tell the whole story either. The pair played the majority of last season together and one of Wilder’s first acts after returning to Bramall Lane in September was to deploy them both together.
It only lasted four games, though, before it became one or the other. In United’s last 19 games in all competitions, Hamer and O’Hare have lined up together from the start only twice.
And in fairness to Wilder, there has not been a great deal from either player in recent weeks - save for a bit of Hamer magic in the FA Cup defeat to Mansfield Town - to suggest that should not be the case.
To further complicate the situation, their respective drop-offs in form have coincided with them entering the final 18 months of their current United contracts and Hamer in particular has been linked with other clubs in this window.
It’s probably fair to say that any interest in both, though, would be on the back of past glories rather than recent performances and their recent on-field body language has hardly screamed of players who are fully content with their current situations.
“Callum off the left has been outstanding,” Wilder later elaborated, “and Gus has got a fight on to get in the team. He’s got to right to get into the team. Nobody's going to get into the team without fighting for the shirt.
“Nobody. Nobody's just going to be automatically given a shirt because of past reputations or what they've done or anything like that. And especially when Cal's played as well as he has done.”
As well as Hamer, Campbell’s form this season has been another concern for Unitedites. His place in Blades folklore is cemented, courtesy of two key scoring performances in wins over rivals Wednesday, but he has not hit those heights since and does not look the same player who seemed to have resurrected his career at United last season.
Asked what Campbell has to do to get himself going again, Wilder said: “Score, and play well. Have genuine competition for places at the top of the pitch. That isn't hard. There's got to be a fight to get into the team.
“And then when you’re given the opportunity, you’ve got to take it and make it impossible for you to be left out. Sometimes we have to change the team from a physical point of view, especially after playing for more than 45 minutes with nine men at Charlton and then going down to Southampton before an incredibly quick turnaround to play Ipswich.
“So players will have that opportunity to impress and take that opportunity. I don't leave players out. They leave themselves out. I’ve been consistent with that and Paul Mitchell [United’s former head of recruitment] used to say it to me.
“You don’t put obstacles in your way by looking behind you at the bench and thinking: ‘I'm leaving our best players out.’ Whether they’ve got a reputation, whether they came for money, whether they came on a free, whether they came through the academy ... I want to look forward and see our best players on that pitch.
“So at times there will be changes, from a physical point of view, or tactical or just on a feel. But the majority of the time, I want to put my best 11 onto the pitch, that gives us the best opportunity of winning a game of football.”
At the minute that does not seem to include Hamer and Campbell and the challenge appears to be clear: it is only they who can turn that around.