Sheffield United supporter Callum Cheswick, who you’ll find writing on The92.com and Vital Sheff Utd, joins us this week to give us the latest on the Blades ahead of Sunday’s cup tie.

Assess Sheff Utd's season on the pitch so far - highs and lows, expectations being met?

CC: Well our season so far has, for some supporters, been quite poor. The expectations at the start of the season were definitely automatic promotion but at the halfway point in the campaign we sit 15 points behind leaders Bristol City with a game in hand.

We have even had some calling for Nigel Clough's head, although I think the run in the League Cup has possibly silenced some of those supporters. I think the reason Clough gets a hard time is because of his negative tactics: he seems content with having a draw every game and not really having a go at teams and trying to win the game which can be really frustrating.

The high point this campaign has got to be getting to the League Cup semi-final and still in with a chance to go all the way to the final. We have beaten Premier League opposition such as West Ham and Southampton along the way. The lowest point has got to be the Ched Evans situation. It was handled incredibly poorly by the club and sparked an outrage in the media, dragging Sheff Utd’s name and reputation as a family club through the mud.

What has Nigel Clough changed since he came in and how do you think he's done so far? You were in a right state when he arrived it seemed.

CC: I think Nigel Clough has really changed the dynamics of how we play and made us a solid side. Last season when Nigel came in the first thing he changed was to make us very sound defensively. He made a change in goal and brought in a couple of new defenders which really steadied the ship at the back and influenced us on the front foot as well. John Brayford and Robert Harris are really attacking full backs and caused problems when doubling up with the wingers on their respective sides.

He also changed our style of play. When he came in we seemed to let the opposition have the ball and wait until they made a mistake and hit them on the break and because we had good ball playing defenders it helped us advance up the pitch faster and with more venom. That style of play really suited us. This season we seem to have taken that approach to teams in higher divisions when we have to grind out the results, but in the league we seem to just keep the ball and not really push forward with purpose and that really annoys the supporters after the heroics of last season.

Some terrific cup runs in the last two seasons, but have they held back league progress? Would you forgo this cup success to get out of League One?

CC: Yeah there has been some fantastic cup success the past two seasons which has provided some really good memories for our supporters. Last campaign the cup significantly helped us: we were in the bottom three when we played Aston Villa in FA Cup Third Round coming off the back of the worst performance I had possibly ever witnessed as a Blade - a 3-0 loss at Crewe. So when we travelled to Birmingham and found out the only senior player missing for the Villains was Gabriel Agbonlahor, I think most of the 6,000 supporters expected the worst. But what happened in that 90 minutes was a very deserved 2-1 victory and every single Blade went home happy. That performance, I believe, really set the tone for the rest of the season.

That said, I think I would rather get promotion back to the Championship. This club has been in the third division for too long now and supporters are getting fed up of playing teams like Crawley.

How has a club of Sheff Utd's size, and recent Premier League and Champ history, ended up in League One?

CC: Well here we go... I think the main reason has got to be the decisions by the board. When we got relegated out of the Premier League I think it was definitely the wrong decision to sack Neil Warnock, then chairman Kevin McCabe got it wrong again by appointing Bryan Robson who wasted the parachute payments on rather poor players.

The season after, under Robson’s replacement Kevin Blackwell, we got to the Championship play-off final against Burnley and were really unfortunate to lose the game. We didn’t match that performance in 2009/10 and then three matches into 2010/11 Kevin Blackwell was sacked.

The board could do nothing about what happened next: Gary Speed was appointed and then a few months later he was approached by the Wales Football Association for the national team job and it would have been foolish for him to reject the job offer.

In general though, it has been bad managerial choices by the board. When we finally get a decent manger in Danny Wilson, McCabe decided not to back him. Ched Evans getting sent down didn't enhance our chances of promotion either.

Another factor is we struggled to get over relegation from the Premier League both financially and mentally. Financially the club didn't get its biggest source of income - television revenue - which is possibly one of the main reasons for Premier League clubs to fight for their survival. But, mentally, it was such a shock to go down on the final day thanks to a player - Carlos Tevez - who shouldn't have been playing. It really knocked the stuffing out of the club and sort of put a defeatist attitude around the place in many respects.

Where is the team strong and where is it weak? Who have been the stand out performers and weak links?

CC: The team is very strong on the left side. We have Jamie Murphy who, if he carries on in this vein of form, will be soon called up for the Scotland national side. He really like to commit the full back and has caused havoc last season and this. We also have Bob Harris who can deliver a peach of a ball in and can really cause problems when doubling up with Murphy. That combination can be vital to our possible success this weekend.

The weak point in the side has got to be the right back spot. We have had an injury crisis there and will more than likely have 18 year old Harrison McGahey, our fourth choice right back who has been at fault for a few of our conceded goals recently, starting there on Sunday.

What did you make of the way Sheff Utd went about the Ched Evans situation?

CC: Well you have to say that the club handled it incredibly poorly. The way we just let our club get so much abuse and then in the end not sign him after all was just horrible for Sheff Utd and its supporters, whether you were for and against him returning. I thought it was a total over reaction outside the club. Evans is just like any normal person who has been convicted and is wanting to return to work. The patrons leaving also destabilised the club and caused an outrage among supporters.

We have some supporters who have backed him, we have some supporters who have backed him but then when the public outrage sparked they went against him, and finally those who were against him from the start.

Do you think Sheff Utd would have been so keen to have him back if he wasn't a fairly young, prolific striker? Would they have backed Rob Kozluk the same way for example?

CC: Well, the answer to that is, simply, no. I think because we are limited in the attacking areas we just wanted anyone. Evans was available and we know how good he is. So, no, Kozluk wouldn't have been backed in the same way in my opinion.

Short medium and long term aims for the club?

CC: Well in the short term we have just got to get out of League One. The fans are getting incredibly frustrated of being in this poor league and it's threatening the plan to get to the Premier League in five years. In the mid-term we have got to be aiming for stabilisation in the Championship and pushing towards the top six in around two or three years time. Finally in the long term aspects of the club we have got to be looking towards top flight status. In my opinion the Premier League is where we belong and where the supporters deserve so that's what we have rally got be aiming for.

The Twitter @Calblade147, @VitalSheffUtd, @loftforwords

Pictures - Action Images

Photo: Action Images

TacticalR added 17:14 - Jan 3 Thanks to Callum. It's strange how quite large clubs can get marooned in League One. Also interesting to hear how clubs cope with the trauma of relegation, which is becoming increasingly problematic with the different amounts of money and the different rules of different leagues. From what you've said it sounds like Clough is set on counter-attacking football, and that doesn't work well against other counter-attacking teams that let you have the ball.

0

smegma added 01:38 - Jan 4 Good luck in the 4th round Callum.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Queens Park Rangers Polls