REDS SET NEW AWAY RECORD
Barnsley recover from slight stutter to return to winning ways on the road
SHEFFIELD UNITED could appoint Alexander Blessin as their new manager before the end of the season, if reports in Belgium are to be believed.
The 47-year-old Oostende coach has emerged as a leading candidate to take over at Sheffield United, who parted ways with Chris Wilder last month amidst not only a very poor season but tensions behind the scenes about the scope of his role and the spending power available.
Reports in Belgium suggest Oostende are preparing to lose their highly-rated German coach soon, perhaps even before the campaign is out.
Paul Heckingbottom has been appointed as the Blades’ interim manager until the end of the campaign, but the former Barnsley, Leeds United and Hibernian manager says he then plans to return to his previous role in charge of the under-23s. Barnsley-born Heckingbottom has lost his three games in charge, although the side played with great spirit in the two most recent matches, at Chelsea and Leeds United.
Goalkeeping coach Darren Ward departed last week along with other members of the backroom staff, and there is uncertainty over the future of Wilder’s former assistant Alan Knill, who has been sidelined to make way for former Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall, and who is said to have turned down a director of football-type role at Bramall Lane. Knill is under contract until 2024.
With relegation all but guaranteed and with Darren Currie and Graham Coughlan filling Heckingbottom’s under-23 shoes in the short-term, there might seem little point in rushing through an appointment before the final eight games of the season are played but the Blades are not the only club thought to be showing an interest in Blessin, and may feel the need to steal a march.
German coaches and their “gegenpress” style of play are very much en vogue at the moment, and the Blades have a keen eye for Belgian football.
Oostende’s top-flight rivals Beerschot are part of the global network of clubs the Blades are building and as well as being a football adviser to the United World board – some believe a de facto director of football – Belgian Jan van Winckel is director of professional coaches in his homeland.
Blessin is in his first senior coaching role at Oostende, but previously spent eight years working with the juniors at RB Leipzig. The worldwide Red Bull youth set-up is highly regarded and as well as producing players has also unearthed some top coaches, such as Gerhard Struber, who saved Barnsley from Championship relegation last season, and Marco Rose, who will be Borussia Dortmund’s coach next season.
Oostende – fourth in the table, three places above Beerschot – are themselves part of a larger network of clubs, co-owned by Barnsley chairman Chien Lee, who also has stakes in Swiss outfit Thun, French side Nancy and Danish club Esbjerg.