Continuity in coaching staff could be key to Blades’ ability to respond
BY COMMON consent, Sheffield United's playing squad will require work and realignment in the summer.
It is highly likely to be in preparation for a season in the Championship in 2024-25 as United head back from whence they came.
Thankfully, there is continuity, clarity and consistency in United's coaching staff, according to the person who knows the club better than most in manager Chris Wilder.
Following their relegation in 2020-21, there was further upheaval when Slavisa Jokanovic was brought in to usher in a brave new world at Bramall Lane which never took off.
The Serbian was replaced at the end of that autumn and a candidate who understood the fabric of the club well in Paul Heckingbottom was brought in and the playing side of the club got back on its feet again.
In the next close season, there will not be the same level of change with Wilder, in his second managerial spell back at his boyhood club, alongside several others who know the inner workings at Bramall Lane including long-time assistant Alan Knill and head of sport science and first-team coach Matt Prestridge.
Wilder, whose deal runs until the summer of 2025, added: "The coaching staff here are outstanding.
"We've put together a really good group of people. I've worked with Al for a long time, so our relationship is there, but the introduction of Keith Andrews, who was with the Republic of Ireland national team, is a super-bright guy to have around and Jack (Lester) knows the football club as well. We've all got our similar core values, but we're working together to improve, whether (it’s) different ways of playing or inventing."
At 56, Wilder is at the senior end of his coaching career, but he is also wise to the notion that his vocation is always evolving and that you are never too old to learn new skills.
Wilder, whose side host Burnley on Saturday, added: "We're looking and studying, we're football geeks and we watch an incredible amount of football.
"Whatever you're watching, there's always something you can take away from a game, whether it's a player or team's performance or a characteristic of somebody, positive or negative."