ROY'S VIEW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

From forlorn hope and summer sales to tall signings and big autumn wins, Roy captures Sheffield United's season so far in this bumper "view from".

I would like to dedicate this article to Jonny Gascoigne, who passed away in October this year. Many will know Jonny as the creator of The Shoreham View YouTube channel and his videos always appeared on my ‘view on social media’ feature for The Pinch. Jonny was an incredibly gifted individual who entertained Blades fans for over a decade and the outpouring of tributes paid to him in the aftermath of his passing spoke volumes of how loved he was by the Blades community. He will never be forgotten — RIP Jonny.

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We’re back and ready for it all over again. I think…

A new season: Optimism! Belief! Excitement! Fear!

Sheffield United fans entered the 24/25 season still dazed from the debacle of the previous campaign. As we entered the Championship after a year's exile, many fans were pondering what the hell the point was of having a successful season when the reward would likely be another nine months of pure pain:

But where there is life there is hope, and with 17 players leaving Bramall Lane in the aftermath of the most miserable season in every Blades fan’s lifetime, maybe we could look forward to a new era. A new era that admittedly would be led by an old manager. Chris Wilder had kept his job despite leading the Blades to just two wins in 24 after joining the club for a second time back in December last year and there were concerns that last season had damaged his spirit:

Wilder had brought in 10 players during pre-season and it was a new-look United team that took to the field for their opening game away at Preston. Few knew what to expect with so many new faces, but the Blades cruised to 2-0 victory. Funnily enough, the goals came from a couple of players who had survived the mass exodus, Oli Arblaster and Gus Hamer: arguably the only two players who had shown they were Premier League quality during the previous season. The game may have been won by a couple of familiar faces but new heroes to the United faithful were already being formed:

It was a great start to the season and the Blades were able to celebrate three points for the first time since February. It wasn’t actually three points though, as a two-point deduction handed to United the season before meant we were in a peculiar position:

Yet more new faces were seen in our next match, as a League Cup game against Wrexham saw more debuts handed out. One of them was huge!

United ran out 4-2 winners in an entertaining game that kept the feel-good factor going. Alongside an own goal from Wrexham’s Lewis Brunt, Auston Trusty, Anis Slimane and Louis Marsh got their first-ever goals in a Blades shirt to safely send United through to the second round. Little did Blades fans know that those goals from Trusty and Slimane would also turn out to be their last in a Blades shirt. More on that later…

United next entertained QPR in the first home league game of the season and quickly ran into a 2-0 lead with goals from Hamer and new signing Kieffer Moore (Or big KIEEEFFFARR as Chad from the Red Half Of Sheffield podcast calls him). This Championship lark was easy! Well, not quite. QPR grabbed one back straight after the interval before deservedly equalising with just three minutes left. United were back and so was the frustration of the fans:

It was the first setback of the season and it proved that the old familiar feelings of worry and disappointment were still very much alive at Bramall Lane. 

A trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich City was always going to be a tough game and despite a good start, the Blades fell behind to a Josh Sargent goal midway through the first half. Thankfully United hit back quickly, with Arblaster grabbing his second of the season just 10 minutes later to even things up. That was how it stayed. It was a decent point for a United team that, whilst able to produce moments of exhilarating moments, was still clearly in transition. 

On the following Tuesday, the Blades saw their unbeaten start to the season end with 1-0 defeat away at local rivals Barnsley in the League Cup second round. It was a display that could only be described as “dog log”:

Following the Barnsley game, all attention turned to Deadline Day. United were reported to want three players on the final day of the transfer window but by the time that window SLAMMED SHUT, all we had to talk about were more departures. Thankfully, neither of the players that left Bramall Lane would be sadly missed. First up, Anis Slimane left for Norwich:

And a few hours later, Auston Trusty was on his way to Celtic:

United had amazingly managed to get £6m from the Scottish Champions for the disappointing Trusty. It was said that the Blades needed to raise around £20m in pre-season to make up for the financial shortfall of no longer being in the Premier League. It was felt by most that United would be forced to lose their best assets to balance the books but the sales of Will Osula (Newcastle), Jayden Bogle (Leeds), Bénie Traoré (Basel) and now Trusty meant that United were able to keep hold of their star players. Whatever the disappointment fans had in maybe not bringing in enough players, you couldn’t argue with the money the club had raised for the outgoings:

September began on a bright note as United ended table-topping Watford’s 100 per cent record by securing a 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane. The winning goal came just three minutes into the game when Callum O Hare’s shot was deflected into his own goal by Watford ’keeper Daniel Bachmann and that was enough to see the Blades pick up three points at home for the first time since December 2023:

It was the perfect way to go into the international break and, slowly, smiles were once again being seen on the faces of Unitedites. 

The MKM stadium and Hull City awaited the Blades on their return to league action following the two-week break and any worries that United might have lost some momentum with the pause in fixtures was quickly put to rest when Hamer hammered home after just 15 minutes to put the Blades in front. Although Hull had the lion’s (or should that be tiger’s) share of possession following the opener, United looked solid and sealed the win in the second half when substitute Sam McCallum grabbed his first Blades goal.

As the away fans celebrated another victory at the end, manager Chris Wider was keen to make a point of sending Anel Ahmedhodžić towards the crowd. The Bosnian had suffered a well-publicised difficult week off the pitch but put it all behind him with a man-of-the-match performance and was rewarded by being serenaded by the Blades faithful. In fact, the fans couldn’t stop creating new chants for him:

Newly promoted Derby County were next up at the Lane and it was that man Hamer who again proved to be the difference. After a frustrating first half, the Dutch midfielder rifled home a free-kick from the edge of the area before revealing a t-shirt in memory of late Blades legend Maddie Cusack who had passed away almost a year ago to the day. It was a classy touch from a player who was quickly becoming the Blades' talisman. United held on for another 1-0 victory that meant after just six games played, the Blades had now won more matches than they had in the entirety of last season. 

A trip to Pompey saw another clean sheet for United, but this time they had to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw in a game of few chances. Swansea were the next team to come to Bramall Lane to try their luck at scoring a goal and they did indeed succeed in putting the ball into the net. Luckily for United, it was into their own net via a Josh Tymon own goal and that was the difference between the two teams as United secured yet another 1-0 win. the Blades were helped by the fact the Swans seemed totally uninterested in scoring and instead concentrated on their regular game of pointless passes inside their own half:

A few days following the Swansea victory, United entertained a Luton Town team that had so far struggled to acclimatise to life back in the Championship. Despite this, the Hatters were still seen by many to be the toughest team United had played so far, but two goals from on-loan winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi wrapped up a comfortable three points for the Blades as they ran out 2-0 winners. It was ANOTHER clean sheet for United who had now gone six games without conceding a goal:

The Blades were now joint top of the league and Chris Wilder was named manager of the month during the second international break of the season. 

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On 9th October the news broke that former Blades right-back George Baldock had passed away at his home in Greece. I don’t have the capability to express the sadness and shock that has overwhelmed the club and its supporters since the passing of George. The tributes, stories and memories of George that we have heard from fans all around the world following his death are testament to the positive impact he had on people who never even knew him. 

I could never find the words to do justice to what he meant to every Blades fan. There probably are no words. RIP Starman. 

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Following such a traumatic week, the lead-up to the Friday night local derby away at Leeds United just didn’t have the same buzz to it. Football still felt very much secondary as the teams came out at Elland Road and gathered at the centre circle as all four sides of the ground rose for a minute’s applause in memory of George. It still didn’t feel real.

United, possibly understandably, just never got going in the game itself and deservedly took their first beating of the season, losing by two goals to nil. The Blades did however get the better of things off the pitch:

A few days after the Leeds defeat, United travelled to Teesside to take on Michael Carrick’s Middlesborough. Unfortunately, this was another game where the Blades were second best and a late goal from Emmanuel Latte Lath ensured we once again came back to Sheffield empty handed. 

From going undefeated in the first nine games, United had now lost two in a week.

The Stoke City game was the first that United had played at home since the passing of George Baldock and an emotionally charged crowd gathered at Bramall Lane pre-match to pay tribute to our “Starman”. On an incredibly difficult afternoon for everyone associated with United, the players on the pitch delivered the perfect tribute to our former number 2 with goals from Moore and Tyrese Campbell, his first for the club, securing a comfortable 2-0 victory. United were back to winning ways but the day was very much all about George Baldock:

The Blades next travelled to Lancashire and Ewood Park to face a Blackburn team that had so far gone unbeaten at home. United took a first-half lead thanks to a first goal in red and white for Harrison Burrows before substitute Campbell settled matters early in the second half with an excellent volley. It was probably the best United had played all season and the 2-0 scoreline flattered Blackburn. It meant that United went to Bristol City three days later in great spirits but following a lacklustre first half, the home side went ahead with just 15 minutes to go thanks to an Anis Mehmeti penalty. United had offered next to nothing and it seemed like we were heading for a third away defeat in four until 18-year-old substitute Ryan Oné, making his first appearance of the season, came off the bench to head home the equaliser. It was a fantastic moment for a kid who had been playing in the Scottish third tier just two years earlier. The goal rocked the Robins but the dismissal of their centre-half Robert Dickie in injury time seemed to come too late to matter. That was until the 98th minute, when Burrows hit home his second in a week to grab an unexpected three points for the Blades. In the space of 15 minutes, United had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat: