Since the promotion celebrations at Bramall Lane, it has been a fraught summer for Sheffield United as they look to reconstruct their squad in time for a successful Premier League season. “Everything has happened,” Paul Heckingbottom tells Sky Sports.
“We lost big characters who were big parts of the culture here,” he explains. Jack O’Connell retired. Enda Stevens and Billy Sharp left. “You cannot underestimate what they were like around the place. Enda and Bill were two of the best trainers. Big on standards.”
On the pitch, four loan players returned to their parent clubs, including Manchester City duo Tommy Doyle and James McAtee. “Two of our top goal and assist makers. We lost our other two in Sander [Berge] and Iliman [Ndiaye] too.” That team is now gone.
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Heckingbottom says Sheffield United are working on bringing in new players
“We were second best in Europe for creating goals from high regains. Iliman was a massive part of that, so were the others. All of a sudden, a big part of your style of play is just gone. The aim is to recruit players who can still play on the front foot in an aggressive way.”
Time for a new team to emerge. Benie Traore has come in from Hacken in Sweden, Anis Slimane from Brondby in Denmark and Vinicius Souza from Lommel in Belgium. Yasser Larouci has arrived on loan. Gustavo Hamer, signed from Coventry, scored on debut.
“We have lost big players but we have also lost big personalities. We needed to replace them with big players and big personalities so we have been trying to recruit Premier League quality and athleticism but also recruit character. That was really important.
“We are really happy with what we have done so far but this last few days of the window are going to be pivotal in terms of the dynamics. We are either going to get the targets that we are after and improve or we are going to have to change how we play.
“It has been a lot more difficult than last year but it is a situation that we have prepared for. I am not saying you do not get frustrated but it is a problem that needs solving rather than pointing a finger and blaming people. That is the way I have tried to approach it.
“While we are trying to navigate this window, there are players to work with and points to pick up. To this point, I am pleased with how everyone has handled it but we cannot stop here. If we stop here, I would not be happy. We have a few more days to get better.”
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Watch the best angles of Gustavo Hamer’s incredible debut strike for Sheffield United
Fortunately, Heckingbottom, 46, is used to building on the fly, balancing the demands of a job that he admits can be consuming. He took over late in 2021 with Sheffield United 16th in the Championship, having seemingly lost their way under Slavisa Jokanovic.
The Blades made the play-offs that season under a man previously reluctant to take the job permanently following his earlier caretaker stint. Since his appointment, they have more wins, more points and more clean sheets than any other team in the Championship.
Not bad for someone who had been coaching the youngsters prior to his appointment, management no longer part of his grand plan. “Jack [Lester, first-team coach] laughs at me when I say that I find this job easier.” Fans respond to that calmness, that honesty.
Teams too. Last summer, he lost player-of-the-year Morgan Gibbs-White and guided the team to promotion anyway – achieving it against the backdrop of a transfer embargo. He has become used to controlling the controllables, focusing on the bits that he can impact.
“I have certainly got better at that. You get the sack if you do not deal with things but how thinly can you spread yourself?” Learning to delegate has been key, particularly with the transfer window open and demands on his time beyond preparing the team.
“You have to be forceful on some things. The politics, you sometimes have to take a backward step on.” He is learning to switch off more, play more golf – although perhaps not as much as his players, who are enjoying the simulator installed at the training ground.
He rates that as a success because it keeps them there longer. Speaking inside his office, where there is a Subbuteo table setting out his tactics, it is clear that this is never going to be an issue for Heckingbottom. Finding time to cover everything is the challenge.
“There are so many things going on, so much we want to improve, I have to prioritise. We work in units here. We have a goalkeeper coach but we also have a defensive unit coach in Mark Hudson. Stuart McCall takes the midfield and Jack takes the forwards.
“So while I am looking at potential signings and doing the press conference, we have had a meeting about how we want to defend which Mark has led. After that, the forwards have been in with Jack who has put on a presentation about one-on-one finishing.”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights of Nottingham Forest’s narrow win over Sheffield United
Traore had just such a chance at Forest. Beaten by one goal in each of the first two games, margins have been fine. A man who kept a stud in his office as a symbol of Brice Samba’s save from Ndiaye in their play-off defeat needs no additional reminders of that.
He would settle, perhaps, for the game against Manchester City on Sunday being so close. The Premier League champions defeated his side in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley in April so Heckingbottom knows what to expect. He knows what he will demand too.
“Because they have so much of the ball, their work-rate when they lose the ball, the metres per second that they cover, is also the best. It is when we win the ball back that we have to be brave enough to want to keep it and get through those first few moments.”
Sunday 27th August 1:00pm
Kick off 2:00pm
The Bramall Lane crowd can help. “We need an atmosphere to compete against these teams.” It is a key difference between this campaign and their last in the Premier League, a surreal season in which relegation played out inside empty stadiums.
Will the outcome be different this time? “We cannot just aim for 17th,” insists Heckingbottom. “What we do in these last few days before the window shuts is going to define what we do this season. It is just about getting better as quickly as we can.”
Watch Sheffield United vs Manchester City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm on Sunday; kick-off 2pm