Football Season Guide

The season behind them was a season of huge disappointment for the Blades. They looked all set for promotion before losing the jailed Ched Evans with four games of the normal season remaining, and ended up finishing third despite having a point total that would normally be enough for direct promotion. To rub salt into the wounds, they made the Play-Off final, only to lose the penalty shoot-out with the eleventh kick. Danny Wilson remained in charge despite the failure to win promotion, possibly due to the bizarre circumstances he found himself in with Evans's jailing, but no errors will be allowed this time around: the Blades are easily the biggest club in the division, none of the other clubs look as strong as Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday or Huddersfield were last season, and anything short of promotion would be seen as a disappointment. The fans will also be anxious to avoid the Play-Offs, as the Blades' Play-Off record is horrible, as they failed to win promotion in this manner despite being in the Play-Offs four times since they were introduced as a way of winning promotion. Matt Hill and Tony McMahon will provide Wilson with useful options in defence, as will Darryl Westlake, with McMahon in particular important as he is expected to fill the boots of the highly rated Matt Lowton, who signed for Aston Villa for a hefty transfer fee. However, the backbone of last season's defence is still there, as is the majority of the midfield, so the biggest question regarding the Blades is whether or not someone will manage to step up and fill the boots of Evans, who was released from his contract after his jail sentence was confirmed. The likes of John Cofie, Nick Blackman and Shaun Miller were all signed, and join Chris Porter and Richard Cresswell in the list of strikers available to Wilson. None of this players is likely to replicate the 35 goal season Evans had last term, but at least now Wilson has plenty of options in attack, which wasn't the case when he lost Evans last season.