Blades News

Heckingbottom milestone & his ability to improve players

|
Image for Heckingbottom milestone & his ability to improve players

On Sunday afternoon, United claimed all 3pts on the road for the first time this season which put them back on the top spot in the Championship. 

The Hull City game marked Paul Heckingbottom’s 50th game in charge for United including his interim stint in the Premier League. Overall, Heckingbottom has averaged 2.6 points per game during his two spells as Sheffield United manager. 

Since taking over the Blades as the permanent first-team manager, he has restored the belief amongst the squad and the fan base. Quite clearly he has the player’s respect and that’s why the players put in nothing short of 100% in every game.

Heckingbottom took charge of United in November of last year. Since that time, Sheffield United have won 20 of their 39 league matches, losing just 9 of them. During this time, United have recorded some seriously strong home form; in 18 home games under Paul Heckingbottom, they have won 14 of them and have lost just once. 

Before taking charge of the Blades, the gaffer was manager of Sheffield United’s development team for more than a year where the youth side became champions of the Professional Development League North in the 20/21 campaign. 

Outlining Paul Heckingbottom’s judgement of youngsters, even more, is the number of development players that he has handed debuts for United’s first team. He gave Daniel Jebbison, Iliman Ndiaye and Femi Seriki Premier League debuts. Last season he gave Will Osula his debut. This season he has handed Oli Arblaster his debut, whilst handed Jordan Amissah his debut when he had to replace Wes Foderingham in the game at Luton.

The effect that Paul Heckingbottom has had on players has been nothing short of remarkable. Stuart McCall and Jack Lester have also played a big part in this. Sander Berge only scored 3 goals and made 2 assists for United across 39 games in all competitions during his Blades career, before Heckingbottom took charge. Under Heckingbottom, the Norwegian has netted 8 times and has made 6 assists in 37 games in all competitions.

It’s a similar case for Iliman Ndiaye too. Ndiaye had only made 3 goal contributions, all in the same game last season before Heckingbottom took charge. Since Heckingbottom was appointed back in November, the Senegalese international has made 12 goal contributions. 

After making some excellent additions in the summer, Paul Heckingbottom has now shaped his own team and it carries his identity. United are averaging 2 goals a game this season, and they have conceded well under a goal per game. Out of the 16 goals United have scored so far, 6 of them have come inside the first 15 minutes of the half. 

Every sign is reading positively, and the Blades sit 1st in the table for a reason. The only question is, can they keep it up?

Share this article