Sheffield United

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's match between Stoke City and Sheffield United.

Here are some of your comments:

Stoke City fans

David: Stoke were by far the better side, dominated the first half. Were unfortunate to go behind after Bamford won a dubious free-kick and Phillips beat Johansson at the near post. Stoke fought back with a special from McGlynn the USA international and then Gallagher, back from injury, scored a cracker to seal the win and a deserved three points for Stoke.

Selina: Fantastic win. It's harsh and funny that it [Sam Gallagher's winner] was offside. What a way to win a game.

Steve: Quite splendid. Three straight home wins for the first time in years. Robins looks and sounds happy, the players are a team on and off the pitch. It's only September but we are looking ok for at least a top half finish for the first time since relegation.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United fans

Garry: The club is in a mess. This is what happens when you sell your best players, don't spend the proceeds and bring in frees and loans.

Martin: Sorry Chris, it's time to go. No play patterns, weak in defence, not creating chances.

Dave: Nothing has changed from last season. Can't win a tackle or a 50-50 ball. Can't pass to their own player or keep possession. No running off the ball, no forward line. Oh the change... they sold their best three players. Wilder has passed his sell-by date.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff believes that Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder's criticism over the scheduling of the football season could have contributed to the side's shock 1-0 loss to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup.

Wilder, who has been a vocal critic of the number of matches played in a short time, made seven changes to his side for the game against the League Two outfit, but an own goal from Rhys Norrington-Davies sealed their exit from the competition.

"It's easy to come out after that and say the players haven't done enough and maybe that's true," McAnuff told the Football Daily podcast.

"The side is stacked. That is a side that should be, respectfully to Fleetwood Town, able to go and win a game of football no matter how much you've played or not played.

"From the manager's perspective, it's a tough balance to strike. I get it's been busy but you can't let the players smell that because they look for excuses."

The Blades' upcoming visit to Stoke City on Saturday will be their ninth game in four weeks.

As the full-time whistle blew and Sheffield United stumbled out of the League Cup at the hands of fourth-tier Fleetwood Town, something very different was happening 139 miles to the east.

Roared on by nearly 45,000 fans at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland were winning 1-0 against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League. A victorious return to Europe for Regis Le Bris' side after a 53-year wait.

481 days ago the two teams met at Wembley in the Championship play-off final. The Blades were 1-0 up and 15 minutes away from promotion.

What has happened since is so stark between the two clubs, it is a damning indictment on the people running the show at Bramall Lane.

United's fans, in rather more colourful language, demanded to know what they had just seen at Highbury last night. A major missed opportunity on the one hand, the latest example of a floundering club that has lost its way on the other.

This is increasingly becoming a weird and concerning period for the club.

Co-chairman Steven Rosen is in the country. He, along with CEO Stephen Bettis and Chris Wilder, met with the fan advisory board this week.

The group released a series of posts on X, noting the topics that had been discussed. They said they had received assurances that the club is being run in a responsible manner, yet no details were revealed.

Supporters, understandably, reacted to this by requesting actual information to back this up. The FAB say they'll release more information after consulting the Football Supporters' Association and some local MPs.

This is part of the problem though. Supporters have concerns. The owners, as custodians of the club, have a duty to address those concerns.

A cosy YouTube chat with a pal dressed up as a new podcast, where no challenges were made to Steven Rosen, followed by a meeting with the FAB from which nobody knows what was actually discussed, does not cut it.

Rosen is in the UK. If there is truly nothing to worry about, let's hear why.

Image source, Getty Images

At the moment the owners are giving the impression they are beyond scrutiny.

They seem to be saying the situation, in which they allegedly owe the former owners £35m, something the EFL and the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) are looking at, can just be brushed off.

Take the answer in the recent YouTube video Rosen took part in – something that felt like a convenient way to avoid being accused of never talking. He seemed to think simply not being in the same mess Sheffield Wednesday found themselves in a year ago was a positive.

To use a film analogy, saying Indiana Jones 4 isn't as bad as Indiana Jones 5 doesn't change the fact that both were offensively rubbish.

The whole saga is like a dark cloud hanging over United. And you can't help but wonder if it's infecting issues on the pitch.

Not that the manager Chris Wilder, nor his players, are totally blameless. Plenty of fans contacted us last night to question the decision to use a 4-4-2 against Fleetwood. Many were angered at the performance of the team.

Per Opta, they are in the bottom five in the Championship for xG per game (1.04), with the fourth-highest average for xG against (1.67).

Yet there are more than a few signs that pressure is building as a consequence of the ownership drama.

Wilder seems frustrated. I wonder if, in part, that's why he found himself complaining pre-Fleetwood about the schedule, days before a three-week international break.

More than ever this feels like a club that needs proper leadership at the very top to get back on track.

One way the current owners can do that is by fronting up, addressing the situation and coming up with a proper, sensible plan for the future – and explaining that plan to supporters, who deserve to hear proper questions and answers from the men running their club.

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This will be the 114th meeting in all competitions between Stoke City and Sheffield United when the sides meet on Saturday (12:30 BST).

The Blades are hoping to recover from exiting the Carabao Cup at the hands of League Two Fleetwood on Wednesday, while Stoke have taken 10 points from a possible 12 in the Championship.

• Stoke have lost each of their past five league meetings with Sheffield United since a 3-1 win in October 2022 under Alex Neil.

• Sheffield United have won away to Stoke in both of the past two Championship seasons, and could win three successive away league games against the Potters for just the second time, after April 1960.

• Stoke have won three of their past four Championship games (D1), as many as their previous 23 beforehand (W3 D6 L14).

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in five away league games (W3 D2), the longest ongoing run of all current Championship clubs.

• Only Rio Cardines (5) has more Championship goal involvements this season among defenders than Stoke's Eric Bocat (4 - 2 goals, 2 assists).

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United defender Liam Mitching has been called into the Republic of Ireland squad for the first time.

The 26-year-old is currently on loan with the Blades from Coventry City and has been included in Heimir Hallgrímsson's 26-man squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Kosovo, Hungary, Austria and Israel.

Kitching made 38 league appearances for Coventry last season as they won the Championship title but joined Sheffield United on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day.

The Harrogate-born central defender started his career with Leeds United and has also played for his hometown club as well as Forest Green Rovers and Barnsley.

Sheffield United did not follow the gameplan in Wednesday night's Carabao Cup defeat by Fleetwood Town, according to boss Chris Wilder.

The League Two side upset their Championship opponents with a 1-0 third-round win to earn a last-16 tie at home to Premier League champions Arsenal.

"The first 10 minutes of the second half we went off plan and just thought the game would come to us," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"The goal was horrendous from our point of view with the amount of mistakes we made, the players just wanted to do their own thing.

"I told them at half-time what could happen if we don't start the second half on the front foot and if we go off-plan - we have to own it."

Wilder made seven changes to the side beaten by Wolves in the Championship on Sunday but believes the team he named should have been good enough to beat their fourth-tier opponents.

"It's an incredibly disappointing night regardless of the changes we made," he said.

"There are a lot of players who had opportunities to stake a claim - when they're not playing they have an opinion and will be the victim about why they're not playing and those opportunities presented themselves tonight and they have certainly not taken them."

"I wanted a problem on Saturday about what players to pick. I haven't got a problem now, I know exactly who to pick."

Sheffield United visit Stoke City in the Championship on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Listen to more Sheffield United interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Raul Jimenez scored a 90th-minute winner to give Wolves a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday.

Here are some of your comments:

Sheffield United fans

Karl: Wilder doing everything he can in difficult circumstances, we sadly lack in the creative half.

Donny Blade: Huffed and puffed today but in the end a combination of poor finishing and lack of class up front meant it was always going to be close. We maybe didn't deserve to win, but certainly didn't deserve to lose. Onwards and upwards.

Jamessufc: A stroke of luck was the difference, neither team was really dominant but that's football. On to the next one.

David: Well done Wolves, you deserved the points more than us. We need to improve overall and especially in the final third or it will be a difficult season.

Dave: Not having a midweek game meant Wolves players had fresher legs towards the end, and that was the difference as they controlled it more in the second half. Apart from the goal, Cooper wasn't troubled and neither was the Wolves keeper.

Jimsan: An entertaining game but generally bereft of quality. Decided by a man who was playing in the World Cup round of 16 just a couple of months or so ago. That's the difference. If we learn to defend then we will be in the mix come May. If we don't, it could be mid-table obscurity (at best) for the foreseeable.

Image source, Shutterstock

Wolves fans

Kieran: Not the best performance but we got the points. Need to be better for the derby next week.

Bob: Not a very good team performance until the final 10 minutes. When the quality was brought on from the bench, the game swung Wolves' way and in the end we just deserved it.

Alan: Dull performance but a vital three points. Never really tested the United keeper and at times our wide defence looked desperate. However, we managed our first clean sheet, Krejci and Djiga have tightened the central defence. Djiga in particular looks like quite a find. Jimenez in the right spot at the right time. Getting Trippier back is a positive, hopefully he is fit enough to start the next couple of games.

Steve H: Just about scraped a win. This is not a sit-back division in football, it's highly competitive and the Wolves players need to understand this. You can't take a break here. You have to fight every second you're on the pitch. After all that, great to have three points in the bag so upwards and onwards to the next league game that we have to win.

Fudge: Not entirely convincing performance from Wolves who never really controlled the game and could have just as easily lost. Trippier's return should help to gain stability at the back although Tchatchoua didn't have a bad game. The big one next weekend.

Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Cooper claimed the Blades "switched off" before conceding in the 90th minute against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Raul Jimenez's goal at Bramall Lane earned a 1-0 win for the visitors and leaves the Blades 14th in the Championship and five points off the automatic promotion places in the formative table.

Jimenez scored from close range after benefitting from Tommy Doyle's miscued shot which the Mexico international then directed past Cooper.

"In the 90th minute, ultimately, we've switched off and let them in," Cooper told BBC Radio Yorkshire.

"Really disappointed with that. We know how disappointed the fans will be going home.

"It's a bit of a sucker punch. Credit to the lads, obviously, the effort was there for 90 minutes but just that split-second against a team like that, as a unit, we can't switch off the way we did. Bitterly disappointing.

"Everyone's training so hard. The amount of info we're getting from staff is phenomenal. There's no complaints from anyone. It's just about putting the practice into games."

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder believes his side's performance in the 1-0 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers was worthy of a share of the points.

Raul Jimenez scored in the 90th minute at Bramall Lane to secure victory for Wolves.

The manner of Jimenez's winner frustrated Wilder - it was a defensive lapse which proved costly.

"We are working with a group of players who are receptive to our game plan and committed to it, which is priceless to me," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"The fans will go home disappointed because I think we deserved something.

"Michael [Cooper] has not had a save to make in the second half, but we switch off and get done by a great ball.

"We should have a player in that spot, which is disappointing because it is a top end Championship detail. It falls to their Mexican centre forward, who sticks it in, in front of their fans and they get a win which I should imagine they will be delighted to get.

"You go chasing teams like Wolves and you just get picked off, but we didn't. I thought we got quite a lot of things right, but the one thing we didn't get right was the result.

"When you go deep into the game, we've played well but you go 'it's not our day, let's take something from the game'. That is the disappointing aspect of today's performance."

You can listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds by clicking here.

Image source, Getty Images

New Sheffield United forward Jordan Ayew could make his debut for the side in their upcoming game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday (12:00 BST).

The Ghana international joined the side as a free agent on Tuesday and made the bench for their match against Blackburn Rovers later that evening.

"One of the attractions of signing Jordan, not just the level of his experience, his availability record is just incredible," boss Chris Wilder said.

"We are delighted physically where he's at and he will definitely be involved."

Midfielder Hamza Choudhury was substituted off after 58 minutes in the game against Rovers, which Wilder put down to fatigue, but his injury-hit squad means the Bangladesh international will likely play a role at the weekend.

"There's a few in an ideal world would be getting rested and maybe not starting, but that's the situation at the moment," added Wilder.

Listen to the full interview below or on BBC Sounds here.

Image source, Opta

Promotion favourites Wolves will aim to end a two-game winless run in the Championship when they visit Sheffield United on Sunday (12:00 BST).

Cesar Peixoto's side have dropped from second to 11th before the weekend's fixtures after a 4-2 defeat at West Ham and 2-2 draw with Birmingham.

The Blades picked up their first two league wins of the season in the space of a week against Bolton and Blackburn, with a 3-1 home loss to Norwich City sandwiched in between.

• Sheffield United have won three of their past four home league games against Wolves (L1), most recently a 2-1 Premier League win in November 2023.

• Wolves have won three of their past four league matches against Sheffield United (L1), keeping a clean sheet in all three wins in this period.

• Sheffield United have both scored and conceded in 14 of their previous 15 Championship games at Bramall Lane, the exception being their 0-0 draw with Birmingham in August.

• Wolves' three away games in the Championship this season have all had at least four goals (7 for, 7 against). Indeed, they are just the third Championship side since 2004-05 to both score and concede 7+ goals in their first three away games of a season, along with Crewe in 2004-05 (7F 7A) and Blackburn in 2012-13 (9F 7A).

• Sheffield United have faced the most shots of any side in the Championship this season (103), while they've recorded the fourth-highest non-penalty xGA (10.15).

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United had no right to win at Blackburn Rovers this week. But they did. They found a way.

The Blades were second best on all the key statistics – possession, shots, shots on target, touches in the opposition box – apart from the one stat that really matters, the result.

It has been a feature of United's season so far, collecting points when the data and the naked eye suggest they were fortunate to do so.

But amidst a backdrop of frustration in the dugout and in the stands, the Blades sit two points off the automatic promotion places in the Championship table after six games.

Has it been pretty or convincing? Certainly not, but United goalkeeper Michael Cooper has been in top form, they have made tackles, blocks and headers, and have taken their chances.

Much-criticised striker Tom Cannon already has three goals, when he only managed six during the entirety of the last campaign.

This is a far cry from the situation they faced at the same stage last season, sitting bottom of the standings with no points, when Chris Wilder was temporarily, and disastrously, replaced by Ruben Selles.

A lot has happened since Wilder returned for a third spell in charge just shy of a year ago, and notably over the past few months.

There is the ongoing threat of a points deduction, as the EFL and the Independent Football Regulator look into the transfer of the club's ownership to a new parent company, with an outstanding debt of £35m to former owners United World from COH Sports Bidco Ltd, the company used to buy United in December 2024, which has now been wound up by the High Court.

The team's best three creative talents and assets, Andre Brooks, Gustavo Hamer and Callum O'Hare, have all been sold and not adequately replaced with signings limited to free agents and loans.

Wilder's long-time assistant Alan Knill has also departed this summer in an unexpected raft of staff changes that saw Mickey Collins promoted to the number two role and former Manchester United defender and aspiring coach Phil Jones brought in.

The players, the manager and the owners have all faced criticism from United's seemingly divided fanbase in the opening weeks of the season and, to varying extents, understandably so.

Serious questions remain unanswered by co-chairmen Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, while Chris Wilder admits all options are being considered as he searches for a system, style and formation to get the best out of his squad.

The Blades are though showing some of the characteristics of the team that made the Championship play-off final in 2025.

They have lost several big names since that season in Vini Souza, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Gus Hamer and missed out on key transfer targets this summer, but still possess good players in all areas of the pitch.

Where the squad may now lack depth and quality in some areas, the signs are they are together, willing to graft and do what is necessary and prove their critics wrong.

Promotion may well be a stretch but with Championship results all over the place in these early stages, United could have the right characters in their dressing room to secure a play-off place.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield after their 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship.

For a written selection of his quotes, click here.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has confirmed the club have identified a forward in the free agent market but his arrival at Bramall Lane will depend on if they can release an existing player.

"We have to move one of the players out, which is becoming a problem," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"He's, at the moment, a part of the 25-man squad. A player that I inherited so that's becoming a difficult scenario but hopefully we've found a solution to that.

"The market for a particular player, especially a forward, is a very small one. But we feel we've found somebody who can add versatility, availability, experience as well."

The Blades are looking to add the player before Tuesday night's game against Blackburn Rovers (19:45 BST) but if they are unable to negotiate an exit with their current player, Wilder is concerned the opportunity may slip away.

"If the player doesn't go out and some more windows shut, then we won't be able to do anything," he added.

Meanwhile, defender Matt Doherty will return for the game against Rovers after missing out on Saturday's loss to Norwich City with illness.

Listen to the full interview above or on BBC Sounds here.

Blackburn Rovers have taken only one point from their past three Championship outings as they prepare to host Sheffield United on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

The Blades head to Ewood Park unbeaten on the road so far with two draws from their away games.

• After their 3-1 win in April, Blackburn Rovers are hoping to record back-to-back league victories over Sheffield United for the first time since April 1993 in the Premier League.

• Sheffield United have won each of their past three away games at Blackburn Rovers in all competitions, including a 2-1 victory in this season's EFL Cup in August. Only from 1949 to 1953 have the Blades ever won four in a row away to Rovers.

• After their 2-1 home defeat by QPR, Blackburn Rovers could suffer back-to-back home league defeats for the first time since November 2025.

• Sheffield United have drawn both of their away games in the Championship this season. Only in 1898-99, 1984-85, and 2012-13 have they started a league campaign with three successive away draws.

• Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray has lost five of his past seven league games against Sheffield United (W2), including four of his past five.