Crossing Enemy Lines

With Sheffield United's appointment as manager of former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Wilson, Nobes looks at others who've tried to cross similar divides.

Sheffield United's appointment of Danny Wilson is a controversial choice

A manager whose teams have a reputation for playing good football and with experience of getting sides to challenge at the top end of League One.

It's a fair to suggest that it was the kind of boss Sheffield United, having been relegated from the Championship and then decided to replace Micky Adams as manager, were on the look out for.

Their eventual choice, Danny Wilson, meets the above demands, so does it matter then that formerly in his career he both played for and managed United's bitter Steel city rivals Wednesday?

For many United fans, the answer is undoubtedly yes, with an added criterion for the hunt for a new boss excluding anybody with connections to the Hillsborough club.

They and others will also point to a chequered managerial career for the Northern Irishman, from the highs of Barnsley and Hartlepool to the lows of Milton Keynes and Wednesday.

Add in his mixed fortunes at Swindon and Bristol City and it's hard to know what to think of chairman Kevin McCabe's decision to hand Wilson the task of restoring the Blades to the second tier.

In some ways, having struggled under a lifelong Blades fan in Adams, the appointment of Wilson fits the pattern of clubs choosing a polar opposite to a previously unsuccessful manager.

Even though Adams assumed control with United embroiled in a relegation dogfight though, the need for immediate results is probably even greater for his successor in August.

A poor start and those questioning his passion for, and commitment to, the Bramall Lane club will soon become even more vocal. Wilson's tenure could turn out to be a short lived and very unsuccessful experiment.

He's not the first manager to try his hand at the rivals of a former club though. Here's how some others fared when they crossed enemy lines:


Harry Redknapp - Portsmouth, Southampton

Arguably the biggest Judas act of all time came from Harry Redknapp when both of these Championship sides were still in the Premier League.

Having guided Pompey into the big time in 2003, Redknapp helped stabilise them in the top flight before resigning - unhappy at interference from club owner Milan Mandaric.

He then had the audacity to turn up at bitter Hamsphire rivals Southampton and try and engineer their escape from the drop - maybe even at his former club's expense.

Ultimately he failed to keep them up, but almost a year later returned to Fratton Park to save Portsmouth from joining Saints in the second tier.

That helped convince the doubters who hadn't wanted his return. Leading them to FA Cup glory in 2008 didn't hurt either.



Billy Davies - Derby County, Nottingham Forest

The outspoken Scot took Derby to promotion to the Premier League in 2007 in just his first year at Pride Park.

However, a slow start the next season saw the Rams rooted to the bottom, and he was relieved of his duties.

He returned to the game at County's local rivals Nottingham Forest, following in the illustrious footsteps of Brian Clough, who'd also managed both East Midlands sides.

He saved the City Ground outfit from relegation in 2009 and then took them to the play offs the following season.

They lost out to Blackpool and again were play off losers to Swansea last term before he was replaced by Steve McClaren.



Tony Pulis - Bristol Rovers, Bristol City

Pulis spent the majority of his playing career with Bristol Rovers, with two stints totalling eight years with the Gas.

His appointment as City boss in 1999 was met with hostility by many Robins fans therefore.

Results were patchy, particularly at home where City struggled to win, and fans also become unhappy with the football on display.

The Welshman lasted around six months at Ashton Gate, with fans relieved to see him leaving to take over at Portsmouth.



Peter Jackson - Bradford City, Huddersfield Town

It's hard to know exactly where the loyalties of Jackson lie in West Yorkshire.

Bradford-born, he began his career with the Bantams and captained them to the Third Division title in the '80s.

He also played for Huddersfield during his playing days though, and then took over as manager in 1997 - helping them avoid relegation before stabilising them in the top half of the second tier.

Fans were outraged at his dismissal in 1999 and he was present at the Galpharm Stadium to witness his old club relegated from the Championship in 2001.

He returned as manager with the Terriers in the basement division and took them to promotion back up to League One in 2004 before almost helping them return to the Championship via the play offs in 2006.

He was sacked again a while later and, with a spell at Lincoln in-between, is now back in management at Bradford - whom he guided to League Two safety last term.



Steve Coppell - Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion

Coppell had four spells at Crystal Palace including, in his first nine years, taking them to the final of the FA Cup in 1990 and guiding them to third in the top flight - Palace's highest ever finish.

The Selhurst Park favourite later spent a year as boss at rivals Brighton & Hove Albion between 2002 and 2003.

He was unable to help them win their fight against relegation from the Championship - including suffering a 5-0 loss at Palace along the way.

The fact Coppell received a warm welcome from Eagles fans though demonstrated how he had managed to retain their affection.

He left Brighton for Reading in 2003, with the Seagulls top of the third tier and making a strong bid to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.



Micky Adams - Leicester City, Coventry City

Adams was at Leicester when the Foxes crashed out of the top flight in 2002, but 12 months later he had overcome the club's financial issues to guide them back up at the first time of asking.

They came close to surviving the drop the next season, but ultimately a succession of late goals helped consign them to an immediate return to the second tier.

A poor start to the next campaign saw him resign from the Foxes - only to turn up a few months later at local rivals Coventry - albeit a side he'd represented as a player.

He kept the Sky Blues in the Championship and an 8th place finish the next season is still their best in a decade at that level. A sticky spell the next season saw him relieved of his duties though.



Kevin Dillon - Reading, Aldershot Town

For fans of the original Aldershot, their rivalry with Reading was a cornerstone of the club's existence.

So when former Kevin Dillon - a former assistant at the Royals during their Premier League era - was appointed as manager of phoenix club Aldershot Town they were less than impressed.

Despite leading them to the play offs in his first year, the Geordie's Berkshire connections - as well as an unhappiness over the playing style - always saw him fail to win around some Shots supporters.

It was no surprise then, when results failed to come last season, that he departed the Recreation Ground.



Gary Johnson - Peterborough United, Northampton Town

Although not one of English football's biggest rivalries, these two are old sparring partners from Non League days - as well as a grudge evolving from the fact Peterborough was formerly based in Northamptonshire.

Despite that though, and the fact that Gary Johnson spent a few months in charge at Posh, his appointment as Northampton manager earlier this year was warmly greeted.

Maybe it was because he spent so little time at London Road, or the fact he came with a reputation for playing good football and having succeeded in the lower divisions with Yeovil and Bristol City.

Either way, Johnson was regarded as a coup for the Cobblers and his time at Peterborough hasn't really counted against him.

Three Is A Magic Number?

As Bristol Rovers appoint Stuart Campbell as their third manager of the season, Nobes looks at how other sides who went through as many bosses during a campaign fared.

Dave Penney has been shown the exit by Bristol Rovers after two months

When Dave Penney reflects on his managerial career, it will include a tale of two Rovers. At the first, Doncaster, he established his reputation as a promising young coach.

He led Donny back into the Football League in 2003 before taking them to the League Two title a year later. He then consolidated the Yorkshire side in the third tier.

At Bristol Rovers, however, he hardly had time to get his feet under the desk. The 46-year-old took charge of just 13 matches at the Memorial Stadium as he struggled to turn around the League One outfit's fortunes.

Just two wins and nine defeats - conceding 28 goals along the way - later and the Gas had shown him the door, handing senior player Stuart Campbell the job until the end of the term.

He began his reign with a 1-0 win at Tranmere in midweek, taking the West Country outfit to within a couple of points of safety.

Not that having three different managers during the campaign is an ideal scenario. It paints a picture of instability and panic, pinning blame on one man rather than looking at collective responsibility.

Rovers are banking on their latest switch making the difference though, but what do the history books tell us about sides going through three different bosses in just one season?


Exeter City 2002/3

He now drives a milk tanker around Devon but, at the start of the 2002/3 season, John Cornforth [pictured] was in charge at Exeter.

As boss at St James Park though, he failed to deliver, and was removed from his position at the start of October.

The Grecians, just three points above the drop zone, turned to rookie Neil McNab.

However, the Scot managed just three wins from 20 games and with City rock bottom at the beginning of March he was axed.

Former Preston boss Gary Peters was drafted in for the last 13 games to try and save the Grecians.

Result: Despite collecting 20 points under Peters, City ended up 23rd, just a single point off safety, and were relegated to the Conference.



Northampton Town 2002/3

Cobblers had only narrowly avoided the drop the previous year - when they had turned to Kevan Broadhurst to replace Kevin Wilson.

However, the boot was on the other foot a season later, when Broadhurst was given the push and in came former England international Terry Fenwick [pictured].

His reign lasted just seven games though - five losses and two draws - dumping Town to a point off the bottom of League One.

Chief Scout Martin Wilkinson then assumed control for the last 13 matches of the season.

Result: Wilkinson hardly fared any better. Cobblers finished bottom of the division, a full 11 points from safety.



Macclesfield Town 2003/4

Macc began the season under the stewardship of David Moss, but after a third of the campaign found themselves only out of the drop zone on goal difference.

In came club legend and assistant boss John Askey into the top job.

However, he struggled to lift the Cheshire side out of relegation danger.

With seven games of the season remaining, and the Silkmen three points adrift of safety, he was moved back down to assist veteran manager Brian Horton [pictured].

Result: Collecting 13 points from 21, the experienced hand of Horton ensured Macc beat the drop comfortably in the end.



Millwall 2005/6

The Lions had already got through one manager before pre season had even ended.

Steve Claridge was swiftly removed after 36 days over concerns about his managerial style and the club's prospects for the season.

Ex-Wolves boss Colin Lee was drafted in, but Millwall struggled towards the bottom.

When he left just before Christmas the club were bottom of the Championship and five points from safety.

His assistant, and former Lions player, David Tuttle [pictured] then took over the reins with more than half the season to keep them up.

Result: That worrying pre-season proved correct, with Millwall finishing the season second bottom, and relegated with two games of the season still to play.



Torquay United 2006/7

Only a late great escape had saved the Gulls from relegation to the Conference in the previous campaign.

It had been engineered by Ian Atkins, who led the side into the new season.

However, a bright start soon evaporated and he was given the boot by new owner Chris Roberts with United just outside the bottom two.

Roberts hired former Czech Republic international Lubos Kubik to take over, but his disastrous reign saw the Devonians collect just a single win from 12 matches.

By the time Keith Curle [pictured] took over in February, Torquay were rock bottom and five shy of safety.

Result: Curle guided the side to two wins from 15 as they crashed to a dismal relegation to the Conference.



Leicester City 2007/8

Milan Mandaric hailed the summer appointment of Martin Allen [pictured] at the Foxes - then parted company with him after just three games.

Next up was Gary Megson, but it was roles reversed when Megson walked out on the club after just 40 days to join Bolton.

Mandaric then turned to Plymouth's Ian Holloway to bring some much needed stability.

With more than 30 games of the campaign remaining he was charged with guiding the club up the league table.

Result: Only he didn't. The goal-shy Foxes were permanently staving off the drop until, on the final day, slipping into the bottom three and being relegated.



Bournemouth 2008/9

A ten point deduction had resulted in Kevin Bond's men being relegated to League Two in 2008.

They then had the daunting prospect of beginning the season on minus 18 points.

Failure to win in their first four games saw him axed and ex-Cherries striker Jimmy Quinn being brought in to win their fight against the drop.

By the end of 2008, although back in positive numbers, they still sat seven points adrift of third bottom with half of the season remaining.

Popular former player and Quinn's assistant Eddie Howe [pictured] was thrown into a baptism of fire to keep the Dorset side up.

Result: The rest is history. The 29-year-old rookie garnered 39 points in the second half of the campaign as Bournemouth comfortably stayed up in the end.



Queens Park Rangers 2009/10

The revolving door was in full spin at Loftus Road as Rangers kept up their extraordinary managerial turnover last term.

Jim Magilton [pictured] began the campaign, with the Rs picking up after a slow start to be in contention for the play offs.

An alleged dressing room bust up saw Magilton leave and Paul Hart in as his replacement.

Hart's reign lasted just four matches though before he resigned.

Caretaker Mick Harford presided over Rangers slumping into the bottom five and were just three points above the drop zone when Neil Warnock was appointed.

Result: The outspoken Yorkshireman quickly turned things around in West London, and QPR ended up in 13th - well clear of any relegation danger.



Peterborough United 2009/10

Posh had just won back-to-back promotions into the Championship under Darren Ferguson's management.

A poor start that saw them bottom after 16 games led to the Scot being fired.

He was followed by Kettering boss Mark Cooper, [pictured] plucked from the Non Leagues.

His nightmare tenure only produced one win from 12, and he was given the push in January.

Jim Gannon was the next in the hot seat but, despite a relatively productive spell, he turned down the chance to stay on at London Road.

Result: Gannon's final game saw Peterborough condemned to relegation and Gary Johnson took over for the last four matches of the season.



Notts County 2009/10

Big-spending County were everyone's tips for the League Two title last term.

An inconsistent start saw the club's ambitious owners axe Ian McParland with the club only in the play offs.

They brought in Swede Hans Backe, [pictured] a close friend of Director of Football Sven-Goran Eriksson.

However, after a similarly erratic tenure, he was gone by the time the club's ownership fell through and a new regime turned to Steve Cotterill.

Result: Cotterill picked up the pieces, got the best squad in the division to play to their maximum, and an incredible late run took them to the predicted title.


Sheffield United 2010/11

Like Rovers, United are onto their third manager of the campaign.

The early sacking of Kevin Blackwell [pictured] was then followed by a four-month spell at the helm by Gary Speed.

When he quit for Wales though, they turned to Port Vale boss and proud Sheffielder Micky Adams.

He has struggled to turn around the club's fortunes though, and they currently look likely to be relegated to League One.

The Gas will hope to not suffer a similar fate.

I Can't Get Started

Nobes considers the struggles of Championship managers Phil Brown and Micky Adams as they toil to turn the tide at their respective relegation threatened clubs.

Time is running out for Phil Brown at bottom of the table Preston North End

Two years ago Sheffield United and Preston North End faced one another in the Championship play offs with a place in the Premier League well within their sights.

They failed in their quest for the top flight that season though, and now the pair appear doomed to relegation to the third tier of English football.

It's a decline in fortunes that has been both surprising and rapid. Perhaps most tellingly of all though, there's a feeling that both clubs' struggles have been of their own making.

For Preston, currently propping up the rest of the division and a full 11 points from safety, more than a decade spent in the Championship is fast coming to a close.

It's been a tenure characterised by punching above their weight, finishing in the top six on four occasions and twice ending up losing play off finalists.

They were the inspiration to all other clubs looking to compete with bigger and richer teams chasing a ride on the Premier League gravy train.

In truth, they were thankful to outstanding work by a succession of managers - David Moyes, Billy Davies, and finally Alan Irvine in 2009.

You could also argue that the work of another manager has been influential in their current predicament at the bottom of the division.

When a difficult run of form saw the Lilywhites sack Irvine 15 months ago, it was a decision which rocked the Football League. Replacing him with Darren Ferguson - a manager who had failed in the second tier - resembled a huge gamble.

Preston twisted - and have ended up big losers. Ferguson's destruction of a solid spine and competitive Championship team was swift. His signings were largely mediocre and ill suited to a scrap for survival.

North End owner Trevor Hemmings - believed to be instrumental in Irvine's dismissal and Ferguson's hiring - must take a large shame of the blame for their imminent demotion.

For all the money he has pumped into the club to keep them afloat over the years, his judgement was badly lacking and the Ferguson regime will, for years to come, go down as a catastrophic mistake.

His failure to bring an abrupt end to Ferguson's reign when it was quickly apparent that he was wholly incapable cost Preston valuable time and games with which to keep themselves in the division.

When he eventually did receive the push with 2011 dawning, Preston were already deep in trouble - sitting bottom and five points adrift of safety.

Successor Phil Brown, an effusive and relentlessly positive character, has done his best to instill some belief and hope into North End ranks in their quest to pull off the most unlikeliest of escapes.

However, Hemmings's reluctance to release proper funds for strengthening an under-equipped squad, as well as letting top scorer Jon Parkin leave Deepdale, has left Brown with an impossible challenge.

It's not that North End are lacking in fight and spirit - with four of the six points they have garnered under Brown being earned via late equalisers.

However, it's wins that they require to dig themselves out of the bottom three, and the former Hull boss has yet to record a three-point haul in his nine games at the helm.

Having signed an 18-month deal with the Lancashire outfit, Brown will now be charged with trying to build a side capable of challenging at the right end of League One next term.

The Sheffield United dream has turned into a nightmare for Micky Adams

A similar prospect haunts Sheffield United whom, while also in the bottom three, retain hope that they can make up the six points that separates them and fourth bottom Crystal Palace and beat the drop.

However, just as Phil Brown is still seeking his first win as Preston boss, his counterpart at Bramall Lane, Micky Adams, has yet to taste victory in ten league games in charge.

The 49-year-old answered an SOS from the club he supported as a boy in January - swapping a promotion push in League Two with Port Vale to sit in the dugout he had always wanted to.

After defeat to bottom three rivals Scunthorpe last week though, it was suggested to Adams that his dream move had turned into a nightmare. It was a bitter irony that the Yorkshireman was pained to recognise.

He was supposed to the be the safe pair of hands perfectly suited to the perilous situation the Blades found themselves in.

His organisational and motivational skills, as well as experience in the Championship with Leicester and Coventry, made him the ideal candidate in the club's hour of need. Or so they thought.

Adams has claimed just four points from 30, and has admitted that, with the ways things have transpired, he wouldn't be surprised if the club decided to bring his brief spell to an abrupt end.

Considering the Sheffielder is already United's third permanent boss of the campaign, it's hard to know whether the idea of a fourth different manager of the campaign would be that much of a surprise.

It's a statistic which has been at the root of their struggles at the wrong end of the second tier this season.

When they decided to part ways with Kevin Blackwell just two games into the season it was a move celebrated by the majority of the Bramall Lane faithful.

Despite guiding them to the 2009 play off final, Blackwell's style of long ball football had turned fans off and a disappointing 8th placed finish last term had put him under intense pressure.

How they would take 8th place now though. For all his critics, Blackwell's record in the Championship pointed to a manager who knew how to get results. It's hard to imagine United would be in their current position had he been left in charge.

However, it is the timing of Blackwell's departure which really defied logic. Sacking a manager two games into the season having given him an entire summer and pre season made no sense.

If a change was going to be made, it should have been at the conclusion of last season. Once they had given him the summer, he should have been allowed longer in the current campaign to prove he could get the Blades challenging.

The sacking now appears drastically premature and the hopes they invested in rookie boss Gary Speed misplaced.

The Welshman's four months in charge were less than impressive, and when the chance to coach his national side became available he didn't hesitate to jump from United's sinking ship.

Now Adams is fighting to turn around the flagging fortunes of the red half of the Steel City and avoid a reunion in the third tier with arch rivals Wednesday - relegated themselves 12 months ago.

He will hope to be still be in his post when United make the trip to Deepdale in mid-April. By then, North End could already be consigned to the drop. Failure to start winning soon, and so could United.

Big Match Review - Ipswich 3 Sheffield United 0

Ipswich Town 3-0 Sheffield United

Saturday February 5, Portman Road, (Att: 18,280)

Ipswich made it three league wins on the bounce under new boss Paul Jewell with a comfortable victory over a beleaguered Sheffield United side.

The home side took the lead just before the hour mark when Damien Delaney powered a header from Jimmy Bullard's outswinging free kick past Steve Simonsen.

Goalscorer than turned provider early on in the second half as Delaney's ball into the box was acrobatically volleyed in from close range by David Norris for 2-0.

The Tractor Boys were dominant, and almost stretched their lead when a long ball over the top caught out the United back line, but Tamas Priskin's shot came back off a post.

The same man was then brought to the ground in the area by Shane Lowry to hand the Suffolk outfit a penalty, but Simonsen was equal to Grant Leadbitter's spot kick.

However, they weren't to be denied a third - and it came in some style. Teenage sensation Connor Wickham's sensational run from inside his own half saw him beat half the Blades team before slipping the ball home.

Things then went from bad to worse for Micky Adams's visitors with two sending offs in as many minutes.

First, Rob Kozluk was given his marching orders for an off-the-ball incident with Lee Martin.

Incensed at the decision, Lee Williamson then earned himself a second yellow card for dissent to complete the Yorkshire side's miserable afternoon.

The result lifts Ipswich up to 14th in the division, the Blades, however, now lie four points from safety.

Big Match Preview - Ipswich vs. Sheffield United

Ipswich Town vs. Sheffield United

Saturday February 5, 15:00, Portman Road

Two teams languishing towards the wrong end of the Championship clash at the weekend as relegation haunted Sheffield United take on an Ipswich Town hoping to move further away from the bottom three.

Both sides are under relatively new management, too, with Paul Jewell having replaced Roy Keane at Town and United onto their third manager of the campaign in Micky Adams.

Adams joined his boyhood club from League Two Port Vale at the turn of the New Year. However, it's been a tricky start to his Blades managerial career, with United yet to register a victory in his five league games in charge.

The latest ended in a 1-0 home defeat to his former club Leicester, which plunged the South Yorkshire outfit into the bottom three of the Championship for the first time since the opening weeks of the campaign.

So far, Adams has also accrued a couple of draws, against Doncaster and Coventry, and suffered defeats to Norwich and away at Burnley.

Their record on the road has seen them lose half of their 14 away trips, and no side has scored fewer away goals in the Championship than the Blades.

Three wins - all by 1-0 scorelines - have been achieved at Derby, Millwall, and Hull. They've also recorded respectable points at the likes of high flying Cardiff and Nottingham Forest.

Welsh striker Ched Evans is United's top scorer this season with eight, and wide man Mark Yeates has been another stand out performer with five goals to his name.

New Blades boss Micky Adams is still awaiting his first victory as manager

Opponents Ipswich, having finally had their interest in the League Cup ended in the semi finals last week by Arsenal, are now hoping to pull away from the battle against the drop themselves.

Jewell inherited a side that, under predecessor Roy Keane, went on a run of seven defeats from nine games - a run which ultimately cost Keane his job at Portman Road.

Ironically, Town's fortunes have taken a nosedive since their victory over United at Bramall Lane in November, when they sat in the play off positions after the first third of the campaign.

However, they've won two of their first three matches under former Wigan boss Jewell, a 3-2 victory over Doncaster and then a midweek 2-1 win at the new manager's former club, Derby.

He'll be looking to build on those results as he aims to turn around a chequered home record. The Tractor Boys have six victories on home soil to their name this term. However, they've also suffered half a dozen losses too.

They were able to strengthen their squad during the transfer window, with Tuesday's match winner, Jimmy Bullard, joining on loan from Hull, and promising winger Andy Drury being signed from Luton for £150,000.

With Ipswich up to 17th now, confidence will be returning to the team and they face a United side without a win in seven games, with morale at a new low with them now finding residing in the danger zone.

I'm backing Paul Jewell to continue his revival of the Suffolk club's fortunes therefore, with another narrow, and probably not particularly pretty, three points.

Nobes' Prediction: Ipswich Town 2 Sheffield United 1

Made Some Mistakes, Had My Share Of The Breaks

With Micky Adams leaving Port Vale to take over at boyhood club Sheffield United, Nobes analyses the appointment and why managers allow the heart to rule the head.

Sheffield-born Micky Adams has returned to the Steel City at United

At times over the past fortnight it seemed the vacant managerial job at Sheffield United was the subject to an altogether different game of The Weakest Link.

Anyone with a connection to South Yorkshire, Sheffield, or the Blades seemed to be in the frame - sometimes with little or no justification.

From a combination of brothers and former Blades - Brentford's Andy Scott and Boston's Rob - to Stocksbridge born Chris Wilder, currently at League Two Oxford, the net for Gary Speed's replacement was cast wide.

In the end, United's decision to plump for Sheffielder and United fan Micky Adams shouldn't come as a surprise for a number of reasons.

After his first two games in charge - a defeat at Burnley followed by yesterday's comeback draw against Doncaster - he will be under no illusions either of the extent of the job he was walked into.

Just a point above the drop zone, United are in a fight for survival, and Adams has been deemed a safe pair of hands to ensure that Bramall Lane is still playing host to second tier matches next term.

The 49-year-old is much travelled and has a solid record in the Championship, too. In 2003 he took Leicester to automatic promotion to the Premier League - where he almost kept the Foxes up.

His time at Coventry has not been bettered by any Sky Blues manager in the Championship before or since either. The Warwickshire outfit finished the 2005/6 campaign in 8th - before he was harshly dismissed less than a year later.

Promotions earlier in his career were also achieved lower down the pyramid at Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham, and he has left Port Vale in the top three of the basement tier and on course for elevation into League One.

Critics would point to his bizarre 13-day reign as Swansea boss and struggles at Brentford as well an ill-advised second spell at Brighton.

He was also aided at Leicester by the club wiping huge amounts of their debt through their CVA - and still managing to hang onto the majority of their team relegated from the top flight.

Still, his record stands up favourably compared to some of the other names suggested for the job. Keeping United up would be another feather in his cap, too.

The Blades have been in disarray, with the departure of Kevin Blackwell early on and Speed leaving to take over as coach of the Welsh national team.

All of which means, for the first time in their history, the Yorkshire side are onto their third permanent manager during a season.

Adams takes over at the club he supported as a boy at a difficult time both on and off the pitch. While the team clearly needs strengthening, finances are tight and he will require all his firefighting skills over the coming months.

Money may well have been key in the Sheffielder being handed the job instead of Doncaster's highly-rated Sean O'Driscoll.

As well as compensation Donny would have demanded, O'Driscoll would likely have requested significant funds to ship out certain players and bring others more conducive to his passing style in.

In Adams, United have a manager whose direct tactics will be a better fit for the players at his disposal.

Chairman Kevin McCabe probably deduced, too, that a relegation battle was not the ideal time for the kind of culture change they wished to have occurred under Speed.

United are also the only one of Yorkshire's premier clubs not to have experienced life outside the top two tiers in the last decade, staying up is a matter of pride as well as being crucial to finances.

However, while such thinking may prove successful in the short term, it is a cause for further frustration for Blades fans on the terraces.

Their club appear trapped in a vicious circle which always ends up with them returning to the long ball style now synonymous with United.

I spoke after Speed's appointment of their desire to move away from the route one styles preferred by past Blades managers like Dave Bassett, Neil Warnock, and Blackwell himself.

However, just as when they attempted the same with Bryan Robson's appointment in 2007 - when Blackwell rode to the rescue - United are once again reverting to type with Adams.

Just as a long punt forward out of defence can be the safest option, the red and white half of Sheffield appear unable to put down the comfort blanket that is the percentage game.

Now was not the time to take a risk on up-and-coming managers like Keith Hill, Paul Tisdale, or Eddie Howe. The timing wasn't right to take a punt on Paul Peschisolido. Desperate times called for safe measures.

Gary Speed endured a tough time in his four months in charge at United

When will that time come though? Once survival has been achieved, how long before grumblings on the terraces about their manager's tactics become louder?

Adams will need his team to be competing in and around the top six to placate supporters desperate to find the right balance between success and entertainment.

It's the kind of challenge which may have put some managers off. However, when Adams was offered the job, the choice between a fight for promotion and a battle against the drop was only going to go one way.

The chance to return home, to resurrect the fortunes of the club he began his playing career at, to bring success to the team he used to cheer from the Bramall Lane terraces, was probably the easiest decision he had ever made.

After all, which one of us wouldn't want to play or manage our own club? It is the dream scenario - playing a part in bringing glory to our own team.

Indeed, ask another Sheffielder and ex-Blades boss Neil Warnock and, even if he might not admit as much publicly, his most pleasing moment in management would have been taking United to promotion in 2006.

Whatever he does at current Championship top dogs Queens Park Rangers won't eclipse his joy at taking the club he will be remembered most vividly with into England's top flight. It is the pull of your roots.

Blackpool's Simon Grayson had no hesitation in dropping down a division to take over at Leeds - the club he supported as a boy. Promotion last season at Elland Road must have tasted sweet.

Would Colin Lee, after departing from Championship Wolves, have gone to any other basement division side battling relegation other than home town club Torquay?

It's doubtful. Lee triumphed, keeping the Gulls in the Football League on the final day in 2001.

Of course, it can go the other way, too. In 2002, with Hartlepool riding high in League Two, Chris Turner answered the call from his boyhood club, Sheffield Wednesday, to save them from the drop.

He failed and, after struggling to get them competing for promotion from League One, was dismissed. Hartlepool, meanwhile, won promotion without him and then made the third tier play offs for successive seasons.

It was the other way around for Carlisle-born Paul Simpson. Who, after leading the Cumbrians to successive promotions, left to join rivals Preston - leaving those at Brunton Park feeling betrayed.

For one reason or another, local boys are attractive prospects for clubs looking for managers though. Maybe chairmen believe they understand the club better, will work harder for success, or just be able to connect more easily with the supporters.

As with ex-players returning as manager, there is the idea that certain clubs have 'identities' which having a prior knowledge of can prove advantageous when trying to lead them to success.

Steve Cotterill guided his home town club Cheltenham from Non League obscurity into League One during the '90s. He left for Stoke with the best wishes of everyone from the Robins.

Cotterill connected with the people of Gloucestershire, he was one of them. Contrast that, though, with the actions of Londoner Martin Allen who, during his time at Whaddon Road, ruffled feathers everywhere he turned in the Cotswolds.

'Home advantage' has probably paid a part in other appointments, too. Prior to Sheffield United, Kevin Blackwell had been in charge at his home town team, Luton.

Oxfordshire-born Mark Wright was the man chosen to lead Oxford after their relegation to League Two in 2001. Liverpudlian Ronnie Moore was an obvious choice when the Tranmere job became vacant in 2006.

Of course, not all succeed. Sometimes the added pressure of being a local can count against a manager. Sometimes the emotional attachment can prove too great.

Sometimes you don't need any local connection or affiliation with a club whatsoever to achieve success either - just ask Blackpool and their unmistakable West Countryman Ian Holloway.

Not so with Adams. A proud Steel City man who now has his dream, if demanding, job. The rewards for success will be great. Failure - and he will have nowhere to hide.

Less Waste, More Speed

With Sheffield United replacing Kevin Blackwell with Gary Speed, Nobes looks at the state of play at Bramall Lane.

Kevin Blackwell had been in charge at United for two and a half years

So the dubious honour fell to Kevin Blackwell. Discounting Steve Coppell's resignation from Bristol City, it was the Sheffield United manager who became the first in the Football League to be fired this season.

Trying to justify sacking a manager two games into the season is never an easy task. Why, just 180 minutes into a new campaign is the man who began as manager now not up to the job?

What has happened, too, in the first two matches to suggest that a managerial change has to be made?

More often that not, such decisions are nothing more than a delayed reaction to the previous campaign. As is the case with United's decision to part company with Blackwell.

In such scenarios, giving the manager the start of the new season is nothing more than a token gesture. He is a dead man walking - simply waiting to be sacked at the first convenient time.

For the South Yorkshire club, that convenient time was a midweek League Cup loss at Hartlepool followed by a painful 3-0 home defeat to QPR. Painful, not only because it was all over after only half an hour, but because of the opposition.

The return of former boss Neil Warnock always guarantees a spicy occasion - a feeling only heightened with keeper Paddy Kenny also coming back to Bramall Lane with the Rs.

It was a game Blackwell desperately didn't want - and now it's apparent he couldn't afford - to lose. Albeit so early in the season, his dismissal wouldn't have come as a surprise to the 51-year-old.

With two Championship Play Off finals on his CV, the former Leeds and Luton manager shouldn't worry too much about finding employment again.

Ultimately though, his departure from South Yorkshire is the result of last year's underachievement. He failed to get the most of a talented squad that should have at least made the play offs.

Had he left last May, nobody would have been surprised had the manager had paid with his job for the lack of a top six finish.

Indeed, surely removing him then would have been more beneficial to United, too. Giving them time to find a new manager, who could bring in his kind of players during the summer and have a full pre-season behind him.

If the Blades didn't want to fire him but, instead, give him time to make amends this term, then giving Blackwell two games is hardly fair or realistic.

It's the kind of managerial policy which bemuses onlookers and frustrates supporters. Where is the thought? Where is the planning? Where is the replacement?

On that last issue United can, at least, defend themselves though. With Blackwell's first team coach, Gary Speed, being promoted to take overall control.

Indeed, the former boss probably knew the writing was on the wall when United vigorously fought off interest in Speed from Championship rivals Swansea to fill their managerial vacancy this summer.

Why were they so keen to hold onto, not their manager, but just a first team coach? The answer is now clear - he was always their manager in waiting - the ready made replacement when Blackwell felt the Blades' axe.

The Welshman has long been spoken about as a potential manager and now has the opportunity to prove himself in the top job.

It is arguably not the identity of the new manager which is the most interesting question at Bramall Lane though. Rather, it is about the whole identity of the club itself.

Like it or not, and most fans resent the tag, the Blades have become a club associated with playing the game a certain way.

From Dave Bassett in the '90s, through Neil Warnock's long tenure, and lately under Blackwell, United have always been seen as a big, physical, perhaps even dirty team, playing a long-ball style.

Not that they would have cared. When it brings about success, fans are never too bothered about how it is achieved.

Under Bassett they spent four years in the top flight and reached the FA Cup semi finals in 1993.

Warnock, after plenty of near misses, took them back into the top flight in 2006, after memorably guiding them to both the League Cup and FA Cup semi finals.

Under Blackwell they were within 90 minutes of reclaiming a place in the top flight but lost out to Burnley in the 2009 Championship Play Off final.

The truth is, while not pretty on the eye, United have always been at their most competitive when they've adopted such tactics.

Blades coach Gary Speed has been promoted into the manager's job

With a change in the managerial chair an opportunity to change the culture of the club presents itself though. The appointment of Speed can herald a new approach to playing the game.

He must try and find the happy medium - a combination of achieving results with football that is both exciting to watch, but also of a higher technical quality than United have been playing.

True, it would be folly to try and change too much too quickly. Changing the style of a team can be a lengthy and expensive process, often involving the shipping out of players unable to make the transition and bringing in other individuals more suited.

It can sometimes mean sacrificing a year that could be spent gunning for promotion in the hope that, in the long term, you will be better placed to achieve your goals.

It was notable though how, in their play off final with Burnley, the Blades couldn't respond to Owen Coyle's side's combination of physical strength allied with a craft and guile sadly lacking in their own team.

Percentage football has its strengths, but the most worrying percentage for the Blades is the 100 per cent record of losing Championship play off finals - three in total.

United have been here before, too. After Warnock's departure following relegation from the top flight in 2007, they turned to Bryan Robson as his replacement.

Is was with the intention of trying to play a more attractive and patient style of game. However, when the results didn't come, Robson was dismissed and the club turned to Blackwell and his more direct methods.

There was even talk that Blades supporters had, instead of warming to Robson's footballing philosophy, found the lack of penalty box action and chances created frustrating to watch.

Years of watching the fiery Warnock, barking orders on the touchline for his team to put the ball into the box towards the big men, had become so ingrained in their football culture that they didn't care about how attractive their play was.

Of course, had Robson's football been winning matches, such stories and feelings probably would have drowned out by the positivity towards the new regime.

They didn't, and Blackwell's appointment meant Bramall Lane once again became a venue where visiting teams could expect an aerial bombardment to contend with.

That kind of style wasted the attacking array of players which were the envy of most other Championship teams twelve months ago though.

Once again, with the likes of Ched Evans, Jamie Ward, Richard Cresswell, and summer signing Daniel Bogdanovic, United have one of the most potent attacking line-ups in the division.

Leon Britton, another summer capture, also has the ability to provide the spark of invention and quality so badly lacking in a midfield too frequently bypassed.

His partnership in the centre of the park with the robust Nick Montgomery has the potential to be one of the Championship's most effective, too.

It presents new boss Speed with a playing squad more than capable of challenging for the play offs.

For the future of the club though, how they make their challenge will be just as interesting as whether they're successful or not.

Big Match Review - Crystal Palace 1 Sheffield United 0

Championship

Crystal Palace 1-0 Sheffield United

Saturday March 6, Selhurst Park, (Att: 13,455)

Crystal Palace earned a vital three points in their fight against the drop as new boss Paul Hart got his Selhurst Park tenure off to a winning start.

Unsurprisingly, the home side seemed intent on getting off to a positive start and took the lead mid-way through the first half.

A deep cross into the box from Danny Butterfield being finished by a neat volley from striker Alan Lee.

Palace could have doubled their advantage in the second half with visiting keeper Mark Bunn being forced into action to save Darren Ambrose's low drive.

Goalscorer Lee then had a chance to seal the points late on but could only fire over the bar from close range after Nick Carle's cross had found him in space.

However, it didn't matter as the Blades failed to test Palace's defence as their hopes of finishing in the play-offs suffered a setback.

Big Match Preview

Championship

Crystal Palace vs. Sheffield United

Saturday March 6, 15:00, Selhurst Park

Relegation-threatened Crystal Palace meet play-off chasing Sheffield United this weekend as both sides seek three precious Championship points.

After this week's events too, the clash at Selhurst Park now pits together two clubs formerly managed by Neil Warnock.

The experienced boss swapped the financial turmoil at Palace for the wealth of QPR - and was replaced by former Rs boss Paul Hart.

The Eagles are precariously placed just above the drop zone following their 10 point deduction for entering administration. However, but for that deduction, they'd be looking for a place in the top six themselves.

Despite their false position in the table though, Palace go into the game without a win in their last four matches and in need of points to move them away from the bottom three.

The inspiration behind most of their good play this term has come from former Newcastle man Darren Ambrose. The talented midfielder has been in great form and is the club's top scorer with 17 goals.

His delivery from set-plays also makes the Londoners dangerous from dead-ball situations with striker Alan Lee often the target. Palace will also look for inspiration from the back from their impressive keeper Julian Speroni.

He's likely to be called upon to deal with the threat posed by Saturday's visitors. Sheffield United, losers in the play-off final last May, are once again in the mix for the end of season lottery.

Blades boss Kevin Blackwell is eyeing up another shot at the play-offs

The Blades lie just a point and a place outside the top six, but have found it difficult to string together a consistent run of form.

Indeed, not since they won back-to-back away fixtures at the beginning of December have Kevin Blackwell's men returned to the Steel City with three points.

He does possess one of the strongest and most experienced squads in the division though, including an array of attacking options.

Big man Darius Henderson is the team's top scorer with 12 goals and he's joined by the likes of Jamie Ward, Richard Cresswell, Henri Camara, and Ched Evans.

It's a list that would be the envy of most other Championship clubs, and perhaps emphasises that United have underperformed to date this season.

That can change with a first away win in four months at the weekend though. Palace will miss the departure of Warnock and, even with a new boss in Hart in place, are there for the taking.

It probably won't be the prettiest of affairs, but the points are what counts and the visitors should take all three of them.

Nobes' Prediction: Crystal Palace 0 Sheffield United 1