It's been all change at Sheffield United in the week when we renew an old rivalry.
Strangely, it has been almost a decade since we last faced The Blades. That is surprising, considering they are one of what must be an elite number of clubs we have played against in almost every League or Cup we've played in. We've faced them in each of the 'old' League structure's top three divisions and crossed swords with them in both League and FA Cup contests. In 2006 they were relegated alongside us from the Premier League, leading to a flurry of Championship and League One fixtures over the following ten seasons.
In recent times, there have been points where a couple of divisions have separated us. A lot of that was to do with the work of former Charlton loanee (albeit briefly) Chris Wilder. In 2019 after three years at the helm, he led The Blades back to the promised land of the Premier League. Two years later, with the Blades bottom and facing relegation, they replaced him. However, cometh the hour, cometh the man they say, and in Sheffield United's hour of need two seasons later, they brought him back to Bramall Lane when rooted to the bottom of the Premier League,
Despite not saving them from relegation, he was kept on for the 2024/25 season's promotion battle in the Championship. This involved a real hammer n' tongs struggle with Burnley and Leeds in a three horse race, where The Blades just fell short at the final hurdle, losing 1-0 to Sunderland in the play-off final. Following that, against the wishes of supporters, Wilder rather unfairly got the sack. Such are the short memories and loyalties of some in the football business nowadays.
Sheffield United's owners installed Rubén Sellés as the new gaffer but five league games into the season, the blunted Blades are sitting rock-bottom of the Championship. Subsequently the owners ate humble pie and brought about a reunion with Wilder, which throws a whole different complexion on our own reunion with these familiar foes. In many ways, it's a bit like what they say about a derby - you can throw the League table out of the window for this one.
Sellés promised expansive, energetic, high press football but had to go back to the drawing board when his side were blown apart by Bristol City on the opening weekend. The response was to try and be more solid but that resulted in a blunting of the attack. Fans were complaining about players being played out of position. Neither new signing Louie Barry nor last season's top scorer Tyrese Campbell has been able to influence the game. Also, the transfer business at the end of the window trended towards the defence with five defenders bought in the last ten days or so.
Chris Wilder will probably revert to the 4231 formation he used for most of last season. Like Nathan Jones, he will build from the back and create a defensively solid base. The holding midfielders will shield the backline but allow fullbacks to move forward and support the wide players. Charlton's attack and number 10, most likely Sonny Carey, will need to drag them out of position and exploit the space. The Addicks back line will need to be careful not to jump out to cover the Sheffield United number 10 too often, particularly without the recovery pace of Kayne Ramsay.
Sheffield United might be bottom of the table with what Eurovision Song Contest panels would call "Nul points" but, just as we said about last week's fixture v Millwall, statistics don't always tell the full story. To be as blunt as the Sheffield United forward line of late, some of the team looked like they couldn't be arsed during last weekend's 5-0 hammering at Ipswich. Unfortunately, with a man-motivator like Wilder back at the helm, we're likely to face a different mindset on Saturday. He was ominously straightforward this week:
"Play them in the right positions, in my opinion, will be key. Making sure they win the battles, the headers, win the races and play. There's a thing that's still up there in the auditorium – out-run, out-fight, out-play."
Still, as our own Nathan Jones will testify, it can be hard to turn around a struggling team at the drop of a Hatter. You don't go from getting hammered every weekend to suddenly recovering. After the late, late horror show against Millwall, when we stood on the threshold of changing history, our Addicks will have a point to prove up in Sheffield.