If this was to be Paul Heckingbottom’s last stand, he refused to go down wondering.
No Sheffield United player was spared. Their manager has chosen to hold his tongue for much of this season, careful not to break a fragile group, but humiliation at Burnley proved too much.
Heckingbottom had to be calmed down eventually and the sight of Oli McBurnie, whose sending off let down his team, skulking off to the coach with eyes fixed on the ground told a story of how the debrief had gone.
Behind within 15 seconds, their target man red carded before half-time and a lack of what Heckingbottom called ‘bravery’ thereafter saw the Blades sink to the bottom of the pile. The smart money is on them residing there from now until May. ‘You need big balls on the pitch, you can’t be a shrinking violet,’ Heckingbottom said pointedly.
The first murmurings of ‘Hecky Out’ rang from the away end and once that starts, it feels like things are heading only one way.
Chris Wilder wants a return and there is a sense Heckingbottom is set to be put out of his misery.
What else he could have done, since a promotion to the backdrop of a transfer embargo, a botched takeover and sales of their best players, is debatable.
He talked about how his head is held high and he is right. What United would look like from a financial standpoint without finishing in the top two last year does not bear thinking about.
The squad is worse than their Championship cohort. Fans had to watch one of last season’s best, Sander Berge, run the midfield for a resurgent Burnley.
Six of those who featured on Saturday have deals expiring in June, two others are on loan. Long-term thinking? Not here.
‘I wanted to keep the group together but we couldn’t,’ Heckingbottom added. ‘We’ve been making financial decisions rather than football decisions.
‘We’ve been cutting the wage bill, selling the best assets and they (Burnley) spent £200million.
‘We’ve compromised but that’s not an excuse. It’s about finding performances out of players.’
Never mind, only Liverpool next.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
