August
The opening day of the season saw the traditional red-hot sunshine and established Championship side Brentford were in town. A decent game saw United strike first through Billy Sharp in quite an even game but Brentford cut the Blades open at times and missed quite a few chances. Still the Blades had more than competed and it was a great opening day win. Manager Wilder had surprised by starting Samir Carruthers in the no 10 role behind Sharp and Clarke and he did well. After a League Cup win that saw Thomas score his first goal and Brayford start alongside youngsters Eastwood, Bennett and Brooks; United came back down to earth. A poor game up at Middlesbrough saw United concede a sloppy goal and then not really do enough against a home side that were not much better. Still a late leveller came from Jack O’Connell but a linesman’s flag, wrongly, chalked it off. A few days later United were well beaten at Neil Warnock’s Cardiff as the pace and power of the division really hit home. Back at the Lane and United were able to put in a very good performance and see of local rivals Barnsley with Sharp scoring again. Leon Clarke and McDonald of Barnsley were both sent off for a clash in the first half. United really should have won by more than the single goal as they easily beat the Reds. Mark Duffy was back in the side and starred. A crushing defeat to Premier League Leicester in the cup was followed by another great team performance as United beat big spending Derby 3-1 at the Lane. Sharp scored two goals with his second being right at the death as Scott Carson was forward for a corner for the visitors. United ended the month in a decent position and had won all their home games but lost both away games. They sat above the middle of the league and seemed to have adjusted fairly well and quickly at this level.
Just before the month ended we had transfer deadline business; a few weeks previously in had come Cameron Carter Vickers on loan from Spurs but had not started a game yet. John Brayford finally left as he went back to Burton after a summer where it seemed inevitable he would finally move on. United sought a number of targets and continuous talk centered on Southend’s Ryan Leonard but the players that came in were experienced striker Clayton Donaldson for a nominal free from Birmingham. Also signing was Motherwell defender Ben Heneghan; thought to be one for the future.
Quina and Sinclair of West Ham and Watford respectively fell through as an interesting documentary showed the events of the final day with Wilder’s reputation further growing as a result of his transparency and straight way of going about his business.
September
United went to Sunderland and with Clarke missing and Lavery also injured; Donaldson got the start and he scored a brace on a dream debut with Brooks impressing from the bench. The 2-1 win was built on with a narrow win at the Macron in the week as rivals from the previous season, Bolton were beaten. Carter Vickers also scored on his full debut. United were flying now and they had certainly had an excellent start to the season with the defence looking solid, the midfield excelling with Coutts, Fleck and Duffy to the fore and options up the top with the incoming Donaldson, promising Brooks and the old guard of Clarke and Sharp. Sadly many of the strikers were not available for the game at home the following Saturday against Norwich and Ched Evans got his first start back in his second spell. United controlled the game but were undone by a sucker punch and then witnessed the Canaries time waste and spoil for the entire second half as the Blades suffered their first home defeat. The build up to the next game was intense with the big anticipated Steel City derby at Hillsborough. United got Clarke back in the line up and surprised by starting Brooks alongside him and Basham in midfield to stiffen this area up. Wednesday had not had the best start but even with some injuries themselves still packed a side full of expensive talent. United’s start was astonishing. Brooks running at defenders to get a free kick and then Fleck smashed in a tremendous curling effort. Soon after Clarke ran through and beat the offside trap and slotted home. He wheeled away in front of the Wednesday Kop. United threatened to run riot and were all over their so called superior opponents. A lifeline came from Gary Hooper as he poked home but United still had chances in the second half to finish it with Clarke and Brooks both missing. The latter had showed incredible skill to out fox home defender in one move. His performance was eye opening. However, failure to take the chances saw the Owls level through Joao and suddenly the home fans were bouncing….for less than a minute. United attacked and sub Duffy sent home defender Van Aken for the pies, twisting and turning and smashing past Westwood. An unbelievable goal. After this Brooks fed Clarke and the striker clipped home. It was party time for the Blades fans. United saw out the game with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday, Chris Wilder’ from the away end and the celebrations at full time will live long in the memory.
Fresh from the momentum of this win, United saw of league leaders Wolves 2-0. Clarke with two more goals and United were buoyant. At Forest, the Blades tore the home side apart at times with Duffy running the game and Lundstram scoring his first goal for the club but again poor finishing and some sloppy defending somehow saw us lose the game 2-1 with a header at the death from Carter Vickers hitting the post. Still September finished and United were right in the top 6 and well placed after a very good start to the season.
October
Two home games against established Championship sides Ipswich and Reading saw both sides well beaten. A Basham header accounting for Town before a more accomplished performance against Reading saw goals from Coutts, a stunning shot and Sharp after a great team move. It finished 2-1 but ought to have been much more. Some of the football United played was a joy to watch. On the Friday evening United had the chance to go top of the league and took it. An early goal from Sharp was cancelled out but wonder boy Brooks scored a fine goal after more good work from Duffy. ‘United, United top of the league’ sang the Blades fans. Both Wednesday and Leeds had been beaten on the road. A poor performance in London and a freak goal saw QPR beat the Blades 1-0 but they finished the month well placed in second.
November
The following Saturday, another great team performance saw Hull soundly beaten 4-1 with Leon Clarke giving one of the best individual performances of recent year at the Lane with four goals. Hull could not handle him at all. United then went on the road and went back to the top of the league as they beat Burton 3-1. Clarke scored again as did Sharp with a brace but the big talking point was the blow of losing talisman Coutts to a really nasty broken leg. This moment would have a significant impact on United the rest of the season. The following week a topsy turvy game saw Fulham edge a 9-goal thriller. Clarke scored another hat trick but some poor defending and slick attacking from the visitors was something we had not seen. Carter Vickers for the home side had a mare but Sessegnon for Fulham was too much for the Blades to cope with. At home the following Saturday on Sky, United needed Clarke to gain a point against a poor Birmingham side. It had been a poor week with the Coutts injury and two poor home results but United had to remain in good spirits going into the Christmas period.
December
A really flat performance at Millwall saw United go down despite a wonderful Brooks effort. The following week a much better showing should have been three points but United hit the woodwork four times and somehow lost at the last to a resurgent Bristol City side. The poor form continued as Preston beat United in another really lethargic showing. Still, a game at Villa Park showed United’s resolve as they fought back from two early goals with Donaldson back in the line up at the double. Boxing Day saw a bumper 30,000+ crowd and the Mackems were soundly beaten with Lundstram scoring in the first half and then first Blades goals for Stearman and Baldock. The patchy form continued to end the month as a workmanlike Bolton side snatched an unlikely win but United now were lacking the cohesion and consistency of earlier in the season.