Sheffield United: This could be the start of something very big and beautiful at Bramall Lane
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And although he was right - not least because there are still 11 days remaining of the summer transfer window - Paul Heckingbottom knows, like everyone else who witnessed Sheffield United’s evisceration of Blackburn Rovers, that something very special is growing at Bramall Lane. You can sense it. Feel it. Smell it. The belief that, if everything remains equal, this squad has the talent and tenacity to cement its place at the top of the division.
“We’re not at that stage when you can say who is strongest,” Heckingbottom said, after goals from Oliver Norwood and Iliman Ndiaye (2) sent United to the summit of the Championship. “But on that performance, we’d have given everyone a game.”
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Hide AdRovers could, make that should, have been beaten by more. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side are no mugs and, with Ben Brereton Diaz in tow, crossed the Pennines searching for their fourth win of the campaign. They barely got a sniff, other than a 10 minute period at the beginning of the second-half before United fathomed out the formational change designed to halt their momentum.
When they did, and Ndiaye was introduced during the closing stages, the Senegalese’s trickery proved too much for a defence which had spent the best part of an hour being ragged by Reda Khadra and the excellent Oli McBurnie. Handed a chance in the starting eleven despite failing to score since September, the goal McBurnie craves remained elusive. But only because of Thomas Kaminski’s goalkeeping heroics.
United have been love-bombed so much over the past week, they could be forgiven for feeling like someone who has accidentally stumbled into a Unification Church conference. Speaking after last Sunday’s draw with Middlesbrough, Chris Wilder described them as being “ready to rock and roll” while his counterpart at Sunderland, the usually measured Alex Neil, insisted no other manager in the competition has the same depth of attacking options at their disposal as Heckingbottom, who has acquired Khadra, Tommy Doyle and James McAtee since the market reopened. Don’t forget Anel Ahmedhodiz either, given the Bosnian can’t seem to decide if he is a centre-half or winger.
Now, with Ndiaye, McBurnie and Daniel Jebbison already in situ, it was Tomasson’s turn to lavish praise on the 44-year-old’s team. “Very good, very, very good,” admitted the Dane, who represented Feyenoord and Milan as a player. “We knew it was going to be tough when we came here. United have an excellent squad and lots of quality. It was a deserved win. They were much better than us.”
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Hide AdNorwood’s exquisite free-kick, which saw him give Kaminski ‘the eyes’ before converting, set United on their way before Ndiaye scrambled home soon after being introduced. The youngster, on target for the third time in five outings, then produced a moment of pure magic; seizing possession near the halfway line and embarking upon a run which saw him bamboozle two defenders before producing a beautiful finish.
“I’ll be listening,” said Heckingbottom, “If I’m hearing the same things 40 games down the line.”
If this group stays fit, focused and together, there’s a strong chance that he will.