The factors that could help troubled Sheffield United survive against all odds this season - Alan Biggs

Football is more about feeling than logic. It often defies analysis. And it’s on that basis that this column was going to surprise even itself with the following prediction.

Was.

* Delete - Sheffield United will survive in the Premier League this season, just. *Insert - Might survive only if a genuine miracle happens and the dressing room out-performs the boardroom.

The original was drafted even after they’d lost their best player in Iliman Ndiaye. But the impending sale, as this was written, of Sander Berge to a fellow promoted club in Burnley has tipped the scales for this column. Yes, you can say United couldn’t risk losing either player for nothing in the last year of their contracts (but what about January?) Yes, you can say Ndiaye was seduced by boyhood favourites in Marseille.

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And yes, you can argue, as the club will, that both were offered lucrative deals to stay. But the fact is they’ve gone and what does that say about the future of the Blades? What does it say about the direction of the club?

It was up to the players in the end. Either could have stayed, as happened last January when Ndiaye - rather than United keeping him - turned down Everton. It’s about the statement that makes. The bottom line and common denominator points to the club’s ownership being in limbo, as it has been for eight months. Prince Abdullah has openly been wanting to sell and, while that’s the case, has demonstrated neither the resources nor will to compete further.

That has created a climate of instability; a fear of losing maybe even more players, a very low bar on recruitment and a general feeling, bordering on acceptance, that the club is simply not geared for the top flight. And yet, until the Berge move, I was still prepared to defy logic.

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That was based on the centre of the operation - the football operation, that is - and the beating heart that exists in management and players. Yes, it looked weaker without a game-changer like Ndiaye, but the recruitment had been relatively good. There is some youth and energy about the place, albeit that it is a very inexperienced front end of the team where goals are THE defining measure.

Will they score enough? Can they? These are the big questions and, minus Berge as well now, you’d be brave or foolish to say they can or will. Okay, some money will be released for signings and some may hold promise. But you are talking irreplaceable talents at United’s fee and wage levels.

Paul Heckingbottom talked, when we spoke in midweek, of having to change the whole dynamic of his team, philosophical and determined as he remains. Yet, in all areas other than scoring, I foresee a team that will compete. It’s just that crowbarring points requires an expensive quality United lack at face value. It’s now over to any number of promising young strikers with the opportunity to make a big name for themselves.

Another thing I’d planned to write, dare I say on the ownership front, is that sometimes it’s better the devil you know. While lacking in resources and commitment for the future - and who knows what his end game is? - Prince Abdullah appears to have continued to carry significant support among a divided fan base.

But, unless he sticks or twists, it’s really now all about the management, the team and its connection with supporters. Which is strong and must remain strong if the Blades are to have any chance of staying up. It’s for that reason that I was preparing to tip the Blades to buck expectations.

Togetherness goes a long way in this game. It will have to go much further than I thought.