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Sheffield United will have to break their playoff hoodoo in the Championship if they want to triumphantly return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Staggeringly, the Blades have lost all eight of the previous playoff campaigns they’ve found themselves in, but if there’s one man who is capable of going against the grain in this regard, it’s Chris Wilder when you look at his two promotions already with his beloved hometown club.

To get over the line, Wilder will need every single one of his Blades players to be firing on all cylinders, including top scorer Tyrese Campbell.

Campbell's goalscoring form for United

The Blades haven’t quite blown teams away with their attacking arsenal this campaign, with the South Yorkshire outfit boasting just 62 strikes next to an already promoted Leeds United side who have amassed a hefty 89.

But, there have still been forward players that have stood out even if the displays haven’t always been the most free-flowing, with Campbell definitely in this conversation.

The former Stoke City man arrived through the door on a free transfer with a lot to prove, considering the end of his time with the Potters was largely injury-hit, but Campbell has managed to let his football do the majority of the talking this season to date with ten Championship strikes tallied up.

Unfortunately, across United’s recent wretched run of four defeats from five league clashes, the goals had dried up for the 25-year-old, but Wilder will still feel his number 23 has lots to offer when the nitty gritty of the playoffs gets officially underway.

Whilst he will back Campbell, Wilder would love to have an ultra-reliable head back among his promotion-chasing group if he could.

Sheffield United legend is now outscoring Campbell

Wilder has had many interesting characters to fall back on as United have challenged for promotions over the years, with the likes of John Fleck picking up a bumper 12 goal contributions the last time the manager successfully guided the Blades up to the top-flight.

In that same memorable group, Billy Sharp loved playing alongside the constantly creative Scotsman, with the explosive veteran going on to bag 23 strikes of his own during the 2018/19 campaign to further seal his team’s progression to the big time.

Sharp hasn’t lost this goalscoring expertise whatsoever playing for current side Doncaster Rovers, with the 39-year-old picking up a glittering sixth career promotion just this weekend when Grant McCann’s men beat Bradford City 2-1.

Of course, the Sheffield-born goal machine – who has previously been hailed as a “legend of the EFL” by BBC 5 Live Sport Presenter Steve Crossman – couldn’t help but get in on the goalscoring action for Donny, with his late winning strike against the Bantams taking him up to an impressive 12 goals for the season despite only starting 19 clashes in the lower reaches of the EFL.

League Two

42

9

1

FA Cup

4

2

0

EFL Trophy

2

0

0

EFL Cup

2

1

0

Amazingly, the 39-year-old’s stellar output so late into his playing days for Doncaster actually betters Campbell’s ten-goal haul back at Bramall Lane, with Wilder not turning his nose up at the hypothetical scenario of Sharp being back in Blades red and white right now to try and secure another promotion success for his team.

It will, of course, be hard for United to get over their near miss of the top two positions, but jinxes such as their ongoing playoff misery are there to be broken, with Campbell hopeful he can immortalise himself in his new club’s hall-of-fame by being a hero across the tense clashes to come.

Sheffield United are brewing their next Jagielka in "outstanding" star

Sheffield United will hope this centre-back sticks it out at Bramall Lane past this season.

ByKelan Sarson Apr 20, 2025

Tottenham Hotspur were beaten for the 17th time in the Premier League this season when they lost 4-2 to relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.

Despite Wolves having battled against the drop throughout the 2024/25 campaign, Vitor Pereira’s side are now just two points behind Spurs, who are sat in 15th place in the division.

Player ratings courtesy of Sofascore

There is no escape from the fact that it has been a failure of a season for Ange Postecoglou in the Premier League, as his team are 17 points adrift of the top seven and European qualification, whilst they are only 16 points ahead of Ipswich Town in the last relegation spot.

Spurs are still in the Europa League, and face Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday, but there will be no domestic success for Tottenham before the end of the campaign.

Tottenham do have a clutch of very young players who are learning on the job, and Postecoglou may point to that as one of the factors behind their underperformance, but there is no guarantee that they will fulfill their potential.

There have been talented young prospects in North London in the past who have not gone on to live up to the hype, including electric winger Jack Clarke.

Why Jack Clarke failed at Spurs

Back in the summer of 2019, Tottenham swooped to sign the 18-year-old forward from Championship side Leeds United for a reported fee of £10m.

He had just made 25 appearances in the first-team for Marcelo Bielsa as the Whites reached the play-off semi-finals, only to lose to Derby County, and Spurs clearly saw him as a high-potential talent who could be a future star for the club, hence why they were willing to spend £10m on his services.

Clarke, as you can see in the graphic above, went on to make a further three appearances for Leeds on loan in the 2019/20 campaign, before playing six times in the Championship for QPR in the second half of that season.

At the start of the 2020/21 season, the English whiz was given a few opportunities to showcase his quality in the first-team for Spurs, with two appearances in the Europa League and one in the FA Cup, but did not muster up any goals or assists.

Appearances

2

Shots

1

Shots on target

0

Goals

0

Key passes

2

Assists

0

Big chances created

0

Dribbles completed

0

Duel success rate

25%

The £10m signing showed promise at youth level with a return of four goals and four assists in 18 academy matches in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign, before being sent out on loan to League One side Sunderland in January 2022.

After one goal in 20 League One outings – including the play-offs – Tottenham decided to cash in on Clarke, who had yet to prove himself on a consistent basis at senior level three years on from his £10m move, by selling him to the Black Cats.

Ultimately, Clarke, who now plays for Ipswich in the Premier League, failed to realise his potential at White Hart Lane, and Archie Gray is in danger of following in his footsteps after a dismal showing last time out.

Archie Gray's performance against Wolves

The 19-year-old defender started at right-back, the position he made his breakthrough in at Leeds last season, against Wolves on Sunday and put in a dismal showing.

Gray was far from the only poor performer on the pitch, as Vicario flapped the ball back out for two of the goals, Djed Spence scored an own goal, Cristian Romero lost the ball for the third goal, and Ben Davies completely mistimed his challenge on Matheus Cunha for the fourth.

However, it was still a disappointing 90 minutes of football from the England U21 international, whose play in and out of possession left far too much to be desired.

Minutes

90

90

Pass accuracy

85%

87%

Key passes

0

0

Successful crosses

0/4

1/4

Possession lost

19x

17x

Interceptions

2

1

Tackles

0

3

Duels won

0/3

8/11

As you can see in the table above, Spence delivered an even better performance than him – despite playing as a right-footer at left-back – even with an unfortunate own goal to go with it.

Gray offered no threat at the top end of the pitch, with no key passes or successful crosses, and was a lightweight off the ball, losing 100% of his duels.

Why Archie Gray is in danger of being the next Jack Clarke

The versatile youngster is now in danger of following in the footsteps of another Leeds academy graduate, as it remains to be seen if he can realise his potential at Spurs.

Tottenham reportedly splashed out a fee of £30m to sign the defender from the Whites last summer, and he has yet to prove his worth on a consistent basis in the Premier League.

Gray has made 40 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, far more than the three outings that Clarke had at the start of his Tottenham career, but there has not been too much quality in those outings.

The England youth international has started nine of his ten appearances in the Europa League, resulting in zero goals, zero assists, and a duel success rate of 47%.

Appearances

23

Goals + assists

0

Key passes per game

0.1

Tackles + interceptions per game

0.9

Error led to shot

1

Error led to goal

1

Duel success rate

47%

As you can see in the table above, Gray has also failed to deliver much in the way of quality in the Premier League, with one chance created every ten games and less than one tackle and interception combined per game on average.

The 19-year-old, who has the lowest Sofascore rating (6.58) in the squad, does not offer a threat in possession or quality off the ball as a defender, rarely making interventions and losing the majority of his duels.

You could argue that he is being played out of position at right-back, as central midfield was the role he came up through the academy in, but 30 of his 49 starts for Leeds came in that area of the pitch.

At this moment in time, Gray is on his way to following in Clarke’s footsteps by failing to live up to his potential at Spurs after joining the club for big money.

Of course, there is plenty of time for the teenage talent to improve and develop if Postecoglou is willing to trust him in the long term, but he will need to show far more than what he is doing right now to become a success and avoid being Clarke 2.0.

As bad as Vicario: 3/10 Spurs star just reduced his price tag by £50m

Spurs’ miserable run of form continued with a 4-2 defeat to Wolves on Sunday.

ByMatt Dawson Apr 13, 2025

“One of the best coaches ever” is now a front-runner to replace Ivan Juric at Southampton, who have already identified a number of managers as potential targets, according to a report.

Southampton part ways with Juric after relegation

The Saints’ relegation from the Premier League was finally confirmed on Sunday, following a 3-1 loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, although in truth the writing has been on the wall for quite some time, after a disastrous campaign.

Juric inherited a difficult situation at St. Mary’s, with Russell Martin being sacked in December, at which point his side were already nine points from safety, but there were very few signs of improvement after the 49-year-old’s arrival.

With just seven games left to go, the soon-to-be Championship side need to collect two more points to avoid breaking an unwanted record, with Derby County’s 11 points in the 2007-08 campaign currently the lowest total in Premier League history.

With Dibling: Southampton could sell "top" £15m gem as Euro giants circle

Their scouts are impressed.

ByCharlie Smith Mar 28, 2025

Next season, the aim will undoubtedly be to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt, and the board have now started to identify managers who could give them a very good chance of doing exactly that.

According to a report from The Boot Room, Southampton have a number of options in mind, including Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, but Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior is believed to be one of the front-runners.

BlueCo may not make it easy for the Saints to snap Rosenior up, however, as they are determined to keep hold of the up-and-coming manager, with Strasbourg faring very well in their pursuit of qualification for the Champions League.

As such, Sheffield Wednesday’s Danny Rohl could be a more attainable target, given that the German coach has a relatively affordable £5m release clause included in his contract with the Owls.

Rosenior impressing in Ligue 1 with Strasbourg

It is little wonder Southampton are keen on appointing the Englishman, given the job he has done at Strasbourg this season, with his side currently in fourth place, just three points behind second-placed Marseille.

The 40-year-old has orchestrated a phenomenal turnaround, with Strasbourg finishing 13th under the helm of Patrick Vieira last season, and he has previously been hailed for his ability on the training ground.

Clinton Morrison praised the work the Strasbourg boss did during his time as Derby County’s caretaker manager, saying: “I actually think he’s a top manager,”

“I spoke to a few people at Derby. He was unlucky to lose his job, the players respected him. He’s one of the best coaches ever.”

Club

Matches

Points per match

Strasbourg

31

1.77

Hull City

78

1.40

Derby County

12

1.92

However, with Strasbourg on course to qualify for the Champions League, it seems unlikely that Rosenior would be willing to manage a Championship side next season, particularly with BlueCo so eager to keep hold of him, so Rohl could be a more realistic appointment for the Saints.

Tottenham Hotspur are making contingency plans if they decide to sack under-pressure head coach Ange Postecoglou, with Fabrizio Romano sharing more news on another managerial candidate alongside the heavily-linked Andoni Iraola.

Tottenham shortlist managers to replace Ange Postecoglou

Last week, The Athletic backed multiple other reports that Postecoglou’s job at Spurs is under real threat, following an underwhelming second season in charge which has seen the Lilywhites drop to 14th in the table.

15 league defeats for a club of Tottenham’s calibre quite simply isn’t good enough, and according to Romano, Postecoglou is solely relying on a good run in the Europa League if he stands any hope of keeping his job beyond this term (GiveMeSport).

Chelsea (away)

April 3rd

Southampton (home)

April 6th

Wolves (away)

April 13th

Nottingham Forest (home)

April 21st

Liverpool (away)

April 27th

While the Australian prays for a Europa League run which would help restore faith in him as the right manager to lead Spurs forward, chairman Daniel Levy and the boardroom are reliably believed to be drawing up a shortlist of potential replacements for Postecoglou.

Iraola is in pole position for the possible Tottenham vacancy, according to various media sources, but other candidates are in the frame as well. Fulham boss Marco Silva has impressed at Craven Cottage, standing out as their most successful manager of the modern era, and this hasn’t gone unnoticed at N17.

Spurs are interested in Silva as a new managerial candidate, while Brentford manager Thomas Frank is also understood to be among the names who Tottenham are thinking about appointing (The Athletic).

The north Londoners could also look to Europe in search of the right man for their dugout, and one prestigious name who’s already been mentioned is Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi.

The 48-year-old guided Inter to a Serie A title last season and a Champions League final in 2023, and he’s currently competing with Antonio Conte’s Napoli in a hotly-contested race for his second Scudetto in charge at the San Siro.

Some reports claim ex-Tottenham managing director Fabio Paratici has recommended Inzaghi to Levy, and Romano has now shared an update.

Tottenham sources "guarantee" Simone Inzaghi interest

Writing for GiveMeSport, the reliable journalist claims his Tottenham sources “guarantee” interest in appointing Inzaghi, but it will by no means be an easy one to pull off.

The Italian is currently in full focus at Inter, where his side will also be competing in the Club World Cup from June 1st, with Romano adding that Inzaghi doesn’t look like a “realistic” opportunity for Spurs at this stage.

That being said, Romano hasn’t completely ruled out a Spurs move for the £169,000-per-week tactician, and Inzaghi could be worth the effort given his stellar reputation among players who’ve worked with him.

“The squad has been together for years. Inzaghi is a phenomenonal coach. I’ve never had a better manager, even though I had top coaches like Eriksson and Hughes,” said ex-Serie A striker Felipe Caicedo on his time with Inzaghi.

“Inzaghi has that special factor that other coaches lack. He manages to get inside your head, he tells you the right things at the right time. This bond with the players makes the difference. Then maybe tactically he is not yet on Guardiola’s level, but he is an excellent coach. And the results are there to see.

“During the six months I spent at Inter, we didn’t win the Scudetto due to our own fault.”