Sheffield United are yet to appoint a permanent manager at Bramall Lane following the departure of Chris Wilder back in March, having left the club on 14 points after 28 games.
The 53-year-old was a huge favourite of fans at the Blades, following him leading his boyhood club to the Premier League, having joined them when they were in League One. Since his departure, Paul Heckingbottom has been in charge as an interim manager and is also in the running for the role on a permanent basis.
Slavisa Jokanovic is the favourite to get the role at Bramall Lane. The Serbian manager has a good record in the Championship having been promoted from England’s second tier with Watford in the 2014/15 season, as well as with Fulham in 2017/18 as the Cottagers beat Aston Villa in the playoff final at Wembley.
The Serbian is currently the manager of Qatar based club Al-Gharafa and was nominated as manager of the season last campaign and is set to lead them to back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the Qatari Stars League.
A move to the Blades would be a good move for Jokanovic, as it would allow him to join a more reputable league and to have the chance to potentially lead another club to the Premier League and sustain their position there, of which he couldn’t do with Fulham.
Alexander Blessin is the next manager on this list of those who have been linked to the role at the Blades. The 47-year-old will come as a relatively unknown manager to the fans of the Bramall Lane club, as he has had just on year in management at Belgian Pro League side KV Oostende.
Oostende are currently having an excellent season, as they are currently in fifth place with 53 points from 34 matches, just three point behind the likes of Genk who occupy the last of the Europa League qualification places, this is in stark contrast to last season when the club finished 15th in the league standings.
This would be an incredible opportunity for the likes of Blessin, as this would give him the opportunity to manage a bigger club that is financially significantly better off. It would also suit the German, as he has shown that he can overachieve with whatever squad is given at his disposal, proven by his work at Oostende.
Blessin is priced at 3/1 to make the move to Bramall Lane for the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
Aston Villa first-team coach John Terry is also rumoured to be on the cards to become the next United manager, having received glowing references from the likes of Dean Smith.
Although the former Chelsea captain would come into management as an unknown product, he showed outstanding leadership qualities on the pitch and has worked alongside experienced coaches such as Craig Shakespeare and Richard O’Kelly.
This would be a good but risky move for a new manager to make, as the Yorkshire club would be a good one to start at, as in the Championship they’ll have one of the stronger squads, however, there would be the expectations of the fans wanting to get promoted which wouldn’t be anything new to the former Chelsea captain, as this was an expectation, he had to manage during his playing days at Stamford Bridge.
The former England captain is priced at 10/1 to become the Blades next manager.
Eddie Howe has also been linked to the job at Bramall Lane.
Howe has not had a job since leaving Bournemouth following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season. He is best known for his time at the Cherries, managing them for 12 years till his departure in 2020, with a one and a half-season spell at Burnley separating his two spells at Dean Court between January 2011 and October 2012. His time at Bournemouth saw him take the Cherries from the bottom of the League Two table to as high as ninth place in the Premier League in 2016/17.
The former Bournemouth manager has similarities to the likes of Wilder, as he has worked in all of England’s top four leagues, earning promotion from each one of them and will know what it will take for a club like Sheffield to be successful, so maybe a good fit for the Yorkshire club.
Howe has the odds of 12/1 to be the manager of the Blades next season.
Current interim manager Heckingbottom is also on the list of managers that have been linked to the job at Bramall Lane.
The 43-year-old has had five matches in charge since Wilder’s departure and has lot all of them so far. Prior to taking over the reins at Bramall Lane, Heckingbottom was the under 23’s manager at the club.
The Barnsley born manager earned his managerial reputation at his home town club in the 2015/16 campaign where he managed the Tykes to promotion from League One via the playoffs, whilst also overseeing them beat Oxford United 3-2 in the Football League Trophy final.
Following his successes at Oakwell, he chanced his arm with a move to Leeds United which turned out to be unsuccessful, as he was sacked after 16 matches in charge, winning just four times.
If Heckingbottom was to become the permanent manager of the Blades then this would be an excellent chance for him to rebuild his managerial career, however, his side would have to show better displays on the pitch if he was to become successful at Sheffield.
Heckingbottom is priced at 14/1 to become the next permanent manager at United.
Lampard is the final manager on this list, and is without a club having been sacked by Chelsea due to a poor run of form that had seen the Blues win just two of their last eight league games under the former Derby County manager over the festive period.
However, following the aftermath of his sacking, there were rumours of the Chelsea transfer team signing players that he wasn’t interested in bringing to the club, which was essentially the downturn in his form at the Bridge, as he managed to finish fourth in the Premier League with them in 2019/20 having had a transfer ban.
Lampard comes across as an ambitious man, and will more likely be waiting till the end of the season before he commits to a decision, as he has been linked to the likes of Celtic, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and more. Having already impressed in the Championship with Derby, as well as in his time at Chelsea, he may believe that a move to Bramall Lane is a step down in his career.
