Callum O'Hare tells Sheffield United how Coventry City can help them win promotion | OneFootball

Sheffield United midfielder Callum O'Hare hopes that the Blades can take a leaf out of his former club's book next season

Sheffield United were playing catch-up compared to their other pre-season promotion contenders throughout the 2025/26 season.

The Blades finished 13th in the Championship this season, their lowest finish in the EFL since winning League One in the 2016/17 campaign.

Since then, they'd had two promotions to the Premier League, and the goal this season, after coming up just short in the play-off final this time last year, was to make it a third. In the end, they were far from it.

A disastrous summer, which began with the sacking of Chris Wilder in the wake of that Wembley defeat against Sunderland, and continued throughout the transfer window, as the COH sports ownership leaned on an AI approach to sign players, resulted in an imbalanced squad that new manager Ruben Selles couldn't get the best out of.

Six straight defeats in all competitions to begin the season led the owners to backtrack and bring Wilder back for a third stint, but the damage was already irreparable, and it wasn't long before this season was seen as a bit of a write-off at Bramall Lane.

Callum O'Hare hopes Sheffield United can make a fast start next season, similarly to Coventry City's this year

At the October international break, nine games into the Championship season, Sheffield United were already 16 points behind Coventry City, with a goal difference of 33 goals behind the Sky Blues.

The two sides bookended the second-tier table at the time, and it was quickly becoming apparent that the Blades' expectations this season were to avoid a disastrous relegation, rather than challenge Frank Lampard's then-unbeaten side for the title.

After that international break, though, Sheffield United would pick up the ninth-most points in the 37 games that followed, and that included a run of just three wins in their final 11 games, as Chris Wilder's side became closer and closer to being on the beach. If they were still competitive, they'd have easily been in the top six over that lengthy period.

Evidently, that run of one win and eight defeats in the first nine games killed off any promotion chances this season, and attacking midfielder Callum O'Hare hopes that they can begin 2026/27 on the front foot, similarly to how his former club Coventry did this season.

"I would say so for sure," O'Hare said, per the Sheffield Star, when asked if Frank Lampard's side laid a blueprint for the Blades to follow next season.

"I think the start of any season is huge. We didn't start very well, and it puts you in such an awkward position because you can't draw or lose many games.

"Whereas if you start as they did, the confidence throughout the team flies, and you just keep going one way. So, hopefully, we can do something similar to what they did this year, next year."

Sheffield United must start next season on the front foot

Even with Sheffield United starting next season without parachute payments, there's still an expectation that Chris Wilder's side will at least finish inside the revamped play-offs, as no fanbase wants to see their former Premier League club start to fade away in the Championship's mid-table.

Given the hectic situation that Wilder returned to in September, there was almost a free pass given to him this season. While there'll still be plenty of movement as the Blades boss looks to trim his squad down and add more quality, things are a lot more aligned across the club compared to this time last year.

And, with how the team was performing under the returning head coach, especially over the Christmas and New Year period, those at Bramall Lane know that this team can be capable of making a promotion push, even if important personnel leave between now and September.

But a strong start will be needed. If Sheffield United begin next season as they did this, then they'll once again be resigning themselves to a midtable finish, or perhaps even worse.