Callum O'Hare told he may regret leaving Coventry City - Sheffield United was "a side step" move | OneFootball

Callum O'Hare left Coventry City to join Sheffield United on a free transfer last summer.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Since both lost out in last season's Championship play-offs, Coventry City and Sheffield United have taken two completely different trajectories at the beginning of the new campaign.

In a shock turn of events that not even Sheffield United's harshest critics could have foreseen, the Blades sit bottom of the Championship table six matches in, having failed to pick up a single point at this stage.

Chris Wilder was relieved of his duties at the end of last season, after defeat in the play-off final, and was replaced by Spanish boss Ruben Selles.

But just three months after leaving Bramall Road for the second time, Wilder is back in the Blades' dugout for his third spell, as he looks to lift his boyhood club off the bottom of the table in which they were among the favourites to initially top.

Coventry, on the other hand, are yet to be defeated, and sit just inside the play-off places on 10 points, level with four other sides, having scored the most goals in the league thus far.

Transferring between the two clubs last summer was attacking midfielder O'Hare, who may well be envious of his former club's position in comparison to his current.

Callum O'Hare declined Coventry City's offer in favour of Sheffield United - he "thought he was a big fish in a little pond"

FLW's Coventry fan pundit, Chris, believes O'Hare's decision to join Sheffield United instead of remaining at the CBS Arena was one that has backfired on the attacking midfielder, and feels he's taken a side step move by joining the Blades.

He said: "He was undoubtedly a great player for us. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything he did for the club and how he helped us get to where we have got to, but he thought he was worth more than what he actually was.

"He was expecting Premier League moves. He was expecting the likes of West Ham and Leicester, linked with moves abroad, and there were also [links] over to Celtic and Rangers as well, and he ended up taking a bit of a side step.

"People were saying it was a step-up to go to Sheffield United, but look at where we both ended the season, we both lost in the play-offs.

"All I ever see is Sheffield United fans criticising him on social media, saying that he is lazy, that he doesn't contribute nearly as much as he should do, [he's] got no creativity anymore.

"I don't know what's happened to him, I don't know if it's just that he doesn't work as well in Wilder's and then Ruben Selles' formation and game plans. I don't know, I've not watched much of Sheffield United over the last year.

"But it was a blessing (O'Hare leaving), as would we have signed Jack Rudoni if we had kept O'Hare? Possibly not. We've got by far and away the best midfielder in the league, arguably the second/third best English player in the league.

"[He] is one that we're going to end up selling on for, regardless of whether we go up or stay in the Championship, minimum of £20 million now that he has signed a new deal.

"O'Hare was offered more money, which he wanted, and he still turned it down. He thought he was a big fish in a little pond."

Callum O'Hare has been a regular at Sheffield United since his Coventry City switch

Since switching Coventry for Sheffield in the summer of 2024, O'Hare has been an almost ever-present in the Blades' lineups.

The Solihull-born midfielder made 44 appearances in the Championship last season with 38 of those being starts, and then went on to make three appearances for the side in the play-offs, though each as a substitute.

Now entering his second season at Bramall Lane, it couldn't have gone much worse so far for the former Coventry star, having played in every one of Sheffield United's seven defeats in all competitions.

Now with Wilder back at the helm, O'Hare will be hoping the 58-year-old can work his magic to turn the club's fortunes around, and not make him regret his decision to leave the Sky Blues in search of new pastures.

The 27-year-old was able to bag four goals and six assists in 47 total appearances under Wilder last season, but even that return was a significant decrease on his previous Coventry City campaign.

Indeed, in his final season with the Sky Blues, the versatile attacking midfielder scored 10 goals and provided four assists, and he did so from just 36 total appearances, and so it's fair to say that he's yet to match the same kind of production at Bramall Lane that he was having at the CBS Arena.

Should Blades continue to struggle in the second tier this season, then he may well find it tough to replicate his City goal contribution numbers in his second term in the Steel City either.