The drama at the very top of the Championship table never seems to disappoint as Sheffield United were handed a significant reality check last time out.
Indeed, the Blades – after three straight wins in the entertaining division – collapsed on their own patch to Hull City on Friday night, as Ruben Selles’ Tigers picked up a surprise 3-0 victory to really sour the mood at Bramall Lane.
Wilder will pray this is just a momentary blip on the way to greater success ahead, with his promotion teams of the past often priding themselves on resolute displays at the back away from leaking three strikes at home.
One defensive titan who is loved to this day from this successful period in South Yorkshire is Jack O’Connell, who signed for the club when the Blades were marooned in League One, only to then taste multiple promotions as a key figure.
Jack O'Connell's importance at United
The 6 foot 3 defender would go on to be a long-standing servant of the club all the way up until 2023 when a heartbreaking announcement surrounding his retirement was made public.
Before that came to be, however, O’Connell was a relied-upon colossus over many a season at Bramall Lane, with the Liverpool-born rock going on to make 177 appearances in total.
Away from keeping a stunning 17 clean sheets during the memorable 2018/19 season that more than helped United jump up to the Premier League, O’Connell would also form a reputation donning Blades red and white for being a goalscoring presence up from the back, with nine goals coming his way across his distinguished time at the club.
Unfortunately, injury issues began to plague the defender the more his time went on in South Yorkshire, leading to that devastating retirement two years ago after so many highlights.
But, Wilder could be about to win his second iteration of the towering Englishman if this purchase late into the window gets over the line, as the passionate boss looks to strengthen his team’s defence after a shock defeat to Hull.
Transfer Focus
The player who could be O'Connell 2.0
The player in question here is Queens Park Rangers star Jimmy Dunne who Football League World revealed a few days ago was being looked at by Wilder and Co.
Dunne certainly shares many of the same standout attributes that made O’Connell such a revered figure at Bramall Lane, with the 27-year-old an important goalscorer this season for the Hoops as much as he has also operated as a man mountain defensively.
Games played
29
41
Goals scored
4
3
Assists
1
3
Touches*
69.3
70.2
Accurate passes*
34.7 (76%)
41.7 (77%)
Interceptions*
1.2
1.3
Tackles*
2.1
0.6
Total duels won*
7.8
6.3
Looking at the table above, there are many eerie similarities between the two defenders, with both players possessing a similar taste for wanting to be involved in attacks with Dunne boasting four goals this season next to O’Connell’s three.
But, both brutes also strive to be aerially dominant for their teams with the QPR ace standing out with a staggering 7.8 duels won on average per league contest this season next to his now-retired counterpart’s number of 6.3.
It remains to be seen whether Marti Cifuentes would let such an influential member of his team leave, but Wilder would absolutely love to turn back time and gain a player who is in a similar mould to O’Connell, especially with Harry Souttar on the sidelines for the foreseeable.
The Blades cannot afford any more porous displays such as the Hull defeat to start negatively impacting their promotion chances, with the signing of this £8.5k-per-week target no doubt making them far harder to breach.
Wilder must axe Sheffield United flop who earns more than Hamer & Burrows
Chris Wilder could now be tempted to ditch this Sheffield United flop completely.
2 ByKelan SarsonJan 26, 2025