Should Sean O’Driscoll take the Sheffield United job?

I have to admit my level of knowledge of the lower leagues of English football is not the best.

However there are two things I know about the Championship and that’s that Sheffield United aren’t currently in the best of shape and that Doncaster boss Sean O’Driscoll is one of the most promising young coaching talents in British football.

Gone

This week Sheffield United lost manager Gary Speed, as he took up the reigns of the Welsh national side. From what I read from Blades fans Speed is no great loss.

He had no managerial experience before joining the Yorkshire side and as we speak United are 20^th in the Championship, just one point ahead of the relegation zone. Those two facts tell me that Speed hasn’t done a particularly great job at Bramall Lane.

Pundits and fans alike of questioned his appointment as Wales’s boss, due to his lack of managerial experience. The preferred choice seemed to be the more experienced Chris Coleman. Sheffield United are now on the lookout for a new boss and the Doncaster boss is currently favourite for the vacant position.

Interested

It seems to me that O’Driscoll is interested in the job. He told Yorkshire Radio: I’m not one for reading things in the paper and gluing myself to Sky Sports for 24 hours a day but obviously certain things have come to light.

“There’s not a lot that I can say about it that isn’t going to go down the line of what every other manager says when there’s speculation about his position, whether it’s under threat or he gets linked with another job.

“Until something concrete happens I don’t know what you’re supposed to say. It’s a big club with a great tradition and a good infrastructure and we’re trying to get there with Doncaster, so I don’t know what else to say.”

Tradition

Sheffield United does have a great tradition and were one of the founding members of the Premier League. They have spent 60 years of their existence in the top flight of English football, whether it be the old first division or the Premier League.

However in recent seasons they haven’t lived up to their history. The club are not in the best shape financially and are finding it hard to compete in the harsh world of the Championship. Would it be a step up for O’Driscoll if he swapped Rovers for United?

I’m not so sure. Doncaster are a really well run club and thanks to O’Driscoll they are a really solid Championship outfit. He has done a superb job on a limited budget and O’Driscoll whenever I have seen Rovers play they played attractive football.

I even heard a Rovers fan jokingly say that they are the Arsenal of the Championship! I’m not sure I would go that far but they are a very attractive side to watch on their day.

Big

In a lot of people’s eyes Sheffield United are still a far bigger club than Doncaster. Doncaster Rovers have only recently established themselves in league football, having only been promoted from the conference in 2003.

Likely

I can see Sean O’Driscoll taking the Sheffield United job and probably being successful with the Blades. It would be a real test of the former-Bournemouth stalwart managerial skills.

The Blades fans probably have slightly loftier ambitions than Rovers and it will be interesting to see how he copes with those expectations. If he can cope with those expectations he will only improve his growing reputation as one of the brightest young coaches in the lower leagues and probably go onto great things in the game.

Will Sean O’Driscoll be the next Sheffield United boss?