Ben Mee was never meant to be Sheffield United’s saviour. When the veteran defender joined the Blades in the twilight of his career, few expected him to have much influence on a club in turmoil. Yet, as Sheffield United continue to navigate the chaos of new ownership, managerial upheaval, and questionable recruitment, Ben Mee’s arrival has become a surprising focal point in a season defined by instability.
How did we get here?
When American based consortium COH Sports completed their takeover of Sheffield United in late 2024, the Blades were three points clear of Leeds United at the top of the Championship. Since then, they’ve lost the playoff final, sacked Chris Wilder, appointed Ruben Selles, sacked Ruben Selles and reappointed Chris Wilder.
Now this doesn’t automatically mean that this downturn in the clubs’ fortunes is the sole responsibility of the new owners, but they are certainly not blameless. Starting with the managerial situation, it was certainly brave of them to sack a manager who got them 90 points last season (which would’ve been 92 had it not been for a two-point deduction), but I don’t think anyone saw their decision backfiring so spectacularly.
At Selles’s two previous jobs, Reading and Hull City, he performed very well. So, it’s not as though they hired someone with a poor managerial record or with zero Championship experience.
They were hiring someone who they thought was ready to manage a team who were expected to challenge for promotion. Clearly, they were wrong.
Selles lost all six of his games in charge, his final outing being a 5-0 embarrassment at the hands of Ipswich Town.
Poor Recruitment
Sheffield United’s recruitment has been all over the place recently. Their strategy has been heavily influenced by AI, which has resulted in the likes of Ehije Ukaki and Mihail Polendakov making their way to Bramall Lane.
Both young players, both unknown, both from Bulgaria. AI signings aside, the Blades really made a mess of the summer transfer window.
In addition to the youngsters from Bulgaria, Louie Barry and Tyler Bindon were the only players who had come in before the opening game of the season. But as soon as things started to go South, the club panicked, bringing in several players very quickly.
Whilst they were singing young players initially, they ended the window signing veterans Danny Ings and Ben Mee. The latter, specifically, is a very interesting one.
Ben Mee’s time at Sheffield United so far
Ben Mee joined the South Yorkshire side following the expiry of his contract at Brentford and was named as a substitute for Ruben Selles’ final match as manager. He would also find himself on the bench for Chris Wilder’s first game back, a 1-0 loss against Charlton.
Since then, Ben Mee has started all five Championship games since then, playing the full 90 minutes in four of them. During that run, they have picked up nine points and kept two clean sheets.
It is of course difficult to attribute all of Sheffield United’s improvement to Ben Mee. After all new signings Mark McGuinness and Japhet Tanganga have played the full 90 minutes in all five of the games that Mee has started and the three have formed a solid centre back trio.
This of course would not have been possible if Wilder hadn’t changed the system that the team were playing. There are several factors which have resulted in United’s upturn in form, but I doubt anyone would’ve predicted that a 36-year-old Ben Mee, who had only played 29 times in the last two seasons before joining the club, would be such a difference maker.
The Rest of the Season
So where will Sheffield United finish this season? At the time of writing, they find themselves 21st in the table, only four points behind 14th place Ipswich.
Before the season got underway, many expected them to challenge for promotion. This sounded ridiculous a few weeks ago, but now that Wilder has seemingly got things back under control, could this come to fruition?
Automatic promotion is a pipe dream with Middlesborough and especially Coventry City in incredible form at the moment. But they are only nine points away from a playoff place.
Granted they have only taken nine points from their opening eleven games, but there is still a long way to go in this Championship season.
