SHEFFIELD UNITED are being spanked hard all the way back to the Championship – but they’re already safe from being the worst Premier League team of all time.
The blunt Blades conceded five or more goals for the THIRD home game in a row as they slipped to a 6-0 thrashing by Arsenal at Bramall Lane on Monday night.
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Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher described the first-half performance of Chris Wilder’s side as the worst he had ever seen from a top-flight club.
But even if the current United squad fail to win a single point for the rest of the season – and you wouldn’t bet against it – they will not even be in the bottom five in the Premier League era.
No fewer than SIX teams have finished a PL campaign with fewer than the 20 points that the Blades already have.
One of them, Portsmouth, deserve a special mention for mismanagement on and off the field.
They ended up bottom of the pile with 19 points in 2009/10 after being deducted nine for going into administration.
But in terms of just being hapless on the field, the Blades can already be safe in the knowledge that there have been five teams worse than them.
SUNDERLAND 2002/3 – 19 points
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The proud North East club had a rapid fall from grace.
They went from being Fat Black Cats, finishing seventh in 1999/2000 and 2000/1, to 17th in 2001/2 and then Dead Black Cats lying rock bottom in 2002/3.
The season was a classic of the genre, with three different managers and an absolute stinker of a run after the turn of the year.
Peter Reid was sacked in October and replaced by Howard Wilkinson, who quit as FA technical director to take the job.
After five months, Wilkinson was on his way after winning just two games. The second of those, a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at the Stadium of Light on December 15, was the last time fans celebrated three points.
Sunderland claimed just two more points in total. After a goalless home draw against Blackburn on January 11, they lost their last 15 games of the campaign.
Mick McCarthy was in charge of the final nine, in which his team scored only twice and ended up 25 points adrift of safety.
Yet amazingly worse was to come for him and the club.
ASTON VILLA 2015/16 – 17 points
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It’s hard to believe now, but less than a decade ago Villa were in total freefall.
In a scattergun summer spending spree, they bought three players with the Christian name Jordan – Ayew, Amavi and Veretout – but it proved to be the club’s Last Dance in the Premier League for four years.
What was supposed to be Tim Sherwood’s first full season as a manager ended in late October after just one win that had come on the opening day of the season..
Replacement Remi Garde tried to instill more discipline into the squad, dropping a promising 20-year-old named Jack Grealish after he was seen in a nightclub hours after a 4-0 defeat by Everton.
Former Arsenal player Garde managed just three wins before he left Villa Park in March.
The team took one point from their last 13 games to end up 22 points behind 17th-placed Sunderland, having hit the bottom in November and never left it.
It was the club’s first relegation since 1986/7, ending their run of being one of just seven clubs to be ever-present in the Premier League.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018/19 – 16 points
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David Wagner and his team had already made a bit of history in the way they survived one season in the Premier League.
In 2017/18, the club’s first campaign in the top flight since 1971/2, they scored just 28 goals in 38 games, the joint fewest ever by a non-relegated team.
But Huddersfield couldn’t pull the same trick off again, as top scorer Karlan Grant found the net just four times in a miserable campaign.
After beating Wolves at Molineux on November 25, the Terriers dug out just six more points and one more win – also against Wolves – for the rest of the season.
If they had not managed draws in their final two games against Manchester United and away at Southampton, they would have finished with 14 points and now lie one place lower in the hall of infamy.
But relegation was confirmed on March 30, the joint earliest in the Premier League era with the lowest ever points scorers, the superstars who were Derby County 2007/8 (see below).
SUNDERLAND 2005/6 – 15 points
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A second appearance for the Black Cats and for poor old Mick McCarthy.
This time he was the man in charge at the start of a terrible campaign in which they hit rock bottom in late October and never even reached the dizzy heights of 19th place after that.
When McCarthy left in mid-February, the club was already well adrift after winning just two games and 10 points in their opening 25 Premier League fixtures.
At least the team shared the goals and blame around, with their four joint-top scorers – Liam Lawrence, Tommy Miller, Dean Whitehead and Anthony Le Tallec – all chipping in with three each.
To the misery of their supporters, Sunderland set a new record of 29 league defeats in a 20-team division.
Their points total was also a new low. But if the Stadium of Light faithful feared it would never be bettered – or worsered – they had to wait only two seasons to lose the unwanted tag of the Premier League’s worst ever team.
DERBY COUNTY 2007/8 – 11 points
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It’s not unusual for Championship Play-Off winners to find themselves ill-equipped for life in the Premier League.
But never has a team been so out of its depth as the Rams were in this staggering season.
They won just once – ONCE – and that was in their sixth game on September 17. Yet even that one ray of sunshine was dimmed somewhat by the fact that live TV cameras missed Kenny Miller scoring the only goal against Newcastle, because a replay was being shown instead.
Promotion-winning boss Billy Davies lasted until November, and successor Paul Jewell gained just five points in his 24 games in charge.
You can’t say they didn’t try everything to stop the rot – the 36 players used by Derby is the third highest in a Premier League campaign.
All the numbers are staggering. A joint-record number of defeats (29) and a new high for goals (89) conceded in a 38-game season, and an all-time low for points that will surely never been beaten.
SHEFFIELD UNITED 2023/4 – 13* points
Unless Everton and Nottingham Forest are handed massive points deductions for breaking financial rules, the Blades have no chance of survival.
And even then, it’s hard to see them putting together the run of form it would take to give them hope.
Chris Wilder and his team are playing for pride and it is hard to summon much of that when you have been humbled so badly in front of your home fans.
Derby’s points total record is not under threat. But United need to concede only 18 or more goals in their final 11 games to become the worst defensive side in top-flight history since Swindon conceded the nice round number of 100 in a 22-team, 42-game Premier League season in 1993/4.
You also can’t rule out the possibility of them out of losing nine more matches to equal the record of 29 shared by Sunderland and Derby.
But with Burnley also on 13 points and above them only on goal difference, the Blades can dream of not even being the worst Premier League team of this season, let alone of all time.
