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Jose Baxter: Sheffield United forward found guilty of failed drug test.

Sheffield United forward, Jose Baxter has been found guilty of a failed drug test after an out of competition test found traces of a banned substance.

Baxter signed for the Blades from Tranmere after starting his career at Everton. When signed for the Blades he signed a 3 year deal which still has 2 years left to run.

The extent of the punishment that will be handed out is not yet know. The player could face anything up to a 2 year ban from any football activity.

The player had previously informed the club that he took part in no wrong doing. No comment has yet been made from either the club nor the player.​
 
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Sheffield United sack forward Jose Baxter


Sheffield United have formally terminated the contract of forward, Jose Baxter after the FA found him guilty of a failed drugs test following and out of competition routine test during.

Jose Baxter has not yet been banned by the FA but he could face up to 2 years out of the game. The Blades have acted quickly and terminated the contract of the former Everton and Tranmere player.

Baxter has not yet made a statement following this news as it is thought he'll wait for the decision from the FA first.​
 
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Sheff Utd sign Steven Davies on loan​

Blackpool forward, Steven Davies, has joined League 1 side, Sheffield United on a season long loan.

Blackpool had signed Davies for an undisclosed fee in 2013 after one season at Bristol City. Davies begun his carear at Tranmere where he featured 60 times before moving onto Derby County.

The move comes as further financial difficulties became apparent at parent club Blackpool who were struggling to continue paying his wages.

Davies becomes the first signing of new Blades boss, Brian Deane.
 
After Davies signed, we went on a bit of a buying spree:​

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Jak Alnwick became the next signing after moving for £200k from Newcastle. £100k was to be paid upfront with anther £100k to be paid over several months.

There doesn't seem to be much between Alnwick and Mark Howard, although Alnwick has the potential to be great and plenty good enough for the Premiership.

The next signing was yet another forward:​

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Zach Clough became the latest addition after moving on loan from Bolton. Clough looks plenty good enough for this league and really should be playing in the Championship.

This gives us the option to be able to play 2 up front as I don't think Clough is able to play up front on his own.

The next signing was a much needed center back:​

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Jonathan Woodgate signs from Middlesborough for a fee of £30,000. The experienced center back will really help this young side.

Him and Basham should be the partnership whenever available.


Next up, a couple of midfielders joined:​

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Both Shaun Macdonald and Anthony Wordsworth join the squad just before the start of the season.

Wordsworth signs on loan from Championship side Ipswich whilst MacDonald signs from Championship side Bournemouth.

I really felt the midfield area needed strengthening with Michael Doyle being released and Chris Basham having to move back to center back. Wordsworth should be our best midfielder while MacDonald will primarily act as cover to Scougall, Wallace and Wordsworth.

With all these signing, as well as Steven Davies, meant our budget was well and truly spent.
 
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Sheff Utd sign Laste Dombaxe​

Dombaxe becomes the latest addition to the Blades squad after making 5 signings already.

Dombaxe signs on a free transfer after being released by Tottenham. Dombaxe never actually made a single appearance for Tottenham before his release at the end of last season.

Brian Deane has certainly been a busy man after being appointed Blades boss by announcing their 6th signing of pre-season.
 
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Sheff Utd sign Jason Cummings from Hibs​

Sheffield United have completed the signing of forward, Jason Cummings, from Scottish side, Hibernian.

Cummings signs for a fee believed to be in the region of around £250k after impressing in Scotland.

The 18 year old Scot becomes the 7th signing of new Blades boss, Brian Deane.
 
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A good pre-season with 4 wins out of 5, the only slip up coming against our own under 21 side where we drew 1-1. In truth we were expected to win all these games but we still had to go out and produce the goods. Tranmere probably were the toughest opponents on paper, but even they were blown away by our attacking play.

Steven Davies and Zach Clough were probably the best players in the pre-season games, picking up a good understanding and partnership.

Up next is the first league game against fellow promotion hopeful's, Bristol City.

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Interview with Peter Beagrie


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PB - So Brian, how is life in management?

BD - So far so good Peter. Its stressful and long hours but it's great working with the lads, I just cant wait for the league to start now.

PB - You've certainly been busy, bringing in 7 players and letting 4 go. How hard was the decision to release Jose Baxter from his contract?

BD - To be honest, that decision was above my head. It was hard for me though, I obviously looked at the squad and really thought he'd play a big part so there was a lot of re-thinking to be done. I'm sure he'll find a super club once his ban expires.

PB - Does his loss impact on the way you'll play or do you think you've replaced him adequately?

BD - We've defiantly replaced him adequately, albeit the lads brought it play in a slightly different role. When possible, I'll look to play an attacking 4-4-2 formation which is where I played my best football in my playing days. If you can get two strikers upfront with a good understanding who are both capable of scoring, then you can beat anyone.

PB - The aim has to be promotion then doesn't it Brian?

BD - Absolutely. I'm confident the lads can gain that this season playing a good brand of football which will hopefully drive the fans back to the ground.

PB - Good luck Brian, you've certanly got a diffuclt start with games against, Brisol City, Coventry, Peterborough and Preston all to come in the first 5 games.

BD - Thanks for reminding me Peter. Yes a tough start but you have to play these teams at some point anyway. If we can be within touching distance of the play offs after this period then we'll be well on our way.

PB - Well, thanks for meeting me and good luck for the season ahead.
 
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A decent 1-1 draw against Bristol City who are second favourites (behind us) for promotion. The game was pretty close and a draw was probably the fairest result. New recruits, Alnwick, Woodgate, Wordsworth, Davies and Cummings all started with Clough and Dombaxe coming on as subs.

I felt it was important to not lose this one with more tough games coming up in the next month or two.
 
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Our that decent draw in our first league game, our attention turned to the league cup where we faced League 2 side Bury in the first round.

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A fairly straight forward win against much weaker opposition. We again went with the 4-4-2 formation an created some good chances without really dominating. Most pleasing is Jason Cummings scoring his first goal for the club.

This result meant we were in the hat for the second round:

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Championship side, Bournmouth await in the second round. I'm actually really looking forward to this challenge. It will be a good challenge to see how far off the Championship we really are.
 
And now back to League action against a good Coventry side who many had tipped to surprise a few this season and challenge for promotion.

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A brilliant win against another good side in this league. Goals from Steven Davies, Paul Couts, Matty Done and new signing Jason Cummings ensured the routine win.

So far, we seem to be doing okay with the bold 4-4-2 formation.
 
We then had another tricky away game against another promotion hopeful in Peterborough.

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Another decent result here against a side I'm sure will be right up there at the end of the season. Cummings bagged another goal which put us 1-0 before Peterborough equalised and then took the lead 5 minutes later. A good goal from Matty Done late on ensured we came away with the point.
 
Crawley were the next team to visit Bramall Lane, this is one of the games we have to be winning.

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A bit of a shakey win! Anthony Wordsworth with the only goal of the game ensuring we came away with all 3 points.

Next up the League cup clash against Bournmouth
 
Next up was the League cup second round tie against Bournemouth. We changed from the 4-4-2 we've played all season to a 4-5-1 counter attacking formation with the emphasis on attacking down the left wing.


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What a great result!

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Sheff Utd in 3 goal comeback!​

It was an astonishing game at Dean Court between Championship side Bournemouth and League One outfit, Sheffield United.

Bournemouth raced into the 3-0 lead after just an hour which looked to have Sheffield United out. This was before Jamie Murphy got one back which gave the League One outfit a little hope.

Then came a brilliant 5-10 minutes for the Blades where they went on to score another 3 goals in that period to take them 4-3 in the lead and got the away fans bouncing.

However, Bournemouth then pulled level almost immediatley after a defensive mistake from Jay McEverley allowed Callum Wilson in on goal to make it 4-4.

It looked as though the players put all their efforts into the first 90 minutes as extra time was pretty uneventful with no serious chances for either sides.

Then came the penalty shootout with 20 perfect penalties scored in a row between both sides. It was then left to the 'keepers to try their luck from 12 yards out. First up was Artur Boruc for Bournemouth who put his effort wide allowing Jak Alnwick the chance to win it for his side. Alnwick then duly finished with a great penalty into the top corner.

This result put the Blades through to the third round where they'll face a trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland.

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