Sheffield United: Five reasons why this year is different

Michael Higdon arrives Scottish Premiership and Eredivisie-proven

Michael Lintorn presents the case for 2014/15 being the season when Sheffield United finally escape League One...

Punters who laid Sheffield United for League One promotion in each of the last three years have been handsomely remunerated. However, the slumber-fond giant tends to awaken eventually, as Luton proved by returning to the Football League at the fourth attempt last term.

The key is knowing when to shift from lay mode to back, and these are five reasons to believe that it will be fourth time lucky in the third tier for the Blades who, in keeping with tradition, are 6.25/1 title favourites...

There is momentum at last
In each of Sheffield United's three prior League One campaigns, they started with zero momentum. The first followed a relegation in which they lost 18 of their last 28 games, the second came after an automatic promotion-butchering three-match winless finish and subsequent play-off final penalty defeat, while the third was preceded by a run of two victories in ten. By contrast, they ended 2013/14 with 12 triumphs and two reverses in 19, so finally have something to build on.

The right manager
For the first time, Sheffield United enter a League One season with a manager on their level in Nigel Clough, who spent the previous four-and-a-half years in the Championship, the closing two in the top half. His three predecessors lacked that pedigree, with David Weir and Chris Morgan complete rookies and Wilson last working in the top two divisions in 2000 - for rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Higdon-mania
It is rare for League One transfers to generate much excitement, but this writer will admit (perhaps lamely) that Sheffield United's signing of Michael Higdon enthrals him as much as almost any in the Premier League. The Crewe academy product hasn't played in England since 2007, first moving to Scotland, where 26 league goals for Motherwell in 2012/13 earned him the Scottish Premiership top scorer and PFA player of the year awards, and a move to Dutch side NEC. Though they were relegated, the 30-year-old was an immediate hit, firing 14 Eredivisie strikes.

The VIP list isn't so long
2013/14 was the first campaign in eight in which the Championship didn't lay waste to a glamorous club and dump them at League One's door. After a victim list featuring Leeds (2006/07), Leicester (2007/08), Norwich, Southampton and Charlton (2008/09), Sheffield Wednesday (2009/10), Preston and Sheffield United (2010/11), Coventry (2011/12) and Wolves (2012/13), the second tier evicted less illustrious trio Doncaster, Barnsley and Yeovil. With Wolves ascending at the first try, the League One behemoth count is arguably at its lowest in a decade. Sheffield United's two closest companions have issues too, with Coventry still homeless and Preston forced to recover from play-off misery.

The Luton precedent
Luton were the earlier example of a team operating below their usual level who took ages to escape their unwelcome surroundings, and if you love a pattern then dig this: in the three years before their promotion as champions, they finished third, fifth and seventh, pocketing just 67 points in the latter. Sheffield United matched those four figures exactly over the last 36 months.