"Massively under-delivered" - Sheffield United: Nigel Adkins signing at Bramall Lane was one to forget | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield United fan pundit looks back on a signing to forget for the Blades.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sheffield United have made some poor signings over the years.

The Blades have endured a very up-and-down couple of decades.

They did enjoy a period in the Premier League between 2019 and 2021, and then again in the 2023/24 season, but aside from that, they have played the majority of their football in the Championship, and even League One, over the last 20 years.

The club have several promotions to look back on, but on the other end of the spectrum, there are a number of years that they will want to forget.

Their spell in League One, for example, was a dark period for Sheffield United. They suffered relegation from the Championship in 2011 and it took them six years to make a return, having failed in the play-offs on three occasions.

During that period in the third tier, some rather forgettable signings were made, but one tends to stand out as the signing that came with plenty of hype but never delivered.

Sheffield United fan looks back on disappointing 2015 signing

This week, we spoke to FLW's Sheffield United fan pundit, Jimmy, and asked him to name one signing that failed to live up to the expectations that were placed on them. This is what he had to say:

"The obvious shout for this would be Rhian Brewster at £23/24 million. He's nowhere near delivering on the promise that we're all hoping for. That has largely been dictated by his injury record, but the one I would probably go for is Dean Hammond."

"When we were in League One, Nigel Adkins brought Dean Hammond in, and he was going to be the difference for us at that level."

"He was appalling. I think he was being paid ten grand a week and he took up a huge part of our budget in that league."

"Massively under-delivered, a very disappointing signing, nothing against him personally. We ended up trying to pay him off, I think, when Chris Wilder came in, in the end."

"A really poor signing for us and one that massively under-delivered."

Dean Hammond's time at Sheffield United

Dean Hammond had previously been a part of Southampton's glorious rise from League One to the Premier League under Nigel Adkins, so when the defensive midfielder reunited with his former gaffer at Sheffield United, there was a lot of excitement in the air.

With the Blades struggling to get out of League One, the hope was that Hammond would provide the experience and know-how to get the club over the line, but unfortunately it did not go to plan.

The midfielder signed on loan for the 2015/16 season from Leicester City and went on to make 30 starts in League One, but performances were subpar.

The Blades finished 11th in the third tier that season which led to the sacking of Adkins and the signing of Chris Wilder as manager.