Sheffield United 2 Barnsley 2: Distraught Adams wants opportunity to resurrect fortunes of fallen Blades

THE AGONY is finally over, the future has become clear.

For Sheffield United, there is no ‘Great Escape’, no avoiding the fate that has struck so many other clubs who drop out of the Premier League.

It has taken four years to get out of the Championship but not in the direction they all expected back in 2007.

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After an absence of 23 years, the Blades are returning to the third tier of English football and fixtures against Rochdale, Yeovil, and Bury. However, once their fate was sealed on Saturday afternoon, there was still a sense of hope in the air at Bramall Lane.

Next season is going to be a shock to the system but it will also provide a fresh start.

A chorus of the club’s anthem ‘The Greasy Chip Butty’ was sung with real emotion and pride. Players threw shirts into the crowd before heading down the tunnel with cheers not jeers ringing in their ears.

For manager Micky Adams, who grew up in Sheffield as a Blades supporter, it was the worst day of his football career. Unable to stop the rot, he has overseen just four victories in his 23 games in charge.

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Yet the reaction of the Blades supporters told its own story. They understand the problems he has inherited and still have faith in his ability to take the club forward.

“Today is a difficult day. Accepting your responsibility for a team that has just been relegated is hard work,” he said. “But I am determined to resurrect our fortunes.”

Pressed on his future, Adams said: “I am not Mystic Meg. I can’t tell you what my future holds. There will be a meeting of minds, with the hierarchy, and I am sure that everything from top to bottom will be discussed. There has got to be a strategy going forward and how we go about it. If the board, during our discussions, want to talk about my future then there is not a lot I can do about it, is there? But I want to be the manager that brings the football club back to the Championship this time next season.”

The Blades had gone into this fixture buoyed by back-to-back victories over Bristol City and Reading but knowing opponents Barnsley would take great delight in hammering the final nail into their coffin.

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The Tykes should have gone ahead after just six minutes but Jacob Mellis, a former Blades youngster, spooned the ball over from 10 yards out.

The reprieve was only short-lived, however, as defensive sloppiness reared its head to gift the visitors the lead.

Shane Lowry’s loose pass allowed Nathan Doyle to send Danny Haynes clear and the striker took advantage of a slip from teenage centre-back Harry Maguire to slide the ball home and stun the home crowd into silence. Barnsley’s travelling supporters jumped with joy and chanted “You’re going down in an hour” to rub salt into the wounds.

The Blades found it difficult to get a hold on the game and, at the back, were too often ill at ease. Referee Graham Salisbury gave Maguire the benefit of the doubt when a slide tackle sent Haynes tumbling to the floor and the ball out for a corner.

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The Blades equalised seven minutes before the interval to huge sighs of relief from the majority inside Bramall Lane.

The goal resulted from a freekick awarded for a foul by Bobby Hassell on Jordan Slew. Lee Williamson whipped in a cross to the near post and Matthew Lowton headed home.

By half-time, the Blades had taken command and Barnsley were on the ropes.

It was now their game to win and, with fellow strugglers Crystal Palace 1-0 down at Hull City, the dream was still very much alive. However, news that Doncaster Rovers, the other club it had been possible to catch, were ahead against Leicester City served to focus minds on the mountain that still had to be climbed.

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Both Doncaster and Palace only required a draw to send the Blades down regardless of the result at Bramall Lane. With pressure beginning to mount, the Blades needed to take care of their side of the equation.

They could never have bargained on the howler Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele would commit to provide a possible lifeline.

Steele allowed a 25-yard drive from Williamson to slip out of his hands and the ball to roll over the line. The Barnsley goalkeeper was unchallenged, it should have been no more than a routine stop.

Just seven days earlier, Blades goalkeeper Simonsen had been the fall guy in the same goal area. He had clawed the ball into his own net attempting to catch a cross but things do have a funny way of evening themselves out in football.

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Slew was bundled over in the area by Matt Hill but referee Salisbury was unimpressed.

Looking to press home the advantage, Adams sent on striker Ched Evans, who had missed the previous five games with a knee injury, and midfielder David McAllister. Evans, however, was stretchered off before the end after damaging his ankle in a collision with Barnsley’s Jason Shackell.

With seven minutes to go, Simonsen produced a brilliant fingertip save to push a free-kick from Kieran Trippier over the bar. It looked like a lifesaver until, just moments later, Haynes equalised with a header.

If they didn’t already know it, that was the end of the Blades’ survival bid. When Ibra Sekajja equalised for Crystal Palace at Hull in the 88th minute, it simply confirmed their fate.

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