Speed is not slow to recognise the problems engulfing Bramall Lane

THE departure of Gary Speed has plunged Sheffield United into yet more chaos.

One of the game's brightest young managers, Speed has opted to walk away after just 18 games in charge and take the Welsh job.

Only two months ago, it was a completely different story with the former Welsh international insisting that he wanted to stay. However, that was before the size of his task at Bramall Lane had become fully clear.

It does not take a rocket scientist to realise that the Blades are a club on a slippery slope, under intense pressure to put the brakes on spending after losing 18m in the last financial year.

Like many who have gone before, including Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United, they are paying a price for bad decisions in the wake of relegation from the Premier League. And, of course, getting it wrong when they were up there.

Unable to plug holes in his side due to a cash shortage, Speed will have sensed the growing possibility of relegation this season.

For any manager in his first job, such a blot on a CV could be a career-wrecker.

Among the Welsh, who regard him as a national treasure, Speed will be guaranteed a far fairer crack of the whip. Who knows, he may yet go on to justify his billing as a manager with a bright future at club level.

His brief tenure as Blades manager has left more questions than answers. Nine defeats in 18 games. Local pride dented by Barnsley, Doncaster, and Leeds. Only brief flashes of improved style. Yet there have undoubtedly been mitigating circumstances.

When Speed took over the reins, it was too late to compete for the majority of out-of-contract players and the pre-season programme had been laid out by another manager with different ideas.

Key players have suffered injuries, among them captain Chris Morgan, and finding replacements at affordable prices has been almost impossible.

With a need to reduce further the 8m wage bill, possibly by as much as 50 per cent, there will be no scope for major signings in the New Year transfer window. Players, instead, may have to be offloaded and Speed had been lining up youngsters from the Irish League to bolster his squad.

Against that backdrop, is it really any surprise that Speed should have had his head turned by the Wales job?

Even now, with only three games gone, the Welsh look unlikely to qualify for Euro 2012 and Speed will not be held accountable for that failure.

His first competitive fixture is a cracker, against England on March 26 and, as Mark Hughes has proved in the past, even limited success with the Welsh national side can open doors to jobs in the Premier League.

The Blades could have put up a fight for his services but those sort of battles are rarely won by clubs. If someone wants away, be it a player or a manager, what is the point in saying 'no'?

But what now for the Blades who started the season under Kevin Blackwell?

Caretaker manager John Carver will get the opportunity to stake his claim for the job over the festive period but a list of rival contenders are waiting in the wings.

Former Hull City manager Phil Brown has been out of work for nine months and is, understandably, keen on the job.

So, too, Paul Hart who led both Portsmouth and Crystal Palace out of relegation trouble in the last two years. Hart worked previously with Blades Academy director John Pemberton at Nottingham Forest but a past association with Sheffield Wednesday could be an issue.

Other names in the frame include former Coventry City manager Chris Coleman and Oxford United's Chris Wilder, a lifelong Blades supporter who enjoyed two spells with the club as a player.

Wilder gained valuable experience coping with cash shortages at Halifax Town and led Oxford United back to the Football League last season. Port Vale's Micky Adams is another with red-and-white striped blood who would welcome the opportunity.

The problem facing the Blades, however, is paying compensation. That is why supporters should not be getting carried away by the availability of Sam Allardyce, Chris Hughton or, even more outrageously, Martin O'Neill.

Chief executive Trevor Birch, Plc chairman Kevin McCabe, and soon-to-be football club chairman Chris Steer have a decision to make that will shape the club's financial and footballing future. There can be no mistakes on the Bryan Robson scale and the new manager has to hit the ground running. After back-to-back defeats against Bristol City and Barnsley, the Blades sit only one point above the relegation zone. Supporters are growing restless and attendances are dropping.

Carver, 45, has an excellent track record as a coach but is still relatively untested as a manager. As caretaker at Leeds four years ofago, he suffered four defeats in five games but was only filling the chair until Dennis Wise's services could be secured from Swindon Town.

A little older and a little wiser now, Carver has the benefit of knowing the club's current players and is not starting from scratch. He also has respect from the boardroom and would love to prove his worth.

After Swansea City on Saturday, the Blades host Hull City on Boxing Day.

There are three games in the space of seven days over the festive period and each will offer Carver a chance to push his claims.

Speed's reign lasted just 119 days (the shortest at the club since Adrian Heath's five months and 22 games at Bramall Lane in 1999) and was a case of right man, right place, wrong time. Just for a change in football, it was the manager who made the first move and no one should blame Speed.

At least, he gave it a go.