Norwich shouldn't underestimate troubled Sheff Utd

This is because COH Sports, the American consortium that bought Sheffield United from Prince Abdullah in 2024, was wound up in the High Court last month with £35m allegedly outstanding from the transaction.

An EFL investigation that’s gathering pace could lead to a series of penalties, including a points deduction, and while club officials claim that day-to-day operations are secured, this summer’s transfer window in which some of the club’s top players have been sold suggests that the financial problems may go even deeper than reported.

We all know the reaction of United fans to the sale of Andre Brooks, but to also lose Callum O’Hare and Gustavo Hamer will have been a bitter blow to take.

However, the club have used the loan market to bring in significant Championship experience in the form of Kalvin Phillips and Ben Brereton Diaz, as well as the permanent signing of Hamza Choudhury, so it would be extremely dangerous to underestimate them, particularly at Bramall Lane.

In fact, I suspect that Chris Wilder will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing a Norwich City team who have now shown an inability to deal with opponents prepared to get in their faces in two consecutive Championship games away from the security of Carrow Road.

Unfortunately, Tuesday’s turgid defeat at Stoke will have provided a template for many opposing managers who will have seen City’s inability to break down a low block, but will also have noted the ease with which Sam Gallagher’s aggression provoked Jose Cordoba into losing his composure, resulting in a wild challenge which could easily have resulted in more than a yellow card.

Until City show that they have answers to that sort of approach they are going to encounter it a lot more.

Tuesday’s loss was hard to take for fans who had believed that City’s season had been kick-started by an impressive demolition of Burnley last Saturday, only to see a tinkered with line-up fail to turn possessional and territorial dominance into much in the way of chances while offering huge amounts of space to Stoke on the break.

What I found strange was that, after Philippe Clement’s decision to leave two left wingers on the bench and start a midfielder on that side, nearly all of City’s first-half attacking movements were heavily weighted towards the left, while Brooks on the opposite flank was regularly ignored, despite being in acres of space.

However, what was of more concern was the fact that so many of City’s passing movements took place in front of Stoke’s defence rather than attempting to pierce it, something which made it increasingly easy for the home side to retain their shape.

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to see players committing defenders by taking them on, rather than by endless lateral passing in the hope of enticing them out of position. City’s approach play was glacial throughout and made it easy for Stoke to keep their shape.

However, there is no cause for panic, because the Championship always takes a few weeks to really take shape, not least because of the increased transfer activity just before the deadline, although City can’t use that particular issue as an excuse for their erratic start given that the messaging all summer has been about squad stability and the supposed early advantage that might provide.

However, City have dominated three out of their four league games with one lost to a blatant handball and another to a wicked deflection, but they need to be much sharper in the final third.

The Burnley game showed that if they can do that, they can blow sides away, but the current inconsistency is immensely frustrating for everyone, not least Clement.