We’re very much into the business end of the Championship season, with the race for the two automatic promotion spots distilling into a three-way battle between Sheffield United, Leeds United and Burnley.
The Blades and the Clarets are looking to bounce back into the Premier League at the first time of asking, while Leeds are desperate to avoid a repeat of last season, when they came up short in the play-off final against Southampton.
Historically, few leagues are harder to get out of than the gruelling English second tier, a place where experienced, battle-hardened grizzled veterans are often the kind of players that make the difference.
Hamer on Blades' promotion push
Sheffield United’s Gustavo Hamer is about to complete his fourth Championship campaign in five seasons, with the Brazilian-born Netherlands youth international a key part of Chris Wilder’s promotion push. So what has enabled him to be so important for Wilder in South Yorkshire?
“It’s the trust I get from the gaffer and the pressure he puts on me – I like to play with pressure,” Hamer tells FourFourTwo. “He’s honest: he’ll tell me when I’m not as good and he’ll tell me when I’m very good.
“I’m a risky player; from 10 passes I might only make seven, but from those seven there’s an assist or three key passes. He won’t tell me, “You missed three passes” – he’ll say, “You created chances and that’s good”.
Hamer finds himself back in the second tier this season after a testing campaign last year which saw the Blades finish at the bottom of the pile after claiming just 16 points all season.
“It was difficult,” Hamer reflects. “When you get beat 8-0, 5-0, 4-1, it’s a bit grey, like Sheffield is outside! It’s hard to recover when you’ve been beaten 5-0 – five days later it’s Manchester City or Arsenal.
“But we’ve come back strongly. We must give our fans promotion. That’s the only thing that counts. If that doesn’t happen, it’s a s**t year.
On a personal note, Hamer completed a hat-trick of player of the year awards, dating back to his time at Coventry City, last season. So what price a fourth gong on the bounce?
“I don’t want to hand it over! I’ve got competition – we’ve got quality players – but I’m not ready to give my trophy away yet. Hopefully, with my big smile, they’ll give me another one!”
