The Premier League season lasts for just forty-five minutes, yet you have to wait four months for your first start. That’s what happened to John Fleck on Saturday afternoon; the former midfielder for Rangers was substituted off after halftime as Sheffield United endured yet another humiliating loss.
John Fleck, who helped The Blades finish in the top half of the league under Chris Wilder in 2019–20, isn’t exactly relishing his return to the top division as much as he did the previous time around.
Sheffield United battered by Burnley
The Glasgow-born playmaker, who moved south of the border after rising through the ranks at Rangers, finally started a Premier League game for the first time this season when Sheffield United travelled to Burnley over the weekend.
Forty-five fairly dismal minutes later, though, Fleck was back on the sidelines in familiar surroundings. His only contribution came from a booking on the half-hour mark. He was substituted out at the half, with Sheffield United down 2-0 and soon to lose badly by five goals against Burnley, a team that had shared in promotion with them the previous spring.
Fleck’s performance, which was only given a 2/10, was somewhat of a “surprise,” as the Sheffield Star notes. Fleck was introduced into the middle. Maybe a last-ditch effort from a management who seems to have run out of options. The Guardian reports that Fleck’s first Premier League operator, the guy who made Fleck a standout player, will take over for Paul Heckingbottom.
They also say that Wilder will be brought in via parachuting as soon as possible.
A chance lost for the Rangers-connected pair?
Conversely, Fleck is not the only Sheffield United player having ties to the north of the border. Rangers, Fleck’s previous employer, reportedly had transfer objectives in Auston Trusty and Benie Traore, who joined the Steel City during the summer for a combined £9 million.
Who could blame Trusty and Traore today if they regretted their travel choice?
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