Chris Wilder replaced Paul Heckingbottom as Sheffield United manager earlier this week, returning to a post he held from 2016 to 2021, and the BBC’s Andy Giddings believes that the boyhood Blade can be a “galvanising force” at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United are four points from Premier League safety ahead of Brentford’s visit on Saturday, having taken five points from 15 games.

Sheffield United are bottom of the Premier League going into Saturday’s meeting with Brentford, four points from safety after just one win from their opening 15 fixtures. What have you made of their campaign to date?

Ultimately, they have had a very difficult start. Paul Heckingbottom was not helped by Sheffield United’s failure to act quickly in the transfer window and reticence – possibly lack of ability – to really strengthen the team that got promoted.

Losing key players at a relatively late stage did not help the start of the campaign because, had they have had those players in a more settled squad at the start of the season, you could argue they might have got better results than they did.

There were quite a few good performances at the start of the campaign, albeit sometimes in defeat, but to huge clubs like Manchester City and Tottenham, but since that time, psychologically and physically, things have tapered off, to the point where in the last few games they have been soundly beaten by Bournemouth and Burnley.

Arguing that change was inevitable after the latter was quite easy to do, but I would still say Heckingbottom went into a gun battle with a water pistol and nothing is going to change my opinion on that. He paid the price for overachievement.

Chris Wilder returned to Bramall Lane to replace Heckingbottom earlier this week. What are your thoughts on his re-appointment?

This is where my opinion on the departure of Heckingbottom and the re-appointment of Wilder almost seems like a full-stop moment.

While my opinion of the former’s time will not change, bringing back the latter is a good idea. I think Wilder’s re-appointment is a good one because he has proven in his career – not just at Sheffield United, but elsewhere – that he can be a galvanising force.

Wilder can be almost a whirling dervish of energy and when you ally that with his innate ability to say what supporters want to hear and his football brain as well, then it is a very good appointment.

We saw themes of that in the performance against Liverpool on Wednesday, where the team looked re-energised. He tinkered with the formation in that game and, to a certain extent, those changes worked; with better finishing, they might have given Liverpool more of a game, particularly in the first half.

At the end of the game, the team were clapped off for their efforts, which was excellent. The turnaround, psychologically as much as anything else, between Turf Moor and Bramall Lane was huge.

Do you think Sheffield United have made the change at the right time to give survival a good go?

It has never been an insurmountable points difference, it is just that, when the team were performing as they were, it was hard to see where the next win was coming from because of the level of performance or the fact some of them looked as though they were running with sand tied to their legs.

Now, all of a sudden, in the very reactionary way of football, it does not quite seem that way. The challenge Brentford might face on Saturday will be different, if only from a psychological point of view.

There are fixtures coming up that do not seem the foregone conclusion they might have done before, but we will see.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on at Bramall Lane?

Given the performance against Liverpool, should he play again – and there is a question mark above that – then I would say Andre Brooks.

Brooks was actually the star performer in the way he came into midfield, brought with him fresh legs and was a nuisance.

Then there is the re-emergence of Vinícius Souza, now in the heart of midfield. The Brazilian started the season fantastically, then tapered off quite considerably for various reasons, but against Liverpool, he looked back to his best.

Busy, bright, sharp running from Cameron Archer and Will Osula were also a key feature of the performance against Liverpool.

How is Wilder likely to set up his side on Saturday?

I was reminded at the Liverpool game that, while Wilder is known for 3-5-2 and attacking, overlapping centre-backs, even during his time at Sheffield United, that was not always the case and depended on the challenge they faced.

Against Liverpool, it was a back four and I see no reason why that would change for the Brentford game.

In one respect, it covers the problems they were having out wide, with a lot of teams exploiting the space in that area between the wing-back and centre-half – they were making hay and the sun always seemed to shine.

There will be three in midfield, a floater in James McAtee and then two up front.

If that is replicated, even though the personnel might be different, that is the only snapshot we have of the new Sheffield United.

This is the first meeting between the teams in almost five years, which Sheffield United won 2-0 in March 2019. Amazingly, Brentford haven’t won at Bramall Lane since November 1982. What’s your score prediction for this one?

We have seen a little bit of new manager bounce and I would look at this game a little differently to how I would have done a week or so ago.

What Sheffield United will certainly be against Brentford is energetic and I am more minded to think they will score, so let me be optimistic and predict a narrow 2-1 win, but I would not be surprised if it was the other way round or a high-scoring draw.

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