Bryan Robson is set to be handed a shock return to management with Sheffield United. The much-maligned former Middlesbrough and Bradford boss is understood to have held talks with the Bramall Lane hierarchy on Thursday and could be unveiled as soon as this weekend.While The Independent categorically states that 'Robson is to return to management with newly relegated Sheffield United', The Daily Mail describes the 50-year-old as 'poised to replace Neil Warnock'. The Guardian concurs, reporting: 'Club officials were conducting talks with Robson in Spain yesterday with a view to installing him at the head of a new management team which includes another former Manchester United player in Brian Kidd, who had been slipping into the background at Bramall Lane but is now in line for a prominent role as Robson's No2.'
The speed of Robson's expected appointment is a surprise, not least because chief executive Kevin McCabe insisted that the club was in no rush to find a successor to Warnock when he stood down on Wednesday. The Blades confirmed yesterday that Stuart McCall, Warnock's assistant, was out of the running. "We didn't feel Stuart met the criteria necessary to get the club back into the Premiership," explained club chairman Terry Robinson.
McCall is now believed to be on the verge of being unveiled as Bradford's new manager, while Warnock is on a five-man shortlist to take over the vacant post at Leicester City. Just four days after the end of the Premiership season, the managerial merry-go-round is already in full swing.