Source: Team_Talk
Blackwell: Nothing left to chance
The Blades take on Burnley at Wembley on Monday and stand one game away from a return to the Premier League following their controversial relegation in 2007.
Blackwell was coach under Neil Warnock when United lost out to Wolves at the Millennium Stadium in 2003 and in charge of Leeds, beaten by Watford at the same venue in the Championship play-off final three years later.
During nearly five years as a manager Blackwell has garnered a reputation as a meticulous planner. He is a self-confessed football junkie and desperate to test himself in the top flight.
He said: "I eat and sleep the job every day. That's what a manager's job is all about. I eat and sleep football.
"When summer comes and hopefully I can get on to a beach I'll be thinking about the game.
"Which players to get in, new training regimes, staff improvements, ground improvements, you can't stop thinking and if you do someone will go past you.
"I like to think that we, as a football club, have put our foot down on the pedal in the last 18 months, but I'm sleeping well. Once my eyes are shut I'm sleeping. I'm not getting up in the middle of the night all worried, so that's a good sign."
So too is the fact his side have hit top form at just the right time. The Blades turned in two of their best displays of the season to halt Preston's late charge in the two-legged semi-final and will not be too disappointed if strikers Darius Henderson and Jamie Ward fail late fitness tests.
Henderson (Achilles and hamstring) sat out the decisive 1-0 win in the second leg of the semi-final as did Ward (hamstring), while Ugo Ehiogu, Gary Speed and Gary Naysmith are all long-term casualties, but injuries apart Blackwell is in control.
He added: "I'm confident that we've prepared the team and there's nothing left to chance.
"The hotel's booked, the coach is there, the police escort's there, the team's set, we've trained, the new kit's here and we know we've got a job to do at Wembley."
When asked how he took time out on his own to escape the pressures, a deadpan Blackwell replied: "I watch football on TV.
"Right now, everywhere you go everyone wants to remind you about how big the game is, so there's no getting away from it anyway.
"But because I enjoy football so much, it's never a chore to me and I've seen this all before, so it's nothing new and that does help."
Despite his thorough approach to planning and preparation, Blackwell has drawn a line at employing a club psychologist.
He said: "I'm the psychologist here. We're very demanding of the players. So many of the players who have come to the club have been shocked at the intensity and the way we train.
"The standards that we set within the club are such that when new players arrive, the old players know exactly what's expected of them. Hopefully it's been enough to see us through."
Sheff Utd 6/4, Burnley 7/4, Draw 2/1
