“Not my day” - Anel Ahmedhodzic explains “embarrassing” Sheffield United defeat to Newcastle United

Anel Ahmedhodzic described Sheffield United’s 8-0 humiliation at home to Newcastle United on Sunday as “embarrassing” after calling on his side to rediscover the “fight” that he feels was lacking against Eddie Howe’s Magpies. Ahmedhodzic and Co. had an afternoon to forget at Bramall Lane as the Blades slumped to their worst result in recent memory in front of the watching Sky Sports cameras.

United were 3-0 down by half-time after three more crosses into the box resulted in goals and things went from bad to worse after the interval, with eight different players getting on the scoresheet for Newcastle. The tousing only intensified speculation about Paul Heckingbottom’s job as the Blades’ search for a first win of the season went on and although he will not be sacked in the wake of the Newcastle humiliation, neither he nor United can afford a repeat.

“Considering how many mistakes we made, and that it was 8-0, it’s embarrassing. But they deserved to win by so much,” Ahmedhodzic told Viaplay. “We need to fight more. Today, we were not ourselves. We didn’t run like we used to and didn’t fight like we usually fight.

Newcastle boss backs United and Hecky to bounce back after 8-0 beating

“We just weren’t that focused, and if you’re not focused in the best league in the world, you’re going to lose this big. There were too many mistakes. It’s not the Championship. Every mistake becomes a goal. There was too much missing. It was not my day. There is not much more to say about it.”

Ahmedhodzic was also asked about speculation over boss Heckingbottom’s future, with the defender giving a to-the-point respose. “I haven’t heard anything,” he said, “and I don’t focus on such s***.”