Sheffield United CEO Stephen Bettis on dangers of relegation complacency and role of AI number-cruncher James Bord

Chief executive Stephen Bettis has warned Sheffield United cannot assume relegation is impossible this season, and he has contingency plans if it happens.

Bettis also discussed the importance of professional poker player James Bord in the club’s recruitment. It has been a difficult six months for the club’s owners, COH Sports, who made the poor choice to fire Chris Wilder in May and replace him with Ruben Selles, then reversed it in September.

After nine games, the Blades lie at the bottom of the Championship, four points away from safety. Bettis claims that he and Wilder agree that relegation cannot be ignored.

“We’re bottom of the league, and it’s not good enough,” he remarked in a wide-ranging interview with BBC Radio Sheffield’s Football Heaven. “I was speaking with Chris the other day, and we were discussing Luton, who were relegated last season after joining us from the Premier League. “I’m sure, like us, they were sitting there at the start of the season thinking, ‘But it’s not going to happen to us, we’re not going to get relegated.’

“Chris and I were both on the same page: ‘That has to stop. It may happen to us, and we need to make sure it doesn’t.

“We need to do things differently. “We have cashflows for promotion, staying in the Championship, and the feared relegation to League One. There is a solution to solve all of these.” Bord’s Short Circuit Science company’s involvement in a spate of artificial intelligence-led deals this year has sparked controversy. None have yet played in the Championship, and January’s arrival, Jefferson Cacerers, has already been sold to Dunfermilne Athletic, which Bord co-owns.

“They’ve realised the decision they made was a mistake,” Bettis told me. “You have to give them a lot of credit for that because they didn’t wait around when they realized it wasn’t working. “Ruben was recommended to them; they met with Ruben before I did and had a very positive impression of him, so they did not interview other applicants. “I think with hindsight they probably feel they should have interviewed more people.”