Kevin Blackwell does not know where he is sleeping. He does not know how much he is earning, for how long or under what title. But he does believe that Sheffield United, where he was yesterday unveiled as Bryan Robson’s successor, are capable of going one better than in their epic 2002-03 season by reaching the Barclays Premier League — possibly even this year.

Middlesbrough visit Bramall Lane in the fifth round of the FA Cup tomorrow and Blackwell appealed to supporters to get back behind their team in the fashion they did in his last season as Neil Warnock’s assistant when United reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions and reached the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final, losing to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The former Leeds United and Luton Town manager, 47, will meet Kevin McCabe this afternoon when the plc chairman flies in from Brussels, where he is based, to discuss the finer details of one of the speedier changes in management. Robson, declining the offer of a role as director of football, left the club on Thursday night just as Blackwell was driving up the M1 to meet Terry Robinson, the football club chairman.

Warnock, Robson’s predecessor, now in charge at Crystal Palace, phoned Blackwell en route and offered him his home in Sheffield — at a price. Blackwell politely declined and ended up sleeping on Robinson’s camp bed before taking training for the first time with a squad, nine points behind the play-off zone, that is “capable of getting to the Premier League”.

“If you ask me how much I’m earning,” Blackwell said, “I couldn’t tell you; ask me where I’m living tonight, I don’t know. I got up to Terry Robinson’s place at 10pm \ so I was on a 5ft 6in camp bed. My back’s killing me.

“Neil rang — he’s a mate — when I was driving up and kindly offered me his house . . . for rent. He said he’d be happy to knock the rent off the price if I bought it off him. I am considering the deal and I’m sure I’ll get back to him . . . in three or four years’ time.” Blackwell was less hesitant about taking a job that had initially been as joint first-team coach alongside Brian Kidd. How long did it take him to accept? “When my bottom lip met my top lip,” he said. “It just felt right.

“I always felt I’d come back here. It was special to be a part of what we achieved in 2003 and it’s taken me about 30 seconds to find my way around again. I know ten or 11 of the players already. The club’s developed so much behind the scenes in the past five years, with buying clubs abroad and everything, but the fundamentals are the same. It’s a homely club, a club with heart and passion.”

Blackwell trusts that the passion that spilt over with so much vitriol against Robson, as supporters protested for his dismissal only nine months after he succeeded Warnock, will intimidate Middlesbrough and other visiting teams as United go in search of a rousing end to their season and an immediate return to the Premier League. Supporters buying a ticket by lunchtime today will be given one extra for free.

“This is a great game to come back for,” Blackwell said. “It’ll hopefully get the fans behind the team again at Bramall Lane because when this place is rocking, there’s a great atmosphere.

“I’m sure Bryan Robson and Brian Kidd’s target when they saw this squad was promotion. I feel for them and if they’d had that bit of luck, then they had a squad capable of getting to the Premier League.”

The poor state of the Bramall Lane pitch may persuade United to revert to the more direct style of football played under Warnock, who eventually led the club into the top flight two years ago. “The new manager said he wants a high-tempo game at home where we get back to being positive,” Chris Morgan, the captain, said. “We have knocked Bolton out, knocked Manchester City out and Cup games down here are always good affairs.”