Wilder? Chris is livid!
BOSS FURIOUS WHEN BLADES ARE WRITTEN OFF BY ‘LAZY’ PUNDITS
IF Chris Wilder’s players can become as energised by criticism as their feisty manager, then a miracle escape from relegation for Sheffield United might still be a possibility.
Wilder was defiant after his “broken” team bounced back from a 6-0 thrashing against Arsenal.
The Blades boss took aim at the snipers, such as Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, who labelled his team a “disgrace” and claimed he had never watched a worse display.
Wilder said: “I think sometimes it is lazy.
“Because they don’t understand it, they come out with a narrative and just say things. I’ve heard it and you have to deal with it.
“But do I think we are what people have said about us? No.
“It can happen. It happened to West Ham and it happened to Newcastle. It doesn’t make it any better when it’s happened two or three times, but these things can happen.
“There are people who are lazy, and there are people who look a little bit deeper into it, into the situation and the moving parts of what’s happened this season.
“If they do, then I’ll read them because that’s fair comment. We’re not after pats on the back, we have to take 100 percent responsibility, but it’s an incredibly difficult division and if you’re not right through a season you can get hurt.”
Wilder is making no predictions over whether his club can produce a miracle, but at least the point at Bournemouth offered a ledge from which the mountain could feasibly be climbed.
The Blades might have been a couple of steps nearer that summit had they hung on to their 2-0 lead.
They have the bonus of 21 days’ rest between this game and their next at home to Fulham and Wilder concedes it will be spent trying to further heal “damaged” psyche and weary bodies.
He added: “It’s no good us now running the nuts off the players on Monday morning to try and get more into them, in March.
“We reminded them of their responsibilities, why they first played football and who they’re representing – their families, themselves, their team-mates, the club, the supporters, the badge, me.
“In the away end 1,500 or so punters came down on a five-and-a-half-hour trip after we’ve been spanked, 6-0.
“It’s about representing them with a performance they can connect to, which they did.”
To have even a glimmer of hope of playing in the Premier League next season, Wilder will know fundamental bolts still need much tightening.
After Gustavo Hamer and Jack Robinson had put them 2-0 up, Cherries forward Dango Ouattara was allowed a free header from a corner.
In stoppage time, more slack defending at a half-cleared corner was enough encouragement Enes Unal needed to volley home the equaliser.
BOURNEMOUTH (4-2-3-1): Neto 6; Smith 6 (Scott 74), Zabarnyi 6, Mepham 7, Kerkez 5 (Ouattara 46, 8); Christie 6 (Billing 74), L Cook 6; Semenyo 7, Kluivert 6 (Unal 62, 7), Tavernier 6 (Sinisterra 62, 7); Solanke 7
SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Grbi 7; Baldock 6, Robinson 7, Trusty 7; Bogle 6 (Ahmedhodzi 69, 6), Hamer 7, Arblaster 6 (Norwood 80), Davies 5 (Souza 46, 6), Osborn 6; Mcburnie 6 (Mcatee 69, 6), Brereton Diaz 7 (Osula 80)