Blades board no longer had trust in ‘club legend’

COMMENT

BY ANDY DUNN Chief Sports Writer

@andydunnmirror

WITH Sean Dyche the shining example and Daniel Farke about to follow suit in emphatic style, the value of keeping your trusted manager even if he takes you down from the Premier League, is clear.

That trusted manager should win you plenty of games in the second tier and give you a cracking chance of returning to the top level.

It is no guarantee, of course, and essentially is irrelevant in Sheffield United’s case. Because it is clear Chris Wilder was no longer a trusted manager, not by the owners anyway.

The overwhelming majority of supporters, if not all, would have stood by him, certainly.

But it had become painfully obvious the relationship between Wilder and the board was broken.

For a while, the terms and timing of the divorce have been the only things left to discuss.

It is dispiriting to see. Not only because what seemed the perfect footballing combination – brilliant manager taking his beloved club to the promised land against all odds – is being dismantled, but because it is also a blow for the cause of homegrown coaches.

Wilder’s deeds with his Blades and Dean Smith’s sterling work at Aston Villa have provided evidence that clubs might not need to look too far from home for their managerial guidance.

And the name at the top of the bookmakers’ lists to succeed Wilder is caretaker boss Paul Heckingbottom (above).

But considering the names at the top of the Premier League and the top of the Championship, what chance Sheffield United look beyond these shores? No problem with that, at all.

But it has been great to see so many homegrown coaches punching their weight in the English game, and while he will not be out of it for long, it is a shame to see one go.

Especially one who will be remembered as a club legend.