Wilder digs out Blades

CHRIS WILDER claims Sheffield United’s players and fans hated each other when he first took over.

He has transformed the club in his three years in charge, leading them from mid-table in League One to eighth in the Premier League.

The Blades boss says the club was broken when he succeeded Nigel Adkins in May 2016 and relations between the supporters and the players were at rock bottom.

The players were sick of being abused from the stands by fans who felt they did not care about the club.

Wilder had played for the club in the top flight under Dave Bassett and knew he had to reconnect the warring camps, saying: “When I came back, the connection between the supporters and the club was at an all-time low. There wasn’t a connection.

“The players hated the fans and the fans hated the players. Every part of the club hated each other.

“The biggest part was reconnecting the players with the supporters – the players by producing fully-committed performances.

“I knew from my experience having played here that this is a powerful football club when we’re together. The fans know the journey we’ve been on and they will give us their backing like never before this season because they appreciate what we’ve done.”

United’s rise under Wilder has been remarkable and after six years languishing in League One, they went up as champions in his first season before winning automatic promotion back to the top flight in May.

“This has not been a normal journey,” he said. “It’s very rare that teams go from League One to Premier League in this short space of time.

“In some of the cases where they have done so, it’s because of huge financial backing. That hasn’t happened here, so it’s a unique story.”