WE’RE LOVIN’ WILD LIFE Baldock: Gaffer has got Blades at sharp end of league
SEAN DYCHE might be facing a career crossroads – but for Chris Wilder there’s no ceiling at Sheffield United.
That’s the belief of Blades wing-back George Baldock, another of Wilder’s unsung heroes in a Premier League season that could yet reach an improbable peak.
Burnley chief Dyche is said to be in conflict with his board over funds to drive the Turf Moor club forward in the summer transfer window and could look to a new challenge.
But even though Wilder’s reputation is soaring with plenty of Premier League owners impressed at his debut season in the top flight, Baldock reckons Sheffield United can fulfil all the ambitions of his own boss.
Ambitious
He said: “I hope we can offer it to him from a selfish point of view and don’t see why not. He seems happy and comes in with a smile on his face every day. He looks like he’s enjoying it.
“Obviously he’s ambitious but if you ask anyone if they could manage their hometown club in the Premier League and take them far as they can, they’d want to do it.
He looks really happy. And he’s not changed, he’s been exactly the same since I have been here.
“And speaking to lads who played under him in League One, it was the same again – plus a few others who played under him before that.
“He’s so intense on the training ground, you train as if you’re playing a full game and that’s key to us.
“If you come off it in training he comes down on you like a ton of bricks, knowing we have to do better or we will just roll into the weekend and won’t be at it. He’s been the same ever since I have been here.”
Like the rest of Wilder’s squad, Baldock has had his fair share of grief from the straightforward Sheffield-born boss.
But Baldock wouldn’t change a thing – and reckons an old-school earbashing is no bad thing in an era where managers have to be more aware of player sensibilities than ever before.
Personal
“Oh yes, I’ve been on the receiving end of quite a lot. But you have to take it on the chin, it’s nothing personal.
“I play in the same position as the gaffer so he knows my game inside out, where he wants you to run, so it’s brilliant for me. But it’s not personal.
“I think sometimes that has gone out of the game a bit, it can be a bit too nice, too friendly. But our gaffer’s not scared to come down on you when you have a bad game.
“And at the same time he’s public when he thinks someone has played well. If he says ‘well played today,’ you know you’ve had an absolutely worldy.”
Baldock has every admiration for Burnley and their ethos, but he aims to keep the Blades on track today.
He added: “I have admiration for Burnley, and the manager in particular. They are under-appreciated. They deserve a lot more credit than they get.
“But we want to make a good season an unforgettable one. I don’t think the table lies. We have stamped our mark on the Premier League.” could walk out at the end of the season.
That will create a vacancy for former Turf Moor midfield favourite Cook, 53, who made 135 league appearances for the Clarets from 1999-2003.
And several of his Wigan stars are set to follow him out through the exit door in the next couple of months.
England teenager Joe Gelhardt is attracting interest from all the big clubs in the top flight, including both Manchester sides, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Goalkeeper David Marshall is wanted by Celtic, Ivory Coast centre-back Cedric
Kipre is a target for West Ham and Watford, while Egypt midfielder Sam Morsy is being watched by scouts from Crystal Palace and Brighton.