AROUND THE GROUNDS: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SATURDAY’S ACTION
CHRIS WILDER gave one of Sheffield United’s best performances of the season at St James’ Park. Sadly, for the relegated Blades, he was sitting in a press-room chair landing blows on some of his players rather than on the pitch hurting the opposition. They had played well in the first half but saw a deserved 1-0 lead descend into a lame 5-1 defeat. ‘Players will not change my mind over the last three or four games,’ he said, when asked about the future of the squad. ‘Where have you been 15 games ago? Or 25 games ago? ‘They can’t automatically turn it on in the dying embers of a season and expect me to go, “I’ll tell you what, you’ve been all right, by the way”. ‘Unfortunately, the season lasts for 38 games. Every part of it has not been good enough. ‘Some of the games, the white flag has gone up. That has been unacceptable.’ What about Wilder’s own future — does he have the desire to lead his hometown club back out of the Championship? ‘Definitely, more than any time in my career,’ he replied. ‘It needs work, it needs a lot of time putting into it. It needs a plan, some big decisions. ‘There is a cycle of players who may be coming to the end at the football club, who have been outstanding servants. ‘We need to freshen it up and I’m as keen and committed and have as big a desire as I’ve ever had to be front and centre of that with my coaches. ‘The biggest thing is the mentality of the football club and what it means to be a Sheffield United player, which I believe I recognise. I know what that looks like.’