I admit that I tipped the Blades to go down.. but the modern-thinking Chris Wilder has worked a miracle
CHRIS WILDER will be a front runner to be manager of the year if he leads Sheffield United into Europe from his humble empire in a potting shed.
Jurgen Klopp will surely take the gong – but for me, Wilder comes a close second. And no one else is anywhere near.
That’s a big statement in a season where Klopp is on course to lead Liverpool to the title by a record margin.
But from the modest facility at their Shirecliffe training ground, a former working men’s club which is little more than a glorified hut, something special is going on at Sheffield United.
I had the privilege of visiting the Blades’ base this week and, with respect, at first glance it does not look like a fortress or the source of one of English football’s great feelgood stories.
Before a ball was kicked last August, I tipped them to go down because I didn’t think they would score enough goals to survive in the top flight.
Not only was I wrong – and I am happy to admit it – but if they beat Bournemouth tomorrow, Wilder’s side will move to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea and the Champions League slots.
How mad is that?
Wilder is presiding over a football miracle. He won promotion to the Premier League on the seventh-lowest budget in the Championship last season, and now they are knocking on the door of Europe.
Damned with faint praise about playing basic, direct football, under an old-school ‘dinosaur’ manager, they have made a lot of people eat their words.
Unlike certain pundits who are too stubborn to change their minds, Wilder is an old-school coach who has moved with the times.
He still puts his players through running drills, to make sure they “sleep well” and the intensity of his training sessions is a real eye-opener.
When the weather is cold, sometimes they have to put training back a few hours because the pitches are frozen and there’s no undersoil heating. They have a forward, David McGoldrick, who has yet to score for the club this season. But he is such a selfless team player, who runs the hard yards in the channels, that he has become a crucial component of Wilder’s side.
They have overlapping centre-backs, a goalkeeper who has deservedly forced his way into the England squad and a team spirit, a camaraderie, that transcends technical ability.
When I was a player, in training we used to play possession-based games or five-a-side based on keeping the ball. But on Wilder’s watch, everything the Blades do is position-based. They practise formations and team shape religiously – so when his centre-backs overload the flanks, midfielders know when to drop in and cover the space.
The atmosphere he has generated among his staff, and at the club as a whole, is second to none.
I know he has just smashed the club’s transfer record to sign £22million Norway midfielder Sander Berge, but in general Wilder has been careful with the club’s money.
He saw Fulham get relegated after spending £120m on new players, and Aston Villa are in danger of going the same way – but Wilder has kept 10 of the players who won promotion from League One as champions.
He trusts them – and in return, the players trust his methods and there are no big-time Charlies in his squad.
Most Premier League club training grounds are like showrooms for up-market cars, but on the day I paid them a visit, the only Lamborghini in the car park looked out of place because the club has such a down-toearth atmosphere.
I found that Wilder (above) treats his job as a privilege and goes about it with the same enthusiasm as the 22-year-old who took his first steps in management by coaching his mates in a Sunday league team who played at the same place where Sheffield United train now.
I found a manager who doesn’t mind losing football matches as long as his team gives it their best shot. And I found a manager who takes satisfaction not just from his team’s results this season – but the way they have achieved them by sticking to his philosophy.
The Sheffield United story is a fascinating tribute to Wilder’s management and his coaches Alan
Knill and Darren Ward, and this season they have staged a masterclass in proving people wrong.
Before they got the job, Wilder and Knill went to watch the Blades at home as fans, and they agreed: That’s not how Sheffield United should play.
They decided that a club based on working-class ethics – sweat on the jersey, honesty, passion – would embrace all those things... but they were going to entertain people as well.
It could have turned sour for them pretty quickly. Not so long ago, Wilder and Knill were looking over their shoulders at the bottom of League One, with one point from four games. Just look at them now.
A top-10 finish would be a fantastic achievement. Top eight would be mind-blowing.
And if Chris Wilder takes Sheffield United into Europe next season, it would be one greatest achievements in English football during the Premier League era.