Video on sky sports football app - our owner talking about Wilder's departure

[Sithblade]

So, to sum up it sounds like:

The board were not willing to pay PL wages for the likes of Barkley
Potential PL-players from overseas were not fancied by CW
We ended up signing potential from Championship, which failed
PA was p1ssed off with this approach
PA thought CW was passing the blame onto the board and didnt like the public criticism
PA lost confidence in CW's long term commitment, given the attempted resignations.

Two sides to every story though. Not sure when/if will hear CW's side, which I would imagine differs quite a bit!

Both Chris and the Prince to Blades fans.

 

[bladesince64]

I'm not impressed with either the interview or the way it's been done. If the Prince/board wanted to set a few things straight they could have released well worded statements through their own outlet. This seems to be a reply to social media, it could be a rant from Facebook Karen.

I don't know whether there is just enough truth in it to be believable, or a lot of truth in it just from a certain perspective, but it will obviously be lapped up by those who already support the Prince in this.
A lot of it simply doesn't ring true though. First of all, let's be clear, this is a seasoned and wealthy businessman who's been in the game a long time - and successful with it. There's nothing naive coming from him and I'd be cautious about believing he's being honest and open. I always keep in mind the ownership wrangle and the court case. He was devious and manipulative and was judged to have been wrong in the trial - where a lot of dodgy carry on was exposed. He was fortunate in that McCabe was more stupid than he was devious and that won him the club, but let's not imagine he's some straight-talking up front guy.

The £4 has been eagerly jumped on. Firstly, it appears it was Wilder's agent who started that one rolling and was probably only an opening position. I didn't know he had one and detest their presence in the game, but at the end of the day it's their job to try for these things. Then the Prince says he wasn't going to pay him it if he resigns, yet we are all still of the opinion that he's been paid off - and with a NDA. So if he did pay him off, how does that sit with the Prince saying you don't get a pay off if you resign? Did he not resign - well then how does that sit with the Prince saying he did?

He is contradictory about the board's involvolvement in recruitment. There is no DoF, no plans for a DoF, but the board are doing essentially what a DoF are doing, except Wilder wouldn't agree to take the players. They were all great players with reasonable costs who are now doing well, but Wilder wasn't interested. Yeah, that plays into certain accusations on social media but doesn't sound right to me. Wilder was in sole charge, yet Wilder himself says Brewster was agreed by everyone and the Prince thinks he's a foundation player for the future. So just all the others then, Brewster's signing followed a different pattern?

Now it appears there is no wage structure, never was. Wages isn't a problem and we pay high wages. And Wilder had a huge amount of money available to him and was in sole charge of who he brought in. So in fact there is practically no reason we couldn't get whoever Wilder wanted to get. (Unless it was in January, of course). Again, this doesn't ring true. All the players we missed out on were because of completely different reasons? Which we didn't hear about and somehow kept hearing that it was financial? Does anyone really believe that?

And as a general, overall picture, Wilder wasn't leaving because he was unhappy with anything apart from his own performances. Right, because that's the general noises Wilder has been making for the last few months. What do people have to say who've been accusing Wilder of never shouldering blame? If this is really true, I would have expected Wilder to have made completely different comments in the lead up to his departure, including a "I'd like to thank the board" moment. But no, nothing, even though he had everything his own way, money to spend aplenty and wasn't unhappy with any of the things currently going around social media.

In fact it was the board who were unhappy with him. They said so in the video conference that was supposed to keep him at the club, which "went well" and then they couldn't understand why Wilder didn't want another conference. Yeah, that all adds up.

That's all just my first impressions on a first listen off the top of my head. As I've said before, I don't think Wilder is completely blameless in his own departure and could have stayed if he'd really wanted to, but to take this video interview at face value and believe everything is itself naive. I don't necessarily think the Prince is deliberately lying, but at best it is a very one sided way of looking at things and at worst it's manipulative and full of half-truths.

Brilliant post Hamburg and I was gonna post about the 'no DOF but we have to approve every signing' scenario which amounts to the same outcome.
I also agree that PA is very clever and experienced in corporate 'manoevering' to become successful.
He also stated that he didn't like CWs comments after defeats that basically blamed the quality and standards of the squad because it damaged the profile of the club when doing sponsorship deals.
Also the £4M was not paid it was just a negotiating starting point and if the parting if ways was 'mutual consent' the comp would be to end the contract for both sides.
PA is wholly and unequivocally going to protect both his and the clubs reputation and all of what he says may be true. Or it may not be true. He can state whatever he chooses unopposed, while ever the so called NDA is in situ.
Chris will give his version I'm sure when its appropriate, which may be time barred or when he is in another managerial post.
That day will come but for me it will be a very sad and bizarre time.

 

[JJBlade]

He speaks very well normally, but he cannot hide the frustration and even anger that he is feeling.

We'll wait to see what CW has to say, if he says anything at all

 

[Barry Butlin]

Wilder has been having his say through his mates on social media so why can’t the Prince have his say & he comes across as a decent bloke...

 

[blade67]

Seen the interview and it is OK as far as it goes.

My problem is why do it at all. Keep your mouth shut, appoint a manager under the conditions you are happy with and make that a good appointment. Any fan noise goes away. This just seems to be a shot across Wilder, and there will be a response from journos not given access to PA, NDA or not

 

[Nagima]

"Something was broken".....obviously it was breaking since the end of last season and progressively got worse.
The full details me may never know but somethings we can infer from what we already know.
1. The Prince as a sports fan likes to give his input and isn't shy in saying what he thinks is wrong.
2. Chris wanted autonomy to do things his way. And it looks like he was resistant to input from others.

The new manager will have to work to a new system that has less autonomy and will be expected to leave more of the transfer dealings to the club..

 

[Suomi_Blade]

I think it was good to hear what P.A has had to say, since Wilder left its all been abuse towards the prince, I think this interview has changed a lot of peoples views.

There always 2 sides to the story and the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

What im taking from the interview is confidence that we will spend in the summer and make a go of it next season - as long we do this the rest matters not to me.

 

[JJBlade]

Seen the interview and it is OK as far as it goes.

My problem is why do it at all. Keep your mouth shut, appoint a manager under the conditions you are happy with and make that a good appointment. Any fan noise goes away. This just seems to be a shot across Wilder, and there will be a response from journos not given access to PA, NDA or not

I think if you're getting slagged to high heaven by a bunch of retards every day you'll eventually come out fighting, especially if you think you have done nothing wrong.

It's another thing that's bothering me, I've been saying it since March last year before lockdown that Wilder wasn't the same, he looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp I said at the time.

But, what PA is saying is starting to convince me that Wilder had become a petulant child stamping his feet and losing his shit because he was being questioned about his recruitment decisions.

Refusing to accept any sort of help or compromise on the way things were going to be done in the future, and Wilders feeling that this is like a demotion for him instead of trying to work with it, was probably the straw that broke the camels back.

 

[dc_blade]

Brilliant post Hamburg and I was gonna post about the 'no DOF but we have to approve every signing' scenario which amounts to the same outcome.

Not sure that's quite right. Surely the board have to approve every signing at every club. I don't think there will be any managers with the power to overrule their owners when it comes to transfers.

As I understand it, DoF-type structures vary quite a bit, but often work something like this:

Manager tells the DoF that his priorities for the transfer window are a right back, a defensive midfielder, and a left winger.

A week (or however long) later, the DoF comes back with a list of 4-5 players for each position, with detailed scouting reports, analytics, and a sense of how much they'd cost. Manager then chooses which is the best option and negotiations go from there.

Under Wilder, it seems the manager went to the board and said "I want player X" (mostly, it seems, players he was familiar with from the domestic leagues) and the board then went and tried to get him.

What the Prince seems to be proposing is somewhere between the two, where the manager will identify a broader range of targets for each position and the board will then have some more flexibility to decide what represents best value for money.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Not sure that's quite right. Surely the board have to approve every signing at every club. I don't think there will be any managers with the power to overrule their owners when it comes to transfers.

As I understand it, DoF-type structures vary quite a bit, but often work something like this:

Manager tells the DoF that his priorities for the transfer window are a right back, a defensive midfielder, and a left winger.

A week (or however long) later, the DoF comes back with a list of 4-5 players for each position, with detailed scouting reports, analytics, and a sense of how much they'd cost. Manager then chooses which is the best option and negotiations go from there.

Under Wilder, it seems the manager went to the board and said "I want player X" (mostly, it seems, players he was familiar with from the domestic leagues) and the board then went and tried to get him.

What the Prince seems to be proposing is somewhere between the two, where the manager will identify a broader range of targets for each position and the board will then have some more flexibility to decide what represents best value for money.

It's an absolute disgrace that the man who has to underwrite the continued existence of his business wanted any say in a very expensive area of operations that was underperforming

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

Every fan needs to put their headphones on and listen carefully to every word of the full interview, without distractions. This was very revealing, and obviously puts question marks on our hero-worship of CW and natural bias towards him. Hmmmmm.....

 

[BladeTillIDie]

Seen the interview and it is OK as far as it goes.

My problem is why do it at all. Keep your mouth shut, appoint a manager under the conditions you are happy with and make that a good appointment. Any fan noise goes away. This just seems to be a shot across Wilder, and there will be a response from journos not given access to PA, NDA or not

Because us as fans deserve to know what's gone off? Fans moan when the board are quiet so looks like the prince can never win with our fanbase.

 

[siblade]

Probably his boss hammering his transfer dealings.

Like the majority of posters on here you mean?

 

[1066blade]

I have no Dog in the fight, I’m not a Wikderism cultist who believed he could do no wrong and never be sacked, but I thought he should get at least three months next season to turn things around, there is no question he got things badly wrong this season, but should get some leeway based on his record the previous 5 years.

Having got that out of the way I will say that HRH actually comes off very well in that video, he sounds sensible and rational unlike some other owners I could mention nearby, (of course we have yet to hear CWs side of this)

Also talking a good game is only one side of the coin for The Prince, he has to back that up over the coming seasons with his actions at the club, making the correct appointment, supporting the new manager, improving the training facilities / Academy and the biggest threat of all keeping us at the Lane Once McCabe occupies the corners of the site.

What?.... "I I thought he should get at least three months next season to turn things around"!!
He could have had as long as he wanted, he was asked to stay and take the challenge of getting us back up (albeit with a more expansive view re his narrow recruiting policy, ignoring foreign options etc.). No, he chose this route, it was not forced on him at all. I think he wanted out, if only to protect his reputation getting further mauled.

 

[pommpey]

Pretty clear for me that Wilder had become bigger than Sheffield United. It's a howling shame, because firstly his organic connectivity with the club and the fact that he rode us to success in the first place. But evidently he wasn't much fussed about fixing the broken engine. The playing team at the moment has no reserve strength, plays in a dreadfully exposed system and we'd bought a series of duds. Seems like Wilder didn't also like taking much responsibility for that as well. He's right - many of this season's playing staff really should be eking their existence in the division below or further down, but to piss valuable chances to bring augmentees in 'just because' is unforgivable. Not saying HRH is entirely blameless, but Wilder has the buck and it stops absolutely with him. It's him who bought the players, it's him who picks the side and sets the strategy.

I'm glad he's had his say and we have half the story. You can hear the resignation in HRHs voice that after taking on McCabe and losing a few fingers in the battle, he was likely to lose an arm in this one if he didn't move quickly, given the opprobrium around Wilder's exit centred down his bearing.

We now need a decent replacement, get on with satisfying these relegation clauses, buy new players and get on with coming back.

pommpey

 

[Greenblades]

Whatever the CW media team want to say they can. In my opinion like almost the whole population and probably 99% of people on here we all talk a good game but in truth tend when it comes to jobs and families to not be as vocal. “ I will walk out the front door” is a phrase I remember....... yes but only with £4m. Please stop mugging us off Chris. Brilliant for 4 years and for that as I have said on other posts I will always be grateful for. However please don’t insult me with the rubbish we have seen and heard this year. Im a bigger Blade nonsense is now just hacking me off.

 

[BobblesBlade]

Nothing in midfield. Unlucky in Defence with injuries.
A highly rated midfielder in Berge but was he right for Wilders tactics then gets injured.
A keeper costing a lot of money that although starting to show good signs was at fault for some crappy goals.
Then on attack with ageing strikers in Sharp and McGoldrick what did we have. McBurnie is terrible and Brewster??? I just don’t know what he can do but if you have a shocking midfield what can the strikers do.
It was just such a terrible season. Maybe if we had kept Freeman and got some value players from abroad we would be in a better position.

I feel really bad for Wilder but it just happens in football. You can be top of world one minute and gone the next.

 

[ancientblade]

Nothing in midfield. Unlucky in Defence with injuries.
A highly rated midfielder in Berge but was he right for Wilders tactics then gets injured.
A keeper costing a lot of money that although starting to show good signs was at fault for some crappy goals.
Then on attack with ageing strikers in Sharp and McGoldrick what did we have. McBurnie is terrible and Brewster??? I just don’t know what he can do but if you have a shocking midfield what can the strikers do.
It was just such a terrible season. Maybe if we had kept Freeman and got some value players from abroad we would be in a better position.

I feel really bad for Wilder but it just happens in football. You can be top of world one minute and gone the next.

your spot on mcburnie is terrible

 

[SouthportBlade]

Imagine if we appoint a manager who gets us promoted next year?

We can forgot all this went on.

CW will still be a legend, yet time will have been right to move on.
PA will be a shrewd operator, who made a difficult but ultimately correct decsion.
New Manager will be a hero.

Simple, no?

 

[BettingBlade]

Seen the interview and it is OK as far as it goes.

My problem is why do it at all. Keep your mouth shut, appoint a manager under the conditions you are happy with and make that a good appointment. Any fan noise goes away. This just seems to be a shot across Wilder, and there will be a response from journos not given access to PA, NDA or not

After some of the heinous shit that has been flung his way on social media from our “supporters”, he has every right to to dispel some of the myths and set the record straight.

 

[Hamburg Blade]

For goodness sake - do we have to keep adopting this binary option? Maybe people are intelligent enough to cope with complex and often conflicting situation without the need to wear badges? I’m just pleased that for the first time we have some information from a primary source that has some credibility. That doesn’t mean I accept everything that’s said as the ‘real truth’. Can I please be a past supporter of Chris Wilder who’s a bit disappointed in him but will get over it and thinks the Prince may be ok with his relaying of events that has some spin some truth and looking forward to the next period in our history? I know that would be bloody big badge to wear but at least it would be one I’d be happy with!

Well done for jumping in on a question I didn't ask you and for taking it completely out of context. WTF?
Did you post a gloating post with a smiling face about people "massively in the Wilder camp" being wrong? No? Then it wasn't about you, was it?
I expect Champagneblade to be along shortly to point out that I'd missed the "those of us" bit, for which he'll get some feet shuffling and a mumbled apology.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Pretty clear for me that Wilder had become bigger than Sheffield United. It's a howling shame, because firstly his organic connectivity with the club and the fact that he rode us to success in the first place. But evidently he wasn't much fussed about fixing the broken engine. The playing team at the moment has no reserve strength, plays in a dreadfully exposed system and we'd bought a series of duds. Seems like Wilder didn't also like taking much responsibility for that as well. He's right - many of this season's playing staff really should be eking their existence in the division below or further down, but to piss valuable chances to bring augmentees in 'just because' is unforgivable. Not saying HRH is entirely blameless, but Wilder has the buck and it stops absolutely with him. It's him who bought the players, it's him who picks the side and sets the strategy.

I'm glad he's had his say and we have half the story. You can hear the resignation in HRHs voice that after taking on McCabe and losing a few fingers in the battle, he was likely to lose an arm in this one if he didn't move quickly, given the opprobrium around Wilder's exit centred down his bearing.

We now need a decent replacement, get on with satisfying these relegation clauses, buy new players and get on with coming back.

pommpey

That’s a very one sided way of looking at it. No man is bigger than the club, but the way I see it he’s been browbeaten into submission by Abdullah somewhat. He’s not faultless and should face questioning about what’s gone wrong this season and why he hasn’t signed from other sources.

The rest is just contrary nonsense looking for a bite.

 

[Hamburg Blade]

Imagine if we appoint a manager who gets us promoted next year?

We can forgot all this went on.

CW will still be a legend, yet time will have been right to move on.
PA will be a shrewd operator, who made a difficult but ultimately correct decsion.
New Manager will be a hero.

Simple, no?

Wilder's Legend status is currently being moved to the same Legend shelf that Warnock is on. The new manager will be alright until he loses a few, or wins a few but won't sign a new contract, or signs some duffers for loads o money, or gives a bad press conference. God help him!

 

[RWE]

Glad this has all come to some sort of conclusion. Personally never felt the same kind of trust in CW after all that “Chrissy Wilder we want you to stay” begging shite at Bristol City away at the end of the first year of Championship, then calling out the board and their backing and getting his mate anti-vaxxer Wit to spread the shite all over Twitter, the excuses of wages that the top teams are paying used to piss me off - what do you expect in the best league in the world, and now the alleged attempts to resign multiple times AND asking for a payout.

I’m personally excited about bringing a new manager in, as I was getting bored of the same interviews, tactics and subs. And to top it off the recruitment has been fucking awful let’s be honest. Enjoyed the times and the football we played the past 4 years but there will be another manager out there who will get a tune out of us.

 

[blade67]

After some of the heinous shit that has been flung his way on social media from our “supporters”, he has every right to to dispel some of the myths and set the record straight.

Fair enough. I'm not on Facebook or Twitter so haven't seen any of that, but I can guess. I'm not sure he'll change many minds with this though. Especially when Chris' friends response.

The only way the club and owner get positive press is to start winning football matches

 

[robbiez666]

Seen the interview and it is OK as far as it goes.

My problem is why do it at all. Keep your mouth shut, appoint a manager under the conditions you are happy with and make that a good appointment. Any fan noise goes away. This just seems to be a shot across Wilder, and there will be a response from journos not given access to PA, NDA or not

Because he's getting slagged off to high heaven by a hate campaign fuelled by his former employee and friends who are using the media and social media to undermine the club?

 

[The Vicar]

but the way I see it he’s been browbeaten into submission by Abdullah somewhat.

You need specsavers my friend if you see it like that! If you say you want to resign twice & ask for compo. how is that being browbeaten?

 

[Slugger]

If we take everything said in that interview as true then the question remains...

Why was it not announced on the weekend of the Leicester game that "Chris Wilder has resigned" ?

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Chris was/is stuborn to the point where he did not believe in himself anymore,he went for the good of the club,and trouser a few quid into the bargain.

My Sig.

 

[BettingBlade]

Fair enough. I'm not on Facebook or Twitter so haven't seen any of that, but I can guess. I'm not sure he'll change many minds with this though. Especially when Chris' friends response.

The only way the club and owner get positive press is to start winning football matches

I agree. It’s a divisive and complex issue and people have already made their minds up.

Never been more important to get the next big decision right.