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

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Aston max said:
In the business analogy, I have a 1 million budget where I work ,if I over spend that's fine so long as it drives us forward, but I would be soon out of a job if I was found to be spending the money on kit not fit for purpose
And I wouldn't get a 4 million pay off 😒
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Thats all very true, but football has always operated in a weird parallel universe that I don't begin to understand, where failure is rewarded massively.
 
S64 Blade said:
Just listened to the full 29 minute interview and I must say I really can’t knock much of what the Prince has said at all.

I think that Chris was obviously under huge pressure, given our start to the season. Throw into the mix that he’s a fan and the continual highs of the last 4/5 years, I think it hit him very hard, which is totally understandable. He’s then felt that he needed to resign in December but was talked around.

Things obviously then came to a head around the new year. I suspect the board rescinded on any prior agreement for transfers, based on our awful position and this lead to Chris again being pissed off and feeling helpless. I can see both sides here. I can totally understand the board’s reasons for doing this, but I can also how it’d make Chris feel.

To add to that, the board has said that to ensure past mistakes aren’t made, a more collaborative transfer strategy is needed. I think this is a smart approach in the long term. Again, given the likely mental position Chris was in, given the season, plus his ego, this hasn’t landed well. It’s a huge shift for him - from fans in the ground adoring him, full control and getting results; to no fans, terrible results and the changes afoot to reshape things. Because of this, he’s felt backed into a corner and started to lash out - leaks to the press, comments in interview etc.

I suspect the board got fed up with his digs and the lack of flexibility and when speaking with him have become even firmer that change is needed. I genuinely believe they wanted him to stay and that they have the clubs long-term interests at heart. I think the pressure and Chris’ nature, combined with the timing of our awful run, has meant that none of this has landed well and that’s why he finally quit.

I think in typical Sheffield United fashion, the set of circumstances are unique. I am more hopeful about the future after watching the interview, of course this hinges on how any new manager can get things up and running, but I am comforted with how PA wants to operate and take the club forward.
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Excellent post, sums it up very well.
 
derekacorah said:
The transfers have backed him, I give him that. But he's now decided that he won't back him anymore and that he's doing it wrong, I can see why that would make Wilder feel something has changed.
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Because he kept saying he wanted to resign every few weeks , would you buy another lorry if the driver kept saying he was resigning ?
 
Wilder always stressed he won’t put the club at risk with transfers and he will treat the clubs money as his own. It’s a bit of a sickener to hear the prince tell us that he is paid a bomb and was after a massive payout and also his lack of flexibility on transfers has meant other clubs have had our pants down.

I can see things from Wilders side too, he deserves a high wage and imagine telling the board you want Ramsdale and the board telling you to name a few other players who you don’t really want so that they can strengthen the bargaining hand.

From watching the full shebang I think it’s right the club and Chris take a new direction. Let’s hope they get the next appointment right.
 

I'm not at all surprised the Prince pulled the plug on transfers in January considering our position. We were as good as relegated over the Xmas period and rooted to the bottom of the table. Players out with long term injuries and others bang out of form, a manager who refused to change formation and play certain players for no apparent reason and on top of that he tendered his resignation twice in a few weeks. Would anyone seriously let him spend money on loan signings chasing a lost cause, the thing with loan signings you pay the fee and the money is gone forever there is no return on your investment. We need to remember £130m had been spent on the squad already yet the back up players were not good enough and the big money signings were sat on the bench watching the team that basically was the promotion winning squad and a few back up players losing week after week. The line that Wilder was not backed really doesn't stand up to any scrutiny.
 
derekacorah said:
He said he wanted him to stay, in my opinion he said this to mitigate having to pay him off.
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But he would only have had to pay him off if he sacked him. Wilder had wanted to resign twice but on each occasion caveated that with a demand for a pay-off.....which is crazy and he was rightly told to fuck off.

It definitely looks as though there were a few changes of heart from Wilder between early December and when he left which probably coincided with us picking up a few points and reaching the Cup quarter finals.......at this point the Prince was saying EXACTLY what almost every Blade was also saying in that the best placed Manager to get us back up was Wilder and therefore I believe he genuinely wanted him to stay.

What was interesting though was his suggestion that Wilder may not be the guy to keep us in the Prem if we got back up so coupled with the reluctance to give him more funds there was a definite trust issue and an indication, that I completely agree with, that Wilder was completely out of his depth at Prem level.
 
Torrix1889 said:
But he would only have had to pay him off if he sacked him. Wilder had wanted to resign twice but on each occasion caveated that with a demand for a pay-off.....which is crazy and he was rightly told to fuck off.

It definitely looks as though there were a few changes of heart from Wilder between early December and when he left which probably coincided with us picking up a few points and reaching the Cup quarter finals.......at this point the Prince was saying EXACTLY what almost every Blade was also saying in that the best placed Manager to get us back up was Wilder and therefore I believe he genuinely wanted him to stay.

What was interesting though was his suggestion that Wilder may not be the guy to keep us in the Prem if we got back up so coupled with the reluctance to give him more funds there was a definite trust issue and an indication, that I completely agree with, that Wilder was completely out of his depth at Prem level.
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That's what Abdullah says. We need to hear the other side in my opinion before we talk of these 'demands' for a pay-off.

I'd also counter the argument that he's out of his depth in the PL with the 9th place finish he achieved last season. A season that more closely resembled actual football as we know and love it to what is going on at the moment. This season has been a disaster, let's see if the new man can sort it, get us promoted and do better than 9th.
 
I think the thing that winds people up with Wilder is him complaining about money and resources when he knew all along we don't have much. We have never had much. Then after he spent far more than every other manager in the history combined, in the space of a couple of seasons with no real improvement to the team, his arguments understandably wore thin.

I also think wilder is far too proud and stubborn a man to accept losing every week with the team he loves surrounded by people who idol worship him. It was taking far too much out of him mentally and he could just not cope with it. What we see as reasonable actions by the prince would have felt like a dagger to the heart for Wilder, in the circumstance.

Sometimes good things come to a natural end, doesn't mean anyone has done anything majorly wrong or needs bereating for it. It's just life
 
derekacorah said:
That's what Abdullah says. We need to hear the other side in my opinion before we talk of these 'demands' for a pay-off.

I'd also counter the argument that he's out of his depth in the PL with the 9th place finish he achieved last season. A season that more closely resembled actual football as we know and love it to what is going on at the moment. This season has been a disaster, let's see if the new man can sort it, get us promoted and do better than 9th.
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If he had wanted to resign he could have and walked away the first time, never mind the second.......what was stopping him apart from his probable demands for severance pay?

Take on board your point about the 9th placed finish although personally I feel that was probably more to do with momentum and catching teams out than anything else. The rot set in at the end of that season and carried on this season. Summer transfer dealings were questionable at best and our tactics board got chucked in the bin, game management was none existent, (substitutions were mind boggling), plan B didn't exist, we stopped using the over-lapping tactics and resorted to hoofball, subs benches were half full, (when players were available) and we looked a shadow of the team that started so well back in the top league. Some of Wilders comments post match were proper head-scratchers which all leads me to think he had run out of ideas and hadn't a clue what to do.
 
S64 Blade said:
I think the point is that the manager is the highest paid employee. Which other club is this the case at? Spurs possibly...
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No i get that. I just think it is a weird way to answer the question on what led to Chris leaving. I get that PA wanted to give some background and context perhaps but sometimes you have to look to the motives in why someone would include irrelevant information like that unless specifically asked that question. There is a reason he chose to put that information in his answer and I would argue that is to start to put out a different image of Wilder. Now of course PA has come under some flak recently which may be why he has divulged that information but to me it is personally a strange way of answering that question. It also is not the greatest idea to broadcast that for any prospective new managers so again it is strange for me. You could also argue that Wilder being paid more than any players is a sad indictment of the well documented wage ceiling of players more than anything.
 
S12 Blade said:
Do you think us fans had a part to play in creating that ego..? Now I've listened to HRH, I'd say yes. As of a few weeks ago, CW was a God around the Lane and Sheffield in general, people would have wanted to shake his hand, have a picture with him, buy him a drink etc.. that's how ego's are made.
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Probably to some degree. However, i think Chris has always had that streak in him. However, I think it has gotten a lot more crystalized due to the incredible amount of exposure top level football brings with the added scrutiny and criticism. On the other hand, leaders and winners have to have a strong belief in themselves. Regardless, my point was rather was there a need for PA to begin his interview along these lines.....
 
Delboyscap said:
No i get that. I just think it is a weird way to answer the question on what led to Chris leaving. I get that PA wanted to give some background and context perhaps but sometimes you have to look to the motives in why someone would include irrelevant information like that unless specifically asked that question. There is a reason he chose to put that information in his answer and I would argue that is to start to put out a different image of Wilder. Now of course PA has come under some flak recently which may be why he has divulged that information but to me it is personally a strange way of answering that question. It also is not the greatest idea to broadcast that for any prospective new managers so again it is strange for me. You could also argue that Wilder being paid more than any players is a sad indictment of the well documented wage ceiling of players more than anything.
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I see your point. A bit uncouth putting figures out there, but perhaps it was PA's response to Wilder's claims of hardship.
 
Newbury Blade said:
Excellent post, sums it up very well.
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Thank you! I may be way off the mark, but reading between the lines and taking what's been said from both sides, I think the truth lies somewhere around this.
 
S64 Blade said:
I see your point. A bit uncouth putting figures out there, but perhaps it was PA's response to Wilder's claims of hardship.
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Could well be mate. At the end of the day despite PA's standing in the world he is a human being like Wilder and the rest of us. We all react under pressure and stress/attack.
 

So, 24 hours on and in the interests of bringing the sides back together there are clear areas where actually the information being put out by both sides largely matches up.
Rather than continuing to debate where versions differ, why not look at where there is some synergy, and see why each would see it differently given where they are coming from.

Grumblings in the press around DoF being installed and interference from the board in who we should be buying which have been leaking out continually seem to have been confirmed. Wilder felt he should have complete control, with the board wanting the committee to have a larger say. In the Princes statement he said confidence had been lost and he felt we'd had two poor windows so they were wanting more control. So this would seem to be an accurate view of the situation. While no DoF was being forced, Chris did feel like control of transfers was been moved away from him and wasn't happy with that.

Brewster and Ramsdale. Surely given their fees (even though the reported fee's are the absolute maximum we'll spend and currently we're not looking at getting to those numbers), the fees were significant. Given that, is it fair to assume CW believed they would both be ready this season as starters? I think it's fair for the board to believe it given the fees involved. I think most level headed fans think they'll develop into better players than we've seen this season and already have resale value but to a point the Prince mentioned yesterday, could we afford to buy for the future given we weren't close to being established?

January Transfer Window. Again, coming out in the local press, there was a lot of talk of Chris had given his names to the board to progress the loan deals, and the board also said we would be bringing players in. Talk of Lingaard being sounded out and being interested were circultating and that Chris had already spoken to OSG, that was mainly December. Come January as it dragged on Lingaard seem to quieten and stories of Chris being unhappy that nothing was progressing. Again, this seems to be true given both sides seem to agree on what happened. From Wilders side the board renegged on their commitment and this showed he didn't have their full support.
This also appears to be true. The Prince accepted that they pulled the promised signings, and confirmed it was due to concerns around Chris' long term future at the club.

For me, talking all the other elements out of this, this is why we find ourselves without Chris Wilder as manager. Most of the other stuff, while interesting, is window dressing. Sure there are niggly elements which always come to the fore when everything is laid out, but he didn't resign because of a leaking roof.
The Prince buying players and sticking them in Belgium, or clubs in France; Us holding back the training ground development due to cash flow concerns with Covid impact.
Simply put the board had lost confidence in Chris' ability in the transfer market at this level, and were looking to install a greater level of governance, and Chris took that as undermining his authority by right as part of his role. Chris felt he couldn't continue without the full confidence of the board to do it his way and the board weren't willing to continue with it as it had previously been.

Does this seem an unfair or unlikely take away from all this?

Edit: Soz blade62 just spotted your comment covering similar ground.
 
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