2025/26 SUFC SEASON REVIEW / SCHOOL REPORT - Part 2: Board/Club/Managers

[Deadbat]

2025/26 SUFC SEASON REVIEW / SCHOOL REPORT : Part 2



Staff report



Board / Club / Managers



I sit typing this around 18 months on from when we had new ownership but I have to admit I have been distinctly underwhelmed and mostly disappointed in their tenure so far. That might be blunt but how I feel. The managerial change was a disaster but I could forgive that, if there had been a clear change of direction in other aspects but we seem to have the same structure and set up as when they arrived.



I think we had to move on from the Prince who had his critics and maybe got lucky with two managers in Wilder and Heckingbottom that overcame the lack of real investment. However, he had overseen two promotions and we had been largely very successful under him. He never made any big mistakes really and was a steady owner and did invest where he could – although you can point to the points deduction and issues we had off the field for a period when we were not able to pay our creditors. What I would say is Abdullah had been a quietly steady figure who backed the managers when the needed him. The last year had seen mistakes (the sales of Ndiaye and Berge may have been right financially) but made sure we never even had a chance in the top flight. He admitted he did not have the funds to take us forward. I hoped the new group would have the money and the new ideas to build something off the field. We had not really progressed in terms of a plan with no real football people on the board or clear recruitment plan. We heard about the new training ground and possibilities of category one status but it had not really happened despite moves towards such key changes. We did not really hear much in terms of the ambitions from the new co-chairmen were Helmy Eltoukhy and Steven Rosen that had come in as part of the COH group. They just came in and said they backed Wilder and quickly gave him a new deal and did back him with the transfer business with some costly loans and a big money signing in Tom Cannon, coming through the door.

Over time we had more new investors announced but it seems these are not directors now and are part of a strategic group and companies house said they had left their roles as directors. These were namely Joe Russo, who has been involved in the Marvel film franchise, Len Komoroski who had been involved with sports teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Terry Ahern, who was involved in real estate and investment. We then had a further appointment with Pejman Nozad coming in – someone who has been involved with football as a player back in his native Iran – but had since become a successful businessman in the Silicon Valley. We also then had the news that long serving CEO Stephen Bettis, named as part of the board. Bettis talked at the recent fan forum of their expertise and what they can bring but we can only really examine what they have done so far. Of course, if we win that playoff final, then things may have been different, but I am unconvinced that we had any kind of infrastructure behind the scenes to do what Sunderland have done, in terms of investment into the playing squad. They put out a statement about wanting to ‘go again’ and more committed than ever to gaining promotion but then there were rumours about Wilder going and eventually this happened. They did not conduct a proper process to replace him and were simply given some advice (no idea who from as they would not know Selles) to bring in a coach type figure, going away from the old school approach.



I must admit I was not totally against the changes in term of moving away from Wilder and was not aghast that we sacked him. He had overseen us botch the end of season, despite an impressive season/rebuild but the playoff final was a microcosm of that fall away towards the latter stages of the campaign. Of course, in hindsight, it was the wrong move to make. We did not (and still do not) have any kind of changes behind the scenes. You look at Sunderland (and Brentford and Brighton etc) and we are a long way from those models in terms of having multiple football people on the board – not just saying get a director of football but clear scouting and proven people who can bring in the right people – coaches and scouting wise. You only have to scan down other clubs (Ipswich was one recent one I saw) to look at the number of people involved – not saying more is better – but we are long way from having a club that can operate without one man doing so much (Wilder) and having a bit of an old school jobs for the boys type set up around him. That is not a criticism of Wilder as his way has been successful but at some point, we have to move away from this and modernise – not just about having a ‘foreign’ coach. I think whoever we had got in, would have been a really difficult task. Some might say that we were right to move away from Wilder but that it was the wrong replacement. I do not think that is right. I think without the changes behind the scenes and a structure – it was going to be hard. Managers generally do not just come in and have to coach, sign players, run everything. Selles had probably not had that elsewhere but that’s what he came into. Of course, he failed badly (more below) but the board’s lack of idea on this was a telltale sign they came in and were making decisions that were simply not going to work. The move to AI is another that might have seemed a low-risk gamble but it smacked of wanting to move to a modern approach but not really sure what that required. For a new board (who put a fair bit of money into the club in January) it seemed a bit cheap and desperate to try a new fancy way of doing things like the other clubs but without the skillset or money to change it.



They did not help Selles by selling senior players such as Moore, Ahmedhodzic and Souza and bringing in cheaper replacements and the transfer business was confuddled and desperate around the time they were probably going to sack him. To say they panicked with that is an understatement and now they are left with players on long contracts and high wages, they may struggle to offload. They did at least act swiftly with Selles. It was not working and they swallowed their own pride to bring Wilder back. You could say them pivoting back to the same approach/manager showed even more so, that they did not have a clue and at this stage were just desperate we did not get relegated. They had to give Wilder a longer contract though as he would not have come back on a short-term deal and could have told them to get stuffed. They did back him in January and will have been disappointed with what he brought in (again) with high earners and limited production – which again may have left them wondering. Wilder will say her kept us up but the fall off was alarming and in some ways it had come round a full cycle in 12 months. They won’t contemplate sacking him again and will have to back him to some degree but with the parachute payments going – will be hard for the club to be around the automatic promotion places with some strong teams left and 3 big clubs coming down. You could argue there are at least 5 or 6 better equipped clubs in terms of looking at promotion and as Bettis admitted – in voting for the increased playoff places – we are more likely to be scraping round for the new lower placed playoff places. Not that there is anything wrong with that – we face a further rebuild. Some have said if we had kept Wilder – and brought in Dunne, Darling and McBurnie etc – we would have gone up but I don’t know if that would have made us better than Ipswich, Coventry, Boro etc. There are a lot of players from last year that have not maintained form (Hamer, Cooper, Burrows, Campbell, Peck – almost half a team) I look at Hull and feel that is the best we could have been considering the likes of Boro, Ipswich and Coventry. I think another playoff defeat would have been as good as it got personally but could be wrong. I am not sure we would have been able to properly compete for promotion even with the different additions that he could have brought in. We had started to go the wrong way in terms of narrow games going against us.



Regardless of the managerial issues – my biggest concerns are linked to that but remain the same? What have we changed since the new ownership group came in fundamentally? There is talk of work starting soon on the training ground and plans but that is going to be a long time and thus the much sought after academy one status, is going to be a long time away too. I am not obsessed with a director of football or necessarily a new football recruitment board per se but I do think we need to change things around to give more expertise in this area. The idea we have recycled through the same managers (Wilder and Hecky x 2) in 4 of our last 4 appointments is embarrassing and makes us appear a bit amateur-ish. We have a board who simply do not have the skills to ensure that we make the changes to avoid the poor recruitment, scouting and way we operate in terms of everything football wise off the field. It is not about them doing it but getting in key personnel to do that and that may mean going away from this Bettis, Shieber, Hoyland, Allen approach that has seen us achieve very little in the recent period but stockpiling a lot of dross on the field and not really having a clear plan off it. The board (outside of the management decision and the flirtation with AI) has not done anything where you think ‘what are they doing?’ but the stagnancy and lack of real big changes to anything that matters means it is hard to have faith in them.



Stephen Bettis I have always been impressed with in terms of how he speaks and feel he has had to carry the can a lot but maybe the flip side, he is comfortable here with the status quo. Part of me thinks we need to change everything including him sadly. He is another steady sort who comes across like he cares but he is another that admits he does not know the football side. So, we have no one really clear that is making the big football decisions in terms of recruitment and plan moving forward – this should not be down to the first team manager – as he will not be here long term.



I worry that they may not have the funds to make these changes or have the links in the UK football scene to bring in the right people despite Bettis talking about their expertise. We have seen nothing tangible in terms of changes to the match day (fan zone was a good change I suppose) and comparing us to Wrexham, Birmingham who engage with their fans and have made real changes in the experience of the customer (punter as Wilder might say). I think if they have not made the changes to the club in this time – they either do not know how to or lack the finances to bring in the right people. I worry they just expected us to go up and it to be plain sailing but now we are a long way from achieving that stable Premier League club that they (and all of us) wanted to be. We seem to be mired in a flux where we have not really moved forward as a club off the field. A lot of comparisons can be made to the ineptitude of our cross-city rivals but you can also look at other clubs (Birmingham and Wrexham I have mentioned) as clubs that have undergone changes for the better with ambitious and progressive ownership groups. I have not seen anything to suggest that these guys are going to be the right people to make the changes we need to prosper mid and long term. They seem now reliant on Wilder pulling a few rabbits out of the hat which is the same approach Abdullah used. Be interesting to see what happens over the summer months that we see any kind of prospect of bigger changes to overhaul the way the club is ran.



Grade E (Last season C):



Next season



They have now gone back to having one man doing everything Wilder and seemingly no plans to change this. That is a major concern – regardless of whether you are pro or anti Wilder. At some point, they need to get people and a structure to allow us to move past just one man or two men running things (football side – CW and business side – SB). I am concerned we had investors joined the duo but then seem less involved – at least in terms of officially. I worry where the funds are to take us on – especially with the parachute payments going. We still hear them owing money to the Prince and in a lawsuit with another businessman who tried to become involved. We have borrowed money again but then we did that under Abdullah and a lot of clubs do that. We made a profit but you expect that will be the last tome that happens for a while. I want to see them make some big decisions that take the club forward and re-energise the fans. Now, I believe from what we have seen, that we may have to hope for more investors or for yet another ownership change with people who can make a real difference. That sounds entitled but is it too much to expect to expect us to have a plan and run like a club that seriously wants to compete at the top level. Now, we are no different really to the one when Wilder came in (names of owners aside). They have a big job to juggle the finances and managed the expectation. Will be interesting to see what happens if we start badly or the pressure ramps up on Wilder – if we are nowhere near or play like we ended the previous season? They will be terrified to change it and now seem married to him for this season at least but there has to be consideration to what happens next and where we go in a season or two - to evolve the playing style/personnel and have a plan for moving forward. I am concerned for a lot of investment, they have changed very little essentially to make us a modern and progressive club. I am not sure they know how they can make the longer-term changes that we need. We absolutely need to see something different in that we are evolving in the football, strategic and business sides of how we operate.

 

[Deadbat]

Manager/Coaches



Ruben Selles



Going to keep this short – much like his tenure. He came in after doing quite well at Reading and then doing ok at Hull and harshly sacked. He seemed like a manager that had done well with limited resources and having to fire fight. The club clearly had heard enough that he would be a progressive style manager that may take the club on, away from a different kind of style under Wilder – albeit successful. They did not help him by moving in several key players and the resources given to replace them were not sufficient. Maybe he could have tried harder to get likes of McBurnie (but if club wanted him – and he was not signing the players really) then not sure that is all on him? He obviously wanted Bindon and Barry – having them under him before but not sure on a lot of the rest. The AI players and the flurry of signings in August - does anyone think he really was desperate for McGuiness and Chong etc? I think the scouting department must take a lot of the blame for this. It seems like his coaches were not respected from the chatter out of Shirecliffe but the side played some decent stuff attacking wise in pre-season. There seemed holes in the side as we started the season with some off selections and he had a new formation that not sure the players felt totally comfortable with, but some free scoring games meant fans felt largely ok – even if a large number felt the Wilder sacking was very harsh.



The first game saw some of this exciting attacking stuff but defensively we were awful with mistakes all over the side and were well beaten versus a Bristol City side we had beaten 6-0 over two games only a few months before. Previously high performing players like Burrows, Cooper and Hamer started the season miles off it and the new signings did not work. We were well beaten at Birmingham in the cup and then lost meekly at Swansea before another insipid display at home to Millwall saw it 3 from 3. The game at Boro saw a continuation of a bizarre selection where Peck was essentially on his own and we had 3 or 4 midfielders in front and a lone striker, exposing the defence terrible. New signing Tanganga almost had to play Boro on his own and we could have lost this game by much more. Already many were asking for a change. Credit Selles for always fronting up the fans and taking the jeers. At the end of the Boro game as he walked up to the fans, no players went with him and even really acknowledged him. It was toxic already and you sensed his tenure would end quite quickly after it started with 5 defeats from 5.



They kept him after the international break and the signings were odd and seemed a bit desperate but at least, we got bodies in – but we got battered at Ipswich around this time and you knew he was done. The players either were not playing for him or had no idea what he was trying to implement and his disastrous spell was ended the next week. His failure at Real Zaragoza since – has really seen his stock fall even lower and you do not think he will get another job in the UK now unless he goes right down to the lower end of League One or League Two – which I doubt he will want to do. He showed some promise at Reading/Hull but his spell in charge of the Blades was a total failure. I felt a bit sorry for him as the press/local media guys clearly did not like him, all being pro Wilder and had the knives out even early doors but when you lose every game, then you have no defence and the system/way we played was confusing and led to the complete lack of any kind of structure to win games. He will go down as one of the (worst statistically) managers in Sheffield United history.



Grade F- (Last season NA)



Chris Wilder Wilder was sensational in his first spell until Covid came. The second spell was hard in the Premier League but he did a remarkable job to retool and get the club going after we went down. He does mention it a lot (too much as in the end counted for nothing) but to get 90 (was not 92 as we cheated and rightly got deducted points – not his fault of course) was a huge achievement but we were so close. The late end of season fall away and the play off final was hard to take. Still, he had overseen a fantastic season and despite some questions rightly being asked of us not getting over the line – if we had finished say 4th, 5th or 6th and lost in the playoffs – not sure people would have been as critical but he got us in a great position and we could not finish the job – albeit Burnley and Leeds with a freak-ish number of points. I have to admit; I was not totally against a change despite what he did. That sounds crazy and shows I was wrong. I was hoping the owners might change the way we were structured off the field though and now to change just one man for another but keep the same set up with its flaws – in terms of not having enough people to do the jobs needed, was mad in hindsight. I just thought a different style of play may yield some excitement as the football had been dull and ultimately did not lead to promotion. I also thought the drop off since the Coventry home game was stark and the results over the next season were simply not sustainable. I just thought, we need to move away from this approach so let’s do it now.



I was of course miles off it as we started the season soi badly. Granted we lost key men, but I know if Wilder had stayed (not convinced some of signings would have replaced as efficiently those that left) we would have had a more settled summer and started better. I think to get anywhere near the points total of the previous year would have been very unlikely but we probably still would be in and around the playoffs. I do admit that the team he came back to was shot of confidence with no clear plan how to win games. When he came back, which to credit him, he did not have to do. Of course, some may say he did not have any other jobs to go to and would many other Championship clubs appoint him after he failed to replicate his early career success at Boro and Watford? Leicester turned him down and talk of Hull and a few others, failed to see any other club appoint him. I think his next move may have been in League One or waiting for a Champ team to start badly and take a punt on him – well the latter came true! He could have been stubborn and refused to work for the owners that jettisoned him only a few months before. However, it is clear he loves the club and felt he would make a difference.



The early weeks did not go great and whilst we got a scrappy win at Oxford, the players confidence was affected more than even he thought – as he admitted. We did a few wins but remained near the bottom and the performances, whilst better were hardly great. We had the big win at Hillsborough and that helped and then from Nov to Jan – we saw some much-improved performances. Riedewald and Bamford were big additions that gave us some quality and experience. Seriki and Brooks started to gel down the right. We started to score freely, particularly at home and whilst the defensive issues remained -we absolutely smashed some teams at the Lane. It was good to watch and whisper it, but more exciting than anything we saw last season. You hoped we could recruit well in January and push on and maybe even though unlikely, make a late bid for the playoffs. We saw some wins still even after Xmas but ill-discipline crept in and we had a number of red cards. The recruitment was poor -despite decent resources in terms of wages allowed. Rothwell, Phillips, Hjelde and Hoever all contributed little of note and none were successes. Slowly despite us relegating Wednesday, the performances deteriorated. We constantly tossed leads away and threw away so many points. Wilder was right to point to character and mentality but the same fitness issues we had under him last season (getting weaker the longer games went on) came to the surface again. To blame Selles is a stretch for those who feel all our fitness issues are down what happened last summer. Wilder has had a number of pre seasons as manager and although recency bias – not sure we have been fit for a few seasons. Some of that is down to who we recruit and continuing to sign players like Rothwell and Soumare is not helping his argument sadly. I also am concerned that he kept saying it was not tactics or shape or down to formations. This is implying that management is about characters and personality but I worry that even on this front, he does not have the motivational skills he used to have or is not as effective. He rarely made changes to tactics and often changes in games seemed pre planned. I just felt we did not see enough from the management team to have different approaches regardless of the issues with the personnel.



Overall, his brief was to keep us up and he did that and so he did his job but the fadeaway was reminiscent of last season and the final part of the season was a tough watch with players looking disinterested and demotivated (even before the playoff chances had been extinguished). He has a lot of credit in the bank but he must now deliver what he promised, in terms of changes and for us to start the season positively. I am worried that he talks of signing older players as we need to also have players with resale value – it needs to be a balance. He speaks of the top teams having more experience and our average age being much lower – but the stats don’t bear that out. I do agree we need more streetwise performers but also need to look for players we can develop and move on too. If he does not, then the numbers who wanted a change (regardless of the Selles disaster) may grow from the minority it probably is now. For now, he will remain in charge and unless next season goes badly, you expect him here for the duration after getting rid of him last year led to almost a disaster.



Grade C (Last season B)



Alan Knill remains here but sadly I do wonder what his role is or what he is offering? That may seem harsh but it seems a long time from the overlapping wing backs, clever free kicks or different ways we played. He seems to be involved a lot less in coaching from the videos we see at Shirecliffe and even on match day, seems motionless on the sidelines. Maybe that is harsh but how I perceive it. I think Wilder tried to move onto something more youthful and different (look how well Keith Andrews and Jack Lester have done at Brentford – albeit with a structure in place) and maybe some of below might get more involved moving forward?



Matt Prestridge is another that remains but the lack of fitness and conditioning despite Wilder talking about less injuries (talked about Tom Little becoming more involved) the way we consistently max out in games if a huge red flag when discussing the performance of the back-room staff. He was another talked up hugely under Wilder’s first regime but no other clubs have come for him (like Knill) and just seems to follow Wilder around?



Guilherme Ramos was a surprise appointment but he had a rather journeyman type feel to his coaching but at least showed we were trying something different but unsure if this was a Wilder move or from others at the club? Not sure how much he has been involved in the first team?



Matt Collins was pushed up the first team after being involved in the u21’s. Collins had been manager briefly at Bradford and clearly had impressed Wilder and Knill etc in that he was moved up and now is on the first team staff but again I do see him on match day but the lack of meaningful changes to how we play/are coached has to be a genuine critique of all the coaching staff.



Gary McSheffrey has been with the first team since Wilder came back and I do see him around training videos and on the bench. We did improve attacking wise for a period and maybe he did have a role in this?



Matt Duke remains goalkeeping coach but Cooper has dropped off massively and Faxon has maybe not pushed on meaning we ended up with the hapless Davies (did ok I suppose) back in goal with his disastrous recommendation of Grbic back out on loan.



Mikey Allen as head of recruitment and Jamie Hoyland as chief scout, must consider themselves fortunate to still at the club in my opinion. The recruitment of players and the signings we have made (since the good summer when we got Cooper, Burrows, Souttar, O’Hare etc) has been a disaster really. Maybe they were taken out for a while (when we signed the AI players – which was also a complete failure too but probably low cost) but the players we have signed on the whole have been dreadful. Cannon, Clarke, Soumare, Matos, McGuiness, Chong, Barry, Tanganga, Mee, Ogbene, Ings, Hoever, Rothwell, Hjelde – all off the top of my head have been largely a complete waste of money (maybe Tanganga may be still serviceable but still a disappointment for the money spent). There have been some successes but they are few and far between – since that summer of 2024. Bindon, Choudhury, Bamford, Riedewald and Phillips to a smaller degree have been decent to good but that is a small sample size in comparison. I follow American sports and if a GM/President of Operations had overseen such awful business and lack of saleable assets – they would be fired. I know it is different over here but the above discussion shows to me more than ever why we need to overhaul many aspects of the club – from how we recruit/identify and sign players. I discuss this in more detail in terms of the approach I feel we need to take (which I know needs money and maybe we do not have that – but makes me even more angry that we squandered funds on the likes of Brewster, Cannon etc when we really could have used the 40 million or whatever they cost to fundamentally change the way the club is set up).

 

[Deadbat]

Next season



Wilder made all the right noises about changes and a big summer. Yet, I seriously question why 6-week period in the summer can suddenly devise a programme to get the players fitter – why has this not been done in the last few years or over the course of this season (we have had several 2 week breaks during this season also – so blaming the fact there is games is nonsense?). I also worry that all he keeps talking about his personalities. We do need a few characters as this side has little and is spineless to say the least but football is more than this now – it is about athleticism, speed and of course ability. It is also about the small gains managers can make in terms of tweaks to tactics, shape or subs. I looked at our team most weeks and think a few said it, would we swap our players for those on many other opponents (outside the top 4 or 5) and probably not in most cases. Granted our depth is poor. Then that is concerning that the players simply run out of steam or do not have a plan to manage game situations. It should not be just about them as individuals too – granted mistakes happen. He still refuses to take any responsibility for defeats or things that occur on the pitch. He is still very stubborn and quite bristling which I thought he changed from a bit and was more relaxed in his second spell but the pressure seems to have got to him again. That is my concern with him moving forward. I worry that he is a bog standard, average Champ manager now (recent history suggest that taking away the season last year – which is an outlier in about 3 other seasons with 3 different clubs). I hope I am wrong and we see more of the old bullish Wilder that does not care about opponents, what fans think (he constantly refers to the fans and their opinions) and just does the job and makes ruthless calls and has us going for teams and not sitting back on leads. I worry that he does not like athletes like Brooks and Seriki and would rather win pragmatically but that will not work longer term anymore.



He will need to pick up some gems (which he did with Cooper, Burrows and O’Hare recently – granted will need to do more of a Fleck, O’Connell, Duffy type recruitment this summer with less money) and add some experience but experience that can actually run and get around the pitch. He talked of moving 15 players on but that will be hard with some of the dross we have left (some of it he signed but most under the previous regime – as I say I feel more on the scouting team than Selles). We will see, what happens. It will be a tough ask to be around the top few places and mid table seems more likely at this stage unless we can see something quite refreshing happen. There will be some really strong teams coming down and likes of Brum and Wrexham will spend, so you could almost say straight away, with those 5 + a few of the playoff teams that miss out (Boro or Southampton will be strong) and Norwich – it is going to be tough even to get in the top 8 but there are still some woeful sides at this level and as Millwall/Hull have proved – get a solid spine and a plan and you can be winning most weeks. I just hope that everything he has said about fitness/mentality/players – sees the changes we need him to make – lead to a much better start and season. I have my reservations and worry that whilst he will do an ok job, he is not the manager longer team that will take us onto the next step – but sadly feel we are a long way structurally from being ready for the Premier League – so have no issue him remaining short term (a season or so) until we have made the changes we need in order to move away from this one man leadership.



People say we have been left with a crap squad and that is not down to Wilder but he did have a huge hand in recruiting these people – Allen and Hoyland – who have stank the joint out in terms of leaving us a squad full of dross. Surely that is not how it should be? It should be people above the manager making those decisions on who we get in – making the argument for a director of football or someone who runs the football operations side – an even bigger argument. Bettis was clearly influence by Wilder whop basically brought in Allen and Hoyland who were nowhere near such important roles anywhere else – Bettis just went with whoever Wilder knew and liked. Fundamentally that is the issue with our set up – Wilder whatever he does well (and has lots of qualities) should not be making such decisions and ultimately unsuccessful decisions as the last few seasons recruitment has shown. We must bring in people who can make better decisions to give us the best playing squad and long-term vision to be successful. Maybe that appointment does not work (as does rely on getting a good individual or a few but then the board should hire agencies to do this if they do not know how or have those links?). Selles will rightly get blamed for some poor signings (Barry) but do we really think he had much to do with who we brought in? This is the issue – we do not have the right people in the right places. People will say we don’t have the money to get people in now and cannot have a big staff or a football board due to money being tight but I would argue if we do not move to such an approach and soon, the results could be disastrous. Wilder or whoever, should be left to manage with some input into signings but most clubs operate with a recruitment board and then recommend. It should not be about who Wilder (or whoever fancied a few years ago). I am concerned that Allen and Hoyland are simply not up the job. Bettis must take some blame (and the board) as they signed off on the signings we made in August but then they admit – they know nothing about football – but the people they have hired have proven incompetent. I would love the club (and Wilder) to say we need to change things as it is has not worked behind the scenes and bring in new recruitment people and some new coaches/fitness but worry that Bettis and Wilder have way too much influence and after last summer will be allowed carte blanche to do what they want and that concerns me hugely. It is an outdated model that is nor really used at other clubs who have been successful.