CONFIRMED Phil Jones joins the Blades coaching staff

[jt64]

There’s a decent body of evidence showing that elite level players don’t make great managers, they struggle understanding why players can’t execute what they want not realising the difference in ability.

Idk, that Zidane chap did alright. Cruijff did alright. Beckenbauer did alright. While I won't disagree that playing and coaching are two different skill sets, I think part of this mindset is mainly due to people thinking that newly retired players are being gifted jobs and that they need to become electricians and do an apprenticeship at Bradford Park Avenue or Gainsborough Trinity before they should be let anywhere near even a League Two club. Which, frankly, is bollocks. Elite players tend to play for elite clubs which typically have elite managers. Some of those players occasionally do something called listening, leading to something called learning

 

[Blade In Flame]

Why is this still in Rumour Mill?

 

[Champagneblade]

The point was it may have been a consideration when bringing a new person in, one of many given we have ended up with a younger staff.

But it would simply be that the club wanted fresh ideas.

We most likely won’t know, but as we won’t then that’s why we offer possible explanations on here.

Dkc a few unnecessarily petty toned posts from the pair of us here. Think we are better than tit for tat.

We’re all Blades and as fans powerless to influence what we want for our club which is always the very best.

Extending my best wishes on Father’s Day!

UTB

 

[Tom Bott]

• The Appointment: In June 2026, Chris Wilder initiated a major backroom reshuffle at Bramall Lane, which included the departure of his longtime assistant and close friend Alan Knill. As part of this restructure, Wilder brought in the former Manchester United and England defender as a first-team coach. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Mutual Respect: Wilder publicly praised Jones upon his arrival, describing him as an ambitious young coach who has played under some of the very best managers in football. [1]
• Shared Excitement: Jones expressed immense excitement about the opportunity, stating that the prospect of learning from and working directly under Wilder was a challenge that appealed to him immediately. [1]

 

[Uganda Blade]

• The Appointment: In June 2026, Chris Wilder initiated a major backroom reshuffle at Bramall Lane, which included the departure of his longtime assistant and close friend Alan Knill. As part of this restructure, Wilder brought in the former Manchester United and England defender as a first-team coach. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Mutual Respect: Wilder publicly praised Jones upon his arrival, describing him as an ambitious young coach who has played under some of the very best managers in football. [1]
• Shared Excitement: Jones expressed immense excitement about the opportunity, stating that the prospect of learning from and working directly under Wilder was a challenge that appealed to him immediately. [1]

Immense excitement? Did it give him a stiffy? That wasn't the impression I got from his interview.
Methinks AI doth exaggerate a tad.

 

[Silent Blade]

Did it give him a stiffy?

 

[Tom Bott]

Methinks AI doth exaggerate a tad.

More so than thoughts and opinions on social media though ?

 

[Uganda Blade]

More so than thoughts and opinions on social media though ?

Probably not, though one feeds the other. Not so?

 

[Tom Bott]

Probably not, though one feeds the other. Not so?

If it did then AI would say that Wendy is massive, strangely only Wendy say that Wendy is massive.
Maybe AI has an inbuilt deludamol filter.

 

[peakblade]

CW is not a brilliant tactician

Agreed , all the promotions hes achieved and turnarounds with previous clubs , have been
managed by pure luck .

 

[Nick Jansky]

Agreed , all the promotions hes achieved and turnarounds with previous clubs , have been
managed by pure luck .

It’s been 7 years since the last of his 3 promotions as an EFL manager. Since then he has failed to turn around Middlesbrough or Watford.

 

[I should coco]

It’s been 7 years since the last of his 3 promotions as an EFL manager. Since then he has failed to turn around Middlesbrough or Watford.

He was doing all right at Boro, but fell out with Steve Gibson. Look how Carrick picked up Wilder's squad and ran with it.

Watford is a facile example. He joined mid-season and was always going to get the boot if he didn't take them up. A club that has had 17 (SEVENTEEN) managers in the last 10 years, suggests that something other than Wilder, was the problem, but you probably knew that, you little tinker.

 

[Rodley]

He was doing all right at Boro, but fell out with Steve Gibson. Look how Carrick picked up Wilder's squad and ran with it.

Watford is a facile example. He joined mid-season and was always going to get the boot if he didn't take them up. A club that has had 17 (SEVENTEEN) managers in the last 10 years, suggests that something other than Wilder, was the problem, but you probably knew that, you little tinker.

For me, Boro and Watford are neither here nor there - I agree with you. My only concern regarding Wilder is the top 6-8 clubs last season seemed to have a bit more power and athleticism, albeit to differing extents. I do slightly worry with signings like Rothwell et al that we seem to be slightly skewed towards the culture / leadership element when the footballing world is doubling down on pacy, powerful athletes. We do look a bit laboured at times in comparison.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Agreed , all the promotions hes achieved and turnarounds with previous clubs , have been
managed by pure luck .

Not every successful manager has the same strengths. Wilder consistently gets huge performances out of players others struggle with. His man-management isn’t perfect, and he may be drifting slightly out of date, but it’s always been a major strength.

Pretending he’s tactically versatile, reacting fluidly to match circumstances rather than relying on pre-planned switches, is silly. That doesn’t make him a bad manager. Plenty of so-called “tacticos” (see Sellés) struggle to get buy-in from players. The majority of players Wilder has managed love him.

However, Wilder’s relative lack of tactical flexibility is probably why Sheffield United represents the biggest job he’s had.

 

[I should coco]

Not every successful manager has the same strengths. Wilder consistently gets huge performances out of players others struggle with. His man-management isn’t perfect, and he may be drifting slightly out of date, but it’s always been a major strength.

Pretending he’s tactically versatile, reacting fluidly to match circumstances rather than relying on pre-planned switches, is silly. That doesn’t make him a bad manager. Plenty of so-called “tacticos” (see Sellés) struggle to get buy-in from players. The majority of players Wilder has managed love him.

However, Wilder’s relative lack of tactical flexibility is probably why Sheffield United represents the biggest job he’s had.

Well reasoned and I can't really disagree.

Being a twat, I want to disagree of course, but I can't.

 

[finlaytheblade]

It’s been 7 years since the last of his 3 promotions as an EFL manager. Since then he has failed to turn around Middlesbrough or Watford.

Watford are a basket case! A string of managers have failed to get Boro promoted of which Wilder is one.
CW has said he is a better manager than ever! Now is the time to prove it.!

 

[bertieblade]

Wilder has to improve his tactical flexibility, I.e play different ways against different teams and let the opposition be afraid of us.
This used to be the case, but no longer and he must revert to Wilder mark 1.

 

[Nick Jansky]

the footballing world is doubling down on pacy, powerful athletes. We do look a bit laboured at times in comparison.

Until we have a squad of players who understand that alcohol shouldn’t feature in their lives at all in any circumstances we are always going to be lacking in the fitness, conditioning and resilience departments. Gary Neville spoke very well on this a couple of weeks ago. It’s a culture that still lingers in parts of the English game, particularly in the lower leagues, but it has become prehistoric.

“But they need to let their hair down sometimes”. Sure, but if the only way they can do that is by throwing alcohol down their necks it shows a major lack of imagination and seriousness about their careers.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

Arguing over the VAR decision is pointless. By the laws of the game as they are currently written, that goal was illegitimate. Maybe the pattern of the game changes if we go 2-0 up, but I doubt that Sunderland side, with their fans being noisy as hell, would have just bent over and let us walk away with the game. They certainly didn't do so in either of the regular season matches.

The more telling issue within that match, is how we allowed Sunderland back into the game. They made a slight tactical adjustment to have a bigger lad on Kieffer Moore all the time, so he couldn't win every aerial ball, and then applied pressure to us with the likes of Mayenda, Isidor, Watson, Le Fee, etc., in an attempt to force a mistake, to give themselves an opportunity to get back into the game. And because we'd spent nearly all season playing in a manner of "get in front and don't concede", we had nothing in response - No "Plan B" to counter Sunderlands tactics that put us on the back foot.

We should have looked at using our pacy players from the bench to stretch them on the counter-attack. Brooks showed that they were fragile at the back in that 2nd half - if he had a bit more composure he would have scored for 2-0 anyway and the VAR shite would be completely redundant. Instead we just put all our eggs in the basket of "let's defend our 1-goal lead for 45+ minutes - they won't get through us".

Ahhh the limitations of Wilder, who'd have thought.

 

[Tom Bott]

It’s been 7 years since the last of his 3 promotions as an EFL manager. Since then he has failed to turn around Middlesbrough or Watford.

Mikel Arteta has only won the PL title with Arsenal once since 2019.
Failure?

 

[GeorgeDonis1889]

Until we have a squad of players who understand that alcohol shouldn’t feature in their lives at all in any circumstances we are always going to be lacking in the fitness, conditioning and resilience departments. Gary Neville spoke very well on this a couple of weeks ago. It’s a culture that still lingers in parts of the English game, particularly in the lower leagues, but it has become prehistoric.

“But they need to let their hair down sometimes”. Sure, but if the only way they can do that is by throwing alcohol down their necks it shows a major lack of imagination and seriousness about their careers.

Such nonsense

 

[Nick Jansky]

Such nonsense

I get my information on this from a friend who is a medical professor and former Olympic sprinter and who has just become the head of medical and performance at one of the world's biggest clubs. So I think I'll go with his opinion regarding whether its nonsense rather than someone on a football forum who knows nothing whatsoever about it.

 

[Nick Jansky]

Mikel Arteta has only won the PL title with Arsenal once since 2019.
Failure?

A slightly more competitive field.

 

[GeorgeDonis1889]

I get my information on this from a friend who is a medical professor and former Olympic sprinter and who has just become the head of medical and performance at one of the world's biggest clubs. So I think I'll go with his opinion regarding whether its nonsense rather than someone on a football forum who knows nothing whatsoever about it.

His opinion is that Sheffield United have a drinking culture then is it? You are funny

 

[Nick Jansky]

His opinion is that Sheffield United have a drinking culture then is it? You are funny

I take it you don't think Sheffield United have a drinking culture. Are you basing that on anything?

 

[GeorgeDonis1889]

I take it you don't think Sheffield United have a drinking culture. Are you basing that on anything?

It was you who implied it so what are you basing it on? Other than your Professor/Olympian/Astronaut friend says so

 

[Brian Deane]

I take it you don't think Sheffield United have a drinking culture. Are you basing that on anything?

Does this particular person have the ironic initials AA ?
Serious question BTW

 

[LBA_Blade]

I take it you don't think Sheffield United have a drinking culture. Are you basing that on anything?

It's not a "Wilder Culture" personally if I was operating at any professional level in sport or involved within the game, I don't think I would drink either based on trying to keep as fit as possible for as long as possible, I am not saying in the off-season players shouldn't drink or on the odd occasion, but if you look at Billy Sharp although not teetotal he was very disciplined in when he consumed alcohol. It's more about moderation like anything but it's also the PR side of things when looking for sponsors and investments are they more likely to team up with a club that has a drinking culture where as a brand there could be more of a risk to cause themselves to be associated with a few issues or do they team up with a professional set-up.

 

[Valley Blade]

A slightly more competitive field.

3 or 4 teams can realistically win the Premier League most years. At Championship level maybe upto 16 teams have a chance every year to gain promotion. Whilst the top level standard is incredibly higher, I wouldn't say its more competitive.

 

[Nick Jansky]

It was you who implied it so what are you basing it on? Other than your Professor/Olympian/Astronaut friend says so

I base it on what I, and others, have experienced.

But I don’t think he would be remotely bothered about a complete nobody like you attempting to be dismissive of him

You are a silly little sausage!