Sky using Chris Wilder as a Pundit

[Montymagic]

Prince and the chairman said numerous times that Chris had their full support and would be the manager for years, even when relegated. On face value it sounds nice, but it was their way of telling him to resign as they weren't going to fire him and pay compensation no matter what.

Yet here we are, having payed him millions, so how does that theory actually work again?

Just going on the money/players signed etc, the board backed him, probably too much for my liking with how he splashed the cash previously, we saw he couldn't make any decent big signings required at prem level or he couldn't make them work (time will tell which one it actually is), very Warnock esque really unfortunately.

Still we had a bloody fantastical time and will never forget it and he deserves the praise and plaudits for it all along with al.
I doubt we will ever see it again (hopefully I'm wrong)
Overall a legend all be it a tainted one (take the praise with the good times you must accept the criticism with the bad)
with the way it ended sadly

 

[Lane Ender]

Rumours you say? Complete and utter bollocks. He didn’t get the job because he fucked up last season and blamed everyone but himself.

Truth is Wilder was found out as a one trick pony and in the end at Prem level was sussed.
He would have given himself more credibility if he would have seen it through.
No Premiership outfit would employ him now and I don’t think he would manage in the lower leagues plus an ambitious Championship side wouldn’t entertain him due to his failings.

 

[Carlton Blade]

 

[Davalon]

The King is dead, long live the King.

 

[Vikkster]

Bring bring bring bring

WBA: Hello West Bromich Albion fc how may we help you

SU: Hello rival club, we hear you're about to appoint our ex manager

WBA: Yeah rival club. Hes due to sign this afternoon.

SU: Wouldn't do that if I was you. He's a reight trouble causer. Proper problem child and all that.

WBA: Ok thanks rival club for letting us know. We won't appoint him now.

 

[Keef Chedwyn]

You let it go if you want Carlts. Don't get caught ever talking about former players or managers if this is your stance though.

 

[Carlton Blade]

You let it go if you want Carlts. Don't get caught ever talking about former players or managers if this is your stance though.

Soz

 

[Mojo]

People are bitter about wilder because everyone loved him and and it felt like a betrayal him leaving when we were at our lowest ebb. He was one of our own, he was us and it's unfathomable why he left. He could have been leading is tonight with imo one of the strongest line ups in the league. I wonder if he is having any regrets right now. I'm sure if he was at the match tonight and heard the crowd roar he would instantly regret everything

 

[nopigfansintown]

A lot of jilted lovers on here who just can't let it go and thus result to lies, smears and character assassinations. A few facts, or should I say inconvenient truths.

1) CW is amongst the top three Blades manages since the 1970s

2) He has one of the best transfer records of any Blades manager.Even in the prem Ramsdale, Berge and Bogle look like excellent signings that will recoup a large proportion of our total outlay if sold.

3) If money was his primary motivation he would still be Sheffield United manager.

4) The facilities he was moaning about throughout his tenure are still the same as when he walked through the door (mandatory improvements aside).

5) Say thanks and move on. If you don't have the common decency to do that, just move on.

 

[nopigfansintown]

People are bitter about wilder because everyone loved him and and it felt like a betrayal him leaving when we were at our lowest ebb. He was one of our own, he was us and it's unfathomable why he left. He could have been leading is tonight with imo one of the strongest line ups in the league. I wonder if he is having any regrets right now. I'm sure if he was at the match tonight and heard the crowd roar he would instantly regret everything

That was far from our lowest ebb . Not far from halcyon times post Harris tbh.

 

[Frank the tank]

Dean Smith is the luckiest bugger out there. A cheque book manager with, it seems, a huge cheque book backing him up. Villa’s form without Grealish, I think, shows how inept he is. They’ll survive this year but they won’t be troubling the top 6 as I think they hope to

I think the villa fans being back will ensure they struggle this season
The worst fans in the country will soon turn on the team when results go against them
I predict 12 managers for them this season and another ghost goal to keep them up on the last day

 

[Montymagic]

A lot of jilted lovers on here who just can't let it go and thus result to lies, smears and character assassinations. A few facts, or should I say inconvenient truths.

1) CW is amongst the top three Blades manages since the 1970s

2) He has one of the best transfer records of any Blades manager.Even in the prem Ramsdale, Berge and Bogle look like excellent signings that will recoup a large proportion of our total outlay if sold.

3) If money was his primary motivation he would still be Sheffield United manager.

4) The facilities he was moaning about throughout his tenure are still the same as when he walked through the door (mandatory improvements aside).

5) Say thanks and move on. If you don't have the common decency to do that, just move on.

I had a good LOL at the transfers remark.
Where were they successful ? How do you define successful ? ??
If they were, we would be still up there no?
Why didn't he buy cover for the positions we actually needed?
Not sure how much you think we will get for berge and Bogle??, ramsdale we may claw a big chunk back but still to be seen.

Money wise, he gets to do bugger all and be a millionaire....that's better than working as a manager with all the flak for incoming failure and being a millionaire.

Facilities, pretty sure covid put a pretty big dent in finances, premiership money or not.

We can criticise, we paid his wages in part for starters, secondly if you fail you better be man enough to take the flack just as much as taking the praise when you are romping it all the way home, he's not above criticism.

No character assassinations going on in here, so not sure what you are ranting about.

 

[Mojo]

That was far from our lowest ebb . Not far from halcyon times post Harris tbh.

Lowest ebb of his tenure

 

[Scarebus]

Anyhoooo, how did he go as a pundit?

He's alright as a pundit, similar to his interviews really. Knows his stuff, says it as he sees it, likes to inject a bit of humour, struggles to get his words out at times but for me a welcomed addition to sky if he does a few more gigs this season.

 

[nopigfansintown]

I had a good LOL at the transfers remark.
Where were they successful ? How do you define successful ? ??
If they were, we would be still up there no?
Why didn't he buy cover for the positions we actually needed?
Not sure how much you think we will get for berge and Bogle??, ramsdale we may claw a big chunk back but still to be seen.

Money wise, he gets to do bugger all and be a millionaire....that's better than working as a manager with all the flak for incoming failure and being a millionaire.

Facilities, pretty sure covid put a pretty big dent in finances, premiership money or not.

We can criticise, we paid his wages in part for starters, secondly if you fail you better be man enough to take the flack just as much as taking the praise when you are romping it all the way home, he's not above criticism.

No character assassinations going on in here, so not sure what you are ranting about.

Getting from League one and staying there on a shoe string is all the evidence we need for his transfer credentials. The contention is that he wasted a lot of money on players that weren't worth the money in the PL. We'll see when they move on.

Par for the course in this industry when a club and a manager mutually terminate a mutually agreed contract. What the hand wringing is about is beyond me. CW was a "failure"; I've heard it all now.

Our budget was bigger than it's ever been so this is a moot point.Certainly bigger than when we built Shirecliffe and the two newest stands for example.

I never said he was above criticism; I'm not sure what you're ranting about here unless you meant to tag another poster suggesting that. Measured criticism is a lot different to the illogical whining and disrespectful made up BS we are seeing on this thread.

Chris Wilder sure did evade all the flak from Blades fans. I mean just look at this thread, and many last season for proof

You must have missed the hyperbole and made up criticisms polluting this thread.

 

[Frank the tank]

Wilder is for me the best manager we've ever had and I've been going since 80-81 when I was seven
That being as it may the failure of last season lays solely and squarely at his feet ,I'd read an article the year before about the pressures of keeping a club up in the prem and the toll it took on wagner the guy at Huddersfield who felt completely burned out after one season and I think our promotion ,9th place finish then lockdown took such a toll on Chris that I think he just couldn't handle it and that's fine I don't hold it against him

We live in an age where we have a better understanding of mental health issues and the dangers of underestimating them
Hope Chris recharges his battery's, cracks on and comes back one day to help the club forward but let's not pretend that last season and the second half of the one before were anything but the very antithesis of his entire philosophy and ethos on how to bring a club its players and the fans together to achieve success ,he in fact tactically became very outdated and predictable and the style and movement and fluidity of positional rotation.and possession football just disappeared even though in games v teams like Norwich and Bournemouth we still got wins and points from.sheer determination.

 

[Stevo]

It is rather strange mate isn't it. You can only assume that some lack the intelligence to use critical thinking and given only one side has really voiced their side that they have lapped it up as the truth. No doubt Wilder made mistakes on AND off the field and did himself no favours with some of his media interviews, however by all accounts he may have been in the midst of a breakdown of some sorts. There seems to be a narrative that Wilder realised he was out of his depth; that his signings were failing, his tactics found out, and he had lost the players, and thus tried to get out to avoid a relegation on his CV, which of course could be true.

The other possible side is that the Prince had decided that he wanted to fundamentally change the structure at the club; that Wilder was being vetoed on his signings, that he was being told who to sign, and possibly being told that he needed to keep playing some players so they retained their value. It could just be that Wilder felt that as mentioned in this thread, he had taken the club as far as he could (either in his capabilities personally or in his perceived hands being tied) and wanted to resign due to a fundamental rift in his and the Prince's philosophical ideals. Who knows, but it is sad that some are taking the Prince's version as gospel. The truth as they say is probably between both options. The sad thing is that over time it seems the Wilder critics are getting more and more vehement, time does not seem to be a healer in this situation. If you sell both Berge and Ramsdale for say 60 Million they certainly won't be updating their opinions and will still likely stick to the 'Wilder spunked 120 million up the wall' lines. Time will tell on Brewster and McBurnie, so far they don't look too great, but if they improve like Ramsdale has it will be all SJ's doing. I don't think I have ever seen such a hero to zero so quickly, it is very sad.

We will never know, all I do know, is that in my eyes he has secured legendary status

 

[HolmesfieldBlade]

Needs to make money some how. Will have got X months wages in his severance package so will be needing some type of work

I think the 6/7 figure payout he got from presumingly having his contract terminated will have softened the blow somewhat

 

[HolmesfieldBlade]

Wilder is for me the best manager we've ever had and I've been going since 80-81 when I was seven
That being as it may the failure of last season lays solely and squarely at his feet ,I'd read an article the year before about the pressures of keeping a club up in the prem and the toll it took on wagner the guy at Huddersfield who felt completely burned out after one season and I think our promotion ,9th place finish then lockdown took such a toll on Chris that I think he just couldn't handle it and that's fine I don't hold it against him

We live in an age where we have a better understanding of mental health issues and the dangers of underestimating them
Hope Chris recharges his battery's, cracks on and comes back one day to help the club forward but let's not pretend that last season and the second half of the one before were anything but the very antithesis of his entire philosophy and ethos on how to bring a club its players and the fans together to achieve success ,he in fact tactically became very outdated and predictable and the style and movement and fluidity of positional rotation.and possession football just disappeared even though in games v teams like Norwich and Bournemouth we still got wins and points from.sheer determination.

The poor bloke looked exhausted, subscribe to this idea 100%,
COVID-19 hit Wilder really hard… Imagine taking your boyhood club from bottom of League 1 to 5th in the Premier League, then a virus takes it all away.

 

[Frank the tank]

The poor bloke looked exhausted, subscribe to this idea 100%,
COVID-19 hit Wilder really hard… Imagine taking your boyhood club from bottom of League 1 to 5th in the Premier League, then a virus takes it all away.

The enforced break away from the club and the players and anyone outside his household would have been so stressful after having worked exhaustively throughout his managerial career ,you can't just change gears like that .the mind and body can't take it and he won't have had the kind of support around him that most managers at top clubs have

 

[JayGreen17]

The enforced break away from the club and the players and anyone outside his household would have been so stressful after having worked exhaustively throughout his managerial career ,you can't just change gears like that .the mind and body can't take it and he won't have had the kind of support around him that most managers at top clubs have

Why wouldn’t he?

 

[Frank the tank]

Why wouldn’t he?

Why wouldn't he what ?

 

[1889]

Wonder if he’s got a ticket for tonight, sat at the back of the Kop with a wig, false nose and glasses, he might have left the club under a cloud, but he’s still a Blade and if I see him, I’ll be the first to buy him a Bovril!

 

[Delboyscap]

Yet here we are, having payed him millions, so how does that theory actually work again?

Just going on the money/players signed etc, the board backed him, probably too much for my liking with how he splashed the cash previously, we saw he couldn't make any decent big signings required at prem level or he couldn't make them work (time will tell which one it actually is), very Warnock esque really unfortunately.

Still we had a bloody fantastical time and will never forget it and he deserves the praise and plaudits for it all along with al.
I doubt we will ever see it again (hopefully I'm wrong)
Overall a legend all be it a tainted one (take the praise with the good times you must accept the criticism with the bad)
with the way it ended sadly

Well we don't know if the club paid less or as much as they would have had to do if they sacked him do we? If they paid less than sacking him, then the theory did work no? They tried to call Wilder's bluff it seems and it was to send a message to Wilder that if he wanted out then he needed to resign. The problem for both Wilder and the club is that it took longer than both parties probably wanted to resolve it. The consequences for Wilder was the toll it took on his mental health and for the club it was the fact that the team were performing very badly and as the Prince has alluded to previously was affecting the assets (value of the players) which forced both parties to come to a compromise. The club probably DID do better than if they sacked him which Wilder obviously knew which is possibly why he was so stubborn.

Those criticizing Wilder I think are being a bit harsh. Wilder has spent most of his career at the lower end of the football pyramid and of course as we all would do we would safeguard our future and that of our family. Wilder earned his pay-off and more by getting the club to the Premier League. Perhaps it is not ideal but again my gut instinct is that rather than being pure greed, Wilder felt that his role was being changed too far from his contract and the role he had held until that point. Some will argue he better gets used to it, however, there is a big difference in applying for a job within that structure and being in a role that changes, particularly as Wilder could argue he had more than delivered. So for me, Wilder holding on for 'what he was entitled to' was not so much a f@ck you to the fans and the club, more a f@ck you to the Prince for trying to force his hand when he may have had grounds for constructive dismissal. Of course a lot of this is conjecture but it is no more far fetched than the current narrative.

 

[Delboyscap]

Getting from League one and staying there on a shoe string is all the evidence we need for his transfer credentials. The contention is that he wasted a lot of money on players that weren't worth the money in the PL. We'll see when they move on.

Par for the course in this industry when a club and a manager mutually terminate a mutually agreed contract. What the hand wringing is about is beyond me. CW was a "failure"; I've heard it all now.

Our budget was bigger than it's ever been so this is a moot point.Certainly bigger than when we built Shirecliffe and the two newest stands for example.

I never said he was above criticism; I'm not sure what you're ranting about here unless you meant to tag another poster suggesting that. Measured criticism is a lot different to the illogical whining and disrespectful made up BS we are seeing on this thread.

Chris Wilder sure did evade all the flak from Blades fans. I mean just look at this thread, and many last season for proof

You must have missed the hyperbole and made up criticisms polluting this thread.

Great post. Some are far too easily influenced and have gone along with some soundbites and will cling to them religiously until they are told to think something else. He led a club floundering in League 1 to the Premier League without spending big and unearthing some gems and reinventing a bunch of others that many had written off. If anything Wilder and Knill did TOO WELL because they did it without spending anywhere near the levels others did to achieve that which meant when you got there the squad was nowhere near good enough to compete and was badly needing investment. The fans were hardly asking Wilder to abort mission along the way and so he delivered faster than anyone could have predicted and probably too fast for the infrastructure at the club to catch up (and by all accounts it still is nowhere near). A lot was built on culture, togetherness and momentum and sadly when all that petered out the true level of the players showed through.

The spending of 120 million of course is the most any other Blades manager has spent as it is a long time since you were last in the Premier League, hardly fair to use that against him as whilst true, there has to be context to that. By the same token you could argue he has brought more money into the club than anyone ever has. No doubt it ended badly and Wilder must take some of that blame. But some are trying to rewrite history and are like spurned lovers who just cannot get over the rejection. Wilder did a fantastic job overall and yes he deserves some criticism but I hope some will suspend there vitriol against him and let the next few years pan out and judge him later based on how his signings fair or don't. He deserves that much at least.

 

[Revolution]

A lot of jilted lovers on here who just can't let it go and thus result to lies, smears and character assassinations. A few facts, or should I say inconvenient truths.

1) CW is amongst the top three Blades manages since the 1970s

2) He has one of the best transfer records of any Blades manager.Even in the prem Ramsdale, Berge and Bogle look like excellent signings that will recoup a large proportion of our total outlay if sold.

3) If money was his primary motivation he would still be Sheffield United manager.

4) The facilities he was moaning about throughout his tenure are still the same as when he walked through the door (mandatory improvements aside).

5) Say thanks and move on. If you don't have the common decency to do that, just move on.

I agree almost 100 per cent with that if you add “until January 2019” to the first sentence of para 2 and delete the rest of the para.

 

[Bladezz]

It’s a weird one regards Wilder….he’s been brilliant for 4 years but might need to start again to rebuild his reputation.

If you look at Wilders managerial background and experience, he’s a real novice at top class (PL and Champ level) management.
He’s hardly any experience coaching ego’s, players on big salaries, even foreign players.
He’s always managed at really small clubs with Sheff Utd (his home town) being by far and away the biggest club he’s managed.

Here’s a summary of his management experience, he’s been reasonably successful everywhere he’s been.
10 years non league
6 years league 2
1 year league 1
2 years Championship,
1.5 years Premier League

So looking at that…one would be forgiven for thinking that Wilder could be a 1 hit wonder at upper level management….and his talents belong to the lower leagues.

I‘ve always said that Wilder would struggle to attract any PL club, so there was no risk of us losing him.
Think plenty of Championship clubs would be interested but I would imagine Chris thinks he can expect a big salary
where as I still think most Champiomship clubs see him as a risky appointment, so wont pay him big money…so he’s currently in a limbo.

He’ll be in high demand at league 1 level and will easily get a job , but again they won’t be able to pay him a big salary.
If he’s not careful the best jobs he could realistically acquire is at Derby or Sunderland….but this would show how low his stock has fallen.

I’ve never seen so much crap in one post. Impressive.

 

[Bladesman]

Meant to be a chat about Howe but is more about Wilder:

 

[AdamSufc1997]

Meant to be a chat about Howe but is more about Wilder:

Not wrong though is he

 

[BrianBadonde]

I’ve never seen so much crap in one post. Impressive.

Why?