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

[Nine Inch Nalis]

If Chris Wilder was motivated by greed, then he stood to fare far better by staying, if we're going off what Prince Abdullah himself has stated. I don't give a shit about what he may have wanted as severance, Wilder may have a personal affinity with the club, but like any other supporter, we only support an abstraction of what the club is i.e the name and the identity, which is the only thing that remains constant. When that same club is your employer, you have to negotiate with them as your employer in business-like fashion.

What did people expect CW to say? "Oh before I go, can I have a keyring from the club shop and a pair of Blades mittens?"

And for the avoidance of misunderstanding. I bear no ill-will toward Prince Abdullah (although my Spidey-sense is suggesting to me that Bettis is a bit of a cunt). I actually believe that in the long term, his stewardship could prove beneficial to the club. Having a deep appreciation for what Chris Wilder did for us doesn't mean I'm about to slag off the ownership. They had a disagreement, it's sad that it happened, but there we are.

Of course, I don't expect others to take such a nuanced viewpoint i.e some of the, ahem, "supporters" who have been demonising Chris Wilder since the second he left. I make no apology for accurately describing who and what they are.

 

[The Crab]

Well, we wanted The Prince's side of the story, now we have it, now we await (if it comes) CW's side.

Love CW, love what (and I really think this is a pertinent point) he was part of. Lest we forget though, he was very well rewarded for his part with (deserved) contract improvements. He's not going to be in the poor house.

My problem comes with the apparent £4m. If he had been sacked, then he'd have more of a case. But to resign (an offer apparently repeatedly made) then sorry but no, I don't see how that can be in the best interests of the club.

It's time to draw a line, and move on. CW will be deservedly remembered for what he was part of, and where he got us, but it is over. If people want to make a flag, great, and if he comes back in the opposite dugout, I really hope he gets the great reception he deserves, he's earned it.

This is a pivotal period for The Prince and his ambitions for the club. Anyone can give polished, oven ready statements. But a saying that has served me well is this - don't listen to what they say, keep an eye on what they do.

Over to you Prince, we're watching.......

 

[JPBrods]

• Wilder wanting to resign a number of times as thought we need a new voice fits with some stories around the Palace game and when he was overheard at the final whistle.

What did he say? I missed this.

 

[Stretch]

Nah, I preferred Loony Lee's version of events on FH the other week.


Seriously, a.good interview and as always he comes across very well. Some may call me naive but I actually trust what he says.

No doubt there is blame on his side too, certainly over the training ground improvements and the JTW, but it sounds like Wilder wanted everything on his terms at the end. That is in no way reasonable.

Still a sad outcome, but we need to move forward now.

 

[Jacobsenthecrab]

It was brilliant what Wilder achieved here and he got his rewards with his new contracts. However, winning 4 matches (probably wasn’t even 4 at the first time he wanted to resign) and then wanting out cause it’s all gone tits up and wanting the club to give him £4 million in the process - get fucked. Played the “my club, I care about this club” card all his time here and then wanted paying off in millions to see him go cause he couldn’t hack it anymore.

Everything I heard late last week from someone within the football side of the club backs up what the Prince said 100%.
I loved Wilder and he did amazingly well for us but he has lied about things in the press and caused huge damage between the club and its fans all to leave with his reputation intact and a fat payout.
The Prince is right to speak out as they’ve done almost everything they could to support him and he’s just trashed the club.
The most pertinent comment is when he says he has no problem with Wilder taking all the credit when we win, but at least take some responsibility when we don’t - that’s bang on the money.

After Warnock I said to myself that I would never get taken-in by a manager saying they loved the club again as they always act in self-interest - guess I let myself get fooled again.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Some of our players have a release clause.
Carlton Blade, seems you were right ref Berge as he’s the only one with maybe Brewster who would have it.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Some of our players have a release clause.
Carlton Blade, seems you were right ref Berge as he’s the only one with maybe Brewster who would have it.

It was only ever a guess. I just thought his agent would be doing a terrible job if he didn't have one

 

[S6 Blade]

Hmm first suggestion of possible board influence in transfers.
We were looking at attacking midfield or forwards in Jan, and then it changed to defensive midfielders and the Prince didn’t agree. He thought we had enough but weren’t creating or scoring enough.
He also though last January transfer window was poor.

He’s not wrong on both counts to be fair

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

What did he say? I missed this.

He was caught on camera saying “I can’t do this anymore”.

 

[Southend Blade]

They have made him sign an agreement to not speak and then come out and slaughtered him!

This is meant to be a PL football club

Have they? Where is that documented?

 

[Bladeinleeds]

Surely, by signing those players, who at the time of signing where either at a PL club or who had just had very good championship seasons, it proved we paid competitive wages?

I don’t think we were paying peanuts by any stretch Berge will be on a wedge. And like I’ve said period wilder was given funds. He chose to spend them on strikers, £4m is c80k a week. We spent 120m, that would be enough to stretch to some decent wages if we had wanted to.

BUT - I do think it’s fair to suggest that we wouldn’t be able to match what villa and plenty of other teams paid. Putting us out of the race for Watkins for example at c80k per week. As such it’s not a stretch to say we had to shop in a different pool. Which is strange why wilder wouldn’t widen his net to abroad where there’s better value to be had.

 

[GreasyChipBeattie]

Difficult not to be impressed by PA's delivery of his side of the story.
I'd love to hear CW's though for the sake of balance.

 

[JPBrods]

I'm no legal eagle, but if CW has signed an NDA does this mean he can't respond in kind ?

There's nothing to suggest that the NDA relates to anything the owner has said. Could be for something entirely different.

 

[TJB.]

Of course, I don't expect others to take such a nuanced viewpoint i.e some of the, ahem, "supporters" who have been demonising Chris Wilder since the second he left. I make no apology for accurately describing who and what they

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

I get where the Prince is coming from, it’s sad that the Wilder era bust up in the way it did but that’s life. It’s all about what happens next, UTFB

Spot on, this is the real world chaps, and this is something we can do nothing about without causing further harm to the club..

Although I've no doubt there are those on here who will try their very best.......

 

[MalmoBlade]

Ye the team he made

Same team that's taking us down, but when we came up it's all CW and now we're going down it's everything and everyone but him.

 

[The Crab]

Difficult not to be impressed by PA's delivery of his side of the story.

True, but he's steeped in the corporate culture. Polishing turds is standard practice.

Watch what he does, that's a better yardstick

 

[Bladey_blade]

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.

He literally said the reasoning for being sceptical about not keeping wilder next year was his persistent resignations, if it wasnt going great next year PA stated concerns about CW leaving us and leaving us in the proper shit

 

[Bashamed]

Same team that's taking us down, but when we came up it's all CW and now we're going down it's everything and everyone but him.

Ye would have been better to never get near the Premier league. Not saying he's not his fault. Saying that he's been the main reason for bringing in hundreds of millions. I think after such an unbelievable 5 years asking for £4m is fine.

 

[metalblade]

The Prince does talk a lot of sense, why would anyone give a manager money to spend on players when he has twice offered to resign. I think the Prince feels let down by Chris as do a fair number of the fans but if his heart was set on leaving then it is the best for all concerned. Wanting a £4m pay off to walk away ......... yer havin a laff.

 

[idleurchin]

They have made him sign an agreement to not speak and then come out and slaughtered him!

This is meant to be a PL football club

“Slaughtered him”? Ffs drama queen much?

 

[Snake]

Well I still will never forget Chris Wilder's reign at the Blades. He brought the good times rolling back. I think he deserved a £4m pay off too. Kin ell, he got the Prince the whole gig for £5m! However on recruitment I do agree with the Prince. In the PL you need more than just bulldog spirit and we really do need to widen our net with regard to player recruitment. I'm not saying we go all fancy dan johnny foreigner but there must be players around who offer better value for money options that the very small pond British market.

I'm sad it ended this way, but now is the time to look forward. I wish every success for Chris in the future, and he will always be welcome at the lane as far as im concerned, but we need too regroup, refocus and concentrate our efforts on putting ourselves in the best position to mount a challenge back to the PL as soon as possible.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Intention is to come straight back.
Staying in championship makes us no money.
If we sell then we will replace.
Prince fully committed.
No point having regrets.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I'm glad the club have finally broken cover on the situation, Abdullah refers to a lot of points of criticism that have been aimed at him on this board and I'm assuming on other social media (DoF, Head Coach, financial backing etc), proves he does listen and wanted to put his side across. Also disappointing that there is still no "Thanks Chris for dragging us out of league 1 and into the PL".

All those banging on about the lack of a European scouting network might pipe down now. As a few people have said, we have one, Wilder just chose not to use it. It's disappointing if this is the case as it does show a lack of willingness to change on Wilder's part and perhaps will hold him back in future roles if he can't accept this is the way forward. That said, these names might have been pie in the sky and there might have been other factors stopping them being viable options.

It does seem a bit of a character assassination of Wilder, particularly the points about him wanting a payoff and his 'my way or the highway' approach to transfers.

Interesting again that he only speaks to national news and not the locals. I suspect he thinks that the locals are Wilder's pals.

The point about him not trusting that Wilder wouldn't spend his cash and walk away in future is a valid one though and the underlying reasoning is that the trust between Wilder and the board has gone. There are obviously other issues and we've only heard one side of the story, it's a shame really as Wilder seems to be keeping schtum and he's the one being painted as the bad guy. Many of the Wilder haters will lap this up and say "see, he left".

To me, if Wilder is walking away from this job then there is something fundamentally wrong behind the scenes, I might be an idiot for believing his "I'll do what's best for the club" but he's done enough to earn that trust.

From a personal point of view and having done a lot of business with Arab nationals, he sounds very much like an Arab national with the "it's not my fault" mentality. They are very willing to put the blame on everyone but themselves when things don't go right.

 

[EddieColquhoun]

A couple of our youngsters got England call-ups on Friday. One of the Academy watchers on here thinks that one of them may be out of contract in the summer. Let's hope that the manager didn't neglect this whilst negotiating himself an enormous pay-off.

 

[MalmoBlade]

Ye would have been better to never get near the Premier league. Not saying he's not his fault. Saying that he's been the main reason for bringing in hundreds of millions. I think after such an unbelievable 5 years asking for £4m is fine.

I think £80 kw is ample reward for his achievements mate and if HE chose to give that up and leave us in the lurch I don't think he should expect payment for that. That's all I'm saying.

 

[Rodley]

Is the interview necessary? I’m not sure the timing helps us as the dust had settled. Again it feels a bit “he said, she said”, which satiates those who want to know more, but appears massively tin pot in my eyes.

 

[Nine Inch Nalis]

View attachment 109092

I got a meme!

 

[bertieblade]

why does he deserve a pay off
He was paid a bonus for getting us promotion and was apparently on £3m / annum
He then failed in his job by making the wrong decisions despite being backed and then reassured of his position by the owner who seems to have bent over back wards to keep him. CW then compounds things by not accepting responsibility and blames everyone but himself, that is not heresay it is apparent from his interviews

 

[Nonamedhorse]

Well I still will never forget Chris Wilder's reign at the Blades. He brought the good times rolling back. I think he deserved a £4m pay off too. Kin ell, he got the Prince the whole gig for £5m! However on recruitment I do agree with the Prince. In the PL you need more than just bulldog spirit and we really do need to widen our net with regard to player recruitment. I'm not saying we go all fancy dan johnny foreigner but there must be players around who offer better value for money options that the very small pond British market.

I'm sad it ended this way, but now is the time to look forward. I wish every success for Chris in the future, and he will always be welcome at the lane as far as im concerned, but we need too regroup, refocus and concentrate our efforts on putting ourselves in the best position to mount a challenge back to the PL as soon as possible.

You think he should get £4M for wanting out when the going gets rough?
Sir Chris has abandoned us in our next season of need. #burntheflag