Wilder's Big Calls

[The Bohemian]

Can't help but admire just how often Wilder gets things right, both in how he sets his team up and during games. Sometimes he goes with the grain of popular opinion but some of his biggest moments have been when he's confounded many onlookers and still been proved right.

His decision to give the captaincy to Billy was not universally popular due to plenty questioning whether Billy was up to being picked regularly. Well, 30 goals put that one straight, not to mention the galvanising effect of having lifelong supporters as owner, manager and skipper.

A large section of fans had given up on Leon Clarke last season. "Not up to it." "Injury prone." "Bad attitude." "Doesn't get on with Billy" etc. Wilder never wavered in his belief and told anyone who cared to listen that we'd see a different player when he returned from injury. Cue, 6 goals in 6 starts at the end of the season to help nail League One. Then the small matter of becoming a Blades Legend in the space of 95, glorious minutes, yesterday.

Even, pre-match, yesterday: there were many of us, myself included, who wondered if he'd got his set up right, in moving Basham out of defence and benching Duffy. It didn't take long to see what an inspired decision that was with Bash completely owning Bannan and nullifying their one source of creativity.

His substitutions are consistently on the money. Jake Wright was our one player who looked vulnerable yesterday: caught in possession first half, should have done better for their first goal and almost cost us again before getting hooked after an hour. Making a decision to swap a centre half for an attacking midfielder when you are 2-1 up in a local derby was still a 'massive' call that looked to have backfired within 2 minutes. Within another 2 minutes Duffy had scored a 'worldy' and proceeded to rip them apart whenever he felt like it.

Yes, Wilder is passionate about his club and transmits that to his team That shouldn't distract from the fact that he is one of the shrewdest tactical operators I've seen at The Lane.

 

[Ricky]

Bringing Duffy on for Wright in a game like that in those circumstances took massive balls.

 

[Jon P]

Can't help but admire just how often Wilder gets things right, both in how he sets his team up and during games. Sometimes he goes with the grain of popular opinion but some of his biggest moments have been when he's confounded many onlookers and still been proved right.

His decision to give the captaincy to Billy was not universally popular due to plenty questioning whether Billy was up to being picked regularly. Well, 30 goals put that one straight, not to mention the galvanising effect of having lifelong supporters as owner, manager and skipper.

A large section of fans had given up on Leon Clarke last season. "Not up to it." "Injury prone." "Bad attitude." "Doesn't get on with Billy" etc. Wilder never wavered in his belief and told anyone who cared to listen that we'd see a different player when he returned from injury. Cue, 6 goals in 6 starts at the end of the season to help nail League One. Then the small matter of becoming a Blades Legend in the space of 95, glorious minutes, yesterday.

Even, pre-match, yesterday: there were many of us, myself included, who wondered if he'd got his set up right, in moving Basham out of defence and benching Duffy. It didn't take long to see what an inspired decision that was with Bash completely owning Bannan and nullifying their one source of creativity.

His substitutions are consistently on the money. Jake Wright was our one player who looked vulnerable yesterday: caught in possession first half, should have done better for their first goal and almost cost us again before getting hooked after an hour. Making a decision to swap a centre half for an attacking midfielder when you are 2-1 up in a local derby was still a 'massive' call that looked to have backfired within 2 minutes. Within another 2 minutes Duffy had scored a 'worldy' and proceeded to rip them apart whenever he felt like it.

Yes, Wilder is passionate about his club and transmits that to his team That shouldn't distract from the fact that he is one of the shrewdest tactical operators I've seen at The Lane.

I have never agreed more with a post. Have a like Sir.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

If you substituted the C for a B in your title, you'd be closer to the mark!

He's got a big old pair of brass uns, that's for sure!

 

[McGrath]

Bringing Duffy on for Wright in a game like that in those circumstances took massive balls.

How many managers, would make an attacking substitution when 2-1 up in a local derby early on in the second half. I'm guessing one (our one); the rest would have tried to "park the bus".

 

[itsinyerblood]

Can't help but admire just how often Wilder gets things right, both in how he sets his team up and during games. Sometimes he goes with the grain of popular opinion but some of his biggest moments have been when he's confounded many onlookers and still been proved right.

His decision to give the captaincy to Billy was not universally popular due to plenty questioning whether Billy was up to being picked regularly. Well, 30 goals put that one straight, not to mention the galvanising effect of having lifelong supporters as owner, manager and skipper.

A large section of fans had given up on Leon Clarke last season. "Not up to it." "Injury prone." "Bad attitude." "Doesn't get on with Billy" etc. Wilder never wavered in his belief and told anyone who cared to listen that we'd see a different player when he returned from injury. Cue, 6 goals in 6 starts at the end of the season to help nail League One. Then the small matter of becoming a Blades Legend in the space of 95, glorious minutes, yesterday.

Even, pre-match, yesterday: there were many of us, myself included, who wondered if he'd got his set up right, in moving Basham out of defence and benching Duffy. It didn't take long to see what an inspired decision that was with Bash completely owning Bannan and nullifying their one source of creativity.

His substitutions are consistently on the money. Jake Wright was our one player who looked vulnerable yesterday: caught in possession first half, should have done better for their first goal and almost cost us again before getting hooked after an hour. Making a decision to swap a centre half for an attacking midfielder when you are 2-1 up in a local derby was still a 'massive' call that looked to have backfired within 2 minutes. Within another 2 minutes Duffy had scored a 'worldy' and proceeded to rip them apart whenever he felt like it.

Yes, Wilder is passionate about his club and transmits that to his team That shouldn't distract from the fact that he is one of the shrewdest tactical operators I've seen at The Lane.

Astute post mate.

Yes, it's quite amazing how good Wilder's calls are. I can't recall a manager who's brought in so many decent players. Only Hussey, as far as my failing memory allows, didn't quite make it. I've also still to see a reason for Carruthers to make a claim as a regular, but those are minor conversation pieces. Wilder, and Knill, are solid, insightful professionals, who are probably going to take us further than any of us could have imagined at the beginning of last season.

Sunday was a fantastic day for Blades everywhere. We showed class, grit when necessary, and we had more desire than they did. Wilder has constructed a side in his image, and to the player's credit they've bought into this and realised that they can achieve far more than they imagined possible.

 

[Fanny magnet]

He always sees how to nullify or take advantage of the opposition's tactical substitutions

It was almost as if he expected them to make the changes they did and was waiting to counter it

We've got ourselves a great manager there
Who knows how far he can take us

Be interesting to see how we line up when Billy and clayton are back

 

[Blade56]

Can't help but admire just how often Wilder gets things right, both in how he sets his team up and during games. Sometimes he goes with the grain of popular opinion but some of his biggest moments have been when he's confounded many onlookers and still been proved right.

His decision to give the captaincy to Billy was not universally popular due to plenty questioning whether Billy was up to being picked regularly. Well, 30 goals put that one straight, not to mention the galvanising effect of having lifelong supporters as owner, manager and skipper.

A large section of fans had given up on Leon Clarke last season. "Not up to it." "Injury prone." "Bad attitude." "Doesn't get on with Billy" etc. Wilder never wavered in his belief and told anyone who cared to listen that we'd see a different player when he returned from injury. Cue, 6 goals in 6 starts at the end of the season to help nail League One. Then the small matter of becoming a Blades Legend in the space of 95, glorious minutes, yesterday.

Even, pre-match, yesterday: there were many of us, myself included, who wondered if he'd got his set up right, in moving Basham out of defence and benching Duffy. It didn't take long to see what an inspired decision that was with Bash completely owning Bannan and nullifying their one source of creativity.

His substitutions are consistently on the money. Jake Wright was our one player who looked vulnerable yesterday: caught in possession first half, should have done better for their first goal and almost cost us again before getting hooked after an hour. Making a decision to swap a centre half for an attacking midfielder when you are 2-1 up in a local derby was still a 'massive' call that looked to have backfired within 2 minutes. Within another 2 minutes Duffy had scored a 'worldy' and proceeded to rip them apart whenever he felt like it.

Yes, Wilder is passionate about his club and transmits that to his team That shouldn't distract from the fact that he is one of the shrewdest tactical operators I've seen at The Lane.

The only critisisum I have of your most excellent observations is the slight over exaggeration re Clark earning Legend status. By your calculation you said it took him 95 minutes, to my recollection it was 96 minutes 45+ 2 first half and 45+4 second.
Small detail but the 'Likes' don't come easy, nah, goo on, have a like.

Good point though, he waited to see what changes CC made, dropped back Bashembaur who was playing really well and brought in a holding/attacking midfielder who can dribble and dribble better than almost anyone one the team (apart from Brooksy). There was a great shot of him pointing and whispering in Knills ear just before. Inspired.

 

[SwissBlade]

Bringing Duffy on for Wright in a game like that in those circumstances took massive balls.

You could say he got away with that one...

63 Mins - He took Wright off for Duffy
65 Mins - Joao scored down the right
67 Mins - Duffy scores

 

[Sheffsteel]

You can see that Knill is constantly chatting to Wilder on the sidelines.

Makes you wonder who the tactical genius is.
How much of Wilders success is down to his right hand man, Alan Knill?

 

[Ricky]

I fancied us to score a 3rd regardless of who we had on the pitch. So to bring Duffy on and have him and Brooks behind Clarke made us extremely likely to score again in my mind. And we did, twice. Still a very big decision to take a defender off though.

And yes, we probably wouldn't have conceded that 2nd with Wright on, as Joao went right through the middle of our defence, exactly where Wright would've been. But had that not gone in I think we would've had to score a 3rd to win anyway - they were always likely to score in the 2nd half.

 

[blader]

You can see that Knill is constantly chatting to Wilder on the sidelines.

Makes you wonder who the tactical genius is.
How much of Wilders success is down to his right hand man, Alan Knill?

I remember many fans making the same observations with Blackwell with Warnock. Look how their respective careers turned out!

They're a team ultimately, but I have no doubts wilder is the brains of the operation! Knill's career as a number one was hardly a success!

 

[Bayingblade]

What I've also noticed is the ability to change things without changing personnel. He did it last year against MK Dons (if memory serves) and he changed it a couple of times yesterday. It's the first time I can remember a manager having a plan A, B and C and being able to implement them during the game. And the players can make the switch too, seamlessly. It's a real testament to the work they clearly do in training.

Without getting too giddy, we appear to have two real gems on our hands and they make a great team. Long may it continue!

 

[Gimli]

The man has delivered time and time again.
He has proven people wrong time after time.
I don't think you can really top what happened yesterday - but if I could put money on one man capable of doing so it would be Wilder.

 

[The Bohemian]

The only critisisum I have of your most excellent observations is the slight over exaggeration re Clark earning Legend status. By your calculation you said it took him 95 minutes, to my recollection it was 96 minutes 45+ 2 first half and 45+4 second.
Small detail but the 'Likes' don't come easy, nah, goo on, have a like.

Good point though, he waited to see what changes CC made, dropped back Bashembaur who was playing really well and brought in a holding/attacking midfielder who can dribble and dribble better than almost anyone one the team (apart from Brooksy). There was a great shot of him pointing and whispering in Knills ear just before. Inspired.

I should have clarified '95 minutes' as the time when Wilder decided the match was won and began high five-ing his bench, which was 2 minutes before the final whistle.

 

[ShorehamRevolution]

Can't help but admire just how often Wilder gets things right, both in how he sets his team up and during games. Sometimes he goes with the grain of popular opinion but some of his biggest moments have been when he's confounded many onlookers and still been proved right.

His decision to give the captaincy to Billy was not universally popular due to plenty questioning whether Billy was up to being picked regularly. Well, 30 goals put that one straight, not to mention the galvanising effect of having lifelong supporters as owner, manager and skipper.

A large section of fans had given up on Leon Clarke last season. "Not up to it." "Injury prone." "Bad attitude." "Doesn't get on with Billy" etc. Wilder never wavered in his belief and told anyone who cared to listen that we'd see a different player when he returned from injury. Cue, 6 goals in 6 starts at the end of the season to help nail League One. Then the small matter of becoming a Blades Legend in the space of 95, glorious minutes, yesterday.

Even, pre-match, yesterday: there were many of us, myself included, who wondered if he'd got his set up right, in moving Basham out of defence and benching Duffy. It didn't take long to see what an inspired decision that was with Bash completely owning Bannan and nullifying their one source of creativity.

His substitutions are consistently on the money. Jake Wright was our one player who looked vulnerable yesterday: caught in possession first half, should have done better for their first goal and almost cost us again before getting hooked after an hour. Making a decision to swap a centre half for an attacking midfielder when you are 2-1 up in a local derby was still a 'massive' call that looked to have backfired within 2 minutes. Within another 2 minutes Duffy had scored a 'worldy' and proceeded to rip them apart whenever he felt like it.

Yes, Wilder is passionate about his club and transmits that to his team That shouldn't distract from the fact that he is one of the shrewdest tactical operators I've seen at The Lane.

Don't take any credit away from Alan Knill I get the impression he's the tactical operator and Wilder is the man who arranges a team piss up every month and a pool competition in the training ground canteen, in all seriousness I reckon Wilder has the eye for the player and Knill is the one sorting the tactics.

 

[Kenilworth]

If you substituted the C for a B in your title, you'd be closer to the mark!

He's got a big old pair of brass uns, that's for sure!

Bugger
My first thought too.

I pity you ILtRM

 

[BushBlade]

You can see that Knill is constantly chatting to Wilder on the sidelines.

Makes you wonder who the tactical genius is.
How much of Wilders success is down to his right hand man, Alan Knill?

From what I saw of their chats, just before Duffy came on, CW was telling AK what he thought was going wrong and what we needed to do about it. AK obviously has input but it's CW who makes the decisions.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I remember many fans making the same observations with Blackwell with Warnock. Look how their respective careers turned out!

They're a team ultimately, but I have no doubts wilder is the brains of the operation! Knill's career as a number one was hardly a success!

Even a master of tactics could end up being a shit manager and struggle.

A good manager needs to be a people person, a leader who can fight in the trenches, but have charisma, be a father figure who can dish out harsh discipline but be caring when required, someone who earns respect.

A great manager isn’t something that is learnt in a class room, you’ve either got it or you haven’t.

A common mistake is that great coaches with tactical brilliance automatically assume they can become good managers.
I understand that Blackwell was an excellent coach but not a good people person
Where as Warnock wasn’t great with tactics but was a fantastic people person and motivator.

 

[Pinchy]

Can't help but admire just how often Wilder gets things right, both in how he sets his team up and during games. Sometimes he goes with the grain of popular opinion but some of his biggest moments have been when he's confounded many onlookers and still been proved right.

His decision to give the captaincy to Billy was not universally popular due to plenty questioning whether Billy was up to being picked regularly. Well, 30 goals put that one straight, not to mention the galvanising effect of having lifelong supporters as owner, manager and skipper.

A large section of fans had given up on Leon Clarke last season. "Not up to it." "Injury prone." "Bad attitude." "Doesn't get on with Billy" etc. Wilder never wavered in his belief and told anyone who cared to listen that we'd see a different player when he returned from injury. Cue, 6 goals in 6 starts at the end of the season to help nail League One. Then the small matter of becoming a Blades Legend in the space of 95, glorious minutes, yesterday.

Even, pre-match, yesterday: there were many of us, myself included, who wondered if he'd got his set up right, in moving Basham out of defence and benching Duffy. It didn't take long to see what an inspired decision that was with Bash completely owning Bannan and nullifying their one source of creativity.

His substitutions are consistently on the money. Jake Wright was our one player who looked vulnerable yesterday: caught in possession first half, should have done better for their first goal and almost cost us again before getting hooked after an hour. Making a decision to swap a centre half for an attacking midfielder when you are 2-1 up in a local derby was still a 'massive' call that looked to have backfired within 2 minutes. Within another 2 minutes Duffy had scored a 'worldy' and proceeded to rip them apart whenever he felt like it.

Yes, Wilder is passionate about his club and transmits that to his team That shouldn't distract from the fact that he is one of the shrewdest tactical operators I've seen at The Lane.

Absolutely. At the risk of repeating myself (not my style) Tufty is the most adept manager I've ever seen at changing things to our advantage during a game. It's very difficult and beyond most managers who talk a good game with post-match hindsight.

 

[Sheffsteel]

From what I saw of their chats, just before Duffy came on, CW was telling AK what he thought was going wrong and what we needed to do about it. AK obviously has input but it's CW who makes the decisions.

Agree Wilder is the leader and makes all the decisions
But I think Knill has a bigger input that most other assistant managers at other clubs.
Wilder isn’t scared to trust Knill, he hasn’t got Knill as a yes man, it’s almost a double act with Wilder as the front man.

 

[Ricky]

Alan Knill strikes me as someone who's absolutely ice cool in the heat of the battle and sees things very clearly.

It can't just be assumed that he's the 'tactics man' but there's no doubt he has a huge input.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

Totally agree with the original post. There are so many examples now of CW getting it tactically spot on since he came here. Yesterday we had Bash in midfield, which stopped their oh so wonderfield midfield from playing. Switching it after then got on top early second half, then bringing Duffy on for Jake Wright (what an intent).

 

[Blade56]

I should have clarified '95 minutes' as the time when Wilder decided the match was won and began high five-ing his bench, which was 2 minutes before the final whistle.

Ah ok, 2 mins before final whistle at 96 = 94 minutes so now your being disingenuous to Clarke. Maths int your strong point B

 

[The Bohemian]

Don't take any credit away from Alan Knill I get the impression he's the tactical operator and Wilder is the man who arranges a team piss up every month and a pool competition in the training ground canteen, in all seriousness I reckon Wilder has the eye for the player and Knill is the one sorting the tactics.

They are a great combo, that much is clear. Wilder has previously stated he's happy to leave the coaching work to Knill. I'd be pretty confident Wilder still has final word on team set-up though.

 

[hodgy747]

Still think there are comparisons to be made with Clough and Taylor....... you never know.

 

[Pinchy]

Totally agree with the original post. There are so many examples now of CW getting it tactically spot on since he came here. Yesterday we had Bash in midfield, which stopped their oh so wonderfield midfield from playing. Switching it after then got on top early second half, then bringing Duffy on for Jake Wright (what an intent).

I haven't mentioned yet that that's just about the best I've seen Bash play in a midfield role. As someone who's never been his biggest fan I want to pay tribute to him. He's been terrific for about a year now and clearly a great pro respected by everyone at the club. He's also a better footballer than I've previously given him credit for.

Cue major error in midweek...