Managerial team/Coaches


Chris Wilder As I type this he is still in charge but rumours continue to swirl sadly. It would be desperately disappointing if our alliance lasts only 2 seasons. I think if the status quo continues then I would have no issues Wilder walking away next summer but I feel the bond and the work he has done would be thrown away for him and the club if he walked away now. We still have a good side and even if we do not get the investment we need to push on; there is nothing to stop us being an established Champ club for a good few years. Do we and him want more? Of course, but I think we are all a bit naive if we think that we were going to go from League One to the Premier League in 2-3 years. The start this season has accelerated our ambitions. Now we could be the victim of our own success in many ways.
Last season I wrote this: What a job he has done. I could write so much about the turnaround in attitude, work ethic, organisation, team spirit, level of football, discipline and the positivity he has brought in. However, in simple terms he has changed the side and club around from losers to winners. In 12 months’ time everything I said remains. We had a good season that could have been great. Sure, even he made some mistakes with team selections, odd signing or two and subs etc but overall, he has continued to do an incredible job. His man management is superb, he says it how it is and even some of his controversial post match comments (Hull) have worked to motivate the team. He is our leader and he has completely galvanised the fans. We dropped off around December time and the dream of a back to back promotion fell short but not sure how much you could pin on him. The loss of Coutts, the loss of form of a few and simply the energy levels dropping off were not really Wilder’s fault. He did his best with the signings he made. He got the best out of some real journeyman strikers that according to some had no chance of excelling at this level. He picked up some more gems in the transfer market (Blackman, Stevens, Baldock etc) and had faith in some of the young players (Brooks, Slater). He signed his own players but was not afraid not to play them if they did not make an impact. The likes of Holmes and Wilson for instance were only bit part players.

Love his honesty and his after-match interviews are really refreshing in honest but also some eye-opening comments that sometimes surprise mixed in with this. He generally sees it the same as the average fan though and does not sugar coat things good or bad. Called the team out after Hull but then saw much better performance and rightly praised them in turn.

He still had us playing adventurous football with the wing backs and overlapping centre backs. At our best we pressed, passed and moved and attacked. At times we had spells becoming a bit predictable but for the most part we kept doing the same attacking bang at it type performance and it was only that extra bit of quality at either end of the pitch that stopped us winning several more games of football. There were only a handful of really bad performances (Hull, Preston and Millwall away off the top of my head and a few flat but not bad ones at home, Wednesday, Forest, Bolton) and only maybe three games did we get a pasting and even those we had moments (Cardiff, Fulham and Wolves). The attitude he had was we belonged and the no fear ethos spread through the team. I feared we may struggle to avoid a relegation scrap but we were in a promotion scrap and only just missed out really at the end. Tactically he probably learnt some lessons as he was up against coaches/managers he has never been before at a higher level and a few times he was outcoached but more often than not managers had to change their set up against us. He kept to his principles of attacking and playing football. Indeed, if we had took our chances and not let in some daft goals (all easily avoidable) then despite the concerns over the lack of proper investment we still could have made the playoffs.

His comments after the game against Preston really ramped up how he felt as he talked of walking if things did not get sorted. You sense he knows this is his window of opportunity. United start badly next season and no one will be interested at him at lower Prem/top end Champ. Now he could maybe get a WBA / Southampton or someone similar. Sure, some of the jobs may be Championship like United but these clubs would back him financially and he would have a better chance of promotion. The Sunderland link does not go away and it seems he knows that if he got them going then he may get some proper investment from them. Sadly, they have more potential than us. It was interesting his criticism as he does shoot from the hip a bit like Warnock used to. It cannot have impressed either of his bosses. No matter what he had done before and how true his comments are – the people that run the club that do not have to spend money – will surely not be happy. If me or you called out our bosses at work regardless if all our fellow employees agreed – we would probably face disciplinary action. It was a ballsy move but one that I am not sure will have desired affect in terms of it being sorted out. Hope I am wrong.
He knows if he stays and we do not do as well (maybe as he is not backed) and his success would be forgotten. People compare him to Howe, Wagner, Dyche but these all took their teams up. Wilder would not get a Premier League job I do not think unless he took us up or close. Teams will go for the recycled managers or foreign angle. That is proven. He knows this is a big summer for him and the club. If he stays in 12 months he may not have the options he has now. My gut feeling is his love for the club will see him stick it out but I would not be shocked if he is not here either.

Grade B+ (Last season A+)

Alan Knill continues to quietly go about his work behind the scenes. Appreciated by the fans and he continues to ensure the preparation for opponents and our organisation is good. He is a big part of what we do. Wilder clearly sees him as essential to what he does and has put him in front of the press a bit more this season He will have been a bit disappointed with set plays/corners this season and something to work on next season as he has hung his hat on this in previous years. A huge influence on Wilder and the players and really popular figure.