Sheffield United: Why boss Chris Wilder isn't kept awake at night anymore in charge of his Blades

There have been times, as Halifax battled administration and Northampton teetered on the brink of extinction, when Chris Wilder has laid awake at night with various scenarios, dilemmas and conundrums running around his head.
Chris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd: Simon Bellis/SportimageChris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd: Simon Bellis/Sportimage
Chris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd: Simon Bellis/Sportimage

Not, it seems, any more.

"It's happened a few times before," the Sheffield United manager admitted with a wry smile after his side's 2-0 victory at Reading on Saturday.

"I've been lying awake, scratching my head, with various bits and pieces. He's out of form and he's out of form, I need to move him on or change the shape... all sorts going around my coconut.

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"Not so much now. The things that concern me now are far smaller, which I think shows how far we've developed as a team. 

"Hopefully now, we can continue to develop into the second half of the season and tidy things up.

"Be better at the small things because the overall bigger picture is going well. We've had a fantastic first 21 games of the season."

Indeed, elsewhere on these pages, Wilder implored United fans to 'shout from the rooftops' about their third-placed standing in the Championship table, above what he would term as 'some big-hitting, powerful clubs'.

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It would be a mistake, however, to assume that Wilder's sleep is entirely uninterrupted these days and no doubt the continued stand-off in the boardroom between his bosses, co-owners Prince Abdullah and Kevin McCabe, occupies his thoughts more than he would perhaps like '“ especially with the January transfer window looming large on the horizon.

As The Star revealed recently, Wilder has submitted his '˜wish-list' of targets for the new year to the Bramall Lane board, although the size of his January warchest has not yet been revealed.

Until then, a call for his side to '˜tidy up' in both penalty areas has been prevalent. 'I said before, we've managed to turn wins into draws and draws into losses recently,' the manager added.

'Our general play between the boxes is good. We dominate teams and push them back. We just have to be better and tidier in both boxes.'