Alan Biggs: No manager could have done a better job at Sheffield United than Chris Wilder

Or certainly shouldn’t be. That Chris Wilder is secure as Sheffield United manager isn’t even a question, is it?

But I’m moved to write this after being randomly asked on the radio the other day if I thought Wilder was “under pressure.”

Well, he certainly is under pressure. From himself mainly, struggling in vain to get football out of “his nut” at any time of the day or night.

Under pressure particularly from the expectations of Sheffield United that he has created. And from anxiously feeling the responsibility of keeping “his” club in the Premier League.

So he’s under pressure, yeah. What manager after one point from the first eight matches wouldn’t be?

But this is football and you just know the kind of madness it throws up.

Hence, when I was asked if Wilder was “under pressure,” there was only one connotation meant in the question.

It’s become a bit of a euphemism and I’m as guilty as anyone. It clearly signified, in the way it was put, “do you think there is a danger of him getting sacked?”

No! Ridiculous. And yet I certainly don’t blame the interviewer. It’s the way we’re conditioned to think. Who conditions us? The clubs by routinely swinging the axe, by letting bad spells eclipse hitherto long periods of success.

If clubs didn’t make a habit of this the question would be asked far more sparingly.

Instead it’s a reflex, a knee-jerk whenever even the most successful manager has a bad spell. Jose Mourinho has been sacked a couple of times, for heaven’s sake.

And of course supporters are known to ask the question after just a couple of defeats. Social media is relentless in literally judging “each match as it comes.”

So a few people have been known to lose touch with their filled-up senses in recent times.

If Wilder isn’t safe, who is? And I’ve no reason to suspect he isn’t, by the way.

All of this surely doesn’t need saying but in the hothouse climate of football it’s perhaps necessary to make a point. A point with which I’m sure 99.9% of United fans would agree.

Wilder doesn’t need defending from me or anyone. His record does that for him.

Consider this. No manager in the game, past or present, could have done a better job at Sheffield United, on their resources, than this one.

Think about that. A huge statement. Not Sir Alex Ferguson, not Brian Clough, not Jock Stein, not Herbert Chapman. Not BETTER. Who’s disagreeing?

Of course, boards have been known to look at the table, weigh up the cost of losing Premier League status and wonder if a roll of the dice would save it.

Look at Watford with the harshly treated Nigel Pearson last season and see how that ended.

Of course, there’s no absolute guarantee that United’s owners wouldn’t act on such an impulse. You can’t say never to anything in football.

But this is surely as close to never as it gets. Wilder carries, and deserves to continue to carry, almost unanimous popular support.

Should United be relegated, you can’t see a better man out there to bring them back.

And that’s it with the silly talk. Let’s get on with trying to enjoy the rarefied football climate this manager’s success against the financial odds has achieved.