Alan Biggs: Sheffield United hierarchy have done the right thing but Chris Wilder won't be happy to accept it

But not now. Not for the players with confidence at a low ebb and not for the manager either.

I think the therapy Wilder needs most is something he can’t have - a good old-fashioned p*** up with his closest mates.

That said, it’s to the puzzlement of the wider world that the manager of the rock bottom team in the Premier League is receiving much more of the carrot than the stick.

He’s even been publicly guaranteed being in charge next season whether his team get relegated or not.

It’s a pledge I particularly applaud, having called for such a statement on these pages, and, more importantly, it’s welcomed by the vast majority of fans.

But if you think the manager is somehow consoled you would be very much mistaken.

Wilder will appreciate it, of course, but I’ll bet his conscientious nature will leave him a touch embarrassed, desperate to supply more vindication of such support.

Which begs a question he himself posed recently: Who motivates the motivator?

Right now, taking responsibility for Sheffield United on the field must be as excruciating as it was exhilarating in his first four seasons.

It will be of little consolation that the reasons for the Blades’ ongoing nightmare are as easy to identify as they are difficult to put right:

* Too many players operating below the standards they set themselves.

* Lack of top quality at the business end, primarily because it can’t be afforded on the club’s wage budget.

* Recent signings not firing, at least not yet.

* No crowds at Bramall Lane, starting at a time when the team and supporters were never more at one.

* Disruptive injuries, particularly to Jack O’Connell.

The last two may look like excuses. They are not. Taken as a whole, Wilder and his players are failing in their mission - for this season. Team selections can’t have been bang on, can they?

And let’s be clear, the questioning is entirely fair.

But equally so, in my opinion, is the removal of the manager’s position from debate. United are to be applauded for making that clear and voiding the question on the national media agenda.

Owner Prince Abdullah is rightly focusing on what worked so well for four seasons and it is for the club to create the conditions to make it stick in future.

Morally, it is also the right way to go and sanity prevails in United being prepared to follow the recent examples of Burnley (Sean Dyche) and Norwich (Daniel Farke).

What can’t be as finely gauged is how Wilder feels deep inside, how he sees his future, the fact he is still highly marketable and his own evaluation of both himself and what is HIS club.

Incredibly, he has never been sacked and has been working continuously, flat out for 19 years.

Sometimes I worry for him in this regard. It is unrelenting work, presenting emotional highs and occasional lows.

It’s then that managers have to somehow manage themselves and that must be hugely difficult right now. I’m sure he’s tried the self-generated gee-up, or kick up the backside.

But it’s a lot harder to pat yourself on the back when times are tough. And impossible to go out for a pint.

A night on the town would not be misplaced because Wilder, as much as anyone else, needs reminding that one of the best managers in Bramall Lane history is well capable of going again.