"Calm down..." - Chris Wilder sends Sheffield United fan message as progress continues with Blackburn Rovers win
The Sheffield United boss was delighted to see his side respond to their first defeat of the season by beating Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Ewood Park.
Chris Wilder has called on Sheffield United supporters to “calm down a little bit” about the noise surrounding the Blades at the minute, as they picked up their first away win of the season at Blackburn Rovers tonight. Wilder’s men finished the evening ninth in the table but two points off leaders West Ham United.
By no means were the Blades sparkling at Ewood Park but it was a performance of character and personality as they went back over the Pennines with a 2-1 victory on the board, thanks to goals from Tom Cannon and Sydie Peck.
United, looking to bounce back straightaway from a first defeat of the season at home to Norwich City on Saturday, had to bounce back after Kristi Montgomery put the home side ahead while Michael Cooper made two excellent saves to help preserve their lead.
Some negativity about the Blades’ off-field situation has seeped into the fanbase despite United’s decent start to the season, especially considering they sold their three most creative players from last season throughout the summer.
And Wilder admitted afterwards: “We could have controlled it a little bit more. But I think there's a lot of noise around the place. We're five or six games in. We’ve won two, drawn three, lost one. So everybody just needs to calm down a little bit.
“I think there's a lot of emotion at the moment running through the football club. But as long as the players are prepared to run about and put themselves on the line ... if they weren't, then maybe tonight is a different result.
“We're scrambling at the moment. We've got to get through to the international break. We've coached the shape right the way through pre-season and we're having to change it. We haven’t got like-for-like substitutions and we've lost a lot of energy, in Harrison, in Femi, in Chongy and Ryan.
“But we've got a good group. We’re just trying to find a way at a particular moment and still pick up results. The league's crazy. We move into the top nine tonight, we’ve lost one all season.
“So, yeah, we're not flowing. But we've got an attitude about us. We've got a character about us. Turn the clock back 12 months [and that wasn’t the case].”
Wilder pointed to several examples in the Championship of teams also looking for consistency, with various different results again highlighting why the division is one of the most exciting in the world.
“Everybody's been sort of up and down, up and down,” Wilder added. “There have been good moments in games and not so good moments individually and as a team. I think everybody's trying to find that, looking across the division. Of course, I want us to play better.
“But, for me, it’s always about the result and improve on the performance. I'm not one of those who say improve on the performance and the results will come. I think you've got to try and find that balance.
“I'm not embarrassed about winning games of football because we didn't win a lot of games of football at the start of last year. We will build, we will get into a rhythm. We'll get players fitter, we'll get players back. And we will get better.”