"Absolute nonsense" - Chris Wilder hits back at "lazy" Sheffield United theory amid Leeds United, Burnley claim

Chris Wilder has hit back at the “lazy” theory that Sheffield United’s success so far this season is based on their receipt of Premier League parachute payments, dismissing the notion as “absolute nonsense.” The Blades have bounced back from last season’s top-flight horror show with a superb effort to get back there at the first attempt, going back top of the Championship table after Sunday’s draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Burnley’s own promotion challenge - as another side relegated from the Premier League last season - and Leeds United’s presence in the ongoing shake-up, as another side with recent top-flight experience and cash, has led to suggestions that parachute payments are somehow distorting competition levels in the second tier and giving relegated teams an insurmountable advantage once they come back down.

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It isn’t a point without its merits but Luton Town’s struggles this season show that parachute money is not the golden ticket some believe it is, with disgraced broadcaster Richard Keys raising the point in his latest blog from the Middle East this week. “Have you looked at the top of the Championship recently?” Keys wrote. “Two of the top three were relegated last season - Sheff Utd and Burnley - and squeezed in between them are Leeds, who went down the previous season. Are we surprised? Rick Parry is right when he argues that parachute payments distort competition in that league.”

The topic of United’s finances was raised again this week in the aftermath of Sunday’s point at West Brom. Both United’s goalscorers at the Hawthorns, Tyrese Campbell and Callum O’Hare, were signed on free transfers while two other big-money arrivals, Gus Hamer and Vini Souza, were signed after promotion rather than relegation. The seven other starters in that game cost less than £5m in permanent transfer fees in total, with Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Alfie Gilchrist on loan at Bramall Lane.

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The parachute accusations also overlook the fact that United made a profit in the transfer market in the summer, financing bargain deals for the likes of Michael Cooper and Harrison Burrows by selling players including Will Osula, Jayden Bogle and Auston Trusty before the season began. Asked for his view on the theory this afternoon, ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Millwall, Wilder said: “Absolute nonsense. It's just a lazy, lazy assumption.

“Listen, we have a competitive wage bill. The work we did in the summer was small fees, frees and loans and we brought some decent figures in as well. It's always a cheap shot that people can use, if you do a bit of digging you'll see. We've got some good players and kept some decent players, there's no doubt about that. And the owner and the board backed us getting those players in.

“But you just have to take that with a pinch of salt and crack on. I'm just interested in the group at the moment and how well they're doing. It doesn't distort it. Look at that West Brom team; there are some boys still there that we couldn't touch a few years ago. The [John] Swifts and the [Jed] Wallaces and Mikey Johnston, and other players that we went after. I'm not going to get into all that, but it's a lazy assumption.”