Chris Wilder reveals the best decision he has made since taking charge of Sheffield United

Chris Wilder says naming Billy Sharp as his skipper soon after taking charge of Sheffield United was "one of the best decisions I ever made".
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Wilder took the United job after the Blades had slumped to 11th in League One, and Nigel Adkins paid the price with his job.

One of Wilder's first actions was to call striker Sharp and offer him the captaincy of their boyhood club.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And the striker repaid that decision with 30 goals as the Blades won League One, before Sharp played a key role in United's promotion to the Premier League just two years later.

Chris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd congratulates Billy Sharp: Alistair Langham/SportimageChris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd congratulates Billy Sharp: Alistair Langham/Sportimage
Chris Wilder manager of Sheffield Utd congratulates Billy Sharp: Alistair Langham/Sportimage

And Wilder, speaking on Sky Sports this morning, admitted: "One of the best decisions that I ever made was making Billy Sharp captain when I first walked through the door. He’d had a disappointing season in League One, where we finished [11th] and for a club like Sheffield United, it’s certainly not good enough.

“Billy won everything that year. He was players' player of the year, leading goalscorer... and I saw an interview with him, he was devastated.

"Take all personal accolades out of it and the season the club had, wasn’t a successful one.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It shows how much he cared about the football club, and getting this club off the canvas and moving forward.

“Billy’s one of a number of pros that I have got that help run the changing room and look after it.”

Sharp scored the winner against Norwich in United's most recent game, before the coronavirus outbreak saw the season postponed indefinitely.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to The Star website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit https://www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.