Chris Wilder right to pull no punches as Sheffield United cement derby dominance with final nail in Sheffield Wednesday coffin
Chris Wilder right to pull no punches as Sheffield United cement derby dominance with final nail in Sheffield Wednesday coffin
He may have a degree of compassion for his fellow professionals and manager Henrik Pedersen amid Wednesday’s ongoing struggle, but there is little sympathy flowing over to the other side of the city from Chris Wilder. The Sheffield United manager secured a historic double-double over the Owls yesterday, which also condemned them to League One.
United’s derby dominance was not in doubt before this game but was cemented by a 2-1 victory at Bramall Lane which was made a little bit tenser by Charlie McNeill scoring Wednesday’s first goal in S2 since 2011. But that was as good as it got for the Owls and United could still have run out even more comfortable victors but for a couple of smart saves late on from debutant Seny Dieng.
There was little sympathy in the stands, either, for Wednesday’s current plight as the Blades sent them on their way to the third tier courtesy of goals from Patrick Bamford and Harrison Burrows. There were masks of former owner Dejphon Chansiri in the home ends; even a Thai flag unfurled in the corporate areas which read simply: “Viva Chansiri.”
And, in truth, would we want it any other way? Sheffielders are generally decent folk, hard-working and down-to-earth by nature, but most of them are divided deeply by the teams they support. And part of that rivalry is enjoying the downfall of the other side.
Any Wednesdayite who says they wouldn’t do exactly the same if the roles were reversed is kidding themselves. This is a club who still crow about a victory over their rivals almost half a century ago; many who weren’t even alive in 1993 can recount the details of that all-Sheffield FA Cup semi-final as if they were right in the middle of it.
Being honest, there hasn’t been a great deal for either side to cheer about for a long time in terms of trophies and trinkets and so being top dogs in the city is not something to sniff at. If you work hard to climb the mountain, why not enjoy the view?
Especially if you lived through an era in the nineties when Wednesday were on top, battling it out at the top of the English pyramid with a bunch of iconic players with bigger prizes in mind than just bragging rights in their own city.
Chris Wilder right to pull no punches as Sheffield United cement derby dominance with final nail in Sheffield Wednesday coffin
When Carlos Tevez contrived to send United down from the Premier League in 2007 - illegitimately, as it turned out - can anyone remember Wednesdayites joining the United fight to be reinstated? Wilder certainly can’t recall many Owls fans commiserating him when United lost in the play-off final to Sunderland last May.
“I don’t remember people ringing me up and going: ‘Oh, that was a bit unfortunate, wasn't it? Unlucky,’” said Wilder after Sunday’s latest victory, which took him to five over Wednesday - one clear of Neil Warnock and one shy of frontrunner John Harris.
“That's the nature of the business. And nobody would have it any other way. Maybe an absolute small percentage of supporters, a small percentage. But no Sheffield Wednesday fans have ever celebrated a Sheffield United victory.
“And no Sheffield United fan has ever celebrated a Sheffield Wednesday achievement. And that is just the nature of the game. That is just what football is, especially in one city. This is day to day. Football is the biggest thing.
“There’s been 135-odd years of it and they'll come again. And we'll have to be the ones that have to take it. And we've had to take it as well. It’s been like that all the way through and and it won't change.
“There's not going to be, let's say, a Forest, Notts County sort of scenario. Where you've got a huge club in the city and another club that's a decent-sized club, but is there all the time. This is how it's going to be right the way through.
“For us, we're in a decent position off the pitch. We're in a decent position because of people doing the job properly and correctly and going about it in the right way. And on the pitch, we've had a good go at it. But it'll change.
“As it changed in the nineties when we had to suck it up and deal with it, we had to take on the chin. I've got to say, if I'm out of order or wrong on anything like this ... but I'm not sure I am. I think that's football rivalry and that's the tribal part of football.
“And that's how it is. And like I said, it'll swing and we'll have to be the ones, as we have done in the past, to deal with it ... whenever that comes.”