Every word Chris Wilder said about “ridiculous” Sheffield United supporter criticism after battling Birmingham City display
Every word Chris Wilder said about “ridiculous” Sheffield United supporter criticism after battling Birmingham City display
Chris Wilder has hit back at “ridiculous” criticism of his side’s attitude from a section of Sheffield United supporters during their recent run, describing it as “such a lazy way of going about it.” The Blades boss was irked by suggestions in some quarters recently that his side were not trying during a weekend draw with West Bromwich Albion, and the midweek defeat to Norwich City.
They dispelled that myth - not that they needed to - by battling for around 70 minutes against Birmingham City this afternoon with 10 men, after Femi Seriki’s contentious red card turned the tide of the game.
Birmingham went ahead from the resulting free-kick to compound United’s frustration but the Blades didn’t buckle from there and could have got back into the game even earlier, when they were handed a bizarre penalty when Jack Robinson picked up the ball in open play.
But Sydie Peck’s tame effort was kept out by James Beadle, before the home ‘keeper denied Patrick Bamford excellently soon after. He was eventually beaten on the stroke of half-time, though, when Bamford rounded him to level and United earned a battling point from there, despite the home side hitting the woodwork four times.
Here is every word of Wilder’s response to the criticism of his side’s application, from St. Andrew’s...
I think we talked about it in midweek ... how people can question our togetherness is absolutely ridiculous from my point of view. It's such a lazy way of going about it, a lazy way of going about it when you lose a game. ‘They're not trying, they're not running around.’
I've got the data, they run around. I've got the data on duels, they run around. And it's poked me a little bit, it's annoyed me a little bit over the week. We might lose a game. We've got no divine right to win games in this division. We're not entitled to anything, especially in not a straightforward season. We’re not entitled to do anything.
We're not letting anybody down. There's no guarantee when I walk through the door, that we're just going to go and win 25 games of football and go up. It's not a straightforward season and the people in the know know that. I'm not chucking anybody in the bus. Everybody knows that in and around it and it's really, really lazy. So it's annoyed me a little bit.
West Brom in the week played Southampton, who were the form team, and it took Southampton to 94 of 95 minutes to get an equaliser. The league is bonkers, absolutely bonkers, and there's no given right.
By the way it wasn't a case of us losing five, six, seven games on the spin or eight games on the spin, and we're plummeting and we're in the position in and around the bottom three. We had an opportunity of winning today of going into the top 10. I was scratching my head.
So there are no guarantees on anything and it’s just unrealistic at times in my opinion. So a reset here today. How quickly the narrative changes and the feel internally - not by everybody but by hopefully a minority. But they are the ones that usually get heard the most.
Yeah, I am a reactor and we all are. I said to the players afterwards, sometimes it's not a win or even a draw. But it's the approach and the attitude towards the game. From the off we were good, we were brave against good opposition who've got an incredible home record.
They had a full pre-season, had a season to build last year as well.Had a fabulous season last year. Had that all opportunities of bringing players in and just nudging it and nudging it and nudging it. I think you know where I'm coming on that.
And we talked about it this morning. The football part of it is really important. The process, in and out of possession, the tactical stuff, the detail and stuff like that. But it has to be underpinned by resilience, pride, togetherness, bravery, character, personality, belief. And I thought that, to a man, they left everything out there against a possession-based side that moved the ball well and obviously had that fabulous home record.
I've had incredible support at this football club, incredible support that will live with me forever. Through good and bad. We've had the rollercoaster, we've had relegations out of the Premier League. We've had Wembley play-off final heartbreak, but we've got something to work for.
And if it's not enough this season, it's not enough. Then we re-gather, go again and build again. But as I said to you, there's still a lot of games to play, a lot of football to be played. And it's never over. And when it is over, it's never over. And that has to underpin everything from our football club, our culture. We're not flaky, we're not milky.
When we don't get it right, we don't get it right. And maybe if I don't get it right, I don't get it right. I like to think that we did today. They hit the woodwork but I think tactically, it was spot on from the players in terms of how they got it right.
“We changed the team before. We've rolled Pat out. He's not trained all week. I think that shows what we're about. And he wanted to stick his hand up, as we talked about. It was really unfortunate for Danny Ings, having to be the one that comes off.
“But we give it a right go against a good side that’s well-coached. And I think the players and the travelling support have deserved that result.”