Garth Crooks slams 'very short-sighted' Chris Wilder exit from Sheffield United & makes Leicester City claim

In his weekly team of the week selection piece for BBC Sport, Crooks claimed: “If this performance by Sheffield United is anything to go by then the departure of Chris Wilder is very short-sighted.

“It wasn't the defeat that was so worrying but the manner of it. Five goals thumped past them away from home wouldn't have happened on Wilder's watch. The main cause of the collapse was Kelechi Iheanacho.”

"The former Manchester City striker was at his most clinical. His second and third goals were magnificent strikes. As for Sheffield United's board of directors, I think they've made a poor decision allowing Wilder to leave which makes it all the more important that they get his successor right.”

Meanwhile, Crooks compared Wilder's exit from Bramall Lane to that of Neil Lennon from Scottish giants Celtic, and contended: “His credentials aren't in Lennon's league but the ex-Blades defender joined the Yorkshire club in May 2016 and took them from League One to the Premier League during that period and finished ninth last season in their first year back in the league. It is a record certainly not to be sniffed at.

“So why have these men gone? There may be no other commercial enterprise that would allow these managers to leave under such circumstances.

“But football is unlike other commercial enterprises in the world. That's why it is so captivating. Lennon and Wilder deserve our praise and respect and I hope that is enough to sooth the indignation both men must be feeling right now.

“However, I have no doubt that in time supporters will realise the enormous contribution they have made to their clubs and give them the credit they truly deserve.”

As things stand, the Blades are all but relegated with an enormous 14-point gap currently standing between them and safety.

United are back in action this weekend, when they take on Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea in an FA Cup quarter-final clash at Stamford Bridge.