How Chris Wilder helped a Crystal Palace favourite

Shaun Derry is midway through a story about playing for Sheffield United when a thought suddenly occurs to him.
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Chris Wilder, now performing wonders in charge of the Premier League club, actually helped launch his own footballing career.

“I was a young lad, coming through the system at Notts County, and Chris had just signed as a senior pro’,” Derry says, casting his mind back to the mid-Nineties, when Wilder arrived at Meadow Lane.

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“We needed a defender. He’d been brought in to do the job. But he got injured pretty soon after turning up so I got thrown out there instead.”

Derry can now laugh about it now - “I was a midfielder, I’d never played there before in my life” - but the decision to deploy him at full-back initially caused a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. But it was then when he also witnessed the skills which, more than two decades later, have helped Wilder become a successful top-flight manager.

“Chrissy was brilliant and had a great way with the young players,” remembers Derry. “He was a fantastic influence for me, a real influence.

“So I’m not surprised now that the relationship he’s got with his lads is so strong now, because interpersonal skills are part of his armoury.”

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“One example stands out in particular,” Derry continues, casting his mind back to a Second Division play-off final in 1996, which also saw Tony Agana and Darren Ward, now United’s goalkeeping coach, appear on County’s team sheet.

Former Sheffield United and Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun Derry, who is now back working at Selhurst Park: Nigel French/PA Wire.Former Sheffield United and Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun Derry, who is now back working at Selhurst Park: Nigel French/PA Wire.
Former Sheffield United and Crystal Palace midfielder Shaun Derry, who is now back working at Selhurst Park: Nigel French/PA Wire.

“We lost the game and it was such a disappointment. I was sat there in the dressing room, absolutely gutted. But he came over, put his arm around me and had a word.

“He told me not to get too despondent because if I continued to work hard, there would be other opportunities and the rewards would come.”

Derry and Wilder will be able to relive those times with County at Selhurst Park today. United are eighth in the table, only a season after being promoted, and could climb to fifth if they beat Crystal Palace; where Derry now works in their academy.

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After making a combined total of 309 appearances for both - 83 of which were at United - he admits he wouldn’t miss the fixture “for the world.”

Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, used to play with Shaun Derry at Notts County: Simon Bellis/SportimageChris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, used to play with Shaun Derry at Notts County: Simon Bellis/Sportimage
Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, used to play with Shaun Derry at Notts County: Simon Bellis/Sportimage

Derry, now aged 42, spent two years at Bramall Lane before leaving for Portsmouth in March 2000.

The circumstances surrounding his arrival, were he admits, as surprising as those which saw him move to Fratton Park.

“I was going to Middlesbrough to begin with,” Derry says, explaining his departure from County. “Then, all of a sudden, the manager called me in and told me I was going to United, not ‘Boro.

“I was proud to represent the club, and what a club it is.”

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson: Nigel French/PA Wire.Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson: Nigel French/PA Wire.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson: Nigel French/PA Wire.
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“When I eventually left, however, that happened really quickly too,” he adds. “We’d played a game, against Grimsby I think it was, and Neil (Warnock), who was the manager then, didn’t like it when I questioned one of his decisions. So he sold me.”

Warnock, however, was not one to hold a grudge and, after taking charge of Palace seven years later made Derry club captain. He remains a huge admirer of Wilder’s predecessor and, after tracking his former team mate’s coaching journey closely, believes they share plenty of qualities in common. Despite, Derry concedes, being very different people.

“People only see one side of Neil, the manager, but there’s another side to him as well,” he insists. “The ‘real’ person if you like and his biggest value is his family value. That’s why most players who have played for Neil would run through a brick wall for him.

“Obviously I’ve also followed Chrissy’s career really closely too and he’s not your stereotypical manager either.

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“He’s got a lovely blend of the old and the new. He creates a great spirit in the group, clearly, but he also plays a great brand of football. You can’t communicate until you have the right environment on the training ground and that’s what Chris has got.”

The same, Derry insists, goes for United and Palace who, like the visitors, are managed by a former player and fan. Hodgson’s side are 11th and, after losing in South Yorkshire at the beginning of the campaign, determined to avenge that defeat.

Crystal Palace's James McCarthy (left) and Sheffield United's George Baldock confront each other during the Premier League match at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in August: Tim Goode/PA Wire.Crystal Palace's James McCarthy (left) and Sheffield United's George Baldock confront each other during the Premier League match at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in August: Tim Goode/PA Wire.
Crystal Palace's James McCarthy (left) and Sheffield United's George Baldock confront each other during the Premier League match at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in August: Tim Goode/PA Wire.

“Roy is brilliant and, quite often, I really don’t think people realise what a career he’s had,” Derry says, referencing Hodgson’s spells in charge of teams including England, Internazionale, Switzerland, Finland and Liverpool.

“The great thing about Roy is that he knows what he wants. He shows consistency. Roy has got that quality and so has Chris.”

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Fascinated to see who wins the battle of wits between two hugely respected managers, Derry admits he will be tempted to take notes to further his own development.

“I’m so fortunate to be working for the people I am,” Derry, who made nearly appearances for Palace, acknowledges. “How can you not learn from someone like Roy or the other coaches here?

“And how can you not be inspired by someone like Chris has well, who after starting out as a non-league manager with Alfreton has shown it’s possible to take that route to the top?”

After spells in the dug-out at Cambridge and County - where he was appointed only days after announcing his retirement as a player - Derry is now tasked with the job of helping Palace’s academy players make the transition to senior level.

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It is a position, given the Londoners’ reputation for producing home-grown talent, which comes with huge responsibility.

“I’m privileged to be doing what I’m doing at Palace,” Derry says. “I became a manager at County a week after retiring and, because I’m a County fan, I understand the huge amount of responsibility that makes you feel.

“Palace is obviously a club that’s so close to my heart. I had some of my favourite moments as a player here and the same goes for United.

“Both clubs, for me, have got huge similarities. There’s a common bond and one of those is that the fans of both, even though it often gets chucked at clubs in the south that it isn’t the case, is to see players giving absolutely everything.”