I spent an evening with Chris Wilder and here's why he's perfect for Sheffield United - you can't fake what he has
Chris Wilder is leading Sheffield United’s Championship promotion push.
Radio and TV presenter Colin Murray insists Chris Wilder’s grounded nature makes him the perfect fit for Sheffield United - having seen it first-hand during a podcast recording in South Yorkshire.
Wilder has guided United to the top of the Championship as the season approaches its halfway point, with an instant return to the Premier League becoming a very real possibility. The Blades didn’t spend big money over the summer but shrewd recruitment has built a squad perfect for the boss.
And he is seemingly the perfect fit for them as well, alleviating pressure while getting the best out of a young and relatively inexperienced group. The 57-year-old’s no-nonsense mindset is typical of the Steel City and having interviewed the Blades boss in his hometown, few have seen that as clearly as Murray.
“I made a podcast with Chris Wilder in Sheffield in the summer before the season started,” Murray told the Not The Top 20 podcast. “It was an evening record, and he was getting paid but it was way more a favour than anything - he certainly didn't need to do it. I was going up with Charlie to make this podcast and he said ‘let me know what time you get into town’, so we did.
“He said ‘pick a restaurant and we'll come for a meal with you before’. Okay, we’re just eating at this random Italian restaurant and he says ‘great I'll meet you there’. We asked if we should get a table for four and he said ‘yeah okay, great’. He weighs in the door with his wife, and about five other mates. Then the door keeps opening and I'm thinking ’are these autograph hunters?’ No they were just mates he'd invited.
“We then go to the venue and I go to wave them through - Obviously, it's his ‘entourage’ - and they start picking tickets out of their pockets. I'm going ‘what are you doing?’ and he said ‘what do you mean, they pay their own way’. Chris Wilder was the only one who hadn't bought a ticket. His wife bought a ticket! I said you don't need to do that and he said ‘don't be daft, they're getting a night out and they want to support your event’.
“That's my point, you can't fake that. Sheffield, Belfast, and it isn’t just a northern thing, but cities which have that heart that beats and that kind of civility, humility, attitude and morals. Call it what you want, this is what we talk about being a right fit for a club. Everyone at that club will run through a brick wall for him.
“It's not based on some back of the cigarette packet philosophy, it's real. It's in the blood. Check that home record up against that DNA of Bramall lane when he’s there. We saw it before and were seeing it again. Sheffield United aren’t the biggest spenders in this division, but they are still greater than the sum of their parts and that is unity, that is being so comfortable in the DNA of your club and getting that fit right. Chris Wilder is the ultimate example we’ve ever had of that.”