Mixed emotions for Chris Wilder as Sheffield United boss addresses future question amid "trust" claim

Chris Wilder has admitted he understands the question marks about his position as Sheffield United manager from sections of the club’s support, despite insisting he has “the trust of the majority” to carry out the Blades’ big summer rebuild. Wilder returned to Bramall Lane in December but couldn’t stop their inevitable slide back into the Championship, with the die very much cast before the decision was made to sack Paul Heckingbottom.

United face heading back to the second tier on the back of the unwanted record for the most goals conceded in Premier League history, their tally of 100 in 36 games currently joint-worst with Swindon Town in 42 back in 1993/94. United face Everton and Tottenham in their final two games before this sorry campaign comes to an end, with eyes already turning towards a huge summer overhaul to get the club back on track.

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Although he acknowledges that results on the pitch are the most important thing, Wilder pointed to the promising signs for the future - including a new training ground and the subsequent category-one academy upgrade plan - when admitting that he has “massive mixed emotions” about how this season has gone.

“There are also incredibly exciting times,” he insisted. “Still, our ground is a fabulous one for us to work in every other week. The support, yet again, it's not toxic. There'll always be criticism there because people will say we need to change this and that and change the manager and do this and that. I get that, that's football.

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“But I'd like to think that I have the trust of the majority in that, through past experience and past achievements. And I think people will understand my mentality towards it. I've got that burning desire inside of me to get it right. But still, when I came into the job there was a burning desire to get results and get out of it and even in the last seven or eight games, I’ve been scratching my head at how we haven't picked up more points.

“And if we had picked up another five, six or seven, which we could easily have done, we'd have been right in the mix going into the last bit. But we haven't, so we can't talk about taking it deep. So it’s mixed emotions, really. But I'm filled with that ambition and excitement to go again and put it right.”