Sheffield United: 'If you talk rubbish, I'll call you out'

Despite preparing for tomorrow’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers sixth in the Premier League, United were dismissed by some top-flight pundits as “too basic” and “too defensively-minded” to prosper at the highest level. Another former player, working for an overseas television network, warned United would be “annihilated” if they continued with their policy of employing over-lapping centre-halves.

Although his employers receive huge sums from domestic and foreign broadcasters in rights payments, Wilder vowed to continue highlighting what he regards as poor analysis stemming from a lack of knowledge about EFL football.

“Uneducated punditry, that’s what I think you’d call it, I’m not there to rub their heads either,” he said, charting the narrative surrounding United’s progress since being promoted from the Championship last term. “If you speak to Keith Andrews and Scott Minto, who cover the Championship (for SKY), I think they’ll tell you that we’ve always been a positive and attack-minded team.”