Exclusive:Sheffield United set for another major shake-up with "integral" figure set to leave Bramall Lane
Exclusive: The Star understands that a key member of Sheffield United’s set-up will leave Bramall Lane this summer, bringing an end to one of football's longest-standing coaching partnerships
Sheffield United will undergo another big backroom shake-up this summer, The Star can reveal, with a key member of the Blades’ coaching team set to depart. United are looking to the future after last season’s disappointing 13th-placed Championship finish.
And while another managerial change is not on the cards this time around - after the decision to replace Chris Wilder with Ruben Selles just over 12 months ago proved disastrous - we understand that Alan Knill, Wilder’s trusted assistant manager and a highly-respected coach, will depart this summer.
The news is understood to have come as a shock to the 61-year-old when it was delivered this week. Knill only returned to Bramall Lane last September, alongside returning boss Wilder and coach Matt Prestridge, with preparations for next season already well under way following the disappointment of last term.
But when Wilder returns to the dugout later this summer he will do so without Knill next to him, with the pair’s long association - which spans spells at Bury, Middlesbrough and Watford as well as Bramall Lane - set to come to an end.
The COH Sports ownership group are understood to have made the call with an eye on the future and Knill’s departure could see increased roles and responsibility for young coaches including Micky Collins and Guilherme Ramos, the Portuguese who joined Wilder’s backroom staff last September.
Wilder only recently paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend, while accepting his lifetime achievement award at The Star’s Football Awards just before the end of the season. “He’s been integral to the journey,” Wilder said of Knill.
“I’ve known him since I was an apprentice at Southampton when I was 16, and he, as everyone knows, is a proper football guy. He doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. He’s been an incredible partner.
“He’s never been an ‘assistant’. It’s been me and him, right the way through. He’s been unbelievable to work with, he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s got an unbelievable skillset, and he’s been an ally and loyal friend, which you need in this game.”