Exclusive:What Sheffield United's Alan Knill decision means for Billy Sharp return prospects as future mapped out
Alan Knill's departure has prompted plenty of discussion among Sheffield United supporters about what comes next, but the club's thinking behind the decision offers an intriguing insight into the future direction of Chris Wilder's backroom staff.
Earlier this afternoon, when The Star broke the news that Alan Knill will be leaving Sheffield United this summer, one name was on many Unitedites’ lips - that of iconic former Blades striker Billy Sharp.
Sharp has made no secret of his desire to move into coaching once he hangs up his shooting boots; the door for that to happen at Bramall Lane, in some capacity, has been publicly left open by boss Chris Wilder.
Sharp’s illustrious career in front of goal, and his innate knowledge and understanding of United having grown up a Unitedite and played for his boyhood club across three spells, has seen him identified as an ideal future coach in some quarters.
But we understand that the decision to move on from Knill was not taken directly with a role for Sharp in mind. The expectation at Bramall Lane is that he will prolong his playing career, having moved closer to the 300 career goal mark with a hat-trick in his final appearance for Doncaster Rovers last season.
That treble moved him to 299 and he thought he had reached 300 late on against Peterborough on the final day, only for the effort to be chalked off. Had that stood, and Sharp could bow out on the landmark figure, then the situation may have been different.
And when he eventually calls time on his playing career, Sharp will then have to work his way up the coaching ladder rather than being catapulted into the senior set-up at Shirecliffe. While it will not be Sharp, United are expected to recruit another coach to replace Knill in the set-up.
But whether it is a like-for-like replacement remains to be seen. United are looking to the future and Knill’s departure will create opportunities for younger coaches such as Micky Collins, the former U21 manager who has impressed since stepping up to the first-team set-up.
Wilder and Knill’s association is one of the longest in English football, with the pair first meeting during Wilder’s time as an apprentice at Southampton. They have since worked together at Bury - with Wilder the assistant to Knill - before the roles were reversed at Northampton Town, Middlesbrough and Watford, alongside three spells at Bramall Lane.