Chris Wilder has issued a strong warning to his Sheffield United side following their 2-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion on Friday.
The Blades manager was incensed when speaking to local reporters after seeing his team give up a solid first-half performance, and he didn’t hold back when hinting at probable changes next month.
Aune Heggebø and Karlan Grant scored two goals in 11 minutes, ending the South Yorkshire club’s six-game unbeaten run in the Championship. This was their first loss since November 4th.
Chris Wilder’s stern warning to Sheffield United players following the West Bromwich Albion defeat
Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield following the final whistle at The Hawthorns, Wilder delivered a direct challenge to his players regarding their future at the club.
The 58-year-old began his post-game interview by declaring, “Yeah, I’m incredibly furious and angry, as angry as I’ve been in a long time.
“Apologise to the supporters because that’s my team out there, but it won’t be my team if they carry on doing that,” said the coach.
With the January transfer window quickly approaching, Wilder is prepared to make big decisions regarding which players remain at Bramall Lane, implying that anyone who fails to reach his expectations may be let go.
Wilder went on to discuss what he found most frustrating about his team’s performance against Ryan Mason’s side.
“I didn’t see it coming, I thought first-half we were pretty good, we have to be more clinical and we should be ahead at half-time,” said the Blades head coach.
“Everybody in the ground smelt the atmosphere in the ground, we smelt the vulnerability of the opponent and that’s when you need to be at your ruthless best.”
In actuality, West Brom had been on a terrible run of form leading up to this game, having plummeted into the bottom half of the Championship table following six defeats in their previous ten matches, so you can appreciate how ‘weak’ the home side was at the outset of the game.
Chris Wilder claims Sheffield United “have to own” their loss against West Bromwich Albion.
Rather than maintaining the pressure that had made the first half productive, Wilder believed his United players let the Baggies dictate the proceedings.
“If it doesn’t come first-half, then it has to come second-half, and we’ve just allowed them to go and dominate the game and we never looked like getting back in it,” Wilder told Sheffield’s BBC Radio.
“It felt as if they just thought the game would come to them and they didn’t have to do the fundamental aspects of what you have to do to win a game of football at any level.”
The Blades had no shots on target in the second half, and their inability to earn a single point now puts them five points below West Brom.
Wilder then apologised once more, adding that everyone must accept responsibility: “So, I apologise right away for that; we have to own it.”
Finally, his words appear to send a clear message to underperforming players that their futures at Sheffield United are uncertain.
To openly admit that his current team may not be “his team” for much longer signals that serious change is on the horizon, but whether that comes in the form of new additions remains to be seen.
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