Sheffield United's Gus Hamer and manager Chris Wilder on this season and the Play-Offs

The Star, Sheffield

Speak at The Star football awards Gus Hamer and Chris Wilder talk about the season and the upcoming Play Offs

Transcript

00:01Chris, Gus has just won the Sheffield Air Player of the Year award there.

00:07First of all, what's he bringing?

00:11We all see the skill and all of those other things.

00:15What about off the pitch and what it's like?

00:18We talked about it there in terms of the culture reset.

00:27Chris was part of, and we all were, unfortunately, a really disappointing season last season.

00:32But for him to be amongst it and one of the main actors going forward,

00:37the resetting culture, personality, energy that he brings to the group,

00:41are there for everybody to see.

00:44Like you just said there, Chris, you know, the football side of it really.

00:48In a way, it takes care of itself.

00:50But for me, one of the biggest things is the things that I'm talking about there,

00:56that gets us going and allows us to be the club that we want to be.

01:01I don't think I'm speaking out of town here.

01:05But I would imagine after last season, Gus was gone,

01:08he's come to the club, he's playing in the Premier League,

01:11and you've got relegated.

01:12There's a fair chance of a team sniffing around going,

01:15I wonder if we can bring him in.

01:17Did you have to convince him this day?

01:19Was there a fair chance, Gus maybe I said to you as well?

01:21How did you think to yourself, no, this is a place for me?

01:25No, I don't think, like, I knew how the club was, I knew how the fans were,

01:29and I really enjoyed the six months, the months I had with the manager

01:34in the Premier League.

01:36And we had the words just in pre-season,

01:41and we looked those in the eyes and we said we can do this this season.

01:46Of course, there were some silence,

01:50but that was, I think, more to make some chaos into the media personally.

01:55So we looked at each other, we shake each other hands,

01:58and we said let's do it this season,

02:00that there was anything I needed from my manager that's in the season.

02:05But I think that brought us there for all with the confidence

02:08that the gaffer speaks out to us.

02:11I remember speaking to Chris at Harrogate.

02:14The team was still fairly full of young lads.

02:18Callum O'Hara had only just signed,

02:22so it only just got him in the door.

02:24You were, I think you may have been injured at the time,

02:26or maybe a bit of a knock.

02:28At that point, I'm thinking,

02:32I'm not too sure here.

02:34What made you guys think,

02:36no, we're going to be okay.

02:38We're going to be alright.

02:39Well, that's the question people always ask me.

02:41My question is,

02:42why would people think it's not going to go alright?

02:44I mean, you can see with players,

02:46Ole Arblaster, Sidipek, Andrew Brooks,

02:49that the academy players who are coming through are unbelievable,

02:52and they make it so hard for people,

02:54or boarding or whatever,

02:56to play well.

02:58So my question is always,

03:00why shouldn't we?

03:02Of course, it was a tight squad, that's true.

03:04So with a couple of injuries like myself,

03:06it's always, we have to bring more people in.

03:08And I think the gaffer boarding with his staff and members,

03:12they did an unbelievable job in the short time to guys,

03:16in the first couple of games,

03:18which was an unbelievable record man for me.

03:22Gus doesn't talk very often,

03:24not Dios, anyway.

03:26I'd imagine, the way he's speaking to me here,

03:29I would imagine that's the kind of thing

03:31that he's talking to the young lads about,

03:33and that's what that kind of player has helped drag you on,

03:37whenever, when you're asking a lot of Sidipek and Andrew Brooks,

03:41and you know...

03:43When Gus speaks, everybody listens.

03:47And rightly so, they should have been interested in him in the summer,

03:52because of how outstanding he was,

03:54an incredibly disappointing campaign for us.

03:56He cleaned up from the Player of the Year awards,

03:59everything, you know,

04:00so he was always going to be interested in him.

04:03So I'm okay with stuff like that,

04:05because he's a good player,

04:07and I would not expect anything different off the back of that Chris.

04:10So, but as soon as we talk and we go,

04:15listen, we need to, from a club point of view,

04:18restore value to our big players,

04:20and I think we've done that in terms of

04:22Enel, Vinny, and most importantly, Gus.

04:25He's a big player, he's a big signing for us in the Premier League.

04:29But you've got to be all in.

04:32So, as soon as I had that conversation with Gus,

04:35there was obvious interest from clubs,

04:38a little bit of nonsense, noise and nonsense at times,

04:41but as soon as he was all in,

04:44and we talked about that,

04:46he's given everything for me,

04:48and the football club right the way through.

04:50Like I said to you, you know,

04:52not just from a cultural point of view,

04:54but when you need those big moments,

04:56and you need people, players to produce,

04:59the bit of special that divides the average to the best,

05:05he's found those moments.

05:08And hopefully everything goes well in the next three or four weeks.

05:13We're incredibly positive about the outcome,

05:17even though there will be a little bit of negativity

05:19because of the past playoff record.

05:23It's irrelevant, really, because Gus wasn't here.

05:26I wasn't here.

05:27It was only from a supporter's point of view.

05:31But I get that.

05:33But we're here to, I haven't talked about,

05:35make new memories, build new legacies,

05:40and Gus will certainly do that.

05:43I'm sure in the next three or four weeks

05:45with his performances and contributions,

05:49hopefully which is going to be still

05:50an incredibly successful season for us.

05:52For you personally, it's a whole different experience.

05:57You know, the last time we spoke to you,

06:00when you were at these awards,

06:02and you know, having been literally a few days

06:06off the back of promotion,

06:08you've gone up, and you know,

06:11you've gone up automatically,

06:13and there was an absolute huge amount of buzz

06:16around the club.

06:18This is different, and as you said there,

06:21you know, people just go,

06:23oh, God, play-offs.

06:25It's up to you now to go,

06:26never mind, oh, God, play-offs.

06:28You know, this is potentially something

06:30to be looking forward to.

06:32Like, what I've said about,

06:34you've got two huge matches,

06:36and they're potentially a third at Wembley.

06:39Let's get going.

06:40Well, absolutely, 100%.

06:42You know, we've done that.

06:43You know, I talked about 2016,

06:45six years in League One.

06:46Nobody thought we'd get out of that.

06:48We did that.

06:49We talked about getting into the championship

06:51and getting a foothold in that division.

06:54We had a foothold for two seasons.

06:56The second season resulted in promotion.

06:59Then we finished ninth.

07:00So, you know, it's only,

07:03and not being critical,

07:05it's only the supporters

07:06that sort of bring this stuff up,

07:07because all of us are uber-ultra-positive

07:10in terms of what we can achieve.

07:12You know, we finished,

07:14and we will finish,

07:1520 points clear at the team

07:16that finishes in sixth place.

07:18And then, no guarantee,

07:19I'm not a mug,

07:20and we don't take anything for granted,

07:22and we respect everybody we play,

07:24but we're in a good place.

07:25Everybody's fit,

07:26everybody's healthy,

07:27everybody's raring to go.

07:28They know that they can achieve

07:29something incredibly special.

07:31It's 100 years since we last played

07:34in a winning team at Wembley.

07:38I've said before,

07:40regarding the Newcastle situation,

07:42Eddie Howe never went into those games.

07:44The Newcastle players never went into those games

07:47thinking about the past losses.

07:50We're incredibly positive

07:53in terms of what we can achieve.

07:55And it's all to play for.

07:58We've got to do a lot of good things

08:00over the next three or four weeks,

08:02but we're positive

08:03and we're confident

08:04that we can achieve that.

08:05And as I said,

08:06you know,

08:07there's been some massive challenges

08:08from the start of the season.

08:09We talked about it when,

08:11after the Ulusfield game,

08:13you know,

08:14virtually, you know,

08:15I just was involved there,

08:16an under-21 team,

08:17and they've learned on the job,

08:18and the boys have been

08:19absolutely magnificent,

08:20and they deserve all the support

08:22that's coming their way

08:25over the next two stroke-free games.

08:27And we're in a great place.

08:29Ultimately,

08:30we've not achieved what we wanted to achieve,

08:33but we've not finished on 74 points

08:36or 75 points.

08:37We've not finished on 50 points.

08:39We've not finished on 30 points.

08:41We're going to finish on 90-odd points,

08:43which is an incredible achievement.

08:45But it's not enough for us

08:46because we want to be in that Premier League,

08:48and this guy and the other guys

08:50are going to do their absolute everything

08:52to hopefully achieve.

08:55And it will happen.

08:56And I've said before, Chris,

08:57the club's going to be here

08:59for the next 150 years.

09:00It's been here for the last 150 years,

09:02and we will win a playoff campaign.

09:04And why can't it be?

09:062025.

09:082025.

09:09I agree.

09:10That's all I need.

09:12Has it changed today as well?

09:14Your change?

09:15Yeah.

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