The Yorkshire Post's football writer Leon Wobschall discusses the exit of Chris Wilder for a second time as manager of Sheffield United and the expectations at Bramall Lane for his quickly-installed successor, Ruben Selles, the former Hull City and Reading manager.
00:02Hello and welcome to a special Football Talk podcast from the Yorkshire Post
00:25where we're going to be discussing the recent events at Sheffield United
00:29which saw Chris Wilder leave the club after coming so close to taking the
00:35blades up via the Championship Player Final, only to lose out to Sunderland 2-1.
00:42Ultimately, it's costing his job essentially, although I think it's probably more to do
00:46with a sort of disagreement or difference of opinion on how the club should proceed
00:52in terms of its recruitment going forward.
00:53Very quickly, Wilder was replaced by Reuben Sellers within the hour, it would seem.
01:00Obviously, that was something that was lined up.
01:02Leon Mobshaw was our man on point on Wednesday night as it all went down eventually.
01:07I think with things first starting to come out about last Friday about the possibility of Wilder moving, it seemed to just drag on for a bit.
01:19Presumably, they were thrashing out compensation, et cetera, et cetera, and obviously talking to Sellers and
01:25deciding whether he was the man for them.
01:27They obviously had him in mind.
01:28Leon, just your take basically on what has been a sort of, for some people, a surprise development at the club,
01:35but for others maybe not, given the way that Wilder operates, his preferred method of working,
01:42and clearly it's something that was at odds with the new ownership or the relatively new ownership.
01:48Yeah, I agree with what you said there, Phil.
01:50It is a surprise in terms of the timing, obviously.
01:55Less than a month after Sheffield United got to the playoff final, we were all about how close they got to automatic promotion.
02:04Madcap season, obviously, Leeds and Burnley, you know, all credit to them at Sheffield United,
02:11I don't forget, got 90 points, obviously with the additional two points, it would have been 92.
02:15In a lot of usual seasons, they would have got promoted, but obviously agonising at Wembley,
02:21they were within basically 15 minutes of getting in the Premier League, weren't they?
02:25And then it just sort of went wrong. And, you know, even though, even though it was obviously a bitterly disappointing finish,
02:32it was still a really strong season, wasn't it, by Sheffield United, considering where they were last summer.
02:38Obviously, a bit of a desperate season in the Premier League, lots of flux regarding takeovers, players leaving.
02:46And, you know, while they did tremendously well building a squad fit for championship purpose,
02:53I said, under normal seasons, they would have got promoted.
02:58And it was a natural thought process was obviously lick the wounds from a desperately disappointing afternoon against Sunderland and go again.
03:07That's a sort of conventional route. But yeah, I always sort of thought long term,
03:11even though the new owners, well, the relatively new owners, COH Sports, American entrepreneurs,
03:19they were obviously backwild. I mean, he actually signed the new contract, didn't he, at the end of January.
03:26Yeah.
03:26But I just sort of thought further down the line, you see, they're embracing new technologies, data-driven recruitment.
03:35That's something that they, you know, the Seven Strong Board, a lot of members on that, really want to push that and explore that.
03:41And, you know, he's spoken in the past, Wilder, about not dismissing that sort of thing, but using it as an aid rather than something to build your recruitment round.
03:54And obviously, they see that as a big thing in terms of their recruitment going forward.
04:00And Chris is more the sort of traditional route, if you like, you know, having his scouting staff identify, getting them to identify targets, potentially, you know, obviously using data and technology to, as part of the thought process,
04:14but mainly driven by an individual scouting team.
04:19So there were certainly tensions there. And I thought, you know, a bit further down, down the line with, you know, they came in as a new, as a new, a new board.
04:28And ultimately, at some point, they're going to look into having their, their own man, you know, longer term.
04:34But, you know, it seems to be certainly for the, the short and medium term that it would be Chris Wilder.
04:38Obviously, he did an outstanding job under normal circumstances.
04:41He would have, they would have got promoted, weren't they?
04:45But, I mean, you look at the season, they only really had a bad, a bad week at the start of April when they lost three games.
04:51Yeah, there was that. And basically, things transpired against them, against Sunderland, didn't they?
04:57When Hamer came off and, as playoff finals do.
05:01So, everything was pointing, you would have just thought, lick your wounds, go again.
05:06And, while the, you know, obviously it expressed disappointment, but, you know, there was a feeling that, you know, a bit like Leeds United,
05:15they obviously in exactly the same boat a year earlier.
05:18And to be fair, Sheffield United made a much better fist of things, really, didn't they?
05:23I mean, you look at the way that they hammered Bristol City in the, in the semifinals as well.
05:27They certainly got a, gave a better sort of representation of themselves in that final.
05:33And you thought they'd just go again, but you just never know.
05:37In, in football, there were clear tensions behind the, behind the scenes.
05:42Yeah.
05:42It's obviously contributing to the board meeting and the, and the change of, of course, and getting the, obviously,
05:48they wanted to get the ducks in a row before actually announcing that Wilder was going.
05:53I mean, it was probably, it ended up being the worst kept secret going, didn't it?
05:56I mean, he's, yeah, he's been known for the best part of a week that he would be, he would be leaving.
06:01And they were working behind the scenes to, to tie up Sellers.
06:05But yeah, I'm surprised at the timing and everything that I've spoken about, given how close Sheffield United got to promotion.
06:12And, and the fact that you sort of look at, look at the teams coming down and, you know, I look at, I look at Southampton and they,
06:19I think they've got issues, Leicester as well, they're trying to get a new manager in.
06:24I think the, the only real club that's come down to me, look really set on, perhaps going straight back up is, is Ipswich.
06:31But even they could lose Kieran McKenna, couldn't they?
06:33So, I think Gore was certainly a jar for Sheffield United.
06:37Wilder, he, he looked at his targets as well.
06:39He was planning for next season.
06:41You know, Harry Darling, who's, who's gone from Bristol City to, to Norwich.
06:46He was, he was a big target.
06:48But they were still in for Jimmy Dunn, who was at, at, at QPR.
06:53Other players as well.
06:54But yeah, obviously a total sort of change of, change of course now.
07:00And the, the owners have got their, got their man in, in Ruben Sellers, who obviously left, left Hull.
07:06That was a little bit surprising because he'd, he sort of fulfilled his brief of getting the club safe and over the line,
07:12even though it was a little bit too close to comfort.
07:14But, but yeah, surprised that they've made the move now.
07:19But I could have sort of, if it had happened, if Sheffield United maybe had not started the season particularly well,
07:27I could have seen tensions coming to the fore.
07:29But it's happened a little bit earlier than I thought, that's for sure.
07:31Yeah.
07:32He certainly counted himself unfortunate and obviously heartbroken.
07:35The club means everything to him, as he said, in his, his sort of outgoing statement, which obviously came through the club as well.
07:42Obviously everything's all made to look rather nicey-nicey in situations like this.
07:47People supposedly say the right things, but I'm sure there was tension over the last few days.
07:52Yeah.
07:52You mentioned Sellers there.
07:55Unfortunate in himself, perhaps, to have found himself out of work after essentially doing what he was brought in to do at Hull and keep the club up,
08:04albeit on the last day of the season.
08:06There were signs of promise there under Sellers.
08:08But, you know, the trigger-happy chairman that we have in Adjun.
08:12The Maverick, isn't it?
08:12But he tends to, I don't know, go with whatever his latest gut feeling is.
08:19I mean, in terms of Sellers, it's perhaps for some a surprise choice given his history.
08:25But he seems to be, again, saying the right things in his statement on his statement.
08:31He seems to be embracing the preferred method of using data and new technologies, et cetera.
08:38But also, like, you know, he does obviously like to rely on his gut feeling as well,
08:45although he seems to be more in tune with what the current board are looking to do in terms of their recruitment, I would presume, yeah?
08:53Yeah, he's a younger coach than Chris, isn't he?
08:59Not that that's a crime.
09:00I mean, he's in his early 40s, but, you know, probably coming up towards his peak.
09:05And, you know, his CV is an excellent one.
09:07And he's worked in seven different countries, you know, including England.
09:11He's had a variety of roles.
09:13He's been a fitness coach.
09:14He's been a first-team coach, an assistant coach.
09:17He's had a role as a chief data analyst, which I'd imagine that covered plenty of favour with this.
09:24That went down well, yeah, I imagine.
09:25I imagine it did, yeah.
09:27So he knows football.
09:29He's a very intelligent guy.
09:31He's done a degree in sports physical science.
09:34He's done a master's in high performance.
09:37He's comfortable in the classroom with the laptop out on the training ground.
09:43And, you know, I could say he ticks a hell of a lot of boxes, but huge shoes to fill.
09:50Yeah, he was unfortunate.
09:52I think he sort of fulfilled the brief that he came in to do at Hull.
09:56It's always difficult, isn't it?
09:57When you come in mid-season, the side's at the bottom of the table.
09:59You can talk about philosophies, this, that and the other, but in culture.
10:02But you've just got to – the mission at Hull, which is keeping them up, and he did that just about.
10:08It was a bit hairy.
10:10Then you thought he'd get his –
10:11It was a fairly poison challenge that he inherited, wasn't it, really?
10:14I mean, the mess-up at Hull came last summer with the appointment to Tim Walter.
10:18And the fact they didn't recruit anyone hardly until, I think, you know, towards the end of the transfer deadline, that summer window.
10:26And he was basically brought in to sort of make the best job of a bad sort of lot, really, which he did.
10:32But, you know, in terms of where he's gone now or where he finds himself now, I mean, given how quick the Blades board have been to move in terms of getting rid of Wilder.
10:43But, you know, and it would – it's safe to assume that it wasn't unanimous, obviously, on that board.
10:49There was obviously a reason why there was a delay after the meeting happened last Thursday.
10:53But, I mean, you know, the pressure is on sellers, obviously.
10:57This board won Premier League football, understandably.
11:00I mean, you know, how long do they give it?
11:02You mentioned earlier about you thought they might have given Wilder a, you know, start of the season, see how it went, and then see how the land lay then.
11:09But they've not even waited that long.
11:11And presumably the same sort of length of rope will be given to sellers.
11:17Yeah, absolutely.
11:17And there's going to be a lot of – Chris's record at Bramall Lane in two spells was outstanding, wasn't it?
11:23We talked about his work in his last spell.
11:26But you think of the stuff before that, you know, they got – in his first season, they got 100 points in League One.
11:33Obviously, a couple of years later, he got them to the Premier League.
11:36And I think it was the first season there, it was the highest finish that they'd have in the top flight for the best part of 30 years.
11:43And, you know, Sheffield United were dining again at the top table.
11:45And a lot of people were talking about them with the local boy made good, you know, an ex-player, someone who is a Unitedite.
11:52And, you know, there's a huge amount of people who will be extremely disappointed by and hurt by developments, obviously, this week.
12:02And, you know, they'll still be sore, I think, as they go into the new season.
12:05And there could well be a little bit of a feeble atmosphere if results – early results go against Sellers.
12:11So, he won't have that sort of honeymoon period, if you like, that most new managers really hanker for.
12:20I mean, I suppose the good thing is he's still got a fair part of a pre-season to get his philosophies across on the training ground.
12:27He was never really – as I said, he sort of came in at Hall and it was thrown straight away into December.
12:34You know, it's probably the busiest month of the domestic calendar and it's, you know, it's game, rest, prepare.
12:39A side who, I think, they'd won three in 19 in the first part of the season.
12:44They were a real mess under Tim Walter.
12:47I think that the three wins had only arrived in a short window in the autumn.
12:51I think it was three on the trot, wasn't it?
12:53Yeah.
12:53Three in the space of a week or ten days or something?
12:56Yeah.
12:56But apart from that, there was nothing there to give the fans encouragement.
13:01So, he had to sort of – it was basically about really just getting Hull tightening up, making them hard to beat.
13:09When you're at the bottom, you don't score loads of goals, you concede a few.
13:12So, your first port of call is just trying to improve them defensively and grinding it out, which is what Hull did.
13:18And, you know, he will have that more of a time to implement his philosophies,
13:21talking about sort of front foot aggressive, sort of high-pressing football, vertical football,
13:27getting the ball quickly, being really sort of intense in the press.
13:33And, you know, at least he's got time to do that.
13:35It's interesting to see which way they go in terms of recruitment.
13:39You know, if they can keep one or two other players as well.
13:41I'm sure Gus Hamer will be – obviously, we know all about Leeds United.
13:45Yeah.
13:46We're close to – well, it certainly made no secret the fact they wanted to sign him in the last summer window,
13:51although, you know, it took a bit of a low-ball offer that Sheffield, you know,
13:56were never going to sell.
13:59But you just wonder – Penny for his thoughts, really, don't you, really?
14:02You know, you think he'll be wanting to make noises to get away this summer.
14:07And obviously, there'll be areas that sellers will want to bring in one or two of his own sort of players
14:12who he thinks can fit into his style.
14:15But, yeah, I mean, I've dealt with him a little bit at Hull and, you know,
14:19a personable guy, really intense.
14:21And I wouldn't sort of underestimate him.
14:24I mean, he's got – his CV is very impressive.
14:28But I think what I like about him is the way that he's handled a fair bit of pressure
14:32in his gigs in England so far, particularly at Reading.
14:37It was a real mess at Reading, behind the scenes.
14:40There's lots of off-the-field issues with an owner.
14:44It's a little bit similar just to what Sheffield Wednesday are experiencing now.
14:48They were in transfer embargoes.
14:49There was a load of uncertainty about the club.
14:52There were sort of periods where the wages weren't paid.
14:56And, you know, that's really difficult to operate in for a relatively young manager,
15:00which Salas was in his first full season as well.
15:04He had a brief spell as caretaker at Southampton.
15:08But, you know, he coped with all that.
15:10I think they had three deductions in 23-24.
15:14And they still managed to stay up relatively comfortably in 17,
15:18given all that background.
15:20And last season, he'd got Reading into the play-off mix before Hull came calling.
15:25And, obviously, his work at Reading, backed up by keeping Hull up,
15:29suggests he can – you know, he's got a bit of something about him
15:33and he can handle pressurised situations.
15:36But this will be a different sort of pressure.
15:39This is more of a pressure to get a side up, a side who went so close last season
15:43with a manager who's, you know, a club legend and a big depth of feeling
15:50from the Sheffield United supporters.
15:53And, you know, following him will not be a straightforward gig.
15:58But I think he's got the personality to cope with it.
16:04It'll be fascinating to see how it works out early on,
16:08especially if they lose one or two games, how he handles the pressure.
16:12But I think he's made of the right stuff, but only time will tell.
