WE may still have a bunch of games to play, but Chris Wilder is already my Championship Manager of the Year.
On paper, the 57-year-old hasn’t done anything special. Sheffield United were a Premier League club last season. They are in receipt of parachute payments, held on to key players like Gus Hamer and Vini Souza and signed proven Championship performers. They should be doing well.
But the broader context is that many of those players had spent the previous ten months getting smashed in the Premier League, and you need only look at Luton to see the scars that can leave. They were also docked two points before a ball had been kicked.
For all their smart signings, United actually spent less than £7m in transfer fees last summer, despite recouping £40m in sales and selling right-back Jayden Bogle to rivals Leeds against the manager’s wishes.
New ownership has changed the landscape, of course, as the £10m spent on Tom Cannon in January illustrates. But that shouldn’t diminish what came before.
Back in August, the vast majority of Blades fans would have snapped your hand off for a berth in the top six. To be challenging not just for automatic promotion but the title itself is beyond anyone’s expectations. For that, Wilder deserves recognition.
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