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The Sheffield United fan-favourite has a mountain to climb upon his imminent return to the Blades hotseat.
After a disastrous start to life as Blades boss, Sheffield United sacked Ruben Selles on Sunday afternoon to call time on the Spaniard’s six-game tenure.
The Blades lost six on the spin under Selles’ stewardship, with the last loss coming with Sheffield United’s 5-0 defeat to Ipswich Town on Friday evening.
Spectacularly, Sheffield United are set to appoint Chris Wilder to replace the man who replaced him, mere months after sacking Wilder in the wake of their Championship play-off final defeat to Sunderland.
With Sheffield United rock-bottom of the Championship table, Wilder has a mammoth task on his hands for his third spell at Bramall Lane, but the opportunity is there to make English football history.
No Championship team has won promotion after losing first five games
Wilder has the opportunity to achieve a historic feat in English football for the first time in his return to the Blades by masterminding an audacious promotion push.
The boyhood Blades die-hard already has two promotions on the Sheffield United section of his CV, following their League One title win in 2017 and the promotion to the top flight two years later.
Upon his return to Bramall Lane, Wilder is searching for his hat-trick, but Selles has left him with a monumental mountain to climb after five defeats from five in the Championship.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 21 |  WrexhamWrexham | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 4 |
| 22 |  Oxford UnitedOxford United | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 2 |
| 23 |  Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | -9 | 1 |
| 24 |  Sheffield UtdSheffield Utd | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 12 | -11 | 0 |
In fact, no Championship team has ever lost their first five games in a season and still won promotion, but two teams have done so after losing their opening four.
Sunderland lost their first four games of the 2006/07 Championship season before Roy Keane was appointed to see the Manchester United legend mastermind a spectacular debut season title victory.
In addition, during the 2021/22 Championship season, Nottingham Forest lost their first four league games under Chris Hughton and picked up only one point from their first seven games before he was sacked.
Steve Cooper, now Brondby boss, was appointed as Hughton’s replacement, and he oversaw a remarkable recovery to guide Forest to a fourth-placed finish.
| Game week | Notts’ Forest in 2021/22 | Sheffield United in 2025/26 |
| 1 | 2-1 defeat at Coventry City | 4-1 defeat at Bristol City |
| 2 | 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth | 1-0 defeat at Swansea City |
| 3 | 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers | 1-0 defeat to Millwall |
| 4 | 1-0 defeat at Stoke City | 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough |
| 5 | 1-1 draw at Derby County | 5-0 defeat at Ipswich Town |
Ironically, after the two ties ended on a 4-4 aggregate, Forest beat Sheffield United in the play-off semi-finals on penalties 3-2 to reach the Wembley final.
Cooper’s Forest beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 under the Wembley arch to complete their remarkable rise from a barren start to the season to play-off victors.
With Sheffield United’s awful start eclipsing Sunderland and Forest’s four-game losing streak to start 2021/22, can Wilder do the unthinkable this season?
How Sheffield United started last season under Chris Wilder
In stark contrast to this season, Sheffield United showcased their promotion ambitions to the rest of the Championship early doors in 2024/25.
Under Wilder’s tutelage, Sheffield United achieved three wins and two draws from their first five league outings last term to put 11 points on the board from a possible 15.
| Game week | Sheffield United in 2024/25 |
| 1 | 2-0 win at Preston North End |
| 2 | 2-2 draw against QPR |
| 3 | 1-1 draw at Norwich City |
| 4 | 1-0 win against Watford |
| 5 | 2-0 win at Hull City |
The Blades’ early form led to a nine-game unbeaten streak, which lasted until mid-October when a 2-0 defeat at eventual Championship title winners Leeds United.
Wilder has lots of issues to resolve at Sheffield United, but if he can quickly right the wrongs of Selles and guide the Blades to another winning run, they do say records are there to be broken.