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Chris Wilder is preparing for his third managerial debut with Sheffield United this weekend, as his side welcome Charlton Athletic to Bramall Lane.
It’s been an atrocious start to the season for the Blades, with five defeats from five in the Championship costing Ruben Selles his job in S2 after just a few months in charge.
The board explained the reason behind Wilder’s return, having led the South Yorkshire outfit to the play-off final last season, but this is an extremely pressing time for the second tier’s bottom club.
Nevertheless, the 57-year-old has plenty of pedigree and he knows Sheffield United better than anyone, with one particular EFL expert a huge fan of his work.
Benjamin Bloom names Chris Wilder as the second best manager in the Championship
With Wilder just days away from a momentous Bramall Lane return, there will be plenty of eyes on the Blades and their progress in the coming weeks.
Louie Barry will want to shine for the new Sheffield United boss, and there is nobody better to work under in S2 than Wilder, according to Benjamin Bloom, who has ranked the former Middlesbrough and Watford head coach as the second best manager in the Championship – behind Kieran McKenna.
He said: “Last season I had Wilder at number one for a fair while. My argument was Leeds and Burnley had better resources and he (Wilder) had a little minus two (points deduction) against him. There were times where I thought he was doing the best job out of the three there.
“So, Wilder returns, why have I got him second? Promotion in 2018/19 was extraordinary, it was absolutely brilliant with the flying centre-backs coming forward and overlapping. So that counts for a lot, taking a sleeping giant in Championship terms like Sheffield United out of League One and through the Championship.
“I do accept the argument that I’ve got to accept Middlesbrough and Watford where it didn’t work. But Chris Wilder is back, not managing Middlesbrough and Watford; he’s managing Sheffield United, and there’s something about that guy and that club.
“I know people get obsessed with football being an outcomes business and he didn’t get promoted last season. But I still think that was a good managerial performance; 92 points on the pitch, record win in the play-off semi-finals and I accept the comments that blame him in the play-off final.
“I think that’s pretty harsh, I think he performed very well throughout the season. It was a horrible week where they lost three games and handed the initiative to Leeds and Burnley. He missed automatic promotion in a season where two teams got 100 points and then there was something in the air with Sunderland.
“I think he was unlucky not to get promoted and we can be very binary about this and say that good outcome equals good performance and bad outcome equals bad performance. You have to accept the role of luck in sport and I know it’s intangible that data heads won’t be able to reconcile on their spreadsheets, but it’s a thing.”
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Chris Wilder has the chance to write his best Sheffield United story yet
The heartbreak of that 95th minute play-off final defeat to Sunderland will still be in the mind of Wilder as he returns to the dugout this weekend, but he will be using that to power himself on.
Sitting bottom of the table is not ideal at all, but with just five games gone, there is plenty of time to turn the situation around and get Sheffield United moving back up the league table.
While there are no quick fixes to the situation, Wilder will be able to get supporters back on side, and players such as Tyrese Campbell will find renewed confidence in a manager who knows how to get the best out of them.
Charlton have had a decent start to life back in the Championship, but the Blades will be firing on all cylinders this weekend and they could be a threat.