Every Monday morning, Sheffield United’s hierarchy hold their weekly Zoom conference call to discuss the team’s latest performance.
The latest discussion was a tense, emotional affair. Less than 48 hours earlier Paul Heckingbottom’s side had been thrashed 5-0 by Burnley as an already troubled season descended into farce.
The weekend’s result – coupled with the manner of United’s performance at Turf Moor – ultimately cost Heckingbottom his job, with Chris Wilder poised to complete an emotional return to the club where he had excelled as manager during a previous spell in charge.
But far from being an appointment born out of sentiment, Wilder’s appointment is the culmination of a process which began two years earlier. Within weeks of his departure from the role amid reports of a fall-out with United’s owner Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in fact.
Although the relationship between Wilder and United’s Saudi Arabian owner had undoubtedly become strained towards the end of a partnership which saw the club twice win promotion and achieve a ninth-placed Premier League finish, sources close to the pair confirm the supposed toxicity was nowhere near as poisonous as was reported at the time.
Indeed, they are understood to have met in London soon after Wilder’s departure, in March 2021, with both men resolving to work together again in the not-so-distant future. That time has come sooner than either expected.
The situation Wilder is set to walk into at Bramall Lane is bad. Saturday’s capitulation at Turf Moor, where Jay Rodriguez fired the hosts in front after only 15 seconds before striker Oli McBurnie saw red just before half-time, was the 11th defeat United have suffered in 14 outings this term. Bottom of the table and with only five points on the board, they enter Wednesday’s game against Liverpool having conceded 39 goals already this term.
But is not as difficult as the one Wilder inherited during his first spell (2016-2021) at the helm of the team he represented as a player and has supported since childhood. Then, United were languishing in the third tier of English football and forced to wheel and deal in order to make the most of their meagre finances.
Harnessing the passion of a fan and combining it with the tactical insight which would later see United’s overlapping centre-halves become the talk of the domestic game, Wilder transformed them into unlikely European contenders before the Covid-19 pandemic stalled their momentum.
Despite acknowledging something had to change, United’s board of directors took no pleasure in dispensing with Heckingbottom’s services. Indeed, recognising the constraints he had been working under, they even allowed him to survive September’s 8-0 mauling by Newcastle.
That backing stemmed from the fact he led United out of the Championship last season, despite seeing his employers placed under a transfer embargo by the English Football League. The financial difficulties which led to that punishment also forced the sale of two star players this summer: Iliman Ndiaye to Marseille and Sander Berge, who excelled in Burnley’s midfield against his former club.
Previously United’s lead development coach, Heckingbottom’s brief also included nurturing talent from an academy which has spawned the likes of Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. It is an area where he has consistently excelled, handing Ndiaye his senior debut during a spell in caretaker charge and handing opportunities to the likes of Andre Brooks, Oliver Arblaster and Sai Sachdev.
Wilder will have little, if any, money to spend during the forthcoming transfer window. But United’s board have previously shown a willingness to invest when least expected – doubling his recruitment budget in January 2020 to bring Berge to South Yorkshire.
Wilder also believes a more aggressive approach – Heckingbottom has always been fiercely protective of his players – can reap dividends. Oliver Norwood, Wes Foderingham, John Fleck and McBurnie are among those he worked with in the past and are known to respond to his methods.