MusaChris Wilder has reportedly parted ways with Sheffield United amid rumours of a dispute over the club’s starting line-up following a tough play-off defeat to Sunderland.
Despite starting the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons with a two-point deduction for unpaid fees to other clubs, Wilder led the Blades to a creditable third place finish with 90 points in the recently concluded campaign.
They spent most of the season tied with Leeds United and Burnley in the race for automatic promotion, only to suffer three defeats in a week at the start of April.
They then cruised into the Championship play-off final with a resounding 6-0 semi-final win over Bristol City. They even took an early lead in the final at Wembley against Sunderland, but ultimately fell short, losing 2-1 when Tommy Watson scored a 95th-minute winner to stun Wilder & Co.
Amidst all this drama, there has been a change of ownership at Bramall Lane, with US-based investment group COH Sports taking over in December.
The new board have shown a keen interest in using AI in recruitment, a strategy that will be put to the test as key players such as Oliver Arblaster, Gus Hamer and Vini Souza could be replaced. The club have already said goodbye to loanees Ben Brereton-Diaz, Hamaza Choudhury and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, as well as Harry Souttar and Harry Clarke.
In January, they secured two signings based on their AI model: Nigerian striker Christian Nwachukwu, 19, from Botev Plovdiv in Bulgaria, and Peruvian winger Jefferson Caceres, 22, from FBC Melgar for undisclosed sums.
Neither of them have been in action in the latter half of the season, with Caceres coming on as an unused substitute against Stoke in April.
This week they completed the signing of another Nigerian winger, Ehi Ukaki, also from Botev Plovdiv. The Sheffield Star wrote: “The links with 21-year-old FC Sion defender Goro Diouf have all the hallmarks of another data-driven signing.”
Wilder commented: “Ehije is a player who has been identified through our data-driven strategy and is someone we are looking forward to developing.”
But Miguel Delaney wrote in the Independent: “Wilder is set to leave his role as Sheffield United boss. The 57-year-old rejoined the Blades in 2023 after a successful five-year spell in charge between 2016 and 2021.
“But differences emerged over recruitment and other discussions between Wilder and the board, which made Wilder’s departure inevitable.”
The Championship has already seen a significant change in management in the last season.
Five new appointments have been made: Liam Manning at Norwich, Ryan Mason at West Brom, Paulo Pezzolano at Watford, Sergej Jakirović at Hull and Will Still at Southampton.
Vacancies remain at Bristol City and Middlesbrough, while Marti Cifuentes is on leave and will be replaced at Queens Park Rangers. Danny Rohl is also keen to leave struggling Sheffield Wednesday.
Musa
Kwaghterna Garshagu