Tue 17 June 2025 14:24, UK
Chris Wilder was not expecting to be sacked by Sheffield United amid a new update on whether he had fallen out with the Blades’ owners COH Sports.
Wilder led his side to a third-placed finish on their return to the Championship last season, after they had been in the race for automatic promotion but fell away from Leeds United and Burnley over the last few months of the campaign.
The Blades cruised past Bristol City to make the play-off final against Sunderland, but despite going ahead through Tyrese Campbell, they lost at Wembley in gutting fashion as Tommy Watson’s last-gasp winner sent the Black Cats to the Premier League.
He has already overseen some transfer business this summer, but Football Insider revealed in May that Bramall Lane chiefs were evaluating Wilder’s position as manager following their failure to return to the top-flight.
Now with the transfer window back open and a huge summer and season beckoning, the Blades’ hierarchy look to have made the decision to relieve Wilder of his duties, with an announcement imminent.
Wilder is set to lose his job at Bramall Lane for a second timeWilder ‘surprised’ by sack decision after no bust-up with Sheffield United owners
The 57-year-old looks to be coming to the end of his fourth spell at United, having played for the club across two spells and also previously managing them between 2016 and 2021, when he led them from League One to the Premier League in just three years.
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Wilder will be sacked by the Blades in the coming days, according to The Telegraph, but talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook reported live on air on Tuesday (17 June) that he has been blindsided by the decision, with no prior disagreements with owners COH Sports despite their differing views on recruitment, saying: “I’ve just had a message from someone very close to Chris Wilder suggesting that there hasn’t been a fallout.
“Maybe there is a clash of ideals because we know that obviously the new owners want to use AI as a scouting tool. Chris Wilder is more old-school, but there hasn’t been a bust-up, so maybe he is a little bit surprised.”
Selles would be a gamble as he emerges as front-runner to replace Wilder
Football Insider verdict
United’s search for a new boss is already underway, and Football Insider have exclusively revealed that former Hull City head-coach Ruben Selles is in pole position to be appointed by the Blades as Wilder nears an exit.
Selles is in advanced talks with COH Sports over becoming the new man at the helm at Bramall Lane, but despite his status as a highly-rated coach throughout the EFL, it does feel like somewhat of a gamble for the club to appoint him given their expectations and his lack of experience at the level.
The 42-year-old was most recently in charge of Yorkshire rivals Hull, and he just about managed to guide the Tigers to safety at the end of the season before being sacked after just six months in charge.
Selles’ managerial statistics at Hull
His credentials include a short stint as Southampton boss in the Premier League in 2023 after stepping up from assistant duty following Nathan Jones’ sacking, while he impressed at League One outfit Reading in his first proper role in charge of a club from June 2023 to December last year as Hull came calling.
It is not exactly the CV that many Blades fans have come to expect their managers to possess while they have bounced between the Premier League and Championship over recent years, but COH Sports must see a lot of potential in Selles to be the man to make them an established top-flight side soon, as the decision to sack Wilder is not one that comes lightly.
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