Chris Wilder will be sacked by Sheffield United in the next few days, Sky Sports News has been told, following a review of last season when the team missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the play-off final.
Contrary to reports elsewhere, the former Wolves boss Gary O’Neil is not expected to be the coach to replace Wilder.
The Blades won 90 points last season – a total which would have equalled their club record but for a two-point deduction imposed by the EFL – and that tally would have been enough to go up automatically in eight of the last 10 seasons.
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Highlights of the Championship play-off final between Sheffield United and Sunderland
After four successive defeats in the run-in, United were 15 minutes from victory at Wembley before two late goals saw Sunderland promoted instead.
Despite that near miss, the US-based consortium COH Sports, led by Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, have decided they want to bring in a new head coach.
That will not be O’Neil, however, who was under consideration for the role, but the Blades bosses have decided they want to go in a different direction. They completed a takeover last December, when Wilder was already in charge of the team.
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Chris Wilder was aggrieved after Sheffield United’s late play-off final defeat to Sunderland and questioned the use of VAR in the final after the full league season in the Championship without it
Sky Sports News has been told there is no rift with the board, and in fact Wilder has an excellent relationship with Rosen. This change in manager is motivated by the new regime wanting to bring in their own person to lead the football operation.
COH are determined to utilise a data-led approach to recruitment and play, which is something Wilder was open to following the takeover.
At the start of last season, Wilder was in charge during a huge rebuild, with 22 players leaving Bramall Lane and the average age of the squad coming down to 24. Whilst it is thought the owners do recognise and appreciate how Wilder has added value to the squad, that has not been enough for him to keep his job.
Last week, United signed the Nigerian winger Ehije Ukaki from the Bulgarian club Botev Plovdiv based on his impressive statistics in the First Pro League.
