Sheffield United owner blasts Chris Wilder's comments about club

The Owner of Sheffield United, Prince Abdullah has criticised certain comments made by Chris Wilder before he left Sheffield United this month.

He told Sky Sports that sacking the 53-year old due to poor performance was not part of the plan despite Wilder's earlier decision to leave the Blades twice before his official resignation in March.

He also told that the recent manager of the Blades wanted a £4million pay-off when he initially offered his resignation.

Wilder quit his post as the manager of Premier League club, Sheffield United on March 12, 2021, having won four out of 28 games and lying bottom on the Premier League table. The manager had earlier revealed the lack of backing from the club’s board of directors after his side’s defeat to Southampton.

Prince Abdullah told that he respect the manager’s decision yet there were a few comments made which was out of the line and affected the club in some ways.

 “In December, Stephen [Bettis, Sheffield United CEO] told me that Chris had talked about resigning,” he said.

“I was really worried and I knew that a phone call or a Zoom call would not do the trick, I had to sit with him,” the Prince said.

“The problem was, because of COVID-19, all Saudis were banned from leaving the country.

“I spent two weeks trying to get permission to leave. As soon as I got that, I flew to London and drove to Sheffield and met Chris before the Southampton game [a 3-0 defeat].

“I told Chris, if we lose every game until the end of the season, we are not going to fire you. We need you to be our coach.

I am not talking about emotion, I just believe you are the best manager to bring us back to the Premier League.

“I told him recruitment could be better and that we could sit down after the season and talk about how we could make it better.

“I told him that I am not happy that sometimes after defeats when you talk to the media [and say], 'I can't make cake out of sand' and when he says, 'all I have is Championship players'.

“It does not reflect well on the club image. Those players finished ninth in the table last season, it hurts the club financially.

“I am OK with Chris taking all the credit when we win but at least take some responsibility when we lose. Don't, under the pressure of some losses, say 'everything around me is rubbish'.”