A man who has always defied the odds - the brief history of Chris Wilder

He’s a man who holds a fantastic achievement to his name. By masterminding promotion from every single top flight division in England. Drake’s song ‘Started from the Bottom’ could mirror Wilder’s achievements but the song is definitely not about him.

In 2010, he successfully led Oxford United from the National League to League Two via the play-offs. One of the toughest leagues to get out of which only sees two teams promoted. It’s a ruthless and relentless league that is such a battle to get out of. That would go down as a huge achievement for any manager.

Following three consecutive seasons in the Football League, a new challenge awaited him with Northampton in 2014. He’d go on to achieve more odds defying success. Under the burden of intense financial difficulties, he got them promoted with a ridiculous points total of 99 even though the players weren’t paid for the months of October and November. Now that’s promotion from the National League and League Two to add to the CV.

But the greatest challenge of his career was to come next.

His boyhood club Sheffield United came calling during one of the darkest days in the clubs history.

The Blades were in an unfamiliar position in League One in 2016. One local Blade came after another as Billy Sharp came back to the club and was made captain, a man who has been a menace to Boro in the past.

Once again, he was forced to operate under financial restraints and the purse strings were tight. But it’s not known as the Steel City for nothing. Once again, he and his team defied the odds to bring them back to the Championship as title winners with 100 points, etching himself into the club’s history books.

So now that’s the National League, League Two and League One he’s been promoted from. There wasn’t much the Wilder could do wrong in the Sheffield United dugout.

The immediate aim for any manager who gets their team to promoted to the division above is usually to maintain their position in there and provide stability within the division. Given Wilder’s track record, that was never going to happen or at least it wasn’t going to be on the agenda for him.

After a season of consolidation and a shaky start to the following season, the Blades went on a phenomenal run of form. During 2019, they only lost two games between the New Year and the end of the season.

By April, their promotion to the Premier League was confirmed to the delight of the city and the fans.

In just shy of a decade, he’d gone from managing a side in non-league to leading his boyhood club to the top flight. A true Jamie Vardy-esque tale.

Naturally, the Blades were odds on to make an immediate return back down to the Championship. It was another scenario which presented the chance for Wilder and his side to battle against the odds.

Outside of the teams in the top six, they barely lost a game in the full campaign. Not only did they get the results they needed, they were stylish, front footed and full of attacking threat. He’d employed a system that worked so well but was so unorthodox. Overlapping centre-backs that moved out wide along with central midfielders who moved into the forward lines gave fellow Premier League teams plenty to think about.

Incredibly, they spent a number months in and around the Europa League places only to fall away in the final few games of the season to end up finishing in a very respectable ninth place.

It seemed like all Wilder knew in his career was success. That was until the second season syndrome hit him and his team like a tonne of bricks.

Every game that Sheffield United stepped out to play, they looked like they were going to lose. Pundits and fans had written them off with ample cause. They won their first game of the season at the 18th attempt and had just two points by New Years Day. They were breaking records but for all the wrong reasons.

They were staring relegation in the face but the question that remained was would Wilder keep his place in the dugout and be given the chance to have another go at promotion.

The fans and manager got their answer on 13th March when the Blades hierarchy ended his five year stay with the club.

He’s been out of work since. Plenty of top jobs have recently come and gone with Wilder continuing to take time out of football.

Eight months on from his sacking, Boro Chairman Steve Gibson has persuaded Wilder to join the club and take on the challenge of mounting a Boro shaped play-off push.