Wilder quits Blades as drop looms
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Chris Wilder (extreme left) yesterday left as Sheffield United manager, according to multiple media reports. Tensions between Wilder and Saudi club owner Abdullah Bin Musa'ad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reportedly escalated, after the club's failure to bring in new players in the last transfer window.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LONDON • Chris Wilder yesterday left his role as Sheffield United manager, according to multiple media reports, with the club rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table and favourites to get relegated.
The Blades have won just four games in the top flight this season and last weekend's home defeat by Southampton left them on 14 points, 12 points adrift of safety with 10 matches to play.
They were among the league's success stories last season following their promotion to the top flight by finishing a respectable ninth, with Wilder hailed for helping them adapt to the top flight after a 12-year absence.
Yet their troubles began towards the end of the 2019-20 campaign, when they lost their final three games.
Their poor form spilled over into this season, with their first league win coming in their 18th game against Newcastle in January.
Tensions between Wilder and club owner Abdullah Bin Musa'ad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reportedly escalated, following the club's failure to bring in new players in the last transfer window.
The 53-year-old Wilder took charge of his boyhood club in 2016 after they finished 11th in League One, leading them to two promotions in three years and their highest top-flight finish in 28 years.
The Blades visit third-placed Leicester, who are pushing to reach the Champions League for the first time since their miraculous 2015-16 title triumph.
Unlike Sheffield, whose top-flight stay appears doomed, 18th-placed Fulham are in a far better position to escape the drop.
The Cottagers, who won immediate promotion last season, are level with Brighton, just a place above them on 26 points and ahead on goal difference, and a point behind Newcastle, albeit having played a game more than the two teams.
But today's home game with runaway leaders Manchester City may be a write-off.
4 Victories Sheffield United clinched from 28 league matches this season.
Not to Pep Guardiola though. The City boss had high praise for the hosts and counterpart Scott Parker ahead of the game, saying: "Since day one, they play incredible well. They were relegated with Scott, after promoted again.
"I was really impressed when they play here, their physicality, the strength, their courage, the pace they have up front.
"Their stadium (Craven Cottage) is always difficult, the grass isn't in good condition like ours. A real tough opponent."
The Catalan also joked Parker could rival him in terms of being the best dressed on the sidelines as "he's younger and has hair", but urged his side not to let up and to extend their 14-point lead.
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FULHAM V MAN CITY
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