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“Players need to apologise” – Chris Wilder vents fury at Sheffield Utd’s defeat to West Brom

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“Players need to apologise” – Chris Wilder vents fury at Sheffield Utd’s defeat to West Brom

“Players need to apologise” – Chris Wilder vents fury at Sheffield Utd’s defeat to West Brom in the Championship on Friday.

Ryan Mason’s side ended the Blades’ six-game unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory. After a quiet first half, Aune Heggebo netted his 7th goal in seven games on the 50th minute.

Then Karlan Grant doubled the scoreline with a powerful shot in off the bar, although there were questions as to whether there was a possible foul in the build-up.

Albion didn’t look like conceding, their three points, moving up to 14th place with 28 points and three points off the top six, while Sheffield United remain 17th with 23 points.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield:

“I’m really annoyed and angry. As annoyed and angry as I’ve been for a long, long time.

“I didn’t see it coming, I thought first half we were pretty good but you have to be more clinical. Everyone in the ground smelt the atmosphere before and the vulnerability of the opponent and that is when you have to be at your ruthless best.

“We’ve just allowed them to dominate the game and never looked like getting back in it. It felt like they thought the game would come to them and they didn’t need to do the fundamental basics.

“I apologise for that, we have to own it. We need to stick our chests out and take the criticism that comes our way for a second half performance that was miles off it and I mean miles off it.

“It could quite easily have been three or four and we couldn’t have had any complaints. It’s a massive backwards step.

“It was limp, lacklustre and everything I hate in a player and as a team. I have had to express that to the players.”

Wilder speaking to Sky Sports Football:

“We took shortcuts. It’s as disappointing a 45-49 minutes as I’ve had in a long, long time. I thought we were miles off of it. We looked quite arrogant in our approach, thought the game would just come to us.

“We were OK first half, we created some really big chances. Smelt a little bit of vulnerability and got after it, but we have to put teams to bed in that half. I just think they thought the game would just come to them, the players.

“I’ve got to say I apologise to our travelling supporters because they didn’t deserve that second half. We’ve got to own it and go back to square one. It’s a massive backward step tonight.

“Maybe players thought that, second half, we would just turn up and we’ll just do what we did first half and maybe there won’t be as much of a reaction from the opposition. Poor goals to give away.

“I’ve got to say I think we’ve dodged a bullet. I think that, quite easily, could have been three, four, five. So that was the scale of what I thought our performance was second half. We came to life in the last five or 10 minutes. Too late to do that. And if you try and shortcut a game at any level, you’ll get punished.

“The [second] goal was a terrible goal. We tried to flick one round the edge of the box late, outside their box. They counter, the centre-half is not strong enough. I’m not even interested in is it a foul or not. It’s not a foul. It’s an excuse.

“From then on, we just lost all our shape, we lost all our belief, we lost all our calmness and composure. I think it became a pretty comfortable second half. Two full-backs were poor in possession. Two centre-halves didn’t deal with a centre-forward, didn’t deal with a run.

“Midfield players, I’d give Jairo [Riedewald] a little bit of a pass because he’s been ill, but we needed him back in. [Ollie] Arblaster came on and gave us something. We had to go with Gus [Hamer] in the middle of the park late on.

“Two centre-forwards, second half didn’t do anything. Two wide players didn’t do anything.

“When I’m talking in terms of those sort of comments regarding players, second half to the first half, we’re all after consistency. We’ve had it for six, seven, eight games, thought we’d turned a corner. Maybe people have just started getting ahead of themselves a little bit. Everybody at the football club may be just thinking play-offs. If we win tonight, we get to five points off the play-offs.

“If we carry on that second-half performance in the games coming up, we’ll be back where we were when I first took over.

“It’s not what I look for in the Sheffield United performance and the Sheffield United individual performance as well. If I was one of the boys that have not played tonight, I think it’s wide open. Maybe a couple of them have just got a little bit too comfortable or whatever. I don’t know. Didn’t see it coming.

“Talked about an opportunity for us, not being disrespectful. Everybody smelt it around the ground, even the atmosphere before the game was pretty quiet. We said we had to be careful, it’s a dangerous game. If we made poor decisions, then we allow the opposition to grab onto it. Obviously, it’s a great ball and it’s a great finish, but it occurred because we tried to do something that we didn’t need to do right on the edge of the box.

“We talked about the runs, all the analysis we did on the centre-forward. He goes away and he gets across the near and he gets across the near again. Might as well have chucked that laptop in the bin and all that analysis that we did. That was the feel of the game.

“I apologise and the players should, because that is miles off where I see us being individually and as a team.”

West Brom boss Ryan Mason told BBC Radio WM:

“They had a few chances in the first half and it was important we hung in there and we did, which pleased me massively. At times this season when we’ve been up against it we’ve conceded and it’s changed the feeling of the game.

“Second half we got a second wind. We played a really good game and got a goal and then a second goal which we haven’t done enough this season.

“There was a bit of anxiety and nervousness in the first 20 minutes and you could feel it. It was a bit ugly and sometimes you have to make good football decisions.

“The players deserved the win in my opinion.”

(On Heggebo) “We’re so happy with him, we really feel like his relationships are developing with his team-mates. We can see his potential and he has so much room to grow. He’s in a good moment.”

Mason speaking on Sky Sports Football:

“We played a really mature game. It was probably the most mature game we’ve played all season. You could feel a bit of anxiety in the first half and we weren’t quite there with the ball.

“I’m super proud of the players for the effort they put in and the maturity to get through the spells where we weren’t quite great.

“We made good decisions and, when we had our moments, I thought we were outstanding. We could have had some more goals, but I’m happy with the win, the clean sheet and the feeling the players have right now.”

On feeling pressure: “I know there’s a lot of negativity from the outside, I’m hearing. But we’re not in a terrible place; we’ve not lost at home for three months now, we’re three points off the play-offs. This league is super crazy and we haven’t had a spell or run of results where we can build up momentum – and that’s what we need to do.

“I understand this league very well; you win two or three games in a row and the picture and the feeling from the outside completely changes. Most importantly, internally, with the group, with the players, they’re still there, they still believe, they’re still running, still fighting and they deserved that today.”

Here’s how fans reacted after Chris Wilder vents fury at Sheffield Utd’s defeat to West Brom…

@TerrysLad: People hate him but he says it as it is. No excuses from him and we were very poor second half ⚔️

@FG_utb2: Good man. Just wait till he gets his own players in.

@Lewis__Baines: Spot on gaffer. Incredibly poor second half, some clear choices to be made on selections when alternatives are available again. Shoddy, lacklustre, soft today in second 45 especially. He’ll sort it though, onto the next. #sufc #twitterblades

@Of1889R: Agree with that but don’t think ohare should have been benched twice in a row either. And I’m clueless to know what burrows has done to deserve a start.

@WM_Loyal: He’s bang on. They were awful. And the second half they did dodge a bullet. Don’t expect him to take any accountability for it though.

@RyThompson1889: Outstanding interview. He’s bang on. #SUFC

@Wellsy172: Fuck me it’s most sense he’s ever spoke in his life 😂

@njks1889: Glad you said it Chris before the usual mongs on here try to defend them no matter what. It was fucking horrific. No spine and no backbone. Shameful performance

@Ste15375723Mark: Yep they started to believe their own publicity after a six game run and thought the win would just come to them. Not in this league. You have to fight for every point. Something that seems to have been forgotten by this bunch tonight . ⚔️😡

@FG_utb2: Top man. Sell the useless bastards!

@BoleHillBlade: O’Hare and McCallum back next game.

@Johncurtis1889: I agree with Sir Chris. I hated every minute of that second half to. 💩💩💩

@GallacherSteve: Brilliant interview tells it like it is



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