Chris Wilder: The Sheffield United manager’s biggest strengths and the secrets behind his success, according to former player

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was dubbed the ‘manager of the century’ by fellow coach Phil Brown in October 2017.

It seemed a pretty outlandish claim at the time but given Wilder’s Sheffield United will be playing in the Premier League next season – the Blades’ second promotion in the space of three seasons – it’s definitely not the most outrageous claim made in football.

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Wilder has had brilliant success elsewhere – guiding Oxford United back into the Football League in 2010 and stabilising them in League Two before getting Northampton Town promoted into League One in 2016.

To a casual observer Wilder may seem like a normal bloke, born and bred in Stocksbridge, Sheffield but these achievements are far from normal.

But what is Wilder the man like and what are the secrets behind his managerial successes?

talkSPORT.com had a chat with Ryan Clarke, who played as a goalkeeper under Wilder at Oxford and Northampton in the seasons where both sides got promoted.

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“You didn’t want to cross him,” Clarke recalls of his earliest memory of Wilder.

Clarke, who's now at National League South club Bath City, arrived at the Kassam Stadium in May 2009 from Salisbury City and admits he wasn’t aware at first that the plan was to win promotion back into the Football League at Oxford. He soon learnt.

Intense training sessions with very high standards – no one was allowed to slack off. And if you didn’t buy into Wilder’s methods, you were gone.

However, Wilder was not just the strict enforcer at Oxford.

Clarke adds: “He was a man’s man really. He was up for a laugh and a joke. As long as you do things properly he’ll look after you. But he could be quite ruthless.

“He got the best out of me as a player.”

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“One of his strong points is that he knew the players on the other teams inside-out. We’d do tactical stuff towards the end of the week and we’d know the other players inside-out. His knowledge of the league, even in League Two was very good.

“One of his favourite sayings was ‘if you lose one or two, you certainly don’t lose three’. I don’t think we ever did that [lose three in a row] because he always got the right sort of players in.”

And in May 2010, it was mission accomplished for Oxford as they got back into the Football League four years after being relegated with a 3-1 victory over York City in the play-off final, leaving the Yellows faithful with memories that will last a lifetime.

Wilder was unable to get Oxford up another league but his talents were not going unnoticed and he became manager of Northampton in January 2014, bringing Clarke with him in July 2015.

The Cobblers could have been forgiven for failing to produce on the pitch as in October 2015, HM Revenue and Customs came knocking at Sixfields Stadium with a winding up petition over unpaid taxes.

All that uncertainty at the club could have taken its toll on the players and manager.

In the end, Northampton won League Two in the 2015/16 campaign, finishing the season on 99 points.

Clarke said: “That never really affected us to be fair. There was stuff going on in the background but the players just got on with it.”

“We had a very experienced squad [at Northampton] with a lot of promotion experience within the team. Because the team was doing so well, Chris didn’t actually have to manage the team a lot because the boys were just taking care of it and it just snowballed.

“But at the same time the reason that was the case is because he brought the right sort of players in.

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However, that summer Wilder and Northampton would part company because the manager received an offer from boyhood club Sheffield United. He couldn’t refuse it.

It’s been a whirlwind at Brammall Lane over the last three seasons and now the Blades find themselves in the big time once again.

But what is Wilder’s biggest strength?

Clarke said: “Probably his man-management – how to get the best out of players. He knows which ones need a kick up the backside, the ones that need an arm around them and the ones that he just needs to leave alone.

“His man-management is very good and I think that’s going to stand in him in good stead going into the Premier League because you’ve got to be able to man-manage players on huge amounts of money and it’s a big jump up. That’s a massive thing in today’s game.”

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And can Wilder keep Sheffield United in the top flight?

Clarke added: “It’ll be a tough ask but yeah I think he can. If there’s one thing he can do it’s when things aren’t going well it’s getting his team back on track.

“That’s another thing he’s very good at. That might be crucial because it’s going to be a hell of a tough season for them.

“I’ve not been in and around the changing rooms [at Sheffield United] but you can imagine the sorts of things that are going on and I’m sure he’s gone about his business in a similar way to what he’s done in the past because it’s worked well.”

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So whether Wilder can get Sheffield United to make the jump into becoming an established Premier League side remains to be seen.

But it’s clear he’s as ready as he’ll ever be for that challenge because he can do a little bit of everything.