Wilder leaves Sheff Utd as Selles takes over

Sheffield United have appointed Ruben Selles as head coach to replace the departing Chris Wilder after failing to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

Former Southampton, Reading and Hull City boss Selles, 42, was announced as the new Blades boss less than an hour after Wilder's exit was confirmed.

Sheffield United finished third in the Championship but lost to Sunderland in stoppage time in the Championship play-off final last month.

Wilder, 57, was in his second spell in charge of his boyhood team and had been looking to guide them to promotion for a third time.

The club announced his exit was "mutually agreed", with coaches Alan Knill and Matt Prestridge also leaving.

"I'm obviously disappointed to be leaving, particularly because we were so close to getting back to the Premier League," Wilder said in a statement, external issued via the club.

"I'm a Sheffielder through and through, I love this club and this city and that feeling will never change.

"I depart with some cherished memories and feel proud to be talked about in the same manner that special Sheffield United managers are remembered – leading this team over 300 times will remain an incredible part of my life."

Selles left Sheffield United's fellow Championship side Hull in May despite leading the Tigers to survival, having taken over when the club were in the bottom three.

The Spaniard previously had two caretaker stints in the Premier League with Southampton and spent 18 months in charge of Reading before taking the Hull job.

Selles' comments upon taking the Bramall Lane role hinted that rumours of Wilder being uncomfortable with AI-led recruitment models may not be far off the mark.

"This is a very powerful and ambitious project - it was very important at the start of the conversations that everyone is on the same page," Selles said.

"We need to embrace data and new technologies, but the most important thing is not to forget the football essence.

"The fans can expect a team which is not going to wait or be reactive, we will be proactive, we are going to go and try and be as competitive as we can in every single game."

Wilder initially took over at Bramall Lane in May 2016 and guided them to the League One title in his first season in charge.

Promotion to the Premier League followed two years later and they finished ninth in their first season in the top flight.

However, they struggled badly the following season, and Wilder left in March 2021 with relegation inevitable.

He had spells with Middlesbrough and Watford before returning to Bramall Lane in December 2023, after Paul Heckingbottom was sacked with the Blades bottom of the Premier League.

Wilder could not prevent their relegation before the narrow failure to secure a top-flight return at the first time of asking cost him his job.

"A Blade through and through, the legacy Chris and his staff have created here will never be forgotten, going right back to 2016 when he initially took the job with the club rooted in League One," a club statement, external said.

"Between 2016 and 2021, he guided the club to two promotions and a ninth-place finish in the Premier League, creating an era which will go down as one of the most fondly remembered in the club's history.

"After returning to the club during a difficult period in 2023, he has provided stability and created a new team."

The Blades started last season with a two-point deduction because of missed transfer payments in the 2022-23 campaign but challenged at the top of the division throughout.

A long-mooted takeover by American-based consortium COH Sports was completed in December, and Wilder signed a new three-year deal in January.

With seven games to go, they were two points clear at the top. But they then lost three matches in eight days to Oxford United, Millwall and Plymouth Argyle.

Another defeat at Burnley - a fourth in five games - condemned them to the play-offs, despite finishing the regular season with 90 points.

They cruised into the play-off final with a thumping 6-0 aggregate win over Bristol City and took the lead in the final at Wembley against the Black Cats.

A second goal was controversially ruled out by VAR - the only match in the Championship in which the system was used all season - and Sunderland came from behind to win.

It stretched Sheffield United's wretched run in the play-offs to no promotions from 10 attempts and left them facing another season in the second tier.

BBC Radio Sheffield's Andy Giddings

Wilder's second stint was initially a salvage job after a disastrous summer of recruitment hindered predecessor Paul Heckingbottom.

Ultimately it didn't work, but the seeds of change were sown.

Wilder - known as being a skilled planner - set about changing the plan, and despite a slow, nervy start to the transfer window due to the protracted takeover of the club, put together the makings of a good squad which amassed 90 points (92 without the deduction) that remarkably wasn't enough for automatic promotion, and ended with a defeat in the Championship play-off final.

Following that final against Sunderland three weeks ago, it's believed a split board decided to discuss a 'change in direction' last week which has ultimately led to the departure of one of United's most successful managers.

The delay in holding these talks over his future and the time it has taken to resolve the situation shows a lack of respect to Wilder, in my opinion, a lack of clarity at the top of the club, and a naivety in offering him a new three-year deal in January, when it was known significant changes to the club's methods of recruitment were coming.

Read Andy Giddings' full analysis