Chris Wilder: Sheff United coach says criticism of Blades players’ stance is ‘disrespectful’

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder said criticism that his team “can’t wait for the season to finish” has hurt him.

Wilder (58 years old) was speaking after his team shared the spoils in a difficult 1-1 draw with Birmingham City, despite spending the majority of the match with ten players.

Full-back Femi Seriki was sent off in the 23rd minute for a clumsy tackle on Ibrahim Ousmane and Blues striker Marvin Daksh made the Blades pay by breaking the deadlock two minutes later.

But Wilder’s team responded through an equalizer scored by Patrick Bamford in first-half stoppage time, and the visitors withstood the Blues’ attacks to get the point at St Andrews Stadium.

As well as praising his players’ “fantastic performances”, Wilder also used his post-match comments to hit back at what he felt were unfair accusations about their behaviour.

“I’ve been a bit disappointed this week with the negativity towards the players and everyone, I’ll be honest about that,” Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

He added: “If I had been a 31- or 32-year-old manager and said I didn’t want to upset people, I probably would have handled it differently, but I’m way past that.”

“Then I hear nonsense about them handing it over and that they can’t wait for the season to be over.

“It’s very lazy and disrespectful, in my opinion, to the culture of the club. It hurt me a bit because I think it’s unfair.”