Legendary Sheffield United boss Dave Bassett hails '˜quiet man' Chris Wilder for lifting Blades

The former Sheffield United chief remembers a quiet lad with an exemplary attitude, whose time at a club he had supported all his life ironically later came to an end as a result of their promotion to the top flight.

Almost three decades on, Wilder the manager is rightly being lauded for steering the Blades back into the Championship at the first attempt. And Bassett, a mentor to Wilder throughout his managerial career, could not be happier.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, the 72-year-old said: “Chris adapted very well to the job, as I knew he would. He is a Sheffield lad and a Blade through and through, but that doesn’t guarantee anything.

“A few of those have been and gone without doing anything like the job Chris has done.

“Things were a bit iffy early on this season. But he had the personality to get through that and the experience to turn things round.

“For me, Chris and his players deserve to win the championship this season. They are the best team in League One.”

United’s promotion is the fourth of a management career that began just a few months after Wilder had called time on his playing days in 2001.

Alfreton Town took a chance on the former full-back, who left such strong foundations in place that the Derbyshire club went up again 12 months after winning the Northern Counties East Premier in 2002.

By then, Wilder was finishing the first of six seasons at the helm of Halifax Town. This would prove to be his true apprenticeship, every manner of problem being thrown his way at a club where money was so tight that it would eventually collapse under the burden of £2m debts.

“It is like trying to win Formula 1 in a Ford Escort,” is how Wilder would sum up the Shaymen’s quest to earn a Football League return when speaking to his staff privately. But for an equaliser by Hereford United with just 10 minutes of the 2006 play-off final remaining, he would have won that race to escape the Conference against all the odds.

Four years later, Wilder took Oxford United into the League and, if the Blades can go on to clinch the title later this month, he will become the first manager since Ian Porterfield 35 years ago to lead different clubs to back-to-back championships in the bottom two divisions.

Bassett said: “When I first came to Sheffield (in 1988), Chris was already there. He had been released by Southampton, but was determined to make a career for himself. He was a quiet lad, who just got on with his job. I honestly can’t recall having any problems with him.

“I did, though, give him a hard time. He would probably say I was too hard, and that he felt always to be just one bad game from being dropped.

“But I wanted to toughen him up. He had great technique and, in my time at Sheffield United, showed great stoicism to stay a part in things.

“I let him go once we were in the Premier League. His ability and attitude were not a problem, he just wasn’t the quickest and you have to be at the top level.

“Look at Kyle Walker; Chris probably had better technique and he certainly could cross a ball better. But Walker has pace. If a winger got past Chris, he wouldn’t be able to get back.

“After leaving us, he went to Rotherham and had a good, solid career. He then took that work ethic into management, and the great thing with Chris is he learns as he goes along. Halifax, Oxford and Northampton have made him the manager he is today.

“A lot of managers are up themselves these days, taking themselves far too seriously. But Chris is the exact opposite.”

At the start of the season, Bassett and Wilder spoke frequently. As they had during the summer after he had first been offered the opportunity to return to the Lane.

More recently, though, contact has been restricted to the odd text or congratulatory chat over the telephone.

“That is how it should be,” added Bassett, who holds the joint record of seven promotions with Graham Taylor. Jim Smith and Neil Warnock.

“There is not a lot to say, things are going well and Chris just needs to get on with it.

“Plus, he is the sort of lad who, even if you don’t speak for a year, you just pick up where you left off.”

As for Wilder’s achievement in taking the Blades up, Bassett added: “Six years at this level is, to me, a complete and utter joke. But Sheffield United can now go places as a club.

“It is a club that will take some stopping when the momentum is behind it, especially with the fans up for it. Chris and the players will feed off that, and he will know what needs doing in the summer to strengthen. It isn’t easy and no one wants to put any pressure on. But there is a momentum there now that can push the club on further. ”