Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder beomans red card in Birmingham City draw and bites back at criticism
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder bemoaned Femi Seriki’s dismissal in his side’s 1-1 draw with Birmignham City.
Seriki saw red after 23 minutes, when he was judged to have been the last defender as he fouled Ibrahim Osman at St Andrew’s.
Marvin Ducksch curled the resulting free-kick past Adam Davies, compounding Sheffield United’s misery.
Patrick Bamford managed to put the Blades back on level terms after Sydie Peck missed a penalty, but Wilder was still aggrieved by the decision to dismiss Seriki.
Chris Wilder on red card decision
He said: “I can’t believe for the life of me they can just go for making that decision because it’s so grey and it’s not even grey, it’s more towards us.
“Tyler Bindon’s there on the cover, the pace on the ball goes through to Adam Davies and it goes to his (Osman’s) left-hand side, the boy’s never getting there.
“They go over and talk to the linesman and they come to a decision. The referee’s not clear on it, the linesman’s clear on it and then the double whammy of obviously an unbelievable free-kick going in the top corner.”
Sheffield United boss bites back
Sheffield United made the trip to the Midlands on the back of a disappointing draw with West Bromwich Albion and a loss to Norwich City.
Wilder has bit back at criticism levelled at his side, launching a staunch defence.
He said: “How people can question our togetherness is absolutely ridiculous from my point of view.
“It’s such a lazy way of going about it, when you lose a game, ‘They’re not trying, they’re not running around’. I’ve got the data, they run around.
“We lost a game to a decent side on Wednesday night. We didn’t finish off a team on Saturday, we’ve got no divine right to win games in this division, especially as we all talk about not a straightforward season.
“We’re not letting anybody down, there’s no guarantee when I walk through the door that we’re just going to go and win 25 games of football and go up.
“I thought the reaction to that was first class. Sometimes it’s not a win, it’s not a draw, it’s the manner of how you go about it.
“The football part of it is really important but it has to be underpinned by resilience, pride, togetherness, bravery, character, personality, belief and I thought from that moment on, then missing the penalty, to a man they left everything out there.”