Arnold’s criticism is dismissed by Blades chief Winter

Australian A league-winning coach Arnold, 49, labelled the Blades as ‘prehistoric’ in the press Down Under after recently being interviewed for the vacant manager’s post.

Arnold’s remarks came following an interview via video link, which included Winter and football consultant and former manager Dave Bassett, part of a four-man team tasked with recruiting a new manager.

The Central Coast Mariners’ head coach admitted to being shocked by the Blades’ perceived outdated footballing ethos and said joining the club would have been a backward step.

Winter countered: “Whilst Graham Arnold may have been responding to one or two challenging questions, I am flabbergasted and disappointed by his remarks which are unprofessional, clearly misinformed and not the actual position of the club.

“Key information about how the club is structured and how it plans to operate has been clearly missed.

“The club has reorganised to create a modern football department and has established a new player recruitment function through a head of football operations, similar to clubs like West Brom, Southampton, Cardiff and Watford, who have all enjoyed an upturn in fortunes.

“We have applied for Category Two status as an academy with a clear football philosophy to take the club forward.”

Winter has defended the amount of time it is taking the club to appoint a new permanent manager, with the interviewing process now into its third week.

A number of candidates have been interviewed, with ex-Portsmouth, Blackpool and Blackburn boss Michael Appleton spoken to yesterday.

Further interviews are pencilled in, with the board having deliberated over the issue for eight weeks.

The prospect remains that the process could run into a fourth week, with Blades’ bosses currently in Portugal at a Football League summer conference.

Frontrunners for the post include Port Vale first-team coach Robert Page and former West Ham first-team coach Wally Downes, with both being ex-Blades players.

“We have still got some more interviews and will then look to appoint from the strong line-up of candidates,” Winter added.