How Wilson has bridged Steel City divide with the Blades

“There’s only one Danny Wilson.

One Danny Wilson.

He used to be sh***.

But now he’s all right.

Walking in a Wilson Wonderland.”

Hardly a contender for a literary award. But for Sheffield United manager Wilson, the subject of the verse, it tells a most important tale.

When these few simple words echo around Bramall Lane, it delivers confirmation of his acceptance.

The man whose appointment sparked protests at the ground’s car park is now truly part of the fold.

It took approximately seven months to get this far. Seven long months for Blades supporters to come to terms with what had gone before.

Now thousands chant his name every week, acknowledging the past while celebrating the here and now.

Wilson has won over his doubters by steering United back towards the Championship.

After the agony of relegation, there were fears that the club could go into meltdown this season.

Chairman Kevin McCabe even booted out Micky Adams, a lifelong Blades supporter, to make way for Wilson, his preferred choice as manager.

Wilson hailed from Wigan but had spent three years as a Sheffield Wednesday player in the early Nineties before returning to the club for a two-year spell as manager.

Players will always come and go but no manager had ever crossed the Steel City divide.

It was one of the biggest gambles in the Blades’ history.

A press conference to unveil Wilson as manager was played out against a backdrop of jeers from banner-waving protesters in the club car park.

Nothing could hide the sense of shock on the faces of those at the top table.

It was impossible not to be shaken by the emotions of those outside.

Slowly but surely, however, Wilson began to turn them around.

Within an hour of concluding press interviews, Wilson took questions from a select group of supporters inside Bramall Lane. He spent the summer attending meetings with other supporters’ groups.

The majority, of course, reserved judgment until they had seen his team and assessed results.

With the majority of his budget tied up on wages for existing players, Wilson needed to rely predominantly on the squad he had inherited.

Significantly, he introduced a different style of football which was easier on the eye and more appealing to the purists.

Of his current starting XI, only left-back Lecsinel Jean-Francois and midfielder Kevin McDonald are players who have been acquired this season. His other signings help fill the bench.

The Blades hit the ground running and won five out of the first six league games.

Other than a brief autumn wobble when 13 points were dropped in six games, results have remained consistent throughout.

In Ched Evans, the Blades now have one of the leading marksmen in the division, a striker who has undoubtedly benefited from the change in playing style.

Evans has bagged 21 goals and will be out of contract this summer. He is also due to stand trial for rape in April.

Prior to the charges, Evans was being linked regularly with clubs in the Championship so his retention has been a major boost.

Wilson has also been grateful to the board for resisting any temptation to raise money by selling players.

Only teenage striker Jordan Slew was sacrificed – in a £1m move to Blackburn Rovers – and it would have upset things far more if the club had sold defenders Harry Maguire or Matt Lowton.

Another positive for Wilson has been the club’s lack of injuries, especially at centre-back where cover at times has been non-existent.

Despite comments from across the city about wages, the Blades do not have that many options in reserve.

Wilson celebrated his finest achievement as a manager in 1997, winning promotion to the Premier League with Barnsley.

Over the subsequent 15 years, he has been relegated with Wednesday and Milton Keynes Dons but steered Bristol City and Swindon Town to the League One play-offs and won promotion from League Two with Hartlepool United.

Now 52, Wilson is a manager at the top of his game.

The way he has handled the job at Bramall Lane is not only a legacy of other challenges won and lost but a lesson in diplomacy.

His sense of humour has won many admirers, too.

Asked for his reaction to the song now sung in his honour, he said: “One word –brilliant.”

He added wryly: “But I can’t understand why the supporters think I used to be shy. I am just as outgoing as I have always been.”

When Wilson leads the Blades out at Hillsborough, it is bound to bring back memories of his playing days with the Owls.

But Wednesday supporters will not be singing ‘Wilson is a Wednesdayite’.

They may have done in the corresponding fixture – but he has swapped allegiances now and become a Blade.