When Chris Wilder walked away from his boyhood club two months ago, the expectation was Sheffield United’s living legend wouldn’t be out of the game for long.
But during the past eight weeks Celtic have plumped for the cherub-cheeked Eddie Howe, West Bromwich Albion look set to stick with Sam Allardyce despite suffering relegation, while Tottenham Hotspur have name-checked every manager in Europe except the man who, this time last year, had the Blades dreaming of a European tour.
Has Wilder’s once-glittering reputation been stained by Sheffield United’s disastrous second season in the Premier League, a campaign so bad it will forever be used as the yardstick with which to measure ‘second season syndrome’?
If you judge every manager by the lowest moments of their career, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jurgen Klopp and Rafa Benitez would never have recovered from being relegated with Cardiff, Mainz and Extremadura respectively.
Surely Wilder has enough credit in the bank to deserve another shot at the big time?
The Crystal Palace job is suddenly up for grabs, with Roy Hodgson’s long-expected departure now public knowledge.
But while Frank Lampard, Steve Cooper, Valerien Ismael, Paulo Fonseca and Sean Dyche have all been linked with the Selhurst Park post, Wilder has yet to enter the discussion.
Many Sheffield United supporters expect that to change soon. though.
After Wilder turned their unfashionable old club into one of the Premier League’s best-drilled and well-coached sides – for one season at least – the Bramall Lane fanbase would be thrilled to see their Steel City hero work his magic at Selhurst Park too.
Here’s what some of them had to say on Twitter:
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
