Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion previously showed an interest in Chris Wilder with the former Sheffield United boss set to become a wanted man once again, as reported by The Athletic.
It says a lot about the job Wilder did at Bramall Lane that, despite walking away on Friday with his boyhood club nailed to the bottom of the Premier League table, the straight-talking 53-year-old remains one of the most respected tacticians in the country.
“If he was here, he would fight to be the champion. If I was in Sheffield, I’d fight not to be relegated,” Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said at the weekend, via Goal.
Of course there’s a chance Wilder will be fighting for silverware in 2022. In the Championship, mind you.
A limp 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday means West Brom will surely be a second-tier side again next term. If the Baggies hoped to dispel that ‘boing, boing’ reputation, a disastrous and short-lived return to the Premier League hasn’t helped matters.
The Athletic reports there’s a break clause in Sam Allardyce’s contract that allows West Brom to part with the 66-year-old if – or, more likely, when – relegation is confirmed.
The Midlands giants are long-time admirers of Wilder and, after showing an interest in 2019 before handing the keys to Slaven Bilic, are likely to be at the front of the queue for the Stocksbridge-born tactician again before long.
Whether Newcastle end up rivalling West Brom for Wilder’s signature, we’ll have to wait and see.
Steve Bruce has managed to escape the dizzying spin of the rumour mill despite a miserable run of form since the turn of the year. But if Newcastle suffer a third relegation in little more than a decade, Bruce’s position will surely become untenable.
The Athletic adds that Newcastle looked at Wilder before hiring the Geordie gaffer two years ago.
And they could do a lot worse than do the same in 2021.
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