Latest news with #COHSports
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Will Blades live long and prosper?
It's Sheffield United, Jim, but not as we know red and white half of the Steel City is set for a fascinating 43 days between now and kick-off in the new Championship the Blades face Bristol City at Bramall Lane on 9 August, a new chapter – heralded by the club's American owners – will begin in now the dust is beginning to settle on a seismic change for which tremors will undoubtedly be felt for weeks, months and years to been a busy and dramatic six months since COH Sports acquired Sheffield United. Chris Wilder was quickly given a new three-and-a-half-year contract. United claimed a club record 92 points but missed out on automatic promotion in the final few games. They then lost the Championship play-off final having led with 15 minutes to go before Wilder eventually departed by mutual consent, being replaced by Spaniard Ruben decision has split the Blades fanbase, with social media exposing extreme opinions on both sides of the argument for and against fan and former player Wilder will always be a legendary figure at Bramall Lane. He achieved this status in his first spell when he took the club from League One obscurity to ninth in the Premier League, but he deserves more credit than he has received for his second spell, including last summer's rebuild in the wake of relegation from the top-flight, with a significant turnaround of players, and the protracted takeover which continued until late Wembley in May he stood on the brink of achieving something no other manager in the club's history had achieved: three promotions. It will always sting that he came so close for Wilder, his players and the club's a significant number of Blades fans took issue with performances last season and the club's style of play, while questioning the success of recruitment in January and the near £450,000 in fines paid over player and staff motivated the decision to act, the Blades board has acted, and in doing so, they have thrown their full weight behind former Hull City and Reading boss claim that he "can employ innovative recruitment and analytic strategies" is key - relating to the owners' eagerness to use data and artificial intelligence to "recruit the best and brightest talent", which is central to the intrigue about how the Blades squad will take shape under Selles, who says he will have the final say on many existing players will be able to deliver the intensity that the Spaniard demands? Will some Wilder regulars find themselves sidelined? Will data-driven arrivals be in the majority or minority, as opposed to "seen it, done it" Championship players?United's new board is seeking "sustainable success" and says "the road ahead may require patience", but having come so close to a Premier League return last season, patience may be in short supply if the Blades aren't in the mix for automatic promotion from an early a brave new enterprise at Bramall Lane, with Selles tasked to boldly go and establish the Blades as a regular top-flight club.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chris Wilder out as Sheffield United's US owners make managerial change
SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — Sheffield United parted ways with manager Chris Wilder on Wednesday after failing to secure a return to the Premier League. The club, which came under American ownership in late December, immediately installed Ruben Selles as Wilder's replacement. Advertisement Sheffield United lost to Sunderland in the Championship playoff final at Wembley Stadium last month to miss out on promotion. Wilder was in his second spell at the Yorkshire club after leading it to promotion in his first stint from 2016-21. 'A Blade through and through, the legacy Chris and his staff have created here will never be forgotten,' Sheffield United said in a statement. U.S.-based COH Sports completed the purchase of Sheffield United in late December. The group is led by Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, who became the club's co-chairmen. ___ AP soccer: The Associated Press
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wilder sacked by Sheffield United after play-off failure
Chris Wilder was sacked as Sheffield United manager on Wednesday after the club's failure to win promotion to the Premier League. Wilder paid the price for United's agonising Championship play-off final loss against Sunderland last season. Advertisement United finished third in the Championship and beat Bristol City in the play-off semi-finals before blowing the lead in a 2-1 defeat by Sunderland, who scored a stoppage-time winner through Tommy Watson at Wembley. Wilder leaves Bramall Lane for the second time after a previous succesful spell in charge of his boyhood team ended in 2021. The 57-year-old, who led the Blades into the Premier League in 2019, returned in December 2023 after Paul Heckingbottom was sacked with the club bottom of the top flight. "A Blade through and through, the legacy Chris and his staff have created here will never be forgotten, going right back to 2016 when he initially took the job with the club rooted in League One," a club statement said. Advertisement United's play-off final loss was a massive blow after they had been heavily involved in the race for automatic promotion. Leeds and Burnley took the automatic promotion places after United won just two of their final seven regular-season games. American-based consortium COH Sports, who completed a takeover in December last year, had handed Wilder a new contract until the end of the 2027-28 season in January. But they are now expected to appoint former Southampton and Hull boss Ruben Selles. smg/jc
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Championship manager to be axed TODAY after missing out on Premier League promotion - with former top flight boss 'set to replace him'
A Championship manager is set to be sacked today after missing out on promotion to the Premier League last season. The second division play-off final is widely-known as the richest game in football due to the prize money and benefits of being promoted to the top flight on offer, and a defeat can be gut-wrenching for the side that misses out. That's what happened to Sheffield United last season who, after just one year away, came within inches of returning to the Premier League, but were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland in the play-offs at Wembley. Chris Wilder, 57, is in his second stint in charge of the club, having initially led them in the top flight between 2016 and 2021. He left the club in March 2021 when they were bottom of the Premier League - a year in which they were relegated after two seasons - having initially joined them in May 2016 when they were in the Championship. Now, though, he is set to be sacked by the Blades, departing for a second time, after the new owners opted to head in a different direction. After leaving United the first time, he went onto lead Middlesbrough and Watford, but returned in 2023 - chosen as the person to lead them back to the Premier League. He came close to doing that last season. After they finished third in the table on 90 points - 10 behind Leeds and Burnley - they reached the play-off final, where they would meet Sunderland. US-based consortium COH Sports took over the club in December, when Wilder was already in charge. They had, up until now, resisted the urge to hire their own boss. Now, though, they are looking to go in a different direction and will move Wilder on, with an announcement expected in due course. Wilder is thought to have an excellent relationship with Steven Rosen - one of the two people leading the new ownership - but bosses are keen to bring in their own person. The owners are understood to be keen to implement a data-based recruitment process, with Nigerian winger Ehije Ukaku joining from Bulgarian club Botev Plovdiv last week. Gary O'Neil had been linked with replacing Wilder, but it is now reported that the former Wolves and Bournemouth boss won't be stepping into the dugout at Bramall Lane. Instead, former Southampton, Reading and Hull manager Ruben Selles is set to step into the hotseat. Selles was most recently manager of Hull in the Championship, but led Southampton in the Premier League two years ago.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sheffield United line up Rubén Sellés to take over from Chris Wilder as manager
Chris Wilder looks to be heading out of Bramall Lane. Chris Wilder looks to be heading out of Bramall Lane. Photograph:Sheffield United's American owners have risked upsetting their fanbase after deciding to sack Chris Wilder and replace him with Rubén Sellés. With confirmation of Wilder's departure expected shortly, United are believed to have entered advanced negotiations with Sellés, who was sacked by Hull last month. Advertisement Related: Rob Edwards poised for Middlesbrough manager's job after impressing owner The Spaniard was left bitterly disappointed by that, having narrowly kept the East Yorkshire side in the Championship after his appointment last December. Wilder, too, is believed to be deeply upset by the decision of COH Sports, the consortium that owns United, to end his second spell in charge. He was contracted to 2028 and the delay in announcing his exit appears connected to negotiations regarding compensation. Despite starting the past season with a two-point deduction for financial irregularities, the Blades remained in strong contention for automatic promotion until almost the end before losing the playoff final 2-1 to Sunderland. Advertisement Although much of the fanbase appeared in favour of retaining the 57-year-old, who led the Blades from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons during his first stint, Wilder is understood to have disagreed with the owners' enthusiasm for a heavily data-driven player recruitment system. COH Sports took over last December after buying out Prince Abdullah and, by the end of January, were so impressed with Wilder they offered him a three year contract extension. Sellés had brief spells in charge of Southampton and Reading after starting his coaching career in charge of Valencia University's first XI. Despite an ostensibly patchy managerial record, he has won plenty of admirers since arriving in England and is noted as a skilled developer of young players.
