Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford has offered an insight into Chris Wilder’s approach at Bramall Lane.
Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford has saluted Chris Wilder’s management style, praising the Blades boss for his honest approach.
After being released by Leeds United last August, Wilder offered Bamford a route back into the game in November, bringing him to Bramall Lane on a short-term deal. He originally signed a contract until January before it was extended until the end of next season.
The striker, 32, has been a roaring success since arriving in S2, scoring ten goals in 25 appearances in league and cup. Wilder was desperate to bring in a centre-forward after returning to Bramall Lane last September, meaning signing Bamford was a risk he was prepared to take.
Despite his injury record in recent seasons, Bamford arrived in the Steel City boasting a very respectable Championship record, and he has since added another nine goals in the division to his name. He scored five goals in his first eight appearances for the club to quickly win over any doubters.
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Having had previous with Wilder during his time at Leeds, all eyes were on Bamford and the United chief to see how they would form a relationship. Their post-match celebrations together after Bamford’s United debut - a cameo appearance in the 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in November - soon confirmed they had ironed out any previous differences.
With United’s campaign having fizzled out in recent weeks, Wilder is keen to get cracking with what is shaping up to be a massive rebuild at Bramall Lane this summer. A plethora of players are not guaranteed futures at the club beyond the end of this season.
Bamford, though, is set to play a key role in Wilder’s plans next term, and the striker has offered an insight into the boyhood Blade’s management style.
“He’s straight up, which is one of the things as a player that you want a manager to be – open and honest with you,” Bamford told talkSPORT.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take it when he gives it to you. He says it how it is, he tells you what you’ve done right and wrong. If you deliver he’ll pat you on the back, if you don’t then he’ll let you know as well.”
Unfortunately for Bamford and the Blades, United will not be celebrating promotion to the Premier League come the end of the season. After beating and relegating Wednesday at Bramall Lane on February 22, they moved to within six points of the play-off places, offering encouragement and optimism that they would put a run together in their quest to gatecrash the top six.
However, just two wins in their last nine matches means they can no longer reach the coveted top six places with four games still to play.
“It’s disappointing, the fact that we’re not pushing for promotion, but he (Wilder) wants us to win every game and obviously develop that winning mentality for next year more than anything,” the striker added.
“As you know in this league, it’s consistency and unfortunately over the last two months, we’ve not had that and it’s just kind of killed us."
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