Sheffield United manager, Chris Wilder, believes Billy Sharp deserves credit from both United and Wednesday fans.
The Blades boss was speaking about his skipper ahead of United’s trip to Reading this evening.
Sharp, who spoke openly on the Blades’ ‘One of Our Own’ podcast this past weekend, has drawn plenty of praise across social media for his honesty in the interview. The Blades legend goes into detail about the devastating loss of his child, while also giving an insight into other aspects of his personal life.
And Wilder believes that Sharp’s attitude and contribution to football deserve respect from both sides of the Steel City.
“I think he deserves an enormous amount of respect for the way he handles himself in the city”, Wilder said.
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“I’ve always said this is a proper football city. There has to be respect as well. And I do believe there is a genuine respect for Billy in Sheffield. He should take an enormous amount of credit for the way he handles himself and represents both his football club and his city”.
Sharp has worked his way back into the fold at Bramall Lane this season. Despite scoring on the opening day at Bournemouth, the Blades skipper struggled to get back in the XI until recent times.
However, Sharp has repaid his manager’s faith with a goal against Bournemouth at home and a number of hard-working displays.
Respect across the board for Billy Sharp
There doesn’t need to be much said about the reaction Sharp garnered from his words in the podcast.
Ex-pros, current players, and fans of numerous clubs all had their say and spoke of their respect for the United skipper. Wilder’s comments about Sharp deserving respect in Sheffield, then, seem to go further than just here in South Yorkshire.
Billy Sharp will go down as a legend at Bramall Lane and rightly so. Hopefully, he can offer something to the game once he’s retired and use his obvious popularity and respect to give back to the game.