Football broadcaster and Sheffield United fan, Charlie Webster, has described manager Chris Wilder as “sexy and attractive”.
In three-and-a-half years in charge at Bramall Lane, Wilder has taken the Blades from League One to their current position of fifth in the Premier League.
Their 1-0 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion was their third successive win in the league. They are unbeaten in nine away matches since promotion from the Championship.
No newly promoted side has achieved that since Burnley in 1947-48. If United extend that to ten against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on December 29, they will set a new top flight record.
And Webster says Wilder is the man behind it all.
“Chris is doing the impossible. He’s making having an English manager look sexy and attractive,” she wrote in her BBC Sport column.
“The success and ‘secrets’ are not so secret any more. Clever recruitment, the system on the pitch and the fact Wilder still rides the bus around the city are among the well-documented ingredients that go into this team.
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“They are all valid points, but to me it is about the culture at Bramall Lane.
“Wilder connects with the club and the fans. He gets it. He understands the DNA of Sheffield United – something far deeper than 11 players on the pitch.”
Wilder gets it because he’s a Sheffield United fan
Few managers in English football can claim to have quite such a connection to their club as Wilder. A boyhood supporter, the 52-year-old later played for the Blades after coming through the academy.
As a coach Wilder did his apprenticeship in the lower leagues. He has since been promoted from every division from the National League upwards.
When Wilder took over at United they had just finished their fifth successive campaign in the third tier. Two promotions in three years followed and as things stand, they are in the qualifying spots for Europe.
After what has happened so far under Wilder, anything seems possible.