Chris Wilder to Barnsley could get both parties back on track
The Tykes must value continuity in their next appointment and the Oakwell gig would provide a platform to re-ignite a stuttering managerial career
For Chris Wilder, 2022-23 was a season to forget. First, he was relieved of his duties at Middlesbrough with his talented squad mired in a relegation battle in early October and then he could only muster three wins from 11 at Watford before being given the boot again. The fact that his successor at Middlesbrough, Michael Carrick, lead the Teessiders to the playoffs in his absence, harmed his reputation further.
Yet just three years ago, Wilder was one of the hottest managerial properties in England, who in just four seasons had transformed his boyhood club Sheffield United from perennial third tier underachievers to a top half Premier League side.
As the Stocksbridge native was leading the Blades into their second consecutive top flight campaign in the Autumn of 2020, 18 miles down the road Barnsley were about to embark on a run which would eventually take them to an unlikely 5th placed finish in the Championship.
Just like Wilder, Barnsley’s fortunes plummeted thereafter, with relegation back to League One confirmed in April 2022, just twelve months after punching so marvellously above their weight. They almost made an instant return to the Championship in May but following on from their gut-wrenching playoff final defeat to bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday, well-regarded Head Coach Michael Duff upped sticks and headed to Swansea City in June.
Just a month away from the first ball of 2023-24 being kicked, the Tykes need a new face in the dugout sooner rather than later and Wilder, the current favourite with the bookmakers, could be that man.
The limited timescale in which to make the appointment should be a big factor in the decision making of the Barnsley hierarchy. Pre-season is already underway, meaning that any move from the existing tactical structure would pose a grave risk, and the philosophy Wilder has used to great effect in the past bears a likeness to Duff’s Tykes blueprint.
Like Duff, Wilder’s teams line up in a 3-5-2 and are exceptionally well-drilled without the ball. Despite their league position, Barnsley ranked just 14th for possession last season and Wilder’s Sheffield Untied class of 2019 only just scraped into the top 10 on that metric in the Championship. This means that when they do control the game, there is little room for error and just as Oliver Norwood was one of the best technical midfielders in the Championship, Luca Connell has effortlessly pulled the strings at Oakwell to make the best use of his team’s limited possession since joining from Celtic.
Even the more novel parts of the two managers’ philosophies share striking similarities. At Bramall Lane, Wilder’s use of overlapping centre-backs to create overloads caused havoc for opposition defences and Duff was no stranger to using this weapon either. Liam Kitching making a lung-busting 40-yard run to latch onto a Luke Thomas pass and clinch a 4-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in March was arguably the season’s highlight.
Up front, physicality is the name of the game for both bosses. League One defenders never have an easy day at the office when facing James Norwood and Devante Cole has the pace to stretch any backline in quick transitions. Unlike Barnsley under Duff, Wilder rarely instructed his forwards to press high up the pitch in the Premier League, however he made exceptions against weaker teams. Armed with a squad superior to most others in League One, the front two would surely retain the license to relentlessly harass the opposition under the Yorkshireman.
For Wilder, taking the job would make sense too. He needs to choose his next job carefully and Barnsley are a club with whom he can prove a point.
His exploits in the last 12 months will surely rule him out of contention whenever the more lucrative Championship jobs become available and overseeing a promotion-winning campaign at Oakwell would be more of a statement than spending a few months firefighting at the foot of the second tier. Given the lengthy discussions he held with Reading over their managerial post earlier in the summer, he is unlikely to be put off by the prospect of dropping to League One either.
Another potential stumbling block – the 57-year-old’s well-publicised desire for control over transfer policy – would undoubtedly be less of an issue in this case too, with the existing Tykes squad having already been assembled in his image.
It is also possible that Wilder is still as impressive as he was at the peak of powers and that he just needed a reset. In the aftermath of such lofty achievements with Sheffield United, it was always going to be difficult for the lifelong Blade to ignite the same passion for success with Middlesbrough or Watford. And while nothing will match the emotional attachment between Wilder and his boyhood Blades, a move back home to a promotion-chasing club with whom he shares a mutual dislike for Sheffield Wednesday is probably the next best thing.
The thought of Chris Wilder taking over at League One Barnsley is a scenario which would have spooked both parties as recently as 24 months ago, but after a difficult couple of years, they need success as much as each other. With limited time left for both club and manager if they are to start the season in good shape, there is no time like the present for them to be brought together.