Chris Wilder slams abusive Sheffield United fans as 'absolute disgrace' after Burnley's promotion rivals slip up
Chris Wilder has slammed a section of his own fans as an “absolute disgrace” after his Sheffield United players were abused after their weekend defeat at Oxford.
The players were greeted with choice words and hand gestures from some of the supporters that had travelled to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday to witness their 1-0 defeat.
The loss, combined with Leeds United’s 1-1 draw at Luton, saw Burnley leapfrog their promotion rivals into top spot.
Addressing the abuse ahead of Sheffield United’s midweek game against Millwall, Blades boss Wilder was unable to hold his tongue.
“Do you know what? I think it's an absolute disgrace,” he told our sister paper, the Sheffield Star. “An absolute disgrace to the players who represent the football club and what they’ve done this season.
“I was speaking to my media guy before and he was telling me to stay away from it, but I’ll meet it head on. It's a joke and a disgrace. If that's what you think of the players then when we have the good days, don’t be clapping.
“Go home. Be consistent. If you want to come and wait for us to fail and abuse us, verbally and gesturing with abusive hand signals, give your ticket up to someone who wants to be there. Because there are loads of people who can’t get tickets who’d love the opportunity to back us.
“I understand negativity off the back of a bad performance, and it was. But there’s a line. Be consistent. We appreciate the good support and we'll need it on Tuesday night to lift the players.
“We had the opportunity to break a club record that's lasted about 350 years [of seven away wins on the bounce] and it just wasn't good enough. That's just how football is sometimes.
“You can analyse it and we’re disappointed; we all wear our hearts on our sleeves and we're giving everything for the football club, to get to 85 points with six games to go. if it was happening every other week or was the group I inherited last year who turned it in and were miles off it, then I'd get it.
“But not this group. Not this group. Don't do it to them, don't do it to me. That's how it is. It'll bring us tighter together and I'm sure you'll see a reaction in the players’ performance. The week before [against Coventry] was outstanding and we were just off it.”