John Reid

Bournemouth Blade.

[Gambian Blades @GambianBladeKev]

Nicked off facebook this morning, but it’s a good’un ⚔️

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@nowdenblades It’s Bassett, first, second and third.

[ChopsysFootballDiary @ChopsysFootball]

This is how you look after a mascot! @LFC @SheffieldUnited @premierleague #Liverpool #LiverpoolFC #sheffieldunited #jackrobinson #Anfield

[🐺🔶Andy Weaver 🔶🐺 @troutbeckwolf]

Once a cheat always a cheat … watch the ball 👀 #BRENFO

[Mike Holden @binaryfootball]

Can Chris Wilder keep Sheffield United in the Premier League?

Short answer: No, don’t be daft.

Over half the season has gone. The Blades have only 9 points.

If they average 1.5 points per game between now and May, they would finish on 36.

That’s a top-half standard - and still their chances of survival would be the wrong side of even money.

But there’s a longer answer to this question worth exploring. No matter how ludicrous the idea seems.

At the height of the 2019/20 season, the Blades amassed 35 points over 20 games, an average of 1.75 PPG.

Do that again over the remaining 18 and they hit the magic 40 marker.

So. Are they capable?

Conventional wisdom would say no.

The dressing room now is only half Wilder’s. Too much of the old band has been dismantled.

Besides, that was a period in time when everything was just right. Now there’s no momentum.

Confidence must be at rock bottom.

HOWEVER...

The personality code would say: if anyone can, Wilder can.

When you think of managerial firefighters who have orchestrated bygone great escapes, you probably have certain names that spring to mind.

Neil Warnock. John Sheridan. Sam Allardyce. Roy Hodgson even.

But starting with the outcome in mind only muddies the waters.

Those 4 men have certain aspects of personality in common and not others.

The more names or specific examples you throw into the mix, the harder it gets to paint a clear picture of a single archetype.

But when you start with the components of the Objective Personality model, you can then build an archetype of the ideal qualities you would prefer in a manager for a given context or situation.

The ability to do this illustrates why Objective Personality pisses all over Myers-Briggs.

The OP model has 9 binary coins. Meaning, you're either one side or the other.

And these are the top 5 (in no particular order) that I would consider most preferable for a manager to bring a team back from the dead…

• Chaos (Oe) over Control (Oi)
• Sensing (S) over Intuition (N)
• Emotion (F) over Logic (T)
• Play (P) over Sleep (S)
• Consume (C) over Blast (B)

If I was to advise a club trying to beat the drop against the odds - big results on a short timescale - I would search for a manager that has at least 3 but probably 4 of the above qualities.

Wilder, it so happens, falls on the right side of all 5.

So does Neil Warnock and John Sheridan.

Hodgson and Allardyce both have 3.

And yet from a Myers-Briggs perspective (16 types), we’re talking about 4 completely different types.

Fans of recency bias might also wish to consider the case of Darrell Clarke.

Cheltenham hadn’t scored a goal in their opening 9 games when he picked up the reins from Wade Elliott in late September, a run that stretched to 11 games in his first two attempts.

One point from 11 matches.

They’ve since taken 22 points from 14 (scoring 18 goals) and now have two teams outside of the drop zone within striking distance should they win their games in hand.

Clarke ticks 4 of the above 5 boxes.

So let’s bring this all back to Sheffield United and the specific challenge in front of them.

Wilder is an all-rounder. A highly-experienced manager with an extraordinary range of skills. The ideal troubleshooter.

There’s barely an attribute required of the modern manager in which he wouldn’t score 7 or 8 out of 10.

But because he doesn’t excel in any of the particular facets that make the modern fan horny, he’s undervalued. He even gets labeled a dinosaur.

Laughable.

Trust me when I say, Chris Wilder is exactly the type of guy you want in a crisis.

Only, we don’t cast him as a firefighter because he’s been too busy winning promotions for much of the past decade.

So let’s break this down...

• Chaos (Oe) over Control (Oi)

The last thing you want in a relegation battle is a manager who knows only one way and likes everything to go his way.

When I say a manager like Wilder is chaos over control, it doesn’t mean he invites or creates chaos necessarily. It means he is comfortable with it.

Throw whatever curveballs you like in his direction and his feathers remain completely unruffled.

If anything, the unpredictability of not knowing what you’re dealing with from one moment to the next excites him.

• Sensing (S) over Intuition (N)

Shit gets real in a relegation battle and that requires concrete real-world observation.

Every possible weakness has to be fixed, or at least patched up.

Now is not the time for crazy abstract ideas. You have to deal with what is real and right in front of your eyes. You can't afford to miss anything.

Even if an intuitive manager understood this, they probably wouldn’t be much use.

Relative to Wilder, their observation skills would be shite. They haven’t trained them enough sicne childhood. They would miss all sorts.

• Emotion (F) over Logic (T)

This is arguably the least important of the five. But one of my favourite phrases about logic and emotion is worth repeating here:

The best tactical game plan in the world is useless without buy-in, but a terrible tactical game plan with total buy-in always has a chance.

On a similar note, you could say that no team is escaping relegation if they don't believe they can.

You have to work the emotions if you want to generate belief.

In any case, Wilder has both sides of this equation in relative balance.

In fact, you'll often hear him refer to players getting the balance right between fire (emotion) and ice (logic).

When making decisions, Wilder can seamlessly toggle between the two states and sets of criteria.

When a moment calls for emotion, he will know. When it requires logic, he will know.

• Play (P) above Sleep (S)

This refers to managing energy and whether someone has two extraverted functions operating in tandem most of the time, or two introverted functions.

Wilder navigates the world through external experience. He doesn’t spend much time in his own head.

He actively makes decisions in the moment without fear of the consequences and learns from each one.

He doesn't get stuck on ifs, buts and maybes - he gets into action and finds out.

Failure in anything makes you hardened and streetwise. Wilder stacks up little failures like there’s no tomorrow.

When you have this mindset and 997 games under your belt, that’s a lot of knowing how NOT to do something.

People don’t see this.

Other managers who might be able to create an imagined future might also be one elementary wrong move away from disaster.

A wrong move that Wilder is much less likely to make.

• Consume (C) over Blast (B)

This refers to managing information and whether someone prefers to commit to a narrow framework or remain open to new and wildly varying possibilities.

A manager who walks into a dressing room with a clear plan will be judged on his plan.

And once any limitations of that plan have surfaced, players will start to lose faith.

By contrast, a manager who walks into a dressing room with an open mind can roll the dice as many times as he likes and won't be judged negatively for doing so.

That no-preconceptions outlook also applies to players.

By never shutting the door on anyone, it stokes competition for places and keeps everyone on their toes.

In summary, any team becomes a reflection of the manager's personality.

Wilder is an adrenaline junkie.

He loves big stages and high-stakes scenarios and this will begin to rub off on his players.

Everything is an opportunity.

The slate is also wiped clean from one day to the next. No reflecting for too long on disappointments. No getting ahead of yourselves in triumph.

Being so in-the-moment brings its own sense of freedom.

And when you're free - from past and future, or control - you become alert and ready for anything.

When you’re bottom of the league, don’t expect to roll the dice once, with one idea, and get out of trouble.

You have to play around, test-iterate and discard what doesn't work.

Then if something works, stick with it. Ride that wave for all its worth. Until it doesn't work anymore, then roll again.

Quickly, from one game to the next. No time to lose means no time for wait and see.

You have to be prepared to roll the dice several times.

For Sheffield United to do the unthinkable, what we're looking for is a cataylst.

Think of it like trying to start a campfire with no lighter.

You must try to find a spark. A trigger event. Something that just works. Something gets everyone believing. Just anything that lights the fire.

If Wilder can somehow generate that spark, then we should trust that he has all the skills to keep a good thing going.

To keep that fire burning between now and the end of the season.

Even then, it might not be enough.

But if the Blades nick a few results in the next few weeks, don't be shocked if there's a complete transformation in performances that carries them through February, March and April.

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@GCB_app Holly shit

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@kinkwadze13 Agree 100%

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@bolly1307 Bang🔫

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@JimmyRambleYT Yes.

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

Birds are fed by their parents in their infancy. When the time comes to feed themselves, there can be some confusion when the food does not go into their mouth by itself..

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

#sufc #twitterblades #sheffieldunited

[Sheffield United @SheffieldUnited]

The Blades are BACK!! ✊🦁

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@DarrenSmithTWIF How about you ditch the accountancy malarkey and take up journalism. Pretty much the perfect match summary that Darren.

[Paddy Kenny @paddykenny17]

Bloody hell this is getting very dangerous now 🤣🤣⚔️⚔️ @1981twiggy @wakey1867 @RobMoody60 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@anders_blades Bloody hell Anders. I was having a good day until you reminded me of Bruce and Peters ☹️

[nicole ruiz @nwilliams030]

Moments before the last penalty kick, in Buenos Aires

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

As Japan score their second it’s limbs by the Germany fans in Gran Canaria #sufc #twitterblades

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

@Deadbat_DB Am aright too in that that Brewster’s penalty miss went out for a throw in? Don’t think I’ve ever witnessed that happen.Sure I was seeing things by that point in the game.

[John Reid @twistmagic66]

Home game at long last (via St Pancras) #sufc #twitterblades