Chris Wilder: Middlesbrough appoint ex-Sheff Utd boss to succeed Neil Warnock
- Published
Chris Wilder will again be assisted by Alan Knill, his right-hand man at Sheffield United and Northampton
Middlesbrough have appointed former Sheffield United, Oxford United and Northampton Town boss Chris Wilder to succeed Neil Warnock as their manager.
Wilder returns to football seven months after being sacked by the Blades, where he was in charge for almost five years.
The former Blades defender - and boyhood fan - joined the Yorkshire club from Northampton in May 2016.
He took them from League One to the Premier League in his time in charge before leaving in March.
Warnock parted company with Boro following Saturday's 1-1 draw at high-flying West Bromwich Albion, which ended a run of two straight defeats - at home to Birmingham and then at Luton - where they let slip a 1-0 lead to concede three goals in the space of five minutes.
They are 14th in the Championship having won just six times in 17 league games under Warnock this season.
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Wales assistant coach Alan Knill will be part of Boro's new management team.
Knill, who was appointed assistant to Wales stand-in boss Robert Page earlier this year, has worked with Wilder at three previous clubs.
He was number two to the vastly experienced Knill at Bury, before their roles then became reversed first at Northampton and then at Bramall Lane.
Wilder is the 13th appointment as Middlesbrough manager since Steve Gibson took over as owner in 1994 - but Boro's sixth in four years.
Boro's first game under Wilder and Knill will be at home to Millwall on Saturday, 20 November.
They will make a return to Bramall Lane relatively early in their reign, as the Blades are scheduled to host Boro on New Year's Day.
Analysis
Mark Drury, BBC Radio Tees
Neil Warnock's departure should not be seen as too much of a surprise, given the side's inconsistency and his previous comments about the strength of his squad but the manner of his departure garnered sympathy among many Middlesbrough fans.
At precisely the same moment the club were releasing a statement saying Warnock was leaving "by mutual consent", the eight-times promotion winner was giving me a post-match interview in which he said he'd received a phone call at 10am telling him he was "leaving the club today".
The veteran manager also aired his frustration at what he regarded as a lack of support from senior figures at the club, although he stressed he'd always felt Boro chairman Steve Gibson was with him but wished he'd taken a more hands-on role "like he used to".
Like Warnock, new Boro manager Chris Wilder is a Sheffield United fan and former Blades boss. His arrival is viewed as a real coup by many fans, who hope he has the spending power in January that Warnock feels was denied him.
With Wilder's managerial stock as high as it's ever been in a career that has taken him up through the leagues from the Conference to the Premier League, Boro have undoubtedly done well to secure his services.
The hope now is he can give their Championship promotion prospects an immediate boost while bringing an identity and sense of attacking adventure to a club that has found itself drifting since relegation from the Premier League four years ago.
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