Sheffield United

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Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder says he is "speaking on behalf of the football club" when calling out controversial officiating.

After the Blades' 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace on Tuesday night, the United boss described referee Tony Harrington's performance as "ridiculous".

In a post-match interview he said that he would be speaking with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) after feeling too many decisions were going against his side.

"I'm not confident I'll get anything back that will change my opinion of how things are," Wilder said.

"I'm not looking back over the last 10 games, it's over a longer period, before I was here as well. It's the in-game decisions, the soft fouls go against us. It's an easy one.

"Maybe the thought process and the outlook is that they [Sheffield United] won't be long in this division and 'I might be refereeing the other team next year, so don't want to upset too many people'."

The manager, who is in his second spell with the club, insisted his coaching staff feel the same and added: "I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't think it was right.

"The majority of Sheffield United supporters will feel the same as well. I'm not just speaking on behalf of myself. I'm speaking on behalf of the players and more importantly I'm speaking on behalf of the football club.

"Come on, we need to make sure this is right and sorted and it's refereed in the right way."

I met a scout at a game against Brentford and when he mentioned his club, he said; "We’re frightened to death of breaking any rules, so it looks like we can’t do much at all."

That tells you everything.

Everyone is very limited - there are few ins and outs and a few swap deals but nothing significant.

Usually the big deals have a knock-on effect as it releases a couple and we get movement, but it’s been very quiet and agents have not been that busy.

I think there are lots of late deals to happen but will we see a bigger one? I don’t know.

Chelsea's Armando Broja seems to be getting all of the speculation at this point in the day.

Michael Brown was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

Josh Lobley, BBC Sport

Chris Wilder has been speaking to the media ahead of Sheffield United's match against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Here are the main lines from his news conference:

• Wilder confirmed Ivo Grbic has suffered a concussion, and will be unavailable for seven to 12 days due to Premier League concussion rules. However, Ben Brereton Diaz is in contention for Saturday's game after being taken off on Tuesday.

• On whether he has had enough backing in the transfer window: "100%. It's a difficult one because we aren't in a fabulous position in the league and we have to make sure we look after the pennies but I think a lot of the things that we were looking to achieve we have done. We need to affect the results more now."

• Wilder spoke about the club's medium to long-term future: "I'm confident in the rebuild. I still think it's a fantastic place to come and play football. This is a very attractive club, one that is still fighting. What we have to do is get the recruitment spot on, and culturally get it right."

• On the club's youth system: "One of the things that's really impressed me is the way that the academy has kicked on and accelerated. My message to the supporters is that we're really looking forward to working with these young players and it's important that the pathway is there."

• Wilder had more to say about the young Blades: "If I was a manager at another club, I'd be looking at Sheffield United. If I was in the Championship, League One [or] League Two, I'd see there are some really well rounded and well grounded footballers."

• He said the onus is on Cameron Archer to deliver if he wants to get back into the team: "They've all got to produce. There's been opportunity for Cameron, like at Gillingham. You can't feel sorry for yourself. Whether you are a sub, start, get 10 or 70 minutes, there's a massive opportunity for you. You want to let them go and have a run, but you've got to show that consistency to deserve that run. Cam is in the mix for the game."

• On Aston Villa: "We understand they are a top side [that has] really kicked on in the past three or four years, They have some fabulous players, but it isn't going to be a one-sided affair."

Follow all Thursday's Premier League news conferences and live transfer updates

Listen to full match commentary of this game on BBC Radio 5 Live

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from the eight Premier League matches played over Tueday and Wednesday.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

• Nottingham Forest 1-2 Arsenal

• Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle

• Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea

• Manchester City 3-1 Burnley

On Wednesday, we asked you what Sheffield United's ideal final day of business in the January transfer window would look like.

Here is a selection of your responses:

Lloyd: Long term injuries to John Egan and Chris Basham have left the right centre-back role light of bodies and the club could use their final domestic loan spot to find cover after ending Luke Thomas' spell early. I wouldn’t expect more than this. Maybe a keeper out on loan after the arrival of Ivo Grbic and a couple of our youngsters going out for experience too.

Pete: Sack Chris Wilder - it was a massive backwards step getting him back.

Malcolm: We desperately need a commanding centre-half, after losing Basham and Egan, which would give Anel Ahmedhodzic more freedom to attack

Jez: Would love to get Harry Maguire back. (You said ‘dream deadline day’, right?)

Whether it turns out to be a day of high drama or a pretty quiet one for your club, you can rarely take your eye off transfer deadline day.

Are you hoping for a rush of late deals or expecting a relaxed one?

Follow our live text coverage throughout the day here

Sheffield United have made contact with Leicester City over a move for their Australia defender Harry Souttar, 25. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

When does the transfer window close?

The transfer window will close at 23:00 GMT on Thursday for the Premier League and English Football League, while in Scotland, the window will shut 30 minutes later at 23:30.

Across Europe, the Bundesliga window will close at 17:00, Serie A at 19:00, Ligue 1 at 22:00 and La Liga at 23:00 - but the Women's Super League transfer window already closed on Wednesday night.

The transfer window for the Saudi Pro League, where a number of high-profile Premier League players moved in the summer, closed on 30 January.

Can a Premier League player signed on deadline day play this weekend?

Under league rules, new signings are eligible for the next Premier League game if the club submit the required documents by midday on the last working day before that match.

Where can I see all the confirmed transfer deals on deadline day?

You can find all the deals completed on transfer deadline day within our dedicated confirmed transfers page.

What is the story so far?

Only 15 players have been signed by Premier League clubs in January, with 10 permanent transfers, five loan deals and disclosed fees of about £50m.

It is a far cry from the past three transfer windows - January 2023 and the summers of 2022 and 2023 - which each set Premier League spending records.

At the same point last year, on the eve of deadline day, there had been 38 transfers worth about £550m - 10 times this year's amount.

How can I follow transfer deadline day on the BBC?

From 07:00 on Thursday, we will have a page dedicated to all the latest transfer news, reaction and analysis. You cannot miss it as it will be the first thing you see on our football website.

Your Premier League club's page will have all the latest transfers for your team in one place.

You will also find regular updates on BBC Radio 5 Live and breaking news across BBC Sport's social media channels, including X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

There will also be a special edition of The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer and the Red Button from 22:00 until 23:30.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Chelsea and Everton winger Pat Nevin, writing for the BBC Football Extra newsletter:

This feels like it has been the quietest Premier League transfer window ever. There is still a day to go and, in the past, huge deals have been done right up to the deadline, but it will not suddenly become a free-for-all this time. The question is: why?

Are all the clubs and their managers deeply satisfied with their well-balanced and over-performing squads? I hardly think so. Have all the coaches suddenly decided that they really want to work more with the youngsters coming through, rather than get a ready-made striker in the morning? Probably not.

Have the big clubs suddenly got sensible and concluded that it is silly spending hundreds of millions of pounds on players, destroying any possible company profits and yet still having no certainty of success at the end of it? This thought might have crossed a few minds.

There is always the possibility that some clubs got the fright of their lives after Everton’s 10-point deduction. Have they finally realised that some of the very complicated and fancy financial and accountancy sleights of hand might not bamboozle the Premier League after all?

Some clubs have spent huge sums and are now quietly trying to sell players to make the books balance.

Does it not smack of just the vaguest possibility of a chance that there might have just been a bit of blustering, self-indulgent financial mismanagement by the owners of some of the top clubs? Surely not - these Masters of the Universe always know what they are doing and understand finance so much better than the rest of us.

I remember listening to a hugely successful banker once braying on to me about how they knew best. I think he was from an organisation called Lehman Brothers.

As deadline day looms, we want to know what your ideal final day of transfer business would look like for Sheffield United.

Do the Blades need to make any signings? If so, who should they look to bring in? And does anyone need to be offloaded?

Let us know your views here

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United striker Ben Brereton Diaz says the Blades need to "keep fighting" after their narrow defeat by Crystal Palace on Tuesday.

The 3-2 loss left the club rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, nine points away from safety, but Brereton Diaz still has confidence in the team to get results in upcoming games.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield's Blades Heaven podcast, the 24-year-old said: "We felt confident coming in, we always feel confident. We felt confident we could come here and do a job. They've got some brilliant players, we can all see that, but we gave them a real tough time.

"We've got to keep our heads high, keep going and keep fighting because this team has been brilliant at that."

Despite the defeat, the Chile international - who joined the club on loan at the beginning of January - has made a positive start to life with the Blades having scored two goals in his first two Premier League games.

"I've really enjoyed myself these three weeks I've been at Sheffield United, settled in really nicely and the lads have been great with me. I'm excited for the games to come, we need some big performances and big wins," he added.

"I've played against Sheffield United a lot of times so I know a lot of the lads and I know what Sheffield United stands for as a team, I know what the fans expect.

"Everyone looking in can see the West Ham and Brighton matches, we've made a good account of ourselves. Obviously at the end of the day football is about winning games and getting points so it is a big few weeks for us and we're not focusing on anyone else, we're just focusing on ourselves going game-by-game and hopefully we'll get the job done in those games."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

We asked you for your thoughts on Tuesday's match between Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.

Here are some of your comments:

Palace fans

Sam: Bizarre game really. Palace were totally reliant on the class of Eze and Olise. There was not a lot of overall team structure, especially without the ball. Great to see Ozoh getting more game time, he looks a real talent. Sheffield United showed heart but were defensively very poor. We won't win many games defending like we did in this one.

Lee: Olise and Eze were a different class. Both are worth £80m each to us. Why did Roy put Schlupp on when Franca was a like-for-like substitute? I don't know. It just proves how stubborn and stuck in his ways he is.

Simon: We won, but once again it was a struggle. This doesn't bode well for Roy. Only a dominant win would ease the pressure and I don't think this performance alone will do that. Better teams will pick us off. Now we've got some key matches against Burnley, Everton and Brighton. A minimum of seven points are needed. We are a two-man team which, after 10 years and heavy investment, isn't good enough.

Daniel: It's great to get the win but, the way the game ended, I felt like Palace drew. I love Roy, I will always love Roy, but those substitutes just killed everything going for us. If Olise had to go off, bring on Franca. If Eze had to go off, bring on Edouard. Richards is a decent centre-back, a good central-midfielder, but is exposed badly as a right-back.

Sheffield United fans

Tom: Glimmers of hope but it’s hope for next season in the Championship. This is progress, we looked like we were a League One side earlier in the season. I'm still astonished by how little we get from the referees though. We get yellows for the slightest touch and no fouls the other way. It’s not like opponents need help to beat us.

Andrew: Palace were far superior. We got lucky with the second goal. Chris Wilder is the wrong choice for us, he should never have been asked back.

Alex Howell, BBC Sport

Sheffield United's start in the match against Crystal Palace could not have gone any better. The Blades took the lead after just 20 seconds thanks to Ben Brereton Diaz's strike.

However, Chris Wilder's side could not seperate themselves from Crystal Palace even though they took the lead for a second time through Jason McAtee.

Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze produced three moments of brilliance to get Crystal Palace all three points.

The Sheffield United boss could not be too critical of his side saying "those boys (Olise and Eze) can destroy your game plan with individual brilliance" and that the Palace pair would cost a minimum of £50m each.

The result leaves Sheffield United nine points from safety and they have a massive task ahead if they are to get out of the relegation zone.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "It just shows the ruthless nature of the Premier League. I wish Michael Olise could have made his comeback at the weekend instead of coming back tonight!

"We got off to a fabulous start. We talk about our competitiveness and attitude that we need to bridge the gap. That gap is two £50m players. Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, and you've also got Jefferson Lerma and Marc Guehi who is a centre-half for England, and Joachim Andersen who is one of the best centre-backs in Europe. That's what you're up against.

"We tried to bridge the gap, second half we got close. But when they find that little bit of magic. The cross off Olise, the finish off Eze, or the other finish by Olise. They find that bit to get in front.

"We can't score two goals away from home and come away with nothing. Unfortunately we have done and that's the life and times of trying to be in the Premier League.

"There's no talk about league position or points difference, we're talking about performance. We just have to go again against Villa on Saturday. It's a great game for us. We can't take a step back. We believed we could get a result here. But we have to do things better defensively, and do better things when we have the opportunity to punish them."

• Crystal Palace have won four consecutive league games against Sheffield United for the first time since August 1991.

• Sheffield United have won just 10 points from their opening 22 Premier League games this season, which is the Blades’ second-worst ever points tally at this stage of a league season in the top four tiers (after only six points at this stage in 1975-76).

• Including two tonight, Michael Olise has assisted Eberechi Eze seven times in the league, the joint-most one Crystal Palace player has assisted a single teammate in the competition, along with Andros Townsend for Christian Benteke and James McArthur for Wilfried Zaha.

• Ben Brereton’s opener after just 20 seconds was Sheffield United's earliest ever goal in the Premier League on record (since 2006-07), while it was also the quickest ever goal on record that Crystal Palace have conceded in the competition.

Michael Olise scored the winning goal on his return from injury as Crystal Palace came from behind twice to secure a vital win over Sheffield United in the Premier League at Selhurst Park.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from elsewhere?

Palace fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Blades fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

There are five games being played in the Premier League on Tuesday and we will bring you every moment.

Listen to match commentaries and follow text updates here

All times are GMT

Ben Meakin, BladesPod, external

It’s been a muddled transfer window from Sheffield United, signalling a club seemingly caught between knowing the prudence of preparing for next season and also wanting to at least be competitive for the rest of this one.

The Blades have spent money on a goalkeeper, Ivo Grbic, with all three of our other goalkeepers out of contract in the summer. Hopefully Grbic will be a success, but the fact that our previous number one, Wes Foderingham, has immediately requested a loan move away suggests that signing his replacement was either a snap decision or poorly communicated internally.

Bringing in highly rated youngster Sam Curtis also looks a good move for the future, as does the ongoing contract negotiations with academy products Oliver Arblaster and Dan Jebbison.

Cutting ties with on-loan Luke Thomas made sense and that frees up a precious domestic loan slot. However, four weeks later and we still haven't used it, as another two potentially winnable Premier League games drift by.

The only other incoming so far has been Ben Brereton Diaz, who certainly looks like improving us in the short term. But that's also the problem: he's only here for the short term, with no option to buy at the end of his loan spell.

His signing sticks out like a sore thumb, particularly as he was brought in at the start of the window as United dipped further into their allocation of overseas loans.

I thought it was going to signal the club making a clutch of short-term, low-cost additions to at least save face the rest of the way.

Instead, there is only one more expected arrival, albeit on loan, which leaves me wondering what the point is?

It felt like the options were to either accept the inevitable and spend as little as possible, or rage against the dying of the light and spend a modest amount to get better for the last few months of the season.

In the end, we have committed to neither transfer plan.

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this week's midweek games - on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - he takes on Chelsea fan Matthew Vaughn, director of new spy film Argylle.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

This is a massive game for Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder because of how badly his side need a result, but it is also huge for Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson.

I just wonder what the atmosphere will be like at Selhurst Park and whether the Eagles fans will really get behind Hodgson after their protests against Arsenal in their last league game.

They need to, whatever they think about the overall direction of the club, because Palace are in danger of getting dragged into the relegation mire.

On the pitch, the return of Michael Olise from injury would be a massive boost for Hodgson and, if he is fit enough to start, he will probably be the difference-maker in this one, along with Eberechi Eze.

Sheffield United won't lack commitment - we know that - but again it is a lack of quality that lets them down. I've spoken about Nottingham Forest and Everton becoming desperate, but the Blades are bottom of the table and are already at that stage.

Vaughn's prediction: Both of these teams are struggling so I am going to go for a draw. 0-0

See the full list of predictions