Chris Wilder has enjoyed a fantastic spell in charge of Sheffield United.
He’s carried them from League One to the Premier League, and now they stand on the verge of securing European football next term.Sitting in sixth at the moment, the Blades are a place off the Champions League spots courtesy of Manchester City’s two-year ban from continental competition.The riches that would come with that would be remarkable, especially for a side that work on a shoestring budget. The wealth of the Premier League is enough as it is, such are the colossal TV deals now involved at the top end of English football.However, a place in Europe would bring even more money into the club currently owned by Prince Abdullah.One of his chief operators is CEO Steve Bettis, a man charged with the negotiation of transfers while helping to ensure the Blades’ financial situation is a stable one.He is the very man who can help Wilder eradicate his previous financial misfortune. It’s been a bit of a nightmare trend for the Sheffield United manager, but it’s one he can now begin to comfortably forget about.When he was at Halifax Town from 2008 onwards, they were wound up with a debt of £2m before having to reform as a phoenix club. A move to Oxford United brought similar financial woes – by the time he had arrived, their hardship when it came to money was evident by the way they’d been dragged down to the conference.But it was at Northampton Town where things got more difficult. When Wilder was in the midlands, a £10.25m council loan was taken out in order to redevelop Sixfields Stadium. Coincidentally, it’s still the subject of a police inquiry into claims of bribery, misconduct in public office, fraud and money laundering.Wilder recalled last week: “Halifax had historical debt and an overspend in the old Fourth Division, signing players for big money. Travelling on a Chelsea FC coach and overnight stops, it was ridiculous. Northampton was a land deal that went wrong from the former chairman.”However, Sheffield United are different. They’re a club who looks after themselves and are monitoring their situation intimately.As an example, signings like Oliver McBurnie, a £20m acquisition, may have been worrying if they subsequently got relegated.United would have had a big asset on their books with smaller amounts of money to spend in the Championship. But Bettis has worked hard to ensure that if they do go down, they won’t do a Portsmouth, and financial difficulty won’t follow Wilder for a fourth time.Last week he noted the Blades wouldn’t overpay for new signings while he also revealed that every single player in the squad has a relegation clause which would enable them to leave easily if the unfortunate scenario presented itself.Premier League experts will get full marks: The ultimate quiz on top flight transfer flops…It may be a minor aspect of a player’s contract but it avoids a lot of difficulties further down the line. An element of care has been taken, particularly in waiting to finally upgrade the training ground. This is something that clearly wasn’t the case at other clubs Wilder has been at.He commented a matter of days ago: “Value for money is really important and we’re not embarrassed about bringing Jack Robinson and Jack Rodwell in because it’s good business. There’s no points deduction, no fire-sale, no investigations into the club’s dealings.”With Champions League football potentially on the horizon, the 52-year-old can rest easy about the finances at Bramall Lane.In other news, one Kevin McCabe MASTERSTROKE is still very much alive at Bramall Lane…