Sheffield United set to announce big Chris Wilder exit news this week | OneFootball

This one is bound to split opinions among supporters.

Sheffield United are set to sack manager Chris Wilder following board discussions over his future.

After failing to get the Blades promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, the club's American owners, COH Sports, are set to get rid of Wilder, according to The Telegraph.

The 57-year-old has reportedly been informed of the decision, with the announcement of his departure expected to be confirmed this week, as per The Star.

His side were mere minutes away from completing their top flight comeback, following a 90-point season, but had their dreams snatched away from them in the final 20 minutes of their play-off final against Sunderland, who scored twice in that time, including a last-minute winner from Tom Watson, to deny United.

Sheffield United set to sack Chris Wilder

The news of Wilder's imminent departure has been quickly followed up by rumours surrounding his successor. According to Andy Giddings, the club are already close to appointing Wilder's replacement.

Former Hull City boss Ruben Selles is a reported candidate that the Bramall Lane hierarchy are looking at. Gary O'Neil, who last managed Wolves in the early stages of the previous term, is not an option that the club are looking at, as per Sky Sports' Rob Dorsett.

Wilder, a Blades supporter, has taken charge of more than 300 games as the club's manager across two tenures. In his first stint as boss, he led them to the Premier League for the first time since the 2006/07 season. They spent a couple of seasons in the division before being relegated.

The second time he was brought to Bramall Lane as the first-team head honcho it was in the midst of one of their worst ever seasons. They conceded more goals than any other team in Premier League history and went down to the Championship in very uncertain circumstances.

Despite the state of the squad, and not having an abundance of funds to reshape the team under previous owner Prince Abdullah, Wilder was able to turn the club's fortunes around, putting them on a promotion trajectory that was only topped by Leeds United and Burnley in the regular season. They both got 100 points, leaving the 57-year-old's side as one of the only teams in Championship history not to get automatically promoted.

Sheffield United are running a big risk by sacking Chris Wilder

A manager with this level of pedigree and passion for the club will be hard for COH Sports to find. They bought the club for £111 million in December and, as is often the case with new regimes, they want to have their own people in charge, not those who were appointed by the previous keyholders.

It's certainly a risky move. It's one that their Yorkshire rivals, Leeds United, decided against last summer after Daniel Farke failed to win the play-offs following a 90-point season. They went on to win the league in the following campaign under the leadership of the German. The Blades will be praying that they haven't missed out on a repeat outcome by sacking Wilder.