The lesson Sheffield United can learn from Rory McIlroy as Chris Wilder makes promotion vow
Chris Wilder delivers a guarantee that Sheffield United would not give up on their goal of automatic promotion.
He is an avid golf fan, so it’s likely that he was glued to his television when Rory McIlroy pulled off an incredible comeback to win the Masters. However, hundreds of miles away from Augusta’s immaculately tended grounds, his Sheffield United team might have learnt a little something from it as well.
After a sluggish start to the tournament, the Northern Irishman rallied to take the lead and then nearly lost it again. He shown incredible fortitude and grit to defeat the challenge of nearest Bryson DeChambeau and complete a Grand Slam that had long eluded him. It was, in many respects, the ideal summary of why we love sports and a reminder that, despite all the odds, there is always hope.
With a massive swing and a reward that appeared to be within their grasp slipping more and further away, United is in a scenario that is rather comparable to McIlroy’s. A week that started with them leading the league by two points concluded with them five points behind and in third place, with their first of four games against Cardiff City at Bramall Lane tomorrow.
“It’s sport,” said Wilder when asked about the dramatic events in Georgia and what United can take from them. “It was won and it was lost, and it was won and it was lost, and it was won again, then it was lost again and it was won.
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“Nobody would have thought going down the 18th in regular time he would put it in the bunker. If he had 1,000 shots, 1,000 times he would put it in the middle of the green. That’s just how it is. These things happen, but that’s no excuse. Possibly he’d be saying the same if he’d lost it.
“It’s up to us to deal with situations, up to us to deal with different parts of the season, different challenges. In the recent past we haven’t been good enough to deal with the challenges. In the next weeks we have to be good enough to deal with the challenges.”
Sheffield United not giving up in automatic promotion pursuit as Chris Wilder sends vow
“When the regular season finishes we will reflect and look back and if this is a week that ‘s hurt us, it’s hurt us and we’ve got to own that. Then we reset and go again because there are still games after that. But that isn’t the focus.
“We still can believe we can win four games of football but the biggest one is now we need to win one because losing three games on the spin at the top end of the Championship is not good enough for me and it’s not good enough for the football club. We accept that and own that.”
Although United is still mathematically in the running for promotion, they will actually need to win all of their remaining regular-season games—like Leeds and Burnley—and hope that one of their competitors makes a mistake somewhere else.
As of right now, Wilder is only focused on Friday’s match against Cardiff, hoping for a win that would help calm things down at Bramall Lane following a terrible week that few actually could have predicted.
