Historic Sheffield United, Nigel Adkins low paved the way for Chris Wilder success | OneFootball

Nigel Adkins' sacking paved the way for Chris Wilder to come in an revolutionise Sheffield United

After recording their lowest league position since 1983 back in 2016, Nigel Adkins was dismissed from his post as Sheffield United manager - and the rest ended up being history.

The Blades finished 11th in League One in 2015/16, eight points adrift of the play-off places, which consigned them to a sixth-successive season in the third tier, something which certainly wouldn't have been on the agenda after relegation in 2010/11.

Blades fans would've been forgiven for wondering just how things were ever going to get better at that point, but Chris Wilder's appointment as Adkins' replacement turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to the club.

United moved swiftly after Adkins' departure to swoop for Wilder, who as a boyhood Blades fan, won't have needed much tempting to leave Northampton and take the Bramall Lane hotseat.

Wilder moved with a good pedigree from his time at Northampton, but even the most optimistic Blades fan wouldn't have expected he'd take them on the journey he did.

Nigel Adkins' Sheffield United spell was an abject failure

As one of the biggest clubs arguably ever to have played in League One in recent history, naturally, there was an element of pressure on Adkins to get United out of the league.

Adkins only took over at the start of the 2015-16 season, and was tasked with succeeding where Nigel Clough, Danny Wilson and David Weir had all failed in getting Sheffield United out of the third tier.

It seemed a sure-fire bet for the Blades too, as Adkins had three League One promotions to his name, but the move simply didn't work out.

Despite being armed with one of the best squads in the division, which was packed with experience, United couldn't justify their tag as one of the pre-season promotion favourites.

Adkins simply couldn't get a tune out of them in his one season at the helm, eventually finishing in 11th position in the third tier, but it felt like the incoming new manager had the tools there to succeed.

Whoever the successor was would first have to reunite the club, as post-season lap of appreciation, which very few fans stayed for, showed the evident disconnect between the fans and players Adkins had created.

Chris Wilder brought instant success to Sheffield United

Wilder created the perfect storm at Bramall Lane in his first season in charge, with a mixture of passion and quality seeing Sheffield United romp to the League One title, amassing 100 points along the way and finishing a whopping 14 points clear of their nearest rivals.

A season of consolidation followed in the Championship, with United finishing a respectable 10th in their first season back in the second tier since 2010/11, but it was the season after where Wilder truly worked his magic.

No one expected Sheffield United to be among the promotion candidates, but against all odds, the Blades finished second in 2018/19 and were promoted to the Premier League after more than a 10-year absence.

Wilder's 3-5-2 system had opponents mesmerised, and no one seemed to be able to work out how his sides were set up and how to combat it, hence where the success came from.

His sides were well-drilled and rigid in their shape, but with two players up front and an abundance of invention behind them, they had the sprinkling of star quality needed to win games, so Wilder truly had found a winning formula.

Even in the Premier League, sides couldn't quite work out how to stop Wilder's overlapping centre backs, and success followed, with a 9th placed finish on their first season back in the top-flight, just five points adrift of a European spot.

Chris Wilder has had tough times at Sheffield United but is now rebuilding his reputation

That proved to be the pinnacle of Wilder's spell as Sheffield United boss, as the following season reality really hit home at how tough the Premier League was, with Wilder leaving the club in March 2021 when they were marooned in the bottom three.

Obviously, relegation followed from there, but new boss Paul Heckingbottom was still reaping the rewards of the foundations Wilder had laid even after he'd left.

The two seasons to immediately follow relegation saw the Blades pushing for promotion, and while the first one ended in play-off heartbreak, the second one saw them return to the top-flight, with a lot of the players ones who Wilder had signed.

Those players also reached an FA Cup semi-final in 2022/23, so although Wilder was no longer in charge, he still had a part to play in the club's success.

He returned to take charge last season but couldn't prevent his boyhood club from facing the drop.

They look well-placed to mount another promotion challenge this time around , but they'd never be in this position now had it not been for replacing Adkins with Wilder back in 2016.