'Balancing act': Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder on referees' approach and Leeds United's post-match celebrations — Yorkshire Post 28/2/25
By Leon Wobschall
SHEFFIELD UNITED manager Chris Wilder has called for more
consistency from referees and a better ‘balance’ in their approach after
praising the performance of David Webb in Monday night’s high-stakes
Championship meeting with promotion rivals Leeds United.
The County Durham official, conscious of the magnitude of
the game, adopted a pragmatic and sensible stance amid a highly competitive
arena, when no quarter was given in a game of major significance at the top end
of the table.
Wilder has been critical of pedantic refereeing standards on
previous occasions this season.
Ahead of Monday’s Yorkshire derby, he jumped to the defence
of Leeds rival Daniel Farke after he picked up a third booking of the season
for encroaching onto the pitch to celebrate the Whites’ 95th-minute winner in
the recent match against Sunderland – and was forced to watch the game at
Bramall Lane from the stands after picking up a touchline ban. Wilder said:
“I’ve got to say (about) the referee’s performance the other night, I think
there’s a balancing act, but I’d rather have it that way, a competitive game.
I’d rather have that sort of approach.
"Every game should be managed in the same way. It
shouldn’t change because it’s us versus Leeds United and ‘I’ll tell you what,
we’ll let a little bit more go than what we usually do.’
“It’s just a bit ridiculous. I talked about Daniel Farke’s
yellow card and then you see (Leeds) players streaming onto the pitch all over
the place on Monday and Ethan (Ampadu) coming out of the stand and ending up on
the pitch.
"The attitude of their players is similar to ours and
it's a ‘together’ attitude. They want to win and have won a big game.
"But let’s get a bit of balance to it, don’t book
Daniel and for him to miss the game, knowing it's a competitive and emotional
game as well. Hopefully, there will be a balance on that one.”