Outspoken manager reveals strong view on Leeds United touchline controversy and rare rival sympathy
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has expressed sympathy for his opposite number Daniel Farke, who will not be permitted in the Leeds United dugout at Bramall Lane on Monday night.
The oft-outspoken and opinionated Wilder has dubbed the decision to ban Farke following his celebration at a last-minute winner against Sunderland as 'ridiculous'.
The Leeds boss picked up his third yellow card of the season, which means he incurs a one-match touchline ban that he will serve in Leeds' upcoming fixture at Elland Road.
“I think more so from Daniel’s point of view, he’ll be really disappointed and I’ve got to say, if that’s the way the game’s going, it’s just ridiculous. I get it when it’s for abusing officials and I see managers streaming into fourth officials and berating them and getting after them, trying to influence them and begging for everything," Wilder said during his pre-match press conference.
“Then I see managers that are emotional and passionate and have got character. Daniel showed that on Monday night and got punished for it. It’s absolutely ridiculous. We all understand the rules. If we step out of line we deserve to be punished. I think the punishment for three yellow cards is really harsh when you think about the amount of games Daniel or myself have to manage.
Wilder has urged refereeing organisation Professional Games Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to look at the bigger picture in cases such as Farke's.
“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is an emotional game and a passionate game and let’s take a sensible attitude. But for the majority of the time it seems not to be a sensible approach and decisions taken by people who have never experienced standing in a technical area or a pitch surrounded by 30,000 or 40,000 punters and making big decisions," the Blades manager added.
Farke confirmed on Friday afternoon that his stoppage time yellow card stood and he will not be in the dugout on Monday night. The German accepted his punishment but appeared to bristle at the rationale behind his third caution of the campaign.
"If it makes sense to punish someone for celebrations, it's a bit difficult, because I wasn't over-aggressive, I don't scare someone with injury. And also it was not a tactical advantage just because I was celebrating.
"Even I want to celebrate a bit, I'm not a robot," Farke said.