Sheffield United have equalled last season's ten Championship defeats in only three months of this sorry campaign. Manager Chris Wilder is sounding increasingly frustrated with his dysfunctional squad. a fifth home defeat of the season and Wilder's third, didn't help ease the tension. Tonight they head to table-topping Coventry City who are smarting from their first defeat of the season. Not the time to be visiting the CBS Arena.It's tin hat time and United's failing players need to stand up and be counted.

Summary:

• In light of more underperformance, Chris Wilder's position as Sheffield United's manager is increasingly being scrutinised by a section of worried supporters.
• The current season has seen United's disappointing results, leading to a prevailing sense of doom.
• The contrast between the players' lucrative contracts and their on-field performance is stark.
• The need for a comprehensive rebuilding of the squad is evident, yet the time for such an overhaul will have to wait until next summer. Wilder, meanwhile, will be hoping to lay a foundation for the future in the January transfer window.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Or so we all thought. It hasn't yet worked out that way and the blame game is going into overdrive.

Fingers are being jabbed unfairly, in my view, towards Chris Wilder, who sounded for the first time in his three spells as Sheffield United's manager, spanning almost seven years, like a man lost for answers after the latest setback, a reverse that brings United Level 10 championship defeats. With the haul of last season and we've still got six months of this one to go.

The hysteria following Saturday's fifth home defeat is gathering momentum. Where people expect that to lead baffles me. This is a time for cool heads with a reality check. Relegation one week, playoffs the next.

Treading water in mid table is the most likely outcome of this regrettable campaign and Wilder remains the best man to move the club forward.

It's just a bigger repair job than anyone expected, including for the man tasked with sorting it out in the last fortnight, United have taken two welcome steps forward. One wobbled, lost their balance and then fallen off a cliff. Wins over Watford and Blackburn. Defeat at Preston after having led 2 nil.

Then a truly shocking display, this time to Derby County. Saturday's shambles, it is worth repeating, was the Blade's fifth home loss of the season. Yes, five. And it's only the beginning of November.

It emptied a good proportion of disgruntled souls amongst the 28,473 crowd at Brammell Lane, an exodus which began 20 minutes before referee Michael Salisbury put us remaining Blades out of our misery. Except that's not true, is it? Football means so much more to supporters, an emotional bond which goes far beyond the time and money invested.

Watching this dross those who deeply care for a club passed down through generations, and most of whom would never turn their backs on the Blades. A club that hasn't won a major trophy for 100 years. That's dedication.

If you are a Blade, it comes with the territory and sadly, it is what separates fans from players, most of whom are just passing through and lining their pockets along the way. When they are delivering, they are heroes. It puts a spring in the step and makes the world seem a better place.

When they're doing the polar opposite, it's tantamount to stealing a living you or I would be sacked. They just go home, count their money and relax in the comfort of a contract.

Which says nothing about not being able to live up to the job description. With few exceptions. And there are exceptions, Callum o', Hare, Tom Davies, fit or otherwise, his Presence at the club is a big plus.

Gus Hamer and Japhet Tanganga, for example, all would be best advised to play their football elsewhere instead of being stuck amongst a motley group of mainly waifs and strays.

Many of the actors in this farce of a season bank on a weekly basis what a fan lucky enough to be earning the national average wage 38,100 pounds does in a year. Think about that.

Tom Cannon for example, who cost 10 million in January with national insurance contributions to match, is reported to be earning £25,000 a week, 1.3 million a year after signing a four and a half year contract.

He was United's first artificial intelligence influence by it would take someone paying to watch him and earning an average full time salary 34 years to accumulate the same as the failing 22 year old striker does in 12 months before tax.

It's not Cannon's fault of course, but if he has a shred of understanding and it's a safe bet he hasn't plying his trade in a working class city like Sheffield, he should be embarrassed, part of a team desperate to score goals. Cannon didn't even make the bench against Derby, but does he care if he is on his way out in the upcoming transfer window?

Some other mugs will at least match his wages. Also missing was on loan attacking midfielder Louis Barry, rumoured to be returning to Aston Villa.

I just didn't pick them, was Wilder's short, sharp explanation for their absence. This is not a diatribe about the obscenity of professional footballers.

Wages in the top two divisions, as ridiculous as they are, few Manchester City supporters, for example, would begrudge erling Haaland his £500,000 a week. As ridiculous as that is, even Haaland says it's a bit crazy.

He commands such an eye watering sum simply because he does exactly what it says on the tin and City apparently have the means to pay it. The tin is covered in rust from lack of use at United.

Have a gander at a recent club video offering a behind the scenes look at a recent training day at Shirecliffe. This sort of insight works when a club is stable and the fan base is onside.

In United's case, it's an unimpressive glimpse into overpaid self indulgent entitlement and a relatively easy life. Literally a walk in the park to support us with proper jobs trying to pay their bills.

For them it resembles a trip to the gym and a kick about afterwards with some mates.

Now the players and possibly their manager might like to dismiss this observation, but you can't seriously tell me that if the training ground is focused and taken seriously it could ever result in what happened against a bang average Derby. Alex Matos, for example thinks he has been fouled in his box. Grounded. He reached out and handled the ball.

Result Penalty to Derby and a third goal which killed any hope of recovery. Wilder protested afterwards saying Matos was impeded but ignored the player's irresponsible action.

His playing to the whistle, a managerial edict that is valid only when it suits what Matos did was something that wouldn't be acceptable in the Sunday League. Is he embarrassed that it states professional in the football a bit as his occupation in his passport?

We recently signed this guy for three years and he's already living up to his artificial intelligence status.

What was Sidipeck thinking when he played a lazy pass Kiefer more like into the path of Carlton Morris within a minute after the start of the second half. The boneheaded gift enabled Morris to run on and claim the second goal of his hat trick performance.

I can't legislate for my central midfield player sticking Carlton Morris in there on a one touch pass, can I? Said a frustrated Wilder. He's got a point.

And why was the 6 foot 1 inch frame of Morris allowed to leap unchallenged by a gaggle of gawping United defenders to head Derby into a 24th minute lead? We're killing ourselves, said Wilder. Another good point. The Rams were no great shakes but still looked streets ahead of United.

They deserved to be leaving with a 31 victory if they played teams as poor as this every week. Derby would be top of the league, not languishing 17th in the championship table, which is an aspiration for United at the moment.

We all know that clueless owners COH Sports led by co chairman Helmi El Tuque and Steven Rosen and the catastrophic decision to sack Wilder in favour of Ruben Sayas is the root cause of United's dramatic demise. That and the Americans fixation on data driven recruitment.

It might work for the likes of Brighton and Brentford, but the model United are using is definitely at the budget end of the market. Many fans who thought the dramatic return of Wilder would be a quick fix are growing uneasy with good cause.

Why is Tanganga club captain a leader and arguably the championship's best centre half playing at right back? It can only be to accommodate Mark McGuinness who is clearly the inferior of the two men in that position.

Why was Matos a midfielder brought on at right back against Derby in a defensive reshuffle on the hour, replacing McGuinness, a decision which baffled many. Wilder appears to be losing his patience, too.

Twice now, to my knowledge, he has referred to United losing matches in the dressing room at Hull and at Preston. His explanation for a great deal of what is unfolding has become repetitive.

He seems to be putting distance between himself and his dysfunctional squad. It sounds like he has hit a brick wall, which is quite likely.

There has been a definite upturn during his eight matches in charge since replacing pointless Seis. The bar was so low that three wins and five defeats has to be viewed as an improvement.

That three of those defeats were at Bramall Lane is concerning. But as my dad used to say, you can't open a tin with a banana. We know that Wilder is a good manager.

We know how he can get the best out of players with limited ability. But for that to work, they have to be his players. Wilder inherited a shambles. For whatever reason, his message isn't being understood.

Alarmingly, Sayers seem to have a similar problem, but with a worse outcome. So the conclusion has to be that there is a fundamental flaw in this group.

Wilder needs a complete rebuild, which can only happen next summer, and he knows it. Until then, the manager's only hope is to receive substantial backing in the January window to at least lay a foundation for the future.

Never a man made for the diplomatic corps, Wilder tried his best when previous owner Prince Abdullah came calling again despite their fallout, honoring the current owners who have never liked his direct and sometimes confrontational manner for addressing their mistake in June. He has tried to keep a lid on it. But try as he might in the most frustrating of circumstances, the mask is slipping.

To some, Wilder's recent abrasiveness is a sign he isn't up to this particular job. If not him, then who?

To others, a return of the no more Mr. Nice Guy approach is a welcome signal it will be business as usual, sooner rather than later. Most agreed when Sayce was in charge that if anyone could restore some sort of order to the chaos, it was Wilder.

That he hasn't managed to steady the ship just yet is a little surprising, but it says much more about the crew on deck than it does about the captain on the bridge. And yes, it could get even worse before it gets better.

Starting tonight at Tabletop in Coventry City, smarting from their first defeat of the season at Wrexham, this is not the best moment to be visiting the CBS Arena. United's confidence is low and Frank Lampard's team will sense blood in the water.

They have scored 36 championship goals and boast a goal difference of plus 24. Brandon Thomas, Asante 9, the league's top scorer, and Haji Wright have contributed 17 of those between them.

I don't think Blades fans will be watching three at the back, and who knows, Tanganga might even be running the show from a central position. Whatever. Traveling supporters are best advised to take their tin hats.

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