Chris Wilder intends to to appeal his dismissal and reacts to baffling decisions by referee Adam Herczeg in the game against Southampton.
Wilder was sent off for kicking a ball towards a fan at half time of Sheffield United’s match against Southampton, which ended in a 2-1 comeback victory for the Saints.
Ross Stewart scored twice in the second half to overturn Tyrese Campbell’s first-half goal for the Blades. A controversial decision disallowed Sydie Peck’s last-minute header, adding to Sheffield United’s frustration.
The loss marked Sheffield United’s 7th defeat in the Championship, leaving them 24th with 3 points, while Southampton secured their first away win, placing them 14th with 10 points.
Wilder expressed bafflement at the refereeing decisions, including his red card, which he plans to appeal, citing the incident as a nonchalant act rather than intentional misconduct.
He lamented not being able to support his team from the sidelines but praised their second-half performance despite the loss.
🗣️ “Everybody that was present would say they are quite baffled by some of the decisions.”
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder discusses his dismissal against Southampton and 5 other calls by referee Adam Herczeg.
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— Football Heaven (@footballheaven) October 2, 2025
Chris Wilder sent off for kicking ball at a fan then Southampton comeback to beat Sheffield United
Wilder said when speaking with the media ahead of the game against Hull: “Everybody that watched the game in terms of people that been in contact with me that weren’t present but most importantly everybody that was present and I should imagine opposition benches as well as manager would say that they were you know quite quite baffled at some of the decisions that were made.”
Interviewer: “You had a clarification as to with your dismissal why it was a dismissal and not say a yellow card?”
Wilder: “No not yet, that will come through tomorrow. We just had an off-the-record chat regarding IFAB and the laws of the game.
“Of course, think Al said afterwards, was touch of frustration and rightly so because I think even in the first half there were some certain situations, notably the penalty which is never a penalty in million years.
“The boy has a great touch and Michael does incredibly well to pull out of it and he just runs into him. Booking on Gus, booking for Armstrong, Ben Mee’s tackle, know, all sorts of bits in there.
“But my attitude at half time was to get the players off the pitch, which I did. I think everybody’s seen it.
“And yet again, I’ve had notable people in football that I regard as friends and respect them for what they’ve achieved of being baffled in terms of even getting a card, let alone a red card.
“I, nonchalantly ball, it gets rolled to me and I nonchalantly put it back to where it came from. It didn’t come out the stand and unfortunately it’s got a bit of a flyer on it, but you’ve seen it straight away, my reaction to it.
“Yeah, I’m disappointed because ultimately I’ve not been able to help the team in the second half from the position where I want to be.
“But still saying that, I thought that the team’s second half performance was pretty positive.
“It didn’t look like a team that was sat at the bottom of the division.
“It looked a high quality second half performance against the top side.
“But ultimately, you know, I wasn’t there to help the team. So I had to apologise on that. But I think it sort of goes hand in hand with a lot of things that happened on the night.”
Interviewer: “So what in terms of like the process happens now in like, can you appeal if you minded to do so how long are you banned for if you don’t what’s the?”
Wilder: “If the rules are the rules if I pick the ball or if I approach the referee at half-time and add a right pop at him, if I pick the ball apart me hands and booted it in or at the fourth official or their players or their bench or booted into the stand then I expect the necessary punishment that goes along with that and I won’t appeal.
“But I will appeal because as you’ve seen on it, I’ve nonchalantly sort of knocked it back. It’s got a flag, gone straight into the stand. Apologised to the guy. Everything’s all sorted and I’ve just turned around and I’ve got a red card put in my face.
“So, yeah, I will appeal. I believe the charge, if there is a charge that comes and I’m not expecting one, but if there is one, I will appeal it and I’ll be okay for the Hull game back where I want to be because I didn’t enjoy not being able to help the team.”
This is how fans reacted as Chris Wilder intends to appeal his dismissal and reacts to baffling decisions by referee Adam Herczeg…
@Bladesshirts: Quite right to appeal. Football is an emotive game and we shouldn’t legislate that out. Chris Wilder is a fan in the second home game in his role. The only thing he is guilty of is lack of accuracy in his kicking!
@AllThingsBlades: First FA fine of the season I guess then (absolutely in the right)
@weststeve563: I Agree sometimes blaming referees can be seen as bad loser but I think we can all agree that Tuesdays ref was as bad as we’ve seen for a good few years normally a few decisions can be forgot he totally lost control of game and big decisions that in my opinion affected the score
@TheNedski: Managers and players should be allowed to question referees and their decisions or otherwise refs will carry on being shite and suffering no repercussions.
@AWilsonmhealth: An appeal. Interesting. Just short of £500k in fines last season too.
I like wilder , but that’s inexcusable, I am sure he regrets the incident . Not sure how he can appeal that . The ten yards incident , the Quarshie push & the mee booking were poor decisions but the pen & the disallowed goals were correct The player isn’t even looking at the ball
— Darren foreman (@Darrenforeman2) October 2, 2025
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