Parachute payment jibes 'lazy assumption' - Wilder

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has rubbished suggestions that parachute payments are the main reason why his side are top of the Championship.

Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys this week wrote in his blog the payments were a big reason why the Blades, Burnley and Leeds currently occupy the division's top three positions.

He cited concerns voiced by English Football League (EFL) chief executive Rick Parry that there is a "widening gap" between clubs receiving the payments and those not.

But before his side's trip to Millwall on Wednesday, Wilder insisted his club's shrewd business is behind their excellent start to the campaign.

"Absolute nonsense - it's just a lazy, lazy assumption," the 57-year-old told BBC Radio Sheffield when asked about parachute payment talk.

"It's always a cheap shot that people can use.

"I think you've seen the work that we did in the summer: frees, small fees and loans, and we brought some decent figures in as well."

Wilder's biggest summer outlay was Peterborough left-back Harrison Burrows, who arrived for an undisclosed fee, while goalkeeper Michael Cooper's initial £2m move from Plymouth was classed as their second-highest fee paid.

The Blades made a net profit of more than £30m following their relegation from the Premier League mainly because of the sales of Cameron Archer to Aston Villa and 21-year-old William Osula to Newcastle United.

"If you do your bit of digging, we've got some players on decent wages, we've got some good players and we've kept some good players," Wilder added.

He drew comparisons with the West Bromwich Albion side that the Blades drew 2-2 with on Sunday.

"In that West Brom team, there's some players that we couldn't touch a few years ago that are still there - the [John] Swifts, the [Jed] Wallaces, Mikey Johnston that we went after and others," Wilder said.