Sheffield United: Chris Wilder blasts "ridiculous" Daniel Farke decision ahead of Leeds United clash | OneFootball

The Blades boss has hit out at the decision to book Farke against Sunderland.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has hit out at the decision to book Daniel Farke in last Monday’s clash between Leeds and Sunderland.

That yellow card means that Farke will be sat in the stands for Monday’s all-Yorkshire meeting at the top of the Championship table. Despite that potentially giving him the upper hand ahead of the game, Wilder has branded the decision of referee Stuart Atwell as “ridiculous.”

Farke was shown the yellow card for momentarily entering the pitch during the celebrations for Pascal Struijk’s crucial 95th minute winner against their fellow promotion chasers.

The German will now be forced to watch on from the sidelines during Monday’s game, which could play a vital part in deciding the fate of the race for promotion to the Premier League.

Wilder has branded the decision as “ridiculous”

The match-up between Leeds and Sunderland at Elland Road proved to be typical of a promotion ‘six pointer’ during the second half of a season.

With so much at stake, emotions were running high both on the pitch and in the stands. The Whites recovered from being a goal down to snatch all three points late on and, when Struijk glanced home the winner in stoppage time, there were jubilant celebrations.

However, Farke was deemed to have overstepped the mark for his part in those celebrations, resulting in him being shown his third yellow card of the season, which means a touchline ban.

Wilder has a good relationship with the German and was quick to jump to his defence. Speaking in his press conference ahead of Monday night, he said via the Star: “I think from Dan’s (Farke) point of view, he’ll be really disappointed and I’ve got to say, if that’s the way the game is 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, trying to influence them and begging for everything. And then I see managers that are emotional and passionate and have got character. Dan showed that on Monday night and got punished for it.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. We all understand the rules. I think the punishment for three yellow cards is really harsh when you think about the amount of games Dan or myself have to manage.”

The Blades boss was also critical of the lack of understanding applied to decisions like that. He continued: “Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is an emotional and 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 are 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.”

Monday’s game is hugely important

Given the state of the Championship table, Monday night’s game is one which neither side can really afford to lose.

Third-placed Burnley, who currently trail Leeds by seven points and the Blades by five, get the chance to close the gap on Friday night when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Turf Moor.

With just 13 games of the season remaining, it is likely that Scott Parker’s Clarets will now be the only team capable of catching either of the top two.

With that in mind, neither will want to come away from Bramall Lane empty-handed on Monday. If Wilder’s men can down Leeds, it would see them climb back to the Championship’s summit.

However, lose the game, and the gap between the top two stretches to five points, a deficit which could prove to be tricky to turn over during the latter stages of the season.

It goes without saying that both sides will be desperate to come out of the clash with a positive result, in order to help fend off any potential push from Burnley.