Chris Wilder: I might not have returned to any club other than Sheffield United
The 57-year-old is back for a third spell in charge at Bramall Lane
Chris Wilder admitted he would have been unlikely to have returned to the same job he was sacked from less than three months ago for any club other than Sheffield United.
The 57-year-old is back for a third spell in charge at Bramall Lane - replacing his own replacement Ruben Selles, who was shown the door after Saturday's 5-0 hiding at Ipswich.
Wilder said it might have been easier to turn down the approach from United's American owners COH Sports after they sacked him in June but loyalty to his boyhood club overcame that.
Asked directly if he would tell any other club 'You made your bed, sleep in it', Wilder said: "Possibly, yeah. This is a special club for me, as you know, a unique club for me so I possibly would say yes to that."
Wilder's United side were 14 minutes away from promotion to the Championship at Wembley in May before Sunderland's late show made it a record 10th failure to go up via the play-offs, leading to his dismissal on June 18.
Wilder insisted there had been no hard feelings, and that smoothed the process of a quick return.
"We had frank and honest discussions," he said. "I was delighted to get that opportunity. I thought it speaks volumes about the owners.
"There's been a lot of talk and I knew the narrative of me returning to help the football club, but I think it shows you what they're about as human beings.
"I was disappointed (in the summer), of course I was going to be, but I respect it. There was no fall-out, the decision was made. I respected it and accepted it and wished the club all the best and there's been an ongoing relationship with the ownership and investors."
Wilder's United amassed 92 points from 46 games last season, deducted two for previous payment defaults, but could not keep pace with Leeds and Burnley.
Despite the miserable start to this campaign, Wilder said the top six and promotion is very much within their grasp, indicating he was impressed by United's summer signings despite controversy over the club's use of artificial intelligence in their recruitment.
"This is a strong group of players that I believe if led right and given the right processes (can get) back to the culture of what has made us a decent side over a number of years," he said.
"It's certainly not a broken changing room in terms of spirit. They're just a little bit broken in terms of the identity of the football club, of the football team, at the moment."
Wilder said he spoke to a number of clubs about job openings in the summer and "got pretty close to a couple" before jumping at the chance to return to Bramall Lane, and his enthusiasm to be back was apparent in a press conference on Tuesday that lasted over an hour.
"I'm not done yet," he said. "I want to work, I want to succeed. My hunger and desire personally is as big as it's ever been."