Sheffield United defender Enda Stevens has revealed that Chris Wilder urged him to leave Aston Villa, as reported on The Times.
The Republic of Ireland man joined Villa in 2012 but struggled at the club, making four loan moves to Notts County, Doncaster Rovers twice and Northampton Town, before eventually leaving for free to Portsmouth.
The 29-year-old has revealed why he feels his time at Villa Park was unsuccessful and also opened up regarding Wilder’s advice. He said:
You get the taste for it, you feel like you’re comfortable. Then I got injured, I probably didn’t look after myself or my body right. I was going out drinking, things like that. Not living my life right away from the training ground.
I asked [Chris Wilder] for some advice. He said I had to get out of Villa, start playing regular football.
At Villa, I never appreciated what I had until it was gone. It was a great environment, but the environment in the dressing room wasn’t. As a team, we weren’t going through the best of times. It bred negativity and you end up becoming negative yourself.
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The left-back only played nine times for Villa’s first team but now, he is a regular starter for Sheffield United, playing 90 minutes in every Premier League match so far this season (Transfermarkt).
Wilder was the manager of Northampton Town when Stevens moved there on loan and we believe that his advice to Stevens was spot on because since he’s left Villa, the defender has improved massively, shown by his consistent amount of game time at Portsmouth and Sheffield United.
His honesty about his time at Villa is admirable and it’s clear to see that he was going through a lot of problems at that time, but to see him turn his career around and now help his team push for a European spot is very pleasing.
