Tyler Bindon (Nottingham Forest | England) [Loan: Sheffield United] · Yellow Fever Nga Wana Kowhai

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Shifting the focus to Sheffield United, Chris Wilder was asked specifically about Mark McGuinness starting thatover Tyler Bindon lately and this was what he said:

“Well, Mark got put back into the team because we felt we needed to to change the team around. I think he's been he's been really good in the couple of games that we've played. Second half at Bristol City I know it was one-way traffic but anything that he had to do from a defensive situation he did with [Japhet Tanganga] and you know it was a difficult afternoon, especially the first half up against Oli McBurnie on Saturday afternoon. He's done enough in training, good personality, good character, so he's in the team on merit. And he's under contract, yeah, for another two or three years.”

Those words don’t deny that Bindon being on loan is a factor in him being dropped... but they do emphasise that it’s not the only reason. The mention of Oli McBurnie is telling since the rugged Scottish international’s physicality for Hull City (he’s a former Sheffield Utd player too) may also have been a factor in McGuinness being preferred. The club already announced that Tom Davies is leaving the club at the end of the term so they are clearly getting on with plotting for next season and it seems like Bindon could have been collateral damage in that project. Fair enough, really. But he did get a dozen minutes off the bench as the Blades fortified their defences in a 2-0 win away against Watford. Patrick Bamford scored both goals. Bindon has played 24 games in the Championship now and that was only the second time he’s been used as a substitute.

McGuinness is an Irish international who started out in the Arsenal academy and was signed last year for a fee that could reportedly climb as high £10m so the fact that Tyler Bindon was ever starting ahead of him at all was amazing. Shows how brilliantly he was performing... and why Nottingham Forest seemingly still have him in their plans (nobody’s talking about Sheffield United signing him permanently any more).