Common ground in the war of words
After their touchline feud, Muhammed Furkan Köpf and Gianfranco Herrero found an unlikely shared cause in the refereeing.
The final whistle had long gone when the two managers met again, this time with no edge between them. Muhammed Furkan Köpf and Gianfranco Herrero had spent the afternoon trading glares across the technical areas, but by the time the press room doors opened, the argument had found a new target.
The first shot had come from Köpf three weeks earlier, when he suggested Wolverhampton Wanderers might regret hiring Herrero. It was a remark that promised a frosty reunion, yet the fixture itself passed without incident on the touchline. Sheffield United won 2-0, a result that eased their own concerns and deepened Wolves'.
Afterwards, neither man wanted to talk about the other. Instead, they spoke about the referee. Köpf shared Herrero's frustrations, and Herrero shared Köpf's. Both wanted support to improve refereeing. It was an unlikely truce, forged in mutual grievance.
Rodrigo Abregú, who spent over a decade at Molineux before moving to Sheffield United, kept his counsel on the touchline but was instrumental in the win. His former club know his quality better than most, and he reminded them of it with a display that quietened the away end.
The result leaves Sheffield United in safer territory, while Wolves are left to wonder when their new manager's methods will bring a change of fortune. The war of words may be over, but the battle for points has only just begun.