Arnold, who led Central Coast Mariners to the A-League championship this year, rejected overtures to manage the Blades, labelling the League One side as “prehistoric”.

But Winter told the Blades official website that the Aussie coach’s outburst may have been a reaction to some tough questioning during an interview for the post.

“Whilst Graham Arnold may have been responding to one or two challenging questions, I am flabbergasted and disappointed by Mr Arnold's remarks which are unprofessional, clearly misinformed and not the actual position of the club,” Winter said.

"Key information about how the club is structured and how it plans to operate has been clearly missed.

"We set out a clear manager profile to meet the future needs of the club to 'act differently' in terms of player recruitment and continue the utilisation of home grown talent where the club has been incredibly successful in recent years.

"The club has reorganised to create a modern football department and has established a new player recruitment function through a Head of Football Operations, similar to clubs like West Brom, Southampton, Cardiff and Watford who have all enjoyed an upturn in fortunes.

"We have also applied for Category Two status as an Academy with a clear football philosophy to take the club forward.”

Arnold made headlines across the UK with his damning assessment of Sheffield United, painting a picture of a club locked in the past.

The former Olyroos and Socceroos boss has been courted by several clubs at home and overseas since joining the A-League and snaring Premiership and Championship titles.

But he was dismayed by the attitude shown by the Mariners UK sister club going so far as to advise Australian players to steer clear of the lower English leagues.

'I had a video conference with three directors and [football director] Dave Bassett, and to be honest I was shocked with what I heard,'' Arnold told the official FFA website earlier this week.

''When I started talking about how I liked to play out from the back, it became clear pretty quickly that wasn't the way they thought football should be played.

"Sheffield United are a big club, with big support, but I couldn't see myself progressing in that kind of environment.

''What it showed me is that our football here has advanced a lot further, and a lot quicker, than we tend to appreciate. I've been as guilty as anyone of underestimating our league.

He added: ''After what I've heard, I would say to any player, any agent, even parents, don't go there. 'Playing in the English lower leagues is not going to improve your game.''

Winter was not alarmed about the time it was taking to fill the post.

"We always knew it was likely to take some time but we are confident that our choice will be the right way forward for this club," he said.

Motherwell boss Stuart McCall earlier pulled out of the running but Port Vale coach Robert Page is said to be still in the frame.