WBA want Wilder

[Woodwardfan]

Conservative estimates will pitch the increase in revenue at £175m over 5 years, should we be relegated after our first season.

What a job Chris Wilder has done in 3 short years. He inherited a ragbag of a squad and a dis-united club and has pieced it back together, step by step.

What is our manager's value to the club in financial terms? His value in emotional terms is already legend, right up there with our best-ever top managers.

He's done it on a shoe-string budget. Taken us from the wilderness to the promised land in such a short time. Added to income, the value of our squad has multiplied many-fold along the way.

All this achieved while the owners are squabbling. Our manager went into last summer not knowing his budget and only the sale of Brooks created funds to improve the squad and provide working capital. At least the owners recognised the need to compete at Championship level and at least retain our status there, while they dragged themselves and club affairs to the High Court.

Wilder made key signings then and in the JTW and, without exaggeration, performed a minor miracle. Automatic promotion was a pipe dream 12 months ago. We were 25/1 outsiders. Our wage budget was somewhere in the bottom third in the division.

What value Wilder has earned for the club. McCabe personally will have multiplied his shareholding value to recover some of the value lost steadily over the years. He wants to sell up and promotion to the Prem will help him gain so much more value. Maybe his biggest mistake ever has been to fall out with the Prince. I sincerely believe the Prince coming on board stopped us disappearing into obscurity and he has been key in the club's recovery.

Let us all hope the owners reward our manager appropriately. Let us hope they give him a proper budget straight away and give him time to do serious business this summer. Let's pray any ownership changes do not unsettle our manager or reduce his personal power base in our club.

Let's hope our fans are ready to tough out any hard times next season and we stay United come what may. Wilder could easily double/treble his wage by going elsewhere tomorrow. He's hot property right now and rightly so. Let's hope our owners know how to cope with this level of success and these loads of cash.

Since I wrote the above post on 4th May we have learned that the agreed ownership deal between McCabe and the Americans shot up from £80m to £140m on promotion.

There are some big forces at play here.

Bottom club Huddersfield earned £96m from Sky and the P.L. last season. They get 50% of that next season. 40% the season after and 20% the year after, even if they stay down there.

Wilder is a Blade and he is a family man, divorced as well which costs money.

These are very dangerous weeks for our club. It's so SUFC , so utterly ridiculous.

Our current owners have their hands tied while they argue over the share of the cash they just didn't have until we got promoted twice. How much would their 'booty' be worth had Wilder not joined us?

I presume Wilder has received a big bonus already for last season. Of course he deserves a big new salary for next season too, as do his staff and his players. Never mind the pay rises agreed while we were a Championship club; things have changed. Players will watch new players come in on big, higher salaries. They will watch McCabe walk away with all his previously lost money back. The prince will multiply his investment in all likelihood.

We need a big budget for the new campaign and we need it now, not when the court case ends, not in August, and not only £20m peanuts.

I ask myself this - What power, capability, authority, have the current owners to award big new ( performance related) contracts where appropriate. Have they the cash available to fund a proper transfer window, commensurate with the new income levels to give us a fighting chance next season. What stage of next season will any new owners be able to invest in the future?

IMO our owners are fighting each other and that fight is doing untold damage to our club's future. The 'seven hills of S2' are not burning exactly while they fight, but they are not being set alight either.

 

[Ecco1889]

It's absolutely common sense to invest wisely to give us the best possible chance of surviving the first season.
CW is very shrewd in the transfer market anyway,let him get on with getting his main targets in and it's good to go
Only in S2 could we throw away such a great opportunity

 

[LenTednTony]

Why would WBA fancy their chances of getting CW?

Need a successful manager...check.
Need one who can work on a shoestring.........check
Need one who has promotion on his c.v...........check
Need one who is prepared to drop down to a less successful club (Northampton)........check

No matter how much he fills the criteria above, he’s a Blade.....not a Baggie! He also knows that it is unlikely, at the moment, that he will get another crack at the Prem any other way than with his beloved Blades. I really don’t think he will go unless he feels forced to by the owners.

In CWAK we trust!

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

He was offered the new contract in December and left it on the table until the necessary assurances were given in the close season. Apart from that...

As far as I was aware, he signed a new and improved deal in May last year, so are you saying we offered him another improved deal 6 months later? Or do you mean he was offered a new contract in Dec ‘17, that he then signed in May ‘18 after assurances?

 

[Woodwardfan]

Why would WBA fancy their chances of getting CW?

Need a successful manager...check.
Need one who can work on a shoestring.........check
Need one who has promotion on his c.v...........check
Need one who is prepared to drop down to a less successful club (Northampton)........check

No matter how much he fills the criteria above, he’s a Blade.....not a Baggie! He also knows that it is unlikely, at the moment, that he will get another crack at the Prem any other way than with his beloved Blades. I really don’t think he will go unless he feels forced to by the owners.

In CWAK we trust!

Wilder is definitely a Blade through and through. He is also a football man and knows that he is right at the top of the tree in his profession, away from the top half of the Premier League that is.

Being a football man he knows that the managerial role is results based.

Even at his beloved SUFC things will change soon. His boss McCabe will be gone, likely the prince too.

The potential new American owners are unknown quantities to us, apart from their Google history. One of them is Head of the Mormon Church in the UK and wrote a book on the ' Morman way to succeed in business' - not many Peronis in that blueprint !

If we look to be struggling in the Premier League into the New Year who knows how much loyalty to CW any new owners will have.

Wilder knows all that and he knows his earning power can change very quickly. Why W.B.A? Well, it's odds on he can achieve another promotion next season. Much safer on hi C.V. than our challenge next season.

Having said that I would never underestimate the Blade within our man's character. All he will be looking for is a fair crack of the whip. Fingers crossed.

Just for one brief moment imagine what we would do if he left tomorrow.

 

[metalblade]

I want to win the Euro millions ......................................................... don't mean it's going to happen though

 

[Ecco1889]

things would have to be pretty bad for CW to leave this

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

This is all down to Wilder, 'cos he's a Blade. He's one of us and reads this forum too. He's thought "I've had enough shit about people posting about Pukka Pie flavours, what type of dog they think Chris Basham would be and if you had to take Alan Knill on a date, where would you go? Fucking off season is bollocks".

"Here, I'll pretend to be interested in the West Brom job, that'll give 'um sumat to talk about".

 

[Bill puntin]

I love cw like we all do but I hope he's not going to play the same card every time somebody's says they are interested, it's not his fault obviously but he could stop the talk in just one statement , if he wanted too.

 

[Kev Gee]

I doubt CW would drop having his first test of EPL to go back down to the championship.

In. Out. See ya.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Believe what? That WBA want Wilder? Yeah, why wouldn't I believe it.

That's not the same as me thinking Wilder will actually go...

It’s a non-story. I bet every team in the EFL want Wilder and it’s no more or less likely that he’ll go to them.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

So, to summarise, WBA have a first choice but they’re way apart on wages.
“Sky sources”, which has a well earned reputation of just being regurgitated stories from papers or plants, starts to report they’re switching their attention to Wilder.
Some fans lose their shit and blame the owners.

Is that about right?

 

[trevorhockey]

Yes ive more chance of baggies job cuckoo land

 

[Trueblade]

This clubs a mess at the moment, no doubt. But Wilder to leave the club that he’s just got promoted to go to Brom?! I can’t see that in a million years. If he makes a half decent fist of us next season he will find offers from some bigger clubs without a doubt.

His stocks on the rise, and there’s one guarantee with him, no matter what happens this summer and no matter what we do or don’t bring in, we will be fighting all season. He can’t lose.

 

[Davalon]

Believe what? That WBA want Wilder? Yeah, why wouldn't I believe it.

That's not the same as me thinking Wilder will actually go...

Thank fuck someone finally gets it.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Thank fuck someone finally gets it.

Because it reeks of bullshit. A story printed in the local West Midlands Express and Star is spun into Wilders leaving, with fans applying very little independent thought to its actual content or original origin.

 

[Blade56]

....................fans...........independent thought

Definition of oxymoron

 

[GrayBlade]

I love cw like we all do but I hope he's not going to play the same card every time somebody's says they are interested, it's not his fault obviously but he could stop the talk in just one statement , if he wanted too.

If Wilder is playing along with it, I think it’s because he thinks he needs to for the benefit of the club, not himself.

 

[Harry's Game]

In an ideal world this would make McCabe and HRH sit down tomorrow and thrash out an out of court deal to end the court case and end all the uncertainty.

But they seem to have two colossal egos so we have to sit through three more weeks of having shit tipped over the club in public, and then wait another three months for the verdict.

If We had lost in the play offs Wilder would have gone already I reckon. It’s only a shot at the Premier League next season that is going to keep him here.

 

[ormester]

look at the tweet paul walker put about wilder going to WBA not a chance and he travvleld back to sheffield with Chris wilder

my opinion is that WBA have seen something that they feel they can prise Wilder away but West brom arent in great shapes them selves off the pitch they is argumenst etc

 

[Yoonited]

If Chris Wilder reads this forum he might rightly be utterly astonished at how little faith some of our fans have in his desire to make his boyhood club become a competitive force in the Premier League and beyond.

I would argue we have seen plenty of evidence to suggest he is a winner, and I doubt he and the backroom staff ever mentioned consolidation in the Championship last season.Play offs as a minimum target.Had they done so we would not have gained promotion. We have not get there by accident.

I'm sure we all remember his public rant about not being good enough after faltering,but I am sure that was simply a statement designed to challenge his team.
"I still believe we can,but do you ?" He was laying down the gauntlet,as he often does,and they rose to the challenge and in the process proved his understanding of human psyche

He strikes me,having met him, as being an incredibly driven character with enormous loyalty to and belief in, footballers who are prepared to run through brick walls for the cause. Perhaps this is one of the reasons he has become a much revered and well respected contributor to our beloved game. Given that,why on earth would he consider another club until every option has been explored to establish us as a Prem Club ?

Moreover why would some "fans" choose to believe he might.? Money is not everyone's motivation.

Some media sources are well practised in the art of creating a story where none exist. And we could argue the particular source in question has an editor who we might argue lacks integrity.

In other words,let your instinct be your guide and of course we are all free to choose what we read but it has bewildered me for years why anyone would exchange hard earned cash for a pile of shite claiming to be content worth taking seriously.

I wonder if he spent time attending games at the Lane bewildered by the often irrational verbal rhetoric some "Supporters" level at our Club, and part of his driver has been to prove to us all that we can be the successful club our potential deserves with some shrewd behind the scenes and on the pitch decisions.

The man is a phookin genius given the comparative minimal resources at his disposal.

I think he is instinctively intelligent and learns quickly what does not work not letting his ego overcome pragmatism.Making mistakes is how we learn and improve.

I know I am not being original here,much of this has been explored at length,but I do think he deserves better than some of the short term knee jerk negative thinking he cops for on a football forum.

He may well not be here forever, so let's appreciate what we have and ignore those desperate journo's trying to make a living using dubious methods.

West Brom my arse.. UTB

 

[Stretch]

I am quite surprised at how some folk think the ownership battle will somehow push Chris out.

Things might not be great behind the scenes, but that has been going for some time and Chris will have been well aware of it. The only thing that has changed is everything being made public. Chris and his team have been getting on with business very nicely despite of it, and that won't change.

Bear in mind also what he endured at Northampton, players not being paid, a club almost going out of business and yet he ploughed on, played a major part in turning things around in the boardroom and got them promoted in terrific style. You could argue that we shouldn't be comparing ourselves to situations like that now, and yes it does seem that no matter how well things appear to be going for us there is always a steady drip of something unpleasant on our chips, but at the end of the day most football clubs have constant shenanigans and issues to deal with, on and off the pitch.

Whichever way you slice it, regardless of the court case Chris is managing the club he loves at the highest possible level, sitting on a transfer budget several times bigger than anything he has had access to previously. He may well walk at some point but it will take something truly special to prise him away from this, and that won't be to West chuffing Brom in the Championship, no way, not a chance.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

If Wilder is playing along with it, I think it’s because he thinks he needs to for the benefit of the club, not himself.

He’s not doing anything as far as anyone knows.
People have just written their own fan fiction, and like most fan fiction it’s bollocks.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I am quite surprised at how some folk think the ownership battle will somehow push Chris out.

Things might not be great behind the scenes, but that has been going for some time and Chris will have been well aware of it. The only thing that has changed is everything being made public. Chris and his team have been getting on with business very nicely despite of it, and that won't change.

Bear in mind also what he endured at Northampton, players not being paid, a club almost going out of business and yet he ploughed on, played a major part in turning things around in the boardroom and got them promoted in terrific style. You could argue that we shouldn't be comparing ourselves to situations like that now, and yes it does seem that no matter how well things appear to be going for us there is always a steady drip of something unpleasant on our chips, but at the end of the day most football clubs have constant shenanigans and issues to deal with, on and off the pitch.

Whichever way you slice it, regardless of the court case Chris is managing the club he loves at the highest possible level, sitting on a transfer budget several times bigger than anything he has had access to previously. He may well walk at some point but it will take something truly special to prise him away from this, and that won't be to West chuffing Brom in the Championship, no way, not a chance.

They seem not to realise that while a lot of the court case information is new to us, he’ll have been aware of everything throughout last year. At this moment nothing has changed.

 

[184blade]

It’s the job of each legal team to make their clients look good and the other party look like the devil incarnate, that plus the fact we are only getting info from the case via the tweets of a journalist means that yes, the board room does look bad. However both sides managed to work together last season so although there is an obvious breakdown in relations, I don’t think it’s enough to drive wilder away.

 

[finlaytheblade]

This is from a sky sports presenter. This won’t be made up.

Surly WBA have spoken to his agent and received some sort of feedback. But reading the court case it seems behind the scenes are a mess.

Wouldn't be surprised if Wilder was tempted by a good premiership club but WBA? No way!. Hes unfinished business at the lane and it would take something really special to pinch him and it's not WBA.
The top clubs always look abroad anyway ,that's why Burnley & Bournmouth manage to keep there outstanding English managers

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

my opinion is that WBA have seen something that they feel they can prise Wilder away but West brom arent in great shapes them selves off the pitch they is argumenst etc

What makes you think that?
In fact what makes you think they’ve even approached him?

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

This is from a sky sports presenter. This won’t be made up.

Surly WBA have spoken to his agent and received some sort of feedback. But reading the court case it seems behind the scenes are a mess.

Did you managed to type that with a straight face?
Sky Sports make stuff up all the time and quote Sky Sources. They need to whip up transfer talk otherwise no one watches SSN.
I think if you looked at all the leads and tips from Sky Sources they’ve have an incredibly low accuracy rate.

 

[nopigfansintown]

As far as I was aware, he signed a new and improved deal in May last year, so are you saying we offered him another improved deal 6 months later? Or do you mean he was offered a new contract in Dec ‘17, that he then signed in May ‘18 after assurances?

The latter. With the emphasis on offered.

 

[Bla blade]

We needn't worry. It's also being reported that WBA are after Wolfsburg manager Bruno Labbadia.

Saying that, he sounds a bit of a tw*t.