Whilst I admit I don't fully understand the role of a "Director of Football", I'm still suspicious of what our recruitment strategy is going forward.
Since Wilder's arrival in 2016 we have made some terrific signings, particularly the cheap ones (JOC, Didsy, Fleck, Baldock, Duffy), some not as great but not super expensive (Anel, Egans, Norwood) but then the worrying BIG money spends (Brewster, McB, Mousset, Berge) of which we have nothing to show for.
Got to do something different.
I think looking at recruitment based on the sucess of individual players is a mistake. Recruitment should be judged on whether overall it helped the club meet
realistic aims.
Wilder built 3 teams in his last spell and here is my take on how he got on.
League 1 team - realistic aim - play-offs or better
Result - smashed the league with 100 points - a huge success
Championship team - realistic aim - survival then play-offs would have been ambitious given the funds made available
Result - 10th in year 1, promoted in year 2 - a huge success
Premier league team - realistic aims - stay up or build a team capable of getting promoted back to the Premier league
Result - year 1 a 9th place finish, followed by a pretty miserable relegation.
What I think you have to think about though, is that the team Wilder left behind, then came 5th and 2nd in the Championship. 70% of the minutes played last season were by players in that Premier league team. Over 80% if you count the youth players already at the club. Bogle, Lowe, Robinson, Osborn, Mcburnie, and Berge all significantly involved.
I recognise that many will disagree with my assesment of the Premier league recruitment but I can see why he ownership, given the budget they have available have returned to Wilder for a 4th go.