New Manager ?

[Alex Cheeseright]

If McBurnie is coming back and Wilder is staying then I think we've pretty much given up on the ownership's stated aim of becoming an established Premier League club in the foreseeable future. Several on here have mounted a stout defence of Wilder, but for me he's nothing like the manager we had 6/7 years ago.

I don't think the rebuild was as good as many make out - the majority of the players who got us through this season were already here.
We brought in 17 players in the last year, I think 5 of those can be counted as good signings, Cooper (excellent!), Burrows, Campbell (for 60 minutes per game), Souttar (for the first part of the season) and Choudhury (for the second.) Others went from OK (O'Hare, Moore) to disastrous (Cannon, Shackleton.) We had the resources through parachute payments to blow other Championship teams out of the water, we could have done better.
The January window as a disaster - we didn't replace Souttar, we didn't replace Arblaster, we didn't get a decent specialist right back, we threw away £10m on Cannon, but wouldn't pay QPR an extra few hundred k for Dunne.
I can't think of one player who has improved this season as a result of our coaching staff - either individually or in terms of their team contribution.
I think it was Bladepicker who said that our second half performances have been poor. Our substitutions always seem to make us worse - is that poor preparation or poor recruitment?
Other teams seem to be better coached than us. Teams like Portsmouth, Plymouth and Hull all seemed to have more idea of what they were trying to do, albeit with more limited players. Most transition better and quicker than we do.
Our fitness levels are shocking, compounded by our tendency to acquire players who are already unfit (Campbell, Holding etc) and to keep playing players who are clearly injured eg Souza.
We want to make the academy a mainstay of the club's progression, but I can't see that we have a clear strategy for managing the development of our young talent. Is there a clear plan for getting the best out of Brooks, Seriki etc - even Peck, who did a manful job of filling in, but could you see him developing as a player? I though Brooks' treatment was very poor.
The team selections have often been bizarre/controversial. Continually picking Robinson, the insistence on playing Brewster (lately in a new and unfamiliar position), dropping O'Hare, the treatment of JRS, playing Burrows in midfield, the lack of game time for Tom Davies etc
Tactically we've often been outthought. Our sit back and defend strategy after scoring a goal was our eventual undoing.

We are now in a position of having spent over half of the parachute payments that give us such an advantage, but are we in any better position than we were 12 months ago? If Anel, Gus and Vini leave, as I expect them to, is the squad any better?

If we get promoted, I want us to go up with at least a core of players who might be Premiership quality and a manger who can continue to work with his own squad with a progressive development strategy, even if we get relegated. Currently I think we have one or two Premiership standard players (Cooper and, at a stretch, Hamer.) I don't think Wilder and his team are up to the current Premiership, we need a Director of Football and a new head coach.

Very well said. If I can add. It's as if we are on the edge of doing things right but that fear of messing it all up and becoming a mid table Championship club. We are missing that hint of a cavalier attitude that Leeds has combined with a sensibly approach that Burnley have. I'm hoping the owners and those around them have a vision that culminates in entertaining football and promotion. Follow that with sustainability in the aprem.
Not sure we saw any clarity last season on anyone's vision of the teams performances. Hopefully the talk of a rebuild last year is real and this season all the new signings gel with the remaining players to produce a successful season.

 

[Booker4]

Great post….exactly what lots of people, if not all, are thinking themselves.

I can only go on the Blades I know, my own views and from reading on the forum that it's far from what everyone is thinking.

We've just got 92 points and bar player errors and VAR should have beaten Sunderland. If we'd finished 10th and missed out on the play offs then I could understand but we earned the same points as we did under Hecky to get promoted who had Baldock, Doyle, N'diaye, Berge and Mcatee at his disposal.

 

[Dkc]

Whatever the decision is though, I hope its a speedy one as we don't want this dragging into pre season. Ideally, transfer targets have already been drawn up so they can all get a full pre season rather than wait and feed of scraps well into August and those players not being match fit until halfway through the season (see Campbell).

Apart from a couple of posts on this forum, there has not been any indication at all that any 'decisions are being made'. The new owners have expressed their support for CW, and he has three more years left on his contract.

Do you want them to tell us that he's still in a job whenever someone posts something on the forum? Or whenever we lose a game?

 

[TJ blade]

Excellent post and I 100% agree...

spot on

 

[54yrblade]

I can only go on the Blades I know, my own views and from reading on the forum that it's far from what everyone is thinking.

We've just got 92 points and bar player errors and VAR should have beaten Sunderland. If we'd finished 10th and missed out on the play offs then I could understand but we earned the same points as we did under Hecky to get promoted who had Baldock, Doyle, N'diaye, Berge and Mcatee at his disposal.

Which, in and of itself, given Wilders repeated assertions that he was the one to 'reconnect' the club and 'the narrative' that only he could do that, is no longer the case. Indeed, after Wilder 1.0, this version is nowhere near the same.

The fan base is split over whether he should be the man to take us forward. His case is chronically undermined as his ability to connect us has, on all the available evidence, now failed.

 

[Blade56]

professional clowns that know anything about football

 

[Booker4]

Which, in and of itself, given Wilders repeated assertions that he was the one to 'reconnect' the club and 'the narrative' that only he could do that, is no longer the case. Indeed, after Wilder 1.0, this version is nowhere near the same.

The fan base is split over whether he should be the man to take us forward. His case is chronically undermined as his ability to connect us has, on all the available evidence, now failed.

Personally I dont think a forum is a reliable base to ascertain whether the fans are fully behind him because most blades won't be on a forum, and a forum attracts those with the most forthright views, like Football Heaven. It appeared to me that most were behind him throughout last season. We lose a play off and those not wanting him to stay despite a 92 points season under difficult circumstances, such as two season ending injuries, have become more vocal.

 

[Silky Sabella]

If that’s the case, we’ll be heading down a new manager route, as Wilders openly said several times he wouldn’t work under that method. He wants full control over everything

You would think that after the mistakes in the past wilder would be more flexible and realistic. He ain't gonna win this battle

 

[54yrblade]

Personally I dont think a forum is a reliable base to ascertain whether the fans are fully behind him because most blades won't be on a forum, and a forum attracts those with the most forthright views, like Football Heaven. It appeared to me that most were behind him throughout last season. We lose a play off and those not wanting him to stay despite a 92 points season under difficult circumstances, such as two season ending injuries, have become more vocal.

To be fair, you're right.
The funereal atmosphere at the quiet, but still somewhat beautiful downtown Bramall Lane all season spoke volumes too, ironically.

 

[Booker4]

To be fair, you're right.
The funereal atmosphere at the quiet, but still somewhat beautiful downtown Bramall Lane all season spoke volumes too, ironically.

I think that's nowt to do with Wilder. It was the same under Hecky too. There were games with a great atmosphere though like Leeds, Coventry and Bristol just to name a few.

We're one season out of the top flight which was another low points total and getting promoted to go back there just one year later is hardly riveting knowing we're almost certain to be relegated again. Same reasons why we didn't sell out at Wembley along with the play off history.

You'll not convince me nor no one else that any other manager could have done better in the same circumstances and I don't expect to convince you too, but I believe that the facts speak for themselves that 8/10 of the last seasons we'd have got promoted and we've had awful luck with two season ending injuries and a small squad thanks to lack of investment in the summer.

I could agree with some of the criticisms of Wilder dont get me wrong. He's not perfect but another manager would have made their errors and overall I doubt would have achieved 92 points. Look at where Luton finished as an example of how it could have gone or the countless teams that come down and finish not on 92 points but mid table. Yet here we are with fans on here saying let's sack Wilder three months after a new contract has been given and trust the board to get a better manager.

The two signings from abroad hardly fill me with confidence that the data based signings are the way forward neither, but with Wilder we have a manager with balls, a proven record and someone who has the best interests of the club. But mainly it's that he's a proven record of success.

Sean Dyche would be the one guy who I would say has an exceptional record who I wouldn't mind being our manager but the football under Dyche is hardly edge of the seat stuff. I'd still rather keep Wilder.

 

[Dkc]

To be fair, you're right.
The funereal atmosphere at the quiet, but still somewhat beautiful downtown Bramall Lane all season spoke volumes too, ironically.

It may 'speak volumes' but not about one particular manager. Across England atmospheres have become more subdued due to the new generation of phone-addicted fans, more families, and working class fans being priced out. It's a common phenomona across football, and not Wilder's fault.

I doubt the volume on the Kop will double if we sack Wilder and get eg Phil Parkinson in.

 

[GlosBlade]

If McBurnie is coming back and Wilder is staying then I think we've pretty much given up on the ownership's stated aim of becoming an established Premier League club in the foreseeable future. Several on here have mounted a stout defence of Wilder, but for me he's nothing like the manager we had 6/7 years ago.

I don't think the rebuild was as good as many make out - the majority of the players who got us through this season were already here.
We brought in 17 players in the last year, I think 5 of those can be counted as good signings, Cooper (excellent!), Burrows, Campbell (for 60 minutes per game), Souttar (for the first part of the season) and Choudhury (for the second.) Others went from OK (O'Hare, Moore) to disastrous (Cannon, Shackleton.) We had the resources through parachute payments to blow other Championship teams out of the water, we could have done better.
The January window as a disaster - we didn't replace Souttar, we didn't replace Arblaster, we didn't get a decent specialist right back, we threw away £10m on Cannon, but wouldn't pay QPR an extra few hundred k for Dunne.
I can't think of one player who has improved this season as a result of our coaching staff - either individually or in terms of their team contribution.
I think it was Bladepicker who said that our second half performances have been poor. Our substitutions always seem to make us worse - is that poor preparation or poor recruitment?
Other teams seem to be better coached than us. Teams like Portsmouth, Plymouth and Hull all seemed to have more idea of what they were trying to do, albeit with more limited players. Most transition better and quicker than we do.
Our fitness levels are shocking, compounded by our tendency to acquire players who are already unfit (Campbell, Holding etc) and to keep playing players who are clearly injured eg Souza.
We want to make the academy a mainstay of the club's progression, but I can't see that we have a clear strategy for managing the development of our young talent. Is there a clear plan for getting the best out of Brooks, Seriki etc - even Peck, who did a manful job of filling in, but could you see him developing as a player? I though Brooks' treatment was very poor.
The team selections have often been bizarre/controversial. Continually picking Robinson, the insistence on playing Brewster (lately in a new and unfamiliar position), dropping O'Hare, the treatment of JRS, playing Burrows in midfield, the lack of game time for Tom Davies etc
Tactically we've often been outthought. Our sit back and defend strategy after scoring a goal was our eventual undoing.

We are now in a position of having spent over half of the parachute payments that give us such an advantage, but are we in any better position than we were 12 months ago? If Anel, Gus and Vini leave, as I expect them to, is the squad any better?

If we get promoted, I want us to go up with at least a core of players who might be Premiership quality and a manger who can continue to work with his own squad with a progressive development strategy, even if we get relegated. Currently I think we have one or two Premiership standard players (Cooper and, at a stretch, Hamer.) I don't think Wilder and his team are up to the current Premiership, we need a Director of Football and a new head coach.

Great post. I just hope the board can see all of that. Sadly the hints that McBurnie is coming back suggests to me that wilder is staying and we continue the bladey-bladeyness. The Robinson and Cannon decision making shows that wilder is far too stubborn and blinkered. I’m not looking forward to a repeat of the dire football of much of last season. We’ll probably grind out enough points to be in the mix for the play offs but, if it’s like last season, it’ll be a grim experience.

 

[FriethBlade]

Apart from a couple of posts on this forum, there has not been any indication at all that any 'decisions are being made'. The new owners have expressed their support for CW, and he has three more years left on his contract.

Do you want them to tell us that he's still in a job whenever someone posts something on the forum? Or whenever we lose a game?

DKc re your last paragraph I totally agree, especially mid season but I would say one thing...after the end of the season the owners had the opportunity in their statement to say we are 100% behind the current manager and we go with the same set up next season. They didn't and I think that is what has primarily led to the speculation.

 

[Railway Blade]

DKc re your last paragraph I totally agree, especially mid season but I would say one thing...after the end of the season the owners had the opportunity in their statement to say we are 100% behind the current manager and we go with the same set up next season. They didn't and I think that is what has primarily led to the speculation.

I see what you are saying but I read that it was a general statement thanking everyone for their hard work as a collective and saying that we will regroup together. They didn't mention Bettis is his job under threat ?. They didn't mention the chief scout is his job under threat ?. You might be right and no doubt it has contributed to this speculation but I didn't really read anything into it other than a general rallying call.

 

[FriethBlade]

I see what you are saying but I read that it was a general statement thanking everyone for their hard work as a collective and saying that we will regroup together. They didn't mention Bettis is his job under threat ?. They didn't mention the chief scout is his job under threat ?. You might be right and no doubt it has contributed to this speculation but I didn't really read anything into it other than a general rallying call.

True but to be fair nobody really gives a flying about who is chief executive or chief scout and failure on the pitch usually lies at the managers feet.

Now whether making the play off final is judged as failure we don't know as they didn't explicitly state what the target was for last season when they came in. However given we were top 2 and spent 10m in Jan you can bet they were disappointed. It wouldn't have hurt to back him by name in the statement. And i have no axe to grind as I think he's the best man to have another crack next season.... unless a no brainer becomes available

 

[The Crab]

We keep going on about this 92 points.

Just remind me which division we will be playing in next season?

Yes it’s impressive, so was the 4th place time in the last Olympic 100m. They went home with fuck all too.

I’m not against him staying. But he has to accept that this board will (hopefully) play by different rules. It’s their party, they brought the barbecue. I have doubts that CW will accept this, but it MUST be accepted and we have to accept a less parochial approach, because to hear some people we might as well have Dick Wragg back in the board room, or be going cap in hand to Derek Dooley to copper up for Paul Wood.

To be honest it pains me to say a lot of this, in terms of achievements he’s the best we’ve had.

But times change, football has changed. We as a club must change. CW has to change and accept change. I’m not sure he’s capable of doing that.

If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.

Let’s see what the next few weeks brings

 

[Espania blade]

IMO, Mcburnie is not coming back,
Wilder is not going anyway except on holiday

 

[Upton_Blade]

but with Wilder we have a manager with balls

Most people who have watched us during the whole Wilder era would probably agree that he has balls but unfortunately this season he seemed to have completely lost them altogether. No more so that at Wembley in the 2nd half.

 

[Torrix1889]

If we are going to move forward and stand any chance of being an established PL team then we need to get rid of the bladey blade culture. We, (as a fan base generally) appear to be obsessed with having a blade as a manager, obsessed with bringing back former players and not welcoming the "modern" way of doing things, such as AI.

Thankfully we appear to have owners who are ambitious, who want us to go up and stay up and as per their recent statement, want to modernise us from the ground up. I'm 100% behind it, we may have to be patient and take a step back to go forward but one things for sure we can't stagnate.

I hope we thank CW for his efforts and move him on, that for me will be a real sign of intent.

 

[Chilttheblade]

Apart from a couple of posts on this forum, there has not been any indication at all that any 'decisions are being made'. The new owners have expressed their support for CW, and he has three more years left on his contract.

Do you want them to tell us that he's still in a job whenever someone posts something on the forum? Or whenever we lose a game?

“ three more years on his contract “ when did that happen!? Unbelievable
There’s no hope for us

 

[Chilttheblade]

I’m getting a Spanish passport

 

[Wizard]

If we are going to move forward and stand any chance of being an established PL team then we need to get rid of the bladey blade culture. We, (as a fan base generally) appear to be obsessed with having a blade as a manager, obsessed with bringing back former players and not welcoming the "modern" way of doing things, such as AI.

Thankfully we appear to have owners who are ambitious, who want us to go up and stay up and as per their recent statement, want to modernise us from the ground up. I'm 100% behind it, we may have to be patient and take a step back to go forward but one things for sure we can't stagnate.

I hope we thank CW for his efforts and move him on, that for me will be a real sign of intent.

Wilder isn't here because he's a blade he's here because he's a great manager and being a blade is a fantastic bonus. I don't understand how people see 92(-2) points on the board and think he's a dinosaur who's past it.

By my reckoning we've had one dreadful season with him leading the way as manager but even that has the huge COVID asterisk next to it, and then last year where he rejoins a sinking ship and I would put minimal blame on him for our terrible record.

The rest have either been fantastic or at minimum above expectations. I honestly don't know what more people want from him.

I don't understand why managers like Dyche and Wilder are disrespected when they've outperformed mangers like Potter and Frank

 

[Chilttheblade]

Wilder isn't here because he's a blade he's here because he's a great manager and being a blade is a fantastic bonus. I don't understand how people see 92(-2) points on the board and think he's a dinosaur who's past it.

By my reckoning we've had one dreadful season with him leading the way as manager but even that has the huge COVID asterisk next to it, and then last year where he rejoins a sinking ship and I would put minimal blame on him for our terrible record.

The rest have either been fantastic or at minimum above expectations. I honestly don't know what more people want from him.

I don't understand why managers like Dyche and Wilder are disrespected when they've outperformed mangers like Potter and Frank

Why didn’t you use your superpowers on VAR ? Or are you a fraud?

 

[Railway Blade]

Why didn’t you use your superpowers on VAR ? Or are you a fraud?

Perhaps he's just a pinball wizard ?

 

[Nick Jansky]

Perhaps he's just a pinball wizard ?

Or a wizard’s sleeve?

 

[Upton_Blade]

Wilder isn't here because he's a blade he's here because he's a great manager and being a blade is a fantastic bonus. I don't understand how people see 92(-2) points on the board and think he's a dinosaur who's past it.

By my reckoning we've had one dreadful season with him leading the way as manager but even that has the huge COVID asterisk next to it, and then last year where he rejoins a sinking ship and I would put minimal blame on him for our terrible record.

The rest have either been fantastic or at minimum above expectations. I honestly don't know what more people want from him.

I don't understand why managers like Dyche and Wilder are disrespected when they've outperformed mangers like Potter and Frank

2 Genuine questions for you and all they require are a Yes or No answer. Don't need to go into detail. Just answer Yes or No.

1. Were you happy with the way we played for the vast majority of last season?
2. Do you think the January transfer window was a success?

Also I'd love to see your reasoning behind claiming Wilder has outperformed Potter and Frank?

 

[Upton_Blade]

Or a wizard’s sleeve?

How in the world has Katie Price made it onto GBC .

 

[Charlieblade]

Personally I dont think a forum is a reliable base to ascertain whether the fans are fully behind him because most blades won't be on a forum, and a forum attracts those with the most forthright views, like Football Heaven. It appeared to me that most were behind him throughout last season. We lose a play off and those not wanting him to stay despite a 92 points season under difficult circumstances, such as two season ending injuries, have become more vocal.

I can agree with most of your post and wilder did very well under the circumstances.
Many of the former players were injured or too old, and many were simply not retained.
Wilder started the rebuild and filled gaps with academy players who have also done well.

With injuries to Souttar and Arblaster, his job was made even harder and theJTW didn't help much.
Truth is, even Wider struggled to put out a top side for every game after Christmas. Even up to that point our team performances had been half decent and half poor depending on slender leads and winning a few.
Meanwhile Leeds and Burnley remained mostly consistent, with different methods. We did make a decent points total but not enough for automatic promotion. The rest is history, including the points deduction.
My view is that Wilder 2.0 deserves a chance this coming season. If he buckles down, learns from his mistakes, he can be a good coach and prove his adaptability to the new ownership. If not, he is waving goodbye to what promised to be the ideal career.

He can be Blades best chance only if he learns and adapts and grows up.

 

[Torrix1889]

Wilder isn't here because he's a blade he's here because he's a great manager and being a blade is a fantastic bonus. I don't understand how people see 92(-2) points on the board and think he's a dinosaur who's past it.

By my reckoning we've had one dreadful season with him leading the way as manager but even that has the huge COVID asterisk next to it, and then last year where he rejoins a sinking ship and I would put minimal blame on him for our terrible record.

The rest have either been fantastic or at minimum above expectations. I honestly don't know what more people want from him.

I don't understand why managers like Dyche and Wilder are disrespected when they've outperformed mangers like Potter and Frank

All factually true of course but do we want to stand still as a club, yo-yo up and down or be bold and move forward?

If Wilder stays can you see him taking us up and keeping us up? I can see him possibly getting us promoted, maybe, but i cant see us surviving in the Prem, (it would be a big task for anyone, granted) so we rinse and repeat.

Keep Wilder and we will be in the same position in 5 years time, a yo-yo team at the very best. IMO we need to be bold, embrace change and then we might just move forward.

 

[Dkc]

Genuine questions for you and all they require are a Yes or No answer. Don't need to go into detail. Just answer Yes or No.

1. Were you happy with the way we played for the vast majority of last season?
2. Do you think the January transfer window was a success?

Genuine questions for you, and all they require is a yes or no answer.

1) Would 20 of the 23 Championship teams prefer to have performed as they did under their own manager last season, or as we did under Wilder?

2) Do any of the other managers in the Championship have a record of promotions better than Wilder's?

3) Do teams that regularly change their manager generally perform better than teams that don't?