Can wilder pull off another miracle?

[blades1977]

Ive had £160 on us to lose at Mansfield...
Strange bet I agree
However I hope it comes in cos im skintish

Honestly I say 1-0 nil Mansfield

 

[luffenhamblade]

Prediction. If we lose the first couple of games, mardy arse will stick his bottom lip out and sulks his way out again.

I don’t think some on here.will give him the time to get to that point! However, I do think that saying it makes some people feel better.

 

[Tom Bott]

If we lose tomorrow and next Saturday, both games on tv i can see fans start to turn against wilder and the board.

Could some fans become more negative than they are already?

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Benjamin Bloom has us finishing 15th which is about where I put us.

 

[ATL Recs]

Seems to be a lot of people giving arblaster a good season
Wasn't tremendous after his comeback last year
Very few players recover 100 % from that injury and our medical staff are hardly phenomenal

He wasn’t that good before his injury out of the 12 games he played he was awful in 4 of them
Just don’t believe the hype

 

[Jan Age]

The preseason yes. But i do think he should be starting, ahead of Peck. I dont see what Peck does if im honest.

IMO Peck is too good for us mate … he’s got an extremely high ceiling for development and the best skill of all… he’s always available

 

[ckpe147]

IMO Peck is too good for us mate … he’s got an extremely high ceiling for development and the best skill of all… he’s always available

That is true. Availability trumps all.
I just think Ollie is better with the ball at his feet, well was, time will tell

 

[Jan Age]

I don’t think loans and free are riskier in any way really. Yeah if we get them wrong the worst case is we get relegated.

If we gamble and spend money we don’t have then failing could result in a much worse outcome.

You can’t really build an identity or togetherness or culture with loans as they go back

I actually understand we have to sell players but I’d like to see some signings of a lower calibre coming in as I understand they won’t be the same standard but young players from lower leagues who are worth a gamble …

Once again we look like we are scratching around for the cast offs

 

[Steve Mackan]

And keep us up this year? Because this squad without Gus who’s definitely off is bottom 4/5 in the league. Everyone else spending and strengthening. We look doomed.

A few teams are "spending and strengthening". But the vast majority of squads are the same owing to the World Cup and the new ESC rules. The number of Championship transfers so far this window is half of that in League Two.

 

[ckpe147]

You can’t really build an identity or togetherness or culture with loans as they go back

I actually understand we have to sell players but I’d like to see some signings of a lower calibre coming in as I understand they won’t be the same standard but young players from lower leagues who are worth a gamble …

Once again we look like we are scratching around for the cast offs

This. This is exactly what I've been talking about in the Hamer thread.
God knows how much money we've wasted on loaned players in the last two seasons, when if you looked at it, you could find some real gems in the lower leagues that could generate more funds in the future.
For example we paid a £1m loan fee on Soumare last season, and imagine we spent a good amount on wages, whereas we could have found somebody from league's 1+2 on less wages for a similar fee and would be our player. Its like renting a house. Yes you can loan players and the overall responsibility is the parent club, but its not how we should be operating as a club.

 

[ben1987]

This. This is exactly what I've been talking about in the Hamer thread.
God knows how much money we've wasted on loaned players in the last two seasons, when if you looked at it, you could find some real gems in the lower leagues that could generate more funds in the future.
For example we paid a £1m loan fee on Soumare last season, and imagine we spent a good amount on wages, whereas we could have found somebody from league's 1+2 on less wages for a similar fee and would be our player. Its like renting a house. Yes you can loan players and the overall responsibility is the parent club, but its not how we should be operating as a club.

A loan should be to bring in a McAtee or a MGW. Someone who is of a quality we cannot afford to supplement a well rounded squad.

We shouldn’t be loaning squad fillers and utility players ever.

 

[ckpe147]

A loan should be to bring in a McAtee or a MGW. Someone who is of a quality we cannot afford to supplement a well rounded squad.

We shouldn’t be loaning squad fillers and utility players ever.

Mate, 6 loans in both of the last two seasons, criminal. 2 seasons ago we had 3 right backs on loan....
I genuinely think the January 2025 window was as bad as the summer 2025 one.

 

[ben1987]

Mate, 6 loans in both of the last two seasons, criminal. 2 seasons ago we had 3 right backs on loan....
I genuinely think the January 2025 window was as bad as the summer 2025 one.

Philips and Rothwell were awful business. Really were.

We’d been on a decent run and with the right business we might have had a push. Our midfielders were on their arse with niggles and fatigue but they decide to bring in two midfielders who were at best weeks away from being impactful to the first team.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

My prediction for the season is boringly lower mid-table.

A slow and dull start with not many goals and more draws than wins.

Followed by an uptick of three or four games before Christmas where it looks like they've all remembered how to play football, coincidentally timed to quell the talks of getting a new manager in before the January transfer window.

Someone inevitably posts a gushing thread about the charge for the automatic places being on.

The only business in January is an ageing journeyman brought in who we won't see actually play until April. O'Hare leaves after downing tools because he misses Gus too much to function.

Revert to form from February onwards, grinding out narrow victories and indifferent losses before limping over the line on 1st May.

Wilder claims it was "unlucky".

To be honest I would take that now, i have a fear its going too be far bleaker than that.

 

[ckpe147]

Philips and Rothwell were awful business. Really were.

We’d been on a decent run and with the right business we might have had a push. Our midfielders were on their arse with niggles and fatigue but they decide to bring in two midfielders who were at best weeks away from being impactful to the first team.

Im on about when we spunked £10m on cannon, brought in holding, bbd, Choudhury and harry clarke on loan. But we wouldn't pay the necessary money for Jonjoe Kenny who was begging to come, and Jimmy Dunne, who would have been perfect. It would have set summer 2025 up much better for whoever was in charge.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

Honestly I say 1-0 nil Mansfield

1-1 but we win on penalties with a bit of badge slapping thrown in.

 

[Broomhall Blade]

Could some fans become more negative than they are already?

Yes.

 

[Blades1971]

Does anyone feel this season is over, before it has started

 

[VonBrysonsExpress]

I'll openly admit that I think bringing wilder back after the selles debacle was the wrong move but I'd happily support a dynamic wilder, showing ingenuity and coaching the best performances from either underrated or average players.

All I can see is the stubborn, mardy wilder setting out his exit by moaning the owners won't back him in bringing in yet more 'experienced' players. Now I don't entirely blame wilder for this, the owners should have a clear strategy of investing in young players, whether through the academy or identifying lower league talent. If they had that then Chris wouldn't be here as he isn't the manager for that.

A great manager would at least set us up to be difficult to beat and play to strength's, from what I've seen ovr the last few seasons is were fitting square pegs in round holes and moaning about recruitment. This all comes back to having a recognised playing style combined with a long term strategy. We have neither, not sure we'll be relegated but recon it'll be dog shit football

 

[JPBrods]

The era of us being a championship side with premier league ambitions is over, last season was the canary in the coal mine but this summer has been the nail in the coffin. Our efforts must now focus on stopping the decline and stabilising the club as the lack of ambition shown this summer is alarming. We must not slip into being a club finishing 15-18th etc and need to ensure we still hover around mid table with the odd great result and display. It’s the best we can realistically hope for this season I am afraid. Another step back is really dangerous.

 

[Jan Age]

This. This is exactly what I've been talking about in the Hamer thread.
God knows how much money we've wasted on loaned players in the last two seasons, when if you looked at it, you could find some real gems in the lower leagues that could generate more funds in the future.
For example we paid a £1m loan fee on Soumare last season, and imagine we spent a good amount on wages, whereas we could have found somebody from league's 1+2 on less wages for a similar fee and would be our player. Its like renting a house. Yes you can loan players and the overall responsibility is the parent club, but its not how we should be operating as a club.

Exactly … loans to supplement not as the main model of recruitment

 

[ckpe147]

Exactly … loans to supplement not as the main model of recruitment

Yep. It screams asset stripping, but apparently our owners are running the business normally according to the plebs on this forum. Unbelievable.

 

[Jan Age]

Yep. It screams asset stripping, but apparently our owners are running the business normally according to the plebs on this forum. Unbelievable.

I was hopeful when they took over but my opinion has changed I think they saw it as a quick buck

A team destined to finish second or win the playoffs chuck some money at in Jan go up and then sell on

Now they have no interest in running a football club and are trying to take out what they can in sales …

We are truly stuck going backwards unfortunately

 

[metalblade]

Say what you want about negative Nigel but as we well know his teams perform well in cup games where he has to go for it. I'm predicting a very hard afternoon for us today. Lose today and on Saturday and it won't be pretty.

 

[Mendi]

Tough jobs on his hands.

 

[Sheff de party]

And keep us up this year? Because this squad without Gus who’s definitely off is bottom 4/5 in the league. Everyone else spending and strengthening. We look doomed.

Shall we have a bet on whether we go down and the loser donates the cash to charity?

£100 we stay up?