Let's be clear. The recruitment that has been done is excellent. We've brought in some terrific players, and our starting XI looks at least as strong as anyone else in the league. On our day, we can certainly take on any of the 23 teams we're going to face this season.
But right now, that's pretty much all we have. A starting XI.
The strength in depth is minimal at best. Had there been a more concerted effort to renew some of the contracts that expired this summer, we would likely not be as stretched as we are in certain positions. If we had been more swift in identifying targets, and agreeing deals, we might not be either.
But the fact is we failed to do those things.
We could have re-signed players to prevent us being so thin (e.g. McBurnie). We could have looked to get some deals completed earlier, to leave more time to chase other targets. But we didn't.
We were never going to have a completely rebuilt squad by tomorrow. Expecting us to have such a squad is naive. But I think it's reasonable to be critical when key areas have not been addressed.
At the start of the summer, we had 2 Championship-quality right backs. We haven't replaced either of them.
We had 4 strikers who either already are, or are likely to be, Championship-quality. We have signed one, and have a backup with a goalscoring record worse than Ben Brereton-Diaz managed for us in half a season, in a fucking miserable side.
We had no Championship-quality left winger. We still don't have any. We are, in fact, even worse off than we might have been. Traore, while not world-beating, might have done a job in that position, but instead we let him go. One of the only players to have played there has now also left (Slimane).
The club likely knew before last season was over, that the change of tactic was coming. And we still failed to address some of the key positions in that setup. That for me, is simply negligent. And Wilder should feel very unhappy at being let down that way. We now have to scrape our way through to January with a squad that is not suitably equipped to handle the strains of a Championship season.