CONFIRMED Jake Wright signs

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Bit disappointed young Semple will not be the 4th Centre Back.

I hope his pathway to the first team has not been closed before he has even got going
He's only 17, not ready yet. Jake Wright will be a mentor for him as much as anything, Callum has got a year to focus on his football and pick up what he can learning from an experienced centre half. Wilder obviously rates him very highly but I wouldn't like to think we were calling on a 17 year old after we get an injury. Give him time to develop
 

Signed a 2 yr deal on a free from Oxford. I'll admit to knowing bugger all about him.



30 year old centre half. 5”11 and played pretty much all his career at a lower level as well as missing a chunk of last season through injury. It’s a struggle to get excited about this one BUT he may bring something in the dressing room and he’ll do it a lot cheaper than Dean Hammond did. Could be the equivalent of the Chris Lucketti signing in our promotion season. Unspectacular but reliable back up with the right attitude. A 1 year deal might have been more appropriate though.
 
The pre-season before 2002/2003 we signed Kenny, Onoura, Allison, Yates & McCall from what was the D1/D2 scrap heap at the time.

That year Warnock looked for cheap talent he had worked with, experience of the division and as always with Neil, players who wanted to win. All under a tight budget. We didn't do bad that year did we?

I get a sense of deja vu' with what Wilder is doing at the minute and I am encouraged...


BUT we had the emergence of Tonge and Jagielka that season (I'm struggling to see Reed and Whiteman making a similar impact) coupled with the arrival of Windass and Kabba during the course of the season. Plus we already had Brown, Page, Murphy, Nuddy, Asaba, Pesch etc.


But what I hope does happen that would be similar to that season is that some of our signings lift some of our existing players to be better in the way that McCall’s presence gave Brown the platform to have an amazing season.
 
I'd say it's confirmation Kilgallon isn't coming as surely we're not going to sign 3 left footed centre halves. It also actually provides hope that McFadzean is signing given Wilder has said he wants 4 CBs in total. I'm hoping he's going for O'Connell and McFadzean as first choice, with Wilson and Wright as back up. 2 left footers and 2 right.



I think that’s the sort of scenario most of us are hoping for. O Connell strikes me as good enough for a regular starting berth whereas I’m less convinced about the other two. If Wilson can realise the potential he’s supposed to have then maybe but I’d feel more comfortable with someone proven and experienced as a top defender at this level.
 
Must admit I'm concerned with the ages of some of these players.

Duffy - 30 - 3 year contract
Wright - 30 - 2 year contract
Wilson - 27 - ?
Hussey - 27 - ?
McFadzean - 29

I was hoping we'd carry on in the same vein after signing O'Connell and Fleck.


Duffy and Wright are the old heads here. Hussey and Wilson at 27 should be at the peak of their powers for a couple of years yet. Duffy is probably worth it though given he’s just been named in the L1 team of the year. If Wright is cheap enough, he’s an alternative to McEveley as cheap experienced back up. I hope we don’t make many more signings like that though. I agree Fleck and O Connell are more exciting prospects.


Quite happy to sign an older head when it’s someone like Duffy or McFadzean who both have recent experience of being key members of promoted teams.
 
Not every signing can be ones that are close to the end of their careers either.

We've signed more of them than we have up and coming so far.



Depends on your definitions.


O Connell is definitely up and coming.


Fleck could be classed is up and coming but is reaching an age where he should be coming into his prime.


Hussey and Wilson are neither old nor young and should be right in their prime.


Duffy and Wright are older signings but at 30, they’re not quite in the twilight of their careers and should have a couple of years or so left in them.


Ideally, I’d like one or two more in the 20-24 bracket but there looks to be a reasonable balance there.
 
Just playing Devil's Advocate but if Clough or Adkins had signed a 30 yo CH who'd only ever played about ten games in L1 and spent the rest of his career in the conference and L2 and who'd played for him before, I think the comments would be quite different.



I think a new manager get’s more benefit of the doubt. If Wilder’s signings don’t hit the ground running and we’re not in the top 6 at Christmas there’ll be plenty saying “don’t let him waste any more money on these cloggers”.


Time will tell. I can only assume Wright has been brought in for a combination of the following 3 reasons.


1. He’s willing to be back up.

2. Wilder knows his temperament and believes he will be good for the dressing room.

3. He’s cheap.



If he ticks those 3 boxes then we could do worse but I don’t think anyone’s excited about having him as a first choice centre half. On the face of it, he’s unlikely to be good enough to be.


Personally, I’d be more inclined to stay away from this sort of signing and in emergencies turn to a youngster like Semple as the game time will assist their development. But, I don’t know the dynamic of the dressing room etc. and what Wright will bring to the table. I do have a niggling feeling he could be this year’s Dean Hammond though in that the manager thinks he can do no wrong whilst the fans become bemused by his inclusion.



But one area where Wilder seems to be doing better than his predecessors is that he seems to be building a balanced squad. We’ve been extremely imbalanced the last couple of seasons having loads of players but still being very short through the spine of the team. He seems to be addressing that.
 
30 year old centre half. 5”11 and played pretty much all his career at a lower level as well as missing a chunk of last season through injury. It’s a struggle to get excited about this one BUT he may bring something in the dressing room and he’ll do it a lot cheaper than Dean Hammond did. Could be the equivalent of the Chris Lucketti signing in our promotion season. Unspectacular but reliable back up with the right attitude. A 1 year deal might have been more appropriate though.
Well, if missing a chunk of the season still results in playing 36 games he's fine by me :)
 
I think a new manager get’s more benefit of the doubt. If Wilder’s signings don’t hit the ground running and we’re not in the top 6 at Christmas there’ll be plenty saying “don’t let him waste any more money on these cloggers”.

Personally, I’d be more inclined to stay away from this sort of signing and in emergencies turn to a youngster like Semple as the game time will assist their development. But, I don’t know the dynamic of the dressing room etc. and what Wright will bring to the table. I do have a niggling feeling he could be this year’s Dean Hammond though in that the manager thinks he can do no wrong whilst the fans become bemused by his inclusion.

Couldn't disagree with that more, he's been brought in as back up. JOC is clearly first choice, we've spent money on him for a reason. And he won't play both him and JW with them both being left footed.
 
Well, if missing a chunk of the season still results in playing 36 games he's fine by me :)


29 league games though. Unless he fell out of favour?

He played 63% of the club's league game last season and based on what I'd read about his injuries I assumed that was the reason why.
 
Couldn't disagree with that more, he's been brought in as back up. JOC is clearly first choice, we've spent money on him for a reason. And he won't play both him and JW with them both being left footed.


You may be right but I seem to remember McEveley being brought in in similar circumstances and ended up playing regularly whether it was CB or LB under both managers. Some players just seem to be the type that managers like whilst fans tear their hair out watching them. Given the past relationship, CW's comments and his non-sparkling career to date, it just feels like a recipe for one of those scenarios.
 
You may be right but I seem to remember McEveley being brought in in similar circumstances and ended up playing regularly whether it was CB or LB under both managers. Some players just seem to be the type that managers like whilst fans tear their hair out watching them. Given the past relationship, CW's comments and his non-sparkling career to date, it just feels like a recipe for one of those scenarios.
Doubt it. Wilder has been very complimentary of both JOC and Hussey as being some of the best in the division while Jake Wright's been described as 'great in the dressing room' and a 'leader'. I think he's cheap cover and could become a cult hero, but unless he's absolutely outstanding or JOC has a dip in form he won't play much, barring the odd midweek game or cup game.
 
He's only 17, not ready yet. Jake Wright will be a mentor for him as much as anything, Callum has got a year to focus on his football and pick up what he can learning from an experienced centre half. Wilder obviously rates him very highly but I wouldn't like to think we were calling on a 17 year old after we get an injury. Give him time to develop
I take on board exactly what you say and agree that Young Semple needs time.

He will, i would assume captain the 21s this season, which for a 17 year old is outstanding for the boy.

Here is my concern.

How long can you play 21s football at his age before he needs to move forward. My guess is 12 months. Which CW has been telling the papers. At that stage he will be 18, ready to be in the squad as a 3rd or 4th Centre Back. BUT, we have now signed 3 and another to come at centre back on 2/3 year deals. In real term he has moved down th 5th choice.

What that does is stop Semples progression at the club but also it has alerted other clubs that SUFC have a kid who has captained his 21s at such a young age and has no path way to push on at the club.
I am also very surprised that he has not been tied down to the club on any kind of Pro Contract as far as i know. At the moment he could leave for nowt as he is still only a 2nd year scholar.

Again everyone its just my thoughts.
 
I'm not keen on the 2 year contract for Wright but as Danny has said, he won't be an unmovable drain on the club like Hammond and God knows how many others were. He'll be on a low wage and could easily be offloaded to a L2 club if necessary without us taking much of a hit.
 
I'm not keen on the 2 year contract for Wright but as Danny has said, he won't be an unmovable drain on the club like Hammond and God knows how many others were. He'll be on a low wage and could easily be offloaded to a L2 club if necessary without us taking much of a hit.
And that's if he's an unmitigated disaster, which I really can't see. Steady and unspectacular, great to have around the place and a real role model and leader - that's what I'm expecting. We need to get back that never say die attitude and that starts from the training field.
 


first interview with him although at 0:23 he said hes roommate is someone new called Fletcher but not heard anything about that so wondering who it is
 
You were saying? :)

Well, I still think that was what he had in mind, mate. Looks like we reached stalemate though and, for me, we're right not to go way beyond our valuation. I have to say, and this is not hindsight, that I always hoped we could do a bit better than McFadz, good League One defender though he undoubtedly is.

I do, hope, however, that Tufty agrees that our kingpin centre-back is not yet in the building. I think he does. Interesting times, don't you think?
 
I do, hope, however, that Tufty agrees that our kingpin centre-back is not yet in the building.
Yes, I'd agree with that. A partner for O'Connell, then tall domineering, physical partners for Fleck in CM and Sharp up top.
 
Yes, I'd agree with that. A partner for O'Connell, then tall domineering, physical partners for Fleck in CM and Sharp up top.

Nope. You still got me Barmpot. Who is the masked man? Zorro?
 

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