Looking at the programme for our Championship return game against Brentford, I came across this photo. For the first couple of months we were far from sure our new signings were adequate. Lundstram was certainly disappointing, I was unconvinced that Baldock was an improvement on Freeman and Stevens seemed average. Now all three are key players for us. We need to give Robinson, Mcburnie, etc more time to settle.
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Yes you might be right mate, however, how long do you give players "to settle" before you have to make a decision on whether they are going to make a valuable contribution to the club?
I don't think there's any magic number of weeks or months to put on that. The reason being that footballers are all very different. Some start out fantastic then drop off. Others start out slow, then turn fantastic. Some plod along like steady-Eddies, some come good very late in their careers, some not at all, and very few are on top form year after year.
So, it's really difficult to come to the decision that someone is not going to make it. It may just be that this is the wrong time, wrong place, for them. You might sell them next week and they turn into a superstar for someone else! Then what? Was that a wrong decision to get rid of them? Or was it the right thing to do for the club at the time?
Do you think Wilder should have given Chris Hussey more time to settle then? Because there's a player who Wilder signed and he didn't look he was capable of delivering, so Wilder was quick to get rid.
It's not easy is it?
I tell you what I've learned from watching football down the years, but also from personal experience.
You can achieve a lot with patience, but without it you can achieve even more.
And what I mean by that is this...
Yes, McBurnie, Robinson and "etc" that you mention, might all "come good" one day. But we cannot build a successful football club on the strength that players, with promise, might "come good" one day. They have to show us something now to convince us that it's worth giving them time. And in the meantime, we have to recruit and play players who ARE doing it now.
And that's kind of what's happening. Despite Wilder spending big dosh on McBurnie, Robinson and Freeman, they aren't getting in the squad. And they are not getting in the squad because others are clearly ahead of them right now, for playing reasons. If they want to get into the team then they have to justify that and they need to do it quickly - because there is no "settling in" period allowed when you are in a dog-fight in the toughest football competition in the world. It's really a case of, deliver or be damned. And I think Wilder understands that very well indeed. So how long they will continue at the club will depend on his view as to whether they can contribute at least on a par with those who are currently occupying the shirt, or not.
And if they can't - then...goodbye and thanks for trying.
That's it really. It's the law of the jungle and I think it's fair personally, and necessary.
