The strength of our squad.

[raul]

And if that was all there was to CW I'm sure he'd be gone but that's clearly not the case is It? Everything we see and hear from him and his team is the most professional we've ever had.

Probably one for JimPhipps but why would the Prince buy into such a "working class" club if he was horrified by people having a drink instead of something like Swindon or MK?

 

[Woodwardfan]

And if that was all there was to CW I'm sure he'd be gone but that's clearly not the case is It? Everything we see and hear from him and his team is the most professional we've ever had.

Probably one for JimPhipps but why would the Prince buy into such a "working class" club if he was horrified by people having a drink instead of something like Swindon or MK?

You know that and I know that and said so above; the size of the current momentum and opportunity is almost unprecedented in my time as a supporter. I desperately hope the Prince understands that.

BTW they like a drink in Swindon too.

 

[Slug]

And if that was all there was to CW I'm sure he'd be gone but that's clearly not the case is It? Everything we see and hear from him and his team is the most professional we've ever had.

Probably one for JimPhipps but why would the Prince buy into such a "working class" club if he was horrified by people having a drink instead of something like Swindon or MK?

The same Prince who recently described CW as ‘The messiah’ in a recent interview....
Don’t worry, he values CW just as much as we all do and i expect him to fully back him

 

[finlaytheblade]

Agree re strategy/ big picture but I honestly think the pace of extra investment will be dictated by the Prince these days, though KM will match it presumably.

I just hope the Prince and his advisors have the where-withall to know how big this Wilder momentum is and that this kind of opportunity comes along once a flood. We are still on the crest of a wave which will start to falter and renew at times. The investment can keep that upward lift going longer and longer rather than petering out and there will be opportunities to catch the next wave.

Does the Prince really think Wilder is big enough or good enough to see this momentum through to mid-table Premier League? Maybe, but maybe not and he just may have that normal foreign investor vision of a 'big name' at the helm by the time we arrive in the Prem. My instinct tells me that the Peroni-swilling , working class Stocksbridge 'old school' manager may not sit comfortably with Saudi culture or their vision of a blueprint global image which these foreign investors yearn. I hope I'm wrong but I would prefer McCabe in main charge these next two years.

I don't think Wilder would mind if he had to stand down after he's acheaved his goals, we know what they are.He could enjoy the fruits of his labours ! back to being a fan,I think though he maybe will always have an input as the owners know what a big fan he is.

 

[cahill]

Pre-season players may have been reluctant to join us, can’t see that being a problem in the JTW.

 

[I should coco]

So , one fine day , sooner or later , Chris will be forced to drop Billy , like happens to an out of form striker at any club.

Thanks for pointing out he is completely out of form as I hadn't appreciated that. I can now see he has only manged 8 'lucky' goals so far this season.

His shots on target % is higher than any other striker in the Championship, so they must all be out of form too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/top-scorers

 

[8lade]

But the 4 strikers are a waste of wages thus far.

n my mind we really need a third proper striker who can challenge Clarke/Sharp for a place.

Agree with both the above statements but I'm hoping that the 3rd striker is already at the club, just trying to get fit again. If Lavery and Evans were fit I'd have them both on the bench at least.

 

[8lade]

Given that a 'guaranteed' (there are no guarantees) Championship quality striker would cost around about 10 million quid, we probably can't afford one yet!
Gayle 10m
Rhodes 10m
Gray 9m
Hogan 9m

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Wilder has gone on record many times and said he won’t put the clubs future at risk by spending multi millions on players, he also went as far as naming clubs that have done so.

He has also said many times he doesn’t want players here who are just here for a payday.

These things combined mean in January our recruitment will remain the same as the last 3 Windows Wilder has had.

Which is fine by me as it’s worked so far.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

As regards the ‘drinking’ Chris is his own man and I very much doubt Mcabe would allow him to be sacked for this.

 

[Harrisblade]

Does the Prince really think Wilder is big enough or good enough to see this momentum through to mid-table Premier League? Maybe, but maybe not and he just may have that normal foreign investor vision of a 'big name' at the helm by the time we arrive in the Prem. My instinct tells me that the Peroni-swilling , working class Stocksbridge 'old school' manager may not sit comfortably with Saudi culture or their vision of a blueprint global image which these foreign investors yearn. I hope I'm wrong but I would prefer McCabe in main charge these next two years.

WWF - I don't think that this is in any way relevant to the JTW, or indeed this season at all.
Our focus atm is achieving promotion,which is already an upgrade from achieving survival ))
Who knows what will happen at the end of the season, but that is the next chapter!
I'm sure that both HRH and KMac will support CW in the next transfer window, what happens if we are succesful can wait

 

[The Crab]

As regards the ‘drinking’ Chris is his own man and I very much doubt Mcabe would allow him to be sacked for this.

Shouldn't really matter as long as he can do his job. But you can bet your life it will start to matter to some people if we have a bad run.

 

[cahill]

There's a bit of a commonly held belief that JTW business, in general, is not good business. Desperate purchases, over-inflated prices, etc etc. Whilst I see the logic, and you can find examples of these, there's also no reason why any team can't make astute purchases to push or repair their squad.

Many managers are either stubborn to a fault, always picking the same favourites no matter what, or tinkerers who have no idea who their best team is and chop and change seemingly at random. Wilder is neither of these. In general he sticks with his squad and introduces changes slowly, rather than making wholesale shake-ups. I think one of his biggest strengths is continuously adapting his squad to the current situation.

As such, I think he's almost in a better position to sign players in the middle of the season rather than in the summer. He has hard data every week- the actual matches themselves- upon which to judge his squad and freshen it up or upgrade with signings who give us the attributes we are lacking.

I think we should use this to our advantage and be bold rather than cautious in the JTW. And I don't mean spunkin' moneh obviously, because we know Wilder isn't going to do that anyway, so it doesn't even enter the equation.

Wish I could “spunk money” I’d be a billionaire by now !

 

[cahill]

WWF - I don't think that this is in any way relevant to the JTW, or indeed this season at all.
Our focus atm is achieving promotion,which is already an upgrade from achieving survival ))
Who knows what will happen at the end of the season, but that is the next chapter!
I'm sure that both HRH and KMac will support CW in the next transfer window, what happens if we are succesful can wait

The weird thing is i’m personally not bothered about seeing United in the Prem, although the money would come in handy, secure the future of the club and would piss off the likes of the Pitsmoor Armed Robber, Romish Mick and the rest of the unclean

 

[Keen Blade]

Thanks for pointing out he is completely out of form as I hadn't appreciated that. I can now see he has only manged 8 'lucky' goals so far this season.

His shots on target % is higher than any other striker in the Championship, so they must all be out of form too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/top-scorers

I said one fine day ......and to me he's looked tired in last two games.....what's wrong with a rest ?

 

[I should coco]

I said one fine day

Fair enough.

what's wrong with a rest ?

Billy doesn't necessarily score goals 'after a rest'. He has always had periods in his career of scoring and not scoring. Resting him won't necessarily bring him back sharper (no pun intended). If you have a better goal scoring alternative then I can see the sense in dropping him, but we don't, so until then he stays in the team.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Brooks goal return is woeful compared to Sharp and Clarke.

Therefore you start the 2 that are most likely to get you goals.

During November apart from Carruthers goal all goals were from our front two.

Why anyone would drop 50% of our goal threat is beyond me.

 

[JimPhipps]

The same Prince who recently described CW as ‘The messiah’ in a recent interview....
Don’t worry, he values CW just as much as we all do and i expect him to fully back him

Correct answer!

 

[Newbury Blade]

If we are going to do anything in January, it has to be to bring in two/three players who can drive us forward, and keep the momentum going. So we really need to be looking at players who are good enough to come into the team. We dont need to change things too much, and Wilder has said this - but any team needs to keep improving to keep being successful.

For me, a Coutts replacment is pretty essential as is some power/pace. If Wilder wants a plan B, which requires a different type of player, we dont have then we also need to act in the window.

This all depends on our board. I suspect there ambition for this season does not match that of Wilder's. But let's see what happens in January.

Why do you suspect that, out of interest? Do you think the board don’t want the money and prestige that come with Premier League football? Why wouldn’t they be ambitious for that? Genuine questions.

 

[Keen Blade]

I can't see a way back for him after that 9 day goal drought either.

Tee-hee !
I know what you mean Tyler , I really do.
If there's a player in a scoring position , I want that player to be Billy (well , or Leon , of late).
And Billy's love for the club and desire for it to succeed can't be questioned.
So naturally it's easy for all of to love him back.
30 goals for promotion puts him in more credit than any striker we've had since the Deano days.

All I am saying is that scoring is not the only function of a striker , because no striker will score every game.
And no manager will drop a striker simply because he hasn't scored.
There are other aspects to a strikers game , which , if he is doing them well , will see him stay in the side.

I just get the feeling after the last 2 home games that Billy needs a rest.
The fact he hasn't scored is neither here nor there.
I don't think he done well at the other aspects of a strikers game and has been dominated by defenders.

He tends to get subbed off , which is unfortunate for a captain.
The fact that he is 'Billy the biggest Blade of them all' & the captain , in my view , is a bit of an inhibition for CW , despite the latter claiming "I'll never let sentiment inhibit my decision-making".

If you put this together with the fact that CW obviously feels his other specialists (Hansen, Donaldson) are behind the new kid in town (Brook's, a number 10 , who isn't trusted with a starting place) , then we have no one actually pushing the front 2 for their starting place , which isn't the Wilder Way (proper competition for all positions).

So when the standards of Billy (or Leon) slip , what's the next move for CW ?

Maybe Donaldson's still feeling his hamstring ? Despite being on the bench. I don't know.
But what I do know is that there'll be a striker out there in January (maybe Cole , maybe not) who should come in an offer some competition for a starting place.

And if , in response , Billy ups his general game , there'll be no one happier than me.
Because we'll look more of a threat going forward.
And when that scoring chance comes , he'll bury it.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Tee-hee !
I know what you mean Tyler , I really do.
If there's a player in a scoring position , I want that player to be Billy (well , or Leon , of late).
And Billy's love for the club and desire for it to succeed can't be questioned.
So naturally it's easy for all of to love him back.
30 goals for promotion puts him in more credit than any striker we've had since the Deano days.

All I am saying is that scoring is not the only function of a striker , because no striker will score every game.
And no manager will drop a striker simply because he hasn't scored.
There are other aspects to a strikers game , which , if he is doing them well , will see him stay in the side.

I just get the feeling after the last 2 home games that Billy needs a rest.
The fact he hasn't scored is neither here nor there.
I don't think he done well at the other aspects of a strikers game and has been dominated by defenders.

He tends to get subbed off , which is unfortunate for a captain.
The fact that he is 'Billy the biggest Blade of them all' & the captain , in my view , is a bit of an inhibition for CW , despite the latter claiming "I'll never let sentiment inhibit my decision-making".

If you put this together with the fact that CW obviously feels his other specialists (Hansen, Donaldson) are behind the new kid in town (Brook's, a number 10 , who isn't trusted with a starting place) , then we have no one actually pushing the front 2 for their starting place , which isn't the Wilder Way (proper competition for all positions).

So when the standards of Billy (or Leon) slip , what's the next move for CW ?

Maybe Donaldson's still feeling his hamstring ? Despite being on the bench. I don't know.
But what I do know is that there'll be a striker out there in January (maybe Cole , maybe not) who should come in an offer some competition for a starting place.

And if , in response , Billy ups his general game , there'll be no one happier than me.
Because we'll look more of a threat going forward.
And when that scoring chance comes , he'll bury it.

You've got a point to be fair. I can actually see a case for resting Sharp on Saturday. Maybe the fact that he's played three games quite close together means he's been off the boil a bit.
Only problem is, I'm not sure what the options for his replacement are right now.

Donaldson if he's at his best wouldn't be a bad idea. I like him a lot from the little I've seen. Problem is, maybe he's struggling with injury more than we thought like you say.
Ideally I'd have Lavery up there, but there's no indication that he's ready for action again yet. Hanson despite what a lot of people think of him is useful for upsetting defences, but he can only really be useful when the opposition are defending deeper.

At the moment, we probably just need to ride it out with the injuries. I know there's a temptation to use Brooks as a forward, but for me he's much more valuable for the service he provides down the right.

Either way, I'm really glad I don't have the headache of trying to figure it out.

 

[Keen Blade]

Me too.

 

[Sean Thornton]

You've got a point to be fair. I can actually see a case for resting Sharp on Saturday. Maybe the fact that he's played three games quite close together means he's been off the boil a bit.
Only problem is, I'm not sure what the options for his replacement are right now.

Donaldson if he's at his best wouldn't be a bad idea. I like him a lot from the little I've seen. Problem is, maybe he's struggling with injury more than we thought like you say.
Ideally I'd have Lavery up there, but there's no indication that he's ready for action again yet. Hanson despite what a lot of people think of him is useful for upsetting defences, but he can only really be useful when the opposition are defending deeper.

At the moment, we probably just need to ride it out with the injuries. I know there's a temptation to use Brooks as a forward, but for me he's much more valuable for the service he provides down the right.

Either way, I'm really glad I don't have the headache of trying to figure it out.

That's some reverse ferret TD

 

[Tyler Durden]

That's some reverse ferret TD

Well I was in danger of becoming a one-trick pony wasn't I?

 

[tomtheblade]

Wish I could “spunk money” I’d be a billionaire by now !

Haha true, but so would half of the rest of the world! What a weird economy that would be..

 

[Tommoblade66]

be reyt