What is Wrong With Wilder?

[JayGreen17]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

 

[Older Blade]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

Good post...100% agree,

 

[54yrblade]

He's overseeing a team that he fails to get fit enough to play effectively, can't go anywhere near 90 minutes, can't cope with any sort of pressure and he's clearly lost the powers he had in 16 - 20.

It's not coming back either. Time to call it quits and move on.

 

[MayorOJC]

Why would he need to be anything other than complacent, slack and uninventive? We've proven we'll just give him the job back anyway.

 

[Peaktrade]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

100% words out of my own mouth!!

 

[Gysbrechts_tash]

Hard to disagree with a lot of this. I'm slightly surprised however at the speed fans are turning on wilder after two bad results. I know we're inconsistent but before the wba game we were doing pretty well? Not as well as Nov - Jan admittedly

 

[Toronto Blade]

We have some passengers that need to leave. Where have the strikers gone too if a midfielder doesn't score we are lost finishing by the strikers is in the gutter.There are chances every first half but poor finishing comes back to haunt us in the 2nd half players can't compete with the opposition.Wilder seems to think we can hold a 1 goal lead years gone by we could but with this group after 70 minutes they are done and the inevitable goal can be seen before it comes.

 

[KMC-1889]

Hard to disagree with a lot of this. I'm slightly surprised however at the speed fans are turning on wilder after two bad results. I know we're inconsistent but before the wba game we were doing pretty well? Not as well as Nov - Jan admittedly

It’s not been two bad results. It’s throwing away top of the league last season and losing p/o final to a team 16 points below you playing dogshit walking football.

It’s losing 12 games against some absolute dross this season.

It’s the constantly throwing away points because he can’t manage games.

It’s the chronic lack of fitness that has plagued us for years.

It’s the club being full of his old mates who aren’t up to the job.

It’s the picking fights with promising youth players and signing shite to replace them because they aren’t One Of The Lads.

 

[Digger]

Hard to disagree with a lot of this. I'm slightly surprised however at the speed fans are turning on wilder after two bad results. I know we're inconsistent but before the wba game we were doing pretty well? Not as well as Nov - Jan admittedly

I think its actually the performances in the last 2 games as much as the results.

 

[LBA_Blade]

If we are going with Wilder bingo it will be

10 x weird inhale type things he does

1st half we got the “press right” and got the goal

The players knew what they should be doing

It’s obviously not Wilders fault he just sets up everything

We need to do things to win a game of championship football

The punters are rightfully not going to be happy

We missed Pat

Pleased for Jairo

I was brought here to stop relegation and I have done that….

 

[Maurice Maurice]

What's wrong with Wilder? When he scuttled out the back door he lost a certain something. He absolved himself of any blame and while he wasn't the whole problem, his sulking was a fucking big part of it. When he came back, outwardly he appeared a little more humble and maybe open to changing things up to move us on from being a team that relies mainly on heart and stamina. The back end of last season, and the way we caved in second half of the play off final showed that we hadn't changed at all, and when we came up against poor teams who were organised and who were hungrier than us, we rolled over.

I didn't agree with sacking him, and I definitely didn't want fucking Selles but watching us now, and seeing us easily beaten by fucking terrible teams I fear the worst. He sets us up poorly in many games and even though it's patently obvious it's not working, I don't think he knows what to do. Norwich made a tweak today and we were all over the shop. It's plain to see but him and Knill just roll with it. It happens too much so something has to give.

UTBFTP

 

[JT89]

Hard to disagree with a lot of this. I'm slightly surprised however at the speed fans are turning on wilder after two bad results. I know we're inconsistent but before the wba game we were doing pretty well? Not as well as Nov - Jan admittedly

It hasn’t been 2 games though. Some of us have been saying and pointing out the same issues since he returned. It just wasn’t a popular opinion because the Wilder fanboys will scream and try to shut down anyone who questions his greatness.

 

[LBA_Blade]

Hard to disagree with a lot of this. I'm slightly surprised however at the speed fans are turning on wilder after two bad results. I know we're inconsistent but before the wba game we were doing pretty well? Not as well as Nov - Jan admittedly

I am not itk in the slightest but you do wonder on the message that is going out to the players, I know that we aren’t going out there to purposefully lose a game of football but other than the odd result since we started to pull clear of the relegation zone we haven’t exactly put in a decent performance either. In most pressers there is a deflection type of jibe hinted at Selles without Wilder saying it. He needs to take some ownership and just admit he got it wrong and to be honest if he did I think it would gain a lot more respect amongst all of the fan base rather than Captain Blade and his mates

 

[YES Blade]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

Great summary, whilst isn’t clearly been an improvement on Selles, my concern for a while is that we’ve now got the Boro/Watford version of Wilder.

He’ll stay and we’ll probably be an average mid table championship team, but I’d like to see us take a risk, which I know is easy to say when it’s not my money.

A change of direction would be great to see, completely modernise the structure. Let’s try and put something in place which could really move us up to a new level. But I think the owners will play it safe and stick with Wilder, hopefully they’re right and I’m wrong.

 

[JayGreen17]

I am not itk in the slightest but you do wonder on the message that is going out to the players, I know that we aren’t going out there to purposefully lose a game of football but other than the odd result since we started to pull clear of the relegation zone we haven’t exactly put in a decent performance either. In most pressers there is a deflection type of jibe hinted at Selles without Wilder saying it. He needs to take some ownership and just admit he got it wrong and to be honest if he did I think it would gain a lot more respect amongst all of the fan base rather than Captain Blade and his mates

I think this is why he gets next season, he’ll have the summer to clear out and build the team, within the financial restrictions that he wants, he will have no excuses then, if it doesn’t work next season then that’s him done, we move into a new era and the club need to be preparing for this with or without him, we need a medium to long term footballing strategy - which includes modernising the club from top to bottom. Do these owners have it in them?

 

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

Wilders cost us 20 pts since his return has he? I think you're forgetting the situation when he arrived...

Players heads have gone last 2 games as they know the seasons over. Don't let the rest of this season stress you, it's over.

 

[JayGreen17]

Great summary, whilst isn’t clearly been an improvement on Selles, my concern for a while is that we’ve now got the Boro/Watford version of Wilder.

He’ll stay and we’ll probably be an average mid table championship team, but I’d like to see us take a risk, which I know is easy to say when it’s not my money.

A change of direction would be great to see, completely modernise the structure. Let’s try and put something in place which could really move us up to a new level. But I think the owners will play it safe and stick with Wilder, hopefully they’re right and I’m wrong.

We tried the “risk” last season, I don’t have any confidence in the board to get it right without a modern strategic approach with a structure that supports the team and club to success, there’s absolutely no signs that will happen, without that the club is completely vulnerable and wide open to nose dive, at the minute Wilder is the club, and its debilitating to have so much reliance on him, even if he’s to stay we need to be restructuring the football side whether he likes it or not.

 

[JayGreen17]

Wilders cost us 20 pts since his return has he? I think you're forgetting the situation when he arrived...

Players heads have gone last 2 games as they know the seasons over. Don't let the rest of this season stress you, it's over.

I’m clearly not forgetting, it’s all over my post that he got us out of a very big hole and deserves a chance next year, or are you as selective in your replies as Wilder is in his post match interviews.

I’m not letting the season stress me, what are you on about? This post is on about the future and what he needs to look at.

 

[David Wheatley]

I think this is why he gets next season, he’ll have the summer to clear out and build the team, within the financial restrictions that he wants, he will have no excuses then, if it doesn’t work next season then that’s him done, we move into a new era and the club need to be preparing for this with or without him, we need a medium to long term footballing strategy - which includes modernising the club from top to bottom. Do these owners have it in them?

No these owners don’t have it in them

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

It hasn’t been 2 games though. Some of us have been saying and pointing out the same issues since he returned. It just wasn’t a popular opinion because the Wilder fanboys will scream and try to shut down anyone who questions his greatness.

Before he returned we were going down. In recent years gone by teams losing the first 6 struggle and go down. He deserves praise on keeping us up.

We do need to move on from CW but like I've asked before, who's your replacement? He was the right man after Selles for the short term and the proof is there.

We couldn't buy a fucking draw nevermind a win. Think alot are forgetting how in danger we were and desperate.

 

[SouthStandGBlock]

Great OP.

COH have got a difficult decision.

They made a tough decision last season but despite making the right decision picked the wrong bloke.

CW has done a good job since he came back, but all the old weaknesses seem to be resurfacing.

I think they'll stick with Wilder for now but if I were them I'd be already interviewing his replacement,. I certainly wouldn't give him much money in the summer, as he can't spend it well when he has it. I'd keep him as a temporary fix still, but he isn't the long term answer.

Mark 1 - Fantastic (until the flounce)

Mark 2 - Functional but boring

Mark 3 - Functional and getting boring

 

[JT89]

Before he returned we were going down. In recent years gone by teams losing the first 6 struggle and go down. He deserves praise on keeping us up.

We do need to move on from CW but like I've asked before, who's your replacement? He was the right man after Selles for the short term and the proof is there.

We couldn't buy a fucking draw nevermind a win. Think alot are forgetting how in danger we were and desperate.

I don’t buy into the belief that he was the only person who could have turned things around with the squad we had available this season. Nevertheless I do agree he deserves the credit for turning things around, but now we need to look to the future and how we progress and I don’t think he can take us any further.

As for who I’d suggest to replace him, I’ve no idea.

I couldn’t even tell you who the manager of most other championship clubs is because I don’t really care. I don’t have the time/interest to keep up with what’s going on in the wider football world, I just watch as many of our games as I can and judge our manager based on that and their pre/post match interviews.

 

[Alex Cheeseright]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

I wish none of this was true but it is. Changes? Good luck

 

[Champagneblade]

POOR SIGNINGS
January has been another disaster. If we were going to go for it, we should have acted early in the transfer window. Instead, we wasted too much time and ended up bringing in players on high wages who are unfit and rusty. The club also has to take responsibility here. This pattern of late panic activity in the window has to stop. It’s been damaging the club for the last four seasons. We’ve wasted millions on expensive late signings that make little sense, especially when we realistically had no chance of making the playoffs.

POOR FITNESS
Need I say more? We’re being shown up by other teams physically. Players are blowing out of their backsides after 50 minutes, and some look like they’re carrying excess weight. Fitness and conditioning are part of the culture installed by the manager, and right now that culture isn’t good enough for a professional club. You could probably put a points tally on fitness alone in terms of games we’ve let slip.

POOR DECISION MAKING
Whether it’s the starting lineup, substitutions, or the lack of them, the list of “what the hell?” moments is endless.
Fans can often see what’s coming long before anything changes, but the manager seems blind to it. How many points have we lost because changes came too late — or didn’t come at all? Take today as an example. Everyone could see what was happening, yet he took off our best player, made the team weaker, and then we conceded. At times it’s genuinely mind-boggling. There’s no Plan B. Is it a lack of football intelligence? Is he becoming a footballing dinosaur while other managers move forward tactically? Or is it just stubbornness — maybe a bit of both?

WEAK MENTALITY
We look ill-disciplined and mentally fragile. That could partly be confidence, but it still falls on the manager to instil belief and resilience.
How many points have we dropped from winning positions this season? I’d guess 15 or more. Instead of pushing to win games, we often retreat into defending, trying to hold on.This has been happening ever since the first Premier League relegation season. It almost feels like that experience scarred the mentality of the team and the manager, and we haven’t truly recovered. And regardless of what he says publicly, how a manager sets up the team absolutely shapes how they behave on the pitch.


All of these issues have nothing to do with individual player ability. They are structural, cultural, and decision-making problems. I honestly think these factors alone could have cost us up to 20 points since his return. Before we even start talking about rebuilding the squad, these underlying issues have to be addressed. Wilder needs to take a long, honest look at himself, reflect on what’s gone wrong, and start putting things right.

The club probably won’t sack him this summer. They’ve stared into the League One abyss before, and they won’t want to repeat that mistake. He did come in when we were in a massive hole and helped stabilise things, and for that he probably deserves one more season.
But he’ll know that if things don’t improve quickly, that will be it. He needs to completely rethink the approach, shake things up across the club, and maybe bring in a younger, modern coach to work alongside him.

The club also need a plan, because as yet there absolutely no visible signs of a strategy without Wilder…

Address the issues above, rebuild the squad properly, and maybe — just maybe — we’ll have a real chance next season.

Wilder talks about culture carriers.

We either don’t have enough or the culture is wrong to have gone from winning on the hour the last two games to ending up with one point.