Wilder interview on Sky Sports News

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Sure knows how to wank himself off doesn’t he. Bizarre that they picked out ramsdale and berge to judge his recruitment, not brewster and mcburnie. Wish him well but he clearly still hasn’t matured enough to self-reflect on what actually went wrong.
 



What planet are you on he took a team from mid-table league one finish to 9th in the premier league on the lowest budget in every league bar league one

Only a bad 6 months ended that which unfortunately for CW is only what people remember
That’s sort of my point.. I view Wilder in the context of all of his achievements. A Premier League Club owner will look at what he did in the top division.
 
Hysterical how much people's opinions of Wilder have been warped, 3/10 ffs 😂
Great manager, absolutely brilliant, superb football, absolutely loved his tenure, however as I said, you can look at it anyway you like, once he had access to big money he spent £120m on transfers and in doing so made the ‘team’ worse.

True or False?🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Hysterical how much people's opinions of Wilder have been warped, 3/10 ffs 😂

Same can be said for people's memories of Bassett.

They are a joke nowadays, but some people today can't understand what it was like to beat Wednesday twice that season. We'd had their cock & balls stuck up are arses for a decade, had our noses rubbed in it and we bummed them at our place, then dry bummed them & spat in the hole at theirs. Took the piss on & off the field.

Never forget that; with a side worth a 10th of theirs. Forget pretty triangles down by the touch line and overloads, we played direct, positive, powerful football and taught them a lesson twice.
 
Great manager, absolutely brilliant, superb football, absolutely loved his tenure, however as I said, you can look at it anyway you like, once he had access to big money he spent £120m on transfers and in doing so made the ‘team’ worse.

True or False?🤷🏻‍♂️
Unless you'd rather have Madine and Clarke than Brewster and McBurnie they didn't make the team worse.

Big money signings make up a small percentage of our transfers over the past 4 years, singling them out is just petty. Even judging all of those, Egan, Berge, Ramsdale, Mousset, McBurnie and Bogle are all still decent signings.

That's forgetting all the club legends he signed for next to nowt: Duffy, O'Connell, Fleck, McGoldrick, Baldock, Stevens etc. Our transfers under Wilder were amazing, focusing on a few that still have time to come good is just pathetic imo.
 
Unless you'd rather have Madine and Clarke than Brewster and McBurnie they didn't make the team worse.

Big money signings make up a small percentage of our transfers over the past 4 years, singling them out is just petty. Even judging all of those, Egan, Berge, Ramsdale, Mousset, McBurnie and Bogle are all still decent signings.

That's forgetting all the club legends he signed for next to nowt: Duffy, O'Connell, Fleck, McGoldrick, Baldock, Stevens etc. Our transfers under Wilder were amazing, focusing on a few that still have time to come good is just pathetic imo.
Well since you didn’t read my post or chose to ignore what I said there seems little point in any further discussion, save for one last point.

I think you would be in the minority of supporters who would rather have Brewster/McBurnie as opposed to Madine/Clarke and £40m,

Why don’t you have a poll?
 
Well since you didn’t read my post or chose to ignore what I said there seems little point in any further discussion, save for one last point.

I think you would be in the minority of supporters who would rather have Brewster/McBurnie as opposed to Madine/Clarke and £40m,

Why don’t you have a poll?
Apologies if I didn't read your post well enough, not being paying full attention.

Was replying to this though which, when considering Wilder's full tenure, seems wrong:

"Don’t get me wrong Wilder was a brilliant manager and during his tenure I think we played probably the best football I’ve ever seen from a United side in 50 years, but his transfer dealings were generally….3/10 at best"
 
Because no one actually believes the Prince.
You‘ve been on the pigs deludemol if you think that no one believes the prince, what I've seen the majority do, I’m pretty sure there was a good ol poll about it it too…Wilder bottled it, he’s no Blade…
 
Unless you'd rather have Madine and Clarke than Brewster and McBurnie they didn't make the team worse.

Big money signings make up a small percentage of our transfers over the past 4 years, singling them out is just petty. Even judging all of those, Egan, Berge, Ramsdale, Mousset, McBurnie and Bogle are all still decent signings.

That's forgetting all the club legends he signed for next to nowt: Duffy, O'Connell, Fleck, McGoldrick, Baldock, Stevens etc. Our transfers under Wilder were amazing, focusing on a few that still have time to come good is just pathetic imo.

Blimey, you're taking it too far. Our squad last season (and this because it's the same bloody players) was the most unbalanced I've ever seen, overloaded with goalkeepers who were never in with a remote chance of playing and strikers without a remote chance of scoring, with zero midfield options and no cover whatsoever in the most critical area of all - and with PL starts handed out to lads who, quite frankly, should never have been anywhere near a PL side, and certainly never will again.

This blighted his first 3 and three quarter years without question, and it's left me wondering whether he really is a good manager at the top level, or if he just got lucky with a formation and team balance that he won't be able to repeat?

We'll find out in due course one way or the other.
 
Blimey, you're taking it too far. Our squad last season (and this because it's the same bloody players) was the most unbalanced I've ever seen, overloaded with goalkeepers who were never in with a remote chance of playing and strikers without a remote chance of scoring, with zero midfield options and no cover whatsoever in the most critical area of all - and with PL starts handed out to lads who, quite frankly, should never have been anywhere near a PL side, and certainly never will again.

This blighted his first 3 and three quarter years without question, and it's left me wondering whether he really is a good manager at the top level, or if he just got lucky with a formation and team balance that he won't be able to repeat?

We'll find out in due course one way or the other.
Didn't we have 3 goalkeepers, the normal amount?

All Wilder's success previous to us answers whether or not he is a good manager pretty conclusively.
 
Wilder did a very good job when he ran things in the same way that he ran the Bradway football team.
Ask Him to sign players on big money he got it wrong
Ask him to buy and subsequently manage anyone from out of the U.K. other than Berge, he got it wrong although rip van winkle was probably responsible for Berge
Ask him to provide a balanced squad ?
Ask him why he kept picking Lundstram?
Ask him to change tactics ?

all in all when the going got tough and he was asked to make bigger decisions or to change things, he was found wanting.

that will always count against him and is the reason why he is not currently managing in the premiership or top end championship.
 
It is good to see some respect towards Wilder. Some of the comments about him in the last 12 months have needed putting in context: he gave us the most enjoyable 4 years of football at the Lane in my lifetime. I started going in 1953, and saw Hagen, Joe Shaw, Currie, Deano (Brian), etc. with excellent managers such as John Harris, Basset, etc. In my view (and it is an opinion others will view differently), 2016-20 were my best 4 years of following the Blades. And we old-timers generally look at the past with rose-coloured specs. Wilder created, from the depths of the 3rd tier, something unique, gave us a unity and passion for the club, which was truly special. It all went wrong, and different reasons can be found to explain it all, but I have found it astonishing that a significant number of Blades appear to have forgotten what he achieved: took us from stagnation to the top half of the PL in an astonishingly short space of time, provided the most memorable of experiences (Bouncing Day, promotion celebration, etc.), gave us the belief that we could compete at the top level, and that we could begin to look at a stable future. Whatever went wrong (pandemic, poor signings, divided ownership, tactical inflexibility, etc.) can be debated at length, but none of us should forget the magnificent 4 years he gave us all. Remarkable.
Respect for your longevity and you make some fair points. However having a run of not winning for 20 matches and not being able to manage resources to improve the club in what might be a once in a lifetime opportunity leaves me cold.
History I feel will not be kind to Wilder
 



That’s sort of my point.. I view Wilder in the context of all of his achievements. A Premier League Club owner will look at what he did in the top division.
I agree. As much of a fan of Wilder as I am I think it will be a Championship club that takes a punt on him, one that is probably struggling a little. Failing that a big League 1 club would not be the worst step for him right now either; someone like Sunderland, Portsmouth, Bolton, Ipswich or even Charlton who he was close to going to previously would be great options for him. Big clubs but less expectation right now but a chance to bring them through like the Blades.
 
Wilder did a very good job when he ran things in the same way that he ran the Bradway football team.
Ask Him to sign players on big money he got it wrong
Ask him to buy and subsequently manage anyone from out of the U.K. other than Berge, he got it wrong although rip van winkle was probably responsible for Berge
Ask him to provide a balanced squad ?
Ask him why he kept picking Lundstram?
Ask him to change tactics ?

all in all when the going got tough and he was asked to make bigger decisions or to change things, he was found wanting.

that will always count against him and is the reason why he is not currently managing in the premiership or top end championship.
Love what CWAK achieved. I may be way of the mark but IMO Chris ended up physically and
Mentally tired and was unable to fulfil his and the Club’s progress
 
Unless you'd rather have Madine and Clarke than Brewster and McBurnie they didn't make the team worse.

Big money signings make up a small percentage of our transfers over the past 4 years, singling them out is just petty. Even judging all of those, Egan, Berge, Ramsdale, Mousset, McBurnie and Bogle are all still decent signings.

That's forgetting all the club legends he signed for next to nowt: Duffy, O'Connell, Fleck, McGoldrick, Baldock, Stevens etc. Our transfers under Wilder were amazing, focusing on a few that still have time to come good is just pathetic imo.
Very true. There have been some big signings that have not worked out up to this point, there is no denying that. The problem for Brewster and even McBurnie to an extent is that they have come in at a time that the club is struggling. Who knows with a bot of confidence if Brewster can get going again.

But you are bang on when you mention the many transfers that Wilder got right. Even the likes of Leon Clarke and Jake Wright proved to be shrewd and brilliant signings. Overall Wilder got a lot right, yes he spent 120 million but let's not forget the squad was in dire need of updating as he had taken many from League 1 with him. Time will tell on Brewster and McBurnie but it looks like Rammers and Berge may prove to be very good signings if you can make profit on them too.
 
Didn't we have 3 goalkeepers, the normal amount?

All Wilder's success previous to us answers whether or not he is a good manager pretty conclusively.

Ramsdale, Verrips, Foderingham, Moore if I'm not mistaken. And 3 of those were never going to play.

Wilder's success previous to us was in the National League and L2. I said we'll find out if he can really manage at the top level because that's open to question, anyone can have a good season, as Phil Brown can testify, and there's been lots of one-season wonders. And does anyone really believe, despite his incredibly successful career that Warnock can manage at "the top level"?

As for signings, I don't expect them all to work out, but it's like Morrison, Robinson (we swapped him for worse), Freeman, Rodwell, Foderingham and Lowe never happened. That's in addition to the others who were either flops or we didn't get the best out of, depending on how charitable you're feeling.
 
I loved Bassett but he joined us when we were in Division 2 and left us in Division 2, in an era when there was no Sky money and no champions league income for the top four. The wage gap between the two divisions then isn’t comparable with now. Bassett was well and truly stitched up by the board though. So it’s a difficult comparison.

With Wilder, whilst he spent more money than any other manager before us, that’s hardly surprising given the increase in finances in the PL in the twelve years we were out of it. He could have spent half of what he did and it would still have been more than anyone else. What is important is that, relative to the other PL clubs, he didn’t spend that much, just the PL money. Just like with Warnock, we went down with one of the smallest wage bills in the league.
Great post. If you take a club from league 1 to the Premier League you are going to have to spend big along the way, or as Wilder did, spend big when you get there. So those saying he spent more than any other manager, of course he did, he has had to because he has been successful. The only way to avoid spending big money in football these days is to stay exactly where you are and stagnate, and even that does not last long as you fall so far behind that you invariably get relegated anyway. Whether the spending/signings have been successful is another issue altogether. It seems most are not criticizing the spending so much as the success of the players but only time will tell if they are worth it value wise.

We must not forget that the wages were a factor in who you could realistically bring in too which limited the options to an extent. We also do not know to what degree the board may have had in the players brought in? Certainly in all my years of following Wilder he tends to not bring in young players that need developing and actually does not have a great track record of developing the younger talents. So you wonder what input the board had on the players recruited; perhaps the Prince (as he has said on record, asset value is very important to him) wanted younger players that would retain their value. Obviously this is not a bad strategy in of itself and is the way go and the way Leicester are doing it. However, if you also are not paying competitive wages AND you are needing value retention it does severely limit your market. If this is the case, you can see why Wilder felt he could not really go on if he felt he was being hampered, a manager lives and dies by their decisions and most know this, but very different scenario living and dying by others decisions.
 
We advanced through the leagues too quickly for some of our players, momentum kept us going through that first premier season, but those players had to be putting 8/10 minimum performances based on their ability. They couldn’t keep it up, especially without us lot behind them.

There have been mistakes in the transfer market but in that league £20m doesn’t get you a proven striker at that level, despite it being a ridiculous amount of money. A lot of the transfers were gambles, also not the first choice ones in some cases if we believe some things we read.
We need to spend some now though and build rather than destroy
 
I loved Bassett but he joined us when we were in Division 2 and left us in Division 2

Whilst that might be factually true, it misses out 99% of the story. I wonder if people also claim that Brian Clough didn’t achieve anything at Forest, because he joined them in Division 2 and left them in Division 2?
 
My take on that interview is he hasn’t managed to get a job and this is desperation setting in by shop windowing / come and get me tactics. Can see him and Knill turning up at a good L1 side or poor championship side by Christmas
 
Whilst that might be factually true, it misses out 99% of the story. I wonder if people also claim that Brian Clough didn’t achieve anything at Forest, because he joined them in Division 2 and left them in Division 2?
I haven’t said Bassett didn’t achieve anything. His time here was some of the best years I’ve seen as a Blade. As was Warnock’s and as was Wilder’s, both of whom have been heavily criticised on here, not just as managers but as people. And if we’re trying to compare the three, which I then went on to say is difficult because it’s difficult to compare managers in different eras, one does need to look at the facts. And maybe accept that they all did a good job under difficult circumstances.
 
Love what CWAK achieved. I may be way of the mark but IMO Chris ended up physically and
Mentally tired and was unable to fulfil his and the Club’s progress
I agree that CW was mentally tired and the Prince having assured him that he would retain his job if relegated, CW should possibly have been offered a sabbatical until the end of the season and come back refreshed to commence another promotion attempt. Not sure (in the macho world of football) having a sabbatical would have done anything for his future job prospects but it can't have been much worse than his present situation ( ignoring the financial situation!).

We advanced through the leagues too quickly for some of our players, momentum kept us going through that first premier season, but those players had to be putting 8/10 minimum performances based on their ability. They couldn’t keep it up, especially without us lot behind them.
I think it was a case of too much too soon but I doubt any team would avoid a chance of promotion and it might have been a blessing in disguise if we had missed out on promotion, had an extra year in the Championship with the opportunity to further develop the team.
 
I haven’t said Bassett didn’t achieve anything. His time here was some of the best years I’ve seen as a Blade. As was Warnock’s and as was Wilder’s, both of whom have been heavily criticised on here, not just as managers but as people. And if we’re trying to compare the three, which I then went on to say is difficult because it’s difficult to compare managers in different eras, one does need to look at the facts. And maybe accept that they all did a good job under difficult circumstances.

Yeah sorry - I wasn't meaning to moan at you for that statement. It's just that it gets trotted out a lot in support of claims that Bassett wasn't a good manager.

You're absolutely right that comparing the three of them is futile. We should just be glad that we had three passionate managed who all helped drag us out of the doldrums and get us feeling proud of United again.
 



Respect for your longevity and you make some fair points. However having a run of not winning for 20 matches and not being able to manage resources to improve the club in what might be a once in a lifetime opportunity leaves me cold.
History I feel will not be kind to Wilder
You have picked up why I focussed on the 4-year period. I haven’t done an analysis of every 4-year period since 1953, but based my post on the experience of watching Utd 2016-20. Football for me is the experience of being in a crowd, preferably with family/friends, and being absorbed in the moment. The moments we were given by Wilder were unique in my experience, and over a sustained period. As one of my friends always says of good experiences ‘They can’t take that away from you’. I feel some on here are trying to do just that. At the time I often thought, and sometimes posted, that those who were turning Wilder into a god should remember that when things go wrong, and I think there is quite a bit of amnesia at the moment.
That things went wrong is undeniable, and more difficult to judge (was it pandemic, split ownership, inflexible tactics, poor spending of transfer money, etc?). Lots of factors are involved, no doubt. But 4 great seasons and one terrible season is about as good as it gets. Nobody should try to take those 4 seasons away from us.
 

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