Wilder - 'January can't come soon enough'

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Anthony Patterson
Mark Travers

Hamza Choudhury
Nathaniel Clyne
Sam Byram
Connor Roberts
Adam Smith
Ki Jana Hoever
Matt Doherty
Matthew Pollock

Harry Souttar
Jamaal Lascelles
Joe Worrall
Willy Boly

Lewis Cook
Dan Neil
Tim Iroegbunam
Harrison Reed
Ilia Gruev
Josh Laurent
James Ward Prowse
Sam Morsy
Sam Field
Imran Louza

Omari Hutchinson
Josh Murphy
Largie Ramazani
Amario Cozier-Duberry
Davis Keillor-Dunn
Giorgi Chakvetadze

Evan Ferguson
Ashley Barnes
Yousef Salech

A list there to work through where most of them should be available/attainable and our inept scouts wont have to do too much work as all domestic based (Morsy aside).
Optimistic list. I think on average we're going to have to look at players a lot crapper than that
 

We can't just "shift out" loan players that are here on a season long loan unless there is a break clause in the agreement that gives us specific powers to do so.

Never ceases to puzzle me people think that we can just send loans back if we don't like them, and that's all there is to it.

We can sign as many loan players as we want, but how many can be in a match day squad is limited so signing more will raise the question "how many can we afford to pay knowing full well they'll never kick a first team ball?"
Granted I don’t know the details of the arrangements, and obviously that isn’t all there is to it.

I made an assumption that there are break clauses in contracts, which is something of a norm. Protects player if he isn’t playing, protects parent club if they get injuries etc. Or we can probably pay some sort of break clause to send them back.

We saw an example of this with Shea Charles recently.

I’ll wager, at least, Barry and Bindon are not here at the end of January. I also believe Bettis’s latest interview referred to loans in January, and there’s no chance we sign load more without some exiting.
 
A lot getting there knickers in a twist about this. The statement clearly is correct.

Our squad is bloated, full of shite and imbalanced. Unfortunately we likely need significant changes in January, and it may well ‘save the season’, as a few more points could be the difference between 21st and 22nd come May next year

I’m sure the players he wants to shift out already know they are on the way out (Barry, Bindon, Godfrey etc) regardless of a comment in the interview. Hardly throwing them under a bus.
I agree. It is quite possible that he has spoken individually to the players he wants to keep so that they remain motivated.
I think just 2/3 PL loans of quality and fitness are all that is needed to save us.
 
Won't be as easy getting good players in January when all we're playing for is not to get relegated. Usually the good players will have better options.
…not if they are just outside a PL squad and want to advertise themselves for transfer in the Summer.
 
Sounds like he's engineering his exit already to me. He can use the excuse that I didn't get the players I wanted in January so its not my fault then start saying it in interviews after the games and they will sack him again and he gets millions again. I'd let him have final say on signings in JAN then he has no excuses. I can see why they wouldnt let have final say though as his transfers havent been great when he has money to spend. Maybe a modest budget and let him sign players would be better as he has signed some gems for little cash but struggles when he has a decent budget.
 
Is there anybody on this forum that thinks we’d now have less points if Wilder hadn’t been sacked after the play off defeat?
 

TBF to Wilder Ive said the same thing as Im sure have many others, A chance to refresh the squad hopefully get rid of those players that are not good enough and replace them with some quality especially at the top end of the pitch. We cant do much else apart from hopefully getting Arblaster and Hamer back ASAP
 
Wilder said this again after the match and it is a view that is being echoed by many Unitedites on this forum and on social media. This viewpoint conveys a confidence we just need to get to the January transfer window, then everything will be rosey again. There are a number of obvious issues with this narrative:

In saying 'January can't come soon enough' Wilder is effectively saying to the current squad that he has very little faith in them. If he honestly has so little faith in them, fair enough, but the reality is he has to continue working with this current group for at least another 10-16 games. These sorts of statements are unlikely to do much to lift the morale and confidence of a beleaguered group of players.

Secondly, the January window is a notoriously difficult one to do business in. Quite a significant overhaul of the squad is required (and being hinted at) but is it realistic that we can expect to do anywhere near this about of business in terms of the number of outgoings and incomings? We can assume the January transfer budget will be relatively modest, so it's hard to see how that can cover the sort of overhaul that is being alluded to/is required.

Another elephant in the room is the fact that, unless there are some major changes behind the scenes in between now and January, the same recruitment department that oversaw the disastrous summer transfer window and the signing of Cannon in January will be orchestrating January's recruitment drive. This doesn't instil or inspire much confidence.

In all likelihood by the time 1st January comes around we will still be mired in a relegation battle. You would assume this will make it even harder to attract the calibre of players needed to get us out of this mess.

Assuming Wilder gets his wish and there are a good deal of comings and goings in January, how long is it going to take him to get his new team/squad to 'gel'? Once 1st February comes around we'll only have 16 games left to save our season.

In summary, despite what Wilder and some of the fans say and think, it's highly unlikely January will be a golden bullet. In reality, it's not a case of 'January not coming soon enough', but the end of the season not coming soon enough.
I read your post whilst "watching" the adam curtis documentary, Shifty.

We've no hope of understanding the complexity of the situation we've found ourselves in.

We have to conceed to our American money men overlords and hope for the best

We need support this weekend. They're on their arse.
 
The narrative from some around Wilder genuinely baffles me. Seems like people just don't like him and don't want him here but I'd rather they say that rather than not accepting that he is ultimately a very good championship manager and has overachieved in every season he's been here bar COVID.

Nobody looks at this squad and thinks it's good enough so why complain when Wilder states the obvious?

Order of events:
  • Wilder returns
  • Lots of contracts expire leaving a threadbare squad
  • Wilder builds a young top 3 championship squad with minimal investment while owners are looking to sell
  • Wilder and new owners have disagreements on transfer strategy for the following season
  • Wilder leaves
  • New owners implement their transfer strategy which is shown to be woefully inadequate
  • New owners panic and get some experienced heads in at the end of the window which means the squad is a bloated mess and those players are generally unfit which is why they're available
  • New owners go back to Wilder to fix the mess they've made
  • Wilder makes us more competitive in every game but realises there's major holes in the squad and we're on the losing end in tight games

Now we're hoping that we can be solid, pick up some points and then do good business in Jan.
But as the OP said the winter window is more limited. As with last year it will likely be a case of looking at out of favour players rather than number one targets
You missed out Wilders incredible out of this world January 25 window
What legends are made of
 

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