Wilders next signing are crucal.

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Antonb

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Don't get me wrong, I love Wilder and his love for the blades cannot be questioned. However I do feel that his summer recruitment has been found a bit wanting. Maybe due to no experience dealing in the championship. For me his next 2 or 3 signing have to be good ones for us to secure a mid table finish. I feel the current squad will be in a battle to keep out of a relegation fight at the end of the season if not. Fingers crossed that Chris and his team are getting the backing that they need to improve the squad, not just to make the numbers up.
 



See, whilst I think his recruitment has been very astute in a comparatively limited budget, when compared to the rest of the league.

Players bang in form last season, and in their division's team of the season, plucking from the best of the teams around us last year, young, sell on value, room to improve and grow: Lundstram, Baldock, Carruthers, Stevens. I expect them all to come on over time - but they don't have the wow factor right now.
 
Relax, we've just lost to a side that won the premier league 15 months ago. They actually played last night like they did when they won it too. We had them pinned down for much of the game and played well, but they're just insanely good on the break and going forward. We lack a few players, but on the whole I think recruitment has been as good as we could hope budgetwise. Let's see what happens over the final week of the window. Regardless, with Wilder in charge we will be safe. If we recruit well, who knows where we could end up
 
He's filled the squad out, as was necessary. These were all early deals, probably ones he thought were excellent value and couldn't be passed up on.

It's clear he sees Lenihan as a starter and Coady as a starter, hence the much larger bids and struggling to get anywhere with them.

Improvements on our first team players are likely to be first team players for other clubs, so will always be more difficult to get over the line.
 
Rodley said:
Need 10 games to assess team & squad.
Click to expand...
Wrong.

Constantly evolving process. That's in the now, not in 2 months time.

Expect at least one "shock" in the next 8 days !!

Wilder himself last night said we are close to 2, and he is pushing for 2 more.

That's 4 he wants. And rightly so.

UTB
 
Scooter_mcgavin said:
It's clear he sees Lenihan as a starter and Coady as a starter, hence the much larger bids and struggling to get anywhere with them.
Click to expand...

Really struggling with how CW might see two players as 'starters' who don't even belong to us and we have no control over whether they ever will.

Plans C, D and E might need a dusting down anytime soon.
 
My question mark would be around the funds released.

Defensively he's done fine:
Blackman looks a good and sensible addition and will be genuine and relatively cost effective competition for Moore.
He's brought in a better left back than Lafferty in Stevens.
He's got a right back of similar stature to Freeman in Baldock, offering genuine competition to a player who had none last season.
Stearman has a lot of experience at this level.

Further forward you have to question the budget:
He should have been looking for players better than Fleck and Coutts. In the end, he's brought in a player to back them up in Lundstram.
In Thomas he's brought in a winger for the future, given his somewhat shell-shocked comments of how training has been. Not seen enough to suggest he will replace Duffy right now or that he will get beyond Brooks or even Carruthers this season. If he's anymore than impact sub come end of the season I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Up front, he's a had a punt on Ched.

It's probably no coincidence that the further forward you go, the less tried and tested the players are given that the further up the pitch you go, the more costly the players become.
 
6 points from 4 games, 3 against 3 of the league's quality sides and 2 of which were away from home.

Derby look like a mid-table outfit to me though they have a really good manager too. Let's see how we go and hope we have 9 points from 5 games, hardly a crisis by any measure.

What we do see from Blades on here is that insecurity and pessimism and open panic after just two league defeats, forget the Carabao game played with mostly second string players on both sides. and indeed the one we won.

Wilder is a Blade. He relished the adulation last season but he knows us fans. So many on here will panic and ditch him if we go through a testing period of adjustment in the new division even though it is to be expected after 6 years down below.

Is he immune from negative sentiment on S24SU? You would not expect so but let's all hope his plan and his beliefs see us through and don't even test our loyalties before Xmas. What do we matter? Well Steve Bruce with all his experience in the game has declared bitter revenge in the fullness of time on the 'evil fans on social media' at Villa. If it gets to him it gets to the players. If it gets to the players everyone is stuffed.

KTF Blades. Wilder is our only chance and he should be in 'credit' for the next two years at least simply on what he has achieved so far. Let's show support in it's truest sense, not just when we are winning as Champions.

The O.P. infers that maybe because of Wilder's inexperience at this level he will struggle - even though we have 6 points from 4 games. Last season we had one point at this stage. Respect the man and back him. This may seem a harsh reply to a reasonable O.P. but anyone can see the drip drip on the Forum already.
 
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My view is he's improved the squad. We have improved on the likes of Wilson, hussey, done and cleared out the deadwood.

We have done this on a v limited budget - i.e. We don't have th funds to spend the 3-4m it would take to get a direct improvement on the likes of fleck or O'Connell or coutts.

We can deffo improve in some areas and we are working on it now.
 
Scooter_mcgavin said:
He's filled the squad out, as was necessary. These were all early deals, probably ones he thought were excellent value and couldn't be passed up on.

It's clear he sees Lenihan as a starter and Coady as a starter, hence the much larger bids and struggling to get anywhere with them.

Improvements on our first team players are likely to be first team players for other clubs, so will always be more difficult to get over the line.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. If we can get 2/3 in now who genuinely improve the first team in the right areas then the early signings we got in will be complimented very well and will look like great business.
 
Remember at the start of last season? We sold Che and D C-L but, once we saw the bigger picture, the funds enabled us to buy the kind of players we wanted to get out of Division 3. Fast forward a year and - in my opinion - the current squad will do no more than fend off relegation. How much money have we got to strengten? £5m? £10m if you include the sell-ons? You really aren't at the races with that kind of money in the Championship. If teams like Villa, QPR etc. look threatened with relegation, they'll throw money at it. We can't afford to.

So...and it pains me to say it...could Brooks fulfil a similar role in bringing a serious wodge in? The cards are all ours at the moment. 'Dozens' of scouts are watching him. Let's turn it into a bidding frenzy.

EDIT: It's always hard to see our young 'uns flourish elsewhere, but that's usually because they're surrounded by a beter class of player, better coaches etc. It just might be that we're very good at developing young players - up to a point. Would D C-L be performing at his current level if he's stayed? Maguire? Even Che? I doubt it. We might just have seen another Louis Reed.
 
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I should coco said:
Really struggling with how CW might see two players as 'starters' who don't even belong to us and we have no control over whether they ever will.

Plans C, D and E might need a dusting down anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Don't see what the confusion is to be honest.

We don't have Gallagher too, but I'm sure everyone saw him as a starter for us?!
 



I think our second string holding the former Premier League Champions for 45 mins and having a few chances in the first half is fantastic. A couple of seasons ago we wouldn't have even got out of our own half and been 39 - 0 down before half time. We scored a goal (cross-cum-shot) against a top team and looked pretty good for periods in the second half.

Play like that every week with the first team boys and we will be fine, signings or not. We will not set the league on fire or even get above 13th place. That will do for me for now.
 
grafikhaus said:
Remember at the start of last season? We sold Che and D C-L but, once we saw the bigger picture, the funds enabled us to buy the kind of players we wanted to get out of Division 3. Fast forward a year and - in my opinion - the current squad will do no more than fend off relegation. How much money have we got to strengten? £5m? £10m if you include the sell-ons? You really aren't at the races with that kind of money in the Championship. If teams like Villa, QPR etc. look threatened with relegation, they'll throw money at it. We can't afford to.

So...and it pains me to say it...could Brooks fulfil a similar role in bringing a serious wodge in? The cards are all ours at the moment. 'Dozens' of scouts are watching him. Let's turn it into a bidding frenzy.
Click to expand...

But conversely it also hampers us.

We have cash to spend, evidenced by the bids we've had on the table. If we get another 5/6m in, we'd probably be in for the same players and have to up our bids considerably in order to get them.

Does that mean spending 2.5m on Lenihan and 4m on Coady? Do these 2 players 'take us to the next level' more than keeping a youth player that might be worth 10-15m in a seasons time if he performs well?
 
Scooter_mcgavin said:
Great post.
Click to expand...

No, this is a great post:

images
 
We desperately need another centre half and centre forward. Basham is lacking at championship level leaving just JOC and Stearman so we must sign a player who goes straight into the first 11.

We are desperate for a pacey powerful centre forward and without one we will continue to struggle there too, 2 goals in 4 games is proof of this. Wilders comments about putting teams to bed illustrates hes very aware of this.
 
When we people realise, we DO NOT have the funds to attract a proven pacey and powerful striker. Everyone is in the market for them and we simply can't compete with clubs at this level that will throw 40k p/w at a player.
 
Antonb said:
Don't get me wrong, I love Wilder and his love for the blades cannot be questioned. However I do feel that his summer recruitment has been found a bit wanting. Maybe due to no experience dealing in the championship. For me his next 2 or 3 signing have to be good ones for us to secure a mid table finish. I feel the current squad will be in a battle to keep out of a relegation fight at the end of the season if not. Fingers crossed that Chris and his team are getting the backing that they need to improve the squad, not just to make the numbers up.
Click to expand...



But his level of spending suggests we should be in a relegation battle compared to other teams’ spending in the division. That said, I think we’ll have enough to stay clear (but not much more than that- something like 14th-18th). I don’t think that’s bad going given the finances spent. Overall, I’d say he has got decent value for money.


Baldock- £650k- looked good against Leicester last night and offers genuine competition for Freeman


Stevens- Free- Excellent against Barnsley and seems an upgrade on Lafferty.


Stearman- Around a million- Steady, experienced and will compete with Wright again once fit.


Thomas- £300k- doesn’t seem too close to the first team yet but is young and cost very little for a wing option who could improve.


Evans- £100-500k depending on who you believe- Not up to speed yet. Will he ever be? Who knows but he cost a pittance in championship terms so even if he’s garbage it’s not a huge loss.


Lundstram- £500k (ish)- Not impressed so far but again, cheap and provides cover for the first team players.


Blackman- Youth loan- Has done fine so far.


Given that we’ve not spent over a million on any one player (and none will be huge earners) the fact that we’ve got 4 players (Stevens, Baldock, Stearman and Blackman) who can make a significant contribution in our first team and another 3 (Evans, Thomas and Lundstram) who provide cover and might step up in time is pretty good going in my opinion.


I do agree with you though that it still leaves us a little short in a couple of areas if we have ambitions to do anything more than survive. I think we would all agree we need another CB and CF as a minimum, preferably both good enough to walk into the first team (especially the CF).
 
Antonb said:
Don't get me wrong, I love Wilder and his love for the blades cannot be questioned. However I do feel that his summer recruitment has been found a bit wanting. Maybe due to no experience dealing in the championship. For me his next 2 or 3 signing have to be good ones for us to secure a mid table finish. I feel the current squad will be in a battle to keep out of a relegation fight at the end of the season if not. Fingers crossed that Chris and his team are getting the backing that they need to improve the squad, not just to make the numbers up.
Click to expand...

Considering last night was our second string. We matched Leicester for at least 45mins. Yes they made changes but they were mid to top end premier league changes.
Win on Saturday and I might start getting carried away
 
1danewhitehouse said:
But his level of spending suggests we should be in a relegation battle compared to other teams’ spending in the division. That said, I think we’ll have enough to stay clear (but not much more than that- something like 14th-18th). I don’t think that’s bad going given the finances spent. Overall, I’d say he has got decent value for money.


Baldock- £650k- looked good against Leicester last night and offers genuine competition for Freeman


Stevens- Free- Excellent against Barnsley and seems an upgrade on Lafferty.


Stearman- Around a million- Steady, experienced and will compete with Wright again once fit.


Thomas- £300k- doesn’t seem too close to the first team yet but is young and cost very little for a wing option who could improve.


Evans- £100-500k depending on who you believe- Not up to speed yet. Will he ever be? Who knows but he cost a pittance in championship terms so even if he’s garbage it’s not a huge loss.


Lundstram- £500k (ish)- Not impressed so far but again, cheap and provides cover for the first team players.


Blackman- Youth loan- Has done fine so far.


Given that we’ve not spent over a million on any one player (and none will be huge earners) the fact that we’ve got 4 players (Stevens, Baldock, Stearman and Blackman) who can make a significant contribution in our first team and another 3 (Evans, Thomas and Lundstram) who provide cover and might step up in time is pretty good going in my opinion.


I do agree with you though that it still leaves us a little short in a couple of areas if we have ambitions to do anything more than survive. I think we would all agree we need another CB and CF as a minimum, preferably both good enough to walk into the first team (especially the CF).
Click to expand...

Mid table this year. Loads of added income for next. Top 6
 
Woodwardfan said:
6 points from 4 games, 3 against 3 of the league's quality sides and 2 of which were away from home.

Derby look like a mid-table outfit to me though they have a really good manager too. Let's see how we go and hope we have 9 points from 5 games, hardly a crisis by any measure.

What we do see from Blades on here is that insecurity and pessimism and open panic after just two league defeats, forget the Carabao game played with mostly second string players on both sides. and indeed the one we won.

Wilder is a Blade. He relished the adulation last season but he knows us fans. So many on here will panic and ditch him if we go through a testing period of adjustment in the new division even though it is to be expected after 6 years down below.

Is he immune from negative sentiment on S24SU? You would not expect so but let's all hope his plan and his beliefs see us through and don't even test our loyalties before Xmas. What do we matter? Well Steve Bruce with all his experience in the game has declared bitter revenge in the fullness of time on the 'evil fans on social media' at Villa. If it gets to him it gets to the players. If it gets to the players everyone is stuffed.

KTF Blades. Wilder is our only chance and he should be in 'credit' for the next two years at least simply on what he has achieved so far. Let's show support in it's truest sense, not just when we are winning as Champions.

The O.P. infers that maybe because of Wilder's inexperience at this level he will struggle - even though we have 6 points from 4 games. Last season we had one point at this stage. Respect the man and back him. This may seem a harsh reply to a reasonable O.P. but anyone can see the drip drip on the Forum already.
Click to expand...

Always seem to get a massive knee jerk reaction when we've lost on the TV.

If we'd lost away at a League One side with the 2nd string out in front of 800 travelling fans the reaction would have been; "who cares, mickey mouse cup, survival far more important this season".
 
Come Christmas several of our signings could have proven to be exceptional performers at this level.

A few hit and miss performances so far after four league games is not the time to make judgements.

I expect a couple not to really work out, as is always the case, but several to show that they're very capable.

I do agree that more signings are needed, especially up front.
 



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