Wilder's Transfer Business - For Better or Worse

[seanbeenstattoo]

Thank you SBT ,Im just glad someone else wrote manger instead of manager ,I do it all the pissing time ,glad its not just me .

Obviously I did it specifically for that very reason.

 

[Lower Drop Blade]

So which 12 players would you rather have signed?

And which would you not have signed (so we can have a look back at the end of the season and assess Wilder's opinions against yours)

I am not the manager but we are at a point where we have replaced our new LB after several matches, must be down to 6th 7th choice CB, players who where told to fuck off now playing pivotal roles in the first team, CM not addressed, LW not addressed (if its Chapman why doesn't he get a first 11 shirt)
I was answering the OP which asks for an opinion which I gave. Another opinion is that we have assembled a mid table squad...I hope I am wrong.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Your assessment of Lavary, who is yet to kick a ball for us, as worse than our previous bench warmer is unfair and is yet to be proven

How can it be unfair to suggest that a player recently sold for circa £1.5M is likely to be better than one who has never come close to that sort of valuation?

Why didn't Birmingham sign Lavary? Why were no other Championship clubs interested in signing him? Why was he playing in League Two last season while Adams was in League One?

I look forward to seeing Lavary play. I wanted us to sign him. I think and hope he will be a good player at OUR level. But simple logic suggests that we've downgraded. I don't need to see him play to make that assumption.

 

[Rodley]

I've tried to compare the players that Wilder could have chosen from when he first arrived with those that he can currently choose from. To see where he has made improvements and where he hasn't been able to so far.

I've assumed that he could have persuaded certain "out of contract" players to stay if he'd wanted to (e.g. Harris, Flynn) but I've not included any loan players as they were never his to choose from (e.g. Edgar, Baptiste). Other contenders like Collins left before Wilder arrived.

Here is what I think:-

View attachment 19605

An improvement overall and in seven positions but in my view this confirms that we are now desperately weak at full back and really need to improve in that area in this window (or via a free agent!?). Yes, I know we could cover full back with the likes of Basham and O Connell but Wilder has said he wouldn't want to do that it would make us weaker in their preferred positions.

Good post.

 

[Hartley Hare]

I am just waiting to see what happens on the pitch.

Twelve new players is a lot of change. Only time will tell.

I just hope all get a fair crack of the whip before any judgements are made.

HH

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Updated for the sake of completeness:-



It may get reviewed again when we've had chance to see the new boys play.
Still, making a large transfer profit, slashing the wage bill AND improving the squad in 8 positions is a decent Summer's work.
He's probably not improved it enough to jump from 11th to the top two but the top six should be achievable in my view.

 

[BushBlade]

The squad we have assembled is a complete and utter shambles. Whether this is down to lack of investment from the board or CW making a right balls up of it is anyone's guess...

If you don't know the answer and have to guess you probably haven't been following the club for the last ten years.

 

[Champagneblade]

Updated for the sake of completeness:-

View attachment 19630

It may get reviewed again when we've had chance to see the new boys play.
Still, making a large transfer profit, slashing the wage bill AND improving the squad in 8 positions is a decent Summer's work.
He's probably not improved it enough to jump from 11th to the top two but the top six should be achievable in my view.

Good job.

It can be a pain to take time Analysing stuff.

One area I'd probably have a different view:

As wing options Flynn / JCR are equal to or better than the current options IF you are suggesting Reed is the other wide player. I'm not even sure he can play this role. Brooks seems far more accomplished at it but is experienced so I would be saying par.

For the defence hard not to include the loans as they played such a big part. Throw in Baptiste Abd last season's team is better in one slot. Throw in Edgar and it's probably at parity on the other.

Let's not forget O'Connell although we think will turn out ok has been calamatous in one of the few games played. Think he needs a good ten or so good ones before we rank him so highly.

All about opinions.

Hope you are right anyway!

 

[GrayBlade]

I think our first choice 11 is stronger than last season's.

The key for me is if Wilder can get them all playing to their potential and that they gel, and also injuries aren't a major issue, because we look paper thin in some areas.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Good job.

It can be a pain to take time Analysing stuff.

One area I'd probably have a different view:

As wing options Flynn / JCR are equal to or better than the current options IF you are suggesting Reed is the other wide player. I'm not even sure he can play this role. Brooks seems far more accomplished at it but is experienced so I would be saying par.

For the defence hard not to include the loans as they played such a big part. Throw in Baptiste Abd last season's team is better in one slot. Throw in Edgar and it's probably at parity on the other.

Let's not forget O'Connell although we think will turn out ok has been calamatous in one of the few games played. Think he needs a good ten or so good ones before we rank him so highly.

All about opinions.

Hope you are right anyway!

Yes, I think you make some fair points.

Wing options – I tried to stick to one player in one position for the purposes of comparing the squad as a whole. In reality, we’d probably play other reserves (Chapman, Done, Coutts) ahead of Reed in that position. If Duffy can show the sort of form that got him selected for the League One Team of the year, I still think we’ve strengthened but fair enough he hasn’t shown that yet.

Defence – I’m not really ranking O Connell that highly (Just more highly than McCeveley and a half-fit Kennedy). I would have him as fourth choice centre back at the moment behind Wilson, Wright and EEL. I was one of those suggesting he should be the one to make way for Wright before he did so last Saturday. I don’t really give much weight to Wilder’s theory about always having a left-footer and a right-footer either. Just play the best two centre backs and it’s a welcome bonus if they both favour a different foot. I’ve never seen too many other managers make as big an issue of this.

Baptiste would probably be ranked highest of all but he was never a realistic target for Wilder and therefore, I felt unfair to include him when assessing how well Wilder has recruited.

 

[Trueblade]

We all wanted a clear out over the summer, and we got one. 12 players in, more gone. Completely new squad.

Cannot believe that after all this, people are still criticising. Start has been poor which doesn't help, but maybe we should see where we are come Christmas rather than 5 league games in

 

[Ricky]

I'll go through the respective starting line ups and compare strength, being as fair and realistic as possible on who I include from last season's team and predicting this season's most frequent starters as well as I can, with my best guess regarding certain players' ability and likely contribution. Nothing to do with future potential either, it's based on what they can offer now.


GK: Long / Moore - Moore - STRONGER
RB: Brayford / Freeman - EQUAL
CB: Edgar / Ebanks-Landell - Ebanks-Landell - STRONGER
CB: Collins / O'Connell - EQUAL
LB: McEveley / Lafferty - Lafferty - STRONGER
RM: Flynn / Duffy - Duffy - STRONGER
CM: Hammond / Fleck/Coutts - Fleck/Coutts - STRONGER
CM: Basham / Basham - EQUAL
LM: Done / Lavery - STRONGER
CF: Sharp / Sharp - EQUAL
CF: Adams / Clarke - EQUAL

Stronger in 6 positions, equal in the other 5. Arguable obviously.

The one area we're weaker if you include everyone from last season is CB, we haven't got anyone as good as Baptiste. But he was a bonus signing and never a realistic possibility to sign again.

So if our first 11 is stronger and we have a manager who knows what he's doing then you'd expect us to improve on last season.

What might make it difficult is the smaller squad and the large number of new players who need to settle in and gel, and all the players getting used to a more intense style of play. I also think we still haven't got the options that suit any formation perfectly, and we're lacking in midfield.