IF we appoint Wilder, this what we'd be getting:
- A manager whose current team are four points off top spot with a game in hand
- A manager with the best defensive record in the division
- A manager with the fifth most goals scored in the division (despite Oxford's fans complaints of negative football)
- A manager with the best away record in the division
Personally, I would be very happy with him as an appointment. I'm struggling to think of anybody better qualified to get us out of our current predicament, and I think he would be more than worth the potential compensation. We're way past the window of opportunity for making a progressive, visionary appointment like O'Driscoll or Edinburgh (whose Newport side, incidentally, are 7 points behind Wilder's). As TFAHM suggests, perhaps we have to recognise that the time for playing progressive passing football is when you're in League One and have a bit more time and space. We can make a Stuart Gray-type appointment later on when we've got out of this ****hole of a division. Anyway, that's pie in the sky at the moment, and the question of our style of football has never been more irrelevant.
What we need now is simply a professional, no nonsense return to effective direct football with committed, permanently contracted players operating in their rightful position. It's not rocket science, and Wilder has a proven track record of delivering just that. I also think that, were he to secure survival, he wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater a la Boothroyd and try to change our style too quickly.
The fact is that as it stands we can still stay up. We have twenty games to get the 30 points to guarantee survival (it may well require less than that). A decent, solid manager and four new permanent/long-term loan signings should provide the impetus for us to win the 8 games and secure the draws which will take us over the line.
Duke, Collins, Tozer, Doumbe, Widdowson, Hackett, Carter and ROD ARE good enough at this level IMO. Many will disagree on Carter, but I think that if paired with a decent 'terrier' like Ravenhill he could continue his recent upturn in form and start showing his undoubted ability. AB didn't have the tactical nous to manage him properly. As for ROD, the player who scored five goals at the end of last season WAS definitely good enough. I honestly feel that given a decent manager and a bit of confidence these players (and the likes of Hackett and Widdowson) could start performing to their full potential again.
IMO the four crucial players we need are:
1. Centre forward (preferably a big target man who can also score goals)
2. Central midfielder in the Ravenhill/Guttridge mold
3. Hard working left winger
4. Right back
IMO, these all need to be permanent signings. The new manager will also need to compliment this with some decent long-term loans.
NB: If we fail to appoint Wilder or someone of similar quality and to make these signings, all this goes out the window. I will become a fully-paid up member of the 'we are doomed' club and I think the time will come to start seriously questioning DC's ability to continue to run this football club.
Good post Bungle. I'm at a loss as to why people can feel disappointed with this appointment. Of course, we don't know how it will all turn out but it feels to me like a positive step forward - not just an an established manager but one with a decent record at this level who knows what is need and a decent looking assistant too, so twice the spread in terms of contacts and knowledge base.
Now the real excitement can begin - signings....