Winter Improvement Thread (aka Winter Squad Weakening Thread and TWF Suicide Watch)

[thehistorymakers]

I don't know. You can't quantify ambition. That's my whole point. Only the people inside the club know what the goals are. But the money of reaching the Prem is easy to see.

What possible reason could there be for the club to not want to be there?

I would of thought giving it your best effort and doing everything within your means to get the club promoted, is showing ambition. You can't measure that by what the club, or you or I say. You measure it by what they have done and are doing. I think it is quite clear that they aren't showing ambition.

 

[Alan]

And what have they done or are doing that says to you they don't care about promotion? And why, logically, wouldn't they want to go up?

 

[thehistorymakers]

Well it's quite clear that we aren't at the moment. That includes the amount of money we are spending, the players we are signing and the manager we have in charge.

I agree with that.

 

[thehistorymakers]

And what have they done or are doing that says to you they don't care about promotion? And why, logically, wouldn't they want to go up?

Alan, if you think they are showing ambition, I feel happy for you. Good night.

 

[Alan]

You didn't answer the question. Or even try to, really.

I've told you I can't say whether the club wants to go up or not. But I can say that the reasons to go up are overwhelmingly easy to see. That anyone at the club would not want promotion is patently absurd to me.

 

[Aikiwolf]

I feel the transfer window was a disappointment but we have brought in players to strengthen CB and our attack with Williamson (injured), Zyro (injured) and Mason.

Unfortunately we have also weakened ourselves at left back, an area we weren't particularly strong in. We are also still a striker short and the squad reeks of average championship players.

Trying to be slightly objective; it's not a dreadful window from Wolves, but it's certainly not one to excite anyone. Unless Williamson is truly fit soon (Preston?) and suddenly instils the ability to play some football in our back four then we are in for some solid midtable mediocre footy for the next few months!

 

[Norman Deeley]

Ultimately I think the frustration is that 12 months ago we'd got ourselves in a position where we had an exciting team that looked capable of a proper top six challenge as a minimum. The points/goals per game return from Afobe's arrival would certainly back that up. And now:

Ikeme (has been awful all season, one of the sharpest declines in form for Wolves I have ever seen)

Iorfa (still here, for how long though?)
Stearman (gone)
Batth (regressed badly this season)
Golbourne (gone)

Henry/VLP (both still here, both still unconvincing as a long term answer)
Price (not in the team, £2m spent on replacing him with a much worse footballer)
McDonald (still here)
Sako (gone)

Dicko (out for the season)
Afobe (gone)

Now that is not healthy. In 12 months pretty much every area of the starting XI has gone backwards. You're supposed to build from a position of relative strength, not systematically weaken yourselves.

Sadly this sums it up exactly; add in the injuries to Jordan Graham and Dave Edwards, Zyro out for 6 weeks and Williamson not yet fit, and we've gone backwards at an alarming rate. No-one in the Wolves hierarchy escapes the blame.

 

[Norman Deeley]

Duplicate

 

[thehistorymakers]

You didn't answer the question. Or even try to, really.

I've told you I can't say whether the club wants to go up or not. But I can say that the reasons to go up are overwhelmingly easy to see. That anyone at the club would not want promotion is patently absurd to me.

I want to win the lottery, but if I don't buy a lottery ticket, I'm never going to win it!

 

[Johnny75]

I want to win the lottery, but if I don't buy a lottery ticket, I'm never going to win it!

Where do you buy the lottery tickets for promotion?

 

[Penk Wolf]

I think that showing ambition isn't the same as spending money.

I think the current league table would disagree with you and last years and the years before.

 

[North West Wanderer]

With us being up for sale this was pretty much as expected?

 

[Boozad]

I think the current league table would disagree with you and last years and the years before.

Would you take Boro's latest signing for that money or Afobe and Dicko for what we spent on them?

 

[Lycan]

With us being up for sale this was pretty much as expected?

We actually spent quite a lot of money and clearly wanted to spend a bit more with the reported failed bids for Kike/Aquafresca so I'm not sure the sale had much affect on the window. I suppose that going into the window the uncertainty over how much the budget was going to be might've affected their ability to identify targets somewhat. Apart from that any failings in this window (too early to say if there are any) are down to footballing decisions or our frustrating inability to get deals over the line.

 

[North West Wanderer]

Kike I would have been ok with, nothing more.
Aquafresca? Anyone?

 

[Sniffer]

I think the current league table would disagree with you and last years and the years before.

Derby pushed the boat out last season with the loan signings of Lindegaard and Ince. They were nailed on for promotion but finished below us!

 

[Lycan]

Kike I would have been ok with, nothing more.
Aquafresca? Anyone?

Aquafresca has been a very decent player at a high level his whole career, I would've been delighted with him. Hasn't quite fulfilled the potential he had as a youngster and the move to Bologna hasn't really worked out for him but he'd have been a coup for us. Ken clearly wants a taller, more powerful player for the No.9 role, I think Aquafresca would've been the highest profile, most technically gifted version of that kind of player that we could've hoped for.

 

[slink]

Kike didn't go to Eibar so if we do still want him we might go back in for a loan.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Wonder if they'll play the nonsense waiting game for a few weeks so they could loan him right up until the end of the season when they'll have absolutely nothing at stake.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Sadly this sums it up exactly; add in the injuries to Jordan Graham and Dave Edwards, Zyro out for 6 weeks and Williamson not yet fit, and we've gone backwards at an alarming rate. No-one in the Wolves hierarchy escapes the blame.

The worst of it is that Zyro was known to be injury prone and sure enough he's out almost immediately.

To sell our LB and have nobody lined up is also ridiculous.

To sell our only decent striker and replace him with a 'Number 10' when we already have one except Kenny won't ever play him and has now farmed him off on loan.

The list of misdemeanors was already long and this window has not done Kenny any favours. I can only hope that a takeover is pending and that is how he remains in post.