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

[Papper]

£2m on Coady + £1.2m on Byrne and £275K on Wallace (£3.5m) and you don't think they could've got a good replacement for Sako with that?

Regardless, we didn't we pissed most of it up the wall but it is disingenuous to think we didn't have the financial outlay to replace Sako. Also QPR spent less than the £4m they sold Charlie Austin for, but we haven't spent any of the reported £9m on a replacement for Afobe, or indeed any squad strengthening. It doesn't look great does it?

Spending ten million yet alone three doesn't guarantee success. The replace Sako mantra is irrelevant and pointless. They just don't appear capable of progressing the team or addressing the defensive faults that have persisted. QPR are bankrolled, we aren't ...

 

[Parkins left foot]

Paying large sums of money guarantees nowt - effectively we did replace Sako with Graham (even though it took a loan out to convince Kenny).

Not the same player, but a better than reasonable replacement. Very unfortunate that the injury has deprived him & us of almost a full season

 

[Johnny75]

I get that Papper, my point was to Sam who said we don't have the spending power when we clearly do. We just don't have the ability to spend it well.

I worked for a chief scout once who just didn't have the ability to think about players that would get his team promoted and he just wasn't very good at thinking beyond a direct style team. The players he looked at were always, and have been since, mid table championship fare. This is not a criticism of the man as a person, just his ability to adjust to a different style of player wasn't there. I think Thelwell, Jackett and to a certain extent Moxey are all at mid-championship/ top of lg 1 level and always will be.

 

[ROVERT47]

A strange statement. For all the trials and tribulations met during my 50+ years of following the Wolves, I have never been ashamed to support this STILL great club (even to the misguided violent show of support favoured a few years back). I cannot understand this 'ashamed' or 'embarassed' sentiment whatsoever. You support the club and be honoured to do so through thick or thin or you don't.

Pah!, superfans!

 

[Wolfman09]

A strange statement. For all the trials and tribulations met during my 50+ years of following the Wolves, I have never been ashamed to support this STILL great club (even to the misguided violent show of support favoured a few years back). I cannot understand this 'ashamed' or 'embarassed' sentiment whatsoever. You support the club and be honoured to do so through thick or thin or you don't.

Ashamed is probably the wrong word to use.

But I have never been so frustrated at the very clearly poor management of the club.

 

[leedswolf]

Frustrated and being a fan is intrinsic and not exclusive to 'Superfan' status.

 

[nimrod]

Paying large sums of money guarantees nowt - effectively we did replace Sako with Graham (even though it took a loan out to convince Kenny).

Not the same player, but a better than reasonable replacement. Very unfortunate that the injury has deprived him & us of almost a full season

and because spending guarantees nowt it was never going to happen (ie big money on one quality replacement). I reckon the thinking of the club is that if you buy 3 for that money and one of them makes it, then if necessary a future transfer sale will cover the outlay. it's managing of finance but lacking any football strategy, hence you end up with an unbalanced squad, lack of cover and mixed messages. for instance, regardless of what the club said, we wouldn't ever have sold or got rid of Stearman if £2m had not been offered - which made the sale for financial reasons and not footballing reasons.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

We are not a crap side because Sako left. We were not a fantastic side with Sako. That cannot be understated.

No we have not improved and losing Sako Stearman Adobe Dicko and Graham has not helped. Failing to replace the first three effectively and the last 2 with suitable squad back ups shows our current level.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Of course, but we just don't have the financial outlay to replace players of his ilk. We have to take risks that the likes of Byrne or Wallace will come good.

Er yes we do, yes we did and oh we got twice for Afobe what QPR got for Austin.I think at times we would struggle to seal a deal in pound land .

 

[lemonjelly]

No but they acted and acted quickly. We are still talking about Sako and he left a long while ago.Thats what irks.

Acting quickly isn't the be all and end all.
Acting effectively IS.

 

[Papper]

No we have not improved and losing Sako Stearman Adobe Dicko and Graham has not helped. Failing to replace the first three effectively and the last 2 with suitable squad back ups shows our current level.

Our current level is attempting to improve the team with only the money generated by the club. They aren't very good at it as it stands. I still think we'd be mid-table WITH Sako.

 

[lemonjelly]

I don't get the sudden Thelwell bashing tbh.
Most managers/clubs with whatever structure they have in place make good, excellent and downright dire signings. Fergie signed Ralph Milne FFS and thought he would be the best signing he ever made. Numerous people signed Veron for english football. Djemba Djemba.

Thelwell was likely the motivator behind Dicko, arguably one of the most important (& certainly missed) signings of recent times. He will undoubtedly have played a role in others. I suspect Hause was a Thelwell signing.

Recent poor performances aren't down to crap signings, or a lack of. Ineffective use of resources available is the main reason why we've been poor for almost 6 months now.

 

[Aikiwolf]

What is frustrating is we could have replaced Sako. Though replace doesn't mean getting a player exactly the same or as good - just a competent left winger would have been ok.

We didn't lose Stears, we sold him under the misguided belief that two inexperienced CBs would step up. The mistake here is that the rule of thumb is four center backs for a full season.

Selling Afobe should have been predicted - especially as the club have stated he wanted to leave. If it was predicted then finding a replacement should already have been done.

Dicko's injury was unlucky - but happened long enough ago that we all knew another striker would be required during January.

Graham's injury was bad luck but as we should have signed a left winger in point 1 - we should have had cover!

Wolves have consistently failed to act effectively in the transfer market for this season (Afobe aside, the past 3 or 4 windows).

It is inexcusable for a team with aspirations of the playoffs/promotion to be this ineffective in the transfer market.

 

[Parkins left foot]

I don't get the sudden Thelwell bashing tbh. Recent poor performances aren't down to crap signings, or a lack of. Ineffective use of resources available is the main reason why we've been poor for almost 6 months now.

Though the fact that a sale & 1 injury leaves us with no defensive or attacking cover is down to bad planning - Thelwell has had a part to play it getting us to this position

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Recent poor performances aren't down to crap signings, or a lack of. Ineffective use of resources available is the main reason why we've been poor for almost 6 months now.

Agreed. You look at Saturday's team and you have our best keeper on the bench, an incredibly bad right back at left back while a left back sits on the bench, Edwards in central midfield which has been tried over 100 times in the last 8 years and probably worked on less than 10 of those occasions, and a defensive midfielder on the right wing while we have about four different proper options we could put there. Then on top of that, we didn't try to play any football at all once we went 3-1 down. That's just bad management. Same as it has been virtually all season.

 

[SSB]

Tim Spier saying he was due, but never turned up as he sent his representatives instead to discuss terms etc.

Personally, I think Tim is trying to cover his arse after taking the word of a fake agent account on Twitter.

We've had a Twitter blackout from Tim today.

 

[Aikiwolf]

We've had a Twitter blackout from Tim today.

Matches the Wolves incoming transfer blackout....

 

[Tony Towner]

We've had a Twitter blackout from Tim today.

Perhaps he's trying to find some sources of his own rather than copying and pasting what he sees on Twitter.

I take Deutsch's point re QPR not being a role model, but they knew they were losing Austin and have replaced him within 3 days...whether he will be a good replacement is up for debate and I really can't handle another Cyberman I told you so if he scores at the weekend. According to our own PR Afobe has wanted to be gone since the Summer, our league position if that was the case will only have hardened his resolve, so I don't think having a replacement lined up to bring in once the deal was done is that much of an unreasonable request. Unless of course there was never going to be one or it was Zyro.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Perhaps he's trying to find some sources of his own rather than copying and pasting what he sees on Twitter.

I take Deutsch's point re QPR not being a role model, but they knew they were losing Austin and have replaced him within 3 days...whether he will be a good replacement is up for debate and I really can't handle another Cyberman I told you so if he scores at the weekend. According to our own PR Afobe has wanted to be gone since the Summer, our league position if that was the case will only have hardened his resolve, so I don't think having a replacement lined up to bring in once the deal was done is that much of an unreasonable request. Unless of course there was never going to be one or it was Zyro.

I'm still looking at that poxy fucking Holt deal in part as well, if we are to believe the club and we knew Afobe wanted out months in advance, we should have been signing someone on loan in Oct/Nov who was there settled into the club, contributing and ready to sign permanently on 1st January - or at least, someone who had the potential to fill that brief. Instead we sign a fat bastard who wouldn't make an impact playing for Kidderminster. You cannot tell me he was the best available option in any sense whatsoever.

 

[Tony Towner]

Ah but Holt was brought in to replace Dicko, with all their similar attributes