Why Didn't We Get Promoted?

[Bruce]

So has he done so very well?
Not nearly as well as Cooper (5 points behind Boro on Jan 1st to 10 points ahead at season end) or Heckingbottom (7 points behind to 5 points ahead) that much is crystal clear. Or Jones at Luton (10 behind to 5 ahead), or Corberan at Huddersfield (3 behind to 12 ahead). There are 4 managers who trounced Wilder since January with a typical 15 point higher haul and all from poorer positions.
Don't lets kid ourselves about others falling away so much more either. We only took 7 points off "freefalling" Blackburn and 5 points off West Brom since Jan 1st.

I am not saying Wilder has been poor, nor am I saying he should be replaced, but I am saying that he is a part of poor recruitment, performance and results since the turn of the year.
Our forwards were grim, our goalkeepers awful and we lacked leaders on the pitch. We did not address the vulnerabilities in January despite having funds and scope.
But our recruitment guru and Manager need to start to justify their press and the massive support they have been given by the Boro support...and owner.

I think Gibson will heavily back Wilder and we have some good players to build on or trade. And Wilder does have experience of promotion and much greater knowledge of the club now.
But this is the summer to get recruitment very right.

I think this is exactly right. Wilder did improve us, especially early doors, but several other managers did a relatively better job. Out of interest I looked at Steve "Dinosaur" Bruce's results at WBA. Played 17 games under him: won 7, draw 3, lost 7. In Wilder's same17 games the record is identical: w7, d3, l7. I'm not sure anyone regards Bruce's performance as even halfway decent.

To be honest I have mixed feelings over Wilder. I think he's the best manager we've had since Karanka but I'm not entirely convinced by him. I worry that Wilder and Knill came up with one trick for Sheffield Utd and that now it's past its best before date. I'm also not entirely convinced his heart is really in this job. Some of this is personal: people who keep telling the world that they're "plain spoken" and "tell it as they see it" rub me up the wrong way because in my experience they're generally arrogant [bleep]s who get off on being rude.

For the first two or three months, I thought he could do no wrong but now I'm more of a doubting Thomas. I'm also not seeing any signs of any type of joined up recruitment strategy at this point but it is early in the summer. My head says that Wilder's track record and Gibson's chequebook should get us into the playoffs but I do have an irrational distrust of things about Wilder that make me doubt.

 

[Caesium137]

Actually I forgot, we seemed to get some very poor refereeing decisions against us that cost us a few points, that I don't feel evened out over the season.

 

[indeedido]

I wish people would stop with the Warnock was 4 points off the playoffs wilder was 5 points off. Its irrelevant due to the far greater number of games played. If you're 4 points off at the halfway stage and everyone's form stays the same you'd be 8 points off come the end of the season.

It is true I’m afraid Sheriff. Since January arrived our league performances and results have been nothing remotely special and Forest, Sheff U, Luton and Huddersfield all started below us and finished above us. There was a 15 point swing with each of them.
As I left Bloomfield Rd I would not have believed it possible.
The longer Wilder has been here, the less progress we have made.

I stress Im not calling for him to go, or putting any markers down. I like listening to him, he started superbly, but I’m surprised how things fizzled out.

 

[Smoginexile]

We didn't win as many points as the six teams who finished above us.
But I know how we can fix that.
Just tell Steve Gibson and Chris Wilder to get the team to win more games.
Problem solved.
See you at the promotion party next season.