The transfer window an unsettling time for a football fan from a club in the lower leagues. As fans we all have our opinion about which players should go or stay at all costs, but it isn’t always that easy. If you’re a bigger or richer club looking to push on in the second half of the season, getting your recruitment right is of paramount importance. Get it right, and you avoid relegation or gain promotion. The fans are happy, and you did your job. Get it right wrong, and the fans are on your back and the board are asking questions. Who’d want to be a Director of Football?
The ghost of seasons past
In recent years, the transfer window has had a negative effect on our season. A bright start in August has disappeared in January when our best player is sold. Think of Ollie Palmer going to Wrexham, Ayoub Assal going to Al-Wakrah, and Ali Al-Hamadi going to Ipswich. It may have made our bottom line look healthier, but them leaving had a detrimental effect on the pitch. Those three leaving saw our goals per game ratio dramatically reduce. That’s OK as we’ve always been a selling club. Ever since I’ve been a Wimbledon fan, the importance of having young, talented, and hungry players in the squad could not be underestimated. We need to have players that excite football agents enough to want to give us bags of money. It is how clubs like ours manage to survive right?
The ghost of seasons present
Well maybe there’s a different strategy. Could we not continue to develop our talent, but decide that we should keep them? Why should we do all the hard work only for some other club reap the benefit of it? In other words, let’s stop acting like a small club. We are Wimbledon, not some feeder team for a Championship or Premier League club.
That’s the shift in attitude I’m seeing from our Director of Football, Craig Cope. That doesn’t mean we don’t sell our players. It means we only do so when it is right for us. It’s a fine line, but we’ve seen a backbone since he’s arrived with the likes of Jack Curry and others. Craig is generally regarded as one of our biggest signings in the AFC Wimbledon era. Many fans probably would walk past him without knowing who he was, yet his influence and impact is massive for us on the pitch.
A Director of Football’s job is not all about keeping players. It’s about getting them through the door too. Craig responsibilities now include the youth setup, but what if those players aren’t ready for first team football. Craig’s connections, particularly with the likes of Chief Scout Andy Thorn, has seen us start to reap the benefits of their collective talents. In his two years with us, we’ve seen a sea shift in strategy and professionalism in the way our recruitment is handled, with the results laid bare on the pitch.
For the first time in years, we’ve a real prospect of at least a playoff place going into the transfer window. As I write this there’s a week left of this season’s window and there’s no sign of any major event that would derail that prospect. There must be clubs sniffing around the likes of Lewis, Ogundere, Bugiel, and Stevens, yet there’s not a sniff of anything likely to see them disappear. Our backbone seems to be radiating an aroma of “We’ll start talking when we’re a Division One team.” Not only does that please us fans, but it also means potentially more transfer money in the future.
The recruitment of players like Joe Lewis and Ronan Curtis were master strokes last season. This season he’s matched that with the likes of Sam Hutchinson, Romaine Sawyers, and Marcus Browne. From what I saw of them, each had something new to offer. Sawyers and Hutchinson were never both likely to stay, and I wasn’t surprised to see Sawyers leave and Hutchinson stay. Sawyers had the more flair and options, and Hutchinson made more business sense. I’ve only seen Browne play 15 minutes so far, but his signing signals an intention and direction for the remainder of the season.
The ghost of seasons yet to come
Perhaps the biggest problem we have with Craig is keeping him. There must be clubs in the Championship or above keeping a close eye on him. If an approach was made, what then? He’s been with us two years, and made a massive difference. It’s clear that he wants the club to progress. A promotion on his list of achievements wouldn’t do him any harm. However, a word of caution. What if we don’t get promoted this season and our top players leave? There’s a fine line between success and failure in football. Ah sod that! I’m an optimist. Provided there isn’t a curve ball out there heading towards me, I really can’t see why we can’t reach the playoffs as a minimum, and we’ve got Craig Cope to thank for that.
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