The Wilkins Babes - Where are they now?

[BigGully]

The trick we missed was making him manager to save money, he was and is a very intense, committed and knowledgeable coach. I can fully understand why he was reluctant to return to his former role when the club sacked him, he must have felt very wounded.

Might disagree with your view on his tenure, but the club was in a different place then.

I cannot help seeing the impressive proposed Academy facility and wonder who would be the person to recruit the correct coaches that would implement the correct ethos into those budding youngsters, to make it a really world class facility...... I cannot see beyond Wilkins.

 

[Ernest]

I BLAME Dick Tight

 

[Storer 68]

I do not think that he particularly likes the name Wendy by the way ;-)

I met him a few times in a football capacity and found him on a different level to others deemed of a similar calibre.

Quite intriguing really, his in depth knowledge of the game was impressive, but his insight into the finer details of player development was again fantastic and I am sure he didnt divulge much of his wealth of knowledge to a group of decent yet comparably under qualified coaches.

I noted Ricky Lamberts special mention of Wilkins in 442 about his training techniques that have helped him become such a force.

Cant help thinking we missed a trick with him, but onwards and upwards.

my recollection is that we offered him his old job back, and HE turned it down. So we didn't miss a trick at all.

 

[ROSM]

my recollection is that we offered him his old job back, and HE turned it down. So we didn't miss a trick at all.

I dont blame him for not taking the job when it was offered. I cant think many here would have done it.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Wendy is an excellent coach, and is doing a good job at Stains now too.

Nice avatar, by the way

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Are we in danger of getting a little carried away by Wendy's achievements at the club?

Yes, as manager he was selecting a number of players who had come through the youth system at the club, which is to be commended. But I can't help thinking that (1) part of that was because as a man manager he lacked the authority to influence or command more experienced players, and thus by picking the lads he knew from the youth team, he was on safer ground; and (2) I don't like to be mean, but the players he brought through hardly made us like Crewe or Southampton, did they?

Hammond & Harding are average Championship players, no better or worse than (say) Matt Sparrow. While there's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't mean Wilkins was some kind of spiritual guru with magical youth development powers. As for the rest- how many are still playing regular league football? Virgo is in and out of a League Two side when he's fit, Robinson has bounced around the bottom division, never really settling at any club. Fraser has got released by bloody Barnet. Cox is an inconsistent but occasionally menacing midfielder at a mediocre third division team. They're all ALRIGHT (some less so), but no better or worse than you'd find at any other club.

When you consider that every single player in the league, no matter how good or average they were, started out as a youth team player at one club or another, the fact that we have produced precisely two that have managed to make it as far as the Albion currently have (I'm only talking about Wendy's generation here, not Dunk or Forster-Caskey etc), and we probably wouldn't be scrabbling to sign either back in a hurry...well it isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, is it? Every club apart from really useless ones like Pompey produces youth team players, the fact that Wilkins chucked in a few at once is hardly ground breaking in my book.

I'm not saying the bloke was useless, indeed he may well be a very decent coach for all I know, but it doesn't make him Dario Gradi all of a sudden. I just feel his role is somewhat exaggerated at times because of the Albion's fairly dreadful record in the years leading up to his appointment.

 

[BigGully]

my recollection is that we offered him his old job back, and HE turned it down. So we didn't miss a trick at all.

I am not sure what you are saying ...

So you agree that Wilkins could of been of great benefit to the club, but that he just declined the job offer.

We agree on this, I had originally thought it was a job that the club knew he was unlikely to take ... therefore missing a trick.

 

[Springal]

Virgo is in and out of a League Two side when he's fit,

To be fair he has cartiliage damage and is out for the rest of the season

 

[Durlston]

Tommy Fraser's attitude when he was at Barnet was shocking and he showed a total lack of enthusiasm. I spoke to him after they stayed up on the last day of the season and he seemed really miserable. The first player to leave the ground - maybe I just caught him at a bad time.

 

[BigGully]

Are we in danger of getting a little carried away by Wendy's achievements at the club?

Yes, as manager he was selecting a number of players who had come through the youth system at the club, which is to be commended. But I can't help thinking that (1) part of that was because as a man manager he lacked the authority to influence or command more experienced players, and thus by picking the lads he knew from the youth team, he was on safer ground; and (2) I don't like to be mean, but the players he brought through hardly made us like Crewe or Southampton, did they?

Hammond & Harding are average Championship players, no better or worse than (say) Matt Sparrow. While there's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't mean Wilkins was some kind of spiritual guru with magical youth development powers. As for the rest- how many are still playing regular league football? Virgo is in and out of a League Two side when he's fit, Robinson has bounced around the bottom division, never really settling at any club. Fraser has got released by bloody Barnet. Cox is an inconsistent but occasionally menacing midfielder at a mediocre third division team. They're all ALRIGHT (some less so), but no better or worse than you'd find at any other club.

When you consider that every single player in the league, no matter how good or average they were, started out as a youth team player at one club or another, the fact that we have produced precisely two that have managed to make it as far as the Albion currently have (I'm only talking about Wendy's generation here, not Dunk or Forster-Caskey etc), and we probably wouldn't be scrabbling to sign either back in a hurry...well it isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, is it? Every club apart from really useless ones like Pompey produces youth team players, the fact that Wilkins chucked in a few at once is hardly ground breaking in my book.

I'm not saying the bloke was useless, indeed he may well be a very decent coach for all I know, but it doesn't make him Dario Gradi all of a sudden. I just feel his role is somewhat exaggerated at times because of the Albion's fairly dreadful record in the years leading up to his appointment.

Forgetting Wilkins for a minute .....

Your view seems to underestimate the importance of the people that impact on youth development, whoever that might be and doesnt acknowledge the difficulty for any player to forge a career in professional football.

You dismiss too readily the Saints captain and fullback as if their careers are not valid, Dunk and Caskey have someway to go until they can replicate theirs.

Selecting players is the easy bit, developing players to the level required to even be considered is where the hard work is spent and to easily disregard this shows some lack of understanding.

Circumstances certainly played a role with local players coming through, but those that worked closely with them deserve credit, it hadn't happened before.

 

[honey boy zimba]

Have agree whole hartedly with BG on DW his football knowledge and attention to detail are imense he reminds me of the Dave Sexton great football brain who kept him self to himself both foward thinkers .