What if…jack Hunt

[DT The Optimist]

 Had not been released and retained ? 
I raise this hypothetical question as us regulars see that most pressing issue has been the RHS of the defence. All season. 
All season have seen make shift players  making good on that side, or players simply not up to it. Simpson example. Yes Tanner is very promising youngster. Not yet the answer, his time will come…

good old Jack has been a regular for the owls, I notice he has been in the league one team of the week a few times, and even scored a few goals.  
bit fun really but I for one reckon we have missed him….

let’s see what NP  does in the summer..

[Kodjias Wrist]

Wasn't he reportedly on high wages ? I'm sure one of out ITK quoted 15k a week? Certainly would of been useful compared to Danny Simpson but I guess we saved alot of money.

[Sheltons Army]

He was ‘ok’ had some frailties but always committed - we’ve had a lot worse 

But was time to move in IMHO

[DaveF]

13 minutes ago, DT The Optimist said:

 Had not been released and retained ? 
I raise this hypothetical question as us regulars see that most pressing issue has been the RHS of the defence. All season. 
All season have seen make shift players  making good on that side, or players simply not up to it. Simpson example. Yes Tanner is very promising youngster. Not yet the answer, his time will come…

good old Jack has been a regular for the owls, I notice he has been in the league one team of the week a few times, and even scored a few goals.  
bit fun really but I for one reckon we have missed him….

let’s see what NP  does in the summer..

Would have won the league I reckon. 

[DT The Optimist]

1 minute ago, Sheltons Army said:

 

But was time to move in IMHO

Might be right ….but what was he replaced with…. More of an issue.  I am a great NP fan.  But Simpson was not one of his finer moments…

[Sheltons Army]

1 minute ago, DT The Optimist said:

Might be right ….but what was he replaced with…. More of an issue.  I am a great NP fan.  But Simpson was not one of his finer moments…

No going to get embroiled in that debate , again

I thought this was about Jack Hunt

Not keeping a player on good wages , whose not taking you forward is a sensible decision 

Difficulty in a replacement doesn’t make it a bad one , and let’s see how Tanner develops 

[A Horse With No Name]

All I know is, I never want to see Sam Bell there again. 

[Taz]

I'd have kept him personally ahead of the other options we had looking back, however, you would have to assume he was on a higher wage than the alternatives, and availability was a bit up and down at times. 

If Tanner hadn't have picked up his injury, he may have played most games. Had we not had a few issues at centre back, Kalas could have played there if needed, so there were other options available within the squad already. We also don't know if we were looking at other players, but for whatever reason moves didn't materialise. Perhaps that's when the Simpson contract decision was made.

On a tight budget, it could have been that Nige decided he didn't need/want Hunt because he didn't offer enough value for money.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I do think that if he had stayed, then we could have looked a bit more stable at the back. Then again, that's also assuming that Hunt stays fit and available for most/all of the season.

[cidercity1987]

Good player who got overplayed last season and therefore always seemed knackered

[DT The Optimist]

1 minute ago, cidercity1987 said:

Good player who got overplayed last season and therefore always seemed knackered

I likewise thought he was decent, believe played 38 games L1 for Owls. So on that stat you suspect he would have lasted the pace. 
One poster said we would have been promoted    But I suspect we may have been few places higher. Perhaps we will see him back here next season yet ! If owls make it..

[Mr Popodopolous]

I have to say that for a relegated side allegedly under some kinda financial monitoring, Sheffield Wednesday have been extravagant in the market. Was thinking about this earlier.

Summer 2021

Peacock-Farrell (Loan) Burnley (PL)

Hunt (Free) released by us (Championship)

Byers Swansea (Championship)

Wing (Loan) Middlesbrough (Championship)

Johnson (Free) released by Middlesbrough (Championship)

Gregory (Free) Stoke (Championship)

Berahino (Free)

Plus a probably younger loanee from Wolves, and 1 from the Swiss League.

Retention

Iorfa

Dunkley

Luongo

Bannan

Paterson

Windass

January 2022

Wing returned to Middlesbrough then went to Wycombe but...

Dean Half-season loan Birmingham (Championship)

Storey Half-season loan Preston (Championship)

If FFP follows them down or up and down..

I've gone off topic a bit. However it's quite a transfer activity for a side relegated to League 1!

As for Hunt, think he had run his course here but could have been useful cover for Tanner. Not an essential however.

Our moves towards austerity set against their activity despite us being on a higher club income, well that comparison doesn't sit right.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[DaveF]

26 minutes ago, DT The Optimist said:

I likewise thought he was decent, believe played 38 games L1 for Owls. So on that stat you suspect he would have lasted the pace. 
One poster said we would have been promoted    But I suspect we may have been few places higher. Perhaps we will see him back here next season yet ! If owls make it..

In hindsight he would have been good to have this season, but at the time I wasn't bothered he was released tbh. 

[RedRoss]

I think we did the right thing by releasing him. We then made the mistake of signing Simpson. Just a position that needs to be addressed this summer with competition with Tanner.

[Waconda]

The decision to keep Simpson over him was a joke and in no way could have been in relation to performances on the pitch.

Getting rid of "obviously not deadwood" Lansbury and replacing him injury prone has beens was also an error.

False economy.

Not just saying it in hindsight I said it at the time.

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Waconda

[Rocking Red Cyril]

I still not quite understand why Kala's was not used a the right back and change the CB pairing.

[Nugget]

Always tried hard, a solid pro, but reminded me of a crab going sideways up the touch line, very right footed (not that it’s a bad thing for some) but too predictable with it IMHO

[Pezo]

It wouldn't have changed the end result IMHO, we would still be safe in this division but maybe with a few more points. With our financial situation it makes sense to move him on.

[Major Isewater]

8 hours ago, DaveF said:

Would have won the league I reckon. 

And the cup! 

[Rossi the Robin]

Hunt was in the team that was plummeting to league 1 - time to go 

[pongo88]

As has been said, he was probably on a high salary, but he could have been offered reduced terms in the same way as Weimann. The person who hasn’t been mentioned in this discussion is Vyner. Pearson’s hints last season seemed to imply that he though that right back was Vyner’s best position, so he probably though Vyner was going to be a regular in that position. In that case he didn’t need Hunt as Tanner, or a similar player was going to be a backup 

[SecretSam]

9 hours ago, The Horse With No Name said:

All I know is, I never want to see Sam Bell there again. 

I don't think Sam Bell ever wants Sam Bell there again.

[Sir Geoff]

41 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

As has been said, he was probably on a high salary, but he could have been offered reduced terms in the same way as Weimann. The person who hasn’t been mentioned in this discussion is Vyner. Pearson’s hints last season seemed to imply that he though that right back was Vyner’s best position, so he probably though Vyner was going to be a regular in that position. In that case he didn’t need Hunt as Tanner, or a similar player was going to be a backup 

Exactly that. The right back spot was Vyners with Simpson as back up. Tanner was brought in ( I believe) 12 months ahead of schedule. As it turned out Vyner wasn't good enough, nor was Simpson and Tanner got injured. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Hunt on the other hand was part of a dreadful team that was heading in one direction. Don't forget we couldn't stop crosses coming in from that side and also that most people believed that Perreira was an upgrade on Hunt but his loan wasn't followed up with a full signing.

[petehinton]

Was a high earner and wanted to move back up north, so suited everyone really 

[Davefevs]

47 minutes ago, SecretSam said:

I don't think Sam Bell ever wants Sam Bell there again.

I reckon Sam Bell will take whatever minutes he can get in any position he can…at this stage of his career.

[The Dolman Pragmatist]

10 hours ago, DT The Optimist said:

 Had not been released and retained ? 
I raise this hypothetical question as us regulars see that most pressing issue has been the RHS of the defence. All season. 
All season have seen make shift players  making good on that side, or players simply not up to it. Simpson example. Yes Tanner is very promising youngster. Not yet the answer, his time will come…

good old Jack has been a regular for the owls, I notice he has been in the league one team of the week a few times, and even scored a few goals.  
bit fun really but I for one reckon we have missed him….

let’s see what NP  does in the summer..

More to the point, what if we’d given Tommy Rowe another season?  For me, he was a bit of a talisman for us, and how much could we have done with his versatility this season?  His ability to cover positions was remarkable, and it was his injury in particular that derailed our season last year.  People might say “but he’s been in a relegated League One side this season”, but I believe he could have done a valuable job in the Championship for one more season.

[GrahamC]

Hunt was one of very few (Tommy Rowe probably the only other) of those dozen we let go to emerge with any credit from last season.

Unlike several he didn’t mysteriously vanish to the treatment table or phone it in during those painful last few months.

However he was a high earner who was never likely to be part of our longer term plan & so the move he got, to a big club in his part of the world, suited everyone.

If we had been prepared to do a Weimann/Baker type deal I’m sure he would have done a steady job, but we all moved on.

Arguable that him, Rowe, Paterson & Fam (maybe Lansbury, too) are probably the only ones we let go to make any sort of contribution at their new clubs since, which is telling, isn’t it?

Edited April 28, 2022 by GrahamC

[Super]

8 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I reckon Sam Bell will take whatever minutes he can get in any position he can…at this stage of his career.

Of course the lad wants to play but playing him out of position at his young age is doing him no favours.

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

More to the point, what if we’d given Tommy Rowe another season?  For me, he was a bit of a talisman for us, and how much could we have done with his versatility this season?  His ability to cover positions was remarkable, and it was his injury in particular that derailed our season last year.  People might say “but he’s been in a relegated League One side this season”, but I believe he could have done a valuable job in the Championship for one more season.

Imho, Tommy Rowe was a fantastic free transfer signing in his first season, but whether little niggles etc caught up with him last year or not, I don’t think he was the same player we’d seen in season one.  You are right, he was rushed back from one injury far too soon, and that really was the end of the road for him.  With Pring and Dasilva doing decent jobs down our left side, I’m not sure Tommy would’ve got many minutes.  Probably much better to have kept Nurse???

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, Super said:

Of course the lad wants to play but playing him out of position at his young age is doing him no favours.

I guess we’d need to ask him…

…my view is that it’s great experience for him, he’ll learn loads, and guess that he’s getting as much preparation as possible in training in advance.  He might also be thinking “wow, the gaffer has confidence in me”.

But we are all guessing aren’t we?  I’m just reflecting back on times when I had similar scenarios (at a much lower level, obviously ), and saw them as an opportunity.

Think Dave Barton should put him up for today’s pre-match media interview.

[brad blit]

On the subject of playing Bell (and Benayous) out of position, i think its more a case of giving these players minutes on the pitch to gain match day experience and confidence - OK its not ideal and there have been times when they have had poor games, but the experience going forward will be invaluable to both and make them stronger when they are bigger players in our squad.

Would I rather see an exciting and improving 18yr Bell on the pitch at right back, potentially making mistakes and learning for long term gain? or put an aging (with no long term plan) Simpson at right back as someone who could make the same mistakes, but not have the same inclination to learn or even care about his performance knowing its probably his last season at this club?