A simple and cursory glance of social media will tell you that for a number of fans of Championship clubs, Kane Wilson was the one they all wanted. And while that will invariably lead to digital puffing of chests and launching of fictional warships that intend to urinate from a great height on England’s second tier, it says a great deal about Bristol City.
That the club who finished 17th in the division, who didn’t secure back-to-back wins until the final home game of the season, have managed to secure one of the most coveted free agents in the EFL, is worthy of momentary celebration before we even get into the concept of what he could add to this team.
Geography has helped, as Bristol is within striking distance of the village of Tetbury, where Wilson has called home for the last two years, and clearly his preference was to remain in the West Country. He has a young family very much settled in the area, and there is already a familiarity with the city, which you and I both know would be a major draw for any sensible human being.
But there’s much more to it than that, and unlike the jibes from afar about Kal Naismith’s switch being purely money motivated with the prospect of a long-term contract (which is a very binary way of looking at the situation), that isn’t true this time around.
Of course, Wilson is on a contract that far exceeds anything he’s earned previously but those numbers haven’t been exclusive to City’s offer. With the exception of those clubs in receipt of parachute payments, the floor and ceiling for wages across the Championship, bar a few clubs with considerably small financial resources, is pretty much the same.
It’s needed much more than salary to beat away competition from across the division, and the reason lies in-part by circumstance but also an agreeable twist of fate.
By his own admission, Nigel Pearson’s win/loss column is not befitting of a manager of his quality nor a club the size of City, and it’s a record that you suspect won’t be allowed to be continued in 2022/23 - something the 58-year-old has said himself.
However, a theme of his time at the helm has been the sheer number of debutants from the academy - 10 with several more likely to follow next season - and the minutes and opportunity he’s given to players previously lacking in Championship experience.
It was a bugbear of the Lansdowns that Lee Johnson wasn’t as strong a proponent of the “pathway” as his reputation implied. The counter to that was such were the increasing expectations on the former head coach, he didn’t have the flexibility in terms of results to usher in large swathes of younger players or give game time to the growing contingent purchased from deeper in the EFL.
Pearson has, and it’s partly why City have been so inconsistent but it’s also enabled them to grow a reputation of a club that will give young players a chance; and not only that, the clear signs of individual progression in Antoine Semenyo and Alex Scott, as two obvious examples, make for compelling evidence of what can be achieved on an individual level, as a Robin.
Covid-19 has unquestionably played a part in all this, as without the pandemic, games behind closed doors and the drain on finances, Pearson could well have been equipped with a transfer budget last summer akin to his early days at Leicester City.
But such is life and working within the restrictions imposed on him, prospective signings know that if they sign for City, and show they’re capable, they will get their chance. It’s a very simple formula but one that so many clubs can’t provide, often not deliberately but just that pressure - as was the case with Johnson - dictated as much.
Because you have to remember with Wilson that he spent four frustrating years trying to make the breakthrough at boyhood club West Brom, having been at the club since the age of seven. Earmarked for potential success as a 16-year-old as he was named in a Premier League squad against Middlesbrough in 2016, the traditional loan route was then taken but a combination of the Baggies cyclical priorities of avoiding relegation/securing promotion coupled with Wilson not being wholly suited to systems at other clubs, meant he never made the jump.
With respect to what Dale Vince has developed and fostered in that corner of Gloucestershire, which is worthy of considerable praise, Forest Green isn’t the most glamorous of moves, nor particularly lucrative relative to a number of clubs in 2020 in League Two, but they made sense for him as an individual to get minutes on the pitch and show what he was capable of.
His debut campaign didn’t go properly according to plan, but under Rob Edwards it’s hard to find much fault with the body of work he put together across 2021/22; a fleet-footed and nimble attacking wing-back, capable of dribbling infield and/or driving to the byline, opening up defences and then delivering precision passes into attacking areas. The game is changing but it’s not exactly the stereotype of what a player in his position in the fourth tier does.
That is a convenient way to slip into the next point of order and that is, we should temper our expectations here. Making the step up from League Two into the Championship is considerable and 135 of Wilson’s 162 career league appearances have been in the fourth tier, the remainder in League One. Look, he may well hit the ground running but after the excitement dies down, he shouldn’t be expected to.
The speed and the athleticism within matches are two considerable obstacles. They were major assets of Wilson’s game last season but now he’s existing among similarly quick and dynamic footballers.
Technically the tools are all there but, once again, that step up in two divisions brings the quality bar up with it. It will likely take time for him to adapt and adjust. But, as we’ve seen and stated, he’s at a club where he can be afforded that chance to learn on the job.
Collective expectations won’t be as low as last season, for a number of reasons, but Wilson isn’t being dropped into a situation like, say, Watford where there is an immediate obligation to win and win well, as Edwards will soon encounter.
Positionally, though, it’s a bit of an open goal for him to go and make it his own. Having initially bemoaned the concept of playing three at the back, Pearson found familiarity in a 3-5-2 which gradually morphed into a 3-4-1-2 to bring the best out of the WSM frontline.
It’s testament to Scott’s versatility, professionalism, football IQ and selflessness that he enabled that system to be played with such regularity because after George Tanner’s first hamstring injury, if the teenager hadn’t filled in, there wasn’t exactly an abundance of candidates, and who knows what tactical experiment and results may have followed otherwise.
But for all his qualities in that role - and also a shout-out to Jay Dasilva who played his part on his weaker foot - City haven’t had a specialist right wing-back to play in a formation that leans on wing-backs. Wilson is that man and, Tanner aside, who at this stage appears more suited to a flat four, the 22-year-old could come straight into the starting XI, depending on pre-season, of course.
Exactly how Pearson intends to take City forward is unclear. He doesn’t tend to show a great deal of emotion but often his wry comments reveal a particular personal delight. And his amusement at Hull manager Shota Arveladze’s erroneous claim that the Robins were a “direct side”, while outlining City’s counter-attacking efficiency, indicated a subtle pride in that particular way of playing.
Again, Wilson’s dribbling and line-breaking ability, alongside his acceleration and direct instincts are befitting of such an approach. When you consider that City began last season with Zak Vyner and Danny Simpson as their first-choice right-backs, we’re already a significant departure away from that, and one that feels more comfortable.
We could also see Wilson higher up the pitch, possibly even in tandem with Tanner as a more orthodox right-back in a 4-2-3-1, a formation that when played last season either drew Andi Weimann or Scott to the right-side. Again, not ideal.
We’re into Mark Sykes territory now, but the options down that right flank are very quickly considerably more plentiful than what they were just a few weeks ago.
Which brings us back to reason for celebration - City have addressed not just a fundamental position of need but also a whole area of the pitch. There are concerns because, quite obviously, we don’t know how Sykes and Wilson will perform as bona fide Championship players but, at the very least, they’re two exciting prospects with enough evidence in League One and League Two to suggest it’s a strong possibility.
That sizeable tick in the box then allows Pearson and the recruitment team to look at the next two major positions - centre-back and defensive midfield, with almost three months of the window remaining. Celebration may be slightly the wrong word at this stage, but there is a real sense of confident contentment at what has been achieved in a relatively short period of time.
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