Derby County have signed a goalkeeper! Joe Wildsmith has joined the Rams following his release from Sheffield Wednesday. What can the 26 year bring to The Rams? How was his time at Sheffield Wednesday. We spoke with Owls Analytics, The Wednesday 'Til I Die Podcast and Owls Americas to find out about him.
Derby County have just signed Joe Wildsmith. Are you surprised that Wildsmith would be looking to sign for a League One club?
Owls Analytics: I'm not surprised Wildsmith has signed for a League One club, he's had a rough couple of years and a bad injury before. Staying at this level makes sense for him now as he picks himself back up.
Owls Americas: Not really, he would likely struggle to hold down a regular place at a higher level.
He only played only three times for Wednesday last season, why was that? How did he perform last season?
Owls Analytics: Where to start on this question... this is the result of the great SWFC goalkeeping saga which spanned five managers and has ran from at least 2018 onwards. Wildsmith, Cameron Dawson and Kieran Westwood all shared the #1 shirt, depending on who was manager, who was fit and whose face fit. The end result was a set of sub par performances from all three keepers and the confidence of Wildsmith and Dawson was shattered. Bailey Peacock-Farrell was brought in as first choice last season and it largely stayed that way except when he was unavailable. Having said that, he never really did anything wrong when called up for the cup games ,etc. Which you can see from his performance output chart.
WTDI: In the limited games he did play, he did well. I can't say he put a foot wrong and I was quite impressed, albeit in a small sample size. He had a shocker against Hartlepool in the Papa Johns Trophy. But, I still see him as a young goalkeeper even though he's been around a while.
Owls Americas: This wasn’t so much about Joe as it was about the decisions the club took as a whole. The previous season was a bit of a mess, he was tag teaming the position with Cameron Dawson, neither really doing amazing…then a few manager changes and Kieran Westwood came back so his time was limited. Last year Wednesday signed Bailey Peacock-Farrell from Burnley on loan for a huge loan fee with playing time guaranteed, so that limited his options. Joe didn’t shine himself in glory - go back and watch the highlights of the Papa Johns game against Hartlepool - he then only played when Peacock-Farrell was out on international games. Three matches is a hard comparison but he didn’t set the world alight
Last season aside, he played 66 times for the Owls. How would you sum up his time at Hillsborough ?
Owls Analytics: A promising young prospect once upon a time who perhaps has lost some of his confidence and desperately needs a fresh start and regular game time to get back on track, which he wouldn't get here. I'm sure many fans wish him all the best.
Owls Americas: Wasted. Youth product at the same time as Dawson, always the understudy.
Did Wednesday express any interest in re-signing him once is contract expired?
Owls Analytics: Yes, he was offered a contract but I imagine this was as a backup option. Understandably Wildsmith rejected this in favour of playing time.
WTID: No, Cam Dawson was on loan at Exeter, he's come back and we've signed David Stockdale. The writing was on the wall for Joe Wildsmith. We also have younger goalkeepers as well to fill in if needed.
Owls Americas: They offered a contract, I am not sure how HARD they tried with signing a new keeper (David Stockdale) and taking Dawson back from Exeter where he won promotion.
Would you call his time at Wednesday a success?
Owls Analytics: That's a difficult question. He made his debut here and was a good team player for a number of years. So in a sense, he has become a success. The last few years have been rough on his career and that would make it difficult to say that his time here was successful.
WTDI: I wouldn't say his time at Wednesday was a success because he never has been the #1 goalkeeper despite being in the first team at Wednesday for seven years.
Owls Americas: Would call it a wasted opportunity for both parties.
What are his strengths? His weaknesses?
Owls Analytics: His strengths on paper are his historically great shot stopping ability and reflexes; really he is a traditional goalkeeper in the sense that his best traits are around keeping the goals out. His weaknesses would perhaps be his verbal organisation, his ability to command the area and his ability to decide whether to exit his line or not (more often than not he stays rooted to it) . As per the last point, I am not sure if this is a consequence of SWFC training style as this was a common trait amongst all three of our keepers at one time. In itself it's not inherently bad as it's a playstyle rather than a flaw but it did cause problems for us at times.
WTDI: Weakness, he doesn't really command his box and he isn't vocal enough. Crosses are a bit of concern, he does tend to flap at them and be a bit indecisive. Strengths: he's a good shot stopper and he's very composed. Confidence can also be an issue, but that's understandable when he's never had a regular run of games and his place was always under threat.
Owls Americas: He's a good shot stopper.
The modern goalkeeper needs to be good with his feet. How is playing out from the back?
Owls Analytics: His distribution isn't bad but by no means a huge strength. It's not the technique or ability but more that he has been low on confidence in recent seasons. And when you have a backline that is not comfortable on the ball but is under management instruction to pass the ball around the back, this creates additional pressure on him when they panic. A new start at Derby could be the remedy.
WTID: To be honest, we didn't really play out from the back when we had Wildsmith. I wouldn't say he's amazing with his feet, but we didn't really play that way when he was in the side.
Owls Americas: Ummm, watch the Hartlepool game!
Do you think Wildsmith can be good player in League One for Derby
Owls Analytics: Ultimately it depends on what you need from a keeper and how much time he will be afforded. Is he a good shot stopper and a capable keeper at this level? Yes. Does he need to rebuild his confidence and form by playing a full season without interruption? Yes. Derby is a good move for him I'm sure.
WTID: I don't see why not, this is his chance, especially if he was brought into be your number one goalkeeper. You are in a rebuilding stage. This is his chance to really prove what he can do. I am really pleased for him, being a Wednesday fan, that he has got that chance. Probably not as please that he's gone Derby, but its a chance he deserves.
Owls Americas: He will be fine. Will be interesting to see if he is the #1 and how that is. He’s a good honest lad, he tries. He's a Wednesday youth product - one of those that we want to see do well.