Winless in League One since October, 17th in the League and knocked out the Carabao Cup and Emirates FA Cup by lower league opposition. It has not been the season and aimed promotion push that Wycombe Wanderers would have imagined.
The reality now? A huge threat of relegation back to League Two, despite having competed in the Championship just three years ago. The Chairboys sit just five points above the drop zone in the third tier, and there is no guarantee they won’t drop back down to a division they haven’t been in since 2018.
After what many had believed to be a brilliant transfer window and pre-season by the Blues, it has not all pieced together. But why?
With the expectation at the start of the season by many being a top-six finish and potential return to the Championship, here are some of the potential underlying factors behind Wycombe’s disappointing start to the 2023/24 season.
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New players and a new style of football
One thing evident from the start of the season was a much busier transfer window than Wycombe fans would be used to. Throughout this season, the Chairboys have made 14 additions to the squad, with a fairly balanced mix of youth and experience.
Five of those were on a loan deal, with lots of Premier League quality coming into the club, including West Ham star Freddie Potts, who appeared for the Hammers in the UEFA Europa Conference League last season.
Despite those signings, it has not quite clicked on the pitch.
One priority when signing a high volume of new players is gelling them together. One thing that the Buckinghamshire-based side has been known for down the years is a great togetherness, something footballers thrive off regardless of talent.
However, doing that with 14 new players is a difficult task. The talent that the players coming in was unquestionable, but blending it together is another job altogether.
What also must be considered is the style that these players are being blended into under Blues manager Matt Bloomfield. Many consider a possession-based game to be the way forward in modern football, with the best teams across world football playing in this way.
However, with many players having been kept from the Gareth Ainsworth era where a much more direct style of football was played, those individuals also have to adapt quickly.
With so many players needing to adapt to possession based football, it can be difficult for it to work straight away, and it can be ineffective if not executed in the right way.
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Injuries.... and more injuries
No doubt, an endless list of injuries have been a huge factor in Wycombe’s poor run.
As mentioned earlier, a key player in this Wycombe side has been Freddie Potts. However, the West Ham starlet has been missing from action since the start of November.
Potts hasn’t been the only one missing from action. Jack Grimmer, Joe Jacobson, Jason McCarthy, Kane Vincent-Young, Sam Vokes and Jason McCarthy have also had spells on the sidelines, just to name a few.
Wanderers forward Brandon Hanlan will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a knee injury in November, whilst Luke Leahy was also out of action for a few weeks after a freak incident in the same game. Others have also been out of action for the Chairboys.
One thing that has been clear about the Chairboys squad is the amount of swapping and changing involved, which stems from injury problems.
Some have argued that Matt Bloomfield doesn’t know his best squad, when it could be the case that he isn’t able to put out what he thinks is his best squad due to luck not being in favour of the Chairboys.
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Expectations too high?
Under Gareth Ainsworth, the Chairboys reached new heights. From surviving from dropping out of the English Football League to winning promotion to the EFL Championship in the space of six years, it was quite the journey with “The Wild Thing” at the helm.
However, for years the Blues were arguably exceeding expectations. Ainsworth’s achievements led to him getting the Queens Park Rangers job earlier this year.
Club legend Matt Bloomfield comes into the manager role at Wycombe Wanderers in a very similar way that Ainsworth did all those years ago. Whilst Bloomfield has better quality to select from and comes into the role with the football club in a more stable situation, he still lacks experience, just as Ainsworth did.
No doubt the aim this season will have been a top-half finish, and with the talent in the Wycombe squad, the season up until now has been nothing short of a disappointment. However, it is a reminder to many of just how expectations have changed at the club.
It also shows many to not take anything for granted. With Gareth Ainsworth, Wycombe Wanderers were achieving heights that many never believed were possible. Those heights have now become an expectation at the club.
