After a long time watching from the touchline this is my first post, so here goes..

Over the last few months I've seen so many different views expressed here on the Wilf problem: some think we should dump him while others think he's too important to ever let him go. It seems though, that wherever one sits on the spectrum between those extremes, one thing is pretty certain: Wilf is just not the player he was..

Now at 28 years old it seems to me that that doesn't have to be the case - and just imagine how many of the concerns expressed on this forum would disappear if he could recapture that old magic?

So I wondered what advice there might be out there to help him regain his mojo? For what it's worth, mine to him would be:
1. Take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself first if you agree that you're not performing as once you did;
2. If you agree with that, ask yourself in what way you're falling short - and why you think that might be;
3. When you've worked that out fix up a session with PV, talk over with him where you think you are and ask him for his help and guidance in devising a programme to get you back on track.

I would imagine that PV would be chuffed to bits and would have a host of experiences as a player, a manager and as a decent human being to help you get back that adoration that you so want and that all the fans want to give you.

Interested on the reflections of others on here...

You can't change the way things are but you can change the way you are with the way things are.

Read your contract before you sign it get a better agent and stop whinging

walking down the holmesdale road to see the palace aces!

Surely Wilf was one of the first few players PV talked with upon taking the job – perhaps even the first. And surely PV commands enough respect that Wilf would listen to him as much as to anyone.

Wilf strikes me as having an artistic rather than a competitive-athletic temperament. His frustration comes from seeing his talents thwarted by teammates, opponents, and referees who don't see the world his way and whose ineptness (in his eyes) prevents Wilf from being appreciated as he thinks he should be. To be honest, that's a tough world-view to change.

My only advice, which he has undoubtedly heard repeatedly, is for him to consider opponents' brutal tactics as a compliment, his teammates' limitations as an artistic challenge, and the referees' failings as kind of a warped joke. Instead of letting the non-calls anger him, he should figure out a Zen-like non-threatening way to let the refs know that they need to reexamine their decisions and, uh, look into their refereeing souls...

Laugh, Wilf, and take joy in the game that you love and at which you excel. What do you want your legacy to be: as one of the most dangerous, dynamic 1-v.-1 players in the EPL, or just another above-average one who lacked the discipline to overcome the challenges that lesser men place in your path? Only you have the power to shape your legacy.

Edited by CT Charlie (27 Aug 2021 6.06pm)

Turn on the news and look at those folk in Afghanistan and you will know just how gifted you are. You are one lucky human being. One of the best footballers in the world. Good looking. Great shape. Still in the prime of your life. Could probably work on the current hair do. Just enjoy every waking minute. Look at your pay check and be very very happy. Enjoy the game you love and get over having a go at everyone. Enjoy it Wilf and really appreciate it here and now. You are one of the best. How special is that. It won’t last forever. Just appreciate your position on the planet. Top man.

Or to put it another way, and without pussy-footing around, tell him 'you don't know you're born'

Grow up and listen seriously to senior professionals (footballers, not the other kind) and management.

Like an alcoholic, you are the only one who can make the change for the better.

You never know, the fans may love you again and a 'big' club might take notice.