Gary Madine Controversial signing to say the least. He was linked with us in January and most people thought it was a joke but then it seemed like it was happening as rumours grew and he signed. Wilder felt it was a risk worth taking. Madine had been involved in several city centre spats with both sides of the cities fans and also had quite a public feud on social media with Blades skipper Billy Sharp. Wilder met him and felt he was so keen to join the club and the pressure the move would attract that he rolled the dice. Taking away the off the field stuff, he was also a thorn in United’s sign. He did not score many goals in his career but wherever he played he was a handful. A big, physical lad whom defences knew they had been in a game but a decent touch and more mobile than you thought. Clearly the Premier League was a step too far and he was frozen out under Warnock but Wilder hoped he could do a similar job for us, as he did for the Bluebirds in their promotion run in. He does not score many goals – 71 in 329 which is 1 goal in 4 and a half games which is not great for a striker and one that has played a lot in the lower leagues (Carlisle, Wednesday and Bolton- all League One). Wilder saw enough that he could make a difference and provide something different to what we had.

He came on at Swansea but worryingly we punted it long to him but the next week he played well with Sharp in a good draw at Norwich. His Lane bow came as a sub against Bolton to a good reaction despite the mixed reviews on forums/social media and did ok showing his hold up but decent skill too. He played well in his first start at Villa and set up two goals and linked well with Sharp and then was a game changer when we beat Middlesbrough. His strength and heading meant a tight defence were pulled apart and he certainly had a big hand in us winning this game. He then scored two at Reading and was excellent. After this he and the other strikers rotated around a bit (not always due to form) but he did not play great in the Derby and missed a decent chance at the Kop end at Hillsborough early on and spent more time grappling with the defenders than going for the ball at times. After this he then started against Brentford but committed a stupid tackle and was sent off. This robbed us of his services for three games when we could have done with him against Bristol City and Preston.

He came back against Birmingham as a sub and then did likewise v Millwall and scored and then started against Forest and did ok but was used more of a nuisance threat in these final games and often off the bench as he went with Hogan rather than him in the Hull/Ipswich game. Came on in the final match at Stoke.

Overall, he did ok despite the stupid red card and a few so-so games. He did make an impact and gave us something different. At times we went a bit too long to him which we did not need to, as he is decent and quite mobile and can play in others with his chest and feet. It was not as if he asked us to pump it long. I felt he definitely made sure defenders had something else to worry about. He does not lose many headers and is a really strong boy. At times he loses his head a bit (few other daft tackles even outside the red card) but did show he wanted to be here and displayed a lot of passion – more so than maybe Hogan, Johnson and Dowell – other loan players. I believe he has the best chance of remaining but Cardiff may feel he may be needed again at a lower level and Wilder’s comments did not seem to show much interest in bringing him back immediately. They did pay 6 million for him and he has another two years left on his contract down there. We will see. I would not be averse to us signing him as another option so long as we signed a really top drawer, quick and younger player to compliment him Sharp and McGoldrick. Indeed, we would need to sign probably two top class strikers and then have the two starters of this year and maybe Madine as a bit of a wild card but not sure he is quite good enough for the top level. He did end up being liked by the players and to hear Billy say ‘What do you think of Gary Madine?’ mocking the phone clip when he was asked the same of Billy a few years previous showed how part of things he was as the United fans sang his name! Also came out on the bus and sang ‘Mind the Gap!’ further endearing him to the Blades fans.

Grade C+ (Last season NA)

Conor Washington Bit of a left field signing this one. We needed another striker and struggled to get anything over the line so Wilder took a punt on him as he was allowed to leave QPR on a free and we signed him till the end of the season. He scored goals at Peterborough and did well in his early days at Loftus Road and ended up in the Northern Ireland squad but fell by the way side somewhat. QPR changed managers quite a bit and he ended up frozen out. Always seemed a quick player who could get behind defences but lacked composure when he got there as his goal record suggested. I am sure Wilder saw him being used as a late impact sub when defences got tired and that is how he was employed as he helped us see time out in various games early on. He had a few half chances in games (Blackburn away for instance) but only had limited time really.

He started against Birmingham but barely touched the ball and went back to the bench. His next outing came at Brentford and I felt this was his best game for United. He ran his socks off and set up the winner. You felt he could maybe then have more of a role but played at Reading and was as ineffective as the Birmingham game and went back to the bench. He was ineffective against Barnet and with new signings coming in, did not even make the bench for much of the run in. He did make fleeting appearances at Norwich and Villa but would only be used in the match day squad if one of the other four were injured/suspended. Came on at Hull though briefly as we saw out this game.

We only took him on a one-year deal so his contract is up this summer and he will move on. He did not make much of an impact really and others moved ahead of him. He needs to go into League One where he can start regularly – maybe he will end up back at Posh with Darren Ferguson back in charge down there.

Grade C- (Last season NA)