At the interval, you’d be forgiven for thinking 2021 was going to usher in a bright new era.
One where Wolves shrug age-old jinxes off with zero fuss.
But that horror show of a second-half suggests we’ve got a long way to go to get back to the standards we’ve set over the last two seasons.
The good news is that we have three quality players that will (hopefully) return to the first team before too long, as well as Jonny and Raul to come later.
Any side would struggle without players of the quality that are currently sat on our treatment table, but injuries are part and parcel of football.
And that’s why, for the second season running, you have to question our recruitment.
Many of the young cubs we have seen this season look promising, but they simply can’t be considered adequate cover for our big guns.
Exemplifying this is marquee signing Fabio Silva, who was so ineffective tonight that you’d be forgiven for thinking we were playing with 10 men.
I’ve praised the lad before so I’m not going to do a U-turn when he most needs our support, but it’s clear to see that he needs a new arrival to come in this month and take him out the spotlight.
Talk of Diego Costa will doubtlessly rumble on and he certainly fits the bill of what we need, though I’d be shocked if Fosun forked out for a stopgap signing of his age.
Origi maybe?
Whoever it is, they need to have the physical attributes needed to bring our wide players into the game.
Neto and particularly Adama offered plenty tonight, with the latter laying it on a plate for Otasowie at the death.
But with Silva incapable of competing against Brighton’s towering and far more experienced defenders, our wide player’s moments of brilliance were all too fleeting.
As for the defence, Nuno needs to resist the temptation to tinker with four at the back for now.
Our defending was shambolic at times and that seems needless when our players have been drilled into a system that has worked so well for us over the years.
If we were scoring at will then perhaps it would be a gamble worth taking, but we’re not and so it seems sensible to go back to basics and focus on grinding out results that will move us up the table.
One positive is that this was a darn sight more entertaining than our last encounter with Brighton, though not quite as easy on the heart.
A great attempt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and lucky to get away with it.
Utterly unprofessional and abject. They thought we had it won at half time and went into cruise mode. Neves, Moutinho and Vitinha non existent in midfield. Patricio and Traore also underperforming.
No good blaming Nuno when senior plyers don’t tun up en masse, but his insistence on keeping a “small” (tiny)squad is now seriously backfiring. We’ve been lucky with injuries since promotion and now it’s payback time.
If this Fosun project is not a mirage then a serious declaration of intent is needed NOW in this transfer window. Can’t manage with so many kids.
Very fortunate there are 4 /5 very poor teams at the bottom.
Hugely disappointing start to 2021.
Here here Nuno has got to get this small squad out of his head or we going to end up fighting relagation.
2 points worse off than same games last season and you are banging on about relegation?
Our bogey side continue to thwart us…. It is pretty poor to be 3-1 up, looking fairly in control to gift a pen so early into the 2nd half, then do what we always used to, namely sit back and invite pressure.
Says it all about our squad, that we have to have 2 goalies to make up the numbers.
We are deluding ourselves if we think our (brilliant) youngsters can match experience.
Fabio was non – exsisent and his confidence will get battered if we are not careful, same goes for Ait Nori and Otasowie.
Nuno has his work cut out lifting morale.
It’s a blip and with our stalwarts coming back will see us back on track, but I think consolidation mid table is the aim.
We have a way to go to compete consistently.
It’s been worse bloggers, its been worse.
Keep the faith.
And we are one of the aforementioned poor teams.
Our form is relegationesque, and we will be in freefall very soon if we don’t get a grip.
Our right side is a total joke and Semedo is vying with Traore for biggest waste of space.
Pathetic defending ftom him, f… him off back to Barca asap, with Traore under his arm.
First time we score three in a match this season, and we blew it.
Pathetic
Traore hasn’t done much of late but if you think he was the biggest waste of space tonight then you were watching a different game to me. He won the penalty, set up Otasawie’s golden chance on a plate and was a constant threat to Brighton’s defence. Who else was apart from Neto early on? Certainly not Vitinha and Silva, neither of whom would get in a championship team at the moment. Not their fault of course as they are at a stage in their development where they should not be anywhere near the first team of a premier league team with pretensions to constant improvement.
Traore won the penalty and put a header on a plate for Otasowie.
I thought he did OK today.
Clive speaks the truth.
Downvoters take a reality check.
Not really. We are not that far away. What is your opinion of the unfortunate defeat at Old Trafford where a bunch of teenagers went toe to toe with mighty Man Utd and deserved a point ?
Old Trafford
It was posted on here – very positive, refer back.
You need to see things as they are not as you want them to be. And no I wasn’t at Chorley but I’ve been nearly everywhere else in the last 60 years before you cry the usual fine weather supporter stuff.
I see things as they are. You obviously didn’t read what I said above. Last season 24 points. This season 22 points. Same games. I acknowledged injuries are a factor. I also said we need to make use of the transfer window. As for Chorley . I was at the first replay at Molineux. I wasn’t at the other 2 games.
Last season 24 goals. This season 18 goals. Last season 8th place in the table. This season 13th place. Not a good trend and an indicator of a team that looks to be treading water, trying to stay afloat until help arrives. Hopefully help arrives soon.
The fault lies with the recruitment .It is really a joke when we lose a few regulars and we have such inexperienced back up .Nuno and the club have got way with tiny squads and endless future prospects in the last couple of years .Now they have been found out .It is exhausting to watch these matches with very little fun .
So here’s my theory, based on no facts whatsoever. Maybe the powers that be looked at the club’s results from the last couple of years and said “You know we’re doing pretty good and with a couple of breaks and some luck we can be looking at top 4.” So this offseason they took a gamble, invested very little in the present and looked to the future. Well, unfortunately the breaks and luck came, but they were all bad. Just a thought.
Happy New Year everyone!
I thought Traore had one of his better outings actually Clive. Not saying all that much this season, it’s true, but he was a definite thorn in their side.
Supporting Wolves will always be an emotional experience. Me kicking the settee in after Rashfords winner the other night. The Brighton penalty half a minute in to the second half. I immediately looked at the clock and thought 6.25pm is a LONG time to go. And so it was. But I have calmed down now. After 17 games in the premier league in 18/19 we had 25 points (went on to get 57). In 19/20 we had 24 points (went on to get 59). This year we have 22 points. And if the current points to game average continue we get 49/50 points. Now. There is something to be said that we are not as strong as we were. Injuries have impacted that. So given that performances are negatively impacted by the injuries there is a case for getting them back asap AND being wise in the transfer market in January. Having said all of that we do seem to have lost our mojo. The swash buckling counter attacks. The fearlessness. The defence solidity. Ben is right to say let’s get back to basics. Three at the back. Frustrate opponents (like Man Utd the other night). This is our identity under Nuno. I understand he wants to evolve but you can’t keep constantly changing formation. 343 and 352 served us just fine so far. So let’s not panic. Keep the faith and Wolves Ay We.
I’m with you Cheese however this time last year we were getting by without Willy Boly and fielding a settled and stronger team in the second half of the season. This team is a B team with so many first teamers out at the same time and so many youngsters having to fill men’s boots. Keep the faith and don’t panic yet but I’m now thinking about where the next point is coming from and how soon will my Wolves team be back.
You said it BG. Last year Boly, this year Boly, Donk, Jonny and Raul.
I think that it is clear that we have problems all over the pitch but, most worryingly, we look exceedingly fragile in defence and are particularly woeful when defending set pieces. Without having the right personnel to regularly play a back four that means reverting to basics and attempting to steady the ship by playing our normal formation until the injury situation eases and/or reinforcements come in.
Both Silva and Vitinha were anonymous today and Neto was clearly knackered in the second half but with their aggregate age being just 58 what can we expect? Certainly not boys to do a mans job. We know that Neto has the talent to come good again but the jury is very much out on the other two.
Not many bright spots at all today but at least Adama was much more threatening than of late and if only Otasawie had shown an ounce of composure at the end then we would have come away with three points that we didn’t really deserve.
It will be an interesting month ahead in terms of who we will be seeking to acquire to bolster our powder puff central attacking area but I think it likely that it won’t be any of the names that are currently being regularly mentioned.
It’s a funny old world – ‘a funny old game’ indeed, when so called supporters set themselves up as a ‘jury’, and abuse ‘our’ team members. Seem to think we have a newly given divine right to win, and the club owners project held to account like a politician’s promises. Actually insulting to opposition teams, who have plenty of skill and determination themselves – no easy matches, as the saying goes.
Many of the young lads have put up some very good performances in recent games, and as has been pointed out, we’re on a par with previous season’s points totals to date. And four or more top players missing, no suitable forward on the bench to replace Neto yesterday. The first goal was a one off, then Moutino poked out his leg to get the ball, he wasn’t actually tackling, a mistake yes, but not ‘a gift’, or ‘unforgivable’ in a player who is rhapsodised about any other week. Fabio ? Well, if he’d been left on he’d quite likely have nodded in that wonderful Traore cross, and we’d all be saying how well he played.
I could go on, but no, I wasn’t at Chorley, although I remember it well. I was there however when we lost to Gillingham, after which Dave Jones was sacked. and I was at Molineux when we beat lowly Stevenage 2-0, and a bloke behind standing behind me treated us to a chorus of ‘He’s Danny Batth from fkn Brierley Hill’. Those were some of the recent days . Where is he now ?
We’ve got a great owner, manager, and squad now, and the best is yet to come.
It’s not a “dog given right to win” attitude, it’s a “what is the point of turning up if we don’t want to win” attitude.
And yes, Traore did win a penalty, finally, after weeks of aiming for the corner flag, and yes, he did put in a cross in the dying seconds, but anything else of note?
Lots of mazy runs, most of them ending up on his arse or disappearing up it in frustration at his own inability to think like a footballer.
And Semedo would be better suited to the albion defense, at least he would fit in with all those wankers who cannot defend.
When we’ve brought in fresh blood from afar before, a lot of them had to spend several months blending in before getting a run in the first team.
How come Semedo didn’t?
Still, onwards and upwards, eh?
We know the likes of Brighton and Burnley will always stop us winning, so let’s concentrate on the bigger fish.
And the cup.
Now there’s another waste of time and resources this season, together with the league cup, whatever its name is this year.
And international friendlies.
And a shortened season, with little pre season.
All makes sense to me, in this lockdown crazy world we live in at present.
Why not throw in a few testimonials as well, to fill the calendar even more?
Rant over.
FOwb, thanks Big Sam
Not sure that Silva would have had the determination and drive to get on the end of that last second cross. We’ll never know but even if he had I’d find it difficult to believe that many would have thought he’d played well. Most bloggers aren’t that blinkered, surely.
And another point I would like to make. Fabio is a young kid. Accepted. But so was Robbie Keane aged 17 and he knew where the goal was.
The difference being that Robbie had obvious talent and the ability to beat a player. He produced the goods in his first ever game (Norwich away, if I recall correctly)and his confidence just grew from there. Also, he was performing in the calmer waters of the second division and not in what is generally regarded as the toughest league in the world
Yeah true. Accept he was in the championship. Fair point.
Ben,
Your right about recruitment and I for one have been vocal for a long time and dismayed by our recruitment policy it’s all geared to the future.
Clearly those coming in have potential and may be can do a job here and there but it’s wrong and not fair to them to expect them to replace our best players like for like.
It’s not just the fact we have recruited for the future it would not be a problem if at the same time we had recruited for the first team at the same time and this goes back to the size of our squad in Premier League terms it’s not big enough or robust enough to cope with injuries to key personnel as has been clearly exposed this season.
To the game. Why do we keep changing personnel and formation every other game that not conductive to getting a settled team. A settled team has a better chance of becoming a winning team and I know we have injuries but even so some players are in for one game and out the next despite playing well However for example played brilliant against Utd .
Nuno panicking at 3.2 takes of attacker for a defender upsets the rhythm of the team at a critical time players have to shuffle position it’s not the first time did it against Utd took Neto off and put a defender on and we concede late.
The players must be bemused they don’t know from one game to the next who they will be playing along side those important partnerships don’t get chance to flourish or get started.
And yes Nuno is responsible not for Matinios mistake or any other mistake a player makes the first time but he is for managing and coaching the team.
The last two games we have dropped 3 points out of a possible 4 we have won 1 in 7 that’s relegation form. We can not get to half time without conceding despite who’s playing in defence who is sorting this out on the training pitch…?
we cannot score we had an own goal today and a penalty and Siais who is our second top scorer and he’s a defender.
We are a mess…….and that’s the managers job to sort out but it just gets worse every game.
Where’s the solution time and results will tell because at the end of the day results are the be all and end all for every manager and that includes Nuno.
Paul
In Nuno’s defence I think he’s struggling to work with what he has at his disposal. You and I have been questioning the recruitment issue for months and been pilloried for it. Well now the crows are certainly coming home to roost – and then some.
At least in part his tactics reflect the (lack of) personnel.
That may be the case. But surely Nuno was instrumental in this flawed transfer policy. He as well as others has to carry the can for the mess that is now unfolding
Possibly your best ever post Paul. Some interesting points well expressed and balanced.
I am perfectly prepared to criticise Nuno when I think he’s dropped a bollock.
I think the experiment with four at the back certainly constitutes a round object hitting the floor with a painful crack.
Other than that, today was down to Ait Nurai’s poor covering, Patricio’s indecisiveness, Moutinho’s brain fade and Traore and Neves not following Dunk’s run.
You can’t really blame Nuno for any of those mistakes.
But I am certainly worried about our position and lack of experienced cover. And we don’t know who’s to blame for that.
But there are obviously a growing minority of bloggers who seem to think that he’s taken us ‘as far as he can’. God I hate that phrase!
Simple then. Sack him.
And suggest someone we could realistically get who would do better.
Big Sam maybe.
Or Colin W***er.
And I hear that Alan Pardew is available.
You certainly won’t find me suggesting sacking Nuno. He has his faults but I think he is largely the victim of other things going on at the club.
And at the heart of it is recruitment / personnel. I don’t care what he says in public I can’t believe that he was in favour of offloading Jota just as he was reaching maturity. Nor do I believe that he is 100% with the strategy of building for the future at the expense of the present. His job depends largely on what happens in the present.
Building for the future is fine when combined with looking after the present at the same time. Currently it’s clear that the correct balance has not been struck. Injuries or not you only have to look at the subs.nominated at Old Trafford and tonight to see that.
Your points are very sobering DOOG…..
We shouldn’t panic, or sack anyone…… at least we got a point… having to play a youthful line up and bench..!!
But injuries just haven’t helped…. whatever the feelings of how that’s come about are irrelevant…. would be nice to have a 60 plus squad of international’s but sadly only 11 can play….
I agree entirely with the well worded…’ be careful what you wish for….. ‘
who the heck wants Alan Pardew, Tony Pullit, Colin W or any other dinosaur.
Disappointed yes but desperate or deflated …… most definitely NOT.
I’m sure the current problems are fully understood (Eg Silva) and I for one believe Fosun will be pulling the rabbits out of the hat and not the sort of ones thrown into the headlights.
At least there are 3 duffers at the bottom end earmarked for the Championship….
Great points mate….
So there are no coaches in Europe who might be available? I’m guessing when we were discussing whether Paul Lambert should be given another year, no one was suggesting replacing him with some guy call Nuno Espirito Santo, who was available at the time.
Relax, Dean Saunders is not coming back.
Don Everall used to have some.
Great balanced report, that was a very poor second half. Even worrying to see the amount of possession Brighton had.
They could so easily have won it and from 3-1 down that would have been unforgivable.
Silva not Premiership quality, the ball kept coming back off him no threat, no hold up play. It is not surprising we had to back pedal constantly.
We have to win 50/50 balls more often. It’s gut wrenching to watch this stuff at the moment, this and the Burnley game real low points in this dodgy season.
On the plus side Saiss and Coady were both very good. Samedo looks to have at last got the pace of this league.
We have to hope Dendoncker and Podence are back next game at least. This is currently a bare bones side, and looks vulnerable. I agree with 3 at the back because I think Kiliman deserves a place in the team even ahead of Boly.
Other than that you have to hope we get a big brute of a centre forward to get those Traore crosses in the back of the net.
Until Costa or Origi arrive, it has to be Podence, Traore and Neto up top. Dendoncker and Neves centre midfield & the back five who ended the game.
Tonight very disappointed indeed. Thought we’d get the business done but we’re so short of experienced players we nearly lost all of the points. In the end a point a big plus, and and let’s hope we move on from here.
Well that was shambolic for a defence that was so good now seems the opposite totally inept. But saying that where is are striker sorry he is injured and we have a eighteen year old to lead the line . When is Nuno going to get it through his head you can not win games with out a striker who can score goals witch we don’t have.For too weeks running a goal at the death we would have won but two teenagers miss open goals is all down to Nuno and his policy of a small squad if we gad a striker on the pitch we would now be 4 points better of.
Really angry, shambolic, adama was better, they score, then we attack they can’t cope, second half awful, Silvia would not get in my nephews kids team, big transfer window, has nuno lost the plot? I’m going to get more drunk now, wolves aie we!
Dek
We’ve had over 2 years to acquire back up for Raul and failed dismally; then we sold Jota. Now we are seeing the consequences. Defence – same applies with Boly except it’s 3 years.
Things may look quite bleak at the moment but 9 miles down the road things are a trifle worse. Not only do they have an ardent Wolves fan as manager but he has steered them to an aggregate 0 – 9 scoreline in their last two home games alone.
There’s always something to cheer us up, if only temporarily.
Right there mate but I am already fretting about it. Two massive thrashings. You just know what will happen on Jan 16th.
Time to be real. 3-1 ahead against a truly crap team who haven`t managed to win at home for almost a year, and we end up struggling to get a draw. Pathetic.
There can be no doubt that our transfer policies are largely responsible for the mess we are now in. How much longer do we have to tolerate this transfer policy of ‘ Ones for Tomorrow ‘ when we have so few ‘Ones for Now’ ? It is so flawed as to laughable.
The plain fact is that very few of these [supposed ] wonder kids ever make the transition. So why do we keep shelling out the millions thinking we know better than everyone else ? Particularly so when while we are doing this, we ignore our urgent requirements for now ! Who on earth is taking responsibility for such crap decision making ?
Today we literally carried three ‘ wonderkid ‘ passengers. All were woeful. A left full back who cannot defend, while Vitinha and Silva are light years away from being Premiership ready — if indeed they ever will be !
For once Traore actually performed reasonably well, but all his work was wasted by the fact that we had no central striker to take advantage. A fit Raul would have scored six on his own today against the dross that we faced. Silva would not have scored if he played until the end of the season and half way through the next.
Then to compound our misery Nuno keeps tinkering with our playing systems. Gone are the basics that stood us in such good stead for three years and made us such a force, replaced by what exactly ? I have not a clue what we are trying to do, and it seems that many of the players are also similarly bewildered. We are a mess.
All these problems are self made. How stupid. How sad
I
Oh well we still have more than half a season to turn this around and we can and we will
My money is still on a top half finish .
We can play well but the chopping and changing is causing confusion at the moment and we need a rest from it and get back to the old ways at least until the big guns return
No need to panic but the realisation that this is going to be a non event season surely must have dawned by now.
The new striker is imminent long live the new striker .
Hope he’s up to it there are a lot of goals to catch up on.
Good to see adama starting to get his act together i still believe he will come good and he could well make the difference as our new goal scorer settles in.
Disappointed.. yes..but at least we scored three so lets be thankful for small mercies.
Happy new year.
So many valid posts tonight and confirms that being a Wolves supporter is the ride of a lifetime- I would not change it for anything. Our trouble is that because our initial success was so unexpected, we have raised expectation levels such that we are disappointed not to win every game. The prematch posts are full of optimism – forgetting many of our opponents have settled and more experienced players at this level. Potter no doubt told his side at half- time- this lot will run out of steam, just keep pressing and they will implode. Nuno looked and sounded bemused after the game- his senior pros are mentally and physically knackered from the stress of keeping this very inexperienced team together with no respite between games. The fullbacks clearly cannot defend at PL level in a back 4 which unhinges our ability to absorb pressure and break effectively. The younger players started well, with energy, but looked lost in the second half. Credit to Adama who bust a gut and did everything we have been asking of him- driving into the box and putting over a perfect cross for the winner in the last minute . Not convinced that we will see any notable additions this month, either, so we must scrap with what we have. The next 22 points will be a lot harder to accumulate, its keep your nerve time.
Ww
Some points –
1. WE didn’t raise expectations, our owners did. And I wouldn’t yet say they are backsliding, but the Great Fosun Project certainly has for the moment hit the buffers because we are going backwards. Over many years I have seen too many false dawns.
2. Extension of 1 really. Nuno, as you say looks bemused; I believe this is symptomatic of an organization which has lost it’s direction.
3. On tonight – partly agree on Traore, but much more needed and not tracking back enough in a 4 man defensive formation.
4. Hope you’re wrong on the transfer window because too many kids in evidence together; but I fear you are probably right – maybe just Costa on short term loan @ £250k per week eg.
But as you say we’ll carry on enjoying the ride wherever it takes us.
You’re dead right PJB in respect of Fosun’s initial projections for their ‘project’ and knew which buttons to press to get the supporters’ engagement with the new regime. With respect to new players this month, I went cold when Nuno said post match that the answer to our problems lies within the present squad, or did I get this wrong?
So fed up I didn’t bother to listen Ww, After his post match nonsense at Burnley he’s starting to sound like all other under pressure managers.
What is so frustrating is that having built a formidable team these past three years the club and Nuno have managed to go seriously back .This was never the right season with an exhausting last season and nope season to try to change formation and so many personnel then relying on getting lucky again with injuries .
I still think we will do enough to stay up but it is a shambles .I am not holding my breath for new recruits of experience that we need .
If I were Raul or Jonny I’d be renegotiating my contact
A decent wolves performance in the first half. Midfield looked skinny yet functional with insightful plays from Neves, moutinho and Vitinha. It goes without saying that the right side of our pitch with Semedo and Traore looked a of a lot more hopeful than anything else in the second half. Semedo had a much better performance this game and looked eager to create chances with traore pushing on against anything in his way. However, as has been mentioned many times on today’s blogpost, none of this really matters as long as we have Fabio silva AKA “Caspar the friendly ghost” up front who created as many chances for success as a crap gameshow
Pity about your unhelpful last sentence.
Turning point obviously the silly penalty given away so early in the second half . Moutinho with all is experience shouldn’t have put out a lazy leg , there were two Wolves players goal side of the Brighton player. First half played and moved the ball well.Second half the penalty killed us, lucky to hang on for a point at the finish. Traore was much better today, needs to be more consistent. Really need injuries to clear up plus’s two more strikers signed not one.
Totally agree, you could see the whole team downcast at the penalty with the uncharacteristic mistake by Moutinho. Also, this lifted Brighton’s players and enabled them to do what they needed against a predominately young set of players; they upped their game and attitude to outfight us and give us no time on the ball; they showed themselves to be physically stronger and a couple of the younger lads did not appear to be on the pitch, failing to contribute. I thought Traore had a good game overall whilst not reaching the sublime heights of previous terms. On another day he would have had three assists…
There are obviously far more important things in life than sport, but, man, feel pretty low after that.
Totally cruising, then, unbelievably, we hand them a foot-hold back into the game on a silver platter, courtesy of ?Moutinho, who should (and does) know better. Had we kept it tight for the first 10 minutes of the second half, I’m pretty sure we’d have won it, as they’d have gradually lost belief, especially with their home record. However, as soon as the pen went in, you could see what was coming a mile off….gutted, but these things happen.
Massive gamble as well by ?Ait-Nouri to go down after such light contact: lucky the ref gave it. Then we could’ve ‘smash’n’grabbed’ it with literally last kick (or header) of the game. The lad ?Otasowie looked devastated (as we all were), but he’ll be stronger for it moving forward.
It’s hard to take, but we all need to stay strong and ride out this ‘tough moment’ as Nuno puts it. That’s about all I’ve got on this game, but there’s something else I need to get off my chest while I’m here…
I promise you all that I’m not joining in with the Silva ‘pile-on’, as this latest blow isn’t down to him, but this season in general, I have to say that pretty-much every game I’ve seen him for us so far, he’s come up so short by Premier League standards. It pains me to say it, but like others have said on here tonight, he’s been a passenger.
I feel for him, as he’s not responsible for his transfer fee, but I don’t care how much we paid for him, he shouldn’t be anywhere near the first team at the moment. Had we been seeing these types of performances from an under-23 graduate, there’d have been calls for him to be removed from the firing line long before now, only the size of fee has sheltered him from any real flak.
The problem is, given size of the fee, we can’t really send him out on loan to the Championship to toughen him up, so the obvious question is why we paid so much for him in the first place.
Had we bought another striker with more experience at around the same time, then yeah, take a gamble and spend some dosh on a kid with lots of promise, but, and hindsight’s a wonderful thing, this smacks of an ‘all your eggs in one basket’ kind of signing. I so hope he comes good in the future, but it could be a year or two before that happens.
Obvious statement alert, but even if it’s just a stop-gap, we really need to get a striker in this January with a bit of nous just to put a few away, buy us some time this season to keep our heads above water, and then we can assess things properly in the summer.
I accept that loads on here might disagree with me about Silva, but that’s how I see things – it’s all about opinions after all.
Hope everyone’s staying safe.
Some good points Atom… The other consideration is that as an investment company, Fosun may well see Fabio as one to get better, then just as he starts to come good. Bang, sold for a big fee, so we don’t see the benefits.
As you say, just a point of view.
I agree with you apart from Fabio Silva…I think he’ll come good. He needs time if we can give it to him and he needs taking out of the limelight for the moment.
Jeff and FOSUN need to put there hands in there considerable deep pockets. No more signing for the future.
Everyone thought Silvia signing was a statement of intent not me spending £35 million on a unproven 18 year old is not a statement of intent it’s a gamble a massive gamble one that might come good.
What we need now is for Jeff and FOSUN to come out a say catergorically one Al for all the direction they want to take Wolves in. Do they want to build a team now by that I mean build a team in1 to 2 years that can compete at the top end of the Premier League or carry on as we are mid table with the odd top 7 finish.
We need a plan not just for the future, what’s the saying ” take care of today and the future will take care of its self ”
We need to feel connected to the club more than ever. We need to know that Jeff is working on getting Nuno the players he wants I think there in lys part of the problem.
I think the board look at players as investments to be brought and sold for profit not as skilled employees who can take the team to a higher level take the club to a higher level.
My concern regarding FOSUN has always been they look at football as a bus sines which it is but not like any other there are only probably one or two clubs that ever make a profit and those are clubs competing and winning champions leagues the rest on the whole don’t. I think FOSUN think they can keep a team competitive and make money at the same time but that’s not the case.
Look at Man Utd they owe over £600 million to there owners that’s how much loans they have taken out.
Football clubs are money pits ask Abramavich ask Mr Levy they are not a good investments if you want make money which is why it’s was so surprising a company like FOSUN brought Wolves.
17 games last season = 24 points. 17 games this season = 22 points .
Fosun bought Wolves for 40 odd million. Now worth 5 to 8 times that.
Paul
I think what happens in this window will tell us a lot about Fosun’s real intentions . Are they really about making WWFC great again or is it about moving players around Europe with Jorge.- eg. how many players do we currently have out on loan at Grasshoppers. Fiorentina, Familacao etc. And certainly the Silva deal still looks very strange – past favours called in?
.For sure we are in dire nee of quality with experience – and not just to replace Raul.
I truly believe that Fosun, Mendes, and Nuno have already made Wolves great again, and so many results in the last few seasons prove it. We’ve beaten all the top clubs and found several stars who were previously unknown We’ve Had an unprecedented run of injuries; Boly would have dealt with some of those set piece crosses, Johnny, Dendonker and Marcal – Podence – all brilliant, sorely missed.
Most of the new youngsters are capable of being successfully introduced, but the injury situation, as well as fixture congestion, has forced Nuno to send them all on together, a bit too soon.
o and w
They have certainly earnt us respect again, but I think great is pushing it. I am just referring to Fosun’s declared objectives which still look a long way off.
10 year plan. 4 years in.
This is more like the Wolves I have known and passionately supported all my life – ups and downs week in week out. Years of dark despair when a return to the top flight seemed an unattainable dream. But then came Nuno, a new perspective on what is possible and throwing away a two-goal lead reminds me of where we have come from.
There are positives – we did not lose to a team below us in the table and gained another valuable point. We lost focus at the start of the second half and the penalty breathed new life into Brighton. Like many I feared the worse. Wolves have played a ridiculous amount of football since August 2019 without a proper (non Covid hampered) break for the players and coaches to recharge and refresh and I think this is reflected in the niggling injuries and lapses of focus and intensity.
Whilst we have performed well against all the top teams over the last few seasons, I always dread games against teams near the bottom (remember Huddersfield !) who pose different challenges for the team in terms of style and intent. Players are always up for games against the so called ‘Top 6’ but perhaps it is harder to get the same intensity into your system for a trip to Turf Moor or the Amex. Experimenting with 4 at the back is needed to give options when playing teams that are reluctant to come out and attack us but at this time it is almost impossible to drill the team in these different systems during this Christmas/New Year programme. Might that we why Semedo was preferred to Hoever?
We all bemoan the loss of Jimenez at the top of the pitch but I also believe we miss his presence when defending set pieces. How often was he there to head away the incoming corner until taken out by Luiz? Great to see Traore having a good game and such a shame Otasowie was unable to steer his header into the goal after working hard to get himself into the box to meet the cross. Such ambition and desire to get into the 6 yard box is certainly a welcome sight.
Spot on mate. Great insight.
Raul taken out by Luiz is correct. But no punitive action taken. Reckless not accidental.
I wouldn’t go that far, but certainly very reckless, typical Luiz.
Do that outside Yates’s and see what happens.
Raul, Boly and Donk are the key defensive headers and rarely get beaten. There should have been a plan for marking Burn and Dunk and if there was , it wasn’t the right one. Forget marking space, it never runs, jumps and scores.
Well said Hasley. Over the years one thing we have all been able to rely on as a consistent for our beloved Wanderers is, inconsistency.
But we love em and will still be there!
Brilliant post mate – excellent analysis and spot on
UTW!
Good post Haseley. Anger is an energy, as John Lydon said, and I’m sure Nuno will use it. Letting a two-goal margin slip is always a killer. But. But. This is a very young team that has played an awful lot of football without a break. Losing players of the calibre of Raul or Jonny would hurt any team and Silva has been thrown in at the deep end, when we know if things were different he would have spent most of the season in the Under-23s. We need an experienced striker in soon to put the ball into the back of the net. That was easy to type. In reality, very hard to get right. Whenever things look a little bit rubbish, I always look back to a Tuesday night in February 2017 when Wigan beat us 1-nil at home. We’ve come a long way people and we’ve still got a long way to go, but We Are Wolves…
I remember that game, Wigan had Dan Burn either scoring or making the winning goal 85th minute? Yes that was a low point, we were looking over our shoulder at relegation back to League One. Awful night, gives perspective to the current “crisis” though.
It’s really amusing. During the match I kept an eye on Molineux Mix match day thread. We went 1-0 down. I had to laugh at the almost suicidal comments that were gushed on line. Then at half time we were 3-1 up and it was all Europe and this and that. Then at the end all the usual boring wankers were out. Relegation. Sack Nuno. Villa are great. A team solid in prem mid table. Something we could only dream of after 40 years of shite. And yes I am an old loyalist. All the blokes I go down the Mol with and have done for decades say the same. Fosun this. Jorge that. Just makes me laugh. And yet again 17 games last season 24 points. 17 games this season 22 points. Hardly a massive regression. But there you go. Happy new year and FWAW.
I agree with pretty much most of everything you post on this blog. Sadly perspective and reality have always been beyond some Wolves fans, remember back in the 90’s when some thought we had a divine right to be in the PL despite the fact that we were pretty awful !
Considering our injuries we’re not doing too badly. The transfer policy of the summer and the small squad policy needs to be looked at if we are to progress further than our current situation. Although finishing between 7th and 12th in the PL doesn’t seem too bad to me, the statements made by Fosun have raised expectations beyond this in the eyes of some fans. Perhaps they would have been wiser to keep quiet as the lopsided FFP rules make breaking up the Big 6 cartel a very difficult job.
Stay safe!
Don’t know if I’m generally a more optimistic soul than some but I genuinely don’t think we’re too far off being better than the last two seasons.
We’re struggling with injuries for the first time and have lost a truly exceptional striker which no team would be able to replace.
A few point I’d like to highlight.
*My concern is Rui. A great shot stopper but as the only man that can use all of his limbs he should be a much more commanding figure in the box.
*Leave Traore alone. It’s not his fault no one is getting the end of his crossed.
*Don’t slate our teenagers. They were never expected to play against, let alone beat the likes of of December opponents. There time will come but for now we need a recruit or two.
Agree with you(except for Rui…I think he’s been stellar this year)
*Excuse my poor spell checking. Distracted by Queen in Budapest!
What a concert that was, I watched Queen at Wembley on NYE, that was the only good part of a shitty year.
And I thought that he was having illicit fun on the Danube!
Fabio is a young guy who shouldn’t be in this position. Very few scouts think he’s anything less than a wonder kid.
He’ll come around. Besides , we scored three goals today.
That second half was difficult. I don’t usually criticize NES. But, I think he got outcoached in that second half.
This was the first game that I haven’t watched live for a long time due to an overnight resort stay for our anniversary.
I don’t think my wife would have appreciated me putting my phone on at 1-30 so I waited,,, until 6 and watched the 25 minutes mini match highlights ( when did Brighton become burnley! )
They are scrapping for points so I suppose a draw away isn’t the end of the world but boy are some fans upset! I can only imagine the implosion if we give the stripy lot their first 3 points under Sam in a couple of weeks.
As disappointing as it was to let a two goal lead slip ( when did we last do that) we can at last get a short break and on the training pitch and welcome a few lads back from injury.
The problem is that nuno s first album was a bostin stonker, he just arrived like a bat out of hell and ripped up the championship then took on the prem.
We are now well into his second album which is always tricky because he wants to evolve, experiment and try new things.
This isn’t the time to doubt him or the boys but a time to prepare for his third and fourth albums.
When our lead singer comes back from his head injury to grab the mike, he will have Adama to his right on base, Neto to his left on lead guitar boly behind on drums and neves orchestrating the whole show again.
I suggest nuno will get the band back together along with a few new mates and head to Mexico in July for rehearsals.
Not so much a night at the opera in August but a night at the moll with light show , fireworks and a packed and rocking molineux
Ok , I overcooked it a tad but odds on we beat Everton next up.
Come on you wolves
LOVE IT !
Not overcooked Marney, spot on !
What a bunch of spoilt brats we are sounding, we are gutted because we didn’t beat a poor Brighton team on their own turf, (but neither have many teams) such is the level of good quality football we have had over the last 3 seasons.
I am determined to not get to downhearted, I enjoyed the three goals scored by my team even the own goal. I said to Jen DeWolf, “it’s about time we had some luck. I bemoaned their three goals, mainly because two were preventable, the set piece header from Dunk was well taken.
We have too many injuries this season, it is something I had forgotten about, being spoilt with the level of fitness the lads had for the first three seasons.
But, shit happens, I wished my die hard Wolves mate Mick a Happy New Year, only to find out his had already been spoilt with the death of his cousin from Cancer. That put my disappointment into perspective.
We are suffering from lack of height, talent, age and experience, all lost with the 4 main guys who are first names on the teamsheet on a regular basis. Then Podence, who’s been growing week after week goes down with an injury that Nuno says “will keep him out of the Palace game too”. Shitty luck.
I don’t want to change anything, I love Coady pinging the odd ball out to Traore or Semedo, I wonder at Neves just looking up and putting inch perfect passes to anybody and every body. I want more of Neto, twisting and turning defenders inside out, Saiss proving everybody including me wrong that saying he is a liability, because he’s also an asset going forwards. Give me oodles of Kilman developing into something scary as he builds his confidence week after week.
What I do want to change is the losing or dropping silly points, but ladies and gents, that bit is not going to change any time soon, we have a serious injury list, due in part to Nuno’s ill thought through ideal that we could compete in the PL with such a small squad as long as into his 4rth season with us. Look at his face on the line, he knows it, he has to endure it the same as us and he will have to learn from his mistake.
Me, I’m just happy to have come through this so far without a great deal of damage, we are 4 wins from the Top of the PL, with a side full of kids, also a team that’s ravaged by an uncharacteristic injury problem.
Suck the shitty mop as they used to say, endure these short term ups and downs, as our taller, more experienced players come drifting back, the tide will turn and normal service will resume. The speed with which the above happens will determine our position at the end of the season. I still believe we will be fair set for a good stab at Europe again next season. But we better go into that with a stronger squad the next time around.
Keep the faith folks, this is but a blip in our amazing transformation from the likes of losing at Crawley on a bloody cold, rain sodden night in the Chumpionshite.
So yes it could be bloody worse.
But, it will get better, just lower your expectations in these unfamiliar times of a Wolves side carrying injuries.
We are “Not a bunch of spoilt brats”, we are just wounded, frustrated passionate Wolves fans eager for more of the previous silky football of the past few years.
Great Post Stu it appears a few dark clouds come on the horizon and some on here go to pieces if we end up mid table will be very happy.
Before this horrible season ends there will be some amazing results for all clubs the time to judge is and if we get back to normal.
fully agree stu, as ive already said we aren’t even half way through the season yet and still only a couple of wins out of the top six .
no need to panic at all we arent playing that bad that a bit of tweaking wont put right.
after all folks you could have been born in sandwell !
now then that’s made you feel better hasnt it ?
On the positive side I thought Traore looked threatening all night and easily had his best game of the season so far and Saiss once again proved how invaluable he is with his ability to play in different roles and contribute goals. It was also good to see Semedo contribute his first assist of the season but I’m afraid that is where the positives end for me.
All sorts of worthwhile perspectives have already been contributed as to our current difficulties for me it boils down to 3 things:
1. Injuries – not only are we missing some key players but crucially we are missing 3 players in dendoncker, boly and Jimenez who add physicality in BOTH boxes. With them in the team we would have scored more and conceded fewer last night.
2. Recruitment- we have invested poorly. Prior to the Jimenez injury many have stressed the need to buy an accomplished second striker and this hasn’t been heeded. Silva lacks physicality as an 18 year old and ultimately should be playing behind or off a main striker rather than being the focal point. It is too early to judge him but given our priorities as team and not an investment vehicle you have to question the allocation of 35m of budget to his acquisition at our current level. Many have also raised concerns over midfield. The lack of goals from moutinho and neves has been a feature for the last season and a half and yet this has not been addressed. Finally, wide defensive positions – the investment of 30m in Semedo is wasted money. What has he offered offensively or defensively over the first half of the season that could not have been delivered by vinagre, burr, Sanderson, Giles ? For the extra money we have spent replacing Doherty we should have got someone better and we definitely have not.
Ait nouri is again only a kid but defensively is not up to pl football currently and marcal cannot seem to play 2 games consecutively.
3. Management- Nuno has insisted on a small squad which is his prerogative, however, you therefore have to ensure that squad is full of quality able to acquit itself fully in the event of injury. You only have to look at our bench last night to know we are a long way short of that. I’ve commented previously that I think we are at a crossroads with Nuno. I reiterate that he is the best manager we have had in the 46 years I’ve been watching and must be given chance to turn things around but he should not be beyond criticism. He has sanctioned all of the signings and the construction of this squad and in my view we are no better a side than the one he brought into the pl 2 and a half seasons ago. He should be commended for trying to reinvent our playing style but he won’t have forever. He can buy himself a lot of goodwill by beating a woeful WBA side in a couple of weeks – if he doesn’t I suspect he will find the remainder of this season the toughest of his wolves tenure.
We’ve bought second strikers but Nuno hasn’t liked them.
I think he got lucky with Raul and expects others to play just like him
Sutton agree totally. Nuno has agreed all the arrivals or so we are told if he didn’t want them then he should have said not just sideline them ie Catrone.
We have invested poorly and seen to got to the same supplier every time.
How can Nuno swop Cody from the centre for Saiss ?
It gives us nothing extra
Semedo should never play RB he is an accident waiting to happen
Mendes got his £9 mill fee out of Silva deal and has brought to us a load of overpriced transfers so whoever we sign as a striker had better be good – maybe Costa to get us through to next season ?
Nobody could legislate for Moutinho’s penalty but that was the cue for Brighton to get on top and for Wolves to do there usual panic stations
Traore played well for me along with Saiss but the sooner we get the regulars back the better
Still to fathom what Nuno’s new system of playing is ?
Can anybody please tell me ?
We would have taken a draw beforehand but the way it played out felt like a defeat
Onwards and hopefully upwards
Both Saiss and Kilman have looked extremely awkward and suspect as the right sided centre half and Nuno’s thinking is probably that Coady is a much safer option in that position. Also, he needed to be close to Hoever against Man Utd to give him verbal encouragement and to help with his positioning.
Did not Hoever play at right back ?
Yes. As I said Coady needed to be close to him at right centre half.
Well the dust has settled and if anything last night’s debacle looks worse this morning so let’s move on to the the bigger picture.
5 years of Fosun (nearly)-
Where are we?
In short light years forward from the mid table stagnant Championship club they bought for £38 million. They have taken a planned approach and built year on year with spectacular results. Until recently.
Where are we going?
The 64 thousand dollar question..
I think the next 4 weeks will provide a good clue.
Just bringing in a Jiminez replacement is way short of the action needed. Yes, we have injuries but look at last night’s subs. consisting of John Ruddy and a crowd of 6th formers. It doesn’t reflect the ownership of China’s fifth largest corporation. And Ait-Noor, Vitinha and Silva are not mature enough to be PL starters.
At the outset of what was always going to be a demanding Europa campaign Jeff Shi stated that “the academy players would have to step up to the plate”. Where are they Jeff?
The “ones for the future” strategy has failed and failed badly. Our first team squad is regressing in quality and quantity. Nuno says the right things but he knows it.
If the extravagant claims made by Fosun 4 years ago are to be achieved then their attitude on recruitment has to revert to the early days because at the moment we are nowhere near top 6 standard let alone Champions League.
And if either we have served our purpose for you or you have lost the stomach for it then be honest and move on. You have done us proud; but you have done very nicely too – your investment has multiplied by a factor of at least 5.
But if you do want to pass on the baton then please find a suitable replacement custodian. Even Jez Moxey did that.
And I say custodian because this remains OUR football club.
How has their investment multiplied by 5? They have invested a lot to bring in players.
Going on official club valuations Tim – Delloitte I think.
But what have they invested? It’s not just the purchase price but how much they paid the first two years for players.
There was an article not long back on here that showed Wolves have made (& don’t quote me) £30m profit from sales, that was since they took charge of us.
They had outlay such as £6m state of the art pitches at Molineux And 2 more down at compton, plus the new extension to compton and paying out for supporting a ladies team.
But we drag in £160M + depending on appearances from Sky, BT and now Amazon Prime.
It’s a huge business that doesn’t just cover the team and ticket sales.
I think Fosun are more than up on the deal.
Woh back .. woh back …
That…: ‘6th formers’ line is patented by me mate….
It can only be used by my agreed media representatives and moguls….
I shall be issuing legal proceedings shortly…..
My Houston legal team says it’s a flagrant beach…
I for one really like the Portugalesque away kit .
Keep the faith.
UTW
That’s definitely a Pukka pie, and the one on the left a Wrights pie.
Never did understand Pukka as a name for a pie brand. Pukka may mean good down sarf but where I come from it is uncomfortably close to throwing up with considerable force. That might be why I’ve never been persuaded to buy one!
Looks like a very ugly old bird..bless my ‘dragon in law’
I know many of our players trouser a small fortune every week for the privilege of playing football for a living, but they are only human and must be suffering the same as the rest of us with the shit state of the planet.
Don’t forget, most of our players’ families all live overseas. It must be hard for them.
I suggest we cut them a liitle slack.
13th in the league but 11 points below Liverpool and 11 points above Fulham puts us in the middle.
We may not finish in the top half of the league this season but relegation looks unlikely while the Baggies, Sheff Utd and Fulham are doing us all a favour.
Personally, I’m just hoping we all survive the virus so that we can complain about VAR, referees, poor recruitment, etc, next season
Love to you all; stay safe.
We were really doing well and almost cruising until that silly penalty which seemed to crush us and lifted Brighton immeasurably. Throughout we carried two of the youngsters who had no affect on the game whatsoever due to the physical attributes of the opposition on the day.
The frustration of the second half performance and capitulation has been felt by us all; anger and annoyance over spilling into our written comments fully understandably.
However, this was only half the story in that the first half fight back had been really excellent, making that second half all the more galling, I’m sure.
The need to find individuals to blame seems to be par for the course and we all have our favourites and players we are first to find fault with such as Semedo or Traore at present. Funnily enough I thought Semedo did alright and that Traore was our main threat and could easily have had three assists on another day. I know some will totally disagree with this, but I can’t do anything about what I see and think as opposed to others’ viewpoints.
Two players were anonymous throughout the game and you can get that with younger players who are not yet physically mature enough; good when allowed to express themselves yet poor when physically overwhelmed. For instance Fabio Silva, barring injuries and complete loss of confidence, will be a very good player at least when he is able to attain some heft .
We so badly need some real threat at the sharp end and physical presence elsewhere when necessary that this January sale is more important than ever. We are still, believe it or not, well within reach of the top six despite our current awful record. Here’ hoping for a successful search and the attainment of what we badly need.
We all know that we need to strengthen this month but that is not going to happen overnight.
I have said before on here that in my opinion neither Ait-Nouri or Semedo are good enough for the PL. Ait-Nouri is to light weight ( yes I Know he is still basically a kid but) he could have prevented Brighton’s 1st goal if he had had the nous to move in when the Brighton winger slipped before he crossed for the goal. In the second half he got really lucky after the goal was disallowed following his weak back header to Rui. That was never a foul. The guy is a liability at the moment.
Semedo in my opinion cannot defend to save his life spent most of the match in headless chicken mode.
I agree with Debenham’s comment about Fabio he needs to get in the gym and do some serious work, the skill is there, the physicality isn’t. Hopefully he will come good given the time.
When Vitinha got subbed I was surprised, I hadn’t noticed he was playing. he was playing.
I know that for the first time in the Nuno era we have an injury problem but sureley the lads can do better than this
Who will they buy as a replacement for Raul. I spent most of the second half last night having a text exchange with Border about who we should go for. Concensus was we needed more than one new face up front. Not particularly bothered who as long as they can put themselves about and know how to find the bloody back of the net.
On a plus note thought Adama was better last night looked more like his old self.
Rant over still believe that Nuno is the manager/coach for us and although I might have the occasional moan at some of his tactics/selection I would not want see him replaced.
Onwards and upwards. Nobody ever said supporting Wolves gave you a quiet uneventful life
Could be worse we could be Sandwell Town
Good write up but ‘currently sat’? Ouch, that’s more painful than the second half 🙂
it could ‘of’ been worse – ‘sat sitting’ ?
Here’s a question could we bring back Cutrone off loan? I thought he had some potential and probably is a better medium term solution than a Diego Costa / Hulk? Fabio is going to be the future so having Cutrone back in the short term takes some pressure of the young lad, plus Cutrone looked more of a physical presence. Plus cancelling his loan is likely to cost us a hell of a lot less than the wages of the two mentioned above.
Nuno will probably not play Cutrone even if he did come back.
Cutrone’s loan with Fiorentina is ending early by mutual agreement but it looks like he will stay in Italy because there are a few teams interested in him. Depends on if we can get the right agreement financially, though, I would think.
Any idea why Nuno had two goalies on the bench? Is he trying to send a passive-aggressive message to the league that 9 is too many?
Looks like a very ugly old bird..bless my ‘dragon in law’
Otasowie did miss a sitter at the end but that was one hell of a Rooneyesqe run to get on the end of Traore’s cross. Something Fabio Siva needs to learn. Clearly 80k a week only gets you a fledgling forward nowadays.
Agreed that Silva was terrible but I am reminded of a skinny lad who signed for ManU at the age of 18 and was dross in his first season.
His name- Ronaldo (if only)
Finally one last whinge. Why has the Express and Star live feed of the match gone down to one twitter feed every 10 minutes.
Liam Keen ,this week ,gave a very insightful match post and totally agreed with his marking of players
Joe Edwards get your finger out
The thing about ‘experienced’ players is, they’ve seen it all before. Sure they fill out physically and gain a level of strength. They may lose a yard of pace but gain a bit of stamina, up to a point.
But where they really gain is in mental strength. They’ve seen it all before and have learned how to deal with situations. So when the unexpected happens, like Joao’s brain fade at the start of the second half (barely excusable by the way, from a man of his experience), experienced players know how to stay calm, batten down the hatches and see out the storm. Boly, Donk, Jonny and Raul were sorely missed in those moments. Silva, Vitinha, Ait Nouri et al, whilst admirably skilful players, just haven’t had enough minutes of PL footie to regain control of themselves, and thus of the opposition. And there were too many of them in Old Gold for their experienced brethren to help them over the line.
Given our injury record over the last three seasons, this situation was unexpected, though always possible, and shows a willingness by the club to rather ride their luck somewhat. However, Marcal was bought in to stand in for Jonny so Ait Nouri wasn’t really expected to play just yet. Podence being out yesterday meany Vitinha had to start.
Sure, we’re short on numbers with experience, but as Dr Nuno says, the team is learning, and I’m sure he’ll include himself in that.
I think everything has now been said about the performance.
Fact is that Nuno’s 19 man squad is now down to 13 due to injuries – sadly our experienced players – the other 12 were on the pitch or the bench except Burr – no idea where he is!
We’ve also got to accept we’ve had no pre-season, games crammed in & a global pandemic going on. Not seeing our families is getting to us & as has been pointed out most of our players are from overseas – it must be really getting to them.
I think the team is still good enough for a top half finish if they all start playing properly & we get players back. A decent striker is now a must, Silva needs more time, he’s not ready for this level. As injuries have shown we need a few more “now” players, not future ones. Fosun please find the funds to do this.
I’m not expecting CL or to win the PL in our first few years back in this league. What I do expect is a team that gives their all until the final whistle & plays to the best of their ability.
As my husband said, it’s like watching the old Wolves play with your heart in your mouth again!
??RIP Gerry Marsden.
You sang for us, the most Iconic football song ever.
May “You Never Walk Alone”.??
Thank you for what you did for me in bringing Cardiac Defibrillators to the Ambulance staff and the people of Staffordshire.
Prediction 3 . Got Saiss and Silva right , so here goes :won’t be long until Patricio is dropped and second string keeper given a chance !
Well I think the dust has settled and we were all pretty much in hyper mode straight after the game finished. As usual lots of sensible comments. It’s all been said before but we are The Pack. A family. My overall reflection is that there really does tend to be extreme over reaction to a defeat. Just as there is huge rejoicing when we win. The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. But I am just a boring bloke on a level. Dont get too high when we win. Too low when we lose. And to PJB and Paul AD 67 I reach out and say no hard feelings. It’s Wolves. It’s emotional. It’s never plain sailing. Oh and it WBA next. And they have 2 weeks to work on their defence. Dreading it already!
Having 2 years wouldn’t make any difference cheesey….
Their defence is leakier than a tramps socks….
Relax…… Sam will be playing 6:4:0 style when they play at the Mol…
Still dreading it mate. I always do. In fact will be behind the settee when we play them. There is a bloke at work from round here and an Albion fan. Forget all this Villa hatred. The Boggies over our way (OLdbury Rowley Dudley ) fully realise the Black Country Derby. He hates us with a passion (well in a banter sort of way but you get the picture).
Cheers Cheesy,
By the way PJB is a fellow blogger in his own right and mind he or she is not a alter ego of Paul AD67.
Echo your sentiments Cheese like all family’s we don’t always see eye to eye on everything. I just want to see Wolves up there again I believe that with a proper plan and investment and a board and owner matching there words/stated ambition with actions that we could be competing with the so called big six.
Other clubs have done first Blackburn then Chelsea and Man City there owners have chased the dream and lived the dream and Chelsea and City case continue to do so.
Words are easy to say deeds and action much harder and require substantial funds commitment and single mindedness.
Do FOSUN possessed these time will tell. They have made a rod for there own back in away because they stated they were going to make us great again well actions speak louder than swords.
Ok. No worries mate. I dread the melt down if we lose to Sandwell but there you go. The last time we lost to them Mick was sacked.
Good post Paul- what I would add is that player recruitment is a gamble, as history shows us. Frank Lampard is looking frayed around the edges atm- his expensive additions this season look bang average. It took Raul some time to hit form and even this season he was anonymous for long periods. He needs this good rest and hope he sorts that wrist out!
What sort of team will we pick when we “play the kids” in the FA Cup?
Given the injuries to key senior players would have thought the team will be be a mix of a couple of senior pros and youth. What you reckon?
Well, what I reckon is that all professional teams play with the intention of trying to win matches. The hope is to win every game but, as we all know, that is simply not possible because the opponents have exactly the same intention. However, win sufficient games and there’s always the possibility of winning a trophy. What’s the point of playing if the aim isn’t to secure silverware? It might be a pipedream for a lot of clubs but for a good few it’s a very real possibility. This includes the Wolves.
Now, winning silverware in the premier league this year is certainly a pipedream and so is European football in all likelihood. However, the FA cup is the only possibility of securing both.
Therefore, I say play the best possible team until we are knocked out. Of course you never know….
Otherwise what’s the point?
I like Cheesey and probably everyone on this blog can see a massive banana skin coming up Tesco F.C .
Despite there form or lack of Big Sam will have them fired they will look to beat us and use that as a platform to spark a great escape I would go as far as to say some Tesco fans would rather beat us and go down than lose and stay up some of the ones I have to work with anyway.
The pressure will all be on us for a number of reasons me personally think 4 points from the Everton and Tesco games would be a decent return which ever team we beat or draw against.
I do believe a defeat to WBA in their current predicament will not be received very well by the Wolves fraternity. It could be hugely damaging to Nuno. And judging by the mood on other sites FOSUN.
The result could hinge on the availability of Boly, Donk, Podence and especially Marcal.
Agreed- Big Sam will be looking for a similar, stifling performance as in their Liverpool game. Any team in the PL is capable of a breakaway goal and our concentration levels must be 100% all over the pitch. If we are not to add a CF reinforcement, then focus must be on restoring our defensive organisation and clean sheets. Continuation of the recent level of points achieved will have us all sweating.
Tim Spiers on Fosun’s stance on Doctor Nuno
https://www.givemesport.com/1634367-wolves-news-tim-spiers-reveals-fosuns-stance-on-nuno-espirito-santo
That kinda confirms how I figured they would see things at this stage. I’m pleased to say. There’s many a good manager been sacked on a knee-jerk reaction to a short term setback and it often ends really badly. After all, we’re not the only club striving to be the best we can.
Totally agree with that Stu. Jeff statement in August said we might need to take a ‘step back’ to move forward in the current climate. Patience is a virtue. Perspective is a must.
Well said Cheese. Thanks to Stu, for posting the article.
Balance
Perspective
Controlled emotion
All good traits to have supporting Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, me thinks.
Just completed a read of every bloggers comment
Phew
I was pissed off too and angry but time is a good healer and I’m now in the
Keep calm and carry on
Movement
We are a well established PL club with
well financed ownership, a quality coach and staff, many players that are coveted by other PL teams, a powerful ally in Mendes, a growing reputation as a club other quality players want to join and a playing style that .. well that’s a work progress. No Club sees a game against Wolves as an easy 3 points … quite the opposite.
Last two seasons we had an amazingly injury free run… that luck has run out.
But look at what we have
5*. Patricio Coady Boly Neto Podence Jimenez( but will be be okay again?)
4* Dendoncker, Moutinho(was 5) Saiss(was 3) Traore(was5) Jonny, Neves( was 5)
Not Sure. Marcal , Semedo , Ait-Nouri, Kilman, Hoever, Vitinha, Silva, Otasowie
Hmm that’s a lot of Not Sures… but we will Know soon enough
I think my point is that yes we miss a proven goal scorer … and I’m wary of us buying a donkey CF in January… but there’s a lot,I mean a lot, of quality in the squad. If the Young Prince had been golden we would be top 8 by now but I fear that He is a bust.
We have had two 4-0 drubbings and some bad late goals conceded … but 4 weeks or so from now I anticipate that the team will be back into top gear and can complete the season with a smashing run
I know it’s rose- tinted …but hey I’ve been supporting for 60 odd years and most weren’t this good
Keep calm and carry on.. that’s my view
OODCL
Love it Marin. Be they rose-tinted or, like mine, gold-tinted, them specs always brighten up your day.
‘I’ve been supporting for 60 odd years and most weren’t this good…’
Too true, Marin. In fact the years from 1981 to 2017 were pretty much unmitigated dross from start to finish bar the odd highlight – beating Leeds & Leicester in the Cup, Cardiff play off, a couple of dodgy promotions to the Prem. Thats it really. Thats a long, long time to be waiting for a modicum of success.
We now get frustrated because we failed to take a point from Old Trafford, or could only draw with Spurs when for decades we were struggling to beat clubs like Barnsley, Wigan, Oldham and Bradford City. I guess some of us just don’t know how lucky we are to be living in these times.
Some excellent comments as always.
I believe one of the main errors made is that we seem to have adequate cover (2 or 3 experienced players) for every position – except CF. We all agree that Silva was brought in for the future. So who is responsible for that oversight? You look at LWB position – we have Jonny, Marcal, Ait-Nouri, Saiss (at a push), Vinagre (if we are desperate). Yet there were rumours about bringing in Zinchenko !! And yet at CF we have Raul and no one else. When he gets tired or injured, it’s a formation re-hash, or bringing on young Silva.
I believe we need a decent CF asap (in the 25-30 mill. range), and another to back him up (5 mill. range). Yet we spent 35 mill. on a young kid who will do wonders in a couple of years time.
If there are any heads to be wobbled, they are in the Wolves Players Purchasing Department (whatever that is called).
Vic agree. Who is head of recruitment it seems like Jeff since Therwell left for New York.
Jeff it appears is Jack of all trades, you know how the end of that phraise goes.
It appears we don’t have a Director of Foootball or is it Mendez. Who Scott’s the players. Does Jeff just turn up in Nunos office and say we are buying this player who knows.
One thing I know the recruitment has been poor and massive oversight has been cover for Raul that’s process or department needs sorting out and quickly.
So here’s my theory, based on no facts whatsoever. Maybe the powers that be looked at the club’s results from the last couple of years and said “You know we’re doing pretty good and with a couple of breaks and some luck we can be looking at top 4.”
So this offseason they took a gamble, invested very little in the present and looked to the future. Well, unfortunately the breaks and luck came, but they were all bad. So here we are.
Just a thought.
Happy New Year everyone!
Just had a look at the Premier League current form table updated 3.1.2021. Based on last 6 games of all teams. Wolves are 15th. But even the mighty Chelsea are below us. Shit happens.
Interesting quotes from Conte in Italy (currently managing Inter Milan). In response to criticism of his tinkering with the playing style, his response was basically that modern teams need alternatives they can switch to as a consistent style gets found out.
Nuno & co found a beautiful playing style, sweeping the ball forward between wing-backs, but it had been sussed, and to a degree so had the Doc.
Finding an alternate style is a painful process, particularly when you are stuffed by injuries.
Semedo was poor when he started. Opinions got formed and for some set (maybe part of the Doc mourning process). A fresh view is required, he is not a liability in defence and his chipped cross for Saiss’s goal was worthy of Doc.
Ait Nouri was signed as use (short-term) as a bit-part support for Marçal, probably when we play three at the back. He played positively at Old Trafford until tiring at the very end. In any normal world he would have been tested for the Brighton game. But the lack of Marçal availability is a concern.
Fabia actually had some nice touches and clearly has quick feet (something Afobe lacked) as well as a quick mind. He has good energy and courage. His appearance as a late sub for Raul will clearly cause teams problems.
My major disappointment at Brighton was the lack of midfield control. In Traore and Neto we have two of the most potent wide attacking options in the league. We need to be able to switch more quickly between these options to keep the opposition guessing and prevent double-manning.
Someone or some people need to take on the number ten position. Yet despite having three highly qualified potential candidates on the pitch no-one adopted that role.
Happy to give Vintinha that chance, he comes with quite a reputation from Porto. But, I believe Shabani, Jordan, Gibbs-White and even Conor Ronan need continued monitoring.
Of-course we need a Raul stand-in. Not Costa for me, too expensive and over the last two years too inconsistent.
Otherwise, we have to stick with it. Nuno is going nowhere and there are no quick fixes, just careful coaching recruitment and careful repair of our walking wounded.
Everything that our club has done magnificentally for the last four years.
Apologies for typos.
*Ait Nouri needed to be rested not tested (he was certainly that) against Brighton.
* Jordao not Jordan (that ship has certainly sailed) needs monitoring.
Excellent rationale sensible post as always jackomac
Utw
Very good post. I particularly agree with the point re; midfield. I think you may however be slightly misjudging the criticism of Semedo. He has been better the last couple of games. The positional errors of earlier games are not as apparent. However, my concern is the value we are deriving from him in the context of the 30m spent. Given the lack of quality “ready now” cover for neves/ moutinho and for Jimenez, to justify that level of spend, he has to deliver a lot otherwise the inevitable conclusion is that the spend should have been directed elsewhere in the team
Why is he expected to adapt faster than Dendoncker or others?
Because he is older, an established international at the point of joining, cost about £20m more ,is surrounded by his compatriots and has played champions league football for one of the worlds biggest clubs. If a player of this profile can’t adapt quickly, frankly there is no hope for anyone !
Yes, but apart from that, What have the Romans ever done for us?
?
Sorry that should have been a laughing out loud emoji
They built Hadrian’s Wall, to keep out them pesky Jocks, but Stu still managed to dig a tunnel.
I’m experimenting with live chat rooms, which I’m thinking of using for those who want to speak in real-time, perhaps while games are going on or just in general.
Here’s the link to the first chat room, if anyone who wants to have a go and maybe offer some feedback – it would be greatly appreciated:
https://www.wolvesblog.com/wolves-blog-live
I’ve done what you said about customising, Thomas.
Clicked the save button and…
I’m still ‘Anonymous 10’
Actually, I was thinking of the same thing with youtube. Great minds.
We’re back into total lockdown for 6 more weeks.
Iv’e got to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives
Footballers can hug, kiss and celebrate goals..
“Wolves players will stay safe”
Personally, I think football should be as totally locked down as everything and everyone else.
I always thought patting someone’s arse after they scored was a disease catching exercise, and I see even less reason to think otherwise with this horrible little thing going around.
We have all got to re think our priorities after this pandemic is over, if it ever is, and greedy tv and football authorities should be at the very bottom of any priority lists.
If it sounds the death knell for football as we know it, who is to say it won’t be a bad thing?
Health comes before anything, coz if you ain’t got that, you ain’t got nothin’.
I see that Police Scotland have taken action against the SNP politician who went from Scotland to Westminster and back on the train, knowing her husband tested positive she defied all the advice.
Now they should act against those 3 Spurs players and the 1 Arsenal guy that attended a NYE party, also the Man City player who Pep defended live on tv 2 nights ago. (Well all of them that have done it MGW included)
It’s the lack of positive action by the police against these morons that has given others the go ahead to do it themselves.
And Dominic Cummings ?
I’m a ‘key worker’ so have to carry on regardless. Although our office is said to be ‘covid safe’ . There have been a number of positive cases although analysis has shown they caught the virus elsewhere and have not transmitted it on to others in the workplace. This whole situation is really beginning to get folks down now. And here we go again. Another couple of months in lockdown. I suppose the good things are that the vaccine may make a big difference and it looks like at least the premier league and championship will continue under strict measures.
I personally know around 40 people who currently have covid, 2 who have died and of those 40,2 are really poorly.
A London wolves member died right at the start of all this.
Football takes 2nd place when something this serious is spreading across the whole country…watching the wolves, win lose or draw is a very welcome distraction!
Stay safe folks
UTW
A very happy New Year to everyone !
It seems certain to me that Nuno was aware prior to the purchase of Fabio Silva that he wasn’t yet ready for Premier football. This intrigues me and I begin to wonder if Nuno having the final say on player purchases isn’t quite what it might seem.There might be a subtle difference between ‘having the final say’ and ‘having complete freedom to spend all available money exactly as you wish.’ I wouldn’t mind betting there is some sort of ‘overall squad added value ‘ restriction in place. This would be consistent with what we are told attracted Fosun to Football in the first place , namely , the huge profit to be made from buying and selling players. It would also explain what some see as an imbalance between players for the present and players for the future. I’m not criticising this approach, it may well be the most economically efficient route to success, but it also means you are more likely to have dips along the way as currently being experienced. You just have to make sure you don’t get relegated. Such is the challenge of running a football club ; it ain’t easy. Fans often demand success without suggesting viable ways of achieving it.
With regard to the current transfer window, does anyone know where we stand on FFP ? I don’t. I do know we haven’t yet sold Cutrone who stands us at £ 18 million and Jota’s sale more or less covers the Semedo purchase. I also know a lot of people forget to take wages into account when looking at the overall financial picture. Joao Moutinho was an excellent purchase whichever way you look at it but his wages over two years at £ 10 million are double his purchase price.
On the flip side to the above argument. Fosun have invested 35 million on Fabio. If they are just interested in selling on for a profit who is to say his resale value might be any higher ? He might turn out to be a flop and they make a loss on him.
That’s a very fair point, fully accepted.
The fact is Bilko if you want to compete with the big boys its costs big money in both transfer fee and wages.
FOSUN per port to want to do that but you cannot do it on the cheap. You might get lucky and do what the Leisceter City did when they won the Premier League but that was a fluke a one off sustained success Chelsea Man City requires sustained big investment.
When a average Premier League player is on fifty grand a week or more that’s what you are up against.
With regards to the FFP question we were found guilty by UEFA back in the summer of being in breach of the regulations and were punished for it.
I think that the rules are you have to limit your losses to £30m (or possibly Euros) over a rolling three year period and we were found to have exceeded that limit.
We had to pay a fine of £200k (potentially rising to £600k), agree to a reduced squad size in future UEFA competitions, and get back within the allowable loss limit of £30m in 2020, and then achieve by the end of 2022 an overall “break even” position for the three year period of 2019, 2020 and 2021.
This might explain the sell-to-buy transfer policy of the summer and why it may well be the case again for the foreseeable few transfer windows. Anyone expecting big money being thrown around might be disappointed.
And this is why the big clubs love FFP, because it keeps everyone else in their place. Shrewd player trading is the only way to creep up the table but then the big boys will just buy your best players and it’s back to square one!
But if you want to play with the big boys, you have to play to their rules, which means flaunting the FFP regulations, bribing as many faceless officials as possible, and then get fined and banned, knowing the bribes and backhanders have been sufficient to get said bans overturned, and fines reduced!
See Manchester City.
The greed of the football authorities knows no bounds.
Thank you Newt for presenting the FFP position so clearly. It’s good to hear from someone who understands these things. Presumably then, the only way a large amount of money can be legitimately provided for players outside of normal sources of income is via a change of ownership ?
Sadly not Bilko, the FFP is linked to a clubs turnover so it matters not a jot how much an owner is capable of investing, they can only invest based on now much income the club generates. Fosun have the cash, we probably couldn’t find a richer owner but they can’t just shell out like the old days of Abramovich and the Sheikh.
The last accounts released are for the 2018/19 season, our first back in the PL. We had a turnover of £172m (£145m from the PL rights, £12m from gate receipts and the rest from sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting and commercial rights etc). We also made a £20m profit, but the previous season when we spent big to get promoted we made a whopping loss of £57m which is probably why we got stuffed by FFP last year on their rolling three year loss limits.
Interestingly we finished 7th that year with the 16th lowest wage bill of only £92m (only!), which is 54% of turnover. In the same season Man Utd had a wage bill of £332m but that was also 54% of their turnover. So they are spending the same on wages as we are!
The answer to your question isn’t to change owners but to increase turnover and then you can spend more. You do that by becoming more successful and then sustaining it. But to do that you need to spend big money. But you can’t spend big money because you will break FFP rules. So in order to not break the rules you need to increase turnover. But to increase turnover etc etc and you are stuck in a vicious circle.
So perhaps we should just bribe everybody as Clive suggests!
Newt, thanks for that. Extremely useful and possibly the reasons on the handcuffs that stop ‘splashing the cash’ which does seem to be the theme on other forums.
It’s a real dichotomy, increasing turnover during covid, virtually impossible.
With BT shareholders rebelling at more investment in sports, Sky teaming up with Amazon.. Maybe the TV gravy train maybe running out of steam too.
Interesting times ahead. I also see reports that bringing in a high earning striker stop gap is also a no-no.
Newt,
‘ Out of Darkness Cometh Light.’ Thanks for the clear explanation. I’m a wiser man this evening than I was this morning. Looks like Big Jeff’s got a job on his hands !
Cheers,
Bilko
Newt,
I hope I’m not overstaying my welcome. I wondered if you would kindly comment on the following .
(1) If we take the 2018/19 accounts as the basis for discussion, we have a turnover of £172 million, £154million of which is TV rights. The main cost is wages at £ 92 million and there are other costs which I assume are relatively small. So from that year there would have been something below £80 million left to spend on new players and their wages. How much do you reckon this was?
(2) Since 90% of income is from TV rights , even if you doubled income from the other sources, sponsorship , advertising, etc. , welcome as it would be it wouldn’t have a huge impact on the amount available to be spent on new players.
(3) Over time the best way to try to generate additional money for new signings is from the shrewd buying and selling of players. And, all things considered this, which includes developing young talent , is the main hope we have for future progress.
(4) Finally, on FFP again, if Fosun sold a 25% stake in Wolves I assume the proceeds wouldn’t count as turnover and therefore couldn’t be spent on new players ?
No worries Bilko, I’m no expert but find the murky world of football finances quite interesting. There are some excellent books by journalists such as Tom Bower and David Conn which are well worth a read, although they do make you fall out of love with the beautiful game!
1) Not quite, you will see I said we made a profit of circa £20m. The accounts show turnover of £172m but operating expenses of £122m. If £92m is wages then the remaining £30m must be all the costs to run, furnish and maintain the stadium and training ground, it seems it costs a lot more money to run a club than we perhaps appreciate. This leaves us £50m, we then made a profit selling players of £12m (we sold Marshall, Oniangue, Douglas, Afobe, Batth, Iorfa), but spent £38m on new players (Afobe, Boly, Patricio, Bonatini, Jota, Vinagre, Moutinho, Traore, Jonny as well as loan fees for Jimenez and Dendoncker). On top of the first team there was also player trading in the U23 squad. This leaves us £24m but we had to pay £2m in loan interest charges (we are in debt to Fosun for £131m so have to pay them interest I assume) leaving us a pre-tax profit of £22m. We then paid tax of £494,000.
2) Totally right, TV income is the holy grail and why the Big 6 are so desperate to get into the Champions League and why the rest of us are desperate not to get relegated. And that is why clubs allow the fixtures to be spread across the weekend. Personally I would prefer all games to kick off at 3pm on Saturday but that is never going to happen!
3) Couldn’t agree more. I read a great article on the BBC Sport website recently about how successful Sevilla have been in doing this – well worth a read if you can find it.
4) Honestly no idea! I presume if Fosun sold a stake it would be used to pay off their loan rather than be income? I actually think we seemed to be owned by a good company, it could be a lot worse!
In terms of FFP, I hate the way these rules are designed to maintain the status quo but if we just break them as Paul suggests, do you honestly think that a little club like us wouldn’t get away with it? Penalties include withholding TV revenue, points deductions or transfer embargoes. Imagine how unhappy Paul would be if we weren’t allowed to sign players or had points deducted! He would then moan that the club had been punished for doing exactly what he was moaning they should do in the first place!
Also, I think rules are meant to be followed. Call me old fashioned but I would rather lose playing fairly than win by cheating.
Newt,
Thanks very much for detailed reply. It is much appreciated.
Bilko
Its not looking to promising re: signings according to Express & Star. Loan deals and Catronie appear to be our only hope.
So much for competing with the big boys.
Lovely to see your unbounded optimism so deep into January!
Have faith, dear boy, have faith!
I just can’t stand to read his bleating. Same thing all the time. He wants it all now. No. Not now, right now. That is why I am hardly on here now
…… AD, PJB etc.
Its quite clear ….if you stick to the rules and you want to be really successful you have to grow your own players and to do that you need to have all the correct infrastructure in place including a top coach and his staff .
We have all that after three years apart from the players….. at the moment .
Wolves cannot compete on turnover and wont be able to for many years yet so our only option apart from throwing caution out of the window is to grow our own and the way its looking thats what we are going to do.
So i am not getting excited about any major signings whatsoever maybe a loan or free transfer but nothing expensive.
A lowering of expectations is probably in order and i wouldnt be expecting any spectacular news out of molineux this january.
We have owners with some of the deepest pockets in the world, rules are meant to be broken.
City got away with £20 million peanuts to there owners and ours plus they will make that back and more from Champions League revenue.
I said this before sooner or later someone will take on these rules and show them up for what they are about keeping the so called big teams protected.
FOSUN are a multi national corporation there have the brains and financial muscle to contessed this rules where ther fair trade why are owners being restricted from investing in there business it would happen anywhere else outside of football.
Should read….it wouldn’t happen anywhere else outside of football.
It’s like we have been transformed by to the days of Steve Morgan’s ownership.
What’s happened to FOSUNs ambitions and promises….!
Naill Ennis has returned from loan at Burton.
Bet a pound to a pinch of shite he’s up front on Friday
He is going somewhere else on a permanent transfer I believe
We know you speak in jest, but a pity young Niall has not made a positive impression in L1 given his early promise. Where’s Stefan Maierhofen when you need him, Adamas’ favourite trick of standing over the ball to allow 4 defenders to surround him would allow time even for Stefan to get in the box? Happy for a short -term loan CF to come in, prefer not to buy in haste in january.
Woodend.
Sadly, the opposite is correct on this occasion.
I honestly believe he will be put in on Friday along with other youngsters to prove themselves.
The report out from Wolves today on the status of the sick and injured does not make promising reading. I fear (but pray I’m wrong) we may not see the famous five anytime this Month.
I am truly annoyed with our transfer strategy, other teams have people signed up before the transfer window opens to ensure they can at least hit the ground running on opening day. We knew we needed them, so why all the bullshit hanging on until the last day to spring surprises.
Yes, you are right Stu- the big hitters will not return for a while yet and a bit like this pandemic, I’m expecting the points per game ratio to get worse before it gets better. We should have no illusions that Everton and the desperate Baggies will be hard nuts to crack with our powder puff attack, and although we should clearly have enough of a points cushion for the time being, we can expect the gap to close to the bottom 4. I do wonder whether Jeff is giving Nuno the wrong message at times – the talk after Rauls injury was an early rebalancing of the squad, then we hear in the Brighton post match report that the answer lies within the squad. Niall is not the answer imo, Young Theo has been in the bench and has more of a physical presence and I would start him against Palace. Back four with Hoever at RB, Nelson in midfield with Owen and Taylor. Rest Neves and Moutinho.
They’ve now called MGW back from Swansea, Dog forbid.
What are we getting into with that move.
New rumour – Cutrone to Olympique de Marseille.
Interesting debate above regarding FFP, player purchases and wages against turnover. (Certainly this is a device intended to protect the status and incomes of bigger clubs thus becoming a self-fullfillng prophecy. Just to decide to break the rules and take the consequences won’t work because the penalties would just have become more and more rigorous until they could not be sustained).
But Fosun may have other reasons to buy with an eye to the future: under the new rules following Brexit, players have to have an established record as a top player before they can join UK clubs. They can no longer back their judgment. Which may explain Wolves decision to buy “for the future” in such numbers, of late.
Very interesting angle you took there.
I’ve been racking my brain to work out why no huge signings for the current 1st team but plenty for the future, with absolutely no guarantee that they will come good.
Does make a lot of sense bearing in mind the Chinese way of thinking is way ahead of the present,.
Sportster?
I thought that Wolf, 883?
Do tell us dead cat :-).
I thought maybe older. Ironhead, perhaps.
I get your point Happy. But it wouldn’t happen in any other business say for instance I own 1 supermarket and I wanted to open another Tesco could not block that by saying you have to have the customers first..
It’s rediculuse. In any other business as an owner I would be free to pump as much money as I wanted it to my business……..oh but not in football ……..why.
If FOSUN took this argument to the Sports arbitration Board or the Premier League I’d love to hear there reply. It’s stifling growth how can a brand grow without investment it’s basic business practice to invest.
If I owned Wolves and FOSUN money and reall wanted to make Wolves a force again I’d get my lawyers on to it …….this is why I have my doubts about FOSUN is the will and the ambition there it appears not.