If anyone was still in denial about Wolves being in a relegation scrap, they can be in no doubt now.
In what must rank as the most spineless, characterless and listless performance since the days of Dean (not including our A****n surrender), we couldn’t be bothered to run off the ball when we had it – or work to win it back when we didn’t.
Make no mistake, we’re going down unless we start adhering to the basic principles of the game, with a two-win-in-12 Palace (both against the bottom two) the latest side to work harder, keep the ball better and run further than us, resulting in the easiest win they’ve recorded all season (not including A****n’s surrender).
Watching Joao Moutinho knock a 5yd ball out of play, Patricio dive out the way of a straight shot and Dendoncker not caring to make a tackle when 1-0 down isn’t a sorry sight, but a downright shameful one.
On this evidence, these internationals – along with most other players on the pitch – aren’t good enough for a Championship play-off push, never mind Premier League survival. Our wing backs offer nothing making a back three pointless, our centre backs are too slow to make a back four plausible and everywhere else on the pitch we care so little that we can’t even be troubled to run.
In the absence of any stats for heart and desire, I’ll stick my neck out and say we were operating at around 5% maximum, which is being generous.
If the players’ passing accuracy and workrate was revolting, then at least their timing was good; waiting for Nuno to express his pride in Wolverhampton when giving £250,000 out of his own pocket before choosing to show none between them. They should be docked their wages for the cause.
If our manager wasn’t tearing strips off them in the Selhurst Park changing rooms then he should have been. And despite his incredible benevolence he’s not immune from criticism either, sticking with three centre halves at 0-1 when I thought the whole point of the four-man defence experiment was to adapt at times like these? And what of Ruben Neves? Unless injured, he can’t have pictured ‘the project’ incorporating a puffer jacket and a wet, faded plastic seat in South London?
As it was, we shifted up to Plan C: Give the ball to Traore and hope for the best whilst refusing to break into the box to get on the end of his crosses at the same time.
If losing to WBA and being outplayed by Chorley weren’t red flags already, then approaching a huge fixture like this as if it was a pre-season friendly is the biggest warning sign of all.
Pep Guardiola, manager of the league leaders we actually did the double over last season summed it all up (when addressing his Barcelona players for the first time in a conference room).
“When we have the ball, we can’t lose it. And when that happens, run and get it back. That’s it, basically.”
Yet again, we respect neither of these basic principles and the upshot will be a return to the league we worked so hard to get out of unless something changes dramatically, or three similarly awful teams can do us a massive favour.
‘Glad all over’ boomed the PA system at full time.
A soundtrack for the players if ever I heard one, who didn’t seem bothered that it was.
headless chickens ,said it before make no mistake its true
What’s that supposed to mean?
Things must be getting desperate when I’m glad that Albion and Fulham drew as it meant that they only caught us up by one point each.
With you pal,its all tipperty tap kick the ball back,me to you,you to me ..just like the the chuckle brothers
I’d look at going back to 4-2-3-1. Podence behind Willian, Neto and Adama wide. Neves and Otasowie in the middle. Boly and Kilman back 2. We’ll be open, and likely concede a fair few chances, but we’re doing that anyway, despite setting up so defensively against such average sides. Though it’s arguable that this slump may be more down to the players being so shorn of confidence rather than the system, I just want to see us have a bloody go. Neto, Podence and Adama are the only ones to have a positive mark against their names this season (IMO), and we need to get them on the ball more. You want some level of excitement when watching your team, and today was as abject as it gets.
I love Nuno and I don’t want him to leave, but I fear this may be increasingly based on sentiment. I really, really hope he turns this around.
The player’s have got to take some responsibility!! Our defence is abissmal!!!!!! Wots gone wrong, sells Jota, no replacement till now, even when jimanez is back its going to be a long time to full fitness,, but the problem is still There our DEFENCE!!!
Agree with a lot of this. It is not the formation i.e. going to 5 at the back and getting a new striker is not suddenly going to solve everything. I would say only Neto and Boly have had decent seasons with the remainder either inconsistent or playing well below par.
Playing a 5 means you need decent attacking wing backs which we don’t now possess with Doc gone and Jonny injured. I would agree with 4-2-3-1, certainly if you are not playing one of the big 6 and giving it a go. Otasowie has been impressive in the few minutes he has got and would give us some drive and pace through the middle.
We are too slow and too predictable, Nuno needs to find some answers and quick!
It’s a strange Corona season and the results have gone against us, and the motivation and confidence have decreased. But there were positives. Adama looked really sharp again and made things happen. Jose lacked only the goals after delivering a very good second half. The midfield didn’t perform as well as usually, Both Dendoncker and Mouthinho had an off-day. I believe the reviews would read a lot different if Jose scored on one of his chances. 4231 sounds like a very exciting choice with Boly and Kilman at the centre of the defence. Out of darkness cometh light!!
Rafa Mir scored a hattrick for Huesca against Real Valladolid by the way.
I don’t blame you for giving them a lashing Ben.
Nuno the man is unquestionable, but Nuno the manager does have some questions to answer about how he chooses to chase a game of football. Why did we crowbar Traore in at wingback and persist with an extra body in defence? Why not go 433 and properly commit? It was the same against Albion, when he made bizarre changes that made us worse and not better. My increasing worry is he has one ‘idea’ and when that goes to pot, he’s aimlessly moving pieces around the board.
If I detach myself from the emotion of it all, I know that if the Willian Jose attempt just before their goal goes in, the match is completely different as we’d fold into our defensive shape and a Palace team who generally struggle to break teams down would have had problems. But when it goes the other way, you’ve got to respond and we simply didn’t.
I thought Willian was the main plus point, as he had our only two notable attempts on goal and protected the ball well at times.
Rather than focus purely on this pitiful display the last 8 league games paint a worrying picture. Moutinho isn’t worth a place in the side at the moment regardless of his fantastic career. Can’t help thinking he’s past his sell by date Dendoncker lacking confidence. I’d try Coady as a holding midfielder next to Neves as in front of a back four in a 4231 and try and get Adama and Neto supplying Jose. None of the options for a number 10 totally convince me for different reasons. Podence probably the best bet but he gives the ball away too much and too little end product. We have gone from aiming to break into the top 6 to hoping to stay up in a quarter of a season. I hope we make it but a massive summer ahead for Fosun and (hopefully) Nuno ahead either way.
Coady in midfield? Didn’t you see him in the Championship River?
I certainly did and know where you’re coming from but his game and passing has improved under Nuno turning him into an England player (not on current form) and in the PL that role is as much about closing down the space for the opposing number 10 as opposed to out and out ball winning or maybe I’m at the stage of willing to try anything! Donk and Moutinho being dominated by Palace doesn’t fill me with confidence
I can understand your thoughts, River, but my feelings are that Nuno found Coady’s best position in a sweeper role (a la Beckenbauer but not in his league obviously) and that he’d revert to type back in midfield and be the ‘average Championship midfielder’ that Jimmy Floyd called him recently.
You’re probably right Alphonso although an average championship midfielder couldn’t have been a lot worse yesterday! Let’s hope Nuno finds the magic formula pdq especially with Brighton winning today.
You can’t lose Jota and Jimenez and expect life to go on as normal. Hopefully, Jose will have an impact but he needs support. The team is not creating chances and I think the midfield is the biggest issue as well as the obsession with width and crosses. Neves plus Otasowie or Saiss would be a start, with Podence in a free role but trying to get some activity through the centre as well as wide. Jose and Neves up front. It’s more in tune with Wolves most successful set up.
Personally I think Traore performed very well as a wing back, and it felt like we got an extra man on that side as he was everywhere.
blimey ben i get the impression your a tad mad about this performance .
believe me your not on your own .
This was a bit of a cynical assessment. There were some positives from this game.
Jose looked decent.
I thought Semedo did some good things (so, I don’t really think the wing backs were horrible)
Traore showed some of his flashed from last year.
Yes, we lost a game in which we had 53 percent possesion away from home. Wolves had 4 shots on target, while palace had 2 shots on target.
Possession counts for nothing if all you do with the ball is pass sideways or backwards. when you have it. We are devoid of ideas. We create almost nothing. We are now a very poor team.
A pale imitation of last years team
Largely the same players too.
They look better with 3 at the back but there is nothing going forward save for a few flashes of individual skill.
It was the same really before rrauls injury. A long hangover from last season?
I thought we had about 8 Carl Henrys today, passing sideways and backwards. At least Nuno recognized the same at his post match comments. Shameful display. And Moutino, I really don’t know how he plays before Neves? Aahhhh.
And I guess the second season syndrome has hit us in the third season! Oh no!
Spot on Ben, what has gone so drastically wrong,We can’t be in any doubt we are struggling to say the least,as you said Ben we lack any fight and look like a team who’s going down.
Our only hope is that there are 3 teams who are gonna finish below us, because we haven’t got the bollocks to turn this run of bad runs around.
Never thought in a million years we’d be in this position after all the investment Fosun have made. Transitional period fuck it off.back to basics me thinks.pissed rift off.
I think it’s the cumulative poor performances rather this one more piss poor showing that really sticks in the craw!
Poor in defence, midfield and attack and we can’t win a game unless it’s in the cup!
Traore’s hot water bottle and some of his mazy runs were the best things for me. But yes I’d have to admit Jose had hard lines & you have to hope he’ll get a couple of winning goals before now.
Maybe we can get a few 0-0 draws before the return of Jiminez & Jonny who should see us to safety. On current form though it’s so worrying we’re bottom. No win in eight is tough to take, if it goes on for much longer w’ell be looking forward to a lot more 3:00pm kick off’s in future.
Tough not to be negative, but there’s got to be more effort put in by the whole side next game. Nuno’s got a tough job to restore confidence into his hapless charges. Hope he can pull it off.
My only hope after that Toothless display is that somebody at the club actually has a look at the league and form table and gets both players and Nuno to realise they can definitely be relegated and effectively destroy all the good work of the last 3 years .
At least then we might get a full wholehearted performance .
From what I watched we were rubbish how Mouthino or Dendoncker are better than Neves i’ll never know. Why cant we buy a MF player who suits Neves and gets
the ball down and drive forward its not complicated.
When all full backs are fit would would suggest a midfield of Neves, Semedo plus Saiss if a 3. Agree with you Moutinho looks shot and Dendoncker has developed a shrug of the shoulders attitude.
Might be an idea to bring Doc back from Tottingham on a free.
Semedo would be in on his price tag but not what he’s done on the field.
Agreed, hence the midfield suggestion as he is capable of box to box role .
Semedo has been one of our better players
Come on lads!
It’s not that bad.
We’re only losing by the odd goal,…. almost every game,
Current form and the table suggests it might be quite bad I would suggest.
It doesn’t matter how many permutations of 11 men you arrange on a football pitch into what shapes or formations you like, this crowd in their present frame of mind will win very few football matches.
Nuno has questions to answer for sure as he takes ultimate responsibility.
But with the possible exception of Neto not one Wolves player came out of this match with any credit. If I were to pick the worst culprits it would be senior players, particularly Coady,,Podence, Moutinho, Traore and, Patricio plus worst of all Dendoncker. Whatever happened to “hunting in a pack”?. This crowd of multi millionaires are letting us, the club, the city, their manager and themselves and their own families down week in week out at the moment.
We have all tried to make excuses for months but the truth is since that glorious victory over Man. City on 28 Dec.2019 we have played rubbish far more often than not and it’s getting worse by the match.
I’m not going to try to speculate as to what exactly has gone wrong because I don’t know and can’t do anything about it anyway .
But if things don’t change rapido the writing is on the wall.
Here we go, Traore gets another mention as a culprit. Well, the Traore I saw today produced more potential goalscoring openings in his 25 minutes than the rest of the team put together. I’m a big Neto fan but thought he was off pitch today.
Don’t think that Patricio was culpable for the goal but I agree with your comments on the others. Coady was particularly dire today both in his defensive responsibilities and his distribution.
Alphonso
My point really relates to virtually all the senior players over a period of time more than subjectively to today and I’m afraid on that basis I believe Traore is possibly the most culpable and his stats. back me up. Let’s just say Helder Costa was shredded by many with far less justification.
I’m with you. Traore wasn’t a “culprit”. Rui nether
That was some covering run he made to get back to deny Zaha. There’s nobody else in the world that could have done that.
I said 3 or 4 or 5 weeks ago we were in a relaxation fight I was told I was an idiot don’t know who by but have they now accepted we are thank you.
A relaxation fight sounds about as boring as our current method of play. Yawn, yawn.
At the expense of repeating what I have said on here numerous times, despite being probably our best manager since cullis, Nuno I’m afraid has reached the limit of his capability and needs to take a long hard look at his approach and dare to reinvent himself. Look at Brighton, look at Albion, look at palace, all teams that couldn’t buy a win and were shipping goals before playing us and yet they beat us. Nuno finds it impossible to set up a team to attack from the outset and dominate. We are a parasitical team, cautious to the point of extreme, only hoping to beat even the poorest of opposition by counter attacking on the break. Even with attacking talent like Neto, podence and traore and the promising Jose we cower behind a defensive shell hoping to snatch a victory. Against the very best teams the approach might have some legitimacy against teams towards the foot of the PL it is just cowardly. Dare to take the risk of winning football matches otherwise ours will be a death by a thousand cuts relegation.
We love Nuno but I think if we are objective I think Bill McGarry won much more with much less (money) than Nuno has to date.
Fair point but money was not as critical then as it is now. Despite what we have spent since being in the PL we are effectively playing catch up against the big boys. I watched wolves through most of the mcgarry era and I still think Nuno shades it given the competition he faces versus what mcgarry faced.
Very similar scenarios really but I think with the League Cup meaning much more then and a UEFA Cup Final think Bill shades it to date.
Fair point. Can’t argue with that.
Bit of an over-reaction. Basically two teams of a similar standard (not very good), but Palace got the break of a clip off a defender’s heel leading to a goal. Had the pass gone where the Palace player intended there wouldn’t even have been a chance. Fine margins again, but we keep coming out on the wrong end of them. WJ looked useful.
In any other year both would be in the bottom 3 already.
Think you are right there mate. We don’t seem to get any breaks at the moment. Having said that we are getting close to matching points with games played. When that happens you can be dragged in to a relegation dogfight. Micks 1st year up in the prem we got 38 points from 38 games and in the end survived fairly confortably. Luckily for us at the moment none of the current bottom three are remotely close to going at one point per game. That said if someone like Fulham suddenly got back to back wins then things could look decidedly uncomfortable. We really need a win to remove uneasy feelings. Arsenal next Tuesday. AND STOP GOING 1-0 DOWN WOULD HELP!
I am afraid that as in life, losers are full of hard luck, if only stories. The old adage that you make your own success in this world is as true in football as it is in life.
Accepted. But we are not getting thrashed by anyone (West Ham /Liverpool excepted) and as Wolfmsn Jack says above in these situations it’s fine margins. But yeah. Totally accept your comments. As valid as anyone else’s. Stay safe.
Hi COD, it was a reply to wolf man jack rather than you. Get your point but look at Sheffield utd record- they have lost the majority of their games by the odd goal. A defeat is a defeat. On the flip side, when was the last time we thrashed someone?
Alright mate. Don’t think we ever have thrashed anyone under Nuno in the Prem. I do agree we are all a bit worried at the moment. Rightly so. Next 5 or 6 games for me. If it all goes tits up leaves 10 games and 30 points.
Your point is valid, and I would agree that we must make our own ‘luck’ (rather than success) by working harder and trying new approaches. It starts on the training ground and with Nuno’s oft-touted phrase about ‘finding new solutions’.
Blimey. We only need to win 13 of the last 17 and its Champions League…… oh well there’s always beer. Wouldn’t be Wolves if there wasn’t a crisis.FWAW.
Nuno..
“I shouldn’t be saying this but Cutrone is off to Valencia”.
That to me speaks volumes of what’s going on at the club. When has he ever said anything about any player, never. It’s always been close to the chest top secret stuff and not to be discussed because it had not happened. He just does not like Cutrone, has no respect for him and treated him shabbily. It’s the same with the players he doesn’t have a say in, he just refuses to invest time in them.
Now it’s all over the press that Saiss is Merseyside bound, his Son is in college near there and klippity and Liverpool fans are jumping on it.
I hope the rumour about the Vibrant, exciting midfielder is true, because the ones that played today were anything but. We lost this game in midfield, Moutinho couldn’t pass a kidney stone, his decision making today was diabolical. Dendonker took a leaf from Traore’s book today, he made a great block in the middle of the park, but his attemt at a tackle on Eze was a joke.
We have lost the team spirit, we are a team taking onestep forward then a big two back.
Biting my tongue here, if the two shots from Jose had gone in we would have been singing their praises, but they didn’t and we aren’t.
I pray we find a midfielder with some bottle by Monday 5 pm. This team is broken.
Not just the team Stu I think Nuno as well. We cannot go on like this for much longer love the guy for what he’s done love the guy as a human being but football is about results no win in eight we are bottom of the form league and sliding in to relegation battlle.
Wow, Saisse is 30 years old and he has a son in college? You sure about that?
We get going early in Morocco
He probably had a beard at the age of eight so it’s possible
Smiley emoji- smiley emoji
That was my mate,
I just spouted what he said, probably private school or the like.
I don’t agree with everything you said. But, I do think there’s something up with Cutrone and Nuno. I haven’t read too much into it. I just assume Nuno either doesn’t like his attitude or his work rate….or something like that.
What were you referring to with the “vibrant midfielder”.? I haven’t heard anything
The next 48 hours will provide the answers.just something I picked up, that distracts me from feeling glum.
Shocked confused concerned such a abject performance has not been seen since they days of Deno.
Nuno trying to attack but not prepared to go all out so end result we lose by an odd goal. Nuno s caution and general lack of attacking conviction has rubbed off on the players.
Most our team emulate from warmer climates and today it showed they were slow no conviction and just not bothered and that is a recipe for relegation.
I thought we had turned a corner but it now appears we are cul de sac . Make no mistake we are in a relegation battle and what’s scares me the most is I cannot name any player in the whole squad that I could say…..yeah they’ll be up for it.
Worrying times ahead.
Paul
If your point about warm climes is true then maybe Costa, Cav and Leo Bonatini had more backbonre than the current crop.
I know you are pretty emotional about another poor Wolves performance Ben, but I think maybe you should have slept on it before writing this post.
Yes, we didn’t create enough chances and our midfield is looking decidedly lacking in the ability to turn this around.
Yes, our inability to score goals is reaching crisis point.
And yes, Nuno’s use of substitutes sometimes smacks of panic.
But I don’t think that the players are showing a lack of pride or passion.
It’s confidence that we are lacking and form that we have lost.
I thought that, for the most part, our defence played pretty well. Kilman, Willy and Semedo in particular.
Neto gave his all, as always, and the new boy looked like he will score goals given the right service.
And Patricio certainly didn’t dive out of the way of the shot that beat him. It was a rocket, he hardly had a chance to dive anywhere and, if anybody should have prevented it, it was Dendoncker.
There’s certainly something wrong at the moment and, if we don’t sort it out, we could well be in a relegation scrap.
I’m as frustrated and pissed off as anyone.
But when all is said and done. It was a game of football.
And nobody died.
Agree with everything you say Doog apart from your Semedo comments. I thought he was generally poor throughout and I agree with myself having run through the game again (glutton for punishment eh?)!
? ? ?
Well said
everyone banging on about needing a striker…..well ok ..someone.
What is the point of a top striker if the midfield is as uncreative as my great nan with a bundle of logs and an axe.
Very depressing ?
I’m pinching that picture. Soz.
Lol
I wish I had a pencil like that
Our new wolves mascot!
Parade him before the game…job done
I don’t want to be a doom monger but you have to face the facts and the major fact is that we’re a team in trouble.
We struggle to defend effectively, we cannot score goals but perhaps the biggest issue is that we cannot play football. We couldn’t even play something resembling football against Chorley and the truth of the matter is that we haven’t played well for over 6 months now.
Our midfield lacks creativity and are overrun in most games. We end up relying too much on a 20 year old who gives his all every game but is consistently let down by his senior colleagues.
There’s no easy answer to our current plight and I’m not sure where the 13-17 points we need for safety will come from. We have to have players that will scrap for every available point and that includes a goalkeeper who will save us points and not give them away.
Too good to go down, we are in big trouble, please I beg u fosun buy a central midfield who runs forward, too many sideways passes, oh dendonker was that a tackle, get ruddy in, please nuno my liver can’t stand anymore off this, wolves aie we.
The only good thing to come out of this sorry affair is that we now know exactly where we are – in a relegation scrap. No illusion there.
Posted too early Ben.
Watch it again and you will see some positives.
No way will we get relegated and I am willing to give you my months wages if we do Ben.
Have a good sleep mate.
That’s easy for you to say, you are unemployed!
Retired not unemployed and I may have got away with it had you not bubbled me!
I think you’d be in hot water and find it hard to justify “Clive in your Bubble”.
He wishes!!
No. Don`t bother to watch this rubbish again Ben Why spoil another day ? You got it spot on right first time.
The most scathing of opinion from you I’ve seen..fundamentally we are badly flawed with Nuno not knowing what to do and often making things worse.
It’s the comparable results and overall form and play compared to the other 2 seasons that is the most significant to me ..
This reflects on our head coach and his inability to cope with what’s currently going on and how to convert the team to being positive and confident again..
Remember those times ?
I’m not saying there should be a replacement but even the most die hard automatic Nuno supporters
have got to admit we are in the shit here and in free fall ..
Who takes the can ? and how much longer do we except this?
I really really thought those days were gone..
Totally agree with what you wrote Steve. Nuno has a job to do without doubt. I expect him to get it right though and hope Fosun don’t think otherwise .
Too good to go down dontvthink so saiss going to liverpool rumour omg let’s give Perry a run out local local from kingswinford will take pride in shirt on to the second whisky bottle don’t tell the wife wolves aie we
Dude. There’s this thing called “punctuation”.
Except when you are on the second bottle who bothers with punctuation
Only two?
Need a few more to erase the memory of that horror show!
This is a blog for Wolves fans, the only criteria is you support Wolves.
Nowhere does it say you have to be literate, no need to be rude Dude, there’s lot’s of examples that show an education for some folk is not always a good thing.
Who you callin’ educated?
I’ll have you know I’m as illiterate as the next bloke!
P.s.
Wots literate mean?
We`re losing with 15 minutes to go. Playing like a bunch of girls. Zero effort. A keeper who yet again gives away a soft goal A team without any midfield. No hope.
But wait. .Let`s turn to the bench and get some decent reinforcements on the pitch.
Bring on Vitinha. A little boy completely out of his depth, and unready for the Premiership. Yep, and he`s only going to cost 22 million at the end of the season ! Meanwhile Nevez is left on the bench. Ridiculous.
Then, glory be, here comes the vunderkid, Silva. A completely useless non striker who would struggle to get into a decent Sunday League Pub team.
Then we continue with Moutinho. The guy has completely lost it. Once a great player, it`s embarrassing to see him in his 35th year trying to meet a decent standard.
Our new striker shows promise. But he must be wondering just what he has let himself in for coming to a club in such an almighty shambles. How can he be expected to achieve anything when there`s no midfield to support him ?
Nuno`s worked wonders for us in his time in charge. But dare it be said if this is the best he can now do to transform this bunch of non triers into a team, then maybe it`s time for change. Either way, it`s now very clear that if we continue like this the Championship really beckons.
In summary. From top to bottom a total disgrace.
For the last 3 months our bench has been occupied largely by “ones for the future” and schoolboys.
Jan window –
We desperately need a striker so we recall Pasta Boy who Nuno won’t play ,so then we sign a loan striker and send Cuitrone out again. Don’t anyone kid ourselves that Jiminez is going to play again this season, if ever. Upshot our only back up striker is Mendez £35 million 18year old wunderkid Fabio again. I think this is all symptomatic of our owner’s current level of commitment.
Is it really Nuno who wants a small squad or is it Fosun policy?
Well over 3 years ago now we had the great Fosun Plan heralded with trumpets, bells and whistles. What is Fosun’s real agenda?
Champions League my ar$e.
Fosun NET spend has been pretty paltry in Nuno’;s 4 year tenure.
This may not be the Bhattis but it looks much more Moxey / Morgan than Abramovitch who whether you like him or not keeps throwing the money at HIS TEAM and winning trophies.
So are we to be returned to the land of promotion / relegation / mid table at best cycle?
Looks a lot like it but Nuno’s Dream was good while it lasted.
And don’t be surprised if he walks before he’s pushed and then see what we get next.
Be careful what you wish for.
Don’t care. I will follow Wolves till I die. Always have done always will do. Through thick and through thin. Sad that we have this today. I fully accept everyone making their point. No problem. This is football. This is Wolves.
So have I, but surely the rationale of supporting a football club (or anything else) is to see it achieve it’s objectives and fulfil it’s potential and maybe exceed it, otherwise what’s the bloody point. I certainly wasn’t proud to be a Wolves supporter today as I didn’t think we had anything to be proud of, other than our heritage. Certainly not the team because this lot at the moment aren’t living up to their responsibilities or playing anywhere near their potential.
Pretending it doesn’t matter if we lose is just hypocritical.
Ditto Cheese, ditto.
I would ask two questions :-
(1) Is heavily criticising the players or the manager likely to help or is it likely to make things worse ?
(2) Is Nuno a man who would carry on regardless or is he a man who would be honest with himself about his own capabilities and do the honourable thing ?
Now is a time for constructive thoughts , encouragement and support above all else.
Do you think that the players and management staff are avid readers of this blog? No, neither do I, so behave yourself. It’s a vehicle for us fans, literate or not, to say what we want about the club that’s in our hearts and will be long after all the current incumbents at Compton and Molineux have long since gone.
Additionally, we can’t vent forth in our usual manner (in the stands) so please don’t begrudge people using this platform.
Pluses.
Boly has found his form, Kilman doesn’t look half bad and we’re starting to see what Semedo is all about. Hoever, although a bit early for him looks like a steal. New Willy looks like he’s a week or so on the training ground away from doing exactly what is required of him and even though for whatever reason he doesn’t seem to be able to do it from the start, for the last half hour Traore remains unplayable.
Minuses.
A general lack of form is affecting results. We lost today by a brilliant goal that can never be accounted for.
Coady is having a rare off period and the player I consider possibly the best to ever wear the shirt looks like his superpowers are waning.
All in all it comes down to those frequently discussed small margins
.
Ben, you should have slept on that blog.
Remember Wednesday when we were all talking about the turning tide? Let’s hope Fosun aren’t as emotional as your average Wolves fan.
It’s not pleasant but in the end it’s going to be better than fine,
UTW
I’m with you prawny , it bothers me that confidence is clearly low but normally teams have a collective fighting spirit . Players don’t set out to play badly .
I’d like to hear from Fosun or Jeff Shi, their silence generates speculation and we start to suspect that silly stories are true. If Nuno is fed up and wants to go home to his family…………has Benitez been Chinese whispered……….is Saiss going to Liverpool…………..what has gone on behind the scenes that has broken the magic?
BG. Announcements from the board aren’t going to improve results. If I start a rumour that Coady is off to West Brom is Jeff meant to respond to it?
There are more rumours than there are Yuen in Fosun’s bank account so why respond?
I have to disagree about their goal being brilliant.
Firstly, Dendonker should have tackled the bloke and secondly Patricio fell over it, when it went straight at him.
Any goal conceded is a bad goal, but some are badder than others.
Opinions and bum holes Clive.
Opinions and bum holes.
Phil Parkes would have been crucified.
True but Rui has yet to hold his arms up aloft to watch the ball go harmlessly out of play only to see it nestle firmly in the back of the net! Does anyone remember who that was against?
Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Eufa Cup Final?
That bugger Chivers if I remember correctly.
It was the Japanese who committed Harry Krishna, not the Portuguese, so our good Doctor will be around for a while yet.
The same cannot be said for Billy Joel, who has already booked his return ticket to Real Sociadad!
Passion and Pride.
That is all that was missing today.
We know our guys can play, but do THEY know about the Pride and the Passion we have, as supporters, of our beloved club?
The fire in our gold and black veins?
How much this team is a part of our lives?
Obviously not.
After a good, solid backs to the wall display at Stamford Bridge, we turn out this shit.
Why?
Same players, same city, same empty ground.
Everything that was there on Wednesday was sorely missing today.
Once again, the sum of our parts was worse than the individuals.
And, let’s be perfectly honest, since the lockdown bollocks started almost a year ago, we have been crap.
We seem to be lacking a true leader in the dressing room, a Roy Keane type who can lead by example on the pitch (mostly!) and pick someone up by the scruff of the neck off the pitch, if they aint performing.
The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
No, I’m not saying Nuno is mad, but we are for watching this shit week after week!
Stop being so nice, Nuno, and kick some arses, bollock the players and drop some of them.
You are better than this, and we deserve better.
We have the skilled players, now the real men need to stand up and act like it.
p.s.
Was as impressed with Billy Joel’s full debut as I was pissed off with the rest of the team.
FOwb
Hari Kiri
It’s not quite as musical.
That said lockdown was the start of where it all started going south.
Doesn’t he play for Spurs?
That was his sister hairy Carrie.
According to my Cliff notes, Carrie don’t live here no more.
Only 2 words now ‘Still depressing’
This was the first premier league game that I haven’t watched live so I was quite confident when I started to watch the mini match version on my mobile phone at 5-30 with a cuppa in the other hand .
When the best 25 minutes of a 90 minute game includes us taking a corner that just sails into their keepers hands then you know not to bother watching the full replay later ( I’ve thought that a few times lately).
Lots of us were confident before the game, it seemed like a perfect chance to get back on track, problem was , they thought the same .
They won today, not because of a lucky deflection in the build up but because they wanted it more, had more forward movement and took a few more chances than we did .
We are capable of beating anyone in this league but a lack of confidence is holding us back, it’s as though we get a nose bleed if we go over the halfway line such is the stress of us losing our shape .
I’m now finding myself looking for the games against the bottom clubs and hoping we aren’t playing them anytime soon because this is when it becomes dog eat dog .
Get some points against arsenal- Southampton etc and quickly or it won’t be a very enjoyable Easter.
Have a go more and give the new guy a few chances each game and he will score plenty
But you have to have a go more first
Come on you wolves
‘Have a go more and give the new guy a few chances each game and he will score plenty
But you have to have a go more first ‘
Agree completely. We have got to start taking more risks in the final third. Possession for the sake of it is no use whatsoever in that area.
I too am weary of these recent performances but not “depressed”.
On the night that Jimenez was stretchered off the pitch at the Emirates, I didn’t care where we finished after that. It didn’t seem to be so important anymore.
That said, I would like to stay up if we can but i am trying to keep some perspective.
Rumour Saiss off to Liverpool as he was omitted from the Wolves team sheet today, if he was unfit ok but if fit should have started at left wing back in today’s team allowing Semado to stay in is proper position where he is comfortable and starting to perform better. Alternatively Saiss is a good choice for a midfield spot(remember he was bought as a midfielder) as he could do no worse than some of the midfield performances i have witnessed today and the last few months. I am sure he would get is fair share of goals as well. But if the Wolves want to sell him as he is coming to the end of the is contract for a couple of million that shows why we are facing a relegation scrap. The position we’re in we can’t afford to lose anyone.
Saiss suddenly the messiah. Grief….
Always gives 100%, didn’t see a lot of that today.
This might be interesting to a couple of you. Javi Gracia, who is the coach of Valencia, says he knows nothing about Cutrone going to the team. Valencia is owned by Peter Lim, who has had a close relationship with Mendes, also.
Seems like maybe Jorge is asking Lim for a favour by taking Cutrone away so Nuno doesn’t have to deal with him.
So is Patrick going to another team that is coached by someone who had no say in his recruitment and will he get any more playing time than at Fiorentina or Wolves?
If this is the case, I’m getting even more p’d off at Nuno than I was before.
Note: I’m not saying this is definitely what is happening but if Javi is telling the truth about not knowing about Patrick showing up and the move to Valencia happening so quickly, you certainly have to wonder.
More conspiracy theory stuff.
You’ve got to feel for Cutrone as a human being,Tim, being continually shunted from pillar post.
As a footballer, though, he needs to find his level and I’m afraid that, yet again, Valencia will be some way above it.
Think we’ve both said it before Tim, Mendes influence at WWFC is way out of proportion and last summer’s events indicate that it has probably become now counter productive.
“What Jorge giveth, Jorge taketh away” – Valencia supporters. not me.
Watch out for Neto inn the Summer.
Exactly who is in charge of signings ?
Shi admits he is learning football but then removes people who did
Mendes pockets his agents fee then presumably gives us a list of attainable players
Nuno – does he have any say on who comes in ? presumably he does as Mendes friend and financial consultant ?
Nuno – sends the team out each week and decides the formations, he decides the substitution’s some of which are bizarre
Played Otasowie as a forward when telling us we would not be spending
Podence – midget never top premier quality – front line player with no height when also play Moutinho is like playing with 10
Semedo – nice feet but cannot cut it as a wing back and is certainly no full back
Silva – £35mill under 23 at best
Vitinha – anonymous makes no impression
Ait Nouri – scored early on needs time
Jose – jury out needs more time to settle
Moutinho – legs gone unfortunately and with Nuno’s constant revolving door on the midfielders of 3 Neves, Moutinho and Dendonker which other teams have learned to play against.
There has been a slight net spend but Fosun are supposedly making Bn’s if the time to progress was not now when all other teams are not spending then when is ?
Jota and Doherty still sticks in craw mainly because it was said we are going to be champions league team. Well Jota is champions league and Doherty’s work rate and goals has been missed
Coady came out with he is going nowhere and his love of Wolves which suggest to me Liverpool have been sniffing around and worry about Saiss rumours and Traore because it appears Fosun and Mendes have drawn stumps.
A good night’s sleep usually puts things in perspective and, on careful consideration, we really are in the poo.
I fully expect a few ‘dislikes’ for this but I fear the problem is Nuno.
God, I love the man! He seems to be a thoroughly decent human being but I’m not sure he can cut it at this level.
Last season, we didn’t have a plan ‘B’. Now we have one, it isn’t working; and our plan ‘A’ has be well and truly nullified.
We need plan ‘C’ and PDQ!
I wish Nuno well but I really do think we need someone new in driving seat. At the very least, he needs some help.
Having said, what do I know? I’m as clueless as everyone else here :0)
Who would you suggest as a replacement.? And please not one of the usual suspects.
Happy,
I have no idea.
But what we have isn’t working, is it?
Sometimes, even the nicest people reach the limit of their talents.
I am the most affable person you could ever hope to meet but I was never going to make it to the top in football management. :0)
All the best
But you cannot throw away what has served you well based on one bad run. Certainly not without a viable alternative.
If all clubs were run like Chelsea Solkjaer, Klopp and Arteta would be available. But they’re not. Come to think of it Lampard has built a reputation for developing young talent….? And all the best to you too.
1 shouldn’t have sold Doherty
2 shouldn’t have sold Jota
3 should’ve signed a quality experienced right sided centre back
4 should’ve signed a good left wing back to cover Jonny’s absence
5 shouldn’t have signed the permanently injured Marcal or the inexperienced Ait-Nouri
6 should’ve signed an experienced central midfielder
7 shouldn’t have signed the inexperienced Vitinha
8 should’ve signed an experienced quality striker as competition for Jimenez
9 shouldn’t have signed the inexperienced Silva and certainly not wasted £35m doing so
10 should have realised that our good fortune with injuries over the previous three seasons couldn’t last and so a bigger squad was needed
11 shouldn’t have tried changing the system to 4231 without having the necessary players to do so
12 should have stayed with the 343 or 352 system that brought success in previous three seasons
OODCL
OODCL?
F….king hate acronyms!
Out
Of
Darkness
Cometh
Light
The Wolves motto. I end all my posts with OODCL..
FNKT (fancy not knowing that)
Thanks Bedford. That’s actually from Wolverhampton’s coat of arms. Fancy not knowing that!
Having got that off my chest here’s me being a little more positive.
It was only a 1-0 and could easily have been no goals or a 1-0 win.
Palace did manage to get numbers back everytime we showed a few threats and the first 45 minutes did suggest that we weren’t going to just sit back and defend.
Palace (until yesterday) were in as bad a position as us and looked like they’d be happy with a draw and delighted with a win.
Up next are Arsenal and Leicester who will be playing with a little more intent and so last year’s plan ‘A’ might work.
We do seem to get better results against teams who want to win, not just survive.
Stay safe everyone!
Some are citing first lockdown as beginning of Wolves decline implying it was somehow the cause but this seems unlikely to me. A more likely catalyst is the unexplained moving on of Dalrymple and subsequent departure of Thelwell.
This smacked of Jeff not being prepared to allow potential rivals to his ascendancy. If we are to believe popular generalisations Chinese businesses are ruthless environments.
We shouldn’t have sold Jota or Doherty? No, it would have been better for them to stay.
Sometimes, we have no choice. They wanted to go. You can’t make players stay if they want out.
You can blame the management for many things but not the selling of Jota and Doherty.
Shall we all just move on from this one? Because personally, I think it all started to go wrong when we sold Ernie Hunt. Now, whose idea was that?
Was it Ronnie Allen ?
I never thought he might be behind this !
Dont involve me in this load of bollocks !!
NOR ME !
BREAKING NEWS: Wolves boss Nuno Santo has been caught speeding at 120mph round Wolverhampton ring road. When questioned by police officers he said ‘I’d do anything to get 3 points’……. the old one are always the best.
I think he’d possibly get 6 for that, Cheese, so even better.
Having slept on it, the dull ache of disappointment is still with me. Not so much in the defeat or the manner of it, I have witnessed many of these – no team has a god given right to dominate and win matches. More disappointed that Nunos dream, which we have greedily bought into, is in tatters, yes we are Championship bound because I no longer believe we can turn this round. Disappointed too in myself- how could I be hoodwinked again into believing my beloved Wolves could take on and beat the best consistently. 60 years supporting my team – no fool like an old fool. So now we move on and start to build our expectation levels again, we will never learn and why should we, whilst there’s life there’s hope. COYW tomorrow’s another day, another opportunity, don’t look back in anger, back the boys for I do believe they are doing their best.
There’s no doubt that the opportunity afforded to Jota with Liverpool was too good to turn down.
I think the most we miss about Doherty is his engine and we now have to consider using two players on the defensive right to ensure we can break forward and get back.
As I said last night, I think our biggest problem is our inability to play football. At the moment we are like a group of 11 individuals having a kick around on a pub car park with one or two of these individuals sometimes showing the odd piece of magic and pace but the rest totally anonymous.
There does not seem to be any particular style or pattern to our play and we make far too many unforced errors.
As Greavsie would say “it’s a funny old game”. This time last year we were heading upwards and berating Villa for their player recruitment.
After a summer of poor recruitment from our point of view the boot is certainly on the other foot. They now have one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League whilst ours is well below average and they now have one of the best midfields in the country. It makes a hell of a difference.
On a personal level as a supporter of 60 years standing, I must have replayed our third away goal against Spurs last spring,the Jimenez and Jota breakaway, 30 or 40 times. It’s one that will always be with me but it’s incredibly sad to realise that at present we can’t come anyway near replicating it!
Ernie
My “time served ” must be almost exactly on a par with yous so we share the same memories – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Your point on Jota and Doc can not be over emphasised and it’s turned out to be even more disastrous than I feared . I don’t think we NEEDED to sell Jota at that point as he still has plenty of potential to develop and another season or two here would probably have benefited him and the club. As for Doc I just think they warned to make a fast buck which is now proving detrimental to all parties.
I know many don’t agree but my thoughts are that the whole summer transfer merry go round had a lot more to do with the Mendes / Fosum / Gestitute relationship than the wellbeing of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.
We needed to build on what we had rather than dismantle it and start again.
And we are now witnessing the consequences of those actions.
One very small positive for me was watching the lead up to when Zaha hit the crossbar on the break. Traore came sprinting back at absolute top pace and was directing Coady to push Zaha right as he covered the other Palace player. Then he made a great choice to leave that man and help Coady in case Zaha turned back inside (which he did) and got across to pressure the shot, resulting in a more hurried effort.
Torre showed great desire and an understanding of the game situation – things that he has been accused of lacking in the past
*(Traore not Torre)
Compared to all the noise and taking plaudits a couple of years back the silence from Jeff Shi and Fosun is deafening. Think this a project “on hold” at best.
And it’s clearly transmitted to the players.
PJB think the world is on hold and your quote on Mcgarry he and that squad did not operate under these conditions and as the great John Richards said i do not know how we would have coped playing in these times.
If he bought five drinks and one for himself, would that be six points???
Tough next three games. Think nuno has curried favour with the fans with his gift which is after all only a few weeks pay. We miss Raul so much, silva is years away from an answer, neves too many games anonymous and moutinhos legs have gone. We will stay up due to the bottom three being so poor but who knows next season. Time for a fresh start I think. Maybe go for benetiz
So Nuno only donated a few weeks pay did he?
I don’t know what you earn a week mate, but whatever it is, would you donate a few weeks of your pay to help the poor of Wolverhampton?
No, I didn’t think so.
Maybe a little to near the sensitivity mark.
I apologise. 🙁
Stole this off fakebook, think it brings a bit of perspective to everything.
Some may agree, others not.
Don’t care, I love the man.
Nuno;
– Brought in a wonder kid from Porto to the championship
– Got us promoted as CHAMPIONS of the championship in his first season, on just shy of 100 points
– Brought in the number 1GK of Portugal’s national team and the most favoured striker Mexico has probably ever seen!
– Helped catapult our iconic logo spread worldwide from China to South America
– Was awarded a doctorate in sports by the university of Wolverhampton
– Took us to the fa cup semi final and to Wembley (a dream of mine as a child…I finally got to go)
– Got us to 7th spot in the English PL (the best and hardest League in the world
– Won us the Asia cup in August, further spreading the brand of wolves in China… Beating the current PL champions… And subsequently went on to do the double over them in the PL. Something not achieved by many teams
– Took us to the Europa League group stages beating off all 6 opponents
– Got us to the quarter finals of European championship, winning against teams we could have only dreamt about 4 seasons ago such as Besiktas, Torino etc (losing out to that seasons winners)
– Took us to our second consecutive 7th spot finish in the hardest League in the world, missing out on 6th only on GD and subsequently missing out on Europa due you arsenal winning the fa cup (even though we finished higher in the League than a so called big 6 club)
– Hasn’t seen his family for almost a year due to a pandemic that’s affecting us all
– Had to witness his number 1 striker go through a horrific, potentially career ending head injury and then have to deal with the effects it would have on his team both in the League and mentally
– Set up and personally supported one of the best food initiatives Wolverhampton city has ever seen… Helping feed the most vulnerable people
– Has his worst run of games in 3 and a half seasons and still there are so called fans out there that put him down, want him out and are calling for a plan B when they say he hasn’t got one.
Sometimes it’s about respect, humility and perspective. Let’s take a moment to remember the above and much more that I could have listed and be thankful for our main man!!!!!
Yes but football is about the immediacy. Will be great spouting all that if we go down. Look at the clay heads. Ten years in the premier, cup semis, final, Europe. Who would have thought they would be where they are now with an owner who has just:paid £573m in tax and is worth £10 billion and are fans not fosuns who are business people. We will stay up but no doubt we are going backwards But hey don’t worry Mendez is makingbplenty
Who are the clay heads?
And as I said above, I don’t care who agrees with me or not, I love the bloke.
We all have our individual opinions, let’s respect that.
Indeed. Some people need to calm down and think very very carefully about who and what they wish for.
Yes …it is about immediacy in the short term…but I the long term its about entertainment, fun,beer,moaning etc
Nuno is a great coach and a great human being.
Wolves will still (hopefully)be here when we are wearing our cremation suit and looking healthier than when alive .
Clive has a good point…we, who can remember the’ fatty brothers ‘ attempt to destroy using the 80s and the pre modern stadium before sir Jack…. love Nuno because of the joy he’s brought to us.
Something is wrong, agreed but look further back beyond Nuno
That looks a splendid motorcycle but judging by the approaching shadow it is about to be run over by a ten ton truck.
Gary I don’t recall any previous posts from you (although we’re quite an inclusive little band) but dare I say you’re the epitome of what I dislike about being a Wolves fan.
Nothing to say until there’s a negative.
I’m convinced it’s a Wolverhampton thing.
We’ve had a crap run of results but take off your woe is me head and it’s obvious things will improve-and soon.
Clive,
I agree Nuno is wonderful human being. And, I am truly grateful for the job he has done for us. He will live long in my memory if I don’t die before he goes.
I would love nothing more than for him to turn everything around. I just can’t see it happening.
I still don’t think we’ll be relegated but I’m not sure Nuno is the man to take us to the next level fast enough for us to keep players who see the likes of Liverpool as the only route to Champions League football.
I’m guessing now I’ll be accused of being a “so-called fan”.
This blog is here to give us “so-called fans” the opportunity to express our ill-informed opinions and mine is a valid as yours.
These ARE extraordinary times and I’ve commented before that with most of our team coming from overseas, with family they haven’t for over 12 months, it must be affecting them . . . . . . I think Cheeseburger accused me of being a Baggy for that one).
I can’t see Jeff Shi sacking Nuno based on my oinion.
If any of the buggers listened to me I’d have played inside right to Derek Dougan’s No 9 and then had a place on the Board for the last 40 years.
I look forward seeing more evidence of your new-found “respect, humility and perspective”
Apologies for calling you a Baggie. As you know this Blog was infiltrated with a few Baggies fans after they beat us. A combination of me being on the beer early and Baggy fan paranoia lead to me wrongly accusing one or two Wolves fans of being Albion. Very sorry about that mate. And to anyone else I wrongly accused.
No worries, Cheeseburger!
All the best
No worries cheesey and apology accepted
I’m with Clive (and Nuno)
I’m with you Clive.
Absolutely disgusting joke. You should be ashamed making fun of something so awful, I lost family to the Holocaust. How do I report this comment to admin?
Mr Swisotski.
There is no excuse for this, I apologise unreservedly for any offence.
This was a very poor and tasteless joke of which I realised straight away and made an apology.
My poor taste and judgement does not reflect the tone of this great blog in any way and I have written to the Author apologising and asked for this post to be deleted.
I shall also remove myself from the blog from here on and hope that this tasteless stupid joke has not tarnished what is a wonderful blog full of very nice people who do not stoop to my level of bad taste.
Stuart Alves.
I’m with Clive.
This mess isn’t about Nuno..
He may have faltered a bit but is largely a victim of circumstance.and his ability to do his job is being hampered by the bigger picture at WWFC.
Fosun bought the club for whatever reasons and aims they had nearly 5 years ago. I believe there has been a sea change in their view of “the project” over the last 18 months or so probably for a variety of reasons – economic and possibly political. But I don’t think it is wholly coincidental that Machiavellian Mendes seems to have almost taken almost complete control of our transfer policy in the same period, seemingly with little reference to Nuno. Clearly our current league position has not been the number one priority on the agenda.
And for me I would stick with the man who has served us so well over the last 4 years even if we are relegated – that is if he wants to stay.
Well said.
Can’t see another manager giving so much of himself to the Wolves
The Liverpool FC link with Saiss is being denied.
I do like Saiss, so I would have been disappointed.
Agreed, unsung hero, specially during-the promotion campaign.
Ruben Neves’s wife had a baby boy today or last night.
That explains him on the bench ready to hot foot it to New Cross.
Bet he won’t be called Clive!
And why not????
You got something against moi?
The name Clive, which goes back to before time was invented, I’ll have you know, means calmness, inner peace, respect and love to all, ( even albion fans) as well as perspective and humility.
And if you believe that, I got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you!
I’ll buy it!!!
How much?
I’m going to be a millionaire soon, my chum in Nigeria has said so.
You are an anti-semite. Disgusting.
Exactly how ?
There are plenty of forums and blogs for religious discussion……. just not this one.
The silence from Jeff and FOSUN is deafing. I suspect things are not good behind the scenes and have not been for a while Nuno it seems is isolated. Are Jeff and FOSUN bailing out on the project.
Has Nuno been promised the world by FOSUN and given a Atlas in the shape of Cutrone. He clearly has made a point over him and that is he is did not want to sign him so Nuno ‘s not played him.
The signs are there no public interviews not statements of reassurance nothing…..it’s as if Jeff and Co: have gone back to China. We need leadership from the board and the owner reassurances that they are still committed 100 per cent….but nothing just silence and it been that way for months now.
They did support Nuno in getting Jose on loan so must have been listening in that respect otherwise it would have been Cutrone and Silva and just get on with it.
Eventually Cheese before the window open Nuno was up beat saying we need to rebalance the squad then a couple of days into window and he was saying the solutions are in the current Squad the Cutrone and MGW are recalled.
I’m guessing Nuno was told no money available then Nuno stood his ground and refu
Send to start Cutrone and fan pressure made Jeff/ FOSUN relent and don’t forget Jose is on loan so Jeff/ FOSUN have not laid out any cash apart from his wages.
I suspect Nuno is frustrated by FOSUN in what looks like they have moved the goal posts on him so to speak. I supect Cutrone is not the only signing Nuno had forced on him.
I have my criticism of Nuno he has make mistakes for sure but he has not been help by the board either and in fact I’d go as far as to say he is being hanged out to dry to a certain degree.
Have FOSUN lost interest in the project because of COVID or other external influences I think so I predict they will sell up in the not to distance future and I think Nuno thinks this to in his heart of hearts that they will not meet there stated ambitions.
Just my opinion I hope and pray I’m wrong.
No worries mate. It’s ok to put our views out there. No problem.
Well you’re right Paul, It is a guess. Mine is we’ll be changing the gold shirts for pink next season.
Mines a rubbish guess, I’m not sure about yours!
Getting rid of Cutrone will be like a new signing!!
Reasons to be cheerful on an absolutely dire day.
1. Willian Jose looked more of a threat in one game than Fabio and cutrone have looked in a month. But for bad luck and a smart guita save we’d be looking at a Jose double and three points towards safety.
2. There are still teams below us that are worse. If we can integrate the Brazilian and get some of our injury list back to full fitness we should have enough to get us to 40 points.
That’s it the rest was dire.
Are we as Wolves fans condemned to having a maximum of three years’ good times? This time a drop off would feel even worse because of the heights we’ve reached. The higher you climb etc.
I wonder about the players’ morale. We’re not alone in having a large foreign contingent and ours do have the advantage of a largely shared language and culture. But I get the impression that some, like Nuno himself, are here while their families are back home and that must be both worrying and morale-sapping during the current national shitshow. And it’s harder when things aren’t happening on the pitch – vicious circle etc. And no, before someone says it, I don’t think the vast fortunes they earn make them immune to such feelings.
On a positive side, I do think Jose showed he can play a part. Now the midfielders have someone to aim for rather than passing it around and not trusting that anyone in front of them will do anything with it. And after many have suggested Ruddy deserves a chance, I was watching Patricio carefully in the last couple of games, and I agree. Rui is a shot stopper but doesn’t like to venture much off his line.
It’s in Wolves DNA that it will always go tits up. Just the way it is. Oldham away August 2022? (Only joking………..) I’ll be there.
Its a very bad time we all know that, and in my view there is something happening behind the scenes, there has to be.Footballers who have all shown themselves to be well skilled and well motivated winning players don’t simply loose it en-bloc overnight.Its not just one player or group of players who are playing badly, its all of them.This means that the players are all deeply affected by something thats affecting the whole atmosphere and motivation of the team.So in general we should all just stop berating good experienced players who have given us many happy times for two or three years now.
One thing that must be getting up the players nose is the transfer of Fabio Silva.A young lad who is light years away from being a Premier League player,but who has a £ 35 million price on his back and is almost certainly on Premier League wages that betters or equals the other first team players.I feel sorry for him in some ways for being in a circumstance he himself did not create.But quite honestly you could pull an a 18 year old striker from many of the non-league sides who would perform much better.Someone somewhere is getting a lot of grief for such a huge mistake and I feel this alone could well be creating problems behind the scenes.UTW
Actually Fabio is on 90,000 pounds a week, one of the highest wage earners in WW!
You may very well be right that some of the players are not happy about it!
That would be more than all bar Rui, Moutinho and Raul. No wonder Adama looks miserable!
I believe adama was offered an improved contract but has so far refused to sign it .
Maybe not as much as Fabio and, if that’s the case, I wouldn’t blame him.
But there were already performance problems before Silva was signed…
Not sure about that as he was pretty electric for most of last season except when his shoulder issues intervened. The dip has been this season and he’s not the only one either, eg Neves, Moutinho, Coady etc. Maybe there’s something to this theory.
So as the dust settles on another catastrophic defeat for WWFC it’s time to find out what is going wrong. For me quite simple. It’s a combination of global warming and the negligence of next door neighbours cat. It is clear the warming effect on our climate has interfered with the cats ability to carry out top secret instructions. For example at Palace yesterday I instructed the cat to run on the pitch just as Eze was about to strike the ball and leg him up. The cat was in fact asleep at the time. His sleep patterns severely affected by global warming. After Oliver gave WBA that first penalty I instructed the cat to run on the pitch and bite Oliver on the arse. Again the cat was nowhere to be seen. I have now put the cat on a strict training regime to help fight against the effect of global warming. It’s a jolly good course called ” How to prevent a cat from the debilitating effect of global warming and carry out top secret instructions “. I fully expect next door neighbours cat to carry out my latest top secret instructions during the Arsenal game on Tuesday night. Failure will incur a jail sentence of 25 years. So I fully expect the recovery of our season to begin on Tuesday. FWAW.
If something has gone on behind the scenes, we may never know or perhaps it hasn’t. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Changing the manager is the worst case scenario as it seldom helps. 18 games left, 54 points available , we need 20 points or thereabouts. It might be tight and it might not be pretty but it’s perfectly doable. Would we turn on the manager or the team if we could be at Molineux on Tuesday night? No we wouldn’t, we’d be shouting our heads off with encouragement and proper support.
Good stuff mate but I doubt we need 20 points. I would hazard a guess that this season 30 odd points will do it. Lowest ever to stay up was our friends in Sandwell who managed to stay up on 34points. Even using this as a benchmark means we need to find 4 wins from somewhere. Famous last words ……
A shit show yes
So is this Blog I’m afraid .. I just read it all
Right now it’s a case of out of darkness cometh….
More darkness
But eventually the light will appear!
I’m expecting not many point s from next few games then a blazing finish …well better stuff and some nice wins
Why?
Because Nuno and his team are smart and experienced
Because on the whole we have a quality squad
Because the new Willian looks like he will score goals and Neto Traore and Podence will provide the assists
Because the Blades Shit and Flum won’t get more points than us
Then…. we need serious surgery in midfield
But that’s next season
Lots of light then
Interesting seeing the potential Prem Champions (Spurs) of a month ago falling apart and looking very blunt against a Brighton side that we let out of jail.
What is this bizarre alchemy that turns relegation bound Newcastle and Arsenal into super heroes.
Whatever it is, it sure has deserted us for the moment.
Congratulations Ruben on achieving fatherhood another wave of the magic wand would be appreciated now . With just a little Nuno dust there is enough in this team to see us mid-table.
Saiss back into midfield please.
Bloggers – please hear me out but I have been trying to understand the reason(s) behind our current predicament.
30 years ago I attended a training course “Problem Solving and Decision Making” a course in methodology by a company known as Kepner-Tregoe. Whilst it was principally aimed at engineers and quality technicians etc (and not really simple sales guys like me), the principle behind it can be used in everyday life to solve problems. I found it all rather fascinating. At the end of the residential course we were presented with a tome covering the basics of what we learned.
Looking specifically what has gone awry at Molineux I had a look at the KT philosophy last night. The first basic element to identify is “what’s changed”. Let’s examine this more closely as follows….
Kevin Thelwell was in some respects a footballing enigma. Years before Nuno joined the club Thelwell wrote a footballing based tome “Coaching the European Way 3/5/2” a new approach and focused philosophy on how to play the game. It explained – for example – the importance of wing backs and the flexibility of a 3/5 man defensive unit.
I believe it was first published in 2005.
Unfortunately for him successive managers he worked under didn’t really buy into it at all – including those at WWFC.
However I believe the principal reason Nuno developed such a close and trusting relationship with Thelwell is the fact that Nuno also believed in his philosophy and was indeed a disciple to the cause. Consequently they were singing from the same hymn sheet so to speak and for three seasons it worked wonders at Molineux. Thelwell also understood the reason for a small tightly knit squad to undertake the radical thinking.
It is absolutely no coincidence that once Thelwell departed (February 2020) WWFC in general and Nuno in particular have not been the same. Anywhere near the same. Chalk and cheese. Quite staggering really.
Nuno has lost his confidant, his ally behind the scenes, his bouncing board, his ideas man.
Nobody “behind the scenes” at Wolves these days now understands the game and Nuno’s theories, his game plans, his attitude to playing the game, his principles.
Consequently he is alone and drifting in a sea of ignorance of the game and gross incompetence at running the club when it comes to recruitment and transfer policies. (That’s where Dalrymple also earned his corn).
Nuno has made mistakes – we all make mistakes for Christ’s sake – but whereas with Thelwell he could discuss and formulate matters to put it right, now he is totally alone.
We have lost before but Nuno (and Thelwell) tweaked the system and hey presto off we went. I remember reading that the fall-out from the excruciating Watford semi-final defeat would have an immense detrimental effect on the club.
We wobbled at bit (2 fixtures – one loss and a draw) then we thumped Arsenal 3-1 in a brilliant display and carried on sailing towards a European place. Crisis – what bloody crisis. With his trusted confidant supporting him the team and formation virtually picked itself – week in week out.
In my opinion the malaise we are in is not the fault of Nuno and with backing and not berating he is the man to lead us back into the sunlit uplands of the top flight and not staring into the dark abyss of relegation. He simply needs another Thelwell behind the scenes. That begs another question – why did Thelwell and Dalrymple depart the Molineux set up when the club had so much going for it?
On a related topic, I was fortunate to be at Tottenham in the last away match before the quarantine rules were implemented in that unforgettable 3-2 victory. At the final whistle the team and backroom boys all came over to celebrate in front of 3,500 ecstatic away supporters. Doherty (I will always remember his clenched fists at that late block tackle) and Jota were right in the middle of the celebrations as we all rushed down to the front of the away end to join in. It was a pure magical moment of sheer joy. I was close to tears and I am 68! Neither Jota or Doherty looked remotely like players that wanted to leave the club. Yet come the summer and the resumption of football off they went – apparently they “wanted to leave”. Garbage – I tell you what happened, “Uncle Jorge” is the agent for Jota and he also has a close relationship with Mourinho. Need I say more? Nuno reluctantly accepted the transfer of two of his cornerstone players on the erroneous promise of “better replacements on the way” which of course proved to be nonsense. Of course injuries have played their part and this is one downside of a small squad but if the likes of Thelwell had still been at the club maybe he would have had a ready made replacement in the Raul mould signed on the dotted line come 1st January and we certainly would not have a ridiculous summer transfer window. But we will never know.
Anyway that all just my opinion – all utter guff – probably it is yes, but Nuno has given us diehards the best 3 seasons in well over 40 years and for that achievement alone he deserves the opportunity to steer us away from the rocks, which he will do.
I note a number of Wolves fans are calling for his head and of course they are entitled to their views. I have my own view – grow up and grow some for Lords sake.
Bedfordshire Old Gold
BOG
extremely well put together and written.
Makes an awful lot of sense.Lets hope the owners are doing a half decent job of putting this right
UTW
Thanks for your comments Doherty – we can only pray that some sort of revival will commence tomorrow v Arsenal!
Looking at those below us now picking up points and looking to drag us into the mire, we certainly need some points under our belt.
But as usual we live in hope.
Excellent stuff BOG but surely Nuno isn’t alone because there’s a pretty large coaching team down at Compton ( Rui Pedro Silva, Ian Cathro, Julio Figueroa etc) and, as fas as I’m aware, all the junior teams also play the same way.
Yep a good point Sea Pigeon in that Nuno has a coaching team with similar values and all will surely be in the same mould. I think from that perspective he has no issues.
Its looking the other way that has concerned me as Thelwell I believe was his conduit to senior management within the club in terms of making a case for players etc but I am just surmising.
We can only pray for three points tomorrow.
All the best
BOG
A collective loss of confidence and form. This is normally a disastrous period preceded by a long stretch of team sheets pre-printed with certain names (being the head coach’s favourites).The writing is on the wall, or should I say, the team sheet. Nobody is, or should be, un-droppable. .
For a counter-attacking team I can’t understand why we sometimes look like we have ten Karl ‘the crab’ Henrys playing in front of a keeper who only leaves his goal area once every 45 minutes.
Honourable mentions to Jose and Neto. Coady now looks like he is liable to concede a penalty these days. Donk is a shadow of the pre-injury player he once was. Patricio should have done better with the Palace goal. Traore had no urgency about him, why doesn’t he just make a beeline for the penalty area? In injury time he was wasting precious moments in showing a Palace defender the ball instead of going round him as he was once well able to do?
I would seriously drop Patricio and Coady for starters. Play Saiss if he’s fit.
. .