Absolute surrender.
In naming that front three, you know where Nuno’s priorities lie – and it isn’t the FA Cup.
A season that has been underwhelming at best was being kept going by dreams of a return to Wembley.
How he can justify resting especially Neto, Jose and Traore is beyond me.
We’re in no danger of going down so why didn’t we prioritise tonight?
We always struggle against teams that press us; for all the technical ability Moutinho and Neves offer, we frankly don’t have a clue what to do with the ball when put under pressure.
Southampton knocked the ball around with effortless ease – pass and move is an alien concept to us.
Throw in the ineffective and limp Vitinha, Gibbs-White and Silva, and you’re not going to see a fat lot of activity in the final third.
As soon as Southampton took the lead we didn’t have a clue how to get back into the match, something a Nuno side has been guilty of too many times in the past.
For a team that has such a good record when taking the lead, Nuno’s philosophy of ‘control’ would be achieved on a far more regular if he let the lads off the leash from minute one.
Bringing Neto, Jose and Adama on was too little, too late, the horse had already bolted to Dunstall Park and won the 6.45.
We were already a few furlongs back by the time of the trio’s introduction; it was a country mile by the time the tie was over. We offered absolutely nothing.
This is completely on Nuno and his team selection. Hoping to stay in the game, throwing on your gun front three and hoping for the best sums up Nuno’s defensive and reactive mindset.
Very good spot on summary !
Agree with Paddy, a like minded soul from the SBU.
The draw has been kind to us and potentially might have seen us draw Bournemouth in the quarter finals . This was an opportunity to progress , to lift everyone’s spirits, to build confidence and maybe make the semi finals again.
That forward line would not scare a Sunday morning team and we got what we expected at 5.30pm and deserved 90 minutes later. Nothing…..Again.
So what will be so different on Sunday? Which Wolves team will turn up? I’m beginning to wonder at the policies as well as worry about the practicalities. If the club can’t be bothered why not just give Southampton a bye and save us the embarrassment of watching that on national TV.
Vitinha. Not good enough
MGW Not good enough
Silva Not good enough
Ait Nouri Not good enough
Im still unsure about hoever
Im actually dissapointed in Nuno, we could and should have gone for this keeping our confidence high and theirs low not to mention a quater final.
We desperately need creative midfielder and a striker. We look totally toothless
We won’t go down but we need to stop buying these young unproven kids amd hoping for a sell on value. They don’t all turn out like Jota and Netto, and besides we’ve wasted the money made on jota on Silva and semedo
Very frustrated
What is the point…
May as well have let Chorley win as someone else said.
Strongest side or don’t bother
Easiest route to the semi finals but threw it away
Seriously pissed off. We sent out a team to lose. Today was way more important than Sunday. We should have gone for it. All compounded by Southampton having Bournemouth in the next round. We would have been as good as in the semi’s again.
Agree prawns
Sunday will be an even harder game now, even with putting our strongest side
Our confidence 0
Southampton confidence 10
Nuno did get this soo wrong im embarrassed
Pissed it away may as well let Chorely through they would least took it seriously. Why enter the completion if we don’t take it seriously espeacill as we made it this far.
I’m not watch or going to a cup game again…..really fuck it what’s the point may as throw my money down the drain.
The players seem to be just going through the motions, Where is the passion, the character and the pride in the shirt,? A disgrace, an insult to the supporters.
I wouldn’t have the nerve to criticise Nuno up until now….
That was a huge bollock dropped and smacked of the McCarthy goolie he dropped versus Man U all those years ago.
That team selection beggared belief and gave the Saints just the push needed to grind our suffering noses into the muck…. thank you Nuno..!
Hear was the opportunity to get into Europe.. yes… as I feel that our PL position is safe…
What he’s done now is to invite a boat load of dogs abuse if we lose again on Sunday.
79 minutes before our first shot on goal..!
Some of our players just don’t get it…. this was the FA CUP….. glory, Wembley…. and we went out like mice…..
Without naming anyone.. some of those on view tonight just do not deserve to wear the shirt….
Somehow we’ve acquired players, youngsters specifically who just don’t cut it… and maybe never will…..
No excuses… that was abysmal.
Great write up Paddy….
That really was a pile of poo. Year after year this happens – put out a weak team and lose miserably. We did seem to have a strong enough defence on paper, but with that attack it never looked really winnable unless they played unusually well and Southampton played their 0-9 team.
Neverthe less I’m expecting a different result on Sunday. with our best eleven and Nuno out to recover some credibility.
So what happened to Corbeanu. If you want to rest Traore, why not use a U23 who actually plays that position? Theo wasn’t even on the bench.
I guess he just isn’t one of Nuno’s boys.
That`s the problem Hewant born on Portugal so how can he possibly be good enough !
Let`s keep on playing Silva and Vitinha. After that they must cut the mustard. Forget the rest.
An absolute disgrace .I am afraid I have become completely disillusioned by Nuno and if he left in the summer I would not be unhappy .He has done great things for the club but seems to have lost the plot and the reason fans go to watch .
He simply cannot justify giving up the Cup with no threat of relegation and just a dull mid table finish .He always bangs on about how he loves the. Fans but he does not really since any fan could have told him the season would be worth watching if we progressed or at least tried to do so .
Add that to the decision without pre season to try. Playing aback 4 after such success with a back 3 I feel very dispirited .
Just make it worse Southampton get Bournemouth in the quarter finals .
Just a few points .
Dendonker =pathetic what has happened to him ??
SILVA ,??? Personally I feel sorry for the lad .been managed very poorly. His confidence is shot ,which I blame nuno for %100.
1 shot on target ????
And last but not least Morgan Gibbs White ???. Hes not a footballer never has been or never will be .
Nuno has a face like a smacked arse.
And I’m afraid in my opinion he will not be wolves manager next season .
Agree about Gibbs White.
Could it be Nuno is homesick and wants out? He seems to be intentionally working his way to force the club to sack him, which, for him, makes financial sense as Wolves will have to pay off his contract.
How many times have we questioned why we don’t attack teams from the off? How many times have we bemoaned Nuno’s obsession with trying to control the game by playing attritional football in the first half? How many times have we called for an attacking midfielder? How many times have we said we don’t score enough goals to win matches? How many times have we heard Nuno say we need to improve, find solutions only for the same mistakes to be repeated? How many times do we have to put these listless unambitious performances down to a team in transition? How many chances will Morgan Gibbs white be given to actually show the talent he is reported to have? How many times will I keep telling myself that Silva just needs time to show a glimpse of generational talent? How many times will we keep asking these questions until the penny drops that these questions remain unanswered because Nuno simply doesn’t have the answer.
In fairness to Gibbs-White he needs more than the odd game here and there.
I think that we have have enough evidence to change the bb to ve and the W to S.
Yes he does. But not for us. Not ever. He`d struggle to get into a game with Burton Albion`s reserve team. Completely and totally out of his depth.
Surely the real problem lies with an utterly discredited transfer policy. How can Nuno not see that a bunch of even talented unproven kids will never hack it in the big league . But how much worse it is when the supposed wonder boys actually have zero talent, as is the case with Silva and Vitinha.
Additionally, what`s the point of an Academy when the best and brightest as MGW was supposed to be, turns out to be useless.
The Club`s in a chaos .
Seems like Mourino’s influence has rubbed off on Nuno! Same boring defensive football. The Wolves brand has become really boring!
I watched Leeds play the other day and that was exciting attacking football, to say the least.
But most of all, to play such a poor side was devastating to the spirit of the Wolves fans, does Nino not understand the potential of the F A Cup to us? And especially if we had won this, then just one more would be Wembley. This was such an obvious mistake by Nuno, that it could not be a mistake and was deliberate, for what reason I fail to grasp!
I agree one hundred per cent with everyone of your points. We have needed a creative attacking midfielder for the last 3 years and yet Nuno chooses to see no value in having one. Christian Erikson would have been ideal but we choose not to pursue him. It also seems as if most of our loan players have little to offer and therefore spending money on Vitinha and Jose would be a huge mistake. We need to get our recruitment spot on in the summer or we face the real prospect of a relegation struggle. We desperately need creativity and a powerful, direct and fast centre forward who actually takes defenders on, something that Jose seems incapable of doing.
I am gobsmacked utter disgrace nuno u are so negative why why, please go it’s gone stale, morgan gibbs white , if he puts on a shirt again it’s a joke, I’m ashamed , what a joke, u Silva would not get into a pub team, I’m so mad I’m not mad.
That was a very, very, poor team selection. We really needed to put a big effort into a cup run.
NUS has been fantastic for us since he arrived, but, l honestly believe that the current situation that we all find ourselves in, is somehow affecting his judgement. Maybe harsh to say, he has a difficult job to do, and we don’t know what any restrictions within the club might being placed on him; however, some decisions of late have been questionable to say the least.
I am trying to critique with balance, but as mentioned in one of my previous comments, it does appear something has happened within the club that has suddenly transported our squad to play well below par.
I really hope we get on a bit of a better run and don’t have to look behind our shoulders as the season continues.
We got exactly what we deserved.
SWEET BUGGER ALL!
It was an act of supreme optimism, and folly, that the team Nuno picked would get anywhere near the Southampton net.
I can’t believe that I sat through 90 odd minutes of that dross without falling into an induced coma.
Although it was a close run thing.
At the moment, I’m so pissed off that I feel like not watching another game until we have put in a performance that deserves an audience.
If Molineux had been full tonight, the full wrath of The South Bank – and the Steve Bull Upper – would have been unleashed on the heads of our ‘team’.
The best that I can say about it is that it was the WORST performance I’ve seen since back in the Division 3 days.
Hopeless, hapless, spineless, clueless.
Enough said. I’m about to break open a bottle of Remy.
Onwards and – Please God – upwards.
First and foremost , this hands a huge initiative to the Saints before Sunday’s game. They must think the three points are there for the taking and we’ll be on the back foot from the off.
Once again, we played with very little creativity, rhythm and conviction. Our back up players simply are nowhere near good enough.
It was interesting to hear our arch critic Macca trying to diffuse the mounting criticism of 18 year old Fabio Silva by saying he needed more time to develop. This may well be true, but I was fortunate enough to see an 18 year old Robbie Keane score two great goals on his debut at Norwich. He was quick, strong on and off the ball, could beat be his man with ease and was deadly in front of goal. Fabio,sadly, lacks pace, can’t take his man on and is far from deadly in front of goal. There is just no comparison and we’ve spent 35 million!
I know it’s been said before in this forum, but if Nuno thinks that the answer lies to Wolves ills lies within the squad, then he’s smoking some serious wonga!
Change to be in 1/4 final of fa cup and we put out a team like that ?
Have criticised the team and Nuno and got negative likes
Disgusted
Not from me Baz….!
Baz get over yourself.
Right or wrong people are entitled to opinions. Try reading Socrates – The Greek dude, not the Brazilian defender.
Simple fact. The team aren’t playing for him!!!!
Simple fact. That team wasn’t good enough, playing for him or not.
Maybe Nuno’s contract has something in it about Premier League points and nothing about FA Cup runs except maybe a win.
This was dull and turgid. Not quite on a par with the four successive 0-0 home draws under Kenny Jackett in 2016 but without doubt. Dull and boring. Nuno had the chance to field a strong team and a decent chance to progress to the quarter finals but it backfired on him. So now it is back to the grindstone and premier league points. I expect something better on Sunday.
Nuno keeps experimenting……..while our season goes down the pan. He excepts the blame for the cup defeat and so he should but that cuts no ice with me.
We had a genuine opertunity to get to Wembley and he decided to piss it away with some half baked experiment………that’s for the training ground Nuno not the 5 th round of the best and oldest Cup completion in the world.
And the most annoying thing is he’d do it again because he does not have the slightest feeling for the Cup or know what’s it means to us fans.
I’m not over reacting but this is a big big nail in his coffin you only have to look on social media to realise that.
Nuno has some of these players playing like robots. Neves was watching some guy with the ball and the guy passed it to someone standing behind Neves. Neves turns to get closer to the guy who was receiving the pass to put some pressure on him.
Now the ball traveled within 3 or 3 feet of Neves and he could have easily intercepted the pass but instead, he was thinking automatically of his next move.
I’ve seen this many times before and I don’t know if they are just bored and going through the motions or are told to do this with no flexibility in their actions. It happened between the 38 and 39 minute mark, I think.
You have to allow some creativity and some decisions for the players and not program them to be like robots or the game loses interest for them, I would think.
I have to say I do notice this alot also. Maybe the Camera angle is changing the way we see it, as it seems closer but I see it about 5 times a game. A wolves player just lets the ball roll past them to move on to standing up the attacker rather then stop the ball…
That being said, I had wrote this season off a while ago – we just need to stay in the mix of the battle for top half, strengthen next window and push on.
So many variables this year, after the highs of the last 2 years having a transition period isn’t the worst state we have been in although seems many people are calling for Nuno’s head.
It’s a shit season, without being able to go, So many games are being played nothing should be shocking anymore.
I’d normally come on here and feel certain fans are overreacting but criticism tonight is totally justified. This is the lowest point under Nuno, sacrificing the cup and for what reason? I’m willing to bet most fans would rather have lost on Sunday than tonight. 13th or 14th makes little difference but a quarter final against Bournemouth opens up all sorts of opportunities to rescue an underwhelming season. Really disappointing and he’s in danger of losing even his most loyal supporters after this meek surrender. Nuno’s got money in the bank, but he withdrew a fair chunk tonight.
I could go on about how ridiculously limited Silva is and who on earth sanctioned the 35m singing but what’s the point. We’re out, it’s done.
Rich
I think maybe Nuno has had enough.
He hasn’t looked or behaved like himself for months.
I suspect he may not be happy at what is (or isn’t) going on in the background and we must all be able sympathise with his domestic situation especially with Portugal now in Hancock’s red travel zone.
Cynics might note that his mentor Jose has become a very rich man with his sign and get sacked cycle.
Maybe ‘one for the future’ means for when we’re back in the championship lol ?
But, more seriously, Nuno has explained in today’s papers that his tactic was to control the midfield, and he did put out a good selection of defenders, and to give some young players a chance to show what they could do in attack.
He seems to have an inordinate faith in MGW, even after 2 or 3 seasons of him never ever doing anything noteworthy on the pitch. He must be showing something amazing at Compton. Fabio I still believe will come good, and he really hasn’t had a lot of normal service a striker might expect when he’s been on.
But those three as everyone knew from the start were most unlikely to be the solution. The midfield were poor, bar Jonny, and they didn’t put the forwards in with much chance anyway, but it was always an act of faith and hope that they would be up to it.
However I definitely expect Nuno to make up for this on Sunday.
I have backed Nuno to the hilt up until now but tonight’s selection was inexcusable.
The best way to salvage our season was to have a real tilt at the FA Cup and he names that front three; and they were even worse than we could possibly have feared , lightweight and useless, they never looked like conjuring up a goal. And then he proceeded to compound the error by taking nearly 70 minutes to get them all off leaving the big guns way too little time for a serious rescue attempt.
Subjectively on the tree –
Party boy MGW isn’t going to make it.
Silva has now had plenty of chances and doesn’t look anywhere near good enough to justify hi fee.
And Vitinha, apart from the odd flash, looks pretty ordinary and I would be very hesitant to throw another 25 million euros at the purchase option.
Yes they are young, but not that young. What the hell has happened to our recruitment policy? My own view – Mendes has turned and is calling in the favours.
And what the hell is Nuno really playing at?
For the first time in over 4 years, not just unhappy at a performance but angry.
My old Mum used to tell me that if I didn’t have something positive to say about someone, then say nothing.
FOwb
Maybe Clive, but if she saw that load of crap she might well have changed her mind
DISAPPOINTED TO SAY THE LEAST BUT…
A total disgrace.
A front three of MGW , Silva, and Vitinha !! Really. Can Nuno be serious or has he just lost his marbles
Nuno please tell us all just how did you expect us to score ? These three dumbos could play until end of next season without threatening a goal
Just who sanctioned 35 mill for the completely useless Silva ? A little boy completely lost. Do him a favor and send him back to some Club back in Portugal, and let`s move on. But, are we seriously considering repeating the faux pas by lamming out another 18 mill or so on another no hoper in Vitinha ? Surely not. !!
When will someone in the Boardroom wake up to the fact that our need is for now. The last thing we want is yet more of the supposed ‘ Ones for tomorrow ‘. Laurie Dalrymple, wherever you are, can you please get you ass back to the Mol PDQ and return some sanity to our decision making process.
Good point on Laurie Dalrymple – it’s gone backwards since the day of his (rather strange) departure.
I believe that Dalrymple was the guy who was prepared to stand up to Mr Shi and tell him that he had got it all wrong, and that failing to strengthen the team rather than lamming out millions on unproven kids, was a huge mistake.
But Mr Shi, true to the Chinese custom of never admitting to being wrong, would not accept any criticism, so Dalrymple was forced out, leaving Shi in sole control, exempt from any interference.
So now we have a Chinese puppet with virtually no experience of senior football calling all the shots. In all probability Nuno has had no say in this ridiculous transfer fiasco,so that he is likely to be as frustrated as the rest of us.
The next step in this sorry Saga? Nuno resigns in sheer frustration. Then the clueless Shi will be left to find some other spineless individual posing as a great coach, to tow his line and guide us smoothly back to the Championship.
Do much for Fosun` dream.
Your right Mike a lot of the shit we are in is not just down to Nuno I have never been convicted by FOSUN grand statement but no substance we are just another investment to them they have no real affinity to Wolves or Wolverhampton.
They will be gone in a couple of years they thought they would make millions from Premier League with there transfer policy.
Good riddance I say.
Mike / Paul
Think we’re all in agreement on the Fosun scenario.
There was a very interesting article in the more serious European sports press (which I can’t retrace at the moment) back in the Championship season. It was very comprehensive.
To keep it short the substance was that Fosun / Mendes / Gestitute had developed a strategy (all perfectly legal) which involved moving footballers around Europe purely with a view to making a profit on their escalating value and using Jorge’s extensive contacts (read favoured clubs) as the vehicle for implementing said strategy. “Young and hungry” was very much part of the philosophy as when you get a good one (eg Jota) you keep recycling your “product” picking up transfer increments and commission (often from both ends) all the way down the line. The principle still works with lesser stars as you keep on moving the same pieces around the same chess board.
Thinking back the pudding looks pretty close to the eating.
Just waiting for Neto’s move to Juve or Athletico.
Time to ponder since last night mikey has made it all the more blazingly obvious that there is something missing beyond the management and players .
And still the owners are more invisible than freddy mcfogface in a 1970s peasouper..
Couldn’t see enough of Jeff shi for so long….then—nothing
Silence and more Silence
I have an inkling that this goes way beyond the parts we can see.
Everything shouts misery…would love to hear a body language experts take on it.
What do I know
UTW
Can we see your garden shed then, please, and not those f*****g dustbins making up our forward line!
I’m loving Nuno criticism here in spades I’ve been doing it for quite a while in fact since we gave away the fa cup last time when Nuno took players off with 10 mins to go at Wembley me amongst some of you eyes welling up.
I agree Paddy – Nuno disrespected us today didn’t play our best three weapons from the off ..FA cup not important….except to us.
There again Nuno plays subs in the most craziest times as we know.
I think he’s lost it.Period. is currently managing the team as he speaks on TV.As far as I can evaluate Fosun get involved Mendes pay back £35M or
Remove the deal you have between yourself and Nuno ie it doesn’t matter how many times Silva misses sitters,falls over his feet or runs around like a demented chicken you still have to play him.
We are 5 players short of the playing standards when we beat Man City away the remaining senior players are blighted yes blighted by bad management and inferior other team players which are dragging their form down.
If Nuno is still here nxt season he leads a charmed life .
Chinese New Year tomorrow ironically…New changes ..
Sad result but very predictable. Nuno.
Steve I to have seen between the spin/bullshit for a long time know. In my eyes Nuno and FOSUN are just as bad as each other both responsible for not caring investing in our great football club we are just a vehicle to them.
FOSUN are just here to make money by transfers it appears. We have one man running the show Jeff with no experience of running a football club and his chief advisor is the biggest Shark/Agent in the business who has FOSUN as one of his main shareholders.
I think the master plan (was) to
Invest into a top 6 side that can play in the champions league in good years..and create a brand that they can be proud of back home.
IMO I believe they think it’s backfiring Mendes is a pawn in the plan and Nuno just a puppet.
Unless they get bored see that they can’t get their return they will instruct Jeff shi to replace Nuno.
Fosun do not need to make money out of transfers it’s Mendes who does.. he needs reigning in ..Silva a staggering profit on his books..
If we go up a level with the right manager then Fosun could put up say £300-500M to get the club into that sacred level.
If that means a full rebuild they are capable of doing it.
Money always determines but to light the blue touch paper Nuno has to go..
I predict that.
I’m going to say this and feel as though I shouldn’t , Nuno has spent 250k of his own money on the feeding the homeless in Wolverhampton which is a fantastic act. , my question is this , how could Fosun Savi him after this ? Or , is this a master stroke from Nuno knowing full well that if he is sacked then the pay off alone probably 4 mill would make the gesture just a mere drop in the ocean ?
It’s a conspiracy theory I know and I will probably get slated but the facts are the facts oh he’s sacked
Shocker today and fir me Nuno has run his race
That post says more about you than it does about nuno
Only an occasional blogger. Have been a Wolves fan for 58 years. Tonight I am embarrassed to see a team selection like that with that front three. Simply no hope and no respect for the FA Cup competition. We got exactly what that team selection deserved. Spineless selection,deserved result.
We kneed a big clear out end off season all you bloggers would u keep Gibbs white or sell him to afc Telford
And when we beat Southampton on their own muck heap on Sunday, the knives will be withdrawn, and life as a Wolves fan will go on, upon this crazy Fosun roller coaster.
Yes we lost, but let’s get past it.
Life is way too short to get at each others throats over a sport.
Who knows, we may not even have footie from empty stadia next year.
I’m pissed off coz I can’t get over the pond to see all my blog mates, not coz we lost.
A good nights sleep will do wonders for y’all, and I wonder how many of you are listening to the same song I am at present?
Our Dame Vera flying over the edge of some cliffs down South!!
Life is good, my friends, we’re a long time dead.
One team were up for it, tenacious pressing, breaking at pace and with intent , having lots of shots on target, the other team was us .
We now know a bit more about vithina, mgw and our young fullbacks so that will make a few decisions easier at the seasons end .
Let’s be honest, had we scraped through, we would have struggled against bmouth never mind any of the top teams in the semifinals .
The team that nuno built had its best chance of silverware two years ago when we were fresh in the prem and 2 up with ten minutes to go against Watford because we could have beaten citeh in the final IMO.
This team , along with injuries, no fans are just not good enough to win the cup this year and I’m already over it tbh .
Had a very early start this morning so I recorded the game and there is an advantage in watching it like that, I kept my finger on the fast forward button for the last twenty minutes and even we looked fast !!
Odds are we beat them by 2-0 Sunday, let’s get the points, beat villa, send Sandwell down and move on .
Lots of people seem to have had enough of nuno and I respect their opinions so I’d be interested in who would their preferred replacement be .
Come on you wolves
Julen Lopetegui – the man who was 48 hours from joining us when offered the Spain national job and who last season won the Europa league for Sevilla. Nuno will leave by mutual consent at the end of the season with his head held high to spend time with his family in Portugal and recharge his batteries before taking a high profile job elsewhere. His magnificent gesture of donating 250000 to the poor of Wolverhampton being his parting gift. Of course, this is pure speculation but there is something in the air at molineux that instinctively tells me, change is afoot
I”ll throw a few more into the mix. Gasperini from Atalanta, Garcia from Lyon, Gerard (and as importantly his coaching staff) from rangers ( although he is destined to take over Klopp in time) and Franke from Brentford. Although the fear is it will be a Mendes client which rules out many decent makers out there
But why would he leave Sevilla for Wolves, Sutton? And why would they let him go?
Fair question – I think he would leave for 3 reasons – 1) the challenge of managing in the PL , rightly or wrongly regarded as the best in the world 2) higher salary, what wolves could/ would pay would be a step up from Sevilla 3) the 10 year plan if this is still valid. Remember fosun want wolves to be one of the biggest clubs in Europe. For all Sevilla have achieved they will never be considered to be that.
Wolves no longer want to be one of the top teams in the world. Now they have stated they just want to be around Europa league places.
Be very VERY careful what you wish for.
I’m as pissed off as the next man about last night but a phase about babies and bath water comes to mind.
Remember Fosun’s best managerial appointment came about almost by accident. We might not be so lucky next time.
A win on Sunday and as is the general mindset of a Wolves fan Nuno will miraculously stop being the very naughty boy and will immediately be reinstalled as the Messiah.
Not that I’m in the Nuno out brigade but Andre Villas Boas has recently left Marseille. He ticks quite a few boxes, premier league experience, European experience, good high pressing football and, of course, he’s Portuguese.
If we whimper through the rest of the season I do fear for Nuno.
His track record hardly makes him an Olympian does it? Portuguese Mick McCarthy.
Benitez Rafa he wouldn’t of surrendered the cup knows what it means to English fans. He would come though not with Jeff and Mendez dictating recruitment.
Please god no.. not him.
No chance over here for me to watch the game… just listened in via Wolves website and no surprise ..the commentators couldn’t find any good words .. however hard they tried
Yep, I took a lot of stick for saying let’s prioritize Sunday and my team selection was only wrong because Otasowie wasn’t out there .. but I did expect to see ONE forward of quality
But no …and I understand the collective disappointment and frustration here on the Blog
Truth is … We’re a long way from a fully functioning team right now and my guess is The Man knows that … let’s see if he can rev the squad up for Sunday .. get three points and move on
I still believe and I have faith
Last 10 games could / should be great… then back to the drawing board for next season
OODCL
I think everyone is pretty much in agreement that teh team selection put us right behind the eightball if we wanted any sort of result here.
But I was just as disheartened by the lack of heart and spirit on show throughout the team. We lost every 50:50 ball, got outworked, and wandered around waiting for them to inevitably score first.
I have been saying it for a while now – when we clear a corner (and we actually defended those pretty well) the ball bounces out to the opposition and they recycle it back into the box. When the ball comes into our attacking box (all too rarely) the ball bounces out and the opposition gets that too and sets off on attack. I don’t know if this is tactical (positioning of players) or lack of effort, but it puts us at a huge disadvantage.
I am just going to say…
Until the first goal, Southampton was struggling to break us down. That was there strongest team possible and we had a totally different team with different players playing different positions, yes we did not threaten but with that inexperience up front we wasn’t going to against a full premier league side.
Reckon we might surprise them Sunday – and just come flying at them.
Didn’t you see the several half decent chances that they created in the first half? Compare that to our none. There was only ever going to be one winner.
Hi Mit.
Yes I seen there chances, and they was Dealt with.
Like I said, They was a full prem Outfield team, they was bound to have more chances, everyone in the team is learning different roles to be useful next season. I can see it, although its the not the best right now, next season we will be flying. All these young talents are gaining time and experience, mix that with our senior members and returning players and let the next transfer window come and we will be the strongest we have seen (obviously my opinion, but This is what seems most obvious for me).
Not defending Nuno and his decisions, But to call for his head after 1 little slump in the premier league when we have over preformed for 2 seasons is crazy and what I expect from Fickle Man U, Chelsea or Liverpool fans….
WE ARE WOLVES
Wfil
Good points, I’m with you on most of that
Come on you wolves
The only surprise on Sunday will be a Wolves win…!
Get on it paul , it’s what we do 9-4
Utw
There’s definitely something wrong wit Nuno, depressed, unhappy, missing family!
Now making strange decisions, he would never have put out a team like that before in the cup.
He is very intelligent so I can only assume he is very worried about relegation…. Also feels let down by the recruitment in the summer, hardly any proven talent, we are not in the Championship and can’t afford to bed players in for a year or so, players like Neves learnt so much that season.
I still believe in Nuno, he needs a good six weeks away, then we go again with two or three more experienced players, write off this season, as long as we survive?
As Bognor is a holiday place of sorts maybe you can bunk him up.
Sadly the Nuno era may be coming to an end, very few positives out there after another desperate performance. A few points.
1. I agree that Nuno’s heart doesn’t look in it anymore and he is clearly out of sorts, probably missing family but there is definitely something not right.
2. The transfer policy to invest in youth has clearly failed. Silva is the obvious example but others Vitinha, Hoever, Ait-Nouri are not ready and to be honest they don’t look to have massive potential anyway, certainly for the multi millions they are costing.
3. Our midfield is ponderous. Neves and Moutinho just play neat short paces that just recycle the ball usually sideways or backwards. Dendoncker is also really out of sorts. The one youngster who l have been impressed with in brief cameos is Otasowie. He is athletic, can go past a man and would give the midfield some drive, yet he has been sat on the bench for several games now.
4. The 5 at the back, sit deep and hit quickly on the counter attack worked for a couple of seasons but teams have worked us out. I think he had to experiment with 4 at the back with an extra body higher up the pitch. However Nuno failed to make this work and has now reverted back to plan A. We now sit even deeper, can rarely work the ball through midfield before giving it away and rarely get into attacking positions. Other supporters have described us as the most ‘boring team in the league’ and at times it is hard to argue against that.
We are now in a battle with Burnley, Brighton and Newcastle for 14th place, that l am afraid is the height of our ambition for this season now!
Good assessment on the playing side but but I think you have missed the core issue – Fosun have lost interest and probably want out.
where have you fabricated that statement from? “fosun HAVE lost interest”….
We have spent more recently then ever before and they have been focusing on getting our needed players those contract extensions.
Raul, Coady, Otto, etc etc… All locked in till 2025, And if they go before then we gain a massive amount. we already have an obligation to buy Ait nouri and Jose, so what do you mean…
and on “the Nuno era might be coming to an end”? Would of hated to see the state of this blog when we had Matt Jarvis running the wing, with Big George behind him with Mick McCarthy letting Old Tez run things….
jesus christ. We wasn’t going to win the CUP this year anyway.
We have also received around £60 million for Jota and Doherty and an additional £15 – 20 million in promotion bonuses for Cav & Costa so don’t misrepresent the facts.
If you look at Wolves NET SPEND it is relatively low during the whole Nuno era – around £200 million.
You watch, there’ll be a knee-jerk reaction on Sunday and we’ll go gung-ho 4 at the back with predictable results.
I get that last night was a real shocker. But it does make me laugh sometimes how quickly the mood goes from optimism to despair on the back of one result. I have just read through the comments on this blog post Leicester and the mood was we are turning a corner. The old wolves are back. We played well. Good point. A good week. Four points from 2 games etc etc. Now we have Nuno wants to get himself sacked. The coaching staff are fed up. The players are rubbish. So on to Sputhampton away. Think I will hide behind the sofa.
Yeah but………you may have noticed that we didn’t play a front three of Morgan, Fabio and A N Other against Leicester …………
You may of noticed I started off by saying last night was a real shocker……
Fair enough Cheeseburger. Having ‘turned the corner’ (perhaps a short one?) we deliberately turned back with that experimental – mental? – forward line up. Could have worked ? Nah.
But out of darkness, I predict a good win on Sunday – we’ll roast them !
Maybe.
I know mate. I was shocked by the line up. I thought Nuno may have gone for it but with the way our injuries are maybe he didn’t want to risk it. Who knows. Gone now. I dish it out enough on here so I expect come back. Fair play. Yeah. Wolves ay we. I would probably take a draw at Saints. For me now it’s just getting those points on the board and inching up to 38 points or so. Draw a line under it. Learn lessons and move on. Stay safe.
Sputhampton……….yeah. predictive text.
Disappointed, of course, and we made a side bereft of confidence look as if they could score at will in the first half. If the A team substitutions had fired and we had won 2.1 then we would have reluctantly agreed that the tactics were right. But it all looks so wrong- epitomised by Nuno’s demeanour and tetchiness when challenged. We all need a break, I think. But the sport is keeping us interested until we come out of lockdown restrictions. I have my Covid vaccination this morning and inevitably think of the 115, 000 who have died with the illness- very sobering and we should maybe temper our anger towards Nuno and appreciate what we have and what he is doing. Cut the kids some slack and think positively, it never really is as bad on the football pitch, at least, as sometimes it appears.
Agree 100%
Life is way too short to stay upset for long over something like this.
Us Texans are not suffering anywhere near as much as you over there, basically our attitude is covid can go fuck itself, but I do have tremendous sympathy for anyone who cannot visit their own family.
Can’t imagine how that would affect someone, but it appears to be getting at people in different ways, and as we all know, when you have shit on your mind, work thoughts go out the window.
Yes they are supposed to be professional etc. etc., but they are human first, and compared to a lot of us, very young.
Quite a lot on here and elsewhere are calling for Jeff Shi’s head, which I think, quite honestly, is pathetic.
If anyone in the Wolves organization has to make sure the club is successful, it’s him.
He cannot afford to lose face, it’s Chinese culture and in their DNA.
Once again, yes we lost to a team we were supposed to beat, but let’s look at the overall picture of why, and give some sort of perspective to the whole situation.
We’ll get through this, as always, with much gnashing of teeth, but through it all the same.
And as always, look at the colour of the grass in sandwell. We could be standing on it instead of the verdant Molineux pasture.
I’m losing my mind. I find myself persistently giving Clive a thumbs up.
I hope we see plenty more of four at the back for the run in but maybe get to 35 points ASAP first starting at Southampton.
I see it as a probation period for plenty of our players because if we are to progress, we have to be able to control games more and score more .
We can’t just keep going back to five at the back next year after a few dodgy results, we have to be adaptable throughout the season 4321-4231-343 or as mike basset would say 44 f##kin 2
The squad is being assessed at the moment and I don’t think we are too far away from being a top team next year .
I get a little bored lately when we just contain teams and manoeuvre ourselves into possible winning positions but every now and then at 11 o clock at night after half a dozen Guinness, I have to pinch myself at the quality of our players compared to shite I’ve endured over the last 40 years.
I guess that makes me a happy clapper!
Who cares
Come on you wolves
Marley, your posts are always well reasoned but I struggle with what several posters refer to as a probationary or transition period for assessment. Including cup matches we are best part of 30 games into the season. We are playing in the most competitive league in the world with apparent aspirations to feature regularly in European football. You can’t afford dozens of games to assess several players. Do your assessment before you sign them and whilst accepting not every transfer will work out, the majority of transfers need to be able to hit the ground running. If you look at our recruitment over the last 2 seasons we could find ourselves pretty much back to square one at the end of the season with players who have come, been unsuccessful and will be let go or not signed. This dynamic has to change. I posted a few weeks ago that if you combine our poor recruitment with the age profile of our more established players we could well find ourselves regressing at pace over the next 12 to 24 months and wasting a lot of money in the process. The simple fact is not only can we not keep buying ones for the future but even where we do we can’t keep cocking up with who we do buy.
Hey Sutton , ye had me at “well reasoned “ ya sweet talking Bastid .
Seriously though, I’m not saying that we should take dozens of games to assess some players, but that in this strangest of seasons. We use it to plan for next year!
This season is buggered for plenty of teams and we can’t be sure who is taking the right approach!
Who knows, maybe our young players will benefit from all the game time and mistakes of this year and benefit next year!
It’s the hope that kills ya
Stay safe Sutton
Utw
That’s a fair argument, using the rest of the season as preparation for next. I’d certainly endorse that once we get to a place of safety
I’ll be honest, I looked at the team, decided the PL is clearly priority so didn’t bother watching. Yes we can shout for Nunos head, moan players aren’t good enough & complain at the non existent transfers. But the fact still remains that there is a global pandemic out there & we’ve no idea how it’s affecting any of our players.
I’ve not seen my family for months now & I know damn well that it’s affecting me so it must be affecting our team as well. Nuno is away from his wife, Neves has a newborn he’s not even seen or held yet, the youngsters are away from families. Add that to the fact that there are no fans in to cheer the team on & it all adds up to a depressing time.
Let’s get behind the team, get this season over with & hope for some sort of normality for next season.
Yes we can complain we’re out the cup but it’s over so move on. This virus is still out there, people are still dying & at the end of the day last night was just a game.
Border all the points you make are absolutely correct and on an emotional level only the cold hearted would disagree. However, from the perspective of a professional sports environment, all the things you mention are true of every team in the PL. Under the exact same circumstances other teams have flourished whilst we have struggled. The key question is why? Are we not as mentally tough? Do we have inferior players.? Poorer management? Or are we all missing something? I don’t know the answer but in the multi billion business of football, sentiment will hold little sway in the final analysis
I think the answer to that has to be what many have been muttering about all season. Our squad is too small, we’ve had too many injuries & we’ve not replaced players with the quality needed!
And there you hit the nail on the head.
Money.
Above all else.
Bollocks to feelings, and family, the money still has to roll in the satisfy the fat faceless fuckers who run the sport.
The excuse that they have to keep football going to quell the masses reeks of the Roman gladiator games mentality, keep the mob happy.
Well, eventually, the modern mob is going to scream “Enough”
We’ve had it with empty stadia, pathetic excuses and non participation, and spectators will leave, en masse, the advertisers will tighten their purse strings and football, the greedy side, will collapse.
Mega salaries and contracts will be a thing of the past, and players will probably drift back to their own countries, and be more loyal to the clubs, and fans, that want them.
We can but dream!!
Therein lies the conundrum Border.
If you see the FA cup as a sideshow then yes it’s an irrelevance
If you think we’re safe and might as well give it a go then it was bitterly disappointing.
I’m in the latter group but it’s all opinions.
I just think if Nuno had that much faith in last nights team he could have played them on Sunday and played the big guns (not a Traore pun) last night.
A loss on Sunday won’t define our season.
Sorry that should be Marney!
Spot on Paddy. A year ago my Chelsea/Arsenal/Spurs supporting mates were all warning me that Nuno would be poached by a top four team. They’ve stopped saying that. Nuno’s main tactic, the counter attack, only works if you are very strong defensively (as you’ll be doing a lot of that!) and you need players like Traore, Jota and Jimenez attacking at devastating speed, and being given the service they need.
In my business we buy and sell things. Rare and unique things. To value items realistically we don’t look at the price we paid, we look at what we can sell a particular item for. My books of account at year end are probably not that different to a football club’s. I know this is simplifying the argument, but what realistically could we sell certain Wolves players for? It might come to this at the end of the season. God forbid, not for reasons of relegation , but we might have to sell to buy, or Fosun might want to cash in some chips. Traore for example, we paid £18mil for him? OK, at one time we were bandying a sale price of £70mil about. We could still hope to get the best part of £25-£30 mil for him. Neto signed in 2019 would surely show us a big profit. But these signings date back a bit now. What I am worried about is the players we signed at the beginning of this season, which is when we started getting careless and making mistakes! Or was it pay-back time for Jorge Mendes? Semedo cost about £25-£27mil, correct me if I’m wrong. Fabio Silva cost about £35mil. Now, in cold hard cash, what could we raise for Semedo and Silva, against the reputed book cost of £60-£62 mil? Semedo is at least improving. Silva however is doing a good impression of a promising lad from the Wolves academy, rather that the hot-shot teenage sensation price we’ve paid. I’m not saying he will never make it, but he’s having a bad start. Bear in mind that Nuno has had months to work his magic on these two players. To what extent was Nuno aware of these signings being made? Was it Nuno’s decision in each case? Were we watching and tracking them? To my mind we could have bought home-grown players. Ollie Watkins, Callum Wilson, Ivan Toney, and even Troy Deeney could have been good back-up for Jimenez last summer. I think our recruitment this past season has been a disaster, when we were were so shrewd in the first three seasons of Nuno’s reign. Pundits often say that Jose Mourinho has a natural three-year limit at each team before it all falls apart. When he was sacked by Chelsea the first time, they were on a losing run in about 17th place. It’s time for Nuno to take stock. If disastrous signings have been imposed on him, he must put his foot down at season’s end and read the riot act. If the signings are all Nuno’s fault he may have to look to his laurels if things don’t improve.
Stolen from Farcebook
Right let’s look at this logically Nuno played a side with his fringe players, yes it was a poor showing but can you hardly blame the bloke. We’ve had an injury every other week and is clearly worried about further injuries. Now I know the FA cup is an opportunity but is he honestly going to risk anymore players getting injured as clearly gaining points in the prem is vital at the minute. Now he’s never disrespected the FA Cup before and given it his all but under the circumstances I get why he selected that side. Let’s not get frustrated again as even the prem champions are struggling, we’ve got lots to give and are slowly growing again. Let’s just draw a line in the sand this season and know that we’re in safe hands for the future.
We should stand by Nuno and give him full support… just remember for a second, what he given us… Premier league football twice 7th finish, and Europa League last 16..
I was going to simply copy/paste Ben’s comments on the Palace defeat as they sum up my feelings about last night, but as they are available in the archives I won’t bother.