I think the crisis might be over.
After the no-show against Palace, Wolves needed to turn up tonight. Especially after Bruno Lage took the uncharacteristic step of verbally eviscerating one of his players.
Another dour performance would have threatened to put a dampener on what has otherwise been an excellent season.
Thankfully, this was a test that the Wanderers passed with flying colours.
Granted, Watford are by far and away the worst team we’ve faced this season. But you’ve still got to get the job done.
The fact that the feat was accomplished within less than half an hour was certainly a surprise.
What was less shocking was how much more fluid we looked with Jimenez back in the side, with reports of his demise unsurprisingly proving to be ill-founded.
Podence playing as a more traditional number 10 also aided our fortunes. The diminutive Portuguese is far more effective when occupying the pockets of space that are to be found between defence and midfield, and so it proved tonight.
That being said, our most gilt-edged chances were laid on by a player in opposition colours. Spare a thought for professional vlogger/part-time footballer Ben Foster tonight, because it’s going to be a long old journey back to Hertfordshire for him.
Joking aside, the real MVP of the evening was the man who bagged our sumptuous fourth. Neves was simply majestic this evening, his strike capping off a dominant performance in the heart of midfield.
We’ve got Neves was the cry of the Molineux faithful, but perhaps sign him up would have been a more fitting chant. As I said on Twitter earlier today, tying Ruben down to a new deal has to be top of Jeff Shi’s to-do list. It would be a huge statement of intent for us to keep hold of our best player and build the team around him. A player of his extraterrestrial talents deserves no less.
It was also great to see Boly and Jonny back in the fold. The former was a more than able deputy for Kilman, who was rightfully taken out of the lineup after some shaky displays as of late, while the latter was effervescent down the right hand side.
All in all, a very productive evening at the Molineux. The challenge now is to keep the momentum going and to try and put another of the league’s basement sides to the sword on Sunday.
What a result! That’s all I can say!?
Agreed on all fronts. Majestic, sublime , imperious and any other superlative you can think of for Ruben tonight. We have to keep him and build around him, show him we can be a club with ambitions to match his own..
Welcome back Willy and Jonny, there will be sterner tests ahead but good minutes under your belt.
Watford didn’t look like a Premier League team fighting for survival and Ben Foster has been slaughtered.
Brilliant to see so many families with children in the Steve Bull lower stand, they will go home happy and want to come back, it makes a difference to the crowd noise, we should stick all visiting supporters in the corner section every week.
Unfortunately we are not permitted too BG because of minimum away tickets rules compared to capacity.
The rest can go in the Graham Hughes. ?
Interesting but I’d imagine that the police would object to having away fans in opposite corners.
An enjoyable romp, but you can only beat what’s put in front of you, so well played. Good to see old stalwarts back and we shall be much the better for the renewed contributions and extra options provided by Jonny, Willy Boly and Neto all of whom have much to offer for the rest of the season and beyond.
With the fixtures left and a strong finish who knows.
And excellent news on Pedro’s contract.
When I saw the team sheet I was excited at the prospect of a powerful performance if all played well as a team. Boy, did they do just that. That will surely raise their confidence.
And … Neves goal ….. wow. So calm. So calculated. So accurate.
Shame I chose not to travel the 3 plus hours to the game. I will be there for the Leeds game though.
Every cloud has a silver lining buddy.
Watford were poor. But you can only beat what’s in front of you and Wolves beat them well. Ruben ran the show, Boly and Jonny looked like they’re fit and well and the attack looks a lot more threatening with Neto coming back, Podence and Raul playing well and Chiquinho looks lively and quick with a nice header down to Ruben for his sublime goal. Much better all round and very entertaining to watch….but it was only Watford!.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1502031399313981450
Made a note to myself after the game tonight, simply said TFFT
Great to see the accomplished Jonny back in the groove. Raul superb. Podence. Ruben. RAN. And a lively appearance by Fabio who nearly found the net with a clever sidefoot that whistled the wrong side of the post. And our beloved old foe Mr Foster in the Watford goal. Mr ‘5-1’ making a fool of himself as Podence hoisted his poor clearance back over his head in to the empty net. Ruben cleverley chipping him for tge fourth. A joyous south bank insinuating Ben is a banker. Or something. Ten games to go including Citeh Liverpool and Chelsea. Two more against resurgent Vile and Toon. The other five ‘winnable’. Well excluding Burnley of course. My bet is we finish somewhere between 55 and 60 points. We will see. But for tonight it was nice to see the ball hitting the back of the net . Four times !
Watford were very poor, granted. But tonight we played with serious intent that would have been good enough to wallop many better sides.
I make no apologies for being a huge fan of Raul. With him in the side, we are an entirely different proposition, He is the essential class focal point, holding the ball up brilliantly, so that others can play. Without him we look lost. And, as a bonus tonight, he scored a typical strikers goal. Si, Si, Senor !!
Great to see both Boly and Otto back in the side and playing very well. Given Otto`s superb performance ,both defensively and going forward, it could well be that Hoever will be on the way out this summer.
I hate these people who can’t give the team credit and instead talk about how bad the other team was.
same. This is the same Watford that pushed Arsenal last week. We nullified them. Tore them apart.
Greetings, 3-0 up after 30 makes for an uncommonly entertaining evening.
Thanks Woy and Frostie for restoring my faith in football. You couldn’t have made that folly up, and the ensuing carnival was massive. If you ever feel bad just think of Ben’s face as Neves tops up his basket.
Other Ben, nice write up. Let’s keep it going. That should have fixed Cloives tractor.
The Vanillas looking tasty.
1 lv & COYW.
Watford were woeful but you can do no more thrash a bad team and on another day we would have won 1 nil or 2-1. Ait Nouri and Jonny gave us balance and for me that was the difference. Both were excellent and provided a constant outlet for our midfield who were immense. Boly looked like he’d never been away and another worldy from Neves.
The Villa game is beginning to look like a six pointer esp if we are both vying for The Mickey Mouse Conference League.
This was very much a Nuno team with only Hwang and Sa not from that era.
Onwards and sideways….
Well done to the team and the staff. Some positive selection decisions by Bruno were fully rewarded. I hope we are now back in the fight for a European place. With only 10 games of our season left, every game will really count, as we, in all probability, fight it out with Man U and West Ham for the last 2 spots. Need to keep on winning beginning with Everton. COYW.
A couple of Wolves supporters overheard having a quiet beer pre match, discussing all things Old Gold.
One of them, an optimist, who’s glass was half full, was confident of a win last night and still very hopeful of a place in Europe next season. The other wasn’t so sure, bemoaning recent results and performances. Ready to order another; his glass was already half empty. Pessimist ? You bet, well at least we are safe from relegation they muttered.
Meanwhile just down the road, the ultimate opportunists, Raul, Hwang, Podence, Neves et al were hammering an awful Watford, a team who’s most optimistic fans must be dreading the worst, 4-0. Yes, FOUR – NIL.
Not a score line we are accustomed to, and it’s timing couldn’t have been better.
Spot on post Ben by the way.
Realists will point out that we are still in with a shout of finishing in a European spot. West Ham and Man Utd are within touching distance, and if the 3 game blip was just that, we still have a chance of a top 6 or 7 finish. Our final 10 games include Everton, Leeds and Burnley who are in free fall, as well as a tasty one to look forward to against Villa. Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool will be tough. Newcastle too, resurgent under Howe. Brighton and Norwich are beatable. 5 wins and a couple of draws and we have 60 points. That might be enough.
Who knows ? I’m a natural optimist so I believe we can do it. I also believe Bruno’s decision to publicly criticise Hoever, some of the youngsters and recent team performances was fully vindicated last night. Sometimes you’ve just got to go with your gut, and shake the tree.
UTW
A perfect 10 out of 10 for everyone tonight.
Apart from Ruben Neves.
His score, just like Nigel Tufnell’s Marshall Amp, “Goes up to eleven”.
The man’s a genius!
I agree DOOGooder. That was probably the most complete and perfect performance I have seen from a midfielder anywhere let alone done the mol. How he was always available deep, putting in tackles, chasing back, his overall work rate and his distribution was out of this world, although he did put one directly into touch in the second half. That is how good he was that I remember clearly the one mistake. The goal was sublime but takes the gloss off his performance as everyone is talking about “that” goal. Brilliant goal of course but his overall play….. When he plays like that the man is a genius. Having said that I have a feeling he will be man marked on Sunday
Didn’t expect Watford to be SO bad after their effort re Gunners
But hey … thank you
Nice booster before Everton and as Neto gets back in the groove we have no one to fear over the last 10 games
Neves seems to be enjoying life … would love to know who he sees as Moutinho replacement in due course
That light is switching on again ?
That was a stroll in the park, they were a disparate bunch of individuals and completely outplayed by us. Ben Foster in generous mood!
After Palace I was shouting for a 3 man midfield but as proved so many times, what do us fans know! Clearly it’s not so much the formation or line up, it’s how good the players are in the positions they play.
Boly and Jonny were excellent, it was almost nostalgia seeing the man mountain powerfully heading it upfield. Both were reassuring . Jonny’s control of a high ball when he brought it down on his foot was symbolic of the evening we were on it, and super confident. We played like a side 8th in the Premier League.
I just hope this is how we carry on, the Villa game is huge, they’re on fire at the moment, so that’s going to be a great Midlands Derby.
Some of Neves’s passing was on another planet. Such an important presence for us, you have to hope the board have the ambition to keep him and make additions that can take us up another level. Maybe take the place Chelsea look like they maybe vacating any time soon.
Apart from the obvious fact that the whole team,( and extra emphasis on the word ‘team’, ) was on fire in this, I feel special mention must go to Willy Boly.
He stepped onto the pitch and back into our hearts as the magnificent centre back we enjoyed a couple of seasons ago.
Cool and calm and untouchable in the air, this was the Willy of old and with he, Max,Conor, Romain and Toti, our defensive numbers look secure.
It was, of course, a terrific showing, and Ruben’s worldy was simply the icing on an otherwise delightfully delicious cake. Great to meet up with M’lud and West Parkian pre-match and thanks to Brompto for missing out so his old mate could be there. A friend indeed.
Lucky enough to bump into, and have a chat with, Mr Peter Knowles during the day too, so quite an eventful trip all round.
Did you try and persuade ‘Knocker’ to come back?
He might be the replacement for Moutinho when he gets too old to carry on.
I have always said you can’t beat a big willy with a strong johnny.
The highlight was the south bank taking the michael out of foster and after the Podence goal every time a Wolves midfielder got the ball the crowd shouted “shoot”.
I thought the difference was against arse, wham and pulice they pressed high, in Wolves face and didnt allow the Wolves midfield any time on the ball, whereas Watford allowed our midfield plenty of time and space and paid the price.
When Wolves are allowed to play football they are beautiful to watch.
Perhaps a midfield enforcer like Alex Rae would be a good addition when teams try to stop Wolves playing?
He’s getting on a bit, now.
A very enjoyable game. Most annoyingly, I was delayed and only tuned in to the tv after about 20 mins— and the score was already 3-0. I felt robbed of experiencing the joy of seeing those goals go in! It worth the wait for the fourth, with Neves’s beauty!
Willy Boly was absolutely brilliant but feel real bad for Killman now. On the verge on an England call up, a couple of poor games likely because of family concerns in Ukraine and he has been dropped/rested, and will probably be overlooked for the Everton game! Unlikely to get selected for England now in the next round of International games.
Don’t give up Max, your time will come!
‘Didn’t see that coming ‘
Said the man having a prostrate check ..
Well done lads.. very glad to see you step up!
What next?
Looking forward to a strong finish now with returning personnel but what will happen in the summer window? Obviously that’s up to Fosun (plus possibly the CCP).
I honestly don’t think we need to import any defenders – we have more than adequate numbers with back up in the likes of Mosquera, Gomes and possibly Sanderson coming through. Hoever???
When all are fit our striking options are still short and have been ever since the departure of Jota. Despite a much better performance last night I’m sorry but though still a class act Raul is not the player he was (being 2 years older doesn’t help). Great news that Neto has signed up, so a lot depends on the enigmatic Silva who to be fair has yet to be given a proper run, I think he might make it but we still need more numbers and options up front.
And so to midfield. Does Moutinho have another season in him? I’m not sure the club are convinced but I would certainly give him another 12 months if he wants it. Cundle is still an unknown quantity and Dendoncker has a role to play. Is Gibbs-White coming back and is he good enough? If freed up from wing back could Semedo be a box to box midfield option? I believe he’s done it to good effect before and I think it should be a serious option.
We have to face the possibility that Traore may not be bought by Barca I think. I hope I’m wrong because it would leave a hole in the transfer budget unless we can offload him elsewhere. Can’t see us buying Trincao so that leaves Neto and Podence as wide options, plus Chiquinho who is another with promise but not yet proven.
I’m a lot happier than I was this time last season and think that Bruno has done a fantastic job with pretty limited resources. So please Fosun try to finish the job you started so well. Give him the funds to back him up now that FFP constraint will be out of the equation. The squad is still too small and needs some serious investment in midfield and attack – not fill ins but a couple of quality signings. With other major clubs (Chelski, Spurs even MUFC) in disarray this could be the perfect time to make a serious assault on “The Big 6”. We may never have a better opportunity and it was your declared objective when you arrived.
Final thought – please offer Ruben Neves a massive new contract.
What information do you have on the club’s thoughts about Moutinho or is it just your own guesswork? Seeing how fit he keeps himself he probably has at least 2 more years at top level.
None, but they don’t seem to be in a rush to offer him a contract and others clubs are reported to be making overtures. So maybe they ought to get on with it. Even more urgent if you are correct and he has 2/3 years left in him.
SuperRubenwasmajesticWatfordareatrocious
Well Jeff, (does he read this stuff ?), looks like Chelsea are screwed so there’s a space at the top table coming up. How sharp are your elbows? Are you going to let the Yanks or the Saudis move in? It’s a business opportunity, you know it makes sense.
On my last post I suggested Bruno doesn’t know his best eleven. Well he does now. Yesterday’s starting 11 were head and shoulders ahead of recent selections. Boly looks back to his imperious best and Jonny tore up and down the right side. Raul showed how to hold the ball up and then find a team mate. Podence looked a natural number ten and RAN is proving to be a very good buy. Neves and Moutinho were the creative engine while the rock steady back three allowed Sa the luxury of a clean sheet without making a save.
That said Watford were awful, they deserved to be thumped and Wolves duly put them to the sword. (Please forgive the mixed metaphors). Everton should be there for the taking but Bruno will need to give the same pre game talk as yesterday.
I could write 10,000 words on the brilliance of Ruben Neves, his brilliance and how much I love him but a lot of that has been said elsewhere.
I want to say a word for Raul. He netted his 40th Premier League goal for us last night. Considering he plays in a team that doesn’t score many goals and missed pretty much a whole season, that’s a fabulous achievement. Let’s hope he gets to 50.
He’s undoubtedly had his struggles this season and while the brainless Twitter morons shouldn’t be taken seriously, it’s been genuinely sad to see him getting stick and, even worse, abuse. Of course, we all get frustrated during games, we criticise and rightly call out when a performance is not good enough.
But this bloke is our finest top flight goalscorer for a generation and you sense maybe he won’t be around too much longer, so let’s enjoy him while we’ve got him and continue to get behind him. He’ll be a legend of this club when he finally does leave.
Well said that man.
Win or lose…watching Podence compete for aerial balls always makes my day.