If it wasn’t for a world class coach now leading the Wolves ship, I’d struggle to make a case for surviving the drop.
We’re a team leaking goals at one end and allergic to scoring at the other. The latter reached absurd levels, though, against a Gillingham side sitting bottom of the Football League (though if I was online betting, I don’t think they’ll go down based on this stoic performance).
For too long the passing and movement was painfully slow and in front of a Gillingham defence that sat deeper than the Titanic. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Wolves were crying out for someone to take a risk and play a ball through the lines or make a run into space. But that’s the problem with this team – they want to do it the easy way. They expected Gillingham to roll over and panic at the first sign of some pretty but ultimately risk-averse passing.
And when better outfits need to be pressed, Wolves can’t be bothered and expect the opposition to give the ball back. We’re predictably picked off.
On his day, Podence is Wolves’ most creative outlet, but tonight he was infuriating. Rather than producing a killer pass or making a clever run, we were treated to aimless flicks. As for Guedes, he didn’t look interested, neither did Costa.
It was pleasing to see Lopetegui take a proactive approach with his substitutions but Adama should have been busting a gut to show Guedes and Podence how it’s done. Frankly, he couldn’t summon the energy to take on his man.
One positive was Hwang continuing his World Cup form. There’s an air of confidence about him, and I wouldn’t hesitate to start him at Everton.
But make no mistake, if Julen wasn’t already aware, he has a massive task on his hands keeping Wolves up when we look so toothless going forward.
Lopetegui and the promise of a host of January signings is our last hope.
I was there tonight and agree that Podence was infuriating and Guedes ineffective. I wouldn’t have selected either of them Can’t agree with your comment about Adama however- I thought he did as well as he could. Our passing is so predictable that he was surrounded by two or three players by the time he received the ball. I certainly don’t agree that he couldn’t be bothered. Hwang missed a sitter btw. Positives I’d say were Raul scoring, Ait Nouri looked good going forward when he came on, Bueno and Hodge played well. However I don’t see much of an improvement and although it’s nice to be in the last eight of a cup competition I worry about our hopes of survival. Not enough steel, grit and determination. Getting rid of Saiss and Coady was criminal and I fear it is going to cost us our place in this division
Shi at fault for getting rid of Saiss and Coady which shows he knows absolutely nothing about football .Not that he will ever admit his stupidity
Totally agree with all your points.
Oh Dear !! What can you really say about that load of rubbish.
Five weeks of work under our new coach; warm weather training luxuries: promises of a new beginning. The reality? Just the same old, same old. No real threat; no drive in the final third: no risk taking to create openings. A team without a clue how to break down the defense of the very worst team in the football league.
A large proportion of those players wearing our shirt tonight should be thoroughly ashamed. Quality replacements are essential. But what players of real quality and with serious ambition would want to commit to joining a club in such dire straits as us?
Our new coach can now have no doubt as to the size of the mountain he has to climb if we are to preserve our Premiership status
I think I would extend more credit than most by the sounds of it.
The first half was more controlled and despite labouring at times, Bueno and Podence forced
decent saves, Neves smashed the bar and Hodge missed a sitter. We just needed that goal to force them out and as usual, couldn’t get it.
Second half was turgid and the subs, while necessary to chase the winner, disrupted the rhythm. It was a messy win against statistically the worst team in the football league. Criticism is fair but I can’t stick the knife in too much. 80% possession, 25 shots, a couple of goals and into the quarter finals. Surely in this most miserable of seasons to date we can allow ourselves a small amount of enjoyment?
On Podence, while I concur he can frustrate I thought he looked the man most likely in the first half. When teams defend with every player behind the ball you have to try and play through lines and he was doing that. It didn’t always come off but I think it’s harsh to say in one breath that the football is slow and predictable and then in the next criticise a guy trying to do something more inventive.
Guedes was awful, which was disappointing as he’d shown improvement prior to the World Cup break. It will be interesting to see if he can keep Traore, Hwang or even Raul out of the team on Boxing Day.
Semedo is the other one I worry about. Low in confidence and being targeted for defensive and physical weakness, but there aren’t too many alternatives in the current squad.
But the squad is beefier in forward areas which is a positive and with Cunha seemingly imminent there are options for Lopetegui to consider. I think a good coach would find the right combination from these players to be effective and I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with in the coming weeks and months.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, we maybe have six weeks .
Time we don’t have.
Atmosphere last night was strange and surreal, the silence in the South Bank was deafening at times.
Will be glad when this year is over.
FFS – they parked the whole team on the edge of their 18yd box, it was always going to be difficult to break that down. We sometimes forget that there are 22 players on the pitch, 11 of them trying to stop the other 11 winning.
The biggest disappointment for me was the waste of Diego Costa. So often he seemed to be running creative lines but our midfield continued with the same old lateral passing-game they seem comfortable playing.
Traore’s sole purpose seemed to be to keep two Gillingham defenders occupied on the right, so rarely did he get the ball.
All-in-all, I’ll take the win. Lopetgui: Played 1, Won 1, GF 2, GA 0.
Well after watching that were in serious trouble unless lopetegui gets the six players in he wants. There was some good performances Neves Bueno and Nunes when he came on but its just the same to slow and sideways and backwards passing. Still think we need another striker a RB and a couple of CH but we could do with clearing some out Guedes and Podence who does nothing for me with his stupid flicks. Also Semedo and Mountinhio who slows the game down with the ball going sideways or backwards all to often.
That’s 90 odd minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
At least it was spent in front of a roaring fire with a Remy in one hand and the PMDG’er in the other, listening to the whimsical commentary of Mikey Burrows, Andy Thompson and Lee Naylor.
It would be an overstatement to say that I was entertained, impressed or excited by any of what I heard (apart from some of the Christmas cracker jokes that people on social media were sending in) and it didn’t sound like the Molineux crowd were either.
Guedes continues to give the impression that he doesn’t want to be there and Semedo continues to NOT give the impression that he will ever be even a quarter of the wing back that Doherty was.
It sounds like the positives were:- the continued improvement of Hwang and the return to goal scoring of Raul. Even though it was only a penalty, it will boost his confidence.
Apart from that, we need Lopetegui to kick some arse and get some reinforcements in or we could well be in deep trouble.
Just one thing remains. To wish a Merry, and healthy, Christmas to all bloggers from Sue and me.
Eat too much, drink too much, and most of all…
KEEP BLOGGING!
People seem to forget how Wolves played in the first two years of Premier League play under Nuno.
And they also seem to forget how the other team’s fans and the media use to say that the other team had a bad game.
Two goals isn’t bad – what did you expect?
It is tough to put a positive spin on last night’s non-spectacle, but to me the boss and the coaching staff do look as if they mean business.
Lopetegui’s substitutions were far more pro-active than were Lage’s. I was also heartened to see all the subs out at half-time being put through their paces. Something that didn’t happen under Lage, well not in any organised fashion.
The problems though have not gone away, zero cutting edge from our number nine or 29 in Costa’s case. Thought he was poor. Samedo played like a player who knows his times up at Molineux, hopefully a right back is imminent.
Our league position, is perilous we can only hope, along with Turkey and mince pies, that Lopetegui can instill some confidence, ruthlessness and up the fitness levels amongst this group of players.
Feel that our Premiership survival is going to be based on a couple of very good signings, and Jiminez getting his spark back, there were some signs last night that he’s getting there.
It’s wait and see time but the glass is beginning to get a bit emptier than half full!
We both braved the weather last night despite both of us having a dose of the flu.. and come half time we both thought about going .. but stay we did…
(Mind. We both feel worse today)
Ok it was still following the predictable plan .. move it from side to side. .. which was easy to defend against .. and I defy anyone who thinks other than The Gills game plan to hold out to 90 mins and take it to penalties..
The played 5:4:1 … and those back 9 rarely got 10 metres beyond their own penalty box … so parking the bus nearly worked .. but not quite.
That Guedes free kick on goal ended up a throw in ..
Costa I thought made some decent runs but never received a pass.. so entrenched were we on side to side.
It’s gone now .. but here we are in the last 8… clean sheet and carrying a confidence booster into Boxing Day …
Where’s Cunha .. we’re gonna need him…
I went with the hope of seeing something different under the new gaffer. We got the same old borefest. Lack of imagination round the box. Down the sides. Back in to midfield. No one seemingly able to pick a pass or slot someone through the packed ranks. We did look better for Nunes Hwang and Raul. Still. Early days for JL. It is gonna take a bit of time to change the approach. And some new personnel. Highlight of the night was arriving at Snow Hill bus station to get the bus back towards Dudley and turning round to see the bus coming round the corner. So had to wait only 30 seconds to get abroad and get back home ! Result ! Which is what we need . And pretty quick.
Things I don’t understand;
Gillingham played without wide attackers, Bueno stayed high up the pitch and tried to get past the right back, get to the byline, get crosses in. Semedo didn’t. Why?
Why does it take three players to discuss a free kick on the edge of the G’ham area, two players staying back to guard an empty space, only four players in the box and Guedes then hits it out for a throw in on the other side?
Costa makes clever diagonal runs behind their back line but is ignored?
Podence tries the clever flick so often, League 2 defenders read it and stop it?
Traore comes to receive the ball to feet when he needs to be running forward as an outlet ?
We concede a corner and everyone comes back so there is no one upfield to clear it to?
It was quiet last night and a coach load of away support out shouted us, we were waiting for evidence that over the last six weeks something had changed, clearly it hasn’t but over the next few weeks it certainly needs to.
We started in 4-3-3, ended 2-2-6, nice one Julen, take the win but that won’t do in the Premier League.
Portugal C Mendes imports not interested in playing for WWFC. Patently obvious from body language (don’t include Neves who is Portugal A).
Good luck Julen, very big job on your hands.
It was a laboured victory but I think we will get a better sense of the impact or otherwise that JL is having after the Everton and Man Utd games. He clearly wants several new additions in the January window but if he can eek out a victory in either of the next games he has a foundation to move forward from. As we all know, contrary to one of Jeff Shi’s many “ load of ol’ pony” sayings, “time is not our friend”
It was a game in which it seemed to be difficult for our team to get the adrenaline flowing. At times it looked like a practice game. Podence, busy and having a goal threat in him annoyed me with the needless flicks when easier options and ball retention opportunities were there in the final third.
It could make you fear the Everton game but I really think our attitude will be vastly different ; at least I hope so.
Good points were the absolute professionalism of Neves following his World Cup appearances; no big time Charlie here; what a player, more importantly, what a guy.
Bueno’s continuing progress. Ait-Nouri’s being used in front of Bueno made our left side very strong imo. Hodge gaining experience. A bit more spark from Jimenez.
We have real problems and we all are aware of what they are and just need patience and hope in that Julen gets his men as, with the matches coming up, we are well in the proverbial.
Two of my grandchildren were introduced to Molineux, travelling up from Suffolk for a Christmas treat and to see my six year old grand daughter celebrating our goal on her father’s shoulders with joy in her face gives me hope… ?
First of all may I wish everyone and their families the tidings of the season
With regards to our football team I am of the opinion as are most of us that the next 6 months are vital not just for our premiership survival but for our future.
Fosun I think have realised their errors in the past and are trying to put things right. Let us all get behind the new manager and his team but remember for the first few games he can only use the players that Lage and Co left him
The first of our 20 plus cup ties was Gillingham and being the proverbial banana skin for the players and coach of WWFC they got the job done and in my honest opinion got it done as well as can be expected when the oppositions task was to play for penalties. In our position in the premiership we are not going to come up against teams with the same brief if anything it may be us that needs the bus parking in front of the goal .
I hope that the investment of Fosun will be used in a better way than has recently been done and that their choice of manager will indeed prove successful.
We can all see the problems that face LPG and his team so onwards and hopefully UPWARDS
On the subject of Saiss and Coady being let go. Obviously Jeff Shi must’ve agreed and facilitated it in support of his manager, but it was that manager Bruno Lage who decided they were excess to (his)requirements. What an idiot. They’re both ‘big’ personalities (Saiss and Coady that is not Shi and Lage ffs!) in the dressing room and on the field, both experienced captains and perhaps Lage, who severely lacks any kind of charisma himself actually saw them (and indeed Ruddy) as a threat and worried that they saw through his hot air, bluff and blunder. We’ve been left with a soft underbelly, very vulnerable and seemingly with precious few players up for the necessary fight. Guedes is the classic example and shouldn’t play again but he’s not the only one. I am slightly worried that we seem to think that throwing money at the project and buying a good number of new players is the answer. The players we already have should be quite capable of damn well getting us out of this mess or at least look as if they’re trying to. I really hope that I’m wrong because I have some faith that Lopetegui is an excellent choice but Cunha, if it happens, looks a bit like more of the same to me. Everton away will tell us a lot about if we have any chance of staying up. We simply must not lose that game, simple as.
This is not true. Maybe Brunoe wanted them as backups but they didn’t want to stay because it would affect their chance to play in the World Cup. Or in Conor’s case, cheer at the World Cup.
I think Shi is the type who will let players leave if they ask. The same happened with Lopetegui when he asked if he could take the Spain job instead of honouring his agreement with Wolves. Shi gracefully allowed it even though it caused Wolves a tough first season under Fosun ownership, and Lopetegui probably appreciated it and so decided to come to Wolves because of the respectful way Shi handled that situation.
And that is exactly why Jeff Shi should not be running a football club. As sir Alex Ferguson said on many occasions “ I act only in the interests of the football club” . If your assertion is correct, it is frightening and explains why so many poor decisions have been taken by Shi and why so many poorly structured deals around incomings and exits have been struck. To let your club captain go and heart beat of the club go to a relegation rival on loan for a season without recall and an option to buy for 4m is so laughable it borders on corporate negligence. Sadly, this is only one of many appallingly one sided deals that wolves have entered into in the last few years and that is why we are in such a mess. All roads lead to Jeff Shi.
So you think it is in the interest of the football club to keep someone at the club who doesn’t want to be there
How is that working out with Guedes?
If he is under contract and it serves wolves interest for him to remain at the club, yes. And if it doesn’t serves wolves interest, sell him for full market value, not for a season long loan and then 4m for an England international. And to your second point, who was the idiot who signed Guedes for nearly 30m in the first place?
Lage was on record as saying he wanted both Saiss and Ruddy to stay and the players wanted to stay, but Shi offered Saiss an underwhelming contract which was rejected by the player and Shi chose to release Ruddy. Both Sellars and Tony Roberts also wanted Ruddy to stay.
I’ve never heard any official line on whose decision (awful decision) it was to release Coady, but I think people are over estimating Lage’s position if they think transfer decisions were mainly determined by him. Ditto for Nuno, which is why Lopetegui has insisted on more influence in this regard.
can’t get Dusty’s song out of my head,,,
“Wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’
Plannin’ and dreamin’ each night of his charms”
Not sure if I mean Jlo or the incoming Cunha but reading these reports of last night was a disappointing experience,,,,if we’re going to implode lets at least do it like a Leeds and GO FOR IT lads
Have flights booked and hotel reservations ready for the second time we play Everton in the PL this season so meantime i’ll be
…..wishin and hopin and thinkin and prayin
The Clarendon has been reserved too … for a late evening aperitif …
drinks on me….we may need to drown our sorrows
B
Pessimism… never..