All for freedom and for pleasure, nothing ever lasts forever.
Watching Ruben Neves was always too joyous to allow us to feel that it ever would.
That we knew we were watching a genius at work was to know we had to live in the moment for every second we saw him because we knew he wouldn’t be around for much longer.
It’s the way the water flows, yeah that’s the way the story goes.
But sweet lord, what water. When streams were ripe and swelled with rain, our wonderkid created the single most joyous footballing moment of my life – whilst simultaneously making me question the very meaning of it to begin with – with *that* volley against Derby. April come he will.
Not content with painting this dreamy work of art to trump all goals before, but he made 12 months of studying Descartes at university seem worthwhile and left me questioning whether it even happened in the first place. So pure was his strike that it transcended a ball hitting a net and got me thinking of the French philosopher and what we can perceive as reality and what is pure illusion. I’m still not sure what category it falls into having watched it back a thousand times.
‘I think therefore I play.’
As the ball arrowed through floodlit skies that evoked memories of Sir Billy, Stan and dad, a tiny bit of my heart broke, realising in that nanosecond that I’d reached absolute fulfilment. Now it is breaking again, not that you can die from a broken heart, I’ve been told. It will only feel that way when I see him in another shirt.
It was Ruben Neves’ intangible quality of making time stand still which I just can’t envisage feeling again. The strike against Manchester United – the pureness of which was even too much for the VAR dictators at Stockley Park to disallow – was so irresistible that it caressed the South Bank net and the hands of the stand’s famous old clock at the very same time.
Whether he was volleying one into the top corner or lobbing effortlessly into the same place against Watford, time slowed to allow us to appreciate the strike in the manner he had in mind when creating it.
When ‘Big Six’ fans ask me if he’s any good, I want to tell them that he took me to heaven for a split second once, just to let me know what it felt like.
‘He’d do well for you,’ I reflect with a smile.
I know I’ll never be able to get there again. Not now Ruben Neves isn’t on the park. Not so much a case of not wanting to fall in love again, but knowing that I never will.
What a wicked game he played.
Amazed he didn’t end up at Man U
He was their sort of player I too remember that Derby volley one of our best goals ever…
The enviable sale must produce a striker and a new attacking midfielder… at least…
Good luck Rueben
I never thought i would shed a tear about a footballer leaving our club but watching that has changed me forever .
A truly genuine man .
The very best of everything for you and your families future Ruben i am honoured to have witnessed your amazing talent .
Farewell
Sometimes… just sometime. Well alright maybe all of the time.
Lovely nod to the man Ben and it finally calls time on that era.
The chants have gone. The players have gone and it’s time to reset.
I doubt we’ll see much like it, but I’m just glad that my lad will say to me in years to come…. “Remember that team Dad”.
Very lucky to have a lad who grew a love of football at the same time that Neves and and the Gang graced the hallowed.
An absolute legend.
A brilliant servant.
A true professional.
Was ours .
Always ours.
NEVES
Love Ruben what a man! We did air wolf 90 to Newcastle with great success why not air wolf 2023/4 to Saudi to see Ruben play Nuno’s team celebrate two legends at once and show the Saudis a real wolf pack!
Excellent post Ben and befitting of the man, the like of which I certainly won’t see again.
Ruben leaves us at the peak of his powers and this is he way I wish to remember him, too many past heroes have called time when past their best, with all of the bitter sweet feelings that then becomes their legacy.
DEVASTADO
Goodbye Rubes
Thank You
It`s snow 76 years since I first stood in compete awe on the south bank. In all years since then, I`ve never seen a better player than Reben Nevez in the famous old gold shirt.
But let`s forget Reuben`s skills on the field. Far more meaningful for my memory bank is his quality as a man. In an age where any importance attached to loyalty and standards are long gone, he is unique. He let everyone of us know how much he valued our club. He made no secret of the fact that he wanted to be here; his commitment was total; our massive support was genuinely appreciated. What more could we ask?
But who knows. When he has achieved his goals it could be that in the latter days of his playing career he would like to return to us. Now there`s something for all of us to anticipate.
Thank you Reuben for everything you`ve given us
What a class act Ruben turned out to be.
I can’t help thinking that he made the move to Saudi because it would be the most palatable to us fans and at the same time would inject a level of cash into the club that we could not have enjoyed from any European outfit.
The best fit for all parties, in other words.
But with the amount of scrutiny this move is getting from ex-players and the media, I am still expecting VAR to rule it out.
Firstly, you have to say thank you to Ruben for six golden years of fabulous football moments that will live forever in the memory. We loved him for his extraordinary talent on the pitch and his humility and grace as a man. He repaid us in spades with a loyalty to the cause which has turned him from Wolves great to true legend.
Even in his departure he seems to have tried to ensure the best for the club. He could have pushed for a cut price sale to a Premier league club and if he had, who could have begrudged him that move. 47mill will go a long way towards the desperately needed rebuild of our team.
I’ve been reading recently how the likes of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have expressed concern about the flood of big money from Saudi buying some of the Premier League’s top talent. They seem to have the financial muscle to attract pretty much whoever they desire but it seems ironic that these two amongst others complain when clubs with more money buy all your best players.
Welcome to the real world gentlemen.
Ruben’s new contract will set him and his family up for life. A footballer’s career is short and can be ended abruptly at any moment. He will have time for more career moves in the future to further his footballing ambitions and perhaps, just perhaps, that may include a glorious return to the place, and the fans, that love him most of all.
Good luck Ruben and thanks for everything.
Thank you for 6 wonderful years Ruben Neves.
A true Wolves great in every way and undoubtedly the catalyst for Nuno’s extraordinary revolution.
We shall miss you but treasure the memories and I’m sure each and every one of us wish you well on the next phase of your career.
Only two other players in my life time deserve to be called ‘ Great ” John Richards and Bully now there are 3 and dare I say he is worthy of being called the ” Greatest ” Ruben Nerves.
The guy is not just a footballer be a amazing human being my only regret for him is we never build a team around him to truly compete with the so called big clubs.
Beautifully put Ben. The perfect tribute.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have just lost one of the finest and most loyal players, and human beings, ever to grace the Molineux turf.
The first, and last, vestige of Nuno’s dream has just faded into the ether to join other legends from bygone eras.
And what makes it even more hard to bear is that he will still be casting spells on some sunlit foreign field while we toil in the Molineux mist.
“If you have tears, prepare to shed them now”.
Mark Anthony’s words on losing one of the greatest figures in the history of The Roman Empire..
Well, I’ve just shed some.
Thanks for everything Ruben.
Great tribute certainly one of my favourites to wear old gold.
He always gave his best. Played in an honest way with integrity.
With Jota he attracted the bile of other teams when they arrived to play for us in The Championship. Leeds and Villa thought players of their stature shouldn’t be in the 2nd tier. Even now with his lucrative exit he’s being chastised in some quarters for selling his talents too low.
But for Wolves fans one of the greats. Now I only hope the money is used wisely to build us another team that is genuinely capable of challenging the big guns again.
Cheers Ruben
Of course, Gary Neville was well paid for his commentaries in Quatar during the World Cup. Also I find the comments from the likes of Jim White, Carragher, Neville, and McCoist vacuous.
So Neves a few months back , stated his wish to play in European competitions.
He is entitled to put that aspiration on hold. As an 18 year old he was playing in such games as captain at Porto . He stepped down to sign for Championship Wolves and was integral to their ensuing successes . He remained for six seasons, hardly the actions of a greedy player. He is still going to playing for Portugal and in a couple of years , at 28, could still be playing for a top club in Europe.
He has played with distinction at Wolves , giving us all a great deal of pleasure and deserves his success.
Sheer hypocrisy from all the pundits who collected and banked their pay cheques (probably offshore) before publicly jumping on the Qatar human rights bandwagon and are now slating Neves for “being a mercenary”.
Talk about pots calling kettles black. Grow up children, Ruben Neves has the same right as anyone else to make his own career decisions.
May all your dreams come true Ruben. You are forever a hero at Molineux.
I wonder if there will be the indignant outbursts as others follow, such as Gerrard and Henderson. ( I understand that they are at a different stage in their careers.)
Ruben Neves… one of the greatest men to pull on a Wolves shirt, if not the GOAT.
I feel a great sense of loss, but he goes with my blessing, as he has done more than was ever expected of him.
I hope he and his family are treated like royalty in Saudi, he certainly deserves it.
Ruben, I salute you. You will always be in my heart a Wolves man and I wish you all the best for your future and will always look out for you.
Somebody told me once “footballers are like London Buses, there will be another one along in a minute”. But I’m afraid there will only be one Ruben, just the best.
See you in three years maybe, God speed.
It has indeed been our pleasure.
If he doesn’t now, I hope he comes to learn and understand in the future, that players like him are the reason we love football.
He scored the goals we scored in our heads and played out in our living rooms volleying rolled up socks into imaginary nets.
With the skills he had he didn’t need to work hard on the pitch. He could have let his talent carry him into the team but he worked harder than anyone else.
He is everything that you want in a player and more importantly, a person.
The memories he gave us will last a lifetime. Sad he’s gone but glad he came and made football amazing for a few years.
Thanks for the memories Ruben, you have given us some truly wonderful moments.
Sad to see you go to play for a despotic regime where your light will be hidden under a bushel.
I’d be interested to know how much Mendes is making from the deal, the money flowing into Gestifute coffers seems to be the real driving force behind this deal and the current rash of players heading to Saudi. How else could you get a 26yr old player in his prime to give up on his dreams. More Mendes chicanory imo.
Money perhaps? A lifetime of security for his family?
His life, his choice Wolfstroker, but please don’t try and sell it to me. He’s already a millionaire, how much security does a family need. His move away from Wolves was all about stepping up and realising his potential at a bigger club with higher ambitions, it was never about money surely. It’s almost like semi-retirement, sub standard football league in a horrible country. He would have got a lucrative deal if he had stayed with Wolves, he would have got that anywhere in Europe. A waste of a brilliant talent imo.
A talent i wish i had had and an opportunity i also wish i had had and if you had had it you would have taken it and if you didnt you would have been a fool.
Jealousy on a grand scale !!!
That bloke gave his all for wolves dont knock him for getting the most from his talent !!!
Some have never given what he did and are real mercineries but Ruben neves is not one of those !!!
The thing with Ruben is he came to our club in division 2. He admitted himself he was surprised by what he found. What he achieved with us is well documented. He leaves us and says he will always be a Wolves fan. I don’t doubt we will be forever in his heart. One day he will be on the south bank. I have no doubt. He says he will. Farewell wonderkid of Porto. Nuno’s dream. Never forgotten. Always welcome.
So how do we all think the transfer window is going? First team squad started pre season training c 2 weeks ago and there is just under 4 weeks until the season kicks off. What do we think is going to happen between now and then and what do we think needs to happen? Just thought I try and start another thread of discussion……
I hope just 2 or 3 new decent signings Sutton although probably requires more tbh.
Too many new signings are never a good thing as it takes ages to get them to gel.
A couple of the youth making the step up needs to be a regular thing too..
But……..its anyone’s guess what will actually happen.
Hi Solent shed yacht, I’m not sure how it’s all going to pan out either. On the plus side, with the sales we seem to have quickly addressed any concerns around ffp but on the downside I’m sure JL would have wanted at least some of his targets in for the beginning of pre season training and we have not made any concrete inroads into replenishing the squad as yet. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that when we do spend, Mendes is nowhere near the deals- although of course, Doherty is a Mendes client!
Sutton
My thoughts on activity so far.
Doherty a good signing if and when completed.
Some unheard of GK signed.
Both on a free.
Nothing else yet.
Neves, Coady, Collins sold for £78 million.
£99 million loan taken out at 6.7%.
Moutinho, Traore, Jiminez on their way for nothing.
Silva, Guedes (purchased jointly for £63milliion) in never never land with their contracts running down.
Podence, Semedo, Sa, Ait-Nouri and maybe even Kilman all apparently in the shop window.
Pre season underway, with the ground still falling down around our ears.
Yes we have to comply with FFP, but what the hell is happening at Fosun / WWFC?
Serious doubts about having spent c. £600 on season ticket renewal when the club seem to have little interest in competing at PL level.
2 chants-
“Nuno had a dream, to build a football team, until Jeff Shi took sole control and took it away.”
And just for Jeff- “you don’t know what you’re doing”.
Almost reminiscent of the Bhattis, but on a grander scale.
I personally think that everyone is getting unnecessarily hyper over the lack of incoming personnel. Yes it would have been nice to have the new players getting used to their existing players and what the coach wants and what he doesn’t want well before we kick off in the premier league
We must all give Mr Lopetegu and his staff time to sort out his problems some of which I’m sure he didn’t expect. Time will tell if the decisions made by him and his staff will show whether they have been correct or not after about 4 or 5 games.
I for one wish him the very best of good fortune and hope that the players returning from long lay off injuries return in good form and the youngsters given their opportunities grab them with both hands and of course the new signings fit in and be proud of who they are playing for
Let the so called sports journalists keep spreading their fake news and in the background leave Mr Lopetegu to get on with his job and most of all Keep The Faith. COYW
I am by nature a cautious optimist. At a micro level, like most fans at 3.00 pm ( or the time TV companies tells us to kick off), I hope and expect that we will play well and get a result.
Four years ago , and when we were in the Championship, we won nearly every week, certainly at home and often in London. (The anticipation of a victory for me was like the days of the late sixties. Wolves were a club that UK professionals respected and wanted to join. ). We were invited to buy in to a “Project”, ostensibly to reach the heights of the Premier League and be playing in Europe.
That, to an extent, happened under Nuno. Heady days . Great days.A team respected in the top half of the best league in the world . We made some superb acquisitions, from different shores, who delighted us with their play.
That appears to be changing .Some new players, purchased at prices we can only dream of now, it seems, have come and gone. For some, Wolverhampton was a place they had never heard of, but it gave them an opportunity to be seen in in The Premier League.
Some found the going too tough and moved on. Some were inexplicably sold on in their prime.
So, where we now?
I do not understand why “The Project”, how I hate that expression, has been so
strangely managed. Purchasing expensive players is always a gamble. But how the Club has been allowed to be in its present financial state is bizarre.
Here we are, on the one hand being speculatively linked with a raft of mediocre players, only to hear that sometimes they have no wish to come to Wolves and that in any case we cannot afford them. I do not want to see anyone at Wolves who does not want to be there, and I found Gomez’s determination to come to us quite uplifting.
The optimist in me says that this could change in the next few weeks.
Of course we need fresh faces. A new spine of GK, CH, CM and CF..In the meantime , we have some very promising players, two of whom have been in the treatment room all season. Let’s hope they can star for us.
We have some new players , signed mid season, who could blossom as they bed in.
Finally, even if we were to make no signings, I think we have enough players of sufficient quality to be moderately successful if well coached.
And that will depend on whether or not our coach feels able to accept the position he finds himself in a few weeks. I hope he stays.
I agree- if the two injured forwards regain their fitness and form then it can be argued they are the two new players we need-there is no need for panic buys to bolster the squad.
Lopetegu has shown enough expertise so far to improve the squad and we should have enough, if there are no further departures, to hold our own in the PL.
Quality recruits are required to improve morale on and off the field but we should certainly not push the panic button at this stage.
I, too, never want to hear the term ‘ project’ again- it must be the most irritating and misused word in football.
I’ve bought my ticket for matches and parking with a round trip of 340 miles down the M6 and A14 to be suffered each game. Obviously, I would like to experience some good games and results after such outlay. However, I know, football does not always work out to my desires. I was there throughout Mick’s tenure and the journey to League One.
I tend to think we will be okay considering who’s in charge.
My one real worry, at present, is as to who will be the leaders on the pitch to replace Coady, Moutiño and Neves either by example or vocal direction and encouragement. I can’t see anyone, maybe Dawson, with the experience to fulfil, what I consider, a really necessary role.
Some guys will come in and we’ll have to hope they’re up to the level required and, maybe some of our younger players will have progressed as we would wish.
I’m starting to really look forward to the start now. OODCL!
Look out for tennis wonderkid Henry Searle from Wolverhampton. Aged 17 and a Wolves fan he is in the Wimbledon semi final (juniors) today. Good luck Henry !
Will it be on the TV cheese ?
They showed brief highlights on the news.
He won !
COYW !
He’s in the final today mate. Number 1 court , it says ‘not before 1pm’. Not sure it will be on telly. Maybe the red button ?????? Probably be highlights after the Djokovik Alcaraz final.
Yes mate… I’m on it
Won it ! Well done Henry ! WOLVES AY HE
Made me laugh cos one of the commentators was john lloyd who’s also a Wolves fanatic … there was more talk about Wolvss than tennis after the first set !
Thanks for putting us on to that Cheese … I’m now a fan …. Henry’s Barmy Army !
Yeah. John Lloyd massive Wolves fan. Great stuff.
Lots of reports that we are in again for Alex Scott. Always plays positive progressive football and has huge potential. He would be a great addition and think Lopotegui could really progress his development. Hope Wolves will do what it takes to get this one over the line.
Yeah. Like the sound of that. Fits the bill for a young player with potential as an investment for the future.
Agreed. He has done enough in The Championship to be confident of
a successful transition into The Premier. He would probably get more games with us or Bournemouth rather than West Ham, who are in a stronger financial position having sold Rice. I think that at the end of the day it will be down to the player and his perception of Wolves, the coach, the facilities and the amount of game time he is likely to receive.
I hope he is as strong willed as Joao Gomez.
We want players who want to be at Wolves, unlike some.
I was surprised to see that Alex Scott had very few goal involvements for BC last season (1 goal, 5 assists in 42 games).
From all reports – undoubtedly a promising talent.
But if we were spending over 20M with our dire goalscoring last few years, I would have thought Gyokeres was more likely to add to our goals output.
It is clear, Ash, that our priority must be for a Centre Forward , and we are not understaffed in the midfield department .
I have just watched a video of Scott . I understand that these have to be treated with caution. I suppose that if you condense a player’s performance over a season in the Championship, into 6 minutes, what you end up with is likely to impress.
As you say, he is a talent and is likely to have a great future but at £20+ million, I think we would be expecting any new addition to go straight into the team. I would be pleased to see him come but not at the expense of failing to strengthen in other areas.
I think many expected that Gyökeres was coming our way.
Hopefully we may be surprised at transactions during the coming weeks.
You just never know if Wolves are going to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
Is anyone else wondering what happened to DOOGooder’s last piece, on Slaughterhouse-Five? It was there, but now it’s not.
Anyway, here’s wishing the man himself a wonderful birthday. Have a great day, Mark.
I am Doug.
Is this the Sandwell Town new home strip?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12321607/Supermarket-labels-summers-surprise-style-hit-happened-asked-fashion-influencer-wear-new-5-Tesco-logo-T-shirt.html
Raul off to Fulham for 5.5 million.
Not unexpected, but surprised he went to another PL club.
This selling spree is getting to me now..
Fosun have got themselves into a right shit creek without the paddle.. and the diehard fans are the ones to be turned over…
Transparency is all I ask and we’ve sold half the sodding squad and signed Docherty on a freebie ..
I’ve always supported Fosun come what may .. but they’ve hardly crowned themselves in glory with the current strategy…
The current players are already treading water from last season .. so gawd knows how tough this year is going to be .. I despair ..
Neves apart (and we all knew he was going) , the players that have gone have all been on the fringe of the first team and it’s probably been good business by the club to move them on. Whether we see good business in relation to incomings only the next 5 weeks will tell.
Raul will always have a special place in our hearts not only for his skill in leading the line but also his brave fightback from the life changing injury.
It’s good business for the club and Raul and let’s hope he can recover his previous level of performance, and enthusiasm, he seemed to be running down his contract last season.
We needed an overhaul and Julen is doing precisely that, the January window was a good start and patience is required until this window closes. Hobbs and co deserve that. Keep the faith.
Sorry woodend our posts must have crossed. We all keep the faith but isn’t it about time Fosun delivered a decent recruitment strategy? We have needed a quality striker for 3 seasons and that still hasn’t been addressed. Instead we have spent a collective £132m on Nunes, Guedes, Silva and Semedo ( all Mendes clients) who have added collectively what to our team? I’d suggest it would be better to challenge the stewardship of our club rather than just blindly keeping the faith. We are in ffp difficulties purely because of Jeff Shi’s competence and the now unhealthy
influence of mendes and for no other reason.
Come on Lord twix…..the strategy was clearly laid out at the end of last season….. build our squad on young hungry talent and surely signing Doherty and selling Giles for a song is absolutely consistent with that? Wait for the excuses about how difficult it is to get the right players into the club whilst finding it extremely easy to exit players at the rate of knots. Of course, I’m being overly cynical but whichever way you cut it, Lopetegui’s objective to get a squad largely assembled for return of pre season at the beginning of July has been massively missed. We are already at a disadvantage going into the new season even if players are now signed in reasonable numbers. Once again our recruitment strategy is found wanting.
I’m with both Lord Twix and Sutton – total despair. Why have I paid out 600 odd quid to renew my ST while watching this utter shambles take place as we watch another transfer window turning into a (potential) disaster? Seems club loyalty only goes one way these days.
FFP suddenly dropped on JL when he stated he wanted his squad in place for pre season. Surprised he didn’t walk there and then.
Out.
Neves, Moutinho, Traore, Coady, Collins, Kawabe (never set foot in Wolverhampton), Costa, Sanderson.
Plus pending – Jiminez, Giles and possibly Podence.
Total projected income c. £100 million pus massive cut in wages.
In Limbo
Silva, Guedes, Hoever, Sarkic (£75 million outlay).
“New” recruits with 2 weeks to kick off.
Matt Doherty; welcome back Matt, you should never have left. Good signing on a free but 2 years older now.
Outlay to date £0
Great job Jeff. Relegation battle looming. Comparison with the Bhattis isn’t that far wide of the mark!
I openly admit to not always liking your posts PJ but I won’t hesitate to agree that we’re.. ‘on the road to nowhere’ …
Cliches maybe but besides being a business this is also a customer driven business and I’m not feeling much ‘Customer’ …
I’d rather the club tell me how it is than paint a media picture of roses and flowers in bloom ..
if it’s uphill .. tell us .. I can then decide to abandon ship or put in my life jacket .. come on Jeff .. which is it ….
LT
I don’t post to be popular, I just want what’s best for us (yes Jeff supporters are still customers) and the club and I don’t believe it’s been right for well over 3 years now. Fully agree with you the least we deserve is the truth because all is clearly not as it was with Fosun and Wolves. Don’t think any of us will ever abandon ship completely because it’s in our blood but we do have the right to be selective as to how much commitment we give according to how much we perceive the club principals are giving to us.
Just to be clear PJ .. our differences are solely down to differing views .. to which we’re all entitled to.
I’ve given our club years and years of support (and money) and I’ll always have gold and black in my veins … but like everything in life .. it can’t be all one way.
It would be nice to see some action (as that often speaks louder than words) and at the moment all I see and read is rhetoric and pretty picture painting.. if the reality is we’re screwed up .. then let’s hear it so that my judgment on where we’re heading is clear ..
Think we’re actually on the same page LT.
In my opinion businesses never have been open and honest with their customers. Just look at how small a Mars bar is today compared with 70 years ago. And they used to contain a lot more toffee !
Anyway, I’ve just been playing ‘ Shakin’ All Over’ by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. That guitar riff must be one of the best ever.
This time last year Jeff said
“Every player has his price. Except Conor Cody, he is untouchable.”
Believe in Jeff.
Shows how much Jeff knows! No player should be untouchable. No player should be an automatic pick on the team sheet. Same should apply to bosses like Jeff.
You all correct about the steady stream of outgoings and bugger all coming in. But, every season, every club’s supporters are led to believe, or want to believe, that transfer business will be magically completed just in time for preseason training! As if. Well, that never happens, and never with Wolves. Tell me one PL club that has actually done that, done their business, this preseason?
The only conclusion I can draw about Wolves in particular this season is that we are working on FFP and building up a war chest for new players. We are right to address FFP to avoid the fate of Everton and other clubs that still have to face the music. We have five and a half weeks left before the closure of the transfer window. Lopetegui has been merely clearing the decks so far….
Whilst feeling a little disquieted with the lack of any really `top` signing arriving as yet I tend to feel `Dances’ ` has the most accurate, for me, view as to the present situation; little ever gets done until the fat lady is caterwauling impatiently.
I’ve said that I hope we have some leaders on the field as we had with Cody, Moutinho and Neves as their motivational input was always there to be seen and counted on. I certainly don’t know who these guys will prove to be when the going gets tough as yet. Dawson and Kilman seem to be candidates whether by example or what, but those guys will prove hard to replace fully to my mind.
The midfield looks potentially strong, but we still need a top striker and centre back to my mind and Ryan Giles seems to have the best delivery from wide positions and I suspect we `might` be making a mistake in letting him go. The delivery from wide positions, in my opinion, has been pants for some seasons; Maybe `Doc` is some improvement regarding this, but, as someone said, he’s a couple of years older and has not had the pitch time he needed for a couple of seasons.
I’m really looking forward to the game on Wolves TV tonight. I wonder how hot it will be? £6 for a game; not bad?
Am I right in thinking the transfer window is open until the end of August? If so, we may all be jittering nutters before some progress in obtaining the players we need is made; Aaaargh!
Just watched Wolves versus Porto.
Like Matt had never been away, the right hand side of the defense toughened up as soon as he came on.
Disappointed in the attack seemed disjointed and not working together.
Fabio tried hard but against Pepe you have to be very special.
Overall pleasing performance against a very good side.
Taken from BBC website in the wake of Raul being sold to Fulham:
Financial Fair Play rules mean boss Julen Lopetegui is unable to execute even what were initially his back-up plans for the summer.
“Unfortunately, the situation was reality, it was bad news for me of course,” he said earlier on Tuesday. “I’m trying in the summer; this is the plan A that we have and after that we have to adapt to the situation to the plan B, trying to think about the players that are cost effective signings in this situation.
“It is true that in this moment, we can’t develop the plan B either. We lost a lot of players, and it is true that we think the club want to sell more players. This situation, we need players to balance the squad and be competitive in the Premier League for sure.”
Not sure where Fosun are going with Wolves as what started as an “FFP necessity”is now starting to look like a full retrenchment to stop financing the club. Not sure what JL will be thinking right now either. Very, very worrying times – remember this is not journalistic gossip this is a direct quote from our current mannager.
Oh, don’t we all have short memories?
7 months ago, we were dead-certs for relegation, bottom of the league and in a position from which very few teams have escacped.
Fosun threw every penny they could at the problem and got, not only a few decent players, but Loptegui. It’s not just the cost players that affect the bottom line in our accounts.
Now, we’re paying the the cost of that survival.
Sutton Coldfield Wolf quotes some of J.Lo’s interview with the Portugese press but he doesn’t quote him saying that ALL clubs across Europe are having similar problems.
Only a few can spend freely and that’s because FFP rules favour them.
Would anyone on here like to see us blowing £105million on Declan Rice?
Fosun have shown they’ll spend when it’s possible.
From what I saw last night, we have a decent starting eleven and there’s still time to improve the ‘strength in depth’.
I’m guessing that many of us on here are at an age where blood pressure needs to carefully watched so, (in my best Scouse accent) . . . . calm down!
Couldn’t agree more. J.Lo’s interview implied that he was unhappy to lose Jimenez . Unhappy? Really? He hardly played him and they fell out regarding the World Cup. The interview should be considered in the wider context of how FFP is affecting all clubs. We would do well to move Fabio Silva on too, and invest both fees in a striker.
DWW
Only problem there is that there there is little sign that there is any great intent to reinvest much if any of the £90 million already in (Neves, Collins, Coady, Sanderson, Kawabe, Jiminez) so why might further receipts yield a different response.
Seems likely that Podence and Giles will also be gone before the window closes and last season’s “one for the future” Chiquinho has been loaned out.
This FFP “crisis” is down to appalling recruitment by Shi and his stooge Sellars over the last 2/3 years. To name a few examples – Cuitrone, Jordao, Guedes, Silva nearly £100 million in total.
Back to schoolboys on the bench for the opener I fear.
PJB,
The £90million brought in through sales so far is mainly to cover the £100million we spent last summer and the £75million spent in January – money the club didn’t have. That is, balancing the books according to the FFP rules.
Now, you may argue that the £175million spent last season didn’t bring value for money, and you’d probably be right, but how does anyone KNOW that a player will be a success? It’s all a gamble.
All the players you list are damn good footballers.
The Premier League is awash with over-priced signings, who look like very good players, who haven’t worked out as planned.
The transfer market is an inflated mess.
If the inabilty of clubs to spend big is due to the FFP rules, perhaps it’s working and we might see more sensible spending in future? I’m not holding my breath.
Whatever, it ain’t my money.
Still positive, I think you are looking at symptoms rather than cause. Ask yourself why we were dead certs for relegation 7 months ago. Successive seasons of limited investment when we were in a position of strength after europa league QF has seen a steady decline, then the appointment of an unproven manager simply because he was the next mendes cab off the rank, then a continuation of paying excessive fees for talent in an incredibly limited pool I.e mendes clients. We are where we are because of Shi and Mendes and a recruitment strategy that is based on the law of diminishing returns I.e buying from only one store in the mall whilst it progressively runs out of stock . My prediction is that we will once again be treading a tightrope for survival. Lopetegui has done a very good job in keeping us up last year but remember what he said at the close of last season about not being able to repeat the miracle twice without investment. The only chance we have of getting on an upward curve again is a change of ownership. I would hate for relegation to prove the point to those that still think Fosun will ultimately take us onwards and upwards.
Sutton,
We were in trouble last season because there had been little investment in players the previous years because we breached the FFP rules by spending more than we earned in getting promoted from the Championship.
The extra revenue from our run in Europe couldn’t be spent because of the restrictions still in place from that ruling.
£100million was invested as soon as we were free of restrictions. We can argue all day as to whether that was spent wisely but if Sasa Kalajdzic hadn’t been injured in his first game we might well have been in a better situation and Bruno Lage might still be head coach.
Sometimes, it’s just misfortune.
Until the club as a business (NOT Guo Guangchang and Liang Xinjun!) starts bringing in more money, we can’t spend it.
Although “Wolves Records” caused many a snigger, at least it showed that Fosun were willing to look at alternative revenue streams for the future.
Any new owners would have exactly the same restrictions and even if they did come in and throw £200million at the problem before FFP rules kicked in, who can guarantee it would buy success.
Everton have spent in excess of £500million in the last five years. Do you envy their record?
From what I read, only Man City and Newcastle fans are happy with their owners but who knows how long that will continue if the rules finally catch up them.
I’m willing to admit that I might be wrong but I believe Fosun are doing the best they can within the rules. I’m not going to slag off owners who have done more for this club than anyone since the Stan Cullis era; and I include Uncle Jack in that consideration.
Well said that man!!!
Highlights
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=poprto++wolves+highlights#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f8fb9af8,vid:WtghNqKsDo8
JLo interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJFWIK41UHE
On a different subject .. has anyone tried the new Ticketing system that Wolves have implemented.
Well I tried for 45 minutes this morning … and what a balls ache it proved to be ..
I had no idea which tickets I’d purchased … every step either didn’t work, came up with an error message, wouldn’t proceed to allocate me two tickets .. it was a nightmare… I was eventually gobsmacked when I reached the payment stage despite not having a clue which seats I’d picked(or been allocated) …
In summary.. dreadful.
Yes it’s carnage! Not customer friendly at all. You have to go in blind almost. I got 2 tickets but couldn’t manipulate the blue dots to find where my own season ticket seats are! So got a couple of seats in the Billy Wright but not the ones I wanted. Yet another new signing not working out! E-mailed the ticket office to moan but no reply. They only want praise not true experiences!
Similar problems Lord Trix buying my man utd ticket. I believe the previous ticketing system and associated IT was provided/maintained by a Fosun subsidiary. (Which worked well in my opinion).
Bit suspicious when holding companies ensure a subsidiary can stand alone & make operational decisions which bring in cash. I’m not a conspiracy theorist & believe Fosun have done great things BUT are we to be sold?
Not looking good ……. ticket prices hiked Molineux looking like a tip from the outside……there Is nothing in the FFP rules.saying you cannot maintain your stadium or even improve it.. God forbid so there is no excuse for the neglect by Jeff and FOSUN.
I watched a Pod by Dazzling Dave a couple of days ago and there was a fan from Worcester Sutty and he summed up Jeff and FOSUN approach now to Wolves which is to put in the bare minimum of resources just enough to keep our Premier League status but he also said and I agree with him is that sooner or later our luck will run out and we will get relegated.
He also made another good point why is that Wolves seem to be the only club trying there hardest to comply with FFP rules when other clubs seem to have taken little notice and City are not even the least bothered by there so called breach of over a 100 FFP rules why ….. because they know that with there vast fortune they can afford the best barristers who it seems have indicated that the case against them could take up to 10 years to go through Court.
FFP is away of keeping the so called smaller clubs down who have wealthy owners wanting to invest in there club….but here’s the thing FOSUN are the forth richest owners in the Premier League so like City can afford to fight these FFP rules but don’t and why because they do not have the ambition like City owners do it’s an easy way out of not investing to cry FFP rules are stopping us…..
J.Lo’s interview recently says it all and to be honest I’m really surprised he’s still here…..there’s only one reason why he’s still here…. MONEY and I’m not talking transfer money.
The problem is, Fosun have stated they don’t want to dump money in the club.
I thought Sutty talked a lot of sense. Shame he persisted with his chewing.
I liked his dead pan look and hope we see more of him.
Think Liam Keen and Nathan Judah made our position very clear. Alex Scott bid dead in the water. Need to get the dosh from other sales before buying in vital back up players.
So it’s already looking like a season of hard slog. Have to thank our lucky stars that we’ve got Matt Doherty back and thus far keeping Kilman. An interesting season awaits us. I suppose we should be glad Fosun are putting profit and sustainability at the top of their agenda? But poor buys in the past have come, now , to haunt us.
We can moan and groan all we like but it is as it is.
I met a Manure supporter today. He thanked me for the three points they will receive when we visit them in three weeks.
I would just love to come away with a result.
Sorry! I can’t sleep!
It is always interesting being a Wolves supporter. I have been one since I was seven in 1952 so I have lived through highs and lows. I lived by and played footy in The West Park. I attended St Jude’s Primary and we used to walk to the Park for our games afternoon with a Mr Wheatley.
I remember seeing Billy Wright at Mason’s the Grocers, chatting up the girls and then later, Ron Flowers, waiting with his kit bag at the Trolly bus stop in Leicester Square. Footballers did not have cars then. Later, we would see Knocker Knowles in his Triumph Spitfire.
On match days, coaches ( we called charabancs) were parked all round the perimeter of the Park. Few people travelled by private car.
£100,000 was the fee Liverpool ‘s Bill Shankly , whom I met, paid for striker Alun Evans as a teenager. The next week I recall, Liverpool came to Molineux and Evans scored a brace, prompting the visiting supporters to break into “ Thank you very much for Alun Evans , thank you very much, thank you very very much”, sung to the tune of. The Scaffold’s hit. Anyone remember that?
And now? Well, we have at least one player, not a first choice team member, receiving £100,000 a WEEK.
Cynical? Moi? Of course not!
Like most contributors on this site, I will embrace the new season with cautious optimism and will support them to the final whistle of the last fixture.
I believe , even with no new signings, we have enough quality to remain in the bottom half ,at least, of The Premier.
Clearly , that does not fit with the stated aspirations of our owners when they took over the club or the hopes of us supporters, , but all is not lost.
Lopetegui’ s challenge is to mould these players he has at his disposal into an effective and successful team . He should attain that through high quality coaching and successful game plans.
That took me back a bit Kendal. I remember bumping into Alun Evans at Uttoxeter races not long after his move. No talk about football though, he just asked me for directions to the Tote.
Lovely memories Kendal. I completely agree with you regarding the quality of the first team being able to stay in the PL. I think the squad is good enough for a mid table finish, if, and it’s a big if, they play to their maximum potential and avoid injuries. Getting off to a good start and making Molineux a fortress are critical in achieving that. If we can get ourselves a forward and CB, I’ll be much happier though.
Well it’s a damming state of affairs that after 6 years of FOSUN ownership we haven’t a pot to piss in and the stadium is in a delapedated state.
We have hit a watershed if FOSUN no longer want to invest then they should sell up and do there best to find someone who does someone who will have the balls to do what other clubs have done and push back against FFP rules because as it stands the only way is down.
I agree, Cheslyn, about the spending needed on the stadium. I understand that
FFP does not inhibit such expenditure and given ticket price increases, supporters should reasonably expect improvement. Failure to do so is worrying and suggests contempt in regard to supporters. Do Fosun want out?
But this is the English League , and foreign investors should understand what that means to supporters.
I see that on 15 June, our squad was worth £349 million and that there are twelve clubs whose squads are worth considerably less. Unfortunately, Fosun are not permitted to spend any significant sums on new players and there is the frustration.
Perhaps you are right in kicking against FFP rules. Citeh seem to totally disregard them.
I seem to have been put under some kind of censorship since my criticism of Neves going to Saudi league? Some of my comments have been deleted from this thread and new posts get ‘awaiting moderation’ message after posting, along with the like button being disabled. What is this bullshit?
Agree with Happy.
Would love to give the “thumbs up” to many of the above posts but we seem to have been neutered. What’s going on Editor? Censorship Soviet style?
All this talk of FFP problems from Wolves and Liam Keen etc is fair enough but why no numbers, we’ve raised 90+m in sales, we’ve got another 5m coming for Giles (head gone!), we spent 175m. Why doesn’t someone just give us the maths instead of the ambiguous ‘ffp blah blah’. All this talk of we need to sell before we buy but no concise figures that i have seen. If anybody has the figures please enlighten us.
It can’t just be a straight up, spent 175 gotta raise 175. Somewhere between 100m and 175m there’s a number wolves have to achieve.
Whatever the situation is regarding FFP, in my opinion, we still require players in absolutely necessary positions to not experience the frustrations and problems of the last few years. We have some really good players but all of us have known about the need to bolster our scoring department for some years now
One thing that Mick McCarthy knew and was, to my mind, absolutely correct about, despite some of our reservations regarding `Big Mick`, was the need for a group of out and out strikers; they get injuries and need competent back up.
All else failing, we need to obtain one or two guys, whether as back up or better. Otherwise it’s a gamble regarding a youngster, an injury prone lad or someone out of position…
We can’t know Fosun’s true aspirations fully and their `actions speak louder than words` leads to some confusion with me; for instance we’ve spent a lot over the past couple of windows, but the Stadium has received little upgrade, merely little touches here and there and FFP may be being used as an excuse or not.
With relegation staring us in the face, Fosun acted admirably if somewhat late in bringing us a top manager and some top players; some who were a hit and others questionable regarding our club.
All teams suffer this with their buys so, when it goes wrong, I find it hard to start blaming management, unless it’s time after time with the majority of signings of course. Some good players just don’t find the right fit for themselves at certain clubs and others just adapt and fit in straight away.
Whatever, following a football club is never easy for the nerves and heart rate, but is worth it for the times we experience the ecstatic highs involved.
Let’s just get the season started and hope we experience more highs than lows.
In the words of Private Frazer ..
‘We’re doomed me Babbies — doomed! ‘
Or we’ll end up top 6, playing in Europe and in the FA cup semi final against Watford.
Don’t know what’s going on with this Blog, let alone Wolves & FFP. But what are the strange buttons above? The disappearance of the Doogooder Kurt Vonnegut piece. No tributes on the legends that have recently left our club. Coady, Moutinho, and Jiminez surely warrant special pieces? To that end I’ve cancelled my monthly contribution or subscription. I’ll use it to read The Athletic. Shame I liked the blog, but maybe it’s time to move off or on!
Similar problems Lord Trix buying my man utd ticket. I believe the previous ticketing system and associated IT was provided/maintained by a Fosun subsidiary. (Which worked well in my opinion).
Bit suspicious when holding companies ensure a subsidiary can stand alone & make operational decisions which bring in cash. I’m not a conspiracy theorist & believe Fosun have done great things BUT are we to be sold?
Woh the like buttons are on ..
I was a bit stressed (a lot stressed) when buying Man Utd tickets ..
it (the process ) was so complicated that I actually didn’t know what seats I’d bought … it was a nightmare..