When Wolves sold Barry Douglas in the summer of 2018, eyebrows were raised. People questioned the rationale, and many were convinced that the club had made a mistake.
But the signing of Jonny quelled any unrest and showed that the club was prepared to act in order to upgrade the squad.
With the sale of Matt Doherty this week, many are hoping that history repeats itself and this is the dawn of a new era. There are some key differences to the Douglas-Doherty scenarios, however, that are cause for concern.
Firstly, unlike Douglas being sold to a team in the division we had just departed, we have sold Doherty to a direct rival and below his market value. It is a sign of our progress – and their decline – that Wolves and Spurs are considered direct rivals, but that doesn’t mean we should simply let them take our players for cut-price fees with 3 years to go on their contracts. If Ben Chilwell is worth £50m, Doherty is worth considerably more than a flat £15m.
Secondly, while Wolves clearly moved to upgrade Douglas, Jeff Shi has openly admitted that selling Doherty “was not something we had planned ahead of the summer”.
So, has any scouting been done to replace him?
An already-stretched squad is now positively threadbare. Before any outgoings, the squad needed reinforcements at LWB to cover the injury-stricken Jonny, a new CB to upgrade Romain Saiss, and a striker to take the load off Raul.
There was also an argument to bring in a new, dynamic CM, as Joao Moutinho is not getting any younger. We can now add a quality RWB to that list.
That means we need a minimum of 4 quality reinforcements (LWB/RWB/CB/ST) just to maintain the previous squad level. In reality, Wolves need more like 5-6 new faces to bolster the squad and help us challenge even higher up the table.
While our pursuit of Ainsley Maitland-Niles is promising, seeing him perform for Arsenal in the Community Shield suggests our attempts may yet be forlorn.
We stand at one of the most crucial points of FOSUN’s time owning the club: a manager yet to commit his long-term future to the project, a squad in need of considerable investment, and a new structure that sees no need to replace previous Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell.
With the unplanned sale of a key squad member, reports of purse strings being tightened and managerial unhappiness with this, and no imminent incomings ahead of a season that starts in 2 weeks, fans are understandably anxious.
The positive is that Wolves are starting from the highest point (7th in the Premier League and Europa League quarter-finalists) that they’ve been at in recent memory. Should the club choose to invest – not doing so isn’t really an option at this stage – they would prove an enticing proposition to a number of excellent players.
But football is an unforgiving environment and you can easily be left behind if you rest on your laurels or decide to jump off the train of constant investment that successful professional football clubs require. Our fingers may have been burned by UEFA sanctions, but as Man City have proven with their recent activity – spend first, solve issues later.
Fears over FFP should not stop us looking to achieve our stated ambitions, especially with UEFA’s sanctions crumbling like a house of cards when challenged by any half-decent lawyer.
New signings would instantly lighten the mood and bring back the feel-good factor of last season. A lot can change in 14 days if we get it right, but anxiety can also grow in that time too.
Wolves must act quickly in this transfer window, not only to build on the platform they’ve painstakingly built for themselves, but also to ensure any raised eyebrows are promptly put back in their normal place.
Fosun are an investment company. They will certainly NOT want their asset to devalue in any way. I look forward to at least 3 or 4 signings which make the investment worthwhile going forward. The official line is Doherty wanted to leave any way . Why would you keep a player who doesn’t want to perform for you? The hysterical over reaction makes me laugh. But I will say that Jeff needs to act positively in the coming weeks. I am sure he will.
Thanks for your comment! The flip side of FOSUN being an investment company is that they may want to recuperate funds that they’ve already pumped in. And while I agree there’s some overreaction to Doherty specifically, I do feel there are legitimate questions that can be asked of the current squad. It’s an unusual move that hopefully works out for the best.
Yes I agree. That is why I said Jeff needs to act quickly to address the shortcomings in the squad. And you are right. Fosun may want to recoup any shortfall in funds. But that is probably the point at which they decide to sell up. Not sure we are there yet. Only 10 days ago Jeff was on Wolves site saying we are looking at serious investment in players subject to bring the right fit. Unless Jeff is a complete bulls hitter I believe him.
Very fair points!
Excellent. A sensible exchange of views. Believe me. The utter vitriol I have seen today on social media makes me sick. But luckily this is Wolves Blog. A site where such nonsense doesn’t prevail.
Totally agree. The world ends every 25 minutes on Twitter…
Well said Cheeseburger.
Until I get on board!!
Jeff may not be a complete bullshitter. The reality is that he’s an employee who just does what he’s told by his paymasters.
This deal stinks more than a bit. Going back over recent weeks we’ve had rumours that Fosun were concerned that their investment in Wolves might be soured by the negative, anti-China sentiment stoked by Trump and eventually no doubt In the future supported by Bojo et al. Then we still have the ongoing saga of Nuno’s unsigned contract and his comments that our squad needs bolstering. These were strange comments given that it has been him who has consistently said that he doesn’t want a larger squad previously. Fosun responded to Nuno’s ongoing unsigned contract and his remarks calling for more players by telling him that if he wants to buy then he’ll have to sell first, which is certainly not encouraging him to stay is it?
And now, in a complete contradiction to addressing our spartan squad, the club sells one of its very best players who is widely regarded as the second best wing back in the PL and whose track record for Wolves is stellar, leaving Wolves with even more threadbare resources with the start of the new season just around the corner!
Add to all that the fact that the relationship between Nuno’s and Mourinho goes back a long way and that they both have the same agent in the oily Mr Mendes, whose role is to implement Fosun’s business interests. Add further the fact that Matt Doherty himself also has Mendes as his agent and then I think one has to get the feeling that there’s something rotten in the state of Wolverhampton.
Yes, there are a lot of unanswered questions here and another thing that piques my interest is how these affairs have caused as little response in the public domain as they have done up to now.
That is a very considered reply . Well thought out and argued.
Thank you Cheeseburger. Very good of you to say so.
So we have sold a wolves stalwart to the opposition …why ?
One can only assume without true knowledge that it was he who wanted the move more than us who wanted to sell him.
The paltry fee suggests that apart from the usual suspects who over pay for everyone they buy transfer fees are in the real world of the rest of the premier league on there way down at last.
Doherty has been a good servant no doubt but he is far from irreplaceable and imo we shouldnt find it too hard to do just that and i doubt very much that letting him go without that concideration being covered has happened.
I have total trust in nuno and fosun and wolves will be none the worse for his leaving so best of luck matt fill your pockets and your pension fund you deserve it.
The stupid speculation in the rags about fosun and nuno losing it is nothing more than that … stupid.
Those london base idiot papers have had it in for us from the start and now they see a chance to have another go at bringing us down.
It wont happen we have hugely enthuiastic owners one of the best managers in the europe and a fantastic set up second to none …this will not go wrong.
keep the faith we will be laughing at all the doom mongers in a few months time i guarantee it .
I truly hope so, it would just be good to have some reassurance.
Regarding the low fee, I wonder if it has anything to do with Mendes (Mourinho’s agent, Doherty’s agent, and Wolves owe him some favours).
Struggling with Doc
Fee ridiculously low
He wanted to go ? Arsenal fan – swop for AMN ?
Wages better ? Levy no idiot doubt he pays over the odds for anything
Presume any foreign player would have to isolate for 2 weeks ?
Think (hope) Mourinho is a fading star
In Nuno we trust (get the contract signed)
I think doc knows his knees are shot .. hes played the slog with wolves in all those divisions . Maybe he thinks he may win something at spurs before he has to hang up his boots in 18 months . Shit deal though. Hope I’m correct and it’s not the start of it all turning to dust.
Good news! Rumors claims Spurs’s Aurier may go the other way . Decent replacement.
We want nobody from Spurs (except Kane or Son)
Its been a long time since I felt nervous as a wolves fan…but I really do.
The players are undoubtedly tired ,nuno hasn’t signed and we’ve sold a reliable team player.
Tal, of adama being sold and players not wanting to move to the Midlands.
Can we survive another enormous slog of a season?
Hopefully so but am I deluded_ don’t really know
Just seen on facebook we’ve signed an Afghan player.
Stoppal Damoanin
He’s gonna have his work cut out for him, with all the bellyachers on here and other places.
Getting right royally pissed off with the retro Wolves fans going back to pre Fosun days.
Going away for a while, let the pathetic, whiney assed dust settle.
Talk to you after season has begun.
Totally entitled to your opinion, and to be honest I hope you are right and that our pessimism is unfounded.
But I definitely think there are questions that can be asked of the current strategy.
Hoping to see you in a new away shirt with “Damoanin 20” on the back once the season starts… 😉
Clive . Slightly bemused by your new name ‘ racked off in Texas’. Does make the mind wander….
Behave yourself, Stilton, there’s a ladies bike outside!!
Thanks for the article Chris – timely and much appreciated.
I suspect most people will wholeheartedly agree with every word you say. Judging by what I’ve seen here and elsewhere, panic has spread like wildfire.
Although I agree with certain aspects, I’m not quite there yet, for the following reasons.
– You mention the Douglas sale and you’re quite right to point out most of us were distraught. Jonny improved the team though and Douglas has struggled with injuries ever since. It was the right time to move him on. The same goes for the other big-name departures – Cav and Costa. They’d done well for us, but Costa just wasn’t up to scratch and for my money Neto is a decent upgrade on Cav. There’s nothing to say it’s not a case of good timing again here.
– Going back earlier I remember when we sold Dicko and didn’t bring in another striker. Brown trouser time again for a lot of people, but we dominated the Championship all the same. Yes, we don’t make many signings – and most would argue enough – but the club have a track record of making good moves in the market, so we should probably give them the benefit of the doubt until we see how this window unfolds, surely?
– It’s impossible to argue we’re not short on numbers, but given that we don’t have the demands of European football this season, we’ll have as much as 17 fewer fixtures to contend with so our small squad approach, while risky, shouldn’t be as dangerous this season as last. And let us not forget, but for some dodgy VAR we could easily have made the top four, even though we were supposedly stretched to breaking point.
– I feel like Wolves have innovated with this idea of a smaller squad of versatile players and a heavy focus on recovery and injury prevention. And innovation has brought results. You could argue we’ve done well in spite of having so few players, but I suspect it’s actually been part of the success over the last 3 years.
– Clearly, Nuno doesn’t want 22 senior pros on the books with two players for every position. I defer to his judgement. I think he knew we were shy last time, particularly with Europe, and ultimately the recruitment wasn’t great, with neither Cutrone or Vallejo adding enough. We could have kept both of those players to swell the ranks, but decided to offload and cope with fewer bodies. That again underlines a clear choice to stay lean and leave passengers behind. I agree we ideally need 5-6 this time but always seem to come up shy, so 3-4 is probably the more likely outcome. They’ll no doubt be players like Maitland-Niles who can operate in several positions to fill different gaps as and when required.
– I think if you went through our best XI from last season you’d have struggled to identify a bad player. But ultimately, we still finished 7th, so we’re not the finished article. Therefore it stands to reason if you want to progress, you need to improve that XI. Therefore, players have to go. We’re not big enough (and it’s not our style) to stockpile two brilliant players for every position and keep everybody happy, so I think there needs to be outs as well as ins. Like everyone else, I’d prefer to see the Ins before the Outs, but I do retain trust the squad will be bolstered before the window shuts.
– Retaining Nuno is the most important thing. He’s shown that even with limited numbers he can extract top performances. Missing Boly for last season again underlined he can find solutions when the seemingly irreplaceable aren’t available. If he signs a deal and we get some players over the line, which I think we will, I’ll be confident about what’s to come.
In short, we shouldn’t panic, yet.
Thanks for your comment; a very succinct response to the points I’ve raised in my article. I do agree that we should trust in the current set up that has got us this far, as it has shown results before. But I just can’t help but feel anxious, for some reason. Sincerely hoping my article is wrong and that your comment is right!
Totally agree about Nuno signing, too.
Excellent summary, as ever Thomas, and as you say the panic has spread like wildfire, even to Auckland! I would just add that the writing was on the wall with Matt when he joined Jorge’s agency- he was making himself available for a big move. Mendez is perhaps not too worried by the size of a transfer fee- he makes his money from churning activity. Why do we bemoan a player leaving yet crave 3/4/5 new additions from other teams. Are they happy to let their star players leave to come to Wolves? It can be a merry go round, the key is to continually improve the squad. I commented in an earlier post that if we are to crack the top 4 then we need improvements all through the team with only say 4 of the current squad with the potential to lift their game to the required standard. Nuno knows this- but can he acquire/coach into players to become the major force the project requires. Major danger for me that if he does not get the required support from Jeff or if the project goes off the rails he will leave and find another. Given the achievements in the last 4 years, he deserves our loyalty and I will be happy to let him progress the team as he envisages.
I am feeling a touch anxious but am comforted by what I saw following the restart. Podence is clearly an upgrade and Neto continues to develop and will I believe become a very good player.
Regarding Doc I thought he was showing signs that his fitness level was declining. OK not a lot but nevertheless perceptibley. And if he wanted to double his wages who could blame him. He’s been a very good asset over many years and maybe, and I mean maybe, Wolves very sophisticated fitness tracking showed a degree of decline.
People talk about the players being tired, and we just sold a player who had played a lot and run a lot in the last two years, for a decent fee all things considered as from what I have read its entirely paid in full as opposed to installments like transfers usually would be.
Happy to wait and see what happens next. The worst case scenario is it falls apart and we get back to back relegation again, but at least we will be the only club to have then done that 3 times!
My only real concern is that if we don’t sign players soon we’ll be going into a (reasonably friendly) set of opening fixtures with players who are not up to speed with our systems. Points could be dropped, and regretted later in the season.
These are exactly my thoughts too – conscious we want to hit the ground running.
We are two weeks from the start of the new season and about three weeks after finishing the last one, at the end of which most people agreed that we needed 3/4 players to strengthen the squad. Since then we have lost three players from that squad, one to a long term injury, one to a season-long loan and another was offered up as a prize in a lucky dip which saw him leave for at least £ 10m less than he was worth.
My aged mind “wanderers” back to the time, not long ago when we brought in two players in a last-minute panic, neither of which lasted till the end of the season and yet reading the messages above we should not be alarmed.
Is it any wonder that at 79, having supported my beloved Wolves for 70+ years, reading this blog and just coming to the end of another three-week lockdown here in Auckland I get most of my exercise these day shaking my head in disbelief.
I met a lovely kiwi of Maori descent in the Cook Islands last autumn on holiday purely by chance when watching the Rugby World Cup semifinal. He had spent some time in the UK and became a big fan of Bully. We spent the evening enjoying England’s performance and reminiscing about all things Wolves. It can be a small world. Hope alls well at your end.
Thank’s for your reply. I am not a born and bred Kiwi, believe it or not, I was born just around the corner from you, on Prestwood Road in 1941, raised and lived in Wolverhampton until I moved here in 2010 so really do have Wolves in my veins.
I am in the pessimistic camp .
Doherty was sold at a significant undervalue we can surely all agree on that .Even if he wanted to go we should have got a much better price .Why we did not is a mystery .
Since it is clear they do not have a ready made replacement (as others have said ) that leaves us with yet another position where we are short .
Doherty has very unhelpfully said publicly that he regards the move as up to another level so no doubt our other top players will be reminded that they can move up by leaving Wolves .
Nuno is plainly not signing yet which cannot be a good sign .
Shi has said in the recent past that the club must now finance itself so we cannot expect extra funds from Fosun group .
Although nobody has agreed with me when I have said this in the past I remain very worried that the China /U.K. political fallout is only going to get worse which is certainly not going to help Fosun’s future commitment to the club .
I expect a season of drift downwards which is very sad but there we are none of us have any say in the running of the club so we can only watch on .
I very much hope I am wrong about all this but fear I am not .
How do you know how much he was sold for?
Every single report states a figure not more than £15 million .That is at least£10-15 million less than proper value .Nobody knows for sure but I very much doubt that the quoted figure is far wrong .
Well with all the positive thinking going on sure there will be some season tickets up for grabs.
Well no buggers having mine pal!!
I’ve had it since we were in the fourth division, keeping it through all the crap we have had since then, So what we are getting at the moment, all the negativity and moaning is just water off a ducks back.
Come on you Wolves
Or pineapple rings off a …………!
Pleased to hear it Lowves.
Up The Wolves
Season tickets? You don’t need them to watch on television. Anyone’s guess when we’ll all be back together and mine is 2021/2 season. Before then there might be some 5,000 max attendances meaning we might be able to get to about 4 games this coming season. What do others think?
God knows Sea Pigeon but the longer it goes on the bigger the financial problems for all clubs no arse’s on seats no revenue coming in, and l think it is amazing Fosun have continued to pay all WWFC staff full wages without assistance from the government and provide medical equipment to the hospitals in the city.
Perhaps the plan is for an all-out attacking line-up with Traore and Neto as wing-backs with Jota and Podence ahead of them…
Traore may well be earmarked for that role again as it enables him to make runs from deep. I don’t think that last season’s experiment was as bad as many people make out and, now that he is well known, he can get marked out of things in a more forward position.
Could it be that Mr Shi is suffering from a translation problem ?
In response to the urgent request from Nuno to add players to the squad, Mr Shi promised strong action during the summer. But in effect this action has been nothing other than getting players out of the door. MGW on loan to Swansea: now the Doc to Spurs The squad is threadbare — and the new season is around the corner
The only signing of note appears to that of a very mediocre goalkeeper from Villa who we simply do not need, and who will probably never play for us. It is surely time for Mr Shi to quit talking the talk and to start walking the walk.
But on the positive side, it is a mouth watering prospect to envisage Pedro Neto running rings around Doc on at least two occasions next season !!
On the face of it this seems a ludicrous decision and we can only hope that frantic activity is taking place to improve and not dismantle the squad that has served us so well for over 2 years.
However –
The fear has to be that given the current global economy and potential recriminations against the PRC from The West the Fosun / Wolves project may currently be seriously compromised.
Let’s hope not.
A great read and love all the input from all the global wolves fans. My only concern is Nuno’s new contract. The longer it goes on the less likely he will sign a new one. Money is not his thing, he wants glory (so do we all).
Stay safe
Panama Wolf
Thanks for the kind words – I agree that securing him probably would be the best bit of business we can do. I just wouldn’t mind a couple of full backs!!
Maybe its the Conservative me speaking, but I would have thought it is more prudent to bring someone in, then sell. As it is, clubs will know that with 2 weeks to the start of a new season, we are (let’s face it) desperate to bring in new players. I don’t think we will see the kind of bargains we saw with Mautinho, Neves, et al.
Prudent me says that by now we should have an finalised all deals and getting into training for the start of the season. Short of 4-5 players, and waiting to finalise deal with manager makes one wonder what in hell is going on behind closed doors.
We can all shout In Nuno We Trust only whilst he is still with us. I just hope to hear some positive news from the club soon. Time is running out.
….and don’t start me off about THAT away shirt !!!
Wolves are the ones who use other teams’ desperation to our advantage. I’m sure some of Valencia’s players went higher up the list as a result of their announcement (I hope it was Valencia who said their entire team was for sale except 2 players).
Wolves are a preditor. They will wait until they find a good bargain on a player they think will fit.
I think Nuno probably says I want a “player like this” rather than I want “this player”. This gives them flexibility in negotiations.
And maybe by taking their time and using these negotiation tactics, they can bring in 4 players instead of 3 for the same money.
Doc replacement Oskar Buur
Or Sanderson. We will probably come up with some tried and tested guy, but I would certainly like to see thee two being tried more often. I like both quite a lot, but with young players you never quite know, but it is time to find out whether they can more than cope. I feel losing the European place will have cost us one or two candidates, but, after the last year, some of our stars began to look dog weary when we came back after the enforced break. So I have mixed feelings about missing out on Europe; good for our ego but detrimental in some respects for some of our current squad. A period of less frenetic travel and games may be just what is needed for the long term benefit of the club, but, but being in Europe is so enjoyable; just like the old days when I was old enough to support the team. It’s very Wolves like to be fearful about what may happen, but we’ve been there, survived, and thereby enjoyed the good times more fervently. Interesting month or so coming up testing our nerves and resolve, so here’s hoping for the best.
Yes i strongly believe replacements will come from within in the immediate future and buur is a natuaral replacement so its time to step up .
I think the academy and reserves are wetting their collective pants at getting a chance lets see who bursts onto the scene .
That said i see a much stronger second half to the season than the first so dont expect any miracles early doors things may get a little rough before settling in .
And i do trust nuno !!!!! regardless
I refuse to panic, or even as much as worry, until the window is shut. Then all our questions will be answered by facts rather than idle speculation.
I’ve already got too many worry lines so I’m not adding to them until I’ve got something concrete to worry about.
And yes Dave. Oscar Buur can do the job. Dion Sanderson too, though young, is an excellent player.
Just one more comment on the amn transfer.
It seems arteta was simply playing games to get amn to get his shite together as reading an interview he distinctly slated amn”s attitude to training and pre game prep which he said was sloppy to say the least but has now improved tremendously (surprise, surprise)
I think we have been played and the very naughty boy has now tidied his room and not been kicked out of the house.
We can forget that one for sure.
Thanks for your thoughts Chris.
I’m sure they echo what a lot of us Molineux foot soldiers are worried about.
However, I think that the good thing about Doherty going is…
…It’s Doherty who’s gone.
If Fosun were looking to cash in on our ‘Big’ names, this isn’t the way to go about it.
£15 million is not going to satisfy the Chinese Bankers. £60m for Raul or Adama might go some way to doing it – but there’s no sign of a fire sale happening… yet.
There is obviously an underlying reason why Matt decided to go to his favourite club’s biggest rivals. Possibly doubling the salary of a 28 year old looking to cement his, and his family’s, long term future would have something to do with it.
I think that Maitland-Miles was being lined up as a replacement, but when he got MOM at Wembley, Arsenal hiked his price up and now we seem to have lost interest.
I hope that Jeff and Fosun have a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D and even a Plan E in order to bring in the cover we so desperately need.
But most of all, their Plan A++++ MUST be getting Nuno to sign a new contract.
Maitland-Miles? Who does he play for?
Melksham Town
It’s a frequent flyer award for anyone travelling regularly to Maitland.
Have you seen the logo – We can all find a mate in Maitland’
Your points are extremely valid. Selling Doherty but keeping Raul/Adama/Neves would be a decent window. I just think there are clear areas the team can be strengthened and would be heartened to see it happen. That’s just my view though – I’m enjoying the plurality of opinions on this entire thread.
We all seem to agree on signing Nuno up long term, though.
Nuno has to be the key signing and that triggers confidence in the current squad and signals stability to prospective new signings.
I don’t see Buur as Doc’s replacement, one of Rui’s key outlets has gone and Buur is not going to win the aerial duel on the half way line. Sanderson might but appears to be Cardiff bound.
Jeff Shi has said 99% of transfer gossip in the press is false but the press predicted Doc’s move (£2m signing on fee and double wages so why wouldn’t he) they’ve also reported Man City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea recruiting players in time for the new season. So all our rivals are stronger already and we are three first teamers light.
Jordao is the only player I see threatening a first team place and that would be Moutinho’s to save the old chap’s legs once in a while.
Come on Jeff , play fair with Nuno and the fans, get the cheque book out.
So we miss out on the latest hyphenated superstar, so what
Vinagre, traora, Sanderson burr and the young lad from Rochdale , add one more and Jonny gets back for Xmas and we are fine
Who can say that in one to two years time burr won’t be worth three times what a 30 year old dock is ?
I expect the start of season is going to be messy for loads of teams and hardly anyone will be happy with their squad, look at Villa , they need loads of players but very little happening.
Finally, the away shirt, I’m guessing when someone at wolves thought to get a bunch of brilliant young local artists- performers- and an international athlete together to design it ( brilliant once again from wolves) they didn’t think too long about us old fat blokes. And rightly so as far as I’m concerned,
I think it’s great , now just gotta lose a bit of winter fat before I order one
Come on you wolves
Tom Hanks spotted in Wolverhampton this morning……..
Not taking the P, just trying to lift some Chins of bloggers chests. You can’t move forwards if your’e looking down.
We need a new CB “just to maintain the previous squad level”?
Raul will be playing fewer games and so will Moutinho. Moutinho seemed to be doing well except that he was taken off the last game and we can’t be sure that wasn’t for strategic reasons rather than fatigue. How much older is he than Messi?
Listen. When you see the signings the other top teams are making, you tend to realize that we are going to be a team that is outside looking in at the top 4 or 6 and just trying to make things difficult for them.
Wolves have to grow their revenue stream and maybe North America is the most logical. Europe has its own teams and China might present a bit of a problem with the political situation but Mexico already loves Wolves I hear and there are a lot of people in the US and Canada who might become Wolves fans if they see them in a friendly in person. (I took some kid to see the Detroit Tigers 20+ years ago and he is still a Tiger fan, even though he lives in Toronto.)
Like I said elsewhere, if we keep bringing in players to develop, we are not going to get the maximum number of points and that might cost us a European place so we need to start getting fully formed players who can hit the ground running.
And like I said as well, Traore can be a RB for the first month or two if necessary and Raul can play all the games in the first month or two. Saisse can as well so as long as any new players get here before the end of the window, we can live with it.
Just my thoughts from across the big water thingy.
And Shabs will be like a new signing.
On another subject, I was sorry to read of the death of Harry Hooper. He only had one season with us in the mid 1950s, but what a season that was for him. His speed was as stunning in its day as Adama’s is now and all many fullbacks saw of him was the number on the back of his shirt. He ended up top scorer for the season and also took the penalties. The only one he missed was when Nat Lofthouse went in goal after their keeper was injured. Instead of guessing he stood still and HH shot straight at him. His finest performance came against, Preston – Tom Finney included – when we were 3-0 down with twenty minutes left. He got a hat–trick and Dennis Wilshaw got another for us to end up 4-3 winners.
His departure early the following season wasn’t explained at the time, although there were rumours. In their obituary Wolves Heroes put it down to a disciplinary matter during a close season foreign tour which sits well with the rumours. It was a shock for everyone, and a disappointment to in view of how good he’d been the over the previous season. However, his departure made an opportunity for a certain Norman Deeley – not an acquisition, but already at the club – who excited us even more, and certainly for far longer. So perhaps it. Isn’t really a different subject, just food for thought.
RIP Harry, you are still remembered, condolences to your family.
Maybe Uncle Mendes can follow our first year’s strategy under Fosun and create up a few loans with options to buy! Saves money—- very temporarly.
I go back to my original point. Fosun are specialists in investment. When they were unveiled as Wolves owners there was a stated 10 year plan. In simple terms they buy the club for 40 million quid. They invest. Make us great and sell at the optimum price. Maybe 400 million in the prem and Euro. I really cant see Guo / Jeff going in some other direction. I may be proved wrong. Let us see what happens in the foreseeable.
SIX OF THE BEST?
We’ve had a tremendous three seasons with Nuno. Onwards and upwards each season. In that time Nuno has controversially dispatched six players.
Douglas.
Cav.
Costa.
Afobe
Bennett
Doherty.
I happen to agree with the first five names and we did well financially out of them, although I’m not sure of the Bennett finances, although we bought him on a free.
I’m having trouble getting my head round the Doherty departure. It doesn’t make apparent sense, nor does the fee. I feel Nuno and/or Fosun might have been blindsided by Doc’s sudden wish to ‘better himself’. I think if we hadn’t fallen so agonisingly close on Europe qualification, Doc would have stayed. But, we wouldn’t be the first club to make a mistake with a transfer. Didn’t Fergie sell Pogba for peanuts, only to buy him back for all the money in the world?
In my view, without the encumbrance of Europe this new season, we have a golden chance to regroup with less matches and challenge strongly for 6th place, or seventh with Europe attached. The FA Cup must also be the second main target on the agenda. To do this, some of the youngsters must step up to the plate, and we must buy well in our more comfortable price range of sub-£20 mil. Given cut-price Covid transfer fees, the greatest salesman in the world is not going to sell Raul and Adama for £70 mil each to give us a wet-dream war chest. No, they will most likely stay unless we want to do a Tesco special offer of buy one, get one free. Doherty has gone cheaply, let’s not repeat that mistake.
Lots of speculation about us signing this, that and the other player but truthfully we haven’t really looked like signing anyone so it on looks as if we may well be expected to manage with what we have.
That may be just about sustainable short term if the likes of Burr, Jordao and Campana are good enough to step up but it also assumes that no one else is leaving.
Also don’t think it will be enough to keep Nuno happy so we are potentially at the top of a very slippery slope unless Fosun are going to reconfirm their ongoing intent with some positive action because at the moment the only transfer activity taking place is all outgoing.
The next fortnight will determine in which way we are headed. If there is nothing to report I will gladly accept the idea Fosun have given up. Really hope not the case. But if so. Wolves ay we. Owners come and go. Managers come and go. Wolves fans are always there regardless . I will be . Wolves ay we.
Bang on
Out Of Darkness Cometh Seats.
A well put piece of common sense.
We will still be here…or there..or nowhere.
But yes nothing stays the same ..ever.
The problems could be the owners being Chinese in this climate.
And a massive plus. The 14000 glory hunters will scuttle off back to where they came. Cor wait.
Absolutely Cheese and away tickets will be available again too.
Yes great. It was brilliant 3 years ago when it was piss easy to get a ticket for Forest away under Lamberk. Didn’t even sell out the away end. So where were they then?
The price paid by long suffering fans when clubs become successful.
People jump on me when I say I enjoyed it more in the first division.
No illusions but more fun and you could get a ticket
Firstly, thank you Chris for your well constructed post. I have become a fan who has now placed aside all my feelings of failure and when a player now leaves us I have no concerns. Since Fosun took over and Nuno was appointed all our outgoing players have been replaced with higher upgrades. Based on that fact alone I say farewell to Doc and thank him for his service and welcome his replacement whoever that may be. In Nuno I trust.
We were “linked” with Max Aarons quite a while ago. Is he still available? Would that be a suitable Doc replacement / upgrade?
No panic here, just a bit queasy.
Maitland- Niles would have been a nice addition but that ain’t happening.
How many advanced negotiations can our team handle in parallel? Who knows… but scrambling for unsold ‘ for sale’ players in October won’t leave many of us very convinced its been
A good window
I’m working on the theory that Mendes and Nuno have a solid half dozen 15-20 mil candidates and a few will Speak Portuguese
Three signings by time of Blades match is my entry to the SPL
(Signings Prediction League )
Please dog
‘Three signings by time of Blades match is my entry to the SPL’
I’m thinking on similar lines – 2/3 signings before the season starts plus another 2/3 before the transfer window closes, probably some on loan or loan with option to buy clauses.
Unfortunately the last 2 windows have yielded very little – Netto, Jordao and the seemingly incompatible Cuitrone last summer and very little since; none of the “ones for the future” seem to be impressing Nuno and indications are that we are in for more of the same with the odd piece of lunacy (Doherty) thrown in.
Unless there is a pretty rapid change of heart we look to be in reverse gear.
PJB. Spot on thank God someone else can see through the spin and bull.
There’s now reports saying that we may put Jordao our on loan back to Portugal! At this rate we’ll run out of players.
I’m not panicking (yet), but I would feel happier with the news that Nuno has signed a new contract.
With Doc I suspect old Maureen whispered in his agents ear, who then whispered in Docs. So with that in mind I’m assuming that Mendes has a few options up his sleeve for us – after all money in his pocket will be his main aim.
Great write up Chris & some very good points raised.
Come on Wolves let’s see some rapid progress here so we can carry on the big plan.
Just wondering. If Nuno has already agreed to a deal but is in Portugal, would they announce it or wait until he gets back for a photo op signing?
If he’s still in Portugal, he should get back here, sharpish. Like this evening, to avoid probable quarantine. I don’t like the noises coming from the authorities about the infection rate in Portugal, now edging up to over 20 per 100,000. That’s the yardstick when the gates slam down. on unrestricted travel.
Nuno prefers a smaller squad and we aren’t in Europe this season so we don’t really need more players – number wise.
Putting seldom-used young players on loan helps accomplish this and lowers the salary expenses while they develop.
What we do need is 4-ish new players who are ready for prime time and can challenge at their respective positions.
Freshen up the squad but also strengthen it. Wolves have been stalking the U23 squad and now need to focus on established players.
I’m suspicious that the U23 thing was a ruse to attempt to get around FFP issues.
stocking
Agreed that no Europe makes life easier. Here’s hoping we get the established players, as you’ve said.
Chris best blogg I’ve ever read on this site. I’ve raised all the issues you’ve mentioned and my concerns about Fosun and been lambasted by almost everyone on this site.
It funny how a few agree with you now it must be the way I tell it but that’s me.
I think 3 years on and Fosun have realised just how running and funding football club is. It’s never ending year on year the squad needs constant investment just to hold your own never mind challenge the top four.
It’s hit then and its hit them hard one because of Covid 19 and 2 we have over achieved with a small squad and now the fans and most importantly the manager wants to kick on and that cost money lots of money.
This isn’t ClubMed where you see returns on your in vestment year on year pre: Covid Fosun will never see a return in investment from Wolves no owner ever has until they have sold up.
IMO Fosun are having secound thoughts they have realised the enormity of owner a football club and it doesn’t look good on the balance sheets at the end of every season.
There are signs there Morgan sold Afobe to Bournmouth just before or after he put club up for sale then stopped investing in squad this transfer window will tell us a lot either way about Fosun real intentions for Wolves.
Club Med financial returns? It’s probably a basket case with the virus for some time to come. Same with Cirque du Soleil. Stopped all shows worldwide! Thomas Cook went tits up for Fosun big-time and so did the Greek international jeweller Folli Follie. I suspect Fosun are heavily invested in the sort of consumer and travel businesses ravaged by the virus. This may or not explain or confirm that Wolves are being starved of funds as a result, and have to rely on cash flow and player sales before we can buy.
l don’t think any owner has benefitted from selling up Morgan received 30 million from Fosun and donated it to one of his charity’s no return, and Sir Jack received £10 from Morgan when the great man handed over, did he invest 60 million of his own unborrowed money some return £10.
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the blog.
The problem is that it’s all speculation still – it would be good to know more about the club’s finances (I.e. is FOSUN struggling?) and whether we are going to strengthen or not. If they can quickly quash these rumours then all is well. The pursuit of AMN seemed genuine so hopefully there is at least some money there.
But because the club can’t release that sort of commercial information regarding finances, I guess only time will tell what’s really going on.
Easy to suggest that the Fosun Group could be struggling financially (with their leisure operations) but don’t forget they have a huge pharmaceutical operation (Fosunpharma) and its stock price has been booming this year…(sadly I don’t know the relative weighting of these sectors).
Only five dislikes……looks like I’ve converted a few….?
One other possibility that comes to mind should we not bring in another defender – go to a 4-4-2 system (Not sure how Nuno would react to that) but on paper we would look a bit better than a 3 -5-2 with no decent wingbacks -sorry don’t rate Vinagre and Traore that high in that position). With Dendo, Coady, Boly and Saiss at the back, Mautinho, Neves, Podence and Jota, in Midfield and Traore and Jimenez up front. There you go !! Problem solved. Let’s just pray no one gets injured for the next 6 months.
I’m a Wolves fan in my mid-40’s. Been supporting ever since the old days of the Fourth Division. Seen lots of ups and downs and I don’t get too excited when things are on the up, I don’t get too down when things are on the slide. I’d have gone insane otherwise!
If anyone thinks that Fosun, Mendes, Nuno, Doherty or anyone else cares about the club like us fans then they’re living on cloud cuckoo land. It’s all about the money full stop. Running clubs are expensive and you can make more in player trading then anywhere else. Read this article about a Reuters investigation into Fosun and Mendes.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/soccer-files-fosun/
When we can sign Moutinho for £5m then we just have to accept selling Doherty for £15m. I’m afraid it’s the price we pay for being part of this set up. I’ve never felt comfortable with it but we’ve had three stellar seasons and – fingers crossed – long may it last.
I’ll still be here supporting them when – or if – it all goes belly up.
Hello Blank.
That’s a VERY interesting article.
They say that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
It’s a sad day when buying and selling players for profit is more important to owners than the success of their club.
Fosun are a BIG business and are obviously out to make money from their investment.
There are a couple of things that make me think that they might be in it for more than just financial gain though.
What they have done for the NHS in Wolverhampton – a large amount of money spent on PPS etc which they didn’t have to do – and the fact that Jeff Shi has moved over here to live. He could have handled the financial side of things from anywhere in the World.
The other one is my natural optimism. (Har har!).
Let’s hope I’m right.
I’m starting to enjoy my free lunch and don’t want the bill to arrive.
Not yet.
Great article, thank you for sharing, and it does add a lot of context to the deals we’ve done.
I wrote a blog here called “A Dangerous Triangle” back in 2017 that alludes to some of the concerns if you buy into this model and it doesn’t work out on the pitch. So far, so good. Just hoping the trading merry-go-round swings a few new faces our way.
Hello Blank,
Thanks a million for your post. That article is very, very interesting indeed. Food for a lot of thought.
It’s interesting that we haven’t replaced Thelwell/dalrymple. And Jeff Shi has assumed the roles. Looks like the Chinese want to keep it in house. Jeff Shi is the link to Shanghai. It’s all a bit uncertain at the minute but intriguing too. You can’t really compare the traditional set up to what is going on now at WV1. That Fosun have loads of money is not the issue. It is what they are doing with it in terms of Wolverhampton Wanderers that concerns us. Will be interesting to see what happens next. Options. They sell up and move on. They invest in players in line with stated objectives. They do nothing. Which will not serve them well in any way shape or form. I reckon the middle option. Wolves ay we.
Very interesting article, but also a lot of conjecture regarding unpublished emails and “facts” backed up only with “no comment” type .”evidence”. All this was was investigated 2 years ago when Villa and Leeds cried foul.
Of course Fosun are in it for the money and there is little doubt that there is some truth in there but surely we all knew that. Think it’s also worth bearing in mind the amount of global exposure Fosun receive through WWFC.
I don,t think they are giving up, but for understandable business reasons they are clearly tightening the purse strings – hopefully only in the short term, so it could be damage limitation for a couple of years.
“Wheels within wheels” is nothing new, ask any politician or UEFA official.
And if you feel aggrieved by Jorge’s machinations ask Valencia supporters what they think of him.
Hi PJB Sorry but I don’t understand your Valencia comment mate.
Could you expand on it please for the less informed bloggers like me?
Cheers
Geoff
Geoff
Read a while back in our early Mendes days out of Valencia that we should be aware that “what Jorge gives he also takes away.” Would appear to fit the bill in the Mendes / Mourinho / Doherty triangle where the Doherty fee appears to be well below market value (imo). But on balance I think we would all agree that thus far we have done rather well with Uncle Jorge at our side.
Thanks, PJB – makes sense now and I agree that we haven’t done too badly under Uncle Jorge.
Just want Nuno to sign his contract extension and I’ll relax a bit!
UTW!
Thumbs up to the Nuno comment Geoff.
This is the passion and commitment Nuno has instilled into players At Molineux, I pray that the lad gets a game with the England side.
A bloody great watch, and his full interview is terrific too.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/premier-league/12061471/coady-phone-call-ill-never-forget
May as well post the interview too…
https://amp.sportsmole.co.uk/football/wolves/news/conor-coady-my-family-thought-my-wife-was-pregnant-as-i-delivered-england-news_412593.html
Conor Coady the complete antidote to the cynical accountant-based view of football.
Playing football purely for the love of the game. Wouldn’t swap him for any 100 million pound player.
A much more talented player than his predecessor as captain Danny Baath, but cut from the same cloth as a human being. We have been very lucky to have these lads in our dressing room.
Man City fans don’t seem too upset that they haven’t finalized the deal for Lionel Messi yet so why are we worrying?
Not too sure of the point that you are trying to make here, Tim, so perhaps you would elucidate.
Man City fans seem to think there is plenty of time left in the window to buy players. Why don’t Wolves fans have the same feeling when the window for both teams is the same?
We don’t need added depth for the first few games – a small squad will be fine. The only real issue is if Adama can’t play for a week or two – who plays right wing-back?
Note: These are just my opinions and not intended to tell Nuno how to do his job.
Now that I think of it, is Raul playing for Mexico? I don’t think they are doing anything now so that is something different from last season.
You’ve been told before, Tim, of the perils of thinking.
If we had Man City’s squad, I’d think there was plenty of time too.
And Man City have also bought two already for a combined £75 million or so.
Talking of Man City see they have cancelled work on one of there stands to get capacity due to the financial climate.
Hi Tim are you the same as Timothy Tim on the Molineux Mix.
No. I don’t go there. Unless it is very occasional.
Ok thanks .
Because we have lost two of our first choice back line with no replacements in sight.
Apparently, we are trying, if the Arsenal player story is true so it’s not as if we aren’t planning on replacing at least one of them before the window shuts.
Couldn’t agree more JackoMac. Coady reminds me of Emlyn Hughes and the huge impact he made in his short time with us. I think Emlyn was quoted as saying he would walk to London on broken glass to play for his country. Another great leader of men and role model, taken before his time.
Nicely written Chris. Agree entirely.
Hi. Can anyone advise on season tickets. I am reading on a few forums that STHs have paid £38 odd. I see nothing on the club site.
Don’t know what they are paying £38 for Brompton. I’ve not seen or heard anything and wouldn’t be surprised if there are no season tickets this coming season. The only contact I’ve had is to enquire who is in my bubble for potential match attendance.
Yeah, I got that too but nothing more. Thanks.
I think the £38 is membership
Can anybody else on here remember the days when almost every transfer we were linked with had a Sunderland connection and Irish grandparents.
These days the connection is Athletico Madrid and Portuguese.
Funny how quickly you get used to the change from cloggss to slippers.
The good old days of Mick McCarthy when Stephen Ward ‘s name was printed on the team sheet to save Mick writing it in.
How does the old song go, those were the days my friend, I thought they’d never end…
Irrespective of where we end up at the end of the transfer window we will now undoubtedly start the season in a sub optimal position in terms of playing strength. Given recruitment is an “ all year round process “ and the recruitment team is spending “day and night “ on the issue and Jeff now “50%” of his time, we really need to start asking ourselves as a club whether there is a more effective process and structure we could adopt. To be a “global brand “ and a leading light in world football every aspect of the club has to be heading in that direction. On the evidence of the last two windows and the current one, you have to say ours currently isn’t. Consistently slow out of the blocks and with no clearly communicated strategy of filling the obvious squad weaknesses, Nuno must be becoming an increasingly frustrated man. Next few weeks will be critical but his first press conference in the run up to the new season will be highly illuminating. I’d put good money on journalists asking 3 questions 1) why haven’t you signed a new contract yet.? 2) How would you evaluate your pre season recruitment? 3) on what basis did you sanction the sale of Matt Doherty? No crisis but not the actions of a club wanting to become a world force in my opinion.
Sutton well thought out a written Blog could not have put it better.Jeff Shi over the last 12 months has become Director of Football, Managing Director , head of recruitment oh and not forgetting chairman, what’s the saying ” a jack of all trades master of none”
It’s so unprofessional the way we recruite players and painfully slow.
You forgot to mention programme seller Paul.
No club or business of our size should have one man in so many roles. There may be something extremely narcissistic in this. Or, Jeff has been allowed or ordered to assume those different roles to prevent requests for expenditure that would have been made by the former holders of those positions. Trouble is, the people who have left have probably signed non-disclosure agreements, and can’t speak out now. ,
Excellent post. If Fosun don’t back Nuno again this window, Jorge will have no problem in finding a club for Nuno with ambitions for a ‘project’.
RIP FRED DAVIES
The transfer window closes on 5th October. Its 3rd September.
That is true Cheesey, however by the closure of the window the first 4 rounds of epl fixtures will have been completed and we will have had to navigate 3 rounds of the carabao cup, assuming we want to try and win that this year. Competing at the top is based on fine margins. To be potentially under resourced for 7 games represents c 10-15% of our season this year as a consequence of not being in Europe. To put it in perspective, we missed out on the champions league by 8 points last season, effectively 3 games where we didn’t get it right. Our season starts in 12 days and we have to hit the ground running. As Linford Christie used to say if you want to win the race you have to be ready to go on the B of the Bang of the starting pistol.
Sorry, my mistake only 10 days to go to start of season not 12 as I incorrectly stated
I always find your posts very sensible and interesting Sutton Coldfield wolf.
With regard to your most recent one, is it your opinion that the club’s recruitment structure and process has suddenly declined or do you feel it probably hasn’t been up to scratch ever since Fosun took over?
Secondly, it would seem entirely logical to me to expect that Nuno has regular discussions with Jeff about first team recruitment. Nuno makes clear what his requirements are, Jeff tells him how much money is available and between them they review and agree objectives with Nuno having the final say on a player. I don’t see any other sensible approach to first team recruitment. Do you think this is the process which is followed?
Thanks for the post Bioko, I think part of the reason why it is not perhaps working effectively is the constrained resource that supports it. Firstly, a lot of our activity in recruitment seems to be focussed on the acquisition of “ ones for the future” as opposed to first team recruitment. I have nothing against that but there needs to be a better balance. Secondly, when targets are identified for the first team, it seems there needs to be a triumvirate of agreement between 3 individuals, two of whom are very time constrained. For example, Jeff shi has multiple roles and Jorge Mendes has multiple interests and this surely must elongate decision making timescales. Thirdly, I’m not sure the process is potentially as straightforward as you describe. Fosun are an investment group and I think some our recruitment is driven from that view point rather than just what the first team needs. For example, why was the acquisition of Podence prioritised over a back up to jimenez in the January window? Why have we Reportedly reached agreement for a full back to go into our u23s (Gomes)but not brought in a replacement for Doherty? Part of the problem is that communication to fans on transfer strategy is not particularly transparent and the reality is that none of us really knows how as a club we target and acquire players.
Hi Sutton
Do you think that there should be a transparent strategy to the fans regarding transfers ?
I can’t see any advantage in a club doing this .
I’m holding all judgment on our recruiting until October 5 but still feeling confident of top 6
Great discussions atm on this thread though
Utw
Hi Marney, I can’t see what harm it would do for nuno or Jeff to say we are looking for a right/ left back, a midfielder, a centre forward etc And quantify the ideal number of signings we are aiming to make in the window. I wouldn’t expect them to volunteer size of budget nor the profile of player they would be looking for in those positions as that tips off competitors. Unfortunately with the veil of secrecy over our transfers, as fans, we have no insight to evaluate success or otherwise. Hence we come to the situation we find ourselves in where nuno says we need players and then we scratch our heads seeing no incomings and players leaving on loan or permanent with just over a week to the start of the season. I do accept that you can only truly evaluate at the end of the window but whereas you can see a clear strategy on the field of play our transfer policy off it is far less clear In my view
“We REALLY need a right-back and a left-back”. “OK, I’ll just raise the asking price by 10 million Euros”.
In negotiating, you don’t want the other guy to know how badly you need the product.
Most of us have a good idea of what we could use in the way of player additions and Wolves will buy according to that and the deal they can get. It might not be perfect but it will be good within their value strategy.
I just hope they are focusing on players who can step right in and improve the team rather than stocking the U23s.
Note: I am in no way trying to tell Jeff and Nuno how to do their jobs. These are just my opinions.
Tim I think you’ve employed a bit of creative hyperbole in the use of REALLY. It will be plain to anyone with a passing interest in football that we need full backs with one out injured and the other just sold.in fact if you really want to screw yourself over from a negotiating point of view wolves have just done that with Doherty. They would have had far more leverage in the market if they had acquired before selling Doherty now the market knows we REALLY need a replacement
Fair points Sutton , I suppose this season I’m expecting extraordinary circumstances of covid and a small window will see loads of business done after the start of the season, I’m also confident of a good return on our first half dozen games ( I don’t see many first team players doing much at all in carabao for any prem team) so I’m not too concerned
It will be an interesting season that’s great sure and I’m more than confident of top 6
Utw
Agreed Sutton to a point but if they make it public to us the fans, then surely they also notify all other clubs how they work.
Adama’s second COVID-19 test came back negative.
It would seem we all have to slow down a lot not a little a lot.
We have over achieved to the plan and are getting way infront of ourselves and its obvious the investment wasnt meant to be that way .
We aren’t owned by arabs waist deep in cash to throw away and buying success was never going to be fosuns plan.
A planned strategy of investment and improvement was designed and imo is being adhered to. The fact we over achieved is creditable and expectation levels from supporters has gone through the roof but when you are talking hundreds of millions of pounds to be found to take us to the next level it simply isnt available just like that.
I personaly think the project is still well on track and nuno will sign his new contract shortly but new additions to the squad will take time and unfortunately the level we are at from an investment point of view does not allow us to go out and pay extortion amounts of money to just buy who we would like willy nilly.
Stay with the plan and calm down your expectations as we will not be in europe this season expect a good cup run and a top ten finish will happen as we have that sort of quality in the squad but dont expect miracles .
We will not set the world on fire just yet but fosun are building something that will last a long time and after the huge dissapointment of the last twenty odd years i for one can wait a couple more to see it.
And i will .
Excellent post Spikey, player acquisition is not a game of chess where a logical pattern can be met. We don’t want to pay over the odds( been there too often) and clubs don’t want to lose their players with potential. You can’t always acquire the players you want for a variety of reasons and to purchase wholesale as in the Zenga era is a lottery- not Nunos style. I am of the mind of what goes up quick will very likely come down quick too. Let’s build sensibly and sustain our position in the PL.
Brilliant Spikey
Totally agree. Jeff Shi said as much on the Wolves official site only 10/14 days ago. Signings haven’t been ruled out. They will go for them if they are right and improve the squad. Nuno said the same. ‘That’s what we will do”. Yet again nice to see some sensible viewpoints on this blog from all sides. Just goes to show this blog is the best.
Terrific post Spikey.
Brilliant post spikeyboy still a month from transfer window closing and our squad are more than capable of coping with the first month.
We will bring in players but pressure from fans to make quick signings isn’t helping
Fosun are still paying all staff with no help from handouts which is enough To give me confidence in their intentions
Keep the faith
Avoid negativity ( we ain’t never had it so good)
And come on you mighty wolves
As I see things, the main problem with Doherty leaving is that, because of the paltry aggregate of goals scored by our midfielders, he was our main goal threat outside of the front three.
To achieve more of a goal threat from non forwards both Neto and Traore will be doubling up as wing backs with Podence and Jota taking places alongside Raul. Now that really would be an attacking formation. Watch this space……
Is Neto better defensively than Vinagre at wing-back?
Vinaigre’s defensive ability is hardly his strength and in my opinion Neto adds much more going forward. Also, particularly at home, at least one of our central defenders becomes virtually redundant so the defensive capability of a wing back is less of an issue.
Correct!
That comment is posted in completely the wrong place and therefore makes no real sense!!!
But it is very positive. I think we should drop one word positive posts in at regular intervals to lift morale.
🙂
Mmmm, that didn’t work.
Should have been ‘smiley face’.
Changing the subject, and the ball, I’ve just been watching a great T20 win by England against the Old Enemy.
It’s almost as good as beating the shadow dwellers from sandwell.
Roll on next season!
Yes. What was it Steve Waugh used to say about the Poms. ‘Mental disintegration ‘. Think we just saw a bit of that amongst the Aussies. Jolly good.
Yes mate
He also said first is first
Second is nowhere
Until we started beating them again of course
Wow! Just been reading Wolves have beaten Hull 37 -12 despite ‘ squad worries’. I know Hull are shit these days but that is just ridiculous. ….. ooops sorry… rugby league.
BREAKING NEWS: WOLVES SIGN STOCKLEY PARK. Jeff Shi said ” Although often controversial we believe this signing will guarantee us 15 extra points per season. I am really chuffed. ” ….
MEMO TO THOMAS
Would it be a good idea to have these posts in the opposite order, i.e. most recent first? That’s the usual way with online boards etc. I don’t always want to see what I’ve seen several times before.
Yes, good idea.
And also reinstate the edit function.
It’s roley anniying wen I upland a pist with spooling mistooks in it.
Good to see you picked up a few tricks at the school of hard knocks followed by the University of Life!
I think the current order of proceedings on this blog can be a deterrent to posting, especially when we’ve just beaten the Shite 5-1 or something and there’s a million posts on here to scroll through.
Agreed about the edit function too. I really have to watch what I’m posting without the safety valve!
ANOTHER MEMO TO THOMAS
The posting method on Express & Star is the gold standard system now.
Well I disagree with both of you.
I like to scroll through all the posts time after time, to read my posts over and over, and to see how many dislikes I get.
Keep up the good work, Thomas.
Big day for Connor hopefully.
I just been on bbc pick the England team. I could not get a good team for 3-4-3 though. The left side is hard to pick.
I dismissed the villa losers obviously. Lot of kids which might be good for the future.
Oh well it’s only Iceland.
Excellent!
Regarding Fosuns ongoing commitment to our club. I have little doubt that Uncle Jorge will fully understand Fosun’s stance with everything what’s going on. He represents many of our very best players, who only came because of Fosuns ambition. If Uncle Jorge believed Fosun was wavering, I think we would be hearing a lot more about the likes of Ruben Neves, Raul and Diogo pushing for a move. I think it’s very reassuring that we aren’t.
Must be the south west air brilliant logical post.
You can watch Wolves this evening in a warm up match against Croatia it’s on Sky Sports red button at 19.45.
We watched Wolves Vs Middlesboro the other night, 2-1 Wolves, Neves and Doc sent off, Traroe on their side gave us the run around.
Cav and Helda scoring.
Wolves fans sounding epic.
That’s where I first saw Traore and couldn’t believe his speed, I remember thinking that I wish we had him in our side!
Theres a rumour that allegedly, Supposedly, possibly, maybe, could be, that Pepe, 23 year old winger from Gremio in Brazil has his agent flying in to talk with Wolves.
He’s supposedly a lightning fast winger in the Traore ilk. Imagine that scenario, back to the Wolves glory days of Wharton and Wagstaffe, I’d be in heaven.
Thought you had fallen out of love with Waggy….you don’t use his picture anymore!
I can’t change my avatar since I changed to Sky internet.
I did ask Thomas but got no reply.
I have to sign in on Blueyonder to show my avatar and it’s a pain in the butt sometimes.
Tim Spiers
@TimSpiers
· 13m
Porto forward Fabio Silva set to be announced as a Wolves player later today. Massive club record fee of around £35m for the 18-year-old #WWFC
“The teenager also made history by becoming the club’s youngest Primeira Liga goalscorer at 17 years and three months, beating previous record holder Ruben Neves with an 88th minute goal against league-leaders Famalicao after being brought on as a substitute, just two minutes prior to the finish.”
I hope Ruben doesn’t hold a grudge over this.
https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-meet-the-125m-teenage-prodigy-who-is-being-compared-to-ronaldo-20200823.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true
Fabio Silva,
Fabio Silva,
He likes the Pastel de nata,
He likes the Bacalhau,
The lads fucking magic,
1,2,3,4
Unbelievable – fantastic – yet again for the nth time in three years we are re-writing our future.
Well Jeff, someone knows what they are doing!
His nickname will undoubtedly be Fab… Or even Ab Fab. Well done to Fosun and Nuno.
One in the eye for all the doubters Jack Of All Trades is he.
Yea right.
Wolves Aye We
Jeff has found time from programme sales duties to address the new player issues!
How does he do it Woodend!!
Hysteria over……
Not a bad start in the transfer market… £35 million for another .. ‘wonder kid from PORTO…..’
Clearly now the onus has shifted in that ….
ATTACK is the best form of DEFENCE…..
Who’s next we ask….
Thanks FOSUN….. Wolves Ay we.
I think what this shows is don’t doubt the words of an official Wolves source . Like I said earlier in a post above. Jeff Shi would not make a public declaration without intention. Jeff doesn’t make many public statements so when he does I think the lesson is we should not doubt them. The mood music appears to be more signings are in the pipeline. And if you believe anything you see in the press then think again.
T’wood appear he be eth a goal scoring attacking midfielder, a la Kenny Hibbitt
Just what the doc ordered.
Oh, he’s no longer with us.
Matt who?
Strange how euphoria overtakes melancholy so quick, innit?
Love this quote, “Hi Ho Silva Signing”
https://mobile.twitter.com/Wolves/status/1302279076393242625?s=19
If Mourinho thinks Dier is a centre half then Matt will never get out of his own half trying to pick up the pieces.
…. and as for Walker, dog what a cretin, doubt he will be picked for ingerland again.
Good job Greasy dae come on for England . It would have froze his f**king hair.
It’s not the signing of young Fabio per se which is so important. It’s the message it sends to we fans. About commitment. About ambition. About a vision.
Many, many of us will sleep easier in our beds tonight.
lt’s that south west air again.
ZZZZZZ!!!!!
Well, well, well
If £35 million for an 18 year old isn’t a declaration of intent to “the project” I don’t know what is. They never cease to surprise us do they?
.
And all the arseholes on twitter can f**k off. The official words from Jeff Shi on Wolves FC are quite strong and direct. Fosun are here to back Nuno. Now f**k off and let’s get on with it. Wolves ay we.
Don’t sugar coat it Cheese be more direct mate.
Jeff Is King
Dorset. Wolves ay we. Just gets me really pissed off at times. Here we have a team finishing top 7 twice . Best team since the 1950″s and still the f**Kin clowns at happy
Cheese l know mate it gets to you but we rise above they probably haven’t been were we have all been bottom of the 4th.
Wolves Aye We
Good Ist Portugal goal from Diogo, get in there boy.
To all the naysayers, moaners, whingers and general anti fans I say:
Far Queue.
Far Cough.
Farkin Toldya.
Totally changing the subject, as its almost midnight over there, a most big Happy Birthday to the old fart of old farts himself…….
Lord Scooped of Ludlow, otherwise known as my best good friend John, father of Ben and all round good egg.
Have a great day tomorrow/today, and what a lovely present from Jeff!
Hi Ho Silva signing indeed!
FOwb, eat that ya bastids.
So this is a Fosun paid for signing or is it coming from the money from the sale of Costa, Cavaleiro, Doherty, and Cutrone?
If it’s from Fosun – great. If it is just money from the sale of our players, then it is not a “considerable investment”.
I want clarification before I get too excited.
Still a good signing but let’s wait until we see how much else is spent because this doesn’t prove a thing on its own.
Always the cynic.
Doesn’t really matter where the money came from Tim, its the fact that we’ve spent it and he’s coming to us that counts. Who’s to say others aren’t in the offing?
I’m just saying Jeff said they were investing. Are they? If it comes from Wolves’ own pocket, then they (Fosun) are not investing and it is just business as usual.
If it is from Fosun, then look for another few players to come in.
There is a difference between Fosun expecting Wolves to be self-sufficient and Fosun throwing in 35 million pounds to help out. And they can do that every year and still comply with FFP.
I’m confused has this lad been brought to go in the first team or under23’s……bearing in mind he’s only 18…..?
At £35m, where do you think Paul?
Just look at what Jeff said 14 days ago. Cautious review of the market. Buy when we feel it is right. The inference is the total backing of WWFC. BLIMEY. sometimes it is fucking hilarious on here.
Jeff’s got him to help programme sales obvious !!!
He may have to take a shift flipping burgers too if Jeff gets under pressure from his day job?
Smell the coffee everyone, its blast off.
He did play in Porto’s title winning team this season, and they ain’t no mugs. So I would imagine they think that, after the usual bedding in period, he’ll be fighting for a first team place.
So ……….. I was correct to make my earlier statement.
I no longer worry about us failing to deliver and look forward to the start of the new season with confidence.
£35 Millon on a 18 year old from Porto is a statement I hope he’s worth every penny. He wasn’t on anyone’s radar certainly haven’t heard of him prior to today he has ‘nt been mentioned in the media.
Is he up to going into the first team and the Premier League time will tell.
Be nice to see a few more new faces before season starts replacements for Jonny and Doc plus a midfielder.
He’s on the bench mate
Probably get lots of game time this season I reckon as he is playing above his pay grade
Let’s just hope nobody gets on his back if he hasn’t scored in his first three games
Utw
The most important thing about this signing isn’t that it shuts up all the moaners and doubters ,
It isn’t that it reminds everyone
A g a I n. To ignore negative media bull****
It’s that Jeff said our main aim is to get the players that nuno wants to evolve the team . Nuno contract signing announcement coming soon me thinks
This lad will get around 20 appearances in the first team this season I think, maybe even giving Raul a rest now and then too
Come on you wolves
Whether Fabio works out or not and I sincerely hope he does, this is definitely a statement of intent and Jeff, Nuno et al should be congratulated for their ambition and bravery in making such a signing. I’ve been critical of the lack of communication to fans about transfer objectives but I guess this reinforces the view of others to just let wwfc get on with it. The one thing that is consistent about Fosun is that they rarely fail to surprise so who knows what will now happen between now and the end of the window. More incomings? You would definitely hope so. For a lot of money? Potentially, given Jeff’s comments about nuno setting a very high bar on quality. More outgoings? Who knows.
Ex wolverhampton journalist and Wolves expert Tim Spiers latest tweet is that Wolves are confident of 2 more signings next week. Spiers is usually accurate with all things Wolves. We will see. Sorry for my unsavoury outburst last night. Had been in the pub from 3pm England game etc and had more than enough beer!
You speak more sense after a beer than some on this site. A ‘like’ from me.
lt’s called passion Cheese no apologise needed or expected keep safe.
Wolves Aye We
Cheese yours is the most consistent voice on this site. Use all the language you like mate you still speak more sense than many. Anyway you were entitled to be cross after watching the England game.
Not a scintilla of unsavoury about your post mr cheeseburger
Come on you wolves
Cast your cloaks of doubt for we are in safe hands .
Look forwards not back Keep the faith the plan is working .
Jesus christ even im shocked by this one !
Rock on fosun i love you. xxx
Joe Edwards from the E & S has tweeted that Fernando Marcal from Lyon is the next to be announced. Experienced defender! His Wikipedia page already states he plays for Wolves. Things look to be moving fast now.
If true then I think he’d be a back up as he’s 13 years too old compared to Silva.
They are stating £2.5m, so definitely a back up for Jonny if true.
Bloody great piece of work if it comes true.
Bennett did us proud for a couple of seasons for a free transfer, so why not.
226
Is that a record?
Utw
In the news Marcal is at Compton having a Medical today.
Easy to see why we’re looking at him, this will confuse attackers no end.
Saiss look a like.
Marcal just signed.
No 2 done
You have great eyesight.
You have great eyesight.
Well thank you Tim.
One more due.
Bring him on.
Spiers saying midfielder on loan announced tomorrow..
Not absolutely sure Marçal will be a back-up for anyone. Fresh from Champions League football playing all lockdown games including beating Citeh and making semi final.
Can also play centre-back . Looks like we are going to have some real competition.
Fingers crossed we land Tomas Esteves he looks a real talent.
Two fantastic signings…thats me wrong:thankfully
Was just a tad nervous.. the old wolves philosophy creeping back in
Leeds is now in the Premier League and now we are getting spy photos of Wolves signings.
Co-incidence?
I live in one of those terraced houses on Waterloo road Tim.
Too good an opportunity to miss mate.
Got an old box brownie with one of those telephoto lens attachments whotsits on, Jeff Shi has a nasty cold sore on his upper lip.
Changed my mind now on closer inspection, he looks like Karl Henry.
Did you just move there this year?
Astute business by Wolves.
Costa £ 16 million. £10 million promotion bonus from Leeds and Fulham from Cavaleiro and Costa sales for promotion. £15 million for Doherty. Plus income from other sales, eg Milandra and Cutrone?
That makes income of at least £41 million from sales.
£35/36 million for Silva and £1.8 million for Marca.£1.5 million to Bohemians.
Impressive.
I think you are forgetting the Cavaleiro 15-ish million pounds.
I thought that sale and payment was along time ago.
I was reflecting on sales and income since the end of the season .Leeds did not have to pay for Costa until the season ended.
My comment. was in regard to Jeff Shi’s reported statement about needing to sell in order to buy.
However, I understand that the cash from the earlier sale of Cavaleiro could have been languishing in HSBC and so be a part of the thinking.
Well I hope EVERY blogger is feeling a bit happier after the events of the last 48 hours. And hopefully the next 48. I know I am. Anyone see Doc playing for Ireland tonight?
You’re always happy Cheesey. Come what may.
Two in and at least one more to come next week and my SPL prediction is home and dry
I know we’d all like a glimpse of the shopping list but … really? Did we know ahead about Neves? Moutinho?
No
It’s all going to be just fine ….
(I’d take Messi on a free BTW)
Carabao cup draw just fine
OODCL
7 days to go…..
Share your sentiments on the new player front- to use an analogy- much better to have a surprise Xmas present from a loved one and enjoy unwrapping than something which has been the rounds in the media for weeks. More chance of me playing for WWFC than Messi.
Thank you very Sutton Coldfield wolf for your prompt reply to my questions of a few days ago.
Shortly after receiving the good news from our beloved leader ( may his tribe increase) on Saturday afternoon the Galway Girl and I feasted on a three course evening meal of Mushroom soup, Sausage and Mash with Onion Gravy and Apple Crumble with home-made Custard. We then repaired to the lounge where, sitting close to the fire and sipping something warming, we enjoyed, with closed eyes, Yehudi Menuhin’s playing of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. So great was our joyful humour we followed this by dancing a Slow Foxtrot to the dreamy air of ‘What a Difference a Day Makes.’ The Galway Girl then sang to me in a voice sweet as a nightingale’s, and accompanied by her playing of the timpan, a few beloved ditties of the Emerald Isle. Finally, late into the evening, we retired to our bed safe in the knowledge that Wolverhampton Wanderers is in good hands and, no doubt like many other of the faithful both nearby and far away, slept far better than we had done for some considerable time.
As someone has already said, your lifting the standard of this blog Bilco.
Keep em coming
Utw