24 Apr 2025 07:39:12
{Ed's Note - Philip_hunter2003 has posted a new article entitled, Football Finances Simplified
Wolves Banter
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24 Apr 2025 08:31:01
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23 Apr 2025 16:41:21
Like most I support Wolves as it's my home team. My old man said supporting them work prepare me for the after life as it's like purgatory.
The time we had under Dave Jone and Mad Mike gave some smiles and then Nuno took us to a different level. Fosun MUST support VP in the summer if they truly want success. I believe could in a couple of season get us back in Europe, now that would be great.
The bones of the team are solid with a decent back three, two very good midfielders and a striker with a bit of confidence.
If I could be so bold and suggest we need a pace up from to support JSL . If we stick with wing backs then we need back up either from within or recruitment.
Additional back up in midfield and a Goalkeeper
23 Apr 2025 17:56:50
Unfortunately Jeff Shi does not want success
23 Apr 2025 20:29:29
Rubbish QS. Of course Fosun and Shi want a successful club like all of us. We'll get more of an idea which direction Fosun want to take us in the summer. This current team under VP is as good as the team under Nuno IMO and next season we'll climb the table and certainly be in the top 10. I guess though that your glass is half full and we'll be selling Cuhna, J Gomes, RAN, Andre, and possibly Aga. Oh yeah and VP walks one week before the season starts. Come on guys. We've won 5 games on the trot. Level points with MUFC ( Done the double over them) and now above WH and Spurs who both have spent fortunes. Relegation is no longer a threat despite you predicting it would go to the wire. We have a lot to be optimistic about. There's no doubt there will be some senior players leaving Wolves this summer, but I'm confident replacements will be equal or better than those we lose. It won't be J Gomes, Andre, or Aga either. These players are pivotal to our success and VP won't allow these to leave. We're also in negotiations with Semado and I expect we may keep him for at least another season.
23 Apr 2025 21:22:34
Personally, I'd let Cunha go if that's what he wants and use the money to buy Yuri Alberto from Corinthians and Mohamed Amoura from Werder Bremen at £25m each.
23 Apr 2025 21:51:52
I think what QS means Blackfords is that Jeff/Fosun's interpretation of 'success' might look a bit different to what the fans would like to see.
Success to them may simply mean financial independence whilst maintaining a spot in the Premier League. The fans inevitably will want more but as you say the Summer will give us a better understanding of what is likely to happen.
24 Apr 2025 06:36:06
We are all second guessing Long on our Owners expectations from this tiny bit of their Empire.
What we do know is we have a good Footballing Director, and excellent manager and the foundations for a strong squad. Also Mr Guangchang cares enough to come over to bail us out (again) in January.
For me sadly, they don't care enough to give us an active CEO to grow the Club. It appears the current occupant is just a passive Representative of Fosun.
23 Apr 2025 07:39:11
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Leicester City v Liverpool - A Quick Liverpool Perspective
22 Apr 2025 21:59:24
Interesting topic on the BBC which midfield pairing would you rather have Gomes and Andre or Neves and Moutinho.
What do each pairing bring?
Which are the safest? etc.
Just a fun discussion
For me it is Gomes and Andre as I prefer the faster style of play.
How about the rest of you
22 Apr 2025 22:46:52
Always felt that having a defensive midfielder as your best player slowed things a bit as Neves was a ball magnet. However, Neves and Moutinho were World class and they showed it on many an occasion, so, it has to be them for me.
23 Apr 2025 08:20:16
Brilliant Q.
Andre and Gomes are going to get better and for me Gomes is by far the most progressive of the 4 giving a better balance perhaps?
However Moutinho and Neves were as Long say world class and the current two are not there yet - although still amongst the very best in the Prem so I'd go for the old boys.
How fantastic though that we have managed to sign 5 - Lemina was top top draw as well until GON ruined him - high class mids over the past few years.
Well done the recruitment team!
23 Apr 2025 09:09:58
Great question! Both paira were/are class in their own way. But I'm going to cheat, cause I think watching Gomes and Neves play together would have been an absolute dream! It would have let Rueben push forward a little more and given us the best of both worlds work rate (Gomes) and technical genius (Ruben)! COYW 🐺
24 Apr 2025 08:01:35
Interesting take on Lemina, Future. O'Neil certainly did mess him about by playing him in all sorts of positions but top drawer? For me he was generally solid and dependable (what we were missing when we bought him), ie typical journeyman that he is.
22 Apr 2025 19:31:45
Apparently, VP's record at Wolves, if replicated from the start of the season, would have us in fifth place at the moment.
23 Apr 2025 08:27:11
And from a standing start - i.e. no preseason to get to know/drill the team. Yerson will also be back to strengthen the defence.
It makes you think that if we kept the team together we could be a successful side next year and maybe even challenge for Europe/trophies.
But Jeff has persuaded Cunha and seemingly lots of the fans that we aren't a team that wins things. Sadly therefore in part also due to his financial incompetence we will not keep the team together and thus almost certainly won't win things.
Guess Jeff will be right after all!
23 Apr 2025 09:56:36
Come on TFIOG1 that post is really negative. Who knows what will happen in the summer, but one thing is pretty certain we will find out Fosun's intentions. VP has put himself in an incredibly good position. As you point what a turnaround to our season from a standing start. He only has 12 months of his contract remaining so my guess is it wouldn't cost that much for interested parties to buy it out if Fosun don't back him this summer and that includes not selling our best players. Why on earth would he allow that to happen without himself walking, hence why I'm saying we'll know Fosun's intentions in the summer. Regarding the sale or proposed sale of Cuhna I know he almost single handedly saved us from certain relegation under GON, but VP has created a team ethic now and not just a one or two player outfit. I can understand why Cuhna only signed that contract with what is an incredibly low release clause for his calibre of player. My guess is he was so frustrated about GON's style of management, selection, and overall team performance and lack of team discipline. Don't forget Cuhna did cost us a place in the Semi's of the FA cup. Another source of income!
I'm not even sure he'll go to MU and if he does we get other players in who want to play for us. There's always another Cuhna out there!
I know you keep bashing Shi and you're far more knowledgeable in the financial area than me, but from what I read MU can really only afford Cuhna based on selling some of their player such as Rashford. Villa might be able to afford his transfer fee, but not I would think his reported wages. Also Sancho, Anthony. All over paid failures or cause unrest in team moral so maybe Shi isn't that bad afterall. With a bit of luck and if reports are accurate we'll offload our Deadwood in the summer. Another reason to be optimistic.
23 Apr 2025 10:33:47
We're at a very real crossroads in the history of our club I think, and it's Jeff in the driving seat!.
Where does he want to go? Is he simply a Sunday afternoon driver? Does he have a destination in mind? Does he want to travel as far as he can, or just park up?
Come on Jeff let us belted in passengers know what the rides likely to be.
23 Apr 2025 13:00:54
Interesting, how positive our conversations now are about how we would like our future to be, compared to how it would have been in the Championship.
23 Apr 2025 13:30:49
Some good points Blackfords and a great analogy Abbey so let's just hope Jeff's destination isn't sh*t creek again.
I think those of us who follow matters both on and off the pitch all realise that this Summer will be the best indicator of Fosun's ongoing intentions for the club.
23 Apr 2025 17:15:25
Black - sorry yes it is.
Some of you know that after retiring from a career in finance and education I now run a walking business based on history.
I am therefore very interested in history and the Wolves situation reminds me of a brilliant quote from Churchill. Paraphrased it went something like - "if you don't learn from history you keep making the same mistakes".
For the last 2 years we have sold our best players: Neves and Neto and despite the losses clearly hurting the team I have no faith that we won't do the same thing again this year and lose Cunha - which in my opinion will hurt the team badly.
Will he learn from that?
I have no faith he will ever learn and eventually it will be fatal for the club!
Now that is dark!
23 Apr 2025 18:56:10
One man never makes a team, Tfig. I'm not worried about Cunha chasing medals and cash, if, and it's thr proverbial if, the money recieved is allowed to be spent on VP's choices.
If Jeff wants the dosh then expect j gomez, samedo, RAN, Sa, Hwang possibly Andre and ultimately vitor to go. That would break the club tho and to be honest I can't see Jeff
doing that.
It may well be the stale prem survival approach he takes, wouldn't it be great to think he'd support VP, give him the necessary to build something special tho, but I think you'll be right in the quote tfig, history is likely to repeat it self.
23 Apr 2025 21:01:33
History will repeat itself this Summer, no doubt but the acid test will be who they sell and who they bring in.
Now that might sound blindingly obvious but if players want to go it's hard these days to stop them, however, some may be convinced to stay if VP wants them. Sarabia would be one for me but on £90K per week Jeff will want him off the books for sure.
As I've said before it's absolutely vital that they don't alienate VP as they've managed to do to previous incumbents of that job. That's one lesson from history I prey they have learnt.
23 Apr 2025 21:27:24
Churchill certainly made a lot of mistakes to learn from.
24 Apr 2025 08:19:40
The song remains the same WO, not all led zep songs were good, but what a band they were.
22 Apr 2025 15:41:11
I would have no problem with Cunha leaving for Man Utd as long as the money is used to buy Yuri Alberto and Mohamed Amoura.
22 Apr 2025 14:43:32
LongmyndWolf has written an article entitled, Next Season Looking Positive For Wolverhampton Wanderers
22 Apr 2025 17:33:58
Long you are correct there is no reason why we couldn't have a good season next year.
We have a strong defence with Yerson to come back. One of the best Mids in the league and an ok attack - although heavily reliant on Cunha and RAN for creativity.
However I do think people are getting carried away with the idea that we can lose Cunha and it will make no difference as we had a good run without him.
We beat 3 of the bottom 4 (indeed our 5 wins have come against 5 of the bottom 7, we are the 6th and Leicester, who we play next the 7th.)
Also whilst not unhappy to lose any of the players you mentioned - (although perhaps odd that so many think Sa will leave, meaning we have to buy a new gk and its hard to think we will get a player as good for the pennies Sa costs?)- the club is seemingly signalling that RAN will go as well.
With us already having H Bueno and Gomes R of our, in my view, best 6 players (Cunha, RAN, Andre, Gomes J, Semedo and Emmanuel), he is the one we can most easily cover for. However as stated he is our 2nd best creative player behind Cunha. Losing them both would be a disaster.
Also the idea that we can simply sell our best player each year - Neves, Neto and now Cunha - but merely continue to find players of the required quality to replace them is in my view a huge and highly flawed gamble.
I know I have bored you all to death with this but I just wish so many Wolves fans weren't so happy with Jeff's "Wolves are not a club to win things with" mantra.
He is wrong and it doesn't have to be like this.
Why for example should Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth, (teams with virtually no heritage), and Villa, Newcastle and Forest (teams with heritage but who until relatively recently were well behind us in the pecking order), be teams that have ambition whilst we don't?
Rhetorical question by the way!
22 Apr 2025 19:19:01
Longmynd you summed it up at the end.
Forget who may or may not leave I think the real key to our future is making sure we retain VP. Jeff and his bosses have to give some clear indication of their intentions and hopefully ambitions or they will see this club and any financial benefits trickle away, and ensure a struggling club for years to come.
I'm worried that global pressures may constrict any safety in future speculative moves from fosun, and I'm still worried that they'll cash in and sign out in the summer.
22 Apr 2025 21:18:17
Those are the $64,000 questions Abbey all compounded by the lack of information coming out the club but if they carry on selling off our best just to keep the doors open, so to speak, what's the point?
TFIOG I hope they were shaken by our struggles earlier this season, as we've said many times relegation would have been a disaster for them, the Club and of course the fans. To be fair we did have a good Xmas window in response to that threat but the forthcoming Summer window will tell us far more about Fosun's future intentions.
Is their age of austerity coming to an end, have they restructured sufficiently or will the goings on in the US prolong it, maybe their attitude towards Wolves is for keeps? Will the hiring of VP and what he's achieved soften their approach or will it in their eyes vindicate their policies? No idea, but as things stand some of the players I've mentioned apparently want to leave while the others seem to be strongly tipped to go.
VP has proven we were in a false position in the League, however, as you rightly point out that's with the players we currently have so will the pruning be to the periphery of the squad to give VP more of who/what he wants or will Jeff get his tree saw out, again?
If it's the latter then I agree without the right replacements it could well be another race to the bottom in which case I would think VP would walk. Or, Fosun might conclude it's just not for them anymore and put the Club up for sale as a mid table side with plenty of potential for growth, both on and off the pitch.
22 Apr 2025 11:55:00
It is so good seeing some 'names' below us. It would be like winning a trophy to end the season with Spurs, West Ham, ManU and Everton below us.
22 Apr 2025 14:18:12
And to think, some pundits said West Ham had the best transfer window of any team in the Premier League at 144m euros.
And Man Utd have only spent 246m euros to be level on points with us.
22 Apr 2025 14:36:11
In a very short space of time we find ourselves no longer in the mire or even looking over our shoulders thanks to a record breaking run, so now everyone is looking up the table not down. It's the teams immediately above us that interest me at the moment as we still have to play 3 of them and I know we also have to play Leicester but I would like to think we will take 3 points from that.
Brighton, Brentford and Crystal Palace, who all have some dangerous players but equally have all been stuttering a bit, of late, so how many points will we take from those games? There's 9 available so is 12 overall being a tad ambitious? Can this team keep finding a way to win?
That leaves City who seem to be playing better again after a hit and miss spell so that may be a step too far for us, which is a pity as it will break up what may yet be an incredible run in.
'
If and it's a big 'if' we maintain this form we could finish in the top half of the table, as crazy as that sounds given the chaos of earlier in the season and recoup some additional financial benefit for it.
We have to give huge credit to VP and his team because to pull off this kind of a turnaround at this level is either a minor miracle or a damming indictment of previous Head Coaches / Managers working with this group of players.
Yes some will go, Sa, Johnstone, Sarabia (shame imo), Guedes, Cunha, Silva, Doyle (also shame) all probably nailed on to leave. However, we do seem to have a capable Director of Football and scouting network particularly in South America, so I trust they will find further quality to fill those gaps.
Blackfords is right though there are a number of 'big' clubs faltering at the moment that could all see VP as their saviour as well, Man U, Chelsea, Spurs so it's important that Fosun take care of business in such a way to keep him onside. VP does appear to be planning for next season, however, so do this right and next season could look very different and the positivity will come flooding back.
22 Apr 2025 15:30:08
Apologies for the duplication I didn't think my original submission had gone through as I didn't expect it to become the featured article above.
{Ed001's Note - no worries mate, Ed33 hadn't spotted there was a post held for him, so I had to nudge him.}
22 Apr 2025 07:39:12
{Ed's Note - NOTSOZIPPY has posted a new article entitled, Players Liverpool FC Should Keep Or Sell
22 Apr 2025 00:15:47
So Man Utd have more or less agrees terms with Cunha even though they haven't triggered the release fee?
Isn't this 'tapping up'?
What if they offer him £300k per week but refuse to pay the release fee and Cunha throws his dummy out of the pram because he wants the massive pay increase.
22 Apr 2025 07:43:54
The sooner Cunha has gone the better for our team, we need to move on and give some other players a chance, there is no point to keep playing someone who is leaving, let's start building for next season.
22 Apr 2025 09:08:31
I thought Cunha wanted European football, trophies, etc, Wandering. Money or not that's hardly likely with Man U, ok maybe the Carabao Cup.
22 Apr 2025 09:10:31
Hi WS,
I was reading an article (not sure if it was the same one) saying it's a done deal. Cuhna seen talking to the MU Manager in the tunnel. I know they're still a huge club and a draw for players, but they're a complete mess. Manager after Manager, player unrest. No champions league and certainly they must be close to PSR breaches ( Maybe one of the Ed's has an idea). They might even have to sell before they can afford Cuhna.
22 Apr 2025 11:59:53
Sorry to say it but I actually think we scored an own goal here! What was the point in the new contract if the release fee actually weakened our negotiating position?! United have paid absolutely stupid money for players before (please see Hojland and Antony) and if we didn't have such a stupidly cheap release fee we could/should have taken then to the cleaners! More top work for Jeff's negotiation skills! £62.5m is an absolute steal! 😭
22 Apr 2025 12:07:41
It it's a done deal for Cunha to Man U, it may be subject to Man U winning the Europa League and therefore qualifying for the Champions League. Not exactly a prize destination for Cunha, but he may have scared off bigger clubs with his tendency to get red cards. We will survive him and prosper next season.
22 Apr 2025 12:20:52
I think it's speculation at the moment. I don't see how Man Utd can afford to buy Cunha. I get that they generate massive revenues, but they need nearly an entire new team and have made big losses. Things could get worse at Old Trafford before they get better.
Hand on heart hypothetically what players do Man Utd have right now who we would actually be happy to see in a Wolves shirt and see as an upgrade on what we already have?
Is Cunha's release fee a definite £62 million regardless, or was it only on relegation?
He probably will leave in pre season, but I'm not sure he'll end up at Man Utd
22 Apr 2025 13:01:21
Apparently we are happy to receive Cunha's fee in 3 instalments!
Is there any financial logic to this or are we just glad that someone will pay his release clause?
22 Apr 2025 13:38:04
Tim, it may seem strange but most players are bought and sold on the never-never. Wolves would rarely or never pay for a player outright unless the fee was minor. There's the financial logic.
22 Apr 2025 14:43:09
That's true Deep but as the Ed has previously pointed out that doesn't (technically/necessarily) mean they are meeting the release fee. Which often relies on the entire fee being offered, if we are doing it in instalments I would seriously hope that it suggests we are getting more than the bargain basement release fee with put on the contract!
I also wonder on this (as Acle suggests) is this deal reliant on Rashford going to Villa? Cause somehow I'm not convinced that will happen, his wages at United are currently CRAZY! 🧐
{Ed001's Note - do you not think this story is just his agent drumming up interest? By revealing Wolves will accept instalments, it massively increases the clubs that will be able to afford him.}
22 Apr 2025 16:13:14
It's musical chairs sometimes, Bully. Clubs are often waiting for other clubs to cough up. You may be right about Rashford, it's not a given that he will move to Villa. All that has been proven is that he was probably sulking at Man U and not trying as hard as he should. Would Villa take a chance on him for next season, at his crazy wages? Is his resurgence temporary or permanent? I wonder. And Ed001, I wouldn't put it past Cunha's agent to reveal the payment plan, as it might flush out clubs prepared to offer higher wages, and we just get the same release fee.
22 Apr 2025 16:21:20
My thoughts exactly Ed001, it just seems an unlikely destination for him. But we'll see.