Wolves Rumours 17979

 

Use our rumours form to send us wolves transfer rumours.


(single word yields best result)

12 Feb 2021 07:22:17
Like every other Wolves fan on here, I was so frustrated by the performance and result last night, but I am going to put forward a slightly different perspective.

A lot of people on here are accusing Nuno of throwing the game with his team selection and whilst I wasn't overjoyed when I saw the team, I understood the changes. A lot of people on here are saying (and reiterated last night after the defeat) that we are in a relegation battle - well maybe Nuno realised that and prioritised Sundays game over the cup match.

We have a small squad and if you cast your mind back to Nuno's post match interview after Sevilla, he was quite adamant that the squad needed help and he wanted recruitment. What did he get? Jonny as a long term injury, Vinagre going out, Jota and Doherty sold; Marcel, Semedo, Ait Nouri and Fabio coming in. We didn't strengthen, we merely replaced, with in my opinion, worse options.

So with us trying to come out the back of a poor run of form and hit confidence, and having to cope with more injuries, why wouldn't Nuno rest his 'star' players to ensure they are fit for the league? Just think if Ward-Prowses' stamp tackle was on Neto not Vitinha and had put him out for weeks? We'd have been in big trouble then!

Most people expected Vitinha to come in for the match so really I guess most peoples' ire will be directed at Fabio and MGW. Well facing a team that has just shipped 9 goals in a match, it was a good opportunity for Fabio to have built some confidence; unfortunately that didn't happen, the match just highlighted Fabio's deficiencies.

I think the team selection had a two-fold purpose, protect the bigger players in the squad to prioritise the league and highlight the deficiencies in the squad depth. Vintinha blew his chance, Fabio and MGW did likewise and proved to everyone that they don't have the presence, strength, first touch or pace for this league.

The performance was not acceptable to us but I think Nuno has been let down by the hierarchy and their poor transfer policy/ planning and the squad still affected by injuries (Boly would have meant Dendoncker wouldn't have been in the backing and Podence would have been much more of a threat and creative force than any of the starting front three) .

I love a cup run and am as frustrated and disappointed as everyone else but if we have prioritised Sunday and we do the business with a stronger team, then I guess it will be worth it and it should go a long way to ensuring safety.

Agree0 Disagree0

12 Feb 2021 08:59:14
Dear Stattowolf, Your comments are correct.

BUT, Nuno and the coaching staff must take full responsibility for the way we play time after time, Striker no supply, midfield no idea.

Injuries apart, Its been obvious for ages what's wrong, coaching staff have no idea haw to change it

Nuno keeps Owen Otowasie on the bench every game.

MGW has never been good enough.

Sadly Nuno's time at Wolves is coming to an end.

12 Feb 2021 09:17:09
Stratto.
Good post.
Pretty much my thoughts.
Regarding recruitment, this has been the overiding factor in Nuno's demise. I don't for one minute think he's responsible for the recruitment and I would imagine that sometime in the future we'll get to know what's really going on behind the scenes. It's a shame but I think Nuno will be gone next season unless he gets the assurances he needs regarding incoming players. But it might be too late now anyway. The 250 grand charity donation was his parting gift I think.

12 Feb 2021 09:35:51
The team selection was disgraceful, why Nuno put that out was no intent to win. We should be trying to win every game, a good cup run wouuld have improved the teama confidence. It just shows Nuno has lost the plot, if we don't win on Sunday then Nuno must go.

12 Feb 2021 10:05:11
Statto- I have to ask you the same thing I asked Shares, do you honestly think last nights performance is going to help us in anyway come Sunday?! No chance, all we did last night was give a team that has shipped in 16 goals in four games a much needed clean sheet and inevitable boost in confidence before the wkends game. I'm also getting a bit tired of people talking about Nuno like he's an angry rebellious teenager rather than a paid professional! If he's unhappy with the current transfer policy then signing a three year contract but punishing the fans by not taking cups seriously would be beyond childish?! I really think people are clutching for a excuses but frankly I've yet to see one that hangs! Also why is it only our fans that think we are genuinely in a relegation battle, clearly some have got a shaky memory cause we ain't in a relegation battle, yet! Mind you if we get thumped by a resurgent Southampton on the wkend then we could be a lot closer to a battle than we were this time last week!

12 Feb 2021 10:09:40
Anybody else think Nuno actually wants the sack with his team selections and tactics, Let’s be honest about it if fans were in the ground and this was happening there would be a lot of anger from the fans and maybe push the board into a decision.
Nuno is untouchable to some fans but a look back at his other jobs shows he lost jobs at other clubs due to bad management the Buck stops with Nuno he’s putting these players out of position and the negative tactics is down to him I honestly say this with a heavy heart because of what Nuno has done but it’s time for a change to allow a new manager to come in and see what he needs for next season.

12 Feb 2021 10:13:20
Dear Sharesum, Yes the recruitment was bad, but I cannot believe for one minute that Nuno has no input in who we buy, ( mainly Portuguese) .

You could put the best Striker in the world in this team with no effect, Jimenez would struggle the way we are.

Nuno continues to play Moutinho who is sadly past his best and it's never worked with him and Neves.

The coaching staff have these players on the training ground 5 days a week, with the finest facilities in every way.

Yes Fabio is not strong enough but he would get goals given the service, Da Silva is strong but again has made no difference without supply.
WE Might, Might, just scrape through this season, But unless there is a radical change to the way we play we will not.

If we take up all of our loans we have already committed 60 million next season

Good players do not suddenly become bad, you can have an effective team with some quite ordinary players to survive. It's quite obvious our style does not suit the players we have.

12 Feb 2021 10:22:52
Like Politicians and union officials. Don't listen to what they say but watch what they do with their body language and their actions. The backroom staff blatantly ignored the Southampton staff at the end. Nuno not very vocal anymore from the sidelines. I'm convinced now that he'll be gone come May.

12 Feb 2021 10:30:06
Some valid points, and I take Bullys point about Southamptons confidence, however the reality seems to me to be that we are in a relegation fight albeit its not obvious, a 9 point gap over Fulham assuming they win the game in hand looks significant but usually one side in the bottom 3 seems to save theirselves each season. The next point is that clearly the younger squad players don't all have the ability to be able to step in in the numbers required at the moment, and based on the first point much as it is frustrating the league game is more important, could anyone seriously see us winning the cup the way we are playing without playing a full first team? Any more first team injuries are going to potentially cost us a PL place and we still have over a third of the season to play. Its just digging deep grinding out points from now on, hoping for the best and trying to address the structural issues which suddenly seem to have appeared in the transfer, youth and retention policy ready for the summer.

12 Feb 2021 10:41:16
But this is my confusion Ard, why exactly are people 'assuming' that a team which has won two games all season are suddenly going to find there form?! You say 'assuming they win the game in hand' but whys anyone assuming that when they've won two ALL season?! Also even if they did as I've pointed out before e there are three teams between us, so we ain't just talking about one of those teams going on a run we are talking about 5 teams down there going on a similataneous run?! You say we couldn't make the final well Wigan won it the year they went down, if your saying our teams worse than THAT Wigan team well frankly then we have MUCH bigger problems! Winnings habitual, don't take my word for it just watch any of Nunos interviews last season three days after a Euro match! He new it then so what's changed exactly?!

12 Feb 2021 10:44:04
Its a no win situation in some ways. Nuno changes half the team and is accused of not taking the cup seriously, but there are calls to bring in different young midfielders which would have changed the team even more. If it was the same result, he'd be accused of the charge of disrespecting the competition.

If we'd have won last night with a stronger team and say Traore and Neto picked up injuries he'd be criticised for playing them and not prioritising the league.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and people can make different arguments depending on what happens after the event.

I'm not happy with the performance, my heart did actually sink when I saw the forward line before kick off, but as I said in my first post, I understand why he went with the line up. Unfortunately it confirmed that certain players aren't up to the task, they had their chance and blew it - again.

If the fringe players had turned up it would have breathed confidence through the whole squad, but it didn't happen. Players need to take responsibility for their actions too.

I've not said we're in a relegation battle, but with a tough run of matches in March we could be and people remember the run under Terry Connor - when things go wrong, they can snowball.

We are all frustrated and angry but we need to get behind the team. We can't be there in the stadia, but let's not let any more negativity permeate through to the lads unnecessarily through media and social media.

12 Feb 2021 11:39:31
Statto- sorry fella but it was a VERY easy to win situation! Had we reversed that score last night (us winning 2-0) and followed it up with a dull 0-0 away to Southampton on Sunday then I would have said job done! And I think with a full team both games that was a very realistic outcome! You say about getting behind the team for the rest of the season but what season?! We are five points for pretty much certain safety and then we have what to play for?! Nunos team selection ended out season last night! Sorry but if we are honestly saying we think this team or manager are even comparable to the Terry Connor situation then I'm afraid we are in FAR greater trouble than I thought! 😭.

12 Feb 2021 11:45:26
Bully I do get your point on paper the bottom 3 look so bad they should be certs to go down, but I suppose I'm just looking at it as a worst case scenario. I'm thinking back Villa last season, how did they stay up? Leicester were down with 28 played a few years back, Champions the season later! Albions so called great escape, Brighton seem to have clung on more than once. I'm sure thete are others. I'm not saying it will happen but in the 50 + years I've been a fan I've seen to many unexpected and expected relegations, to many players sold who've come back to haunt us not to mention Albion pipping us for promotion when it should have been sown up! As Statto said in a later post when things start going wrong it can snowball. I'll rest a lot easier the nearer and sooner we get to 40 points. That should leave Fulham needing around 1.5 points per game to be near us with Albion and Sheff Utd even more.

12 Feb 2021 11:47:03
If Nuno goes, & I think he may walk at the end of the season, who's available to replace him?
The usual suspects will be trotted out, Lampard, Benitez to name but two, but let's be serious, will any fan really want them here?
If fosun want to challenge the big 6 who do we approach?
For me it has to be Allegri, formerly of juventus but I don't think he would come.

12 Feb 2021 13:11:59
All the teams below us are fighting for their lives, It is not out of the question that Wolves fall into the bottom three.

On form of the last10 matches we would be 2nd from bottom, we need to get 38 points to be safe.

To win games you have SCORE goals, something we can't do, we sometimes manage 1 and then sit back and invite teams to score against us.

The facts don't lie. Make know mistake something is very wrong behind the scenes.

12 Feb 2021 13:19:02
Bullys I am not comparing the team to the one we had under Connor, far from it, but trying to highlight a point that things can snowball badly if things continue to go wrong.

Whilst I get your point that there is no evidence that the teams at the bottom will go on a remarkable run to escape the drop, you have got to assume that they will until you have enough points to be safe.

12 Feb 2021 13:45:56
Bully.
You seem to think winning last night's game would have us lifting the cup. On what do you base that when you've seen how we're playing. We barely got past Chorley. Ensuring premier league safety is absolute paramount and the only criteria for which a manager is judged by his employers. Nuno clearly felt he needed to keep something back. Maybe he hoped that team would get the win. Or maybe he wasn't particularly bothered. Who knows. But for me, the premier league is all that matters. All that should matter right now and I guess Nuno feels the same.

Yellowstone. Yes, I honestly do believe that Nuno has had very little input in recent transfer windows. We're consistently not getting first choice targets. The ones that maybe Nuno would have earmarked. I fear the transfer policy is now being used in an attempt to generate funds from future sales with little regard to what the team actually needs right now.
I sincerely hope Nuno can get his mojo back but I have to admit it's not looking likely. Personally I think he'll be gone at the end of the season, but then, who really knows.
I'm sure we all want the same. 3 points on Sunday.

12 Feb 2021 13:46:21
Lose Sunday, slip ups Leeds Newcastle while others beneath pick up and we face a run in of 6 pointers the spurs and man u. Anything is possible. Survival is the name of the game, but to throw the towel in like last night in the cup is not pleasing to fans nor in any way a confidence booster.

12 Feb 2021 13:46:59
Disappointed by display and lack of attacking nouse shown last night, and to be honest most of this season. Sole progressive option is the ball to the wide man, who takes on his opposing defender or, more often than not defenders (given that every team knows this is the only way we attack) . Striker is starved of meaningful supply and is left trying to second guess where Traore’s crosses are going to arrive. Nine times out of ten, the striker is the only Wolves player in the box, charged with finishing off the move. I think it is difficult to criticise the front three, whoever they are, given the lack of quality supply.
Athleticism is a key aspect of the modern game. There is hardly a position which does not require, quick feet, upper body strength and a turn of speed. Some of our players have this but far fewer than you find in any other premier league team. The game is all about breaking lines, as even the top sides always ensure they are hard to beat and set themselves up in such a way to frustrate the opposition and restrict their efforts on goal.
The difference with us at present, is that this appears to be our sole aim. Creativity appears to be something alien to us. Yet in Neto, we probably have one of the most creative players in the league. We are incapable of optimising his impact. You can see the frustration etched on his face. As a young player, he doesn’t appear to have the confidence to tell his seniors (Neves and Moutinho) to leave corners and free kicks to him. The manager should be telling them to do so.
What chance have the bench warmers got of making an impression, if they are ever given the chance to get on the pitch. Otasowie doesn’t turn out for the U23s and is therefore unlikely to be up to speed if given a chance. Same goes to a lesser extent to MGW and Vitinha. Both who were played out of position yesterday. Neither is a wide man, as neither have the speed to go outside a full back.
I don’t have any solutions to our present demise and think we are stuck between a rock and a hard place, given our league position. Believe we need to try to scrape as many points as possible, as soon as possible, with our present set up and predictable line up and style. Then we can look at finding a new more expansive, exciting and attacking way to play, with the introduction of some of our younger players.

12 Feb 2021 14:12:07
Not at all Shares in fact if you read a post of mine from last night I wouldn't have cared had we gone out last night IF we had turned up to play! It's the lack of ambition and belief that doesn't sit well with me. Its also shows what can only be called a complete disregard for the fans. What other cups are we going to win any time soon? We all might like being in the Prem but we ain't going to win one so why not try for what's actually possible?! And incidentally Bournemouth in the next round, so I'm not sure it's as impropbable as your making out that we could have got to a final.
People are saying about assuring Prem safety being the key but take a look at the table, Southampton are 2 points above us and were in FAR worse form going into the game last night so why weren't they hitting the panic button and playing a second string?! I bet Hasenhutl saw that team sheet yesterday and couldn't believe his luck! They needed a boost in confidence before our league match and there it was delivered by Nuno. I'm still not sure why people seem to think slightly fresher legs is going to make more difference than the confidence of winning your last match?! Let's see how fatigued Southampton look on Sunday, I genuinely hope they do but I can't see it happening to be honest 😩.

12 Feb 2021 14:48:08
Sorry Bully, but there seem to be a lot of peeps who think like me that we are a long way from being safe. we have a fair few "six pointers" coming up. We don`t seem to do very well against bottom teams. Things could still go pear shaped.

12 Feb 2021 15:24:45
Bigcheese for me it has to be Lopetigue Sevilla manager Fosuns first choice before he took the Spain job.

12 Feb 2021 15:25:03
Excellent thread.
Agree with many of the points made!
If we win the league game guess Nuno is vindicated but lose .
Still don't think we will go down but we may need a few more 0-0s (cant see us scoring too many for the rest of the season barring the odd miracle goal from Neto)

12 Feb 2021 15:32:17
That's fair enough Wom, let's wait and see what points those teams down there end up on. Incidentally read virtually any match report or articles by independent view points (ie not wolves fans who have an understandibly natural fear of relagation) and they agree with me that the relegation battle is only in our own heads! Even Judahs was at a complete loss in his latest podcast as to why we wouldn't have had a go last night! Or even better read Hasenhutls pre match comments and remind yourself they are two points above us and were on a worse run before the game. To summerise Hasenhutl said the league would take of itself from there current point so he wanted to focus on the cup for the fans. I'm sorry to say it but that was Nuno this time last season, in fact that was Nuno for his entire tenure up till Sept! He's lost his mojo and him saying we need to concentrate all our efforts on finding 5-8 points out of a possible 29 is a pretty damning assessment of what he thinks of his current crop!

12 Feb 2021 19:03:22
Lost me there Bully. 5-8 points out of 29? Or am I having a senior moment?

12 Feb 2021 19:36:55
Sorry Wom buddy, think I made a typo there 🙈 What I meant was that (for me) we only need to take another 5-8 points in the league to be safe and that there are still 39 (not 29) points to be played for? Make sense, sorry fella my mistake 👍.

12 Feb 2021 19:41:12
Haha, oh dear Wom definitely me having the senior moment and not you buddy! Just realised how completely off my maths has been! Sorry we have 45 points to play for, to be honest as the number goes up it just makes me think that the team selection last night was even MORE bizarre!
Anyway apologies for any confusion I caused there fella, think I might got pour myself a LARGE drink! Happy wkend peeps 🍺.

12 Feb 2021 20:42:37
Already on my 2nd G `n T!





 

 

 
Log In or Register to post

User
Pass
Remember me

Forgot Pass  
 
Change Consent