Wolves banter 9

10 Oct 2025 07:13:44
Looks as if VP has the full backing of the board ( a death knell to a head coach) and is supposedly planning for January transfer market.
I hope and pray he picks a system and sticks to it until then . Recent performances would suggest a back four would be best.
Positives for me have been the improvement in Johnson in goal, Krijci in the back four . Andrea.
Hwang offers nothing and is a ghost when he plays, Bellergard is not consistent and Hugo has not done enough. Not much to choice up top but I would favour JSL and Arias as a 10.
Just my thoughts.

10 Oct 2025 16:55:53
Wolves meeting plan
Discuss January signings and sound out some potential players
Back Vítor
Potentially discuss the signing of a free agent and anylize the market

10 Oct 2025 20:41:15
Still banging on about free agents? You should approach the club and give them advice.

11 Oct 2025 09:02:29
WFM must be a baggies fan the way you talk about free agents that's mostly what they get

09 Oct 2025 16:33:59
What you have to look at is what money is being made.
Plus look at the price of tickets for these
Clubs.
Then compere them to wolves
You need to make a good profit to be able to spend.
Who's 1st to moan when prices go up.

10 Oct 2025 11:37:44
Moby of course you are correct.
But look at the other 11 other non big 8 Prem teams.
Wolves turnover is in line with most of them.
The direction of travel is not!
Wolves cost base is massively out of kilter with most of them and thus Wolves lose buckets and haemorrhage cash.
This means Wolves, unlike virtually everyone else in the league, sells its top talent every year.
I recently looked at, (and wrote about on here), Crystal Palace.
They have a similar turnover but massively different profits. Hence whilst Wolves have sold numerous top level talents Palace over the past 5 years have only sold 3 significant players. A well run club can cope with that level of turnover. No club - except perhaps Brighton, the exception it seems to most rules - can cope with the level of player sales Wolves have endured.

10 Oct 2025 12:10:33
Thefutureisoldgold1, do the end of year statements give any indication of the reason for our huge outgoing costs?
I believe it's partly due to non playing staff wages but I struggle to understand why any club with a similar turnover would have significantly different running costs.
Arguably Wolves should be lower as wages etc should be lower than most, everything tends to increase the further south in the UK you travel.

10 Oct 2025 13:10:56
Wolves have a large amort due ironically to the high expenditure on new players - it is a bit unfair to beat Jeff with that stick although of course until this year Fabio and Guedes will have accounted for a very substantial part of that.
But yes it is also due to Wolves having high non football wages - as you state given the economic situation in Wolverhampton this is bizarre - and it is impossible to say why.

09 Oct 2025 15:21:35
Tottenham Hotspur's majority

Just seen this on bbc sport, an example of a club doing what needs to be done.

owners have injected £100m of new capital into the club.

Spurs say the investment will "further strengthen the club's financial position and equip the club's leadership team with additional resources to continue the focus on driving long-term sporting success".

09 Oct 2025 16:50:00
The total debt of the club is just under £1b. I don't know what the football finance side debt is but its something like £200m.

Spurs also have different revenue streams such as the NFL, boxing and concerts that help.

10 Oct 2025 09:53:54
I raised this point last year. Why aren't we having concerts, and other activities at the ground as revenue streams. The Vile had quite a few last year. Is it the council or are we just not creative in our thinking?

10 Oct 2025 11:42:05
Whilst I admire your ambition I think it is a little too early to be comparing Wolves finances with one of the big 6/8 teams.
Once Jeff has caught up with the leviathans that are Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford etc etc maybe he could turn his sights on the tail lights of those clubs that are disappearing into the distance away from Wolves.

09 Oct 2025 14:34:20
I've been thinking about our current league struggles and the calls for Vitor to get the chop.

If you accept that he's rebuilt the squad to his own requirements and replaced the outgoing players with what he considers adequate substitutes, whilst adding strength in the depth of the squad. Surely it comes down to how do we compare to last years team, who on the basis of post December performances were mid table-ish?

Those player replacements, and how I feel they compare are;

Jackson looks a good replacement to Semedo, arguably better defensively.

Hugo is way better than I expected and a good Ait Nouri swap.

Krejci without doubt a Doherty upgrade.

Arias seems to be settling and an adequate replacement, possibly upgrade, for a position shared last season by Sarabia/Guedes.

And the only obvious massive downgrade, as it stands Cunha has not been replaced. Hwang, Bellegarde have been tried but fallen some way short.

Taking all of this into account personally I feel that Vitor is at least for now the right man for the job, to get HIS team playing as a cohesive unit. He's made us hard to beat, he now needs to solve the LW issue and improve our creativity and goal threat!

09 Oct 2025 15:43:01
I think that's a fair assessment molineuxway. The real 'miss' being the Cunha replacement as predicted by many.

I agree about VP but as I said in an earlier post he now needs to prove he's the right man for the job. The only alternative is for Fosun to sanction splashing out a bit in January if he is still struggling by then, as Jeff/Fosun seem keen to keep him.

Of course, we presumably would be back into the 'who would want to sign' territory by then.

09 Oct 2025 16:17:48
We might already have Cunhas replacement in Mane, just a question of wether or not he's ready to make the step up. The lad certainly deserves a chance.

09 Oct 2025 17:14:37
We haven't replaced Cunha? We can replace so and so but how would a club like Wolves be able to replace Cunha? We couldn't afford a replacement of the same quality and such a player wouldn't come to us anyway. The trick is to find a player who can become another Cunha. Maybe a promising £20mil signing or even young Mane?

09 Oct 2025 19:31:44
Compared to the same stage last season, I think we are actually worse. Yes, we may have 1 more point than we did at the same stage, but last season we played Arsenal, Forest, Villa and Brentford away and Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool at home. All of these teams finished in the top 10.

This season we've played Bournemouth, Newcastle and Spurs away and Man City, Everton, Leeds and Brighton at home. Of the teams we've played so far, only Man City, Newcastle and Spurs are likely to finish in the top 10.

Our football is turgid, slow and ineffective. VP has brought in 8 new players and we seem to be getting no better.

These are the cold hard facts. We haven't won since April. We don't look like we're going to win any time soon. Our defence looks like it will be breached each and every time the opposition attacks.

I hope VP can turn it around but I'm sorry, I personally just can't see it.

If we are stranded at the foot of the table come the November international break, its time to cut our losses and get rid.

09 Oct 2025 19:50:17
Deep of course you are correct. It is impossible for Wolves to find ready made players as good as Cunha, Neto, Jota, Neves, RAN, (despite Molineux's comment re H Bueno above), etc etc.
Thus, as you say, you can buy players who have the potential to improve - which comes at a risk both in the short term - the team is weakened, even if in time they develop to the level required, in the period before they develop - and the long term - they may never develop like Fabio and lots and lots of others.
The other option therefore is to try and broaden the base of talent - you lose an 8 but replace with 2 6.5s.
The 2 6.5s replace the 8 and a weaker player in the first 11 in this case perhaps a 3 or 4 such as Hwang or Toti.
Overall the side gets stronger.
However, Wolves first 11 lost 2 8/9s in Cunha and RAN and a 7 in Semedo via the transfer market plus it appears at the moment a 7/8 in Emmanuel and (for reasons still to be clarified - head turned or injured?) a 6/7 in JSL.
Did the new players including the returning loan/injured players replace that level of talent let alone improve it?
Sorry Molineux but I'm not at all convinced the squad is currently in the same post code in terms of talent.
However if Johnstone can consistently be an upgrade on Sa, the new players can develop - only Krejci has hit the ground at what one hopes is their optimal level - the Bueno's can find consistent form and very importantly JSL and Emmanuel can both return to their top form from last year then it is possible that the side might get close to the level of Vitor's team from last year, i.e. lower mid table.

10 Oct 2025 09:11:05
Wandering Star you are entitled to your view that we are playing turgid, slow and ineffective football, but the facts are not as you state them. We have won since April, our last win was 23rd Sept against Everton, albeit in the cup.
As far as the defence being breached on every attack, personally I feel we've been far more organised and solid at the back with the inclusion of Johnstone and Krejci, and stats would support that as we've only conceded 2 in our last 3 games.
As I say I feel creativity and goal scoring is the real issue

10 Oct 2025 17:02:33
Our defence may look better with Bueno and Krejci, but we are still conceding goals and we still ain't winning.

08 Oct 2025 16:54:32
Edosie and Mane
Under21s won 2-1
For those who want to know.

08 Oct 2025 12:41:20
Trying to read stuff on Newsnow Wolves getting worse you have to pay for E@S plus Shropshire news now Moleneux news want 3.49 per month to read theirs no chance.

08 Oct 2025 17:03:31
I think you'll find NewsNow ask you to pay if you want to go Ad free. You still have the option to read for free. As for the E&S and SS they've been asking for payment for access for some time now for all of their articles on line.

08 Oct 2025 09:39:36
Wolves are to sit down with VP and talk about the Jan transfer window ins and outs plus how much money he has to spend. At the moment VP still has the backing of the board and have been encouraged by the last 3 results.

08 Oct 2025 10:03:06
That should be 2

08 Oct 2025 10:59:41
DMac 123, you were right the first time with 3 results, starting with us beating Everton in the cup before the draws against Spurs and Brighton. Glass half full or half empty, but unbeaten in 3 now!

08 Oct 2025 11:57:29
Deep Throat forgot about Everton.

08 Oct 2025 17:59:04
To be fair there are now green shoots.
Although it has not been what was expected Vitor does seem to have finally found something to build upon.
If Arias can develop, JSL can sort out whatever it is that is ailing him and Emmanuel rediscover his form then with perhaps a little more help creatively/offensively in January it might be possible to build a team that can survive.

08 Oct 2025 18:44:34
Its started. Promises of more transfers coming in in new year.
Just to keep our hopes up
More false dawns more bull
We be gone by then if we don't buck up.
Its ok saying we playing ok
But when your bottom you get no luck
Or decisions going your way
Pray we can stay in the prem

09 Oct 2025 07:34:38
You're right Greyleg it's points that matter not the style of play. Back in their heyday I seem to remember Man U putting in some pretty turgid performances but they still managed to win.

It's not just a case of buying players but more about their quality of the ones you do buy, something that seems to be diminishing. If they do have the potential to do a job they need to get on with it now.

08 Oct 2025 07:39:10
{Ed's Note - 007 has posted a new article entitled, Was Heitinga / Slot The Secret?

07 Oct 2025 08:31:40
Wigan v Wolves U21 on Sky Sports+ 1900hrs (7 0'clock) tonight.

07 Oct 2025 12:08:17
Maybe that will end better. How are they doing?


Free agent, anyone?

07 Oct 2025 14:07:46
Always, well almost, enjoy the U21s. Its an opportunity to see the lads doing their best and learning the skills. Results have been up and down but some good performances non the less, thanks for the Sky info Doog.

07 Oct 2025 21:28:32
And a good result for the lads!👍😁

08 Oct 2025 08:23:27
Quite impressed with Mane, definitely one for the near future. 2-1 win good result with Mane scoring a pen late on.

08 Oct 2025 09:31:14
Yep 2-1 win thanks to a late penalty from Mane, I still don't fully know how the competition works tho.

06 Oct 2025 18:13:02
On the contrary to a lot of things I've seen on hear, and people mate feel free to disagree, but I am not particularly worried about relaxation. Last year it took us very long to get a win as well, and we've almost got two this year, against quality sides. I completely back vitro who was very good when he came in last year. Also, our fir at five games we were shocking, but in going to a back 4 I think vitro has worked it out. Having watched both of our previous two games, I thought we were very good defensively. Brighton barely had a chance apart from their goal, same goes for spurs. Also yeasterday it could very easily have been 3-0 with jsl hitting the post and arias skying from 6 yards. The next 3 games will be very telling, but we have seemed very defensively sound in our last two, but it's just a great strike and one lapse in concentration defensively that have undone us. I do think we'll survive though definitely.

06 Oct 2025 18:41:37
Sorry about the shameful spelling, it’s been a long day guys.

06 Oct 2025 19:10:14
Think you are correct llkleywolves, next 3 in league should shape our immediate future at least. Lose all 3 and I think VP should go, I hope, we can achieve a reasonable points tally, 4 and above VP remains. He may well remain anyway, who knows what Jeff will do. I take your point as well Long, away we do seem a bit better, we will need to be v Sunderland, against Villa they looked very aggressive and pretty decent.
As we all know very frustrating supporting our team these days, we all hope for the best, all summer we could see the problems building.

07 Oct 2025 10:14:34
Many fans on here think that VP should be sacked, but they don't suggest alternatives. I wonder why not?

So you sack VP and get a new guy in. After a few games you might be calling for his head as well. That's madness.

Postecoglou might be available, which shows the madness at where Forest find themselves.

07 Oct 2025 11:47:01
Edin Terzic or Thiago Motta, if either fancy rebuilding their reputation.

07 Oct 2025 12:14:37
Personally I like VP and with time he may well be ok but we all know that's a luxury he doesn't have. It's not like we're up the top end of the table losing to a couple of lower teams, unexpectedly.

5 managers/coaches in 5 years since Nuno and if it did become 6 isn't a great record either. The fans will usually support the Manager but if the points aren't forthcoming decisions will be made irrespective, there's too much at stake for the owners.

07 Oct 2025 12:45:38
Deep - totally understand your viewpoint and I have no obvious answers - obviously!
Long completely agree.
Losing Nuno was insanity and the club is still reeling from that massive error by Jeff!
Astonishing that Forest seems to have done exactly the same. What part of winning don't owners like!

07 Oct 2025 13:16:49
Was Nuno sacked by Jeff Shi or did he leave by Mutual agreement?

One suggests that Nuno was fired for poor performances whereas the other suggest that he and the club had agreed to part ways. Is there a difference?

If it was a Mutual agreement, shouldn't Nuno also be blamed as well as Jeff?

If Jeff sacked him, then 100% Jeffs fault.

I only ask because according to reports, Nuno has only been sacked by Spurs and Forest.

07 Oct 2025 15:50:06
Wandering -I used the word "losing" not sacked as the communication from the club was indeed "mutual agreement".
Not sure that if any employee wishes to leave a company it is the employees fault though?
Why did he want to leave?
Why couldn't Jeff keep him?
Why did you leave your various employers - assuming you did of course!
Normally people leave for career development, more money or dissatisfaction of some sort with their employer.
Jeff was told publicly what Nuno wanted - which as it turned out was exactly what Wolves needed - and he totally and utterly incorrectly told him that he wasn't going to get it.
Unsurprisingly any employee who knows that he is far far more qualified to do a job than his idiot manager will become unhappy.
The total collapse of every aspect of the business post Jeff's error will be of no satisfaction to Nuno who seems to be a genuinely decent chap.
I leave you to compare that to the general perception of Jeff!

07 Oct 2025 17:14:24
I heard a rumour that Jeff had nothing to do with Nuno leaving and it was Guo's decision.

07 Oct 2025 17:42:38
To be fair to Jeff he is an employee of Fosun so I guess everything he does/is involved with is eventually Guo's decision.
Still doesn't make it any better of a decision though.
Actually from Jeff's perspective though it is a huge distinction.
If an employee destroys a business costing the owner £100s of millions of pounds it is probably not going to end well for them. But if the owner is directly responsible themselves it is harder to blame an employee.