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27 Mar 2025 05:07:08
Three Wolves players on the pitch for Brazil at the same time! A few years ago you would have had to be mad to imagine it. Maybe things are not so bad?
1.) 27 Mar 2025 09:13:08
This is why so many of our players are always linked with moves away. There are a number of regular internationals and the quality of player at the club far surpasses what we had 10-15 years ago. We would still sell the best players to "bigger" clubs, but we had less quality to interest other clubs.
I think most frustration with the club is born out of a lack of revenue growth to help us keep competing especially as it seems to get more difficult year on year forcing our hand with some sales into a weaker negotiating position.
2.) 27 Mar 2025 09:23:04
I get what your saying but when you look at Brazils trajectory let's be honest here it says as much about them as it does about us!
3.) 27 Mar 2025 09:54:54
Brazil lost 4 1 to Argentina, it would be a first time if they failed to qualify directly, but by no means impossible as the group stands at the moment, Cunha scoring the Brazil goal.
4.) 27 Mar 2025 11:02:06
Acle - Although our revenue growth is disappointing it is not massively out of kilter with most clubs in the lower half of the table. What is madly out of line though is our cost base.
Our wage bill - the non football related part - is much higher than most in the league. Where does this money go?
Are the cleaners paid £100 per hour or are the catering staff on £150k pa?
Clubs like Crystal Palace, (I have previously discussed amongst others Brentford, Brighton and West Ham), have similar turnovers and far higher football wage bills. However their non football wage bill is 10's of millions less than Wolves. They thus make modest losses compared with our massive losses.
It is this that forces Wolves to make huge player sales on a regular basis and which has of course resulted in the fall down the table.
Control of non football expenses is a direct responsibility of Jeff!
.
5.) 27 Mar 2025 11:48:29
TFIOG could fees to agents be regarded as a professional services fee as opposed to directly included in the transfer budget? If so could that offer some kind of explanation?
6.) 27 Mar 2025 12:53:51
I remember you mentioning this before buddy, so who is it that's rinsing the books exactly?! Cause it just doesn't add up does it, cause it's not like we have a huge list of high profile back room staff?! I suppose what I'm asking: is this a way in which Fosun are (quietly) skimming off the top? Cause Forest recently poached Edu from Arsenal but I'm not seeing there staff costs spiraling? So where is the money going and what exactly are we getting for it? GON for example was one of the lowest paid managers in the league, I suspect VPs on a bit more but I bet it's still less than Lope was! Seems like someone's getting rich but not those that deserve it?!
7.) 27 Mar 2025 20:33:02
Arddunby I suspect you are correct.
BB clearly one needs to be careful about making unsubstantiated claims but those agents/consultants that we are paying may well be in another part of the Fosun empire and so entirely legal but hardly great value for the club.
To be fair whoever we are paying it isn't great value as despite the expenditure we are dropping like a stone!
18 Mar 2025 04:09:33
Time to reflect on what a good job Vitor and the team have done. We were five points under the water when he came in, now we are nine above the surface. Over the last six games only four sides in the Prem have got more points than us. Some recent assessments of our players in these pages (notably Bellegarde, Larsen and Sa) now appear harsh. In truth all our players are fine footballers, it’s just that some are better than others. Sunny uplands lie ahead.
1.) 18 Mar 2025 09:05:33
The stick Larsen was getting was so unfair. He had no service, but still created space with his movement. He has the highest percentage of shots on target over shots taken in the Prem.
Quality and he's young and in his first season here. Cunha wasn't as impressive in his first season.
Vitor has got the team spirit back and is getting the best out of his best players.
Hopefully we'll have 100 million to spend from the sale of RAN and Cunha. That should get us a few of the best Brazilians and some young European talent. With luck we'll hang on to Joao Gomes and Andre.
2.) 18 Mar 2025 17:32:26
Larsen is a classic CF Tim, tall, has some ball skills, good in the air but does lack a bit of pace so he needs feeding. Put him in there with good supply and he will score, I'm sure, just like he did against Southampton.
As you imply I think it will be next season and beyond before we see the best of him.
3.) 18 Mar 2025 19:45:58
We will have to scour South America and Europe in the summer, but let's not forget the Championship, where there is both talent and potential.
Two central defenders spring to mind. There is the lad from Millwall, who's name escapes me, then there is Albion's Norwegian stopper, Torbjorn Heggem. Either would be worth a punt.
4.) 18 Mar 2025 20:17:17
And don't forget Southamptons Dibling.
5.) 18 Mar 2025 22:15:39
That'll be Big Sam then Lostcity.
6.) 19 Mar 2025 21:50:49
I agree Tim, I think Larsen is doing fantastic work for a first season in the Prem! He's currently on 9 goals meaning he will likely (at the very least) finish on double figures which for a first Prem season (in a largely under performing club) is fantastic! Also worth noting on this that Raul himself only scored 13 goals in his first season, so with a bit of luck Larsen could well go onto equal or even beat that with the games we have left. I've been very vocal in my judgement on the signings the club have made in the past but (like most this season in fairness) this deal looks like VERY good business to me! As does Agbadou BTW, who already looks like our best CB despite what by Prem terms was a VERY reasonable price tag! Keep up this quality of transfers and who knows we might even start pushing forwards again next season! Imagine such a thing! ?? COYW ?
30 Dec 2024 00:36:14
Nine points from first sixteen games, seven points from next three. It’s a Happy New Year. My worst fears that Fosun would stick with GON or replace him with an uninspiring journeyman have been proved wrong. So thank you Fosun at least for that. Get a good CB in quickly and I think with our new manager directing things we can challenge any team in the league.
1.) 30 Dec 2024 12:05:23
Make that two of them IB.
2.) 30 Dec 2024 17:33:53
Looks like
Kevin danso and Joel ordonez
Priority signings in Jan
3.) 30 Dec 2024 22:26:09
Sounds promising Greyleg. We desperately need a couple of centre backs.
15 Dec 2024 22:07:18
Glad to see the back of GON. I believe his mistake was to believe he was a better coach than he was. He thought he could change the way we play but failed to appreciate that we don’t have the players to play the way he wanted. Shi didn’t know enough about football to see through GON’s faults and allowed him to remain far too long. I hope our situation is retrievable but I doubt it.
1.) 15 Dec 2024 22:31:04
Time will tell I guess, disappointed for him that he couldn’t make it work. If the new manager comes in and we start getting results then I guess it was down to O’neils tactics. It’s a shame as I thought the Ipswich game could have gone either way. But admittedly I only watched the highlights. Fingers crossed it is as easy as changing the manager and getting a player or two in but that remains to be seen. Hoping we haven’t left it too late and that we get a manager in quick, none of this people turning us down malarkey.
2.) 16 Dec 2024 05:58:18
GON could not get a tune out of the players we have at the club. Against Ipswich, whether it was his tactics or certain players deciding to do their own thing, a few passages of play stood out for me.
At one point, AIT had the ball on the left and had acres of room to run down the channels with Cunha, Larsen and Guedes all available and screaming for the ball. AIT decided to slow the play down and pass it backwards to Toti and we soon lost possession.
The fact that GON came out and said that the defence did their own thing at the corner leading to the winner just confirms that things were not right.
3.) 16 Dec 2024 06:54:14
I think our survival is now going to depend on perhaps other teams results more than our own, sure a couple of unexpected wins would help but its consistency that we need and I'm not sure we'll find that.
Certainly if we've any chance we've got to get the team playing for each other, and more importantly for wolves as a club.
That can only come through being happy in their roles and having confidence in their manager.
Experience is the needed requisite and while there's no doubting periera past success will that translate to the Premier leagues demands and speed, game turnaround etc?
It may be a bit late for a successful rescue mission this year, which begs the question of him accepting a championship team to manage next.
Nuno came with a dream, periera might face a nightmare, does he really feel that confident in himself to accept the job? Will he stay the course if he does? Only time, again, will tell.
Sorry if I sound abit negative but it's worrying times, and I know its Christmas, but I'm not sure a saviour is going to be found at this time. GON should haveg gone weeks ago.
4.) 16 Dec 2024 09:10:54
Fully agree Abbey, the time that any appointment has to gel this squad into some semblance of an effective team is very limited. He will need time to get to know the players and more time getting his message across to them and and time is not something we have a lot of, the season is quickly slipping away. Stranger things have happened so all we can do is hope.
5.) 16 Dec 2024 10:54:45
Agree Abbey. The last 4 defeats whilst gifting points to our relegation rivals opens up a big gap.
Will we end up changing manager again in the summer? Who knows. GON had to go to give us any chance. He should have gone after Brentford and then again after Everton. It all feels as though the damage may have already been done now.
The 4 year contract was questionable given the timing in preseason, and then sacking him after Shi's vote of confidence in the week after such a delay makes things behind the scenes look chaotic.
6.) 16 Dec 2024 11:20:06
Agree Abbey. I imagine the Shi view was that if GON could collect good results against relegation sides the team might just galvanise and reproduce some of the good form shown earlier in glimpses. But even relegation sides have to be beaten by sound tactics and commitment and that was not evident. The club is leader less, something which will be necessary in volume if we are to respond to a new coach and dig ourselves out of this hole. But then where? We do not have a pot! So the best to hope for is another season of struggle. Seriously who will relish that prospect?
7.) 16 Dec 2024 14:35:25
Lots of people here wanted O'Neil to stay too.
Hindsight is 20/20.
8.) 16 Dec 2024 16:27:03
Carried out a survey did you, Handsome? Thought not.His support clearly waned throughout the season but, given some of his decisions on the make up of the team, his tactics and formations used with square pegs in round holes, I think you are overegging the pudding to a ridiculous extent with 'lots'. No, I haven't done a survey either but I've been to the games to feel the mood.
9.) 16 Dec 2024 17:05:56
Maybe he means the other 4 Handsome lads! ?
10.) 16 Dec 2024 18:05:29
In fairness to Handsome four weeks ago GON had just drawn with Palace, beaten Southampton and about to beat Fulham 4-1 away! No one sacks a winning manager! He should have gone after the Everton game, cause that was the first time this squad really looked truly beaten by a relegation rival, at which point there was no turning things round!
11.) 18 Dec 2024 21:47:20
GON should have gone weeks ago, can't blame him fully for the situation the club are in as recruitment has been in the hands of Hobbs. Let the manager manage and identify players he wants; not sure of Hobbs credentials to pick players always seemed a strange way to build a team?
14 Dec 2024 20:19:13
I am past anger, just filled with a deep sadness. For seasons now posters on these pages have called for the recruitment of strong centre backs yet nothing has happened. Instead we spend big money on a mediocre goalkeeper and ones for the future. The result being we can’t field a Premier league standard defence. Fosun seem happy to see us relegated after which they will recoup much of their investment if not more by selling all our good players. We will struggle in the Championship.
1.) 14 Dec 2024 20:52:21
We'll probably get the old 'we tried to get this player or that player but couldn't for whatever reason' runaround in January Innocent, or nobody wants to sell/loan in January. They kept that one going for 3 seasons when we needed to replace Raul.
I'm now starting to believe that GON only did 'well' last season because he rode the bow wave created by Lopetegui before he left thanks to Fosuns BS. Frankly watching things this season even though we lost Kilman and Neto, he seems clueless.
So apologies to Julien who I thought had done a spoilt brat runner, he didn't, he was the one with integrity. As for GON he's just a part, but a major part of the problems at Wolves now.
2.) 14 Dec 2024 21:09:36
Tbh. We're all moaning. And rightly so, but it's time to moan with our
Presence, if no one went to games, surely fosun would have to do something., they may do tonight or tomorrow, fingers crossed
3.) 14 Dec 2024 22:10:54
In truth Greyleg if the run of results and performances stretching back into last season wasn't enough to get a reaction then I doubt a few thousand no shows on match day would even register.
If we don't wake up tomorrow to 'that news' then I think we all know that we WILL be relegated this season. Frankly any inaction now will tell us they are deluded or just don't care.
4.) 15 Dec 2024 08:03:45
Well don’t know what to say if he ain’t had the bullet by Monday then we all know that we will definitely go down and the club will go into rapid decline fed up with O’Neil saying the players need me what’s that all about he don’t half talk some crap .its gone past us lot saying let's get behind him its no good saying that its all too late I’m afraid drastic action is needed today or tomorrow
Innocent Bystander's rumour replies
07 May 2025 10:53:04
Tell them they’re dreaming!
14 Aug 2024 02:05:27
For me, the issue of whether we are weaker or stronger than last year turns on whether we recruit a top class CB. The defence currently looks a real worry with inadequate experience and injury cover. It’s too early to panic but I’m starting to get a little scared.
07 Jun 2024 22:13:35
I would have thought Mario was a required player. He’s under contract and a potential captain. There’s no way we will let him go for petty cash as it would mean paying a much higher fee to replace him. If I am wrong, the club is in trouble!
22 Nov 2023 08:34:05
Agree with you TFOG. The bottom line for me is that we can’t let Sa go in January before we have an excellent replacement signed up. Our reserve keeper couldn’t hold down his place at Bristol City.
25 Aug 2023 06:47:50
Not a rugby fan? Strewth LindsayB, be careful saying that or the Kiwi’s will revoke your citizenship!
Innocent Bystander's banter replies
05 Apr 2025 22:34:56
Agbadu is number one for me. He has transformed our defence and enabled us to go on a good run. Ten points from four games without Cunha. But, of course, the lion’s share of the credit goes to VP; he inherited a shambles and has built a team with winning mentality.
23 Dec 2024 22:02:31
Interesting parallels between this season and two years ago. Both the new manager comes in for the 17th game, both win away. Only difference this year we have one less point. Every reason to be optimistic now, provided we get a strong CB in January. Happy Christmas all, COYW.
12 Dec 2024 20:41:49
Just read Jeff’s message. If I knew less before I know no more now. Sleepwalking towards the Championship.
10 Dec 2024 20:51:56
I think you have hit the nail on the head Wimborne. Fosun knows that even if we are relegated by selling our best players they can make a return on their investment.
10 Dec 2024 04:36:08
Well Rated, on his record GON should have been gone some time ago. That he hasn’t gone suggests to me that any manager capable of getting us out of this mess is not willing to take the job principally because of the limitations imposed by Fosun which have been well documented by many in these pages. I may be proved wrong tomorrow but right now I think GON will be with us for some time yet. A situation that inspires little confidence.