Wolves Banter

26 Oct 2026 08:50:23
Who would you like for new head of recruitment

25 Oct 2026 15:48:12
So James has to start, right.

Andre in the holding midfielder position with James and Fer ahead of him.

Up Top Armstrong or Neave with Bellegard or Mane right and why not push Bruno higher.

Defence is Trippier Deja Kryci Toti if Bruno is higher up the pitch. Even try Konan at LB.

Still worry about Sa on the ball but a great shot stopper.

25 Oct 2026 16:15:03
This shows just how bare the cupboard is.
I really hate the front line of Mane, Armstrong/Neave, Bellegarde but as you say options are currently v v few and far between.
Maybe you could play Bueno/Konan at LB, Toti at LCB, moving Krejci into DM alongside Andre and this allows Lopez to move forward into a 10 with Mane off of Armstrong.


In other words 4,3,2,1 - narrow but gets all the good players currently available on to the pitch and keeps the plethora of poor ones, Munetsi and Bellegarde for 2 off of it!

25 Oct 2026 17:50:24
What about James hes missing hes wolves best attacking mdf. Surely has to play along side Andre or further forward.

25 Oct 2026 18:27:06
Dmac - of course he is the 3rd of the 3 alongside Andre and Krejci.

25 Oct 2026 19:09:54
Said is a decent winger.

24 Oct 2026 22:18:14
Number 5 
DMs
The viable options are Andre and James.
The manager sadly also selects - v v regularly Munetsi, Doyle and when fit - although that isn't that often - slow Traore.

An area that should be one of Wolves major strengths has bizarrely, due to the completely inexplicable selections of the manager, been an area of weakness.
When - which is most games - he plays Munetsi in a 4,2,3,1 it effectively leaves Wolves playing 4,1,5 and unsurprisingly Andre struggles to cope,covering the entire midfield on his own.

This has cost several goals and undoubtedly points.
The bizarre selection and formation is made even worse of course due to Munetsi adding to his lack of positional discipline with low technical ability.
Having retained Andre - surely one of the best players in the whole division - and replaced his partner Gomes J with J James - surely one of the best players signed by any championship side over the summer - things looked very promising. 

Note James was also acquired on loan with a seemingly modest option fee so I expected to be reporting that Wolves had done well to be still able to put out a first class DM and without spending a penny.


However if it is because James was/is unfit - seems highly unlikely at this stage of the season - or the manager simply has a blind spot Wolves have not put out a first class DM but in fact a poor one.

Of the other options Doyle is a player who simply has not made any progress over the past few years and although neat and tidy on the ball and quite competitive is lightweight, just doesn't "do" enough and is also truly appalling in front of
goal. 

Whilst slow Traore, although more physically imposing than Doyle, low bar,  and more technically competent and disciplined than Munetsi, very low bar, is simply a modest/limited player who always looks uncomfortable with the ball.

Fortunately if the manager can learn to play a more sensible formation and pick the better players then this area of the team can not only be a strength in this division but may even be able to step up if Wolves are promoted.    
In conclusion this is an area of the team that has been a huge disappointment but in which I still have hope.

25 Oct 2026 07:28:43
All of your analysis makes Cesar look good as you've constantly said that every area of the squad is poor but somehow we sit 4th in the table within 2 points of the automatic promotion spot. Everyone seems to think West Ham are the overwhelming favourites to go up and we are 1 point behind them.

Lets not be too hasty just yet. Yes the squad needs tweaking but the season is not a complete disaster just yet.

25 Oct 2026 10:26:02
Good - Remember I am not only looking at how they sit relative to this season but also how they sit relative to the future/Prem and what the financial implications have been from the decisions made to build the squad this summer.
So although for example Sa is adequate for this year he fails the test on both other measures. I am particularly critical of this as other cheaper and better options were clearly available and indeed discussed on this site/SM throughout the summer.
However relative to this season Gks and LBs are adequate for this division.
RBs, if Trippier can stay fit and can be protected by the formation/tactics utilised by a smart manager from fast wingers, should be better than adequate.
CBs are good and DMs should be, but aren't because of the manager, excellent.
So actually not only is the squad far from poor but you must remember just how awful the division is.
As I said before whilst the gap between the top of the Champ and the bottom of the Prem is wide but not insurmountable - although Wolves were actually spectacularly below the "normal" bottom of the Prem - the gap between the bottom of the prem - even Wolves - and the lower half of the Championship is a chasm.


The "discovery" of Djiga and Lopez which you may wish to credit the manager for or not is clearly also a major factor in Wolves relative success so far this season.
However Is it a success?
As I clearly state, if the manager had got his tactics and selection correct - for example at DM - Wolves would have far more points.
So I would postulate that the "success" is almost despite, not because of the manager, and is as a result of the relative strength of the squad versus a truly awful division.
However as I wrote in a post in response to BB the other day if Wolves had only made the simple and obvious decision to buy Lankshear and Cozier instead of Said and Bertrand - which was financially neutral, (but gave 2 HG instead of none) - as widely proposed on SM all summer, then they would have not just a few more points but would be well clear at the top of the table and to all intents and purpose home and dry.
So whilst the manager has failed to optimize what he has the club has badly failed to optimize what it could/should have had.

24 Oct 2026 17:49:03
5 subs again 2 on 90 mins what's the point. I just don't understand what cp is doing. we are not going to go up on 1--0 wins. its no good blaming the weather either
Other teams played in it and scored a lot more goals. This blokes clueless.

24 Oct 2026 17:56:30
Why would we not go up with 1-0 wins? Don't you get 3 points for a win no matter if you score 1 or 5 goals.

I like what Cesar is trying to do but the big issue is that Fosun have not allowed him to buy the players that we all know could take this division by storm. If we don't go up, it will squarely down to Fosuns hindrance.

24 Oct 2026 18:32:01
It's a squad game and I have no issues whatsoever with 5 subs. 2 at 90mins is to waste time/break up play and that's what happened. Not that it's going to happen but 1-0 wins from hereon in will see us champions with a record breaking points total.

24 Oct 2026 19:01:55
Moby. Quit the whining as it seems you don't understand the game much at all. Some of the subs were due to players getting YC like Bellegarde & Bueno and CP protecting against a 2nd and sending off.

And if you don't understand subs at 90+ minutes when your team is winning by 1 goal, then you obviously don't know strategy to waste time. And like GWIL1 said, you get 3 points for wins of any score.

24 Oct 2026 19:25:07
In truth it does only take one goal and a clean sheet to win a game. As I've posted before history remembers the result not the performance, although both would be nice, especially for the paying fans.

24 Oct 2026 19:28:22
Great to get the 3 points & if this game taught us anything is that we need a striker someone for Armstrong to feed off. I suspect if we had Raul playing we would have been 3-0 at half time.

Regarding the subs if any of you were at the game or like me watching there were shouts of 'you don't know what your doing' from the stands. It seems the paying fans are not happy!

24 Oct 2026 20:00:06
NJ, Moby is entitled to his opinion, so please be more respectful.

Also, what is YC? If you mean yellow cards it's YCs. You could of course just write yellow cards. It's easier for everyone. Thanks.

24 Oct 2026 20:31:02
Could be that he was saying due to players getting yellow carded so therefore not YC's. Don't think we need to get the grammar police involved anyway, I'm sure everyone understood what he was saying.

But I agree a bit of respect goes a long way, most on here are respectful of others opinions but as always some are not. At least NJ did explain the potential reasons behind the subs so Moby and understand why they happened.

I don't see the problem with subs, yes 5 is too many I'd prefer the original 3 but tactically it helps. And with the amount of games we need everyone to be involved at somepoint. But if I were a player I'd be a bit annoyed it goes down as an appearance when you play 2 mins, for a striker your stats would take a hit.

24 Oct 2026 21:50:24
LOL. Do you know what that means Bruno?! I didn't want to confuse you, so please speak up and I will explain in more detail if necessary.

Moby is entitled to his opinion. But that isn't an opinion to not understand YELLOW CARD (making it easier for everyone) substitutions and the reason for subbing after 90 minutes.

He complains that "This blokes clueless", but seems unfamiliar with standard football substitutions, so I have little respect for those types of comments when person making them shows lack of game knowledge.

25 Oct 2026 21:56:35
I don't get it. Teams are losing points for overspending and we all know what Man City did.
Why are people still calling for Fosun to spend more money than allowed? Are they thick?

24 Oct 2026 17:30:49
Im surprised everyone is complaining about the lineup changes, considering everyone knows this league is brutally hard with 2 games/week. Although it would be better to start our best 11 every game, it is important for the whole of the season for CP to manage the minutes and rotate players, even without consideration of injuries. If no rotation, then we will see more injuries and CP will be forced to play the weaker players more.

If your looking at the glass half full, we not playing that well, but sit in 4th and only a few points behind auto promotion.

24 Oct 2026 17:17:21
Are there any wolves fans out there who are happy with what they are watching at matches, i been a wolves fan for over 65 years, and I've seen good and bad, but I'm sorry but this manager (Mr tinker man) has got to be up there as the worst we have had.

I've cause we no who are to blame, all they do is get the cheapest manager they can get. The sooner they get out of club the better.