Football News: My Current Take On Wolverhampton Wanderers

I wasn't sure if I should post on this subject as I suspect that today there are some raw emotions - you may have noted that I have posted far far less often over these last few weeks as the death rattle of Lage's reign was sounding and even the most loyal and positive posters started to express doubts / concerns.

I certainly don't want to sound like or claim to be a Cassandra - I would (in error) have sold Jota and as I hadn't heard of Sa can't claim I would have bought him (clearly a very good move at the price we [ Wolverhampton Wanderers ] paid particularly cf the price we sold Patricio for).

However, what I hope is that some of the negativity and divisiveness on the board can be reconciled by some simple analysis of the situation which still remains far from terminal despite all the issues/problems that we have faced over the past 2 years.

The sacking of Lage and our installation as relegation favourites - I am seeing some predictions that we won't get 20 points this year - wow! - is not some shock or short-term issue. No, the road to this point was mapped out and clearly established in a meeting between Nuno and Shi post Seville.

We stood at a crossroads with Nuno pointing the way forward to Champions league football, success and happiness and Shi (presumably sadly not understanding football) decided that, despite not understanding football he knew best and we were going in another direction.

Nuno had very clearly laid out the plan and the requirements. Despite what many as an excuse for Shi's reticence claim this did not include vast sums of cash from Fosun who I actually largely exonerate from the catastrophic decisions made since Seville (other than perhaps sleeping at the wheel as we veered dramatically off course - although with most on here also failing/denying to see that we were racing towards the rocks maybe they can be forgiven), that have brought us to this point but merely a rebalancing and slight expansion of the squad that would largely have been self -financing, particularly if we had achieved the success that seemed likely.
Shi disagreed and we all know what happened next.

Covid is used as an excuse - it hit all teams and probably affected us less than most as we were financially sound - due to Nuno's brilliance in the transfer market and Fosun's support- and bizarrely, as our system was predicated on taking the heat out of games to silence the ground, probably helped us as there were no crowds!

Also, whilst the injuries to Jimenez and to a lesser extent Neto shortened the path and perhaps accelerated us along it the path was clear to all and any willing to see.
The squad as Nuno had warned became increasingly unbalanced and short in numbers - this week we had only 1 senior CB available (Lage unbelievably saying that after selling/giving away 4 senior CBs and only buying one the alternative internal solutions, Toti and Yerson, were not viable!) and no fit Senior CF at all!

It had also become older and less talented as 5 poor transfer windows in a row under Shi's auspices bit hard! {This last one was clearly the best but still looks like a last-minute supermarket trolley dash over paying hugely for players we probably didn't need and failing to buy the ones we did - like putting cream cakes and lemonade in the trolley but no bread or milk}

Nuno's brilliance and the superb squad he put together masked the issues in 20/21 despite the horrendous Jimenez injury and the 2 worst transfer windows of them all and also allowed Lage after a month of failing to install a new style to revert to Nuno's tactics and players to squeeze out a few months of what was clearly unsustainable magic in 21/22.

This summer though virtually the last vestiges of Nuno's influence/team was unceremoniously shown the door and we arrived. However, although I am struggling to see which respectable manager would join and work under Shi the squad is still highly talented - probably the most talented squad to be even close to this position and better managed it should be good enough to escape.

Costa looked more capable than I could have dreamed and Traore if used correctly is still one of the best players in the league as he showed v WH when in what was otherwise a fairly abject performance from an offensive point of view - BB are you still sure about Guedes - he created 2 if not 3 clear cut chances. Costa will score them as Jimenez, Jota and Doherty did under Nuno. {You suspect that several of the players including Jimenez, Otto and Traore will also suddenly be fitter and keener now that Lage, who had clearly lost the dressing room, is gone}

With Neto playing on the other wing we should be quite threatening. Neves, Nunes and one - Moutinho for short bursts, slow Traore in a defensive role or Podence in an attacking one is a solid and creative midfield whilst defensively, suspensions and injuries apart we should be fine especially with better coaching for raw talents like RAN and Collins.

Thus, although it looks v dark it only takes 2 good decisions from Fosun - appoint a good manager and massively reduce Shi's role (preferably remove him entirely!) - and a better transfer window in January - which will occur if the 2 matters identified above have been satisfactorily resolved - to turn things around.

We have wasted 2 if not 3 years due to Shi's incompetence but it is still redeemable but that process of redemption must start today!

Written by Thefutureisoldgold October 03 2022 19:58:45