DAVE PORTER SHARES 8 KEY LESSONS FOR WOLVES FOLLOWING 5-3 LOSS TO BRENTFORD
1. The Line Has Been Crossed
Up to this point, there has been growing unrest. Dark clouds had been gathering, but the storm was still a threat rather than a reality. As Wolves left the pitch following one of the worst defensive displays in living memory, there was little doubt that the distant menace was now firmly upon them. The impact was not just from this game; it carried the weight of the horrific end to last season, years of mismanagement, and the doomed philosophies of a club that has completely lost its way. This game was the lightning strike, but the storm had been brewing for years. It is no surprise that the impact feels cataclysmic. These are not the days anymore; these feel like the end of days.
2. It's Fosun’s fault
The troubles at Wolverhampton Wanderers can be traced back to the very top. Fosun, the club’s owners, have overseen a period of significant turmoil and mismanagement. Their ambitious plans initially brought hope and investment, but over time, their decisions have led to instability and decline.
Fosun’s approach has often seemed more focused on short-term gains rather than building a sustainable future for the club. The constant changes in management, the questionable recruitment strategies, and the lack of a coherent long-term vision have all contributed to the current crisis. The owners’ failure to provide consistent leadership and direction has left the club adrift.
A significant issue has been Fosun’s philosophy of selling established players and replacing them with younger, unproven talent. This approach has gradually reduced the team’s standard, leading to a decline in performance and the looming threat of relegation. The strategy of prioritizing potential over proven ability has not yielded the desired results and has instead weakened the squad year on year.
Moreover, Fosun’s corporate strategies and profiteering off fans with unnecessary ticket price hikes have injected a poison into the club. This has caused a deep mistrust between supporters and ownership, a rift that feels increasingly irreparable. The disconnect between the owners’ ambitions and the realities on the pitch has become glaringly apparent, culminating in the disastrous performances we are witnessing now.
In the end, the responsibility for the club’s plight lies squarely with Fosun. Their stewardship has been marked by a series of missteps and miscalculations, and the current crisis is a direct result of their actions.
3. It’s Matt Hobbs’ Fault
Fosun have their issues, but they will point to a sizeable reinvestment of funds this year back into the team. It is Matt Hobbs’ job to get the recruitment right. Wolves have focused their money on the future, but summer signings are not only failing to make an impact, they are barely being selected. Save for Larsen, who at least routinely makes the starting eleven, millions of pounds are sitting either on the Wolves bench or not even making the squad.
Hobbs has insisted on having only four centre-backs at the club. This might be a sensible policy for a club that has played a back four for years, but it is not something you would want to test on a club whose foundation of success is rooted in a back five. Of the money that has been spent, it was on positions that Wolves were not in urgent need of replacing. Johnstone for Sa seems at best a like-for-like replacement. Andre was purchased as a piece of opportunism rather than fitting the needs of the club. Wolves sold a centre-half and their most exciting forward player, and they just haven’t been replaced. Instead, a goalkeeper and a midfielder were prioritized, which now seem like acts of complete lunacy.
Wolves had money to spend, but they have blown it on players that are too young and too inexperienced or in positions that had very little need of improvement. The blame must be with Hobbs.
4. It’s Gary O Neil’s fault.
The statistics speak for themselves. Wolves have won just one league game in the last 18. That win, with all due respect to Luton, came against a team who were almost certainly already relegated and arguably had no real business being in the Premier League in the first place. Over this period, Wolves have conceded 36 goals and have amassed a criminal 6 points out of the 54 available. With Wolves’ next game against Manchester City, that will be one win in 19 league games. That’s half a season. This is not a short-term blip.
O’Neil has changed formation from a back five to a back four, and it seems that his stubbornness and rigidity to that change will ultimately be his demise. Tactically, O’Neil is being out-thought by other managers. Wolves have either been in the lead or drawn themselves level in 5 of the 7 games this season but have failed to win any of those games and lost 4 of them. Other managers are reacting and changing, and O’Neil seems slow to adapt. The continued use of the midfield triumvirate that so obviously cannot play together is baffling.
When you think back to the successful period, was that anything to do with O’Neil, or was it just the system he had to play with a reliance on the brilliance that Pedro Neto was bringing to the table? Players are no longer improving; if anything, they seem to be going in the opposite direction. Players are being shoehorned into the team to get the best eleven on the pitch, regardless of whether that is their best position or not.
O’Neil is a young manager; is there really any expectation of him having the experience to be able to turn this run around? O’Neil now looks like the cheap option that many suspected he would be, but when you factor in the cost of the inevitable relegation should O’Neil remain in place, he could be one of the most expensive managers in Wolves’ history.
5. It’s the Players’ Fault
Regardless of ownership, recruitment, and management, Wolves have a side that on paper is comfortably better than one that sits at the bottom of the table with one point from 7 games. It’s not anyone else’s fault that Lemina gave away a carbon copy of the penalty that Semedo conceded the previous week, costing the game against Liverpool. It’s not the manager’s fault that Lemina, among others, is giving the ball away in ridiculous positions under very little pressure.
This Wolves team has three Brazilian internationals. Brazil may not be the team of the past, but that still means something. Wolves are a team littered with international footballers who are lacking any kind of form and making simple, routine mistakes week after week. It’s not the manager’s fault that players coming off the bench are completely ineffective, and the lack of options or changes to the starting eleven is down to substitutes and squad members failing to do anything to warrant a place in the team.
Player confidence is part of the manager’s job, but the players themselves must take some accountability. This must be embarrassing for them; where is their personal pride in their performance? The players cannot escape criticism, and their part must be recognized.
Ultimately, There is Blame Everywhere, where you personally attach it is up to you, but this is a melting pot of incompetence that must be addressed. O’Neil has referenced his dissatisfaction in his press conference, citing this game as the worst under his stewardship. Change, as such, is inevitable, but with champions Manchester City and the habitual defeat away at Brighton to follow, is there any chance of change leading to any impact? Wolves will have a decision to make as to whether they act now and use the two following games and the international break to give a new manager more time or whether to continue to give O’Neil support. There are, however, changes that must happen.
6. Wolves Must Return to a Back Five
Wolves simply do not have the players to continue to play with a back 4. There is zero tolerance for anything like a repetition of the defensive performance delivered yesterday. This cannot and must not be repeated. Wolves conceded 4 goals in the first half and ended up losing 5-3, but make no mistake, this result completely flattered Wolves. Wolves were opened up repeatedly, with every attack looking like a goal would follow. Wolves must return to a back 5 immediately. The fact that Wolves only have 3 fit centre-backs at the club is irrelevant. Wolves have caused this issue, and they need to pray for good fortune in terms of fitness or be prepared to find alternative solutions. The back 4 experiment has failed yet again and will continue to fail until there is investment in players who have the ability to play it. There is a chance that the back 5 is so rooted within Wolves’ DNA that it just isn’t possible, but it definitely isn’t with the players that we have. End the madness.
7. The Midfield Three Cannot Play Together
Brentford’s ability to seemingly attack and score at will was not only the fault of the Wolves defenders; the way that Brentford waltzed through Wolves’ midfield at will was painful. It seems an unbelievable statement to make when Wolves have three of the most combative central midfielders in the division at their disposal, but that is the reality. André, Lemina, and Gomes cannot play in the same team in this structure. There is an argument to say that in a 5-3-2, they may have more success, similar to when Dendoncker would partner Neves and Moutinho, but there are no real signs that these three players can find any kind of cohesion. André has been Wolves’ best player in recent games, but he has created a massive issue. Someone will have to drop out of the side, but who? Do you drop André, who has been the best of the three? Do you drop club captain Lemina, who is horrifically out of form, or do you drop Gomes and lower the sale value of your next major transfer exit? Wolves have a real problem here that they have created themselves.
8. If You Lose the Away Fans, the Game is Over
This has always been true. Social media and home fans are never usually the catalyst for managerial change. It is the away fans that signal that time is up. In this instance, away at Brentford where away tickets are in short supply and reserved for the most regular attenders, any discontent must be taken seriously. There is seldom any coming back from this. There are few, if any, examples in Wolves’ or any other team’s history where away support has been lost and managers stay in a job. Wolves have decisions to make, not only about the immediate future of the manager but also a fundamental top-down review of philosophy and long-term goals. What is being delivered is not acceptable, it’s not sustainable, and it has only one outcome: relegation.
ARTICLE BY DAVE PORTER
Wolverhampton born, East Sussex based supporter. Old enough to have seen the descent to the bottom, young enough to not have experienced the days my friend. Not many Wolves fans to celebrate or commiserate with round these parts, so had to find an outlet to discuss the enormous highs, crushing lows and share the frustrations that only come with following Wolves.
2 Comments
by Razor
What a brilliant, succinct piece, that sums up exactly where we are right now. I agree with every single word, in fact I have already written some Facebook posts in the past 24 hours, with a lot of these words and sentiments – particularly the bit about the midfield three, which as you say is a problem of our own making. It is obvious that they bought Andre with an avaricious motive, thinking of the ultimate profits but that does not help the manager now, particularly when we really needed an experienced head at the back.
And we are sadly lacking a Coady-esque captain on the field – one who can calm the heads around him and help the manager by carrying out the game plan. I played enough football to know that communication and leadership is essential. I’m sure most of us (me included) thought that Lemina would be the ideal candidate but he seems too emotional and too erratic and this seems to be rubbing off on those around him.
Some tough decisions ahead methinks, and I would start by resting Lemina and making Dawson captain in the middle of a back three.
by Remus
Firstly, congratulations to Dave Porter for writing such an in depth analysis of our current perilous situation.
I too now consider Fosuns strategy is based around “player trading” with the ultimate goal to seek out emerging talent buy / develop / sell on for profit.
Whilst this in itself isn’t unique (look at Brighton) this policy has now left us with a number of talented but somewhat unproven players to cope with the demands of the Premier league.
And the point about Andre is totally valid as we saw this happen with Nunes, the thinking obviously being to uplift a decent profit on him after paying an acceptable lower initial price.
I also see the removal of the SP coach as an admission/realisation of the players being overloaded with detail and their inability to cope with this approach.
However, I’m not convinced that Fosun have “lost interest” as seems to be mooted by many people now, but they do need to decide what it is they are now trying to achieve after establishing the club in the PL.
November will be the pivotal period then…..let’s hope those empowered with the running of the club make the decisions that will retain our current status ……