General Wolves News

[Nando]

Oosh.

What a colossal fuck up this season has been.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/05/benik-afobe-arsenal-bournemouth

Afobe remembers his agent telling him, upon the move to Wolves, that a stint longer than two years at Molineux would have meant he was doing something wrong in his career.

We were evidently a stepping stone for him, which is fine I suppose but I don't think he's the white knight he's made out to be at times. Some of what Moxey says is almost certainly true, some of it isn't. I don't trust Badge Kissing Ben any more than I trust Jez.

 

[Sedgley Wolf]

Well, there we have it. From the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I know who I believe.

 

[Stan Hullis]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/feb/05/benik-afobe-arsenal-bournemouth



We were evidently a stepping stone for him, which is fine I suppose but I don't think he's the white knight he's made out to be at times. Some of what Moxey says is almost certainly true, some of it isn't. I don't trust Badge Kissing Ben any more than I trust Jez.

Exactly - the truth is somewhere in the middle. But the whole thing is a cluster fuck of a situation.

 

[So Long Architect]

Bought him for £2m, sold him for £10m (or whatever the actual figures might be) so not exactly awful business for Wolves, either. The fact that we're not exactly covering ourselves in glory trying to spend that money is another matter.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Well, there we have it. From the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I know who I believe.

So do I. And it ain't Afobe.

 

[playtheace]

Bit touchy on the "not trying" malarkey isnt he.
Lets say he "ambled" around the pitch at times without putting too much/any pressure on defenders.

 

[Wolvensam]

I think there's fault on both sides. Perhaps Bournemouth enquired prior to the January window opening (d'uh) and Afobe then started making noises to leave. He looked disinterested and there's a striking difference between his performances this time last year and what we saw in the last month or so he played for us. For Thelwell and Moxey to come out with the accusations they have was not only unprofessional but also setting themselves up for a fall: Afobe was bound to react, and with the attitude around the club towards the board at the moment there's only one side the fans are going to believe - and it ain't Moxey and Thelwell.

 

[Sedgley Wolf]

So do I. And it ain't Afobe.

So you seriously think Afobe 'wasn't trying'? Sorry Paddington, but that is bullshit from Thelwell.

Sure, he wanted to leave, and who can blame him for that, but to accuse him of not trying doesn't really make sense.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

And that's why I think the club may well pull up the communications drawbridge full stop very soon. Such a swathe of the support won't believe anything, so just stop communicating with them full stop.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

So you seriously think Afobe 'wasn't trying'? Sorry Paddington, but that is bullshit from Thelwell.

Sure, he wanted to leave, and who can blame him for that, but to accuse him of not trying doesn't really make sense.

Yes. He moped round the pitch completely disinterested. Absolutely I believe that.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'm not in the 'not trying' camp. He gave it everything vs Brighton, for instance. Our football was dismal though and the lack of service to a quality forward was criminal so I can forgive him for being demotivated.

What I don't believe is that he didn't want to leave long in advance, he obviously did. His representatives were clearly in his ear about moving to the PL ASAP. Hence him moving to a club who are probably about 50:50 to stay up, there is nothing long term about that move either.

 

[Sedgley Wolf]

Yes. He moped round the pitch completely disinterested. Absolutely I believe that.

Disinterested? Sounds like conjecture to me.

What I saw a striker completely isolated by a madcap system of play that was only suited to an Akinfenwa type up front.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Or maybe a Maierhofer, strangely enough. Anybody under six four was going to struggle.

He knew he was off, his agent was doing the bizz behind the scenes. All Bournemouth had to do was come in with the bid, as personal terms were being negotiated on the quiet. What I do find odd though is the clear inference that we were absolutely not going to do business with Norwich as they made the summer bid public. Strange thing to say, and I am not sure that they would have been able to hold true to that if Norwich were the only team coming back in.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Also don't think I'm backing up the club on this one because I'm not.

- Afobe was our player on a long term contract, we should have told him to lump it for four months and he could go in the summer rather than definitively killing our season in the first week of January

- Their excuses for not bringing in a replacement are poor, as Mark said last night for experienced administrators to make those comments is unreal

- We shouldn't be airing this in public, no good can come of it

- It's the club's fault for not putting any pressure on a manager delivering abysmal football that led us to this situation

But please don't think Ben is blameless in this. Is he fuck. I'm not buying his self-pity any more than I buy the 'it was impossible to sign a striker' narrative.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Regardless of whether was trying or not (I believe he was as motivated as he could be while having to suffer Ken's awful tactics, while at the same time knowing his agent would be doing his best to secure a January move to the PL) surely the club should keep their opinions on his efforts to themselves rather than publicly accuse a professional footballer of not trying?

 

[Sedgley Wolf]

Or maybe a Maierhofer, strangely enough. Anybody under six four was going to struggle.

He knew he was off, his agent was doing the bizz behind the scenes. All Bournemouth had to do was come in with the bid, as personal terms were being negotiated on the quiet. What I do find odd though is the clear inference that we were absolutely not going to do business with Norwich as they made the summer bid public. Strange thing to say, and I am not sure that they would have been able to hold true to that if Norwich were the only team coming back in.

Yep, the move was in the offing. I just find it hard to believe he would disrespect his team-mates by not trying.

The Norwich situation was slightly bizarre and it's something else that could have blown up in the club's face PR-wise. Autumn 2015 : 'We're not selling Afobe to Norwich under any circumstances'. Jan 2016 (Norwich return with a 10 million bid) ' We have accepted a bid from Norwich as they were the only club to meet our terms'. Doesn't sound great, does it?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Quite - my thoughts exactly on the Norwich side of things.

 

[FrankMunro-371]

And that's why I think the club may well pull up the communications drawbridge full stop very soon. Such a swathe of the support won't believe anything, so just stop communicating with them full stop.

Maybe supporters have good reasons to be sceptical of anything the club says?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Maybe supporters have good reasons to be sceptical of anything the club says?

Sceptical yes (nothing is ever as 100% as what a press release says, in any industry), but there is a section of our support who automatically reject anything the club say, which is hardly helpful.