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- Thread starter Kenny
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Tyrannosaurus Dan
Colonel Sanders
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I ordered my mask on May 3rd and it still hasn't despatched!
Del Woppio
Virgin geek fuckwad
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Best 100 players, aged 21 and under. In the world. The whole world.
YoungWolf
World Cup 2014 PTG Champion - Not actually that Yo
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I think people are forgetting how talented he is. Understandable I suppose because this hasn't been a successful year for him, I get that. But it wasn't that long ago that people were foaming at the mouth because he wasn't picked for Newcastle away.
If Nuno didn't think he was good enough he would have got rid of him by now. We just need him to stay fit so he can have the consistent run of opportunities he needs.
If Nuno didn't think he was good enough he would have got rid of him by now. We just need him to stay fit so he can have the consistent run of opportunities he needs.
Dennisons Wrong Foot
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Huge potential even if he doesn't fit perfectly into our formation
Newbridge Wolf
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I ordered mine the day before, just checked. Hopefully yours will be on the way soon.
I hope there's more than 1 filter, it was sold as having four if irc
Jabbawolf
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Mine arrived yesterday - just one filter.
Newbridge Wolf
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Yep I was right (there's always a first) clearly states that each one comes with 4 filters.
Jabbawolf
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Unless it’s one pack with 4 incredibly thin filters - not opened it yet, and all the writing on pack is Chinese.
Carrotdude
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Dendoncker loves running
https://www.expressandstar.com/spor...nder-dendoncker-goes-the-distance-for-wolves/
https://www.expressandstar.com/spor...nder-dendoncker-goes-the-distance-for-wolves/
YoungWolf
World Cup 2014 PTG Champion - Not actually that Yo
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There aren’t too many footballers who eschew social media these days — but then Romain Saiss isn’t really one to court the limelight.
Self-promotion wouldn’t fit with a man who was still washing dishes in his father’s restaurant 10 years ago, becoming a professional footballer at the relatively late age of 21.
Not too much is known about Saiss, the defender and midfielder who has quietly become an integral part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Champions League-hunting side.
So, it’s with intrigue that The Athletic picks up the phone to speak to a player many Wolves fans feel has been their most consistent — and certainly most improved — in 2019-20.
“It’s a choice I made a few years ago,” he says of his lack of social media presence. “I like to stay quiet with my life and I try to protect my family.
“If everything is good for you, then everyone is happy for you (on social media) but with the opposite, it can be hard for some players, so that’s why I prefer to stay private. It’s important to stay more focused on my family at home.”
When you think of long-serving Wolves players, Matt Doherty (nine years) and Conor Coady (five) spring to mind, or academy graduates like Morgan Gibbs-White.
Behind Doherty and Coady, Saiss is the player who has spent the longest amount of time in the first team, having joined Wolves from French side Angers in 2016. That was a bonkers summer in which Fosun bought the club, sacked safe pair of hands Kenny Jackett and hired the ultimate wildcard in Walter Zenga before buying 12 players in six weeks and then sacking Zenga two months later.
Saiss must have wondered what he’d let himself in for.
“I was not sure (how long I’d stay) because everything was not like today,” he says. “When Fosun bought the club, it was a bit too late to start building something that season, so we changed a lot of players, a lot of coaches. The first season was hard.
“After they brought Nuno, we had more stability — three years now — with all the players coming in. We know each other very well. It was important to have this stability if we want to grow as a team and a club.”
While the likes of Ivan Cavaleiro, Helder Costa and Barry Douglas — who all made valuable contributions to one of European football’s great club football success stories in the past three years — have moved on, Saiss has endured and thrived.
Initially, he was a mainstay in the 2017-18 promotion season alongside Ruben Neves in central midfield. Last year, the arrival of Joao Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker restricted the Morocco international to 12 league starts, some of them in a central defensive role (where he plays for his country) that could be described as unconvincing.
This season, a permanent switch to centre-half (where he displaced Ryan Bennett) has yielded arguably the most impressive of his four Wolves seasons to date.
And with Wolves’ trajectory remaining on a seemingly upward curve, Saiss couldn’t be happier at Molineux.
“It’s the best move I made in my career,” he says. “It’s the club I’ve spent the most time at. My other clubs, I stayed one or two years. I’m here for four years. It’s a big part of my life.
“The club means a lot to me. Now it’s totally different from that first season and getting better year after year: promotion, the Europa League, and we’ll see for this season what we’re going to get. We have a fantastic end of the season to play.
“I haven’t adapted perfectly (in defence) but I feel very good in this new position. I’m pleased with how it’s gone individually this season. I’m feeling really happy with the club and on the pitch.”
Saiss is settled into his new role as a centre-half (Photo: Matthew Ashton- AMA/Getty Images)
Personal and team success has wholly vindicated Saiss moving to England four years ago. His dream was to play in the Premier League, which from a footballing point of view, made the switch an easy one but from a family perspective (Saiss and his wife have two young boys, now aged 11 and three), he took a gamble.
“It was not an easy decision,” he says. “It was a new language for the kids and my younger boy was only three weeks old at the time. It’s been easier for him to learn English but it was difficult for my old boy, totally different. He needed adaptation to understand everything. Now, he’s doing really well.
“England is really good. I appreciate it… except for the weather! I’m happy here. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for my family, especially my kids, to learn English and they enjoy the life here. The same for my wife — we like living in France but it’s totally different here, people are more open with a lot of things. With more sun, it would be perfect.
“Most of the time, I stay with my family at home. When we have days off, we’ve been to London or Bicester Village. I like to stay at home and take care of them. We try to find new things to do outside or restaurants… we like to go to the zoo.
“The lifestyle is different but I really appreciate living here. And they are (in this country) for me.”
Another difference is playing at centre-half in the Premier League, as opposed to playing there for Morocco, for whom he has won 41 caps and also skippered of late.
“It’s totally different,” he says. “The intensity is different in the Premier League and we play on good pitches in good conditions. Sometimes, in Africa, you play in some countries that are poor, with really bad pitches. Most of the time, it looks like typical English football in the 70s, like kick and rush. At home, it’s different because we have good pitches.
“In the Premier League, every game you have to concentrate for 90 minutes. A second can change everything in the game. Mo Salah is hard to play against. His game is to run and sprint at the defence every time, it requires a lot of strength from you, it’s always hard to play against him. The same with Eden Hazard, both games (against Liverpool and Chelsea) were really hard because technically they’re really good, so fast, quick, strong. Many players are good but some make me so tired after the game!”
When moving up to the Premier League, the difficulty of facing the likes of Salah and Hazard didn’t exactly improve Saiss’ notorious disciplinary record.
During matches, it’s become a running joke on social media as to when, not if, Saiss will be booked — Saiss booking bingo, if you will. He was booked in his first four appearances for Wolves in 2016, getting 10 in total that season. Then 12 yellows in 2017-18, eight last season and another 13 so far in 2019-20.
However, since late December, Saiss’ ratio has notably improved, with only two bookings in 16 appearances.
“I’ve tried to improve it,” he says. “Sometimes, I’ve picked up too many yellow cards, especially at the beginning of the game. I just want to show to my opponent, ‘Today it’s my game, not yours’, so I’m more aggressive. The referees are right but maybe because they’ve given me a card before, it’s easier to give me another one.
“I did well in the past few months. I have three more games to avoid (a two-game) suspension. It’s a thing I have to improve.
“I know sometimes, I’m just a little bit late. The second you are late makes the difference. If he touches the ball half a second before you, it could be a big foul. I try to anticipate, or if I’m too late or too far away, I try to turn and go with aggression or stay in my position. That’s what I’ve done in the last few months and it’s worked.”
Avoiding suspension would be an achievement but Saiss and Wolves have far bigger ambitions in the next couple of months.
For a player who’s already realised his Premier League dream and played for his country at a World Cup, it’s the Champions League that motivates him now. To do that with Wolves isn’t something he’d have thought possible in 2016.
“We’ve played in the Europa League; now I would like to play at least one season of my life in the Champions League,” he says.
“I hope it will be with Wolves. The club is growing quickly and it’s the next step because now we’re fighting for the position to get the Europa League. The next step is the Champions League. I hope I’ll be here to do it.”
Self-promotion wouldn’t fit with a man who was still washing dishes in his father’s restaurant 10 years ago, becoming a professional footballer at the relatively late age of 21.
Not too much is known about Saiss, the defender and midfielder who has quietly become an integral part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Champions League-hunting side.
So, it’s with intrigue that The Athletic picks up the phone to speak to a player many Wolves fans feel has been their most consistent — and certainly most improved — in 2019-20.
“It’s a choice I made a few years ago,” he says of his lack of social media presence. “I like to stay quiet with my life and I try to protect my family.
“If everything is good for you, then everyone is happy for you (on social media) but with the opposite, it can be hard for some players, so that’s why I prefer to stay private. It’s important to stay more focused on my family at home.”
When you think of long-serving Wolves players, Matt Doherty (nine years) and Conor Coady (five) spring to mind, or academy graduates like Morgan Gibbs-White.
Behind Doherty and Coady, Saiss is the player who has spent the longest amount of time in the first team, having joined Wolves from French side Angers in 2016. That was a bonkers summer in which Fosun bought the club, sacked safe pair of hands Kenny Jackett and hired the ultimate wildcard in Walter Zenga before buying 12 players in six weeks and then sacking Zenga two months later.
Saiss must have wondered what he’d let himself in for.
“I was not sure (how long I’d stay) because everything was not like today,” he says. “When Fosun bought the club, it was a bit too late to start building something that season, so we changed a lot of players, a lot of coaches. The first season was hard.
“After they brought Nuno, we had more stability — three years now — with all the players coming in. We know each other very well. It was important to have this stability if we want to grow as a team and a club.”
While the likes of Ivan Cavaleiro, Helder Costa and Barry Douglas — who all made valuable contributions to one of European football’s great club football success stories in the past three years — have moved on, Saiss has endured and thrived.
Initially, he was a mainstay in the 2017-18 promotion season alongside Ruben Neves in central midfield. Last year, the arrival of Joao Moutinho and Leander Dendoncker restricted the Morocco international to 12 league starts, some of them in a central defensive role (where he plays for his country) that could be described as unconvincing.
This season, a permanent switch to centre-half (where he displaced Ryan Bennett) has yielded arguably the most impressive of his four Wolves seasons to date.
And with Wolves’ trajectory remaining on a seemingly upward curve, Saiss couldn’t be happier at Molineux.
“It’s the best move I made in my career,” he says. “It’s the club I’ve spent the most time at. My other clubs, I stayed one or two years. I’m here for four years. It’s a big part of my life.
“The club means a lot to me. Now it’s totally different from that first season and getting better year after year: promotion, the Europa League, and we’ll see for this season what we’re going to get. We have a fantastic end of the season to play.
“I haven’t adapted perfectly (in defence) but I feel very good in this new position. I’m pleased with how it’s gone individually this season. I’m feeling really happy with the club and on the pitch.”
Saiss is settled into his new role as a centre-half (Photo: Matthew Ashton- AMA/Getty Images)
Personal and team success has wholly vindicated Saiss moving to England four years ago. His dream was to play in the Premier League, which from a footballing point of view, made the switch an easy one but from a family perspective (Saiss and his wife have two young boys, now aged 11 and three), he took a gamble.
“It was not an easy decision,” he says. “It was a new language for the kids and my younger boy was only three weeks old at the time. It’s been easier for him to learn English but it was difficult for my old boy, totally different. He needed adaptation to understand everything. Now, he’s doing really well.
“England is really good. I appreciate it… except for the weather! I’m happy here. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for my family, especially my kids, to learn English and they enjoy the life here. The same for my wife — we like living in France but it’s totally different here, people are more open with a lot of things. With more sun, it would be perfect.
“Most of the time, I stay with my family at home. When we have days off, we’ve been to London or Bicester Village. I like to stay at home and take care of them. We try to find new things to do outside or restaurants… we like to go to the zoo.
“The lifestyle is different but I really appreciate living here. And they are (in this country) for me.”
Another difference is playing at centre-half in the Premier League, as opposed to playing there for Morocco, for whom he has won 41 caps and also skippered of late.
“It’s totally different,” he says. “The intensity is different in the Premier League and we play on good pitches in good conditions. Sometimes, in Africa, you play in some countries that are poor, with really bad pitches. Most of the time, it looks like typical English football in the 70s, like kick and rush. At home, it’s different because we have good pitches.
“In the Premier League, every game you have to concentrate for 90 minutes. A second can change everything in the game. Mo Salah is hard to play against. His game is to run and sprint at the defence every time, it requires a lot of strength from you, it’s always hard to play against him. The same with Eden Hazard, both games (against Liverpool and Chelsea) were really hard because technically they’re really good, so fast, quick, strong. Many players are good but some make me so tired after the game!”
When moving up to the Premier League, the difficulty of facing the likes of Salah and Hazard didn’t exactly improve Saiss’ notorious disciplinary record.
During matches, it’s become a running joke on social media as to when, not if, Saiss will be booked — Saiss booking bingo, if you will. He was booked in his first four appearances for Wolves in 2016, getting 10 in total that season. Then 12 yellows in 2017-18, eight last season and another 13 so far in 2019-20.
However, since late December, Saiss’ ratio has notably improved, with only two bookings in 16 appearances.
“I’ve tried to improve it,” he says. “Sometimes, I’ve picked up too many yellow cards, especially at the beginning of the game. I just want to show to my opponent, ‘Today it’s my game, not yours’, so I’m more aggressive. The referees are right but maybe because they’ve given me a card before, it’s easier to give me another one.
“I did well in the past few months. I have three more games to avoid (a two-game) suspension. It’s a thing I have to improve.
“I know sometimes, I’m just a little bit late. The second you are late makes the difference. If he touches the ball half a second before you, it could be a big foul. I try to anticipate, or if I’m too late or too far away, I try to turn and go with aggression or stay in my position. That’s what I’ve done in the last few months and it’s worked.”
Avoiding suspension would be an achievement but Saiss and Wolves have far bigger ambitions in the next couple of months.
For a player who’s already realised his Premier League dream and played for his country at a World Cup, it’s the Champions League that motivates him now. To do that with Wolves isn’t something he’d have thought possible in 2016.
“We’ve played in the Europa League; now I would like to play at least one season of my life in the Champions League,” he says.
“I hope it will be with Wolves. The club is growing quickly and it’s the next step because now we’re fighting for the position to get the Europa League. The next step is the Champions League. I hope I’ll be here to do it.”
Deutsch Wolf
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There was nothing "safe" about Ken in 2016.
Post-promotion from L1, we signed all of the following under him:
Tommy Rowe
Rajiv van La Parra
George Saville
Tomasz Kuszczak
Jordan Graham
Benik Afobe
Yannick Sagbo
Danny Graham
Donovan Wilson
Jed Wallace
Sylvain Deslandes
Conor Coady
Nathan Byrne
Michal Zyro
Aaron Collins
Joe Mason
Mike Williamson
Adam le Fondre
Sheyi Ojo
Emi Martinez
Grant Holt
Jérémy Hélan
How many hits are there in that list, really? So you wouldn't trust him particularly with a load of money to spend, he'd done well in the market in L1 but it looked more like he'd lost his touch in that area than anything else.
And as oft pointed out, were it not for some highly fortunate wins just after Christmas, we could easily have gone down in 2015/16, we were shit.
Of course swapping him for Zenga doesn't look too bright but he had to go.
Post-promotion from L1, we signed all of the following under him:
Tommy Rowe
Rajiv van La Parra
George Saville
Tomasz Kuszczak
Jordan Graham
Benik Afobe
Yannick Sagbo
Danny Graham
Donovan Wilson
Jed Wallace
Sylvain Deslandes
Conor Coady
Nathan Byrne
Michal Zyro
Aaron Collins
Joe Mason
Mike Williamson
Adam le Fondre
Sheyi Ojo
Emi Martinez
Grant Holt
Jérémy Hélan
How many hits are there in that list, really? So you wouldn't trust him particularly with a load of money to spend, he'd done well in the market in L1 but it looked more like he'd lost his touch in that area than anything else.
And as oft pointed out, were it not for some highly fortunate wins just after Christmas, we could easily have gone down in 2015/16, we were shit.
Of course swapping him for Zenga doesn't look too bright but he had to go.
