Is Bruno Lage A Good Manager Or Should He Go?

[jd1981]

Is anyone else think we'll be playing championship football within 3 seasons at the most

Very easily almost certain will drop about before the end of the decade.
Clubs like ourselves enter each season with the possibility of relegation the more the malaise and standing still occurs the risk of relegation rises.
A reset on strategy is needed, we’re pretty rudderless currently.
Fosun I’m sure realise that competing at the top is impossible so they probably think there’s little point in breaking the bank to come 7th when coming 12-13th doesn’t make a huge difference.

 

[The Saturday Boy]

I don’t think Fosun have ever indicated that they intended to bankroll the transfer budget. Their initial wish was to move away from Molineux to generate more income but got cold feet when there was a bit of anger about it. They have been true to their word, the initial investments has largely funded everything since and it will be the same this summer. If we are going to spend big it will be on the back of player sales.

In some respects we have been quite fortunate with the core group of initial purchases and those in our first season in the PL have been good enough to keep us out of trouble. Any new purchases have got to be more Jiminez and less Trincao.

At the moment, Fosun aren’t really investing in infrastructure or playing staff.

 

[big mean bunny]

If, as some are saying, he has lost the dressing room and the players have downed tools. Maybe the players should think about the people who are paying good money to go and watch their turgid performances of late.

In some ways they are, if they think what they are being asked to do isn't working, isn't in the teams best interest, isn't going to help them win or key players aren't being used, then that's different.

 

[Deano]

I don’t think Fosun have ever indicated that they intended to bankroll the transfer budget. Their initial wish was to move away from Molineux to generate more income but got cold feet when there was a bit of anger about it. They have been true to their word, the initial investments has largely funded everything since and it will be the same this summer. If we are going to spend big it will be on the back of player sales.

In some respects we have been quite fortunate with the core group of initial purchases and those in our first season in the PL have been good enough to keep us out of trouble. Any new purchases have got to be more Jiminez and less Trincao.

At the moment, Fosun aren’t really investing in infrastructure or playing staff.

Agree with all of this but it doesn't lend itself to any type of success. I don't think Fosun mind that though, they'll be happy as long as the club is in the PL getting the TV money.

We are lucky that first summer was such a good one, as you say those players plus some that were already here from the Championship season have been the reason we've been in no trouble up to now. It'll bite us soon though.

 

[jd1981]

I don’t think Fosun have ever indicated that they intended to bankroll the transfer budget. Their initial wish was to move away from Molineux to generate more income but got cold feet when there was a bit of anger about it. They have been true to their word, the initial investments has largely funded everything since and it will be the same this summer. If we are going to spend big it will be on the back of player sales.

In some respects we have been quite fortunate with the core group of initial purchases and those in our first season in the PL have been good enough to keep us out of trouble. Any new purchases have got to be more Jiminez and less Trincao.

At the moment, Fosun aren’t really investing in infrastructure or playing staff.

Not so much bank rolling but maintenance is required.

 

[redvictor]

In some ways they are, if they think what they are being asked to do isn't working, isn't in the teams best interest, isn't going to help them win or key players aren't being used, then that's different.

It doesn't help their cause when you watch a performance like that. Especially as all you hear afterwards is "they didn't play, they just watched Brighton play" What does that mean then?
The girl on Wolves TV asked the question twice "What's gone wrong?", and Bruno just poo poo'd her. Cue the blackadder quotes..

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Not so much bank rolling but maintenance is required.

The problem is that the maintenance in recent years has either been on the cheap or badly judged spending a lot on players that aren't good enough or aren't ready. It's reached the point where it may need a little bank rolling to get the squad up to the required level and failure to do so could well result in Fosun losing the annual big cheque from Sky. From a business point of view they could well be better selling now while the club is relatively established in the PL as relegation will literally cost them tens of millions.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Did OK at certain points, but has lost confidence from the players now - his time is up.

 

[Throbber1]

Maintenance. Mmmm.

Fosun bought a car in 2017, and invested in high quality parts. The current engine needed a couple of tweaks of senior mechanic but eventually Nuno got it purring.However, the owners did not change the oil or the filters , instead they bought shiny new alloy wheels (Fabio) and a stainless steel exhaust (Semedo) The mechanic reminded the owners that they still needed to maintain the car or it would run into problems. The car started to fail. Fosun changed mechanic. This new mechanic wanted to add nitrous to make the car faster but the existing engine and gear box where not strong enough. The new mechanic (Bruno) also asked for maintenance parts but again the owner did not buy them . The owners pointed out that the car appeared to be running fine and what is not broken does not need fixing. However, the cars parts were wearing because of lack of maintenance and other parts started to break . The engine that already needed tuning , started to badly misfire. The shiny wheels looked pitted and the stainless steel exhaust dull. The new mechanic however, would not tell the owners the truth and kept running the car without maintenance. The owners eventually tired of seeing their car limping along and fired the mechanic.
Hopefully the owners learn that every car needs constant maintenance, often small and the major parts need to be kept in shape or the whole car splutters to a halt.

 

[Tony Towner]

It doesn't help their cause when you watch a performance like that. Especially as all you hear afterwards is "they didn't play, they just watched Brighton play" What does that mean then?
The girl on Wolves TV asked the question twice "What's gone wrong?", and Bruno just poo poo'd her. Cue the blackadder quotes..

The girl?

 

[The Saturday Boy]

Agree with all of this but it doesn't lend itself to any type of success. I don't think Fosun mind that though, they'll be happy as long as the club is in the PL getting the TV money.

We are lucky that first summer was such a good one, as you say those players plus some that were already here from the Championship season have been the reason we've been in no trouble up to now. It'll bite us soon though.

Other than promotion, 2 (maybe 3) top 10 PL finishes, an FA Cup Semi Final and a European campaign it doesn’t lend itself to any type of success. We are having more success than at any point since the early 80s. I don’t see Fosun taking money out of the club so not sure what TV money has to do with anything, the profit or loss of WWFC is hardly integral to their overall business.

The problem isn’t Fosun, the problem is the same that the majority of football clubs face - players, managers and results and at the moment we have a problem with all three. Unless Fosun decide to change their approach and suddenly invest more money the problem is the club not the owners.

Everton have spent more money on transfers than Liverpool since Klopp took over at Anfield. Money isn’t everything. Good recruitment doesn’t rely on Fosun but for whatever reason we have not managed to resolve some fairly obvious squad issues. Our lack of top quality defenders has been mitigated somewhat by tactical approaches by Nuno and Bruno that have largely been about making it hard to break us down, neither Nuno or Bruno have been able to address a lack of goals. We have two of the most talented midfielders in Neves and Moutinho who have ever played for us but neither are particularly creative, neither score many goals, neither are particularly adept at getting into the box. We have had various times when the forward line functioned Jota/Jimenez and Traore/Jimenez have at times worked well but it has never been consistent.

We need better players, and we need different players. That’s on the club not the owners but anyone expecting there to be a radically different approach from Fosun is likely to be disappointed, I just don’t see them putting in the money that will enable us to keep our best players and get in better players.

 

[Tony Towner]

The only people who have raised expectations are Fosun/Jeff. They are the ones that talked about Champions League, they are the ones who talked about being one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I think most people saw it for the rhetoric that it was, but they've made their own bed in that sense

 

[Throbber1]

The only people who have raised expectations are Fosun/Jeff. They are the ones that talked about Champions League, they are the ones who talked about being one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I think most people saw it for the rhetoric that it was, but they've made their own bed in that sense

Sometimes it needs something like this for all to see the reality. Supporters to have realistic expectations , owners to provide the tools to maximise the chance of success.

 

[Deano]

Other than promotion, 2 (maybe 3) top 10 PL finishes, an FA Cup Semi Final and a European campaign it doesn’t lend itself to any type of success. We are having more success than at any point since the early 80s. I don’t see Fosun taking money out of the club so not sure what TV money has to do with anything, the profit or loss of WWFC is hardly integral to their overall business.

The problem isn’t Fosun, the problem is the same that the majority of football clubs face - players, managers and results and at the moment we have a problem with all three. Unless Fosun decide to change their approach and suddenly invest more money the problem is the club not the owners.

Everton have spent more money on transfers than Liverpool since Klopp took over at Anfield. Money isn’t everything. Good recruitment doesn’t rely on Fosun but for whatever reason we have not managed to resolve some fairly obvious squad issues. Our lack of top quality defenders has been mitigated somewhat by tactical approaches by Nuno and Bruno that have largely been about making it hard to break us down, neither Nuno or Bruno have been able to address a lack of goals. We have two of the most talented midfielders in Neves and Moutinho who have ever played for us but neither are particularly creative, neither score many goals, neither are particularly adept at getting into the box. We have had various times when the forward line functioned Jota/Jimenez and Traore/Jimenez have at times worked well but it has never been consistent.

We need better players, and we need different players. That’s on the club not the owners but anyone expecting there to be a radically different approach from Fosun is likely to be disappointed, I just don’t see them putting in the money that will enable us to keep our best players and get in better players.

I agree with you, when i said success I meant the next step of breaking into the top 6/7 consistently. We've had more success the last few years than we have in my Wolves supporting life for sure and its been brilliant, I do think we have hit our ceiling now though with the way things are currently being done, which is fine but the owners still talk about bigger ambitions and are raising prices accordingly.

If their ambition is to break into the top 6 or 7 teams you need big year on year investment in the playing staff, no team has managed to do it any other way. There are always going to be teams that spend money like the Everton example and it doesnt guarantee you success on its own but it is needed. Buying younger cheaper alternatives, with upside and then trying to improve them and sell for profit, rinse and repeat is great in theory but in practice it's incredibly hard to do and at Wolves I'd say recent evidence suggests they don't have the recruitment staff in place to make it work either.

It's Fosuns money and they can do what they like with it, I just think without a change of approach for them we have hit the peak of what we can achieve.

 

[Jabbawolf]

Supposedly, Man Utd sent senior scouts to watch Neves on Saturday - Lage is a genius playing an unready Neves in front of a potential suitor - can I change my vote?

 

[Wilf Wolf]

It’s nice to be in a position to challenge for European qualification but the cards are stacked against any team without owners putting significant funds in. Having followed Wolves for nearly fifty years just becoming an established PL team that plays some half decent football occasionally would be fine. That necessitates spending what funds you do have wisely and recently there has been precious little evidence those in charge have a plan of any sorts which means despite the fact we will almost certainly finish in the top half of the table next season I expect us to be looking down not up. The freakish points per goal return is not sustainable but I’m worried Shi and Sellars will just look at the table and think a couple of moderate priced signings will consolidate things.

Unless Fosun think they can make big gains in eSports I’m not sure what their plan is to increase the value of their investment which is presumably their intention. Drifting along in mid table might seem fine but history shows relegation eventually comes knocking. It’s a big gamble to bumble along hoping for the best when the reality is the worst, relegation, is far more likely.

 

[Templeton Peck]

The only people who have raised expectations are Fosun/Jeff. They are the ones that talked about Champions League, they are the ones who talked about being one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I think most people saw it for the rhetoric that it was, but they've made their own bed in that sense

Shi repeated that only a few months ago so it's not like they've even dialled it back a bit.

 

[Sniffer]

European football for next season should have been wrapped up by now. Turning 2 of the recent 7 defeats into victories (Leeds should have been one of them) would have us 3 points ahead with a game in hand and Norwich still to play.
West Ham still have to play Man City in their last 3.
Investment in the playing squad is needed but our failure to achieve 7th having been in the position we were in is on Lage.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

European football for next season should have been wrapped up by now. Turning 2 of the recent 7 defeats into victories (Leeds should have been one of them) would have us 3 points ahead with a game in hand and Norwich still to play.
West Ham still have to play Man City in their last 3.
Investment in the playing squad is needed but our failure to achieve 7th having been in the position we were in is on Lage.

...and the players.

 

[slink]

I think this argument has more layers to it than he should go or he should stay because he’s good and i think on the back of 3 dreadful performances where Bruno has been at fault a lot of people have completely changed their mind or it’s gone from he’s doing ok to he’s completely useless when that clearly isn’t the case. Now of course people can change their mind but it’s been an extreme change in less than 2 months.
We’ve been pretty inconsistent the whole season but so has everyone from 3rd to 17th. That’s how the league is and unfortunately whether we play attacking or defensive football we haven’t really got goal scorers. At times we’ve played really well and looked like a side capable of making Europe but then at others like we could quite easily be in the bottom 5. Again though this could be the case for most sides in the league.

Bruno has got it massively wrong in the last 3 games after getting it right against Villa and the only thing that nearly cost us in the game was the players inability to finish and their poor decision making in the final third. Take that across the whole season and you can say both Bruno and the players have cost us points, ultimately that all comes back to Bruno because he’s the manager but I don’t think it’s as easy as saying after the last 3 games that he should definitely go. It’s been clear all season we struggle when we go behind and Bruno struggles to change the things, i think that’s also because teams know if they sit in against us we haven’t got anyone who can break a side down. I do also think Bruno has been left with a strange unbalanced squad but then i also think he’s got the best out of some players but not getting the best out of some others and on top of that not using others as much as he should. Toti and Cundle should have been used more, Hwang should not play as often as he does but then not many would want Trincao and Neto hasn’t been ready. Podence has been the best attacking player but his temperament needs to be questioned and he’s not got much end product and then we’ve got Raul who isn’t anywhere near the same player and Fabio who has looked like a good link player recently but isolated and isn’t the old Raul either who would have created something on his own. Just on where we go…

Who do we get instead? Do we trust Fosun to replace him? Do the players get a free pass? Those who want Fosun out do you think there’s just owners queuing up? We definitely deserve more clarity from the club and they definitely could be better owners but again they could 100% be worse.

Taking everything into account with Bruno, i’ve got no real problem if we got rid providing we replaced him with someone better but i’m not sure they would. I do also think that whoever the manager is next year this squad needs a overhaul and to be rebalanced which as fans the majority think is easy but it really won’t be. It’s just Wolves isn’t it really, if someone would have told us 6 years ago we would be 8th in the Premier League and most fans aren’t happy we would have said they were talking shit but that’s where we are. Nothing is ever straight forward with this football club.