Wolves 0-1 Norwich (FA Cup 4th Rd): Verdict Thread

[Johnny75]

I like him Jinky and think he's doing a good job, even though he got it wrong on Saturday. If we are to hypothetically say he'll go elsewhere in this country where would you say?

He won't go to anyone above us, Villa have just changed manager, so have Everton, Newcastle will be frying different fish when Howe goes, which leaves just Leicester and Leeds out of clubs who are a similar size. Leeds don't spend huge amounts of money and what would Lage offer to Leicester which would have their owners desperate to get him instead of Rodgers?

I don't see it happening.

Lage did fantastically well at Benfica and he is doing well with us. There's pedigree there (where I thought there wouldn't). Leicester could look at him as he could play the same way and not have our problems of 3 at the back, same with Leeds. He'd get another job regardless as Mendes is his friend.

Our goalscoring problems are deeper than the manager. We didn't score under Nuno either so something is not right.

Recruitment is by far the biggest issue, we keep buying non goalscorers for scoring positions, but there's something missing somewhere in attacking play. Not attacking the ball in the box is the obvious one but that has come from somewhere. He had it at Benfica and for the first 3 games here but now it's gone.

I noticed the horseshoe of doom was back again on Saturday, I really wish this has been fucked off, it's atrocious.

 

[Alan]

If we can get a front three of Podence, Hwang, and Raul working fluently together, that could be a good combination.

About a 1 in 5 chance it happens at this point tho.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

We really were not that good in the first three games!

Deserved a point out of Leicester but mainly on the second half, could have easily been more than 1-0 down at HT. A draw against Spurs would have been right, Lloris barely made a proper save after Adama missed his one on one. Should have beaten United but as is abundantly clear, they aren't any good anyway.

We weren't playing fantastically by any means at all.

 

[Tredman]

We did, at least, look like we should be scoring goals if not for some very poor finishing.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Poor finishing is a feature of our squad as a whole, it doesn't happen by chance. It's not bad luck either.

If you asked fans of the non-Brighton/Wolves Premier League teams whether they'd rather have Graham Potter or Bruno Lage in charge, I think the former would win by an absolute mile.

 

[Tredman]

I'd take either but English managers are always overrated by most people.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Poor finishing is a feature of our squad as a whole, it doesn't happen by chance. It's not bad luck either.

If you asked fans of the non-Brighton/Wolves Premier League teams whether they'd rather have Graham Potter or Bruno Lage in charge, I think the former would win by an absolute mile.

They would, but a lot of that is narrative driven. Potter is English, been here a couple of seasons now.

Whereas Lage will be seen as a Mendes stooge and is about as well known as a Watford manager might be.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Brighton play miles better football than us for about the same end results.

Palace are going that way too as their squad beds down.

 

[Alan]

Miles better?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

You heard me.

Of our last 12 games, 9 have contained either 0 or 1 goals.

 

[Tony Towner]

I guess it depends what you class as better football? Aesthetically pleasing or results based.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I guess it depends what you class as better football? Aesthetically pleasing or results based.

They pass the ball better, they work better as a unit to my eyes, they create more chances and score more goals.

They'll end up finishing within a place or two of us (could be above, could be below) but they're a lot better to watch. If you're watching a team where in all likelihood relegation isn't going to be a serious concern and European qualification is a fairly long shot before you kick a ball, aesthetics absolutely do come into it.

 

[Jinky]

4 points off 4th and one of the in form teams in the league, but 1 poor performance/result in the FA Cup and Dan is all over Lage. Heaven forbid we go 2-3 games without a win!

Sniffer - why does it have to be a potential PL club that he potentially moves to? As Johnny has already stated, he won a title at Benfica and he has come here having to deploy tactics and a system that he'd rather change, with a small squad, no backing from the owners in two (and counting) windows & important players missing.

I should probably say I don't think he will, but if, he decided to walk in the summer because the owners are taking the piss and not giving him the tools required to do his job properly, who's to say which clubs both here and on the continent would be looking for a Manager at that point? I'd rather we didn't find out, but given his agent is the most well connected man in football, plus Bruno's rising stock, as I've said, he'd have no issues what so ever in finding employment elsewhere.

Fosun sign some players, show some ambition to Bruno and our other vital players like Neves & co, we get Moutinho/Saiss nailed down to new contracts and the landscape changes. Can't say I trust Fosun enough to see all that happening just yet given the last few windows.

 

[Dire Wolf]

I don't remember the quality of the football being played being an issue during the final year and half of Nuno when the football was amongst the most boring I've seen in a long time. The general consensus was 'as long as it gets results' IIRC. Anyone who dared to say how awful the quality of the football was generally got short shrift.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Not all over him at all, much as I wasn't going overboard after we went on a good run in January (lest we forget that we scored 2 goals in 8 games before that).

As I say, he hasn't got us punching significantly above our weight, given us a cup run or playing great stuff, so I'm not sure why all of a sudden people are convinced that he's going to go as he can do a lot better. We're about where we should be in the league. He could of course quit and find another job. That isn't the same thing.

There's no way his work at Wolves to date has put him on any kind of radar that he wasn't on before.

By the same token, yes the board do need to help him out, as we routinely find ourselves short of options to change a game and furthermore we shouldn't be hoarding money that the club itself has generated.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

I'm surprised at this, i think we are playing much better football, look at the two goals against Brentford as an example? Plus the performance at United was excellent?

 

[Jinky]

Not all over him at all, much as I wasn't going overboard after we went on a good run in January (lest we forget that we scored 2 goals in 8 games before that).

As I say, he hasn't got us punching significantly above our weight, given us a cup run or playing great stuff, so I'm not sure why all of a sudden people are convinced that he's going to go as he can do a lot better. We're about where we should be in the league. He could of course quit and find another job. That isn't the same thing.

There's no way his work at Wolves to date has put him on any kind of radar that he wasn't on before.

By the same token, yes the board do need to help him out, as we routinely find ourselves short of options to change a game and furthermore we shouldn't be hoarding money that the club itself has generated.

Literally said in my last post "I don't think he will". No one is "convinced" he is leaving.

But to say you don't think he's on "any kind of radar that he wasn't on before" is you kidding yourself. You even went on record multiple times to say he only got the job here because of Mendes. Well now we know he can get a club performing to a good standard in the PL, with the issues previously mentioned, he clearly would be on other people's radars.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Not all over him at all, much as I wasn't going overboard after we went on a good run in January (lest we forget that we scored 2 goals in 8 games before that).

As I say, he hasn't got us punching significantly above our weight, given us a cup run or playing great stuff, so I'm not sure why all of a sudden people are convinced that he's going to go as he can do a lot better. We're about where we should be in the league. He could of course quit and find another job. That isn't the same thing.

There's no way his work at Wolves to date has put him on any kind of radar that he wasn't on before.

By the same token, yes the board do need to help him out, as we routinely find ourselves short of options to change a game and furthermore we shouldn't be hoarding money that the club itself has generated.

Maybe my expectations have been tempered by last season but I’d have snatched your hand off for 12th place at this stage and we’re 9 points ahead of the team in 12th. I think he has done a very good job but not enough that he’ll be in demand if he walks - and I agree with you the odds on that are very long.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

But as has already been pointed out to you Jinks, he 100% isn't going to a team currently above us, a load of other teams have only just appointed a new manager, others plain wouldn't swap for what they have now and so it leaves a very thin pool.

He's someone who I had down as a 2/10 appointment who is doing a 6.5/10 job, which means I got it wrong six months ago, not much else.

 

[Tony Towner]

You even went on record multiple times to say he only got the job here because of Mendes.

Irrespective of how well he is or isn't doing, this is still true