Wolves 1-2 Norwich: The Verdict

[Dinowolf]

Patience in the wrong manager isn't a good way to run a football club. Not reaching the play offs this year would be an epic failure, and the board will want to protect against that. Another 12 months in this division would be a catastrophic waste of money, and Fosun won't accept it.

If we'd bought a journey man left back from the UAE on a gamble and he wasn't good enough, we'd replace him in January. If he had anything at all in his managerial history to suggest he was a manager worth persisting with you could forgive an indifferent start and give him patience and trust that he'd turn it around - but he's got no credit in the bank, and record that suggests that this is basically as good as it gets, which isn't enough

Impatience in the possibly right manager isn't a good way for fans to react.
As you would give a 'journey man left back from the UAE on a gamble and he wasn't good enough' until January, surely you would give Zenga the same amount of time.

I don't think Fosun will need telling by anyone if Zenga is not cutting it, ask Kenny Jackett.

 

[Parkins left foot]

Zenga will not be in trouble this early - he will have been given a target which I suspect is top 6 or close enough in December to have a realistic chance of pushing in there at the least by the end of the season.

If not, no doubt Jeff will smile nicely but carry a big stick. Don't get the impression that Fosun will not take action decisively.

Walter is flawed, as are we all, but as Guardiola or Mourinho were never likely to come here then whilst he may not be the best manager we could have, he certainly isn't the worst. I like his passion & willingness to take a gamble (won't always come off, but at least it has some interest which last season didn't)

 

[Johnny75]

He has more than enough credit in the bank for me, credit that his Wolves teams have earned him on the pitch.

You didn't watch Barnsley. That was one big black mark. I've seen 1 win, 1 draw and 1loss live with another 2 games on TV. I still can't fathom his style of play so I'm not sure he has any credit at all.

I'm not expecting Wenger or Gaurdiola but a style would be nice. I think he'll be here in Jan but not sure he lasts till Feb.

 

[Parkins left foot]

You didn't watch Barnsley. That was one big black mark. I've seen 1 win, 1 draw and 1loss live with another 2 games on TV. I still can't fathom his style of play so I'm not sure he has any credit at all.

I'm not expecting Wenger or Gaurdiola but a style would be nice. I think he'll be here in Jan but not sure he lasts till Feb.

If he's here in Jan, but binned in Feb that would be pointless. Doubt we are in serious danger of a relegation so if a change is needed then do it in December with a transfer window still available

 

[Johnny75]

If he's here in Jan, but binned in Feb that would be pointless. Doubt we are in serious danger of a relegation so if a change is needed then do it in December with a transfer window still available

We're all under the impression Zenga has a say in transfers. I really don't think he does so it won't matter when he is binned.

 

[Freddeno]

If he's here in Jan, but binned in Feb that would be pointless. Doubt we are in serious danger of a relegation so if a change is needed then do it in December with a transfer window still available

I dont think we will be relegated or anywhere near, but as things are going its one win and one loss and a horrible draw..so midtable..somewhere between 10-15 right now. We really should fight for the play-offs at least

 

[Alan]

We're all under the impression Zenga has a say in transfers. I really don't think he does so it won't matter when he is binned.

I know that a manager's say in transfers will vary from club to club but to say that any manager has no say in that business seems either incredibly obtuse or simply a sign that the club itself is completely inept.

If our manager has no input on transfers in and out we're in much deeper shit than just having lost two games on the bounce.

 

[Tony Towner]

Which ones who came in the Summer do you think he had a say in then Alan, other than saying OK when being told they were being signed?

 

[Deleted Cyber]

You didn't watch Barnsley. That was one big black mark. I've seen 1 win, 1 draw and 1loss live with another 2 games on TV. I still can't fathom his style of play so I'm not sure he has any credit at all.

I'm not expecting Wenger or Gaurdiola but a style would be nice. I think he'll be here in Jan but not sure he lasts till Feb.

You speak sense. However Zenga gets a get out of jail free card for August and September because he did not get a pre season. Now he has to deliver for three months with consistent selection's and performance's. Top 10 at Xmas is a minimum now for fosun IMHO.
I don't always agree with u and we have had our battles on here in the past but u have this in a nutshell

 

[Freddeno]

You speak sense. However Zenga gets a get out of jail free card for August and September because he did not get a pre season. Now he has to deliver for three months with consistent selection's and performance's. Top 10 at Xmas is a minimum now for fosun IMHO.
I don't always agree with u and we have had our battles on here in the past but u have this in a nutshell

Amen, consistency is key here..all promoted teams have that..or you can eventually get lucky in the play-offs when you have it all to win

 

[slink]

Honestly can't believe some of what I'm reading here. A week ago I left Molineux absolutely bouncing after a convincing win over a quality Brentford side, go and read the verdict thread after that game. We were all skipping around like new born lambs, now I'm reading that we should only give Zenga until Xmas? Have a fucking word.

If we're talking about giving him a set amount of time how about Xmas 2017 when he's had 2 more windows of Fosun money to sort out Kenny's shite and a full pre season to properly bed in.

A good win over a good Brentford side i would agree but even in that game we had a period where we looked really bad. I was impressed by Zenga early on and the performances at places like Blues and Newcastle were brilliant and i think he obviously has something but then you have the Barnsley game and the Wigan game and then Saturday in the first half.

I don't want him sacked but when i see things like the formation he played for the first 45 minutes on Saturday and no real recognised style i can't help but think he won't be here long. Like i said earlier if he stops doing stupid things like that he will be fine as we have quality players, add a style of play that can be seen clearly and he definitely will be but carry on playing Prince and Edwards in strange wider positions then we will have a new manager and quite soon.

 

[Aikiwolf]

Have I enjoyed Molineux more or less than last season? More. Therefore put me in the Zenga in camp. Yes he's made some poor mistakes and cost us games, yes he's yet to get the team performing as well as it should be but we are in touching distance of the play-off and I feel we are close to achieving some cohesion.

Should we be having this debate 11 games into the season? No, we're not leeds and we don't (I hope) have a mental set of hire and fire owners.

 

[Parkins left foot]

No, we're not leeds and we don't (I hope) have a mental set of hire and fire owners.

Suspect that they are not mental, but will take the hard decisions when needed

 

[Alan]

Which ones who came in the Summer do you think he had a say in then Alan, other than saying OK when being told they were being signed?

I'd imagine his approval would have been needed for all of our signings after he came in. At least the permanent ones.

That's my hope, anyway.

 

[Lycan]

You didn't watch Barnsley. That was one big black mark. I've seen 1 win, 1 draw and 1loss live with another 2 games on TV. I still can't fathom his style of play so I'm not sure he has any credit at all.

I'm not expecting Wenger or Gaurdiola but a style would be nice. I think he'll be here in Jan but not sure he lasts till Feb.

I did watch Barnsley actually. #supafan

I'm not sure exactly what sort of style he's supposed to have implemented given the lack of pre-season. He came in a few days before Rotherham and set the team up to play in the pretty basic 4-3-3 (midfield pointing down with a genuine front 3) that we've seen in every game since. It's a relatively solid no thrills shape which suits the majority of the players at our disposal and is close enough to Ken's old formation that it didn't add to the already massive upheaval around the club. He's fighting fire here and I can't find it in me to blame him for the odd slip up on the way. If he comes across as slightly inflexible tactically that's probably because he's not comfortable throwing players who are still bedding in to a new club into a formation that they haven't been practicing in training. It makes perfect sense to me to stick to one basic formation and make slight alterations around that until we are properly settled down and ready to move onto something new.

Take Teixeira for example, he's not just settling into a new team, it's an entirely new country, completely different style of football, a new position on the field for him and this is actually his first exposure to first team football. I don't want Zenga suddenly deciding that we're better off playing in a 4-4-2 (for example) meaning that Joao then has to adapt to playing wide in a 4 man midfield on top of everything else.

 

[Parkins left foot]

4 - 4 - 2 will only happen when we have 2 proper forwards on the pitch at the same time

At the moment the only 2 we have are Bodvarssen & Dicko - so unless thay are on together then that won't occur

 

[Lycan]

4 - 4 - 2 will only happen when we have 2 proper forwards on the pitch at the same time

At the moment the only 2 we have are Bodvarssen & Dicko - so unless thay are on together then that won't occur

Was just an example.

We have actually switched to 4-4-2 during games a few times though, usually after Ivan has come off the bench. He's not disciplined enough defensively to play wide left yet, especially with the options we have at left back, so he's ended up playing up top with Bodvarsson a few times with Oniangue shunted out onto the wing.

 

[Johnny75]

I take your point about settling in Lycan but changing the formation isn't what I meant by style. It's very non description at the moment, we don't look like a counter attacking team, it a high pressure team, or a possession, direct or passing it through the thirds team.

Just for shits and giggles I did my own little scout report on Wolves (the question bit) which if I can upload I will post on here.the one thing that stands out is the lack of style or game plan. As I've said before its all a bit Bobby Di Matteo or Harry Redknapp in that the players are thrown out on the pitch in a formation and expected to play, if I'm being really critical it reminds me of Dave Jones.

 

[Alan]

If we had such a specific style, wouldn't that just invite teams to play in the one way to stop it? That seems like a weakness to me.

 

[Del Woppio]

Jesus Al, that's naive. Every squad needs to settle into a playing style, whatever it is. Whether it's hoof ball or tika taka, nothing is easier to defend against than confusion. When Bod isn't the playing we've literally got 4-6 players who don't know what their primary functions are, nevermind the cute little plays that are only discovered through playing together.

To take a more high profile example - look at United. Some of the interplay between zlatan, Pogba and Mata, the one touch stuff....That's trust in each other almost in spite of team instruction. We desperately need our best footballers on the pitch in that front four to figure each other out, because I'm pretty convinced it's not coming from the manager. Not having a discernable playing style isn't a ploy to make us harder to defend against.