Dave Edwards: Hoever damned! Bruno Lage's really opened floodgates

I don’t think it would just be a reaction to this week and the game for him to make comments about the full-back like that in the Press.

There would likely have been conversation with Hoever and the other players will have seen it as well. I know that Wolves dressing room is very tight-knit, Lage would not have taken those comments lightly.

As a head coach he has a very calm persona and everything he says has real thought behind it. He’s not the type that would talk and react on emotion.

It may well have been somewhat premeditated and is really damning for Ki-Jana Hoever. You wonder if there’s a way back for him from that – it would take some character for the youngster.

I can’t remember any time at all in my playing days where a player has been called out like that in the media. If it was the case, that his preparation was not up to scratch, was Lage right to put him in the team against West Ham and then against Crystal Palace?

There is absolutely no excuse for a player at a club the size of Wolves, with all the resources there, to not give everything to their craft and prepare in the right way.

Experts will work one-on-one with players, you need to tap into that. You would be silly not to.

If that is the case you can see why the Wolves boss was keen to say he was not ready to accept it – because he shouldn’t have to be.

Players are paid a lot of money to prepare in the right way.

It seems there are a few things the head coach isn’t happy with at the moment.

West Ham was a winnable game and Wolves followed that up with a real lacklustre performance against Palace, arguably the worst display of the season.

I don’t think any Wolves fan saw this coming going into that Arsenal game, to lose three on the bounce, something they haven’t done since the start of the season.

It’s strange the run has come with all of a sudden players back available, you would think that would galvanise the squad with more competition.

But it’s had an adverse effect, if anything it seems to have rocked the boat and Lage doesn’t seem to know what his best team is, with lots of chopping and changing.

You sometimes see it, when there are fewer numbers available and team pretty much picks itself, you get a little bit togetherness generated. Things are more settled.

Everyone says you want competition for places, which managers do like. As a player you obviously don’t want too much competition but I don’t think it affects you as much as fans might think. I’m not sure you necessarily raise your game with more players available.

If anything it could go the other way and you start trying to avoid mistakes with your place at jeopardy.

I think it was quite a strange team selection against the Eagles, with no recognised striker. It was ultimately lost in midfield, we didn’t learn from the game at Selhurst Park, where the hosts were too powerful for Wolves and Saturday’s first half was a replica of that. They ran all over Wolves.

The team really need to get back into gear as quickly as they can so the season doesn’t fizzle out. Thursday against Watford is a good opportunity but they are fighting for their lives. It’ll be interesting to see who plays.