Wolves Fans' Verdict vs Leicester: A disgraceful display!

Clive Smith

Most of us have been here before. It’s not nice and it’s painful. Time now to support the team, offer as much encouragement as possible. None of us want to be relegated. The players are struggling for form and confidence – any booing from the stands is counter-productive.

The scoreline is hard to swallow. No excuses, we were second best by a long way. How many times have we used the word ‘clinical’ regarding our finishing in the final third. Leicester’s four shots on target resulted in four goals. Meanwhile we had an impressive high shot tally – so much for attacking football, be careful what you wish for, eh.

There was no shortage of entries into the final third with Adama and Podence lively and Bueno again offering good support. Nunes probably showed more in this game than he has in the past but continues to be hugely disappointing when faced with just the keeper to beat. Costa too had opportunities but, like everyone else, nothing seems to be going for him.

We tried to stay competitive after the interval but never looked quite as threatening. Adama started receiving the ball facing our goal rather than going forward while Podence was finding it more difficult to find a colleague with a pass.

The third goal just after the hour killed any hopes we had of a comeback and heads did drop. Substitutions followed but failed to provide any inertia for us, they, however had an annoying sub who made the score more painful.

A heavy home defeat takes some time to get over, but we go again at Brentford then have two home league games. At the moment it is difficult to see how we can turn things around as so much seems to be broken. All of us giving positive vocal support is the best way we can help. You only have to look at Bournemouth who removed their manager after a 0-9 eight weeks ago and have since steadied the ship. All is not lost.

John Lalley

I first witnessed Wolves being relegated from the top division way back in 1964-65. A clearly unwell Stan Cullis, the most successful manager this club ever had or ever will have, was sacked in the September and a hapless board of directors, devoid of vision or ideas, appointed the frugal Andy Beattie as a caretaker manager to temporarily fill the breach.

Predictably and wholly unsurprisingly, it turned out to be a disaster; Wolves drifted aimlessly and inevitably to a humiliating relegation. Even though I was just a small kid, the stench of decay pervading Molineux was overpowering.

The same unpleasant odour is filling my nostrils right now. Back then, just like yesterday, you went to the match filled with trepidation knowing there was no way out of the abyss; chairman, caretaker boss and team simply not up to the task with precious little idea of how to change course.

Under Beattie, way before the season ended, they timidly consented to our diminished status, accepted no blame, and quietly chucked the towel in. It was pathetic and the parallels with today are frighteningly abundant. Back in 64-65, Wolves dropped like a stone in a short period of time after being an elite, top of the range outfit challenging for every trophy on offer.

Without being as successful, this current administration was on the brink of establishing Wolves as a highly competent, thrusting new Premier League outfit until the project began to stall two years ago. On both occasions, complacency, indolence, and restraint saw the club stagnate instead of ensuring that so much good work was consolidated and taken to the next level.

I have thoroughly enjoyed supporting Wolves during promotion seasons in the Championship, but I certainly haven’t got the slightest desire to do so again. The trouble is, the way things stand, I simply don’t have any remote inkling as to how this current set-up turns this mess around. Wolves have voluntarily stood still, congratulated themselves on making such a superb initial impact in this league and expected more of the same without making the decisions necessary to maintain their progress. And they have painfully hit a massive and expanding brick wall and rebounded noses bleeding in a spiralling backward direction.

The managerial vacancy has been refused by both an experienced international boss and a complete novice; quite how the executive could veer so rapidly in their choice from one extreme to the other is baffling. And the consequences for delay with no appointment until New Year are glaringly obvious. Planning, due diligence and vision all held in abeyance; staggering.

On the field, we are a soft-touch. Any game that becomes an arm-wrestle or a battle of wills, then count us out; we are finding new ways every week to initially confuse ourselves before haplessly imploding. Experienced players who should be taking a lead are instead depressingly innocuous and seemingly devoid of spirit and inspiration; it’s a ruinous, bankrupt account and no good will come of it just as it didn’t when Andy Beattie was happily content sleeping at the helm back in the sixties.

James Pugh

It’s getting harder and harder to stay positive with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

I guess we are creating chances now? Leicester had four shots and four goals, while we had 21. The expected goals was in our favour too due a couple of worldies, so some would say that the scoreline doesn’t reflect the game. But if you watched the game and don’t solely based it off keyboard smashing football manager stats, we were dominated for most the game. Bueno also looks a real talent and really makes you wonder why we spent 10 million British pounds on Hoever. If we tried to sell him now he’d barely cover the Molinuex electricity bills. Everyone else bar maybe Neves and maybe Adama had a horror show.

The game was a damning reflection of what a lot of Wolves fans have been saying for ages – selling Coady and the Dendoncker was silly. This probably would’ve been the result that made the manager think ‘yep, tried a back four but this isn’t working, let’s wheel Coady out’. But we can’t do that now, and we are stuck with a struggling team with no real leaders.

This is far from over. We are four points from 11th and whatever team strings some results together will be comfortably mid table, just look at Newcastle last year! But it’s becoming harder to envision Wolves as the team that’s going to do that. Leicester and Villa have just got 4-0 wins against difficult opponents, and Forest got one over on Liverpool. Sharing a house with a Newcastle fan has become unbearable for me because we have somehow swapped football clubs in the last nine months. Is this the beginning of the wolves banter era?

With three games left before the World Cup it’s hard to see Wolves anywhere other than the bottom five before the run in. Hopefully this gives the players time to get some goal posts up in the garden, put their infant children in the net and practice shooting until the sun comes up. What this side needs is stability & what the players need is a kick. A permanent manager ticks these boxes, but wolves decision to wait may be detrimental.

I guess all we can do is get behind the lads for Brentford, but I am still haunted by Ivan Toney last year. If wolves don’t step up now, we are in big trouble.

Adam Virgo

An absolutely embarrassing defeat. Losing 4-0 at home to the side who had lost every away game in the league just shows how bad of a defeat it is.

We actually started the game strong and looked like a team that wanted to go and win but once again we can’t take any of our chances. Granted their first goal was a worldie and nothing much else we could have done about it but then we needed to react a lot better. We end up 2-0 down within nine minutes of conceding the first and it’s basically game over when we haven’t scored more than one league goal in a game all season. When we go 1-0 down in games, there’s no comeback ever anymore, we just get beat every single time.

We had enough chances in the first half to score two goals, considering Leicester scored their four goals from four shots but it proves they have match winners and we have very little of them.

Second half we started well but it faded away after around 10 minutes and once James Maddison made it three, that made sure the game was done. I just don’t understand how we can over over 20 shots in a game and score zero while Leicester have five shots and score four.

We always seem to take the wrong decisions in so many attacking positions as well, players trying to cross it across the box when they’re free to have a shot. Jonny should never start a game again for Wolves, absolutely disgraceful performance. The way he was jogging around the pitch, he’s lost pace and his fitness levels are questionable. Nelson Semedo is so much better, something I said before the line-up came out as well.

Boubacar Traore and Semedo both should have started, the energy we showed against Crystal Palace in the first half was fantastic and I wanted to see more of that but nope we go back to the slow, past it players in Moutinho and Jonny. Four players come over at the end and clap as well, most of these players aren’t the types to take responsibility or battle when you need them to.

The majority of them aren’t ready for a relegation scrap at all and a lot of them probably know they can leave at the end of the season or if we got relegated they know another team will come in for them. If we do get relegated then it’s an absolute disgrace from the people at the top in so many ways, obviously the players have to take some responsibility too because performance levels just aren’t anywhere near what we know they can be and the players also need to realise they’re in for a serious relegation battle.

The whole club just seems like a shambles from top to bottom currently. Regardless of whether Davis or Sellars are making decisions on tactics, subs etc. The fact we haven’t got a proper manager and are willing to keep someone with very little managerial experience and none at a level remotely close to where we are, just proves to me we are in huge trouble.

We need a manager in before Brentford, we can’t afford to just throw away nine points before the World Cup otherwise we’re going to be bottom and starting to cut adrift from others. I’m not saying a new manager will come in and get us points but I’m confident a lot of managers would do a better job than what we have currently and that’s not Davis’ fault, the board, particularly Jeff Shi and Scott Sellars need to be looked at for these types of decisions.

Liam Kennedy

21 shots compared to Leicester’s five, 61 per cent possession, against one of the worst keepers in the league, four goals, and Wolves not scoring a single one sums up the season perfectly.

Yesterday was definitely the lowest point since Wolves have returned to the Premier League and was probably a eye opener to how much trouble we are actually in. Still baffles me that we have given the job to Steve Davis until 2023, obviously the rejections and lack of options available have drove them to the decision but it just emphasis the circus of the boards decision.

Did no one on Wolves board think let’s ask Lopetegui or Beale if they actually would want the job before sacking Lage, and part of me believes we have kept Davis until 2023 because we have someone lined up to take over after the World Cup.

However what happens if we are points adrift by that point, will that manager still want to come to a sinking ship? Games are running out before the World Cup and I just hope we aren’t a significant amount of points behind the rest by that point.

You know it’s worrying when I would snap your hands off for 17th right now. The only positive that came from yesterday was that the game was on a Sunday so Wolves didn’t ruin my entire weekend, just my Sunday.

The two ACL injuries have absolutely destroyed Jonny and as much as I appreciate him, Moutinho shouldn’t be starting for us every game, he doesn’t have the legs for it, that being said, do any of them because they all looked knackered towards the end – are they even fit? Imagine someone told you in August that going into game 13 Wolves as a team would have scored less goals than Miguel Almiron!

Robbie Meakin

Embarrassing. Disgusting. Disgraceful.

We were outplayed by a Leicester team that wanted it more than our lot did and it was clear for all to see. Other then Diego Costa, I see no fight, no desire, no passion. These players need to stand up and be counted.

As much as I love Ruben Neves, I don’t see any leadership qualities on the pitch. When we need somebody to grab a game by the scruff of the neck, we should be looking to our captain, but nothing has changed in him since taking the armband. We all know what Conor Coady’s like and, for me, that’s a proper captain and we’re missing that massively.

Serious issues need to be addressed at the club and I’m talking about the heavy influence of Scott Sellars and whoever else it may be. We heard things in the summer and now we’re all starting to see it for ourselves. If things carry on, I have no hope for our football club. I hate to be so negative but I really can see us going down this season.

Another thing I want to mention is the substitutions. 2-0 down at half time, in a relegation clash, and nothing. It took around 20 minutes to make changes and another 15 minutes to make another couple. Not even making all five. Clueless from whoever it is that actually makes the decisions but we’ve all seen the earpiece and tactics board.

Things need to change and quick.

Rob Cartwright

This has got serious now.

I’ve always had the thought that with the quality of players we have, we would come good sooner rather than later. This game shows that the general malaise is much bigger and much deeper than I thought.

This game had the look and feel of the Terry Connor tenure.

The players appeared to be going through the motions, lacking desire and energy. Their fitness is not at fault, so this is about confidence, belief and tactics. Whoever is in charge of tactics right now, they are under-performing enormously.

Any team who plays Leicester know that you have to stop their pacy runners.

We left Jonny isolated trying to manage both Barnes and Dewsbury-Hall. They simply tore him apart in the first half. It was so easy, simply passing to each other down their left side.

Our midfield and defence were so poor. Yet again, we fail to score.

Woeful is so inadequate to describe this performance.

Steve David is a decent guy. A Wolves supporter and probably a good coach, but he isn’t a manager or leader of top elite players. Where is the new manager ‘bounce’ that everyone talks about. We haven’t had one, as he is not the right man for this moment. We need a bit of tough love with these players. A leader and a man with an ego as big as theirs.

Just look at Villa yesterday and you will see what happens when you get the ‘bounce’.

It’s all looking pretty miserable now and I see no one in the clubs hierarchy with the ability or experience who could start a positive change.

Chris Ward

Make no bones about it the mess we are currently in starts at the top. It's unfair to single out only Sellars, both Jeff Shi and Fosun group all deserve a share of the blame here.

Slow recruitment, the loss of influential players, sticking with Bruno and then sacking him without any sort of contingency is criminal and after all the hard work and success we have had since Fosun purchased the club all the hard work is quickly unravelling.

Wolves dominated in parts so to lose the game and the players just down tools was heart-breaking to see. Again, our finishing has come back to bite us and could ultimately be our down fall this season. Our defence is an utter shambles and the criticism of Collins in the first couple of games is starting to now prove some people right. Collins can't just shoulder the blame for the score line however, Kilman’s performances are nothing to shout about and its clear to see he isn’t as good as some may think.

I’m frustrated that Davis and co. had a real opportunity to make changes, to move away from Lage's philosophy but they have continued with this dire brand of football when they could have been bold. It’s obvious here Guedes is being made a scape goat, he may have been poor recently but both Campbell and Hwang have equally done nothing to deserve minutes on the pitch. Leicester are a poor team and there was nothing special about their performance but they were clinical which is something we are not and what makes the result even more embarrassing.

I’ve said it from the start that Jonny isn’t the player he once was and I’m struggling to think of a worse performance from a Wolves player in all the years of following. It was clear to see that he was lost and for the management team not to act on this beggar's belief.

I still stick by the fact Costa will score goals with the right service and regardless of opinions Adama is still our only attacking threat. Moutinho has been nothing short of fantastic for wolves but now offers very little.

It’s a crying shame things have got this bad so quickly but things need to change just as fast. Waiting until January to bring in the right manager may be too late but equally its imperative we make the correct appointment.