Johnny Phillips: Wolves finally get a grip of things on and off the pitch

Paul Lambert’s side beat Brentford and Fulham on the road to all but secure their Championship status in 2016/17.

This time around there is more at stake, but home wins against Chelsea and Brentford represent a huge step forward.

A month earlier, the picture was bleaker.

The damaging home defeat to Leeds United was scrutinised at length. A team under-performing, a head coach who did not know his best XI, a management team losing control on the touchline and players diverting their attention to match officials rather than the task in hand.

Two swallows don’t make a summer, to mangle Aristotle, but there has been an assurance in the last couple of performances that should put supporters’ minds at ease.

Players appear focused on their jobs, winning individual battles while playing as a team – be it snuffing out danger at the back, asserting control in midfield or creating opportunities in attack.

Julen Lopetegui made some pointed remarks in the aftermath of the Brentford match, when discussing the emergence of Toti Gomes as a first-team starter.

“Toti has been out of the squad for a lot of matches but he continued working and was ready,” said the head coach. “This is one good example for the rest of the players too. The only way you can be ready is to work hard every day.”

The work ethic is coming back into the Wolves squad after falling short under the previous regime.

Lopetegui’s backroom staff have the authority on the training ground that Nuno Espirito Santo’s coaching team once did, but was missing throughout the Bruno Lage era when Wolves’ running statistics – in particular – fell well below par.

Oscar Caro’s arrival as fitness coach has helped turn the tide.

Having worked with Lopetegui at Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla, he is trusted to take sessions in the way both Antoni Dias and Joao Lapa did during Nuno’s time here.

The players are enjoying listening to a variety of voices on the training ground once again and the data analysts have been brought back into the fold as part of a more cohesive backroom unit.

Lopetegui enjoys preparing and taking training ground drills, but he is also a good delegator.

The strength and conditioning department is one of several appreciating a more influential role under the Spaniard’s leadership.

Pablo Sanz’s reputation as a set-piece specialist remains a work in progress in the Premier League, but players are encouraged to have an input.

Performance psychologist Martin Littlewood is another whose presence is being felt at Compton Park. On his arrival last November, Lopetegui quickly concluded that the players did not always show the mental strength needed for the demands of a Premier League survival fight.

Littlewood – a former Liverpool John Moores University lecturer– has 20 years’ experience in the game and plays a key role in Lopetegui’s set-up.

This coaching staff did not come cheap, but there is a gravitas to the daily work now, with an intensity to training sessions involving input from all departments and open dialogue with the head coach.

It is that intensity and mental approach which has served Toti so well. He has come from nowhere to earn a place in the starting line-up.

Diego Costa is finally enjoying the Indian summer that many hoped he would when he was coaxed off a sun lounger to start kicking a football again.

The 34-year-old is a training ground joker, who may even have been involved in hiding team-mates’ cars on occasion, but he has demonstrated to Lopetegui that he has an edge and a willingness to fight for a place.

While he will not remain past the terms of his contract, supporters in attendance at Molineux last Saturday will cherish that ‘I saw Diego Costa score for Wolves’ moment.

Hwang Hee-Chan earned his place on the bench because of the work he puts in during the week and his substitute appearance made an impact. This all goes back to intensity, once more.

Without wanting to criticise Raul Jimenez – the greatest striker this club has seen since the days of Steve Bull – there is a good reason he has not made the last two matchday squads.

Like Rayan Ait-Nouri, the Mexican is one of the squad’s more laid back individuals. There is no attitude problem, it is just that others are displaying greater intensity to their work right now.

When Jimenez’s days at this club are over, he should be remembered as a phenomenal focal point in attack who played in an integral part in the best Wolves team of the last 50 years.

He was dealt a terrible hand with what happened at the Emirates Stadium during lockdown and if his remaining days are to involve more time in the stands than on the pitch then so be it. That should not sully a great legacy at Molineux.

The international break could not have come at a better time, following that fraught encounter with Leeds.

A conscious decision was made at the top to draw a line under the issues with the PGMOL. Lopetegui accepted that the management’s touchline behaviour caused more problems than it solved.

They have stepped back and, as we saw against Brentford, while there are still big decisions being made by officials that are questionable, there is a more circumspect approach now when dealing with bad calls.

There has been a more settled look to the starting line-up in the last two matches and early substitutions to rectify starting XI selection issues appear to be a thing of the past.

Victories achieved without Ruben Neves should show supporters that there will be life after the wonderkid from Porto, but the talisman still has a crucial role to play for the remaining games of the season.

Neither Joao Gomes nor Mario Lemina could ever play that pivot role as a deep-lying central midfielder but they offered mobility and pace in the middle against Chelsea and Brentford that made Wolves a more dynamic team in both defence and attack.

Neves was one of those consulted by Wolves’ senior leadership when Lage was dismissed.

Wolves had drifted towards the bottom end of the table, with interim coaches Steve Davis and James Collins put in the impossible position of trying to change course, and the captain was frustrated by a situation he believed could have been avoided had Wolves had a proper summer of preparation. The club’s problems lay deeper than just Lage.

A poor pre-season itinerary and muddled transfer policy played their part in the demise. Wolves were undercooked and the new signings that eventually arrived had no time to bed in. Put simply, Wolves entered the 2022/23 campaign more ill-prepared than any other under Fosun’s watch.

Lopetegui’s eventual arrival has provided the leadership the club needed.

Alongside his coaching staff, he has demonstrated his commitment by settling in the area and insisting on regular English lessons for himself and the backroom staff, which often last over two hours at a time.

This is a long-term project in Lopetegui’s eyes, and it needs Wolves to remain in the Premier League.

The management and ownership would never dare say it, but Wolves will be OK this season regardless of the outcome of today’s match at Leicester. The quality that undoubtedly exists within a capable squad is finally starting to show itself.

Most importantly, Lopetegui has grasped control of the training ground. Players are selected on merit and are expected to maintain the highest standards.

Few would have predicted that Toti and Costa would be those singled out for praise during this April revival, and that says as much about the management as it does the players.