Things are looking pretty good at Molineux, all things considered. Wolves have just won three games in a row for the second time this season, having done so once before that since February 2024. That didn’t mark the start of the great decline, but was probably roughly when supporters knew that it was ending one way.
Wolves are also the highest-ranked club relegated from the Premier League last season, a point off the top, and the only one not to sack a manager over the last 10 days. Raul Jimenez is back home – that’s lovely. Kieran Trippier is becoming a cult hero. There are central midfielders who want to be there. Fer Lopez is finding the Championship quite easy. Sean Neave scored twice on Wednesday.
Cesar Peixoto, the Portuguese coach appointed to the odd wince and eye roll given the connection to Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute agency, has taken 27 points from his first 14 matches in English football, which would be 89 across the season if Wolves only stay the same. So, everything is cool?
It is not. Ryan Leister is the host of the excellent The Wolves Report podcast and not usually prone to exaggerated hyperbole. “Performance wise and tactically that was utterly pathetic…garbage,” was his assessment of a recent match. Here’s the kicker: Wolves won that game 1-0.
It is an extraordinary take, by most measures, even if it was two wins ago, but especially so when you consider how bad last season was. And when you consider the emotional baggage that accumulated. And when you appreciate the lack of overhaul of the squad, which supporters were demanding. The 12 players with the most league minutes this season were all part of the pathetic relegation.
But that is exactly the point: last season broke Wolves’ spirit and nowhere was that reflected better than in the fragmented resolve of the fanbase. And that resolve was destroyed because of the actions and decisions of the club’s own hierarchy. The incompetence and leadership negligence started and it didn’t stop until an established Premier League club had trodden itself into the dirt.
Wolves are the highest-ranked of the relegated clubs (Photo: Getty)Football supporters are often accused of fickleness – isn’t this the opposite? It would be easy to be cheerleaders because results have turned a little. Our loyalty is so deep-rooted that it is easy to fall into that pattern. Not here. There are chants against Fosun at home games because how on earth could you forgive and forget quickly? To return immediately to positivity would be to let them off the hook.
Peixoto has not yet convinced the majority. After the weekend win over Cardiff City, the head coach insisted that his team need to be “main characters” in every fixture, exactly the criticism he has faced over his first few months. The football can be turgid without the necessary speed and intrigue to distract sufficiently from general ill-feeling. A recent substitution was met with the damning “You don’t know what you’re doing”. Wolves were winning then too.
The need for excitement is a big deal here, because it extends beyond last season. Wolves have scored a goal per league game or less in five of their last six years. They scored eight away goals last season. Supporters don’t just need to see results improve but attacking intent too.
Before Wednesday, Wolves ranked ninth for xG per game, 11th for shots on target per game, eighth for big chances and 10th for touches in the opposition box. The handbrake is still on.
One thing the Molineux crowd doesn’t deserve, given the lamentable performance of pretty much every club employee, is any accusation that they are not pulling their weight. So quite why Peixoto decided to poke the bear by criticising the “environment” they have created is unclear. Given the beloved Nuno is back on the market, I’d advise against starting a popularity contest.
There is a theory that the Championship can be a restorative experience. Win some matches. Find a tactical identity beyond firefighting and desperately trying to haul yourself back into matches. Rid the club of some of the emphatic bad vibes, even if you aren’t promoted immediately.
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Championship: West Ham are finally acting like a serious club Daniel Storey: How Burnley reached the road to ruinAnd maybe Wolves can get there eventually. Time can be a healer when it goes hand in hand with consistent output. At some point the wins will dilute negativity and doubt, of course. Late winners, like Neave’s in Bristol on Wednesday, move the needle.
There are other mileposts to recovery, like the owners spending money in January to plug the obvious gaps and account for their pitiful inaction in previous seasons. They want to see evidence that these people care nearly as much as they do.
Until then, these supporters reserve the right to withhold their faith. They have been bitten so many times that shyness is inevitable. Bitterness still reigns because their club engineered it over several years. It will take more than several results to shift that. Even if they’re second in the division.
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