End of an era. Wolves have had a poor season by recent standards, but there have been mitigating circumstances. Jimenez was a massive loss. Jonny out for most of the season. Podence carrying an injury for an extended period. Neto out long term. We've had back to back seasons with no rest or preseason in between. A change in tactical approach from three at the back to a flat back four. Yesterday's game pretty much summed it up. Injuries to Traore and Ait Nouri. Conceding the first goal. Not clinical enough in front of the opposition's goal. VAR. For all that, the below tweet shows how much love there was for Nuno. There are some others showing the fans before the game. I can't remember another Wolves manager leaving with so much support from the fans. FULL VIDEOHave you ever seen anything like this for an outgoing manager? Someone has HUGE shoes to fillThank you Nuno #wwfc pic.twitter.com/QpP9eeU4DL— Nathan Judah (@NathanJudah) May 23, 2021
Various people in the running to succeed Nuno. Not sure how many are realistically being considered and how many are named due to being Portuguese and/or having links with Mendes. Some fans want Lopetegui, but that ship sailed four years ago and he's out of our reach now. Bruno Lage is supposed to be the bookmakers' favourite. Paulo Fonseca, Rafa Benitez, Sérgio Conceição and André Villas-Boas have all been mentioned. It'll be an interesting summer.
Sergio Conceicao is a villainous manager, sort of like Mourinho in that regard. He would be king of the press. Very bitter and whiney, but good manager. I would replace our current manager with Bruno Lage in an instant. He wasn't given a fair shake at Benfica.
So Nuno was actually ‘sacked’. He was asked to step aside by the owners at the end of the season but they gave him the rest of the season as they knew he would make sure they were safe
Supposedly a mutual decision, but I think he was pushed out. There were rumours of Mendes offering Nuno to Spurs several months back which (if true) may support the theory that the decision was made some time ago (Nuno leaving for another club would be a bit easier for Fosun to explain than sacking him after Wolves' highest three finishes for 40 or so years). I don't know what their reasons were. Wolves have had a tough season for various reasons as I mentioned above. Some fans weren't happy, but the majority were firmly behind Nuno and felt that he'd earned enough credit to see him through a rough patch like this. Maybe Fosun were concerned about the lack of goals, and less than exciting football compared with previous seasons (they are trying to push the Wolves brand back in China and elsewhere overseas). I think many Wolves fans are nervously hoping that this decision won't prove to be disastrous.
thank god. our young talented players need one thing and one thing only. game time. thats it. nothing bothers me more in regards to portuguese football then when our young talented players go to big teams to sit on the bench. ex: renato sanches 2016
I wish we'd played Vitinha more often. I think Wolves have really missed out by not triggering the buy out clause.
Pretty unimpressive game from Trincao today. Hope its not a sign of things to come. I hope Neto is back soon
Trincao is still getting used to playing with a new bunch of players. He'll be fine. I'm not sure how far off Neto is. I heard someone say a couple of months. It'll certainly be a lift to the team when he's back. I feel positive about the new season. Jimenez is back, though it remains to be seen how effective he'll be, especially in the air. Silva has bulked up and will have benefitted from so much unplanned first team football last season. Hopefully Posence will be fully fit (he looked poor in the second half of the season, but was carrying an injury). Traore has been linked with a transfer away, but if he stays then he's a useful option, though we don't have to over-rely on him now. Assumed Cutrone was as good as gone, but he scored yesterday and looked happy, and he's quite a positionally aware player though probably didn't have the attributes for Nuno-ball. There are rumours about various players leaving though no idea if there's any substance to any of them. Midfield and central defence will be key. The new Columbian centre back looks like he's got massive potential, though probably likes to get stuck in more than EPL officials would like. Neves could thrive in a more attack minded side, if he stays. Moutinho, despite his advancing years, could benefit from more creative freedom. I always feel optimistic at the start of the season.
Looks like Wolves aren't looking to exercise the purchase clause for Trincao set at 30 mil, and he'll return to Barca after the loan is over https://www.abola.pt/nnh/noticias/ver/919895
Do you know who has got the highest save percentage in Europe's Top 5 Leagues right now? José Sá with over 85%. Also kept 7 clean sheets, a figure only topped by 10 GKs in Europe. Unreal debut campaign in England. pic.twitter.com/po8Ixax8xj— Dougie Critchley (@DougieCritchley) December 21, 2021
He's looked good at times but hasn't been consistent and hasn't done enough to win the fans over. It might take him another season to properly find his feet in the Premier League, but he doesn't have that luxury with this loan deal. Neto didn't look particularly good when he first joined Wolves, but (when fit) now looks like one of our best forwards and has been sorely missed this season.
Believe it or not, many Wolves fans think he's been an upgrade on Patricio! Don't take that as a slur on Patricio. Obviously RP has been Portugal's No 1 for so long, and has a long and distinguished career. He was also highly regarded by the Wolves fans. I think the Wolves fans have just warmed to Sa's style and like a keeper who isn't afraid to come out for the ball.
Trincao was moved along too quickly by the Gestifute player conveyor belt. When he was at Braga, he was promising but still a bit away from being fully international class. He ideally needed a couple more seasons either at one of the Portuguese big 3 clubs, or moving to a more mid-sized La Liga club before going straight to Barcelona.