Jeff Interview

[Pagey]

You can’t really count Jiménez in last summers signings as he’d been here for a year already on loan

So we didn't need to spend £30m quid? Thanks for the clarification, fosun out!!!!!

 

[TheAdmiral]

So we didn't need to spend £30m quid? Thanks for the clarification, fosun out!!!!!

That’s not what I meant and you know it Jiménez wasn’t a NEW PLAYER last summer if you want to put it that way.

 

[Pagey]

That’s not what I meant and you know it Jiménez wasn’t a NEW PLAYER last summer if you want to put it that way.

I never said he was, I said we signed our record signing. Did we or not?

 

[Mrs E]

That’s not what I meant and you know it Jiménez wasn’t a NEW PLAYER last summer if you want to put it that way.

We still had to pay for him which meant we were restricted in what we could spend that's why you have to count him

 

[VancouverWolf]

10 to 20 years........dang, ( to put it mildly).
Once we got promoted, I wanted the big marquee signing. Visions of silverware and titles and wanted them now, dammit.
If we don’t have the money to spend on big wages, then I guess that means Wolves will a top PL club but outside of the top clubs.

I doubted that I’d see Wolves back in the PL again but here we are and so therefore I’m grateful for that. Very grateful.
And now I’ve come to accept and more importantly, enjoy, our limitations as a club. After all, I have no control over transfers, team selection, injuries, Var, etc.
If it takes longer to reach the top than I had hoped for, then so be it.
Acceptance, .......it’s not a bad place to be.
As the song says....” And I‘ve got a peaceful easy feeling......”.

 

[WolfWarrior]

I got the sense nuno shared the recruitment responsibility. Cutrone and vallejho must have been signed off by him

As day is day and night is night let me tell you Jorge and Nuno are the ultimate decision makers on first team recruitment. This also explains the non appointment of a Sporting Director. Jeff refers to a football committee which consists of Scott Sellars who is de facto CEO Academy and Matt Wild who is the Club Secretary. Nuno has almost Ferguson like power in this club.

 

[WolfWarrior]

I’d guess there’s also a Mendes committee where Nuno picks and chooses any Mendes players he wants...

Spot on this is pivotal to the post KT structure. Mendes acts de facto Sporting Director and Nuno wields huge power and influence. I don’t buy into the Nuno not signing a contract I firmly believe he’s committed long term. This is the first window since KT left let’s see how they do. I’m optimistic but sense business will be late.

 

[purplepault69]

My question is who is Matt Wild .. how is he on the team dealing with transfers .. shouldnt Marshall head of recruitment and Nuno be on the team to give their input .. as for Sellars he's been head of the Acadamy for quite a while and we have not seen anyone from the Acadamy being close to a regular first team slot ..

Perhaps Jeff has created the structure and now will look to fill the positions with more qualified individuals , its very difficult to recruit staff for positions that dont exist --- but now they do.
Edit -- "Matt is in charge of the first-team operations and the player contracts" no mention of transfers .

 

[JonahWolf]

Perhaps Jeff has created the structure and now will look to fill the positions with more qualified individuals , its very difficult to recruit staff for positions that dont exist --- but now they do.
Edit -- "Matt is in charge of the first-team operations and the player contracts" no mention of transfers .

He’s the chief bean-counter by the looks.
Bachelors degree in accounting and finance, followed by qualification in football administration.
Was our assistant secretary 15 years ago, went off to be the main man at Rushden and Diamonds, Posh, and Hull, now the top job with us.
2 seconds of google and LinkedIn work, job done.

So it would likely be someone else’s job to find, convince and negotiate with players, but it’s him setting the limits.

(btw, looks like he was out the door of Hull well before their recent implosion, if anyone was worried about that).

 

[Ironfistedmonk]

I'd rather a business person than a football person handled contracts, makes sense to me

 

[Fifty Niner]

It was very poor, for whatever reason. Yes, we completed the permanant deals of the players you mentioned. He said during the whole of the China tour about wanting players and going hard in the market, safe to say we didn't. Again in January, he said the same thing, we added 1 player. I never said we haven't delivered for 3 windows, don't put words in my mouth. I said he'd asked for more players for the last 3 - last summer, January and post Sevilla. The reality is we had the chance to kick on last summer and didn't, and Nuno alluded to mistakes happening and having the same squad as last year - so he clearly agrees the recruitment has been poor. It's not 'very wrong' at all. If you think last summer was a good window and January as well, then good for you. I happen to think it wasn't. We disagree hey ho

Yep, pre-season even Jota commented how difficult it was going to be to achieve what they did in their first PL campaign, alluding to the lack of new signings ready for the first team.

 

[modenawolf]

Don't tell anyone, but it seems that we actually have smart, ambitious people running our club...

Jeff (and Fosun), if you ever read this, thank you!

 

[WasStefan]

Jeff is very corporate. But he knows his stuff. Build the best team around you as possible to help you inform your decisions. After all Jeff Shi is simply the link between the club and Fosun.

It is very interesting that no one is responsible for transfers. I would assume all 5 of them are as it affects every aspect of the club. Mendes will also have a big say on that front in terms of recommendation/ cutting the best deals.

 

[Chris H]

Interesting but how much is their wage bill and also their revenues?

Bayern squad wasn’t less expensive than ours, their first 11 was about £90m but their bench was another £250m.

Their wage bill was apparently £275m in 2018/19, when ours was £92m.

Their revenue will dwarf ours, from what I can find it was £600m, ours was what £170m so yeah hugely bigger.

 

[Flea]

Well,I am worried.

I don´t expect Fosun to be the owners of WWFC fifteen years down the line..not as things is going globally and not the way the dictatorship of China is aggresively expanding..without doubt swallowing Hong Kong and probably Taiwan in that time period.

On a more local basis.I don´t think Jeff having his fingers in every jam pot is a good idea.

Furthermore..I see no reason a ten year plan being expanded to twenty years signals anything else than doubt and second thoughts.

I was a fan during the golden tit period.Let´s see if we now have owners to see the club through.

We actually CAN be the greatest team in the world.Foundations is allready in place.It will take continued investments squadwise though..and in any longer term perspective 15-20 Mill players will not get us there.

At the end of the day,I guess it what we wants out from the club.Personally,I would give my right arm for another PL/division one title(no,not really with gun to head)..

I just hope we don´t sell yourselves short again.

Wim a big club.I will never give up on the dream.

Let´s see what this window brings,and then we´ll talk some more..but it is really up to Jeff and Fosun now to elevate us to that final step.

We,as fans..will respond to it.

 

[Leominster_Wolf]

That’s not what I meant and you know it Jiménez wasn’t a NEW PLAYER last summer if you want to put it that way.

No but we had to spend £30m - we had to comply (or not take the ****) to Meet UEFA FFP, so like it or not funds were restricted - unless we could have given an IOU

Don’t see why it’s so difficult to understand

 

[Leominster_Wolf]

Perhaps Jeff has created the structure and now will look to fill the positions with more qualified individuals , its very difficult to recruit staff for positions that dont exist --- but now they do.
Edit -- "Matt is in charge of the first-team operations and the player contracts" no mention of transfers .

He’s also been at the club since 2017

 

[JadeWolf]

Gotta say Jeff always speaks, or writes, really well. Feels like the club is in a good pair of hands.

 

[VancouverWolf]

Bayern squad wasn’t less expensive than ours, their first 11 was about £90m but their bench was another £250m.

Their wage bill was apparently £275m in 2018/19, when ours was £92m.

Their revenue will dwarf ours, from what I can find it was £600m, ours was what £170m so yeah hugely bigger.

Thx for this.
It’s going to be a hard nut to crack for Wolves to compete at that level. Yes we can hope to find the odd young diamond in the rough player but, let’s face it, very few talented teen players are not missed by the top clubs scouts.

 

[Deleted member 11332]

Thats a terrible comparison to make, Everton have spent an absolute small fortune

If we spent what Everton did with our current recruitment hit rare we would win the league.

 

[Deleted member 8455jwf]

Well,I am worried.

I don´t expect Fosun to be the owners of WWFC fifteen years down the line..not as things is going globally and not the way the dictatorship of China is aggresively expanding..without doubt swallowing Hong Kong and probably Taiwan in that time period.

On a more local basis.I don´t think Jeff having his fingers in every jam pot is a good idea.

Furthermore..I see no reason a ten year plan being expanded to twenty years signals anything else than doubt and second thoughts.

I was a fan during the golden tit period.Let´s see if we now have owners to see the club through.

We actually CAN be the greatest team in the world.Foundations is allready in place.It will take continued investments squadwise though..and in any longer term perspective 15-20 Mill players will not get us there.

At the end of the day,I guess it what we wants out from the club.Personally,I would give my right arm for another PL/division one title(no,not really with gun to head)..

I just hope we don´t sell yourselves short again.

Wim a big club.I will never give up on the dream.

Let´s see what this window brings,and then we´ll talk some more..but it is really up to Jeff and Fosun now to elevate us to that final step.

We,as fans..will respond to it.

Honestly, I don't really understand how you can ever think we are going to be the greatest team in the world. If that is the standard you are setting yourself then you are always going to be dissapointed and I would seriously query what evidence you have that the foundations are in place for us to be the greatest club in the world.
We have solid foundations and I absolutely love the way the club is being run, but does anyone think we are going to be competing with Bayern, Liverpool, City, Real etc?
Don't really get where these delusions of grandeur come from, it's not the 50s anymore. We can be a top Premier League club, challenge for cups and get into Europe regularly with the right plan and investment. Would anyone think that is "selling ourselves short"??

 

[TheAdmiral]

We still had to pay for him which meant we were restricted in what we could spend that's why you have to count him

Still bought panic buys that turned out to be rubbish though didn’t we.

 

[Mrs E]

Still bought panic buys that turned out to be rubbish though didn’t we.

No. Cutrone wasn’t rubbish he didn’t settle no one could have foreseen that Jesus Vallejo looked a good prospect, neither of them were panic buys.
cheer up we’re in a good place

 

[Mrs E]

We actually CAN be the greatest team in the world.Foundations is allready in place.It will take continued investments squadwise though..and in any longer term perspective 15-20 Mill players will not get us there.

Not gonna happen overnight because of ffp restrictions on spending. Fosun are building slowly and correctly. Most of us would rather see a sensible approach rather than demanding it all now.

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

The instant gratification / spoiled brat brigade are here as they are in most aspects of society these days!!

i blame the tv remote control

 

[Mrs E]

The instant gratification / spoiled brat brigade are here as they are in most aspects of society these days!!

i blame the tv remote control

Yes some of us remember the bhatti brothers and getting up to turn the tv over

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

Yes some of us remember the bhatti brothers and getting up to turn the tv over

 

[Fenrir_]

Still bought panic buys that turned out to be rubbish though didn’t we.

No. We'd been after Cutrone for most of the window and we didn't buy Vallejo, he seemed a back up option when it became clear we couldn't afford Dias. Just because they came late in the window doesn't mean they were panic buys, we haven't panic bought anyone under Nuno

 

[whitnash wolf ex.dewsbury]

Yes some of us remember the bhatti brothers and getting up to turn the tv over

what about the wireless

 

[Mrs E]

Part 3

https://twitter.com/x/status/1297188251929849856

 

[NewarkWolf]

Clear the end goal is a new stadium and in the mean time small expansions to molineux.

 

[summit]

Wolves don't do panic buys
How many other top flight clubs have recruited better in the last 2 years - purchase, sales & current player value?

With FFP body armour for the big 6 we can't & won't compete in terms of revenue/transfer fees & wages in 2020

We are however now in the fast lane in terms of revenue growth - we have the best and most marketable crest and the only one without lettering in the top flight . Some handsome tanned guy who knew a few players and was desperate to sell a stake in his failing business also might have helped

I'm OK with Jeff/Fosun getting lucky for a bit longer

 

[Very Proud (AKA Still Proud)]

Jeff just gets it doesn’t he? He has grown to know us well. He understands our hopes and dreams as well as our passion and appetite for success. Touching on those players who have been part of the journey is a piece of class.

Above all he is sincere and honest. I think he really is “The Best In The Business”

 

[JOSWolf]

I am glad we seem to be prioritising building the squad and not just going all out on the stadium. The stadium can be redone bit by bit.

 

[Deleted member 4152]

You can’t really count Jiménez in last summers signings as he’d been here for a year already on loan

Errrrmmm.

You didn’t actually type that did you?

 

[Deleted member 4152]

Still bought panic buys that turned out to be rubbish though didn’t we.

Ya can’t beat a bit of whataboutery when you have been proven wrong

 

[Yamalritee]

Remember last season a spurs fans walking out of Molineux saying I love coming here it’s a proper stadium. Give me our stadium any day over a soulless new stadium. Focus on improving the team year by year and adding to the ground bit by bit is fine with me.

 

[waggys left foot]

Having moaned about Jeff's silence -its good to see his comments.

We already knew they weren't going gung ho on the Mol.Lots of factors at play -Fosun finances,empty stadium at the moment and maybe all season ,builders committed elsewhere.

On transfers there are three involved-Jeff,Nuno and Mendes and they decided they could do without Thelwell .No point in arguing about last summer window -effectively we spent £53 mill on Jiminez and Jonny plus whatever Neto and Jordao cost and £15 mill (?)on Cutrone plus loan fee for Vallejo.

On the pitch this didn't add massively as Jiminez and Jonny were already here,Cutrone and Vallejo didn't work out ,Jordao.was injured leaving Neto to.add value to the team.

So I would hope we repeat last summers spend prob £75 mill.That's up to Fosun.

How you parcel that is something we all have an opinion on -but to.go beyond it we prob would have to.sell .

 

[clivewolves]

More encouraging words from Mr Shi. I really believe Wolves have a great opportunity in the next decade or two to establish ourselves as a top team in England, and not look out of place in Europe. As Jeff Shi says, there will be ups and downs, players will come and go, managers will come and go, and maybe even Jeff will move on and someone else from Fosun will step into his role, but I think we will continue to grow.

I like how they are constantly thinking of new ideas. I wasn't aware we had basketball-themed games. It will be interesting to see what the latest UK eSport project will be. I know Wolves have linked up with another Fosun company called AHAVA to produce some Wolves branded cosmetic products. There is also a Chinese headphone company called Tezo that has Wolves branded products. Fans might have seen their name on the advertising boards during the pre-match and post-match interviews.

It sounds like the stadium development will be a long term plan. I would much rather them take their time and get it right, both in terms of how it will look and the costs involved. Maybe in hindsight revealing the plans at the end of season dinner awards was a bad move if they weren't set in stone.

Overall, Shi has a vision for the club and he is determined to get there. I hope most of us can stick around for as long as possible to see it all come to fruition before we shuffle off this mortal coil.

 

[waggys left foot]

Jeff didn't mention this bit.

Liverpool and Man City to fight for Adama Traore after Wolves transfer decision

EXCLUSIVE: Wolves may be forced to sell Adama Traore after Nuno Espirito Santo was told he needed to raise transfer funds which leaves Liverpool and Man City to battle it out

www.mirror.co.uk

So perhaps it's not true but it has been in three English papers .