Fulham verdict

[Sheffield Wolf]

Yes, I'd say
4231 all the first half, just Lemina moving.
4411 second half until Fraser went off.
541 late on maybe Sarabia up top, Lemina trying to play everywhere!

None of these are correct. Lemina and Gomes did the work of 10 men today.

 

[SuperGran]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1766556311058076123

 

[Hawkguy]

Tommy Doyle is a real unsung hero for me too.

I know it's been said a 100 times, but, **** me....£5m? Bonkers!

He's another one I told people to calm down on because he was getting a lot of razz originally. I had seen him play a few times last year and he was absolutely bonkers. He just plays so smart.

 

[Lobo de Ouro]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1766556311058076123

Directing all the praise towards the players.

Class act.

 

[groundhogwolf]

I have that policy when I first get to the bar but things change quickly.

Don’t worry things have changed I used to need a drink after games under previous managers

 

[Wonder Boyo]

Pleasant journey home tonight! Not a great first half, and pleased Fulham couldn't take their chances, but we bossed the second half in very difficult circumstances. This team are a band of brother's with heart, grit, determination and mental toughness. Won't go over the same stuff that others have already said as I am very tired! However, man of the match is a toss up between RAN and Lemina, who were both superb. It is really noticeable how much more committed and happier RAN is this season. He is loving his football, he's also pumping up the crowd. He's also much fitter than last season. Skills-wise, he's as good as anyone in the Premier League. As for Mario, has the heart of a lion and more staying power than the Duracell bunny, It's also obvious how happy he is to be here. Special shout out also to Sa, Santi Bueno and Semedo. All had great games.

Not the worst performance we've seen from an official but I thought the ref was so inconsistent with his free kicks and bookings. Reed should have had an obvious yellow in the first half, Palhinha should have been sent off for a second yellow for his feet off the ground, out of control lunge. The only reason I can think for not booking him was the referee bottling it. Sometimes let dangerous challenges go and then stopped play for non-fouls. My only grumble.

 

[Bryce]

Referee was crap

Business as usual for us then

 

[Wonder Boyo]

Thought I'd also post this Fulham fan's view on the game from the comments section of The Guardian report. Better than the actual match report they are commenting on! Really summed up the game well.

What happens when you switch off in the Premier League? Fulham’s defeat at Molineux tells you the answer. An immensely watchable match, with two positive teams playing decent, progressive football, saw a sting in the tale for the in-form visitors, with a sluggish start to the second half marring an otherwise lively and vivacious performance. Full-backs Ait-Nouri and Semedo scored in a sloppy phase of the second half for us - as always, all the chances your team generate mean nothing if you squander it with silly mistakes, and Iwobi’s response came far too late to save us from a 2-1 defeat.

Compared to the sludge-fest I’d watched at Old Trafford, these two sides played in a fantastic style. It could have been so different for us… Fulham have attacked with confidence in recent weeks and their personnel let them do that - Muniz batters a team with his physicality, supplied by a well of creativity from the talents behind him. Iwobi had a marvellous match, his effervescent stamina seeing him effortlessly drift around the pitch, manning the left, cutting inside to the centre, threading balls through to Muniz and Wilson from the frontline and deep and generally running our team. Wilson darted around with his familiar zest and Pereira’s quality on the ball connected many passages of play. Wolves boast some marvels of their own - despite their injury list, lengthened today, they had Sarabia’s wizardry pinging passes about the pitch, Neto whizzing along the wing, Fraser pestering the frontline, Ait-Nouri dazzling the eye… it was a thrilling, end-to-end game, in which every area of the pitch saw action, and when you get to watch games like that you find yourself.

Of course, Wolves were the victors. I think O’Neil deserves credit for his pragmatism today - struck with two injuries to key attacking players, with Bellegarde and Neto forced off the pitch in the first half, Wolves adapted their shape and kept competitive against a confident Fulham side, weathering the storm and matching our intensity until it wore us down. Moving Lemina forward following Bellegarde’s departure gave Wolves bite and tenacity in advanced areas, putting pressure on our core to operate through his excellent pressing and stamina. Neto blew his hamstring trying to outpace Robinson, which could have killed the game for Wolves - on came Toti Gomes, seeing Ait-Nouri move into the advanced regions - the technical abilities of Ait-Nouri gave Wolves the extra incisiveness in attack, with a similarly talented Toti adding speed and trickery going forward and at the back. He has done a fantastic job with Wolves, just as he did with Bournemouth last season, and the fruits of his labour are reflected in their ability to seize their opportunities - they pounced on our doldrum start to the second-half and struck twice to claim a great victory.

Defensively there has to be some scrutiny. We started well, with a good temperament and discipline in the face of Wolves’ liveliness, but it fell away quite rapidly in the second half and allowed Wolves the advantage over us. The goals are the obvious flashpoint, which came through a muddled period in which a series of sloppy errors clouded our minds. Gifting the lead through a set-piece is unacceptable; Sarabia’s good free kick from deep was met with a rather hideous defensive header from Bassey, giving Toti the chance to make a slick cutback to Ait-Nouri for the opener. He and Tosin, having been so resolute in the first half, lost the ball far too often in the second, giving Wolves countless opportunities to pounce on us. The substitutes seemed to unsettle things further, with our attacking changes giving Wolves numerous attacking inroads to take to our struggling defence, and a flimsy spell of defending on our right let Wolves carve their second out. Ait-Nouri, as he did over several spells of the game, dazed Castagne to get the ball central, Fraser burst through our backline, scrambling our centre-backs and playing it back for Joao Gomez, who set up Semedo for the goal.

The previous two matches saw Reed and Lukic perform exceptionally in Palhinha’s absence, but we have to accept that it won’t always work out. Against attack-minded sides like Wolves today, they have to be impeccable, otherwise the team becomes much easier to play your way through. Reed was poor on the ball and unable to keep control of midfield today, notably conceding the free-kick that led to Wolves’ opener. Lukic has been brilliant but when Reed went off he was left at DM, with Cairney obviously taking a more advanced role alongside him - Wolves subsequently had an easier time getting into dangerous positions and could easily have scored more with their attacks. It’s worth mentioning Palhinha actually, who did eventually come on for Lukic - his cameo today saw him commit numerous risible tackles that could have earnt him another suspension, matching the general loss of control Fulham struggled with in the game.

It’s important to contrast this to Wolves’ defending, which also faced a few tests but managed to hold firm throughout (excluding the late consolation). Muniz has menaced a fair few centre-backs of late but Kilman and Bueno handled him well, tracking his movements matching his strides and making crucial tackles to stop him getting the killer shot away. They were exceptional and protected the goal really well - something that perhaps gave Sa the confidence to pull off the wonder-saves he made towards the end. We’re a side that like having the ball and we utilised a number of tactics to get the ball into dangerous position, with the through balls barraging the Wolves backline, but the defending in the critical regions was exemplary and ensured we were largely frustrated. The whole team got involved, Lemina the key presser, and winning the ball from us so frequently allowed for quick turn-overs and a constantly hostile atmosphere for Fulham to try and play in.

Some might be tempted to lambast Fulham’s finishing - Wilson had many shots and missed a great opportunity through on goal in the first half, Muniz and later Broja will rue their wasted chances and we should definitely have done more from the wealth of corners we generated over the game. Willian was able to work nicely with Robinson when he came on, Traore gave Wolves a reminder of his blistering speed and I think on another day we’d have scored one of the shots Sa had to save later in the game… but ultimately it was the loss of the focus in the face of Wolves’ perseverance, and we need to ensure the same doesn’t happen against Tottenham next week.

As for Wolves, they can pride themselves on their lofty league position. For all the struggles they have a positive young side with an attractive brand of football, and given they’re only a few points off the European spots there could yet be more excitement for their campaign.

 

[Gromit]

Thought I'd also post this Fulham fan's view on the game from the comments section of The Guardian report. Better than the actual match report they are commenting on! Really summed up the game well.

What happens when you switch off in the Premier League? Fulham’s defeat at Molineux tells you the answer. An immensely watchable match, with two positive teams playing decent, progressive football, saw a sting in the tale for the in-form visitors, with a sluggish start to the second half marring an otherwise lively and vivacious performance. Full-backs Ait-Nouri and Semedo scored in a sloppy phase of the second half for us - as always, all the chances your team generate mean nothing if you squander it with silly mistakes, and Iwobi’s response came far too late to save us from a 2-1 defeat.

Compared to the sludge-fest I’d watched at Old Trafford, these two sides played in a fantastic style. It could have been so different for us… Fulham have attacked with confidence in recent weeks and their personnel let them do that - Muniz batters a team with his physicality, supplied by a well of creativity from the talents behind him. Iwobi had a marvellous match, his effervescent stamina seeing him effortlessly drift around the pitch, manning the left, cutting inside to the centre, threading balls through to Muniz and Wilson from the frontline and deep and generally running our team. Wilson darted around with his familiar zest and Pereira’s quality on the ball connected many passages of play. Wolves boast some marvels of their own - despite their injury list, lengthened today, they had Sarabia’s wizardry pinging passes about the pitch, Neto whizzing along the wing, Fraser pestering the frontline, Ait-Nouri dazzling the eye… it was a thrilling, end-to-end game, in which every area of the pitch saw action, and when you get to watch games like that you find yourself.

Of course, Wolves were the victors. I think O’Neil deserves credit for his pragmatism today - struck with two injuries to key attacking players, with Bellegarde and Neto forced off the pitch in the first half, Wolves adapted their shape and kept competitive against a confident Fulham side, weathering the storm and matching our intensity until it wore us down. Moving Lemina forward following Bellegarde’s departure gave Wolves bite and tenacity in advanced areas, putting pressure on our core to operate through his excellent pressing and stamina. Neto blew his hamstring trying to outpace Robinson, which could have killed the game for Wolves - on came Toti Gomes, seeing Ait-Nouri move into the advanced regions - the technical abilities of Ait-Nouri gave Wolves the extra incisiveness in attack, with a similarly talented Toti adding speed and trickery going forward and at the back. He has done a fantastic job with Wolves, just as he did with Bournemouth last season, and the fruits of his labour are reflected in their ability to seize their opportunities - they pounced on our doldrum start to the second-half and struck twice to claim a great victory.

Defensively there has to be some scrutiny. We started well, with a good temperament and discipline in the face of Wolves’ liveliness, but it fell away quite rapidly in the second half and allowed Wolves the advantage over us. The goals are the obvious flashpoint, which came through a muddled period in which a series of sloppy errors clouded our minds. Gifting the lead through a set-piece is unacceptable; Sarabia’s good free kick from deep was met with a rather hideous defensive header from Bassey, giving Toti the chance to make a slick cutback to Ait-Nouri for the opener. He and Tosin, having been so resolute in the first half, lost the ball far too often in the second, giving Wolves countless opportunities to pounce on us. The substitutes seemed to unsettle things further, with our attacking changes giving Wolves numerous attacking inroads to take to our struggling defence, and a flimsy spell of defending on our right let Wolves carve their second out. Ait-Nouri, as he did over several spells of the game, dazed Castagne to get the ball central, Fraser burst through our backline, scrambling our centre-backs and playing it back for Joao Gomez, who set up Semedo for the goal.

The previous two matches saw Reed and Lukic perform exceptionally in Palhinha’s absence, but we have to accept that it won’t always work out. Against attack-minded sides like Wolves today, they have to be impeccable, otherwise the team becomes much easier to play your way through. Reed was poor on the ball and unable to keep control of midfield today, notably conceding the free-kick that led to Wolves’ opener. Lukic has been brilliant but when Reed went off he was left at DM, with Cairney obviously taking a more advanced role alongside him - Wolves subsequently had an easier time getting into dangerous positions and could easily have scored more with their attacks. It’s worth mentioning Palhinha actually, who did eventually come on for Lukic - his cameo today saw him commit numerous risible tackles that could have earnt him another suspension, matching the general loss of control Fulham struggled with in the game.

It’s important to contrast this to Wolves’ defending, which also faced a few tests but managed to hold firm throughout (excluding the late consolation). Muniz has menaced a fair few centre-backs of late but Kilman and Bueno handled him well, tracking his movements matching his strides and making crucial tackles to stop him getting the killer shot away. They were exceptional and protected the goal really well - something that perhaps gave Sa the confidence to pull off the wonder-saves he made towards the end. We’re a side that like having the ball and we utilised a number of tactics to get the ball into dangerous position, with the through balls barraging the Wolves backline, but the defending in the critical regions was exemplary and ensured we were largely frustrated. The whole team got involved, Lemina the key presser, and winning the ball from us so frequently allowed for quick turn-overs and a constantly hostile atmosphere for Fulham to try and play in.

Some might be tempted to lambast Fulham’s finishing - Wilson had many shots and missed a great opportunity through on goal in the first half, Muniz and later Broja will rue their wasted chances and we should definitely have done more from the wealth of corners we generated over the game. Willian was able to work nicely with Robinson when he came on, Traore gave Wolves a reminder of his blistering speed and I think on another day we’d have scored one of the shots Sa had to save later in the game… but ultimately it was the loss of the focus in the face of Wolves’ perseverance, and we need to ensure the same doesn’t happen against Tottenham next week.

As for Wolves, they can pride themselves on their lofty league position. For all the struggles they have a positive young side with an attractive brand of football, and given they’re only a few points off the European spots there could yet be more excitement for their campaign.

Wow!!!

 

[Matt]

Can’t question this teams guts and spirit. A great win under very challenging circumstances with the squad. Hopefully the injuries aren’t too bad, but neither looked great did they.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

Potentially, given everything that happened, the best performance of our season.

Thought everyone was pretty good to be honest.
RAN is a unreal footballer.
Lemina, what an amazing player.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

"You've only come to see the Fulham"

Who gives a **** about Fulham?. Even Barrow would be underwhelmed.

Fulham fans didn't even come to see The Fulham.

Bunch of Southern nobodies

 

[Mugwump]

The thing i like about this team so far this season is we are just finding a way to win under adversity. Even with all the injury issues we are keeping the momentum going. We have a brilliant foundation for next season.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Thought Fulham were much the better side first half, playing very incisively on the break. It reminded me of some of our performances against the bigger teams. We dominated possession without really looking dangerous whereas Fulham could have been three up but for poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping from Sa.

Second half we were much better. Ait-Nouri, Gomes, Sa and Lemina all outstanding. Lemina probably shades it as man of the match, although he should have scored late on

 

[Hedge End Wolf]

"You've only come to see the Fulham"

Who gives a **** about Fulham?. Even Barrow would be underwhelmed.

They didn't even come to see the Fulham!

 

[steve vena]

Severely downplaying Sarabia's contribution today. We don't win that game without him controlling the tempo.

Such a clever player.

 

[steve vena]

He’s top class love him

Me too mate, he seems a few seconds ahead before he passes the ball, great awareness and vision.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Two sides to that game.

The negatives, the two injuries. Our season is realistically over because of the board. If we had done the bare minimum in January, replacing the outgoings, we could have got by. They didn’t. They’ve probably ruined our season and potentially our future.

Hobbs has admitted that we have to sell at least one player a season. The overworked Neto is injured, can he be sold now? He wasn’t fit against Brighton, Newcastle and today he went, because O’Neil was understandably desperate. What happens if he’s not sold? Do we get rid of Gomes or RAN as Hobbs alludes to.

We should be dreaming but it’s hard to get excited when we face Coventry next week who have better attacking players.

But, the players should be separate from that, and today as a whole.

Thanks to O’Neil we have a team that give their all. A team full of warriors, led by Lemina. A team us fans love and like Brighton we helped them over the line.

Semedo, Ait-Nouri, Gomes, all incredible and I really could go on.

That special bond might get us past Coventry. It might not.

I had immense pride watching us today but it was tinged with sadness that we were having to take the role of massive underdog against Fulham, yes Fulham, because of Fosun.

Let’s see how far we can go in spite of them. Hopefully it’s beyond next week.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Thought I'd also post this Fulham fan's view on the game from the comments section of The Guardian report. Better than the actual match report they are commenting on! Really summed up the game well.

What happens when you switch off in the Premier League? Fulham’s defeat at Molineux tells you the answer. An immensely watchable match, with two positive teams playing decent, progressive football, saw a sting in the tale for the in-form visitors, with a sluggish start to the second half marring an otherwise lively and vivacious performance. Full-backs Ait-Nouri and Semedo scored in a sloppy phase of the second half for us - as always, all the chances your team generate mean nothing if you squander it with silly mistakes, and Iwobi’s response came far too late to save us from a 2-1 defeat.

Compared to the sludge-fest I’d watched at Old Trafford, these two sides played in a fantastic style. It could have been so different for us… Fulham have attacked with confidence in recent weeks and their personnel let them do that - Muniz batters a team with his physicality, supplied by a well of creativity from the talents behind him. Iwobi had a marvellous match, his effervescent stamina seeing him effortlessly drift around the pitch, manning the left, cutting inside to the centre, threading balls through to Muniz and Wilson from the frontline and deep and generally running our team. Wilson darted around with his familiar zest and Pereira’s quality on the ball connected many passages of play. Wolves boast some marvels of their own - despite their injury list, lengthened today, they had Sarabia’s wizardry pinging passes about the pitch, Neto whizzing along the wing, Fraser pestering the frontline, Ait-Nouri dazzling the eye… it was a thrilling, end-to-end game, in which every area of the pitch saw action, and when you get to watch games like that you find yourself.

Of course, Wolves were the victors. I think O’Neil deserves credit for his pragmatism today - struck with two injuries to key attacking players, with Bellegarde and Neto forced off the pitch in the first half, Wolves adapted their shape and kept competitive against a confident Fulham side, weathering the storm and matching our intensity until it wore us down. Moving Lemina forward following Bellegarde’s departure gave Wolves bite and tenacity in advanced areas, putting pressure on our core to operate through his excellent pressing and stamina. Neto blew his hamstring trying to outpace Robinson, which could have killed the game for Wolves - on came Toti Gomes, seeing Ait-Nouri move into the advanced regions - the technical abilities of Ait-Nouri gave Wolves the extra incisiveness in attack, with a similarly talented Toti adding speed and trickery going forward and at the back. He has done a fantastic job with Wolves, just as he did with Bournemouth last season, and the fruits of his labour are reflected in their ability to seize their opportunities - they pounced on our doldrum start to the second-half and struck twice to claim a great victory.

Defensively there has to be some scrutiny. We started well, with a good temperament and discipline in the face of Wolves’ liveliness, but it fell away quite rapidly in the second half and allowed Wolves the advantage over us. The goals are the obvious flashpoint, which came through a muddled period in which a series of sloppy errors clouded our minds. Gifting the lead through a set-piece is unacceptable; Sarabia’s good free kick from deep was met with a rather hideous defensive header from Bassey, giving Toti the chance to make a slick cutback to Ait-Nouri for the opener. He and Tosin, having been so resolute in the first half, lost the ball far too often in the second, giving Wolves countless opportunities to pounce on us. The substitutes seemed to unsettle things further, with our attacking changes giving Wolves numerous attacking inroads to take to our struggling defence, and a flimsy spell of defending on our right let Wolves carve their second out. Ait-Nouri, as he did over several spells of the game, dazed Castagne to get the ball central, Fraser burst through our backline, scrambling our centre-backs and playing it back for Joao Gomez, who set up Semedo for the goal.

The previous two matches saw Reed and Lukic perform exceptionally in Palhinha’s absence, but we have to accept that it won’t always work out. Against attack-minded sides like Wolves today, they have to be impeccable, otherwise the team becomes much easier to play your way through. Reed was poor on the ball and unable to keep control of midfield today, notably conceding the free-kick that led to Wolves’ opener. Lukic has been brilliant but when Reed went off he was left at DM, with Cairney obviously taking a more advanced role alongside him - Wolves subsequently had an easier time getting into dangerous positions and could easily have scored more with their attacks. It’s worth mentioning Palhinha actually, who did eventually come on for Lukic - his cameo today saw him commit numerous risible tackles that could have earnt him another suspension, matching the general loss of control Fulham struggled with in the game.

It’s important to contrast this to Wolves’ defending, which also faced a few tests but managed to hold firm throughout (excluding the late consolation). Muniz has menaced a fair few centre-backs of late but Kilman and Bueno handled him well, tracking his movements matching his strides and making crucial tackles to stop him getting the killer shot away. They were exceptional and protected the goal really well - something that perhaps gave Sa the confidence to pull off the wonder-saves he made towards the end. We’re a side that like having the ball and we utilised a number of tactics to get the ball into dangerous position, with the through balls barraging the Wolves backline, but the defending in the critical regions was exemplary and ensured we were largely frustrated. The whole team got involved, Lemina the key presser, and winning the ball from us so frequently allowed for quick turn-overs and a constantly hostile atmosphere for Fulham to try and play in.

Some might be tempted to lambast Fulham’s finishing - Wilson had many shots and missed a great opportunity through on goal in the first half, Muniz and later Broja will rue their wasted chances and we should definitely have done more from the wealth of corners we generated over the game. Willian was able to work nicely with Robinson when he came on, Traore gave Wolves a reminder of his blistering speed and I think on another day we’d have scored one of the shots Sa had to save later in the game… but ultimately it was the loss of the focus in the face of Wolves’ perseverance, and we need to ensure the same doesn’t happen against Tottenham next week.

As for Wolves, they can pride themselves on their lofty league position. For all the struggles they have a positive young side with an attractive brand of football, and given they’re only a few points off the European spots there could yet be more excitement for their campaign.

TY for posting. What a balanced, well written, comment too.

 

[CelebrityWolf]

After Pedro has gone Ait-Nouri is going to be the next big money player other sides will crave. Wolves have this production-line to a tee.

Think at this stage RAN is worth more and sought after by more clubs than Neto. Neto's injury issues are quite a concern for prospective buyers.

In my opinion if we were placing in order our best assets it would be

Cunha
RAN
Joao Gomes
Neto

 

[WickedWolfie]

Two sides to that game.

The negatives, the two injuries. Our season is realistically over because of the board. If we had done the bare minimum in January, replacing the outgoings, we could have got by. They didn’t. They’ve probably ruined our season and potentially our future.

Hobbs has admitted that we have to sell at least one player a season. The overworked Neto is injured, can he be sold now? He wasn’t fit against Brighton, Newcastle and today he went, because O’Neil was understandably desperate. What happens if he’s not sold? Do we get rid of Gomes or RAN as Hobbs alludes to.

We should be dreaming but it’s hard to get excited when we face Coventry next week who have better attacking players.

But, the players should be separate from that, and today as a whole.

Thanks to O’Neil we have a team that give their all. A team full of warriors, led by Lemina. A team us fans love and like Brighton we helped them over the line.

Semedo, Ait-Nouri, Gomes, all incredible and I really could go on.

That special bond might get us past Coventry. It might not.

I had immense pride watching us today but it was tinged with sadness that we were having to take the role of massive underdog against Fulham, yes Fulham, because of Fosun.

Let’s see how far we can go in spite of them. Hopefully it’s beyond next week.

Was l happy with the January window? No as anyone who has read my posts is aware. However how the hell can you blame Fosun for us supposedly being underdogs against Fulham without first acknowledging that it was the very same Fosun who got us back into the PL and indeed have kept us there ever since in what is our longest spell in the top division since the 1970s.

 

[Mancwolf56]

Two sides to that game.

The negatives, the two injuries. Our season is realistically over because of the board. If we had done the bare minimum in January, replacing the outgoings, we could have got by. They didn’t. They’ve probably ruined our season and potentially our future.

Hobbs has admitted that we have to sell at least one player a season. The overworked Neto is injured, can he be sold now? He wasn’t fit against Brighton, Newcastle and today he went, because O’Neil was understandably desperate. What happens if he’s not sold? Do we get rid of Gomes or RAN as Hobbs alludes to.

We should be dreaming but it’s hard to get excited when we face Coventry next week who have better attacking players.

But, the players should be separate from that, and today as a whole.

Thanks to O’Neil we have a team that give their all. A team full of warriors, led by Lemina. A team us fans love and like Brighton we helped them over the line.

Semedo, Ait-Nouri, Gomes, all incredible and I really could go on.

That special bond might get us past Coventry. It might not.

I had immense pride watching us today but it was tinged with sadness that we were having to take the role of massive underdog against Fulham, yes Fulham, because of Fosun.

Let’s see how far we can go in spite of them. Hopefully it’s beyond next week.

Well I’m excited about next week and the rest of the season

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Was l happy with the January window? No as anyone who has read my posts is aware. However how the hell can you blame Fosun for us supposedly being underdogs against Fulham without first acknowledging that it was the very same Fosun who got us back into the PL and indeed have kept us there ever since in what is our longest spell in the top division since the 1970s.

I don’t understand your point unless you’re saying no criticism for Fosun is allowed because of what they did. In which case, I disagree.

As I’ve repeatedly said, I don’t ever expect success. I just want owners that try. In January, they didn’t do that.

We’re now entering what should be a golden period, potentially in our history, and we can’t even compete. We aren’t even turning up to a gun fight with a knife, we’ve got a water pistol.

Fosun were brilliant owners, that shouldn’t need to be said on any post that criticises them now.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Well I’m excited about next week and the rest of the season

Excited about next week because it’s a game against a side on our level right now. It will be close.

We should be thinking winning the FA Cup and/or finishing in the top 7/8 is a realistic possibility.

People might say stuff on here but deep down we all know it’s not possible.

That’s because on the balance of play we should’ve comfortably lost at home to Fulham today despite our player/manager giving everything.

 

[WickedWolfie]

I don’t understand your point unless you’re saying no criticism for Fosun is allowed because of what they did. In which case, I disagree.

As I’ve repeatedly said, I don’t ever expect success. I just want owners that try. In January, they didn’t do that.

We’re not entering what should be a golden period, potentially in our history, and we can’t even compete. We aren’t even turning up to a gun fight with a knife, we’ve got a water pistol.

Fosun were brilliant owners, that shouldn’t need to be said on any post that criticises them now.

Given that l have been critical of Fosun myself your first para seems strange. I certainly didn't imagine that we'd come out of the January window with a weaker thinner squad than we started the window with. Having said that l don't believe that it's true to say that they didn't try in January. They did but for whatever reason were not successful.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Excited about next week because it’s a game against a side on our level right now. It will be close.

We should be thinking winning the FA Cup and/or finishing in the top 7/8 is a realistic possibility.

People might say stuff on here but deep down we all know it’s not possible.

That’s because on the balance of play we should’ve comfortably lost at home to Fulham today despite our player/manager giving everything.

Your first para is palpably rubbish. We are 8th in the PL. Coventry are 8th in the Championship. How the hell are those two teams on the same level as you assert?

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Given that l have been critical of Fosun myself your first para seems strange. I certainly didn't imagine that we'd come out of the January window with a weaker thinner squad than we started the window with. Having said that l don't believe that it's true to say that they didn't try in January. They did but for whatever reason were not successful.

O’Neil wanted/needed two attacking players in January and he was let down.

They probably thought it wouldn’t matter. That we’d harmlessly drift down the table and nobody would really care.

 

[Mancwolf56]

O’Neil wanted/needed two attacking players in January and he was let down.

They probably thought it wouldn’t matter. That we’d harmlessly drift down the table and nobody would really care.

Yep I’m sure they thought we’d harmlessly drift down the table and nobody would really care!

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Your first para is palpably rubbish. We are 8th in the PL. Coventry are 8th in the Championship. How the hell are those two teams on the same level as you assert?

We will see next week, won’t we?

Because the Wolves team that is 8th is based on Neto, Hwang and Cunha involved heavily.

Coventrys attack, on the whole, is better than ours next week in terms of quality and depth.

Yes, we’re better elsewhere but it’s a close game overall.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Yep I’m sure they thought we’d harmlessly drift down the table and nobody would really care!

There’s years of proof that Fosun suddenly find the money in January if it’s ’important’.

 

[Mancwolf56]

There’s years of proof that Fosun suddenly find the money in January if it’s ’important’.

Which years apart from last year?

 

[WickedWolfie]

There’s years of proof that Fosun suddenly find the money in January if it’s ’important’.

Hmmm.... and was FFP/FSP being taken seriously during those years and other teams being charged?

 

[Lobo de Ouro]

We will see next week, won’t we?

Because the Wolves team that is 8th is based on Neto, Hwang and Cunha involved heavily.

Coventrys attack, on the whole, is better than ours next week in terms of quality and depth.

Yes, we’re better elsewhere but it’s a close game overall.

At least you're miserable even when we win.... I admire the consistency

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Which years apart from last year?

Afobe joined when promotion was a possibility. Willian Jose (was useless but still showed intent). Last year.

 

[Mancwolf56]

Afobe joined when promotion was a possibility. Willian Jose (was useless but still showed intent). Last year.

Seriously!

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

At least you're miserable even when we win.... I admire the consistency

Not miserable at all. As my first post outlined. Delighted with O’Neil and the players and even my tiny contribution with 6/7k others by singing along from the South Bank to help them today. In fact, it’s the best I’ve felt about a team we’ve had in 4/5 years.

Sad that I don’t think we really have even a chance of winning the FA Cup or finishing top 8 when it really should be possible after O’Neil’s outstanding work.

If only your ‘ITK’ posts had actually been right and then maybe I’d be optimistic

 

[Lobo de Ouro]

Not miserable at all. As my first post outlined. Delighted with O’Neil and the players and even my tiny contribution with 6/7k others by singing along from the South Bank to help them today. In fact, it’s the best I’ve felt about a team we’ve had in 4/5 years.

Sad that I don’t think we really have even a chance of winning the FA Cup or finishing top 8 when it really should be possible after O’Neil’s outstanding work.

If only your ‘ITK’ posts had actually been right and then maybe I’d be optimistic

Only ribbing you mate... don't take me seriously.

I hope, and expect, there are people within the club that take the same attitude as you even when we win and focus on areas to improve, not just patting themselves on the back and moving on.

 

[Andywolf74]

41 points and a home fa cup quarter final to come next week before the squad gets a well deserved mini break.
Lived in Worthing down on the South Coast all my life and so glad I don’t support one of the usual plastic clubs who expect to win every week. The downs certainly make you appreciate the Ups and I can’t ask for anymore than the current squad and management team continually exceeding expectation.

 

[JR WAS KING]

Just been on the Fulham forum, what a delusional bunch they are!

They have a forum?

 

[JR WAS KING]

Thought I'd also post this Fulham fan's view on the game from the comments section of The Guardian report. Better than the actual match report they are commenting on! Really summed up the game well.

What happens when you switch off in the Premier League? Fulham’s defeat at Molineux tells you the answer. An immensely watchable match, with two positive teams playing decent, progressive football, saw a sting in the tale for the in-form visitors, with a sluggish start to the second half marring an otherwise lively and vivacious performance. Full-backs Ait-Nouri and Semedo scored in a sloppy phase of the second half for us - as always, all the chances your team generate mean nothing if you squander it with silly mistakes, and Iwobi’s response came far too late to save us from a 2-1 defeat.

Compared to the sludge-fest I’d watched at Old Trafford, these two sides played in a fantastic style. It could have been so different for us… Fulham have attacked with confidence in recent weeks and their personnel let them do that - Muniz batters a team with his physicality, supplied by a well of creativity from the talents behind him. Iwobi had a marvellous match, his effervescent stamina seeing him effortlessly drift around the pitch, manning the left, cutting inside to the centre, threading balls through to Muniz and Wilson from the frontline and deep and generally running our team. Wilson darted around with his familiar zest and Pereira’s quality on the ball connected many passages of play. Wolves boast some marvels of their own - despite their injury list, lengthened today, they had Sarabia’s wizardry pinging passes about the pitch, Neto whizzing along the wing, Fraser pestering the frontline, Ait-Nouri dazzling the eye… it was a thrilling, end-to-end game, in which every area of the pitch saw action, and when you get to watch games like that you find yourself.

Of course, Wolves were the victors. I think O’Neil deserves credit for his pragmatism today - struck with two injuries to key attacking players, with Bellegarde and Neto forced off the pitch in the first half, Wolves adapted their shape and kept competitive against a confident Fulham side, weathering the storm and matching our intensity until it wore us down. Moving Lemina forward following Bellegarde’s departure gave Wolves bite and tenacity in advanced areas, putting pressure on our core to operate through his excellent pressing and stamina. Neto blew his hamstring trying to outpace Robinson, which could have killed the game for Wolves - on came Toti Gomes, seeing Ait-Nouri move into the advanced regions - the technical abilities of Ait-Nouri gave Wolves the extra incisiveness in attack, with a similarly talented Toti adding speed and trickery going forward and at the back. He has done a fantastic job with Wolves, just as he did with Bournemouth last season, and the fruits of his labour are reflected in their ability to seize their opportunities - they pounced on our doldrum start to the second-half and struck twice to claim a great victory.

Defensively there has to be some scrutiny. We started well, with a good temperament and discipline in the face of Wolves’ liveliness, but it fell away quite rapidly in the second half and allowed Wolves the advantage over us. The goals are the obvious flashpoint, which came through a muddled period in which a series of sloppy errors clouded our minds. Gifting the lead through a set-piece is unacceptable; Sarabia’s good free kick from deep was met with a rather hideous defensive header from Bassey, giving Toti the chance to make a slick cutback to Ait-Nouri for the opener. He and Tosin, having been so resolute in the first half, lost the ball far too often in the second, giving Wolves countless opportunities to pounce on us. The substitutes seemed to unsettle things further, with our attacking changes giving Wolves numerous attacking inroads to take to our struggling defence, and a flimsy spell of defending on our right let Wolves carve their second out. Ait-Nouri, as he did over several spells of the game, dazed Castagne to get the ball central, Fraser burst through our backline, scrambling our centre-backs and playing it back for Joao Gomez, who set up Semedo for the goal.

The previous two matches saw Reed and Lukic perform exceptionally in Palhinha’s absence, but we have to accept that it won’t always work out. Against attack-minded sides like Wolves today, they have to be impeccable, otherwise the team becomes much easier to play your way through. Reed was poor on the ball and unable to keep control of midfield today, notably conceding the free-kick that led to Wolves’ opener. Lukic has been brilliant but when Reed went off he was left at DM, with Cairney obviously taking a more advanced role alongside him - Wolves subsequently had an easier time getting into dangerous positions and could easily have scored more with their attacks. It’s worth mentioning Palhinha actually, who did eventually come on for Lukic - his cameo today saw him commit numerous risible tackles that could have earnt him another suspension, matching the general loss of control Fulham struggled with in the game.

It’s important to contrast this to Wolves’ defending, which also faced a few tests but managed to hold firm throughout (excluding the late consolation). Muniz has menaced a fair few centre-backs of late but Kilman and Bueno handled him well, tracking his movements matching his strides and making crucial tackles to stop him getting the killer shot away. They were exceptional and protected the goal really well - something that perhaps gave Sa the confidence to pull off the wonder-saves he made towards the end. We’re a side that like having the ball and we utilised a number of tactics to get the ball into dangerous position, with the through balls barraging the Wolves backline, but the defending in the critical regions was exemplary and ensured we were largely frustrated. The whole team got involved, Lemina the key presser, and winning the ball from us so frequently allowed for quick turn-overs and a constantly hostile atmosphere for Fulham to try and play in.

Some might be tempted to lambast Fulham’s finishing - Wilson had many shots and missed a great opportunity through on goal in the first half, Muniz and later Broja will rue their wasted chances and we should definitely have done more from the wealth of corners we generated over the game. Willian was able to work nicely with Robinson when he came on, Traore gave Wolves a reminder of his blistering speed and I think on another day we’d have scored one of the shots Sa had to save later in the game… but ultimately it was the loss of the focus in the face of Wolves’ perseverance, and we need to ensure the same doesn’t happen against Tottenham next week.

As for Wolves, they can pride themselves on their lofty league position. For all the struggles they have a positive young side with an attractive brand of football, and given they’re only a few points off the European spots there could yet be more excitement for their campaign.

That's one hell of a comment. You don't get them like that in the Express & Star