Lopetegui

[Ned]

When the season is already effectively over as we aren’t going down, we don’t have any cup/european commitments I don’t see why those conversations shouldn’t be happening now to plan for next season.

Slightly worrying if they aren’t being honest as we have lots of things to do this summer squad wise

It’s the Euros as well so a shorter than usual pre season and no players involved will be moving until it’s over (unless done already but not announced).

 

[Mugwump]

Hate this argument, things change, deal with them, not run away.

I dont think its always that simple when you get sold a job on one thing, then it gets sprung on you there are financial problems ( which they knew about when he signed and never disclosed ) . They they agree on a compromise, which he accepted, only for them to pull the rug from underneath him again. Lopetegui might not be an elite manager, but he is a top level manager and he has the runs on the board to be able to not have to deal with a club messing him around. I'm not going to lie though and i said it at the time, his constant sniping about things wore thin on me. Didnt like the way he handled things.

I also dont like the way GON is now whining about the squad. At least he wasnt lied to. He was very lucky to get this job here and he took it knowing fully there was a poor financial situation and very little option to strengthen the squad. The bloke this season simply shouldnt be complaining about it. He knew what was happening, he said he knew injuries were coming yet he didnt rest some of our players when imo he should have changed our style and formation to protect them. He's admitted he left injured players on the pitch.

It would be interesting to know what GON has been promised for next season. Surely we wont have such a lack of funds this time around and we can give him a slightly bigger squad

 

[Hot Fuss]

Do you not find it unfair then, that you say for GON it doesn’t matter and omit to say that got £50m of transfer and loan players which means he got more than £50m of talent added to the squad. Then you in the first post make it quite the point that JL got 70m of only perm transfers?

also, GON got the same months break…… JL wasn’t the lone manager to get the same months break to work on things. And I bet GON had more of his squad there and resting than JL lost to the World Cup? So actually JL didn’t have most of our front line players during that time where GON likely did.

So I am sorry mate, if you are going to use the signings of JL to reduce what he achieved, please include the fact GON also got investment…. Keep the playing field fair.

Your initial point was regarding the respective “starting points” of GON and Loppy last season. You made out GONs was easier. I disagree.

I was just pointing out that JL started with 70 mil of new signings and a months break. GON did not, his signings and break came after a couple of months.

 

[wolfslair]

Your initial point was regarding the respective “starting points” of GON and Loppy last season. You made out GONs was easier. I disagree.

I was just pointing out that JL started with 70 mil of new signings and a months break. GON did not, his signings and break came after a couple of months.

I didnt make anything out….. I made pure statement of fact.

GON knew his team before his first day I charge, had a relationship on the training ground and spent pre-season getting to know them meaning he had player buy in from day one with no need to spend extra time off/reducing training time to get to know the players.

Sorry but to me that sounds like a great situation to take a team over in rather than one bottom of the league and looking devoid of confidence and fight…..

So Jl had to build up confidence, build structure to make us difficult to beat as we leaked goals like a sieve and showed no fight as soon as the opposition scored.

They both had challenges and obstacles, but GON had the much easier transition period as he already knew his players.

And with more time with his squad before the break, many new signings, JL flew passed GON in points and the form guide…….

So with less time, the same months break and both getting £50m+ of talent one took a side rooted and separated at the bottom to 10th best on the form guide post World Cup.

Sorry, both had challenges, but without the signings even pep wouldn’t have kept us up!!! So to beat JL for the needed signings of Dawson, gomes, Lemina and cunha who are the central foundations of the GON team is silly! We don’t sign them, we go down, we don’t sign them GON doesn’t have as good a starting 11 as he got here.

Those signings were needed because of the failings of Jeff and fosun to adequately build the squad in the summer!

 

[Mugwump]

Your initial point was regarding the respective “starting points” of GON and Loppy last season. You made out GONs was easier. I disagree.

I was just pointing out that JL started with 70 mil of new signings and a months break. GON did not, his signings and break came after a couple of months.

Playing devils advocate, Lopetegui didnt have any new signings when he started either in early November, and he didnt have the full squad around from the start also. GON had a much better knowledge of the players at Bournemouth since had had been there for well over a year as a first team coach when he got the job compared to Lopetegui at Wolves.

 

[the genius]

Playing devils advocate, Lopetegui didnt have any new signings when he started either in early November, and he didnt have the full squad around from the start also. GON had a much better knowledge of the players at Bournemouth since had had been there for well over a year as a first team coach when he got the job compared to Lopetegui at Wolves.

In my opinion in a season where relegation loomed large over Bournemouth, Gary O'Neil emerged as the unlikely hero who defied the odds and kept the club afloat. Despite being considered favorites for the drop, O'Neil's leadership and determination proved instrumental in steering the team away from the dreaded relegation zone.

Lopetegui did a great job keeping us up but we had the nucleus of a good team when he took over and he added a lot of quality in the January. On the whole I would say gon did a better job keeping up Bournemouth than Lopetegui did with us

 

[Mugwump]

In my opinion in a season where relegation loomed large over Bournemouth, Gary O'Neil emerged as the unlikely hero who defied the odds and kept the club afloat. Despite being considered favorites for the drop, O'Neil's leadership and determination proved instrumental in steering the team away from the dreaded relegation zone.

Lopetegui did a great job keeping us up but we had the nucleus of a good team when he took over and he added a lot of quality in the January. On the whole I would say gon did a better job keeping up Bournemouth than Lopetegui did with us

We were on our knees under Lage, unfit players, the playing group was broken and we were bottom of the league when Lopetegui joined and ended up finishing comfortably mid table. Both teams spend a lot of money in January so its not like either team didnt strengthen. Both managers did well enough but i'm not seeing GON doing a better job last season than Lopetegui. This season GON has done way better than i expected.

 

[the genius]

We were on our knees under Lage, unfit players, the playing group was broken and we were bottom of the league when Lopetegui joined and ended up finishing comfortably mid table. Both teams spend a lot of money in January so its not like either team didnt strengthen. Both managers did well enough but i'm not seeing GON doing a better job last season than Lopetegui. This season GON has done way better than i expected.

Lopetegui brought tactical finesse to Wolves, refining their defensive structure and strategic play. However, his rigid approach sometimes stifled creativity and attacking flair, leading to mixed results.

O'Neil, on the other hand, injected passion and motivation into Bournemouth, fostering a resilient team spirit despite facing challenges. Yet, his tactical adaptability and game management were occasionally lacking, resulting in inconsistency.

Ultimately I must ask would you have swapped their squad for ours either when lopetegui arrived or post January?

 

[wwbug]

It’s the Euros as well so a shorter than usual pre season and no players involved will be moving until it’s over (unless done already but not announced).

Surely plans discussions and agreements can be set up with targets.
When Fosun took over it was quite clear we had plans to put in place and players targeted well beforehand.

 

[Mugwump]

Lopetegui brought tactical finesse to Wolves, refining their defensive structure and strategic play. However, his rigid approach sometimes stifled creativity and attacking flair, leading to mixed results.

O'Neil, on the other hand, injected passion and motivation into Bournemouth, fostering a resilient team spirit despite facing challenges. Yet, his tactical adaptability and game management were occasionally lacking, resulting in inconsistency.

Ultimately I must ask would you have swapped their squad for ours either when lopetegui arrived or post January?

Its not as simplistic as asking if i would have swapped squads. We ripped out all the characters and leadership out of the club in the summer and as i said, the moral of the squad was rock bottom. Lopetegui had to bring a group of players he didnt really know back together first and foremost, and then get them fit and tactically sound. I still think people overlook that part of the job he did. Plenty of talented squads fail because they lack direction and leadership.

Its not really a competition anyway, both did the jobs their clubs needed from them.

 

[wolfslair]

In my opinion in a season where relegation loomed large over Bournemouth, Gary O'Neil emerged as the unlikely hero who defied the odds and kept the club afloat. Despite being considered favorites for the drop, O'Neil's leadership and determination proved instrumental in steering the team away from the dreaded relegation zone.

Lopetegui did a great job keeping us up but we had the nucleus of a good team when he took over and he added a lot of quality in the January. On the whole I would say gon did a better job keeping up Bournemouth than Lopetegui did with us

What nucleus of a good team? We were cast adrift at the bottom of the league and playing terrible almost spineless football every week.

We were lacking fight and bottle and needed to sign 4 players all of whom were key players in us staying up and key reason why we are where we are now……

We looked like dead certs to go down before JL rocked up.

That is revisionism at its finest in regards to lopetegui.

 

[Wolf316]

In my opinion in a season where relegation loomed large over Bournemouth, Gary O'Neil emerged as the unlikely hero who defied the odds and kept the club afloat. Despite being considered favorites for the drop, O'Neil's leadership and determination proved instrumental in steering the team away from the dreaded relegation zone.

Lopetegui did a great job keeping us up but we had the nucleus of a good team when he took over and he added a lot of quality in the January. On the whole I would say gon did a better job keeping up Bournemouth than Lopetegui did with us

What a load of nonsense. We were bottom of the bloody league when Lopetegui took over.

 

[wolfslair]

What a load of nonsense. We were bottom of the bloody league when Lopetegui took over.

And Bournemouth were only ever in the relegation zone once in the season….. after the World Cup and GON added over £50m in perm and loan signings.

He did a great job to keep them up, but it was squeaky bum time for a fair while……

 

[the genius]

What nucleus of a good team? We were cast adrift at the bottom of the league and playing terrible almost spineless football every week.

We were lacking fight and bottle and needed to sign 4 players all of whom were key players in us staying up and key reason why we are where we are now……

We looked like dead certs to go down before JL rocked up.

That is revisionism at its finest in regards to lopetegui.

Neves, semedo, ran, kilman, adama, nunes?

Lopetegui did a good job keeping us up but we were nowhere dead and buried like some are making out

 

[Ginger Chimp]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1782760620749619396

Of course he does.

 

[Wolf316]

Neves, semedo, ran, kilman, adama, nunes?

Lopetegui did a good job keeping us up but we were nowhere dead and buried like some are making out

Bottom of the league with an unfit unmotivated squad and we were nowhere near dead and buried? You’re revisionism is ridiculous

 

[the genius]

Of course he does.

I'm surprised this great manager that performs miracles hasn't got a job yet. Surely a big team would have snapped him up now?

Legend in his own mind

 

[wolfslair]

Neves, semedo, ran, kilman, adama, nunes?

Lopetegui did a good job keeping us up but we were nowhere dead and buried like some are making out

nunes was more miss than hit last season, RAN wasn’t the player he is showing this season and semedo is another who was more miss than hit last season and him and RAN you could say are different players this season compared to last.

Nunes was not a top player last season with his contributions by any stretch of the imagination……,

Kilman….. we leaked goals, he was poor in many games and he looked out of his depth alongside Collins till Dawson came in to make him more settled and coach him through games

We were looking dead an buried…… we were many points from the side above us…..

 

[berwickwolf]

Bottom of the league with an unfit unmotivated squad and we were nowhere near dead and buried? You’re revisionism is ridiculous

It's true that we were dreadful, and that Lage had obviously lost the team. Neves was almost publicly begging for a change, with that point on not training with the intensity of a match day situation. We all saw the training videos with players attacking in set patterns against no opposition. However, we had a far better squad of players than we were demonstrating. We had a core of talented players, and we added to it with the right buys in January, players like Lemina and Dawson with heart as well as ability. Lopetegui did well in reorganisation of the defence and in reacting in games to the opposition, something Gary can still improve in. But I do think any decent manager would have kept us up last year.
I remember talking to a very respected rugby coach. He said 95% of being a good coach is having a good team. There's a lot of truth in that. It would be interesting to see Guardiola manage a mid Premier League team to see how he'd get on. But, there are coaches and set ups that can develop existing players. Nuno did, and O Neill demonstrates the same ability. I'm not sure Lopetegui does. O Neill has definitely made players play better.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Your initial point was regarding the respective “starting points” of GON and Loppy last season. You made out GONs was easier. I disagree.

I was just pointing out that JL started with 70 mil of new signings and a months break. GON did not, his signings and break came after a couple of months.

Lopetegui was missing several key players for the WC though and didn't get his signings until after the season restarted. I get people think he jumped ship as they judge him by some sort of loyalty the expect that doesn't exist in professionals (maybe they all play up to that a bit), just don't think there's much mileage in the actual attacks on him as a coach, the away form was very poor, but there was a lot of good stuff at home.

 

[Mugwump]

I'm surprised this great manager that performs miracles hasn't got a job yet. Surely a big team would have snapped him up now?

Legend in his own mind

He's got the runs on the board to take the job he wants, not any job he has been offered. Thats what happens when you have a high enough reputation. He could have gone to Saudi and earned a fortune if he purely wanted money, but he didnt so i'd say this time around he is being a bit more choosy about where he goes. I think getting burned by us will have made him think on where he goes a bit more.

 

[Ned]

Neves, semedo, ran, kilman, adama, nunes?

Lopetegui did a good job keeping us up but we were nowhere dead and buried like some are making out

We were relegated in all but name when the winter break came around. Yes we had good players but the squad was stale and had a loser mentality. We would have gone down without a fight, 100%.

 

[Ned]

Bottom of the league with an unfit unmotivated squad and we were nowhere near dead and buried? You’re revisionism is ridiculous

I forgot about the fitness issues. We genuinely looked like we had Sunday league fitness, couldn’t press for more than 10mins.

 

[Perton Wolf]

It's true that we were dreadful, and that Lage had obviously lost the team. Neves was almost publicly begging for a change, with that point on not training with the intensity of a match day situation. We all saw the training videos with players attacking in set patterns against no opposition. However, we had a far better squad of players than we were demonstrating. We had a core of talented players, and we added to it with the right buys in January, players like Lemina and Dawson with heart as well as ability. Lopetegui did well in reorganisation of the defence and in reacting in games to the opposition, something Gary can still improve in. But I do think any decent manager would have kept us up last year.
I remember talking to a very respected rugby coach. He said 95% of being a good coach is having a good team. There's a lot of truth in that. It would be interesting to see Guardiola manage a mid Premier League team to see how he'd get on. But, there are coaches and set ups that can develop existing players. Nuno did, and O Neill demonstrates the same ability. I'm not sure Lopetegui does. O Neill has definitely made players play better.

Strange conclusions to draw, since Lop undoubtedly did make our players perform better.

 

[Jefe]

When the season is already effectively over as we aren’t going down, we don’t have any cup/european commitments I don’t see why those conversations shouldn’t be happening now to plan for next season. Slightly worrying if they aren’t being honest as we have lots of things to do this summer squad wise

Quite right. We are more likely to finish where we did last season (13th) than in Europe IMO, and so if there is a lot to discuss there is no time like the present, bearing in mind there is an international tournament in the Summer which may have an impact on the transfer market.

 

[WinchWolf]

Strange conclusions to draw, since Lop undoubtedly did make our players perform better.

I suspect we may be having the same conversations about GON next season. I wouldn't at all be surprised if he's not with us, seems like he is getting royally ****ed off with lack of support from above

 

[Jefe]

Neves, semedo, ran, kilman, adama, nunes? Lopetegui did a good job keeping us up but we were nowhere dead and buried like some are making out

As others have said, we had 10 points at the 40% stage of the season and found ourselves rock bottom. At that rate, we may have been looking at something like a 25 point finish. The starkness of the turnaround rightly earned Lop 'manager of the season' murmurings from Percy and others.

While we did and do have some fine players, the team was totally unbalanced. There was not a lot of mobility, and the centre forward issue was allowed to become a huge millstone around our necks. Lop had to rely on Diego Costa, a totally unfit 34 year old who hadn't played for 18 odd months and scored one goal all season, a ricochet against Brentford.

For all the denigration of his playing style (holding onto the odd goal in one), it was probably because he had little choice but to rely on our strengths, namely the defensive unit. Dawson and Kilman screened by Neves and Lemina became very difficult to penetrate. If he had at his disposal a Cunha and a Gomes fully settled with a pre-season behind them, and a Neto fully fit and psychologically over his injury, we would have looked very different. We are more mobile in forward areas and in midfield.

 

[Perton Wolf]

I suspect we may be having the same conversations about GON next season. I wouldn't at all be surprised if he's not with us, seems like he is getting royally ****ed off with lack of support from above

Wouldn't blame him, just like I didn't Lop either.

 

[WolvesAndCows]

And Bournemouth were only ever in the relegation zone once in the season….. after the World Cup and GON added over £50m in perm and loan signings.

He did a great job to keep them up, but it was squeaky bum time for a fair while……

They had only just been promoted the season before, and were odds on to go straight back down before a ball was kicked.

Last season, Wolves had a better squad of players than Bournemouth.

 

[wolfslair]

They had only just been promoted the season before, and were odds on to go straight back down before a ball was kicked.

Last season, Wolves had a better squad of players than Bournemouth.

They had the positivity of winning promotion, winning which is a habit was in them.

We were in a bad run towards the end of the season under Lage and that continued the following season. For us losing was a habit.

There is a great phrase in sport “hard work beats talent, when talent has a day off”

also how many teams who were “too good to go down” go down? Many have.

they were collectively more together as a cohesive unit than we were and my god how unfit did our lads look……

We were in a terrible state before JL took over!

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

What a load of nonsense. We were bottom of the bloody league when Lopetegui took over.

We were bottom of the league after the first four games this season as well, thanks to VAR. Despite that GON continued to play attacking football and steered us to 10th before injuries really hit. Both did a great job, but GON has so far proved the better coach.

 

[wolfslair]

We were bottom of the league after the first four games this season as well, thanks to VAR. Despite that GON continued to play attacking football and steered us to 10th before injuries really hit. Both did a great job, but GON has so far proved the better coach.

That last part, is one no one can disagree with mate!!!!

Far better motivator and leader!!!!

 

[yateleywolf]

West Ham in talks with Julen Lopetegui over replacing David Moyes in summer

West Ham have held productive talks with the former Wolves manager, Julen Lopetegui, over replacing David Moyes this summer

www.theguardian.com

Seems he's close . He always seemed to give the sense he was doing us a favour managing us . I wonder how his demeanour will be at West Ham .

 

[Wolf316]

We were bottom of the league after the first four games this season as well, thanks to VAR. Despite that GON continued to play attacking football and steered us to 10th before injuries really hit. Both did a great job, but GON has so far proved the better coach.

I just hope he doesn’t get shafted in the summer.

 

[Wolf316]

West Ham in talks with Julen Lopetegui over replacing David Moyes in summer

West Ham have held productive talks with the former Wolves manager, Julen Lopetegui, over replacing David Moyes this summer

www.theguardian.com

Seems he's close . He always seemed to give the sense he was doing us a favour managing us . I wonder how his demeanour will be at West Ham .

Working for the porno king and lady muck I doubt he’ll have a happy demeanour

 

[SmiffyWolf]

I suspect we may be having the same conversations about GON next season. I wouldn't at all be surprised if he's not with us, seems like he is getting royally ****ed off with lack of support from above

Totally agree but as Shi said him and Fosun are learning. Let's hope it is fairly quickly as at the moment we seem to be drifting .

GON has done a great job but would you stay at Wolves where you don't know if you will get certain signings or specific money to spend . Or go to West Spam or similar club where you might get more things that you are promised . Yes it may not work out but if in any job you are offered more and better incentives to succeed what are the majority of us doing ?

 

[S G Wolves]

West Ham in talks with Julen Lopetegui over replacing David Moyes in summer

West Ham have held productive talks with the former Wolves manager, Julen Lopetegui, over replacing David Moyes this summer

www.theguardian.com

Seems he's close . He always seemed to give the sense he was doing us a favour managing us . I wonder how his demeanour will be at West Ham .

I think he'll be a good fit for them. He will do a good job, but their fans will turn, they think they deserve better than Real Madrid. They have had the best 3 seasons in decades possibly ever without looking at their crap history.

Ungrateful lot.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Followed by the copy and paste story from anonymous source “seff jhi” that the manager was prickly and hard to work with and at times making staff uncomfortable.

Like happened to Nuno, lage and JL

There is one common (apparently Telfon shouldered) factor..... Just sayin'....

 

[WickedWolfie]

The comment was about the situation they both arrived into, so signings Bournemouth made 3 months later weren’t relevant.

He did a good job, can’t knock the run of clean sheets at home. I didn’t particularly enjoy the football, and away games became an absolute chore but I accept it was a needs must situation and he achieved what we needed him to.

That's absolutely fair

 

[WickedWolfie]

I dont think its always that simple when you get sold a job on one thing, then it gets sprung on you there are financial problems ( which they knew about when he signed and never disclosed ) . They they agree on a compromise, which he accepted, only for them to pull the rug from underneath him again. Lopetegui might not be an elite manager, but he is a top level manager and he has the runs on the board to be able to not have to deal with a club messing him around. I'm not going to lie though and i said it at the time, his constant sniping about things wore thin on me. Didnt like the way he handled things.

I also dont like the way GON is now whining about the squad. At least he wasnt lied to. He was very lucky to get this job here and he took it knowing fully there was a poor financial situation and very little option to strengthen the squad. The bloke this season simply shouldnt be complaining about it. He knew what was happening, he said he knew injuries were coming yet he didnt rest some of our players when imo he should have changed our style and formation to protect them. He's admitted he left injured players on the pitch.

It would be interesting to know what GON has been promised for next season. Surely we wont have such a lack of funds this time around and we can give him a slightly bigger squad

Where GON absolutely has the right to complain is the happenings in January. I am absolutely certain that he would, unless certifiably insane, not agree to releasing players from an already understrength and unbalanced squad without certain assurances. Once again, as for other head coaches, unfulfilled.....