Matheus Cunha

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

Let me put it this way. Jeff balked at a £4m loan fee for Broja, which would suggest any fee would need to be, what, £1m-3m? Even if this modest sum somehow put Wolves over the PSR red line, Jeff would have had a period in the Summer before the new accounting phase to deal with it. I believe he would have been able to achieve this comfortably, perhaps with the sale of a single player; any likely fee for Neto for example would dwarf it with ease.

Instead, he feels the season is "mission accomplished" in February and that we don't need to anything else, other than coast through to May where we reassess. You may be fine with that, but I doubt many paying supporters think it's acceptable when a new, realistic goal has availed itself as a result of the manager's excellent work. It's not, "a couple of places" - I understand 8th place is potentially a European finish this season, from which Wolves are a mere 4 points away.

Not that I think he's great, but Broja would quite easily have started 10 games for us as well. So, would end up have costing about £750k.

 

[sc91]

Let me put it this way. Jeff balked at a £4m loan fee for Broja, which would suggest any fee would need to be, what, £1m-3m? Even if this modest sum somehow put Wolves over the PSR red line, Jeff would have had a period in the Summer before the new accounting phase to deal with it. I believe he would have been able to achieve this comfortably, perhaps with the sale of a single player; any likely fee for Neto for example would dwarf it with ease.

Instead, he feels the season is "mission accomplished" in February and that we don't need to anything else, other than coast through to May where we reassess. You may be fine with that, but I doubt many paying supporters think it's acceptable when a new, realistic goal has availed itself as a result of the manager's excellent work. It's not, "a couple of places" - I understand 8th place is potentially a European finish this season, from which Wolves are a mere 4 points away.

The first point is risk, the club chose not to take that risk, in a season where we needed to be prudent and have done so, I'd deem this to be very fair.

That's fine, if those supporters are unhappy, then I don't know what to say? Sorry you changed your expectations? Sometimes things dont go the way you want them to, surely as Wolves fans this would be known.

 

[molineux man]

The worst thing about this is that we may not see the Neto-Cunha partnership again. Those two were combining like a knife and butter against Chelsea!

 

[Stafford]

You can't compare the 2 injuries. One was life threatening, the other a hammy?

A season out, is a season out when it comes to a managers life span.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

So our forward line is going to look very different now

Sarabia Hwang Neto

 

[5150]

Am I missing something here or is it the usual " I told you so's " going to town
A random SSN report saying he is out for the season but our very own boss says "number of weeks" !

 

[Northampton_wolf]

A season out, is a season out when it comes to a managers life span.

Its not going to affect his job christ..

I can assure you Hobbs and Shi and the direction to GON.

And hes even quoted

Get 17th Stay up without spending anything, we will support you when we sort the finances out.

The fact we are in 11th and currently on a cup run, hes like the ****ing messiah atm

 

[Northampton_wolf]

So our forward line is going to look very different now

Sarabia Hwang Neto

Dont know if we will play a front 3

More like Hwang central neto as wide forward, sarabia in the hole as a 10. Ran to push forward on the left

Bellegarde, doyle both will get minutes either coming in midfield or wide left

 

[WolfLing]

There is a reason though Premier League clubs don't do sink or swim situations with academy players and choose to send them out on loan (most multiple different clubs/levels).

Yes, probably because it increases the chances of success most of the time. i.e. the best chances of a player 'making it' and having a long and successful career comes from slower progression through the levels.

But that's not to say throwing them in at the deep end won't work. It just doesn't work as often as the slow and steady approach.

But most of the time, you'd never know if it would have worked or not, because it would never be tried!!

As an example, I always wonder how long it would have taken Rashford to break into the Man United first team, had United not had an injury crisis, and Martial not been injured in the warmup? Rashford went on to score 2 goals on his unexpected debut, and was then a regular the next season.

 

[Jefe]

The first point is risk, the club chose not to take that risk, in a season where we needed to be prudent and have done so, I'd deem this to be very fair. That's fine, if those supporters are unhappy, then I don't know what to say? Sorry you changed your expectations? Sometimes things dont go the way you want them to, surely as Wolves fans this would be known.

Wolves fans haven't changed their expectations. No Wolves fan expects us to finish in Europe or win the Cup, but it has now become a dream (where none existed at first). What is Football, if not about trying to fulfill the dreams of fans? Yes, there is a duty to the bottom line and all that pragmatism, but hyper-prioritising that over achievement will never endear you to the fans or the manager. Gary was hardly asking Jeff to break the bank.

 

[SuperGran]

A season out, is a season out when it comes to a managers life span.

Jimenez was injured in November in a season that started in September
There’s no comparison

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

The worst thing about this is that we may not see the Neto-Cunha partnership again. Those two were combining like a knife and butter against Chelsea!

We still have 14 games left + the Cup and a good 3 months of the season. I'd hope we'll see the partnership resumes before season's end.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

We still have 14 games left + the Cup and a good 3 months of the season. I'd hope we'll see the partnership resumes before season's end.

Last couple of games if we are lucky.

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

Last couple of games if we are lucky.

If that is the case then trying to put the best positive spin I can on this news is that his absence will/may deter big clubs from coming in for him in the summer. If he'd carried on as he was till May I think we would have had some big bids for him which may have been hard to resist.

 

[Skrilla]

You’ve got a point but now there is one less option to play in a forward line. This means that Neto, Hwang, Sarabia and Bellegarde will have to muddle through with Fraser as backup.

I agree, but to say our season has been derailed by not signing a striker in January is disingenuous. Losing our best player is the reason for that. I don’t believe it’s the same. Ings or Adams weren’t replacing Cunha, who has contributed to 16 goals in our last 18 games. They’d still be on the bench this weekend.

It’s not necessarily over either, as I’m sure we were having the same conservations when Neto got injured yet we maintained our form.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Have I missed something? Have the club said Cunha is out for the season? I would rather hear it from the horses mouth than some obscure comment on Sky.

 

[Golden Arrow]

I'm with the guy who told me Europe isn't out if the question.
A win at Tottenham and we'll be flying.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

Can only hope its not as bad as some reports are saying
The only good thing ,if any,is that he wasnt sprinting at the time he seemed to slip and fall awkwardly
That usually means a pull more than a tear
If so i think he may be back after the international break,thats 6/7 weeks away

People are jumping on the "i told you so" bandwagon as if anyone can foretell these things
All speed merchants get these type of injuries its just a fact of life
Palace have it every other week with Eze and Olise every team that has these type of players get the same

You cant have like for like players sitting on the bench for most of the season, it just doesnt make sense
The best we can do is have youngsters that can do it for a few games, or hope we can utilise what we have for the period they are out
One man doesnt make a team,they help ofc but lets give some credit to the guys that also play here and the ones that come in
We will cope im sure,even if it means adapting our style a little

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

Absolutely gutting, for him just as much as us fans and the team itself.

He’s probably in the top 3 most in form players at the moment in the league I’d say?

I’m going to give Fosun the benefit of the doubt, and put this down to misfortune. But if this doesn’t start the alarm bells (which should have already been ringing) with them about our threadbare squad, then I’ll be very concerned about their long term vision for the club.

Also feel sorry for O’Neil too, he’s been doing a great job and has had to make do without Neto, Hwang, and now Cunha for considerable chunks of the season.

 

[SuziQ]

How much damage will this have on O'neil?

Jiminez injury finished Nuno, as it's hard for fans to realign expectations.

No damage to O'Neil for me because I didn't expect him to still be in position now but obviously can't speak for the rest of the fanbase.

My expectations coming into the season were to avoid relegation, so they've already been met. Anything else this season when we've been cautious with money is a bonus.

 

[Skrilla]

Sorry, I was being nice because it's such a daft question.

Anyway, no we wouldn't have signed a player as good as Cunha because he is excellent.

However, that does not mean you don't sign anyone. It means you sign a striker and play a front three of Hwang, new striker and Neto, which could have been pretty good and helped make up for the massive loss that Cunha is.

Or you have a front three of Neto, Hwang, Sarabia, and you're bringing on a new forward instead of Bellegarde, who me and you both agree hasn't been good enough, or Nathan Fraser.

Let's not forget, O'Neil wanted a striker and a winger. If the owners had delivered on what he thought he could get, the loss of Cunha would be reduced. They didn't, so unfortunately I fear it will be a massive setback.

Losing Cunha may derail our season, but not signing a backup striker (the point you are making trying to hammer home), did not.

A backup striker would have been nice, but they still weren’t going to adequately replace Cunha if he picked up a serious injury. He’s our talisman.

If we end up getting knocked out of the FA Cup and our “European push” gets derailed it’s because we lost Cunha, not because we didn’t sign Danny Ings or Che Adams in January.

I know we aren’t going to see eye to eye on this, but regardless, we can agree losing Cunha is a monumental loss and absolutely gutting to any ambitions we had for the rest of this season.

 

[wolvesjoe]

Spectacular stupidity by fosun very quickly exposed.

Major loss of potential income.

Shame on all those posters who defended the policy of negligence and no ambition.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

Can only hope its not as bad as some reports are saying
The only good thing ,if any,is that he wasnt sprinting at the time he seemed to slip and fall awkwardly
That usually means a pull more than a tear
If so i think he may be back after the international break,thats 6/7 weeks away

People are jumping on the "i told you so" bandwagon as if anyone can foretell these things
All speed merchants get these type of injuries its just a fact of life
Palace have it every other week with Eze and Olise every team that has these type of players get the same

You cant have like for like players sitting on the bench for most of the season, it just doesnt make sense
The best we can do is have youngsters that can do it for a few games, or hope we can utilise what we have for the period they are out
One man doesnt make a team,they help ofc but lets give some credit to the guys that also play here and the ones that come in
We will cope im sure,even if it means adapting our style a little

He had a scan, scan showed up something, i knew he was having the scan, coudlnt tell you what outcome was. But its enough for concern, they were concerned sunday but definitely it escalated. Its probably a grade 3 hamstring strain

 

[Oliwolf44]

It's almost as if this is why everyone said we should sign a backup forward on loan.
This is what penny pinching gets you.
Doesn't really affect the league season as we're midtable but dents the first 11 and potential cup run which is a shame.
When you have so few options and can't rotate, one injury can soon lead into 2 and so on. Let's hope not the case. We have done well to avoid crisis this season and we probably are where we are in the table because others have been unlucky with injuries (e.g Newcastle).

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Time for Chirewa & Fraser to step up to the plate

Unless you push RAN further forward as left attacking forward better there than Bellegarde

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

He had a scan, scan showed up something, i knew he was having the scan, coudlnt tell you what outcome was. But its enough for concern, they were concerned sunday but definitely it escalated. Its probably a grade 3 hamstring strain

Im hoping its more a grade 2 which is 6-8 weeks out,but obviously we are just guessing
Grade 3 is out for season

 

[Starsky]

Time for Chirewa & Fraser to step up to the plate

Unless you push RAN further forward as left attacking forward better there than Bellegarde

That's exactly what I'd do with Bueno at LWB.

RAN - Hwang - Neto.

 

[Ginger Chimp]

That's it then we'll next see him in August, entirely predictable and entirely avoidable to be left with very little up front, thanks Fosun you never fail to disappoint.

Never fail?

How we soon forget.

 

[JohnB]

On the positive Cunha will be here next season.

 

[wwbug]

Don't worry we may not score so many goals . We may be very frustrating to watch but we won’t get relegated .

 

[North West Wanderer]

We don’t really care about ‘tried’ and it’s a very vague word in your sentence. Did they try? How hard did they try, if they did?

That’s without going into letting players leave before or even the finances. You seem to know more than John Percy, Gary O’Neil and Johnny Phillips who have all indicated there was money to sign players.

Anyway, it’s about what actually happens.

Once again, they’ve delivered a disastrous window which was all their own doing.

if we seriously couldn’t afford a striker then that worries me more as i’ve said before.

we were perhaps closer than we ever knew to breaching. until we know the accounts is hard to conclude either way i guess.

 

[Ginger Chimp]

For every place we now finish down the table, it will cost us £2m

Okay … but the club will start the calculation from 17th place given their oft quoted desire to avoid relegation.

 

[Jefe]

I agree, but to say our season has been derailed by not signing a striker in January is disingenuous. Losing our best player is the reason for that. I don’t believe it’s the same. Ings or Adams weren’t replacing Cunha, who has contributed to 16 goals in our last 18 games. They’d still be on the bench this weekend.

I'd say that's less the point than the manager being deprived of the option. Yes, an outright centre forward won't seamlessly replace the work Cunha does in deep lying areas, this goes without saying, but it would have given Gary something different in any and all games that, for whatever reason he didn't get from Fabio or Sasa. It's less likely to me he was targeting a goal-hanger like Ings or Adams, than a more mobile team player who was not publicly identified.

Now we've lost Cunha, it brings the lack of options into clearer focus. Right now, we have available Neto (awesome), Sarabia (quality if not a little inconsistent), Bellegarde (meh), Nathan Fraser (youth kid who wouldn't be in the first team squad in normal circumstances) and Hwang (very good, but is carrying an injury too). Lose him and you can forget about it. I won't go so far as to say our season is over quite yet, as this group has shown character to overcome adversity before, but it's not a great situation. A striker in there would be really helpful right now.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

if we seriously couldn’t afford a striker then that worries me more as i’ve said before.

we were perhaps closer than we ever knew to breaching. until we know the accounts is hard to conclude either way i guess.

We could afford Yuri, we just didnt want to pay1m upfront to agents same as we didnt want to pay upfront fee to Broja.

Its about ensuring the profit is above 9m for this year. Which from what i gather is going to be tight.

Difference between the year we made 18m and now is massive, given the wages we have on books the other purchases and JL severance/wages

 

[Adrian_Monk]

how predictable.....the Shi apologists brand the naysayers 'happy to have been proven right'

Nobody is happy to have been proven right FFS.

Stop whining - because this is the longest we've been in the top flight for 40 years, nobody is allowed to air misgivings and highlight mistakes.

Modern football, you're all clowns, innit.

 

[SquaddieWolf]

Think this is just gonna turn into yet another season running that we are all just gonna be counting down the Matches waiting for the season to end. Think all expectations and hopes other than staying up will go out the window.

 

[Ironfistedmonk]

well no one saw an injury coming did they

 

[Baboon]

If I remember it seemed like the sky had fallen in when Neto did his hamstring against Newcastle. He was unable to start in the following 10 league games but we still managed to accumulate 16 points. While not underestimating Cunha's value to the team, we're still capable of picking up a decent number of points without one of best players.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

Think this is just gonna turn into yet another season running that we are all just gonna be counting down the Matches waiting for the season to end. Think all expectations and hopes other than staying up will go out the window.

WIn against SU get any result against spurs means we are on 35 points, which is well and truly high and dry already tbh.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Spectacular stupidity by fosun very quickly exposed.

Major loss of potential income.

Shame on all those posters who defended the policy of negligence and no ambition.

What spectacular stupidity? If being wary about breaching financial regulations is stupidity, then fair enough.

Surely you mean potential major loss of potential income.

Where is this policy of negligence? If Wolves being currently 11th in the premier league table and in the last 16 of the FA Cup shows a lack of ambition then fair enough.