Optimism

[JimB]

Nunes played better when Neves was banned for 3 games, I really like him and like others think this is a big season for him.

 

[TheConcourse]

The league is never easy, but I get the sense the level of competition over the course of the season is probably not as strong this season:

Leeds and Leicester were pretty competitive.

I expect Burnley will get their pants pulled down a few times if they try to play.

Luton will be full of enthusiasm, but the other side of Christmas is usually challenging.

Sheff Utd will probably be the best equipped and play a pragmatic style to survive.

Palace may lose Zaha - no new deal signed?

Forest looked genuinely awful. Stat defyingly bad.

Bournemouth will be in for a rough ride.

I definitely don’t see us going down without any further additions, but I’d love to see a couple of quality players push us towards the top half.

 

[Rednal Wolf]

In a number of ways I'm happy to see dross players go and clearing out the dead wood .
A quality centre forward is imperative.
It would be nice to see some entertaining football for a change along with guile and steel throughout the team .
Need a decent keeper , centre back for sure .
Id like to see Semedo Johnny Podence and Silva go for good fees and get suitably replacements .
JL is a top manager for sure , I'll be alot more optimistic when we get transfers of quality in .
Until ffp is sorted it's all about staying up , anything else is an unexpected bonus in my view .

 

[Ned]

The outgoings are giving me some confidence in some strange way. The squad went stale and good players started going backwards; nothing to do with attitudes or anything, it was just that everything was so familiar. I think even the fans got sick of seeing the same players doing nothing or the same thing week in week out.

Change was needed, we are getting change. However, we need some balance and some players coming in for some actual money and, preferably for those players to be better than what we’ve already got in the starting 11.

 

[derbyrameater]

Agreed, I'm just surprised that FOSUN aren't looking to sell a majority stake as things stand but rather a minority one. Can see why there's been no takers so far, can't see anyone wanting to buy some of and then pump money into the club without having effective control.

People buy shares all the time with no control, Zuckerberg is excellent at getting people to part with their money.

As long as they get a profit is all that matters.

 

[Sidaway]

Nice to see some positivity for a change.

I’m super excited to get stuck into next season, revving for it to start. My reasons for optimism…

- JLo staying on and publicly stating he’s committed to the project
- JLo clearing out the deadwood (still a WIP) and keeping around players who want to play for the club
- Hobbs managing fan expectations with his transparency
- Potential signing of Scott and glimpses of a new & improved style of football from training game snippets.

Bring it ****ing on.

 

[StaffordWolf]

I think we will certainly have a better season than the last one. I just want to see us score goals more than anything, bring some excitement back into the club.

 

[Golden Arrow]

Slight concern after how we finished last season being so easily dismantled at the Amex and Emirates.

Basing things on this moment in time (with no more incomings), I certainly don't see us battling for Europe, but rather scrapping with mid table to bottom sides for the Holy Grail (40pts). Anything of course from the Top 7 (I include Newcastle United here) will of course be a welcome bonus.

Nevertheless, looking forward to the new campaign once the "Ashes" are done with, and will be in Dublin next weekend to welcome in the new season.

 

[JamesWolves]

Zero optimism until we start signing upgrades to positions. Until then as far as I see it, we'll be in another relegation battle, thankfully only over one spot this year

 

[MikeH68]

Slight concern after how we finished last season being so easily dismantled at the Amex and Emirates.

Basing things on this moment in time (with no more incomings), I certainly don't see us battling for Europe, but rather scrapping with mid table to bottom sides for the Holy Grail (40pts). Anything of course from the Top 7 (I include Newcastle United here) will of course be a welcome bonus.

Nevertheless, looking forward to the new campaign once the "Ashes" are done with, and will be in Dublin next weekend to welcome in the new season.

Having been at Arsenal last game, I’m not hopeful. We were hearing from a lot of mixers on here about lots of outgoings equalling lots of incomings. Obviously so far the outgoings, still time to get players in, but they will need time to gel. It’s almost like we raise the white flag during August.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

You spoke too soon.... They found it!

I'm almost always optimistic, but I do fully see why people are concerned currently. We've got a proper manager, but currently the squad is weaker than it was at the end of last season. I'm hopeful that a few crucial signings are still on the way though. If we don't get Scott and no proper 9 comes in I'll be travelling to Old Trafford in trepidation. Even Sarabia-Cunha-Scott doesn't really do it for me as a frontline, never mind relying on the two guys just coming back from the operating table or Raul.

We all know all that though, this sort of thread says much more about attitude to life than the reality of the situation.

 

[Tojo the grass]

I am neither optimistic nor overly pessimistic at this stage, we need the dust to settle on the transfer window and to see how Julen intends to set us before we can really assess the situation.
A lot depends upon your expectations, if you feel that we should be pushing for Europe then you will be disappointed, if you want to see a consolidation season where we lift ourselves clear of the relegation battle and develop a more entertaining brand of football then there is hope,

 

[TriumphWolf]

I’m ok it’s where we are at the moment, we have only lost one player (Collins) who I thought would be in the squad for the coming season.
As others have mentioned, a number of players will have had time to acclimatise to the league and I am very confident that there will be some more quality added before the window closes. While every club would like to do their business early it is rarely possible.

having supported the club for well over half a century my head won’t be dropping anytime soon

 

[Linwolf]

I'm fairly optimistic too but also a realist. We have some exciting players who will hopefully shine this season like Nunes and Cunha assuming they avoid injury also Neto, Hwang and the Austrian bloke. Our problem will be scoring goals though and I think we still desperately need a striker who can actually finish.

We also have what looks like two sides already in the bottom 4 or 5 in Luton and Seff U. On the FFP issue we did need to throw money at it last Winter or we would have gone down imo so we gambled and it paid off in the short term. Still baffles me though how Man City can spend £100m on a single player and Chelsea can spend over half a billion.

 

[Wolf 82]

It really depends on whether this proper pre-season with JL can really solidify a style and consistent starting lineup. We also need to see further development from some of our squad.. Cunha, Nunes, Neto etc.. if they start to play to their potential and can stay fit, we could see a marked improvement.

 

[Halesowen wwfc]

I think if we get elvedi in, which seems to have gone quiet the last couple of days, im happy going into the season with what we have got and positive that lopetegui can get the likes of cunha and nunes firing this season. Critical for me though is lopetegui and if he deems he is being suported enough. As long as leadership are able to balance keeping him happy without having to spend beyond our means, then i reckon we will be in for a decent mid table finish with less squeaky bum than last year and a better style of football. We still have the basis of a strong first 11, and hopefully we are managing to exit those players that have made us so stale over the last few years.

 

[Jefe]

I am optimistic we will survive, but only because of the calibre of coach in charge. If Wolves had signed only one first-team squad player (a free agent former player on the wrong side of 30) merely three weeks and three days before Old Trafford - and we had a lesser manager than Lopetegui, I'd be absolutely bricking it at this point.

 

[Bryce]

Sky 7 seven points from 14
Newly promoted 12 points from 6
Then it’s an average if 1.5 points a game from the rest
46 points and another mid lower mid finish

We only beat Southampton from last seasons relegated teams and were well stuffed 6 3 and 6 1 in the other 4 games .

I just hope it’s a bit more of a watch . We were mind numbing at times .

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

Hopefully we improve on last seasons total. All I want this year is to not be in the mire. That will do.

Let's use this season as the springboard to get back towards Europe.

 

[sc91]

I'm almost always optimistic, but I do fully see why people are concerned currently. We've got a proper manager, but currently the squad is weaker than it was at the end of last season. I'm hopeful that a few crucial signings are still on the way though. If we don't get Scott and no proper 9 comes in I'll be travelling to Old Trafford in trepidation. Even Sarabia-Cunha-Scott doesn't really do it for me as a frontline, never mind relying on the two guys just coming back from the operating table or Raul.

We all know all that though, this sort of thread says much more about attitude to life than the reality of the situation.

I am a big believer in that sports (and life in general) is won in the head, strong mentality can overcome most issues. So seeing a mostly (least from what is seen so far) happy camp at Wolves gives me that optimistic point of view and I don't believe last season, least pre-JL that it was a happy place to be in (well, I know a little that it wasn't).

 

[northnorfolkwolf]

I'm in the middle. I don't see us going down but I don't see us getting near Europe. JL is too good a coach to allow the former, and the players aren't good enough to get the latter. We'll finish about 13th again.

As usual, spot on BSK. I see a lower mid-table finish but without the fears of relegation hanging over us during the season as last time. On a sort of related theme, as much as we seem to be in a bit of a financial fix I would assume the majority of the middle/lower order clubs are in a similar position?

 

[1972 i began]

I don’t feel optimistic at all

Well that ay summat new

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

Last season was rubbish, so I’m optimistic that we can’t be as bad as that.

I am confident that we can.

 

[Rhyl Wolf]

The league is never easy, but I get the sense the level of competition over the course of the season is probably not as strong this season:

Leeds and Leicester were pretty competitive.

I expect Burnley will get their pants pulled down a few times if they try to play.

Luton will be full of enthusiasm, but the other side of Christmas is usually challenging.

Sheff Utd will probably be the best equipped and play a pragmatic style to survive.

Palace may lose Zaha - no new deal signed?

Forest looked genuinely awful. Stat defyingly bad.

Bournemouth will be in for a rough ride.

I definitely don’t see us going down without any further additions, but I’d love to see a couple of quality players push us towards the top half.

Fulham seem to be in pre-season turmoil. Throw them in the mix too. Would be content with mid table safety, with the usual combo of good, bad and indifference.

 

[WickedWolfie]

I'm almost always optimistic, but I do fully see why people are concerned currently. We've got a proper manager, but currently the squad is weaker than it was at the end of last season. I'm hopeful that a few crucial signings are still on the way though. If we don't get Scott and no proper 9 comes in I'll be travelling to Old Trafford in trepidation. Even Sarabia-Cunha-Scott doesn't really do it for me as a frontline, never mind relying on the two guys just coming back from the operating table or Raul.

We all know all that though, this sort of thread says much more about attitude to life than the reality of the situation.

I'm not ecstatic, given that we currently have less players hence less strength in depth than at the end of last season but very few of those who have left were first choices. I think that a couple of good additions and a couple of decent squad fillers will see us well set....

I'm actually much more optimistic under JL than l ever was under Lage who l never rated.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Fulham seem to be in pre-season turmoil. Throw them in the mix too. Would be content with mid table safety, with the usual combo of good, bad and indifference.

Turmoil plus second season syndrome....

 

[Direwolf]

Two or three signings and Podence gone and I will be feeling set for a decent season. The key ingredient is the forward line. It's certainly looking better than it did 10 days into last season.

 

[TheConcourse]

Fulham seem to be in pre-season turmoil. Throw them in the mix too. Would be content with mid table safety, with the usual combo of good, bad and indifference.

Yeah, they seem like they’re about to implode. Vaguely remember Silva being pretty unhappy at the beginning of last season too.

Big loss of Mitrovic.

 

[Jefe]

I think Fulham and Brentford could be sucked in. Luton inevitably will struggle and Sheffield United are reportedly skint. Forest you'd expect might suffer second season syndrome to some extent, and Bournemouth appointed some rando. Burnley excellent last season, can see them surviving handily.

 

[maws]

Yep, absolutely stink of relegation. All the signs are there.

My view I’m afraid, just buying a striker would probably change my mind slightly but you’re not allowed opinions on here now

 

[Jack Russell]

The first 10 matches are very important. Its a confidence thing.
I dont know what to expect. But we need to score .

A bit like Sedgers then!

 

[jrpb-3]

The number of players we’ve signed this window doubled this week

 

[tonto]

You spoke too soon.... They found it!

Should open a negative one for the pessimistic buggers so they can whinge together and leave us happy clappers alone

 

[Beijing Wolf]

Should open a negative one for the pessimistic buggers so they can whinge together and leave us happy clappers alone

I think happy clappers is such an outdated term.

I prefer to call myself and fellow members of the Hobbs fan club - The Hobbs Knobs.

 

[waveney wolf]

Suspect I’m in a minority here, but I’m feeling fairly optimistic for the new season.

JL: Julen is firmly in place and on board. I reckon this bloke knows exactly what he’s doing and is a top notch manager.

Returning players: Hopefully, the likes of Neto, Traore, Sasa, Chiquinho and Fabio will get a chance to shine (half a team with zero expenditure).

Maturing players: We’ve got quite a few with that all important first season (or a good part of one) under their belts now. Really hoping the likes of Cunha, Gomes, Lemina, Sarabia and Toti can start to step up.

Money: Poor management means we haven’t got a pot to piddle in this summer. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Wolves fans more than most should know that money spent on players doesn’t necessarily equal success. Sometimes it focuses the mind.

The Doc: Think he’s gonna surprise a few next season. Interesting to hear that JL really wanted him. Be nice to see a full back that doesn’t have a nose bleed when he passes the half way line.

Here’s hoping.

Hope?
Bob hope and no hope until we but a proven mature goalscorer

 

[tonto]

I think happy clappers is such an outdated term.

I prefer to call myself and fellow members of the Hobbs fan club - The Hobbs Knobs.

I have certainly been called a **** before now

 

[tonto]

I have certainly been called a **** before now

How come my **** was censored and your hobb **** wasn’t

 

[Frank Lincoln]

I’m optimistic, but I always am. I was even optimistic during the dark days.

 

[Golden Arrow]

Should open a negative one for the pessimistic buggers so they can whinge together and leave us happy clappers alone

And one for those who haven't got a clue what comes next.........

 

[arctic rime]

31 from 23 since JL took over fills me with optimism.