Southampton verdict

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Not our best, but good enough. Without Neves we're never going to really purr, but we dug deep and had more threat. Really pleased for Adama and Coady getting their goals and for Toti looking very sound. Podence is really making the difference in the creativity stakes for me.

 

[WolvTown]

Shout out to the fellow fans very good atmosphere today. Apart from the **** jocky who keep tutting behind me… ****

We've got them too! To hear them moan they must think Maldini, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Pele and Maradonna play for Wolves

 

[Matt]

Great to get a win from what was a pretty poor performance imo. I thought we really struggled to get a foothold and got dominated in midfield. Definitely rode our luck in this one.

Sa, brilliant. Love the guy.
Kilman, class.
Coady, buzzing for him. Legend.
Toti, fair play to the lad! Slotted in seamlessly. Really encouraging debut.
Fabio and Adama both with great cameos, happy for Adama to get his goal.

The rest were all a 5 or 6/10 imo but we ground at the result, the sign of a good team.

 

[JohnB]

Weird game. For long times comfortable, without creating loads and seeing Sa making saves.

Toti - great debut, assured, can make a tackle - slotted in seamlessly.
Rayan - really developing defensively and great to see him go to byline not always turn back.
Sa - cracking saves, commands area - interesting to see how much JW-P free kick moved.
Kilman - masterful.

Ref-shocking, than you Mr Marriner for coming to the rescue.

31 points and 3 wins from another season in PL…..

 

[sillytuna]

Without wishing to be a killjoy I still think we need another option in central midfield. Someone quicker and more attack minded.

In fairness jos, it was impossible not to see the problem that is doncks. He was very average again and at least twice was caught on his heels costing us the ball in key areas. There's very little he does well and doesn't fit in this team at all imho.

At one point he received the ball in the middle of the park in acres of space and with a free wide forward, so he passed it backwards and we ended up under pressure.

He is what he is but has gone backwards (or at least sideways) and it's time to move on for both our sakes.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

To be fair i dont think VAR was used correctly in this instance
Its supposed to be used if its a clear and obvious error,if it takes 4 minutes with endless slow motion to decide that then its not clear and obvious lol
It was a penalty for me,but it took a few replays to see he didnt actually catch the ball first
Anyways we have had some dodgy ones over the years so ill not argue at all

It’s not the first time it’s taken VAR minutes to find a clear and obvious error!

 

[Black Coffee]

Good workman like performance we wasn't at our best but we was pretty solid and efficient on the pitch.

Kilman was absolutely fantastic again today along with Coady definitely helped Gomes during the game who seems solid enough but isn't the biggest of defenders which could be a problem against more physical teams.

Podence was good not as good as previous games but looks like someone who is full of confidence with lovely bits of play.

We missed Neves big time today but Dendoncker did a decent job he's no Neves but did a lot of unnoticed dirty work.

Ref was very poor let a lot go (a fair few obvious fouls) and didn't have much control of the game...and it was ****ing freezing I should add.

 

[sillytuna]

Just seen the free kick from behind. From our position in the SB it looked either a good free kick or a rare Sa error but having seen it - wow. Absolutely astonishing. No one is ever saving that.

 

[Ercall Wolves]

South bank were superb today
When we was 1-0 up they really made a noise and lifted the team

 

[MotorWoden]

Without wishing to be a killjoy I still think we need another option in central midfield. Someone quicker and more attack minded.

Well, while I agree to large extent, he could give Jordao a go in the way he did Gomes...or Cundle for that matter.

 

[WolvTown]

The most encouraging thing is the goals are flowing. Nothing we could have done about the free kick - worldclass from Ward-Prowse.

Think it was Mourinho who said something about cup games are important because they give the team a free chance to create positivity in front of goal.

 

[goldeneyed]

What is so encouraging is beating a good team in good form and scoring three goals without Neves, Neto, Saiss, Hwang, Jonny, Boly, Marcal, Mosquera being available. That is eight very decent players.

What impresses me under Bruno is the team spirit which seems as strong now as it was under the best of Nuno, After those three narrow opening defeats Bruno has done so well to galvanise and organise the team.

There is still the clear need for a star midfielder to take over from Moutinho with Sanches being the obvious answer. Just find the money and sell him the project.

Lots of positives today:
Coady scoring - wow delighted for him, what an inspiration he is for this team
Sa continuing his brilliant form with two fine saves
Max - imperious, excellent, skilful, dominant or any other adjective you can think of. If he is not an England fixture in the next few months it will be an absolute travesty
Ait-Nouri - tremendous talent and attacking weapon. A rough diamond who will get better and better
Podence- our pocket rocket who is so vital to the way we play now. Will be back in the Portuguese international team if he keeps this up
Toti - very steady and encouraging performance in his first match for us. Looks like with a bit more experience he could be a very handy squad back up
Silva- looks like he has a lot more zip and confidence about him in these cameos. Praying he can get couple of goals soon to get the crowd onside and boost his confidence
Traore - after missing a sitter (again!) cooly takes his goal - surely will help his confidence massively (don't sell unless we get a solid £25m up front minimum). Ideally keep at least until the summer and hope contract compromise can be reached.

Bruno: Has the players right behind him and they are obviously enjoying working under him. Well done!

Everyone else was fine without being outstanding. Trincao is slowly improving and getting into the rhythm of the Premier League. He still needs to be a lot more influential to tempt the club to part with£25m for him. A vital four months in his career coming up
Semedo seems to be in a good place right now.
Dendoncker is not a superstar and has lost a bit of the outstanding form he showed a year or two ago but a very handy squad member who can do a decent job as a CB or defensive midfielder
Mouts - incredibly consistent and offers vital experience and control. Will be very tough to replace.
Jimenez - so glad he cooly slotted that penalty. Still not back to his best yet but vital to the team with his hold up play and work rate. Worshipped by the supporters for obvious freasons.

That Ward-Prowse goal is a contender for goal of the season.

Jeff Shi - if you seriously want Wolves to be a top six club and get European football and revenues you will need to bring to the club a minimum of two top quality players this month or in the summer and, above all, hold on to Neves and Neto.

 

[JOSWolf]

In fairness jos, it was impossible not to see the problem that is doncks. He was very average again and at least twice was caught on his heels costing us the ball in key areas. There's very little he does well and doesn't fit in this team at all imho.

At one point he received the ball in the middle of the park in acres of space and with a free wide forward, so he passed it backwards and we ended up under pressure.

He is what he is but has gone backwards (or at least sideways) and it's time to move on for both our sakes.

I agree. He needs replacing for me as harsh as that may sound.

 

[WickedWolfie]

That was weird wasn’t it? Felt like we never really got out of 2nd gear.

Great result though. They’re a good, competitive side.

Sometimes you just have to applaud excellence. James Ward-Prowse. Absolutely unbelievable.

The free kick l agree. His all round game? Nah.

 

[maws]

Neves, Neto, Jonny, Saiss,, Marcal, Hoever, Boly. Arsenal would try and cancel with all those missing


Iose Sa my lord, Jose Sa

 

[WWFC4EVA]

Rode our luck at times and was biting my nails during those last 10 minutes or so...until Adama sealed it!
Southampton can probably feel hard done by to be fair. Although we weren't at our best, I thought there was some notable performances. Sa was out of this world again and it was always gonna be a special goal that beat him. Max Kilman did what Max Kilman does and he can't be fair away from an England call up, surely? Thought Podence was very good and Gomes hardly put a foot wrong all game either.
Well played lads and thanks once again for making my baby girl very happy!

 

[sillytuna]

I agree. He needs replacing for me as harsh as that may sound.

It's not harsh. He's not suited to how we're playing. He is a useful body to have around as he can play cb too but it feels like he's going backwards. Given his international status I'd rather we cash in but maybe it'll have to be in another year as we could lose both our starter CMs in the summer.

I'm sure he wants to be starting every week at his age. Got no issue with him personally but he's nowhere near neves or moutinho quality.

Today he was fairly anonymous other than one long range pass and another terrible shot to add to the collection. Compare with Neves' all action partnership with mouts. He has off days and bad passes but he's never anonymous.

Does a job. Steady 6 today. Can't complain but he's not the future.

 

[BCWolf]

The free kick l agree. His all round game? Nah.

My thoughts as well. I think a club like Southampton is his level, couldnt see him starting in the midfield of any top 6 club.

Fantastic free kick taker though.

 

[Darvo]

A good, tough match today ... but very enjoyable (a win always helps).

A sound debut from Toti (well done lad and well done to Bruno for calling it). Coady and Max were solid. Did Max put a foot wrong?

We struggled to get hold of the game at times today. Maybe Trincao and Podence could have done better with their ball retention. I felt there were too many aimless, fancy flicks and back heels from Podence.

Raul worked very, very hard.

A cameo from Adama that sums him up ina few minutes flat.

Another cameo from Fabio that was full of promise.

I HATE VAR WITH A PASSION - despite it falling down on our side today.

The less said about the ref the better.

Well done Bruno. I think he’s doing very well. We might be in for a very exciting second half of the season.

 

[SuziQ]

First game I've been able to get to in a while. Really enjoyed it. Sa and Kilman were excellent. Loved that little turn Sa did in the box to get away from the Saints player.

Spotted a couple of right nutters in the North Bank without their tops on for most of the second half. I hope their beer jackets were warm enough!

 

[Keyser Soze]

Fantastic win against a really tough side in form. Huge games from Sa and Kilman, and delighted for Coady and Gomes... a back 3 and keeper (with Saiss) who have conceded just 3 in 10 games (a worldly today, a 95th min goal v Liverpool and a non pen at City) and today's 3 cost 2.5M in total

Just looking a little further head, sitting in 8th just 4 points off (just as Utd blow their lead) and after the two winnable games v Brentford and Norwich in the cup we play Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester and West Ham before the end of Feb... in the form we are you feel our destiny is now very much in our hands at a very good moment for us

We have really good momentum, long may it continue

 

[Greeno]

We missed Neves, Raul did hard yards Fabio continues to develop. Very happy

This..

To those that are saying "Fabio was better than Raul again" etc.

Fabio came on when we were winning against defenders that had put 75+ mins in.

I'm loving his recent progress, but it's a lot harder from the start.

 

[Timberwolf]

Now that was a game of footy. That Ward-Prowse dig was something to behold. Talk about having a thunder******* of a shot…!
Fantastic for Adama to get on the scoresheet. Great breakaway and he showed a lot of guts to take responsibility and slide it past their keeper.
The score line flattered us if I’m being perfectly honest but, as we found earlier in the season, if you don’t take your chances, you’ll pay for it. And the Saints paid heavily.

 

[Zico]

Weird game. For long times comfortable, without creating loads and seeing Sa making saves.

Toti - great debut, assured, can make a tackle - slotted in seamlessly.
Rayan - really developing defensively and great to see him go to byline not always turn back.
Sa - cracking saves, commands area - interesting to see how much JW-P free kick moved.
Kilman - masterful.

Ref-shocking, than you Mr Marriner for coming to the rescue.

31 points and 3 wins from another season in PL…..

Marriner was fourth official, not VAR, let's not give him unnecessary credit!

 

[Mark Rankines Lovechild]

No. Apart from the free kick he did **** all. Romeo carried their midfield all game

Highlighted to me how much we missed Neves today. Romeo was waltzing around centre midfield with the ball, barely a tackle made on him, it was frustrating.

 

[Blackpool Wolf]

Impressed with Saints and particularly Ward-Prowse - thought we missed Neves and Saiss - shows how difficult they would be to replace.

 

[Fenrir_]

A weird one, thought Southampton were the better side overall but we just had the moments go our way. Summed up by Ait-Nouri in my opinion who I don't think played particularly well but won the penalty, put a great ball in for our second and then got an assist for the third!

One thing made me laugh, during a break in play Jose Sa (who I'm now saying has been the best keeper in the league this season, been phenomenal), after Ward-Prowse's unbelievable free kick, came out and was looking at from where it was taken and back towards his own goal, still probably in a bit of disbelief! Could see him as if "well he's hit it from here, and it's done this... and (shakes head)"!

 

[Fenrir_]

Highlighted to me how much we missed Neves today. Romeo was waltzing around centre midfield with the ball, barely a tackle made on him, it was frustrating.

Yeah he bullied the midfield. Could do with a 6'4" lump to bring him down a peg or two in that situation...

Did seriously miss Neves though

 

[Parkfieldswolf]

Delighted with the win. I would argue we weren’t the best team but we took more of our chances than they did. Proud of Toti for what was a very tidy debut. Happy that Traore finally got his goal too happy weekend again.

 

[lostwolf]

We've got them too! To hear them moan they must think Maldini, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Pele and Maradonna play for Wolves

I've got three of the saddos in front of me. If you were basing your opinion solely on theirs you'd imagine Traore comes on in slippers, has an Albion neck tattoo and regularly flashes the family stand.

 

[Big Saft Kid]

Thoroughly enjoyed that! Think the score flattered us, it didn't feel like a 3-1. Sa is the signing of the season. He exudes confidence, stops shots, dominates at corners, throws the ball out expertly. But you don't stop free kicks like that one...even Bert 'the Cat' Williams wouldn't have got to that guided missile. Podence was everywhere, RAN excellent, Fabio looking a real player. I liked the look of Gomes. Trincao again looked a lightweight, Adama made a huge difference when he replaced him. Dendoncker -- what exactly does he do, apart from 5 yard passes backwards? Still 3 points is 3 points, and finally we actually benefitted from VAR ...but the referee didn't have a Scooby.

 

[Mark Rankines Lovechild]

It was an enjoyable game overall, felt a little like we were is second gear and could kick on when required. Southampton are a decent team that seem a bit toothless up front. They had a fair few shots but the majority weren’t threatening and were meat and drink for Sa.

I love the way Sa commands his box, distributes the ball and pulled off one great save and a fair few you would expect him to make. I think Sa is a big part of the reason why our defence is so good, the defenders have a trust in him that just wasn't there with Patricio / Ruddy.

Thought RAN had a great attacking and defensive game which is improving with every game - first game I have seen him where he isn't blowing out of his **** with 10 minutes left to go.

Kilman is, incredibly, getting better and better every week - fast becoming my favourite player. Coady was excellent, Gomes had a good debut, didn’t let us down though sometimes wanted a little too long on the ball.

Silva looked great when he came on, wished he could have finished that shot with the outside of his boot - would have been a stunner.

Adama - shocker of a miss followed by a good finish though I was not convinced he was going to shoot - I alwalys felt like he was looking for the pass - definitely a confidence player.

Trincao, couple of great moments, passes, touches and tried to tackle / press - just not that great at it - definitely targeted for some rough treatment - it was as though Southampton thought if they kicked him, he would fade.

Podence, pretty good, very attacking worked hard, not many flicks / tricks came off today.

Moutinho - steady - as was Semedo.

Dendonker - mediocre, cant say he didnt work but its all very magnolia

 

[Sketchead]

What an option Adama is to have in our squad. Enjoyed the celebrations from him as well, relief, looked delighted, went over to Bruno on his way back to our half too. Didn't look like a man asking for a move. Spurs can put the money up in full or do one.

And what an option Fabio is becoming. Very excited about him.

Southampton looked like Southampton, dangerous but rarely as clinical as they should be, open at the back when put under pressure. Decent side and I'd imagine their fans are disappointed to have lost that one.

Very good result. Maybe we deserve a bit of luck after being on zero points after the opening three games of the season, when we genuinely deserved seven minimum.

And what a hit from JWP. For those who were at the ground and not watching on a stream, there was quite an embrace between Coady and JWP after the final whistle. Clearly joking about their goals [though JWP naturally looked a bit gutted amidst the chat]. Believe them pair and Mings are very close pals. Quite nice to see really, but maybe I'm going soft. Roy Keane would be fuming.

 

[SuperGran]

 

[JonahWolf]

Now that was a game of footy. That Ward-Prowse dig was something to behold. Talk about having a thunder******* of a shot…!
Fantastic for Adama to get on the scoresheet. Great breakaway and he showed a lot of guts to take responsibility and slide it past their keeper.
The score line flattered us if I’m being perfectly honest but, as we found earlier in the season, if you don’t take your chances, you’ll pay for it. And the Saints paid heavily.

Really wanted to give Adama plenty of credit for that goal, because of how it came about.
He saw the back line disjointed, hovered level with the last man, behind the full back, to make full use of his pace, and coolly slot home for a change.

If he could do that more regularly, as in how he got in, then he’d be worth paying a fortune and keeping, because it guarantees goals. Vardy has built a career out of it.

As for the game at large, was never going to be easy missing Saiss and Neves, particularly against a high pressing Southampton.
Donk’s lack of bravery on the ball causes even more problems against a high press side.
So to come away with a convincing win in the end, delighted.

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

Was extremely worried when I saw the team. They started the better and won a number of corners which we defended very well but gradually we came back into the game and were probably about on top when we got the penalty. Amazing save by Sa just before half time thanks to a Dendonker poor clearance. Second half they really didn’t cause us much problem until Ward Prowse’s free kick and then could have drawn with the header against the bar.

I thought the back 3 did very well. Toti tired towards the end but I saw Vellejo play and he is 100 times better. Kilman is becoming an unbelievable defender, cool, incisive ans no little skill. A word on Sa, great save but I thought he slightly invited the shot at the free kick by just putting 2 in the wall, but it was a hell of hit. However, I thought his pass to Podence in the first half was amazing, eye of a needle stuff.

Fabio and Adama both made excellent cameos. Fabio was a menace and showed both strength and tenaciousness (and no little skill) to win balls and go on runs. Adama, he pressed. Yes he missed a sitter (plus ca change) but he looked interested, he hassled, he moved and was a team player. I have seen so many of his cameos where he’s been the exact opposite it was a breath of fresh air.

 

[derbyrameater]

It's not harsh. He's not suited to how we're playing. He is a useful body to have around as he can play cb too but it feels like he's going backwards. Given his international status I'd rather we cash in but maybe it'll have to be in another year as we could lose both our starter CMs in the summer.

I'm sure he wants to be starting every week at his age. Got no issue with him personally but he's nowhere near neves or moutinho quality.

Today he was fairly anonymous other than one long range pass and another terrible shot to add to the collection. Compare with Neves' all action partnership with mouts. He has off days and bad passes but he's never anonymous.

Does a job. Steady 6 today. Can't complain but he's not the future.

Did you miss where he ran back to the penalty area from a attacking position to rob a Southampton player who was about to shoot.

 

[sillytuna]

Did you miss where he ran back to the penalty area from a attacking position to rob a Southampton player who was about to shoot.

He's a hard worker and does a lot of (awkward!) running, we know that. Would never accuse him of being lazy.

 

[S G Wolves]

He's a hard worker and does a lot of (awkward!) running, we know that. Would never accuse him of being lazy.

If you are talking about Donk. Never been so disappointed with a player as him in the current regime. I always think he can offer so much more.

At least he got a bit riled today, thought might get him going...

 

[Wagstaffe Was Magic]

Poor performance and a very lucky win if we’re honest!!

Hats off to Sa, it could and perhaps should have been a home defeat!!
Saints definitely deserved something from the game!

We were missing a few players and dug in for the win. We were rather fond of going down easily which I think was a point the Southampton manager was making to Bruno at the end!!

Playing poorly and winning is always a plus!