Wolves Fans' Verdict v Newcastle: A woeful display

Russ Evers

A win would have put us in the top six. The expectation therefore was a team to come roaring out of the blocks to win against a team who looked beaten during the kick-about.

But no, it was us on the back foot seemingly knowing only a sideways or backwards pass with a few of the starters unable to make a pass at all. Bully famously scored four here and has since admitted to having a few drinks the night before. Tonight it seemed like the whole team had been on pints of lead or clay as they stumbled through the worst performance under Bruno who must take the lion’s share of the blame for a missed opportunity – of our own making. 20 yards too deep, no forward passing and we got totally what we deserved.

Hopefully this can be a lesson learned but this must be seen as an opportunity to ensure nothing as poor as this happens again.

Adam Virgo

Terrible performance all round, one of the worst this season. We were far too passive, playing safe too often and it was as if the players had never met each other before because the link up was non-existent.

The first half was a shambles, we had one shot which was probably out of frustration from Jonny. We created absolutely nothing because all we did was play sideways and backwards, every counter attack opportunity we just slowed it down. The main culprits for that were Hwang and Trincao, their performances proved to me how much we miss Podence and Neto who actually drive at players.

The wing backs were so deep too which looked like a tactical decision from Lage. It was a 5-2-3 formation in the first half, Marcal and Jonny rarely got forward to support but whenever they did, the support Hwang and Trincao offered was shocking.

Second half there was an improvement, as a team we were higher up the pitch and the wing backs were able to go forward. The creativity though was nowhere near good enough, we’d either run ourselves into trouble or hit crosses straight to a Newcastle player.

Their goal came from Marcal hitting a poor cross straight to a Newcastle player who was able to intercept and clear which set them on a counter attack. Coady could have pressed Joelinton a little quicker, then if the other defender with him stepped up, Wood would have been offside.

I think we’ve realised Jose Sa’s biggest weakness now, he is quite rash with challenges in the box, Wood wasn’t really going anywhere but there’s many other reasons as to why we lost the game.

Fabio Silva who was the only starting attacker who actually tried but it’s difficult when he has two wingers next to him who either constantly play backwards or has no desire to make runs with and without the ball. His effort in the second half was very unlucky, showed that he had to create opportunities for himself.

Neto looked a lot more livelier than Hwang and Trincao. I was confused by the Chem Campbell sub, I know he’s been class for the under-23’s but I would have rather Chiquinho come on.

Luke Cundle struggled a lot, it was a difficult night for him but he’s still very young, inexperienced at this level and we shouldn’t even be relying on him in a two-man midfield, just proves how much we need to buy another central midfielder in the Summer.

In terms of getting European football next season, it’s going to be difficult even with the other teams around us losing. We’re very inconsistent at the moment, without Neves we are a lot worse that’s for sure which shows how good he actually is. We need to make sure we beat Burnley in two weeks time, if we don’t and other teams around us pick up wins, I’d say top seven is pretty much over for us. A huge opportunity missed against Newcastle though.

Rob Cartwright

Woeful from Wolves. This was West Ham again all over.

Far too pedestrian in the first half. Wolves showed no creativity and the need for changes were ignored. Bruno waited painfully too long to make any subs and we get the same result with a 1-0 loss!

No issues with the penalty this week. Wood went looking for it, but it was a rash decision by Sa who made clear contact with him.

We showed no threat in the first half. Too many sideways and backwards balls, like the Villa game, we continued to give the ball away too easily. I really expected changes for the second half. We played with higher tempo, but lacked any punch in either midfield or attack. Made me think about Gibbs-White, in his forward role, at Sheffield United!

Hwang was replaced by Neto after 78 minutes; about 28 minutes too late.

Chem Campbell coming on was a surprise with Chiquinho on the bench. Ait-Nouri for Marcal could have been done much earlier too. Bruno really did himself no favours with these changes.

There were very few chances to equalise, with the best two falling to Silva. He should have done better with a header but then got a good shot on target, forcing a save.

I think this result shows how threadbare our first team squad is. With Neves and Jimenez both out, we could not cope with the additional absence of Podence and Dendoncker. How will we cope against teams making five subs next season?

Boly was the pick of our defence, with Moutinho and Marcal working hard to get the ball forward. Hwang and Trincao were very poor.

Overall, a very disappointing performance. Looking at the other results an opportunity was lost to make up ground on those teams above us. They didn’t any better either, so nothing much has really changed with six games to go. I think we will live to regret this result come the end of the season.

John Lalley

A few weeks ago, having worked an outstanding opportunity for themselves, Wolves responded pitifully at both Arsenal and West Ham turning in a couple of listless and limp displays that simply defied logic.

To shun another positive chance so wastefully and with such a lamentably weak mindset is frankly appalling. Wolves got their just desserts; the gist of it is that Newcastle must be absolutely astounded that a team so far above them in the placings and with so much to play for surrendered so meekly with a dollop of ineptitude that was painful to endure.

Newcastle were no great shakes; they didn’t have to be because Wolves did the job for them. From the outset, Wolves rather than stirring themselves and imposing any positive intent appeared locked in dreamland; time after time they gifted possession to the opposition becoming progressively worse during an abysmal first half that from our perspective was utterly soporific.

We were fortunate to see VAR chalk off a goal haplessly gifted by a diabolical pass from Kilman and a Keystone cops mix-up between Boly and Jonny. To be fair to the backline, they were starved of options as finding space and runs off the ball from their colleagues in front of them were virtually non-existent.

Presumably on the receiving end of a galactic half-time rollocking from Bruno Lage, Wolves as they had to, improved slightly before reverting to type by needlessly conceding possession up front which resulted in the inevitable penalty. The movement of our front three was barely evident all match; Trincao and Hwang were both anonymous and seemingly averse to hard work whilst Fabio’s effort simply cannot conceal the unpalatable reality that he lacks any sort of natural striking instinct.

He spends too much time trying to be on good terms with the opposition for my liking; smiling benevolently and enjoying fraternal conversations during breaks in play, considerately assisting opponents stricken with cramp and shaking hands after the mildest of physical contact.

All very commendable and indeed his manners are impeccable, but the Steve Bull philosophy of strikers’ etiquette appeals more to me. Tunnel vision; in where it hurts and no messing. The warrior approach. You miss and I very definitely hit. And on the pitch, I aye there to be friendly.

Once we conceded, we were never going to save this game and this quality-lite affair drifted to its natural and inevitable conclusion. Short of Neves and Jimenez to begin with the unexpected absence of Podence and Dendoncker compounding our problems offers the vestige of an excuse, but I’m not buying it.

So often this season, the players and the coach have excelled beyond measure but this display has absolutely nothing to commend it. Absolutely wretched; they know it and so do we. A massive disappointment; the London games in horrendous and inexplicable duplicate and it really does sting big time. This kind of let down it appears still remains stubbornly embedded in our psyche; maybe we are operating to our maximum output and are incapable of pushing onto a higher grade. We have exceeded expectations this season and every credit to all concerned but this sclerotic no-show requires a considered post-mortem.

Clive Smith

Bruno had a plan and it very nearly worked.

With a fiesty atmosphere in and outside the ground – our first objective was to take the heat out of the game. It may not have been pretty but we managed to do that successfully during the first half.

We started to attack more from then on with Marcel in particular finding space to get possession forward. With no Ashley Young to pick out it was hard to connect with anyone in the box.

Our front three struggled to have much influence in the game at all when we moved forward. Whereas Podence has the knack of finding space and always being available for a pass, this was not happening with Hwang.

All our heading strength was in our back five, not our front five, so forward passes were easily gobbled up and we had to rely on picking up second ball’s.

Although the game became more stretched and open it always had a 0-0 feel about it. Newcastle bypassed midfield with long balls but we managed Saint-Maximin well throughout. He threatened a lot with the ball but, like someone else we know, his end product was disappointing.

Unfortunately it took less than five seconds to ruin the plan. A slip by Cundle lost us possession and in a flash Sa had given a pen away. That’s three I can think of – surely the most by anyone in the League this season. Careless and quite a blot on his CV.

In that instant the game was lost.

Adding Podence and Dendonker to our unavailable players clearly meant we fielded a below strength starting line up. Defensively we were still strong with Marcal and Jonny playing deeper initially.

Our consistency was in our central defence who all played well. Of the three, Coady shades MOTM as, particularly in the opening twenty minutes, he was a magnet for the ball in and around our box.

Cundle and Moutinho were forced deeper than they would have liked and both found it hard keeping possession with forward passes.

Silva offered the most in attack. His hard low shot to the near post forced a good save but his best chance came from a cross he headed tamely wide when ideally placed.

When things are not going well it is often easy to think the players on the bench are better than those playing in the game. I am sure though, of all the 3,000 plus Wolves Coaches present, all but one would all have swapped Neto for Hwang by the hour mark.

The home fans celebrations at the end were reminiscent of Arsenal at the Emirates but for different reasons. Banishing the fear of relegation must have been the cause of their excessive jubilation. I guess we, thankfully, missed out on that, having had no such worries all season.