Wolves Fans' Verdict v Southampton: A win at last!

John Lalley

Never mind the quality, it’s been so long in coming let’s just wallow in the satisfaction of three points.

Convincing it certainly wasn’t with the second-half almost a re-run of the Newcastle performance last time at Molineux. Wolves fading and attacking options diminishing, conceding possession and being muscled out in too many challenges as we try to hold the fort, absorb pressure and hope that fortune smiles in our direction.

This time, we got away with it but this kind of approach won’t be sustainable at this level over the duration of a season. Once again, we were completely unable to take advantage on the break with both Neto and Guedes particularly wasteful.

Still, at least we scored regardless of whether Podence knew his exact intentions with his matchwinner. What is beyond doubt was the awareness and easy acceleration of the classy Nunes in setting up the chance; real quality, he’s a suave and confident operator and we’re going to need him unveiling his full repertoire of skills on a consistent basis if we are to make any significant impact this season.

We’re blessed with Portugal’s finest stretching across midfield; all very easy on the eye and technically adept to a high level, but can’t help thinking that life would be so much easier for them if they shared company with a companion with some devil and powerhouse challenges in his armoury to ease the workload.

Having said that, once again we were indebted to the tireless Neves for a superb last gasp block in the first half which ensured we went to the interval in front. Jonny too distinguished himself in the second half with a magnificent piece of defending winning a vital aerial duel when we were severely stretched.

Add in a couple of efficient saves by Sa and an Adams header against the bar when he maybe should have scored and it’s clear that we still endured a stressful afternoon regardless of the result. Once again, Wolves simply could not be faulted regarding effort and commitment and it is genuinely pleasing to see them belatedly rewarded.

Massive three points, we needed this win desperately so credit all round. Just don’t think that the solutions we require right now were fully addressed to inspire renewed confidence.

Lovely tribute pre-match to remember Sammy Chung with the Saints fans showing complete and appreciated respect. Never met one single Wolves player from that era with a bad word to say about Sammy. To a man they all saw him as a fantastic coach and a hell of a nice guy. You can’t really ask much more of anyone.

Clive Smith

Cue the cliché...the result was the most important thing. After last week’s VAR and ninetieth minute kick in the teeth, no-one was taking anything for granted. It was nervy to the end! Thankfully we have a win and that monkey is off our back. Ironically we were not at our best, and we have certainly played better this season.

Shots on goal were rare. When Saints were not making it a stop-start game they gave as much as they got without looking anymore likely to score.

Jonny and Ait-Nouri played a lot like old-fashioned wing-backs, looking better going forward than defending, with the former struggling to retain possession while Saints repeatedly got behind Ait-Nouri to put crosses in. The risk v reward is a gamble we are going to have to get used to.

The half was coming to an end and it was looking like Neto shooting wide was our only highlight of note. Eventually though a Nunes cross picked out Podence and he scored the only goal.

The game opened up more as Saints tried to get an equaliser. It meant Neto was afforded far more space and saw plenty of the ball. His poor final pass and suspect decision making meant between him and Guedes chances to put the game to bed were wasted. There is still more to come from both of them.

The new-look Wolves still has some way to go obviously. In the meantime points have to be gained. The introduction of Podence helped and he was a catalyst for a lot of our good moves. Neves and Collins have been two of our most consistent players so far but both were below par today. We were generally second best in too many challenges and often beaten physically, MOTM Kilman was the exception. A few sessions in the gym for Neto in particular would be worthwhile.

Rob Cartwright

I’m feeling very positive about the way the team is starting to gel.

More progress was evident in this game, although the same problems existed in the final third. We look assured in defence with Collins and Kilman looking like a great partnership. Jonny and Ait-Nouri both contributed well, both defensively and when attacking.

The midfield trio is a dream with Neves showing the form of his Wolves career and Nunes going from good to great. It’s great to see him getting stronger each game.

It’s up front where the problems exist. It’s clear that we must start Podence, as it’s his holding of the ball and creativity that we have mostly lacked. No surprise that he gets into goal scoring positions too. Neto has disappointed in the first six games. He’s holding onto the ball too long and not getting enough balls into the box. This may be, in part, due to the lack of players getting into the box.

We created little in the way of clear chances again, but when we did we lacked confidence in front of goal. Neto wasted a good chance but the others were only half chances.

Podence deserved his goal for hard endeavours, but I wasn’t sure whether it was a smart finish or a mis-hit. Either way it was very welcome and probably deserved over the full game.

Adams really should have equalised, so we had a stroke of luck literally, as he headed the ball onto his own arm in front of an open goal.

My man of the match was Jonny, who was excellent throughout, followed by Nunes.

I hope the win gives the players more belief, with the pressure being relieved ahead of two very tough games.

Liam Kennedy

A very important win – we had to win that, especially with the next run of games coming up. It definitely wasn’t our best game of the season but it was definitely the best result so who cares.

Nunes was incredible and showed why he was wanted by Europe’s elite this summer, calm and composed on the ball whilst also driving the team forward with every given chance, he will be a top player for us.

Jonny had his best game of the season and showed signs of the old Jonny from a couple years ago – long may it continue.

Our new striker injuring his ACL in his first game is as typical Wolves as you can get and that is my biggest worry for the rest of the season, we need more goals and with Jimenez not being able to hit a barn door at the moment I do fear we may struggle to win games.

The only other dampener was Neto, struggling for form at the moment and it almost feels like he’s trying too hard, a couple of times he messed up very promising positions, we need him to hit form soon, even more vital considering Sasa’s injury.

Hopefully the win gives the team some confidence for the rest of the season and hopefully we can get some momentum going – that win will have taken a lot of pressure off Bruno and keeping another clean sheet, thanks to Che Adams, is another positive, Kilman and Collins typically good as per usual.

Adam Virgo

A much needed win, and how good it feels to be on the winning side in a league game again. The performance was fairly average overall but the most important thing was winning the game and I’m hoping we can really build on that now.

Matheus Nunes stood out massively for me, absolutely brilliant footballer. He helps us so much in getting out of tight areas and getting us up the pitch through transitions. Podence and Ait-Nouri looked to have some really good link up play at times, Podence has scored two of our three goals and also been involved in a lot of our key chances created so far this season.

Defensively we look solid, especially with Kilman and Collins at the back. Southampton did have a few good chances but at 1-0 down they were always going to push us more. We just need to improve in attacking phases of play to create more clear cut chances and we’ll be a real force if we can do that.

Gutting for Kalajdzic to pick up an ACL injury, hopefully he’s not out for the whole season but with us looking at Diego Costa, he is clearly going to be out until at least after the World Cup, just our luck.

I think in the first 15 minutes of both halves we looked good but then Southampton got into the game more in each half, however we dealt with their threats well enough.

Next set of fixtures are tough, even though Liverpool haven’t started as well as they’d have liked, they still have a lot of attacking threat but with our defensive record this season, I’m hoping we can frustrate them.

Games against Liverpool and City won’t define our season anyway, we need to make sure we get something out of West Ham when we play them and after Chelsea we’ve got a run of fixtures where we definitely need to pick up points.

Fraser Bishop

After five months of waiting, Wolverhampton Wanderers have finally won a Premier League game and boy was it needed. There is definitely room for improvement, and we were not at our best, but a win is a win, and this will lift some of the pressure that was building on Bruno – for now at least.

The first half was fairly uneventful with chances few and far between, but on the stroke of half time our best move on the game broke the deadlock as we hit the Saints on the counter. It definitely won’t win goal of the season, and I’m not sure it was necessary even a shot, but Podence’s second of the season was much needed and changed the half time team talk for sure.

As we came back out for the second half there was a noticeable absentee (you can’t miss him) as Sasa Kalajdzic was taken off. We didn’t know it at the time, but initial thoughts of ‘can he run it off’ were answered, as the debutant cruelly suffered an ACL injury but hopefully, he makes as quick of a recovery as possible. This meant playing without a recognised striker, which was not ideal but did enable some fluidity on the break with Guedes taking his place through the middle.

The second half was a slog as we had to dig in and were fortunate that Che Adams couldn’t find his shooting boots and somehow failed to score from two yards out without the aid of his hand, meaning we remained in the lead.

Speaking of players without their shooting boots, Hwang came on and his substitution arguably provided the highlight of the match. He has had his critics this season, and rightly so, but it was great to hear the Wolves fans singing his name and getting behind him (despite a very small minority of boos) to give the South Korean some confidence which he said himself was much appreciated.

From a defensive perspective, we were very solid again. Four goals conceded in six games means at this moment in time Wolves have the best defensive record in the League which is a fantastic accolade. Jonny was much improved and back to himself, while Collins and Kilman continue to look a fantastic pairing which will go from strength to strength.

James Pugh

A win is a win. Critical three points on the board with the upcoming September fixtures. It was about time Lady Luck looked our way after the previous performances this season.

The midfield and backline should hold their heads up high, people forget that this is a side that beat Chelsea the other week. Attack still needs some work, Guedes needs time to adapt.

Nunes, Collins, Kilman and Neves ran the show. Jonny was also spectacular and barely got a mention on MOTD. Ait-Nouri looks a lot more comfortable in a back four but looked quite sleepy in the last 20, Lage really needs to start looking at his bench more.

Traore also looked sharp when he came on, winning a surprising amount of defensive battles as supposed to his usual antics of running up the pitch and blasting it.

Good to see a mostly positive reception for Hwang too, who despite the critics must have ran a marathon in the small time he was on the pitch. He’s a workhorse and I love him. All in all, Daniel Podence (who should be starting every game) and (unexpectedly) Che Adams flappy arms saved us from a fairly gloomy Saturday evening.

While that lack of attacking bite is still there, Operation Diego Costa is now fully underway. Couldn’t think of a better menace to get this Wolves side ready for war against the big boys.