Matt Maher: The silence is far from golden for Wolves fans

On one side are supporters, united like rarely before in frustration and anger, appealing ever louder for the club to reconsider the decision to ramp up prices to levels some simply cannot afford while posing a moral dilemma even for those who can.

On the other side you have the club, largely silent and seemingly of the belief if they sit tight and stay quiet the trouble will eventually blow over. You will find few observers prepared to bet it will.

Caught in the eye of the storm, meanwhile, is Jeff Shi, the club chairman who, whether he likes it or not, has the role of villain in the piece.

Type Shi’s name into any social media search engine right now and the results are not complementary.

One particular image, which surfaced late last week, featured his face imposed on the body of former Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey. More than once in recent days, it has been claimed the season ticket hike is Shi’s Pie and a Pint moment, referring to the infamous 2007 decision to give the South Bank to visiting Albion supporters for an FA Cup tie, a blunder from which Moxey’s reputation and standing among fans never fully recovered.

Except, this is much worse.

Sure, the Pie and a Pint fiasco was a serious error of judgement and a humiliating experience for Wolves supporters, even more so when the Baggies went and won the tie and they had to endure the sight of their rivals celebrating on ground they deem sacred.

Yet at no point were they being priced out of attending.

At no stage were they forced to consider the question of just how much their love for the club was worth.