Pope John XXIII
Vital Football Legend
What a perfect game for Morgan Gibbs-White to play just before his first England call up- the team he left, who's fans didn't believe in him and still get on his back to this day.
Wolves fans are almost uniquely nasty. We all know about inferiority complex Brentford fan, arrogant Bournemouth, the plethora of things you could say about Liverpool. But I have never encountered a fanbase that is as fundamentally nasty and twisted as that of Wolves.
If you've been then you've probably seen it. Huge aggro at their place even when they've sounded beaten us has happened a few times. I know a guy who had a wolves fan bend down and laugh in his daughter's, face. And while we expect very little of online fans everywhere, the Wolves fans online are notable for their viciousness going up a notch on everyone else.
So it would be a delight to finally beat these at home in the league for the first time since 2013.
Wolves however are really going to go at this because they have to. They have an absolute nightmare first ten set of fixtures - see below
Any football fan is going to take one look at that and see two games that feel like winnable fixtures - Palace at home and Forest away.
They will be well drilled for this one because they have to be- if they don't win this then the table is likely to look pretty grim going into November.
Wolves Style
Last season Wolves actually had a record similar to ours; they scored one more goal and conceded just two fewer. But they amassed 10 extra points from that similar goal difference (46 to our 36 earned on the pitch). That is down to managerial nous, played experience, and good quality.
They are a skilled and ruthless counter attacking side who thrive on using searing pace and quick passing to open up space. Their attacking midfield three stay narrow then interchange into the channels to cause chaos. Players like Cunha or Serabia are absolute nightmares for fullbacks to deal with. Neto and Cunha were in the top 5 in the PL for successful dribbles last season, and though they have lost Neto, Cunha alone destroyed us at the CG last season.
Formation
O'Neill often used 3 at the back last season with wingbacks providing a lot of their crosses. However, he has gone 4-2-3-1 for all three games so far this season
Wolves players
The new guy up front is Jørgan Strand Larssen a Norwegian from Celta Vigo who is on loan. A great deal for Wolves, as he posted 13 goals in La Liga last season. He scored at the weekend.
Their main man though is Mattheus Cunha- a player they spent £50m on at a time they really couldn't afford it. One of the best dribblers in the Premier League, you just can't get the ball off him - he got 12 goals and posted 19 goal involvements in his first full season.
Hwang Hee-Chan is the Korean international wing forward who managed 13 goals and 15 involvements lasts season. Not as good a dribbler as Cunha, he is a great finisher who can bamboozle defenders and has good speed. Very dangerous player.
A player I always fear is Pablo Serabia, the Spanish winger/wing back who I was surprised to see is 32 now. He is just brilliant at delivering a ball, whether it be passes, crosses or through balls. Always seems to do well against us as well.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is a right winger bought from Strasbourg in January. He managed 2 goals in ten starts last season and is one of their key threats from direct set pieces.
Another option is Rodrigo Gomez, a new right midfield signing for €15m from Braga. Good passer but we've mainly seen his defensive contributions so far this season.
Daniel Podence is the last attacker I am going to mention- been on loan to Oly and a player I have always wanted to see come to us. The guy is just quality all over but may be only a bit part player at wolves
In the middle is likely to be João Gomes, a 23 year old Brazilian DCM who is great at passing and tacking. They have also bought Tommy Doyle from Man City who was on loan last season. He is a set piece and long shot threat. Another option there is Mario Lemina, a Gabonese DCM who is a great interceptor of the ball.
They have just signed Andre from Brazil. We should have gone for him- they gave got an absolute bargain. A top line DCM and the sort of player who, like Cunha, I could see Man City eventually shelling out for. We may be lucky and his reg not go through in time, or O'Neill may want the break to integrate him with the squad. I would rather not face him in his debut.
Their defence is a bit meh. They have sold Kilman who was their best defender by a mile. That leaves them with Toti Gomes, who is a decent player but had mincemeat made of him last weekend, and Yerson Mosquera, a Columbian who did even worse. Unless they want to drag Craig Dawson out again at 34- no doubt he can still do the job.
At fullback they are stronger; Rayan Aït-Nouri is a left back I really admire who is fantastic at dribbling and progressing the ball. A lot of their crosses come from there. At right back they are weaker- Nelson Semedo is a good player but is suspended for our game. They have Matt Doherty at 32 as a squad player, who will struggling with our pace. And they have just signed the unknown Pedro Lima from Recife in the Brazilian B league.
In goal they will have Sam Johnstone coming in to replace Jose Sa- personally I don't see Johnstone as particularly special.
Form
As you can see above, Wolves have a nightmare first ten fixtures. They have consequently lost their first two, at Arsenal and then at home to Chelsea 6-2. The latter saw them come from behind twice in the first half and play well, only to be destroyed in the second half.
They then beat Burnley 2-0 at home in the cup, using largely a second string team.
Head to head
Our record against Wolves is crap. We haven't beaten them at home in the league since 2013. We haven't beaten them at home in the top flight for over 40 years. We went about 40 years without ever winning at Molineux, a record which went when they were relegated in 2014 and we have won since then too under Karanka.
Of course we beat them in the League Cup quarters on penalties as well.
Who's the ****** in the black?
Referee is Simon Hooper from Salisbury, who is a lifelong Swindon fan.
Hooper is ok, and reffed our first ever match back in the PL- but we have lost every single Premier League game he has reffereed
That said, he has generally been given our games against the top six that are not especially winnable. The notable one here is him not awarding the pretty obvious handball penalty against Harry Maguire in 22/23, which I am sure would have been given the other end. No particular incidents back from our championship days.
VAR is Michael Salisbury from Lancashire, who does not officiate Everton or Liverpool games.
Weather
A lovely warm late summer afternoon to watch watch our crack team of hyphonated acronyms- MGW, CHO, JWP run riot and hopefully for the City Ground faithful to remember what it is like to score a direct free kick.
Wolves fans are almost uniquely nasty. We all know about inferiority complex Brentford fan, arrogant Bournemouth, the plethora of things you could say about Liverpool. But I have never encountered a fanbase that is as fundamentally nasty and twisted as that of Wolves.
If you've been then you've probably seen it. Huge aggro at their place even when they've sounded beaten us has happened a few times. I know a guy who had a wolves fan bend down and laugh in his daughter's, face. And while we expect very little of online fans everywhere, the Wolves fans online are notable for their viciousness going up a notch on everyone else.
So it would be a delight to finally beat these at home in the league for the first time since 2013.
Wolves however are really going to go at this because they have to. They have an absolute nightmare first ten set of fixtures - see below
Any football fan is going to take one look at that and see two games that feel like winnable fixtures - Palace at home and Forest away.
They will be well drilled for this one because they have to be- if they don't win this then the table is likely to look pretty grim going into November.
Wolves Style
Last season Wolves actually had a record similar to ours; they scored one more goal and conceded just two fewer. But they amassed 10 extra points from that similar goal difference (46 to our 36 earned on the pitch). That is down to managerial nous, played experience, and good quality.
They are a skilled and ruthless counter attacking side who thrive on using searing pace and quick passing to open up space. Their attacking midfield three stay narrow then interchange into the channels to cause chaos. Players like Cunha or Serabia are absolute nightmares for fullbacks to deal with. Neto and Cunha were in the top 5 in the PL for successful dribbles last season, and though they have lost Neto, Cunha alone destroyed us at the CG last season.
Formation
O'Neill often used 3 at the back last season with wingbacks providing a lot of their crosses. However, he has gone 4-2-3-1 for all three games so far this season
Wolves players
The new guy up front is Jørgan Strand Larssen a Norwegian from Celta Vigo who is on loan. A great deal for Wolves, as he posted 13 goals in La Liga last season. He scored at the weekend.
Their main man though is Mattheus Cunha- a player they spent £50m on at a time they really couldn't afford it. One of the best dribblers in the Premier League, you just can't get the ball off him - he got 12 goals and posted 19 goal involvements in his first full season.
Hwang Hee-Chan is the Korean international wing forward who managed 13 goals and 15 involvements lasts season. Not as good a dribbler as Cunha, he is a great finisher who can bamboozle defenders and has good speed. Very dangerous player.
A player I always fear is Pablo Serabia, the Spanish winger/wing back who I was surprised to see is 32 now. He is just brilliant at delivering a ball, whether it be passes, crosses or through balls. Always seems to do well against us as well.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is a right winger bought from Strasbourg in January. He managed 2 goals in ten starts last season and is one of their key threats from direct set pieces.
Another option is Rodrigo Gomez, a new right midfield signing for €15m from Braga. Good passer but we've mainly seen his defensive contributions so far this season.
Daniel Podence is the last attacker I am going to mention- been on loan to Oly and a player I have always wanted to see come to us. The guy is just quality all over but may be only a bit part player at wolves
In the middle is likely to be João Gomes, a 23 year old Brazilian DCM who is great at passing and tacking. They have also bought Tommy Doyle from Man City who was on loan last season. He is a set piece and long shot threat. Another option there is Mario Lemina, a Gabonese DCM who is a great interceptor of the ball.
They have just signed Andre from Brazil. We should have gone for him- they gave got an absolute bargain. A top line DCM and the sort of player who, like Cunha, I could see Man City eventually shelling out for. We may be lucky and his reg not go through in time, or O'Neill may want the break to integrate him with the squad. I would rather not face him in his debut.
Their defence is a bit meh. They have sold Kilman who was their best defender by a mile. That leaves them with Toti Gomes, who is a decent player but had mincemeat made of him last weekend, and Yerson Mosquera, a Columbian who did even worse. Unless they want to drag Craig Dawson out again at 34- no doubt he can still do the job.
At fullback they are stronger; Rayan Aït-Nouri is a left back I really admire who is fantastic at dribbling and progressing the ball. A lot of their crosses come from there. At right back they are weaker- Nelson Semedo is a good player but is suspended for our game. They have Matt Doherty at 32 as a squad player, who will struggling with our pace. And they have just signed the unknown Pedro Lima from Recife in the Brazilian B league.
In goal they will have Sam Johnstone coming in to replace Jose Sa- personally I don't see Johnstone as particularly special.
Form
As you can see above, Wolves have a nightmare first ten fixtures. They have consequently lost their first two, at Arsenal and then at home to Chelsea 6-2. The latter saw them come from behind twice in the first half and play well, only to be destroyed in the second half.
They then beat Burnley 2-0 at home in the cup, using largely a second string team.
Head to head
Our record against Wolves is crap. We haven't beaten them at home in the league since 2013. We haven't beaten them at home in the top flight for over 40 years. We went about 40 years without ever winning at Molineux, a record which went when they were relegated in 2014 and we have won since then too under Karanka.
Of course we beat them in the League Cup quarters on penalties as well.
Who's the ****** in the black?
Referee is Simon Hooper from Salisbury, who is a lifelong Swindon fan.
Hooper is ok, and reffed our first ever match back in the PL- but we have lost every single Premier League game he has reffereed
That said, he has generally been given our games against the top six that are not especially winnable. The notable one here is him not awarding the pretty obvious handball penalty against Harry Maguire in 22/23, which I am sure would have been given the other end. No particular incidents back from our championship days.
VAR is Michael Salisbury from Lancashire, who does not officiate Everton or Liverpool games.
Weather
A lovely warm late summer afternoon to watch watch our crack team of hyphonated acronyms- MGW, CHO, JWP run riot and hopefully for the City Ground faithful to remember what it is like to score a direct free kick.
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