Ojo making us a much more lively side. Glad he came on at half. A goal and an assist for him and we're up to 10th in the table if we see this one out.
You guys really need to get back to the EPL asap. A smile comes to my face whenever this thread is bumped.
Rumors swirling that Chinese billionaire Robin Li (was mentioned as possible investor in AC Milan) wants to buy the club outright and install Julen Lopetegui (sacked by FC Porto this year and allegedly the current favorite to take Spain over from Vicente Del Bosque) as manager. Not going to get my hopes up there. Seems a game of Mad Libs being played in the Spanish press.
Still no denial from anyone about this. If this is indeed happening, I feel awful for Kenny Jackett having to slog through his day-to-day while keeping totally silent. Yes, I wanted him out since about September, but at this point, we're just dragging his corpse around town.
Jez has stepped down, effective immediately. There will be a presser on Monday with him and one of the Fosun guys.
Jeff Shi, one of two Fosun reps serving on the board now. Basically the mouthpiece for everything at this point. Very well-spoken from what I've heard of him.
Presser went about as well as anyone could've hoped this morning. The main points were: - FOSUN looked at over 15 clubs... Settled on Wolves due to academy status, adequate stadium infrastructure, and lack of debt. The Chinese have a ton of respect for gold and black color scheme so nothing will change with colors or branding. - Steve Morgan did not profit from the sale of the club, meaning he sold it for the 30m that he put into it. There is a promotion bonus to be paid to him, which he has said will 100% go to charities. - 5-8 players lined up for squad strengthening. They've been vetting for weeks to whittle their list down to guys they know will come if called. - No plans for continuing stadium redevelopment at this time. Investment is in the team in the immediate future. Shi said their level of investment will be to get whoever they want and we don't need to worry about tight purse strings. - Jez Moxey stays on as interim CEO but will step down within 3 months, giving Fosun enough time to hire a replacement. They wanted him to stay due to shrewd transfer business and ability to stay in the black. - Kenny Jackett stays as manager and will be allowed to try his hand at the Championship with big financial backing. First 7 games have the potential for a maximum points haul. I read it as he'll be out on his ass if he can't get it going quick. - There were talks with Julen Lopetegui (took the Spain job) but couldn't get the purchase of the club finalized in time to make the offer real. Marco Silva is the name being floated around now as a candidate to replace Jackett if/when it goes tits up for him.
Rumor mill in overdrive this morning. Been linked with half of Portugal. -Silvio, FB, Atletico Madrid -Pele, MF, Benfica -Helder Costa, W, Benfica -Ola John, W, Benfica -Anderson Talisca, MF, Benfica -Rafael van der Vaart, AM, Real Betis -Alex Pritchard, AM, Spurs Hoping for Pele, Talisca, and Pritch of that bunch. Silly season is gonna blow up Wolves city center. Everyone will be spotted shopping in Asda.
Add in the loan for Joao Teixeira from Benfica B for the 3rd signing of the Fosun era. Andy Lonergan doesn't count for anything (technically our first signing of the window but he might not be a real person). Being strongly linked today with David Nugent and Adam Forshaw, which I would fucking love. We have 1 healthy senior striker with a game looming in 5 days - Niall Ennis - who will have just been handed his first senior contract. Dicko might be ready this month but not in time for Rotherham. I sincerely hope we have a striker signing up our sleeve.
And holy fuck is Walter Zenga well-spoken. I loved the shit out of his first press conference. Basically told the reporters they don't know what the fuck they're talking about when they asked what the deal is with his short tenures of late. He went up to 6 months without a paycheck at one of the last couple of jobs. The UAE club he managed last was a horrific situation. I'm not as worried now about the non-committal air his CV gives off. And he should be able to help the keepers immensely.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson in on a 3 year deal from Kaiserslautern. Showed a lot of promise at Euros. Worth the 3m to bring in the Viking clap.
Someone please end the Anderson Talisca transfer saga, one way or another. We've had a 6.5m bid for Chris Martin rejected. I believe they're holding out for 8 which we'd be stupid not to match. A front line with a combination of Nouha Dicko, Joe Mason, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, and Chris Martin would do it for me. I think that's the kind of line to get us to the Prem. Get Martin in and let's focus on shoring up the back line. Iorfa and Hause are good enough for me. I believe the intention is to have Silvio play at LB and if Mike Williamson could ever be healthy, well baby, we'd have a stew goin.
Prince Oniangué joins from Reims. Good scoring rate for the 3 years he's started in the top division. 17 from 94. And he's a full national for DR Congo. Hopefully this spells the end of Saville or Duracell Dave. That gives us nearly an entirely new midfield. There's a few toys I think Zenga wants to keep, though. We're looking at a starting midfield 4 of Graham, Costa, Teixeira, and possibly Talisca. That's more than good enough for promotion. Plus Zyro, Wallace, and Price coming on late. Anderson Talisca in a perpetual state of "signing within 48 hours". I'm torn on if he joins, does he really want to be here?
I think I have mentioned this previously but I admire your dedication to the club. Because of you I find myself checking their scores to see how they have done. Now with the new ownership hurry up and get back into the Prem so you can join that thread as well.
There was a definite sticking point a few years ago where the ex-owner bluntly said there would be no more investment in the players, the stadium redevelopment funding ran out, and we refused to fire a lunatic that ended up taking us down from being firmly mid table in January. But I have to say that the rebuild was fun. We slashed the wage budget, won League One in record fashion, and had 3 incredibly exciting attacking players scoring for fun. The well ran dry last year when Sako and Afobe got poached so it kind of became the art of treading water in Championship's midtable, which seems like a wasted season. Thank goodness the CEO stuck to his guns over the financial health of the club because it made us the most attractive candidate for a takeover. We're really lucky to have owners that aren't willing to alter the history and tradition of the club. It'd be lovely to go up at the first asking of the new owners as I think we're filling the team with a solid core that can survive the Prem and I think the funding will only increase at that level. It'd be nice to see the stadium finished and for the side effect of the economic redevelopment of Wolverhampton's city center. I'm really looking forward to a pilgrimage to the midlands in the next few years to soak it in.
I see we fancy having a torn locker room. We are now 2/1 favorite to sign Balotelli on loan. It could be the boon we need or undo absolutely everything from the past month.
I have no idea who we've signed since I made the last update. Stearman back on loan this morning and we've broken our transfer record for Ivan Cavaleiro from Monaco tonight. No word on whether or not we're done. Summer signings: Andy Lonergan (GK) - undisclosed from Fulham Helder Costa (W) - on loan from Benfica B Silvio (RB) - undislosed from Atletico Madrid Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (ST) - $3.5m from Kaiserslautern Joao Teixeira (CM) - on loan from Benfica Prince Oniangue (CM) - undisclosed from Reims Ola John (W) - on loan from Benfica Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (LB) - on loan from Manchester United Paul Gladon (ST) - undisclosed from Heracles Romain Saiss (CDM) - undisclosed from Angers Richard Stearman (CB) - on loan from Fulham Ivan Cavaleiro (W) - $8.8m from Monaco Just wow.
Outgoing: Byrne to Wigan - 500k Ebanks-Landell to Sheffield United - loan Shot down a 5m bid from Bristol City for Joe Mason we're getting cocky now.
Pretty impressed with Zenga thus far. This weekend should be fairly telling as we come up against Brentford. Can't really use the Rotherham and Burton matches as much of a barometer as we had a ton of guys making their debuts. We're settling in now and figuring out that several guys never need to see the pitch in a Wolves shirt again.
Andddddddd Zenga sacked. 16 points from 14 games. 1 point from the last 5. Form bottom of the table. Marco Silva is the big name floating around. Another Jorge Mendes client but one with an excellent CV at 39 years old. This team is more than playoff-capable and yet, they're toying with the relegation spots.
Nigel Pearson emerges as the new favorite after holding talks with the club. He's fucking nuts but he's proven capable of getting out of this league with a huge points haul. Bring on the crazy.
Paul Lambert, it is. And wouldn't you know that quitting Villa and Blackburn has shaved about 10 years off.
Thank god it's over. 15th place and finished above Brum, Ipswich, and QPR. We were 22 points off the playoffs though, so we need to make a ton of progress in a short time to compete next year.
Let's revisit this, shall we. I'd count this as 4 good signings out of 12. What a shitty job Jorge Mendes did for us. And Kevin Thelwell has no fucking eye for talent. We need to kick anyone and everyone to the curb that's in charge of player recruitment.
Now let's evaluate the rest of these turds. 1 GK Carl Ikeme - time to go IMO 2 DF Matt Doherty - keep, for now 4 MF David Edwards - get him the hell out of here 6 DF Danny Batth (captain) - not good enough for the Championship, let alone the Captaincy 7 MF James Henry - send him out permanently 8 MF George Saville - atrocious footballer 9 FW Nouha Dicko - keep; still capable of scoring bags of goals; needs confidence boost 10 FW Joe Mason - what even is the point? He's another striker in a crowded and underperforming position 11 MF Jordan Graham - offer him the world 14 MF Lee Evans - can't leave quick enough 16 MF Conor Coady - surprisingly changed my mind by the end of the season; keep 18 DF Dominic Iorfa - lovely footballer; keep 19 MF Jack Price - I'll miss his beard but that's about it; get rid of immediately 26 FW Bright Enobakhare - still very young but has promise 30 DF Kortney Hause - don't think he featured much and I don't know that it's his fault 31 GK Harry Burgoyne - possibly the future #1 34 FW Donovan Wilson - literally never seen him featured; very young 41 GK Jack Ruddy - keep; could push Burgoyne as he's a year younger 43 MF Connor Ronan - have heard rave reviews so give him time 48 DF Connor Johnson - I have no idea who this is 55 MF Morgan Gibbs-White - I have no idea who this is 59 GK Rory Brown - I have no idea who this is 60 DF Mike Williamson - give him the mother-fucking captaincy; he organizes the defense so well when he has 2 legs underneath him 62 FW Duckens Nazon - I have no idea who this is 63 FW Andreas Weimann (on loan from Derby) - would be ok with keeping or selling 64 MF Ben Marshall - was by all accounts our best player since February – MF Michał Żyro - I have no idea where his knee ligaments are but he was special before he got hurt
Top targets, you ask? Tammy Abraham - ST - Chelsea Britt Assombalonga - ST - Forest Nakhi Wells - ST - Huddersfield First, we need to start positioning ourselves to take loan players from top teams in the Prem. It's embarrassing that Brentford can get them and we don't even fucking ask.
Just kill me. Price and Saville optioned for 1 year deals. Henry, Williamson, Stearman, and Weimann all gone. Negotiating with Silvio still but we're 0/6 on contract extensions so far so I expect him to leave.
Carl Ikeme diagnosed with acute leukemia today. It's been caught early. No symptoms had presented and it revealed during preseason bloodwork. Still absolutely awful news.
On top of those moves, we've got some nice outgoings so far: Gladon to Heracles, on loan Saville to Millwall Wallace to Millwall Flatt to Cheltenham, on loan Rumor that Leeds want Danny Batth and Matt Doherty. ChileanNole come get them.
I haven't seen him post here in some time but I follow him and his dad, who was a Wolves Academy player at one point, on the twitter machine.