After fourteen matches and a measly two points to show for it, Wolves’ 1–0 loss to Nottingham Forest feels less like an isolated bad result and more like another symptom of a season in freefall. The mood around Molineux is bleak, and every match seems to deepen the sense that this team is drifting toward a relegation battle with worrying inevitability. Still, even in a defeat built on familiar failings, there are a few positives to note—if you squint hard enough and are willing to call crumbs a meal. Written by Brandon Rogers.
The Good
Defence
If there is one area that does seemingly improve week to week, it is our core defense. Wolves have avoided conceding in the first half for four matches running now, and that may be the only positive statistic there has been from those four matches. The only goals also still come from either: boneheaded errors or goal of the month contenders. The good with that is that we aren’t being completely overrun. At the beginning of the season, it felt as though we had our backs against the wall for 90 minutes with the opposition having a chance at goal every second. Our defense is much more polished now. However, we do still have the 30 seconds a match where all 11 players on the pitch decide to turn their brains off and we inevitably concede.
Previous Years
We went ten winless at a point last season. We’ve had longer streaks before. Not many teams stayed up being bottom at Christmas, Wolves did. Now, I think the quality and personnel of this team is significantly worse than before, but it can absolutely happen. Maybe Fosun finally splashes the cash and we bring in a January window like we have in the past that can push us over the line. There really isn’t much else positive to look at, other than the season isn’t over until the red R appears by our name.
The Bad
Attack
I hope we bin off every attacker on our books on January 1st, a minute after midnight. I am a very forgiving fan, but this is just ridiculous. Has Strand-Larsen been kidnapped and cloned? Who is the player wearing number nine in the Wolves kit? He runs like he’s wading through three feet of water, and I’ve never seen someone so tall display such incompetence trying to head or hold up the ball. Are we sure we transferred in Arias from Fluminense, or is this some other guy they were keeping under the stadium? With my own two eyes, I watched him dribble out of bounds with nobody within 5 feet of him. I’ve seen misplaced two feet passes and dribbles that would get most university students expelled from the team. Bellegarde was probably our best attacker today, and I don’t even remember seeing him on the pitch.
Just over a year ago, Wolves led EUROPE in take-ons completed. They are now 17th in the Premier League for that statistic. Nobody has confidence, nobody wants to try to beat their man. “Let’s just whip in a cross from 80 meters away and hope our striker who can’t win an aerial duel miraculously puts it in the net.” Our “fastest man in Serie A” attempted 0 take-ons and was dribbled past twice.
Wolves have scored seven goals this season. SEVEN. That’s an average for half a goal a game. Hell, we don’t even get to vote on a goal of the month for November. Forest have scored double that for the second lowest total in the league.
Refereeing
I’ve reffed football for five years, and I absolutely understand the difficulty of it. Some things are impossible to see in real time, and that is completely acceptable. What is unacceptable is the sheer incompetence of VAR and everyone associated with it.
How does it take five minutes to review something everyone in the stadium could see live? How can officials be so unsure of their own decision that they then send the referee to a monitor? Are VAR officials volunteers? Are they getting paid actual currency to do this job? If I spent as much time on a five-second task as they do, I would have been sacked months ago.
And how does it take two more minutes to check for a penalty when the fouled player was offside by two feet?
Fans can debate decisions endlessly, but that’s not the core issue. The problem is that nobody can celebrate a goal without holding their breath for five minutes while every toenail is inspected. Yet, when a call is clear and obvious, we still spend half a lifetime reviewing it.
The standard of refereeing is shocking, and I refuse to believe there is nobody more competent available. Possibly the biggest positive of relegation would be not having to deal with this circus every week.
Conclusion
Whether Wolves can escape this mess is anyone’s guess, but the style of football on display isn’t helping. We defend well enough (for 60 minutes), can’t score to save our lives, and then spend half the match waiting for VAR to confirm what everyone already knows. It’s not just bad—it’s boring.
