In a rare move from our esteemed ownership, Wolves threw open the doors to welcome fans in for a forum, and to give them a chance to grill the powers that be including Matt Jackson, Rob Edwards and Nathan Shi.

In a tense hour and a half, the overall picture was one of understanding, acceptance, and the drive to do better from the leadership.

Here are some key takeaways from the forum:

Nathan Shi is the man for the moment

 
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Copy and paste from the last article you wrote, this season particularly has been incredibly difficult for Wolves fans. However, the rot has been setting in for a long time. The question amongst Wolves fans is not if you have confidence in Fosun, it’s when you lost confidence. We are in the most uncomfortable position for a club to be in, to be in “transition”.

However, one of the transitions is proving to be positive. Gone is noted Football Manager enthusiast and theme park advocate Jeff Shi, and in is Nathan Shi. Firstly, to spare a thought for Nathan, having to come off the back of what has been a disastrous few years for Fosun, which sadly, includes Wolves.

Secondly, Nathan came across very well throughout the fan forum. He wasn’t afraid to tackle some of the more difficult questions head on, not directly throw the previous custodian under the bus but certainly acknowledge they weren’t good enough. He was witty in his responses, and you could even go as far to say that he was charming in the way he rattled off answers and made cheerful jokes about “Uncle Jorge” and the Liquidator.

Whilst the situation is stark; we are no longer a Premier League team, Nathan Shi comes across as a man who has the ambition to return us to the Premier League, and means it. The proof will ultimately be in the pudding, but already we’ve seen a man cutting season ticket prices, and throwing open the doors of the Molineux to allow fans to hold him directly to account.

Small beer in the grand scheme, and there is still a long road ahead of us, but there certainly seems like not just the words, but the tone of a man who understands the past 5 or so haven’t been good enough.

What was stark was Nathan making reference to there being “no ambition or plan” when he came in. We’ve known it indirectly for so long, but to hear it spoken by our new Executive Chairman or whatever LinkedIn bio he’s got confirmed that for too long, we were rudderless. We’re still rudderless, but someone’s now sorting a rudder.

Fosun, for all their numerous faults, and please do not see this in defence of them, are not fly by night owners similar to your Chansiris, your Tans, your Venkys (Venkies?). With the right sort of leadership and the cold plunge of relegation, could this be a turning point in their ownership?

These fences won’t mend quickly

 

 
Actually, it was quite disappointing all told. There were no punchups, no riots, no acts of radical Wulfrunian terrorism. But even without the gratuitous violence we all expected and demanded from our invited representatives, the anger was still palpable if not in a more respectable formant.

Whilst opinion remains divided on whether Rob Edwards should be in the dugout come the start of next season, the noise for him to go is growing louder. Recent results will have helped to convince floating voters on his credentials to be in post come August, and at what point does the noise become too much for any of us, including Rob Edwards and Fosun, to withstand?

As said above, Nathan Shi has made great steps to provide openness, understanding and action, but there is a long, long way to go before trust is repaired between the hierarchy and the fans.

Everything must go

 

 
It’s been apparent for a long time, but has become even more apparent after last night that there will be a fire sale at the Molineux as soon as the final whistle blows at Burnley. Whilst Matt Jackson and latterly Rob Edwards attempted to rebut the notion that the players didn’t have pride, it’s evident that there is a complete lack of pride within most of the squad.

Discussions as to who stays and who goes will no doubt take up a lot of the early portion of the window, if not already set in motion, but do not expect to see familiar faces running out at our inevitable 8pm kick off against Lincoln in August. Data tells one story, but the eyes tell another, which has made plainly evident that very few players want to be here, and very few will be here come next season.

However, this may well be for the best. Nathan made reference early on to the difficulties we found when Raul got injured, and how every window since then has been about rectifying those mistakes. Have we simply created a negative feedback loop that being relegated and selling 90% of our squad fixes? After 10 years of stewardship, will this see Fosun wind back the years and look like the owners they did in the good old days?

English Tapas

 
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Matt Jackson is an odd duck, though he spoke directly, was able to explain the facts behind recruitment and said he’d walk if he didn’t get it right, there’s still something a bit unsure about him. However, summer should be seen as the fair crack of the whip before we judge too harshly.

However, he was kind enough to explain that most of our squad next season will have to have amassed a certain number of minutes in England, so our squad will be mostly English or “English qualifying”. Fortunately, this “English qualifying” rule seems to open us up to players like Mo Salah on a Bosman.

He also noted that we can’t sign players from places like Scandinavian second divisions. Though not here in form, Jeff’s love of obscure wonderkids endures.

But, the overall picture was of a club ready to sell, invest and recruit to bring us back up. Will these players be any good? Christ knows.

Brother, can you spare a tin of bollard paint?

 

 
Shi was also eager to discuss the regeneration of not just Molineux itself, but the surrounding area. Cheering news for a city that sorely needs some love and investment. There are no plans to move away from Molineux, and developments should see movement before the end of the 20s, if not the turn of the 30s.

Whilst he said all of our resources will go towards the first team, we could well see a lick of paint or indeed infrastructure that won’t kill us before too long.

The full forum, of which you can easily listen back to, though somewhat terse in its atmosphere, was a welcome move from the club. Nathan has promised to revisit this in a year to see where we’re at, and it’ll be interesting to see how the next 12 months transpire.