Wolves’ future plans under Vitor Pereira

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The most in-form team across Europe at the moment…

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00:00Charlie, just on Wolves and in terms of Vito Pereira,

00:06let's mention his fantastic impact.

00:09I mean, he's been doing the rounds on social media,

00:11appearing at plenty of different pubs and locations,

00:14just mixing with the fans.

00:15I mean, yes, on the surface, that's great,

00:18but also he's managed to translate it to the pitch

00:22and get these players really playing well.

00:24I mean, you look at the likes of Andre in midfield, his rise.

00:27He looked a bit lost under Gary O'Neill.

00:30He's now one of the, you know,

00:31that partnership with Jao Gomez is probably one of the best

00:33in the entire division.

00:35Wolves' form and that record of wins that they carry on

00:39to break every week, it seems at the moment.

00:42I mean, just on his ability to galvanise this group,

00:46because they were so down and out come the end of Gary O'Neill's tenure.

00:50They were heading one direction at Christmas time

00:53and then he comes in and he's completely changed

00:55the entire landscape of the club.

00:58It's incredible, yeah.

00:59Yeah, that six wins on the trot, I think,

01:01just encapsulates the success he's had so far.

01:04Actually, double figures for wins.

01:06Gary O'Neill could only get two in 16 games

01:08at the start of the season.

01:10It was appalling.

01:11Offensively, terrible as well.

01:13I know that Emmanuel Aikpadu wasn't there

01:15when Gary O'Neill was,

01:17so you can maybe make that argument.

01:19But it's not just one player.

01:21It's the entire squad.

01:22It's just looked completely galvanised.

01:24The rise, the confidence, the togetherness within the squad.

01:28I know you've still got Matthias Cunha getting sent off against Bournemouth.

01:31Not ideal.

01:32A bit hot-headed.

01:33But in terms of the general squad, the feel,

01:35there's a bit less frustration.

01:37The connection with the fans has been built back up again.

01:40I know we had that under O'Neill briefly

01:41when he was performing well initially.

01:44I'm hoping that doesn't fall away for Pereira like it did O'Neill.

01:47But I don't think it will.

01:48I think he's got, as much as he's a passionate man, Pereira,

01:52I think he's a bit more level-headed,

01:53doesn't overthink things too much

01:55and should be able to get Wolves,

01:57well, he's already got them out of the hole,

01:58but try and get them further up the standings as well.

02:01To be above the likes of Man United and Tottenham and West Ham

02:04after where they were just in December,

02:06it's incredible, really.

02:07And it's exciting to see where they could go next.

02:10Yeah, just on that, obviously, a massive summer.

02:13But then beyond the summer,

02:14it's a campaign where you start to think

02:17if pundits, people doing their Premier League predictions

02:20at the start of the season,

02:21if they look at the way Wolves have finished this campaign,

02:24surely top 10 European push

02:26has got to be the aim now for Pereira's men.

02:29Yet Wolves fans can't get carried away.

02:31If they've got to realise where they've come from

02:33in this last couple of seasons,

02:35they've been in a real bit of turmoil.

02:38But Pereira can take them certainly in one direction

02:41and that's up at the moment.

02:43Yeah, I just think you need to be a little bit careful

02:45as Wolves fans,

02:47just because of under O'Neill,

02:48before that Coventry defeat in the FA Cup last season,

02:51it wasn't six wins on the trot,

02:52but it was pretty similar form.

02:54Starting to talk about,

02:55could European football be a possibility?

02:57Then the injury started coming,

02:59then things started to fall away

03:00and then the beginning of the next season was awful.

03:02Don't want to be pessimistic.

03:04It sounds incredibly pessimistic.

03:05I don't think it will happen quite like that again,

03:07but to go and get European football

03:09would be maybe a little bit too much of a step up

03:11unless the summer window can go absolutely perfectly,

03:14especially with Matthias Cunha likely to leave

03:17for a £62 million release clause.

03:20He's such an important player.

03:21Wolves did show briefly with the suspension

03:23that they can deal without him,

03:25but can they deal without him for an entire season?

03:27Have they got the quality up front to do that

03:29and get European football?

03:31I'm not too sure,

03:32but I could be proved wrong.

03:33I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.

03:34There's just so much competition up there

03:36and Cunha leaving will have a big impact.

03:39Yeah, summer plans Wolves.

03:41I mean, obviously Cunha leaving,

03:43that's a big chunk of money that they have to reinvest.

03:46I mean, we've mentioned a number of times

03:48that they haven't,

03:48that they've sold these star assets.

03:50You know, it goes far as back as Diogo Jota

03:52really is the first one to go

03:53from that crop of players that came up with Nuno

03:56in the championship season.

03:58Then obviously Neves follows and, you know, Jimenez.

04:02And then you've got Neto as well going

04:04and then Cunha's likely to follow.

04:06They hadn't reinvested before.

04:08They've got to make sure they get it right

04:09and, you know,

04:11really ensure they almost replaced Cunha.

04:13I mean, yes, he's had an unbelievable season,

04:16but they've got to get this next step right

04:18to ensure that, you know,

04:19Pereira isn't falling short

04:21and making excuses as Gary O'Neill was,

04:23you know, during the start of this season.

04:26Yeah, and Lopetegui as well,

04:27the amount of concerns he had with the ownership.

04:30And you've got the Mateus Nunes money in there as well

04:33that you forgot to mention.

04:34It's just so many tens of millions brought in,

04:36but not reinvested,

04:38or at least not invested in the right ways.

04:40It's so important that they change their mindset

04:41a little bit this summer

04:42because surely it's plain to see

04:44that if you don't do things properly,

04:46if a manager doesn't have the right

04:48kind of ingredients for his squad that he wants,

04:51the team's going to be right near the bottom of the table

04:53and potentially getting relegated.

04:55So it's so important that they get things right.

04:56If they want to get to European football,

04:59even if they just want to escape the realms of relegation

05:01and become more of a settled mid-table side

05:03and build on from there,

05:05that's probably the more realistic aspect of things.

05:07And Pereira, such a great manager, it seems.

05:10Will he stick around if he's not backed properly?

05:12I suppose it awaits to be seen.

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