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Nelson Semedo has yet to give Wolves a decision on whether he will sign a new contract. Should the 31-year-old depart, who should be named new club captain?
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00:00At what point does the club captain's non-committals become disrespectful?
00:05That's the sort of crux of this whole argument really, it's part of what we've been,
00:10or a big part of what I've just been talking about, because from the club's perspective
00:15I totally understand them trying to be respectful to him.
00:18Behind the scenes of course, as I say with Vitor and with other people at the club,
00:21they'll be desperate for a decision, they'll be pushing for a decision for him with absolute certainty.
00:25And I know that Vitor Pereira will be, alongside pushing for a decision,
00:30will be pushing to try and keep him, pushing to try and convince him to stick around
00:34and invest in this project that the Wolves and Vitor Pereira are trying to build or rebuild.
00:44Well hello everybody, welcome to the latest episode.
00:46It is The Keene and Judah Show. I'm your host Nathan Judah, delighted to be joined by Mr Liam Keene.
00:51And we are talking about the captaincy for Wolverhampton Wanderers for 2025-2026.
01:00And Liam, it's not particularly straightforward, because as of today, which is July the 1st,
01:06when we are recording, the club captain, Nelson Samedo, is a completely free agent.
01:13He has got a four-year deal currently on the table that he has neither accepted nor declined.
01:20And Wolves are in a bit of a limbo, aren't they?
01:24It's an interesting situation.
01:26We all knew six months ago, when it came to January, that Nelson Samedo's contract was running out.
01:30And yet there wasn't a real, I would say, necessity to get this deal done quickly.
01:36We all thought that maybe, towards the end of the season, we would know whether he was staying or going.
01:41But it wasn't. He went off to his summer holly bobs and played for Portugal, of course, as well, didn't he?
01:47And we were all expecting a decision.
01:49And yet, that time has gone on.
01:51And it's been a week, and it's been two, and it's been three, and it's been five and six.
01:56And now we are at the stage where this deal that is currently available, that is currently on the table for Nelson Samedo to take, he has still not made a decision now.
02:06I just wonder, in the planning for next year, how difficult this is.
02:12And is this becoming now a real issue for Vito Pereira, for Fosin, for Jeff Shee, as to whether they pull this contract or not?
02:20They took a story last week that they weren't going to do it, they were going to honour that contract.
02:24But each day, each hour that moves on, this is a very difficult situation for not just filling a right wing-back slot, but filling the club captain role for the next season and beyond, Liam.
02:36Yeah, for sure. And if you take Vito Pereira by his word, and this has gone on far too long for his liking,
02:42you'll remember at the very back end of the season, Wolves played at home to Brentford on the final day at Molyneux.
02:48And we spoke to Vito after the game, in the press conference.
02:51Obviously, all of this talk at that time was around players like Samedo, players like Aitnori and Kunyu,
02:55and players that couldn't part the football club.
02:57And he said, I need to know in the next week who's staying and who's going, because I need to start to build this team.
03:04Now, it's been a hell of a lot longer than a week for Nelson Samedo.
03:07Now, it starts to turn, doesn't it, at a certain point, because I think he deserved to take a little bit of time.
03:13He's been at the club for five years.
03:14I think he's been a pretty good captain in these last few months after taking over for Mario Lamina.
03:19And I think he deserved a little bit of that time to make a decision.
03:22It was a big decision for him, for his family.
03:24Of course, they've recorded that goodbye video at Molyneux if he does decide to leave, which will be published if he does decide to go.
03:31And he's been allowed to take that opportunity, that moment to assess his options, really.
03:37But after a certain amount of time, it starts to turn in the other direction.
03:43It starts to become an issue of the captain taking too long to decide if he wants to be at this football club or not.
03:54And from a fan perspective, you have to look at that and think, does he really want to be here?
04:00Now, I think if he stayed at the football club, he'd be more than happy.
04:03I think he's been a very good professional.
04:05He's been relatively consistent over his five years, and he's been a good servant to the football club.
04:09But as a fan, you must sit back at a certain point and think, we have to have that decision from you sooner rather than later,
04:16because you want to be desperate to be here, first of all.
04:19And secondly, from a footballing perspective, as you've already mentioned, the football club need a decision to be able to move forward with the squad.
04:27They have to get a replacement, a senior replacement for him.
04:30Pedro Lima and Rodrigo Gomez will not be good enough as the only two in those positions, if that was to be the case.
04:37And the club have to be able to forward plan going forward.
04:41And this is a big position to fill for the Wolves.
04:44Yeah, and look, Vito Pereira has said and gone on record to say how important Nelson Semedo was for Wolves in that dressing room as well.
04:51There was a very volatile time when Mario Lamina got stripped of the captaincy and Gary Neal didn't know what to do and gave it to Nelson Semedo.
04:59And I think we fully expected a potential captaincy change again.
05:02When Vito Pereira came in, Liam, he didn't. He kept with him.
05:05And I think he was very impressed and spoke glowingly about Semedo since he took charge.
05:11At the same time, I think it surprised both of us that they offered him a four year deal.
05:16Nelson Semedo turns 32 this year, later this year.
05:19And that's a lot of money for Wolves to tie up in previous players, which you look at.
05:24You've got to sell them, you know, you're going to have at least a few million pound where you can get back.
05:29Whereas Nelson Semedo, if he stayed, if he signed at 35, nearly 36, you're not getting any money back for a 36 year old.
05:35In fact, he's probably going to retire if he stays the whole length of his contract.
05:39In terms of the contract in the first place, Liam, before we go to whether he does or he doesn't and the situation regarding that, do you feel that that was the right decision?
05:47And do you think it was because of how important he is to this football club and not just the player that he is?
05:54Yeah, I think the person he is, first of all, which is a very good professional,
06:00someone who has been described to us from people in and around the football club as someone who's very selfless,
06:06puts other people ahead of himself, which as a captain and as a leader can be really important in certain situations and occasions.
06:14And he's very, very well liked around the place.
06:16So from a sort of personal perspective, I think Nelson Semedo is someone that's really impressed the football club,
06:22really impressed the people around the football club and the fans.
06:26And also, you know, I've interviewed him on a handful of occasions and he's always been very impressive to deal with as a person and as an individual.
06:33As a player. Over those five years, I described it as relatively consistent and it has been.
06:41Has it been someone who I think has maybe lived up to the expectations when you come in at almost 30 million pounds from Barcelona?
06:49No, he scored one goal and got, I think it's eight assists, isn't it, in five years as a position that was for the most of that time has been a very attacking position.
06:59I don't think his output has been good enough in that sense, but there are lots of positives to take.
07:04Would I want to keep him for the squad and for this team moving forward? Yes.
07:09Do I think four years is a little bit excessive? I do, to be honest, particularly with the kind of money we're talking about as well.
07:15He was a very, very well earning player in the contract that has just ended today.
07:20And if he continues with Wolves in this four year contract, he will continue to be, you know, a very wealthy person earning a lot of money.
07:27And when you look at the money that could be invested elsewhere and perhaps the positions Wolves could look at, I'm not quite sure four years makes a lot of sense.
07:36However, if it wasn't for a four year contract on this kind of money that was on the table for Samedo, he probably would have left already.
07:42He probably would have made a decision and signed elsewhere.
07:47Now, he hasn't done that. There's still that contract there.
07:50It's a very, very tempting contract to take.
07:52I don't blame the player for taking his time, but Wolves need a decision sooner rather than later.
07:56The players are back in preseason training next week. They're back in for testing.
08:01They're going to be up and running and ready to go.
08:03They need to have a decision as soon as possible.
08:08As you said, we broke the story last week that the contract was still on the table and they would honour that contract out of respect to the player
08:16and how important he is in and around this football club.
08:19But at what stage, Liam, when your club captain is still to yet to make a decision and we are July the 1st, like you said, the players report back from preseason.
08:29Next week, they go abroad to the Algarve for preseason training camp, the back end of next week.
08:36At what point does the club captain's non-committal become disrespectful?
08:42That's the sort of crux of this whole argument, really.
08:46It's part of what we've been, or a big part of what I've just been talking about, because from the club's perspective, I totally understand them trying to be respectful to him.
08:56Behind the scenes, of course, as you say, with Vitor and with other people at the club, they'll be desperate for a decision.
09:00They'll be pushing for a decision for him with absolute certainty.
09:03And I know that Vitor Pereira will be, alongside pushing for a decision, will be pushing to try and keep him and pushing to try and convince him to stick around and invest in this project that the Wolves and Vitor Pereira are trying to build or rebuild at this football club.
09:18From the players' perspective, that's where, for me, it's starting to turn now.
09:24I don't think he's lost a lot of goodwill with the fans at the moment, but I think if you take social media, which of course can be, you know, everything can be heightened on there.
09:34But if you take that on face value at the moment, there is certain suggestions from fans that it's becoming a little bit, taking a little bit too long now.
09:42If you don't want to be here, then there's a lot of reasons to turn that contract down and to move on and to allow the club to move on.
09:52So all of these things that are, I think, slightly worrying, really, for how Wolves want to move forward in this position, means that Semedo has to make a decision soon.
10:03I don't think he's at a stage of being disrespectful.
10:05I think he's teetering on the edge and getting closer to it.
10:08This time next week, there's no decision and the Wolves are back in preseason training.
10:12It could be a real concern for the club.
10:16They've got targets.
10:17They've got players they're looking at, and they're going to have to move on some of them soon.
10:20It's a really key position for how Vitor Pereira wants to play.
10:23They're very high.
10:24They're very wide.
10:25They're very attacking and very aggressive wing backs in this formation.
10:29They're essentially wingers, and you need better output, first of all.
10:33Semedo hasn't really offered that, but you also need a senior player to come in those positions.
10:39And time to work with Vitor and the system that he wants to play, and that's what concerns me.
10:44You'll agree.
10:46Lima and Rodrigo Gomez are two very, very promising players, but you can't have those as you're starting to wing backs.
10:53Whether it's start of the season or even ending the Chancellor window, you have to have players come in in those positions.
11:00And the players need time to get up to speed.
11:03I mean, look at what Crystal Palace have been able to do with a player like Munoz come in for a relatively small fee and has been able to add goals and assists and quality into that right wing back position.
11:19Those are the kind of areas and positions that I think are really important for this team to build on.
11:27And Wolves can do better.
11:29I don't mean that's replacing Semedo, but they can do better in that output in those positions.
11:34But it hinges massively on this Semedo situation and a decision has to be made.
11:39He joins us again in the second half because we'll be discussing potential replacements at Capstone.
11:44And there's some pretty obvious candidates and there's some interesting chance as well.
11:49Don't go away.
11:50We'll be back right after this short break.
11:52We are back, baby.
12:08It is the Keen and Judas show.
12:10Before the break, we were discussing about Nelson Semedo and his contract offer that as of 9.48am on July 1st is still on the table.
12:20However, I think it's fair to say, Liam, that at this point, it's looking more likely that Nelson Semedo will not be at this football club going forward.
12:28And that, of course, means that Wolves need to find another club captain.
12:33So I did a poll a few days ago, which got over 4,000 votes about who the fans think should be the new captain.
12:42So we'll discuss a few of the candidates, maybe a few of the people that you think, Liam.
12:45And then we'll both, by the end of the show, hopefully in the next 11 minutes, we'll have our choice of who we think Wolves captain should be.
12:53So let's start off with, like I say, over 4,000 votes, 4,074 to be precise.
12:58And the person who the peeps decided was their number one choice, a very, very tightly run contest, by the way, 47% of the vote is the fans player of the year.
13:10And that is Mr. JoĂŁo Gomez.
13:13Liam JoĂŁo Gomez, is he a, would he be top of the list in becoming new club captain?
13:20Do you think if Nelson Semedo did not take up that contact option?
13:23Yeah, there's a reason he's in the conversation.
13:25And a lot of that is for his on the pitch quality.
13:29He's a swashbuckling player.
13:32Swashbuckling, love that.
13:34You know, I'll pull him out of nowhere.
13:36He's really impressive as a footballer.
13:38The position he plays as a central midfielder is quite a good position for a captain to be.
13:44And by that, I mean, it's an authoritative position.
13:48It's a position that the fans sort of connect with.
13:52It's someone that doesn't necessarily have a lot of the outside pressure in terms of his performances in comparison to other positions like goal scorers and things like that.
14:00And for all those reasons, I think he'd be an excellent idea or candidate for captain.
14:07But there are a couple of big issues with that.
14:10One of them, which is less of an issue, but I'll mention it off the bat first of all, him being only 24 still.
14:17I don't think that's necessarily a massive problem, but I think it's worth highlighting that.
14:21Has he got enough experience?
14:23He's only been in English football a couple of years.
14:26There's a couple of small concerns over his age that I think are worth mentioning.
14:31The bigger concerns for him, one of them being one that he can't help.
14:35The other is something that would need improving is his communication.
14:38His English is definitely not perfect.
14:40He needs a fair bit of work.
14:42Luckily, there are a lot of people that speak a lot of different languages amongst the squad and the staff,
14:47which makes it less of a concern.
14:50But as a captain, as an individual, you probably need to be fluent.
14:54You probably need to be someone who can speak English and convey those messages appropriately.
15:00And then the thing he can't help is his speech impediment, which is something that is public,
15:04something that is well known and has spoken about in the past.
15:08And there's a reason he doesn't do a lot of stuff on camera because it is pretty severe, the impediment.
15:14Of course, as you say, something he cannot help whatsoever.
15:18But when it comes to conveying those messages and that communication,
15:21I think that has to be something that's taken into account as well.
15:24So as a captain on the pitch, lots of good reasons off it.
15:29A couple of small concerns.
15:30And to be honest, that will be a running theme with a few of these players we're going to talk about.
15:34Absolutely.
15:35And I just had one more thing on that.
15:37I would say about Jaume Gomez is that he's the sports player of the year.
15:41And sometimes with these players, you just want them to play football.
15:43You don't want them to have the burden of the captaincy.
15:45You've got to concentrate on your own game.
15:46And I think with Jaume Gomez, with some of the disciplinary problems he's had,
15:49because that's the way he plays.
15:50And that's why we love him to play.
15:51I just don't know whether you need to burden him with the captaincy as well.
15:56It wouldn't be my choice.
15:58I've got to be honest.
15:59And I don't think it'd probably be yours, Liam.
16:00But we'll have to move on because we've got a lot of candidates to get through.
16:03We haven't got a lot of time.
16:04But the other person who was neck and neck with him right until the very end,
16:06where Jaume Gomez just went ahead, was a January signing.
16:09Someone who's only been there at the club for six months.
16:11And that's Emmanuel Agbadoo with 42% of the vote.
16:14Someone, again, who you say very authoritative, strong, strong as an ox.
16:19Someone who you want.
16:20And I'm sure Vito Pereira wants to play 38 games out of 38 in the Premier League.
16:23You can understand it.
16:24You can understand why his approach, centre-back again.
16:27Like you're saying, centre midfielder, centre-back.
16:30These are the positions you have a captain in over the years, I think.
16:35And someone, I guess, who you could understand because he demands respect.
16:40But at the same time, I've only been at the club six months, Liam.
16:42So it'd be an interesting shout.
16:44But yeah, Emmanuel Agbadoo.
16:45Yeah, definitely a leader on the pitch, without a doubt.
16:47As you say, strong as an ox is a great way to describe him.
16:50I've interviewed him a couple of times and he's a man-mountain.
16:54And really, really impressive since he's come in.
16:57We've both been very, very glowing of his performances.
17:00And on the pitch, as I say, definitely a leader.
17:02Again, the position he plays, that centre-back.
17:04A really good position for a captain to be in.
17:08At his previous club in France, he was club captain.
17:11So he's got the experience of doing that.
17:13He's 28 years old.
17:14I think that's enough experience in good competitions as well
17:19to give him the knowledge of how to capture the side.
17:25The issue is off the pitch, behind the scenes, he's an obvious captain.
17:30He's an obvious leader.
17:32He is a little bit quieter.
17:34At the same time, someone like Nelson Smedo is a little bit quieter,
17:37but a very good professional and has done a very good job, I think,
17:40in sort of uniting the squad.
17:42So I think if Agbedou was to have some people around him,
17:45maybe some generals around him in that leadership group
17:48to help convey some of those messages, to help be a little bit louder,
17:52we've potentially got a really good option there as captain.
17:55But again, something that really got to be closely analysed by Vito and his team.
18:00And the reason that we're discussing this so much is because there is no obvious option
18:05at the moment as a captain.
18:06And that's why this is such an interesting discussion to have.
18:09And therein lies the problem, Liam, and it is a worry because, you know,
18:12like you say, when we're just disputing about the captaincy,
18:15that is a big issue going into this season that we still don't really know.
18:18And there's still no obvious candidate.
18:20Let's whistle through a few more and a few more candidates who were talked about.
18:23Totti Gomez, one of those people, he came third in the poll.
18:26There was only four options.
18:28So, you know, he might have been fifth, sixth, seventh,
18:30if there was 10 or 11 players.
18:31But yeah, Totti Gomez, obviously, is captain of the side as well,
18:34captain of the last season.
18:35Someone who's a bit more experienced on the pitch,
18:37obviously got a bit of Premier League experience.
18:39Portugal international as well, don't forget.
18:41And someone who you would have thought would be one of your main starters
18:45next season as well in that core back three, I guess, from Vito Pereira.
18:50So, yeah, Totti Gomez.
18:52Yeah, he wore the armband at Palace, didn't he?
18:54Not the best result, of course, but a big moment for him.
18:58Someone who's, you know, they signed from, you know,
19:01a smaller club in Portugal, sent about on loan a few times,
19:04got that opportunity out of nowhere under Bruno Large in the Premier League,
19:07and hasn't really looked back since.
19:09And I think he's been getting better every year.
19:11He's getting better as a sort of confidence within himself
19:14having that sort of authority.
19:16And he is a really good captain and leader on the pitch.
19:19I think the way he plays, he's aggressive, he's athletic.
19:21Again, it's a similar issue with a few other people.
19:24He's a relatively quiet character off it.
19:26Again, compared to Semedo and Agbadoo, it can work if you have people around it.
19:31I think with someone like Agbadoo who's been there and done it already,
19:35he's probably just ahead of Totti in that pecking order
19:38when it comes to captaincy, in my opinion.
19:40Okay.
19:41A couple more shouts, Liam.
19:43You want to discuss Marshall Minetsian and Jorgen Strand Larsson.
19:47Yeah, maybe a surprise to a couple of people to mention this.
19:52I think Minetsi would be a really good captain. I really do.
19:54I think he's a very intelligent guy.
19:58He's very easy to speak to, very easy to get along with.
20:00I think he has the best player, the players there.
20:06He wants the best for the people around him.
20:08And I think that would really help the squad and unite the squad.
20:11He speaks seven languages as well.
20:13So all of these reasons are great reasons.
20:15Again, a bit of a quieter guy, but we've discussed that already
20:19and why that can or can't be an issue.
20:21But he may not play enough is potentially the biggest problem.
20:26You need someone who's going to be playing the majority of the games,
20:29starting the majority of the games.
20:30And I'm not sure Minetsi next season will necessarily be the first name
20:33on the team sheet.
20:34I think he'll come in and out of the team.
20:36I think he'll be used when necessary.
20:37I think he's a good option from the bench as well.
20:39But I don't think that necessarily makes a captain.
20:43And actually, before I come on to last,
20:45to mention one other player in Matt Doherty,
20:48potentially a similar situation to Minetsi.
20:51I think he's a really good character, really good professional,
20:54very demanding of the people around him, wants the best,
20:57wants to be the best.
20:58He knows the club inside out has been at the club for a long time,
21:01obviously 10 years prior to leaving.
21:03And now he's been back for a couple of years.
21:04Again, he may not play enough.
21:06In my opinion, he probably deserves to start the season.
21:08A centre back after we played excellently
21:11at the back end of the campaign.
21:13The Wolves have got Mosquera coming back.
21:15They've got several other centre backs there.
21:17He may start the season, but if he finishes it,
21:20I wouldn't be surprised.
21:23But I think there's a lot of competition there,
21:25put it that way.
21:26So that's going to be another major issue for Doherty
21:29in keeping that position.
21:30But I think as a captain and someone who could do that position
21:32or do that role, I think again,
21:33he's another really good candidate.
21:35Someone that's in the mix.
21:36The problem of not playing enough is a big one.
21:38And then finally, Larson, which may surprise a few people,
21:41but I'd look to what he offers and who he is as a person.
21:46I think there's a lot of really good boxes being ticked here.
21:49But one big issue, which I'll come on to.
21:51So he speaks multiple languages.
21:53I don't actually know the exact number.
21:55As I said with Minetsi, it was seven.
21:57I know for a fact Larson speaks fluent English and fluent Spanish,
22:00but he does speak.
22:01I think he understands Italian.
22:02I think he speaks a few other languages as well.
22:04So he speaks multiple languages, which is great for communication,
22:07great for getting along with people.
22:08He does get along with everyone in the squad.
22:11He's a relatively big character.
22:14We all know he's got that big friendship with Andre, which is an unexpected turn of events.
22:19So all of these reasons are really great reasons for him to be a captain.
22:24There's a couple of small issues.
22:25Similar to Jao Gomez, him being 24, Larson's 25.
22:29Again, not a massive problem, but I think worth mentioning.
22:32He's also only been in English football for a year and obviously been in the Netherlands and Spain
22:37and obviously Norway at the very beginning of his career before that.
22:40And then the big problem here.
22:42We talk about positions.
22:43We talk about centre midfielders.
22:45We talk about centre backs.
22:46As a striker, is that the right person to be a captain?
22:50Because it puts a lot of extra pressure on you when you've already got the massive burden
22:54of needing to score goals already.
22:56And I'm not necessarily sure that he needs that extra pressure thrown on top of him.
23:01Similar to Jao Gomez, does he need to step back and focus on his football?
23:05Is he someone that can be in that leadership group and be in that group of generals, if you will,
23:10behind another captain and maybe work his way up to that position?
23:14But I think it was worth mentioning him anyway.
23:16But as you said from the very beginning, the problem Wolves have got
23:19is of all these people we've spoken about, there is no obvious position
23:23or obvious person for the role and that's Wolves' biggest problem.
23:26Final choice, quickly.
23:28Last three seconds, four seconds, you've got to choose one.
23:30If it's not Nelson-Tomato, it is.
23:31If he's got some generals around him, I would go with Active.
23:35OK, I'm going to say Totti Gomez.
23:36I'm going to say Pride and Tested played there.
23:39I think other players have got issues to work on themselves.
23:42I think Totti Gomez knows exactly what he is.
23:44He does what he says on the table.
23:45See you all next week.
23:46Bye bye.
23:58DR.
23:59Oh yeah.
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