Newcastle 1-0 Wolves (13/09/25) - Verdict Thread

[Lycan]

Look i get that everything is very negative whichis understandable and we've lost the first four games and we're definitely going to be in a battle this season but i do think the talk of Derby points totals etc.. is just not anything we're going to be involved with. I know we've lost all 4 games but it's been really fine margins in the last 3 in particular and pretty sure if Sa hadn't become a human sieve for 90 minutes against City that probably would have been a loss by 1 goal too. Now whether you lose by 1 or 3 it's still a loss but i do think we're not far away from being very competitive and us picking up points.

There's lots to work on and we're very frustrating to watch at the moment especially with the errors and the performances of some of our better players but that is something Vitor can work on although he does need to think about his use of Munetsi and Hwang. Those 2 should be used only to protect players who have a high workload and when we're winning comfortably, there's not a time i can see that they add more than other options while we're drawing/losing.

Should have scored in the first half yesterday and when we didn't and conceded it was hard to see how we could get back into the game with Hwang on, Tolu understandably having to come off and then Vitor bringing Munetsi on. It was also tough as Mr Kavanagh in his purple kit was about as much good as Barney the dinpasaur would have been in charge of the game, blatant home decisions including Krejci's early yellow card and a flying kick to the head (by Burn i think) which went completely unpunished being two standouts amongst a number of questionable decisions.

We've still got a problem in midfield as Andre is still not hitting the heights of last year which is obviously linked to his falling out with the manager but Joao next to him is really struggling imo and he also seems undroppable. He's still getting around the pitch but being beaten more than last year and he lost his battle with Tonali(what a player) yesterday and his distribution with the ball has to be better especially with those behind him namely Toti and Agbadou really struggling with their distribution too.

Only one game but i do think Krejci is going to add to the squad, he's a good footballer and i'd like to see him move into the back 3 and see Lopez come into a more advanced role in midfield if we're going to go with the 3-5-2/5-3-2 that we did yesterday. Mosquera is gonig to be a good addition to the back 3 and we desperately need to see the Agbadou of last season because at the moment i'd rather see Santi come in and i never thought i'd be asking for him to start in a Premier League team.

As i said at the start i get the negativity, i'm pretty negative myself and i do think it's going to be a real battle but i do think there's enough quality in the squad to get us to a position of safety it's jsut on Vitor to do this. Yes he's been failed by Fosun and the recrutiment because the standard of players in are'nt comparable to those that left but there's still enough here to get something out of the squad and while we lost yesterday i think that game showed that as Newcastle are a pretty good side and they didn't blow us away and had we got Larsen in the team and others fully fit and integrated we would have got something from the game. I'm going to hang on to that hope for as long as possible but next week is genuinely a must win already probably because we do need to get points on the board and especially at home.

Finally a balanced, common sense view

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Should never have survived the Everton away game, absolutely disgraceful tactics he employed in that game and was a big signal he had lost his way big time.

Don’t recall that but Swansea were without an away win, possibly even an away point and for 80 minutes outplayed us. Had we lost I think NM would have been sacked.

 

[jd1981]

Look i get that everything is very negative whichis understandable and we've lost the first four games and we're definitely going to be in a battle this season but i do think the talk of Derby points totals etc.. is just not anything we're going to be involved with. I know we've lost all 4 games but it's been really fine margins in the last 3 in particular and pretty sure if Sa hadn't become a human sieve for 90 minutes against City that probably would have been a loss by 1 goal too. Now whether you lose by 1 or 3 it's still a loss but i do think we're not far away from being very competitive and us picking up points.

There's lots to work on and we're very frustrating to watch at the moment especially with the errors and the performances of some of our better players but that is something Vitor can work on although he does need to think about his use of Munetsi and Hwang. Those 2 should be used only to protect players who have a high workload and when we're winning comfortably, there's not a time i can see that they add more than other options while we're drawing/losing.

Should have scored in the first half yesterday and when we didn't and conceded it was hard to see how we could get back into the game with Hwang on, Tolu understandably having to come off and then Vitor bringing Munetsi on. It was also tough as Mr Kavanagh in his purple kit was about as much good as Barney the dinpasaur would have been in charge of the game, blatant home decisions including Krejci's early yellow card and a flying kick to the head (by Burn i think) which went completely unpunished being two standouts amongst a number of questionable decisions.

We've still got a problem in midfield as Andre is still not hitting the heights of last year which is obviously linked to his falling out with the manager but Joao next to him is really struggling imo and he also seems undroppable. He's still getting around the pitch but being beaten more than last year and he lost his battle with Tonali(what a player) yesterday and his distribution with the ball has to be better especially with those behind him namely Toti and Agbadou really struggling with their distribution too.

Only one game but i do think Krejci is going to add to the squad, he's a good footballer and i'd like to see him move into the back 3 and see Lopez come into a more advanced role in midfield if we're going to go with the 3-5-2/5-3-2 that we did yesterday. Mosquera is gonig to be a good addition to the back 3 and we desperately need to see the Agbadou of last season because at the moment i'd rather see Santi come in and i never thought i'd be asking for him to start in a Premier League team.

As i said at the start i get the negativity, i'm pretty negative myself and i do think it's going to be a real battle but i do think there's enough quality in the squad to get us to a position of safety it's jsut on Vitor to do this. Yes he's been failed by Fosun and the recrutiment because the standard of players in are'nt comparable to those that left but there's still enough here to get something out of the squad and while we lost yesterday i think that game showed that as Newcastle are a pretty good side and they didn't blow us away and had we got Larsen in the team and others fully fit and integrated we would have got something from the game. I'm going to hang on to that hope for as long as possible but next week is genuinely a must win already probably because we do need to get points on the board and especially at home.

I think we’ve been distinctly second best in every game we’ve played.
You know football well and know that not being to bad yesterday doesn’t mean 3 points this Saturday.
Big difference to not being far away from a side scoreline wise and actually getting points.
Reason being had we say been at 0-0 with 15 to go yesterday we’d have faced a probable barrage from Newcastle, based on how we defend we’d have struggled to get anything.
I don’t think you’re close when you don’t register a single attempt on goal from the 43 minute until the 90th minute when you’re chasing a game.
The one time we have recovered from falling behind the opposition just put their foot down and moved away from us comfortably ie Everton.
The last 3 we’ve lost by 1 goal, yes looks close on a score sheet but it’s more down to the opposition just happy to see out the game and us not having enough quality to get back into it.

 

[slink]

I think we’ve been distinctly second best in every game we’ve played.
You know football well and know that not being to bad yesterday doesn’t mean 3 points this Saturday.
Big difference to not being far away from a side scoreline wise and actually getting points.
Reason being had we say been at 0-0 with 15 to go yesterday we’d have faced a probable barrage from Newcastle, based on how we defend we’d have struggled to get anything.
I don’t think you’re close when you don’t register a single attempt on goal from the 43 minute until the 90th minute when you’re chasing a game.
The one time we have recovered from falling behind the opposition just put their foot down and moved away from us comfortably ie Everton.
The last 3 we’ve lost by 1 goal, yes looks close on a score sheet but it’s more down to the opposition just happy to see out the game and us not having enough quality to get back into it.

I’m not sure it we’ve been “distinctly” second best in those 3 games at all.

Well in the Bournemouth game, both Larsen and Munetsi should score and if Arias equalises early in the second half when we had a bit of control the game changes, he doesn’t and then Toti gets sent off and it’s pretty much game over.

Not sure Everton were much better than us, well in the game and punished after really poor individual errors. After the subs in the second half we were well on top and if we had Larsen/Tolu we may equalise, Rodrigo had a very good chance to anyway.

Newcastle are better than us but we were more than a match for them in the first half, probably should have been 2-2. Second half we struggled but so did they, not sure they were seeing out a 1-0 either they didn’t have much to break us down either but they had the lead.

I agree with the quality of the players but Larsen and Tolu up top are going to be important, Krejci will be too in deeper positions and Lopez/Arias will have an impact at some point imo. Look if Vitor keeps picking Hwang/Munetsi and doesn’t replace poor performing centre backs or get them back to form then we’re in trouble but it’s on him to get the best out of the squad now. I maintain while I’m concerned we aren’t being battered in games, it genuinely is small margins.

 

[jd1981]

I’m not sure it we’ve been “distinctly” second best in those 3 games at all.

Well in the Bournemouth game, both Larsen and Munetsi should score and if Arias equalises early in the second half when we had a bit of control the game changes, he doesn’t and then Toti gets sent off and it’s pretty much game over.

Not sure Everton were much better than us, well in the game and punished after really poor individual errors. After the subs in the second half we were well on top and if we had Larsen/Tolu we may equalise, Rodrigo had a very good chance to anyway.

Newcastle are better than us but we were more than a match for them in the first half, probably should have been 2-2. Second half we struggled but so did they, not sure they were seeing out a 1-0 either they didn’t have much to break us down either but they had the lead.

I agree with the quality of the players but Larsen and Tolu up top are going to be important, Krejci will be too in deeper positions and Lopez/Arias will have an impact at some point imo. Look if Vitor keeps picking Hwang/Munetsi and doesn’t replace poor performing centre backs or get them back to form then we’re in trouble but it’s on him to get the best out of the squad now. I maintain while I’m concerned we aren’t being battered in games, it genuinely is small margins.

We were battered by Bournemouth first half and they should’ve been out of sight by halftime. Everton were better than us in every department for about 80 minutes.
Sorry but absolutely cannot see how you can watch the games v Bournemouth and Everton and judge that we’re close.

 

[Wolftone]

If he goes 4-4-2 with JSL and Tolu up front with two creative actual midfielders either side of the non creative two we will score goals.
I'm not giving up just yet

 

[slink]

We were battered by Bournemouth first half and they should’ve been out of sight by halftime. Everton were better than us in every department for about 80 minutes.
Sorry but absolutely cannot see how you can watch the games v Bournemouth and Everton and judge that we’re close.

Bournemouth did not batter us in the first half at all. Goal came from us giving the ball away and then they created one more chance which Semenyo should have scored. Munetsi had a 1 on 1(score was 0-0) under some pressure but a chance a Premier League footballer should do better with and Larsen has a free header which on last seasons form and like he did in the cup game i would expect him to score.

Should have gone in level and even when we went down to 10 Bournemouth didn’t take us apart. Small margins, we lost which is fair enough but losing doesn’t mean that there’s lots in it.

Everton game was again a game that came down to individual errors from us that you wouldn’t expect at this level, they’re something you can eradicate and a good manager will. Vitor has to prove that now.

Like i said in the first post, i get the negativity because of where we are and the atmosphere around the club, it’s more than understandable but that doesn’t mean everything has to be end of the world stuff. If we were miles off competing I guarantee you in this league we’re losing by 2, 3, 4 goals and conceding that many too.

 

[jd1981]

Continual individual errors costing you games means you generally aren’t good enough and neither are the personnel.
The reason we keep losing is because of a severe quality issue.
What will happen is you’ll keep coming back saying we’re not that far off after we’ve lost another game by 1-2 goals.
I admire your positivity even if you think we’re close then it’s pointless continuously being close and not good enough.

 

[slink]

Continual individual errors costing you games means you generally aren’t good enough and neither are the personnel.
The reason we keep losing is because of a severe quality issue.
What will happen is you’ll keep coming back saying we’re not that far off after we’ve lost another game by 1-2 goals.
I admire your positivity even if you think we’re close then it’s pointless continuously being close and not good enough.

I agree with that but if Agbadou keeps making errors he will get taken out. Bellegarde won’t be playing next to Joao like he was at Bournemouth, Munetsi and Hwang will be seen less with Tolu/Larsen fit and Arias/Lopez adapting. The squad isn’t what it was but it’s also not cut adrift dreadful either because if it was Newcastle would have smashed us yesterday especially when they had 12 men when the game involved in physical challenge.

If Vitor doesn’t make those changes then unfortunately we’ll have to find someone else to get the best out of the squad much like we did when O’Neill couldn’t last year. That’s not easy but no way is our squad worse than 4/5 other teams if used correctly.

 

[PuntsWolf]

I still wonder what would have happened if we hadn't got two late goals against Swansea. MM was on very thin ice and if we'd replaced him then who knows what would have happened. We weren't a lost cause at that point and might have attracted a half decent manager, not that MM wasn't, but at that point it felt like he'd run his course at Wolves.

Add Larsson missing a penalty for Sunderland to that too

 

[Wilf Wolf]

That’s not easy but no way is our squad worse than 4/5 other teams if used correctly.

Hugo Bueno, Rodrigo, Tchatchoua, Wolfe, Arias, Lopez, Tolu and Krejci are all unproven in the PL. Add in that Munetsi, Bellegarde, Doherty, Santi Bueno and Toti are at their very best lower end PL players and that statement involves a lot of blind faith.

 

[Jinky]

Look i get that everything is very negative whichis understandable and we've lost the first four games and we're definitely going to be in a battle this season but i do think the talk of Derby points totals etc.. is just not anything we're going to be involved with. I know we've lost all 4 games but it's been really fine margins in the last 3 in particular and pretty sure if Sa hadn't become a human sieve for 90 minutes against City that probably would have been a loss by 1 goal too. Now whether you lose by 1 or 3 it's still a loss but i do think we're not far away from being very competitive and us picking up points.

There's lots to work on and we're very frustrating to watch at the moment especially with the errors and the performances of some of our better players but that is something Vitor can work on although he does need to think about his use of Munetsi and Hwang. Those 2 should be used only to protect players who have a high workload and when we're winning comfortably, there's not a time i can see that they add more than other options while we're drawing/losing.

Should have scored in the first half yesterday and when we didn't and conceded it was hard to see how we could get back into the game with Hwang on, Tolu understandably having to come off and then Vitor bringing Munetsi on. It was also tough as Mr Kavanagh in his purple kit was about as much good as Barney the dinpasaur would have been in charge of the game, blatant home decisions including Krejci's early yellow card and a flying kick to the head (by Burn i think) which went completely unpunished being two standouts amongst a number of questionable decisions.

We've still got a problem in midfield as Andre is still not hitting the heights of last year which is obviously linked to his falling out with the manager but Joao next to him is really struggling imo and he also seems undroppable. He's still getting around the pitch but being beaten more than last year and he lost his battle with Tonali(what a player) yesterday and his distribution with the ball has to be better especially with those behind him namely Toti and Agbadou really struggling with their distribution too.

Only one game but i do think Krejci is going to add to the squad, he's a good footballer and i'd like to see him move into the back 3 and see Lopez come into a more advanced role in midfield if we're going to go with the 3-5-2/5-3-2 that we did yesterday. Mosquera is gonig to be a good addition to the back 3 and we desperately need to see the Agbadou of last season because at the moment i'd rather see Santi come in and i never thought i'd be asking for him to start in a Premier League team.

As i said at the start i get the negativity, i'm pretty negative myself and i do think it's going to be a real battle but i do think there's enough quality in the squad to get us to a position of safety it's jsut on Vitor to do this. Yes he's been failed by Fosun and the recrutiment because the standard of players in are'nt comparable to those that left but there's still enough here to get something out of the squad and while we lost yesterday i think that game showed that as Newcastle are a pretty good side and they didn't blow us away and had we got Larsen in the team and others fully fit and integrated we would have got something from the game. I'm going to hang on to that hope for as long as possible but next week is genuinely a must win already probably because we do need to get points on the board and especially at home.

Well I definitely agree with you on one point you’ve made above. And that is that Joao Gomes has lost every individual battle he’s been in this season, so far. Think you could probably count the number of times that happened on one hand last season.

With him being beaten in his individual duels and Andre struggling next to him, it’s no wonder we are struggling given the downgrades across the other positions in the team.

We need him (and Andre) back to their best ASAP. I do also feel like teams target him a bit, knowing he’s a bit of a hot-head & they know he’s always good for a booking.

 

[slink]

Hugo Bueno, Rodrigo, Tchatchoua, Wolfe, Arias, Lopez, Tolu and Krejci are all unproven in the PL. Add in that Munetsi, Bellegarde, Doherty, Santi Bueno and Toti are at their very best lower end PL players and that statement involves a lot of blind faith.

Never go on blind faith, go with my eyes. Proven/unproven is nonsense it’s good enough/not good enough and then it’s down to physical attributes for the league and being used properly by the boss.

I think majority of those unproven are good enough imo from what i’ve seen of them if used in the right way. Hugo Bueno has actually surprised me in his last few appearances, thought he was excellent yesterday on his wrong side against good players. Those lower end/not really good enough will be ok if there’s not 3/4 of them in the team or in similar areas of the pitch.

 

[slink]

Well I definitely agree with you on one point you’ve made above. And that is that Joao Gomes has lost every individual battle he’s been in this season, so far. Think you could probably count the number of times that happened on one hand last season.

With him being beaten in his individual duels and Andre struggling next to him, it’s no wonder we are struggling given the downgrades across the other positions in the team.

We need him (and Andre) back to their best ASAP. I do also feel like teams target him a bit, knowing he’s a bit of a hot-head & they know he’s always good for a booking.

Tonali dominated him yesterday both physically and tactically. Joao’s been too keen to engage for me this season and easily beaten or bypassed and his use of the ball has gone down several levels from those of last season.

We know he’s better than that and similar with Andre who i think was slightly better yesterday but sometimes Joao’s willingness to run around sometimes masks an average performance.

 

[YoungWolf]

to say we are competing is a real stretch. There’s so little plan in possession and at the back we have looked a real mess defending the box.

Played 4 lost 4. Scored 2 conceded 9.

Over - 1 xGD per game. Only Villa and Burnley worse than us in that sense.

We’re making the squad worse every year so it’s not a surprise. I don’t see why anyone can think we aren’t clearly one of the worst 3 teams in the division and do not look like improving.

 

[Stan Hullis]

Gomes’ form is clearly not at the height it has been previously but to say he has not won a single individual battle yet this season is both hyperbolic and blatantly not true.

The stats back this up, and so did seeing the game from the gods of St James Park.

He was bettered by a sublime Sandro Tonali yesterday but was probably our best player on the day.

I really hope we win on Saturday.

 

[YoungWolf]

I really hope we win on Saturday.

We desperately need to. Like Dan said, lose to Leeds and spurs and he’s gone.

 

[Lycan]

do not look like improving.

We were much improved yesterday against a Champions League team with a referee who seriously impacted our ability to play the way we wanted to.

We lost the game yesterday in moments. I accept that that's clearly an issue going forward as it's beginning to look like a bit of a pattern rather than bad luck but it's the sort of thing which can be improved on the training ground and, once our new players bed in, with a more settled team.

 

[WVWolf]

That’s not easy but no way is our squad worse than 4/5 other teams if used correctly.

I don't agree with this. I think we really overrate our players. Also, unlike any other squad, we have glaring issues, such as having no players with genuine pace that can carry the ball in attack.

I would say we're better than Burnley on paper, but that's about it. That's not me saying that other teams are way better than us by any means, but, as a balanced collective, I would rather Leeds/Sunderland/Brentford's squad than ours.

The only saving grace is that Pereira is probably a better manager than Farke/Le Bris/Andrews, so that might give us an edge, but I think our squad is packed full of average players.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

West Ham are at least as bad as us, I would argue worse. They fold like Superman on laundry day and their fans fucking hate everyone bar Jarod Bowen. Plus they have Max Kilman.