Nathan Judah and Liam Keen bring you the latest Wolves poddy in association with Kettle and Toaster Man.
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00:00:00 [MUSIC]
00:00:20 Hello everybody, welcome to episode 323, that is three, it's two, it's three, it's the ENS, WOLF's
00:00:30 podcast. I'm your host Nathan Judah. It's been a hot minute. Delighted to be joined by Wolverhampton
00:00:37 Wanderers extraordinaire. He was cold last night. He was chilly. He was tired. He was excited.
00:00:42 Hopefully he's thawed out. Mr. Liam Keane. I'm still freezing. You know, I was cold.
00:00:50 I mean, I sat next to you and I, at one point you showed me something on your phone and you
00:00:54 were actually physically shivering. I was. You said, you're alright lad, you're alright.
00:00:58 I was like, you're okay mate, you're feeling alright. And then even when we did our video
00:01:02 at the end of the game, a bit of analysis after the game and you didn't look well, you looked ill.
00:01:07 I'm still struggling. I mean, really, I was so excited because I got a new thermos flask,
00:01:15 which I debuted last night at the game and I filled out a decaf coffee. Cause I'm like,
00:01:19 I don't want to be wired when I get back. I want to sleep. But I'm thinking this is going to be an
00:01:23 absolute game changer when it comes to 35th minute, 67th minute. And it's literally bitter. It was
00:01:29 bitter because it was, even though it was like one degree minus four was what it felt like on the old
00:01:34 Met office. So wind chill, et cetera. So I poured it. I was so excited. Hot cup of coffee and it was
00:01:40 lukewarm. It was disgusting. It was gross. And you spilled it everywhere.
00:01:44 And I just spilled it everywhere. You went for it.
00:01:45 And you were holding it over me trying to wind me up and I was getting annoyed and
00:01:48 yeah, it was great. You know, while I'm trying to do my work and trying to watch wolves and try and
00:01:52 bring the best coverage possible. I've got some morons next to me.
00:01:55 It was a long game.
00:01:56 I'm talking about you, not Steve Mailey to my right. I'm talking about you.
00:01:59 Wow. I brought you above real at full time as well before extra time. This is the gratitude
00:02:03 that I take. Kino, we've got some exciting news by the way, before we start, before we kick off,
00:02:09 we've got some exciting news. So people, some people in the next couple of days will be able
00:02:15 to not just listen to us because obviously we're always on Apple podcasts and Spotify and we love,
00:02:20 you know, 12, 13,000 of you each week tuning in. But going forward, the majority of the time,
00:02:27 you'll be able to see our beautiful faces live. Well, not live, but kind of as live,
00:02:31 because we are going, we're going viral, baby. We're going on TV. How crazy is this?
00:02:36 I mean, I knew we'd get a big break eventually. I knew, I knew one day we'd make it.
00:02:41 So I am looking at you now. Yeah, we're going to be on shots tv.com, which is online. You'll be
00:02:48 able to watch us on the podcast. If you don't want to just listen to us, you'll be able to
00:02:52 watch us. So that's a bonus for every one of you right there. And we're also, we're also going to
00:02:56 free view as well. So you'll be able to see the bang on sky on the night and channel 276. We'll
00:03:02 let you know when that comes out as well. Um, that's on shots TV. So a freebie, if you want
00:03:07 to have your dinner and watch me and you for an hour now in 20 minutes, I mean,
00:03:10 it's nothing better. Is that who needs to extend as a coronation street?
00:03:14 No, especially after last night's game. Um, no, I'm not, I'm not, I'm looking worse to wear,
00:03:20 not feeling great. I've got, I mean, I'm, I am in, as you said, I'm still not in my,
00:03:25 my new home yet. So I'm in, um, a bunker hiding, um, from, from the world. I've got next door,
00:03:31 had a new toilet installed. So there's a guy banging on the door and drilling and doing all
00:03:35 sorts of things. So it's been a great start actually to the, to the, to the hangers behind
00:03:39 me, a little coat rack. I mean, bless you. I mean, you might, you can see it just here.
00:03:44 There is a very, there is a wolves related, very old Academy photo. I don't know why my family's
00:03:52 got this. It's something to do with my dad's work. It's from 2005, 2006 and Wayne Hennessy.
00:03:56 And he played any play still kicking around any, any, any legends?
00:04:00 Wow. Legends are quite when Hennessy's sat right at the front of very young Wayne Hennessy,
00:04:04 um, from the wolves Academy days. Uh, otherwise I don't recognize any other players on that. Um,
00:04:08 so yeah, otherwise it's a great background. I mean, I've got to move some towels,
00:04:14 uh, at the back that were draped over the, uh, the clothes rail.
00:04:17 Well, I had to find something wolves last minute and, um, I found this, this old wolves shirt.
00:04:23 So I'll put it there, but I'll try and make a better background in the future.
00:04:26 And I'm like, what's this wolf shirt? I'm like, Oh, it's signed. I'm like, why is it a bully
00:04:30 signed it? I'm like, what's that for? And then it says two mats, best wishes, Steve bull. So I guess
00:04:36 someone won a prize two or three years ago, but whenever the shirt was, and if there's a mat
00:04:41 watching, uh, Steve bull signed your shirt and is waiting for you. I don't know who won it, but
00:04:45 yeah, I've got quite a few of those. Yeah. Please get in touch, man. Your,
00:04:48 your shirt is waiting for you. Wow. And you went very loud there on your audio. Um, so, uh, keynote
00:04:54 also, and I've got to apologize as well because we have gone super professional. We've also got a
00:04:58 producer now. So there's a poor, poor person in a studio has got to listen to us and watches every
00:05:04 single week now, which commiserations for him. But Mark Wilson got to give him a bit of a clap
00:05:09 because, um, he has got, he's probably listened to this going, what is this drivel? Well, I thought
00:05:14 we were, I thought when we, we bought, we bought you guys, it was a, this was a top-notch podcast
00:05:18 and they're going to realize very quickly that we talk a lot of rubbish. Well, that's a good point.
00:05:23 First of all. Um, but I think Mark's already going to be part of the team. Look, he's not going to be
00:05:27 speaking. Um, hopefully, hopefully not. Cause you don't want to take away from our star.
00:05:32 It's going to be editing, editing your profanities. Um, and I think, I think he fits into the, um,
00:05:40 the, the podcast dynamic perfectly. Cause he didn't even know my surname when I rocked up.
00:05:44 So it's, uh, I've killed him. I've absolutely killed him. Oh God. Listen to this now.
00:05:51 Look, he, look, he's, he's going to learn very quickly that this is the kind of, you know,
00:05:55 fun and games we have. It's all love. We, uh, I had a video, uh, is a lovely guy called James
00:06:00 as well. So I've had a few meetings with him before this. And, uh, I had a meeting with him,
00:06:04 I think it was back in a couple of weeks ago now. And, uh, it's all cool. Um, but we're killing,
00:06:10 we're killing, killing our bosses here now. It's all cool. And he was like, oh yeah. I was like,
00:06:15 I listened to your podcast last week and he goes, and he was trying to find something complimentary.
00:06:19 And he was like, I thought you were, you were, you're both quite funny.
00:06:22 Content was superb. I mean, you know, the analysis and the way you break it down. So
00:06:27 no, you're both, uh, quite funny. So we'll take it. Um, mate, it's been, it's been a hot minute.
00:06:33 Like I said, um, wolves have been to Abu Dhabi. I've been to Texas. Um, mate, I mean, we're talking
00:06:40 and we'll go into barbecue discussion later on, but Texas barbecue. Oh my God. Liam brisket,
00:06:48 beef ribs, pork ribs, chicken pulled pork. I know you love a bit of sausage. It is on
00:06:54 burr leaveable. Honestly. I mean, I've, I'm now reducing calories as we speak, but
00:07:01 crikey, that was incredible. And that's not great for Debbie on camera.
00:07:05 That kind of food is right up my street as well. I mean, I saw the pictures that you
00:07:10 put on Twitter. You sent me a few personal pics as well.
00:07:17 And it's, uh, it looked unbelievable. Um, that's, I mean, I, I, one of the places you went to was
00:07:22 Austin, wasn't it? I've always wanted to go to Austin. There's a big comedy scene there and I'm
00:07:26 big into comedy. I really want to go and experience all that. But one of these days, a wolves tour
00:07:33 there would be ideal. Oh, please. Um, yeah. Sixth street is kind of like the college hideout, hide
00:07:40 away, all the bars down there. And there's some great music and then there's comedy clubs and
00:07:44 there's a place called rainy street, which is more for the, the kind of, um, 30, 20, 30, 40 year
00:07:49 olds and kind of like little houses with bars in them. Absolutely insane. And like you say,
00:07:53 music scene and comedy scene, which you didn't realise, but, uh, Houston first for the national
00:07:57 championship for the Huskies and didn't quite beat Michigan. But, um, then we went to Austin
00:08:01 for a few days, then got back late Sunday afternoon, straight into a presser and then,
00:08:06 and then game last night. So we've got a lot to talk about Keno. So let's, let's crack on. Um,
00:08:11 look, of course, transfer news will be, we'll be discussing questions, keen or not keen later on,
00:08:16 um, as well as a preview to the, the big game against Brighton. But first of all, Wolverhampton
00:08:21 Wanderers three, Brentford two, I'm sick and tired of playing Brentford. We've got to play them again
00:08:25 next month, but thankfully they got through. No one wants extra time, but at least, uh, they,
00:08:31 they got over the hill and my goodness, have we got an exciting game a week on Sunday, but, uh,
00:08:38 let's talk about the game first. Then we'll, then we'll, we'll discuss about them a lot,
00:08:41 um, in a little bit. Uh, what did you make of the game, Liam? I thought, I thought was played
00:08:45 pretty well. Gary O'Neill wasn't massively happy with obviously the, the, the goals that they
00:08:50 conceded, but overall the best team one didn't they? Yeah, definitely. Um, the goals they conceded
00:08:55 were really sloppy and that's the biggest negative from the game. Um, both of them really just
00:09:02 switching off tired legs out there. Um, and then even for the Shandon Baptiste chance that he had
00:09:09 right at the, uh, what was it? Partly through the first half of extra time. Yeah, that was really
00:09:16 tired legs and you know, just allowing him to, to barge his way through really. So we'll maybe
00:09:23 wrote that look a little bit and obviously gave away two poor goals, but overall in terms of
00:09:28 controlling possession, controlling the game, um, the flow of the game, the momentum, the counter
00:09:33 attacks, wolves were easily the best side. Um, I've been quite complimentary of Brentford's
00:09:38 overall in the last few weeks when we've had the league game, the first FA cup game, this FA cup
00:09:43 game, uh, as you said, there's a fourth game coming up, uh, fairly soon, which I'm missing.
00:09:48 Thank God for that. I can't, I can't bear Brentford another time. I can't write about
00:09:54 Brentford again. No offense. So, um, it was, I've been complimentary of them over time. I do,
00:10:04 I do think they're a decent side with a decent manager. They've got a lot of injuries, but
00:10:07 they were quite poor. I thought last night, awful.
00:10:11 Where yes, they, they, they took the lead, but they didn't offer anything going forward. They
00:10:18 didn't offer anything in possession. Um, and what was it was trying to systematically break
00:10:23 them down. And eventually they got there. And the first goal I think was a really,
00:10:27 um, lovely cross from CUNY while taking golf and tomato, maybe a tad bit of luck that the ball
00:10:31 comes back to him, but sometimes you've got to create your own look and he got into the right
00:10:34 positions. Um, and from then, I think we started the second half and we both said to each other,
00:10:39 there is no way wolves don't go on and win this game. And then they ended up two on down. So
00:10:44 yeah, I had to ride that look a little bit at times, but without a doubt were with a better
00:10:48 side. Um, on a day when maybe wolves were at their peak, but certainly good enough to win the game.
00:10:54 Yeah. And some, some positive performances, like you say, they were quite depleted,
00:11:00 maybe a little bit of a surprise, although someone predicted it that, um, that Matt Doherty would,
00:11:04 would start. Uh, and what was that about you predicting Neto to start? And I said it wouldn't
00:11:08 and it was the other three Santiago Bueno was going to be so two to one to me. So the prediction
00:11:13 is fine. It's fine. Um, but I thought, I thought doc did pretty well. And actually Gary Neil said
00:11:18 after the game that he was, was unfortunate to be taken off, but just the way that they were
00:11:22 setting up at that moment in time with Pedro Neto, they wanted to play on the left, not the right
00:11:26 hand side. I thought it was a better matchup, um, rather than going against Lewis Potter.
00:11:30 We'd have to track back a little bit so you can understand that. But actually I thought that he
00:11:33 did quite well. I thought the Santiago Bueno did well as well. And he's starting to find his feet
00:11:37 in the team. We are the wanders in all gold and black. You better retreat cause we're on the
00:11:45 attack. The strength of the wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton. We're on our way back.
00:11:53 We are the wanders in all gold and black. You better retreat cause we're on the attack. The strength of the wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton. We're on our way back.
00:12:20 But I thought, I thought Doc did pretty well. And actually Gary Neal said after the game
00:12:23 that he was, was unfortunate to be taken off, but just the way that they were setting up at
00:12:27 that moment in time with Pedro Neto, they wanted to play on the left, not the right hand side.
00:12:31 I thought it was a better matchup, um, rather than going against Lewis Potter. We'd have to
00:12:34 track back a little bit so you can understand that. But actually I thought that he did quite
00:12:38 well. I thought the Santiago Bueno did well as well. And he's starting to find his feet in the
00:12:42 team. As you would expect, you know, he hasn't had a lot of game time. We know our boy was against
00:12:45 Ipswich, but the more and more you see him now, he's not, he's not going to be, he's not going to
00:12:49 be in the starters every week, not a chance. You know, you've got Craig Dawson, Gomez and Kilman,
00:12:53 they're your main three, but as a backup, at least to the end of the season, I was a little
00:12:57 bit scared, a little bit scared and worried at some point when he's playing against, I think it
00:13:01 was Fulham, was it? When he was his first Premier League start. And I was like, Oh goodness me,
00:13:05 this could go disastrous. And actually he did okay. And I think every game he's progressed
00:13:09 to somewhere where he's actually a useful squad player at this moment in time.
00:13:13 Yeah. And the reason we're so concerned is because of how the game against Ipswich went,
00:13:18 you know, he comes in for his, his first start. Obviously it's a cup game. He really struggled.
00:13:24 I mean, he was flat footed. He was getting turned. His positioning was off, he was poor that day.
00:13:29 He really was. I've been pleased with how he's come on. I have been because
00:13:36 he's not played a lot of football. He's making a big switch to,
00:13:42 to a different kind of football in England, to what he's used to. And I think he's done,
00:13:49 I think he's done well. He's been steady without being outstanding, but steady enough where it's
00:13:54 been, it's been comfortable. So yeah, I thought he did well to your point about Doc, maybe Wolves'
00:14:00 best player in that first half or at least in the conversation. And then I'm lucky to come off,
00:14:06 but understandable why Gary Neal made that decision. And then I might be nicking a segment
00:14:10 from you, but I'm going to go for it anyway. A player that I thought was one of the standouts
00:14:16 and the obvious one would be Cunha, which I, you know, I won't mention, but Tommy Doyle,
00:14:21 I thought was really good last night at a time when he's having to initially cover for Lamina,
00:14:28 which is a tough ass. Him and Hodge are having to cover for Lamina and Gio Gomez being out.
00:14:33 Hodge, who I thought was actually quite steady and did the simple things well and looked after
00:14:39 the ball. And there's a few risky passes that didn't come off for him, but otherwise fairly
00:14:43 well, fairly, fairly decent. But Tommy Doyle, I thought controlled the game. That's the biggest
00:14:47 compliment I can offer him. He's assured in possession, controlled the game, allowed Wolves
00:14:54 to keep ticking over in midfield and then pick that pass to switch, whether it's flank to flank
00:14:58 or whatever it might be to get into the final third. So I was quite impressed with him. He's
00:15:03 taken another step forward, I think, in his Wolves' career.
00:15:08 Yeah. Look, you mentioned the midfield as a midfield too. How do you think they did together?
00:15:14 I mean, it was a big ask, wasn't it, coming back into that side?
00:15:16 It was a big ask. And I think there was a lot of concern over those two playing together because
00:15:21 they are quite similar players. Interesting.
00:15:24 There was not a look before the game, was there?
00:15:26 No. Surprisingly, I don't know why, Joe Hodge is getting a bit of a hard time from supporters.
00:15:35 He's a player who's played once this season. It started against Blackpool in August and then
00:15:39 obviously got that hamstring injury, which kept him out for, was it about four or five
00:15:42 weeks at the time? I think it was.
00:15:43 About five weeks, yeah.
00:15:44 Then he wasn't really being selected. Then he needed shoulder surgery for an issue on his
00:15:51 shoulder. So he's not really, aside from not being selected during a sort of brief period,
00:15:57 he's not really been available. And then he comes back in. I thought he did very well last season.
00:16:00 We had a chat about it yesterday. I thought he did very well last season under Loppetegui
00:16:03 when he was called upon. But there's not really anything to judge him on this season as to
00:16:08 why he'd be judged negatively. And he's been getting a bit of a hard time. I don't really
00:16:12 understand it. He wasn't by any means a standout outstanding player for Wolves last night,
00:16:17 but he certainly was not a negative for the club or for the team. I thought he did well.
00:16:23 I thought he looked after the ball well, did all the simple things well, as I've said. So
00:16:27 it's a strange one. It's a strange one for him to get that bit of sort of negative
00:16:31 feedback, particularly without having actually played to get that feedback.
00:16:34 What I was going to say was a bit of a cool stat, if you will, that
00:16:39 Hodge and Doyle, the last time they started together before last night, was the 2020
00:16:48 Youth Cup final for Man City. They started that final together, beat Chelsea in the final.
00:16:56 Hodge was the sixth in midfield and Doyle was the eighth in midfield in that team. They had
00:17:01 Cole Palmer in, McAtee in, Taylor Bayliss or whatever the centre-back was. I forget his name,
00:17:09 but he's done quite well since then. There's a few decent names in that team. Those two started
00:17:16 that game. That was the last time they started together and look where they are now.
00:17:22 We've got to mention the man of the moment, Nathan Fraser, coming on. I mean, what a fantastic...
00:17:28 I mean, obviously, he's been injured late with the move away. We'll discuss later on about Nathan
00:17:34 Fraser and his future at the Football Club, but what a fantastic moment. You've got to think
00:17:38 probably his best moment in a Wolves shirt. I know he's scored, he's made some cameo appearances,
00:17:42 obviously scored this season against Blackpool, but to come on when your senior team is on the
00:17:47 verge of going out and maybe missing on a Black Country derby, to keep your head when you've just
00:17:51 been on the pitch a matter of minutes, seconds really, and to get the ball on the outside of
00:17:56 that box and drive it across the keeper, back across goal, it was a fantastic finish and
00:18:00 obviously galvanised the club to a 3-2 win. Could have had a double really, could have had a brace
00:18:06 very quickly afterwards. I think it was a good block. Gower Neil, I guess from a coach point
00:18:11 of view, said in the post-match press conference, he probably should have scored, but at the same
00:18:15 time, those are the high standards that you're probably giving him, but at the same time,
00:18:18 one out of two. A massive goal for him and you could see the pictures are great of him celebrating.
00:18:23 I'm going to put them on later on today because there's seven or eight great shots from Getty.
00:18:27 I'm not saying relief, but the joy of scoring there right in front of the South Bank,
00:18:33 it was fabulous and a great moment for him, his family and all the fans.
00:18:36 Yeah, definitely. I think he's a really good player. You look at the Blackpool goal and the
00:18:44 context of that goal and obviously Wolves were winning that game quite comfortably.
00:18:47 That first goal is going to mean a lot to him because it's the first one, but to your point,
00:18:53 just then, this one's going to mean maybe more because of the context of it. The fact that Wolves
00:18:57 were close to going out and he comes on two, three minutes later. The manner of the goal,
00:19:02 it's a really well-taken strike. He's done really well and he's earned that chance,
00:19:08 especially having been injured and been a bit frustrated and not been around the place.
00:19:13 To get that opportunity off the bench and get that goal is a big moment for him. I spoke to him
00:19:16 after the game as well and only the second time I've interviewed him and he was, as always, a
00:19:22 really nice lad. He's quite almost wide-eyed. Can't really believe what's happening to him.
00:19:29 It's quite endearing seeing him taking it all in in the moment. Then discovered, his phone was going
00:19:37 mad and all his friends are Wolves fans. He's from Wolverhampton. Then discovered that him and his
00:19:42 family grew up Villa fans. He announced that to us, but then said, "I've been at Wolves since I was
00:19:50 seven. When you've been at a club this long and you're playing for the club, you don't support
00:19:58 Villa. Your allegiance is changing." He's a local lad doing it for the local team.
00:20:04 That's what football is all about. The fact that he's helped Wolves, had a massive part in Wolves
00:20:10 getting through to a Black Country derby. Whether he's here or not, obviously, will depend on how
00:20:15 the next few weeks go. I would absolutely love it if he came on and scored at the Hawthorne for
00:20:22 Wolves. It's going to be a big ask. It would be one hell of a moment for him.
00:20:27 Before we get to that game, two other players I just want to discuss briefly. First of all,
00:20:31 the return of Mario Lamina. Fantastic. Had not had any training whatsoever. I think he trained
00:20:35 on his own. I think separately, Gary O'Neill said after the game, but had not trained with
00:20:39 the team. To come back, they were hoping it was going to be 20 minutes. It was more like 50,
00:20:43 55 minutes for Mario Lamina, which just shows how good this guy is. He hasn't been training with him
00:20:48 in Abu Dhabi. He's come straight back. Obviously, devastating loss of his father and straight back.
00:20:53 He's just such a leader. Could have scored, actually. Could have scored an absolute worldie
00:20:56 when he came on. Just great to have him in that side. Pedro Neto as well. We were discussing
00:21:03 whether he was going to start or not. He didn't start, but he ended up playing pretty much 60
00:21:07 minutes anyway, with it going into extra time. Two big positives for all of us going forward,
00:21:12 looking ahead to Brighton on the Monday. Maybe Gary O'Neill would have preferred 20 or 30 minutes
00:21:18 for both of those, but they've gone to 55, 60 and both looked absolutely fine to me.
00:21:22 Yeah, it was a bit of a risk, wasn't it? Throwing Lamina in at the time that he did,
00:21:28 especially considering it went into extra time, just shows the character of the bloke as well and
00:21:35 the physical fitness he's got himself. To be able to come back from just over two weeks away,
00:21:41 not training, not playing for obvious reasons, and then thrown back in at the deep end.
00:21:48 Didn't look out of place at all. Maybe not his normal, marauding, dominant self at times,
00:21:56 but certainly didn't look out of place, didn't look off the pace and fitted in quite seamlessly.
00:22:01 Then Neto, I think it was good that even though he didn't start, he did get those 60 minutes. I
00:22:06 think he's going to need that. There's a little bit of sharpening on the edges needed with him,
00:22:11 which is obvious when you come off an injury. Because he had a lot of space last night,
00:22:15 didn't he? Yeah, a lot of space. Which you're not going to get in a Premier League game.
00:22:18 Yeah, exactly. On the counter in particular. He was picking up really nice areas, carrying the
00:22:24 ball into really nice areas. Then maybe the last little action, the last final action in the box
00:22:29 didn't quite work for him. But I think with a bit of time and the fact that he's just come back from
00:22:35 an injury and obviously ahead of schedule on that injury as well means that he'll sharpen up over
00:22:40 the next month or so. If he can start to add numbers in that time, then it's only going to
00:22:46 aid the players that he's playing around. Right. Black Country derby, baby. It's a Black Country
00:22:55 derby. West Bromwich Albion versus Wolverhampton Wanderers. O'Neill didn't go into too much detail.
00:23:01 He's looking ahead to Brighton, etc. But there was a motivation there, wasn't there? Of course,
00:23:06 for all these players. And I do feel like this generation, Gary O'Neill coming into it,
00:23:11 knows how important this Black Country derby is. The fans are desperate for it. They're desperate
00:23:15 to right the wrongs of Ghost of Christmas Past, so to speak. And I think the players in this group
00:23:21 of players kind of get it as well. And they'll be up for it. I know Matthias Cunha had some great,
00:23:27 great quotes after the game basically saying about he was desperate to play,
00:23:31 he's desperate to play in this derby, they needed to do this.
00:23:34 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:23:42 The strength of the wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
00:24:02 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:24:09 The strength of the wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
00:24:17 And they'll be up for it. I know Matthias Cunha had some great, great quotes after the game
00:24:25 basically saying about he was desperate to play, he's desperate to play in this derby,
00:24:29 they needed to do this. And he's not going to look towards it too much. We'll obviously be
00:24:34 previewing it big time next week. But my word, that is going to be some atmosphere.
00:24:38 It's going to be carnage. Yeah, it's a strange kickoff time, 11.45 Sunday morning,
00:24:47 but I don't think that's going to deter supporters from enjoying themselves first and foremost.
00:24:51 I was going to say, enjoying themselves prior as well, yeah. Show me a few establishments that
00:24:55 will be open prior to the game. And then getting into the derby spirit. Yeah, there's a £4,000
00:25:03 allocation as well for the Wolves fans in the Smethwick End. So it's a good allocation. I know
00:25:09 there might be a few that are disappointed they didn't get the full end, but to have a good number
00:25:13 like that, have a good travelling support. Wolves fans travel in their numbers and they're always
00:25:17 allowed on the road anyway. So it's going to add to a really good atmosphere. I'm happy the fans
00:25:22 are going to miss out, by the way. Some of the fans obviously going to miss out with their points
00:25:26 and they'll obviously want to be there and be in and around. What I would say is just make sure you
00:25:30 stay safe. It's on ITV1 as well. It's going to be feisty though, isn't it? It's going to be really,
00:25:36 really... I mean, I don't think... Obviously they've played in the Premier League, etc.,
00:25:41 but I think there's going to be an added edge to this side. Obviously Albion doing well in the
00:25:44 Championship as well. They'll fancy the chances of maybe causing an upset, but the pressure will
00:25:48 be on Wolves because they will be favourites going into this game. Yeah, and on made a specific
00:25:52 point of hammering that home over the last couple of days that if Wolves do get through, and now
00:25:56 that they are through to say the same thing, I think we should be putting pressure on Wolves.
00:26:01 I don't normally say that, but I think it's fair in this instance because
00:26:06 Wolves are having an excellent season. They've got a very good team, a small team,
00:26:11 but a very good team. They're playing Championship opposition. And as far as I'm concerned,
00:26:17 the pressure should be on Wolves to go and win that game, without a doubt. There should be no
00:26:20 reason why Wolves shouldn't go and win that game, put it that way. And it's now about the players
00:26:29 stepping up to that pressure. So we'll put the pressure on, the fans will put the pressure on,
00:26:33 the pressure from the atmosphere in the game and the occasion will be there anyway.
00:26:37 Let's see how you deal with it. Let's see how the players deal with it. And if the players
00:26:42 come away and don't deal with it well and Wolves lose the game, they'll get criticised for it. So
00:26:47 I think the players will be well aware of that. It's a big opportunity for them to write some
00:26:52 wrongs, as you said, write quite a few wrongs, unfortunately. And it's an opportunity they
00:26:58 should be looking forward to rather than daunting. And I think they are. You look at the way Mateus
00:27:03 Cunha spoke last night. He said, I've played in Brazil, Argentina, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid,
00:27:09 and I'm absolutely desperate to play Wolves, West Brom. Which in itself is a crazy sentence
00:27:16 to say that. But I love the fact he said it. And it's what I was saying to you last night on the
00:27:23 video that we did. He is an example of a player, not the only player, but an example because it's
00:27:28 an easy one to make of someone who's not from the area. But I think it's it. I think he understands
00:27:33 it. He loves it. He wants to be here playing for Wolves. And that's what Wolves have been working
00:27:39 on over the last 18 months or so, bringing players in that want to be here, thriving here. And he is
00:27:44 a perfect example of that. So to have him speaking like that gives me confidence that the whole squad
00:27:52 is aware of the importance and will go into it with the kind of attitude and application, hopefully,
00:27:58 that they need. And on top of that, Gary O'Neill, I think he gets it. He understands what it means
00:28:03 to the fans. He's intentionally not talking about it a lot because Bryant's coming up first, which
00:28:07 I understand from his point of view. But that's not going to stop us from talking about it.
00:28:11 No, no, no, no, no offense. I don't care about Bryant.
00:28:14 I don't know, come on, Kido, you've got to care about Bryton. I mean, no?
00:28:19 I'd wash my hands of Bryant until that game's done.
00:28:22 I think in these circumstances, and look, we said, I think going back to the Brentford game,
00:28:27 we said, like, what would you rather do? Because obviously the Premier League game and the FA Cup
00:28:31 game were very close together. And we said, which would you rather win? And I think everyone,
00:28:36 the majority of people, including us, were like, look, you've got to take the Premier League game.
00:28:39 That's the most important thing. If it was anyone else but Albion, I think the fans would say
00:28:45 Bryton's more important. And actually, Wolves have got the chance to go into the top half of
00:28:50 the table and be right in the mix for you. But if they do beat Bryton on Monday night.
00:28:55 So I don't think it'll be a slam dunk. But at the same time, against this opposition,
00:29:01 I think you've got to think that the priority is Albion, don't you? If you had to win one or the
00:29:07 other, it's got to be the game. It's got to be that game. You're 100% correct. If it is an Albion,
00:29:11 if that is a different draw. Anyone else? Anyone else. Literally any other team left in the
00:29:16 competition. It is, Brian, is easily the priority. Now, Wolves are fortunate in a way, I know it
00:29:26 might be easier if the game was a weekend rather than Monday, but fortunate in a way that because
00:29:30 it's a Sunday game, Monday to Sunday, they've got enough time there where they can play a strong
00:29:34 team. So it's not like it's a Thursday, Sunday or anything like that. So it is, you know, in terms of
00:29:40 the fixture schedule and, you know, whether it's hectic or whether you can deal with it,
00:29:46 I think Wolves are in a decent enough place. The following week is a bit difficult,
00:29:50 a bit more different. Well, it's going to go on to that.
00:29:52 I was going to go on to that. I mean, you play Sunday, Thursday, Sunday. Yeah. Okay.
00:29:57 But they've got an opportunity where they can play two strong teams to get through it.
00:30:02 My concern about Brighton is are some of the players going to be thinking of the Albion game
00:30:07 like Mateus Kuni already was? Are they going to have that on their mind? So if you said to me now,
00:30:13 Wolves lose to Brighton but beat Albion and I could take that, I'd take that. As much as I
00:30:21 want them to keep progressing in the Premier League, I think that Albion game is such a
00:30:24 massive one for everyone. I think you have to win it. I'd rather Wolves beat Brighton,
00:30:29 draw against Albion and beat them in a replay. I mean, I would also rather that if you were to
00:30:33 give me the option, but I'm just making the comparison between the two.
00:30:36 No, I get it. I think, like you say, anyone else and Brighton is numero uno for me, I think. But
00:30:44 the fact that it is and the fact that they're going to the Hawthorns, they should win. I agree
00:30:47 with you. They should win. And yeah, they are doing well, Albion, but goodness me, this is a
00:30:51 great chance. Look, overall in this cup competition, Gary O'Neill wants to run in this cup
00:30:55 competition. Wolves can have a deep run in this cup competition because they're doing so well in
00:30:59 the league, because relegation is not an issue. They can really attack this competition hard.
00:31:04 I expect them to play a full strength side against West Brom for the players that are
00:31:09 available. Of course, you've got someone in the Asia Cup and you've got some at the African
00:31:12 Cup of Nations, but I fully expect, forget about Manchester United on the following Thursday,
00:31:17 forget about Chelsea the following Sunday. He will play the best 11 that he can possibly do
00:31:23 in that game, Gary O'Neill. And for me, if they go there and win, which they should do,
00:31:27 all of a sudden you're one win away in the fifth round to a quarterfinal. And then you start to
00:31:31 think about, okay, let's try and get to Wembley again. Let's try and get to a semifinal. You can't
00:31:37 look too much ahead, but at the same time, this is a great opportunity, whether West Brom fans like it
00:31:41 or not, for Wolverhampton Wanderers to get into the fifth round of the FA Cup. Yeah, without a doubt.
00:31:46 And you don't know what you're going to get in that fifth round as well. You might get a Man City.
00:31:50 You might get Bilge.
00:31:51 You might get an easy draw.
00:31:53 You might get an absolute rot.
00:31:55 So you have to, obviously it's a chance you're taking a chance a little bit,
00:32:00 but because of the nature of what the draw is and the fact that they are close to getting to
00:32:04 potentially a Wembley run. You can't overlook the Albion game because it's going to be difficult,
00:32:09 but if they win that, they are within touching distance of getting to the last stages of the
00:32:15 competition. So it's a big opportunity for us because I'm still not convinced. I might change
00:32:21 my mind if they beat Brighton, but I'm still not convinced Wolves are going to have enough in the
00:32:24 tank for the rest of the season to make a push for Europe. I think they'll probably finish around
00:32:30 mid-table and it'll be a very good finish. Don't get me wrong. So with that in mind, Gary Neal,
00:32:37 and I think he is, but they should be taking the Cup really seriously and targeting a long run here.
00:32:43 And as you said, with the fixtures, the way they work, he will put out the strongest team available
00:32:50 against West Brom and Wolves should win that game.
00:32:54 Uh, look, we'll obviously preview it more next week and play more to discuss about it. We'll
00:32:58 have to move on because there's plenty more, uh, to chat about, but yeah, just, just buzzing,
00:33:02 buzzing for the fans more than anything, because they're absolutely, they can't wait and everyone's
00:33:06 in a good spot with the way that things are going in this moment in time. They finished
00:33:09 the season before they had that, the winter break or the short winter break in, in great style. And,
00:33:14 and, you know, having this to look forward to a week on Sunday is, uh, is delightful. Absolutely
00:33:19 amazing. Obviously in front of national audience as well. So hopefully, hopefully this time they
00:33:24 can, they can do the business, uh, right. Transfer news, Liam Keane, we are January the 17th,
00:33:30 not long, um, transfer deadline day closes. If anyone didn't realize on February the 1st
00:33:36 this year, which is the same night Wolves play Manchester United at Molineux. So
00:33:42 interesting, um, whether there's business going up until the 11 o'clock deadline on that day,
00:33:49 remains to be seen. Of course, they still can, even though the game's going on,
00:33:52 I would suspect Liam that they'll probably want to do the majority of their business
00:33:57 incomings within the next seven to 10 days, and maybe have a little bit of a free run
00:34:02 at that busy week. Like you, you suggested that the Sunday, then the Thursday, then the Sunday,
00:34:07 they don't really want to be going into that. Of course, you know, you've got to wait for dominoes
00:34:11 to fall. And I understand that, which, which leads me to the search for this number nine.
00:34:17 Now, Fabio Silva's left, Sasha Kalijic has left, and everyone thought, and I think Gary Neal is
00:34:25 still adamant that the need is for a number nine to come in. Che Adams has been linked. He was
00:34:30 obviously very close to coming in the summer. Uh, Gary Neal is a big fan of his. I think he scored
00:34:34 some goals recently for Southampton, but he did say at the same, at the same time, we could bring
00:34:40 someone in tomorrow, but they've got to be good enough to get into the first team. They've got
00:34:45 to be good enough to get into the score. They've got to be good enough to start Premier League
00:34:48 games from the, you know, from day one, if they're a Wolves player. And I think that's starting to
00:34:54 become a little bit more problematic with where they are in the league, Liam. For me personally,
00:35:00 if there's not an outstanding candidate, and I know they've got a small squad,
00:35:05 they've let these two strikers go. You've got a young striker last night in Aiden Fraser,
00:35:10 who's come on, who's been linked with loans to League One Shrewsbury and a few other teams.
00:35:14 He's going to be inundated with loan requests. You're not going anywhere in the league. You've
00:35:20 got a bit of a cup run. You've got Hwang Hee-chan coming back soon. You could have a situation in
00:35:26 the next three to four weeks where Bellegarde and Sarabia cannot get into this side because you
00:35:33 could have Neto, Kunya and Hwang.
00:35:36 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:35:44 The strength of the Wolves is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
00:36:02 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:36:09 The strength of the Wolves is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
00:36:17 You're not going anywhere in the league. You've got a bit of a cup run. You've got Hwang Hee-chan
00:36:25 coming back soon. You could have a situation in the next three to four weeks where Bellegarde
00:36:32 and Sarabia cannot get into this side because you could have Neto, Kunya and Hwang. So you've
00:36:38 got those two as backups. For me, yes, injuries happen and I get that. Give me Nathan Fraser all
00:36:45 day long. Keep him in the spot at the end of the season. Give him a few run outs. I don't think
00:36:49 you need someone who's going to come in on a six-month loan deal who may or may not be ready
00:36:55 to sign permanently. He might just come on a rental who's not really integrated into the team.
00:37:00 It's got to be the right character and the right quality for me. And if not, give me Nathan Fraser
00:37:04 to the end of the season. Well, let's make one thing very, very clear. Gary O'Neill as head coach,
00:37:12 without a doubt, as all head coaches do, is going to want more players. He's going to want a striker
00:37:18 this month, without a doubt. He's also aware of where Wolves are at financially, what they can
00:37:23 and can't do. And I think he made a good point last night. You don't bring a player in for the
00:37:29 sake of it. You don't bring a body in just to add to the numbers. You bring a player in who is going
00:37:35 to add to this first team. Fabio and Sasha clearly weren't adding to the first team, hence why they've
00:37:39 both gone out on loan. And you need a striker who's going to infiltrate this starting 11 or
00:37:46 come very close to and offer something different. They need an out and out number nine. Someone who,
00:37:50 ironically, is exactly Nathan Fraser. Considering his age, and I'm sure he'll probably beef up a
00:37:55 bit more as well, he's quite a big lad, holds the ball up well, holds his own, goes into battles
00:38:01 with defenders. He's no slouch either. He's not the quickest, but he's no slouch. He's going to be,
00:38:06 I think, a good footballer. But is he going to be a good footballer or is he going to be
00:38:11 Premier League quality right now? There's a big question mark there. But I do tend to side to
00:38:19 your argument in that Wolves have given themselves the opportunity to wait. They've awarded themselves
00:38:26 that luxury because of how well the season's gone so far. Wolves don't need to rush, go into the
00:38:33 market, bring someone in who may or may not be good enough. Now, I don't think they'd go and
00:38:39 overpay for someone because for obvious reasons they can't, but they might bring someone in on a
00:38:43 loan. A William Jose kind of situation, for example, where Wolves were desperate, had to
00:38:47 bring someone in, clearly didn't work. Would I want that? And you take minutes away from
00:38:54 Fraser potentially, or even whether it's Hwang coming back to play as a non, whoever it might be.
00:39:00 Or do you have Fraser in and around the squad and let him learn from being around the team,
00:39:06 maybe not play loads, but play occasionally and then have a full season next year as a 19-year-old
00:39:12 and go out on loan? A full season, probably championship and go play a full 40-odd games
00:39:20 and hopefully get yourself into double figures and goals and then come back to Wolves after that.
00:39:24 Now that I think would probably be the ideal scenario, but you are also rolling the dice a
00:39:29 little bit, aren't you? Because if Wolves get an injury, God forbid, if Wolves get something in the
00:39:33 next two months, if Wolves... Obviously it's difficult to account for this, but if Wolves in
00:39:39 2nd of March, Kuno or Hwang go down and they've got no one to fill that void until the end of the
00:39:46 season, it's a big ask for whether it's Sarabia, Belagard, Fraser, whoever it might be, to step in
00:39:51 and... Tawanda Tureiwa, he's a player in those kind of positions. You're going to expect him to
00:39:56 step up and play week in, week out in the Premier League. It's a tough ask. So it's a real difficult
00:40:01 balancing act. My inkling is to say Wolves will and should bring someone in on loan,
00:40:09 but there's a very good argument to say if it's not the right player,
00:40:14 you take a risk and you hold off. I've probably said this before, but Gary O'Neill wants new
00:40:22 players and he wants Gary O'Neill players. Gary O'Neill hasn't had a transfer window yet where
00:40:26 he can bring in his players. He came in at Manchester United, but that was a back end of
00:40:31 the transfer window. And of course he understood the situation, the financial implications as well,
00:40:34 the FFP and everything that was going on in and around it. I'm sure a couple of those players
00:40:39 who were signed, was it Belagard at last minute? Yeah, he was trading with Belagard on day one.
00:40:43 Yeah, deadline day. But a lot of these players, the kind of groundwork will have been done behind
00:40:48 the scenes before he came into the football club. This is the first time where Gary O'Neill wants
00:40:51 to get, and he wanted Che Adams, this was probably a last minute input, it didn't happen, but he
00:40:56 wants to bring his players in. He wants to bring players that he likes, that he's probably earned
00:40:59 that trust, that respect of the way that he's managed the side so far. But yeah, it's a difficult
00:41:07 one. And if Wolves are 16th or 17th or 18th in the Premier League, I think we're having a very
00:41:12 different conversation to the one that we're having here. But the fact that they are on the verge of
00:41:17 the top half of the table, that they are comfortably, regardless of the results against Brighton or
00:41:23 Manchester United or Chelsea, they are comfortably mid-table in the Premier League, feels to me that
00:41:29 if they did lose someone, Liam, then yeah, it is a stretch. But I still don't think that that means
00:41:35 that Nathan Fraser's playing week-in-week-out 90-minute football. You've got the ability,
00:41:41 and Gary O'Neill has shown, he's got nows, he's got tactical knowledge, that he can move around
00:41:45 players to change games regardless of who they're missing. I mean, goodness me, you know, remember
00:41:52 the Brentford game, a completely different situation, but you know, a long time ago,
00:41:57 Wolves were playing with 10 men for 80 minutes and they still managed to compete in that game.
00:42:01 But it just shows how good and the knowledge he's got that he can move things around. I do feel that
00:42:06 he can move the change if they didn't get a striker in. I agree with you, I think they probably will
00:42:11 do, but at the same time, I would not have any issues whatsoever if they kept him. Because I
00:42:17 do think that Belaguard and Sarabia, with these three, if they'd stayed fit, with Neto, with Huang
00:42:20 when he's back, with Kunya, they probably are the ones going to be outside looking in. You can change
00:42:25 your formation, I'm sure they'll get game time, but at the same time, you know, they have got a
00:42:30 small squad, but when people are fit, goodness me, they've still got a strong bench as well.
00:42:35 We know under the Nuno that they thrived on a small squad, they use it to their advantage.
00:42:41 And I do feel, especially this season, chips are down, everyone's against them, everyone thinks
00:42:46 they're going to go down. They've galvanised that, Gary Newell's used that and they've created this
00:42:52 fantastic culture. He's turned around the dressing room, he's turned around the training ground,
00:42:57 and he's produced something that's pretty special at this moment in time. They're in the fourth
00:43:01 round of the FA Cup, they're playing West Brom, they're on the verge of the top half of the table,
00:43:06 they're actually on the verge of the European places. I think that genuinely, this squad,
00:43:12 as it is, maybe one more edition, I would not be bothered about that if they didn't bring in
00:43:18 two, three, four players before February 1st. I'd be quite happy.
00:43:21 - And another sort of argument that adds to yours, I think, is that
00:43:26 let's say they bring a striker in tomorrow. That striker's got a limited amount of time to impress
00:43:34 before Huang comes back. - Exactly.
00:43:37 - Now, Huang has been playing as a bit of a makeshift number nine because I think he's
00:43:42 probably better out wide, Gary Newell has acknowledged that, but he's done very well
00:43:45 as a nine in the last few months. Does Huang come back in, and obviously injury and form with South
00:43:52 Korea might impact that, but let's say he's fully fit and he's ready to play, he comes in. Does
00:43:57 Huang come straight into the team? I think he has to. He'd be top smite if he doesn't. So that
00:44:04 striker's got a limited time to impress before Huang comes back. Let's say Ikunyu plays on the
00:44:09 left. You've then got the right side. Sarabia at the moment is in good form and it's difficult to
00:44:15 drop. And the kind of character he is as well, I don't think he'd be very happy with being dropped.
00:44:18 - Sure. - So it's a difficult one to drop.
00:44:20 - Throw an Instagram again. - Yeah, exactly. And if you do drop him,
00:44:24 you bring Neto in. It's probably going to be a gradual process over the next four, five, six
00:44:30 weeks where Neto probably slowly gets a start here, maybe doesn't get a start there, then slowly
00:44:35 works his way back into taking Sarabia's spot. I'm not sure if Sarabia will lose it straight away
00:44:39 and be dropped instantly because of the reasons I've just mentioned, but that's a battle in itself
00:44:45 to choose who starts there. So you might find that you bring a striker in and by mid-February,
00:44:52 they're on the bench and they're not playing. - Absolutely. It's 15, 20 minute cameos.
00:44:57 - Exactly. And they've got no way of forcing their way in unless they come on and score a goal or
00:45:02 there's an injury or Wang all of a sudden is really struggling for whatever reason and you
00:45:06 need to take him out of the spotlight, whatever it might be, but you're banking a lot of what's
00:45:12 ifs and buts there to get yourself a chance. So that argument, I think, is a really strong one
00:45:17 that Wolves don't bring someone in. I always sort of err on the side of caution a little bit,
00:45:24 probably in life as well as football and I don't like taking too many risks.
00:45:27 - I don't know, lad. I've seen some of your summer activities. Crikey.
00:45:30 - I don't like taking too many risks. - I had a caution. Balcony gates.
00:45:34 Oh my goodness. Pre-season. - Oh wow. Okay. Well, that was a
00:45:38 slightly different... That wasn't me. That was me after 30 drinks.
00:45:43 - Oh my God. Crikey. You could be squashing tomato on the floor by now. We're doing this podcast
00:45:49 with Spears. - You'd love that as well.
00:45:52 - Oh, I wish. - So, err on the side of caution a little bit
00:45:58 and say that if I could, I would still bring a striker in. Just so you've got that option there.
00:46:04 I'd rather have it and not use it than not have it and need it. Put it that way. And if it is a
00:46:11 player on loan and they come in and it doesn't go well or they're not happy because they're not
00:46:16 playing, you haven't signed them permanently anyway. So they can go back to their parent club
00:46:19 and you can move on. So that would probably be why the decision I would make, but I can
00:46:24 understand the reason for not. - Yeah. And that might be why you don't
00:46:27 sign a prolific strike and maybe you do get someone from the championship or whatever who
00:46:31 maybe will understand that dynamic. It's a funny one, isn't it? I think maybe the force, the hand
00:46:37 that they need to get someone in because Fabio's gone, because they got Sascha out as well.
00:46:44 Personally, I would have kept one of them and kept Nathan Fraser. We're not having this
00:46:49 conversation at all. I don't think you need to do it. But the fact that they've got both of them
00:46:53 out kind of feels to me that they've done that even with no definite replacement straight away,
00:47:00 that someone's got to come in. But fair play and props to Nathan Fraser. And like I say,
00:47:05 if we're on February the 1st and they haven't added, I would not be at panic stations whatsoever
00:47:08 because of what they've done prior to that. So yeah, decent discussion that, Liam. We'll move on.
00:47:14 We'll move on to names in the transfer window. Look, there's a certain, we'll talk about maybe
00:47:20 Che Adams, there's a certain striker in the Premier League who's been linked as well.
00:47:24 Striker who's maybe not getting as much game time as he wants, who's coming back from injury.
00:47:29 I'll leave you to unveil the name, but there are other names in there that Wolves are looking at.
00:47:35 And if they did get this lad over the line, goodness me, I would be very happy.
00:47:39 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:47:47 The strength of the Wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
00:48:02 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:48:09 The strength of the Wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
00:48:17 Names in the transfer window. Look, there's a certain, we'll talk about maybe Che Adams,
00:48:25 there's a certain striker in the Premier League who's been linked as well. Striker who's maybe
00:48:31 not getting as much game time as he wants, who's coming back from injury. I'll leave you to
00:48:36 unveil the name, but there are other names in there that Wolves are looking at. And if they
00:48:40 did get this lad over the line, goodness me, I would be very happy.
00:48:43 I'm a big fan of him. And I wanted him actually this time last year, but obviously didn't come
00:48:54 back from injury as soon as people thought. So yeah, Wolves have been linked with Armando
00:48:59 Brozier at Chelsea with a loan, with a possible view. There's been sort of early conversations,
00:49:07 I think, around him being certainly of interest. The first thing I'll say is that he is among a
00:49:14 number of players that Wolves have been looking at as a striker. So it doesn't necessarily mean
00:49:18 it's going to happen straight away. I'm sure Wolves will want to move quickly if he is available and
00:49:24 Gary Neal will want to move quickly, but we know how January is and how January takes its time.
00:49:29 So bear that in mind. But he's certainly on a list of players that Wolves are looking at. And
00:49:36 I think it's quite a potentially exciting signing. He's young. Obviously,
00:49:43 come out from injury, you've got to bear that in mind. It was a bad injury as well.
00:49:46 Too bad injuries.
00:49:46 Yeah. But he's a young player. We've seen he's got an eye for goal. We've seen he's done it
00:49:51 elsewhere and he's done it for Chelsea on occasions. And he's the kind of profiler
00:49:56 striker that would suit Wolves perfectly. He's a big lad. He's strong, holds the ball up.
00:50:01 Again, it's quite similar to Nathan Fraser, really, in terms of stature and shape and all
00:50:04 that kind of thing. No slouch in the air, move about well, great in the air, exactly.
00:50:09 All of the kind of things I think Wolves will need in terms of a profile of a number nine,
00:50:12 an out-and-out striker, someone who is going to hold that line, hold the ball,
00:50:16 bring others into play, be the focal point of the team. He's exactly that.
00:50:21 And also his age and the profile of players that Wolves tend to look at, at least,
00:50:26 fits perfectly. Because let's say Wolves did sign him permanently. If all goes well,
00:50:31 he's got potential salon opportunities. It's an investment opportunity for Wolves,
00:50:35 as well as a footballing one, potentially. So it'd be interesting to see how this one
00:50:39 develops because I think it would be a very smart move on Wolves' part to make an approach
00:50:47 to try and bring him in. And if he's not getting enough games there, then he might get the
00:50:52 opportunities that Wolves might be interested in. So I think it'd be a really intelligent
00:50:57 one for Wolves to go down and he knows the Premier League as well.
00:50:59 We obviously know about FFP and Nottingham Forest Everton in a lot of trouble and we'll see what
00:51:05 happens to them. As Gary O'Neill has said and as we've said throughout the last few months,
00:51:10 they've done a great job and there were issues there. However, they've eradicated those issues
00:51:15 and Wolves are fine. It's a fine line, but they're under that fine line. They've not gone over the
00:51:20 top and there's no issues there. He said that again last night as well. He reiterated that.
00:51:24 And look, they're in a decent position, but they can't sign a load of plays this January.
00:51:31 This is still, they've got to adhere to the financial fair play and in the summer, they can
00:51:36 look to make some moves. If they were to, let's say, get a striker on loan, Liam, can they make
00:51:44 that move where, let's say, I don't know how much Brover would be, and let's say he's one of a
00:51:49 number of names. This isn't just the number one target, well, it might be the number one target,
00:51:51 but there will be a number of names there. But let's say Brover is £30 million, £30 million
00:51:58 quid, which I think is fair enough, £25, £30 million market value. Could Wolves or could
00:52:02 Chelsea say to Wolves, well, and Wolves say to Chelsea, "We'll loan you, not with an option to
00:52:08 buy, but with an obligation to buy in the summer for that amount of money and that will not make
00:52:12 any difference to these three years that they're coming under obviously a lot of strain in FFP."
00:52:19 So they could make a £30 million deal in the summer and depending on the loan fee and what
00:52:23 that would be, yes, that wouldn't be included this season, but the actual main amount of money,
00:52:29 if they were going to do an obligation, would be fine because that would be a new year.
00:52:32 Yeah, it would fall into the next financial year. Now, whether Wolves are going to spend
00:52:36 that kind of money or not is a big question mark because it's not just a financial situation,
00:52:42 it's something I've sort of went over at the same time back in, I think it was April last year when
00:52:45 my story broke all of the financial fair play issues at Wolves, is that Wolves are also changing
00:52:53 tact. It's a smoke screen, Liam. You're talking rubbish, man. You're talking what? It's a smoke
00:52:56 screen. What are you talking about? There's no FFP. How did that go? You know nothing, lad.
00:53:01 That same story also included a lot of details about Wolves changing tact in the kind of signings
00:53:07 they're bringing in. I've spoke about it a lot since then in terms of players you obviously
00:53:10 want to be at Wolves and all that kind of thing, but alongside that, it's not necessarily going
00:53:16 for these big money players. Now, Jao Gomez was 15 million, which doesn't mean Wolves won't pay
00:53:23 over that because if they think it's the right player at the right time, they have to pay over
00:53:26 that. They will, but they're more inclined to pay the sort of 7, 8 million to 15 million range where
00:53:32 they feel that they've had over the last five, six, seven, eight years, they feel like Wolves
00:53:36 have had the most value from players that have come in that bracket. You look at a player like
00:53:41 Neves and Jota and Willy Bolle and they feel like they've had the most bang for their buck.
00:53:48 That was Mendes. I mean, they really got good deals there.
00:53:50 I mean, that's the fair point. I mean, obviously they'll still use Mendes. Of course,
00:53:54 they're not hoping to have an over-reliance on him as previously as well, which comes into the
00:54:00 same sort of tactics, if you will, for the transfers. So that's the main issue really with
00:54:07 whether Wolves will spend that kind of money is that I think they're trying to avoid spending that
00:54:13 kind of money on individual players because it's not gone well. You look at Fabio Silva and
00:54:17 Goncalo Guedes and Mateus Nunes. Now I know they made money on him in the end, but it didn't
00:54:22 particularly go well. So there's a lot of players, a lot of examples of being money signings not
00:54:26 going well. So that's the first thing I'll say. The second thing is Wolves will definitely be in
00:54:31 a better place next summer financially to bring signings in without a doubt. And up until we hear
00:54:39 anything different, I'll report that. That is the case as it stands. However, they also have to be
00:54:45 aware of the rolling cycle with the profit and sustainability rules, which is the official name,
00:54:52 but I'll call it FFP because that's what everyone knows it by and it's just easier. So I'll call it
00:54:55 FFP. So I'll just very quickly try and explain it again because I know we've done it a lot and we've
00:55:01 done it to death, but I think it's worth explaining where Wolves are at. So the current financial
00:55:08 year, which we won't get the figures for this until this time next year, just the way it works,
00:55:13 which is a bit crazy, that doesn't actually come into the current three-year cycle. And I'll
00:55:22 explain why. So the current three-year cycle, which Wolves had to put their... The rules changed
00:55:27 where basically they had to submit their accounts to the Premier League by the end of December. I
00:55:33 think it was the 31st of December, right at the end of the year was the deadline. Hence why all
00:55:38 of this has come out now two weeks later with obviously Everton and Forest falling foul and
00:55:43 Wolves being fine. The official numbers for this financial year won't come out until I think about
00:55:49 Feb-March time, but obviously it goes to the Premier League earlier, which is the new rule.
00:55:54 So the way it works is that it's over a three-year rolling cycle and a team cannot lose,
00:56:00 not make a loss of more than 105 million over those three years. So the current three-year cycle
00:56:08 that's taken into account for Wolves not falling foul was the 2020-21 season. Wolves made 144.9
00:56:19 million profit in that year, but there was 126.5 million basically focusing writing off a debt,
00:56:28 basically, which because of the Premier League rules doesn't fall under the profit because it
00:56:34 basically allows owners to bankroll clubs. So the figure you take from that 2021 season is 18.4
00:56:41 million, which is the difference between those two figures. So that's the profit for profit
00:56:45 sustainability or FFP. That's the profit they made. The following year, 2021-22, Wolves made
00:56:52 a 46.1 million loss. So it's around about, what is it? Just under 28 million lost those two years
00:57:00 when you add them together. So then you come into the 2022-23 season, which is the final year of
00:57:08 this three-year rolling period, which is the figures we will get in February or March coming
00:57:13 up. Now all through the summer and all the way up until now, I've reported it and a lot of other
00:57:17 people have been similar figures of around about somewhere between 60 and 80 million pound loss.
00:57:22 Now I understand that's quite a big gap, but we didn't have the exact figures and we're working
00:57:27 with sources to try and figure out exactly what it is. So Wolves taking that around 20, just under
00:57:35 28 million figure, Wolves could have afforded in this financial year around about 77 million loss
00:57:43 and just been on the edge of reaching the threshold and not going over and breaching the rules.
00:57:51 So we don't have that figure yet. As I said, we'll get it around February, March time,
00:57:54 something like that when the accounts come out. But because Wolves haven't breached and the
00:57:58 Premier League haven't recommended them to the panel, means that Wolves' loss will be under that
00:58:07 figure. So it's going to be somewhere in the 60 to 70 mark million pound loss. We don't know exactly
00:58:12 what it is, but it'll be around that. So then what will happen going through this time next year,
00:58:18 when then figures for this current financial year come out, which will be a big profit by the way,
00:58:21 because of what they've done in the summer and all that kind of stuff.
00:58:23 Yeah, absolutely.
00:58:25 The 2020, 21, which was around the 80 million pound profit, that will drop off and this current
00:58:31 financial year will come in and then that'll be the three year cycle that we're talking about.
00:58:34 Thank you very much, Mateus Nunes.
00:58:36 Exactly. So Wolves will definitely be in a better position next summer to bring players in,
00:58:46 but they've also, it's something they've got to consistently be aware of. And the fact that
00:58:50 they've got all this work in the summer and up until now in making this massive profit, which
00:58:54 again, we don't know the number, but it will be somewhere in the 80 to 100 has been thrown around
00:59:00 sort of mark, then it will give Wolves a little bit more leeway. So yeah, don't get me wrong.
00:59:06 Well, I don't think Wolves are going to go out and spend two, 300 million, unless things
00:59:10 drastically change in their cashflow and their balance in the books, but they'll be able to
00:59:18 spend a lot more and it'll be hopefully a better summer than it was the summer just gone.
00:59:23 No, I think it's important that you explained it there. And I think, even for me listening to that
00:59:26 Liam as well, even though it's like you mentioned two or three or four weeks ago, it's important
00:59:29 just to have a refresh for people who are listening to it and see exactly what the situation is over
00:59:33 the three years.
00:59:35 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
00:59:42 The strength of the Wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
01:00:02 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
01:00:10 The strength of the Wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
01:00:17 You mentioned two or three or four weeks ago, it's important just to have a refresh for people
01:00:23 who are listening to it and see exactly what the situation is over the three years. And I agree
01:00:27 with you. I do. And Matt Hobbs has said, that 8 to 15 million mark is where we're quite happy
01:00:33 with buying players. But at the same time, you wrote an article this week and we've discussed
01:00:37 back and forth about Mateus Cunha and whether Wolves overpaid for him. And at the time they
01:00:41 did, but you're probably starting to come around to my opinion that actually they're getting value
01:00:45 for money for that amount and what he's showing on the pitch now. I'm not saying that Wolves
01:00:50 are going to spend 40, 50 million pounds. However, if you look at the likes of the money that they've
01:00:55 got so far and they've accrued this year, and then you go into the summer and hopefully Geddes
01:00:59 is going to go, Daniel Pudente is going to go. Pedro Neto has got a good chance of leaving Wolves
01:01:04 this summer for big money. Let's be honest, that is when I mean, everybody's circling around him
01:01:09 at the moment. I don't think he's going anywhere in January. I'm 100% certain, well not 100%,
01:01:14 unless you get ridiculous fee, but Pedro Neto, I would say is probably more likely to leave Wolves
01:01:21 than stay in the summer. I think he will be the big player that people will look to bring in.
01:01:27 He's going to be massive money. You know, João Gomes, you've said it as well, we said,
01:01:32 could he be a legend? Yes, he could, but probably not because there's a likelihood that João Gomes
01:01:36 might move on for big money because of that turnaround. Let's hope he stays for another
01:01:40 year or two years, but these are the kind of players where they're bringing in for low fees
01:01:44 and selling for huge fees. And I think he's probably someone who will fall under that.
01:01:48 There's already been big teams, Manchester City, Chelsea, other players looking at these type of,
01:01:53 Arsenal looking at these type of players. Hopefully they all stay. But if they don't,
01:01:57 let's say two or three of those players go, we're looking at Johnny could probably leave
01:02:02 this window as well. And there's going to be a few others periphery, but these are the main players.
01:02:05 I think that, yeah, it's fine to stay between that eight to 15, but if you're going to go and
01:02:10 get a striker, you might have to spend 30 million pounds. I think they can quite easily do that.
01:02:14 It might be 15 upfront and five, five, five, whatever. But I think you're going to have to
01:02:18 reach out to a certain amount if you're going to stay competitive in the Premier League,
01:02:23 that you can't strictly stay between that eight and 15, if they are going to carry on and continue
01:02:28 to do well and thrive in the Premier League. Because if you stand still, you're in trouble.
01:02:32 Yeah, I think it'll be probably exceptional circumstances. And then maybe striker will be
01:02:37 an exceptional position where Wolves are going to have to maybe break that mould.
01:02:40 I don't think it's something they're going to do lightly. I don't think it's something they're
01:02:43 going to do regularly, but I don't think it's out of the question that it's something that they do,
01:02:48 because it's just, it's modern football. It's the way that it's the nature of the beast.
01:02:52 And it is also, unfortunately, specifically with strikers, if you want a striker to come in and
01:02:57 score goals in the Premier League, you normally have to pay good money for them. Or you take a
01:03:01 risk on someone that clubs either don't think will do well in the Premier League or don't know if
01:03:07 they'll do well in the Premier League. And you take a bit of risk on them and hope they do.
01:03:10 So I don't think Wolves will stick to it rigidly all the time, but I think they'll
01:03:16 stick to it as much as they can, because that's the sort of the loose rule they've given themselves,
01:03:24 really. And I can see why, because the evidence is there. Players they've overspent on have not
01:03:29 done well and players they've spent decent fees on have turned out to be bargains. So I think it
01:03:37 makes sense, but you've got to be, yeah, maybe have it as a loose rule and be willing to break it
01:03:42 when necessary. But then there's been disappointments as well. You've been brought in
01:03:46 on a budget and you've disappointed. I'll tell you what, it is a pittance as well.
01:03:51 Absolutely pittance, come on. Any chance of a raise lad? Oh, come on. Come on boys. Right,
01:03:58 okay. It's getting a bit dark. Might have to get the light on. It is quite dark. It's quite dark.
01:04:02 You look... Oh no, the light was on. Cracky. That's what you get from filming in a broom cupboard.
01:04:12 Get yourself a house, any chance by the way? Yeah, I know. I'm trying. I'm doing my best lad.
01:04:15 I'm getting there. Okay, okay. I'm going to buy you a road to light for Christmas. Oh,
01:04:19 if you ever come to my house or come to a party, I'll have everything wrapped up for you.
01:04:21 But if I get the invite lad, I'll be on my way. Wow. Wow. Don't you dare. Don't you dare go there,
01:04:27 you little rat. Right. Okay. Quickly, keen or not keen. Are you ready for keen or not keen?
01:04:32 Liam Keane. Hit me. Okay. Keen or not keen. Wolves don't need to sign a striker.
01:04:37 For the reasons I've already said, air on the side of caution, not keen. Not keen. Bring someone in.
01:04:47 I'd feel a little bit more comfortable if you bring someone in. Okay. Gary Neill said this
01:04:52 quote last night and quite a few people quaffed at it, so to speak. So, we'll see whether you're
01:04:58 keen or not keen. Jean-Richard Bellegarde is an emergency number nine who's doing okay.
01:05:03 Not keen. He understands the number nine role. I'm sure he understands it, but you've got to do it.
01:05:15 What do you mean when you play ratings? You were very, very high on your player ratings this
01:05:21 morning. What's your Bellegarde's? It's interesting because you praise the team in person at the
01:05:27 ground and then the next morning, slag them off to me when I do my player ratings. It's just
01:05:31 interesting. I thought you were too high on some players. You're bang out of order, mate. Say it to
01:05:34 their face. Go on. I will do. I will do. I'll tweet them. I like Bellegarde. I think he works hard.
01:05:42 I think he's a good player. I don't think he suits that position at all. And I think
01:05:46 Gary's just trying to say the right things to the right people. I'm not sure about that.
01:05:53 Not keen? Not keen. Okay. Keen or not keen? Matt Doherty is the left wing back
01:06:01 first choice in the absence of Ryan Aitnori.
01:06:04 Right now, I think he is. I'm keen. I'm keen on that. I think right now he is. Yeah. I think
01:06:11 Hugo's got to get himself back to a bit more fitness, a bit more consistency. And I like Hugo
01:06:17 Bono a lot and I think he'll come back and be a good player for Wolves. But I thought Doc looked
01:06:23 good last night and yeah. I'm fancying a bit of Doc at left wing back. Love that. I mean those pink
01:06:31 boots, by the way. Love it. I mean, they are luminous pink, aren't they? Can't miss it. I'm
01:06:37 not keen on them. Oh, I like them. I thought you'd be keen on them. No? Okay. Wolves make
01:06:43 European football keen or not keen for not just a barbecue, but a Texas style barbecue. Brisket,
01:06:50 ribs, chicken pulled pork sausage. I mean, unless it's themed for the barbecue.
01:06:56 Texas style, baby. Do I think it's going to happen? No, but just Texas style. I'm not talking
01:07:02 about whether it's going to happen. Oh, okay. Instead of a regular barbecue, Texas style barbecue.
01:07:06 Oh, no. 100% keen. Brisket, smoked. 100% keen. It's got to be that Texas style, without a doubt.
01:07:12 Okay, lovely. Shall we take some questions from the beautiful people before we very quickly preview
01:07:16 Brighton? Our producer's probably going mental because we're going to be running over an hour,
01:07:20 but we'll give him some work to do after this afternoon. Are you ready? We've got a few
01:07:25 questions, but I think a lot of them we've already discussed. So we'll do three or four quick
01:07:29 questions and then we'll preview Brighton Monday. Ready? Let's do it. Okay. Wolfpack,
01:07:33 out of all the strikers we'd strongly link with, who would you pick? Broher, Ings, Adams, Akitake.
01:07:38 Sorry, what was that? Say it again for me. Not a great pronunciation.
01:07:45 No, no. I don't know which one you're talking about. Which one was it?
01:07:47 Go on. Broher, Ings, Adams. The other guy.
01:07:54 I think it'd be Brozier. I think so. 100%. Yeah, yeah.
01:08:02 Danny Ings doesn't do it for me, mate. I mean, look, Danny Ings or Chairman's could walk through
01:08:06 the door tomorrow and of course we're going to support them, but I don't know. It doesn't excite
01:08:11 me too much. I genuinely don't think. Excited is not the right word, but I could live with either
01:08:18 of them and see how they go on for six months. You know what I mean? And if I'm honest, I might
01:08:24 choose Ings over Adams as well, to be honest. It's a tough one, that one, but I might just edge there.
01:08:32 Neither of them excite. I think Wolves are better than that for me.
01:08:40 And for the reasons we spoke, Danny Ings, Che Adams. Give me Nathan Fraser. Give me Nathan
01:08:45 Fraser. Honestly, I'd rather have them two. Someone at youngster who's going to come through
01:08:48 the park, who's going to be great for the future. Give me Nathan Fraser for 20 minutes again.
01:08:52 Honestly. But anyway, I understand it. I'm just not going to go back.
01:08:55 You know what I mean? I'd be interested to see what the fans think. Might pull out later on this
01:09:01 afternoon. Yeah, mate. Yeah, it might be worth it. Yeah, I think Brozier are those options,
01:09:05 though. Definitely.
01:09:06 Can finishing eighth this season get you into Europe? If so,
01:09:09 five positions for the Champions League?
01:09:11 Yeah, I might have forgot to do some prep on this question.
01:09:18 Excellent news.
01:09:19 So let me come back to you. But I'm pretty sure it is with the Conference League. Doesn't it drop
01:09:24 down? Honestly, I forget. I lose track of it because it's to do with the FA Cup winner as
01:09:28 well and all this kind of stuff. Correct. Correct. I think that, in fact, I think it'd be a good
01:09:34 thing. I think I will probably put an article together at some point this afternoon or this
01:09:39 week anyway about how Wolves can get to Europe. I don't want to premeditate it. Maybe just the
01:09:43 European positions and how they're going to work. How's that? Yeah, we'll come back to it. I
01:09:47 apologise for being unprepared, but we'll come back to it. Dr Paul Mantle says it'll be tough
01:09:52 to choose between Gomez and Doyle in midfield when Zhao is available again. Is there ever a place to
01:09:59 play both of them as a three and Lamina or could that never work? No, it could definitely work. I
01:10:05 think as a dynamic of a midfield, it would definitely work. But you're losing either a
01:10:11 defender or a forward. I don't think this team is going to suit that change. I think this team
01:10:18 suits exactly what they are at the moment. And that is a bit of a hybrid formation/position
01:10:25 with certain players and it works perfectly. So no, I wouldn't foresee a change on that, to be
01:10:30 honest. Lots of West Ham fans moaning about Moyes. If they sack him, do you think Gary O'Neill will
01:10:36 be tempted to go there? I'll tell you who will be tempted to go to West Ham if they do sack him.
01:10:40 And that's not Gary O'Neill. That's a certain person who has stayed in Wolverhampton, who's
01:10:43 done every single interview going. I think he does an interview every single day with anyone
01:10:47 who'll listen. Balaguer, The Sun, The News Of The World, Sky Sports, Satanta Sports, whoever else
01:10:52 is still defunct. It's incredible. The News Of The World. That was good.
01:10:56 Yes, obviously you will be very interested in that job, I'm sure. For the obvious reasons,
01:11:06 as in he's a former player there, his family I think are still London-based,
01:11:12 or he certainly was around, obviously he lived there before. I couldn't understand for a lot
01:11:18 of reasons why it would be attractive. I don't think at this stage and how well it's going to
01:11:24 ward, I don't think he gives Wolves up for that job at this point. Yeah, so I don't think so, but
01:11:31 he might prove me wrong.
01:11:34 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
01:11:42 The strength of the Wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
01:12:02 We are the Wanderers in all gold and black. You'd better retreat 'cause we're on the attack.
01:12:09 The strength of the Wolf is the strength of the pack. We're Wolverhampton, we're on our way back.
01:12:17 Let's have a look. John Charnsworth, if Netflix decided to screen The Wolf's Potty as their next
01:12:26 big budget TV serial, which actors would you choose to portray you on screen? And what
01:12:30 genre would you like to see The Potty? Romantic, comedy, suspense, thriller, gothic, horror, period,
01:12:36 drama, etc.? Well, I'm going to get a picture up right now. I've already got who would play me.
01:12:43 Really? And this isn't even a joke because, and this isn't me saying this, genuinely.
01:12:49 It's the guy from that police drama.
01:12:55 Was it Finn Lund? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He looks a bit like me as well, actually.
01:13:01 He's identical to you, what's he called? I can't remember, I never watched the drama.
01:13:04 I can't remember his name now. But he's interesting. He looks like me, I don't look like him, just to
01:13:08 make that clear. There's an actor who I was... I had one night out with some friends and in the
01:13:20 same night, 10 minutes apart, two separate groups of people came up to me and said I look like this
01:13:25 guy. I'm not even joking. And then literally two months later, I was in Brussels with Rosie on a
01:13:31 holiday. We were in a random restaurant in Brussels and the waitress said to me, I look like this
01:13:35 actor. Literally just out of nowhere. And then I've had loads of people saying to me since then.
01:13:40 I'll take it, he's good looking. That's bad. He is called Paul Meskell, Irish actor.
01:13:49 Okay.
01:13:50 Yeah, he's got a little bit more on top, but yeah, I can see it.
01:13:56 He's got a little bit more on top. Yeah, I'll give him that. I'll give him that.
01:13:58 He can also grow a little bit of a beard as well, which you struggle to do after you've
01:14:02 moved over the disgrace.
01:14:03 There's a picture of him with a beard, which I'm not going to show because it just makes
01:14:06 me sad that I've not got a beard. He's going to be in the upcoming Gladiators 2 movie as well.
01:14:10 Oh, interesting. Okay, okay, yeah.
01:14:12 He's like one of those guys, he did a TV show, which I've never seen, but people kept telling
01:14:18 me that I look like him in that or something. But he's starting to do movies and stuff now.
01:14:22 Good looking guy, so says a lot.
01:14:25 I mean, a lot of people are thinking.
01:14:27 That's so bad from you. Who could I... You know what? You know who might play you?
01:14:35 Oh, don't, don't.
01:14:37 No, no, no.
01:14:37 Stop it.
01:14:38 I've got it right now. I've got it. I've got it right now. And you know what? This isn't even me
01:14:43 taking the mick out of you. This is actually a good one.
01:14:46 Okay.
01:14:47 This is actually a guy that people like and is actually, you know, you ready?
01:14:50 Okay. Yeah.
01:14:51 Oh, I'll take that.
01:14:56 Pedro Pascal.
01:14:56 A bit of lots of us. I don't mind that. A bit of Pedro.
01:14:59 Pedro Pascal's a good one for you, you know.
01:15:01 I'll take that. I like a bit of Jason Bateman too as well.
01:15:04 But he looked lovely like him.
01:15:06 No, I know, I know, I know. I'll take Pascal though. I'll take Pascal.
01:15:08 Pascal for you, Mescal for me.
01:15:10 Love it.
01:15:10 Easy.
01:15:10 100% comedy. Comedy thriller. Comedy spoof.
01:15:16 I don't mind a bit of a comedy thriller because you can throw some jiu-jitsu in there.
01:15:19 It could get a bit rowdy at times. Yeah, I think I'll work.
01:15:22 Okay. Love it. Happy days.
01:15:24 Thanks for your questions this week, beautiful people.
01:15:25 Right, Brighton, Monday night.
01:15:27 Me and Liam Keane. Can't wait. What is it? 8.15 kick-off?
01:15:30 Absolutely buzzing for that.
01:15:31 Is it? Is it actually?
01:15:32 I don't know. What is it?
01:15:33 I don't even know what the kick-off time is.
01:15:35 Let's have a look. Sorry.
01:15:36 I haven't mentally gone there yet, you know what I mean? I've got to...
01:15:38 No, you can't mentally go there.
01:15:42 The kick-off time is...
01:15:43 Oh no, 7.45. Man United's 8.15 on next week on Thursday.
01:15:48 Oh god, 8.15 on a Thursday.
01:15:49 8.15 Man United. What? 8.15?
01:15:52 And I'm off starting my holiday the following day as well.
01:15:55 People will say, "I don't know when you're back. When are you back?"
01:15:59 You're actually working. Astonishing.
01:16:01 Well, you're going skiing, aren't you?
01:16:03 I am going skiing. I'm missing two football games, which is not good.
01:16:08 Okay. That's not great from you.
01:16:11 But that's fine.
01:16:12 Brighton, 7.45 kick-off. Monday night, Gary Neal says that the focus is on that.
01:16:17 And I think that the players hopefully...
01:16:18 I think we'll have that in mind. You're not 100% sure.
01:16:23 But at the same time, how are they looking?
01:16:25 Brighton are hot and cold, aren't they, this season?
01:16:27 They've had a lot of injuries as well. Loads of injuries.
01:16:29 I mean, Soli marched out for the season.
01:16:30 Seascoe's injured. But they've got a lot of injuries.
01:16:32 They have a lot of chopping and changing.
01:16:34 It's very difficult, as Wolves have found out as well.
01:16:36 I thought they did very well in that first season in Europe.
01:16:38 But to play Thursday, Sunday, now they're starting to get back into the Europa League as well.
01:16:43 So after a bit of a break.
01:16:44 So how do they approach it?
01:16:47 What sort of teams do you think Wolves will play?
01:16:48 Do you think we'll see the similar XI that played on Saturday or will...
01:16:52 Sorry, last night.
01:16:53 Or will the likes of Pedro Neto get a start?
01:16:56 Will the likes of Mario Lamina come back into a start?
01:16:58 And maybe potentially others?
01:16:59 Craig Dawson?
01:17:01 Yeah, I think the first thing to say is it's a tough game, isn't it?
01:17:05 Look, this is a good Brighton team.
01:17:07 They've maybe blown hot and cold a little bit throughout the season.
01:17:10 Maybe not as consistent, but certainly a good side with some good players.
01:17:14 And we know how it went last season visiting the Amex, didn't we?
01:17:18 Anything better than that is an improvement, officially.
01:17:23 Maybe famous last words, but I don't think this is a Wolves team that rolls over as easy as that as well.
01:17:31 So I don't think there's any danger of that happening.
01:17:33 But you have to be very much on your guard against this Brighton team.
01:17:36 So I think the team, by and large, picks itself apart from probably that top end.
01:17:46 And it is Neto that is probably causing that problem at the moment, isn't he?
01:17:50 So I think it'll probably be...
01:17:52 Sarangol is probably a no-brainer.
01:17:54 Semedo's a no-brainer.
01:17:55 Killman, I think Dawson comes back in for Santi Bueno.
01:17:59 Totti.
01:18:00 The left, I don't think it's a cut and dry scenario.
01:18:05 No.
01:18:05 Between Doc and Hugo Bueno, but I think it'll be Doc.
01:18:08 I think you go with him.
01:18:09 I think it's an easy one in midfield with Doyle and Lamina.
01:18:14 But I think it's an easy one for Gary Neal to do that.
01:18:16 And the fact that Lamina's...
01:18:18 We thought last night that if Wolves could afford not to bring him on,
01:18:23 that he wouldn't even play at all.
01:18:24 And he ends up playing, as you say, extra time as well as 25 minutes as well.
01:18:28 So he's playing...
01:18:29 And just so you know, Joe Gomez with that game now will miss two FA Cup games.
01:18:34 He'll obviously miss last night, he misses the West Brom game,
01:18:37 he misses Brighton, but will be back for Manchester United.
01:18:39 Exactly, yeah.
01:18:40 So an added bonus of getting through is not only you've got the Black Country Derby,
01:18:43 but he misses an FA Cup game rather than another Premier League game.
01:18:46 So yeah, Joe Gomez is obviously suspended.
01:18:48 So I think it's an obvious one, Doyle and Lamina in midfield.
01:18:50 And then it's that front end that is causing issues at the moment because...
01:18:57 You're telling me.
01:19:00 He...
01:19:01 Garena wants to play Kunia in that left pocket position.
01:19:05 Doesn't want to move him because he's getting used to playing there.
01:19:09 He's playing incredibly well there.
01:19:11 It suits him perfectly.
01:19:12 And if you move him, mentally he's got to get into another position.
01:19:19 And then you've got to try...
01:19:20 And he just moves the team around a little bit.
01:19:22 Now, the problem with not moving him is that you give yourself an issue in striker.
01:19:27 I think it's easier to move in, in terms of team selection,
01:19:31 but maybe not easier in terms of team tactics.
01:19:33 So that's the problem you've got.
01:19:35 So I think he'll stay on that left side.
01:19:37 I think Kunia will stay there.
01:19:38 I think Belagard stays as a false nine.
01:19:41 Ooh, okay.
01:19:43 And I think it's between Sarabia and Neto to start.
01:19:46 And based on what I've said previously about...
01:19:48 In this podcast about Sarabia, I think playing well at the moment,
01:19:52 but also not being the kind of player that wants to play a lot.
01:19:54 I think Sarabia keeps his place.
01:19:58 Okay.
01:19:58 Against Brighton.
01:19:59 I think Gary Neal holds Neto off for one or two more games from a start.
01:20:05 And yeah, and I think potentially he might even start for the Albion game.
01:20:11 But I think for Brighton, I think Sarabia keeps his place
01:20:14 and probably quite quickly comes off for Neto, depending on how the game's going.
01:20:18 Interesting. I'm going to disagree slightly with you.
01:20:20 I think Neto starts for me.
01:20:22 I think they do move Kunia.
01:20:23 I think they're moving a bit more central.
01:20:24 I think Belagard drops to the bench for me.
01:20:26 Sarabia on that right-hand side, Neto on the left.
01:20:28 But we will see.
01:20:29 And like I say, they can move it around a little bit.
01:20:31 And with Doc starting there as well, you can change.
01:20:33 You can bring Bueno in there.
01:20:34 So there's a lot of different ways that he can go.
01:20:36 And I think that we're guessing,
01:20:37 and I think that obviously keeps Brighton guessing as well.
01:20:39 So that'd be very interesting.
01:20:41 Right.
01:20:42 Leaves us to say, by the way,
01:20:44 the person who won all those shirts and stuff,
01:20:46 that was a couple of weeks ago, I want it.
01:20:47 They need to get in touch.
01:20:48 Send me your address, nathan.duda@mnamedia.co.uk
01:20:52 or just tweet us, DM us or whatever,
01:20:53 and we'll get those shirts to you.
01:20:54 Someone won it, didn't they?
01:20:55 From America, I think, apparently.
01:20:56 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:20:57 I'm not sure if your DMs on Twitter are open,
01:21:01 but mine are, so if you...
01:21:02 Yours are.
01:21:03 You like to slide into a few DMs, don't you, yourself?
01:21:05 So fair enough.
01:21:06 Right, okay.
01:21:07 If you're struggling to get ahold of anyone,
01:21:08 just drop me a DM as well.
01:21:09 It's Waterhampton Wonder.
01:21:11 Is this Brighton?
01:21:11 Is that the Amex?
01:21:12 Hopefully better than last season.
01:21:14 Please don't predict 6-0 Brighton, Keno,
01:21:16 or a couple of seasons ago.
01:21:17 Was it last season 6-0?
01:21:18 It was last season, wasn't it?
01:21:19 Yeah, it was 6-0.
01:21:20 Was it 6-1?
01:21:22 I can't remember.
01:21:22 It was...
01:21:22 Oh, was it?
01:21:23 I don't know.
01:21:24 It wasn't great, was it?
01:21:25 It wasn't great.
01:21:25 Do you know what I've got?
01:21:26 I said last week I've got,
01:21:27 but obviously people couldn't see because it was audio,
01:21:29 because now we're beautiful visual,
01:21:31 because we are on shots and we're on Freeview 276 as well.
01:21:35 People will be able to watch us this week and going forward.
01:21:38 We've got the Magic 8-Ball as well.
01:21:40 We've got the Magic 8-Ball.
01:21:42 We've got the Magic 8-Ball to see what's going to happen.
01:21:44 So do you want to do...
01:21:45 Should we do the Magic 8-Ball now,
01:21:46 or before we do the predictions,
01:21:48 or do you want to do it afterwards?
01:21:49 You choose, you choose.
01:21:51 Predictions first, 8-Ball at the end.
01:21:52 Okay, I'll go first and we'll go with you for the prize.
01:21:56 What prize should we give away?
01:21:57 Silence is always good, isn't it, for a podcast?
01:22:03 What prize shall we give away?
01:22:06 I'll tell you what we'll give away.
01:22:08 We will give away a KettleAndToasterMan.co.uk product
01:22:11 because they're a fantastic graded product specialist and our sponsors.
01:22:15 Let's give away a Warm Light Traditional Convection Heater
01:22:18 to the RRP of £45.
01:22:20 But we're throwing it in there with a Wolverhampton Wanderers Away Kit.
01:22:23 How is that?
01:22:24 Perfect. Sounds good to me.
01:22:25 Okay, I'm going to say it's going to be an interesting game.
01:22:28 I think the Wolves get some point in this game.
01:22:30 I'm going to say, right at one, Wolverhampton Wanderers, one baby.
01:22:33 Right then.
01:22:35 Okay, here we go. For the money.
01:22:37 For the big bucks.
01:22:39 Retweet, remember, my tweet or Liam's tweet,
01:22:41 and you'll be automatically entered into this prize draw.
01:22:44 Now I hope I'm wrong.
01:22:46 Oh.
01:22:48 [LAUGHS]
01:22:51 I think all eyes on Albion.
01:22:53 Brighton's a distraction.
01:22:55 Wow.
01:22:56 Question of professionalism.
01:22:59 Wolves lose 2-1.
01:23:00 Okay, excellent.
01:23:02 But I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong.
01:23:03 Okay, so you've gone for two other things.
01:23:05 I don't often do that, but I've decided to go for it.
01:23:07 Okay, I'm ready for what matters, and this matters.
01:23:10 Ready?
01:23:11 Here we go.
01:23:11 Oh, Magic 8 Ball.
01:23:13 Will Wolves beat Brighton?
01:23:15 Or should I say beat or come away with at least a point?
01:23:18 Uh, get a result against.
01:23:21 Will Wolves get a result against Brighton at the Amex a week on Monday?
01:23:26 Ready?
01:23:28 Oh, out look good. Out look good, says the 8 Ball.
01:23:34 Wow, okay.
01:23:34 The 8 Ball has spoken.
01:23:36 Out look good.
01:23:39 Can't really see it, but it's all right.
01:23:40 It's fine. I'll work on that next week.
01:23:42 We're in the early process of this.
01:23:44 But yeah, hopefully you enjoyed it.
01:23:45 Hopefully you enjoyed it.
01:23:46 Thank you very much, Liam.
01:23:48 I shall see you for the press conference,
01:23:49 and I'll see you on Monday for Brighton as well for a little road trip.
01:23:52 I'll meet you there.
01:23:53 Staying overnight, boozing it up.
01:23:54 I'm excited.
01:23:55 Brighton Rock on the pier.
01:23:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]