Since arriving at Molineux, Pereira has not only stabilised the team but also reconnected it with the supporters. The bond between fans and players had weakened over time, but under Pereira, there’s a new energy.
We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of BirminghamWorld, who believes there’s a growing sense that Wolves are on the right path again — not just on the pitch, but as a club.
We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of BirminghamWorld, who believes there’s a growing sense that Wolves are on the right path again — not just on the pitch, but as a club.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Now Wolves head into the summer in a far better place than they were a few months ago
00:07and much of that is down to Vitor Pereira.
00:11Since arriving at Mononieu, Pereira has not only stabilised the team
00:14but also reconnected it with the supporters.
00:18The bond between fans and players had weakened over time
00:21but under Pereira, there's a new energy.
00:24His passion on the touchline, his clear playing philosophy
00:27and his focus on togetherness have brought a sense of identity back to Wolves.
00:33It's not just about results, though those have also improved.
00:36It's about belief. Wolves now play with purpose and the fans can feel it.
00:41Mononieu is louder, prouder and more united.
00:44The summer will be key. Pereira wants to strengthen the attack
00:47and build a squad capable of pushing higher up the table,
00:51perhaps even challenging for Europe in the long term.
00:53I spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World who told me there's a growing sense
00:58that Wolves are on the right path again, not just on the pitch, but as a club.
01:05Charlie, let's start by looking at Wolverhampton Wanderers
01:08and just touching on the sort of impact of Vitor Pereira now.
01:12You know, he can't sort of go understated.
01:14He, a lot of the games that when he first came in
01:17and they started to turn things around slowly,
01:18he was giving a lot of credit to the players,
01:21a lot of credit to the belief within the camp.
01:24I mean, he deserves so much credit, really,
01:27in terms of not just on the pitch, but off the pitch as well.
01:30He's sort of reconnected with Wolves supporters.
01:34Just compare it to, you know,
01:36what he came into the situation under Gary O'Neill.
01:38It obviously wasn't ideal.
01:40It wasn't quite a toxic environment.
01:42You know, we've mentioned before the sort of captain curse as well,
01:45with all the captains getting red cards late after games
01:48and loads of scuffles.
01:50And, you know, the attitude was really diabolical.
01:53It was, they were heading one direction at one point.
01:56You know, it's fair to say,
01:58and they have been for the last couple of seasons.
02:00Do you think Wolves have turned a corner now?
02:02Obviously, Vitor comes in.
02:04They can start looking up.
02:05They can start believing that next season could be a turning point
02:08and they can once again start to avoid these relegation scraps.
02:13Yeah, it's been an incredible impact that Vitor Pereira has had.
02:16I think a lot of people expected a rise from Wolves eventually.
02:20The squad, the quality of players,
02:23probably too good to go down in reality.
02:25But the job was still there to be done when he took over.
02:28Wolves were 19th in the Premier League.
02:29They'd just lost to Ipswich Town.
02:31Big relegation contenders as well.
02:33Gary O'Neill, of course,
02:34only winning two of his first 16 games in charge.
02:37Vitor Pereira has just completely exceeded all expectations.
02:41To get four wins in the Premier League in a row for the first time ever
02:45is an incredible achievement.
02:46Being the form team in the entire division,
02:48not just in the bottom half of it,
02:50is amazing in itself as well.
02:52And a lot of that has been without star man Mateus Cunha.
02:55There was a lot of talk of,
02:56can Wolves only do it because Cunha is there
02:59and he's able to get them out of the lurch
03:00with his impressive goals from outside the box.
03:03And Field comes to mind,
03:04even though they didn't win the game there,
03:06he still scored a fantastic goal.
03:07He had those moments in him.
03:08However, when he's been out suspended,
03:11Wolves have still been able to pick up these results.
03:13And I think a lot of the credit for that
03:14has to go down to Vitor Pereira.
03:17He's not had a proper season yet
03:19to really adjust with this squad.
03:21He's only had one transfer window.
03:23Yes, a fair amount of money was spent in that window
03:25on Agpadu, Giga and Munetzi,
03:27but he's still not had a proper mark.
03:29And the fact he's already succeeding so much
03:31is incredibly positive.
03:33You mentioned as well the kind of relationship with the fans.
03:35The fact he's going to the pub and meeting fans
03:38in Wetherspoons in Wolverhampton.
03:40I mean, you can't really say that
03:41about any other managers in the Premier League,
03:43can you, if any at all?
03:45He's just got that,
03:46he's got the understanding of the working class mentality
03:49of the football club
03:49and he understands what it means to them
03:51and the fans, you know,
03:53shelling out their hard-earned money every week
03:55to watch their team.
03:56He understands that, he gets it
03:57and he wants to build that connection,
03:58which is so, so important.
04:00Yeah, what stood out to me
04:02was that first game away at Leicester City,
04:04they obviously came out winners.
04:06In the warm-up,
04:07there was a lot of attention around Wolves,
04:09practising set-piece defending,
04:11they sort of looked more solid.
04:13I mean, he's made a huge difference
04:15because under Gary O'Neill,
04:16there were leaking goals left, right and centre.
04:18Yes, Gary O'Neill wasn't really backed
04:20in the summer window
04:20in terms of centre-back signings,
04:22but what sort of impact has Pereira had
04:25in terms of coming in straight away,
04:27addressing those defensive issues?
04:28Obviously, Agpadu has been
04:30an unbelievable addition to this side.
04:33Yeah, I think Agpadu, as you mentioned,
04:35has been so important,
04:36having that height,
04:37that aerial control in the box
04:39and to have that mentality,
04:40it shows who's boss
04:41and Wolves are reaping the rewards.