The most in-form team across Europe at the moment…
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00:00Charlie, just on Wolves and in terms of Vito Pereira,
00:06let's mention his fantastic impact.
00:09I mean, he's been doing the rounds on social media,
00:11appearing at plenty of different pubs and locations,
00:14just mixing with the fans.
00:15I mean, yes, on the surface, that's great,
00:18but also he's managed to translate it to the pitch
00:22and get these players really playing well.
00:24I mean, you look at the likes of Andre in midfield, his rise.
00:27He looked a bit lost under Gary O'Neill.
00:30He's now one of the, you know,
00:31that partnership with Jao Gomez is probably one of the best
00:33in the entire division.
00:35Wolves' form and that record of wins that they carry on
00:39to break every week, it seems at the moment.
00:42I mean, just on his ability to galvanise this group,
00:46because they were so down and out come the end of Gary O'Neill's tenure.
00:50They were heading one direction at Christmas time
00:53and then he comes in and he's completely changed
00:55the entire landscape of the club.
00:58It's incredible, yeah.
00:59Yeah, that six wins on the trot, I think,
01:01just encapsulates the success he's had so far.
01:04Actually, double figures for wins.
01:06Gary O'Neill could only get two in 16 games
01:08at the start of the season.
01:10It was appalling.
01:11Offensively, terrible as well.
01:13I know that Emmanuel Aikpadu wasn't there
01:15when Gary O'Neill was,
01:17so you can maybe make that argument.
01:19But it's not just one player.
01:21It's the entire squad.
01:22It's just looked completely galvanised.
01:24The rise, the confidence, the togetherness within the squad.
01:28I know you've still got Matthias Cunha getting sent off against Bournemouth.
01:31Not ideal.
01:32A bit hot-headed.
01:33But in terms of the general squad, the feel,
01:35there's a bit less frustration.
01:37The connection with the fans has been built back up again.
01:40I know we had that under O'Neill briefly
01:41when he was performing well initially.
01:44I'm hoping that doesn't fall away for Pereira like it did O'Neill.
01:47But I don't think it will.
01:48I think he's got, as much as he's a passionate man, Pereira,
01:52I think he's a bit more level-headed,
01:53doesn't overthink things too much
01:55and should be able to get Wolves,
01:57well, he's already got them out of the hole,
01:58but try and get them further up the standings as well.
02:01To be above the likes of Man United and Tottenham and West Ham
02:04after where they were just in December,
02:06it's incredible, really.
02:07And it's exciting to see where they could go next.
02:10Yeah, just on that, obviously, a massive summer.
02:13But then beyond the summer,
02:14it's a campaign where you start to think
02:17if pundits, people doing their Premier League predictions
02:20at the start of the season,
02:21if they look at the way Wolves have finished this campaign,
02:24surely top 10 European push
02:26has got to be the aim now for Pereira's men.
02:29Yet Wolves fans can't get carried away.
02:31If they've got to realise where they've come from
02:33in this last couple of seasons,
02:35they've been in a real bit of turmoil.
02:38But Pereira can take them certainly in one direction
02:41and that's up at the moment.
02:43Yeah, I just think you need to be a little bit careful
02:45as Wolves fans,
02:47just because of under O'Neill,
02:48before that Coventry defeat in the FA Cup last season,
02:51it wasn't six wins on the trot,
02:52but it was pretty similar form.
02:54Starting to talk about,
02:55could European football be a possibility?
02:57Then the injury started coming,
02:59then things started to fall away
03:00and then the beginning of the next season was awful.
03:02Don't want to be pessimistic.
03:04It sounds incredibly pessimistic.
03:05I don't think it will happen quite like that again,
03:07but to go and get European football
03:09would be maybe a little bit too much of a step up
03:11unless the summer window can go absolutely perfectly,
03:14especially with Matthias Cunha likely to leave
03:17for a £62 million release clause.
03:20He's such an important player.
03:21Wolves did show briefly with the suspension
03:23that they can deal without him,
03:25but can they deal without him for an entire season?
03:27Have they got the quality up front to do that
03:29and get European football?
03:31I'm not too sure,
03:32but I could be proved wrong.
03:33I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.
03:34There's just so much competition up there
03:36and Cunha leaving will have a big impact.
03:39Yeah, summer plans Wolves.
03:41I mean, obviously Cunha leaving,
03:43that's a big chunk of money that they have to reinvest.
03:46I mean, we've mentioned a number of times
03:48that they haven't,
03:48that they've sold these star assets.
03:50You know, it goes far as back as Diogo Jota
03:52really is the first one to go
03:53from that crop of players that came up with Nuno
03:56in the championship season.
03:58Then obviously Neves follows and, you know, Jimenez.
04:02And then you've got Neto as well going
04:04and then Cunha's likely to follow.
04:06They hadn't reinvested before.
04:08They've got to make sure they get it right
04:09and, you know,
04:11really ensure they almost replaced Cunha.
04:13I mean, yes, he's had an unbelievable season,
04:16but they've got to get this next step right
04:18to ensure that, you know,
04:19Pereira isn't falling short
04:21and making excuses as Gary O'Neill was,
04:23you know, during the start of this season.
04:26Yeah, and Lopetegui as well,
04:27the amount of concerns he had with the ownership.
04:30And you've got the Mateus Nunes money in there as well
04:33that you forgot to mention.
04:34It's just so many tens of millions brought in,
04:36but not reinvested,
04:38or at least not invested in the right ways.
04:40It's so important that they change their mindset
04:41a little bit this summer
04:42because surely it's plain to see
04:44that if you don't do things properly,
04:46if a manager doesn't have the right
04:48kind of ingredients for his squad that he wants,
04:51the team's going to be right near the bottom of the table
04:53and potentially getting relegated.
04:55So it's so important that they get things right.
04:56If they want to get to European football,
04:59even if they just want to escape the realms of relegation
05:01and become more of a settled mid-table side
05:03and build on from there,
05:05that's probably the more realistic aspect of things.
05:07And Pereira, such a great manager, it seems.
05:10Will he stick around if he's not backed properly?
05:12I suppose it awaits to be seen.