Wolves v Brighton - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah analysis
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00:00Hello I'm Nathan Judah, that is Mr. Liam Keane and we have been inside Compton Park here from Vitor Pereira.
00:07The new manager of the month, Vitor Pereira. A perfect April, thoroughly deserved.
00:13Let's talk about that first because what a turnaround, what a guy this is and what a brilliant award to get.
00:20Absolutely, 5 wins out of 5, let's go through.
00:24Perfecto, West Ham, Ipswich, killed it.
00:27You've got to think of everything to say for all of them.
00:29Spurs.
00:30Domination.
00:31United.
00:32Sarab's beauty.
00:34And Leicester.
00:35Game over.
00:36Easy.
00:37Light work, light work.
00:39Wolves were fantastic.
00:40Look, there was no other manager that was going to win that award that was there for that month.
00:43You win 5 out of 5, you're going to win it.
00:45And thoroughly deserved.
00:47And I think his message from Vitor, which I think is a smart one to do.
00:51A lot of managers have done it, Nuno's done it, other managers have done it.
00:54Trying to make sure it's an award that credits everyone, it's collective.
00:58Trying to make sure the staff are acknowledging the players and he made a point of saying it,
01:01and particularly the fans.
01:02Because, yeah, I think that's been an important part, an important role in this run.
01:07So, it may have come to an end, the winning run at Man City, but the feeling is still pretty good here.
01:13And, of course, during that winning run, Premier League survival was confirmed.
01:17And he was asked this question, and I think he's been asked it a couple of times,
01:20but he was quite strong on it today, I felt, about other players who perhaps
01:24haven't had a bit of a luck in getting an opportunity in these last three games.
01:27People have been on the fringes, but he's not having any of it really, is he?
01:31No, he was very strong on it, and I think we both agree, we said this on the podcast this week,
01:34that yes, there's a couple of players we'd love to see a bit more of, but go for the win.
01:39There's no reason why not.
01:41And he was very, very strong on it and said, look, I want to be competitive.
01:45He said, I want the players to earn the opportunity, the privilege to play football for this football club.
01:52A really good line of saying there's no gifts in football.
01:55I love that.
01:56I won't allow them to be given a space in the starting XI just because we want to see a bit more of them.
02:01They've got to earn it on the training pitch or in sub-performances or whatever it might be.
02:05Which means it will be a very strong team in these final three games.
02:07And another part of that, I suppose the reason for that, and something we spoke about on the podcast again,
02:12these three teams in Brighton tomorrow, Palace and then Brentford,
02:16are teams that Wolves should be in and around next season.
02:18They should be targeting these teams to be competitive against.
02:21They're not easy games right now, but the Wolves can easily go and win all three or lose all three in the next few weeks.
02:27And in previous seasons, they probably have done the latter.
02:29Exactly.
02:30And his point there was that, look, we've got an opportunity to see what level we're at,
02:35compare ourselves to where these teams are and try and be as consistent as they are going into next season.
02:40Yeah. And of course, points mean price is 12th.
02:42They can finish or they can finish 17th, which is over £60 million worth in prize money.
02:46So there's that added incentive as well.
02:49In terms of putting the strongest side out tomorrow, how are we looking?
02:53Yeah, I think relatively, yeah, in a good position.
02:57A couple of small knocks, well, first of all, no Sam Johnston, not a major surprise.
03:01I did ask him whether he will be featuring and then squad in the last three games and he was very coy.
03:06Very coy.
03:07Very coy.
03:08Let's put it that way.
03:09So we'll see what happens there.
03:10But the other two is Huang and Larsson.
03:11We know Huang's been struggling with a little knock recently, but has still been training throughout it.
03:15Not played a lot of minutes, obviously.
03:17And then we look at Larsson.
03:19Missed the game against City.
03:20Has been back in training, but again, very coy.
03:22And he said, let's see.
03:23I suspect, considering he's been training, or at least training in part, that Larsson will probably start tomorrow.
03:29If he doesn't, probably unchanged.
03:32Mm-hmm.
03:33Yes.
03:34That was it.
03:35That was it.
03:36That was the end of the sentence.
03:37Yeah, look, in terms of Brighton, Brighton not full of quality.
03:39And Wolves will have to be at the top of their game to get something from it.
03:42Because if they don't, they will get beat in this game.
03:44And at the same time, Wolves can go and win this game.
03:46They really can.
03:47Yeah, absolutely.
03:48I stick to that same point.
03:49They can win all three of these or lose all three of these.
03:51And it's about how competitive they can be on the day.
03:53I think the fact that there's a pretty positive, good feeling around the players and the club and the squad
03:57and the fans going into the penultimate home game of the season can only be a good thing.
04:02I think the fans will bring their A game, and that should mean the players do as well.
04:06And Brighton, as good as they are, are in a little bit of indifferent form.
04:09I know Wolves don't have a great record against them, but they're not quite running at full steam at the moment.
04:17So with that in mind, I think Wolves will get the job done.
04:20Yeah, I know there's some players, even players who are regular starters, who will want to create a good impression
04:24to finish the season because it's a big summer for Wolves, and Vito Pereira alluded to it there.
04:29You know, there is a lot of work underway.
04:31There has to be work underway.
04:32You can't just finish the season and then talk about new signings and players' outgoings.
04:36A lot of decisions will already be made, but it's important.
04:39He wants to keep the majority of the squad together.
04:41And rightly so, because I suppose the reason for him wanting to do that is that a lot of the players
04:48are starting to learn as to what he wants and his identity and style.
04:52He doesn't want to start from zero and redo all that with the squad.
04:56However, there will be players coming and going, and you're going to have to do that to some extent.
05:00This team needs a little bit of balance, needs a little bit more depth,
05:03particularly with a couple of players that we're expecting are going to go.
05:06But maybe through the spine and the core of the team, there's still a strong side there.
05:10And if you lose Cunha, I think those ten positions, even with Cunha staying, which I think is unlikely,
05:15you probably need a little bit of squad addition in that area.
05:21But the squad's not a million miles off.
05:23It's amazing how different it feels now after a good January transfer window
05:28and the fact they're winning games, because a few months ago they couldn't buy a win.
05:32Well, it's bizarre, isn't it, as we've got a huge truck coming by, so we're going to have to talk very, very loud.
05:36What?
05:37Let's say that, and you told me now, you bring Hugo Bueno back, and then this squad,
05:43and it doesn't change whatsoever, and these are exactly the same players,
05:46I'd expect Wolves to become a thing of European football, which sounds bizarre, but I would do.
05:50There's a lot of pressure here, but not on that.
05:52I'm just saying.
05:53Yeah, I think it comes down to, again, being in and around these teams that we're talking about,
05:57and then you may, I don't know, Fulham are just below Brighton,
06:0011th, you look at, you know, I mean, Forrester may be slightly above where it should be.
06:03I mean, top ten could be European football this season.
06:05Yeah, exactly.
06:06You know, Bournemouth, are they going to achieve as much next season?
06:09I know they're doing pretty well, but there's clubs that Wolves can be sort of competing with in and around,
06:15and what they shouldn't be is down in that bottom three.
06:17Yeah.
06:18I don't think we'll see the same mistakes this summer.
06:20I don't think we'll see the same results and start to the season.
06:24I think we'll see, it was a good preseason actually last summer,
06:26I think we'll see an even better one that's probably slightly better organised
06:29in terms of a football perspective rather than a commercial perspective.
06:32And those things, as well as momentum in these final three games hopefully,
06:36will bode well for next season.
06:38Absolutely.
06:39In terms of a score tomorrow?
06:42Well, I'm going to stick with my potty prediction.
06:45Okay, let's go for it.
06:46I've got Thriller, 3-2 Wolves.
06:483-2, I'm going to go 1-1, I'm going to score,
06:49I don't think Wolves lose this game though.
06:50You're probably right.
06:51I was going to go for it anyway.
06:52And for all the builds on this one,
06:53we shall see you tomorrow at ExpressAndStar.com.